My Inner Thin - Weight Loss Odyssey

Finally have something worth blogging about!

2011-05-08T17:28:00.000-04:00

Hi all! I know it has been a couple of weeks, but just know those two weeks have been very productive! All is well in diet land. Food wise I have been on target and very proud of myself. During a social occasion (6 hours at a local bar/music venue) I only had diet coke and a few fries ...where I usually would have several pints of Newcastle, fries, and the words best beignets outside of NO. So that was a big win for me. The weigh-in for 2 Sundays ago was not awesome, actually up .3 lbs. There really was no real explanation for that other than perhaps the long night sitting still and enjoying the music. Either way, I was not bummed out totally ... and in fact more determined than ever.

My biggest accomplishment x6 is WORKING OUT!!! It all started last saturday (before the show). I spent an hour working out on my Wii walking game. It is silly but amazing, I love it. It is called Walk it Out (WIO). There is not enough time in my day to tell you all the things I like about it, so just trust me. A trend was started. Tuesday and Wednesday I went to the gym near my office. This is an achievement because I had to tuck my tail between my legs and show my face for the first time in well over a year. The gym is very small...they knew me :) In fact, the manager had just gotten married when I was there last...now she has a child. Funny ... with a twinge of pathetic on my part. Hehe. Anyway ... they were small lunch time cardio workouts, but it was perfect. Thursday night I came home and worked out with WIO for an hour. Saturday, another hour spend on WIO ... and today the same. Holy crap, I can hardly believe myself.

Today I weighed in and lost 2.2 lbs...bringing my total to just over 29 pounds and hitting my 10% goal! Very happy about that.

Three more weeks until my trip to the Outer Banks...looking forward to being able to do some long beach walks without killing myself.

Looking forward to trying this diet AND exercise thing I keep hearing about :)

The wagon and I are back on!

2011-04-24T20:41:00.000-04:00

It is good to be back on track! This was a very good week. Not what I wanted exercise wise (my bad) but I am logging again and being accountable. After a long 2 months, I am into the next "decade" or the 250s! Not terribly impressive on the surface, but for me, a milestone. Looking back, this is where I was a year ago. What a waste of time when I think about the 6 months it took for me to gain about 30 pounds, and the 6 months it has taken for me to lose it again. Glad its gone, but I want to kick myself. How many calories would that burn?

A&E has a program, Heavy. Episode after episode have been collecting on my DVR for the last 6 months. Finally I sat down to watch...and watch...and watch. 10 or 11 episodes to be exact. Premise simple...people on the verge of a physical crisis spend 6 months focusing and working on themselves. Each week follows 2 new people and ends with their progress after 180 days. I would say that it really inspired me to expect more from myself. The Biggest Loser and competitive weight-loss shows have really never floated my boat. The fact that those contestants are in need of serious help, but then ultimately get voted out, really bugs me. Anyway, I am sure many people are inspired by that programming ... I've just never been interested.

These people in Heavy were really like me in many ways. Rarely do I find someone on television that I can relate to...it was illuminating. Men and women, young and older, all with BMIs that resemble mine ... exercising ... suffering ... losing. Reminds me that I can really do more than I give myself credit for. How can I complain about a bad knee when a 440 lb woman who has my same body type is suffering though? Clearly I am a baby.

Anyway ... interesting show, hope it sticks around. To celebrate I walked for 30 mins and did a bit of a Wii dancing game. Now I just need to work on exercising during the work week since I am not able to go to a facility and dive in for 6 months :)

Same ole same ole

2011-04-17T11:39:00.000-04:00

Hi All (or hey you),

I've been quiet on the blog, but that doesn't mean that I have derailed...this time! Doing well over here. The WW plan has still been in effect, perhaps not as religiously as it should, but still going in the right direction.

I didn't win or place in the work contest, but that is okay. I lost 14 lbs during the competition, and that is awesome. No complaints on that. My dear friend and soon to be bride Kristen took home the award money. Pleased I could help contribute to her bridal war chest :)

If anyone is out there ... tell me how you are doing as this spring season kicks up into gear? Hopefully most of the allergy season is finished and people and go outside again and enjoy this weather. One of the few things I have going for my physically is that I do not suffer from allergies like many do. My parents both do but I was spared. Of course I did inherit other gems, but such is life.

Speaking of inheriting ... not that many of you know me for real, but I have a younger sister, 27, and she is pregnant with her first child! Yay! Looking forward to being Aunt Allison. No children are in my plans for life, so I am glad I get to live vicariously though her in some way.

What is next...being more diligent with my diet. I have definitely been complacent and that is yielding very modest results. I need to get back in the game with vigor and kick start my weight loss again. The beach is fast approaching! Got to work on my beach bod, right? Ha!

Oh, also time to strap on my damn BodyMedia FIT. That means its time to keep it real :)

Ugh!

2011-03-29T12:15:00.000-04:00

If you read my previous post (if I have any readers) you know that I am not super excited about my work client conference that requires me to wear the worlds worst company shirt that does not fit. My anxiety levels are high just having to attend this event wearing that shirt. Now ... to add insult to injury not only will I be gracing this event with my tight shirted self (picture Michelin man in blue) but NOW I have to sit, alone, at an information table and actually talk to people. Sigh. This does not excite me. Maybe it will motivate me to start exercising. Wonder if there are weight loss studies that correlate pounds lost to shirt tightness.

In other news, my 8 week "Biggest Loser" contest is over today with a few work people. No chance that I am in the running for first or second place, but there is a fight for 3rd place. I suspect I will not place in this contest, but I can say that I have lost 14 lbs since it began. Good job to me. Hopefully a few of us can keep up the contest and do another 8 weeks. That would be $25 bucks well spend and some good motivation.

In summary ...money and fear motivating me for the next 8 weeks. Woo!

Much better!

2011-03-27T13:16:00.000-04:00

This week I got rid of my gain from last week plus a tiny bit more. I am pleased with my week all in all. Unfortunately my plan to "unplug" and go for a walk during my lunches did not exactly work out. Full of excuses that no one wants to hear, but I am disappointed that I was not able to get it done.

My calendar shows that Monday, Tuesday, and Friday are good "at lunch" walk days. Perhaps I can commit to coming home Wed or Thurs and doing something in the evening. Depends on how exhausted I am from those days in the office.

I am working on a poorly resourced project with a lot of pressure, so some days I am paddling to keep above water, unfortunately doing that metaphorically does not burn real calories :)

Hope any quiet readers are there are staying on target. I have not given up my resolve to find myself in better health and perhaps a couple of clothing sizes down in the near future.

Oh ... let me just put this out there. My company has a client conference in May. We wear these awful "golf" shirts tucked into black slacks ... and let me just say this is not a good look for me. The woman's shirt is not great, and furthermore it does not fit me ... not even the 3x. So...I have to wear the men's 3x, which fits better I suppose, but the "short" sleeves come down well past my elbows, thus making the shirt look really bad. This is my next point of anxiety. Each year I have this anxiety ... this year is no different. According to my archive weight page, i was within 2-3 lbs of my current weight. I recall leaving that conference after the keynote due to my total discomfort and embarrassment of what I was wearing. No miracles are going to happen between now and May 18th, but it is something to keep in my mind when making a food decision. The upside is that a week and a half later it will be Memorial Day weekend and I will be spending the week relaxing in Hatteras! Reading, crocheting, chilling on the beach and watching people fish ... that is going to be great. Oh, there is a hot tub too...so some of that!

So I suppose eye on the prize is what I need to keep in my mind. Hmm...what seems like a reasonable goal for May 18th? That is 7 weeks away. I would LOVE to be very near or at 250. That would put me at a goal of -2 lbs per week. Seems doable, as long as I add some exercise into my regime.

Motivation....glad I had this talk with myself :)

-allison

Raising Hand!

2011-03-20T23:26:00.000-04:00

I am still here! Feel like I have been disconnected, but I am still fighting most days. The 3 month mark of good behavior has set in and I feel myself slipping. The slope is very steep and dangerous...I need to move slowly away from the edge.

The last couple of weeks have been more or less off program. Not real thrilled, but it is the truth. No counting ... and occasionally giving in to stupid cravings and urges. There are many excuses I can provide, but ultimately that is all it is .. an excuse or rationalization. Part of the deal is to be honest, pull the big girl britches up ... and move on.

So that is what I am going to concentrate on doing this coming week. The weather is lovely. What a good time to wear sneakers and go for a nice walk during "lunch". My job is getting very stressful, so it is going to be good to unplug.

I guess I should also start with weighing in tomorrow. I didn't do it today (a conscious decision) and plan to do it tomorrow morning. Why do you ask? Mostly because my ankles swelled up like a water blister and I was giving them an extra day to deflate to something resembling normal. Sounds silly, but I would rather take a day hit than to torpedo my delicate state with a "false" reading.

Getting late and that is all for now. Hope you all are doing better than I am...and if not, I hope we all get our shit together and start this next week doing better.

20+ pounds down!

2011-03-13T15:58:00.000-04:00

Ah ... had a birthday this week. Originally my plan was to not celebrate with cake, but after a very bad and stressful day on the actual birthday ... I had cake for dinner. Not just any cake, but the buttercreamyist lard filled cake I could find. Yum. Actually, I really couldn't eat much ... it was too rich. That is the good news I suppose.

After a long week of not really counting my points and recording them (bad girl) I still managed to be down 1.7 pounds. Yay! I think that makes my total right at 21 lbs since the new year.

Very happy with that and very happy to have largely stayed on program! Things that I am still struggling with (per usual) WATER and EXERCISE! Both are critical for me. Lack of water makes me dehydrated which triggers a serious physical condition. I thought I was coming down with that last Sunday, and it scared the crap out of me. Fortunately I was fine, but it was a scare. Now I really need to be careful.

Naturally as I type this I am thinking I have not had much to drink today outside of coffee. Must fix that immediately.

How much water do you think someone should drink per day?

Quick pictures

2011-03-06T09:52:00.000-05:00

Here is my last couple of weeks in pictures ...


Trip to Palm Springs

And one more ....

My new car!!!!

Got back from PS last Friday evening ... picked up my new Ford Fusion Hybrid on Saturday. Fun!

Just wanted to share.

Back in it!

2011-03-06T09:48:00.000-05:00

Very good week this week staying on track considering my post vacation weight in. I did not let it get me down, I did not let it discourage me. This week I went on per usual for me and it all worked out in the end. I think much of the time when we come back from vacation feeling bloated and heavier it isnt necessarily due to calories and fat, but perhaps due to other factors ... sodium intake, dehydration, plane ride ankles, and ... er... constipation :) There I said it. Once these issues resolve themselves within a few days it is amazing how much better one feels. The key is to not let the scale shock waver your commitment. Okay, that is my big advice. Fortunately I have until Memorial Day to worry about another vacation.

On a side note and about challenges, last night was my "birthday" dinner with my family. To be honest, as nice as the company is overall, I was not super excited about being faced with my favorite Italian restaurant, Bambinelli's. It is one of those neighborhood "mom" owned places that has been here almost as long as I have (will be 37 on Tuesday). Generally my dish is Chicken Parm with Fett Alfredo as my side. Not exactly a low point meal. Obviously that was not going to happen. Nor is a salad as I do not enjoy them enough. After much consideration and collaboration with my friend, I decided on the spaghetti and meatballs. Perfect choice! Pasta, tomato sauce, and a bit of protein. Naturally when it came out it had to be 1.5 pounds of cooked pasta...insane amounts of pasta in that bowl.

Now on to the next part of my strategy...not to over eat!

Carefully I marked out the serving I was comfortable with having...and a meatball (large ones). Moved my serving of pasta to my unused bread plate (the garlic rolls were a no-no) and had my plate outside of that bowl. It was enough ... more than enough.

I figured 18 points total and came home feeling good about myself. Success.

Long time!

2011-03-01T23:07:00.000-05:00

Blogging did not enter my mind once while on vacation (oops). It should have, for sure! The week in Palm Springs was very nice. Lots of walking, architecture, and overall Southern California goodness.

I didn't count points for the last half of the trip ... I gave into a lack of motivation to worry about what I was eating and a bit of stress eating (very long story involving losing the rental car keys in the desert). I will say that generally I would have also added a lot of wine into the mix, and this week I really only had 3 glasses of wine and a few "martini" drinks. Not bad for this girl. Oddly enough I think my biggest issue (aside from an evening involving a huge cheeseburger, fries, and mini churros from Jack in the Box) was not drinking enough water. Constant feeling of dehydration, and a bit of a shy bowel created an overall feeling of bloat and grossness by the time I got home. My ankles are finally recognizable again :)

So, yes, up 1.8. It happens. I am not pleased, I am not thrilled, I am not worried about it :) Here starts a new week, and life moves on. My next vacation will not be until Memorial Day week when I spend the week near Cape Hatteras. Let the count down begin!

Vacation Looming

2011-02-17T21:52:00.001-05:00

Two more days until I begin my jet set vacation to sunny Palm Springs! My work week has been bananas so it has been difficult to muster up some excitement. More so I am always a bundle of anxiety getting ready for a trip. No exceptions this time! Now I am not only worried about the usual logistics (ya know, getting to my destination and realizing I forgot to pack any underwear) but now I am fretting over what the heck I am going to be eating for a week!!! I can hear everyone now, "It's vacation Allison ... who cares?". I feel like a recovering crack head...what if I have one taste of pancake and can NEVER QUIT? :) Perhaps I haven't mentioned my pancake issues. Pretty sure my last meal would be the pancake breakfast at Cracker Barrel. In fact, that was my first meal after 9 months on a liquid diet :)

So perhaps I will start small and make a pledge now:

I, Allison, of fairly unsound mind and body, do pledge that no buttery maple pancakey goodness will touch my lips for the duration of my vacation.

Okay, there you have it.

Also, I plan on consulting that nifty "Dotti's Weight Loss Zone" website for assistance with planning when possible. How nifty that there is an iPad app also??? Very nifty ... and it is now mine. Even though the majority of the listings do not have PointsPlus listed, I can guestimate by adding a point or two to what is listed. Not an exact science, but better than pancakes at every meal. I am also planning on packing a stash of Clif Builder Bars ... my go to protein bar. LOVE them.

Off to worry a bit more about packing my 18 gadgets, chargers for 18 gadgets, spare batteries for 18 gadgets ... etc.

-allison

Week 6 WI

2011-02-13T13:21:00.000-05:00

Another 2.1 pounds gone! That is a total of 14.425865723 (but who is counting)!

Only 6 more days until I fly off to sunny Cali for a week. I've never been to Palm Springs and I am sure there will be nothing but delicious and not always point friendly food. I will not be taking my laptop with me (iPad only) but I will have my Bodymedia Fit. The reading for moderate and vigorous activity will help me calculate Activity Points. There is no doubt I will be using those as well as some of my weekly points allowance. That is what they are there for, right?

Today I am planning another go at the Walk it Out game which I did twice yesterday. It seems to be the perfect mixture of silly game (which I love) and getting exercise. Kicking myself for not buying the game months ago when I first started thinking about it!

-allison

Finally!

2011-02-12T13:49:00.001-05:00

After two weeks of saying "I really need to do some exercise" I actually did. Wooo! It was a small start, but I feel very good about it. Last week I ordered a couple of Wii games to see if it would help me do some exercising at home. I have the Fit, but I really don't use it for much more than weighing. The activities haven't really appealed to me, but I honestly haven't given it much of a thought in a couple of years.

I had been checking out some other things and found something called Walk it Out. I feel very cheese in explaining that it is a walking video game. The premise is that you are walking though this virtual video game town and as you step with the music you are able to open new routes, buildings, trees, etc. You start with nothing but paths and minimal scenery ... and you start unlocking street signs, street lamps, trees, etc. Yes, it is silly, but I actually had fun doing it!

I spent 30 mins solid on the game and according to by Bodymedia Fit arm band I had 21 mins of moderate activity, 6 minutes of vigorous activity, walked 3100 steps and burned 300 calories! The game keeps track of steps and calories, but the step count is more about how the controller is being used vs actual steps. Interestingly enough the burned calorie count within the game was about 280, so very accurate! I would not use the game to count steps towards my daily goals or mileage for real, but it is fun none the less.

Anyway...I looked like an idiot hopping around, marching in place, almost jogging in place in my living room with the Wii nunchuck down my pant leg (dont ask) but I accomplished something that I hadn't accomplished in a long time. THIRTY CONSECUTIVE MINUTES OF EXERCISE AND EVEN SOME OF IT HIGH INTENSITY!!!

The other game I bought is Just Dance. I haven't popped that one in yet, maybe later. I don't expect to get the level of workout I got with the walking game, but dancing is fun.

Hope you are all enjoying your day, the weather here in Atlanta is cool but gorgeous!

Tomorrow is WI #6. I have been on program with my food, but have not exercised until now. My expectations are not super high for a loss that will be substantial, but I am so proud of myself for sticking to the actual food piece 6 weeks into the new year.

-a

UPDATE: I did another 25 mins after my original 30. Wooo!

Mmm Mmm Good!

2011-02-10T20:37:00.000-05:00

Tonight I decided to make one of my favorite soups, Greek Lemon Chicken soup. Soo good and soo filling!

It is a stupid easy recipe:

Chicken Stock (i use natural low sodium)
1/3 cup of orzo
chicken breast meat
2 eggs
3 tbs lemon juice
season to taste

Very basic and good. Just boil the stock, add the orzo and cook for 7 minutes. Add the chicken, boil for 5 mins until cooked. Beat 2 eggs and lemon juice in a bowl, temper with the stock while continuing to beat. Add the egg mixture slowly to the soup and mix very well. I slowly bring it to a low boil, then reduce the temp and let cook for another 5 or so minutes, stirring frequently.

That is it. I calculated it to be 6 points per serving, making 4 servings per batch. Probably 1.25 cups a serving.

Of course I had 2 bowls tonight and split the rest for meals tomorrow and this weekend.

This has been a long work week and my face is physically tired. Looking forward to my weekend and of course my next WI on Sunday!

Another Week, Another WI

2011-02-06T13:32:00.001-05:00

Hello Blog world! It has been a quiet week I know. Why? Not sure really. At the end of each day I feel like I have pretty much accomplished the same things as the day before ... and the day before that, etc. Fortunately for me, that means that I am staying on program with my food and counting my daily points. It also means that I have not yet taken the plunge into the exercise world.

At the end of week 5 I am down another 1.8 ish pounds, making my total just under 13 total. Woo! Very pleased. The last couple of weeks have shown me that eating right is great and all, but if I am not exercising I am limiting my results. Apparently it really is diet + exercise = weight loss :)

Today I will charge up my nifty little GoWear Fit or BodyMedia Fit device that I will wear on my arm. The program is pretty simple, you log what you eat calorie wise, it logs what you burn calories wise and at the end of the day/week there is a deficit. Yay math! Because I am doing WW for all of my food logging I have decided to take my average calories for the last 2 weeks and calculate that as my daily range for the BodyMedia program. Fortunately I have the option to do that vs logging everything on 2 websites. That would be a chore!

What else is new? Oh, I did join in on a weight loss challenge with some folks I work with. The other folks in the contest (12 in all) are mostly people I don't know (friends of friends who work elsewhere) but that is cool. I decided to use my Wii Fit to log that weight vs my usual scale. Not sure why, mostly because it is easier to take a picture of the number on the TV than it is on a glowing blue LED of the scale. My camera did not love that glowing blue and essentially censored the reading, heh. So, on my Wii I weigh in on Tuesdays and on my scale I weigh in on Sundays (for WW).

The contest runs 8 weeks and the winner gets 200 bucks. I put in 25, so my goal is to be in the top 3 so I at least get my money back! The contest isn't really necessary as I am really in competition with my long term health, but it is fun, so what the heck. I wish all the participants good luck, but obviously I hope I destroy them :) My good friend a work who invited me to join the contest is losing weight for her wedding day (aww). She has gone to the gym all week and will continue to go during lunch. Good for her! Seeing her bust her ass is motivating me to "get in the game" with some exercise of my own so that I am not lagging behind in this contest!

That is all for me right now. The Super Bowl is tonight. My plans, like the rest of the universe, is to make chili! Of course no wings for me, but I am good with the chili. I may sprinkle some cheese on it to support the Packers. Not really a Packers fan, but I REALLY am not a Steelers fan, so Go Pack!!!

Hope everyone has a great day and week! Hope I come up with something to say between now and next Sunday :) How about I talk about all the calories I am burning according to my BodyMedia Fit thingy? :)

Planning makes perfect!

2011-01-30T23:25:00.000-05:00

Somehow (quite artfully) I've avoided going out to eat this entire month. Not 100% conscious decision, but I do find it easier and of course low pressure having my meals at home. Today I met up with a good friend (and ex-coworker that I miss dearly) for a late lunch and drinks. The scene of the crime was to be at one of your typical Mexican places. Mmmm... Mexican.

Naturally I obsessed all morning about what I was going to eat. An issue for me is that I do not really like veggies you would find in a Mexican restaurant. Onions are off the menu as they irritate my stomach ... and I really do not like bell peppers. So...the choices are fairly limited. After much consideration and planning I decided on having a cheese enchilada and a side of beans. Not very exciting, I know, but I figured it would hit the spot ... and honestly I typically would have a #5 (2 cheese ench, beans, rice). Felt like a good compromise without actually compromising.

Before leaving the house I had a large brunch ( 2 egg and cheese on English muffin halves) and a quick bowl of apple sauce before leaving. At the last minute I had the excellent idea to throw a corn VitaTop into my purse, and off I went.

Lunch was a success. Lots of good conversation, diet coke for me, and a lovely meal. My favorite part of the afternoon is that ultimately the usual drink and food fest for me turned into and afternoon of conversation and a nosh. The only hitch is that I ordered a cheese quesidella instead of enchilada...mostly because the time not spent this morning obsessing on the points for an enchilada was spent on the point value of the quesidella...the wrong word came out of my mouth, hehe. All good of course, I was just a bit surprised when the waiter brought the actual food that I ordered :) Six one half dozen, right? I figure I actually saved myself a point or two by not having sauce ... and put a bit of salsa on the cheese quesidella and went to town.

Tomorrow starts another week of work ... let the crazy begin!

One Monthiversary!

2011-01-30T14:38:00.000-05:00

Hi all...I know I haven't been posting daily, but one day runs into the other. So far all is well, staying on program. Yay! My days are a routine, and that is actually a good thing for me. This month has been very good. Not only have I eaten well and stayed accountable, but I have valued myself and my health. Probably something most people do or take for granted, but for me, it is a big step.

The food and cooking issue has been tackled. Next is moving my ass! Time to get physical (sorry for the song reference and the fact it is running through your head). Surely there is a solution for my fickle knee...a friend suggested an old school Ace bandage. Perhaps that is the answer. I need something to keep my knee stabilized so that it does not try and slip out of place while I do simple things ... like walking though the grocery store! I have tried several things, but being super short (and not thin) makes fitting a knee brace more difficult.

This week I will start walking, again. The weather has been mild enough recently to take a little walk outside during a break at work. The key for me is to start small. I have this bad habit of trying too hard, hurting myself, and then giving up.

After a month I am down a total of 10.5 pounds! Feeling SOOO much better. No more fatigue. Even the stairs in my home seem easier to navigate. For a while I thought my boyfriend was going to need to defibrillate me at the top (is that a word? :)

-allison

One small step...

2011-01-26T00:12:00.000-05:00

It is a little late to reflect on my weekend, but when I think back, I realize...wow, for the first time in recent memory, I accomplished something! Nothing wild and crazy ... didn't run a mile or serve my community, but I do feel like I served myself (and no, not ice cream)!

To make a long story short, in September of 2009 my home, along with many others in my community, was flooded. As a result we (my boyfriend and 3 kitty babies) lived with my wonderful Grandmother. The reason I bring it up is that we were finally able move back May of 2010. The reconstruction and furnishing of the condo seemed like an eternity and I was sooooo anxious to get back home. Since moving back in I have done very little to get back to normal. There are still countless boxes in storage, no pictures on the wall ... everything has just felt unfinished. Perhaps I just haven't had the energy or perhaps something deeper, but this past weekend I actually took charge and marked a few things off my very large list. Probably the biggest thing was FINALLY putting away all of my holiday decorations. That was good (obviously)...but the thing that gave me the largest sense of accomplishment was hanging the artwork on the walls.

It is small, yet it symbolizes that perhaps I am actually giving enough of a crap about myself and my space to do something positive! Just a start, still tons to do, but it feels doable now, so yay.

Anyway ... that was actually a long story not so short :)

Diet wise all is well. Twenty-four days down ... many many more to go!

That is all for now, just wanted to share.

This is a test of the EIC system [Emergency Ice Cream]

2011-01-23T10:10:00.004-05:00

All is well in WW land! Just weighed and tracked for week 3 and I am down another 3 lbs. WOOOOOO!! I know I am on that "new diet honeymoon" high, but I am in a good place and feeling good about the next week.

I'd like to write a profound bit about overcoming challenges, but it simply has felt very easy. Given my 30+ years of trying, I attribute my ease to the following factors:

New diet euphoria
Starting to take Welbutrin again
Sharing my experiences with my best friend who is also doing WW Online (though we are not in the same state)
Fear of horrible diseases known to really really really obese people (like myself)
A smidge of what might actually be better decision making skills

There it is folks. A little early to start throwing myself a parade, but I am very very pleased with my direction and feeling even more inspired by my results to press on.

This is the vew in my freezer currently. Notice the Vita-Tops below the creamy naughty goodness!

Oh, for the post title...this may be my first real test of all those items I outlined. My other half went to the grocery store to pick up a few things ... and came home with not one ... not two...but THREE pints of ice cream! Now, to be fair, these pints are for him and he is allowed to have them (i firmly believe if i am going to be successful, it will not be in a bubble) but I did enjoy giving him a bit of guff about it! What he said kind of amused me, "they are small ... if you are going to fall off the wagon, it won't be a long fall". Heehee. This I thought, oddly enough, was a smidge of encouragement (you would have to understand the source). My response was "that won't be happening with THESE 3 pints of ice cream so enjoy them!"

Certainly was not going to say "that will never happen" pu-lease. Points or no Points, I need to get OFF the ice cream and cake. Thank god for Vita-Tops ... they really do the trick. And if I really want something that resembles a little frosting with my Vita-top (when a girl needs cake) I like to make a little serving of Sugar Free Cream Cheese frosting using a 1 oz serving of Weight Watchers Cream Cheese. Little bit of "Free" frozen topping, smidge of Splenda ... and there you go...A little frosting to make your Vita-top a bit more pleasing (not that I think it needs help).

Anyway ... that is all good luck to every one who accidentally reads this post :)

-allison

Honeymoon

2011-01-20T21:34:00.003-05:00

Loving this "new diet" honeymoon period! This has been a great few weeks and I am feeling hopeful about the next 3 weeks. I know, everyone stays on their New Year's diet for the first month...I plan on making mine a New Decade diet...longer lasting, right?

Starting to think about my next vacation. My BF and I are headed to Palm Springs the 3rd week of February. Why Palm Springs? It's Modernism Week! Should be a fun week of shopping, architecture, and retro 50's goodness. Probably a nerdy reason to go as most people go for golfing ...or to visit family...we are going to tour Frank Sinatra's Twin Palms home :)

For now, I am trying to do what I can before that trip. There isn't a lot of time for me to be making outrageous goals. My pants will be the same size ... the 5 hour airplane ride will still be uncomfortable...but it will be BETTER than it would have been otherwise!

Plane rides are always interesting. I have my own seat belt extender. Not afraid to ask for one, it doesn't bother me, but sometimes it's just handy to have my own. My paranoia that they will run out of them before I board the plane (I always seem to be one of the last) overrides any fear of embarrassment of asking. What amazes me is when I don't ask for one and the flight attendant doesn't seem to notice. I would think they would zero in on me ...but perhaps we live in such a PC society that its easier to ignore rather to offend. Oh, what makes flying interesting is that of course I am a big woman (barely getting the arms of the seats down) but my BF is freakishly tall! So, for various reasons we both do not do well on planes. I have a wonderful knack for "going to my happy place" aka taking lots of Xanax so I really don't care. His not having leg room and getting his knees crushed by the seat in front is probably more severe. Oh well, that is part of the adventure.

I love to travel ... I actually went to Irvine CA in November for work. Perhaps this time I will be slightly smaller and have a bit more room to breath. We will see! Either way, I will have my seat belt extender, Xanax, my iPad, and perhaps a bit of crochet to get me through. Oh, and ear plugs for when my BF complains about getting his knees crushed :)

That is all for now!

Oh, having a great diet day! Made a nice pork tenderloin for dinner. This is meal 2 of what I believe was a goal of 3 this week. Of course I will be eating on my chili and this pork for a while. Maybe I will get up in time (or gosh, do it tonight) and pack my lunch with some left overs! Would be nice to have something beyond tuna and crackers or a Lean Cuisine!

Ta Ta!
-a

Relief

2011-01-17T23:10:00.002-05:00

Received word on my blood work from 2 Friday's ago ::drum roll:: I AM NOT DIABETIC!!!! What a huge relief. To be honest there is nothing other than luck involved here. The last year (really 36 of them) have been filled with pure gluttony. All about that instant gratification and no thought about the damage being done. Sure, I would occasionally give it a thought ... then quickly put it out of my mind as I rummaged through the freeze for more Blue Bell Cookie Dough ice cream. Damn, that shit is good. I digress.

As of late I have had this nagging concern that something is seriously wrong. Finally I got my shit together and made an appointment to run a full blood panel. I hate the doctor (but I love my prescription for Xanax) and generally avoid going. Okay, I actually don't hate going to the doctor, I hate those evil scales. There was no exception this past week. I had gained about 20 pounds since April..yikes. Anyway ... blood work drawn ... and the waiting began.

The snow/ice storm delayed the results for a few days ... but today was the day. My cholesterol is high, 226. My good cholesterol was in the good range ... my bad was 151. My understanding is that it should be more in the neighborhood of 135ish. Something to work on! Thyroid is a-okay...and by some miracle I have always had normal blood pressure. Oh, have I mentioned I AM NOT DIABETIC??

This is my last chance people ... my last chance to really fix this insanity I have been living. I need to take care of myself for once and stop acting like I do not matter.

Oh, random other interesting events of the day...I had the first hint of a menstrual cycle. TMI? Sorry...but this is the first cycle I have had in ....er....hmm....maybe 5 years? I haven't had a cycle with any regularity since the age of 15. Long story (PCOS) but this is a good thing. Feeling like a 13 yr old "what the hell am I supposed to do?" but I managed. Yay for actually feeling like a girl.

That is all for now ..

Week Two Recap

2011-01-16T13:08:00.004-05:00

Just weighed in for my 2nd week. Very pleased with my progress and my unwavering commitment to eating right! This week I lost 3.0 lbs, which is amazing. My secret in the very back of my mind goal for the week was to get out of the 280's and enter into the 270's. The 280's represent the heaviest I have ever been ... I am glad to take a few steps down and get back to something more familiar. Of course, lets be honest...270's are not a happy place either, but it is one small step closer to feeling like myself again.

Accomplishments for the week:

Stayed on my points plan while being trapped in my house for a week
Did not crack open a bottle of wine
Water Water Water! Had a good amount of water each day
Overcame a moment of Nutella driven temptation
Everything I ate had nutritional value (protein, fiber, etc), nothing I would consider "junk"
Relied more on cooking real food than eating all processed

Things I want to focus on for this upcoming week:

Take lunch to work each and every day this week
Drink Drink Drink my water while at work
Take a little walk during lunch (hoping my knee stays in place)
Continue to count my points and make better decisions on spending my points
Cook 3 more dinners at home

I am sure there are many more things I can add to my list, but we will start with that. Hope you all have a great week also...What are some of your goals?

Snow Day 3 and Counting!

2011-01-12T20:07:00.004-05:00

Here we go again ... another day "working" from home and another one on the way. I am starting to get a bit of cabin fever!

Today my BF walked to the grocery store. He came home with Coke Zero, 2 slices of cake, bag of Chips Ahoy (all for him). Something kind of funny about his grocery selection. Most people flocking to the store to find fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, bread...etc.. Nope, what do we get? Cake and cookies! The good news for all of you following me is that I really have no interest in any of those things. Woo!

This morning I made a simple yet very delicious breakfast:

Here we have a bagel thin, 2 over easy eggs, and 2 slices of cheese. 6 PointsPlus each!

What is interesting is this ... my instinct was to make 2 because the bagel has 2 halves. When I was finished and had them on my plate I realized that I had made 1 too many. Why did I do that? My eyes are getting bigger than my stomach, which is not a bad thing. Lesson learned!

I ate one ... and cooked the 2nd one a bit so the egg was no longer over easy and ate it a couple hours later for lunch.

Dinner was less creative, PB & J sandwiches (2 small) on sandwich thin's for bread. I weighed everything to the gram and counted every drop. They were a delicious 14 points, I am not going to lie.

What is in store for tomorrow? More of the same. We are stuck in this house for yet another day. My feeling is that it will actually be late Friday afternoon before things really start to melt. YIKES!

Oh, random thing ... my BF was watching hockey while having dinner and my cat seemed to be enjoying the game (please ignore the fact that my xmas tree is still not pulled apart, I will get to it when we can take it to the storage unit this weekend):

Enjoy!

-a

Slayed a dragon tonight and lived to tell!

2011-01-11T23:14:00.003-05:00

Gracious ... still a frozen tundra here in Atlanta. I am crossing my fingers this ice goes away soon .. getting restless here in the house. Today I did well with my points, and that is an achievement. All this time in the house and I haven't grazed once!!

This evening I'd finished my dinner and was thinking about dessert (when am I not). For some reason I started thinking about the unopened jar of Nutella in my pantry. I have several points left, I can justify having that one treat. Jar in hand I calculate the points, 5 for 2 tbs. Geesh, wondering now if that is enough, if I had 2 servings that would be 10 points, yikes ... and I haven't even started counting the crackers. Can you see where this slippery slope is taking me?? There I was trying to rationalize my irrational craving for Nutella! Thankfully while doing this math in my head my best friend texted me to break me from its spell! No way did I need this Nutella, points or no points, so I put it back in the pantry and even hid it a bit so I would no longer have to do mental gymnastics to get back on track.

Funny how a little text message literally broke that spell. The message was from my best friend who is also working to lose weight...so it was really great timing. Sweets are a problem, and so is cake.

My next plan seemed genius! It crossed my mind that I could use my Weight Watchers individual serving of light cream cheese and mix a bit of Spenda ... tiny touch of vanilla extract ... dash of milk...and voila...a perfect little dollop of something resembling cream cheese frosting! I complimented my wonderful chocolate Vita-Top! Cake with frosting for a very filling 5 points. That seemed like a better investment than the Nutella and a smart choice.

As Hannibal would say, "I love it when a plan comes together". Good day, hope the trend continues.

-a

SNOWmageddon 2011 (that rhymes)

2011-01-10T19:42:00.006-05:00

Wow is all I can say. After much back and forth with the forecast (what else is new) we got lots of snow! Fortunately we did not get ice in the trees, but the roads are ridiculous right now. I've seen several good snows in Atlanta ... this was a good one. We are all stuck in our homes for at least another day ... I suspect longer. Crazy!

Anyway, having this much time on my hands at home can be a dangerous thing. I've been doing a few things to pass the time and keep focused on the WW program. Yesterday I took the new Cuisinart Griddler for a spin and made some wonderful grilled chicken breasts. Chicken has always been hard for me to cook in a healthy way, mostly because I am terrible at grilling. The new toy made it really easy. My chicken was moist, which is awesome. I have a really hard time eating chicken, especially chicken that is dry, due to my lingering half a LapBand. Most of the time I don't know its still inside of me, but today I was reminded early in the day. Breakfast was going to be instant grits with a scrambled egg. The egg ended up dry from over-cooking in the microwave and overall my breakfast was pretty much like cement. I wouldn't have minded, but my LapBand objected. About 3 or 4 bites in, everything stopped going down my throat. It got stuck! This may not make sense for those who are not familiar with living with a LapBand (even a faulty non-functioning one like mine). Anyway, I wasn't able to eat my lunch but eventually was able to drink my coffee.

Lunch was easy, a portion of my left over chili (made with ground chicken breast) and brown rice. Now for dinner. The bored fat girl in me wanted to open a bottle of wine, finish the bottle of wine, then worry about dinner...but the "in progress" me managed to make a wonderful dinner!

I made "good enough to satisfy" pasta with a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese (I love mac n cheese), green beans, and one of my chicken breasts. Notice it's cut up to make sure I chew it is small pieces ... stupid LapBand. The plate was full and all for about 10 points. Wooo! Pardon the oddly colored picture, my cell phone camera is not great.

Hmm...perhaps HMR Butterscotch flavored pudding for dessert.

It seems small to most but for me, a huge step in a new direction. I have made 3 or 4 more home cooked meals than I would have before, and that is awesome.

Tomorrow is more of the same. Working from home and filling my time trying to think about something other than eating my next meal. Perhaps curling up to my new "Half The Size " People magazine.

Week One Recap

2011-01-09T10:55:00.002-05:00

What an amazing week. I have felt in control of my life for the first time in a LONG time. Very pleased to start '11 and this decade on a good note. This will either be the decade where I turn my life around (physically...mentally) or this decade will be the beginning of a fast decline. Slowly killing myself with apathy around my health is not an option. This will change.

So, for the numbers, I lost 3.5 lbs. What pleases me is that I am mostly certain this was fat loss vs water loss. Yay!!! Either way, I will take it. The loss is a great motivator but does not set me up for disappointment next week. Sometimes those big first week numbers can create an unrealistic expectation for the weeks following that can ultimately lead to sabotage. For me, I am having a solid start to a new way of eating.

Weight Watchers is really more than just counting points and losing weight ... it is about new habits at meal time. For years I have been lazy in the kitchen. I would rather microwave a quick salty processed meal vs cooking real food. Its interesting...my boyfriend and I have been in this cycle for years. I have him trained to the point where he eats on a different schedule than me and does not really expect me to cook real meals. It is a sad statement, I am not bragging. All the years of eating restricted diets and calorie counting ... the years while trying to eat around that disaster of a lapband really dictated our meal times. We don't communicate as much because we are not having normal dinner table banter.

This week, however, we had at least 2 meals together. It was nice to cook something new, sit at the table and talk about our days. I know this is not supposed to be rocket science, but we have just not had that in years. A welcome change!

Beyond the diet and cooking...taking control also means facing my declining health and doing something to turn it around. The ball started rolling on Friday when I got the blood work done to see if I have any underlying issues (diabetes, hypothyroidism, high cholesterol, vitamin deficiency, etc) and I hope to get some answers next week. Time to start taking care of myself...I have people depending on me!!!

Okay. That is all for now. I have lots on my mind but realize that I probably do not want to make a novella for a post :)

Have a great day everyone! Winter Storm Watch is alive and well in Atlanta. Looks like we will have something, but not the 6" of snow that was projected yesterday. Probably more like 2 inches of snow followed by ice. Remember folks, the ice is the issue! Try to not make too much fun of us southerners running around buying milk and bread before a 1" snow "storm". Hehe.

-a

Finishing out week 1

2011-01-08T20:56:00.002-05:00

Finishing out the week ... doing very well! To be honest, I have really enjoyed following the new PointsPlus plan with Weight Watchers this week. My only complaint (and its a silly one) is that I find it hard to eat all the points! With the new plan I get about 6 more points than in the past. It feels like a lot! I have not had any issues this week with feeling deprived or hungry. What is amazing is that I have managed to avoid any empty calories or just plain sugary snacks! Very proud of that ... because even sugary snacks can be part of the WW plan...I just want them out of my life! Most evenings my sweet treat has been a vita-top. They are 3 points...and a quality 3 points! Just sweet enough to be yummy but I don't have the regret and shame that I would feel after downing a nice slice of cake with ice cream. Yay for me!

I've also had more fruits this week...not really hitting it with the veggies yet. Next week, time to work on the veggies.

Tonight I made a nice chili. I used ground chicken ... yum! I'd never cooked with ground chicken breast and it was delicious. I did not miss beef AT ALL! The texture is what meat should be, and something I missed when cooking with vegetarian soy crumbles. When I have chili, I feel that I need a starch. Generally I would do pasta. Another one of my goals is to ween myself off the pasta when possible. Tonight I had my chili of some brown rice! So darn good and perfect for winter.

Speaking of winter ... there is a storm headed this way. According to the news Atlanta my see "historic snowfall" along with some icing. This event is to start on Sunday night and really kick into gear Monday morning. With the ice comes loss of power. I've spent days stuck in my home with ice and now power...it isn't always fun :) Naturally there is the issue of food. I have electric stove, so no way to warm food if we lose power. I really hope it isn't a problem but I am ready if it is!

Anyway ... that is all for now. Looking forward to weighing in tomorrow. Not expecting a stunning Biggest Loser type loss, but a nice respectable (non-water weight) 2-3 lbs would be nice! I will accept anything I can get, especially when I am not working out.

Oh, as a health update. I did go to the doctor yesterday. Not much yet, just some blood work. My Dr and I are both in agreement that I am "pushing my luck" with serious health repercussions of being morbidly obese. Fairly sure that the blood work will show that my lucky streak has ended, but at least I will know what I am dealing with! Time to unbury my head from the sand and taking care of myself.

-a

Dinner and a drink

2011-01-05T23:55:00.005-05:00

Felt a bit better today...the fatigue was not as bad. Yay for that. Looking forward to my doctors appointment on Friday.

Today I drank my water and made a nice dinner for my boyfriend and myself. Seems small, but I have forgotten how to or lost all desire to cook real food lately. When I do cook, I cook the one or two things that are his favorite. Dinner was not anything exciting or exotic...just pork and baked potatoes, but really ... it was my first time cooking pork in memory. That is probably fairly sad ... but I just avoid cooking meat for some reason. Anyway ... it turned out pretty good. He has a very boring palate and yet is very hard to please, go figure! Not really parade time, but it is a small step to a bigger change. Not sure what tomorrow will bring in the kitchen, but I will give it some thought while not working at work :)

Anyone have any lunch or dinner ideas to share with me? I need inspiration!

That is all for tonight. I am hoping all this water I am drinking will help me stop retaining water. I know it is adding a few pounds and can be very discouraging. My starting weight was on a non-bloating day and now my feet and ankles are quite puffy. Naturally I cant keep off the scale and it is up! I know that it is really just the water and I am not discouraged in any way, I just hope that whatever is causing me to retain water is washed away by drinking more water!

-allison

Oh, Blogger is bugging out for me (and likely everyone) so I switched my settings to use the old editor and all is better. If you are unable to create a new post on your blog, I suggest you do the same!

Head firmly removed from my arse!

2011-01-05T00:22:00.001-05:00

Over the last few days it has finally occurred to me that something is just not feeling right with my body recently. For a while I have been suffering from what I realize is fatigue. I am drained all the time ... when I wake up, when I am at work, when I am sitting in front of the TV crocheting ... all the time! I kept assuming it was just because I was heavier than I have been in years...but it finally hit me that there may be something medically wrong that I should get checked out.

There is no reason with my diet, lifestyle, family history that I shouldn't be concerned. Seven years ago I was diagnosed with insulin resistance and totally on a path to something serious like Diabetes. I have ignored that condition and haven't thought about it in years. My denial has run very deep...very very deep.

Perhaps part of this whole journey is becoming more self-aware and as I titled my post, pulling my head out of my a$$ and taking care of myself! I deserve it...

Anyway, not really trying to be a downer ... I actually feel quite pleased with myself, my realization, and my getting off the pot and making a doctors appointment! Perhaps I just need to lose that most recent 15 pounds that has put me over the edge...perhaps I have a vitamin deficiency ... perhaps a hormone imbalance .... and very realistically perhaps a blood sugar regulatory issue.

This fatigue is a bummer for sure...I am completely useless and unmotivated! It is impacting my life at home and at work. Still haven't had the energy to finish taking down the x-mas tree...yikes!

Aside from just not feeling like me, I have had a pretty good day. Fairly balanced diet, lots of water ... kept within my points range for the day. The planning I did over the weekend has really paid off!

-allison

Traffic

2011-01-04T22:37:00.001-05:00

Random google search of the day to my blog:

01/04/11 17:36:12 fat lady floating in swimming pool (Google)

Interesting...and occasionally accurate!

EDIT: Duh! This is totally the title of a post
I did a year ago :) I still loved the google search to my blog and it still made me smile. I am looking forward to feeling like going to the gym again soon ... and being that lady in the pool!

Any one else like swimming laps out there?

-allison

HMR and Weight Watchers

2011-01-03T16:23:00.000-05:00

Hey All,

I know I get a lot of visitors that are following the HMR program exclusively. I really liked that program and it was successful for me while I was following it. I also love the idea of Weight Watchers. At the end of the day I sat down and realized that it is all a similar path to the same goal. Calories in and calories out. WW counts points, HMR and other programs use meal replacements to control the calories coming in. After many times back and forth I have decided that for me using HMR shakes and bars are a great way for me to control the calories/points in the context of Weight Watchers as a larger program. When I was doing HMR I would typically have 6 shakes a day ( 660 calories), 2 entrees (450-500 calories) and a bar (160 calories). The total of that intake very close to my point equivalent per day with Weight Watchers.

If you are following HMR, feel free to say hi! You will find tools and information that I have gathered about the program and I certainly have a lot of knowledge to offer...especially if you are doing it home.

Today, I had 2 HMR shakes for snack between my light breakfast and late lunch. For those of you not familiar with the shakes, one shake is 110 calories/1.5 g fat/ 13 carbs (1 of which is fiber)/ 14 grams of PROTEIN!!! I use a lactose free shake and typically double them up. I generally drink chocolate...and I really like them. What is nice about the shakes is that I can convert them into a chocolate pudding. One shake is 3 pts, 2 shakes is actually only 5 points. They are very filling.

Just wanted to share! You can check out my links on HMR and where I buy my shakes online. No need to join anything...its all just online order and shipping.

Good luck to all with your chosen paths! Hope to see you around the blog soon :)

Cart of shame...no more!

2011-01-02T23:42:00.001-05:00

It was a great first day! Sounds like a small thing, but my biggest accomplishment today was making a large and very organized grocery store list and sticking to that list. Is it just me or have other people ever been embarrassed by the grocery selection in your cart? This is something I think about most trips to the store. I feel shamed by the cake, ice cream, wine, and of course ... cat food. When I usually check out I wonder what the cashier is thinking ... oh look, a fat cat lady with cake, ice cream, and corn dogs. Today I felt different ... today I had a cart full of food that most normal people buy. It is random, but it felt good :)

One cart closer to being "normal"

Okay, so I still did not have anything much that resembled fresh fruit or veggies ... but it was a sweeping change from my usual fare.

Fresh meats instead of tubs of BBQ and Mac n cheese. Vita tops instead of chocolate cake. Still my usual Lean Cuisines (love my Thai chicken). Yogurt ... cottage cheese instead of ice cream. Ground chicken breast instead of beef (for a pot of chili). New water bottle! Oh, and of course, crazy cat lady food.

Few things to experiment with...Greek Yogurt (plain) to mix with Ranch Dressing mix for a dip. I read this is good ... I will keep you posted. My picky palate is a pain in the ass, but I am trying!

Anyway, I am still high on my accomplishments at the grocery store. My meals today were certainly within points range, but not really incorporating fruits and veggies yet. Part of my dessert tonight was a cup of unsweetened apple sauce with cinnamon. Yum! Technically that counts as a fruit.

Tomorrow's shopping list at the Bed Bath and Beyond:
Cuisinart Griddler
Roasting Pan
Meat Cleaver

Looking forward to venturing into the world of cooking real food for myself and my BF...he will be very confused when he comes home to something other than PB & J sandwiches or Hamburger Helper!

Enough rambling. Other accomplishments... I had my starting weigh-in and body measurements. Next weigh-in is Sunday 1/9!

-a

Let them eat cake! I will take some yogurt instead....

2011-01-02T01:25:00.000-05:00

Is there such a thing as a new diet high? I am so giddy with anticipation of starting Weight Watchers again I may need to take an ambien to sleep. That may sound like it is dripping with sarcasm, but it really is not. For the first time in recent memory I am looking forward to working on myself and working with my best friend Jen. She is such a good sound board and voice of reason...just what I needed. She needs to talk me down from the snacking and she needs encouragement to exercise. With all of the encouragement there is also a spirit of friendly competition. We are both looking for that first 5% weight loss!

Tomorrow I will be hitting the grocery with a list in hand. Trying to focus on having more protein and something fruit/veg related. As you may recall, I really have an issue eating fruits and veggies. I seem to not like them, but like the heck out of cake and ice cream. My grocery list is lacking in carbs and plentiful with meats and little bits for snack that will be good for me. Out with the cake, in with the roasted red pepper hummus!

That is all for now...apparently it is late!

-a

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-01T13:11:00.000-05:00

Feeling good and hopeful today for the first time in a while. Had a lovely albeit quiet New Years Eve, now enjoying a thoughtful New Years Day!

I officially joined Weight Watchers and have spent some time learning the new PointsPlus plan. It uses Fat, Carbs, Fiber, and Protein to calculate a points value rather than simple Calories/Fiber/Fat. Ultimately that makes more sense...it just means that all the cool spreadsheets and data I have collected over the last 10 years are null and void!

Here is a breakdown of what each of those components are as calories:

Fat: 1 gram = 9 calories
Protein: 1 gram = 4 calories
Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 calories
Alcohol: 1 gram = 7 calories

The new WW PointsPlus plan understands better the nutrition behind the foods, so a 100 calorie pack of empty calories cookies count differently than 100 calories of banana.

So ... tomorrow is the first official weight in, though today I am planning and calculating my points.

First Goal: Lose 5% before my trip to Palm Springs in mid Feb. That is just over 6 weeks. I can do it!

Overhaul

2010-12-31T13:19:00.000-05:00

Hmm. New Year is upon us ... a new decade (really, the decade did not start with 2010). I need to make some changes...obviously. I seem to be on the road to agony...literally. Almost to the point of non-functioning person, a ghost of who I used to be and who I should be. Time to change directions!

Happy New Year. Time to purge the old baggage and by baggage I mean everything that is holding me back!

More soon...

-a

Mission Accomplished

2010-10-04T23:16:00.000-04:00

BodyMedia FIT data 10-4-10

Calories Burned - 2653
Calories Consumed - 1530
Total Activity - 0:44 |
Steps Taken - 5730

The good: accomplished my goals for the day with exercise, water, and food. The not so good: my knee snapped like a rubber band during my walk. I am hoping it feels better tomorrow.

That is all for today!

Monday Blahs

2010-10-04T11:45:00.000-04:00

Here we are at the beginning of another long work week. Job is stressful, but I find a certain amount of satisfaction when I am following a plan. Gives me something personal to focus on instead of getting wrapped up in all the work stuff.

I have a focus issue, probably one of they many reasons I am where I am today. Yesterday was a great example. One social event and I totally lose all focus and control. It was then my excuse to spend the entire day not being good to myself. "Oh, its a party" or "it's Sunday ... i will start again Monday", these excuses were running though my head all day and night. I will say one good thing about myself. I did keep track of what I ate. Did I stop myself and make a better choice in my eating habits, no ... but I did write it down and keep track in my daily log. I figure it was a wash of a day.

Let's move on to today! I have the blah's, as I do every Monday...but I am getting inspiration around the promise of a great week taking care of myself.

Here is what I am doing to motivate and prepare for my success this week:

Blocked an hour off each day on my work calendar to take a walk. The first step in taking care of myself is allowing myself to take priority.
Prepared and planned breakfast and lunch items for the work week. I am terrible at planning and following though when it comes to my meals at work. I have egg beaters, sandwich thins, ham, grits, protein bars, HMR shakes, and lean cuisine meals for the week. Even better, I have them AT WORK.
I will drink 2 L of water each day at my desk. I am putting THAT on my calendar as well. Why is drinking water so darn hard for me?
Sharing goals with a friend. I feel so alone in this...hopefully I can find someone to commit to taking some of these steps with me. At minimum I am here, blogging to myself, sharing on Facebook and of course my twitter. BodyMedia FIT has made that easy.

That is all for now. I need to drink my first liter of water, and get started on the rest of my day!

A good day ... a good start!

2010-10-03T10:53:00.000-04:00

Well, lets not throw a parade or anything but I am proud. Most Saturday's I would have sat around watching all of my newly TiVo'ed fall programming and perhaps not even leaving the house. Perhaps that might explain where I am in my life, right? Anyway...yesterday started much in the same way. While looking at my BodyMedia info I decided that I needed to do something and start moving. So, on the sneakers went and out into the neighborhood I went.

I had a nice solid 30 mins of activity, which is more than I have had on purpose in a LONG time. Felt good. I even went out and did some "yard" work. Really more "patio" work...but for the first time in months my patio looks good. Overall a great and productive day. Of course I still watched endless football games and caught up on TiVo ... but at least I did SOMETHING with my day.

Today will be a different challenge...it is brunch day in the hood. I am bringing mimosa stuff. There will be quiche and croissants abundant. It will be tough, but I will try. Not going to say that I wont be having a croissant, but what I will say is that I will take note of what I do have so that I can properly take accountability.

Great day ahead!

BodyMedia FIT (GoWear FIT) and Facebook

2010-10-02T13:38:00.000-04:00

Pretty nifty, just figured out how to link my daily snapshot onto my Facebook account. I would really like to be able to do that with Twitter as well, but that is okay.

I am sitting here in my living room being a total couch potato, and just looking at my numbers from yesterday is motivating me to get up off my butt, put on some sneakers, and just take a walk. Not sure where I am going ... but I need to start moving again!

Had a pretty good and filling breakfast:

Flat Out Honey Wheat wrap
3 Eggs (scrambled with light marg)
some black forest ham (2 oz or so)
1/4 cup 2% mild cheddar shredded cheese

Rolled it all up and it was delicious and HUGE. I think this will sustain me for quite a while, especially while I go out for that walk.

On the down note, I am getting fairly frustrated with my water retention. I seem to be gaining 4 lbs of water weight every few days. I take a water pill, it goes away ... then it slowly comes back over the next couple of days. Not really sure what to do about it. Probably should see the doctor. I really want to lose some weight and live better and see if that helps.

It's me again ... again!

2010-10-01T17:16:00.000-04:00

Okay. So here we are again. If I lost a pound for each time I started blogging about needing to get back to a healthy way of living and starting a new diet chapter, I would be doing great!

Self-snarkiness aside, I really do need to make a change. Recently I have been feeling terrible physically and mentally. I've never had depression issues, at least none that I am clinically aware of ... but right now I feel like I am committing a slow suicide with each cupcake and bad food decision.

Earlier this week I woke up and was officially over it! Ready to do something about it. As many times as I have been at this crossroad, it is much better to be at this place then back in denial.

So, this past week I have started being accountable again for my actions. My main crutch will be my GoWearFit - BodyMedia FIT device. It is an awesome little gadget that helps with setting, tracking, and achieving goals. Go check out their website if you are not familiar with the system.

To be fair, posting before photos of me (which are not at ALL flattering) is the way to "keep it real" so here you go:

Hot, right? Anyway, this is me in all of my about 280 lb, 5'1" glory! We are going to call these "before".
That is all for now. I will write more this weekend. I just wanted to get the blog started again and post those lovely self portraits!

More on my plans later...

Ironwoman!!!

2010-01-18T22:41:00.000-05:00

Okay, just a quick note. I did really well today. I walked for 50 mins during lunch (and some jogging) with the arm weights AND went to the gym and swam 36 laps. Overall my GoWearFit recorded 1:48 mis of activity and almost 8000 steps. The steps do not even include the swimming ... which really makes my pedometer reading more like 12K!!!! I am amazed at myself and right exhausted. It feels good to have accomplished something great today, especially given my sugar binge lastnight.

If you are like me and counting your steps, here is a cool link to help you equate everyday things (like swimming) into steps per min. http://walking.about.com/od/measure/a/stepequivalents.htm

Check me out babies:

Duh... GOALS

2010-01-18T00:23:00.003-05:00

I figured the best way to ring in the new week is to stop whining and set a goal!

I pledge to spend 3.5 - 4 hours working out in some way (walking, gym, swimming) between Monday and Wed. How I will do it:

Monday: 1.25

Walk at lunch with wrist weights - 45 mins (Actual: 100 mins)
Swimming after work - 30 mins (Actual: 30 mins)

Tuesday: 1

Walk before work - 30 mins (Actual: 50 mins total as of 4pm)
Gym workout during lunch - 30 mins

Wednesday: 1.25

Walk at lunch with wrist weights - 45 mins
Swimming after work - 30 mins

G'night all!

---------------------------------------------
UPDATE:
During lunch on Monday (today) I walked/jogged a total of 50 mins. Managed to log 27 mins of VIGOROUS ACTIVITY!!! Total activity today so far is 64 mins. I rule. Waiting for the crowd to die down at the gym, then I will start doing my laps.
Swimming - I swam 36 laps in the pool...about 30 mins give or take ... and the equivalent of 4000 steps that do not show on my pedometer! The link shows step equivalents to regular exercises.

Off track

2010-01-17T23:53:00.000-05:00

For whatever reason I totally derailed this evening. Just bored I think ... next thing you know I found a few cookies, brownies, and some candy. GEESH! Not awesome, not awesome at all. What will be awesome is getting back on track tomorrow. I have no idea what got into by brain, but I need to keep my eyes on the prize. And by eyes I mean all 4 of them! Okay, just kidding ... just a little joke regarding my glasses that are on the way :)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that you are looking forward to a week of being kind to yourself and others, as I am.

Allison

"Men seldom make passes, At girls who wear glasses"

2010-01-16T21:56:00.001-05:00

A nice Dorothy Parker quote for you! Oh, the reason for the DP quote? I, for the first time in my 35 years, have been prescribed GLASSES!!! Having mixed feelings. Needing glasses is a bit of a bummer and just a sign I am getting older...yet I have always wanted a cute pair of glasses. So there you have it. In about a week my glasses will be in and I will have something new and expensive to lose immediately!

Today has been a wet and dreary day in Atlanta. Of course a week ago I was iced in ... so I shouldn't complain, right?

Not a lot to report in the last couple of days. I finally was able to get a good night's sleep and my grandmother is getting better. We haven't had any "im about to pass out" scares since Thursday night, so that is excellent. She isn't close to 100% but she is getting around and sort of eating.

Exercise has been a thing of the recent past for me, nothing much to report other than what I accidentally achieved while shopping. I've been sooo tired with having 2 - 4 hrs of sleep a night that there was no way it was going to be happening. Tomorrow I am hoping to motivate myself to get to the gym. There is an elliptical and/or a swimming pool that is calling my name!

Food wise I have done well, though no HMR meals to report. I've been concentrating on lower sodium while keeping low cal/low fat. Last night I made a delicious lower sodium "baked spaghetti dish (meatless)" and tonight I made my Greek Lemon Chicken Soup. Each serving is about 250 - 300 calories and no more than 300 grams of sodium. Trying to get away from the Lean Cuisine (and onions) and manage the sodium. I am not a cook, so baby steps, right?

My calories have been under target, probably too low for the last few days. My body probably doesnt love it when I have less than 1000 calories to eat. My crutch for a quick meal replacement has become Builders Protein Bars (by Clif). It's a nice way to spend 270 calories and have 20 grams of protein. I've tried Peanut Butter, Chocolate, and Vanilla Almond. All good. I generally have 1 a day!

One last thing ... I have been meaning to thank Kelly for giving me the "Beautiful Blogger Award" the other day. If you are not following her blog, please check it out! She is an amazing young woman who is working hard to have the prom of her dreams! The award is designed for me to share information about myself and then pick 7 bloggers to pass on the acknowledgment. I will have to work to find the 7 bloggers ... I am not really good at making blogger friends! :) Thanks again Kelly and I will follow through with my end of the bargain very soon!

Allison

Quick note

2010-01-14T14:38:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone. Just wanted to publish that I did very well last week surpassing the 15 lb lost since 12/10/09! Yay me.

The last couple of days have been long and tiring. My grandmother was ill yesterday and around midnight it escalated to the point of needing to call 911. Fortunately no serious issues. She had an infection that made her sick and lightheaded, that was compounded by dehydration and she was going in and out of consciousness.

We spent all night in the ER and arrived back home around 5:30 this morning. According to my GoWearFit i slept 1:11 ...not quite hitting my goal of 8 hrs a night! I am exhausted, naturally, so not really in the mood to celebrate.

I will say that when starvation set in around 3am last night ... I also had good sense. The hospital had a 24hr McDonalds. I used my phone to see the nutritional information (calories/fat/sodium) of 6 pieces of chicken nuggets...and thats exactly what I had. We actually ordered one huge 10 piece meal (supersized) and my BF ate ALL of the fries and 4 of the 10 nuggets. I was pleased with myself. I could have easily drowned my sorrows into that enormous bag of fries.

That is all for now. I hope to keep up this rate of loss (3lbs a week) so that I am able to reach my goal of 36 by my 36th! 7.5 weeks to go ... at 2.7 pounds a week and I am there!

That is all for now ... time to crash!

Is it cheating....

2010-01-13T10:24:00.000-05:00

If I want to officially log my weight a day early? I am really liking what the scale says TODAY and am afraid my body will realize its error and adjust accordingly in the wrong direction tomrrow :) Today I am at 254.5 ... the lowest weight I have seen in almost a year!!! That weight would mean 3.1 lost the past week...pppppllllleeeeaaassssseeeee stay that or below for tomorrow. I am feeling fairly dehydrated today (i didnt drink enough water yesterday, was a stress kitten) so I probably will pack on 2 lbs in water today.

Oh well, I know its only numbers! Someone DID tell me that she could tell I had lost weight even from last week (thank you Mindy) so I will take it!

Today has potential to be stressful...I have my sweet wonderful grandma that isn't feeling well. As much as I hate not living in the condo that I am paying for, I will be sad to leave here. To that end, I hope to take advantage of taking the day off of work to maybe look at possible paint samples.

Organic oatmeal time! The Kashi whole grain hot cereal that I made last night was awful. Never. Again. I will stick to my oatmeal, thank you! I am LOVING the Publix Greenwise Maple and Brown Sugar organic instant with a splash of cinnamon. It is a great way to start the day! It's low sodium, low calorie, low fat, and has fiber/protein.

My goal is to be productive today around the house ... help out my "old lady" ... eat low sodium and of course watch everything else ... take a nice walk!

Ta!
Allison

Weight loss projection spreadsheet

2010-01-11T14:23:00.001-05:00

Hi! About a year ago I stumbled upon a spreadsheet on another weight loss blog (losingtofindmyself.com) that spelled out the formula for estimating calories in/out and charting projected weight loss over time. My Plan is all about this math...being accountable for what comes in, exercising, etc.

This is an excellent way to get an idea of what is possible. Of course your numbers may vary week to week from these projections...but its nice to come up with a formula that best meets your goals.

Example: I plugged in my starting weight, starting diet date, my calories per day eating and my weekly calories burned during exercise. The spreadsheet calculates your BMR (how many calories you need per day/ week to maintain) and charts the deficits based on projections. Check it out. I have made a note on guesstimating if you are doing Weight Watchers or a point based system vs counting actual calories.

Here is a screen shot:

Here is a link to download the Excel spreadsheet: http://www.nosilla.net/gowearfit/weightloss_projection.xls I promise this is a safe file!

Let me know if you have any questions ... and I would like to thank Ken from losingtofindmyself.com for taking the time to put this together and letting me run with it!

Allison

Fat lady in the pool!

2010-01-10T17:24:00.001-05:00

I did it ... finally!! Walking in the door at LA Fitness there was naturally a sign that read, "Pool heat off for the day". Yay! Doing it anyway. I will say this, the locker room of my local gym is gross. The quality has really taken a hit with the level of amenities at my local La Fit. There were NO wet bags (a fact I wish I'd known prior to going) and none of those nifty things that squeeze the water out of the swim suit. No matter...nothing was stopping me!

There I was, in my traditional fat lady swim dress (with swim shorts under), bright blue swim cap, and pink goggles. At this stage of the game, I dont really care about what others think, which is a good thing ... because nothing puts it all out there like swimming. The swim dress is really not ideal for actual swimming at it floats up, but its what fits...so i deal.

In order to deal with cooler water temp, I took a cooold shower prior to getting in. Once I hit the pool, it seemed fairly reasonable. Nothing like an icy shower to put the non-heated pool into perspective!

All of my gadgets were with me. I am probably looking like a bigger dork now, but I don't care. I have my lap counter that i wear on my finger the click my laps...and my nifty mp3 player that fits on my goggles. I am wired for sound and ready to go.

In all, 30 laps (25m). My laps were certainly labored and I can tell it is my first time in the pool doing laps in a long long time. I figured my laps were about 40 seconds each, so that works out to about 20 mins of activity. I probably could have done several more, but I realized I was running late and had to pick up my grandmother who was mall walking at the same time.

Feeling good about the swim...feeling good about the thought of doing it again very soon. I need to evaluate my schedule and the pool schedule and try to fit in a swim during the week, I'd hate to think I can only swim on weekends. There is an LA Fit by my office so that makes it easier. Of course the pool may be more crowded during peak after work hours...and god forbid I see someone I know there. Its much easier to be brave at the gym when you don't know anyone!

Anyway, that is all for now. I rounded my afternoon off with a nice pasta/chicken dish that should last me for the rest of the day. Tonight I will have a protein bar and finish my 1200 calories for the day. Tomorrow its back to work, and back to working the first full week in almost a month. Man...the holiday's do spoil.

One note about being social ... I was a total hermit this weekend. Due to a conflict I was not able to attend the baby shower that I'd planned on attending. As guilty as I felt about that, it removed the likelihood that I was going to eat a piece of cake, a cupcake ... lots of little savory bits in philo dough cups...etc. At this point in my program, I am fragile and could easily talk myself into one break, how often do I go to a baby shower? Fortunately I did not have to fight with myself...and disaster was averted.

Ta!
Allison

Snowed in ... and the smell of bacon is wafting...

2010-01-08T12:53:00.000-05:00

Sigh ... its so much easier to be a good girl when I am at work! My grandmother (my BF and I are displaced because of the flooding in Atlanta last Sept) made my BF a lovely southern breakfast of biscuits, gravy, bacon....and it smells so damn good. I of course have had my organic oats for the morning :) No gravy for me, though its quite a test!

The roads are a bit icy, so taking a walk is out. I don't have an "at home" workout routine, so I am at a bit of a loss. What to do, what to do!

Hoping everything clears up so that I can go swimming tomorrow at the gym. Cross your fingers people!

I am going to have my grandmother make some sour kraut to kill the bacon smell...hehe.

Month 1 Results

2010-01-07T19:26:00.000-05:00

Just finished up my first full month on my new program. I am please to say that I have lost 11.6 so far. Not bad considering the holiday's! Definitely pleased with my progress. I did realize, however, that my math on the # of weeks until my birthday was flawed. My weekly count to the left went from week 5 to week 8 ... which means I only have 12 weeks to lose my 36 lb goal. With that pace I need to lost 3 lbs a week. I will do everything within my power (within reason) to reach that goal...but given that I just shot myself in the foot and lost 2 weeks, I will NOT be disappointed if I fall slightly short of my goal. What will be disappointing is giving up in any way, which I just do not accept.

That said, I have corrected my weekly count and linked each weeks GoWearFit 7 Day summary. It will show all my crimes and successes!

I am getting to the point of looking forward to getting active, which is nice. Today I walked / semi-jogged a bit in our parking deck at work. The 1 lb arm weights I had on my wrists increased my calorie burning by 30-40% when doing a brisk walk. That is awesome! Now I have wrist weights for home AND for the office. No excuses!

To help with my goal, I am going to start swimming laps a couple times a week (most likely weekends), target an average of 45 mins a day of moderate activity and try to get an overall reading of 60 mins a week of "vigorous" activity. Today while walk/jogging, I racked up 12 mins of vigorous activity. I just need to do that 5 more times :)

Food wise my focus is shifting a bit to a lower sodium diet. I've been concerned with the sodium content in my everyday (admittedly processed) diet. Now I am going to try to keep my sodium around 1500 mg per day.

We will see!

What were you doing a year ago?

2010-01-07T00:31:00.000-05:00

I know ... I was packing and getting ready for Hawaii!!! Today ... wondering how cold it can possibly get here in Atlanta, NOT packing for Hawaii :) I found my old post from a year ago. Very interesting to see what was on my mind, and realizing that I am pretty much in the same place. That diet sprint for 8 or 9 weeks was great, too bad I didn't keep the momentum! Interestingly enough, this sprint and that last print, day 3 was a nightmare. Funny how that works out.

Finally took the time to finish the book I have been reading, Confessions of a Carb Queen by Susan Blech overall very glad I read it and would recommend. The psychology of failure and forgiveness is certainly very interesting. It is very easy to be hard on yourself when you feel like you haven't succeeded, it is not as easy to be kind and forgive yourself and move forward. Definitely a bit cathartic to be inside of the author's head as she struggles.

As for myself, I had a great day. Made a wonderful low(ish) sodium dish ( inspired by the book) and did very well at the gym. Thanks to my iPod Touch and an episode of Glee, the 25 mins on the elliptical few by. Unfortunately I was running late to a meeting, otherwise I believe I could have stayed in the gym longer. Now that I am a month into this thing, I am going to need to increase the exercise. This weekend I will make my way to the pool at the LA Fitness. I assure you the fat lady in the pool with the swim dress, blue and pink swim cap, goggles, and little waterproof mp3 player on my head will be a spectacle! The good news is that I totally don't give a shit. One thing is for certain...life is too short to care what other people think. That said, I still have to change into my gym clothes in the restroom rather than the open locker room!!!

Tomorrow I will run my GoWearFit report, weigh-in, and post the data for the world to see!

Until then ... nighty night. Time for my nightly date with Craig Ferguson.

Last push for the month!

2010-01-06T13:33:00.000-05:00

Today marks the last full day before I officially finish out the first month of my new way of living. Some accomplishments I am already focusing on:

I have increased my water intake … no longer living a high sodium dehydrated lifestyle!
Getting active! I have met my goals for activity most days/weeks … now it’s time to kick it up a notch and raise the bar.
Taking accountability. Even on those few “diet holiday” days, I was accountable. It may be ugly, but it’s listed! I successfully counted calories and wore my GoWearFit for the last month.
Keeping up with the blogging! I am terrible at staying focused on the blog. When I stop blogging, that means my head is in the sand (or somewhere else I won’t mention) and that is bad. The more I blog, the more focused I am and the less I am hiding in shame!
Finding inspiration. It’s everywhere if you look. I have found some folks on Twitter and in the blog world that are keeping me on track and letting me know that I am not alone in this. Thank goodness!

The weight has come off a bit … but that is really just a side effect of all of the above! My overall goal is to lose A LOT of weight. The only way that is going to happen is to honor myself and keep on the right path.

More to come …gearing up for another lunch hour spent in the gym!

Allison

Reading for inspiration

2010-01-04T18:06:00.001-05:00

Last night I decided to peruse Amazon.com for diet related memoir type books. Honestly I have never read a memoir on someone’s experience with morbid obesity. The book I found and started reading last night has been interesting. The book, Confessions of a Carb Queen by Susan Blech is the one I have started on first. It is a very honest account of what it is like to be very large ... daily struggles on topics that are personal and taboo … hitting bottom … and rising up and respecting one’s self.

There are areas that I can totally relate … especially the day to day life, social interactions, and the games we play with ourselves. Other things I do not relate to as much …but I am sure that many do. The author is a binge eater … to the degree of hard to believe. Eating many many large meals a day, one after the other, that I cannot really relate to fully. I can certainly eat my way out of a half-gallon of ice cream in a few hours, but not quite in the way that treats food like a drug. Her account is very much of being in a “food induced coma”.

One point of interest … she was not always overweight. As an adult she was actually a “gym rat” and was very into bodybuilding. Another point where we deviate. I personally have NEVER been at a “normal” weight … not since the age of 7 or 8. I am guessing it is a different feeling to know what it is like to be thin … and wanting to re-discover yourself rather than to have always been heavy … and wanting to discover yourself entirely. I fall into the second category.

I’m halfway through. The writing is difficult as the author is not a writer (nor am I for that matter) but I am enjoying the read … and cannot wait to finish this evening. I will say it is brutally honest. I bought the Kindle version of the book. I am a huge dork and cannot bring myself to buy paper books anymore! Check it out if that sounds like something that you are interested in. You will likely see yourself in there somewhere. It is almost like sharing your most intimate secrets and fears with someone. I’ve never had that luxury. Of course now I am talking to myself on this blog, so that is close!

Next on my reading list : Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir by Jenna Fulda.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Allison

Sooo Cold!

2010-01-03T11:37:00.001-05:00

Wow, I realize it is winter ... but damn, I live in Georgia. It is NOT supposed to be in the teens with gusty winds in early January...just sayin!

Goals for the day:
-steps : 5000
-calories : 1200 in, 2600 out (-1400)
-water : 84 oz (downing 7 12oz glasses)
-locate or buy swim cap
-dismantle the christmas tree

That's about it folks! It's frigid today so I am not sure the strategy on the PA (physical activity). Perhaps a bundled walk outside ... and bowling? Not sure ... but I will get back to you!

Oh, as a side note, how cute am I as a Mad Men character? I picked the only plump option ... oh, how I wish I had those curves!!!

The coffee cup is a nice touch ... though most of you don't know me personally, one of my treasured finds is a ceramic "we are happy to serve you" coffee cup. I bought mine at momastore.com, but here is a link to the website that features them: http://www.wearehappytoserveyou.com/

Its just fun!

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-02T19:51:00.001-05:00

What are your resolutions this year? I am assuming like you, you are resolved to lose weight. Obviously I will officially declare that losing weight is one of my resolutions. More specifically I am resolving to get back into the pool. Swimming laps has always been a great way for me to get in the cardio and keep it low impact. Years ago I was able to swim 60 laps (25 meter) 3 x's a week. I haven't been in the pool on a consistant basis in 3 or 4 years. Goggles (check), Swim cap (check), lap counter (check), cute little waterproof ipod shuffle mp3 player (check). I am all set!

Today, I took a nice walk around the neighborhood ... burned quite a few calories and have walked my steps to meet my daily goal. One day down ... 6 more to go :) I will admit to being naughty yesterday ... but I logged the calories as much as possible. I did very well while out to eat, but late at night I was craving dessert and gave in (I blame the mimosas). The holiday's are officially over, thank goodness, and so are the rationalizations!

My next "holiday" will be my birthday in March. Until then, I am focused on my goal to lose 36 by my 36th birthday. I started this leg of my journey on 12/10 and am down around 10 lbs (official weigh-in Thursday). Feeling very refreshed and motivated.

Good luck to you all and Happy New Year!!!

Allison

Sometimes the math doesnt work in your favor!

2009-12-31T15:40:00.001-05:00

Today was weigh-in week #3. I ended the holiday weekend up about 2.5 pounds from my weigh-in last week...today I end my week right where I was last week!

As you know, I am taking a mathematical approach. It's all about what goes in, who goes out ... and hopefully what comes off! There are, however, other factors involved. How much exercise you are getting ... how much water you are drinking ... what ARE you eating, etc. Though on paper my calorie intake was low enough to warrant a weight loss ... it just didn't happen! I can honestly say that 1) I didn't exercise on purpose 2) I did eat a lot of crap 3) I did not keep up with my water and keep hydrated 4) I did not take my vitamins like a good girl.

It all boils down to an overall pattern of good behavior .. and I did not meet the challenge in many ways. On the positive note, my calorie intake over all was still on target. My daily average deficit was over 900 calories...so on paper I should have lost about 2 lbs.

How do I feel about all of this? I am actually quite motivated! I know that in order to be successful and reach my goals, I need to do ALL the work required ...and not just "phone it in"!

I am feeling better ... and that means back to the exercise. Back to reaching my weekly average goals for steps and activity! I will feel better and I will be more motivated to keep going.

All that said ... I am totally doing mimosa day tomorrow (New Year's Day). BUT with my day of mimosa's ( I estimate about 675 calories for a bottle of cava + 8-10 oz of OJ) I will drink plenty of water ... and MOVE MY A$$!!!

HMR at home program offer

2009-12-29T13:16:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share an offer I recieved in my email if you are interested in the HMR at home program. IHMonline.com is giving a 10% off that at home kit : http://www.ihmonline.com/default.aspx

This is the online retailer that I use when I order my shakes/bars/etc. Delivery is very reliable and reasonable ... never a long wait!

Just passing it on.

Back on track ... again!

2009-12-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

Feeling good about being back on track as of yesterday. Not feeling well in general ... but feeling good about that! I had 4 HMR shakes, couple of fiber snack bars, and an entree with veggies on the side. All in all on target for what I wanted to accomplish, a 1500 calorie deficit!

Today I am trying to keep my mind on finishing out my meetings at the office, going home and crawling into bed! Apparently the world doesn’t stop because I don’t feel well... the nerve!

More shakes shakes ... need to order some actually. More water water water ... and more trips to the ladies room!

Hope all of you are keeping your goals in mind for today and the new year. My goal for the next decade is to get considerably healthier. I'll be turning 40 :::shiver::: and would like to do so in much better shape than I am now, and with life skills to support that lifestyle moving forward!

- Allison

Emerging from the fog of rationalization and gluttony

2009-12-28T10:40:00.000-05:00

::wipes sleep from eyes:: Wow. What a 3 day spree of rationalizing bad behavior! It started Thursday night ... ended last night. I guess that might be 3.5 days of gluttony :)

I am pretty much over the holidays and ready to get back to the program. As of this morning I weighed in at 262.2 (up 2 from Thursday morning). I've tracked my calories ... definitely have had surpluses, but not to the degree of 2 pounds or 7000 calories. When I am not eating well, I also further the damage by not drinking the correct amount of water. Dehydration is definitely an issue and one I plan on tackling today. Planning out what I need to do today :

Drink 3 32oz water bottles
2 shakes for breakfast
2 shakes for lunch
1 fiber bar for snack
Dinner - entree meal and green beans
2 shakes/pudding for dessert.

I hope to control the sodium, have more water and get back to low fat.

One thing is for sure, during my haze of the holidays, I just did not feel well in my belly. Being plagued with digestive issues this past year ... I was doing fairly well on my program. After introducing things like sausage and fat into my diet ... suddenly not feeling so well! The thrill is gone, for that I am sure. Fat and possibly onions are adding to my discomfort. Unfortunately onions are harder to avoid as all of the entrees I have include onions. Its a guessing game!

The other half of course is moving my a$$. Fairly certain I set a record for slothing around the house this weekend. Not awesome. I am, however, not feeling well and have a bit of a fever ... going to the doc later today. Exercise wise, probably need to take it easy. My focus today will be on reaching the goals above, watching calories / sodium and re-hydrating!

Hope you all had a great weekend! My fav present is a lovely camera backpack that will promote me becoming further camera poor and having a viable way to carry all of my things on my back ... which will promote getting out of the house!

New Years is coming up ... thank goodness blackeyed peas are okay :) Of course I usually spend the day drinking Mimosa's, watching football and disassembling my tree. We will see where we are next weekend ... I can live without my mimosa's ... but do I really WANT to?

I WILL GET RID OF THE EXTRA 2 LBS BY THURSDAY ... just making that clear :)

-Allison

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2009-12-24T21:35:00.000-05:00

This morning weigh-in (lost 2.6) and tonight Pizza Hut pasta. The good news is that I found out the nutritional information, weighed to the gram ... and counted the calories on everything the best I could. Of course I must have had about 8k grams of sodium...but calorie wise I am doing okay. Drinking lots of water!!!

Tomorrow, Christmas, is a day off from the diet. Saturday, day after Christmas ... BACK ON. Making a southern breakfast for my boyfriend and some family ... then having a proper dinner at a friends house. My hope goal is to wake up ... have a double shake ... then serve breakfast. As for the dinner, I will fend for myself!

With the weigh-in I have uploaded my new GoWearFit report for this past week. Overall not what I wanted to achieve, but not bad. My average steps not over my daily target ...next week...fix that. On the upside I have increased my vigorous exercise and will do more of that next week.

http://www.nosilla.net/gowearfit/gwf_122309.pdf

Merry Christmas ... I am off to curl up with my book and enjoy the rest of my evening. Tomorrow ... craziness! Hope Santa is kind this year :)

-Allison

Santa brought me...

2009-12-22T20:22:00.000-05:00

A SAM'S club size box of high fiber granola bars (Kellogs). That is how you know your family is keeping an eye on your diet!!!

They will come in handy as I mill around the house all by my lonesome! No major exercise feat today ... was stuck actually working most of the day. Perhaps I will will make a double shake rather than find where my grandmother has stored those holiday cookies....

Holy cow I almost jogged!

2009-12-21T18:35:00.002-05:00

Hey Ya'll,

Its been a great day ... finally back into a groove from the weekend. My only activity over the weekend was accidental and totally shopping related. Today, I went for my walk around the parking deck. I decided about 4 steps in to try a little jogging pace. I call it jogging, I am sure an agile old lady in a walker could of stll passed me, but it was definitely a jog vs my usual walking. It was cool! I managed to jog for several minutes. There were certainly bouts of walking, but the jogging at the beginning of my walk was great. My GoWearFit indicated 11 mins of vigorous activity and 18 mins of moderate activity. Probably the most viperous activity I have had at one time in quite a while!!! Anyway , it was awesome and I definitely plan on doing that again very soon.

Here is the calorie burning diagram comparing walking / jog-walking. Kind of hard to see because the calorie scales are different, but while jogging my max calories burned per min were about 14 per min. While walking my max calorie burn rate was only around 11. Not a huge thing, but certainly huge for me!

Anyway, I am running out of shakes and need to reorder soon. I will find myself in a bind during the holidays I am sure. Speaking of holidays ... I will be hosting a breakfast on Christmas as well as going to a friends house for a traditional dinner. Not sure what to do there. Counting my own cooking is one thing (albeit a pain in the ass) but counting someone elses cooking might be a challenge. My strategy will be to have a couple of shakes before each of these meals and hope that I naturally do not want to have much to eat. I have decided this year to take Christmas off of the diet ... but only in such a way as to not go crazy and still try and capture what I am eating.

That's all for now ... its time for some holiday cheer (non-food related).

-Allison

A nice Saturday - Day 10

2009-12-20T01:22:00.001-05:00

A lovely day indeed! Took a bit of a break from the shakes today and had my calories with oatmeal for breakfast, 2 HMR meals mixed for lunch ... and a little bow-tie pasta creation for dinner. Not terribly healthy on the veggies front, but such is life!

After 2 days of being more or less a lump I managed to burn some calories and get some exercise. Most of the activity was doing my favorite thing...SHOPPING! I bought myself some silly hat with ear flaps and a matching scarf for walking in...I will be quite the spectacle at work. It's Elmer Fudd chic ... and I will ROCK it :) Naturally I bought a few more things for the tree. In case you do not know already, I have a magnificent 80's fab / Miami Vice themed tree. It is white and full of electric blue, pink, orange, green, and purple.

This tree is dedicated to the memory of Bea Arthur ... I think it spans the Maude and Golden Girls era :)

Anyway, that is all for now. Time to go to sleep and start it all over again tomorrow.

Here is a shot of Saturday's GoWearFit reading. Not bad, not bad! Could have taken more steps...but I honestly wasn't trying!

Something is trying to kill me!

2009-12-18T19:51:00.000-05:00

For the last 3 or 4 months I have been having strange stomach/abdominal pains after eating. I've decided the majority of the issues must be related to a food intolerance...but what??? I don't think its a gluten issue, lord knows I would be dead with the amount of pasta and cake I have put away in my time. I am now suspicious of ONIONS!!!

I don't eat a lot of onion anyway, I don't care for them raw ... or noticibly on my food. But something between my HMR shakes and my Lean Cuisine meal made me feel like I had taken a bite out of death and it was sitting in my stomach! Soo much pain ... nothing really happening. I am sure you are all glad for me sharing. I think I am scared to eat anything today. No shakes yet ... but had oatmeal for breakfast. I have felt fine all day. For dinner I had another Lean Cuisine ... and hello twinges of pain.

Hopefully not to the tune of lastnight where I was moaning almost in tears ... but its just a bummer. I am such a lazy cook and I have no kitchen right now. These frozen entrees - HMR entrees are what I am relying on to keep me on target.

Anyway ... that is all I have today. It was miserable last night, so I have taken it easy. I haven't really done much in the way of exercise ... hope to make up for that tomorrow. I foresee another trip to the mall dodging strollers and shoppers! Calorie and hydration wise doing well. Tonight for dessert I will have a nice double vanilla pudding with buterscotch and some cool whip (my fav).

I am in holiday denial, BTW. OOOH. Speaking of holidays, here is a photo of the empty tray of cookies that mocked me all day each time I got up from my desk. I didn't have ANY. Yay me. I am kept telling myself that I was sure that those buckeyes (peanut butter balls of goodness dipped in chocolate) probably sucked. Hehe.

Oh, and in all of my misery I was still thinking of grandma's cookies. How crazy is that??? :)

Week 1 Results

2009-12-17T09:21:00.000-05:00

I lost 6 pounds this week!!! Definitely more than I expected ... and a welcome boost in the holiday season! My gluttony probably added a few on right at the end which would explain losing 6 pounds vs 3, but will take it!!!

On paper (GoWearFit) I had a calorie deficit of about 11000 calories (3 lbs) so definately a good trend moving forward. Now my goal is 30 by my 36th!!

Today:
-water water water
-moderate walk (need to give foot a rest)
-eat around 1200 calories
-commit to spending thousands of dollars on kitchen cabinets!

That is all for now, time to get ready for the day.

-Allison

GoWearFit Summary - Week 1

2009-12-17T00:32:00.001-05:00

Hi ya'll! Great first week. Tomorrow morning is my official weigh-in, but I did upload my data for GoWearFit and have posted it online: http://www.nosilla.net/gowearfit/gwf_121609.pdf

Feel free to check it out! Its very detailed showing day by day what I did...very interesting if you like graphs and numbers about someone else :)

As far as today goes, I probably didn't have enough to eat, only logged about 900 calories. I think I will live....but I should strive to have more. Met my goals for exercise, about 2 miles of walking during lunch, very refreshing!

It just hit me that xmas is about a week away. I was so ahead of the game a month ago, but now I am falling behind. Still trying to figure out what to give my elderly grandparents that are in their 90's. If they don't already have it ... they don't need it. If I get them anything snazzy and electronic, they don't know how to use it. Only so many books I can give them ... sigh. If I 1) had a kitchen and 2) felt like cooking I would make something to fatten them up. Maybe I will give them the gift of booze. Can't ever have enough wine.

That's all for now. Good night and I'll be back in the morning to post my loss!

Allison

Feeling the love again - Day 6

2009-12-15T17:58:00.001-05:00

It's been a good day! Noticing a trend during this first week...I seem to be stuggling about everyother day. The good news is that each day I have struggled, I have not veered from the plan. So, I would consider that all a great success. With everything, it generally takes a couple weeks to get into a routine and for it to become easier. I am sure it gets easier ... I've been down this road several times!

People are asking me why I chose this time of year to start this diet. That is a darn good question! Partially due to the complete gluttany of the last couple of months and not wanting to continue down that path for another month. I think the other part of me is trying test myself. In my mind I must not be serious unless I am willing to drop everything and begin. So that is why I decided now to get started.

Today I joined (rejoined) the gym by my office. I already have an LA Fitness membership ...so that makes 2 gyms that I potentially won't regularly go to :) I kid, I kid. I keep the LA Fit because I keep thinking I will start to swim laps again...or might want to go on the weekends. I haven't had the heart to actually cancel the membership because that feels like giving up. Seems stupid when i realize the number of years I have had the membership and my bouts of not going. In any case, I do enjoy the small gym by the office. I can use the equipment before/during/after work and have a nice place to shower , change ... oh and they do my laundry. I dont even have to wash my gym clothes. Sweet.

I ordered a few workout items from JMS.com...bike shorts and t-shirts. Bike shorts are our friends people, especially when you have my thighs :)

That's all for now. If there is any justice in the world, I will not walk into my grandmothers house tonight and get smacked in the face with the scent of freshly baked cookies!

Cranky

2009-12-14T23:56:00.001-05:00

Not sure if its the diet or the irritation at not being in my home ... but I am cranky pants tonight!!! The only thing going for me to salvage the day is that I have managed to not eat any of the hundreds of cookies sitting within sight.

So ... about me ... I LOVE SWEETS. I really do not care about potato chips and fries ... I am all about the cookies and cake! Of course I came home and was hit with the smell of freshly baked almond butter cookies. Instead of eating 15 of those ... I had 2 shakes and a can of new potatoes for dinner. Okay, so maybe I do like chips and fries...hehe. Not an inspired dinner, I know, but I have been living out of a can and freezer for 3 months.

I didn't get a chance to walk today, my foot is kind of bothering me. Doesn't hurt to walk in shoes, but does hurt to walk barefoot, flex my foot, or put on shoes. Only on the side of my right foot ... not sure the deal. Hoping it magically goes away.

Okay, that is enough complaining for the day (of course only 5 mins left in the day!). I am going to chill, have a calorie free xanax and hope to wake up in a better mood :)

My goal for tomorrow is to rejoin the gym by the office and take a walk, maybe do 4 laps (2 miles).

- Allison

PS. spell check suggestions for xanax is Xanadu. Love it. I think it works.

Feeling the diet love - Day 4

2009-12-13T18:40:00.000-05:00

It's interesting ... yesterday I was like a crazed dieting nut-job wanting to do nothing but eat and laze around the house. Today I woke up feeling energized and feeling good about overcoming all the temptation of my Saturday. It's a much better place I assure you!

Accomplishments:

Bought new walking shoes
Had 2 shakes for lunch (will have 2 more for dessert)
Lots of water
LOTS of walking!!!!

I tallied everything up and realized that I burned/didn't eat over 6400 calories in the last 4 days!! That is awesome, if I do say so myself. 3 of 4 days I have made an effort to exceed my 30 mins of physical activity per day ... very very happy with myself.

I am going to need to remind myself of this as my grandmother is currently in the kitchen making her Christmas cookies. For those of you who don't know ... my BF and I are displaced from our home because of the flooding in Atlanta. Hopefully we will be back in our new digs in a couple of months. Mean while, I will be here, trying to resist those cookies. The ONE thing I love more than my Grandmother are her damn cookies :)

Off to throw some more ornaments on my Miami Vice inspired tree and think about something other than those cookies that are baking in the oven!

WTF

2009-12-12T20:00:00.000-05:00

Just know that a serving of Cool Whip Light is an absurdly small amount of actual cool whip ... especially when frozen. Perhaps I need to stop dipping into the container when its frozen! That damn food scale breaks my heart every time. :)

In need of distractions....

2009-12-12T19:05:00.000-05:00

Wow is this a cold, rainy, miserable day outside today! I've been a total lump all day. My morning errands were uneventful, and since getting back home I've done nothing but watch a marathon of Law&Order SVU and think about all of the things I am not eating. Just one of those days when I am feeling peckish and lazy.

I've only had 2 shakes so far ... so that will be my last push of protein for the evening. Now, if I can just keep my mind OFF of snacking, I will be good. No walk today ... not feeling good about that. Rationalizing it away as "I needed a rest" or "its cold and miserable and I don't want to catch a cold" but still not feeling good about it. Tomorrow, however, is another day. I hope to get motivated to walk at the mall ... or around the neighborhood.

I'm thinking butterscotch "pudding" tonight ... 2 packets ... with a topper of cool whip free. Yum y'all

Sweet Butterscotch Pudding:

2 oz. cold water
1 packet HMR^® 70 Plus Vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar-free, fat-free instant butterscotch pudding mix

Empty packet of HMR 70 Plus into a small bowl or mug.
Add water and mix with a spoon until smooth.
Stir in butterscotch pudding powder.
Optional: For a thicker, colder pudding, refrigerate for 10 minutes after mixing.

If that doesn't satisfy what appears to be my insatiable appetite, its going to be an evening with an Ambien and my Kindle!

It all hurts!

2009-12-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

Don't have a lot of time this morning as I am already running late, but I wanted to check in! I had a great time at the office bowling party. Managed to avoid ALL the sliders, wings, chicken tenders ... etc. Have I mentioned my LOVE of wings...anyway.... didn't have a morsel. Gave the drink tickets away, and had 2 large diet Pepsi's. It was a great time ... and 3 hrs of mingling and bowling actually counted for about 2000 steps AND 20-30 additional "moderate activity" minutes.

All very good for me ... now I just cant move. My body hurts! Sad I know!

Weekends are hardest for me because they are not as regimented as the work week. My plan is to scarf down something for b-fast that is high protein...maybe a quick double shake and run errands. Reality is that I will most likely avoid most social events for a while ... but that is okay, I have a Christmas tree to finish decorating and stuff to buy/wrap!

I am posting my stats for yesterday's GoWearFit report. Its awesome. 2300 calorie deficit for the day. Love it!!!

Motivation for the Weekend

2009-12-11T16:58:00.000-05:00

Ahh...what a great day! I know its grey and dreary outside but I am feeling great. My BF is officially an architect!!! Many many years of hard work and exams, and its finally done! The first day of The Plan went very well, and day 2 is shaping up nicely. I've had 4 shakes, lots of water, taken a nice walk, and am looking forward to an evening out with my co-workers for a holiday bowling bonanza!

I know there will be some yummy snacks available but I will resist. There is a delicious Smart Ones Chicken Parm in the freezer that I will have before I go ... and a Fiber One bar as a snack if needed while there. I figure that will keep me going and "in the box".

Here is a picture of me all bundled up for my walk (3 laps in the deck ...about 1.5 miles and 2k steps) :

Looking good with my earmuffs, gloves with pink rubber grippy thingys and scarf. Embracing my inner bag lady!

I'll be interested to see how much moderate activity the GoWearFit captures while bowling. I'll keep you posted!

- Allison

GoWearFit screen grab - Great first day!

2009-12-10T21:48:00.001-05:00

Ew...gained 12.2 pounds since August 18th (thanks flood stress!) but as of today I am ON A WEIGHT LOSS TREND!!!

Very good first day so far!

2009-12-10T18:07:00.000-05:00

Hey all...I wanted to report that I did INDEED take my walk. I did 20 mins outside (2 parking deck laps) which I am sure was about a mile. Not a huge workout, but definitely what I needed to get me going in the right direction.

Today I have:
• well over 64 oz water
• eaten well
• met my 5000 steps goal
• met my 30 mins of moderate activity goal

Being at work makes it easy...going home makes it more difficult. I figure the worst case scenario is that I drug up, read, and go to bed early :)

Time to go have another double shake (making 5 total so far) before I go home.

You know its bad when your new diet is the BEST PART of the day!

2009-12-10T14:03:00.000-05:00

My day, so far, sucks. But I have very much enjoyed being on my new track for the last 6 hours of consciousness. Nothing really wrong … just had a bad morning which led me to have a nice headache most of the day and generally grumpiness! That is OKAY however, because I am feeling very good about starting the diet today. I know that word diet is bad, but I have 35 years of programming.

Why did I start today? Mostly due to the fact that my shipment of HMR shakes arrived yesterday … nothing scientific in that! I felt that starting on Monday was just going to give me another 3 or 4 days eating like its 1999. Which, is what I did last night around 11pm. In fact, my 11th hour nosh gave me a tummy ache that most likely started my whole bad day to begin with. I will just consider it behavioral conditioning : Moose Tracks = miserable tummy ache!
Okay, so what I’ve accomplished so far on the big diet.

1) Weighed and measured a few things (yuck and yuck) but at least I have a baseline. I will have my photo taken in a few mins (again, yuck).
2) Had almost my entire day’s worth of water already, only 16 oz to go!
3) Had my vitamins/fish oil/ etc ( I am very bad at taking pills)
4) Had 3 shakes so far (about 330 calories). I am feeling a bit nipish, so I need to graze some more on something
5) TRACKED what I’ve eaten … so it all counts

That’s about it. My goal was to take a walk, but its damn cold outside. I may walk in circles in our building later or go to the mall. Just want to take a 30 min walk, nothing too exciting.

That’s all for now, meetings and clients await!

Allison

The Plan - Please Read

2009-12-09T22:28:00.003-05:00

The Plan

In the past I have found success (albeit short term) with following the HMR Program. For those of you who are not familiar, its a program that is generally administered under medical supervision as a VLCD (very low calorie diet). There are "at home" versions that do not have to be medically supervised and follow a slightly higher calorie plan overall.

The program is based up on meal replacements. The "hard core" version consists 100% of meal replacements, but in an unlimited fashion. There are shakes, bars, entree's and soups. Each shake is roughly 100 calories, very high protein, and very low fat. I use the HMR 70 shakes that are lactose free (vanilla and chocolate).

Anyway … all that being said, my plan this go around is to use the meal replacements as an easy alternative during the week … and substitute a "sensible" meal for the entrees. I don't mind the meals, though some people cannot tolerate them, but they are pricy. $3.50 a pop…and I generally have 2 for dinner (mixing and matching) … it adds up.

For me, I am like a robot when I am in the zone. I don't want to think about what I am going to eat, i don't want to have to make a decision on what will keep me on target…essentially i need to have a no-decision program, which also lends to NO RATIONALIZATION for straying. Clearly that is not a long term successful way to be as its very isolating…so I am going to try and find a middle ground.

My secret weapon will be using GoWearFit to track everything I am eating (all nutritional info) as well as all the calories I am burning by exercising and just being alive. Check out the website linked, it really is an awesome tool if you don't know about it. I wear an arm band 100% of the time (not in the shower/swimming) and it tracks activity, steps, even measures sleep efficiency. The armband collects data and I dump it into their program / website and it tracks everything. The results are awesome reports that show progress … averages … day to day evaluations, etc. Once I start getting weekly data I will link them on the blog.

My strategy is simple math: creating calorie deficits using restricted daily intake and burning calories via physical activity to lose weight. Each pound of body weight is roughly the equivalent of 3500 calories. So, to lose 1 pound a week, you would need to determine the amount of calories per day that you need to eat to maintain your current weight … and then reduce/burn the amount that will total 3500 a week.

Here is a link to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (calories per day your body burns)

Take that # and multiply x 7 for your weekly total of calories to break even.
Multiply the # of pounds you want to lose a week x 3500 for calories you need to burn/not eat
Subtract the two and divide by 7 to get the target of calorie consumption per day.

Here is mine:

2506 x 7 = 17542 (calories per week to maintain current/starting weight)
2 x 3500 = 7000 (calorie deficit needed to lose 2 lbs)
17542 - 7000 = 10542 / 7 = 1500 calories per day TARGET max calories

By eating less / working out more than the target above, ideally I should be able to lose more than 2. This of course changes weekly as your weight decreases.

FYI, if you are following Weight Watchers, that equals about 30ish points (each point roughly being 50 calories).

Here is a spreadsheet that can help with your weight loss projections and may help you keep track or stay motivated. The file was created Ken of losingtofindmyself.com and tweaked a bit by me. Check it out: http://www.nosilla.net/gowearfit/weightloss_projection.xls

So folks, there is the plan. To execute here is what I am going to do for myself (not advocating for anyone else)

1) have 4 - 6 shakes a day (2 for breakfast, 2 for lunch, 1-2 as dessert) - 660 - 700 calories per day
2) keep dinner and snacks low fat and high protein
3) drink 64 oz of water a day - crystal light/ocean spray cran drink mix
4) diligently track what i am eating using GoWearFit to look at total nutritional picture
5) daily vitamin / fish oil / dietary supplements
6) start walking - targeting 5000 steps a day / 30 minutes of "moderate" activity a day per GoWearFit
7) keep up with blog / twitter as much as possible

That's about it!

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you …. talk to you more about GoWearFit or HMR, etc.

Good luck!

Allison

T-minus 1 and counting...

2009-12-09T19:16:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the day, though today I have been mentally ready to go. Celebratory cake in the break room announced ... I ran in thinking "its my 11th hr cake!" but I didn’t really eat it. My heart wasn't in it...which is awesome!

Tonight I will be buying a few essentials for myself before I get started. Mostly just picking up a few odds and ends at the grocery and making sure that I have a water bottle. Nothing TOO exciting.

I will post a bit later with information on The Plan.

Short but Sweet

2009-12-08T17:29:00.003-05:00

OK...so like most of you I feel off the wagon. And by fell i mean jumped ... and by wagon i mean 20 story building with no parachute!

I realized that a year ago I was in "the zone" drinking HMR shakes and eating those meals to get ready for a trip. Trip happened in January ... and I never made it back to where I want/need to be!

Good news, I didnt gain ALL of my 30 lbs back...bad news, I gained most of it. I think i was up to 268ish this morning. Much like my blog, I have also avoided the scale. I feel like a big bloated turd most of the time (nice, i know).

I ordered my HMR shakes and some meals, they are ON THE WAY. I still have my activity arm band (GoWearFit) so I will be tracking everything IN and everything OUT.

My HMR delivery is scheduled for 12/9 *tomorrow* and the shakes will begin on Thursday 12/10. I am doing this solo, again, so I will be weighing in every Thursday ... nice day of the week if I don't say so myself!

Is there anyone out there that will join me? DJ ...i see you are out there!

Let me know if you see this, otherwise, we will find each other again!

Down 28!

2009-01-24T09:57:00.006-05:00

Looks like I am on my way to my goal of 25 lbs by the end of March. This week was another 2.6 down ... I need to average 2.5 a week.

On HMR, I did not find myself doing what I needed to do with the meal replacements. Partially due to not ordering shakes/food while I was on vacation ... and partially due to laziness. Not good! I counted calories and kept up with my deficit on my SenseWear, but the idea here is to be on the program.

Next week will be better. I am fully stocked with shakes and hopefully my week will be awesome. January is generally a crappy month ... the majority of tragedy that has touched me personally occurred in January, so it is full of fairly unpleasant anniversaries and just general post holiday malaise. No excuses ... but just the facts.

Tomorrow I am going to Cheesecake Factory for my sisters 25th birthday (she is a tad younger!) Of all places!!!! Did you know that Cheesecake Factory does NOT have a baked potato??? I learned this when I went during a work function while starting HMR. I had my FF sour cream and spray butter loaded! A disappointment. Not sure what I will do tomorrow. I should be bringing my HMR meals, but part of me just wants to nibble at a salad and count calories...again. Good news is that a piece of their cheesecake has 800-1000 calories, so unless that is going to be my entire menu for the day, no cheesecake will cross these lips.

I will just be thinking to myself ... -2.5 a week ... -2.5 a week.... over and over again!

Oh, and I just realized that I am officially 5 lbs lighter than my lowest after my disastrous Lapband surgery. More motivation, right?

Back on the Wagon

2009-01-19T23:22:00.004-05:00

Hi All!

I wanted to let you all know that today (as planned) I am back on the program. My trip to Hawaii was amazing, and I got a TON of exercise! We ate a lot ... walked a lot ... drank a bit ... snacked on macadamia nuts ...walked a lot... went to bed early. That was the agenda most days! We didn't get a lot of time at the beach or pool (bummer) but we did spend an amazing 3-4 hours snorkeling which definitely satisfied my beach requirement.

The good news, 2 days after being back home, my weight was the same as the day I left. WOOO! The bad news, I discovered the deliciousness that is Subway Tuna ... and my last 3 meals before getting back on the program included a tuna sub. I am a dork ... and can literally eat the same thing over and over. Ice cream ... cake ... tuna subs ... and HMR Shakes! For now, its back to the shakes. I don't really get bored easily so that's good.

Oh, another bit of bad ... I bought a pack of Lance Nekot peanut butter crackers at the airport for the trip home. After my couple of xanax and 1 ambien ... I wasn't conscious enough to eat them, so I had them Thursday night for a snack. Friday ... my first day back at work, my stomach was KILLING me. All day long ... pain pain pain. That night I realized I had a fever. Woke up feeling fine on Saturday but realized DUH ... Peanut butter recall (thanks state of GA). I must have had tainted cookies ... because there was nothing else that would have done it. Nothing like a touch of salmonella to get rid of those couple of pounds of water weight, right? Fortunately for all involved I didn't eat them on the plane!

PICTURES!!! I just posted my pictures on my handy dandy mac.com account, please enjoy. Feel free to comment. If you are totally bored and want to see my photos of Florence, Sorrento, Pompeii and Barcelona, feel free to view them from the picture page. After fighting with my old trusty 5MP Canon Elph ... I may get a DSLR in the next year. Once I have spent all my money making travel arrangements, pictures are all I can usually afford to bring home.

What I will say is that I managed to afford some tiki salt and pepper shakers ... and a kick ass muumuu. Its is avocado green ... with chocolate brown hibiscus print. I cannot tell you how much I love it. Its ridiculous and its mine! One day I will take a photo and share in its glory.

That is all for now.

Goals for this week :

Stay in the box
Water water water
Work out 4 times

Allison

From paradise

2009-01-10T13:30:00.003-05:00

Hi all...

After spending the "reasonable" fee of 16 bucks for 24 hrs of the internets I thought it best I eek out as much as possible! I believe I will be disconnected at any time. I am wondering how many Maitais I could get for that same 16 dollars....

Anyway, my flight was wonderful. Its interesting that my introduction into "real" food happened at the airport. I opted for an omelet rather than a doughnut. The flight itself had a fairly large hot lunch ... I would tell you what it was, but I am not positive. Definitely chicken chunks with some kind of red sauce, perhaps wine based. What appeared to be a scoop of potato, but upon further inspection seemed to have some grits in it, perhaps very creamy cheese grits??? Not sure. And some corn/green bean combo...and the cutest little salad ever (everything small is cute to me).

Then came the bread, lots of bread. Chibatta bread sandwich ... baguette with lunch. Needless to day, between that and my dinner, I might have exceeded my general calorie expenditure!

Yesterday was amazing, our first full day on the island. We decided to go walking around town a bit. I think in all I walked 8 - 9 miles yesterday. The steps on my SenseWear showed about 17000!!! I am pretty sure I haven't walked that much in years... perhaps collectively. Okay, maybe not.

Today is our beach lazy day ... I am not a huge beach person, but it will be nice. I am not sure my skin has touched saltwater in 10 years. And ... if the beach doesn't float my boat there are only about 5 pools on the premise to choose from.

OH...on a not so happy note, I got a text from my BF around 12:30 ET telling me my car had been broken into at home, window broken, shitty radio halfway stolen. Yay. What a pain in the ass. There goes my massage budget. Bummer. Oh well, of all crimes against myself or property, that would be the best scenario. Not letting it mess up my weekend!

Take care all... and I am posting the one decent picture I have so far, not sure what is up with my camera or its operator, but I have suddenly forgotten how to take a picture that doesn't suck!

Pure Joy! Big Bummers! The rollercoaster I cant seem to get off of...

2009-01-07T09:09:00.003-05:00

Hi all ... sorry it has been a couple of weeks since my last confession. I was hitting a bit of a road block or a plateau of some kind. The usual things for me : not enough water, not enough calories, not enough PA. Not a mystery! I ate low calorie but too low.

I kicked it into gear this week (well, water and having calorie variations) and it has done the trick. This week I hit my goal, 25 lbs before Hawaii!!!! I started my journey on Nov 3rd and it will take a vacation ... when I take my vacation tomorrow.

It has been fairly steady, 2.5 - 3 a week. No big losses ... and no big gains ... just a couple of lulls.

Holidays ... boy, were they rough. Thanksgiving and Christmas were not that hard for me, I managed to stay on the program 100%, which is amazing. New Years day I fell off the wagon a bit. I made an executive decision have mimosas as my liquid diet :) I counted the calories ... and sodium. Who knew that Cava has virtually no sodium, that was exciting to me! Of course once I had consumed the entire bottle of Cava and the equiv of 1.5 cups of juice ... i was a bit buzzed and suddenly felt like frozen mashed potatoes and Christmas cookies were what I needed. Dumb ass!

We talk about accountability. As I do not go to any HMR program meetings, I am more or less accountable only to myself, which means I can rationalize being bad with the best of them. Over New Years I was alone. My Boyfriend left town to visit his family for the holidays and I stayed home to work. So here I was all alone on New Years Day ... just me ... the cookies ... the mimosas ... and the Citrus Bowl (Go Dawgs). It reminded me of sneak eating ... as I did when I was a child. I know had my family been around I would have not had those urges, so I think my accountability lives within those around me, not myself.

Hawaii ... what is my plan. My first instinct is to just go crazy. I have fantasised of getting some amazing muffin at the air port ... lots of fruity drinks by the pool...lavish dinners, etc. The reality is that I am cheap ... and poor ... so I dont know that we will be having all of the lavish dinners. I dont know that I am going to really want to eat all that much. What I do know is that I will find some protein shakes (or slimfast) for breakfast. Have a very light lunch. I will save myself for dinner. I know there will be some meals that will be treats ... but I cannot treat every meal as a treat. Mentally I think I will come unwound if I gain back a lot of weight. I know I will gain some, but I am not ready for it yet!

On the plus side, we will not have a car. So ... we will be footing it most places. I will still be wearing my awesome SenseWear, so I will know how many steps, how many calories, and how much "moderate" or "vigorous" activity I am having. That will keep me aware. Its a game, doing anything I can to burn 2500 calories in a day. Often I find myself sitting in bed, watching TV and doing punches and twists with my upper body for 10 mins to eek in those last few calories before midnight. My cats look at me like I am crazy ... but who cares!

Thanks all for your support, I will be back on Wednesday the 14th. I may take my laptop (for fear that something will blow up at work when I am gone) so you might see me before I get back. There might be some email to blog feature I havent activated yet ... we will see.

The holidays are rough when you are following a plan that no one else is following. Lots of "oh, its just one time" or "come on, its Christmas!". The reality is, I treated most days like "christmas" which is what got me here. I can't count how many weekends I bought a carton of Moose Tracks and at it thinking "better get it now, my diet starts monday". Now, I have to treat everyday as monday ... and try and keep on track. I will be thinking of that while on vacation ... hopefully it will keep me on the straight and narrow.

PS. 24 hrs 40 mins 30 seconds until I am in the air on the way to Hawaii. WOOOO! (i am fairly impossible to be around right now, sorry!)

What a difference a day makes...

2008-12-23T11:14:00.004-05:00

Okay, so you may have noticed that I was a bit cranky yesterday, I have since gotten over it. Yesterday was a good day ... lots of water, more calories/shakes than I have had in a while ... and thank god, the scale reflected it when I officially got on the Wii.

For the first time in 2 years I saw a weight in the 250s! I think the last time I weighed in the 250's I was just getting back from Italy. I must have lost 5ish pounds in Italy (thanks to all the walking). It was all uphill from there. When I went to Italy I still had the very functionally restrictive (but infected) lapband. With the band I was unable to eat anything for breakfast (I missed out on ALL of that Nutella ... sad), not much for lunch ... and a bit more for dinner. Fortunately there were no issues with wine or gelato. To be honest I am certain that wine and gelato were the main reasons for going to Italy, oh, that and Florence art and Pompeii ruins! Priorities.

While traveling with my dear friend in Italy, we would of course go out to eat ... I would order what I wished I could eat ... I wouldn't actually be able to eat it...spend the next 20 mins spitting (if you have a lapband or a friend with one, you know what I am talking about) ... and my friend would finish the meal. That was what we did for 2 weeks. I managed to lose, she managed to find what I lost (my fault).

We are travelling again together, this time to Hawaii. The band is no more, so I plan on eating what I order this time! Hopefully I will have the good sense about me not to eat the worst things possible ... and still do a lot of walking. I have no delusions of losing weight while in Hawaii :)

Goals for today:

Water Water Water
try and get in more shakes, more calories
get my ass off the sofa (i had pulled a muscle in my abdomen somehow, so have taken it easy the last couple of days .. walking upright was a challenge)

Officially I have hit the 20 lbs mark!!! Sorry for the blinking, I just had to do it!

stalemate

2008-12-22T12:07:00.002-05:00

Sorry I havent posted in a while. The last week has been discouraging, no slide in the scale at all. I am getting nervous as Hawaii is getting closer and closer!

My goal was to be in the mid 250's by Jan 8th, and it is still possible. Right now I am hovering around 260 and have been there for the last week. I havent been "in the box" like I should be. My work week was insane, I was busy from the moment I arrived until late in the afternoon. I would be though 3 meetings and realize that I hadnt had my morning shakes or any water. Not good. I know my body is in starvation/preservation mode. I wonder how long it will take to reverse that?

The weekend was not much better, not sure why. I think once you get out of the habit of doing something, its easy to just forget. Water has never been easy for me to get in ... and I have not been making the effort to correct that. Today, I will be shotgunning 40 oz ... twice. That should cover it.

On the plus side, I have NOT had any yummy treats that have been offered to me...everywhere I go! None of the two giant trays of baked goods that sat 3 feet from me at work all day Friday, none of Grandma's cookies (my favorites are the butter drops). I also managed to get some good exercise in at the mall saturday. I walked around for 2 hours, mostly doing laps ... some shopping.

Goals for this holiday week:

WATER WATER WATER
more is better ... add in more meal replacements
not have any of the delicious foods that will be offered to me, or that I will cook.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week! Wish me luck for those last 5 lbs before my vacation!

6 weeks down ... 3 weeks to go

2008-12-17T09:10:00.002-05:00

3 weeks to go until I leave for Hawaii (Jan 8th). My short term plan is to follow the diet 100% from Nov 3rd to Jan 8th ... vacation ... come back and evaluate the budget to see what is best to do next. I really enjoy this program, I am a creature of habit and enjoy knowing what I am going to eat and when. Sadly, I could eat the same thing daily and not really care. Financially, the program is REALLY expensive. I average about $100 dollars a week in food. Having never really a big eater out ... I managed to spend much less on a regular diet, of course that regular diet kept me fat!

So ... perhaps a balance. Not sure the impact of using the shakes with something "sensible" for dinner. I know its a program with HMR, but I haven't really tried it. If anyone out there is doing a mixture on your own and being successful, let me know!

My widget for Traineo is broken (they made website "improvements") but I am officially down 18 lbs in 6 weeks. Having not had the initial high weight loss the first week, I am having a nice 3 pound a week trend. I will take it!

Here is a link to my latest SenseWear report . I am still in love with it and finding it very easy to wear. I have slacked on my trips to the gym ... but trying to get in as much exercise as i can...not doing a great job at it.

Anyway, I need to scurry to work. Hopefully traffic will be cleared up.

Everyone stay strong this week, for me its hard due to work stress and general holiday festivities. Did I mention my FAVORITE Cava was on sale at Publix this week. I might have purchased 3 bottles...not sure when I will have another "Mimosa Saturday" but when I do, I will be ready :)

my first tangible milestone!

2008-12-12T12:05:00.002-05:00

Hi all. Its Friday and work is busier than ever (champagne problem these days) but I wanted to take time to write about my first tangible milestone with my recent weight loss.

So, as you know from my information I am not only horizontally challenged, but I am equally vertically challenged. Two months ago I ordered a pair of fairly tailored pants with a 24" inseam that I thought might actually fit. To my horror they would not fit over my tummy. The pants are fairly low rise, so not only did they not fit but I wasn't even sure that I could wear the cut because of the rise.

Today I decided to see if the pants fit (mostly because of a laundry crisis). Pulled them out of the mailing packaging and OMG they slipped right on!

Although the pants are still a very large size, they fit nicely and do not have ANY elastic in the waist band. The legs are a bit wide, so ironicly the pants look too big for me...but they FIT.

Its hard to see from the picture, but I have a fairly odd body shape. I am short...with slender legs and slender arms. I carry all of my weight in the middle, so pants that fit around the waist never fit in the legs.

Anyway, that is all for now!

Still loving my SenseWear. My challenge for next week is to see if it is possible to walk the recommended and targeted 10k steps while having a desk job that keeps me on the phone 60% of the day. How to people do it????

Grrrr...

2008-12-10T09:07:00.002-05:00

Sometimes the body is very frustrating. I seem to be back pedaling and gaining a pound or so. I know the body fluctuates, etc, but it is a bit defeating sometimes. No ... not that time of the month (I haven't had one of those in years). So ... not sure what it is.

Calories - getting around 900-1100 a day
Water - getting at least 64 oz
exercise - taking 30 min walks and a little extra at home

Weight - plus 1.

Go figure. On the upside, I was pondering yesterday the goal of 10k steps per day. For those of us who work long hours behind a desk, I find it difficult to even come close. I managed to get in 6500 steps. This was after my 30 min brisk walk, regular daily office walking, and coming home and walking and dancing in place while talking to Pete (SO) . Bless his heart, I was bouncing around the room like an idiot, and he didn't say a word!

How many steps per day are you all getting?

Still in LOVE with my SenseWear ...

Long Week

2008-12-07T17:32:00.003-05:00

It's been a loooong week, and I didn't take the time to post a new message. I could say it was due to working hard, etc, but I would be lying. My SenseWear came in the mail on Wed AND my new iPod Touch (32gb) showed up on Thursday, so I have been totally obsessed with my gadgets ever since!

Okay, the SenseWear is for my health, right? It's really cool. Although not cheap (450 for device and 6 months website membership) I have NO buyers remorse. This might be the best thing since slices organic multi-grain bread (keeping it healthy, of course).

So here is the deal with the SenseWear, in case it is new to you. There is an armband that you wear on your tricep and a display that you wear as a watch (optional). It keeps track of your body movement and calorie expenditures all day/night. You upload the data to the website, enter in your calorie intake ... and it creates a TON of graphs and charts. I do loves me some charts. Here is my data for the 3.5 days so far that I have owned the device, please take a look at the PDF report: Allison's Report 12.07.08 .

Um, the iPod touch is also ridiculously fun. All of the bells and whistles of the iPhone, but without having to give up my beloved BlackBerry. I will have plenty of things to keep myself busy on my 9 hour flights in January!

This week in weight-loss : Some challenges. I have had a hard time eating enough (ironic) and drinking enough water. Because both of those things are off, I don't think I am losing at the rate that I would like to. According to the Wii, I am down 14-15 lbs since Dec 3rd. Not too shabby. Definitely on my way to reaching my goal of being around the mid 250's by Jan 8th (Hawaii time).

Things I will work on this week to get my butt in gear:

Literally get my butt in gear by upping the exercise
Drink Drink Drink more water (I am setting an Outlook reminder)
4 shakes during the day at work

All for now ... time to go make more shakes ... its almost 6pm and all I have had to eat were the double mocha shakes from this morning. I suck. :) Who EVER thought that eating enough would be an issue for me. I know I didnt get to be this size by forgetting to eat. Hmm.

To Sara

2008-12-01T23:46:00.002-05:00

Thank you for your comment on yesterday's post. Congrats on staying "in the box", I know its hard. Perhaps we can both take inspiration from each other and be successful!

Allison

Back to reality

2008-12-01T22:50:00.004-05:00

All in all not a bad day, I am just grumpy to be going back to work after a glorious 5 days of consecutive lounging! 3 1/2 weeks until Christmas vacation ... another 5 or 6 days of glorious lounging. Sigh.

Lets see... went to the gym for the first time in a week (I am bad, I know). It felt good, which is refreshing. I eeked out 22 mins on the elliptical, which is a new best for me. The weight loss program is a killer ... so to make it 22 mins was nice. Thank god the lady working at the gym is a General Hospital fan, that makes it easier to get absorbed and forget that I am killing myself. Tomorrow the plan is to get up a bit earlier and try the workout DVD with the weights.

Not sure if I have mentioned it in this blog, but I am going to Hawaii in early January. One of MY motivating factors for this diet is the thought of squeezing into my plane seat for 9-10 hours. Right now I figure I am near the same size as when I flew to Italy on 2007 ... but this time I won't have a friend next to me (and the arm raised). While Googling the size of airline seats I ran across this message board post regarding people of size taking up too much room on the subway or plane. Yuck. I don't travel very much via plane ... and the airline seat causes me much anxiety. I dont want to infringe on anyone elses personal space and make them uncomfortable...nor do want to spend 10 hours fretting over it. I accept the fact that I will not be comfortable, but I will feel bad if I make someone else uncomfortable as well. Hopefully losing a few more pounds before the flight AND a steady supply of Xanax will help!

Thats all for now.

PS my SenseWear can not get here fast enough. Apparently it has shipped , though I have no tracking ID. I feel sorry for my office manager, Pam, because I will be stalking her all week :)

Sundays are bummers

2008-11-30T12:58:00.003-05:00

Sigh ... what a wonderful long weekend! Tomorrow morning its back to reality, back to work, and back to the gym. I've enjoyed hanging out in my newly cleaned house, making my shakes, and charting weight loss each day!

I've met all of my goals that I set for myself for the first month of the diet, even exceeded them! My first short term goal was to lose 10 lbs within 4 weeks. I am at 12 lbs, with one official day to go. Not bad. I managed to NOT eat any of the holiday foods that are everywhere (even filling up my fridge). On a personal note, I am even getting a jump on my Christmas decorating.

New short term goals:

Drink at least 64 oz water a day (still a struggle)
Lose 6 lbs over the next 2 weeks
increase my workouts from just cardio to include some minor weight / resistance training

Tools I have to help me:

20 oz water bottle - half a packet of crystal light and a straw ... i dont even realize I just forced down 20 oz of water!
SenseWear - will chart my calories burned. Its ordered and hopefully on the way very soon.
New weights and Biggest Loser body sculpting DVD

Trying to focus on what I need to get done today and not on the fact that this is the last day of my wonderful long weekend!

The Day After

2008-11-28T10:18:00.004-05:00

I would like to report that I was a very good girl yesterday for Thanksgiving! After spending 2 days preparing and cooking a meal for 10 people ... I actually lost weight!!!!!

The nice thing about serving a meal to that many people, there are plenty of things to do other than eat. When I did sit down at the table, it was to enjoy good conversation ... as others enjoyed their meals.

Things that surprised me:

Gravy is HARD for me to make for some reason
NOT eating any (not one bite) of Turkey, Dressing, Potatoes, Pie, etc was NOT hard at all!!!

I wasn't feeling deprived or like I was missing anything. Again, I feel that Hell has frozen over, and that I have really turned the corner with this diet program.

Good luck to anyone reading over the holidays!

3 weeks in , 10 LBS down!!!!

2008-11-26T10:02:00.004-05:00

Happy Holidays!

I am sooo excited to report that I am well on my way to reaching my goal of losing 20-25 lbs before I jet off to Hawaii. As of today, i am 10 lbs lighter than I was 3 weeks ago. Of course the true test is about to begin with the official Holiday eating season.

So far I have kept to my HMR Diet Program foods, no cheating. It honestly has not been very hard for me to keep to the diet. My true test is today and tomorrow. I am hosting Thanksgiving Dinner for our families, 10 people crammed into my modest condo.

My Guests Dinner Menu:

16 lb Turkey
Grandma's Dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Peas
Cranberry
Yeast Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie

Allison's Dinner Menu:

An Entree or two
Peas
Vanilla - Spice Shake
Chocolate Pudding for dessert

That's about it. I am preparing for the out of town company who are not familiar with my new meal plan to hit me up with a ton of questions, and letting me know that its okay to eat for this special occasion. I know that it is NOT okay. After doing so well going "cold turkey" with eating non HMR foods, it would be very challenging for me to mentally get over one slip. Perhaps its like giving an alcoholic just one little drink....

Speaking of alcohol...I miss wine! Okay, I just had to say it.

Have a great Holiday for anyone reading. I am off to manic clean, grocery shop, and bake those damned pies!

My New Toy!!!

2008-11-21T08:54:00.004-05:00

For any of those who might accidentally find this blog and read it ... that also knows me ... knows that I like my toys and gadgets. Fortunately I do not have any children that I have to share with :P

Last night I posted a question on the exercise message board on traineo.com . You may have noticed my widgets showing calories burned and pounds lost. Daily I track these things on a website, www.traineo.com. I selected traineo.com for one simple reason ... they had nifty widgets!

It mus have been fate because my question was around the amount of calories burned on a person who is 34 and weights 270lbs and is 5'2" vs someone who weights the same, but is 5'11. Gosh, if only I were 5'11"! Anyway, back to reality. I haven't had a lot of quality answers but my first response was something that triggered an avalanche of awesomeness!

The response from Kris N (whomever you are) was brilliant:

I would think they would be pretty much the same. Your both moving the same amount of weight around. But I'm no expert and the calculators don't take height into consideration to caloric estimates.

If money is no object I think the bodybugg would be very helpful for what you are trying to do. It would help you put it all into perspective. Either way it sounds like you are doing it right. Start slow so you don't hurt yourself and remember.... Diet is the most important part. Cardio is great and has numerous health benefits but weight loss is almost all diet.

Bodybugg...is that a new toy I'd never heard of? Pretty cool, check out www.bodybugg.com . You will read all about a device that you strap to your arm. It constantly monitors the calories your body is burning, in take (from you logging your food) , calculates the deficit , and I am sure 100 different other cool things. The data is stored in the device until it is sync'd or downloaded to their website (you pay monthly fee for the website). All kinds of pretty charts and graphs from there. I thought this was pretty freaking cool...but it looked kind of bulky.

THAT led me to my next discovery, there is actually a new version that's been developed that is 40% smaller, has an extra sensor, and measures heart rate as well. Genius! Unfortunately its not available at bodybugg.com ... but it is totally available under its pseudonym SenseWear!

Check out SenseWear.com . This shows the newer,smaller, sexier version of this new toy . I was totally hooked. Checking out the ordering process, and it looked to be a PITA ... an excel spreadsheet to print out and mail in??? Why ... I never! Fortunately my obsessive Googling led me to this nifty website, www.myminifly.com. This is the website where I actually bought my new toy, please, check it out and all of its awesomeness.

So, one thing I should mentions, this thing is NOT mac friendly. Which would totally be a bummer, if I didn't have bootcamp/parallels/xp installed on all of my macs. So, for now, I put up with the OSism.

15 days and counting

2008-11-18T21:08:00.002-05:00

Don't they say that if you do something for 2 weeks straight it becomes a habit? So far, the elliptical is not a habit ... fortunately the HMR program has become a habit. After 2 weeks I still have not really been at all tempted to cheat. I am fairly indifferent to all food, which is kind of good.

As of Monday, I am 7 lbs down!

I think I will start doing some training with free weights ... I just need to figure out what I should be doing without paying for a trainer.

A little encouragement ....

2008-11-16T11:07:00.003-05:00

...goes a long way. Yesterday was a fairly positive day in the diet world. I made a delicious new shake flavor, perfect for the season. Close to the "pumpkin pie" shake recipe, but a slightly different blend of spices.

Vanilla-Spice Shake

HMR 120 vanilla shake (s) - i tend to do double shakes all the time

Mix the following dry ingredients together:

3 shakes of cinnamon (gentle shake out of the spice container)
2 shakes of ground cloves
2 shakes of nutmeg
2 shakes of ginger

Add dry mix to vanilla shakes while blending. Add a dash of vanilla extract for a deeper vanilla flavor.

I had 2 of those yesterday, along with some frozen corn/baby limas and the BBQ chicken entree. All in all about 970 calories (but who's counting).

This morning I was down another pound according to my daily Wii Fit body test. I know I shouldn't be weighing daily, but the Wii seems to get upset if I miss a day. Most of the time its a fairly accurate measure of any weight change and BMI change. My regular scale leaves much to be desired.

Anyway, that is all for now. Perhaps a Chocolate Mocha double shake this morning ... which reminds me, I need to order new HMR meal replacements ... they are running low. SOOO expensive but ultimately worth it!

Ta!

Rounding third on my 2nd week on the program

2008-11-15T10:28:00.005-05:00

So far so good as I enter this weekend. Monday the 17th. So far I am at the 5 lb mark, which is pretty good. I feel good about it. My goal for this weekend it to keep up with my water and sodium so that I do not go in the wrong direction. Last weekend I managed to gain 1-2 lbs of what I assume was water.

I've definitely kicked up the water intake which I think is helping but its just not natural for me...I have to constantly be thinking about it. I am confused as to what is the magic # with water...is it 64 oz? I've heard lots of water strategies. One was to divide your weight into 2 and drink the # of oz. That would be ... um... 136 oz of water a day. Is that even possible? Okay, its possible, but is it feasible?

Finally the vanilla arrived! Of course, the vanilla comes at a cost. For some reason these shakes really do a number on my tummy if I am not using the Lactose Free HMR70's. When I have the vanilla 120's, I also have to have a couple of Lactaids. Not sure if they are 100% effective, but so far its tolerable for myself and those around me :) At work I don't have the energy to be terribly creative with my shakes, but at home, I can check out that recipe page and see what I can get going. I also ordered the chicken soup. This is what I like to do with the chicken Soup:

Make the soup as directed with 6 oz of water
Mix in mixed pepper spice, garlic powder, black pepper to taste (i think lemon would be good as well)
Heat one Savory Chicken (contains long grain and wild rice, carrots, mushrooms)
Pick out the carrots and mushrooms (sorry people, mushrooms are icky ... and carrots are only tolerable in stew for me)
Cut up the chicken into tiny pieces
Mix together

Not terribly creative ... but a nice chicken and rice soup. When I add lemon juice and leave the mixed pepper and garlic out, it reminds me of my favorite Greek Lemon Chicken soup ... with rice versus orzo. Either way, i think its pretty good. Otherwise that Savory Chicken dinner is gross. But again, you are reading the blog of a girl that occasionally has the palate of a 10 year old!

Time to try and get creative with a shake ... but not too creative :)

Hell just got a bit frosty

2008-11-12T16:30:00.003-05:00

I think I have actually lost my will to eat. There has been a perfectly wonderful baked potato sitting on my desk for 5 hours ... and I've had no desire to bother to eat it. I will, however, be making my 2nd round of shakes.

Did I mention that this week is cake week at work? It reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where there is always a cake at the office .... for every occasion. Fortunately my lack of desire to eat has also cut into my desire to eat cake, thank god. I love's me some cake.

Ups and Downs

2008-11-10T19:22:00.003-05:00

All in all it was a good day. The morning started with a bit of discouragement from the scale. My Wii Fit showed some increase from the weekend, which was fairly frustrating given my lack of calories and 5 days of workouts. One thing I did realize is that I had probably had too much sodium with the canned veggies and boxed entrees, and not enough water. Easy solution, drink water and use my frequent trips to the restroom as PA :)

Even with the rough start, I was able to do well with my shakes at work (had all 4) and have had 3 bottles of water. One big accomplishment for myself was upping my time on the elliptical to 17 mins (added 5 mins from last week). THAT was exciting for me.

I think I am headed off to the store for some lower sodium veggie choices.

God speed to my vanilla HMR 120 shakes that are on the way, I am about OD on chocolate HMR 70 shakes!