New month, new post, new start...

It's November. One of my least favorite months...those late fall days when the colors fade as the leaves fall, when it gets dark earlier each day, any time it rains the cold & damp soak through to your bones...

In other words, it's depressing.

So I guess it's a bit contradictory that I'm choosing this time of year for a starting point for getting back on the weight-loss wagon.

So why am I doing it?
1. I can't fit in my clothes comfortably anymore...and not in the good way. (I've had to dig into the "fat" clothes box)
2. After accomplishing 2 half marathons this spring, I could barely finish a 5k last week
3. Rolls, handles and tires should be on a car (shh) ...not on me.
4. I. Feel. Like. Crap.
5. I'm paying $40 a month on Weight Watchers and $30 on a gym...and I'm broke. You do the math.

Tonight I went to Weight Watchers for the first time since July. In four months I gained almost 14 lbs. WHATTHEFLOCK?

I knew it was bad, but the number was shocking. All in all, I've gained close to 30 lbs...IN THE PAST YEAR. Again...WHATTHEFLOCK?? Every time I tried to restart my engines, my head, laziness, potato chips something gets in my way. And it's just gotten me further and further from my goal. But it's got to change. For my health, my sanity, and my overall well being.

I won't go into any more sob stories, but I am setting up the following goals:

• To blog weekly. My schedule probably won't allow daily posts, but I can certainly aim for 3x a week. When I first started at WW, this blog really helped to keep me motivated and to hold myself accountable. Since I'm starting from scratch, I am committing to blogging again. And speaking of starting from scratch...goal #2
  
• Go back to basics. Re-read the Weight Watchers materials, follow the weekly plans, and take it step by step. Set goals and reach them, and evaluate progress both good & bad.
• Put myself first. My health needs to be a priority. My daily choices need to reflect that, and I am in control of those choices. Figure out what I need to do to be successful (like planning ahead, scheduling exercise...) and then do them.
  
• Persistence, not perfection. This is something which came out of my meeting tonight. It struck a chord with me. Despite all my missteps along the way...I haven't completely given up. I am still trying. Which means that this persistence will pay off.

Hope there are still some of you out there...I could use your support more than ever!

Until next time

The plan...it's WORKING

"it isn't enough to WANT to meet your goal, it take blood, tears, and sweat to ACHIEVE your goal."-whomever Megan stole it from...

Well, things are moving swimmingly in the right direction with the new Weight Watchers Points Plus program. Last night's weigh in had a loss of .8lbs which may not seem significant but it is for three reasons

• I actually ate before my weigh in last night (just a 1/2 sandwich but still)
• It's PMS week...I always gain during PMS week
• Two big dinners in a row this weekend and I still lost.

I'm proud of the .8 lbs. And I took that to the gym afterward and jogged 4 miles.

So I have not mentioned that I am in training for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in May. It's the same one I did last year which I ended up walking all but the last 3 miles. This year, I'm preparing for it though. And I'm doing it through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. You raise money for them, they will train you for an endurance event. It's pretty cool and a great group of people. You get assigned a coach, and a mentor who will help guide you through the process. as well as an honored person--a cancer patient or survivor--to help inspire you and share their story as you raise money.

The official training doesn't start until January, but this week I had my first run with my mentor and a group of women also training for a race. I was nervous because I had just started running again and didn't know how I'd fare with a group of people. Surprisingly it went really well and I was able to keep up. It was a reasonably cold and sunny day and we went to a nearby college to run. We did 3 miles and it was great. It was definitely a slow jog but made me feel better about being able to do this. My mentor Melissa is really nice & along with a couple of other mentors, made it a fun experience. Who knew?

Anyway--here are my successes of the week:

• Tracked 5/7 days (and sort of tracked over the weekend)
• Stayed within my points all but Fri/Sat/Sun
• Earned 26 activity points with 3 days of running
• Was able to run 3 miles consistently without too many breaks
• Made some great food choices (like passing on pizza for a better lunch, snacks like Greek yogurt & berries to keep me satisfied, lots of fruit!, paid attention to portions...)

And my goals for this week:

• Run 3x (four if possible, at least one day outside); 3-4 miles each
• Keep tracking
• Focus on getting in all healthy guidelines each day (water, fruits & veggies, milk, oil, protein, whole grain, exercise).
• Plan out obstacles for week & how to get around them
• Start to incorporate strength training workouts

This week's meeting topic was planning ahead for obstacles such as holidays, holiday parties, office treats, etc...What have you done or what can you do to plan ahead for your obstacles?

Until next time

Come together right now...

This week's ever changing motivation is brought to you by: my (ridiculously amazing) relationship.

Ah, motivation.

It comes in all sorts of forms, from the "I've had enough of not fitting comfortably in a theater seat" type of motivation to the "Oh, Zumba...that looks like fun--I can do that..."

It's how we stick with things that we want to accomplish that matter.

My boyfriend read my post from a couple of weeks ago regarding the Chinese food incident. (I LOVE YOU!)

I guess reading what I was feeling struck a chord with him and he decided both for his health and my goals to make a plan for himself to rid his body of the bad foods & start from scratch with healthy foods and exercise. In addition to him losing weight with this process, he'll be supporting me in my efforts.

This not only made me happy for him and his health, but it encouraged me to put my best foot forward and keep on pushing towards my goals.

Two weeks ago I had my amazing plan. And I stuck to it--for the most part. I had to rearrange some workouts, but I stuck to meals pretty well. There were a few poor food decisions on my part, and a minor emotional break down on that Sunday when I didn't complete my workout schedule as I'd planned, but overall it was fine. But then I gained 2.4 lbs. Almost entirely because of Aunt Flo (also cause of the breakdown) so I should not have been discouraged, but the following week I did a complete 180 and had a workout-free eating fest on Monday followed by several days of poor food choices. Hence the not blogging for a week.

On Saturday my friend and motivator Fit Chick Megan came to town for the day and we went out together to work out. We did about 3 miles of jogging/walking together and it felt great to get back into the game. While she went off to camp for a week where she efficiently mapped out a jogging course and plans to strength train (using kids for dumbbells), I used that as motivation to get back into my planning game.

So all these elements have come together this week to motivate me to get on track and stay on track. With the boyfriend and I working together to plan healthy meals and strengthen ourselves together and Megan around to keep motivating each other to push ourselves to Fitness, I have a feeling this is going to be a good week.

Share with us! Who or what pushes you to keep going? How do you collaborate to keep going?

Until next time

Blame it on the rain!

Okay, I can't blame it on the rain, but I gained 1.4 lbs this week. Not thrilled.

I can blame it on Sunday's post-theater feast of REALLY good Italian food, brownies, and a special appearance by the singing ice cream man...

I can blame it on the time of the month.

I can blame it on going over my points at the beginning of the week and then not regulating the rest of the week to make up for it.

But I won't. I will just move full steam ahead and keep doing all the GOOD things I've been doing this week. Like tracking & eating my healthy foods & exercising.

And I will try NOT to royally screw it up this weekend for the birthday celebrations...

Until next time

Ms. Mojo Risin'

Okay. So last week...um...not so great.

I was fine until Thursday. Which from Tuesday isn't really an accomplishment.

Thursday hit and I was dragging. I didn't get to the gym in the morning. My lunch was o-kay, and after choir rehearsal I made the fatal mistake of going to the supermarket--and stocking up on crapola. Vienna fingers on sale? SURE! Pop Chips 2 for $4??? YES! They're low-points!

Seriously Julia. WTF. You should know better. I spent $15 on food that was not good for me (I did get milk though). The rest of the week was pretty terrible in terms of eating. And I didn't get to the gym after Wednesday. I did go running outdoors on Saturday--but that was after lying around all day catching up on TV shows. Did I go running when it was sunny & bright? Nope. Went after dark when it was bitter cold.

Anyway--this week is better. Despite all my efforts (lack thereof), I did manage to lose 1.4 lbs. When my leader weighed me in, I swore she said .4. I'm like--okay--well, that makes sense, and I guess exercise was the only reason I didn't gain. But when I looked at my book, I saw the extra 1 lb there and was in shock. Well for a previous week gain of .6 after all my hard work, I guess it does make sense, but whatever--I'll take it.

So now I'm fired up again. Whether it has to do with the nice loss, or just a general rise in ambition, I'm happy for it. I was really dragging last week.

Today I did make it to the gym and really made the most of it. I have two weeks left until my 5k and I needed to up my mileage. I've been running about 2miles consistently, so today my goal was to push myself to the 3 mile mark & I did it! Even 3.1 (the actual 5k distance). I did stop a few times, but for my first time at that distance, I'm pretty proud. And when I say first time, I seriously have never in my life run three miles, so this is a pretty big accomplishment. I have high hopes for the race on Feb 7th.

I just have to keep up with the training, working on increasing my endurance and speed. Though I don't really care what time I finish with, I do want to do my best. I don't know how I would have done this in the spring/summer--I certainly was not able to run even 2 miles consistently.
Anyway--I decided to start another blog called Live to Fit to Live for my fitness training--particularly running. Even just to log reps & distance/time so I can keep this blog more of a weight loss blog. Obviously my running and training is a part of weight loss, but that blog is more for the nitty gritty-especially once I start training for the 1/2 marathon.

To Eat or Not to Eat
Last night at my meeting, we talked about emotional eating, how we know when we are actually hungry, and why we eat when we're really not hungry. Sound familiar? We all do it. (Weight Watchers article here) Anger, loneliness, stress, BOREDOM (me), time of day, etc. So we were challenged to ask ourselves when we overeat, why we overeat, and what can we do to replace overeating. Our task is to come up with 10 alternatives to eating from these emotions.

So that will be my next blog topic. Tune in & feel free to make a list with me!

Until next time

Dec Week One Results & Week 2 Goals

Well, my hard work paid off. I happily got on the scale and heard 2.4 lbs from the WW receptionist.

So now I'm back to 188.2

I have three more weigh-ins in December. To get back down to 180, I'd have to lose almost 3lbs each week. So since that is not going to happen, my goal for the end of December is to just not gain. Doesn't matter if it's .2 or 2.2 loss. I just don't want to see that graph bar go up this month.

I had three weeks of gains before this loss. Basically since the summer it has been two or three weeks of gains, followed by one or two weeks of loss, followed by two or three weeks of gains...definitely opposite of what it should be.

I talked about this to my leader last night...My first year and a half of WW wasn't necessarily easy, but I would have three good weeks and one bad week a month. Now it seems it's three bad weeks and one good week. Her suggestion was to find that thing; that motivation. What got you in the door isn't necessarily the same motivation as now. I don't know if I have a specific motivation like many others, but I do have goals. Number goals (like I want my freakin 50 lbs back!! and to be in the 170s), and non-number goals (size 12 pants? to run a 5k, to wear a bikini...).

So I guess part of the challenge is figuring out what I really want, why I really want it, and kicking myself in the ass enough so I keep going towards it. Something that I can keep reminding myself of when I reach for the extra portion or even think about loading a bag of chip-like substances into my shopping basket.

Anyway--my goals for this week...

Food goals: Increase water intake. Stay within daily points 3/7 days. Limit night time snacking to one (portion controlled) item. Keep meeting healthy guidelines. Plan meals, bring from home. Track 5 days.
Challenges: The weekend. Going out to dinner on Friday, possibly going out on Saturday. Just need to be aware of what I'm eating. Also my fridge is on the empty side for bringing lunches & making dinners & I really can't spend too much to replenish it until I get my next paycheck...must improvise (such as steal food from parents house).

Exercise goals: Kicked ass last week--keep it up. At least 30 minutes moderate activity each day, 14 APs. Ice skating this weekend.
Challenges: There shouldn't be any. I have time each day to do something--just need to make sure I do it.

Okay--that's all for now. Gotta finish up work & then go home & work out!!

Until next time

Random Tuesday = Random Post

Today has really been quite the random day for me.

From an arrival of a clothing order I was just thinking about to a new neighbor moving in this morning to a volunteer I hadn't heard from in months stopping by the office to see me...it feels like something is stirring in the karmic atmosphere.

Anyway, this post may be quite random as well so I apologize now :)

I didnt' weigh in last night because I went down to the city to see a show w/mom. I had a great dinner & the show was excellent. I may go tomorrow evening if I can, but I'm kind of dreading it because I ended up having a very bad week last week. I should probably just suck it up and go, but I'm kind of hoping I'll do better this week & see the results on Monday.

On that same note, I've been fitting in more exercise the past couple of days. Small stuff, but hey, it's stuff I wasn't doing before, so it's a positive thing. I decided to try to fit in a 2x/week workout on the steps in my office building. There's five floors. If I climb steps for 5 min 2x/week at the end of the day, I can fit in an extra activity point especially as the weather gets crummy to walk outside. And I can build myself up from 5-10 minutes (cuz I abhor stairs, so I'm going to take it slow at first) and in no time my legs will be in fantastic shape. :)

Last night I had a victory over food. I got home from the city. And I immediately went into the kitchen. Looking in teh fridge. Looking in the cabinets. but then I stopped myself. Why? Am I hungry? No. It just felt like I needed to do that, to eat something. But it was 11 o'clock, I was about to go to bed, and I'd already had my dessert for the night. There was no good reason to eat anything. Even something low point like popcorn would have completely defeated the purpose since there was ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO EAT ANYTHING. So I didn't. I walked out back to my bedroom. And then I picked up one of the two remaining chocolate bars from my stage managing gift. I took off the outer wrapper. But then I put them down. I went back in the kitchen again. And then I turned around and shut off the light. And it was done. I can't believe I actually had that tug of war with myself, but the better side won and I am so proud of that.

Speaking of kitchens, I finally painted my kitchen on Saturday--a lovely shade of bright blue/green...Aruba Blue to be exact. It's gorgeous and makes my kitchen a bright & cheery place to be. A kitchen where I'd want to cook healthy fun dishes. And host parties. And try out recipes. I love it :)

I tried planning out food for my week, but I have yet to go food shopping and I will be out of the office on Thursday to be able to bring my lunch. I'm still enjoying my soups.

This weekend I'm hosting a wine & cheese party at my place. Of course that is completely detrimental to any sort of weight loss (better save my points!) But there'll be lots of healthy stuff: carrots, hummus, olives, fruit, tapenade...and I'll try to take it easy on the cheese. And I'm going to try to avoid a wine hangover since I have to sing in church the next morning, so I have to remember that while I'm pouring the vino.

So that's about it. Trying to keep that spirit that made me walk out of the kitchen last night to survive the next few weeks. I think now that I'm exercising again, it's easier to feel like I"m on the right track and more likely to pass on the bad stuff.

Excellent. I'm off to finish up my day & then go home & workout. Bob Harper and I are becoming friends again. :)

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Until next time

The damage

Weighed in last night. I specifically went to a meeting a little further than me so I could have my regular leader. I needed her support. Even though having someone new every once in a while provides a fresh outlook, but I needed my leader to be able to sit through this meeting, accept my fate on the scale and move on.

It was a good meeting, but I didn't get to really talk to her afterward like I wanted to because others went up to her first and there was a big crowd and I didn't feel like waiting. I figure I can talk to her on Monday when I am at my regular meeting. I was unexpectedly a little upset though as I left because I felt like I needed her to encourage me and help me figure out why I've been putting up these obstacles and roadblocks for myself. I mean, I guess I know all of this already, but I needed to hear it from her.

Anyway--the damage: 4.6 lbs. That brings me back up to 190.4

Ugh. I didn't think I'd ever have to see that number again. But I'm glad I did because it was the final alarm of my wake up call that I've been hitting snooze on for a while.

I did this. But I can do something about it. I choose to change.

I started by hitting up the grocery store right after the meeting and stocked up on the good stuff--fruits & veggies, yogurt, hummus & pretzels--all my favorite fresh foods. My feel good foods.

And when I got home, I was super hungry. I could have gone to the freezer for those Holey Donuts that had arrived the day before and that I had binged on for no good reason. Only 4pts apiece but BOY do they add up. Instead I opted for health.

Actually I ate quite a bit--but I didn't even use all my points! Pretzels & Hummus (portioned out instead of right out of the container), turkey wrap w/FF cheese & cucumbers, greek yogurt w/high fiber cereal, and an apple. All of that was 12.5 points. I had a relatively low point lunch (and no breakfast), so I had quite a bit of points left for the day. But it was satisfying both in hunger and knowing that I made great choices.

Tonight I probably won't get to eat dinner because I am going straight from work to an event to rehearsal, but I have a hearty lunch planned, and snacks for later to keep me from getting too hungry and then binging later.

I feel refreshed from all this. I am still disappointed for letting myself get this far off track, but I am moving forward and am ready for the change.

My horoscope even tells me so:

Sharper than ever, your vision will be able to show you what changes you must make.

The stars always tell it like it is :)

Until next time

Weigh in & TSNW Day One

Short & Sweet.

Weigh in was great--Down 3.8 lbs. Seems like a big loss, but I had a big gain which seemed unwarranted so I'm happy. Meeting was great too--we talked about all the things I mentioned yesterday about avoiding boredom by changing up your routine and trying new things.

So Try Something New Week (TSNW) kicked off with my swing dancing class. Well, it was more like swing walking. It was a bit slow, and there weren't too many people, and I was by far the youngest one there. But it was fun. I know the swing basics, but it was good to get a feel for it again. And I'm a terrible follower, I always end up leading...mostly because my dance partner doesn't know how to, so part of this for me is learning how to follow. But I decided to stick with it a little longer and see if it picks up a bit. At the very least I'll work on technique and I can always pick up the pace on my own.

I don't really have anything "new" planned for today. I will be prepping tonight for tomorrow's Quinoa extravaganza. Maybe when I hit up the supermarket for that, I'll try a new food. Since I'm having my friend over for dinner, I will spend tonight cleaning as well...I suppose a clean apartment would be new! :)

How are your new ventures going?

Until next time...

Weigh-in update & Happiness rambling.

Weigh in was good--2.8 lbs (thank goodness some of that 8 lb gain is gone...). I'm happy but I've still got a ways to go considering at the beginning of September I was at 181 and now I'm at 186.

At our meeting we talked about emotional eating, which I don't consider to be one of my flaws, but in a way it is...I don't eat because I'm sad or angry. I eat out of boredom and happiness. Boredom I've discussed constantly. Eating out of happiness on the other hand is something we don't really consider emotional eating.

Holidays, birthdays, weddings, girls (or guys) night out, etc. These are all happy celebrations or occasions. And this is when my defenses go a little slack. It's the "oh, I love mom's coffee cake that she only makes once a year, I have to have a piece. Just one" But of course that one piece was after mom's penne vodka that she only makes for special occasions and the special cheese that she got from Seattle that she put out for appetizers, and the two (I'm being conservative) glasses of wine...etc.

Or going out with the girlfriends and only having drinks and appetizers as we sit and chat about the latest news and gossip. But those drinks (which again always end up being at least a couple) add up as do the appetizer. And then you're in the mood for dessert which you split, but still is big enough for six of you and there's only two or three...

Not that there's anything wrong with these outings, but if they're more than once every few weeks, these things add up. So with the holidays coming up (ugh), these special happy occasions suddenly are a happening a few times a month, or even per week.

So what do we do? Accept and move on? Plan for the inevitable eating by getting in extra exercise that day/week? Or limit your celebration eating? I guess some of these events are easier than others. I'm more likely to restrain myself at family events than with my friends. I don't know why really, but I'd rather gossip and giggle over food and drinks than water and salad.

At the meeting we talked about assessing hunger signals--when you're hungry vs. when you just want food to satiate an emotion; knowing when you're satisfied and when it's time to stop eating; and not letting yourself get so hungry and end up making poor food choices or binging. This is something I really haven't consciously worked on. Maybe it's time for me to pay attention to these hunger signals and question why I'm eating when I'm not hungry. Easier said than done when it comes to these "happy" eating occasions, but it's something worth trying.

On that note....time for dinner!

Until next time

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

Surprise scale victory!

Hi all :)

Last night's weigh in went very well. I lost .4 lbs which comparatively isn't all that much, but after the crazy week I had, I can't complain!

That brings me to 186.6 lbs equalling 44 lbs lost since April 2008. Woo!!

Not only that, but as I was typing it in, I thought to myself--hey--isn't that the 2nd 10% goal I had put for myself? As a matter of fact IT IS!

When I hit my 1st 10% goal at 207.6, I had calculated the next 10% from that and it was 186.8 (although now that i try to recalculate it, i get a different answer), so I have now hit that goal as well!! Very exciting :-D

AND I'm only 6 lbs away from reaching the 50 lb mark and to be 180 for the first time in like 15 years.

I guess I won't hit it by memorial day weekend which is less than two weeks away...but I'm gonna TRY!!! I won't be able to weigh in that Monday to see if I do get my shopping spree, but maybe I can weigh in on Sunday and see how close I got. Considering I've been putting barely any effort into my weight loss these past few weeks, I'm very happy I've continued to see results.

This scale victory makes me happy and I think gives me a little extra kick in the but to keep it up. Yay :-D

Until next time

Am I Ready for change?

Change can be scary. But it can also be exciting.

I am usually pretty open to change--at least in certain aspects of my life. Hair, wardrobe, decor, etc - bring it on.

But when I found out at yesterday's meeting that Weight Watchers is going to be changing...HELP!!!

Our leader did not say specifically what will be changing, but it sounds like the whole system of Core vs. Flex will be different. I've been a member for 7.5 months. I've gotten used to this points system--I'm certainly not an expert, but I've become very attached to it.

And the idea of this something new is just a bit scary. I guess I will find out next week.

Our leader suggested to think of it as a kickstart to refresh our look at weight loss. I wonder how people who are only a few weeks in will think about this. We will be getting all new books & materials, as if we were new members. I guess it could be kind of fun. But still scary.

In the meantime, I am back down the 4.6 lbs I gained last week and am at exactly the same weight I was two weeks ago. Which is a good thing. I don't know where that 5 lbs came from, but it was not fun. Because of this crazy food week, I am not sure what next week will look like, but I feel like I'm back in the swing of things. I even stayed within my newly-lowered points target yesterday! That strutting idea helped I guess.

Now to plan for the rest of December. And believe me, I have a plan.

Until next time

Staying in the game

Alright--I'm back down. I am almost back below that 200 mark, and for real this time!

I figured I would be down because I got in exercise during the week, some running around on Saturday and some actual running on Sunday. But you never know since I also feasted on wine & cheese and other goodies on Saturday.

I feel like today really begins my journey down to my next 10% goal of 186.8 (that was 10% from my last 10% goal I hit in July)

And because I am a dork, I have two images to share...my progress chart from WW.com
Yikes--that's a scary starting weight. But look how far I've come in just over 6 months! I mentioned before that the last few months have been slow progress, but they have been progress! And I am finally breaking that 200 mark that I've been above for so long. It's a great feeling.

Speaking of great feelings, Sunday I ran for the first time in months when I took my nephins out for a walk to take advantage of the beautiful weather. The older one was so excited that he could run without getting yelled at that I decided to jog with him. I was so surprised that I didn't feel like I was going to pass out! I could keep up with his 4 year old energy and it was almost easy! I would have never been able to do this 30 pounds ago.

So I'm staying in the game, moving towards goal, keeping myself on course. My biggest help in moving towards this goal will be exercise. If I keep it up along with keeping track of my food, I will succeed. I will survive. I will let the song that just got stuck in my head move me and motivate me to achieve my winning outcomes. And that's what this journey is all about.

Until next time

Trimphant Julia

Today is the day. I have done it.

I am under 200 lbs for the first time in probably about 10 years.

198.4 baby. 198.4.

Two things helped me with this. I didn't go to my weigh in last night (concert tix), and I happened to be nearby the center today, so I figured I might as well go. Because I hadn't eaten anything yet, I'm probably a pound less than I might have been at the end of the day.

I also have been tracking my food intake again. Not religiously (weekends tend to get lost in the shuffle), but at least I know what I'm eating.

Plus I've been running around like a mad woman most of this week (literally running), so I think I got some unplanned exercise.

Whatever it was...it worked.

And I refuse to ever be over that 200 mark again. Hell. No.

Winning outcome this week: To stay the same since my weigh in might have been a little under since I hadn't eaten.
I will do this by continuing to track my food & working on a targeted exercise plan.

Maybe I'll take an under 200 photo to celebrate as well.

Until next time

Weigh in results

Down about 1 lb. That's good. It might have been more without the weekend.

Good job--keep going Julia!

Break that big 2-0-0!

Until next time

No weigh in yesterday

I am sick. I hate being sick. It ruins all my fun.

Yesterday I stayed home & although I could have feasibly gone to my weigh-in and meeting, I chose to not move from my bed/couch the whole day.

Also if I did go to my weigh-in, I would have had to bring myself to go to the theater to help out & I certainly was not up for that.

So I did not weigh in. I feel bad. I feel like I played hooky, but not in a good way. Like I missed out on good stuff. I missed out on knowing if my weight gain last week was in fact due to PMS or if I gained because I wasn't following the plan. I haven't been very on-plan lately, slacking on my food recording duties, and definitely slacking on my willpower and my exercise.

The next day I can weigh in is tomorrow if I can bring myself to leave work early enough to go there and then to rehearsal afterward. We'll see.

I'm just not in a sticking to the plan kind of mood.

Until next time

Not upset just cranky

It's really not because of my weigh in.

Today I'm just cranky. I feel crappy - tired, achy, and the only place I want to be right now is in bed sleeping.

But it doesn't help that after getting all excited about my weigh in (I should have known), I ended up gaining 1.4 lbs. The good news is that I know for a fact the gain is due to PMS. This happens once a month...pretty much every month recently. And now I've calculated exactly when it happens. And maybe in the future I can figure out how to counteract it. And not to have any goals scheduled for that week!

The thing that sucks is I know I put in a lot of hard work this week and I wont' really know what I lost if it wasn't for this time of the month. But I am figuring if I keep up the good work with diet & exercise, I will be down even more next week!

Oh man I just want to be in bed right now with a book and something warm & yummy. Like my beau. :)

Until next time

Yet I'm down...

At the weigh in yesterday, I discovered I'm down again. 2.4 lbs...and if you take out my previous gain, I'm still down 1 lb from where I was at the beginning of August.

Well, I'll just use that as motivation to improve my progress and habits.

I didn't get in my walk today because it was pouring most of the day, but maybe I can squeeze in some exercise...amid cleaning my apartment so that my super doesn't have a heart attack when he comes in to look at my electrical issue tomorrow.

Until next time

C'mon August...work with me

19 days into the month and I've blogged twice. Shame.

I did however lose 3.8 lbs since the end of July, so I can't complain too much I guess. Even though I am supposed to be on maintenance. That doesn't seem to be working out too well apparently. Two weeks I've been on "maintenance," but I haven't been really focused on it because I've been busy, and instead I had been feeling bloated and uninspired.

Last night I got weighed in and I lost 1.6 lbs. Most of that is definitely from the previous week's walk-fest. This past week certainly wasn't productive. I didn't record what I ate at ALL and I did not exercise other than a few lunchtime strolls. Next week's weigh in might be a little frustrating. I think this week I should try to be really good. (Will be difficult considering I'm out every evening this week). At the very least I should record everything. Even if I go over. That way I will see what I'm doing...and not doing.

And when I recorded my weight yesterday evening, I changed my points taking myself off maintenance. I think I'm better off right now with the mindset of weight-loss. I have enough stress as it is, and this is what I'm used to, so I might as well continue it.

If I don't really lose anything more by the end of August I won't be upset, but I certainly do not want to gain anything.

My plan of pilates/yoga/toning is going nowhere too. I still have two weeks until the wedding so I could potentially use that to put my best effort in, but I know myself and I am not motivated and will probably let that slide.

But in other parts of my life, things are looking up, so I don't mean this to be a depressing post, I just was giving the updates. My job is going well, my social life is going well, and to top it all off, my outfit today is unbelievably stylish. And very slimming to boot. I will take a photo & post it :)

Until next time