but by the grace of God....

I somehow managed to pull a loss this week! A 1.6 pound loss!!! Now, how that happened I have no idea. I'm beginning to think my gains/losses are actually showing up on the scale a week after the actions that led to them. If that is the case, I can expect a gain next week regardless of what I do this week unfortunately. However, I will not let that deter me!

Today was day 1 of my new plan and I successfully got up early and spent 30 minutes on the beloved elliptical. I really do love that machine. It seems easier than other cardio machines and yet burns a great number of calories. This morning...300. I'm used to seeing 500-600 calorie burns per workout but I just need to reset my mind. Burning 300 calories each time will add up if I stick with it.

Starting Weight: 193.4 (BMI 31.2)
Previous Weight: 172.6
Previous BMI: 28 -- Overweight

Week 19:
Weight: 171
BMI: 28 -- Overweight
22.4 down 36 pounds to go to reach goal weight (135)

due to my crummy attitude...

I've decided to commit to a few changes for the coming week. Keep me accountable please!

1. I will work out 30 minutes a day Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and do a 1 hr workout (most likely a group class at the gym) on Saturday instead of just going to the gym when I feel like it or absolutely force myself to. Up until now my former tactic was resulting in fewer and fewer workouts each week and it was becoming a drag.

2. I am replacing most desserts with fruit. I love an apple with cinnamin and its much more point-friendly than the hershey's miniatures that have been dragging me down lately. I've noticed I eat A LOT of ice cream, chocolate, and cookies/cake-type desserts. This is taking up a large quantity of my daily points and doing nothing for my health! So, no more. I will still occasionally have a WW ice cream bar or something similar but it will NOT be a daily occurrence.

3. I will stay within my points allowance (including daily points, weekly points, and activity points). I have also been bad the past few weeks with splurges and end up going over my points. Obviously this will lead to weight gain and thus...the buck stops here.

So, since tomorrow is weigh in, my new week starts there but I've already started trying to incorporate these changes. Wish me luck. I'll keep you updated.

Frustration with myself

I'm struggling this week. I stayed on plan yesterday (whoa, big accomplishment). This weekend was awful. I found myself frustrated that I had gained after such a perfect week. Even though I have several reasons why the scale may have gone up instead of down all of which are legitimate possibilities, when it came time to eat dinner with my husband, I threw in the towel.

I ate and ate this weekend and feel really crummy about it. At the time I said to myself, doesn't matter what I do, I gain if I'm perfect and lose when I'm not. I know that this is a horrible attitude and am trying really hard to get back on track and stay there, hence my almost perfect day yesterday.

I want to try cutting out sweets. Replace them with fruit. This is EXTREMELY hard for me and may be a bit much to commit to considering how I can't even seem to stay on track lately. I guess I should continue to focus on staying within points and continuing to lose.

I fear another gain this week and I am feel a little resentful of other people's weight loss journeys. It's a jealousy thing. They're losing and I'm not. It's my own fault, not theirs. I'm just frustrated.

Anyway I got back on track yesterday and plan to stay there through weigh in Thursday night, and then of course continue on plan next week. I just hope I can do enough damage control in the next couple of days to offset the weekend. I'll be heading to the gym tonight for a 2 hour Biggest Loser workout.

Sorry this post is kind of all over the place, just needed to get my frustrations out and commit to myself and you all that I will continue losing weight, even if this week doesn't show it.

Aw Bumsee

I gained this week. One pound. Bumsee. I can't even explain it which is strange for me. I normally can predict my gains b/c of poor eating and not working out. Well, this week I was really good! I ate my weekly points but didn't touch the Activity Points I earned. I hadn't worked out in 2 weeks and this week I finally got to the gym a whopping two times (hee hee). It's weird. The two weeks I didn't work out at all, I had losses. And last week when I had the flu I ate horribly and still lost 1.4. So, I don't know what happened this week. I'm thinking it may be that my poor eating from last week caught up with me, or that my sparatic working out made me retain water. I don't want to make excuses, but I think an explanation is not the same thing. Anyway, it's just 1 pound, just 1 week, so on to the next.

This week I'm determined to do everything I did last week (only adding more exercise) and hopefully the 2 weeks of good behavior will pay off on the scale next week.

Starting Weight: 193.4 (BMI 31.2)
Previous Weight: 171.6
Previous BMI: 28 -- Overweight

Week 18:
Weight: 172.6
BMI: 28 -- Overweight
20.8 down 37.6 pounds to go to reach goal weight (135)

Saw this on yahoo.com this morning. Very interesting

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/would-you-volunteer-to-eat-school-lunch-every-day-to-prove-a-point-this-teacher-did-1157394/

And, here is the link to the blog:
http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/

Thank you Flu.

I've been sick most of this week and so, in spite of eating comfort food my body allowed me to drop 1.4 pounds! woohoo. now, back on track and I'll get back to the gym when I'm 100% again. Or at least a good solid 85%.

Starting Weight: 193.4 (BMI 31.2)
Previous Weight: 173
Previous BMI: 28 -- Overweight

Week 17:
Weight: 171.6
BMI: 28 -- Overweight
21.8 down 36.6 pounds to go to reach goal weight (135)

Week 16

I made it to another mini milestone. Week 16. WW celebrates the 16th week you attend meetings b/c it shows commitment. I feel good. In all the times I've done weight watchers I've only made it to week 16 one other time, and that was the first time I followed the program (consequently that was also the most successful attempt). In the past I may have been "on plan" longer than 16 weeks but I didn't commit to the meetings like I did my first go-round and like I have this time. And I thank my friend Kim for that. I think if I was doing this alone again I would have given up by now, or at least skipped a few meetings and maybe come to the decision I could do this on my own.

Having a partner encouraging me and keeping me accountable is working wonders! I still feel like I'm losing slowly but I am still losing. It's great b/c we carpool to work together so we constantly talk about our recent food finds, exercise struggles, temptations, etc. I've always talked way too much about these things to her but now that she's a weight watcher also I think it's less obnoxious :) lol - i hope so anyway.

The other mini milestone I met today was....ready?....TWENTY POUNDS off my body for good!!! WooohooO! This is what is keeping me going. I only lost .6 this week which was not what I had expected but having hit that 20 pound mark, I can't complain at all! And I'm reminding myself that at 16 weeks, having lost 20 pounds is great! Even though at times it seems like it's taking forever! I am still losing an average of over 1 pound per week, which is nothing to scoff at!

Starting Weight: 193.4 (BMI 31.2)
Previous Weight: 173.6
Previous BMI: 28 -- Overweight

Week 15:
Weight: 173
BMI: 28 -- Overweight
20.4 down 38 pounds to go to reach goal weight (135)