Weekly Weigh in 6: February Goals and Measurement Update!

    Hello everyone and welcome back to week 6 of my Weekly Weigh-In series!   It's been a pretty eventful week in our house. My daughter caught a nasty virus and was sick with a high fever most of the week.  There was little sleep to be had, and as a result the last two days have been pretty off the rails as far as adhering to the program.   I didn't track, prepared very little meals, and snacked a whole lot (also at random times).

     All of this made me realize just how important a good nights sleep is when trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  I don't know about anyone else, but when I am tired I lose all motivation to do... well anything really.  As a parent it can be really challenging to get that full 7-8 hours of sleep in a night. Even when I do manage to get myself into bed before 11 pm, many nights I find myself catching up on social media, watching an episode or two of my favorite show or simply just enjoying the highly sought after moment of silence.  All of which eats into my time actually sleeping.

     So my first goal of February will be to get myself into bed a bit earlier and to be ASLEEP by 11 pm.  This may be a bit of a lofty goal for me, as I am a classic night owl.  But I figured it wouldn't hurt to try out for a month or so and see if it has any positive effect on my motivation and weight loss.

     Second big goal of the month is to move more.  I slacked a bit on the treadmill/walks this past week (mostly due to exhaustion).  My goal last month was to simply get on the treadmill.  I think its time to also put the minimum time of 15 minutes on each session.  I'd like to do longer, but realistically speaking I can get a solid 15 minutes without child or dog interruption (this is training for them too!).

      I'd love to hear what your goals are for the month of February if you have any.  They don't have to be weight loss or health oriented (I too have other goals). Comment below what you would like to achieve and we can help keep each other accountable!

   And as promised, at the beginning of each month I will post the most flattering of selfies and keep you up to date on my measurements.  I'll admit looking at this month's picture I didn't see any change at all.  I wasn't expecting to see much difference, I have a lot of weight to lose and it's only the 1st month.  So imagine my shock when the physical measurements actually reflect my weight loss! It almost made posting the photo and measurements worth it (almost).

Special guest star: Loki the fluffy pup

Measurements:

Bust: 52" (-2")            Bicep: 18" (-1.5")
Waist: 51" (-1")          Thigh: 35" (-1")
Hip: 64" (+0.5")


Starting Weight: 342.4 lbs
Current Weight: 330.8 lbs
Weekly Loss/Gain: -0.6 lbs
Total Loss: -11.6 lbs

Motivational Song of the Week:

Different kind of song this week.  'Avalanche' by Bring Me The Horizon (listen to the song and watch the video here).  Several of my close friends have confided to me that these past weeks have been rather hard for them mentally/emotionally.  Many times it helps me to simply hear that I am not the only one struggling, that I am not alone.  So while this song isn't motivating in the traditional sense, it does help convey the feelings that I sometimes struggle with.  Know that you are not alone in feeling this way.  Also I just really like Bring Me The Horizon.


     Thank you everyone for checking in and your continued support!  I will see all of you next week!
   

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Weekly Weigh In 4: Abject Failure and My New Walking Buddy

     I won't lie to you guys, I really didn't want to write this post at all.  If you read last week's post you know two things.  One: I had the stomach flu, and two: I lost a shit ton of weight due to that flu.  I speculated that I would likely gain some of that weight back as I was fairly dehydrated.  Oh how right I was.

    Because I didn't just gain some of it back.  No. Being the overachiever that I am, I gained ALL of it back and then some.  Where is my gold star?! Ugh. I feel completely defeated.

    So what happened?  To be honest, I am not exactly sure.  I can assume a good portion of the weight was in fact due to re hydration.  The extra weight gained has left me puzzled.  I talked in my meeting about the potential reasons for the extra weight.  I realized that today I did two things outside my normal schedule for weigh in day.

     First I weighed in with different clothes.  Usually I opt for yoga pants and a tee shirt.  Today I am wearing jeans and a light sweater with a tank under it.  While I don't personally believe that the change in outfit should affect the scale so much, there were several women who have reached lifetime that INSISTED an outfit can make a big change.  (For those who don't know lifetime members are people in Weight Watchers that have reached and continue to maintain their goal weight)

     The second thing I did differently this morning was eat breakfast before weighing in.  Again something that other members have said has affected their weigh in results.  Especially if historically you have weighed in before eating (which usually I do).

     Finally, something I realized on my own while reflecting through my tracker is that this past week I have reverted back to some of my less healthy eating habits. Yes, I stayed within my daily and weekly point limits. But several days this week I skipped lunch and afternoon snack, instead having a very large dinner.  I don't know exactly how much that would affect a weigh in, as I did manage to stay on track points wise, but I feel that perhaps it's better to avoid doing that in the future.

     So where does this leave me?  Well almost starting completely over again.  It's frustrating for sure.  I kinda feel like the past two weeks' worth of work has been for nothing.  But I also recognize that the me before this probably would have used this set back as an excuse to quit.  I probably would have let the feelings of failure (shame?) to be an excuse to binge and the guilt of that binge to be the reason why I wouldn't weigh in again.  I'm not going to let myself do that this time around.  I recognize that this journey is going to be me changing my mindset as much as it's going to be me changing my diet and weight.  I can't let these set backs completely derail me from my goal.

     Which is why I am writing this week's post despite all the voices in my head yelling at me to stop and find solace in the cookie dough.

     OK, enough of the pity party. Let's talk about what I was able to accomplish this week.  I am happy to report that I was able to get out for two small walks this week.  Which I know isn't the three that I had originally hoped for, but it is better than the zero I had accomplished before.  So I am calling that a win.  And I have this little guy to thank for the motivation:

     This is our new puppy, Loki.  Loki is a Great Pyrenees, and right now he's about 10 weeks old. He absolutely loves going for walks so whenever the weather clears (recently it's been raining and/or icy) I take him for a little stroll around the block when I need to take him outside.  So far walking on the treadmill has been a bit of a challenge as this little fuzz butt gets a little too excited with the moving bits and attacks it.  I'm hoping that eventually he will get used to it, or I'll have to put him in the crate while I walk.

     That's all I have to report for this week!  Thank you for all the messages of support I have received!  It really does help me stay motivated and on task!  I will see you next week!

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Weekly Weigh 3: Uhhh.. I lost how much?!

"I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight."

                       

                                                                             - Emily, The Devil Wears Prada

     Damn, it's been a long week.  A long, shitty week.  There's just no sugar coating this weekly weigh in. It's going to be short and blunt because mama needs to get her ass back in bed. 

     Where to begin?  Ok goals.  Did I achieve the goals I set out for myself last week? NO, not a single step was taken on the treadmill.  Instead, our family came down with the stomach flu (yours truly included).   When I wasn't attending to one of my sick children in the bathroom, I was in there myself.  It was a horrible experience and for 3 days I could barely find the energy to stay awake, let alone exercise. 

     Thankfully, it seems to have passed. Solid food oh how I have missed you!  I will simply re-use last week's goals for this upcoming week. 3 times on the treadmill, not counting distance or time, just get on there.  If it would warm up a bit outside, I may even take a walk outside with my new walking buddy (stay tuned for next week's formal introduction).  

     So how did this week end up reflecting on the scale?  Ugh, today was hard guys. I walked in to my meeting, knowing that I was going to be down.  But I wasn't feeling all that proud of it. I mean, I didn't work for it. I didn't even eat!  Plus, despite my best efforts, I could tell that I am still suffering from a bit of dehydration.  Meaning that much of my weight loss likely is just water weight and I might end up gaining it back next week.

     10.8 pounds!  10 fucking pounds I vomited away this week!  Holy shit. Immediately I was warned that this was a dangerous amount of weight to lose in a week. Umm yeah totally unintentional.  This put me not only past my first 5 lbs lost, but also my 10 lbs and 15 lbs marker.  Usually all celebrated in your Weight Watcher meetings.  I wouldn't let them give me my 15 lbs sticker. It was difficult enough standing up for my 5 and 10 lbs stickers knowing that it wasn't through my hard work but rather some chance encounter with a virus that pushed me to that point.  If I keep the weight off next week (when fully re-hydrated) I will celebrate then.


Starting Weight:342.4 lbs
Current Weight: 327.2 lbs
Weekly Gain/Lost: -10.8 lbs
Total Lost: 15.2 lbs

     I'm not kidding when I said I'm now going to bed!  It's going to be warm and there's blankets and pillows and I have no shame... I'm going to bed at 6:30 pm and I'm gonna love it. I survived today and got through my meeting, the kids, and watching after my walking buddy - that deserves an early bedtime!  Mostly I still am worn out from the mess that was this past week.

    I look forward to checking in next week,  hopefully with a better attitude and a fun introduction!  

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Weight Watchers Week 1: Back On This Again?

     I know what you all are thinking?  "Oh she's back at blogging again? How quaint."  You'd only be half wrong, or half right which ever side of the philosophical glass tickles your fancy.  

     Yes, it is true that I have returned to blogging.  It's been something I have been meaning to get back to for some time now. But you know, kids, life, blah blah blah.  However, I am also returning to another program and that is Weight Watchers.

     OMG shock and appall!  Valerie from A Beauty in the Chaos is fat?!  Yeah. Have been for quite some time. And while it's not something that I am particularly fond of, I don't let it define who I am.

     So what has changed, why start now?  Man, I don't know.  I know the program works for me, I have been successful with it in the past. Usually when I return, I feel confident and excited to start a new regime.  This time I just don't feel that sudden urge of motivation, I'm skeptical of my ability to stick with it.  I just feel like something needs to change, I need to change.  

      I want to be more active with my kids. That's probably the biggest motivation for this change.  A week ago we took our kids to the trampoline park, and I couldn't jump with them.  Not that I didn't want to, or that I didn't feel like it. I couldn't. As in they wouldn't let me. I exceeded the max weight limit. If there is something I hate more than being fat, it's being told "no".

    Forward to now, half way through my first week.  Grumbling and bitching to myself because I started right before New Years.  Which means in addition to the slightly starved feeling I always have the first week of the program (it clears up by the second week when I start making better choices), I also had to limit my drinks and refuse a bunch of delicious food at my family get together.  But, I AM getting through it, and staying on track.

     So, this is it. My lackluster introduction to my new weekly series following my progress!  Of course I will do my best to continue the monthly favorites posts and Pintertest series. I also hope to add in some posts where I review various recipes that I am trying out.  And of course if you have any feedback on something you would like me to try out, feel free to comment with your suggestion below!

     For now, adios!  I will be back on Thursday for my weekly weigh in and let you know the results of my first week.

P.S. Ah fuck I forgot this part of the damn series where I tell you my starting weight and such.

Ok, ok starting weight 342.4lbs.  I will give measurements out next week when I'm feeling a bit braver. You already got my starting weight! DON'T BE GREEDY! :)
   
 
       

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