Day 55- Weigh In Day

I weighed in this morning and have relost the few pounds I had gained in the last few weeks. That was good news. I sort of wish that I had lost some more but I will take a loss and then today is the start of a new week. I went over my points last week by 35.5 pts which is almost a whole extra week's worth of points. That isn't good but it is still better than in other weeks.

I decided yesterday that I was going to try to plan out my meals for the week somewhat. I went to the grocery store and shopped all at once instead of going a few days a week. I thought that maybe I would try to plan out what we would have a few nights this week so it would be easier to stay in my points. I also bought some stuff for me for lunch during the week that is low in points. The one problem that I ran into is that the grocery store (at least the one closest to use) is already really low on vegetables that are fresh. No green beans or snap peas or a few other things that I was going to buy. That is a bit disappointing but I am hoping it is just that Kroger and I will be able to find some at another Kroger because I haven't done that well with fruits and veggies the last few days.




Here are my stats for Thursday:
Daily pts: 31/21 (remainer counted in weekly pts used up)
Activity pts: 0
Weekly pts used up (running total): 37/35
Veggies: 4/5
Milk: 2/2
Water: 8/8

Here are my stats for Friday:
Daily pts:44/21 (remainer counted in weekly pts used up)
Activity pts: 0
Weekly pts used up (running total): 58/35
Veggies: 2/5
Milk: 2/2
Water: 4/8

Here are my stats for Saturday:
Daily pts: 33.5/21 (remained counted in weekly pts used up)
Activity pts: 0
Weekly pts used up (running total): 70.5/35
Veggies: 0/5
Milk: 1/2
Water: 8/8

Day 52

Not much else going on here. I was pretty hungry this morning so I had a pancake at work. Hopefully that will not throw me over for the day anymore than usual. I feel like I have done extremely well this week and stayed more within my points than in the last few weeks so I really hope to see a loss on Sunday!

Here are my stats for yesterday:
Daily pts: 33/21 (remained counted in weekly pts used up)
Activity pts: 0
Weekly pts used up (running total): 27/35
Veggies: 5/5
Milk: 2/2
Water: 8/8

YAY I got all my water in yesterday. Looking for a similar day today! The reason I went over my point so much was because I had a lot of protein yesterday which costs more points. Even though I went over a bit, it wasn't with junk food and actually I don't think that I had anything that was processed yesterday other than some wheat pasta at lunch. I consider that a pretty good day!

Day 51

I am feeling much better about everything today. I thought about the fact that Zane had said he was reading blogs about Nutrisystem and I decided to find some weight watchers blogs to add to my blog roll :-) I found this one and look at this yummy dessert..I am going to make it for this weekend I think....

Here are my stats for yesterday:
Daily pts: 29/21 (remained counted in weekly pts used up)
Activity pts: 0
Weekly pts used up (running total): 15/35
Veggies: 3/5
Milk: 2/2
Water: 5/8

Today I did even better on the water so it is starting to come around. I also noticed that a pair of pants that I had worn last time I was in Atlanta (a month ago) were looser than they were the last time I wore them. They are a pair of my "fat pants" and all day I spent pulling them up. That was a good feeling.

I also have discovered another trend for me. It seems as though every time I have something salty, I seem to crave something sweet afterwards. It happened to me today with pasta at lunch (tomato based but seemed a little on the salty side) and then tonight with my stir fry (has more of a salty taste than sweet). Both times I wanted something sweet afterward. Maybe the key to not eating sweets is to eat less salty stuff. That theme has come up before and the week that I did the detox I definitely felt less bloated all week. Food for thought for sure. Aren't you guys glad you get to come on this journey with me :-)

Day 50

So, I couldn't believe that I had gained weight last week so I had to weigh in again this morning. My weigh in this morning was no weight gained...much better but I will not count it as my official weigh. This week so far has been much better. I have stayed within my points each day with counting the weekly points so I hope that I can keep it up for the rest of the week and see a little bit of loss on Sunday. I know that breakfasts and lunches will be easy this week so the main challenge will be dinner. Tomorrow I am going to one of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta and will be sure to load up my plate with lots of veggies instead of noodles and meat (though I will have some). I plan to have a salad as part of my lunch and then whatever else there is that is healthy in the cafeteria. They post the nutritional facts online so I can look it all up. I was down yesterday but I feel renewed today. Day 50 is way too far into this for me to still be going back and forth...time to get serious!! As you can see from the stats, there is still room for improvements :-)

Here are my stats for yesterday:
Daily pts: 24/21 (remained counted in weekly pts used up)
Activity pts: 0
Weekly pts used up (running total): 7/35
Veggies: 3/5
Milk: 1/2
Water: 2/8

Thoroughly Frustrated

That is how I feel right now. I was not able to weigh in yesterday morning because I was still at the beach so I had do it this morning and I had gained another pound. WTF? I didn't do great this weekend at the beach (had 2 hamburgers and some mac n' cheese) but during the week I was really careful and I felt like I made better decisions than I have other weeks when my weight stayed the same. This helped me to decide that I really think that I need to post the points I eat everyday or something.

I think that the reason that I am frustrated is because I have never had this problem before. Usually if I decide to eat healthier then I tend to lose weight. Now, I feel like I make much healthier choices than I did a few months ago and I lost a couple of pounds and then it seems to be coming back. I am not sure why that is. I am not perfect on the diet but I have never been perfect before and I have always lost weight. It is a bit discouraging for me and it makes it a little hard to concentrate on it going forward. Maybe posting the points here will help me, maybe not but I am going to keep trying and hope that this is just a bump in the road.....

I am thinking about trying to read the message boards a little more on the weight watchers website. I just don't want to eat a lot of the processed food that people use with ww so I need to figure that out a bit.

Good Choices

I feel like this week I have made good choices so I wanted to share a few with you guys:

1. I love the pumpkin spice latte but when I looked it up it is 4 pts more than my normal latte so I only had it one day this week. Everything in moderation.
2. Yesterday the auction had lunch brought in....pizza and subway sandwiches. I chose the turkey sandwich from Subway and just got a tiny piece of pizza and took a couple bites just to get a little taste but so I didn't eat too much.
3. I have made sure to snack on fruit twice a day instead of something that is bad for me. It helps to get in some of my 5 servings that I need a day and keeps me from eating anything that isn't good for me.
4. Today I had a grilled chicken breast, salad (oil and vinegar dressing), and a potato with only a touch of butter (less than one of those small containers they give you at the restaurant).
5. Tonight I had snap peas and teriyaki chicken/steak/shrimp skewer.
6. Worked out last night in order to earn 4pts....that is a first in a long time.

Not bad for being on the road. I did have ice cream once but I planned it into the day so it wasn't bad.

I am feeling pretty good about my eating this week. Still need to drink more water and less diet coke...why is that such a battle when it never used to be. I must need to go cold turkey or limit it somehow but they just constantly fill up your glass at restaurants. I am considering only drinking water at restaurants and then maybe getting a can out of the vending machine or something if I want some diet coke...that way I know exactly how much I am drinking. Hopefully I can keep it up for a while and see some results on the scale. It looks like I might have to travel a lot more so I definitely need to get it down for travel :-)

Mistake

That is what I made yesterday. Right after I got done talking about how good I was going to be and how I was going to start the week off right and then it happened. C and I went on a 25 mile bike ride where I burned 800 calories and at the end, I was starving. I was going to figure out food but C suggested we stop on the way home. We stopped at McDonald's where I normally get nuggets (1pt a piece) and kid sized fries. Well, yesterday C said we should try the Angus burger and I was under the impression that it was better for you than a regular burger (6pts). It was GOOD but when I looked up the nutritional value it was over 700 calories (17 pts and I only get 21 a day). Ugh!!! Luckily I had burned over 1000 calories between the gym and the bike ride but I was so upset that I didn't look up the nutrition before eating it. Lesson learned and it will NOT happened again!!! Luckily since it was my first day of my new week, I can still catch up to get back some of my "extra" points to use this weekend. I get 35 a week so even with my mistake I still have most of them (thank goodness for exercise!!)

Also, I have been thinking that I need a new format for this blog but I am not sure what yet. I want some more consistency and to use this to make me more accountable. I am going to think of ideas this week so look for it soon!

Uh Oh, up a pound

Sadly, I am up a pound this week. I am sad by it but not surprised by it. Part of losing weight is knowing where your weaknesses are and dealing with them. Now, this might be too much info for some people but it is something that a part of life so hopefully everyone can be mature about it or just don't read this post. I want to be as realistic as I can with all of this.

Anyway, this week I lost a little bit of control over my cravings. This happens about once a month and even though I know I am doing it, I just have a really hard time stopping it. After a couple of months of healthy eating it gets much easier but only being a month in, I gave in. I didn't eat as much as in prior months when I completely gave in but I did have ice cream a couple times and more Reese's that I should have (and with my sister here last Sunday I had smores and pizza and stuff). I definitely didn't eat enough to gain a pound though and actually exercised and mostly stayed in my points. I think that the 1 pound is due to me just being a girl and the fact that for the last 15-17 years I tend to gain about 2 lbs once a month. It is just a symptom that I get with all the loveliness. I really hope that it why the pound showed up this week but I guess we will find out next week.

Today is the start of my next week and I have a few challenges this week. I am leaving town EARLY tomorrow to go out of town for the week for work and then to spend a few days at the beach with the girls. I am going to try to be really good with my eating and exercising all week so I can really enjoy my time with the girls without having to worry too much about what I am eating. I am not going to go crazy and eat chips and soda all day but a few beers and maybe some desserts with dinner would be nice. I am working with another guy out of town which tends to give me problems because we all go to lunch and sometimes dinner together so I don't always get to pick the place. Also, I have to be ready to eat when they are so it is not always the best for working out but I am committed to working out this week. I want to earn at least 3 Activity points a day! Wish my luck.

As for today...I went to the gym this morning and got about 3 pts and now Craig and I are about to go on a bike ride so that will be probably another 5-6 pts or so! YAY! Starting off the week really well!

What Al Taught Me....

Yesterday I was asked if I used my heart rate monitor anymore. The answer is definitely YES! I love that thing. I named him (well, actually a friend of mine named him) Fat Albert and I call him Al for short. Al is the best friend a girl could have because no matter what, he will not lie to me. He teaches me more about how my body burns calories than any article I could read. Because you take your resting heart rate and you do a little thing called OZone (where you measure how your heart reacts at certain levels of activity) to give you a fitness score, it is one of the more accurate ways to measure your calories burned for YOU. Here are a couple of things that I have learned from Al.

1. I DO NOT burn 600-800 calories in a one hour spin class. I don't want to burst anyone's bubble but according to my buddy Al, I only burn 300-400 (a little over 400 if they class is really good). Now, this does vary by person and your weight and stuff does matter, but I cringe every time I hear my instructor say that we are burning between 600 and 800 calories. As a matter of fact, the more in shape you are, the less work your heart does so the less calories you burn for the same work. I know she is saying that as motivation but I hope that no one uses it to eat extra treats.

2. The treadmill's calories are not accurate. I think that most people know that but just in case. It is sort of funny because when you start exercising, the calories are close, about 15 mins in they start to vary from each other and by the end of a one hour session my heart rate monitor says I have burned a full 50 extra calories. So, depending on how long you work out, your calories may be off one way or the other.

3. I really don't get a good benefit from walking until after 10-12 mins. The first few minutes my heart rate is not much more than it would normally be with me walking around. After that time though it starts to pick up and I seem to get into a mode where it will hover a little elevated for the remainder of the workout. So, I try to never do less than 20 mins.

4. Just because you sweat, doesn't mean you are burning more calories. I used to use that as an indicator....not a very accurate one or concrete one but I used to love to go to spin classes because I sweat more in them so I felt like I was working out harder. Now, while there is no doubt a benefit to sweating out toxins, if you are just looking at burning calories, I actually burn more calories walking (at a 3.8pace) on the treadmill in the "interval mode". It is 2 mins with no incline and then 2 mins with a 3 incline. I burn over 500 calories doing that (as opposed to my 300-400 in spin) but I don't sweat nearly as much as I do in spin class....sometimes I barely sweat.

5. You can't cheat. There is no way to burn calories without actually doing the work. I used to just say I was going to do 20 mins of biking at the gym and think that I was still doing well...the truth is that while this might be good for my leg muscles, it did very little to raise my heart rate at all.

6. Lifting weights elevates your heart rate more than you think. I used to think that because I didn't sweat that much (though I did with a person trainer but not really on my own) with lifting, that meant that I wasn't really working out (see #4). Turns out that I was completely wrong. I have started to notice that I burn a good amount of calories when lifting weights and my heart rate seems to ebb and flow with the lifting.

7. I can tell when something is off....like the post a did last week where my heart rate was really elevated when I had barely done anything. It was an isolated incident but had it not been, I might have discovered something that I wouldn't have otherwise.

I highly recommend that anyone who is going to use calories that you burn through exercise as part of your weight loss plan, gets a HRM. (for WW you get to add in Activity points based on every 100 cals burned but they do not replace 1 for 1 the calories you eat. I think that this is a good way to go about it because it teaches you not to use exercise for a crutch to eat whatever you want.)

.6 down

Well, I weighed in on Sunday morning (though I had to move the scale to weigh in and I never know if that messes with it or not) and I lost .6 lbs. It is not the amount that I was hoping for. I was hoping that since I was at home all week and since I did the detox at the beginning of the week (and snuck a peek at the scale) that I would have lost over a pound but it didn't happen. When I look back, I know why it didn't happen. I went out two nights last week and had about 3 beers each night and I had some very fattening ice cream while my sister was here on Saturday night. It all makes sense and I will just be better about it all this week. I still think that it was good that I lost and didn't gain anything but hopefully in the next couple weeks I can get some more off. I am back on the road next week for the next two weeks so it could be a little harder. The bright side of being on the road is that I don't have to make the food but then again, I don't make the food so it is harder to control what goes into it. I also have become accustomed to eating more fruits and veggies and nuts than previously so I will definitely be making a stop at the grocery store.

Yesterday I had a snack of some Doritos and probably ate more than a serving and my stomach didn't feel good afterward. That is a good sign to me. That means that my eating habits are starting to adjust and my stomach (and body) recognize when I give it junk food and it makes me feel yucky (which it should). Hopefully this will continue. I can take the .6lbs at a time as long as it keeps going down each week. Eventually I will get there...even if it takes me 6 months and that is all that matters.

Day 3 Detox

I made it!! I think that I am going to try to keep up the extra fruit and veggies up but am going to definitely have my latte tomorrow and will probably reintroduce meat in as well. I will try to hold down the salt content and will use more herbs and natural seasonings because they really do taste better.

Here are my eats for the day:
breakfast - pear, sunflower seeds
snack - sunflower seeds
lunch - Panera side salad (with some balsamic vinegar) and panera summer corn chowder (this was not the best choice because it was a bit creamy (not thick but still)).
Snack - trailmix (raisins and other nuts, no salt)
Dinner - Wendy's baked potato (had to put a tiny amount of buttery spread because it wasn't tasting too good with the pepper) and side salad without dressing (sadly I like the taste of lettuce).

When I was reading all these websites about the detox and cleansing, a lot of them said that it would cause you to go to the bathroom a lot more....and some of them even suggested taking laxatives to help things along. I didn't really experience that in the first two days but then tonight, I did have a little tummy ache. I say this just to make the point that just because you do a detox, it doesn't mean that you will spend the whole day on the toilet.

Day 2 of Detox

Yesterday was a rough day for me. My headache was awful all day and I found it hard to concentrate at work. When I got home I went for a bike ride with C and where my heart rate is normally around 130, it was spiked to 160. I am not sure if that related to the fact that the night before I had not slept well and the cats seemed to bother me so my asthma was acting up or if it had to do with something else. Once I calmed down and got into the ride, it slowed back down and was more normal but I just found it weird.

I still feel more full than I normally do and think that I can tell that my blood sugar seems more stable. I have eaten a lot of nuts though and those have fat in them....unfortunately. Without all the salt to retain water, I feel like I pee a lot more.

Last night I had to give in and have some caffeine. My headache was unbearable and I don't plan on giving it up for good so I figured it wouldn't hurt. I think that my recommendation to anyone trying to do this would be to either ween yourself off the caffeine before you start or just to not give up the caffeine. I fully realize that this means that it might not have the full effect that it is supposed to have but I also seriously doubt that one cup of a caffeinated beverage will really derail it completely.

Here are my eats for yesterday and I honestly didn't feel hungry until right before dinner:
breakfast: peach, nuts
snack: grapes, nuts
lunch: brown rice, nuts
dinner: cod with lemon and pepper, snap peas, mashed potatoes (no butter, salt or milk)

Today and probably tonight I will have to eat out so I am going to try to stick to the most unprocessed items I can get but I think that I might struggle a little here. Overall, I feel like the affect is still really good. I haven't eaten anything processed since noon on Saturday so it has been three days and I still feel good (minus the headaches...which someone said could be the toxins leaving, not sure I buy that and I think that it is just caffeine related). I think that I have found easy ways to replace items I would have eaten before and I think that I can follow a healthier diet now than before. So, while I might not have been as strict about the caffeine as I should have been, and while I might have to eat out tonight, I am still WAY better off than I was a week ago. I have also been drinking more water so that has helped a lot too. I think that if I slowly adjust my eating habits to be more like these three days (but adding back in milk and meat) then I think that I will slowly get rid of whatever it is that processed food puts in your body. I am not looking for a quick fix but I do think that these three days have been a good jump start.