Thursday, March 29, 2012

Weigh-in

Man, can I maintain. I lost 1 pound this week. I’m back to 31 PP per day and still hovering around that 40-pound-loss mark. One great thing about this loss: I went on vacation last weekend and still lost. Success all around.
I’ve been thinking about my rut and realized that three things happened nearly simultaneously, and any one of them could be contributing to my stagnation. They are:
1.       The holidays. I had my eating under control over Thanksgiving, but I stumbled at Christmas and New Year’s. I never really got back on track since then
2.       The end of my WW meetings (they ended at Christmas)
3.       The beginning of my grammar class, which has taken over my life (in a good way, mind you)
I’ve been so quick to blame my ball-dropping on #3, because that’s what I have to deal with on a daily basis. I feel the stress of class every day, so it’s always available as a scapegoat. But what if it’s one of the other two things?
Now, as much as I love WW, I was not in love with my WW leader. I found her to be non-motivational and often times degrading. I never thought I got much out of my meetings, but what if I really did in some subtle, unrecognizable way?
Or, if I go with #1, what if I just never got back on track after the holidays and I’m using numbers 2 and 3 as excuses for my laziness?
We’re going to find out pretty soon. The semester is over in less than a month. After that I will have no more excuses for simply maintaining my weight. I will start losing again. Although, I must say, I did a pretty good job at staying in the same five pounds for the past four months (makes me feel a little better about maintenance once I reach goal).
Also, the end of April marks my 1-year WW anniversary. I will have lost roughly 40 pounds if I continue at this rate. It’s not the best I’ve ever seen, but it’s a lot better than where I was this time last year.


Weight loss this week: -1 pound
Total weight loss: 40.6 pounds

Thursday, March 22, 2012

And Suddenly I'm Worried about the Weekend

I’m heading out of town this weekend. And while I shouldn’t be nervous, I am. Why shouldn’t I be nervous? Because I’ve been treating weekends like they’re something unique, like they’re something that happens only once every five years. That means I’ve been eating and eating and eating, never to track a single bite.
But there’s just something different about going out of town. When I do my regular thing on the weekends, I am in control of it. I might not eat healthy, but it is my choice to do so. But when I go out of town, I put my eating into someone else’s hands, at least to a certain extent. Remember my trip to New York and all those wonderful meals that I ate because that was what there was to eat? But, I did the best I could then and I will do it again now. I am going to the grocery store tonight to stock up on snacks for the drive out – bananas, berries, apples, Special K Crisps (going have to get some kind of reasonable, salty chips or else I’ll be busting into full-flavored Doritos halfway through the car ride), celery – and once I get to our destination I will feel it out then catch a ride to the grocery store to make a few more healthy purchases to carry me through the weekend. I’m also packing two workout outfits. Hopefully it will be nice enough weather to take some good walks.
So I have a plan for this weekend. And that’s more than I can say for every other weekend. Tiny steps will get me back on track.
In other news, I was down a pound this morning, putting me at the same weight as last week. Clay and I are planning a long bike ride Monday afternoon, and I’m beginning the final countdown for the end of the semester. I’m going to miss my class, but I can’t wait to fill my nights with outdoor activities instead of homework. I’m researching bicycle trunk bags. Any bicyclists out there have an opinion about these? At first I found them superfluous, because really, who can’t tether any ol’ bag to the back of a bicycle? But after I several times of tethering my “any ol’ bag” I realized that a bag made specifically for the back of a bicycle would only require a fraction of the effort to secure into place. So I’m taking the plunge. Look at me: all this talk for a $40 purchase. I need to calm down.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Weigh-in and Clipless Pedals Revisited

When I stepped on the scale this morning and saw a 1-pound gain, I thought, “hey, it’s a gain, but it’s no 3.6-pound gain.” This calmed me a little. As far as maintaining until this semester is over, I think I’ve done a pretty good job of it what with all the yo-yoing.
Then I plugged in my weight into the WW Weight Manager and my PP value, which had dropped to 31 PP last week, went back up to 32 PP. Not this again! I had such a hard time going from 33 PP to 32 PP that I volleyed back and forth between the two for weeks. Looks like I’ll be doing that again. You wouldn’t think 1 measly PointsPlus would be that big of a deal, but apparently it is. I guess I just try to get the most bang for my buck (using that cliché broke my heart a little bit) in the area of food, so taking away 1 PP is enough to throw my balance off. I need to suck it up and adjust though, because I will only be losing more PPs with each additional pound I lose.
But let’s move on to brighter crayons, shall we? I’ve been long overdue for an update on my clipless pedals. I purchased them. And I love them. I got these Shimanos (and I got a 15% discount because of where I work!):
http://www.gadgetgrid.com/2010/07/09/shimano-pd-m324-cliplessclip-pedals/

I have yet to use them on my outdoor bicycle, but they work on the spinning bikes at work and also on the spinning bikes at the Y. My feet still go numb after 45 minutes or so, but I have so much more power with which to pedal. I always knew you could cash in on the upstroke when you had clips, but I never realized how beneficial that is. We were doing a standing climb (stand on the bike, put the resistance as high as you can stand it, and pedal for however long the instructor tells you to – it’s hard to do and wears you out quickly) and toward the end of the climb, when I should have been keeling over (and I nearly was, mind you), I was still pedaling faster than I ever had in a climb. Because I was using both legs to simultaneously push down AND pull up. Man, am I a champion or what?!
It’s bike season. Oh yes it is. Clay and I are already planning our first long, overnight ride (we don’t ride all night; we ride all day, get a hotel, then ride all day again). We’re leaning toward the Pine Creek Trail near the PA Grand Canyon. It’s all uphill, but if we do the uphill first, it will be all downhill on the way back. I think a long bike ride is just what I need to shake off some pounds. What outdoor activity are you looking forward to doing this spring?

Weight loss this week: +1 pound
Total weight loss: 39.6 pounds

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Weigh-in, Shrimp, and Biking

I lost 3.6 pounds this week. Alright! Now the trick is to keep it off for next week. No pressure, Kels. This back-and-forth loss/gain is getting old, but I am thankful that I’m not consistently gaining. Because that would be pretty defeating, no?

I have two things to share with you this week. First, I would like to introduce you to my new love:


BRUSSEL SPROUTS!!! How have I come this far in life without befriending these little guys?! I’ve been making up for lost time, that’s for sure. In the past two weeks I’ve eaten about five pounds of these round balls of heaven.

Stephanie introduced me to them a few months ago at one of our book clubs (side note: Rules of Civility = Fantastic novel; I highly recommend it). She cut them in half, laid them in one layer, cut side up, in a baking dish, drizzled olive oil on them, and sprinkled them with salt. Then she put them in the oven on 350o for about 1 hour. The outer leaves got black and crispy, the olive oil soaked in and made the sprouts tender enough to swallow whole (kind of like cereal that has been soaking in milk for a while). And the salt brought out the flavor. When I made them last week, I paired them with Cajun shrimp and it was just perfect.


Second, in exercise news, I’m alternating working from our Pittsburgh office and my apartment this week, so I’ve had to work out at the YMCA all week. Been doing pretty good so far (I’m getting up and going before I start my work-from-home days) and have been on-point. Small successes. But it’s warming up here. I bought my new clipless pedals (have I told you this?!), Clay put them on my bike yesterday, and I’m ready to hit the trail once Clay gets his new handlebars on his bike. I have a feeling I’m going to log a ton of miles this biking season. Just watch me.

Weight loss this week: 3.6 pounds
Total weight loss: 40.6 pounds

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Weigh-in and New Weigh-in

I was pretty excited to step on the scale this week. Why? Well, I’m glad you asked. I was excited because I ate on-point this week and got a lot more exercise than I’ve been getting. I went off the wagon on Saturday and Sunday, like I’ve been doing for a while, but I still stayed within my extra points and the surrounding days were full of health and measurements and exercise (I even had a crazy workout on Saturday morning before indulging in pizza and dip).
So you can imagine my disappointment when I stepped on the scale and saw a .4 gain. Whaaat??? A gain? Are you kidding me, Universe? I immediately called bull shit. This was not fair. No way, no how. But I plugged it into my tracker and then sat back and thought about what made me gain. Yes, I overate on Saturday and Sunday. Even a little on Monday (although I had plenty of APs from Insanity class), but I was pretty proud of myself for how I handled the other days and those few days of over-indulgence were still within my points.
I was talking to a friend about this. We’ll call her “Stephanie.” She said that if she eats poorly on the weekends the residual effects of it usually last until Wednesday or so. I had been noticing that about myself as well. I always weigh less on Wednesday than I do on Tuesday. So I got on the scale Wednesday morning and had lost 3.6 pounds. That’s more like it. I know WW says to not go by scale alone, but those numbers do play mental games with you for sure. So, until I can get my weekends back under control, and I have no doubt that I will, I am changing my weigh-in to Wednesday mornings.
Spring is just around the corner and I’m anxious to get back to long bike rides and walks around my neighborhood. I’m going to try the C25K once my class is over in April. I’m crossing my fingers that that pesky tendonitis doesn’t come creeping back again.  Here I come, nature. Hide your children. I don’t know what that means. It sounds kind of gross, actually. I should probably delete these last few sentences.

Weight loss this week: +.4 pounds
Total weight loss: 37 pounds

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Weigh-in Teaser

I'm a busy bee this morning but wanted to stop in to tell you that I will be posting tonight about my weigh-in. I had a little gain, but then had a big loss. But how is that possible, you ask?

Guess you'll just have to check back in and see!

sheenapaints.wordpress.com/

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Weigh-in

I gained 3.6 pounds this week. Ridiculous, I know. I just can’t commit to any type of weight loss lately.
I think know why, but I just can’t really allow myself to admit it. As silly as it sounds, I am putting all my effort and extra time into this grammar class that I am taking. It’s spreading me too thin to even think about weight loss, much less leave me the willpower to do anything with it. Good news: I suspected from the beginning that this would happen. In the back of my mind I’ve been telling myself, “Just maintain your weight until April, Kelly. Get through this class then start to lose again.” But outwardly I don’t want to admit I am unable to do both. Or rather, I don’t have the energy to do both. I’m sure lots of people can do both. I, however, find it incredibly challenging.
So here’s the deal. It’s silly to find a scapegoat for my lack of weight-loss vigilance. So I won’t. I love my grammar class and it’s helping me tremendously with my job as an editor. I wouldn’t trade it for anything right now. I’m blessed to be able to take it (what employer do you know that would pay for a class and fully support their employee leaving the office at 1 p.m. three days a week??? Not many, I’m sure). Maintaining my weight during this semester is okay with me.
However, last week, I started to re-evaluate my eating. Just some small things. I made the decision to switch some settings in my Weight Watchers tracking plan. On the old program, you used your activity points the same day you earned them. Your extra weeklies were used for any other overflows. On this new program, activity points are fair game all week long ON TOP of your extra weeklies. I was a little skeptical of that since a workout on Monday doesn’t negate overeating on Friday. I found out a while ago that you could switch this around in your WW tracking settings so your activity points were used the same way as they were on the old plan.
So I did that. Now, every day I work out and earn activity points, any points I go over come directly from my activity points. If I don’t work out that day and I still eat over, then they come out of my extra weeklies. AND, each day my activity points reset. So I earn 5 activity points on Monday and don’t use any of them, by Tuesday my activity points reset to 0. Watching those activity points build up sometimes makes you believe you can eat anything you want all week long. Or maybe that was just my attitude becoming lazy.
Also, starting yesterday, I started weighing my food again. I’ve been eyeballing. This allows me to trick myself into thinking I’m eating less than what I really am. Imagine my horror when I found out I’ve been tracking chicken breasts as 4 oz. when really they average 8.7 oz. according to my food scale. Holy shit! I’ve been under-tracking for months now! I’ve been tricking myself into believing that I was eating less than I actually was.
In addition, I’ve been cheating with the things I HAVE been measuring. I’ve been heaping my peanut butter measurements. Last night, when I packed my lunch, instead of pretending that ½ Tbsp over-the-top-buldge of peanut butter was level, I actually leveled it off with a knife. And you know what? When I ate it this morning with my banana, it was perfect. I didn’t need any more than what I had.
So if I can’t fit in my regular killer workouts for a while, and I’m finding it challenging to step up my game in the eating department, the least I can do is measure fairly. Eat the same stuff, just measure. Right? Right.
I’m going to challenge myself to measure my food all week. I think I can manage that.

Weight loss this week: +3.6 pounds
Total weight loss: 37.4 pounds