Heading into March (and SPRING!)

I didn't go to weigh in this weekend.  And it wasn't because I feared the scale.  I did pretty well this week.  I didn't track (duh) but I ate reasonably and my home scale says that I was down a little (less than a pound), which I consider maintaining.  I almost never skip the weigh in meeting.  In my opinion, it does you more harm than good to skip, especially if you expect the week to be a poor one.  I'd rather OWN it, and know that I have to do something different.  We went to a hockey game on Friday night.  I drank beer and ate junk food, I climbed the stairs (without being out of breath) several times and had a great time.  But it was late when we got home and I really really really wanted to sleep in on Saturday morning. 

My problem lately, is that I haven't been doing anything different.  I am terrible at tracking.  And with the new points system I have to look everything up to know the points (I used to be able to remember the important ones), and as I've stated before, I am lazy.  I don't bother to look everything up.  I know I should.  But knowing and doing aren't the same thing.

We are going on a big adventure this summer.  In only a few months our family will be meeting my mother-in-law, and hubby's brother's family in Germany.  We will be spending time in Germany, Austria, and Italy.  It's a very exciting opportunity.  And I'm scared of it. 

I've been to Germany several times.  Hubby's brother lives there with his wife and children.  We went for the wedding over Christmas 1999 and spent New Years Eve, ringing in the new millennium in Berlin.  We drove all over the country.  One of our favorite stops was Neuschweinstein castle.  The fairy tale castle.  It is up on a hill and is quite a hike to get to the top.  My mother in law and I decided then (11 years ago) that neither of us was going to be so sadly out of shape and winded when we went there again.  She has stopped smoking and is definitely going to beat my fat ass to the top when we take the boys there this summer.  And I'm scared of the embarrassment of it, already. 

I am definitely in danger of being stuck at the bottom holding the coats.  I am dreading it already and know I need to make a change NOW in order to even make it to the top (never mind, beat her up there!).

A few months ago a friend talked me into doing Cross Fit Boot camp with her.  I found that I didn't hate it.  Which is saying something from me!  I made marked improvement from my first test on the first day, to the repeat test on the last day.  And I felt stronger.  I didn't loose any weight at all but I think I lost inches.  The gym is in the neighboring town.  And bootcamp was at 6:00 in the morning.  It worked out well if hubby was home to take the kids to school, but when he had to be out of town, and the kids had to be at the gym with me at 6:00am, grumpiness abounded.   After bootcamp was over we could attend any class at any time.  But I still held onto that excuse that they gym was all the way in one town, while my job was all the way over in another town the opposite direction from my house.   It was a lot of running around.  But it was doable.  Even if I didn't like it.

I have since found out that there is a Cross Fit in MY town.  The price is over the top, but the bootcamp hours are hours that my kids are all ready doing Aikido.  So I'm considering it.  I would REALLY like someone to come suffer with me.  But, that might embarrass me all the more.  Cross Fit would get me in shape and by the end of June, I'd probably be able to beat everyone up the mountain.  So I'm considering it.

I'm also considering joining Curves (instead of bootcamp).  There is one right around the corner from my house.  So all I have to do is make the time. 

No matter what I do in March (and I will make my choice today or tomorrow), I think WW might be something I don't continue with.  It's a great program and I know it works.  But I haven't been following it well and I'm not losing (I know it's all my own blame, I'm not trying to pass the buck).  I think I need a break from it.  Having leaders that don't click with me is just one less reason to stay.  I don't know yet.  But I think I may just have to count my own points and do my own thing and see if I can get back on track. 

This is a week to make some choices.

Last week wasn't a fluke!!

I am one very happy (not so) little vegemite!! I had to have an early weigh in this week and weighed in on Wednesday night instead of Thursday night. My friend couldn't make it this week so I decided to go back to my normal weekly meeting for this week and next because next week I have something on myself on the Thursday night. Even with an early weigh in I still managed to lose 1.2kg (2.64lbs)!!! I was a little bit disappointed that I didn't make my 1.3kg weekly target, but then I realised that I weighed in a day early so it is all good. In a couple of weeks I will get an extra day and I should pick it up then. So now I know that last week was not just a fluke - at least I hope it wasn't!!!. This week I made sure I drank my water every day, aimed for my 200g of protein every day, tracked every day and exercised every day. So this week I am going to keep plugging away at it and hopefully next week will be a little bit better.

I am giving myself a great big pat on the back for a job well done and I hope you are all having a great week too!!

Beter than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!

I was expecting to do really well this week.  In fact up until Wednesday I had lost all the weight I'd "gained" the previous week, and then some.  Then... I had a visitor come and we went out to dinner a couple of times.  We sat and did some catching up, over drinks.  I knew that I was loosing ground.  But it was worth it.  It really was.  I didn't pay much attention to my tracking towards the end of the week.  But I did go to weigh in on Saturday morning.  And I lost 1.2 pounds.  Not as well as I had hoped for at the beginning of the week, but better than could be expected after throwing everything out the window towards the end!  So I'm happy.  And I'm newly resolved to trying hard again this week.  I'm aiming to add exercise and do some catching up with Shari!!

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!!!!

Woohoo!!! Yippee!! I am awesome!! In fact, I am absolutely fabulously awesome!! I am not just patting myself on the back - I am giving myself a great big hearty slap on the back, high fiving myself and dancing a jig all at the same time!! Weigh in day today and as you can probably guess, I had a great loss. I finally, finally, finally had a decent loss which is much more in line with the amount of effort that I have been putting in. I lost 1.5kg (3.3lbs)!! It's about bloody time I reckon and all I can say is thank goodness, because I really was starting to wonder what the heck I was getting so wrong. I managed to pull it all together this week and it has made such a big difference. It is also that time of the month for me which makes it even better, because I usually don't lose much at all in that week. It even makes me think that if it hadn't been for that, I might have lost more. Not that I am being greedy. I am soooooo happy with my 1.5kg and if I can keep doing that each week, then I will slowly get back to where I need to be. Now I am only 1.9kg behind on where I should be by now, instead of 2.1kg. So this week, I am going to try to keep doing what I have been doing, and hopefully next week will be just as good.

So what did I do this week? First of all, I made sure that I tracked all week and kept within my points. I did use some of my 49 weekly points, but I still had 28 left at the end of the week and I didn't touch any of my exercise points, so that was an extra 96 points that I didn't eat. I made sure I drank at least 4.2 litres (142 fl oz) of water every day, because that is what I worked out I should be drinking based on my weight, amount of activity and allowing for some coming from what I eat. I also increased how much protein I was eating. I worked out that I should be eating at least 200g (0.44lbs), once again basing this on my weight and how much I exercise. I have to say that this has been one of the hardest things to do and it means I have to be much more organised with planning my meals. I have to have protein with every meal, including snacks, which is not something that I am used to. I have begun to have eggs for breakfast every day with either ham or bacon, I have had to add meat to my lunch and am eating tuna for at least one of my in between snacks, as well as having at least 3 glasses of milk every day. Believe it or not, even by doing this, I am most days struggling to get the full 200g of protein in! I am starting to feel like a big ball of protein lol!! Even though I am not getting the full 200g every day, I am still eating way more protein than I was and I guess that has made a difference. It seems so strange to have to each so much of the stuff that I would normally limit in my diet in order to lose weight, but I am liking the satisfaction that I get from each meal. I am feeling fuller for longer and that is always a good thing. So, the three things I am going to continue to work on for this week are tracking, water and protein. I am not going to say exercise, because I just make sure that I exercise every day now. I have done for three weeks now and am soooo proud of myself. No excuses - even if I can't make the gym, I can find 30 minutes for my exercise bike in front of the tv at night if I haven't had a chance to exercise before that. I don't like it, I don't enjoy it and I don't think I ever will, no matter what people say, but I have come to terms with the fact that I just have to do it. I have to. It's as simple as that.

So here's hoping that everyone else has a great week and let's keep plugging away - we will get there in the end, slowly but surely!!

PS - I had to go out to dinner on Saturday night and didn't want to blow my points allowance, so I did something I have never done before. I looked up where I was going on the internet and looked to see if they had their menu online, which they actually did. I planned my meals for the day, worked out how much protein I needed to eat for dinner, chose a 300g steak from the menu and tracked my points before I left for dinner. When I got home I checked what I had tracked as opposed to what was on my plate when I got it and adjusted where necessary. By doing this, I managed to have my cake and eat it too. I had a lovely meal out in a restaurant, I got to choose something that I really liked and still managed to stay within my points for the day. I also left before the birthday cake came out, which meant I didn't have to be tempted to have a piece. I could have if I'd wanted to - I had points there, but decided I didn't want to waste them on that when I had already had the treat of a restaurant meal. I was very happy with myself I must say lol!!

Please don't lecture me.

I've said it before and I'll say it again in the future.  And I'm saying it now.  I'm fat and I know it. 

I go to Weight Watchers meetings on Saturday mornings. 
I'm not great at tracking, but I'm getting better.  And I am getting the weight off. 
My husband is a fantastic cook and he is very supportive of me and my weight lose journey usually.  I love the food he cooks (face it, I love almost all food, but his is great!).

It's a slow process for me.  I find my self resisting it sometimes.  Mostly because I am lazy, sometimes because I simply can't resist another bite. 

What I DON'T want is for someone to tell me what I am doing wrong.  I'm not an idiot.  I know what I'm doing and not doing.   (Preface: We have a new batch of "leaders" at the WW meeting that we have been attending for over a year.  And I am not enjoying the meetings any more.  All of the ladies seem like nice people and great cheerleaders but they have not clicked with me or my mother as leaders that give me a reason to come back).  There is not one person I would like to weigh me anymore.  Not because the number is a secret, heck I blog it!  But because of this quote and others like it  "I can tell you didn't track this week".   That isn't a secret either.  I am not good at that (again, I'm getting better). 

But she was WRONG!  I did track, better than normal last week.  I also had my period and gained weight, just like I do every 4 weeks.  I don't like to see these "leaders" turning the pages in my weight log and pretending to look at how much I lost before.  If she was really looking she would have seen the f'n trend.  She only looked at the last few weeks and made an assumption.  I don't want them to ask me the question "why do you think you didn't lose?"   I just want to record my weight in their computer, put the sticker in my book, and listen to the meeting.  Don't try to coach me. 

I'm guessing this is all because they are new and trying to learn about their sheep.  I get that.  They are doing the job they were trained to do.  They are new to being leaders.  And they don't know what I want unless I tell them, right?  I find it hard to tell them to back off without sounding rude and I don't want to be rude to someone who is doing what they should be doing.  So I shut my lips tight and go sit down.  Which isn't helping either of us.  I go away angry and they learn nothing about what to say to me. 

We have had the new leaders for almost 2 months now.  And it isn't working out.  Unfortunately there are few choices for us.  We want to go together and there isn't a week night that works for both of us, so we are stuck with Saturday.  The meeting that we have been going to is on Saturday morning.  I think we will be trying a meeting at a different location on Saturday morning soon.  Maybe we will find a fit.  then again, maybe I'll just be pissy as they try to learn about me again. 

At least I know my hang up...  I haven't bitten their heads off yet. 

Discouraging? Yes. Discouraged? No.

When I go to my Weight Watchers meeting I never know how my weigh in is going to go.  I find that if I expect to gain, I've lost. If I expect to lose a lot, I have either gained or lost so little it should barely count.  So I don't go with any expectations.  Except that one week a month where I expect to gain.  No matter how well I've done during the previous week, I'll gain.  This was that week.  I went in and weighed anyway though.   I was expecting a 1 pound gain (from what my scale said at home).  And I was still surprised.  I gained all but 0.2 pounds of what I lost the week before!!!  Really??  That seems like a LOT.  Even for the gain week.  But that is what was recorded in my book.  +2.6.  It is a little discouraging.  No.  It's a lot discouraging.  But I'm not discouraged.  Because I did lots of things right last week.  Even with the Superbowl Sunday feast tacked on (which I accounted for) and the night out with friends (and lots of wine, but not enough). 

Today is Monday and I'm tracking this week.  It's now a personal challenge to track every day this week (I have to catch up the weekend tracking, but I did pretty well, all things considered). 

I stepped on the scale this morning and it showed me a number that was less than last weigh in day's number.  (I'd write it down, but I can't remember it exactly, so you'll just have to trust me today).  So my gain week is over and I have to loose all that I gained and then some to make my 10 pounds in 5 weeks lose that I was aiming for.  I know I can do it.  But it's going to be a challenge.

I have a buddy from Australia coming for a visit this week.  That is only going to add to the challenge.  Fortunately, I should have lots of Points left for Aaron's cooking and some drinks. 

Good luck this week everyone! 

And as I was told this weekend by the WW staff (a whole other blog post, ugh), you have to track to lose. 

Weigh In Day

Weigh in day today. I wasn't sure how I was going to do because I only just started the water thing on Monday and I was very naughty and missed a couple of days tracking early in the week so I gave up entirely. But I still lost. Only 300g (.66lbs), but at least I lost. I would like to say that I am not worried about it. I am and I'm not. I'm not because I think it is the water - I don't think my body has adjusted to it yet and it is still holding onto some of it, which hopefully should not be the case next week. But I am because now I am another 1kg behind on my weekly schedule. Oh well, hopefully one of these weeks I will do a huge number and it will catch me up. Right now I am not going to worry about it. What I am going to do is make sure that I keep tracking this week for one. I started again this morning because it is the start of the week and I will make sure I track all week long and I have bought a new set of scales just in case my old ones were out a bit. I am going to keep persevering with the water. From all reports it is going to be better for me, so I certainly hope that is the case because I feel like a big ball of water at the moment lol!! I am going to keep up the exercise. I am so proud of the fact that I have exercised for at least half an hour every single day for two weeks now. I think that is my best effort yet in the exercise stakes. The last thing I am going to do is try my best to eat as close to 200g of protein a day without going over my points. I am finding this difficult, but from what I have googled, that is the amount of protein that I should be eating in order to lose weight, factoring in my current weight and the amount of exercise that I do. I have switched my normal workday morning tea from crackers with vegemite to a tin of tuna, which is actually less points and a lot more protein, and I need to make sure that I have protein with every meal. It means that I will have to plan my meals a lot better. I already plan my nightly meal each week before I do the shopping, but I am going to have to start planning the other ones too. For this week I am not going to stress too much about that though, because I have enough to concentrate on already, but if I just keep it in mind then I will probably end up choosing something high in protein as opposed to not when I am choosing something to eat.

Anyway, here's hoping that next week is a better week and we all see less of each other at the end of it!!

It's Monday, time to start fresh.

Actually, since I weigh in on Saturday morning, that is when I start my Points week.  But this weekend was the SuperBowl, and I knew that I'd be using ALL of my daily points and ALL of my weekly points on Sunday.  I didn't track.  I didn't even try to keep count in my head.  I stopped eating with I was full and I drank a LOT of water.  When I stepped on the scale this morning it showed that I was up a bit, but not too much to handle.  So I'm  pleased. 

But I'm tracking this week.  Shari had such a good week of tracking last week that inspired me to work hard on it this week.  Sometimes I feel like I don't give this my ALL, and I always can do better.  This isn't going to be one of those weeks.  I'm going to do better.

And I had a great weigh in on Saturday.  I was certain that I'd maintain or gain a fraction of a pound.  But I didn't.  I lost 2.8 pounds (1.3kg).  I'm not going to complain about that.  But I do have some feelings of guilt.  I have little idea how I did that.  I did cut back on the martini's (9 pointsplus remember), and I tried really hard to stay away from snacks.  Other than that, the dinners I ate were not the most Points wise meals I could have chosen, but I didn't go back for seconds even once.   In short, I didn't work very hard last week and I lost weight.  Shari worked her tail off, and lost only a little.  Yeah, I have feelings of guilt.  But Shari, take note, I'll gain it back if I don't get off my tail and work hard.  

This morning, on my way to work, I stopped at the grocery store.  I bought SmartOnes lunches and breakfasts, and 5 different kinds of fruit.  The fruit is sitting here by my desk, in case I get snacky.  0 Points. I don't have to try very hard to count those points, WW has already done it for me.  :)  Baby steps, Krista, baby steps. 

Have a great week!  Keep it up!

Water water everywhere, how much should I drink?

One of the guys I work with fills up his nalgene water bottle several times a day.  I know this because the water cooler isn't very far from my office and when he comes over that is the only time I may see him all day.  I commented on his water drinkage once.  He told me that a person should drink half their body weight of water in ounces.  So at 257 pounds, I should be drinking 129 ounces of water a day!!

I was astounded.  I don't drink anywhere near that much water.  In fact, my co-worker may be the only person I know who does.  I know the whole "Eight 8-oz glasses a day" philosophy (I don't do that either).  So I decided to do a little research.  It turns out that he may be right. 

I found several places that said that half your body weight in ounces in the right amount.  But then, you have to add 8 ounces for every 20 minutes of exercise you do.  You can't just count on your 129 (or whatever number you come up with) ounces, you have to add more if you work out.  AND... if you are travelling, you should drink 8 more ounces for every hour you are stuck in an airplane.  That last one was probably tacked on by someone who sells water in the airports.  You can't bring it with you through security and then pay $20 for a bottle on the other side. 

My husband bought a new home scale two weeks ago.  Our old one was giving very weird readings and had become so unreliable that I wouldn't even stand on it anymore.  It told him he lost 20 pounds overnight one day.  He didn't....
The new scale is fancy.  It is digital, which the kids like.  Four different users can save their weight history on it.  And it looks like the spaceship enterprise.  (Not really, but it is very sleek).  Once it tells you how fat you are, I mean how much you weigh, it tells you your BMI and how many calories you should eat in a day to stay that weight (like anyone I know really needs that).  The information that I like the most is that it tells you what percent of water you are.  OK, I'm sure that is at least close to what it means.  The book says to aim for 50% to be healthy.  I continuously only track 30%. 

I know I don't drink enough water.  (unless you count the water in the martini's*, which I totally don't).  I guess that is one more of the things I need to be working on.  If you don't drink your water you won't loose the weight either. I like to think of it as "flushing" the fat.  Eating your PointsPlus target makes sure your body doesn't create more fat.  Exercise loosens it up.  And water flushes it out.  It's a nice visual to leave you with.  Ha!

*side note on martini's:  A martini with an olive is now 9 pointsplus.  NINE!!!  No friggin' wonder I'm not losing as fast as I'd like.  I spend all of my weekly points allowance (we used to call them "flex" points) on alcohol, and then some!!!  I've got to find a lower point drink.

I had an awesome week!!

I have to tell you the good news first. I had an absolutely awesome week. I had the best week I think I have ever had!! I stuck to my points like glue. I weighed everything to make sure that I was tracking the right portions sizes and boy did it open my eyes. I made sure I didn't eat all of my 49 weekly points - I had 18 left at the end of my last day for the week. And - and this is the big one - I exercised every single day (twice on Friday because I had my personal training session in the morning and didn't want to have to go out to Curves on Saturday and only had done two sessions so far so went to Curves on Friday arvo, plus I weeded the garden on Saturday and Sunday) and earnt myself a massive 106 exercise points of which I didn't eat a single one!! I was actually soooooo excited to be going to weigh in today. I was running around work all day telling all of the girls what a fantastic week I had had and that I had 124 points racked up that I hadn't eaten and that the result on the scale was going to be huge. I have been patting myself on the back for the past few days - soooooo proud of myself that I have stuck to it so well. I haven't even had my normal evening chocolate fix. I usually use some of my 49 points for a couple of little mini mars or snickers bars or something, because I absolutely adore chocolate. I have not had one single one all week. Not one. Nada. Nothing. None. Nil!!!!

I got to my meeting and almost ran up to the scales I was so excited. I didn't even bother to try and look at the display with bated breath to see if I had been good or not. I stood up so proud with the biggest smile on my face and my chin in the air and when the lady told me to hop off and I watched her writing down the number, I found that I had lost a massive 100g (0.22lbs). Not even half a pound. If I hadn't had people around me I would have burst into tears then and there. I can't believe that after everything I did this week, I didn't even lose my goal for the week. So now I am officially behind by 1.1kg (2.42lbs). So what do I do now? I have to admit the first thought that popped into my head is f#%k it! Why bother?! It doesn't work! I had to sit and wait for the meeting to start though and I was going over everything in my head. What the hell did I do wrong? There are a couple of things that it could be. I have a really old set of scales, and maybe they aren't weighing right? I really think that even if that was the case though, I still should have lost more than I did because I had so many points in bonus that even if my scales are out a bit, I would have had more than enough points to cover it. I am going to get a set of scales from somewhere else though and compare them to see just in case. Maybe I didn't eat enough of my points? Seriously though? I don't think that would be it - I was never really hungry or tired, so I figure I was eating enough, and I made sure I had my daily allowance at least, every day. The only other thing I can think of (and the group leader seems to think this is it) is that I put on muscle, which is quite possible considering I have been back at Curves now for a couple of weeks after a 4 week break. She told me not to beat myself up about it too much and that it would come out in the wash. Easy enough for her to say lol!! I know that I am most probably losing centremetres, but that doesn't help me reach my goal. My goal is 60kg and that is what I want to achieve by New Year's Eve. But I also don't want to stop going to Curves and just do cardio exercise because I want to tone as I go. I can't afford plastic surgery and if I just do cardio I will probably end up with heaps of saggy skin at the end of it. Not for me. So!! I just have to suck it up and get on with it. I am not going to go on a huge binge of everything that I have said no to in the past few weeks - although the thought did cross my mind lol!! I am also not going to stop my exercising or cut down on it. I need to do it and I really don't think that 30 mins to an hour every a day is too much. That is what people should be doing to lead healthy lives and that's what I want to do - lead a healthy life.

So here's to hoping that if I put the same hard work in this week, it will come out in the end and I will make up next week for what I didn't lose this week.

I hope everyone else's week is going ok and I will see less of you and hopefully me next week!!

Still drawing!

I lost 0.6 at my weigh in on Saturday.  It's a loss. I'm glad to be loosing.  But I was a bit disappointed in the number.  I thought I had done better than half a pound.  *sigh*.  So, I'm not exactly "back to the ol' drawing board", but I am still drawing.  If I keep up the behavior that caused a loss I will keep loosing.  If I can improve that behavior I should loose more. 

It's Tuesday already and I can't say that I have even kept up that behavior so far.  I was all set to be journaling starting on the weekend.  And I haven't written down 1 thing!  Nor have I made a menu for the week.  (Although I do have the chef on board.  He said he'd try it for the month of February and see where it gets us.  He thinks it is a good idea and has promised to cook as long as it doesn't turn into a set schedule: Chicken on Monday, Fish on Friday, Salad on Wednesday, etc.  We already try to make Tuesday and Thursday simple.  The kids have come to expect "sandwich night", though we don't do it all the time.  Those are the days when the evenings are packed with activities and the family is too busy to cook and eat a big meal.  After homework and chores, we have time to squeeze in dinner together and then the kids go to their martial arts classes.) 

But even if I fall off, I have learned that I can't just throw the whole week in the can.  I can get up again right now and start over.  Soooo....  my homework tonight is to put together the basic menu.  I'll do it while the kids are doing their own homework.  And I'll try to make a plan for journaling.  I think it will take planning ahead, so I'll start there.  Fingers crossed.  I have 4 full days before I weigh in again.  I'm shooting for a loss again this week!

Have a great week!!