Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving tomorrow!

I've taken this whole "maintaining" thing too far, I think. :-)

Over the last few weeks, I've substituted one food for another, and in the process, added calories a little here and there. As a result, I have not lost anything. I weighed this morning at 176.4, which is the same as always. I'm not complaining, although it sounds like I'm bummed out. I'm really not. I'm enjoying my maintaining schedule.
Last week, I went to a "food" party, where samples were served, and we could order yummy things to fill our pantry. I sampled, and I bought. And I didn't feel guilty. It was actually nice to feel like I could have a bite of something, and not have a million eyes staring at me. I used to always think that, even among friends, there were those that were thinking, "She shouldn't be eating that!" or, "Get that girl a salad!" LOL
I'm back to normal, and really happy about it. I'm feeling less judged every day. :-)
Last weekend, I went to Reno with Bunna's mom, and we ate, and drank, and gambled! Our drink of choice is Bailey's and coffee, and we had a few. We also made a sharp right into the little goodie shop upstairs at Circus Circus when we smelled ice cream. Yes, you CAN smell ice cream, if your ice cream radar in on, and ours apparently was.
I was good to a point, though. I haven't lost all my senses, yet! I had a veggie panini on Friday night, with a bowl of soup. And a cookie for dessert. On Saturday night, I had a big Cobb salad and bowl of soup. I stole a couple of onion rings from Bunna's mom's plate, but other than that, I was mostly under control.
Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and it goes without saying that the food will be tempting. I think I'll have a glass of Benefiber before we go to Bunna's family's house, and I might dig up a capsule or two of Hoodia. I bought it a while back, and haven't really tested it yet. I've heard good things, but I'm not much for supplements like that. I don't trust them completely to be safe. But I'll try them tomorrow, and see if they don't curb my appetite a little. It's tough when everything smells so good and there are so many treats everywhere!
I'll check in again after this holiday. Christmas is coming, and with it, the stress of the season; shopping, finances, and work. It will be a new test for me to make it through the holidays without bouncing too high on the scale!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Holidays are comin'!

Well, here come the holidays. If I want to have that extra cushion of safety, then I need to lose 10 lbs before Thanksgiving! That way, if I have an extra calorie here and there, it won't throw me into a tailspin!
Went to the gym today, after a long hiatus. It felt good, considering I haven't been on an elliptical in months. I did a solid 30 minutes, which is more than what I did 80 pounds ago. It didn't kill me, and in fact, felt good. My legs weren't burning, although that would be a good thing. It was nice to know that I'm not so out of shape that I can do that length of time without pooping out. If I had cranked up the intensity, I would have felt some burn. Next time maybe. This time it was enough to know that I'm back on the horse... hopefully, for a while.
I was on a machine today between two friends. I didn't know they were friends, or I might have jumped on a machine on the end. But they didn't mind so much that I had gotten between them. They continued to talk, and included me.
Turns out both of them had gone to Curves before, like I had. And amazingly, we hadn't run into each other there, because we all went to the same location, during the same period of time.
And although we all had good things to say about the experience, we all agreed that there was more socializing and games going on there than actual working out. The three of us couldn't say that we had lost any weight, or toned up during our time there.
One of the women goes to a 6 am strength training class on Wednesday mornings at our current gym. She's not much older than me, and in comparable shape, so I think I could handle it. Assuming that I can get my buns out of bed at 5:30. Ugh... am I actually considering this? We'll see.
She told me it's a 10 minute stationary bike warm up, then a type of circuit program. I'm assuming it's an hour class, and she says they switch weights every 60 seconds. Hmmm. Sounds like a pretty active class! Whether I can get through it without my morning coffee is yet to be seen... But knowing my coffee is waiting for me in my warm kitchen would be a good reward!
This morning I weighed 178, which is at the high end of my bounce range. Back on schedule this week, with no more "little of this" and "a little of that". I should be back down towards the lower end of the range, around 173, in another week. Then I can start pushing again towards getting into the 160's. Nice... I haven't seen those numbers in about 30 years! Haha.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Same weight for 4 weeks.

So, my birthday came and went, and now I am the big 4-7. A couple weeks before my birthday, I realized that I was only 3 pounds from my goal weight of 170. Actually, it was on October 20th, that I weighed 173.2.
I've had a lot of days since then that have been nowhere near my goal intake of 1100 daily calories. In fact, I'm sure there were days I was pushing 2000 calories. But, based on most guides I've read regarding a person's necessary caloric needs, I should be eating 2400 calories to maintain my weight, and if I were to eat 2000 a day, it would take quite some time to lose anything. I think that eating 2000 a day would put me at a weight loss rate of 1-2 pounds per month.
So on October 20th, I thought I would hit my goal weight by my birthday, which was the 27th. One week to lose 3 pounds? Totally do-able, but it would have meant that I would have to watch my calories closely, and get in a good workout daily.
Those things just didn't happen, for some reason. I think now that I'm in a size I like, and my weight is so normal, it's just become less of a priority to actually lose more. I'm happy with my current size, and whether or not I lose the next 5-10 in a month, or 6 months, isn't a huge concern.
This morning I weighed 177.2, which is exactly what I weighed on September 29th. So it's been 4 weeks of maintaining, with no loss. I have been as low as 173.2, but I tend to bounce up and down about 3-4 pounds, depending what my body is going through that day. Cramping and bloating tend to keep my up a couple pounds, and then they come off after a couple days.
My big thing now is toning, and building muscle. I really have to do this, and it's not something I'm thrilled about... yet. There was a time when I loved going to the gym, and I loved my walking. But up until now, the dieting has worked so well for me, I haven't felt the need to exercise at all. I know, I know. It's gotta happen. And one day, I'll wake up, and just like the day I started to eat healthy, I'll know this is the day I'm going to stick with my exercise. That day just hasn't hit me yet. But it's coming... soon.