Starting over...

Yeah, yeah. We've been hearing this one since like....last November when I got sick.

But for reals this time (I hope). There's too much going on here to even begin to summarize, but I'll try. Lost my job. Working freelance now. The upcoming week promises to be one of the more hellacious weeks I've known in some time. At an agency, that usually spells lots of pizza and late nights. Nope, I can't. I just can't.

What I learned from my own behavior last year (when I lost 24 pounds), is that I really need to plan out everything. Every meal, the whole week's meals. Whatever I can do to make sure the following week doesn't go flying off the rails. For me that meant hitting up the store today (even though I was working from home and didn't even have time to watch my two favorite shows!!!) and getting everything I need to succeed. I prepared pretty much the same meals I took pictures of last year. So tomorrow's menu (and pretty much every weekday's menu this coming week, since I didn't have time for a ton of variety!) is: Breakfast casserole (335 calories), soup (130 calories) and chili (275) for lunch, a snack of cucumbers and hummus (200), and spaghetti squash with sauce, sausage, and cheese (vegan, at at that. I figured I'd give it a shot -- 300 calories).

Total: 1240 calories.

Everything's packed and coming with me to work. I don't want to find I got stuck and have to eat their stupid, delicious pizza!

I also worked out a workout schedule. I'll share that later. And a woman from a local dance studio called me back about a Zumba/Bokwa class that's starting up on Weds. And it's late enough (8:15, that I should still be able to make it over there).

Also, Kelly and I saw Jiliian Michaels on Friday, and she was super inspirational. Lots to discuss there, but she's a big proponent of non-GMO/organic stuff. So my cart today was like 90% organic. We'll see how that goes.

Typically, this kind of grand gesture, "Starting Monday..." mentality for me means having a last hurrah kind of night. But I kept it classy. I had eggs and toast for breakfast (trying to get the last bread out of the house before this started!), then I got sushi and a salad at Whole Foods. Which is a super delicious treat, and maybe I'll make that my grocery day ritual! I also got that Arctic Zero ice cream (150 calories a pint, yo!), so we'll see how that is. But if that's my idea of a last hurrah, we're doing okay.

Okay...bedtime!

Change of plans

A while back, I had put out the call on the fitbit site for people who get a LOT of steps. At the time I was aiming for 20k a week and wanted really motivating people on my leaderboard. I got a lot of new friends, including three people who get 25-30,000 steps per day on average.

That's cool and all, and good for them, but I know that one guy gets that many because he's a distance cyclist, racking up like 100 mile bike rides and such on the weekend. I noticed today that another of these people pretty much does like 10,000 a day, except on the weekends when he does 50,000.

I'm not trying to sound like a quitter here, but that's not for me. And it's not motivating to never have a chance to win. So, I know I said I wanted to be in 5th place on my leader board, but that goal has now changed. I'd like to be 3rd. Because I quietly unfriended those three.

My top three now consists of people who get around 16,000-19,000 a day. I can totally see doing 16, and I could even see myself being in 1st place. So rather than continually feeling like I'm not doing so great, I changed it up!

That is all. Carry on.

188

I'm a little confused, because I started my challenge with my friend at 191. I told her 191, but when I look here, I logged it as 190. So in an effort to err on the side of being conservative, let's call it 190.

In any event, I was an even 188 this morning, so mission accomplished in losing 2 lbs this week.

Also, I got more than 10,000 steps every day this past week, so that's awesome.

I think our next challenge is to log our food every day (and, I assume, lose 2 lbs). We've pretty much been logging already, so it's just a matter of being consistent with it.

I'd like a side-challenge with myself. I'm currently in 10th place on my leaderboard on Fitbit. My 7-day average is 12,194. I'd like to be in 5th place, which is currently held by a Steve A. who has a 7-day average of 14,442. So, stupid weather and all, I'm going to make it happen. Why else did they invent trampolines and  Zumba?

Back again?

I was afraid to look at the scale today, but it was 186,2, which, given the shenanigans last night, is borderline miraculous. The weekends tend to be a little less structured for me, but I will continue to log my food (even when it tends to be embarrassing) and keep up with the walking (I'm hoping to get an extra walk in to offset the shenanigans). Also, Zumba tomorrow morning. It's not the easiest for me to get up early for something optional, but I'll do my best.

I have some work to do from home this weekend, as well as a houseguest overnight on Saturday. I made a pot of soup (baby kale greens, mixed vegetables, mirepoix, mushrooms and veggie stock). It's basically my "fill my stomach with something low calorie and fat-free" staple, and it's also good for detoxing after a particularly bad day or two of eating/drinking. Oh, it has very little salt, too.

So, that's the progress, and that's the plan. The goal was to lose 2 lbs for the week, and so far I've lost 3.8. I'd like to maintain this, if not lose a little more before Monday's weigh-in.

Just checking in...

After yesterday's weirdly surprising weigh-in, I wanted check back. Today was 186.0, so no only was yesterday's real, but I lost another .4 lbs. Awesome. We'll see what happens after tonight's sangria/tilapia francaise-fest.

I'm going to try to drink a ton of water today, and I'm having my english muffin with avocado, but nothing else, except fruit. Hopefully, there won't be too much of a change tomorrow.

Wow...could it be?

Am I really back so soon? It occurred to me after the last time I posted that I should have an anti-blog. Basically a place where I blog about all the stuff I'm doing when I'm NOT writing here. It would talk about pieces of cake I've eaten, or beers I've drank, or elaborate dinners out I've had.

Monday I had just over 10,000 steps, but my partner in crime had more, so on Tuesday I got 15454 steps, and today I racked up 15268. I've been eating under my calorie allotments (per My Fitness Pal and Fitbit) and feeling pretty good. I got on the scale this morning and it was down almost 4 pounds. 186.4. I'm not sure what that was about, and I'm not even sure it will stick, but there you have it.

I'll try to weigh in again tomorrow, just to see if it was a fluke.

Also, tomorrow I'm having dinner with friends, and I'm sure there's going to be some sangria and a dish that has more than a few calories. My plan is to eat half tomorrow and the other half the next day. I'll still log it (no matter how bad it is!) But I'm already braced for it to be a little on the side of high calories. I'll just have to make up for it with more exercise and better choices in the days after.

Once more, with feeling!

I feel like this entire year (all two and a half months of it!) has been false starts and stops. I keep adding things that I think will keep me driven, but something is just...off. There was a period over the last few weeks where I was just not feeling so hot (emotionally) and then I think all the stress took its toll on my poor bladder, because I ended up with a UTI. All the while I've been going to Zumba (mostly regularly), but sort of spinning my wheels a bit.

So, today I weighed in at 190. A friend and I (hi Kelly!) have a little challenge going, where we're going to log 10k steps a day every day this week, and lose 2 lbs. Nothing heroic. Just something to keep us accountable and make it a little fun and competitive. We have a money component to it, too, but we're not sure how that will shake out.

Also, I accidentally (Freudian, much?) removed myself from the challenge where I was to lose 10% of my body weight by April 4. Basically, when it happened, I would have had a month to lose more than 20 pounds. I'm still in it for the one where I have to be 149 by October 4.

Anyway, I went grocery shopping tonight and it looked a little something like this:

I wanted to make spaghetti squash with marinara, mozzarella and veggie sausage. I have to get the string cheese, because it's already portioned out. I can't be alone with cheese in the house that's not portioned. I also roasted some eggplant and some portobellas, and it was a pretty amazing, filling meal for 472 calories.

I got some english muffins, because I like them with avocado on them (don't judge!), and I'm obsessed with the plain Chobani these days. It's got the consistency of cake frosting and the plain has 130 calories (vanilla has 170, which is BS). I add vanilla extract (zero calories) and stevia (also zero calories) and have it with a banana.

I got a couple Lightlife entrees (they're vegetarian and kinda good for you, and low calorie), you know, for my active lifestyle. Bwahaha! And I got some of that TrueLemon stuff sweetened with stevia also, because it makes me drink like 100x more water (which you wouldn't know it from my faulty bladder this week).

So, that's it. I'm going to make some healthier choices and hopefully start seeing some awesomeness happen.

Getting back to normal

And today's weight was 186, so obviously a lot of that nonsense is behind me. But seriously, let's make magic happen today. I'm going for 20,000 steps and some strength training at the gym tonight. I'm going to give a quick run a shot, just to see how far I have to go with that. 

That is all. 

Ooof!

I have to remember to write here all the time, not just when things are going well. This weekend I ate pretty much everything. I'm not going to recap everything (beer, cake, chips), but there was just a lot of food in my path, and I did very little to get out of its way.

Today I got on the scale and was 189. Basically a 6-pound gain just over the weekend. A lot of that can be attributed to post-party bloat, sodium, whatever. But seriously, that's kind of gross. (Actually, what's super gross is that I weighed 197 last night. Really? I gained 14 pounds in a day and a half. Whaaaaat?)

All right, so we're back in track, and moving on with our life. And today's eating and working out (Zumba, followed by trampolining) was spot-on. My Fitness Pal tells me that:

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 168.6 lbs in 5 weeks

Nice!

It works if you work it

So, the month of January was full of ups and downs. I had a bit of stress worrying about some tests and let that distract me. I didn't fully feel the pressure of the contests I've entered. (Dude, there's real money on the line. My money.) But over the past week, I've gotten serious, and even learned that moderation can be a part of "getting serious." There was a good-bye lunch for some coworkers where I made a great choice for lunch (442 calories!), but I also couldn't resist the cheese biscuits (I despise wasting food!) and added 330 calories to my otherwise healthy meal. And there was chocolate cake!

But for the rest of the week, I really pulled it out. Logging all my food (not just when it looked pretty on paper!), and generally being serious about stuff. I had two days this week where I walked more than 20,000 steps (yesterday was 25,000), and I've been going to Zumba 2-3 times a week. And so despite a month of the scale going up, then down, then up, then down, then up again, today, I present you with:

Weight: 183.4
Fat: 36.7%
Water: 46.3%
Muscle: 30.4%

So, not just weight loss, but definite fat loss over last time, and even some muscle gain! Woot!

So, it's February 1. I like February. It's a nice, solid month with exactly four weeks in it. Perfect for getting really serious about one's goals. My friend (Hi, C!! Oooh, I should start calling her Hi-C) is on board for this, too. We're talking about losing 10 pounds in February.

I intend to accomplish this through diligent food logging, weight training and starting to run again. I bought a heart-rate monitor, so I can start to determine whether my working out is actually in the most productive (fat-burning) zone. I got a new pair of running shoes this week, and I'm so excited to get started, that I even woke up early (for me) this morning! So....good luck to everyone else with your goals this month!

Scales

I originally wanted one of those Withings scales or an Aria, but since they run anywhere between $120 and $160 (it's just a SCALE, people!), I had to be a bit realistic. Since the primary feature I was interested in was body fat analysis, I just got a body fat scale for $40 bucks from Target, thanks to an awesome friend for a generous Christmas present.

I compared that scale to my old (regular old digital kind) and the weight was identical last night. Which is why I was a little disappointed when I got on this morning and the weight read 189.2. Because I had been down to 187 on the old scale yesterday morning. Whatever. Out with the old.

So, it also measures water content (I guess for determining WHAT exactly is making you weigh what you do), and estimates muscle percentage.

Without further ado:

Weight: 189.2
Fat: 38.2%
Water: 45.2%
Muscle: 29.7%

So, let's do this for a while and see what the numbers show us. Wheee!

Back again!

I just wanted to come write a quick note about this evening. I meant to pack up all my unhealthy foods (stuff from the holidays/candy/pizza rolls) and send them to live in the freezer of a good friend. I should have done that Tuesday night. But I didn't. 

Today I ate perfectly. I ate everything I planned for yesterday. But before dinner, I got a call from a loved one who needed help with some technology. Said loved one is terrible at technology. It involved calls to help desks, my own laptop crashing, my own cell phone running out of minutes, and other mishaps. Finally, we got through it, but I was sure it was going to end in hysterics, and I wasn't really sure whose they would be.

Afterwards, I reheated my dinner that had been on hold all this time. I ate it, but didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. And after that, I started  thinking about the 2-lb jar of Good & Plenty in my pantry. I started rationalizing how I could just have a handful. But I know that's probably not likely. I told myself it wasn't like I really started the whole regimen today (um, yeah, I did), seeing as how I didn't make 10,000 steps or go to the gym. 

Finally, I just envisioned myself in 4 months getting on the scale and not making the goal of 166.5 pounds. And then I made myself a cup of tea. Granted, the night's not entirely over, but I feel pretty confident that I'm over the whole candy thing for the night. 

Now, to get the stuff out of the house. For reals. 

Getting on this wagon...AGAIN!!!

Okay, so the last plan didn't go quite like I thought it would. I gained another 2 pounds.

The negative side of that, is that I gained back 22 of the 24 pounds I lost.

The positive side is that I lost a total of 2 pounds in 2012. So, if that trend were to continue for the next 3 years, I'd be at my goal weight on my 70th birthday!

In preparation for starting the new year off right, I made some vegetable soup last night, and went onto My Fitness Pal and logged today's food. I planned my entire day of food out in advance, so there could be no surprises. The plan is to continue planning food in advance. Last year, when I lost most of the weight, I was logging the food, preparing it in advance, and making sure I always food with me for work.

So back to that. In order to earn the money on healthywage.com, I will need to have lost 26 pounds by April 4. So, that means 2 pounds a week, and no backsliding and really charging through any plateaus.