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.