Weighty Matters

This week, a loss of 3.8 pounds leaves me with just 2.4 to go ..... 225.6 gone!!! And once again, it remains *personal* to get rid of those 2.4 pounds!!! They will. get. gone. And soon!!! This week's topic is on motivation -- remembering the motivation that got us through the door. Finding the motivation that keeps us going. Thinking of what we need to do to get ourselves to our goals (weight and otherwise). The funny thing is, I was just considering motivation and endurance at lunch today as I was walking in the nice warm(!) Carolina midday sun. My initial motivation hinged on three things: (1) needing to get in better health, and knowing my doc had recommended WW above all else; (2) seeing a horrendous picture of me and thinking, "My God do I really look that bad?"; and (3) realizing that as independent as I am, this was one battle I could not fight alone. Fighting it alone had gotten me into this pickle. I would have to swallow my pride and rely on others for assistanc...

because I am apparently retaining enough fluid to be labeled a "sea cow" now....... I stepped on the scale and the receptionist looked quizzically at the screen. "Step off and step back on." More puzzled looks, and "this says you gained five pounds." The numbers on the scale didn't lie. She turned it around and there it was, in big ol' black LED numerals. 5 pounds up. FIVE. FIVE. Okay, so I have thought of every possible reason -- from the sane to the silly -- and here's my list of them: It's about "that time" and so I am retaining fluid. This is true, and possibly the root cause. Without being totally TMI, this is an area where I have had cause for concern lately. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on it. I'm just plain retaining fluid. This is also a real possibility. Usually I get up at least once during the night..... last couple of nights, slept right through. I exercised too much during the week. Okay, while I don...

The 5K this weekend was an unofficial one -- not timed, more to raise awareness about Special Olympics and have a little fun at the same time. But I had my handy stopwatch around my neck .... and when all was said and done, I came up with 48:13. We did it on an outdoor walking track with a distance measured at .49 miles per loop. We did 6 loops, for a total of 2.94 miles. I added a half-loop to make it as close to 3.106856 miles as possible. So I am looking for the next one to put on the calendar. I found out that the Candlelight Run in Greenville allows walkers, but you must be able to finish in under an hour (okay, no problem there). I'm just wondering if that's something I want to do on a Saturday evening. I like the ideas of the early mornings .... not that I'm a morning person, but I need to have it over and done and enjoy the rest of my day. So we shall see what happens as far as Candlelight Run. I never thought I'd be the type to visit running websites to look fo...

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can't see me, but I'm doing a mean happy dance right now. I lost 2.0 this week, for a new total of 226.8 gone, and only 1.2 to go. Those 50 ounces from last week are now down to roughly 20 (and yes, it was actually 52 ounces; I can't count for crap apparently). Yes, a bottled drink stands between me and goooooooooooooooooal! I am so excited I can't stand it!!!! I am going to work my butt off to get that 1.2 pounds off. I have another 5K this weekend, plus going hiking in the Georgia mountains on Sunday with some friends whom I haven't seen in a very long time. Yes, I'm feeling pretty jazzed. Now, I am not dumb.... I know very well that next week could bring a bounce-up and I am mentally prepared for that, in case it happens. But again, I am extra-determined. I am going to do everything within my control to do my best, and leave the rest to God. And really with everything in life -- including our weight loss -- that's all we ...

I think it has happened. I never imagined it, but I have crossed over. I have become that 7-letter word -- dare I even say it? ATHLETE. (HA!) I did another 5K this morning to benefit a local domestic violence shelter. I had a time of 49:13 -- a little off my previous best pace but only less than a minute off. THAT was phenomenal, and it was a certified distance, so I know I'm doing good. Next week I have another, for Special Olympics. I just found out there's one the weekend after that not too far from here (not a benefit one, but one just the same). And one two weeks after that. I made two trips to the sports store that was a sponsor for today's race. I spent over $100 bucks there in the last 24 hours -- new shoes, exercise clothes and orthotic insoles. I can see myself going back to this store at least once a month to just .... you know .... see what's new. I did not ever expect this to happen. Me, the very definition of a modern maj.... I mean, the very definition o...

Heh. 200 posts before this.... in just at 3 years. Amazing isn't it? Let's get the count out of the way.... up 0.8 and back with 3.2 to go (meaning 224.8 gone). I gotta admit: it's a bit frustrating. Still, I've chucked the calendar and when it happens, it will happen. That doesn't mean I quit trying or quit striving to do my very best, but I'm going all Zen-like about it. I am picturing it happening already...... and so it will be. What I'm more excited about has been all the non-scale victories this week: how good I feel having exercised. Doing the exercise. Getting all stoked about this weekend's 5K, and aiming for a great finish time..... it might not be the 48:21 from the previous 5K, but anything in the 50-53 range is good. I'll aim for 48, don't get me wrong. But I'm not going to beat myself up. When I was preparing for the April 5K, one of my Internet pals said to me, "Don't worry about the time; the important thing is THAT y...

"What's come over me? WHOOOOO! Here it comes again!" (And if you're old enough to know who Brad Majors is, God bless you). I did some activity on Friday, skipped Saturday, but have done something every day since. Including twice on Monday. Here it is, 8:00 PM on Wednesday. Normally I'd be at choir practice, but I ended up running a routine at work later this evening so that I wouldn't have to do it in the morning. Now that I've eaten a light but healthy dinner, I feel like doing some more exercise. Maybe the 20-minute Express Zumba workout. I have a 5K coming up this weekend and one next weekend. I'm still looking for one in early June or even July -- forget August; I may be crazy but I'm not insane!!! Holy cow. What is this all about? It's been 2 years, 360 days since I first joined WW. That first night, Debbie (my then-leader) asked us to give her 5 minutes of exercise if we weren't used to anything at all. I figured I could do 5 minutes...

So, my brother and I were driving to my cousin's house last evening for a birthday celebration. As far as the celebration, let's just say I used my 35 points. I may not have actually used them all, but I didn't care. The celebration was worth it, a good time was had by all, and I didn't overindulge (I felt) .... okay, except maybe in the Bread/Olive Oil dealie-o. YUM. Anyway, we were discussing old photos, etc. and my brother remarked that it was good that I could have a sense of humor about my two-ton-Tillie days. Well, what choice do I have, you know? I have too many years of photographic evidence to prove I was large. I mean, really! He asked what about those years when I said that I liked myself -- did I really? The answer was yes. I really did like myself. I had to learn to do so, but I did love myself. I did respond that one thing I have learned in this process was this: "Dieting done out of self-loathing never works. Getting healthier out of self-love almost...

A loss again this week --- 1.2, so almost all of the gain from last week. It happened to a couple of other people too --- an unexplained gain, and a good loss this week. That makes 225.6 GONE, and just 2.4 to go. HOLY MACKEREL! Almost there --- so nothing else to do but keep on truckin'!!!!!!!!

In my last post, I spoke of having a "blowout meal" -- just for fun and to try to find a way to kickstart some weight loss. I went for BBQ, sweet potato crunch and green beans. YUM! Until an hour later.......... oh my. My favorite meal decided to come back with a vengeance. And this wasn't a situation where I ate until I was stuffed and unable to move. It was normal portions of foods I have eaten before. I'm not sure what happened that my body said, "WHOA! Who sent this junk here? I'm getting rid of it!" But it was great-tasting........ Le sigh.

You ever have one of those weeks where you do everything right? You eat right, you work out daily or nearly daily, and you do everything you are supposed to.......... and still gain? Yep. I gained 1.4 pounds this week, which set me back to 3.6 pounds to go for goal (224.4 gone). AARGH!!!!!!!! 24 ounces (give or take). 24 ounces are NOT going to beat me. This bump in the road is just that: a blip on the screen -- nothing to fret over, nothing to overanalyze. It happened to several of us this week, and so I know I'm not alone. I'm not worrying about anything except following the program, and enjoying the ride along the way. Still, a blowout meal may do the trick. I may just have to give in to my barbeque jones..... it ain't Maurice's but Mutt's BBQ (and their heavenly Sweet Potato Crunch) may just do the trick. Slurp!

I took part in this morning's 5K as part of the Azalea Festival. I walked it and was just hoping for a time of under an hour. See, I found out last night that the course was pretty challenging -- even hillier than the RFTC course at CU-ICAR, and I kind of got a little nervous. I wondered how well my "record" time of 56:26 would hold I crossed the finish line this morning. 48:21 I. Am. So. So. So. STOKED!!!! Now, besides the obvious, why I am so completely flippin' stoked about this? Well, yesterday at lunch, I sat down with my WW storyboard. Weight Watchers is partnering with Active.com for the Millennium Walk-Up Challenge to get us all moving and grooving more. So I sat there with my storyboard, planning to see if I could increase my average speed/time per mile. I figured a reasonable estimate was to average 3.6 MPH (for an average minutes-per-mile time of 16:40) I managed to shave 8:05 off my best time ever. In a race that I planned to use as a gauge for the future ...

Last week, I needed just 0.2 to hit 225 gone...... and I lost a pound this week, for a total of 225.8 gone! WAHOO!!!!! It's my next-to-last major milestone. 45 5-pound stars. 9 magnets now. I'm in the homestretch for real. I can't believe I'm here. Truly. I hoped, I dreamed, I planned, I wished (and all those other hopeful verbs) for this moment to come ...... but like so many things in life, all the planning and preparation cannot begin to compare to the actual moment. I'll keep everyone posted. If I work REALLY really hard, I want to be at goal by my 3rd anniversary (May 11). 2.2 pounds to go..... 2.2 to go...... 2.2 to go. 36 ounces. 36 ounces to go. OMG. WOW!!!

A few entries ago, I talked about a concept of chucking the calendar. One of our leaders-in-training mentioned this when telling her story and it resonated with me. We often talk of "SMART goals" -- with the T usually standing for "time-based." In most goal-setting situations, that's a good thing, because you don't want to belabor a project forever. You want to see measurable progress within a certain timeframe. And in some cases, it can apply to weight loss. When I was first starting WW, I did little time-based goals -- "30 by the 31st" and "Laboring for 40" come to mind. Those were things I needed to do to stay motivated, knowing that I had a very long way to go. However, if you don't have such a long road ahead, or if you are nearing the end of the journey, is it really worth the frustration to set a time-based goal? For example, my original plan was to hit goal by December 31, 2008. It obviously didn't happen, but it also didn...

I weighed in last night with a loss of 2.4 (YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), so that leaves just 3.2 to go. OMG. I can hardly believe it! I mentioned in an earlier post a book on optimism called Breaking Murphy's Law. My copy just arrived, but I have been so swamped this week that I had time to open the envelope to get it out. And it's Holy Week/Easter weekend -- so my time is going to be busy with church activities. I do promise to write some additional thoughts I have sometime tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, while at Easter we do "feast with joy in the Lord," the good Lord also expects us to not neglect ourselves either. In my own faith tradition, we have the Triduum -- the three days -- from Holy Thursday evening through Easter Sunday afternoon. They are considered one event that cannot be pulled apart section by section to determine which is most important. They're all so intricately linked that they become one event. There is no Easter without Good Friday an...

I gained 1.6 this week. I don't know how and frankly, I'm not as upset about it as I probably should be. One, I'm too drained to even begin to think about it right now, and two, I know I was on program all week and I know that I did have some non-scale victories. My pants are getting looser still, and I did some great exercising this week as well. So there, silly scale, take that! Myeh! :-p One thing that I did think about during tonight's meeting was that I didn't eat as much protein as I had the week before. That week, I did a lot of omelets or had a 3 oz portion of lean meat at a time. This week, lots more salad greens (very filling, but not a lot of protein) and usually no more than 2 oz of lean meat. So I guess that hurt more than I thought. And I've been experimenting with the 35 extra points by eating 2-3 points extra each night. What I'm finding is that I'm better off NOT doing that, but instead using a larger portion of them them as one-fell-swo...

"I'm able to stay positive when I'm staring at difficulties ... because I don't believe dead ends exist. I may have to back up and turn around and take a different road. I may even be completely lost for a while. But I know I'll find my way. There is always another way." -- L'Tanya Gail Durante, Durham NC, from the Redbook article referenced below At the risk of sounding like a bad film reviewer............. if you read no other article this year to help your weight-loss mindset (among other things in life), read Act Like An Optimist from the April 2009 Redbook . Buy the magazine & clip the article, print it out from the Redbook site, scan it -- do whatever you have to in order to keep it near you. This morning, I began computer training on receptionist duties at our local WW center, and the leader asked me to say a few words to the group at the first meeting. I have been to this center on a few occasions when I've needed a catch-up meeting or ...

Okay, I really was preparing to write a whole post about NSV's (non-scale victories) because those are not only important, but these days, they're what I cling to! I stepped on the scale this morning and it wasn't looking all that faboo. I figured at best, I might maintain from last week. I exercised at lunch anyway because I feel better when I do -- right there, that's an NSV. If you'd told me three years ago that I would actually enjoy exercise, I would have laughed and laughed and laughed. I got to the meeting tonight, stepped on the scale and WHOA!!!!! Down 1.4 -- which was even lower than this morning's home scale said. HOT DOG! That means 224.0 gone -- only 4 to go to hit my goal. I got my doctor's note, and turned that in, so that is now my actual real goal! So this week, I was blessed with a scale victory and lots of non-scale ones! My favorite NSV's of the week: a) walking "Stadium Hill" and "Machine Hill" -- lemme splain. Th...

Well, with a 0.2 pound loss this week, I am now a member of the Point Club ..... where you lose a zero-point-X each time. I know these last few pounds are going to be the most difficult, but GEE WHIZ!!!!!!!!!! So, how to break this slump? I don't know. I'm using a few of my flex points each week, and I could do a "blowout" meal just to see. I need to shake up my exercise routine, and using the FitDeck cards is going to be a big help..... I used the Bodyweight Deck at the office today: warmed up for 5 minutes with a lap around the building, then pulled random cards for about another 10 minutes. Just ten minutes? Yeah. One, I was getting hungry; I had planned to start the routine around 12:30, but demands on my time pushed it back to 1:15. Even with my morning snack, I wasn't going to go much beyond 1:30 before needing to eat. Two, even though I walk and am in fairly good cardio shape, doing calisthenics is another story. The card on lunges alone nabbed me (my quad...

I lost 0.2 this week...... I will take it! Right now, I will take every loss I can get, ounce by ounce! I am happy to have any loss at all. It seemed that the couple of times I weighed this week, there was going to be a gain. So I was prepared for whatever came my way. This week's talk was on greater activity, and I do need a boost! A few weeks ago, I ordered some exercise cards from FitDeck -- the "travel" and "office" decks. I have decided to order the basic "bodyweight" set, where I use my own body weight for resistance. I need to change up some things, especially as I go into maintenance. I figure that's a great place to start! So we'll see how that works! And I'll let you know, too!