Weigh In

I didn’t have time to write a post yesterday, but I did remember to step on the scales before I ate anything.

11/21/2013 - 235
11/28/2013 - 232.8

I did overeat some yesterday (Thanksgiving Day here in the US). It wasn’t a binge, I pushed my plate away before it was empty, and I said no to pumpkin pie, so all in all I feel pretty good about it. I even got a workout in.

I dialed back the intensity of my workouts a bit the past couple days. I was pushing myself a little too hard. Everyday I was dreading working out. It was getting harder and harder to make myself do it. I figured it was better to do less than push myself to a point of doing nothing. I did extend the length of my workout to compensate. And my husband gave me an early Christmas present, a weight machine. It’s so much fun. I’m using it every other day.

I’ve been eating mostly vegan. I’ve had some fat-free sour cream, and I don’t know how to get away from using light ranch dressing. I’m really picky about dressings. I don’t like the oil and/or vinegar ones. I also eat Morning Star Farms products. They’re vegetarian, but not vegan. They’re also obviously processed. I’d like to get away from relying on them, but they’re so convenient.

The thing that blows my mind is that I haven’t eaten cheese in three weeks. I’ve never met a cheese I didn’t like. I absolutely love it. I had it with every meal except, generally, breakfast. I thought going cheese-less would practically kill me, but aside from occasional cravings for cheese pizza, I don’t even miss it.

I’m pleased with my progress so far. I need to continue adding more fresh veggies to my diet. I’m not eating quite as many as I should. Besides that, I think I’m doing pretty well.

Weigh In

All in all this past week has gone well. I’ve had some “Sweet Jesus, please don’t put that in your mouth!” moments, but I’ve managed to avoid eating anything that is outside of my goals. Plus, I’ve increased the intensity of my workouts.

This week’s results:
11/14/13 - 236.4
11/21/2013 - 235

Part of me really wants to see this happen faster. However, I know from experience that faster isn’t better. I’ll take my 1.4 pound loss and count it as a victory. I’m making progress. That’s all that matters.

Weigh In

Going into this past week I made four rules:
1. No binge eating
2. No gross processed crap with zero nutritional value
3. No cheese
4. Exercise everyday

I’m proud to say I stuck to all of my goals. I figured #2 and #3 would kill me. I live on processed crap covered in cheese. I had to replace it with whole foods that require things like preparation and effort. It was weird.

I wasn’t concerned about portion sizes or starving myself between meals. If I felt hungry before dinner, I’d eat some nuts. At dinner if I wanted another plate of pasta or an extra serving of veggie bacon, I’d eat it. Weight loss, while I really, really want it, was not my goal this week. I’m more concerned with resetting my taste buds (imagine, food doesn’t have to be fatty or sugary to be edible) and making exercise a habit.

When I got on the scales this morning all I was hoping for was to have maintained, though I was a little scared I may have gained since I wasn’t overly careful about portions. Here’s what happened:

Last week: 241 lb
This week: 236.4 lb, waist 37.5"

I’m down 4.6 pounds! I’m so excited because, while I did make sacrifices, I don’t feel like I had to work that hard for it.

I’m not going to add more restrictions for this week. I want to settle into the changes I‘ve already made. Last night I felt pretty sad eating my steamed broccoli. I really wanted French fries, but I really want to be healthy. I can’t have both. I don’t want to make things so hard on myself that I crumble.

Going forward, my goal is to lose 1-2 pounds a week. I want to go slow because whenever I go fast it doesn’t last. Besides, I’ve got a lot of extra skin to shrink up. Hopefully going slow will help that along. The skin thing is something I’m trying not to think about, but it’s there in the back of my mind.

A photo of where I am as of today.

Hope everyone has a healthy, happy day!