A slip back, as expected, but not so far.

Well, as expected, my Thanksgiving and lax weekend approach ended up in the red. I'll admit, I was relieved that the weight gain wasn't as significant as I feared:

This week's weight: +0.6 lbs
Total weight loss: -14.1 lbs

As I said in my lament post yesterday, I kind of ate poorly the last few days, starting with Thanksgiving (which wasn't offensive, as far as T'giving meal eating displays go), but I just kind of was too relaxed about it all the rest of the weekend. And indulgence here and there. Some chips. Some of the cake I baked for T'giving that we brought back home. 2 of the popcorn dishes at the Red Parka Pub on Saturday instead of one. Went to the gym once instead of two or three times. It adds up.

It adds up to half a pound, actually.

So, this week, another start, as rebirth happens every seven days in these parts.

The challenge this week will be dinner at Mamma Maria's in the North End on Wednesday, a department outing. But I should get to pilates tonight, and to Zumba on Thursday, and to power pilates on Saturday, and ideally, I find a 4th visit somewhere in there...

Hope those of you watching your weight did well this past week, and whether you did or your didn't, I hope you share the same energy of starting over on Monday as I a clinging to right now...

Thanks for reading!

For the record...

... I really don't want to weigh in tomorrow.

I've eaten poorly this past several days, and only worked out one day.

I'm expecting to be punished in a big way tomorrow for relaxing more than I should have over this holiday weekend.

Shame on me.

The good news is tomorrow starts a new week!

Thanks for reading!

Thoughts about the Thanksgiving Meal

I have to admit, I'm not a huge sucker for the Thanksgiving meal as it's traditionally prepared. I like a slice or two of turkey, but that's it. I don't like gravy. I don't like cranberry sauce. I don't like pumpkin pie.

I do enjoy the things like stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc., but to be honest, if it's not my mother's recipe for stuffing, I'm probably good with one scoop. Mashed potatoes, one scoop. I usually enjoy the vegetables (green beans or broccoli are usually available). But in general, I don't indulge too much for the meal.

Now, what I'm talking about is both "generic" Thanksgiving meal, and the meal we currently attend. For the past 3 or so years, Robert and I have been invited to join his cousin's family, about an hour from us. They put on a great meal, but it's different than the one I grew up with. Some challenging temptations at their house are the fresh rolls, the homemade apple butter and apple pies from their own orchard bounty.

It's different than the Thanksgiving I grew up with... up to 20 people or so at Aunt Jeanette's house, with appetizers like 7 layer Mexican bean dip, chopped liver, tons of cheese and crackers, and a few more temptations for an hour before dinner's even served. Then dinner, not only the traditional turkey, but the sides of my mother's stuffing, my mother's sweet potatoes with marshmallows and pecans, my mother's turnips, various extra vegetables, Cousin Terry's mashed potatoes, and Cousin Jackie's multiple pies, and the chocolate with mocha frosting cake... a tradition to celebrate the various late November birthdays, with ice cream, of course. Ohhh... that cake... I've never mastered making that frosting, but I have the recipe, and hope someday to be a success. This is a feast. It is a day of eating that starts around 2 and ends around 7:30 or so... and one thing is better than the next.

Of course, some of the temptation is because the food is fantastic -- we've got a family full of great cooks. But honestly, some of the temptation is just because "that's what you do on Thanksgiving". I'm not sure why it became a day where you're some where between permitted and obligated to consume a week's worth of calories, but it is. And it's a day where everyone prepares recipes using the full butter, heavy cream, all the sugar and fat, because, after all, it's a special occasion... we can splurge for one day!

So, this year, though I miss spending the time with my family, I'm grateful to be away from all those amazing temptations that I associate with growing up and celebrating with my family. Fact is, my folks live in Florida now, and don't attend the family Thanksgiving anymore. So, by definition, even if I went to Long Island for this year's meal, it wouldn't be the same. All in all, it should be easy to go through this meal enjoying some very good food, in moderation, a taste of everything, and an indulgence in nothing.

I hope all of you are able to find some balance in your meals today... get your fill in quality time with family and friends, and enjoy a few tastes here and there.

Happy Thanksgiving, and Thanks for Reading!

Shout out to another making the journey

Today, I want to send a special "attaboy" shout out to my cousin. He, like a lot of us, has struggled with his weight for some of his adult life, and he's had fits and starts of efforts in the past to do something about it.

Lately, he's redoubled, if not retripled, his efforts. I don't know the full details, but he's started a program with very strict guidelines on eating and exercise, and monitoring by professionals, and really taking this more seriously and making it a top priority in his life, like he's never done before (so far as I know).

And he's already seen some great progress in his first few weeks!

I'm proud of him, and rooting for him, all the way.

I have another friend who went through a similar program earlier this year. I saw her last week, and every time I see her, I can't get over how fantastic she looks. She's another inspiration for me! Thanks, Mrs. S.!

To all of you hoping to make it through Thanksgiving with the best of will power, I wish you all the best! And if you slip, remember: tomorrow is another day!

Thanks for reading!

After the 3 weeks of crazy, would the scale move at all?

Last week, as I mentioned, was my last of 3 weeks of unusual hecticness at work -- harder to plan, lunches get forgotten, early mornings and late evenings throw off other aspects of the schedule. And after 2 weeks of almost no change, I didn't know what to expect for sure. I did know I was down some during last week, but I tend to rise up over the weekend, so I didn't get too excited about it. But, I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised at where it came in:

This week's weight: -2.6 lbs
Total weight so far: -14.7 lbs

I have to say, I'm a bit surprised, since I only made it to the gym once, and I ate okay, but not perfectly. I think it was a bit a function of adrenaline as well (busy weeks can do that, I think). So, we'll see if it stays at this level or rises up over the next few weeks as it gets a bit more normalized.

I am really starting to see a shift in how my clothes fit, too. We went to a cocktail party on Saturday night, and my "go to" black pants just didn't fit like they used to, and I was swimming in them a bit. I might have to go get a new pare of those. :-) As for how I did at the party, I had one fantastic cocktail, and kept myself to that limit. I didn't find I needed more, and felt my indulgence didn't need to be an overindulgence. I also stayed away from the food - I'd already had dinner and didn't need anything else. I was happy with my restraint, and I think it was part of what led to my success this week.

My one unusual indulgence was on Friday night, after the long week of work, where I treated myself to a fantastic chocolatini, which was basically a drinkable dessert. Again, I had one.

But, we all know, this is Thanksgiving week, which not only means access to more food which is usually on the more fattening or more rich side, but also a few days off (I'm working on Friday, but it will be sloooooow) lends to some of the undisciplined time around snacking and meals. So, I'm obviously concerned, as I think all people who struggle with their weight get heading into the holiday season, but this is just one week out of the next 6 or so which will all have indulgences and temptation heading my way. I won't win them all, but I'll focus on what I can and take each week at a time.

Thanks to all my new readers for spending time getting to know my blog! Great to have you! And thanks to ALL my readers for your support... it's a big big part of my success!

Thanks for reading!

How do I know when it's time to make a change?

When the scale hasn't moved in two weeks, I think that's probably a sign. Last week I was down 0.2 pounds. This week I'm back up the 0.2 pounds, so I'm where I was 2 weeks ago.

Yes, I did say that this was going to be a crazy few weeks where I couldn't necessarily plan well or rely on a routine.

Given that, what was I expecting, really?

On one hand, I probably expected it to be worse than it is. On the other, was I hoping for an inexplicable shift? That I can magically melt away weight eating abnormally and going to the gym 2 or 3 times? Probably not realistic.

I do have one more week of crazy to go, but this week might not be as bad as the previous 2. (Famous last words, I know), so I'll see how we can readdress this stagnation a bit more thoughtfully.

On a positive note, my body fat percentage is down another point, officially moving that lever more than 10% from where we started. A lot further to go, but a small victory I'll take.

This week's weight: +0.2 lbs
This weeks body fat percentage: -1%
BMI Change: 0


Thanks for reading!

Quick Thought : It's been a long time...

... since I've been late getting to work because I was having trouble finding clothes that fit, but this time was in a completely different direction!

(and, no, I didn't even have enough time to post this post. :-) )

Thanks for reading!

A "bottom ten" list to work on...

I had lunch with a friend this week and told him about my diet and my plan so far. He mentioned he was frustrated with not being in as great a shape as he used to be, and asked me how I was managing to focus on the changes. He mentioned a few things about his eating that he knew was standing in his way - work day and lunches, eating with a family that doesn't face the same concerns about weight, still drinking soda (diet, but still...)

I encouraged him that one easy way to start was to think of all things he might think aren't great about his eating habits, and write them down. Come up with 10 things. Pick 3 he could do something about.

Even I'm already 3 months into my own journey, I thought it would make some sense for me to do a retro snapshot of what I would have listed had someone asked me to do the same things. And I also thought it would be good to think about what I would do about any or all of them. So here's my list (circa July):

1. I'm bad at eating breakfasts
2. I don't get enough protein
3. I don't get enough fiber
4. I eat too much in terms of fatty foods (especially the fried stuff and the chips)
5. I don't snack well
6. I need to work on portion control, especially the large Sebastians lunches, which are healthier but big
7. I probably have too much candy... my Chewy Spree break most afternoons probably isn't good.
8. I like baked goods for a breakfast or snack (doughnuts, muffins, bagels, etc)
9. I don't drink enough water
10. Did I mention the chips?

So, if that's the list (and it's a fair one) here is my plan for a few of them:

1. Breakfast: Doing much better at this, and using it as an opportunity for protein rather than carbs.
2. Protein: Focusing on lean protein, getting it at breakfast and at lunch, making sure i get it before being forced into a dinner choice.
3. Fiber: This was a big one. FiberOne yogurt and FiberOne bars are a big help!
4. Fatty Foods: much better at this, but still an occasional indulgence...
5. Better Snacking: The FiberOne bars are a go to snack at this point. This kills 2 birds with one stone.
6. Portion control, especially lunch: I'm much better at making and bringing lunch, and making better choices on smaller lunches when I don't.
7. Candy: Two things: a) I haven't had any chewy sprees since this started b) I realized this week that I didn't have ANY CANDY this Halloween candy this year. Not one piece. I wasn't even trying to achieve that goal... I've just had that much less candy, and much less of a craving or a taste for it.
8. Baked goods: I haven't had a single doughnut since this diet started.
9. Water: Um.... I drink more water when I go to the gym, but, yeah.... not so good on this one.
10. Did I mention the chips? They're still an issue. Not as bad as they were, but still there. I love the chips. Dammit.

So, not so bad, all around. Some big progress on a few, and some challenges still linger. Weight Watchers really helped to get things kick started, but things like the candy and the fiber and some other things have just naturally worked their way into my cravings and tastes. That's a great thing, and I'm happy it took less than 3 months to be more of a natural shift, rather than still feeling like an exercise in learning and practicing what good would look like. It's just ACTUALLY good, rather than trying to be good.

I hope my friend can find a few things that work for him. I bet he'd be able to take on much more... in a good way! And I'm happy that he's inspired me to think about my own situation, which I know I need to keep doing, every step of the way.

Thanks for reading!

20% of this journey in my rear view mirror.

Week 12. Almost three months on this journey. 20% into it, and about 40% to goal. That ratio is in my favor, but I still have a long way to go.

First, to the weigh in. If you read this weekend's post, you'll know that I woke up braced for a gain.

This week's weight: -0.2lbs.

Well, of course, I'm happy with no gain, and even a little bit of negative movement on the scale. I'm not sure I have a great explanation for it, except I ate pretty well (not perfectly, but pretty well), and going to the gym twice is better than going to the gym never, but still, not a fantastic effort. I find myself wondering "If I had gone to Zumba once last week, would that number be a half pound?"

But I know getting into that kind of Monday morning rewrites of last week's plan does nothing for me. All I can focus on is this week, which I know will have some challenges of last week, and it also includes two lunch plans with colleagues, which always presents a hurdle (the lunch at a restaurant, not the colleagues part).

So, it's a Monday. Waking with a weigh in officially closes out last week, but I'm already concerned about the week ahead. There's little in terms of downtime between the two, but I guess the same goes for every challenge in life. I'll make it through this week, and then week 3 of this unusual period at work follows right behind it. Then I can back to a normal work schedule.

I don't want to make it seem like my work is a cake-walk the other 49 weeks a year; that's not my point. My point is that my time is a little bit more schedulable, I can count on having evenings where I can go to the gym and energy where I can do things, I can usually ensure that I'll get to have lunch at a normal time, and not some vending machine attack at 3:45, etc. It's not the work that's crazy; it's the impact on my ability to manage my schedule a bit more solidly. The work is good stuff, almost entirely great stuff, even. The impact on my diet and exercise is that bad part.

Thanks for reading!

Dealing with an unusual work week

This week has turned out to be as hectic at work as I expected it would be, and the next 2 weeks will be just as hectic. (I'm validated a bit by knowing my colleagues all thought this week was just as crazy, and it wasn't just me!)

When faced with the atypical schedule and energy, I've been trying to focus on eating okay, and getting to the gym has been secondary. This past week, I did the pilates reformer class at the home gym, and the power pilates class at the NH gym on Saturday, but nothing during the week. This coming week, I am working 3 half days in Cambridge, and anticipating a lot more instability in how I manage my week, food and exercise wise. I know it will all get back to "normal" soon, ironically, the week of Thanksgiving, and so I just have to stay with it until then.

Power pilates yesterday was tough -- working on the arms, tummy and butt, mainly. One thing I love about this class is that it is different every time -- different equipment, different music, different exercises on the same muscle groups, etc. Misty and I are the youngest people in the class, and we struggle the most (so humbling!) It's always funny when we get a "Nice job in the back!" comment from the instructor, clearly aimed at us finally getting something. Misty has more endurance and strength, and I have more flexibility, but between the two of us, we each are always struggling with something.

The instructor, Elaine, has high energy and is encouraging, but I'll admit she has one fatal flaw: She's terrible at math. I say this because she regularly shouts apparently irrelevant comments like "Eight More!" when she clearly means like 20. Or "Only 4 more!" When "4" means "4 repetitions of this one thing each time for 16 more!" I try to tune her out, because I only resent her when we get to the count down and she was evidently just joking about that "only 8 more" thing. Now I try to tell myself "Only 8 more means only 8 more until she really tells us how many might be left maybe". Ugh. We got through the class, though, and though I'm still sore today, I expect a few more advil will take it all away.

But one of the reasons I struggled was because I definitely have a case of Wii shoulder! We got Wii Resort Sports, and one of the games on there I like very much is the sword fighting games. I'm good at them (something I don't run into a lot) and they're fun, so I played them quite a bit, but my shoulder was killing me by the end. We also bowled a bit, and did some table tennis and archery (also very fun), so, I'm a little sore. (Robert, on the other hand is obsessively trying to beat his personal best on the 3 point contest in the basketball game). Oh, and I learned that I am just as bad at virtual frisbee as I am in real frisbee. Seriously, I embarrass myself. But I'm having fun with the Wii, and glad we have it as an additional way to stay a little active as the weather gets in the 30's here in NH. (Sure, Robert's doing a 3-stage bicycle race in this weather... I suppose he's doing just fine at staying active in this weather!)

This week, I plan to go to Pilates reformer and go to the gym at least one more time this week. Ideally, 2 visits beyond the reformer visit. We'll be in MA this coming week, so no power pilates class, but another option for an at home gym class. Wish me luck!

Tomorrow's another weigh-in day. I hope to be at no more than +1, but I'm expecting a small gain. Hopefully, that's all I'll see!

Thanks for reading!

Back to good week in all counts!

Good results on the scale this week - very happy!

this week's weigh in: -2 lbs.
Total" -12.1 lbs.

I've also brought my BMI down past 2 full points. BMI wasn't a specific goal of mine at the beginning, but it obviously goes hand in hand with the weight loss, and since there's technically a definition of a 'normal' range, I'm happy to incorporate any kind of measurement which helps track my progress as we go.

No change to body fat percentage, but I think I continue to make good progress there, anyway.


I'm still averaging a bit over a pound a week, which is great, of course.

Other highlights from this past week:

• I officially went to my gym 8 times again in October. Got another 100 points! (I also went to the NH gym for 2 pilates classes, but those are just extra).
• I did much better getting back to basics with the WW points last week. One day wasn't so good, but the rest were fine.
• I officially bagged up all my pants from the size I recently exited and put them in storage. Not sure I have the guts to rid of them altogether (god knows my recent stint in that size was a return trip), but it's nice to have them out of sight at this point.

I am worried that I'm headed into a busy few weeks at work, and how that impacts my ability to eat at regular times, control hunger, control snacking, get to the gym, etc. It should be busy the next 4 - 5 weeks, and Thanksgiving is in that period, too, so I know I'm entering a challenge period. I'm going to have to work harder at all the things that work for me in order to get through it without slipping backwards. Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading!