Entry #36
Dec. 6 weight 204.5 loss of 2 1/2 pounds since Dec. 1st post
Dec. 13 weight 204.5
Dec. 20 weight 210 gain of 5 1/2 pounds
Well, I've learned my lesson when it comes to baking at Christmas time. It won't happen again. I baked up a storm this year for the first time in many years. In earlier posts I mentioned that I had a lot of mom helpers in my classroom this year and decided the cheapest thing to do for Christmas gifts was to bake. I baked two kinds of cookies, pumpkin bread and one candy. I did very well in terms of not eating what I'd made. That is, until last Wednesday when I was bagging everything up for the individual gifts. I had some leftover cookies and instead of putting them down the disposal I ate "just a few". That's what I told myself I would do. And "just a few" turned into many more and that led to four days of abandon where I ate anything my little 'ole heart desired.
Today I go back to the gym where I plan to add new machines to my weight training regimen. Last week I began jogging at 3.8 mph for most of the 45 minutes I was on the treadmill and plan to do that again today. I will also go back to counting calories every day and keeping them at or under 1200. Christmas Eve our family is gathering at my sister's for dinner and opening of gifts. I am planning to bring my own food, probably a Weight Watcher's dinner. The food table will be off limits as I know it will be loaded down with goodies. I may come late and leave early depending on how strong I'm feeling and how successful I am at resisting the foods set out. Being afraid of food is definitely a step back for me, but right now I need to listen to and respect that fear.
There is some good news to report though. My clothes are so loose I will definitely need to do some shopping over this Christmas break. A couple of weeks ago I put on a pair of jeans I haven't been able to wear in a couple of years and they were so loose I couldn't wear them! These are the little victories I will keep in mind this week as I get back on track with diet and exercise.
I've also set a long term goal. By this time next year I will be at my goal weight of 120 pounds. Before this latest setback I had set a goal of being under 200 pounds by Dec. 31st. That most likely will not be the case. But I now have a new long term goal to shoot for and I'm determined that next year at this time I will be celebrating my new body. Now, off to the gym!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
A Holiday Slip
Entry #35
Weight 207 pounds, gain of 1/2 pound
I guess gaining a half pound over the Thanksgiving holiday isn't too bad. I'm thankful that it was a small gain after the way I ate on Thanksgiving. I was determined not to snack my way through the day and did very well until I went to my sister's house to help her get the dinner prepared.
She had all kinds of great snacks put out. For awhile I avoided them, but eventually gave in and had a few which led to more and more and more. By the time dinner rolled around I wasn't even really hungry, but I ate anyway. For the first time in months I walked away from the table feeling stuffed. I'd forgotten how awful that feels.
My mistake, I think, is that I didn't really have a plan for how to deal with all the good food that would be set out. I'm not exactly looking forward to Christmas, but will definitely have to have a battle plan to deal with the food on that holiday.
Another challenge at this time of year is Christmas baking. I have six mother helpers in my classroom to give gifts to this year and I always set out a spread of various foods (both healthy and not so healthy) as my Christmas gift to the school staff. So that means lots of baking in the next three weeks. As baking is the least expensive of gift options, that is what I choose to do. I also love to bake and it's something I don't do much of during the school year because I don't have the time. The one ray of light in all of this is that I baked chocolate covered carrot cake bites and after sampling a few of them, put them in the freezer and haven't touched any in days. I'm hoping I can keep this up as I finish my baking.
Weight 207 pounds, gain of 1/2 pound
I guess gaining a half pound over the Thanksgiving holiday isn't too bad. I'm thankful that it was a small gain after the way I ate on Thanksgiving. I was determined not to snack my way through the day and did very well until I went to my sister's house to help her get the dinner prepared.
She had all kinds of great snacks put out. For awhile I avoided them, but eventually gave in and had a few which led to more and more and more. By the time dinner rolled around I wasn't even really hungry, but I ate anyway. For the first time in months I walked away from the table feeling stuffed. I'd forgotten how awful that feels.
My mistake, I think, is that I didn't really have a plan for how to deal with all the good food that would be set out. I'm not exactly looking forward to Christmas, but will definitely have to have a battle plan to deal with the food on that holiday.
Another challenge at this time of year is Christmas baking. I have six mother helpers in my classroom to give gifts to this year and I always set out a spread of various foods (both healthy and not so healthy) as my Christmas gift to the school staff. So that means lots of baking in the next three weeks. As baking is the least expensive of gift options, that is what I choose to do. I also love to bake and it's something I don't do much of during the school year because I don't have the time. The one ray of light in all of this is that I baked chocolate covered carrot cake bites and after sampling a few of them, put them in the freezer and haven't touched any in days. I'm hoping I can keep this up as I finish my baking.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Pants on the Ground (Almost)
Entry #34
Weight 206.5 pounds - loss of 3 pounds
I just re-read last week's entry and realized I hadn't finished it. My computer has been messing up and after awhile it just disconnects from the internet. I took it in to the Geek Squad on Saturday and thought it was fixed, finally. However, after being online for about an hour Saturday night I was again kicked off. Hopefully I can finish this one.
It's increasingly difficult for me to come up with stuff to write on this blog and have been thinking about stopping altogether. This summer it seemed so easy to find things to write about. Now, it's such an effort and I dread it. However, I think I should keep it up just as a matter of discipline. It's helped keep me on track with weight loss knowing I have to post my weight every Monday or Tuesday.
My weight loss is really starting to show in my clothes and that is a good feeling. One of these days I'll need to buy some new ones. But I like the feel of pants that used to fit being very loose and baggy.
On to Thanksgiving. This Thursday will present a number of challenges. I've thought about doing what Sean does and just add an extra 1,000 calories for the day's total. That sounds good, but am afraid it will be difficult to go back to sensible eating the next day.
Just returned from a long shopping trip with my little sister and her two little ones. She's hosting our family Thanksgiving dinner this year and watching her load her cart with all kinds of good, fattening things, it became quite clear that Thursday will present some challenges. I'm bringing salad and some carrot cake bites. I found the recipie for these on another homemaking blog and they sound divine. I'm actually using my family as guinea pigs to test the carrot cake bites. If they are well received, I will be making them for goody bags for my parent helpers at school. Maybe I will add those extra 1,000 calories after all!
Weight 206.5 pounds - loss of 3 pounds
I just re-read last week's entry and realized I hadn't finished it. My computer has been messing up and after awhile it just disconnects from the internet. I took it in to the Geek Squad on Saturday and thought it was fixed, finally. However, after being online for about an hour Saturday night I was again kicked off. Hopefully I can finish this one.
It's increasingly difficult for me to come up with stuff to write on this blog and have been thinking about stopping altogether. This summer it seemed so easy to find things to write about. Now, it's such an effort and I dread it. However, I think I should keep it up just as a matter of discipline. It's helped keep me on track with weight loss knowing I have to post my weight every Monday or Tuesday.
My weight loss is really starting to show in my clothes and that is a good feeling. One of these days I'll need to buy some new ones. But I like the feel of pants that used to fit being very loose and baggy.
On to Thanksgiving. This Thursday will present a number of challenges. I've thought about doing what Sean does and just add an extra 1,000 calories for the day's total. That sounds good, but am afraid it will be difficult to go back to sensible eating the next day.
Just returned from a long shopping trip with my little sister and her two little ones. She's hosting our family Thanksgiving dinner this year and watching her load her cart with all kinds of good, fattening things, it became quite clear that Thursday will present some challenges. I'm bringing salad and some carrot cake bites. I found the recipie for these on another homemaking blog and they sound divine. I'm actually using my family as guinea pigs to test the carrot cake bites. If they are well received, I will be making them for goody bags for my parent helpers at school. Maybe I will add those extra 1,000 calories after all!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Entry #33
Weight 209.5 No gain/no loss.
Not much of a surprise at weigh-in this morning. I didn't expect to lose much, if anything and wasn't disappointed. Lately I've found myself sliding on the calorie counting. It's so easy to pop in a handful of cereal while fixing dinner, or eat a couple of slices of roast beef as I'm making a sandwich for lunch. I've also been very lax in recording calories on the weekends. They haven't been free for alls, but it's too easy to consume extra calories when I don't keep track of the calories I've eaten. So, this coming week back to counting calories faithfully.
In the exercise department, I haven't done too badly this past week. I've stepped up the speed on the treadmill from 3.5 mph to 3.6 for 45 minutes. It doesn't sound like much of a jump, just a tenth of
Weight 209.5 No gain/no loss.
Not much of a surprise at weigh-in this morning. I didn't expect to lose much, if anything and wasn't disappointed. Lately I've found myself sliding on the calorie counting. It's so easy to pop in a handful of cereal while fixing dinner, or eat a couple of slices of roast beef as I'm making a sandwich for lunch. I've also been very lax in recording calories on the weekends. They haven't been free for alls, but it's too easy to consume extra calories when I don't keep track of the calories I've eaten. So, this coming week back to counting calories faithfully.
In the exercise department, I haven't done too badly this past week. I've stepped up the speed on the treadmill from 3.5 mph to 3.6 for 45 minutes. It doesn't sound like much of a jump, just a tenth of
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Some New Goals
Entry #32
Weight 209.5 pounds. Loss of 5.5 pounds over two weeks.
It's been two weeks since I've posted an entry. There seems to be less and less time for writing these days. Preparing report cards and getting ready for parent conferences takes priority over almost everything at this time of year.
The weight continues to come off and I am grateful for that. Because the losses are continuing to be more than expected, the thought that my scale is off keeps creeping up on me. As I blogged last time, the solution would be to weigh something like an unopened bag of flour or sugar to provide a quick answer. However, I'm still trusting that the numbers are right. Is this denial or just positive thinking?
I managed to survive Halloween with all the candy and goodies offered to me at my classroom Halloween party. One holiday down and two more to go. This is my absolute favorite time of year where three holidays are crammed into the space of three months. It will also prove to be the most challenging time this year. I am determined to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas, including a few goodies, but don't want to overindulge as in the past.
I met my three weight loss goals for October and feel good about that. The next step would be to set some new ones. So here goes. By November 30th these are the goals I will meet.
1. Elliptical - 15 minutes at Level 3.
2. Treadmill - 45 minutes at 3.6 or higher.
3. Loss of 10 more pounds.
These seem to be reasonable goals while still challenging. In terms of the other goals (decorating my living room and cleaning my garage and spare room) I didn't fare so well. I even had a friend offer to help me with the decorating and I've put off calling her. I'm not sure why decorating seems to be such a huge challenge that I don't even want to begin. So, I will set a very short term goal - by this Sunday, Nov. 14th, I will call my friend and set up a time for her to come over and give me some tips. There. Now it's in writing and published so I'll have to do it or face coming back here next week and admitting failure once again.
Weight 209.5 pounds. Loss of 5.5 pounds over two weeks.
It's been two weeks since I've posted an entry. There seems to be less and less time for writing these days. Preparing report cards and getting ready for parent conferences takes priority over almost everything at this time of year.
The weight continues to come off and I am grateful for that. Because the losses are continuing to be more than expected, the thought that my scale is off keeps creeping up on me. As I blogged last time, the solution would be to weigh something like an unopened bag of flour or sugar to provide a quick answer. However, I'm still trusting that the numbers are right. Is this denial or just positive thinking?
I managed to survive Halloween with all the candy and goodies offered to me at my classroom Halloween party. One holiday down and two more to go. This is my absolute favorite time of year where three holidays are crammed into the space of three months. It will also prove to be the most challenging time this year. I am determined to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas, including a few goodies, but don't want to overindulge as in the past.
I met my three weight loss goals for October and feel good about that. The next step would be to set some new ones. So here goes. By November 30th these are the goals I will meet.
1. Elliptical - 15 minutes at Level 3.
2. Treadmill - 45 minutes at 3.6 or higher.
3. Loss of 10 more pounds.
These seem to be reasonable goals while still challenging. In terms of the other goals (decorating my living room and cleaning my garage and spare room) I didn't fare so well. I even had a friend offer to help me with the decorating and I've put off calling her. I'm not sure why decorating seems to be such a huge challenge that I don't even want to begin. So, I will set a very short term goal - by this Sunday, Nov. 14th, I will call my friend and set up a time for her to come over and give me some tips. There. Now it's in writing and published so I'll have to do it or face coming back here next week and admitting failure once again.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Three Goals Met
Entry #31
Weight 215 lbs. Loss of 3 pounds.
I'm seriously beginning to wonder if there's something wrong with my scale. I expected to lose this week, but not as much as three pounds. I'm afraid to test the scale with a 5 lb. bag of sugar or flour to find out! I think I'll just choose to believe the good news.
It's possible that I did lose that much last week. Instead of walking 3.4 mph on the treadmill for 45 minutes I've bumped up the speed to 3.5 and have added extra weight to some of the machines. I'm up to 14 minutes on the elliptical with one more minute to go until I reach my Oct. 31st goal of 15 minutes.
Finally some beautiful fall weather! I feel so much better in the fall and just love seeing the colorful leaves on trees. An overcast, windy day energizes me. I've never been able to figure out why I love overcast, rainy weather. It's so contrary to what most people like. I think one reason may be that I associate overcast weather with the holiday season. The time between Halloween and Christmas is my favorite and most of this season occurs in the autumn.
Speaking of holidays, I'm beginning to plan what I'll give as Christmas gifts this year. I only buy for nieces and nephews and it's usually gift cards. However, we teachers voluntarily took a five day furlough this year to save the school district some money and some teacher's jobs and that's made a difference in my paycheck. So, trying to figure out gifts for nieces, nephews and the many mom helpers I've got in my classroom this year will be a challenge. In the past, I've baked cookies and breads and that's probably what I'll be doing this year. That may not be the best decision considering my dieting. At least there's a little time left to think this over.
In the meantime I plan to just keep doing what I've bee doing. It seems to be working and it's a good feeling!
Weight 215 lbs. Loss of 3 pounds.
I'm seriously beginning to wonder if there's something wrong with my scale. I expected to lose this week, but not as much as three pounds. I'm afraid to test the scale with a 5 lb. bag of sugar or flour to find out! I think I'll just choose to believe the good news.
It's possible that I did lose that much last week. Instead of walking 3.4 mph on the treadmill for 45 minutes I've bumped up the speed to 3.5 and have added extra weight to some of the machines. I'm up to 14 minutes on the elliptical with one more minute to go until I reach my Oct. 31st goal of 15 minutes.
Finally some beautiful fall weather! I feel so much better in the fall and just love seeing the colorful leaves on trees. An overcast, windy day energizes me. I've never been able to figure out why I love overcast, rainy weather. It's so contrary to what most people like. I think one reason may be that I associate overcast weather with the holiday season. The time between Halloween and Christmas is my favorite and most of this season occurs in the autumn.
Speaking of holidays, I'm beginning to plan what I'll give as Christmas gifts this year. I only buy for nieces and nephews and it's usually gift cards. However, we teachers voluntarily took a five day furlough this year to save the school district some money and some teacher's jobs and that's made a difference in my paycheck. So, trying to figure out gifts for nieces, nephews and the many mom helpers I've got in my classroom this year will be a challenge. In the past, I've baked cookies and breads and that's probably what I'll be doing this year. That may not be the best decision considering my dieting. At least there's a little time left to think this over.
In the meantime I plan to just keep doing what I've bee doing. It seems to be working and it's a good feeling!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
A Success and a Slip-Up
Entry #30
Monday's weigh-in report: weight 218. Loss of 4.5 pounds over two weeks. Yay!!!!
Monday's weigh in was a surprise. I didn't expect to do so well. You would think that after that kind of a loss I would be encouraged enough to stick to a good eating plan, avoiding junk food at all costs. You might think that, and you would be wrong. Monday and Tuesday went well in terms of making good food choices and then Tuesday afternoon I blew it.
My niece is dropped off after school at my school where she stays with me until her mom gets off work. Tuesdays I take her to CCD (formerly known as catechism for us older Catholics). Yesterday when I went to drop her off we found out that there were no CCD classes. Instead of going back to school I decided to take her home where I waited with her until Martha got home from work. Big mistake. We should have gone back to school.
My sister has never had a weight problem. There are all kinds of goodies in her cupboards, in the candy bowl on the table and in the refrigerator. I was hungry and had a couple of handfuls of sweetened cereal. Then went on to raiding the candy bowl and grabbing a cookie from the cupboard. My snacking binge didn't end there. When I got home I had a couple of granola bars to top off the evening. Lesson learned: stay away from my sister's house when I'm hungry!
Now for the more positive news. I'm currently up to 13 minutes on the elliptical machine at Level 2. I'll make my goal of 15 minutes by the end of this month. On the treadmill I'm walking 3.5 mph for 45 minutes, so I've passed my goal of 3.4mph. I'm beginning to be able to feel a real difference in my clothes. They're definitely fitting much looser now. It's a good feeling. One of these days I'll need to go shopping to replace some of them.
I know that eventually the weight loss will slow way down and am trying to prepare myself for that. That's usually the time I begin to give up the struggle. But I am determined not to let that happen this time. It's more productive to focus on the success and how far I've come than to think about how much farther I have to go and how long it will take to get there.
Monday's weigh-in report: weight 218. Loss of 4.5 pounds over two weeks. Yay!!!!
Monday's weigh in was a surprise. I didn't expect to do so well. You would think that after that kind of a loss I would be encouraged enough to stick to a good eating plan, avoiding junk food at all costs. You might think that, and you would be wrong. Monday and Tuesday went well in terms of making good food choices and then Tuesday afternoon I blew it.
My niece is dropped off after school at my school where she stays with me until her mom gets off work. Tuesdays I take her to CCD (formerly known as catechism for us older Catholics). Yesterday when I went to drop her off we found out that there were no CCD classes. Instead of going back to school I decided to take her home where I waited with her until Martha got home from work. Big mistake. We should have gone back to school.
My sister has never had a weight problem. There are all kinds of goodies in her cupboards, in the candy bowl on the table and in the refrigerator. I was hungry and had a couple of handfuls of sweetened cereal. Then went on to raiding the candy bowl and grabbing a cookie from the cupboard. My snacking binge didn't end there. When I got home I had a couple of granola bars to top off the evening. Lesson learned: stay away from my sister's house when I'm hungry!
Now for the more positive news. I'm currently up to 13 minutes on the elliptical machine at Level 2. I'll make my goal of 15 minutes by the end of this month. On the treadmill I'm walking 3.5 mph for 45 minutes, so I've passed my goal of 3.4mph. I'm beginning to be able to feel a real difference in my clothes. They're definitely fitting much looser now. It's a good feeling. One of these days I'll need to go shopping to replace some of them.
I know that eventually the weight loss will slow way down and am trying to prepare myself for that. That's usually the time I begin to give up the struggle. But I am determined not to let that happen this time. It's more productive to focus on the success and how far I've come than to think about how much farther I have to go and how long it will take to get there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)