Short but Sweet

Ok – this is a short little post just to say, I haven’t given up quite so quickly!! I swear 😉

I’m really am back at it and have had a good week so far. I’m still doing Weight Watchers (been paying for it this whole time too…eeesh…at least I still went to a meeting every week this whole time – wait, is that worse? Ah, more on that later – back to this:) and  now onto the Freestyle program. I weigh in on Wednesday evenings – so hopefully I’ll have a post up on either Wednesday night or Thursdays for the upcoming future.

I’ve updated the widget on the side (on the deskstop) that always shows my start weight and my current weight ⇒ ⇒ ⇒ ⇒ ⇒

I’ve also updated my Weekly Weigh-In’s page with the new info (i’m not going to fill in the last 3 years just yet..but maybe I will when I have a chance. Like I mentioned – I did keep going to WW this whole time so I did see the slow creep up. You can find it here: https://poundperpound.wordpress.com/weight-loss-timeline/

This week I was down 0.9lbs. Yay me. Except last week I was up 1lb, so I’m at 200.4, still in the 200s. ARGH. I haven’t been able to lose for more than 2 weeks in a row this whole time, so let’s hold off on our “woohoos” til I can get there!

I have also re-committed to exercising – My goal is to go 3x a week to the gym, and so far I’ve done that this first week. Since August 2017 I’ve been going once a week…because I joined a boxing gym!! What?! Yup…I’m boxing. Ok, but more on my exercise in the next post.

Have a spectacular day everyone! Write soon.

Truthiness

Alright, alright…it’s not really truthiness…it’s actual truth. Here I am. Back again. Not sure if I’ll start posting regularly but at least I’m thinking I’d like to come back to it all.

So where do we begin? I think we should begin at the truth. The truth is that the last couple years have been very difficult for me weight-wise. I’ve struggled and I’ve regained more than I’m comfortable with. So where am I right now? I’m sitting at a slightly uncomfortable 179.2lbs. But on the plus side that means I’m down 5.7lbs since the middle of January.

So here’s an honest look at how the last two years have gone:

Progress Graph 2013

And this:

Progress Graph 2014

But so far so good it would seem and here is how this year is going so far:

Progress Graph 2015

So here we are. I’m determined to get back on track this year and am making a concerted effort to track everything I eat and exercise regularly. I’ll try to visit again soon and update things. How are things with all of you? Is anyone still out there? Hi!! *waving* 🙂

A Quick Hello and How Do You Do

No, no, I haven’t disappeared…but it feels that way. I’ve been struggling to say the least and I just felt writing the same “I’m struggling” post every week wasn’t very helpful and might just come off as whiny. I’m still updating my weekly weigh-in page if you’re interested so for now I’m just trying to chug along. Today I weighed-in at 168.0. Not great, but better than last week as I was down 0.6lbs. I’m trying to get back on track and it’s been difficult. I’m not going away, I’m just being a bit quiet for now. Thanks for reading 🙂

I’m Still Here!

Well that happened. Poof! Away I disappeared didn’t I. Well I’m here, no worries. Here’s what’s happened the last few weeks – basically work got crazy to a point that I was working wonky hours (like 4pm – 4am sometimes – don’t worry, 12-hr days are my normal, but usually it’s during the day) and I stopped tracking my food and going to weigh-in, but I kept exercising as much as I could – which wasn’t as much as I had, but enough to keep me accountable.

I finally weighed-in on February 25th, a good month after my last one and lo and behold I was down 0.7lbs to be 160.0lbs! Well that made me feel awesome. Then I didn’t weigh in for 2 weeks and boom! I was up 4.7lbs to 164.7lbs. Sigh. Well back at it am I. So that’s where I find myself – still with the up and down. I’m not too upset by the gain as I figure it will go away soon enough. I still need to find a better solution to it all but I haven’t figured it out yet.

I’m going to focus on my eating in the coming weeks and really try to not let myself get to a point of HUNGER because then I can’t/don’t control myself and find I’ve eaten way too much in way too short of a period of time. I am going to focus on eating well and healthy portions. I’m also going to not buy things I can’t control – like bread and cheese for the time being. I just need to take a little break from having it in the house as I’ve noticed I will eat it without taking stock of how much I’m eating.

So this is where I’m at. I’m still here and I’ll be blogging more regularly again. Thanks for sticking around 🙂

Holy Emotional Eating Batman!

Wow. So the other day I had a bad day at work and ended up having to stay late unexpectedly. Given I already work 12 hour days a 14 hour day was even worse because I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t have my dinner, I didn’t have plans that evening but I did have lots to do that night that I had to do when I got home.

Well what happened you ask!? I got home in a foul mood, I had started snacking badly at work because I wasn’t prepared with a healthy dinner or snack to tie me over so when I got home all I wanted to do was to eat, eat, eat. And that I did! I huge soup topped with lots of cheese and bread on the side followed by a big bowl of popcorn as I settled in to stay up late to get to the work I had to do.

It was such a clear case of emotional eating! I sometimes wondered if I was an emotional eater or not. Or if really at the heart of it of it all I just eat big portions. I know for sure I eat when I’m bored, other than that I had never really noticed if I ate when I was feeling  particularly happy, sad, or angry. But I am definitely noticing the connections now. Sheesh! How many years have I been at this?!

It’s good to see the connections though as it can only help me to plan ahead and fight it. I can talk to myself and be clear that I’m only eating because I’m tired or angry or upset. The first step is acknowledging the problem right?

Weigh-in Week 196: And it goes on

Well this week wasn’t actually that bad – I was up 0.1lb for a new weight of 160.7lbs and a total loss of 90.9lbs. I’m not feeling too bad about it as that aforementioned cold really did me in this week. Dare I say the Flu?? Maybe it was, but it really knocked me out so I wasn’t doing much exercising or moving and even drinking water was difficult. I was drinking tea, but I do add sugar to it and I ended up eating lots of comforting foods like breads that were easy to digest as I’ve also been fighting a cough so it left me feeling very exhausted. This week didn’t get off to a great start  but I’ve tracked everything and I’m feeling on track for the rest of the week. So here we go!

Weigh-in’s Week 194 & 195: I haven’t disappeared!

Nope! I’m still here, but I got sidelined by a new job and wicked cold that has actually kept me from the gym and doing pretty much anything other than working and then coming home and sleeping. But I have been weighing-in! I’ve decided to switch my weigh-ins to Wednesday mornings. With this new contract starting I can’t make my Tuesday lunch-time meeting anymore and my leader has a 7:45am meeting on Wednesdays. I can’t stay as I have to work at 8am, but at least I can come and weigh-in and check in with my  leader which is a great motivator.

So my summary  – week 194 wasn’t so great. I was up 2.3 lbs to a new weight of 163.8. However, the following week (195) was much better and I was down 3.2lbs so I’m down to 160.6lbs and a total loss of 91lbs. I definitely feel much better at 160. Weight Watchers had a special promotion this month – I suppose to encourage new members to keep at it over the month of January. If you weighed-in 4 times over January you received a new WW charm ring. Not a key ring as it’s open at the top but a ring on which to keep your charms. I was so happy to get mine! I love all that kind of stuff – I think I’ve said it before that it’s silly, but I do love it.

Here it is!

So usually when I work I find it hard to lose weight as we have SO much food around – we have fully stocked kitchen with all sorts of snacks and we order out everyday or have catering. Since we work 12-hour days it gets difficult to make lunch in advance and although we have time for lunch, we don’t have a dinner break so reaching for the not-so-healthy snack gets easier. However for this contract the company is not paying for our lunches so that is motivation to make my own! I’m not being very adventurous right now, but it fills me up and keeps me going. My lunches have been pretty much just steamed vegetables – probably about a 1 1/2 cups and some protein. I made some cod at the beginning of last week and then grilled chicken breast on Thursday and Friday. I also cut up some tomatoes/cucumber/peppers with a tablespoon of hummus. It’s tasty and keeps me full which is important. I will take the time on Sunday to make 5 lunches for the coming week – I think I can keep this going and that’s very motivating!

Weigh-in Week 193: Finally down again!

Alright, alright. Finally. I am down a significant amount. FINALLY! Tuesday at weigh-in I was down 1.9lbs for a new weight of 161.5lbs and back into the 90s with a total loss of 90.1lbs. I haven’t been at this weigh since October 22nd. That following week I gained 4.2lbs and I honestly feel like I’ve been trying to lose it ever since.

…Okay, so with all good intentions I started this post on Tuesday evening after my weigh-in but since then my life has been a bit crazy and I never got back to it. I’ve also been doing some hibernating here and there.

Well let’s see – what’s new…I bought my first every WW cookbook. This one:

Yes, it’s a bit older but it looked like it has some good, quick easy meals inside which I’d like to try. I’ve also been keeping up with my running and exercising, but I have been changing things around lately which I hope will lead to weight loss. I’d love to get back to 150…that was a good weight for me.  I want to write a detailed post about my exercising lately. Oh so many posts rattling around in ma head I just haven’t gotten down. I will.

I’ve also been meaning to post a round up for 2013 and some goals for 2014 (as those of you who have been reading know I don’t believe in resolutions). I’m working on it…I swear! Things are just getting pushed back right now. I thought I had loads of free time, but it’s been disappearing fast and a deluge of work is coming…

Weigh-in Week 191: No Weigh-In

Well it was xmas eve last Tuesday and although I did have every intention of going to weigh-in as the centres only closed at noon that day and the one near my mom’s house has a meeting at 10am – I didn’t end up going because of the ice storm that hit Southern Ontario. Our big dinner with all the family visiting is on the 24th and with the ice storm everything got pushed back and I stayed at home to help my mom prep everything. The trip to the meeting would have been a minimum 1 1/2 hour excursion because of how far in the country they live and I just couldn’t leave her alone that morning.

I figure one week isn’t too bad. To be honest I’m not expecting a loss on Tuesday when I go weigh-in. I’m not throwing in the towel, but rather I’m trying not to get my hopes up. Whatever will be will be and 2014 is a new year and a new chance to get to goal – and that’s what I intended to do.

It’s funny – well not ha ha funny, but you know what I mean – I’ve been thinking a lot about my reasons for losing the last 20lbs that have been plaguing me for the better part of 2 years now. I had a bit of an epiphany today: I realized that I have never actually, as in truly, believed that I would reach my goal weight. That’s right. It was always this mythical idea that was far, far away. Not a concrete goal that I new I could reach. And I’ve realized that this has been holding me back.

So much of weight loss is the mental and emotional aspects of it. We all know how you can never really change for anyone, if someone wants to lose weight/quite smoking/decrease drinking etc. the desire has to be genuine and come from within. If we ever set out to do something to appease someone else we’ll end up failing/quitting/giving up because we weren’t doing it for ourselves and because we wanted it.

I need to really sit down and think about why staying at this weight is not something I want (it isn’t – I know that much at least!) and why losing the last 20lbs is worth it and worth the changes I need to make to get there. I’m going to work on this this week. I need to write down what I’m thinking and feeling and make sense of it. I want 2014 to be the year that I finally reach goal! I can do it. There is nothing stopping me but myself.  🙂

Weigh-in Week 189: Up 0.1lb

So on Tuesday I was up 0.1lbs for a new weight of 162.1lbs and total loss of 89.5lbs.  That’s not too bad considering I had my first major xmas party of the season. I didn’t watch what I ate as much as I should have – I had a bit of a free-for-all with some YUMMY fresh baked goods from a local bakery! Bread and bread products…yup, still my weakness.

I have a bunch of events coming up this week, but I’m ready for them. I’m going to make a very conscious decision to ask myself each time whether or not I really want to eat something or am I just eating out of habit.

Last month at the WW meetings we were talking about slowing down how we eat by taking a sip of water between bites. I have been actively trying this out and let me tell you – it’s harder then it sounds!! Now I grew up in a house where dinner-time was for eating not talking. We didn’t sit around and chat, we sat, ate, and got up. So I tend to eat quickly. I’ve been trying this at home on my own and it is not easy – it seems to take so long to eat!! But I will say, I definitely feel fuller after and stay satiated longer. So that’s a good thing.

I have a big dinner coming up this weekend where I will actively try to take my time while eating. There is often lots of food but also lots of great company so my focus will be on that and not on the food. I will pick and choose my favourites and not try to cram everything on my plate. That is my goal! Oh the holidays are approaching!!!