Yay for loss! Down 2.4 again, which brings me to 240 pounds and 33 lost total. Boy, do I hate it when the Weight Watchers website chides me for losing more than 2 pounds in a week. Maybe if I was only ten or fifteen pounds overweight, losing weight this fast would be unhealthy, but I don't think I'm starving myself into damage, here. (Especially since my combined average since I started -- including the first couple of crazy-water-weight-loss weeks -- is something like 2.04 pounds per week.)
Let's consider percentages: If I weighed 150, 2.4 pounds would be about 1.6% of my total mass; but at 240, 2.4 pounds is only 1%. Maybe the rule of thumb shouldn't be flat poundage, but percentages -- you should try not to lose more than 1.25% of your weight in a single week. (At 150, 1.25% is about 1.9 pounds, which is pretty close.) That seems a lot more reasonable.
Besides, I'm still in the easy-on, easy-off stage. I was at 220 only a few years ago, back when I was on South Beach and going to the Curves gym across the street from my office. 220 is where I stalled out before. The first time I tried Weight Watchers, ten years ago, I stalled out at 225. Somewhere around there, I think, is one of my "natural" weight points, and I'm anticipating a "plateau" at that point again that will take some extra effort to push through.
Until then, shut up, WW web site, and let me enjoy my progress.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Down Down Down
242.4 this morning, which is a nice, comfortable 2 pounds lost, pushing my grand total to just over 30 pounds.
Which means I successfully navigated a lunch out with Matt last week that turned out to be heavier than I expected, a party on Saturday, my dad's birthday on Sunday, and the serious case of munchies that I've been fighting for the last few days. Feeling pretty proud of myself for that.
I took my one-year-old to the doctor today, and carried him from the car across the parking lot, up the elevator, and down the hall to the pediatrician's suite, and by the time I got there, my arms were aching. The little bugger is heavy. Except they stood him on the scale, and he weighs 22.5 pounds. Which means that, not that long ago, I was regularly carrying around more than he weighs. All the time. Admittedly, spread out so all the burden wasn't just on my arms, but still. And I'm closing in on having lost as much as the five-year-old weighs.
Speaking of aching muscles, I started the hundred push ups program (though I'm doing "girl" push ups on my knees instead of normal ones), and I increased the resistance level on the bike at the gym by a notch. I also noticed that when I'm on the elliptical and trying to maintain a constant heart rate of around 120, I now have to maintain a speed of approximately 3.5 mph, up from around 3.0 when I first started. And I started doing my leg/hip stretches in the mornings before I get dressed, but that's less to do with "exercise" and more to do with "not wanting to scream in pain every time I take a step." Damn knee.
So, all in all, a good week for weight loss and health gains!
Which means I successfully navigated a lunch out with Matt last week that turned out to be heavier than I expected, a party on Saturday, my dad's birthday on Sunday, and the serious case of munchies that I've been fighting for the last few days. Feeling pretty proud of myself for that.
I took my one-year-old to the doctor today, and carried him from the car across the parking lot, up the elevator, and down the hall to the pediatrician's suite, and by the time I got there, my arms were aching. The little bugger is heavy. Except they stood him on the scale, and he weighs 22.5 pounds. Which means that, not that long ago, I was regularly carrying around more than he weighs. All the time. Admittedly, spread out so all the burden wasn't just on my arms, but still. And I'm closing in on having lost as much as the five-year-old weighs.
Speaking of aching muscles, I started the hundred push ups program (though I'm doing "girl" push ups on my knees instead of normal ones), and I increased the resistance level on the bike at the gym by a notch. I also noticed that when I'm on the elliptical and trying to maintain a constant heart rate of around 120, I now have to maintain a speed of approximately 3.5 mph, up from around 3.0 when I first started. And I started doing my leg/hip stretches in the mornings before I get dressed, but that's less to do with "exercise" and more to do with "not wanting to scream in pain every time I take a step." Damn knee.
So, all in all, a good week for weight loss and health gains!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Ten
Well, there we go: I weighed in this morning at 244.4, putting me a solid half-pound past my 10% goal. I did it! I've lost 28.6 pounds in the last three months. (Almost exactly, in fact.)
Then I went to the Weight Watchers website, put in my weight, and went to update my goal for the next 10%, only to discover that they think I'm on Maintenance now, and won't let me change the goal. I think they're going to make me clear the history and "start over" with my current weight as my starting weight.
I'm... not sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, assuming I understand it correctly, then if I start over, then I'm not going to see the charts that show me how far I've come since the beginning. I'm not going to earn a 50-pound star. (Well, I will earn it, but I won't get it.)
On the other hand, it might be better, mentally and emotionally, to start fresh. To not be able to cling to the past. To let those pounds go and pretend that they never were.
But in any case, I need to think of a reward for myself for having lost 10% of my mass.
Then I went to the Weight Watchers website, put in my weight, and went to update my goal for the next 10%, only to discover that they think I'm on Maintenance now, and won't let me change the goal. I think they're going to make me clear the history and "start over" with my current weight as my starting weight.
I'm... not sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, assuming I understand it correctly, then if I start over, then I'm not going to see the charts that show me how far I've come since the beginning. I'm not going to earn a 50-pound star. (Well, I will earn it, but I won't get it.)
On the other hand, it might be better, mentally and emotionally, to start fresh. To not be able to cling to the past. To let those pounds go and pretend that they never were.
But in any case, I need to think of a reward for myself for having lost 10% of my mass.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Overconfidence
"I only need to lose one pound this week to make my 10% goal!"
So, naturally, I didn't lose anything.
Didn't gain, either, which is a blessing, but I didn't lose. Sigh.
I know why, too. My mom gave us a huge bag of chewy toffees for Christmas, and they had no nutrition information, and they're not like any other candy I know, so I was guessing at their points, and I suspect I may have guessed them at only half what they should have been. (And I wasn't even tracking all of them that I ate.)
And I only went to the gym once.
So. Back on the wagon. Back to the gym. Tracking everything, even half-point and zero-point food. I sent the rest of the toffees to work with Matt, because apparently they're like doughnuts for me -- I can't have just one.
Maybe next week, I'll make that goal.
So, naturally, I didn't lose anything.
Didn't gain, either, which is a blessing, but I didn't lose. Sigh.
I know why, too. My mom gave us a huge bag of chewy toffees for Christmas, and they had no nutrition information, and they're not like any other candy I know, so I was guessing at their points, and I suspect I may have guessed them at only half what they should have been. (And I wasn't even tracking all of them that I ate.)
And I only went to the gym once.
So. Back on the wagon. Back to the gym. Tracking everything, even half-point and zero-point food. I sent the rest of the toffees to work with Matt, because apparently they're like doughnuts for me -- I can't have just one.
Maybe next week, I'll make that goal.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Resolve
After two weeks of being on vacation and allowing myself little cheats, and more little cheats, and then big cheats, and then even bigger cheats...
If nothing else, the last two weeks have been a shining example to me of exactly why I should not be allowed "off the reservation" for any length of time. Even with the best intentions and the firmest plans, I succumbed to stress eating, and I succumbed to boredom eating, and I succumbed (most insidiously of all) to "well, it was right in front of me" eating.
Time to get back on the wagon.
I'm easing into it, somewhat -- Tonight is hot dog night for dinner, which means I have lots of extra points to play around with, and I have more than enough wiggle room for some snacks and treats.
Unless I screw up royally, there's a reasonable chance that I'll be meeting my first 10% goal next week, and starting my next 10% journey. That one will be almost 3 pounds shorter (10% of 245 being less than 10% of 273), and it'll stretch across Valentine's Day and possibly Easter and my anniversary, but it won't be anywhere near as riddled with traps as this first one was, which braved Hallowe'en, birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!
Even if my rate of loss cuts in half -- which is pretty unlikely -- I should meet that goal and embark on the third in time for summer. And then I'd think the third would be achievable by the end of the year. (That's two 10% goals in 12 months -- I think it's fairly reasonable, given that I did my first one in about 3.)
So those are my mid-range goals: Second 10% by summer, and third (which will have me below 200 pounds for the first time in ten years!) by this time next year.
It's doable. It's a pretty modest goal, even. I just have to stick to it, and keep slowly ramping up my activity level to keep my metabolism from falling into a slump.
I can do it. All it takes is resolve.
If nothing else, the last two weeks have been a shining example to me of exactly why I should not be allowed "off the reservation" for any length of time. Even with the best intentions and the firmest plans, I succumbed to stress eating, and I succumbed to boredom eating, and I succumbed (most insidiously of all) to "well, it was right in front of me" eating.
Time to get back on the wagon.
I'm easing into it, somewhat -- Tonight is hot dog night for dinner, which means I have lots of extra points to play around with, and I have more than enough wiggle room for some snacks and treats.
Unless I screw up royally, there's a reasonable chance that I'll be meeting my first 10% goal next week, and starting my next 10% journey. That one will be almost 3 pounds shorter (10% of 245 being less than 10% of 273), and it'll stretch across Valentine's Day and possibly Easter and my anniversary, but it won't be anywhere near as riddled with traps as this first one was, which braved Hallowe'en, birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!
Even if my rate of loss cuts in half -- which is pretty unlikely -- I should meet that goal and embark on the third in time for summer. And then I'd think the third would be achievable by the end of the year. (That's two 10% goals in 12 months -- I think it's fairly reasonable, given that I did my first one in about 3.)
So those are my mid-range goals: Second 10% by summer, and third (which will have me below 200 pounds for the first time in ten years!) by this time next year.
It's doable. It's a pretty modest goal, even. I just have to stick to it, and keep slowly ramping up my activity level to keep my metabolism from falling into a slump.
I can do it. All it takes is resolve.
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