confound you, scale

I can’t figure out how to make my fancy new scale take my body fat percentage. CONFOUND YOU SCALE.

I am sure I will, eventually. So for this week I am just going to take the median of my weight for 7 days as a proxy for my weight loss efforts.

constant vigilance

And I am back home. Went to a comedy club with some friends last night (scored free tickets) and tonight I am off to a cocktail party for a friend’s birthday. So maybe not quite back to normal. Like normal plus way extra socializing.

Also, I am down 3 lbs since the last time I weighed in (2ish weeks ago). Usually, after I hit 161 – 162 ish I gain it back till I hit 167ish, then freak out and lose it again. Freak out is a bit strong but you get what I mean.

Is this time different? I am aware of my pattern, as per usual.  I have a lot of willpower, I just need to exercise it. What an easy thing to say.

I think it’ll be helpful to not expect loss so quickly. When you first lose weight it sheds off so fast, later it can be disheartening when you are working SO HARD and are seeing little to no movement on the scale. And then I give up.

I need to break the pattern of trying uber hard and then not at all. Maybe the whole measuring percent body fat thing will help that out. I am off to buy a scale this weekend. Wish me luck.

no weigh-in today

Today is my usual weigh-in day, but I am in another town, so I am pushing my weigh-in back till Friday. I have no idea how I am doing, scale-wise, because I skipped last week. Could go either way. It is likely that I have maintained, as per the last year or so.

After I go through my last few tickets I am going to go it alone. I am going to get a scale that will tell me my weight, percentage body fat, and hydration, weigh myself at the same time every day, and take the median over 7 days as an indicator for how I am doing. This will get me out of the habit I have of not eating much the day before weigh-in, then eating a whole bunch post-weigh-in, which is not a helpful mindset. Sure, I could do this on weight watchers, but I don’t and I haven’t and I probably won’t. So, it is off to Canadian Tire for me to get a scale. Probably on the weekend. Also, I really want to focus on reducing my fat content, as opposed to my overall weight, because I see that as healthier. I wonder if WW will ever move toward that direction.

five percent

Despite a brief encounter with an uncomfortable food hangover post-Chinese New Year-inspired potluck, I am down 1.5 lbs from last week, and as a result have reached my 5% goal! w00t! So, that is like 8.5 lbs in a month (which slightly exceeded 5%, technically). I attribute my loss this week to keeping track, and having an hardcoreish workout schedule again this week. Pretty happy I decided to join a few weeks back. What’s this you ask?  p4, happy? Isn’t she supposed to bitch and or be melancholic and probably read a lot of angsty teen fiction whilst discussing how much she would love to eat pizza and or Oreos?

Yes folks, I am back in a good mood. That impromtu long weekend plan thing totally worked its magic and I feel like my relaxed and happy self again. It helps that my new manager has promised to act as a buffer so that I won’t actually have to communicate with the other boss who has made my work experience so frustrating these past few months (fucktard twat). Also, I have been looking into taking leave with income averaging — basically, I would take home less pay but would get to take a chunk of 5 to 6 weeks off this year. SO I have been thinking about what I might do with that time off, and that is giving me something to look forward to and smile about — the world is my frakin oyster! And I should see it. And do things other than work. Have you been anywhere awesome or done cool stuff? Any vacation suggestions? I might make a point to run a half-marathon in another country. So many options!

and for dinner? a bag of chips

I am having a hard time at work. My boss is a douche. I have PMS. And emotional eater p4p won out last night, if you can call that winning — I had a bag of chips for dinner. It actually seemed like a good idea at the time. Stomach didn’t appreciate that though, as far as I can tell from the grumblings.

But, one bad night isn’t going to turn me off course — I am down 1.1 lbs from last week at this time, so I am on par for reaching my goal of losing 5ish lbs for Christmas.

Pre-Trip Weigh-In

I dropped 4 pounds in 4 days. Weird. Ish. I think some of the loss was a result of me not being on my period any more. (Anyone else inexplicable gain pre/during period, then loss afterward?) (Not just gain/losses in anger/grumpyness, but, you know, weight.) This loss can probably also be attributed to my working out hella-hard the last 4 days (day 1: 12km run, day 2:spinning class, light weight training, day 3: weight training, day 4: rowing intervals). ALSO, just picked up an electronic scale today, as the gym one seems not reliable — this too influenced results.

Either way: w00t. Hopefully I can maintain or drop whilst away. I’ll keep you posted.

Marking Territoriy & Making Gains

There is something very empowering about weight lifting. I suspect it has something to do with being a stronger woman, and also something to do with invading the traditional guy-zone of the gym.

Move aside fuckers, I have some squats to do.

Down 4 lbs from last week. W00t! Apparently, eating better whilst maintaining a fairly high level of activity results in weight loss. Amazing. It’s practically science.

I am slightly less grumpy today.

Totally a lie, but at least I am eating better, and am back on track.

I am thinking of buying an electronic scale. The one at the gym is old school, and I’d like to see even the tiniest gains and losses. Where does one buy an electronic scale??

March Madness Finale: Weigh-in No.4

Alas, March Madness is coming to a conclusion. But alack not! Success has been had! I am down 3 lbs from last week. Grand total March Madness loss = 9.5 lbs in 4 weeks. Woot! March Madness was an excellent way to re-invigorate my commitment to WW, stay motivated and inch my way closer to a healthy BMI.

But March Madness wasn’t just about weight loss – the madness helped me re-discover myself, become slightly less reclusive, make my apartment marginally less disgusting (I totally cleaned the other day), stop crushing on a boy, push through my plateau and turn up my cardio routine by way of interval (fartlek) training for both running and biking.

Now that the end is upon us (read: Shanny, myself and other MM participants) the only lucid course of action is to SPRING FORWARD. That’s right folks, it’s time for another challenge. New name, same rules: lose 8-10 lbs by way of healthy and intelligent means in a month (my weigh-in day will be April 3oth). Losing 8-10 more will get me palpably close to my healthy BMI. Very exciting shit. It’s not going to be easy. Stay tuned for results and other musings.

March Madness Maintained, Period: Weigh-in No. 2

Impromptu trip home did indeed damper my March Madness efforts, but wasn’t a complete disaster, weight-wise: I maintained. I maintained whilst surrounded by food pushers, wings, beer, pie and family. I count this as a success. (Especially considering my period came into town the day before weigh-in.) But, this little success leaves me with the same 4.5 – 6.5 lbs to drop in 2 weeks time for the March Madness challenge. Is this achievable? Perhaps, but perhaps not; it certainly won’t be easy.

Upon reviewing my membership book I have noticed a pattern. It is the sort of pattern that many of us in WW dread: the plateau.

Reader, for the last 5 weeks I have been hovering on or around 170 lbs, plus or minus 5 (i.e., 172.5, 169, 174, 170.5, 170.5). Getting here has been difficult, and I am proud to have lost 25 lbs. I have always said that numbers aren’t that important to me, but they are one source of feedback. As a woman of 5′5″ a healthy weight for me, according to the BMI scale, falls between 120 and 138 lbs. I know I can try harder and push through this plateau. It is going to take some forserious change. It’s time to get back to basics.

When I first joined WW I diligently tracked everything I ate using the Flex plan. Over time, I switched to Core, mainly from irritation with the tracking required on Flex. For the first few weeks on Core I diligently meal planned and also tracked things on my one-pager, but that has stopped. No matter how much I tell myself to track while on Core I stop a few days following weigh-in (just in time for the weekend!). So, to push through this m-f*ing plateau I am switching back to Flex. I need to monitor what I take in and Flex is the plan most conducive to maintaining monitoring (for me). It takes a couple of weeks to form a habit so I am plan to be on Flex for at least 2 weeks. This is an ultra long weekend (4 days off) so I am going to have a cooking-palooza: I am going to make a pot of chili and a pot of morrocan-inspired lentil/veggie stuff, measure it out, write points values on the bags and freeze individual portions so I have food good to go in the freezer on days when I am running late and haven’t packed a lunch or for when I don’t feel like cooking. I am also going to be diligent about getting to the gym. Usually when flo is in town I prefer spending any and all free time in a drug-induced coma, as I get terrible cramps. Like, today for instance. I woke up 15 minutes before having to attend my meeting, neglecting to pack a breakfast, lunch or gym bag. Actually, it’s amazing I managed to put on pants. Let alone a bra. Kind of astounded that I showed up to the meeting at all. Damn you flo! DAMN YOU.
*cough*
In light of my uselessness this morning, I am going home for lunch to snag my gym bag and am going to my f*ing weight-lifting class no matter how much I would prefer to curl up in a ball and sleep for the next 3-7 days.

In other news, I picked up a whole grain cookbook over the weekend which has some pretty interesting breakfast options. I am going to try some recipes out over the next couple of weeks; in the event they are not gross I will share some easy-to-make crockpot whole grain breakfast options with you.

March Madness: Weigh-in No. 1

This week at meeting we talked about detours: the things that get us off-track, and also the strategies that help us come back to the right path (i.e., being on program). Mentally, I had been pretty off program for awhile prior to the onslaught of March Madness. I was basically bored with the program. I had fallen out of love with WW (it’s not you…it’s me…), stopped saying “No” food pushers (fucking gateway Oreos) and was really not paying attention to my hunger signals (which is integral to success on Core). Before MM started I hadn’t been tracking last week; as soon as the challenge was afoot I got out my 3 month tracking guide, started tracking and also meal planning for the latter half of the week. It paid off! I am down 3.5 lbs from my last weigh-in (which ALMOST compensates for my gains last time around). This leaves me with 4.5 – 6.5 pounds to lose before my weigh-in April 2nd – totally achievable in 3 weeks time!

Shanny mentioned that the object of March Madness was to lose 8 -10lbs by the end of March through healthy and intelligent means. I almost got aboard the choo choo train of stupid / overdoing it last night. I went to a volleyball practice right after work so I didn’t get the chance put in the 5 km I usually run on Tuesdays. The practice SUCKED. I barely worked up a sweat at all. I got home from practice at 9:00ish and had really weird anxiety about not having worked out enough this week and almost went for a late night gym session. After all, I biked instead of doing interval (running) training the day before to give my knees a break from the impact, and biking is basically pointless.

Yup, that was my logic.

Pretty sound, eh?

Not!

So, I had a mental intervention with myself, turned down the retarded train of thought I was on, and went to bed. I have been having enough difficulty getting up in the morning since day light savings time started, I don’t need to add late night work-outs to my schedule because of some crazy notion that I haven’t worked out enough (I went through all 28 of my activity points). I noted in my last post that I am least successful when I am tired; being well-rested is waaaaaaaay more important / useful / healthy / intelligent than being ridiculous about exercise.