My first official weigh-in at the Smart for Life center was this afternoon after work. I made the mistake of picking up the girls from daycare before I went. They were basket cases! Wouldn't sit still for anything, and I couldn't get them to stop. Ugh. So embarassing. I won't be doing that again any time soon.
So my fully dressed, afternoon weight was 216.8, a loss of 2.6 pounds. Yippie? I tell ya, my early morning BAN weight is much more exciting!!
The doctor was in and I asked him about my being shakey before I get hungry. He told me to go ahead and eat my cookies on a schedule instead of waiting until I feel hunger. He also gave me an appetite supressant to help me get through the afternoon/evening hours. Hopefully they help and next week will show a bigger loss. Oh, I forgot to mention that TOM has been playing with me all week. That may have something to do with the "small" first-week loss, but I won't know until next week.
When we got home, the UPS man had delivered my order of Walden Farms products from netrition.com. WF makes "calorie-free" products. I ordered a few different spreads to make my cookies more palatable...chocolate, marshmallow, and caramel. They sell them at the Smart for Life center, but I can get them cheaper (including shipping) online. Tried the chocolate with my banana cookie tonight, and it's not horrible. Not Hershey's or Ghiradelli, but it's not cheap tasting either.
Fluid intake for the day is sitting right at 200 ounces. I forgot to ask about that today. I'll have to remember to do that next week if my ravenous thirst continues.
Day 4
Yesterday was a weird day. The electricity went out at work at 8:30. They let us take a long lunch from 10:30 to noon...then extended it til 1:00, but I was already back when that news came out. The lights came back on just before 1:00, but computers were down until 1:45. My eating for the day wasn't so hot. I had some things between work and dinner that I shouldn't have...a total of 450 extra calories. I don't even know why! My water intake was crap, too...less than 80oz for the day.
Day 5
The scale was kind to me and stayed at 214.6 this morning. After yesterday, I deserved it! I'm feeling much better than I have all week. I am finally figuring out the cues my body is giving me and eating shortly after they begin rather than watching the clock and getting too shaky. I also started taking chromium picolinate again. That seems to help keep my blood sugar from plummeting.
Tomorrow is my weigh-in. I'm actually looking forward to it!
Something's not quite right with me today. I just added up all my liquid intake, and I drank more than 150oz today. How the heck did that happen? These cookies make me want to drink all the time. And not just sip. Between 7:00 and 3:00 I drank 3 cups of coffee (yes, decaf), filled my 20 oz water bottle 5 times, and had a 20 oz Diet Dr. Pepper. Since I got home, I've had a can of Pepsi One, another 20 oz bottle of water and will have at least half of another before I go to bed. This is crazy! I guess the questions are (a) how much is too much? (b) will it continue? and (c) if it does, is it a bad thing? I know there comes a point when you can flush too many nutrients out of your system. I don't want to get to that point.
As for weight, this morning I was at 215.6. Looking forward to tomorrow!
I mentioned in my previous post(s) the leadership seminar that I went to yesterday evening. Although the topic was nowhere near weightloss, many of the same the principles apply. The speaker discussed the concept of the "cycle of acheivement". It is a process that we must go through in order to be successful at anything we do.
The first step in this cycle is vision. Without a vision of where we want to go, we'll never get there. Much like the saying, "He who aims at nothing will hit it every time."
After a solid vision is developed, we can move on to goal setting. Goals should not be willy-nilly. They must be specific. They must be written. They must be measurable, realistic, and provide motivation. Goals must also have a time set in which to be met.
With our goals before us, we can then move on to game planning. In weight loss, this is where we pick our eating plan, choose our exercise routine. As opposed to goals which are set in stone, the game plan is set in sand. Your plan must be rigid enough to hold up, but fluid enough to change when necessary. Your game plan will also prioritize your process. It will help you decide what is the most important aspect at any particular moment.
Now that we have a vision, goals, and plan, it is time to set out working. This is where many of us falter and give up. I've learned that there is no shortcut to success. I have to take responsibility for myself, my actions, and my decisions. Working my program means being consistent and keeping my focus on the goals.
The last part of the cycle of acheivement is seeking counsel. Your own experience is not the best teacher! Other people's experience is the best teacher. We must seek out and learn from those who have been in our shoes with visions similar to our own. EP is a great resource for counsel. There are people from all over the world...of all ages...from all walks of life...on oh, so many different weight loss programs. You might seek councel for a number of reasons:
to gain a bit of perspective.
to make mid-course corrections on your way to success.
feedback on your current work
to be held accountable for your results
to grow personally
Whatever your vision, this cycle of achievement is a good resource for staying on track. The more often we go through the cycle, the better we become.
The weightloss has begun already! As my last post indicated, I started the program yesterday. I was truly amazed at how well the day went. Except for the part where I went to my seminar and forgot my wallet in the car...leaving myself without money to buy a bottle of water. But that was minor and I got through it.
Yesterday, I weighed in at 217.6. This morning, I'm at 216.0. I know a lot of it is water, but I don't care. When that water leaves my body, it stays out as long as I continue drinking enough. These cookies make me want to drink all the time, so I don't see that being a problem.
I woke up this morning with the idea that I need to clean out the upper cabinets in my kitchen to make a place for my weekly cookies. Crazy way to wake up if you ask me!
Anyway, I was out of bed at 7:15. The turkey went in the oven at 7:45...before I even thought about making coffee. So far this morning, I've had one cookie and 3 cups (my favorite mug is 16 oz...shhh) of decaf coffee with Splenda and french vanilla Zilch creamer. The Zilch doesn't lighten the coffee much, but it makes it taste like it has cream in it. I can't do black coffee, and since cream(er) in any other way, shape, or form isn't allowed on the Smart for Life program, it's my only option. Guess I'll be able to live with it. Hey, at least I'm going to have no problem getting all the fluids I'm supposed to be drinking! Only 8 cups are required, but definitely one with each cookie. I've already had nearly 6.
Okay, back on topic. After the turkey went in the oven, I started on the cabinet. Threw away a bunch of outdated stuff and things I don't need in there (like brown sugar and crisco). It's down to vinegars, soy sauces, cocoa, oatmeal, jell-o and pudding mixes in there. I have an entire shelf for my "special" stuff. As soon as I had the space cleared, I opened all my cookies and put them in baggies for each day of the week. I can't imagine eating one kind all day, so I mixed them up.
There's more cabinet (and pantry) cleaning out to be done this weekend. However, I absolutely must get the livingroom and bathroom cleaned first. I have a seminar this evening, and the sitter will be here at 4:00. I hate having her come over to a complete disaster.
My visit with Dr. Seberger was this afternoon. Believe it or not, he had lots of good things to say about my current state. My cholesterol was 113 (42 good, 60 bad...can never remember which is LDL/HDL). EKG was good, all my other blood levels are good/normal. He also said that with the way my fat is distributed (I'm pear-shaped), I'm at lower risk of diabetes, high bp, and heart disease. That's a big relief considering Daddy has type 2 diabetes, and mom has high bp (she's apple-shaped).
We discussed my past dieting efforts, and he was pretty blunt when he said that if I hadn't made all those seemingly fruitless attempts, I'd probably be 400 pounds right now. Unfortunately, I can see that he's probably right.
Food for the week was $75. That also included 2 bottles of Zilch creamer and some BBQ sauce. I won't have to buy many groceries for next week (mostly stuff for the girls). I have lots of frozen veggies, chicken, shrimp and fish. And tomorrow I plan to roast the 14 pound turkey that was my Christmas "bonus" from Learjet. That should give me plenty of food for dinners for a couple of weeks.
Oh, the doctor also told me that if I were to get down to 190, I'd be well on my way to a perfectly healthy life. That was nice to hear, but I have no intention of stopping there. Yes, I'm planning to lose some weight for vanity's sake. Shoot me. I'm going to see how I feel once I get to that point. It's 30 pounds from where I am now, and 20 pounds above my lowest adult weight ever. I might revise my goal a bit. I honestly don't know right now.
Everywhere I look I see people recommiting themselves to "finally" losing the weight this year. Yes, you may count me among them.
I have now had three full years of singledom accompanied by struggle and massive change. It is time to get my life put back together for once and for all. I'm tired of existing. I want to LIVE!
I'm not all about making resolutions, but here are some of the goals I've set for myself:
With the exception of any major health concerns which may arrise, I am committed to the Smart for Life program until I am at my goal weight of 145-150 pounds. Regardless of the garbage I've been feeding my body (and my mind) I DO deserve to be a healthy weight.
I will drink a minimum of 80oz of water or other non-caloric, non-caffeinated beverages each and every day.
I will add an appropriate exercise routine when my doctor recommends doing so...and I will not quit after 2 or 3 days.
I will pay off my van in March and will not look at replacing it or buying a 2nd vehicle until at least August.
I will read a minimum of 2 leadership, self-improvement, business, or other non-fiction books a month.
I will continue to declutter and remove the chaos from my house so it is a more welcome and less stressful place to live.
As I tend to do at the end of every year, I sit here on NYE reflecting on the past year. The ups and down. Successes and failures. Good choices and disasterous ones.
I started the year at 222 pounds...down from nearly 240 the previous year. By April, I was down to 206, but then got bored with South Beach and shot back up to 223 before summer was over. Since then, I've been struggling...big time. I've gotten to 215, but no lower. I've been waivering between 215 and 219 for over a month now. And that's been with taking Alli. Anyway, enough complaining.
On to 2008...and a great year for weight loss!!
I am looking foward to my appointment on Friday and getting started with this new program. Tomorrow, I'll be taking new measurements to record where the year starts.
I have 7 hours left before I leave to get the girls in Oklahoma. There is so much to be done around the house, but I have little to no desire to do any of it. I get so overwhealmed that it's easier to just ignore the disaster than it is to figure out where to start. Last night I took down the Christmas tree and all the decorations. I need to get them back in the storage closet this morning. that will help quite a bit with the living room disaster.
I'm ranting here because if I don't, I'll hit the pantry, and we all know that is the last thing I need. I've been gorging all weekend. It has to stop!! Why do I always do this to myself? I feel as if there's a beast in my head that controls my eating, and I have nothing to do with it. If only it were true. Of course then I'd be labeled as mental...maybe that's not such a good thing. HELP!!!
I have to buy groceries at some point today, too. Milk and fruit mainly. I need to make a list and a vow to stick to it...and go shopping when I'm not hungry. Unfortunately, I haven't been not hungry for days.
Alright...alright. I'm going to get moving. Put decorations and the tree away. Then I have to deal with the rest of the mess in the living room. And my bedroom. My new bedside tables and dresser are in the living room because there's no space in the disaster that is my bedroom. I swear it's enough to drive a sane person crazy...let alone someone who's mostly there already.
Hey, at least I'm going to have no problem getting all the fluids I'm supposed to be drinking! Only 8 cups are required, but definitely one with each cookie. I've already had nearly 6.