WIR ~ Let's Get Fit 2014

[ners]

152.2 ners 155.6 (1/4/2014)

Happy with progress this week down 1,2 this week. 

More than 10,500 steps each day.

This week I want to work on drinking more water.

[sarcasticgirl]

 down another pound today!

5.5 so far this month.

what really makes me happy is that I know it isn't water weight. I drink at least 9 cups of water a day. My work husband (gay) notices EVERYTHING and told me friday "oohh, you lost weight! I can see it!" 

[kilroy]

I am ignoring the scale for a week or so as it's that time of the month & that screws everything up.  Sunday/Monday is probably a lost hope in terms of good eating/exercise, because my best friend is coming up from Philly & I'm spending Sunday night at her hotel so we can watch the season premiere of "Sherlock" (whoo hoo!).  So, dinner out tomorrow night, breakfast out on Monday.  But spinning class on Tuesday!

[chiver78]

very confused about the scale right now. back up to 202. I think I'm going to just not step on it for a couple days and just keep plugging along with healthy eating.

I debated going skiing today, the forecast had said rain showers. instead, I forgot to set my alarm and slept in until almost 10. I'm sitting here now, looking out my back window at huge snowflakes coming down. there's maybe an inch built up on my patio table. oh well, next time. not sure what I'm going to do now, I might head out to the gym for the first time in eons. we'll see.

breakfast today was a veggie egg scramble and some bacon, with coffee. I'm going to put together a paleo spaghetti pie later, so I'll have easy lunches this week. will have one serving for dinner, with a big salad.

[bobosensei]

I am jumping in as of this page. I am 5'8 currently 173 from a recent high of 177/179. I've been dieting trying to do Eat to Live, but really I am eating more grains, salt, oil, and sugar and less greens than called for. I've been steadily losing so I am not concerned at the moment. The goal is to get in the 140s, but I may have to modify as my body has more muscle now than I did in high school so I may end up in the 150s.

I have reduced my alcohol intake a good bit. I have 3-4 days a week where I don't consume anything and I cut the amount I consume down a lot on days I do have alcohol. I think maybe this has helped the most along with not eating cheese.

I am currently wearing size 10s in levis for a frame of reference.  I think a 6 would be a good place to get to.

[Iggy aka IG]

Welcome, bobosensei!  Similar to you, I refrained from drinking this week, and it made a bit of a difference. 



So, my fellow lifestyle changers, I have a question for you:  DH buys take out on Fridays, and part of the restaurant rotation includes the local pizza joint.  I'd like to refrain from eating pizza again, now that the holidays are over.  But, I don't think it's fair he abstains just because I'm on low carb.  Other than perhaps me ordering a salad and he buying a smaller size pizza, any suggestions?  Thank you in advance!

[Happy prose]

Iggy...can you eat salad and half a slice? I don't think I could give up pizza for good.

going to the gym in about a half hour. Don't feel like it. I think I'll start wearing my pedometer again.

[kilroy]

When it warms up (if it ever warms up...) I should start walking to work.  It's 1.9 miles, which would give me a lot of steps & if I choose the right avenue to walk up it should be less stressful than the crowded subway.

[sarcasticgirl]

Welcome, bobosensei!! 

iggy- i think you could keep pizza in the rotation if you wanted. I had pizza this week (twice actually- there was so much leftover) and still lost. I just ate a small portion and had veggies with it. I ate lighter during the day so it fit into my calories. no reason why you couldn't have a nice salad or veggies along with a slice of pizza.  
Though I understand if you want to give it up. I think a big salad is probably the best bet from the pizza place. 

[Pants]

Well, as predicted last night was a shit show. Hit the bread basket before dinner, and the dessert table after. Oops.  

Did swim today - 3000 yards. Dinner out tonight again for my mom's birthday and then cake, so I will need those negative calories after tonight and tomorrow..

[Iggy aka IG]

Thank you, Happy and sarcastic.  One slice has 35 carbs, and I'm trying to follow a 25 or less a day plan.  I pigged out on it last night , but only ended up gaining .4 lb.  Tomorrow might reveal something different.  We'll see.

Happy, did you end up going to the gym?

Kilroy, excellent idea!  I'm in the same boat-it's only about a mile from home to work.  It would be downhill to the office, walking home well....


Good job on the swim, bsb! 

[mizbear]

Bobo-just curious,you are 5'8? I am 5'4 & try not to go not muvh furthet than a 6 even though I have a small frame?

[MarionTh230]

Just popping in to say hi!  Plan on doing an update tomorrow (weigh in tonight) and hopefully some goals for the week.

Iggy - does the pizza place have a thin crust option?  Maybe that would be lower in carbs?  I'm a carb addict, so major props to you for the 25 a day goal!!!

bobosensei - welcome!

chiver - I specifically try to avoid getting on the scale too much just for that reason.  It will go down and up and down and up.  I am trying to "weigh in" once a week and then I usually step on it a couple of other times during the week just out of curiosity.  I try not to read too much into those intermittent times I step on the scale.

kilroy - a couple of days off the plan is well worth the quality time with a bff 

bsbound - all those planned social activities and you still managed to "squeeze" in a 3,000 yard swim.  I'm not sure if I should hate you or be inspired by you.........

sarcastic - every once in awhile just breaking even on calories is good enough.  I have fallen prey to the Popeye's chicken more than once.  But, I see the scale was kind to you so you did good!

ners - congrats on the loss and the 10,500 steps a day.  That is seriously awesome!

tcu - I was tired after just reading your post.  You burned a buttload of calories (unless you don't want them to burn off your butt, in which case you burned an abdomen-load, or a thigh-load, or something LOL)

happy prose - do you have any idea on what you want your goal to be if you start using the pedometer?  I see quite a few people here are using them and seems to be working in terms of holding them accountable to themselves so it may be an easy way to sneak in some activity.

mizbear - I see you're here, and feeling better now I hope?


Back tomorrow with some hard numbers and concrete goals for the week.  

[mizbear]

Tired but better. I ditched the new eating plan and my tummy stopped revolting. I am pretty sure the scale won't be happy, but oh well. I had to do something. Going back to Wednesday weigh ins. Posting more concrete stuff later.

[Happy prose]

Iggy...yes, went to the gym, but ate like a horse last night.

marionth...I'll try for 10,000 steps per day. Easy on my gym days. I walk every morning also, but then on some non gym days I sit around too much.

I really need to stop eating junk. Since new years eve I've been hitting the bad snacks. AS OF TODAY, BACK TO BETTER EATING. There, I said it and will stick to it. I don't know why i fell off to begin with. I blame my husband for bringing home snacks.

[Happy prose]

Iggy...25 carbs a day?!?! I'd fail before 7 A.M.! Are you doing the Atkins diet?

[mizbear]

Happy- You and me both LOL! My doctor was telling Mom and I about how many carbs we should have and I told her I would shoot for good carbs but I was not shooting for X # carbs- that was too much like work.

So far this morning  I have accomplished not going back to bed, doing a load of laundry and a cup of swiss miss with soy protein added. But I really want to just go back to bed for a little bit. Oh yeah, and I have narrowed my umpteen sources for my powerpoint down to the necessary 4-6. However, my attention still needs work- it's very Maxine-ish- right now it's along the lines of- I'm up, I'm awake, I did the damn assignment, even put on business attire for the video - WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT!?

I think this week I am going to start tweaking things greatly:

tell me what you all think:

basically I am going to go full steam with a mash up of everything that has worked in the past:

I have some not workout and diet related things to work on that will help with this situation...

Then-

1. Forget the diet. DIets don't work for me. I know this. Dropping any food group tears my stomach up. I don't eat a lot of sweets, cheese, sour cream and yogurt are my main dairy, I don't eat much fried stuff, and most of my fruits are fruit-vegetables like avocado, eggplants, cukes (vegetables that are genetically fruits).

2. Follow my personal exercise routine- the one that makes me happy. The one that wears me out and makes me sore and makes my muscles burn. I don't need P90X3 or anything (although a treadmill or elliptical would be nice). I know how to do the planks and jumps and lunges and push ups squats and lifts and what not- I just need to do them.

3. Meditate- I need to empty my trash head every day. And I don't care what some people say about praying versus meditation.

[kilroy]

Oh, and I meant to say, welcome Bobosensei! Good to have you here.

[MarionTh230]

This may be a long post, so feel free to skim or skip.  I'm using this as a way to be accountable to myself.  I figure, once I put it in writing, I have committed myself to it.

Recap
Goal is to lose 35 lbs in 2014.  Since that averages out to less than a pound a week, I am really wanting to focus on creating new habits that will stick this time.
In my head, weeks start on Sunday so today starts Week 3 (I didn't count the first 4 days of 2014 as a week.  Yes, my obsession with the calendar is a bit abnormal.)
Week 1 was a complete bomb.  Week 2 (that just ended yesterday) was better, but I still didn't realize my goal of walking the dogs around the block twice.  I only walked them once.

Week 3 Goals

• Walk the dogs 3 times this week.
• Decrease sodium intake.

Today is gorgeous so I will walk the boys this afternoon.  That means I have to squeeze 2 more walks in during my work week.  The weather will be decent and I don't have anything pressing on my calendar, so I really have no excuse to not do this and meet my goal for this week.

I've been using MyPlate to count calories, and it also lists some nutritional info.  My sodium intake is higher than it should be.  In addition to losing weight, I really want to incorporate nutrition throughout the year too.  This will be a good opportunity to work on those new habits I mentioned.

Numbers Update
I think a good way for me to do this is to list my start, my last, and my current.  That will allow me to see my total progress, and also track my more recent weekly progress.

Start	1/1/14	209.0
Last	1/14/14	207.2
Current	1/18/14	205.0

I've lost a total of 4 lbs, and 2.2 of those in the last half-week.  That is much more than I expected!  
The calorie counting has really helped me out here, because my hand to mouth disease was causing me to intake way more calories than I truly needed.  I've always heard that the first few pounds come off pretty quick, so I am optimistic that by the time I hit a plateau, I will have some more physical activity built in my routine to help compensate.  Overall, I am pleased.  If I manage to stick with this plan through January, that will be the LONGEST I have ever been able to stick with a diet/weight loss/lifestyle plan EVER.

New Habits

• Tracking daily calorie intake & regularly meeting calorie goal

I only have one new habit, but it's still early in the year.  One minor setback I am having though is tracking calories on Sundays.
During the work week I just track everything from my desktop.  Since I bring my lunch and dinner is usually planned I do very well M-F.
Saturdays tend to be pretty routine/scheduled for me.  So on Fridays, I just input my projected meals.  If I deviate from that, I just make the adjustments, which are pretty minor.

Sundays, on the other hand, are not at all routine or scheduled for me.  As a result, I end up eating more than I should without really noticing it or tracking it until after the fact.  I have to do a better job on tracking on Sundays.

Pat on the Back
Somebody at work brought chocolate covered sunflower seeds on Friday.  I succumbed to them.  But, the bag had a label on it and I watched my portion size.  I then input everything into the calorie counter.  I ended up foregoing my planned afternoon snack, so the substitution still kept me within my calorie goal for the day.  It was actually nice to be able to use substitution to allow myself a small treat.  Normally, I would just use my weakness as an excuse to blow my calories for the rest of the day.  I think my mindset is changing and I'm embracing things this time around.  

In other interesting news, these chocolate covered sunflower seeds were a free gift with order.  I checked out the website that my coworker had ordered from and they have a lot of stuff that I either can't find in the grocery or they have it cheaper than I can get it on Amazon.  Lots of grains, trail mixes, organic energy bars, etc.  I've made a note of it, and will probably order something in the next month or so.  Right now, I'm happy with the snacks I have, but I know I will eventually get bored.  This will be a good way for me to change it up and get some variety occasionally.

Marion's Ramblings
I don't get time to post too much, but I am following along and rooting for all of you!

Right now, I'm on the edge of my seat every time bsbound posts a weigh in update.  She is so close to her goal it is driving me crazy because I just can't wait for her to get there!

I'm watching chiver's foray into paleo with lots of curiosity.  I am not at all familiar with paleo so it is very informative for me to see how real people incorporate it into their everyday life.  I don't think paleo will ever be my cup of tea, but there are some bits and pieces that I think can be useful as I learn more about it.

Iggy's self control with that carb goal has me seriously impressed.  

All you pedometer peeps are really giving me a lot to think about.  As I go forward I will be stealing incorporating some of your strategies into my weekly goals. 

We're a little past the halfway mark for January, and everybody is doing a great job.  I'm learning a lot from everybody and just following along with everybody is a great motivator for me.  Keep it up!

[chiver78]

today is going to be a lazy day on the couch for me. I've bailed on my hockey game tonight, and don't plan to leave the house.

yesterday, I managed to freak myself out enough about tingly fingers in my left arm all day (after sleeping on my arm all night the night before) that by the time I was making dinner, my BP was high enough that I could feel my pulse in my neck and I was just a mess. so, off I went to the ER for a pricey sanity check that no, I was not going to stroke out in my sleep. very long story short, I spent about 4 hours in there getting completely checked out. they never figured out what sent my BP sky-high, but as I sat there while we waited for chest x-ray and CT results to come back, it steadily dropped. it was still way high when they released me, but I freak out just walking into a hospital to visit someone else. all results came back clear, so we don't know why I spiked like that other than by freaking myself out.

and I woke up this morning with no tingly fingers. lesson learned - do not google what you *think* might be wrong with you. you'll just make yourself nuts.


so, I will be seeing my dr this week at some point to figure out wtf happened yesterday. the last time I had my BP checked, I was around 140 (which I know is a little high) and the only thing I'm doing differently is the paleo - that's kind of frightening, to be honest. whether that's the cause, who knows. so I'm going to kind of lay low until I can get in to see my dr, and not really go nuts about sticking to paleo. even if that's not what did it, I don't think it's a good idea to risk making it happen again.

take care of yourselves, and listen to your body.

[bobosensei]

Jan 18, 2014 21:16:09 GMT -5 mizbear said:

Bobo-just curious,you are 5'8? I am 5'4 & try not to go not muvh furthet than a 6 even though I have a small frame?

I am not going to kill myself trying, but given my personal history I think it is reasonable.  My goal is to lower my blood pressure and cholesterol and to get healthier.  I believe that a 20-30 pound weight loss will be a side effect of this process and I am guessing as to the corresponding size changes, but we will see. 

The first step for me is to get back into the 160s.  I have so many great clothes that I can't wear anymore from when I was in that weight range.  I have several weeks of business travel coming up from February through June and getting back into those clothes will help.  But business travel always makes me retain water and go up a few pounds so I am not sure how that will delay my goals.

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome!!

[sarcasticgirl]

I love to see everyone's plans shaping up! Half the battle is figuring out what works for you! And I find it interesting how much everyone's plans seem to vary!

chiver- so glad to hear nothing is wrong! so strange about your blood pressure. Hopefully you can get some answers when you visit your DR. 


Last night I knocked back half a bottle of wine on an empty stomach (I don't drink very much these days) and ended up being too buzzed to cook myself the dinner I had planned (DH was out for a guys night) so i munched on some potato chips and boiled some pasta, then threw in garlic, cottage cheese, butter and some parm. It stayed within my calorie range, but wasn't anywhere close to what I planned. plus I had it at like 9pm... was up 2 pounds on the scale from the carbs and salt so late at night. 

BUT- i still needed 3000 steps to hit goal when i started my wine drinking.... I, not so soberly, walked my few steps forward, few steps back until i reached my 10000 steps for the day! 10000+ every day for the past week. 

[Happy prose]

Chiver...I hope you're feeling better. I can imagine how scared you were.

Marion...congrats on the four pounds! Keep it up! Can you share the website with the snacks?

So far today I went to the gym and walked a half hour on the treadmill. Sticking to my eating plan too. I'm wearing my pedometer, and so far 6300 steps. Maybe I'll go to a store to get in some more. If not, I'll walk around my living room!

[MarionTh230]

Just got back from my walk with the boys.  1 walk down, 2 walks to go this week.

Chiver - 

Happy - it was nuts<dot>com Here's some of the things I was looking at (have no idea if the links will work, I'm still learning)

Organic Carob Super Green Energy Squares
They look yummy, and would be better than the prepackaged granola bars from the grocery.
link

Roasted Almonds - Unsalted
I can get these, but it's like $6 for an 8 oz container, so this looks like a better deal.
link

Organic Golden Flax Seed Meal
I have a bad history of heart disease on both sides of my family, and I have heard that flax seed can be good to incorporate into your diet.
I can't find this at the grocery, only on Amazon, and this is cheaper than what I had found on Amazon.
link

Vegan "Cheese" Kale Chips
I saw the discussion here about kale chips/brussel sprout chips.  These look like they would be salty.
I don't get hankerings for salty snacks often, but when I do, I get into trouble.
I was thinking these would be good to have around instead of chips/crackers/pretzels so I could satisfy my salt crave when it hits.
link


They have a lot of stuff on there.  Right now my snacks are mostly fruit, yogurt, and baby carrots.
When I get bored with that, I think it will be a good time to throw in some nuts/grains.  Even though the calorie counts on some of these are higher, they seem to be nutritionally dense which is a fair trade off.

[Pants]

As predicted, last night was a little rough on the diet. I ordered a salad at dinner and only snuck a couple French fries and a few bites of grilled cheese from my daughter's plate.  When we came home had cake and ice cream - I took a small portion, but I'm sure I was over calories for the day. That's why I swam so far, anyway! Was up a pound on the scale, though. So currently at 9 lbs each to go for DH and I...

An hour weights/circuit training so far today, plus running errands this morning. Grubbing on some chicken and veggies now. Gonna go crazy and eat a string cheese, too. I am a wild woman!

[kilroy]

MarionTh230 - I love that site!  DH orders 25 lbs of roasted, salted peanuts at a time from them (yeah, he's a little crazy), they show up the very next day and they come in these awesome cardboard boxes with funny slogans all over them (the boxes make great kitty forts ) 

[mizbear]

bobo- Got it!  

I am fortunate, I can get both flax and chia right here in town without any problem.

[tcu2003]

Well, Saturday was a bust as far as exercise, but back on track on Sunday. We took DS to the park, and he fell asleep in his stroller on the way home, so we extended our walk. We walked over 4.5 miles - it amazes me how much faster time goes and that I don't notice it nearly as much if I'm walking outside as opposed to the treadmill.

I also took DS with me on a couple of errands, and wore him in the Ergo so I didn't have to contend with him wanting to get out of the cart or running all over the store. Walking around with an extra 28 or so lbs counts as exercise, too, right? ?

[Pants]

tcu - hell yeah it counts!

[Pants]

Well, apparently all that exercise wasn't enough. Spent last night changing out sconces and the chandelier in our dining room. It looks less like a room out of an alien spaceship now! But holding the chandelier up as we changed it made me sorry that I did so many flys yesterday!

I can barely move today - apparently the jump squats and drop lunges really kicked my ass - literally. Having a rough time this morning any time I want to, you know, move...