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I had a great week, the scale just sucks

  • Posted on February 28, 2010 at 3:17 pm

WEEKLY WEIGH IN STATS

Current Weight: 196.8 lbs
Previous Weight: 194.4
Weight loss: +2.4 lbs
Weight loss in Feb: +2.2
Starting Weight: 242.6 lbs
Weight loss total: -46.8 lbs

THE WEEK IN REVIEW:

I had such an awesome week!! I completed week 1 of Couch to 5K training program! I slogged in the rain, through puddles and in the snow and through the slush! I have picture proof!! I completed week 1 of Bob Greene’s 8 Week Total Body Makeover.  I am trying to get into a routine of strength training! Bob Greene is helping me get my feet wet! I worked out 6 days this past week! and I LOVED it!! I love to be outside – even though it was not the best situation for being outside! I feel like such a rockstar!! I actually want to keep training and I can’t wait to see how far I can go with this running stuff!

I feel strong!! This week was amazing and I feel strong!!

Wednesday was my birthday and I celebrated with my husband and daughter! I was blessed with gifts to help my journey. An awesome friend sent me a HRM and Big Man and kid ordered me a Wii (although I am sure they will enjoy it as much as I will) and a sports game.

**So all you Wii owners must tell me your picks for the must-have games, especially the active, get-in-shape kinds!

*image courtesy Google images*

Did you think I was just going to ignore the weigh in?

I kind of want to ignore the scale but it is part of the journey.

The scale was not kind to me but it is not the end of the world.  The scale WILL NOT be the voice that says if I had a good week or a bad week. I had a great week! I tracked everything I ate this week: the good, the bad & the ugly. I ate every single point I had coming to me: my daily points, weekly points allowance, and most of my activity points. I had ice cream cake and chinese food on my birthday. Maybe, I ate a bit too much food this week but I was constantly starving!! I don’t know what this all about but I figure it has something to do with changing up my workouts! I stayed within my points range (using allowable extras) but I was hungry a lot!

Also, Saturday morning or also known as Weigh-In day comes around and I wake up with my monthly friend! I knew I was close in time but I had no warning signs. Actually, the more I think about it the more I realize I probably had all the right signs but I missed them because of sore muscles from the new workouts. The sore muscles masked the PMS misery! Chalk another one up to workouts!!

I am not sure if using all my points, new workouts, or TOM is to blame for gain. I am not going to stress it because I had an awesome week. For the week coming up I am going to be moving on to week 2 of the C25K and Bob Greene workouts.  I will continue to track all my food but I will do it on Sparkpeople and WW etools [I will explain why in a later post].

This week I am focusing on planning! Menu planning has helped me so much! Dinners are healthy and I never have that “what are we gonna have for dinner?” moments! Because dinner is so thought out I have leftovers for lunches.  This week I am going to plan my workouts and I am going to plan every day the night before (just like my daughter has to do every night).

My menu plan is posted. Go check it out!!

My workout plan is:

Sunday: REST/clean house

Monday: Couch to 5K ~ week 2, day 1

Tuesday: Bob Greene ~ week 2, day 1 ~ Last chance tworkout ~  Leslie Sansone walking

Wednesday: Couch to 5K ~ week 2, day 2

Thursday: Bob Greene ~ week 2, day 2 ~ planks, pushups ~ Leslie Sansone walking

Friday: Couch to 5K ~ week 2, day 3

Saturday: Bob Greene ~ week 1, day 3 ~ an outside walk with the family, maybe at the bird refuge.

**I want to challenge myself to get up at 6 am with the alarm!! I am a horrible morning person but I really want to get better! This week I have decided that the best way for me to do this is to challenge myself and blog about it!

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teary trip to doctor

  • Posted on February 8, 2010 at 10:02 pm

I have been sick, as you may know. Nothing serious just a stupid cold! That would not go away! My ear started bugging me so I went to see the doctor. Doc prescribed an antibiotic for lingering respiratory infection (that stupid cold that wouldn’t go away was really a respiratory infection) and cream for my ear rash thing.

I paid special attention to my blood pressure and it was awesome, 126 over 72. I asked when my last blood work was done – September 2008. The Shrinking Jeans Sisters have me thinking about all these things and when doc came in I asked if we could schedule blood work just to have numbers and he thought it was a great idea. I even asked for a printout of my weight over the years. I wanted to see where I really started.

I looked at the numbers and the dates. I am going to list them here.

2.8.03: 202

8.20.03: 189: worked 2nd job as waitress all summer long.

10.2.03: 198: no longer waiting tables, back in college. Started dating Big Man right around this time

11.20.03: 210:; 2 weeks later I will be engaged!

2.28.04: 228: Moved in with Big Man couple of weeks prior.

5.13.04: 227

10.5.04: 230

1.3.05: 234

4.9.05: 230

5.26.05: 233

6.23.05: 236

8.19.05: 237

12.5.05: 242

2.27.06: 243

3.13.06: 243

8.3.06: 231

12.29.06: 235

7.3.07: 235: got married and graduated college 2 months prior

8.22.07: 235

10.12.07: 239: prescribed Chantix to quit smoking!

12.11.07: 246

1.26.08: 250: I quit smoking but gained some weight!

3.15.08: 244

6.13.08: 244

11.14.08: 242: joined Weight Watchers one week prior.

6.17.09: 210

2.4.10: 197

Seeing the number saddened me! Somehow I forgot all about hitting 250. I mean, seriously! I was looking through the printouts and my jaw dropped when I read that spot. It was 3 months after quitting smoking. I smoked for 15 years. Please don’t lecture! I quit! October 23, 2007 was the last day I had a cigarette. I am super proud of myself for quitting. So, I am torn! Part of me is sad about 250 but on the same hand, I quit smoking! aaah! I will not dwell on that for too long.

The doctor’s scale says 197, which is up from my last WW meeting but I did go to doc right after eating lunch and I knew I was up a bit but not that much. Who the hell knows! Scales suck and I am not really stressing which one is right and what not. I will go by my WW meeting scale for the most part. And really, the scale is not the only tool I am using! I will take measurements this weekend.

But, according to the doctor’s scale I have dropped 53 pounds from my highest weight approximately 2 years ago.

Freaking amazing! I totally teared up sitting in the room reading my weight and reliving the whole up and down. Certain dates  I made notes on for significant ups or downs.

I feel a bit silly but I did get all teary. Certain dates are so important. The day I went to doc to ask about Chantix. The visit when I doc called me a non-smoker. I could go on!

Today is Monday and I have not worked out in over a week. I may have used being sick as an excuse, not at first but definitely during the snow storm. I feel better and I actually was super productive today. School was closed for a SNOW day and I cleaned my house and did laundry like a mad woman! I did not work out but seriously, I could not workout with the house as cluttered as it was. I will post about the de-cluttering mission later this week. I am totally an ADD case, not officially diagnosed but I swear I have the attention span of a gnat sometimes! I can live with some messes but sometimes it is too messy for me to do anything but straighten it all!

So, today I straightened the house instead of working out.

and that is ok!

90% of losing weight and changing my lifestyle is mental!! I keep reading that phrase this week! It is such a true phrase! I have to get past the mental bull shit! I did great until I got sick and I am not exactly sure how to get past this slump. Today helped! Organizing and de-cluttering had a very therapeutic effect.

It sounds cheesy but I am ready to tackle my workouts again! Not at this very moment, it is almost 10 at night. I am going to start up tomorrow. I am going to get in my Walk at Home workouts for next 4 days. Tomorrow night I will join @shrinkingjeans with a last chance tworkout. I will do another version of last chance tworkouts at least one more time this week and I will try a workout I have never tried before: either some sort of dance workout or a pilates class.

I have my best weeks when I work out consistently. I feel so awesome when I work out consistently. This week I will strive for consistency.

I think that is a good goal for this week! I am gonna have a great week!

Hope you all have a great week!

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Week in Review

  • Posted on January 24, 2010 at 8:38 pm

Starting weight: 242.6

Last week’s weight: 198

This week’s weight: 193.6

This week’s change: -4.4

Total change:  -49.0

Before I tell you about my week, I have to reflect a bit about the number on the scale. I am not ruled by the number on the scale but it is a piece of the puzzle or game. Losing weight is just like putting a puzzle together – each person must create their own puzzle. I am working hard to find the pieces that best fit my puzzle. Part of the puzzle is the number on the scale and part of the puzzle is measurements. I finally took new measurements and there were actual changes between November and now. I have heard every option for how often to measure and I am not sure how often I will measure but probably not every week. Do you measure? How often?

Another piece of my puzzle has been setting reasonable goals. I admit I have not always been the best goal-setter.  I usually just kind of bulldoze my way through. No real planning just one day at a time. I joined two challenges this year (Perfect 10 and Rethink Your Shrink) that have been helping me set small reasonable and attainable goals.

My BIG goals are outlined in my week 3, Perfect 10 update. You can also find a list of last week’s workouts.

My smaller goals, I will discuss here:

1.  drink 80 oz of water daily I am great about this Monday – Friday. I don’t know why since I barely drink any water during the school day. 5/7

2. take multi vitamin and glucosamine every day I am horrible about this but I am getting better. 5/7

3. make time for workout As you can see if you check out my Perfect 10 update, I worked out a lot last week. I was a bit lazy the last two days but I am very happy with the progress I have made in the workout area. I look forward to working out even if I bitch about it before hand. I love that @ShrinkingJeans leads Biggest Loser commercial break workouts. I love how sweaty I get Walking at Home or on the treadmill. I love that my arms are starting to feel “tight” and I LOVE that I am getting stronger and tighter! I will continue to workout because I finally get it! I really LOVE that I found a workout I LOVE!!

Another piece of the puzzle is FOOD! Ya’ll know how much I love food. All food!! Good food, good-for-you food, healthy food, and just plain junk food. I have learned that some foods have no place in my healthy life plan and I know there are foods that if they were off limits I would rebel and binge on. No foods are off limit. Moderation. I have learned menu planning is essential to my weight & wallet management. I am planning healthy meals full of lean meats and yummy vegetables. I also allow treats and occasional “cheat” days but I don’t call them that. I have always managed to stay within my points and now that I am adding all the workouts in I am ok with some higher points splurge days.

Another piece of the puzzle is accountability! I NEED lots of accountability!! I tried ditching my meetings and just using WW online….I lost and gained the same 5 pounds the entire 4 months. I went back to my meetings and did a little better but then Christmas came and we went away and I did not track and I gained back a few pounds. I found a group of Moms on the same journey.  #Mamavation is an awesome motivational community of moms in various stages of the healthy journey.  The mamavation ladies are all just so sweet and supportive!

Now, on the other side of the coin I found the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans…how could I not check out a group of chicks with a blog titled that?!?! and they are a riot – super supportive & encouraging and not afraid to YELL at me to get my ass moving! I love how sarcastic, snarky and down right brutal their love can be – they are the best!

I join all kinds of challenges! Challenges keep the whole  journey new. I am not always the best challenge participant. Not  the challenge’s fault…but I lack follow through some times. I get all excited but don’t always finish what I start. I am currently involved in two challenges: Perfect 10 and Rething Your Shrink. I liked these two challenges and since the principals behind the challenges were so similar I felt (and still do) comfortable participating in both challenges.

Twitter is the best motivation!! I tweet to inspire and motivate as well as be inspired and be motivated! My twitter peeps are my friends. My twitter peeps know all the answers to all the questions I have!! My twitter peeps don’t let me get away with sulking or not working out! I may be addicted to Twitter but I swear it has huge benefits!

I rambled and rambled! This was a good week – mentally and on the scale. I am finding the perfect balance for me. I am finding what is right and works best for me. This has to be my journey, my way!! I have been traveling on this journey to health for over a year now and it really has been the last 3 weeks that I can honestly say, “I get it!!”


Did I tell you that Twenty Ten is the Year of JEN?!?!

Join me in making 2010 the best year!

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Saturday Scale Time

  • Posted on January 9, 2010 at 5:01 pm

Last week’s #: 204.0

This week’s #: 196.0

HOLY CRAP!! I lost 8 pounds!! This is totaly awesome! In one week I have lost all but .6 pounds of the 8.6 I gained since the saturday before Christmas.

Lesson learned: I need my routine!! I went in to the holidays with the intention of being “good” but I wound up going a wee bit overboard and lounging around lazily way  too much!

Last night I posted my Perfect 10 update and there you can find my workouts for the week.

We had Outback curbside take away last Saturday and Sunday there was a frozen pizza incident.

Monday

breakfast – oatmeal with banana & sugar free syrup

snack – apple and hardboil egg

Lunch –  tilapia with brussel sprouts, acorn squash and 1/2 cup brown rice

Dinner – grilled chicken with butternut squash, asparagus and a BIG salad

snack – berries

Tuesday:

Breakfast, snack, and lunch same as Monday

Dinner – Grilled chicken with red peppers, steamed broccoli and a BIG salad

snack – a nice mix of berries, apples, and tangerine

Wednesday:

breakfast – oatmeal with banana and sugar free syrup

snack – apple and a hardboiled egh

lunch – grilled chicken, butternut squash and 1/2 cup of brown rice

dinner – Salmon, spaghetti squash with marinara and a BIG salad

snack – hardboiled eggs, 1/2 apple

Thursday:

breakfast, snack and lunch – same as Monday

Dinner - Grilled Chicken with grilled zucchini, spaghetti squash with marinar and a BIG salad

snack: apple

Friday:

same breakfast

snack – apple

Lunch – grilled chicken with brown rice, broccoli and red peppers

Dinner – Hubby wanted to order out – he got a stromboli and I ordered grilled chicken, sauteed spinach and a large tossed salad.

snack – fiber one oats & chocolate bar

This was a great week! I worked out! I ate great! I felt great! This week coming up will be just as awesome!!

I thought I would be bored of my food options and maybe I need a bit more variety I am ecstatic about the results. Not only did I lose 8 pounds but I feel amazing. I know that eating well is helping me to feel this awesome. I will splurge a bit  this weekend. I will add some variety this weekend but Monday – Friday I will eat the same way I did this week. My family enjoyed it for the most part but they are willing to do it again!

My Rethink My Shrink Goals are:

1. drink 80 oz of water daily I did this 5/7 days

2. take multi vitamin and glucosamine every day I remembered 5/7 days

3. make time for workouts I totally made time for me and my workouts!! I worked out all 5 work days!

 

This week was very successful!  How was your week?

 

 

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Saturday Scale Time

  • Posted on December 12, 2009 at 11:59 pm

Last week: 195.6

This week: 195.4

Change this week: -0.2

Change since 11/8/08: -47.2

Change since back @ WW (10/10/09): -4.o

Summary of week: In the last two months I have lost 4 pounds. That is 2 pounds per month.  I would like to see more movement on the scale but I am also ecstatic that the scale is still moving.  In fact, I am on a losing streak – I have lost for the last 5 weeks.  School has been busy. Home has been busy. and I have made excuses for not working out.

Hot 100 Update: I made too many excuses this week. I have nothing to say for myself! I was extremely half-assed about working out this week. I know what happened…the weather changed and got cold – almost wintery – and I went into hibernation mode. Menu planning has kept me eating wonderful nutritious foods but all the planning in the world can’t drag my ass out of bed.  I am however, doing great on other goal areas – I am getting more organized and as I get more organized I find planning and scheduling is my biggest helper.  I always knew making exercise a priority and actually exercising regularly would (and is) the hardest part of the weight loss journey. I am still unsure why I resist exercise so much – I know that I feel better when I workout but I do not push myself to actually do them. That is going to change. BY THE END OF THE YEAR!! I still have 19 day!

Goals for the week ahead:

  • I know what has to be done!! It is time to do it!!
  • Track every day
  • Workout consistently!
  • Walk 15 miles
  • Try Tae Bo
  • add 10 minute yogo or pilates 3x per week

Thoughts for the week ahead: Tony, aka the antiJared, blogged about the Brilliance of Day 1 - Go read it!! Trust me! I found myself agreeing with a lot Tony “said” in this post. Day 1 when I joined Weight Watchers I was on my “best behavior” and everything was so fresh and exciting and I wanted to be so good at the “new rules.” Week 1 was such a positive week. I am going to keep Day 1 and Week 1 in my mind every day!

There is so much to be done with less than two weeks til Christmas. I have bunches of cleaning to get done tomorrow so we can put out tree up tomorrow or Monday night. Tomorrow will be busy – cleaning and lesson plans and cooking.  Big Man and I are going to surprise  the kid with a Christmas Get-Away. We rented a cabin in the Poconos – we will head up there on Sunday after Christmas and hang out in the mountains for 3 nights! I can’t wait but there is much to prepare between now and then. LOTS to prepare between now and Christmas!! I will get exercise in – no matter how busy life gets!!

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Fumbling Towards Fitness: 2010 ~ Fitness or Bust!

  • Posted on January 4, 2009 at 6:00 am

I have told you before but I need to say it again:

I have no idea what I am doing! I am not an expert on anything but I know I need fitness in my life.

I have tried many activities this past year but I have not really had any sort of consistency. Consistency is almost the most important part for me to make fitness a daily part of my life.

Wanna know what the most important part for me is?

PLANNING

Yep, its planning!

I have learned that if I don’t have a plan I fall apart. I need to have a plan and that plan has to be written down. This year I fell in love with menu planning and have since learned all the wonderful benefits to planning my meals. I am currently only planning dinners but I am going to be expanding that. Planning my meals has helped my stress about dinner and has kept my family healthy and has also helped keep the budget in check. Every Saturday I look at the grocery store sales ads and take stock of the pantry and freezer. A menu is planned and grocery list is written.

Why have I not applied this to other areas of my life?

Good question!! and one I have been asking myself all week.

Wanna know what I did the other day?!?!

I am gonna tell you anyway! :P

Using Microsoft Word I created my own Calendar template and then made a January Work Out calendar, January household chore chart, and a Jen chore chart. I am a lazy person by nature! and I am easily distracted and I procrastinate way too much and while I have not been diagnosed I must be ADD. Last year, this list would have been an excuse but not this year!! This year I am know enough about myself and I have learned ways to combat “my evil ways” to be successful. I will be adding on to all the knowledge I picked up in 2009. I have learned I need direction and a set plan or I fall apart. I can’t just say ” I will workout tomorrow morning.” I need to say, “I will do KB squats and upper body.” I have learned that I need to be specific. I need to tell myself what to do and when to do it!! I need to pull rank on myself! I can tell my kid, my husband, and my students what they need to do. I even give some of them step by step instructions

I started thinking about this and came up with the solution of using a calendar. Much like planning a weekly menu plan I created a monthly workout plan. Saturday will be the first day of my weekly schedule. Saturdays are my Weight Watchers meeting and it seems logical to start my week then.

Saturday: 40 minutes on treadmill (TM)
Sunday: REST day [but also family day]
Monday: KB workout and RB workout and a 10 minute yoga or pilates workout.
Tuesday: workout dvd or 40 minutes on TM plus a LONG strecth.
Wednesday: KB workout and RB workout and a 10 minute yoga or pilates workout.
Thursday: workout dvd or 40 minutes on TM plus a LONG strecth.
Friday: KB workout and RB workout and a 10 minute yoga or pilates workout.

Check out my calendar: jan WO calendar.pdf

I am planning on working out in the morning! This means I have to get my a$$ out of bed by 5:30 at the latest! I will workout for approximately one hour each work day! I have left the weekends more free so that I can find activities to do as a family such as hiking and biking on nicer days!

I know I will feel better for getting my workout finished in the morning! I know I will not make excuses if I get my workout finished in the morning.

Blogging about this plan here with you makes me feel like I have to come back next week to tell you how I made out.

I have a plan!

Planning is the key to my success!!

Are you fumbIing with your workouts?
I urge you to come up with a plan and follow that plan for one month! I read somewhere that it takes 21 days to make something a habit.

I don’t know about you, but I desperately want to make exercise a habit!

Will you give me one month?

I will report back to you next week.

**This post can also be found at bookieboo.com

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