perfect 10

Week 10:
3/24/11
Weight: 182.6
+/-: -5.2
This week, I feel like I kicked butt. I worked out every day this week, a couple of days even going for an hour or hour and a half. The best part? I’m starting to crave activity. I thought it would take me a long time to get to that point, because I have never been an active person. Working out is still a challenge, I’m still very out of shape, but I can feel it get a tiny bit easier each time. (and when I feel discouraged I just feel my biceps, haha) I also learned that variety helps me with staying motivated. I always thought that was just something people said but that didn't apply to me: “oh, just throw some variety in there, don’t let yourself get bored.” Instead of getting on my Wii every day, or only doing the treadmill, I’m trying to mix it up a little. I’m finding that on days I do the c25k program, I kind of miss my Wii, so I’m excited about it the next day. And then the next day, I’m excited about the treadmill when I go back to it. (Excited being a relative term here. Come on folks, I’m not one of those people.)(Yet.) And then other days, when I'm feeling like a glutton for punishment, I put in a Jillian Michaels DVD. Ugh, she's so tough!
Another motivator for me this week was the fact that, as of week 9’s weigh in, I was 3.3 lbs away from losing 10% of my body weight. (FYI for those of you not in Weight Watchers: 10% of your body weight is one of the first goals they have you go for, so that if you have a lot to lose you don’t get overwhelmed by a huge goal.)  Remember in my first post, on my way to a new me,  when I mentioned how bad I wanted that 10% so that I could get the key chain?

key chain, baby!

sorry for the crappy iphone photo.

Technically, 10% for me is 20.5 lbs and right now I am at 22.4 pounds lost! Even more exciting than the pounds lost and the key chain (I know, I know, what could be more exciting?) is the way I’m feeling right now.  In on my way to a new me I talked about how I’ve never really been a goal setter or a go getter. Part of it was laziness, part of it was just thinking I’d probably never get there, so why try? This week I had an epiphany. Since starting weight watchers one of my goals was to run a 5k. I kind of enjoy running (or, the way I do it, slow jogging, with a lot of walking, haha) and I think it would be fun to get out there in a real race with other people. My epiphany this week? I don’t want to just run one, I want to win one. I want a picture of me, hands in the air, medal around my neck. Why not? Other people do it all the time. What’s stopping me?
Okay, so I may never win a medal, and if I don’t I won’t be heartbroken, but I’m sure gonna try. I’m tired of making ‘just’ goals.
-oh, I just want to be able to run a 5k, I don’t care if I’m last
-I just want to be able to shop somewhere other than the plus sizes
-I just want to eat better.


No, no more. I can do this! I am not less than anyone else unless I let myself be that way. I want to do big things!
-I want to win a 5k. and maybe a 10k.
-I want to be a single digit size proportionate to my height. (I would love to be a size 2, those jeans would never be too long! Too long jeans, the bane of my existence, sigh…)
-I want to eat healthy, and when I have kids, I want to be a great example.

This week wasn’t just exciting mentally, but physically. I’m feeling strong, and energized. (remember my biceps? I’m not going to let you forget, haha) I work at a 911 center, so I am chained to a desk for 10 hours. (Literally, our headsets are connected to the desk. If you’re not on break, you’re not going anywhere.) We have adjustable desks, so they can be set to your height, or even raised so you can stand at your desk if you’d like. Before 2 weeks ago, I’d maybe raised my desk twice at the most. These past two weeks I’ve been standing at my desk more than I’ve been sitting. Like, probably 08/20. (granted, I do lean on the desk sometimes) I’m not feeling bounce-off-the-walls energetic, but I can definitely tell a difference in my energy levels, which is so exciting!

I realize this post and the last are very rose-colored-glassesish, I hope it’s not too over the top. (blame the anti-depressants, haha) With all of positives I've been experiencing I'm trying to prepare my mind for the inevitable plateaus and possible negatives.  Just running 'what-if' scenarios through my head, like, 'what if I have a 12 week plateau?' I was reading on the Weight Watchers forums about a lady who had a crazy long plateau like that. That would be so frustrating! So I'm trying to make sure I'm keeping non-pound goals in mind as well, so that I have other things to strive for and to gauge my success if (and when) the scale stops moving.  Things that I'm trying to focus on other than the pounds are: how my clothes are fitting (getting a little looser!), my energy levels, and my progress on the couch to 5k program (week 3 is hard!!).
Have you ever had a plateau, or a run of gains? How did you keep motivated?

week one overview

This week has been so up and down. My first few days on Weight Watchers were practically euphoric, but the past few days have been a little less than spectacular. Not horrible, but I was a little blue, and it was reflected in some not-so-stellar food choices. Still in my points, but pizza rolls? Not exactly a power food...
But let's talk good news!

• My first weigh-in was Thursday night. I'm down 4.2 lbs!
• Tracked my points every day
• I stayed within my points every day while still feeling satisfied.
• Incorporated a lot more fruits and vegetables in my menus than I used to. Go me!
• Bumped up my activity level
• Drank my six 8 oz glasses of water (tea, milk) every day but one.

I'm pretty excited about last week now that I'm coming out of my 'funk'. I didn't do perfectly, but I made some major changes from my normal lifestyle.  There were a few difficult points last week though:

• I set myself up for disappointment with the weight loss. I really wanted to hit 5 lbs and kind of thought I was there, so when I saw the 4.2 my first reaction wasn't excitement or accomplishment, it was disappointment. I hate that because I know 4.2 is something to be proud of, which I am. This week I'm working on my expectations, and trying to focus more on my actions than the end result.
• My activity level was not where it should be. I started out pretty good, but then it was downhill from there. Yesterday? I did nothing. (That's all changing though with my new workout video, I lovelove it. Love it.)
• I'm still having trouble fitting all of my fruit/vegetable/healthy oils/dairy servings in all in one day. I also find it kind of hard to eat all 29 points some days. I think shift work may be to blame for that though. A big lunch isn't always appealing at 8am.
• I was a little more moody than usual. (i.e. spent half of Wednesday crying, without being able to figure out why.) I don't know if that is normal, I'm-a-girl-and-I-can-cry-if-I-want-to, or if it has something to do with working out/eating better/hormone levels stabilizing? Who knows. I can only hope next week is better. (My honey hopes too.)

All in all, it was not a bad beginning to my Weight Watchers journey. I'm proud of what I accomplished, but ready to do even better next week. (read: get off my butt a little more.)
I'll leave you with my goals for the week:

1. 30 minutes of activity every day
2. better food planning to get all my veggies, water, etc and to hit my daily points.
3. Focus on the positive! I'm making healthy choices, darnit! I deserve a gold star.

(oh, and try to blog better so I'm not fitting a weeks worth of blabbing in one post, eh?)

on my way to a new me!

 

Does that post sound too optimistic? I'm feeling pretty optimistic, I'm not gonna lie. Today is my second day on Weight Watchers.  Although I know it's not going to be a walk in the park, I can't help but feel excited about the changes I'm making. I've half-heartedly tried to be healthy and lose weight before, only to give up after a few days because I was overwhelmeld, confused or, let's face it, just plain lazy. This time it feels different though. (cliche after cliche, please bear with me.) I was telling my mom the other night, I think the reason it feels different this time is because it's not just that I want to lose weight or that I'm super motivated, because I've been there before. It's that I actually feel like I can lose weight. Even after 2 days I already feel like I have the tools and knowledge I need to do this. I feel like I'm in control of the results, instead of wondering if what I'm doing will even work.

 

My Stats:
height: 4'10" (If you have a short joke, I've heard it before.)
starting weight: 205lbs
(as of 1/13, my first meeting)
immediate goal: 195lbs
end goal: 105lbs

 

the end goal I'm not set in stone on, but 100lbs to lose seemed like a nice round number. For my height the ideal weight is between 96-120lbs, so 105 is middle-ish. I don't think I want to set it at 120 and be teetering on the edge of an 'unhealthy' BMI. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this. But I can reevaluate when I get closer, maybe check and see what the doctor says I should be.

 

I've always been heavy, not very active and an unhealthy eater to boot. I wish I could say that it was genetics, or a health condition, or a super busy lifestyle that got (and kept) me where I am, but it's not. Here's the truth: I am one of the laziest people I know. Honestly. And not just couch potato lazy, but lazy about dreams and goals. I didn't make a lot because I was afraid of bailing out or failing. Another problem was when I did make goals, or want to change, I would always be of the all-or-nothing, go-big-or-go-home mentality. I get easily overwhelmed anyway, so I'd take on too many changes only to drop them after a short while because I couldn't process it.
Weight Watchers has everyone start out with a small goal, 5-10%. So the all-or-nothing, go-big-or-go-home part of me sort of balked at that. 5%? come on! But the other part of me, the part that's dying to hike with her husband, shop in normal stores, not worry about health issues? She's a little excited about it. 5% of my weight is 10 lbs, which, although I have a lot more to lose, is no small feat. I know that small goals (which equals victories more often) will be super helpful. I'm already looking forward to hitting that 10 pound mark. and after that is the 10% (20lbs) mark, and when you hit that Weight Watchers gives you a key chain. Can I just tell you I love keychains? When I was a kid I had handfuls of them before I even had any keys to put on them. I've slimmed down my keychain collection considerably, so I'm definitely open to adding some bling. And from the pictures I saw online, it's pretty cute. The really cool thing is anytime you hit big milestones, they give you a charm to put on it. LOVE IT! Who wouldn't love it?

I'll leave you with some reasons I want to lose weight:

• reduce risk of certain diseases
• prepare my body for when we decide to have kids
• have more energy
• fight depression
• be able to participate in sports and outdoor activities
• shop in normal stores for CUTE clothes
• confidence
• better mood
• the keychain, obviously