Diet...? What Diet?

11-12-11 190 lbs.

Judging by my behavior over the past four months one would never guess I was watching my diet. Well, technically I was watching....it was almost as if I was on the outside watching an out-of-control mama stress feed herself. It was a gradual onset and as the job workload increased, dealing with student behavior issues, and terrible personal financial strains resulted in me eating and unfortunately not exercising. So, I'm basically back at square one. Can't say I didn't see it coming with all the eating and not exercising! I have a terrible case of the "blahs" but I'm trying to remain optimistic. I'm up early, but truth be told I want to sneak back into bed for another hour and a half.....****sigh***** I did make an attempt to meal plan today because obviously I've been exceeding my allowed caloric intake hence the weight gain. Okay, here's today's to-do list...

1. Quick nap


2. exercise


3. clothes shop for baby girl (limited budget shooting for 4 outfits under $50 bucks)


4. wash hair


5. wash/sort laundry


6. review finances


7. do baby girl's hair


8. organize lesson plans/grade papers

Looking at the list is making me reconsider forgoing the morning sneak back in bed nap. It's also sad how there's no family hang time scheduled in that list as well.

Saturday Weigh In- Plateau

I've plateaued but I gotta admit, I'm welcoming it at this point! I'd immersed myself so far in learning this pattern drafting and clothing construction day AND night that I've put exercising on the backburner. I hate that, but I'm struggling with time management. I'm usually up so late that I sleep in knowing I hate working out mid morning, and even worse working out in the evenings. Well, that's all about to change and I'm going to really have to shift focus being that I report to work soon. I'm still determined to lose this weight, but I've got to work on a schedule and stick with it!

Another thing I've noticed is that when I don't work out, I don't closely monitor my eating! I did lose weight this week (having no clue how) bringing my total weight loss to 13 lbs. to date. Next week will be a new week.

Saturday Weigh In- Late Posting

https://spreadsheets0.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsL0S0dOaqvVdFh2WS1VZjRTdnlBQV9qbkFkZFJwb2c&hl=en_US#gid=0

Just like I mentioned in the previous post, I didn't work out for 2 straight weeks due to devoting that time to learning pattern making and clothing construction --make that 18 days to be exact! The sad part is that I'm still working on the garmet due to unforseen reasons, the good part is that I didn't gain weight! --Well, not really. Now, my Saturday weigh in did show a 1 1/2 pound weight gain putting me back at 185 lbs., but I shouldn't have been suprised to see because I've been making less than better food choices. I did okay the first week when I didn't work out, but I showed out that second week and part of this week! I've been eating pastas, breads, sweets, and then would have the nerve to drink a diet coke with some of the meals. Today I found the courage to step on the scale today and couldn't believe my eyes when it read 181 lbs. I was so happy that I had to step and re-step on the scale to see if what I read was true b/c I was certain I had gained weight since last Saturday's weigh in. So I worried for nothing, but I then started thinking how much weight I would've lost had I been sticking to my weight loss plan.

Really hate that I haven't been recording my dietary intake on mynetdiary.com since 6/25/11, but I started back today. Hopefully I'll continue to be consistent with that and exercising (which I started back today as well).

Well, I have 15 weeks left to reach my goal weight of 155 lbs! Since I'm at 181 lbs today that leaves me with 26 lbs left to lose by the end of October. That averages to almost roughly 2 lbs. per week! Absolutely no wiggle room....luckily no food holidays to get in the way, but I do have 4 immediate family birthdays to fight...which by the way, we celebrated my sweet baby girl's 5 year birthday the other day and YES, I indulged lol! I'll do better.

Saturday Weigh In-- No Change

Unfortunately I did not exercise one day this week. My eating habits remained pretty much the same. I didn't really go overboard but I didn't count calories either and probably snacked more than I should have. So luckily I didn't GAIN any weight this week. This week's excuse is because I'm still working on my summer garment design construction project. I thought I'd be further along than I am, but I keep hitting stumbling blocks. Well I've given myself until next Friday to complete the garment b/c I'll have to start preparing for the upcoming school year. I'll then have to put it on the backburner. It's also very time consuming b/c of all the distractions here at home so exercise will likely not happen next week as well. I'll just have to be sure and monitor.

Saturday Weigh In- Bad Week

I didn't exercise not one day last week and neither did I record in my food intake IPhone app journal, ugh! I have the 1.5 lb. WEIGHT GAIN to prove it as well. I need to stop convincing myself that I don't need to record my eating habits. I already know I need to exercise to maintain, but I allowed my last week's schedule to keep me from doing so. I've been up working late trying to learn pattern drafting and clothing design (blogging that at http://www.sew-determined.blogspot.com/). The only time I really have to focus on the drafting without distractions is late, late at night after the children and husband are asleep. So, I've been up late munching while trying to learn this skill. As a result of staying up late, I don't get up in time to exercise before my husband heads to work. Plus I hate working out in the afternoons. The combination of late night munching plus not exercising = 1 Bad Week. Next week will be a new week and hopefully better habits.

Weight Tracking Sheet https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AsL0S0dOaqvVdFh2WS1VZjRTdnlBQV9qbkFkZFJwb2c&output=html

Saturday Weigh In: Unexpected Suprise

Well I did have an unexpected suprise weighing in at 182 lbs today resulting in losing 2.5 lbs. this week and a total of 13 lbs lost since May 9th! I was really concerned b/c between last Saturday evening and this past Wednesday was 5 days of pigging out with no exercise. I tried to monitor and behave, but my appetite could not get satisfied. Turned out to be PMS and once I finally dragged myself to the gym, I started behaving a bit better.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsL0S0dOaqvVdFh2WS1VZjRTdnlBQV9qbkFkZFJwb2c&hl=en_US#gid=0

Late Night Munchies

Weigh-in today went fairly well. I failed to weigh in last week due to hosting a family reunion at our home, and I knew I had actually gained weight but I'm not certain exactly how much. Seems like weighed myself either the day before or after...anywho, I'm guessing it was 187 lbs. but I weighed in at 184.5 today, woooohoooo!! So I've lost 10.5 lbs. to date since Mother's Day. I've worked out 4 days this week and today's workout was pretty tough but I worked thru it. I know I still have 30 lbs to lose, but I'm thinking doing my gym regimen 3x a week and hit the track on the 4th day to ease things up just a bit. I'm anxious to lose but I don't want to burn myself out.
Another thing, I mentioned in my previous post ways to ensure that I stick to my work out regimen. I need to add getting to bed on time! I find that when I'm up late working, I have the tendency to munch. Last night I was up doing both my and my daughter's hair and I became so hungry! I had already met my allowed calories and I tried to fight it, but I gave in and snacked on trail mix and chicken salad. I was so mad at myself b/c I actually weighed in at 184 yesterday morning, but I know that .5 weight gain was due to the late night eating. Anywho, I'll keep striving. Can't wait to post my 180 lb weigh in picture when the time comes and Lord willing.

Finally!

185 lbs. 5-17-11

So excited to share that I finally lost my first 10 lbs. today!! What's strange is that I was up to 190 lbs. 2 days ago, I dropped 3 lbs yesterday, and today I dropped an additional 2 lbs bringing me down to 185 lbs. So just as easy as I gained nearly 5 lbs. in a 7 day period last week when I did not exercise and exceeded my allowed calories, I lost those 5 lbs just as easy when I refocused. Thank you Jesus!

I have a summer exercise regimen in place that I hope I'll be able to keep up once school starts. It'll take some planning such as ensuring I have my school lesson plans in place so I won't be up early planning instead of exercising and meal preparation so I won't be tempted to eat junk/fast food. I'll also need to make sure I wake up in plenty of time to do this workout. I believe it took me around 1 hr & 15 minutes to complete it. My current regimen includes:

• 
  
  30 minutes inclined treadmill


• 
  
  2 arm weight machines @ 25 reps


• 
  
  2 leg weight machines @ 25 reps


• 
  
  100 crunches


• 
  
  2 ab machines @ 25 reps


• 
  
  back machine @ 25 reps


• 
  
  shoulder/pec machine @ 10 reps


• 
  
  15 minutes sauna

Rebound

The last week of school was pretty intense w/ semester exams, year end reports, cleaning out the classroom, etc. that I completely have gotten off my regimen. I know, excuses excuses. I have the 4.5 lbs weight gain to show for it as well. I managed to get my weight down to 185.5 before it shot up to my current weight 190 lbs in a week's time. Today marks my official first day of summer break so I plan to refocus by resuming my workout and sticking to the meal plan starting back tomorrow Lord willing!

Sedentary

I had the most sedentary week this week since starting my weightloss plan. I managed to only walk 3 miles today. I don't know what was wrong with me. I just couldn't get out of bed in time to work out and had zero desire to exercise after work. There was absolutely no excuse but I guess I'll blame it on PMS. I was hoping to weigh in at 185 lbs., but I did weigh in at 186.5 lbs. this morning. I've lost 8.5 lbs. to date so I'm grateful for that, but I can do better. I exceeded my allowed daily calories each day again this week. I'm noticing I'm losing at a much slower pace since week one as you can see on my online tracking spreadsheet at https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AsL0S0dOaqvVdFh2WS1VZjRTdnlBQV9qbkFkZFJwb2c&output=html . I now know the only reason I lost in the weeks before was because I'd been exercising at least 3x a week. Well there's one thing I know for certain. I will have to incorporate exercise for the rest of my life if I want to maintain a moderate weight. Diet pills are not an option so I will have to get on the ball.

Determined to hang in there

The 3 day liquid diet didn't go so well. I was doing fine the first day up until 8PM when my dad returned home with the children and junk food. I tried to restrain myself, but gave in. I can control what comes in the house when I do the shopping, but he doesn't understand that even though the snacks are not intended for me, I'm not at the point where I have the will power to not eat junk. So my fast ended with a handful of peanut M & Ms! Doing so put me in a funk and I didn't even bother finishing the liquid diet the next day and day after. Next week will be a new week. I only managed to work out 2 days this week as well. Despite the excessive calorie filled week, I still managed to lose 1.5 pounds this week! I'm at 187 and will post a photo when I reach 185 lbs to mark my 10 lb. weight loss. Hopefully I can do that next week!

Liquid Diet Day 1

Well I decided to go ahead with a 3 day liquid diet starting today. I am only allowing myself italian ice, chicken broth, and Jello. I'm taking it one day at a time and so far so good. I need the cleanse from eating so much bad stuff over the past 3 days. Upside is that my weight dropped from 191 to 189.5 when I weighed in this morning.

Uh-Ohhhh!

Things went a bit downhill after my last post. I tried to stay strong, but the weekend and including Monday got the best of me. The culprit? Well, lets start with the sweets served at the reception of my little nephew's piano recital, I then went overboard eating the food my husband and I prepared during my mother and father in-law's visit, there was also the endless snacking all day Sunday, and last on Monday when I had an uncontrolled craving for Mexican Food b/c my day was stressful...a mountain of chips, salsa, cheese, onions, peppers, seasoned chicken fajita which was all sooooo goood and full of calories!

My weight easily crept from 188.5 to 191 lbs over the course of those few days. I exceeded my allowed caloric intake by 3094 calories and have the 2.5 lbs to show for it! What's worse is that I haven't been able to exercise b/c I believe I have gout. I'm convinced it's from all that pigging out. Luckily the pain in my foot has subsided somewhat, but it was excruciating last night. I plan on resuming my workout tomorrow so hopefully I can still get my 4 days in this week Lord willing.

Okay where do I go from here? I consumed enough extra calories to cover nearly 2 1/2 days worth of meals! What in the world? I know I'm human and I expected a few slip ups, but this past weekend took the cake! Starving myself for 2 1/2 days isn't an option. I considered doing a straight liquid diet which may not be a bad idea....hmmmm....I'm really entertaining that idea. I've done that before when I was in the hospital a few months ago. It really wasn't bad either....orange jello, chicken broth, italian ice. I think I may do that, but I won't allow myself to cook the meals I had planned for the family or else I'll be tempted to sample. The husband and children will have to eat take out if I want to attempt the liquid diet. Maybe doing so will help flush out all that junk I ate over the past 3 days.

I'll be satisfied if my weight remains at 188.5 on the Saturday weigh in, but I'd like to drop an additional 2 or more pounds. That may be asking a bit too much since I did overdo it a few days ago. I'll feel devasted if it remained at today's 191 lb weigh in or even worse if it crept up from there. We shall see........

Just Say NO!

I'm learning quite a bit regarding my eating habits while on this weightloss journey. I have this overwhelming urge to want to PIG OUT on Fridays knowing that weigh-ins are on Saturday. I had allotted the foods and allowed calories for Friday ahead of time until I got a hold of my daughter's package of trail mix and my son's gummy worms. It's my fault they had them in their possession in the first place, but my fault that I allowed myself to munch on them as if there was no tomorrow (that last sentence is a whole 'nother story in itself with the whole 5-21-11 end of the world hype). I was so disgusted with myself wasting my dinner calories snacking after work. I considered going out with a bang by pigging out at the burger joint 5 Guys later that evening, but instead I decided to go to bed. I woke up with a new outlook and relief that I didn't exceed my calories.

I walked 3 miles today and patted myself for managing to get 5 days of work out time this week. I weighed in at 188.5 today and down 6.5 lbs since I started May 8th. YAY!!!!!! I want to celebrate and buy myself some exercise undergarments, running shoes, and work out shorts!!

One Day At A Time

189.5 lbs. 5-19-11

I'm excited to report that I've lost 5.5 lbs. since starting my plan 11 days ago. I've behaved for the most part although I did exceed my set caloric intake by nearly 500 calories yesterday. --I can't have too many more days like that. The workouts are going well for the most part....my goal is to work out 4x a week

New Beginnings

195 lbs. May 9, 2011

show·down [ shṓ dòwn ]
confrontation: a confrontation to settle a conflict or dispute


Synonyms: fight, confrontation, argument, head-to-head, face-off, quarrel, conflict, row, shootout

Well, I finally found the courage to start a new blog documenting another weight loss journey. Things didn't turn out as expected when documented on my old blog http://35before35.blogspot.com/ but I'm optimistic they will this time. I've been on this roller coaster since 2000 and I'm growing tired. This time around my goal will be to lose 40 lbs and maintain! I'm tired of the back pains, tired of the frumpiness, tired of looking bloated, tired of being tired!

I've resorted to counting calories (again), but this feels like a fresher approach. I discovered a free app on my IPhone called MyNetDiary. It makes food/exercising journing very easy and it's comprehensive. It's available online as well on http://www.mynetdiary.com/index.html.

Setting up was very easy and fun. I indicated that I wanted ot lose 40 lbs. by the end of October, provided a few stats about myself (such as height, current weight, gender, lifestyle, etc.) and it automatically set up a weight loss plan! I'm ecstatic. Whenever I eat, I plug in the food or meal and it tells me how many more calories I will be allowed for the day. It has every food/restaurant menu item you can imagine. It takes minimal meal planning on my part to stay within my allotted caloric intake, and it's beneficial because it's really helping me discipline myself. It also still allows me to eat the foods I want, but it teaches me to not eat all the food I want in one sitting!

I just started journaling my food intake Mother's Day 5-09-11 and so far I've lost 4.5 lbs in one week alone! I'm looking forward to sharing my future results. Wish me luck and I'm praying to have focus and continued discipline. October 2011 seems a long ways off! Here's to weight loss and better health!