Perspective

Perspective. I gotta remind myself to keep things in perspective.

So I started writing a post today with how frustrated I am that my progress seems so slow. I've lost 16.2 lbs in just over 2 months. I felt that the last time I joined Weight Watchers the weight was melting off, and that this time it feels like it's sneaking off...

And then I went back to my blog of June 2008. I had started WW on April 20, 2008, so June 25th was roughly the same time frame of my blog today.

And you know what...I had lost 16 lbs. And I was so thrilled by it!

I think the biggest difference between then and now, is I was already noticing changes in the way my clothes fit, in the way my body and face looks...I was starting at a much lower weight, so I think those pounds meant more...but still...it's the same 16 pounds.

This really does put a new perspective on where I am and how this process is going.

I do struggle with the fact that I'm not seeing more physical changes...my clothes are a little better fitting, but not everything. My face isn't quite as round, but not noticeably. Some days I feel strong and sexy, and other days I still feel flabby and disappointed. It's these things that get me hung up on my progress. But I also know I'm making major changes to my life that are meant to be permanent.

Perspective.

Here's some positives that I can celebrate.

• I started running again...well run/walking with the #c25k program. For the first time in more than 2 years I feel strong enough to throw in those intervals and keep going.
• I do have more energy overall--I'm not reliant on coffee in the mornings anymore, and I'm not as exhausted at the end of my long days on my feet.
• I have been tracking my food consistently!
• I have been getting a sh*t ton of activity points, often going out of my way to get to a goal
• I joined a gym to have someplace to workout when the weather sucks
• I'm cooking!! I don't cook. This is monumental.
• I'm craving the fresh healthy foods. I'm not even really tempted by the fatty junk food anymore...well at least not often. And when I do eat it, I'm eating less.
• I LOST 16 LBS!!! 
• And I'm still doing it! I haven't successfully stayed on plan since I first started so this is major. Two months later and I'm still going strong! Even if I'm in the turtle club :)

It goes to show what these small changes can really do. Consistency is key. For those of you out there who are struggling, let's do this. Keep it up. Keep going. Don't let little stumbling blocks stop you in your tracks. Just keep swimmin'. 

And keep perspective.

Back in...

...the Saddle
(That could totally be me...if...I rode...horses)

Good Afternoon to all you lovely friends of the blogosphere! I hope you're enjoying your day. I certainly am. I spent my morning at Bloomingdales...for work. Could it get any better?

Okay--back to the topic at hand. I am back in the clichéd saddle. I finally went running last night and it felt great. After 45 days of not doing any exerted exercise other than walking, I finally just got up and did it. And granted I probably should have started off a little slower than I did (I ran most of the 2.5 miles), I pushed through some of my usual struggles including breathing issues, side cramps and leg fatigue and I did it. And I'm going to do it again tonight. Even with the heat during the day, it cooled down nicely by 9pm and it was perfect for running. Plus my apartment was a sauna so it was actually nicer to be outside.

My energy level was high yesterday--and I was ready to take full advantage of it. If that wasn't enough, my meeting last night was another driving factor--both positive and negative.

Negative first.
I had another gain. It was only .4 lbs, but being that this was the 3rd week in a row I've gained (which has not happened to me ever since I started WW), it was a slap in the face. I need to start making changes. I can't skirt by as I'd been doing for a while with the bare minimum expecting to see results. I won't go into details about the negatives of last week because I don't want to dwell on them*. Moving forward...

The positives:
The meeting topic was about getting off track. My leader specifically talked about Plateaus, but it was entirely appropriate to what I've been going through the past few weeks--addressing why you aren't losing weight. Lack of focus, getting sloppy, monotony etc. I don't know if it necessarily enlightened me on anything, but it did reinforce the fact that I need to take control of this before it gets out of hand.

Even more helpful was after the meeting, my leader came up to ask how I was doing & we started talking about helping me get back on track. Just talking about it seemed to get me back in the momentum. AND one of my fellow meeting members came up and asked me about how I lost my weight. I have to admit I probably was a bit of a Debbie Downer because I was still a bit cranky about gaining, but I tried to give her some of my tips (basically everything that I wasn't doing for the past month). Next week I plan on being a little more helpful to her. So all of this, plus the fact that I felt like I was finally getting my head together to get back on track really helped to motivate me and give me back that positive spirit I'd been missing.

Looking back...
Even though last week didn't go as well as I'd hoped, there were some positive improvements:

• I tracked...most** of my food--on WW.com and in my work planner
• I brought my lunch every day. Home made is always better.
• I walked at lunch during the nicer days. Hey it was a start right?
• I hydrated! Boy did I ever. Bathroom trips were frequent.
• I limited TV, at least at the beginning of the week. I didn't necessarily take that time to do something productive, but even going to bed was better than sitting there mindlessly.
• I did not drink unnecessary alcohol--only on the weekend at two parties--and that was also limited.
• I started practicing a new habit (mentioned at Losing My Thighs) of putting my food down between bites to be able to savor the taste and slow down eating. When I am conscious of it and practice it, it actually works! It makes food last longer too. Point in case-my chocolate chip cookie is only 1/2 eaten 10 minutes after I started it! Chances are I won't be wanting a 2nd one.
  
• Even though I had a rough week last week, my obsessive blog-browsing got me psyched again for moving in the right direction.

*Note to self-don't fall for two-for-one deals on snacks. Like Goldfish. They're evil.
** Most of my food...weekends still tend to get lost in the shuffle. Don't know if I'll ever get past that.

So here's to a fresh week of conscious efforts to get back in the saddle and keep on riding!
Until next time

Flatlining

I didn't post this last week, but I had a gain of 1.8 lbs which I figured was coming w/TOM bloating and cravings. Knowing I was going to lose most of that this week I wasn't too worried about last night's weigh in. And for the most part I was right-I was down 1.6 which means I am .2 above where I was two weeks ago. It's not all that significant, but it is showing that I haven't really been putting the effort into keeping my portions in check and keeping my activity up.

This week I am on a mission to lose that 1.2 lbs to bring me down to 195 and be able to finally treat myself to that manicure.

Now that my TOM is over, I have a ton more energy than I did for the past couple of weeks. I exercised Saturday & Sunday, and yesterday I went for a walk. Tonight I plan on doing the BL DVD before I go out to the movies. I'm hoping to use this energy for good, and break out of this wave of plateau-loss.

My weight tracker currently looks like this:
Flat. Very Very Flat

It's still in a downward motion, but compared to when I first started, it looks like I'm going nowhere. I'd like to change it to a slightly steeper slope. And I think with my additional exercise that will start to happen!

Here's to No-flatlining February! And to my manicure - NEXT WEEK!!

Until next time

Written in the stars

In keeping with last week's horoscope theme, my horoscope yesterday was:

This is a good time for you to embrace positive thoughts -- broadcast your hopes.

So I went to yesterday's meeting and after finding out that I lost .5 lbs (not bad), I sat for the meeting for the first time in over a month.

The discussion was based on Positive thinking. How negative thoughts come about & how they affect your weight-loss efforts and then how to turn them around into positive thoughts.

It was interesting. Although negative thoughts aren't really my downfall - I'm usually a pretty optimistic person in terms of keeping myself motivated - it was good to listen & discuss, and recognize some of the subconscious negative actions that might be affecting me.

Like holding on to my old clothes...just in case. Even giving myself that option is toying with the thought that I will gain the weight back at some point, that I can't keep to it. My reasoning for keeping my old clothes is more that at some point I will get them altered to save on shopping for new clothes. But I'm still allowing for that possibility. (I just can't bring myself to get rid of clothes...ever. But boy am I glad I didn't get rid of clothes that were too small!)

Another negative thought that I've had creep into my head is the "all or nothing" mentality. I'm doing good, I slip up & have those fries...and then it's all downhill for the rest of the day...or week. Or I plan for exercise, and then something happens and I can't do a full hour, so I do nothing. That's something that I do find myself doing. Even 10 minutes gets me doing something. Even if I have those fries, that doesn't mean I have to have the chocolate too.

Anyway--I'm still working on my own re-framing. It occurred to me yesterday that since April I had been working with my brother's wedding and looking good in that dress in mind. And now the wedding's done with. So I technically have no winning outcome left to work for--which of course isn't true...I am still motivated to lose the weight, but I have to come up with another specific winning outcome to work towards and the motivation behind it.

I'll ponder that and get back to you :)

Until next time