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Jul 1, 2010

Trying Again

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Hmmm, OK, so I don’t seem to be doing a very good job with this whole keeping track of my weight loss stuff. However, a few things have changed, and I’m ready to keep myself accountable again. And – as every good recovering addict says – and this time, I mean it!

First off, I’m running again. OK, running isn’t exactly accurate. More like walking with periods of jogging so slow that a speed walker could lap me. I decided to start over with the Couch to 5K program, thanks to a little iPhone app that makes it ten thousand times more pleasant by giving me cues while also letting me listen to my own music. My stats so far –

June 14: Week 1, Day 1 of Couch to 5K (C25K from here on out)
June 15: Week 1, Day 2 of c25k
June 18: Week 1, Day 3 of c25k
June 22: Week 2, Day 1 of c25k
June 23: Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred DVD (evil…more on that later)
June 28: Week 2, Day 2 of c25k
June 30: Week 2, Day 3 of c25k

I’m finding I like running more than I did last year. I think it’s because I’m running outdoors, which I’ll admit is more challenging, but also just more interesting as well.

I’m also tapping into all kinds of social media to hold myself accountable. My iPhone app has a “publish to Facebook & Twitter” option. And I signed up at DailyMile. I understand my friends may not be all that interested in knowing that I finished week 2 of c25k, but if it helps me keep going, they’ll have to deal with my constant updates!

As for the 30 Day Shred – while it produced amazing results for me last year, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Shred and my knees are not compatible. Running I can handle, as it is a simple forward motion, but the lateral moves in the Shred leave my knees sore for days, making the next run so much harder. I love ya, Jillian, and I’ll always be a Shredhead, but I have to move on to more knee-friendly ways to get in shape.

The final topic for today: my weight. Go on, take a guess. If you said 187, you and my scale have a psychic connection! Or you’re a frequent reader. Or my scale needs new batteries. Either way, I’m still the same weight, and no running or eating vegetables seems to change that. It’ll come, it’ll come…and maybe I’ll convince myself of that someday, too.

Next week is a harder week – I go from running 1.5 minute intervals to having to accomplish a 3 minute interval. I remember this was hard to do last year, and I have no idea how my body will react this year. Maybe it’ll be the kick I need to finally dip below 187?

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May 19, 2010

The Magic Number Appears To Be 187

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So yet again I’ve let work take center stage and I’ve pushed my weight loss all the way off the stage to the role of director’s water boy. Last month I was working a 9-5 schedule as I went through training for my new job. I thought I did  pretty well with my lunches, packing most days, and eating healthy wraps when I did buy from the cafeteria.

However, I stepped on the scale at the beginning of May, and found myself at 192 lbs. again. Ouch. Not sure how that happened, but I know I don’t like it.

Then at the beginning of May I switched back to night shift and actually my eating habits took a turn for the worse. Trying to figure out when to eat overnight is hard, leaving you snacking all night long. And I don’t always snack on the good stuff, either. I also am far too tired to think of working out at this point. Maybe after I’ve given my body a chance to readjust to being a nightwalker I can start squeezing workouts into my schedule, but for now I just try to take the stairs instead of the elevator and call it good.

Amazingly, I stepped on the scale this week, and found my body has yet again settled back into its favorite weight of 187. I can’t explain how I lost the weight, but I’m not complaining, either.

The plan for the rest of May is to get myself fully adjusted back to a nocturnal schedule. I’m also making efforts to minimize the bad snacks I keep at my desk – more fruit cups, less bags of chips. And since giving up caffeine on night shift is a sure form of career suicide, I’ve instead tried to work a glass of water in-between each serving of coffee or tea.

And working out? Well, I want to do it again. I want to get back into shape for running a 5K. But we’ll see where I can squeeze it in to this already overstuffed schedule.

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Apr 12, 2010

Um, OK, I Suck

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Tofuforyou reminded me the other day that it’s been awhile since I paid any attention to this new little project. I guess it was partially out of shame. You see, my weight hasn’t budged in over a month. On Feb 21, I weighed 187 pounds and today? I’m still exactly 187 pounds.

I’d be proud of my consistency if I wasn’t trying to actually lose weight, not maintain.

So yeah, still much of the same. What’s going wrong? Well, a lot of it is a lack of motivation on my part. Over the past month and a half, I’ve had the stress of being unhappy at my job, then searching for a new job, and then starting a new job. Throw in spring break for the kids, and exercise and eating right have kinda fallen to the side. I know, I know – it’s all excuses.

But I will say one good thing for myself: at least I haven’t gained any weight. Some of the changes I’ve made have stuck with me. I’m still eating smaller portions, still trying to look for ways to incorporate a little extra exercise into my daily life. I take the stairs more, park further away, etc.

I need to get back on track. But I don’t know how to get that motivation back. There’s a 5K being planned at BlogHer this July, and I’d like to run it. At the moment I’d probably collapse before the pack spread out. But I know I can get back to running again, if I can just find the time and the energy to get myself moving.

How do you motivate yourself? I’m open to ideas.

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Feb 22, 2010

Gaining Ground

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I managed to erase the gain I had from Blissdom this past week with a 2 lb loss, putting me back at 187 lbs. While I’m glad for this loss, I’m a little upset that I wasted two weeks essentially going nowhere with my weight, and that my obsession with food got the better of me at Blissdom.

Food and I have a long, sordid history together. My mom was a single mom who worked all the time. While I had a babysitter in the very early years, I soon proved myself to be trustworthy and safe enough to not burn down the house after school until she got home, and so many nights I was alone in the house. This mean dinner often consisted of something easy to make – either a sandwich or something I could reheat in the microwave.

So most nights dinner would be a monstrous plate of reheated spaghetti, reheated mac ‘n cheese, or a ham sandwich with a pile of Doritos as a side. In the summertime, I nearly lived off of the freeze-n-eat popsicles in the heat. And let’s not even discuss how many trips I made to the golden arches. Vegetables and real fruit (as in, fruit that wasn’t already in a can in heavy syrup) rarely touched my lips.

I don’t blame my mom. She worked hard, and had a kid who was a real pain in the ass to deal with. Picky eater doesn’t even begin to describe my eating habits. But somewhere in college I became aware of a whole new world of foods, and suddenly my tastes changed and things I once thought gross were delicious.

Example: I always gagged at rice as a kid (maybe one too many viewing of The Lost Boys?), but now? I love rice. White rice, brown rice, jasmine rice, you name it – rice is yummy. Same is now true for broccoli. And seafood.

My hope is that I can reduce the amount of processed crap that my family eats, so that maybe my daughters will find good foods that they like instead of convenience foods with little redeeming value. Of course, this is no longer the 80’s – when Twinkies ruled the world – and we all care a little bit more about what’s in our food now. I’m sure my mom never would have bought a lot of that junk if she knew then what she knows now.

Here’s hoping to another loss this coming week, and that I can continue to make baby steps to get rid of the majority of junk in my diet.

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Feb 14, 2010

Eating My Way Through Blissdom

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OK, so my weigh-in this week wasn’t fabulous. I gained two pounds. Not a disaster by any means, but still not a welcome sight on the scale.

I can assign some of the blame to the incredible food at Blissdom. While I rarely ate an entire meal that didn’t consist of small bites of food carried past me on a tray, those small bites added up. Truthfully, the alcohol calories probably did more damage than the food.

While I was expecting a little bit of a gain, two pounds was a bit of a surprise. When you factor in that the Opryland Hotel is roughly the size of a small city and required a half-mile walk to get anywhere, two pounds seems a little unfair. I’m sure I burned some calories with all of that walking – sometimes in heels!

So this week’s plan is to get back on track. Drink more water, watch my portion sizes, and all that boring stuff that actually works. I had a great time at Blissdom, but that’s no reason to eat myself back into the 190’s again.

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