Ok, an update is way overdue. And since I'm procrastinating about studying, I'll update everyone on my life!
Weight wise - only eh. I got down to 155.5 lbs on 12/19, but I think that number is artificially low, since I was sick as a dog that week and hardly ate. Then Christmas came and traveling back home, and I basically ate like poop for over a week. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it. Ice cream, Bob Evans omelettes, Chinese food, Christmas candy, whatever. The thing that surprised me is that most of those foods weren't even worth it. The Bob Evans omelette that I had been dreaming about (Farmers Market Omelette, if you must know) didn't taste as good as I remembered it. I should really try to remember that these foods that I have essentially "given up" really aren't worth it.
Anywho, I finally climbed back on the wagon on January 1st (sweated out the wine on the elliptical, let me tell you) and I'll get on the scale on Friday, January 9th to see where I stand. Since Fridays are my WI days, I could have weighed in on Jan 2nd, but I just didn't want to. I wanted a week to detox, drink water, flush out water weight, climb back on the wagon, and hopefully see a number in the 150's. Even if it's 159.5. I just don't want to go back to the 160's. Oh well, we'll see on Friday.
Non weight wise - my life is going great! Nick and I are doing awesome, and he's a freakin' saint for putting up with my healthy cooking everynight and all the time I spend away from him and at the gym. We've talked about getting engaged in the next year(ish) - he just needs time to save up for a ring. (Which is pretty awesome that we're on the same page about timing!)
Oh yeah, and it was my birthday yesterday. I turned 26 - EEK!!! Last year in my "mid-20's"! Yesterday was pretty uneventful, because the Colts were in the playoff game, and of course, they lost. BOOOOOOO. And Nick was sooooooooo upset when they lost. I swear, that boy acts like his dog dies when his teams lose. Anywho, Nick and I are celebrating by going to a nice restaurant tonight. SALMON. I'm getting salmon. Gotta remember to order the salmon and not some juicy steak.
Anyway, happy New Year and wish me luck on Friday!
So I'm posting at the request of noodles, cuz I do owe her. . . .
Right after I got to 158.5 in early October, work exploded. I was working 12 or 14 hour days, working weekends, and I kinda fell off the wagon. Went back to my stress-eating habits, and gained a few pounds. Yikes. Have had a hard time getting back on the wagon, and really struggled with the whole "WHY IS THIS SO HARD - WHY CAN'T I JUST EAT WHAT I WANT - ARGH" attitude.
Anywho, recommitted yesterday. Weighed in at 162, which isn't great but isn't that bad. I mean, it's less than 4 pounds from my low point at 158.5. I know I can get back to the 150's, so I'm committed. I also signed up for a 5 week bootcamp at the Y, and it really might kill me. It starts on Monday, and meets 3X a week. But it involves running up and down the stairs, sucidide sprints, wall sits, push-ups, the whole nine yards. I'm hoping that it'll bust me through this 150's/160's wall that I've been dancing around for so long. And I really think that if I do something so hard like bootcamp, I'll be more motivated to stay within my points and not negate all that hard work with a pint of ice cream. I also started doing Pilates 2X a week, which I'm hoping will make a difference in the inches department.
I also have enlisted some support in friends who are doing WW online (2 people from work, another friend not from work) so I'm hoping to keep a consisten dialogue with them.
Anyway, yesterday went really well, considering it was my first day "recommitted" to my fresh start. I got in Cardio and a Pilates class, so earned 6 AP's yesterday. Went out to dinner with Nick for date night, stuck to Diet Coke and had a plan for what I was going to order beforehands. Even brought my own Fat-Free dressing in my purse. Oh yeah - I've become "that girl" who brings her own packets of dressing in her purse. But only used 2 of my WP's last night (since I had a few bites of Nick's rigatoni) and I am ready to hit my Step Aerobics class this morning at 10:30. I'm ready!!!
So yeah, Thankgiving week is going to be hard (between Thanksgiving itself and then an out-of-town wedding and rehearsal dinner that Friday/Saturday in Chicago, but I'm just going to take it one day at a time, and not worry about it until we get there!
Small NSV - I bought a new dress at Banana Republic last night, and I bought a 10!!! (Nick's firm has a pretty fancy Christmas party ever year, so I needed a new party dress that is cute but conservative. Mission accomplished.) Anyway, I was pretty excited about the 10 at Banana. I had moved down to a size 10 in dresses at Ann Taylor, but it felt really good to be a 10 at Banana too. Imagine - I could be back in single digit sizes again!!!!!
Ok, should probably clean up from breakfast and drink some more water before my Step Aerobics class. Good luck fellow EP'ers!
So I managed to lose another pound this week, so I am officially back down to 158.5. You may notice on my weight chart that I got down to 158.5 last October, and then I started gaining back weight.
This will not happen again. I am determined to keep losing!
This week is going to be VERY DIFFICULT however, but I have a plan. Basically, my most important deliverable for the YEAR is due Friday afternoon, October 10th. So I'm basically going to work both days this weekend, and probably have late nights at work all week next week.
The biggest stink is that I probably won't get to exercise next week during the week. Which is a huge bummer for three reasons: 1) I lose better when I exercise 2) I'm motivated to stay on plan when I exercise ie. don't want to overeat to negate the sweating! 3) I get to eat more, since I generally eat my Activity Points. My week runs Friday to Thursday though, so I started over today with my Weekly 35 points. So I'm going to try to save them, and use them if I need to during the week, cuz sometimes it's hard to just eat 22 points a day.
So anywho, I'm bringing extra Lean Cuisines to work next week, in case they turn into late nights. I figure eating two Lean Cuisines a day is better than working late and having to eat Wendy's or pizza.
I'm prepared. I can do this. Just get to next Friday's weekend without going over my points. Wish me luck!
So it's been almost 6 months since I last blogged. Things that have happened in the last six months:
1) Sold my house on April 30th. At a loss. But good riddance. Seriously - I could not be happier about that decision.
2) Moved in a with a friend for a few months instead of getting an apartment because I knew that eventually. . .
3) Nick and I would move in together. Which we did in mid-September.
4) My weight crept back up to 170.5 by 4th of July. Stress with the house + stress with the job + eating everything Nick does = not good.
5) Recommitted to WW after 4th of July weekend, and have lost 11 pounds in 11 weeks. Am now back in the 150's. =)
6) Am getting better at this "lifestyle change" thing. Finding it easier to cook healthy meals, and try WW recipes. Trying to hit the gym 5 or 6 times a week, which is HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT for me. And am constantly trying to make better decisions when food is not in my control, like tailgates or restaurants or vacations.
7) Have a goal of 10 more pounds by Christmas. Would love nothing more than to get off the plane in Baltimore in the 140's. I haven't been in the 140's since college. This would be HUGE.
Ok, gotta get back to work. But life is pretty good right now. I think it's a good sign when I'm not posting - I'm just busy enjoying my new awesome life. =)
Ok, wow. Didn't realize that I haven't posted in a month. Good lord.
Ok, tons and tons of crap have been going on in my life, thus preventing me from posting. I've been on and off and on and off the wagon, and have been too scared of the scale to get on, per usual. I had an extremely bad week last week in terms of eating and exercising, but I'm back on the wagon. Trying to not cope with food.
Ok, let's be positive and start with the good things first. Nick and I are doing freakin' awesome. We went home to Baltimore a few weekends ago, and things went really well. I kept him busy the entire time, and it was a quick weekend all together. My dad is a typical Dad, so kinda cryptic when I asked his thoughts on Nick, but I think he really likes him. YEAH! My friends really liked him too, and it was so nice to get to hang out with my best best friends in the world AND Nick. We also went to his parents' for Easter dinner, which also went well. I'm convinced his dad loves me, but am still very concious of his mom liking me. Nick claims she does, but I'm still very concious of it. Thirdly, Nick and I have started the conversation about living together in the future. NOT NOW. But in the future. Based on some circumstances though, I think we've landed on the fact that we need six or nine months to get past the 1 year mark and we'll reassess. But both of us agreed that the only thing holding us back at this point is the rational side of us who realize that we've only been dating for 7 months. So we'll reassess at the end of the year and see if it's a good time. Yeah for us!
Ok, on to the stressful things that have been shaving years off my life and tempting me to turn to food for comfort:
1. My job. Good god. I usually post at work, so all of you can see that clearly I'm busy as hell at work. I'm currently doing two jobs and it's damn near killing me. I'm having a hard time working out b/c of it, because I like taking classes that are at set times after work, and a lot of time I'll have a bomb explode at 4:30 and BOOM I'm working until 7 or 8. And I have tried to be a morning workout person, but it's against the grain people. So yeah, dealing with work. Trying not to run to the vending machine. It's a struggle.
2. OH MY GOD - my house and my roommate. So I'm trying to sell my house and it's been on the market for about 9 months. I FINALLY FINALLY got an offer last week, and they finally accepted my third counter offer today. HOWEVER, I am taking a loss on the house. A pretty big loss to be honest. I have been in utter and complete turmoil about this house for the past week since the lowball offer came in, and I finally decided that I just want to cut this albatross off my neck. Bottom line: I can't afford the house by myself (had bought it for me and my fiance - thus two incomes - but broke up with my fiance and have been forced to have random roommates in the house so that I can afford to live a normal life) but I absolutely hate my roommate. Oh wait, but he up and moved out without telling me. Literally, went to work on Monday (3/31) morning and came home after work and he didn't live there anymore. Keys and garage door opener on the counter, tons of trash in the garage and left a bunch of his shit up in his room that I now have to deal with. And I just hate the house. Period. I'm 25 years old and shouldn't be in a 2300 square foot house with a huge yard. I don't want to spend weekends mulching, and mowing and painting, and cleaning and all the other things that come up and I hate. Oh yeah, and did I mention that I drive 45 minutes to work? Each way? Yeah, GET ME OUT OF THIS HOUSE. So yeah, I'm hoping that everything goes well and we close on April 30th per plan. Unfortunately, I'm still dealing with bullshit like the fact that I realized my roommate RUINED the carpet in his bedroom once he had moved out and I don't know if it can be cleaned or I'll need to replace it. Or the fact that an inspector is going to come this week and I have NO IDEA what he's going to find and how much money it will cost to repair. But at the same time, the idea of getting out of this house makes me happy.
Good thing: I have a friend with a house who I'm going to move in with for six months. He's going to let me pay 500 a month to just pretty much store my stuff there and sleep there a few nights a week. (Clearly, I'm spending most of my time at Nick's now.) I think I can save A LOT of money if I'm only spending 500 a month for rent/utilities. I mean, I'm pretty sure my three bills will be: $500 rent to my friend, $50 cell phone bill, $60 car insurance and $40 for my couches that I'm financing at 0% interest. That's it. That's a lot for me to save a month. So yeah, that's good.
So please please please: pray that I can get this carpet cleaned and that I don't have to replace it. Pray that the inspection goes well this week. Pray that the closing happens on April 30th. And pray that I can finally cut the albatross. Oh yeah, and pray that I don't eat my weight in chocolate in the next 30 days.
Hey all - realized it's been awhile since I blogged, so thought I would catch you all up. I did not WI last week since I had had such a bad week off-plan, but I do plan to WI this Thursday morning. This week has been pretty good for the most part. After taking almost a week off from the gym, I've been consistently going to the gym since Wednesday, and finally got a kick-ass session of BodyPump in last night. Woo - am I sore! I made a huge Crockpot of Pork & Three Bean Chili (a WW recipe - pretty good and 5 points per serving) over the weekend, and was good about putting all 10 servings into 10 Tupperware containers for lunches/dinners. Weekends are still a struggle with me, especially with Nick and eating out, etc... Anyway, like I said, I'll WI on Thursday morning no matter what, and I promise to update the EP world.
Nick and I are actually flying to Baltimore (my hometown) this weekend so that he can meet my parents and two of my best friends who still live there. We're going to be eating out almost every meal, so it'll be a struggle to make good choices. But I'm committed to progress, not perfection!
So I'm sitting in my bed with my laptop (again - best way not to late-night snack for me is to put a floor between me and the refrigerator!) and feeling a bit better. I stayed on plan today with my points, and got to the gym. I got my new HRM (scroll down for the link) and I'm in love with it. I did an hour on the elliptical and aimed to stay between a HR of 137 and 156. (According to the max HR formula of 220 - age, which translates to 220 - 25 = 195. Then I wanted to be in the cardio zone (70% to 80% of Max HR, which translates to 137 and 156 for me). I was constantly checking my watch, and upping my speed when my HR started to fall. Definetely kept me motivated. I struggled to do an entire hour, but I got through it. When I checked my calories burned (I had to put my weight into the watch so that it would calculate calories) it came out with 992!!! So I did a bunch of crunches so get those missing 8 calories!! But seriously - could I possibly have burned 1000 calories in an hour? That's kinda insane. When I put "elliptical - high intensity - 60 minutes) into the WW Activity Point Calculator, I only get 8 AP's (which is roughly 800 calories.) So I decided to only count 8, since I figure it's better to be conservative about my AP's.
So tomorrow: going to be a challenge to stay on plan, but I'm going to do my best. Embarassing fact about me: I've never done my taxes before. My dad did mine while I was in high school and college, and last year I paid an accountant to do them (waaaaaay too complicated year to learn: in school for half the year, 4 W-2's in 2 different states, moved for a job, bought a house, student loan interest, etc.) So I was complaining about how nervous I was about doing my taxes this year at work, and my boss offered to have me come over to his house one night and he'd help me do them. HOW AWESOME IS HE. So that's what I'm doing tomorrow after work. So that blows my usual Thursday night BodyCombat class plans. So I'm going to get up early tomorrow and exercise before work. YUCK. But I'm really really still mad at myself for skipping so many days of cardio, so this is my punishment.
And on top of it, my boss is on the South Beach diet, so he only cares about carbs, not calories and fat. So I might bring another Smart Ones and eat it before I go over to his house. And bring a snack or two in my purse. I just don't want to be derailed because I'm going over to his house after work. Luckily, he knows that I'm trying to lose weight too (the WW way) so he's not going to be weird if I bring my own food. And then I just need to resist the Snickers ice cream at Nick's afterwards. SUGAR FREE POPSICLE. That's why I bought 'em and put them in his fridge - so that I could make a healthy choice!
Side note: 4 out of the 5 people I work with are doing South Beach. It's kinda annoying. I mean, there's some good things about it. Clearly, we're all trying to lose weight, which is cool. And none of us want to the Girl Scout cookies or Easter candy around. But all they care about is carbs!! One of my coworkers has already lost 50 pounds in six months from South Beach! But I'm convinced that WW is a better lifestyle change for me, and I don't want to do a "fad diet" where I cut out entire food groups and can't enjoy a simple sandwich. But sometimes it feels weird to be the only one who cares about calories and fat. But whatever.
Double side note: I think I'm finally going to come clean with Nick about trying to lose weight. I've tried to tell him "I'm trying to eat healthier" and just lead by example, but he's still all "Let's order pizza tonight" or "I have a great idea: Snicker's ice cream". ARGH. I love the kid to death, but GOOD LORD - I do not have the metabolism of a bumblebee like SOME PEOPLE. So I think I'm going to have to say that I've gained a bit of weight, want to take it off, and need to have healthy choices for awhile (or forever). So can he order pizza on the night that I'm not there? Or can we go to Subway instead of Qdoba? Or do you care if I go next door to Subway if you really want Qdoba? I think I just need to lay it all on the table. I'm sure he's going to do a bunch of "But you don't need to lose weight!" so I'll need to figure out what to say to that. Feel free to give me any pointers!
And thanks for the two comments on my last post. It really really helps to know that there are supportive people out there reading my blog! Hopefully I can return the favor!!
I don't really want to get into it, but I've been giving in a lot since Friday. Milk duds at the movie theatre, pizza on Sunday, Girl Scout cookies, candy, you name it. I even ate a doughnut yesterday. A DOUGHNUT. And I also have been skipping the gym like crazy. WTF. Why am I falling off plan so severely?
So frankly, I don't want to get on the scale tomorrow morning. I am way too scared. I'm back on plan today, and heading to the gym tonight.
UGH - just really frustrated with myself that I've been giving in so much. =(
OK, considering I screwed up big time last night, I'm OK with my loss of 0.5 pounds this week. I had been hopeful that I had made up for my Sunday ice cream-fest with all my exercise this week and good point behavior. . . .until last night.
I went to a step aerobics class and then picked up Nick to grab a quick bite to eat before going up to my house together (Nick lives downtown and we both work downtown and I live in a suburb about 35 minutes north of downtown, so we carpool when he stays over during the week.) We went to Noodles & Company, which I love love love. Well, since I was starving, I got a regular sized Penne Rosa (substituting whole grain linguine for the normal penne pasta) with shrimp and extra spinach. I thought I was doing a decent job, even though I knew I probably should get a small. But I had just excercised! So today, I log on today to look at the nutritional info, and CRAP CRAP CRAP - my meal last night was 20 freakin' points!!!! I had no idea it would have been that bad - CRAP CRAP CRAP. And naturally, I had another chocolate VitaTop last night after dinner because EVEN CRAPPY CHOCOLATE IS CHOCOLATE. So my dinner and late night snack was 21 points last night. As a point of reference, I get 23 WW points A DAY. CRAP.
So I'm grateful that I lost a half a pound this week, even with two major misses (Sunday night and last night).
So yeah, for those out there who like Noodles & Company as much as me, order these instead:
Trio: Small Japanese Pan Noodles with Shrimp and Tossed Green Salad with Fat Free Asian Dressign - 8 WW points
Trio: Small Bangkok Curry with Shrimp and Tossed Green Salad with Fat Free Asian Dressing - 7 WW points
ARGH - I'm so mad that I ordered a 20 point entree instead of a 7!
So anyway, challenges I face this weekend:
1. Eating with Nick. Always a challenge to do portion control. Especially when he eats like a wildbeast and still stays a slim 150. Um yeah, have I mentioned that my boyfriend is 5'10'' and weighs around 150? He has no idea that I weigh a good 15 pounds more than him. Nor will he ever.
2. I'm going to a get drinks with Nick's parents tomorrow night. Will need to reserve 4 points tomorrow so that I can have 2 glasses of wine or 2 beers. NO MORE.
3. SATURDAY NIGHT. We're going to a Butler University basketball game at 5 PM, and going out afterwards. I may just tell him that I want to drive, and that way I can keep my beers to a minimum. I'm not that excited to go out at all to be honest, since I don't want to feel pressured to drink (not my Nick, but possibly by his friends) but I really really really want to lose weight. I also don't want to drink in a ton of points, and then feel like POOP the next day.
I'm hoping that I can lose see a bigger loss next week, like a pound or more. None of this half pound or maintain stuff. I want to see a real loss! I've been working out like a fiend - I deserve it!
But it's really helping me to blog at night in my bed instead of hang out downstairs near the fridge!!!
BTW - I have absolutely decided I am not ordering Vitalicious again. On top of my earlier comment about them not really being worth how expensive they are. . . . I remember now why I don't keep any chocolate in the house. BECAUSE I WILL EAT IT ALL, regardless of how good/not good it is. I ended up having 3 Peanut Butter Chocolate Vitatops in a row!!! Luckily, they ended up being 5.5 points altogether, so I still stayed within my daily points. And I did an hour on the elliptical again tonight, still in the fat burn zone. I can't really get in the cardio zone if I'm reading a magazine on the elliptical, but I get too bored without one. Anyway, very excited about getting my HRM!!!
This is the Heart Rate Monitor I bought - in case you were wondering. I wanted one that would display carlories burned and the customer reviews sounded good. I'll be sure to give you the 411 when I get it in the mail.
Oh, and one more thing! My health insurance plan covers a weight loss program through plan!!! I get assigned to a personal weight loss coach, and we have phone consultations every two weeks. I got all this info in the mail (big workbook, a pedometer, a few worksheets to fill out about goals, etc..) and I'm super excited. And the best part? I set a weight loss goal with my counselor next week, and if I reach it, I GET A HUNDRED BUCKS!! Ok, granted its 100 bucks in my health savings account (like Flex health savings) but it's still a monetary reward!! So yeah, I talk with her next Thursday morning (Feb 27th) so I'll let you know how it goes! I'll be interested to hear her take on realistic goals for me.
PS - I heart American Idol. A lot.
PPS - I clearly love my boyfriend entirely too much because I keep checking the score for the Indiana vs. Purdue basketball game. Nick is an IU alum (twice technically - both undergrad and law school) and I know that he'll be DEVASTED if IU loses. So I keep checking. Good lord.
