Week 9 recap... Week 10 Let's GO!

Week 9 Results: 
164.8
+.6

I can't say I didn't see it coming. I am pretty happy that it's not more than that. I can still live with myself. :) As much as I complained about "having" to do this, when I rebelled and went to snack on something, I would go eat a banana. I just like having the choice to eat a banana split. So, I think my Choco challenge was a success.

I am 44 minutes under my Chip Challenge from last week. I should have gone to walk on Sunday and I would have easily made it. There's no excuse but excuses.


I am excited for the Chip challenge this week! We need more exercise!

 
Week 10 Challenge:
My challenge this week will be 3 fruits/veggies a day.  I think I do this now but I could be surprised. I am enjoying bananas more than I have in the past. They are easy, I don't have to think about them. I just pick it up and eat it. I'm sure I'll get sick of them like I got sick of blueberries. Shh. Don't tell the blueberries. By next summer, I'll be all about the berries.

Chip 9/10

199.3
-.9

This week was mediocre, as far as doing things "right" goes, but they can't all be firecracker weeks and the scale moved in the right direction, so I'm happy.  Nutrition just did not happen this week, but I kept my calories low enough and moved around just enough to lose (almost!) a pound.  I'm disenchanted with tracking again, but I know from every single weight loss study/article/book ever written or performed that it's not an option.  So it's back to the notebook for Chip, at least for a week.  That's an excuse-proof method because there is zero effort involved other than picking up a pen.  As always, Choco is free to request a pic at any time!

I'm pretty sure I did 150 minutes of walking, though with the less-than-stellar tracking I can't say that for sure.  This week I HAVE to get back to the gym - no really, I HAVE to because my debit card expired in September and if I don't show them the new one before they take out my monthly payment, I'll get slammed with an insufficient payment fee!  So it's back to the treadmill/elliptical.  I love them.  They are my friends.  Choco's challenge was awesome and I tried to keep it in my mind all week.  A couple times I took my book outside to read, because a sunny autumn backyard is a less tempting snack atmosphere than a cozy indoor easy chair.  And last night I went out to eat with a friend and focused more on what she was saying than the chips & salsa in front of me.  Did a little walkaround afterward for more talking too!

CHIP CHALLENGE #10

Pick one exercise each for arms, abs, and butt/thighs.  Do 30 reps daily of each exercise.  (30 seconds can be substituted if you choose an endurance move like plank - try for longer!)   Mine are wall sit, wall pushups, and classic crunches.  Already completed for Saturday, bam!

Week 8 Blah/Week 9 Please for the love of God

200.2

+.6

I pretty much blew both challenges.  I don't know what to keep saying over and over.  Positive reinforcement inspires me and gets me motivated, but until I make some kind of lasting changes, it doesn't stick.  Negative reinforcement doesn't work because it just makes me mad and I do the opposite out of spite.  (Yes, even if it's my own self trying to negatively reinforce myself.)

Basically I need to stop talking about it and planning it, and just freaking do it.  I'm giving myself the rest of October to lose three weeks in a row, and then it's a shift into "Big Is Beautiful" and body acceptance crap.

This week's Chip Challenge is a repeat - 150 exercise minutes!  Walking counts :)

Week 8 Recap, PARTY and Week 9 Challenge

DID YOU READ THAT HEADER? 

DID!??!?! YOU!??!?! READ!??!?! THAT?!?!!!?! HEADER!??!?!

Week 8 Results: 
I weighed in last week at 165.8. I wanted to just have a slacker week. I wanted to do nothing more than just sit and eat. This week was one of the worst I have experienced in recent memory. I literally powered through with my head down and prayed constantly for something to let up. LOL
Meanwhile, I can honestly say, I did NOT turn to food for comfort. That's a badge in itself I think!

Just this morning I stepped on the scale, fully expecting my hell week to carry over... I'm 164.2. That puts me down 1.6 pounds for the week and .2 pounds under my first goal!!!! 

 I think I fulfilled Chip's challenge to do better than I did last week. I know she's proud of me right now! We are dancing together right now. LOL I think I did fulfill my challenge even though I didn't specifically think about each food, I did think about my overall meals. Not too much on my plate and not too many of the bad things.


I also completed my personal challenge of no fast food breakfasts! I'm SO proud of this one, you don't even know. The number of calories x the taste of the food = negative net enjoyment. I still love me a fountain soda though. :)

 
Week 9 Challenge: Do what you love, but do it without going outside your calorie goal.

If you like to go to the movies, do it but get the "kid meal" of teeny popcorn, snack size M&Ms and a diet coke. It's not good for you but it's not about the food. :)

If you like sitting on the couch and reading, do it without food.Quilting without food is easier, I don't want to get the fabric all yucky. Maybe I should just never stop quilting...

Have a date night with friends or family and pay attention to them, not the food.

I'm guilty of all of these things and also of actively avoiding these types of things because they are rough food situations to be in.

Chip Week Results/CC #8

Chip Week!  It was great, it was awesome, I'm glad it's over.  Hee!  But I do thank Choco for creating some really good challenges and being mega supportive (yes you were!) because. . .

199.6 (!)
-2.6 (!)
Goal Date:  March 21

As I shared with Choco this week, I was seeing my final goal date move further and further back on my calorie-counting app every week I didn't get results.  So I'm keeping a closer eye on that.  It's now back in the safe zone of pre-Vegas, but I'd like a bigger safety net than 2 days.

Saturday's physical challenge was 21 squats.  I pulled up YouTube to make sure I got proper form and found a squat challenge set to (and the length of) "Call Me Maybe".  I threw myself into it, to hell with proper form, and did it.  Felt pretty smug, but it would come back to bite me later.  Mental challenge was to think about what I did right on the last day of the previous week.  I didn't make notes on this one, so the only thing I remember thinking was that I avoided snacky stuff in the evening specifically because it was the night before  weigh-in and I always think "Come on, you can make it one evening."   Here's a thought - maybe EVERY night should be the "night before a weigh-in"!

Sunday:  Physical was 30 wall push-ups.  Did it in 2 sets of 15.  I always forget that it's kind of cool to have that sore feeling in a particular muscle and know that you worked it.  (Not like injury-level sore, but you know what I mean.)  Mental was some VEGAS preplanning!  This was my favorite challenge of the week, and definitely inspirational.

Monday:  Physical was 2 sets of 15 knee ups.  I did them.  I was not happy.  Mental was to envision a perfect day and follow through.  I had good intentions, but the day was definitely far from perfect.  Monday was a generally grouchy day.  Oh, and I had a bonus to find a delicious new healthy recipe, and I kind of half-assed it.

Tuesday:  Physical was two wall sits for as long as I could go.  Holy crap, wall sits are hard.  But again, I dig the "Oh, I can feel that I actually did something" burny feeling.  Mental was to go to Fitness Blender and pick my own physical challenge for the next day.  A really cool site with thousands of videos, exercises, workouts. . . . I chose a classic crunch because I'm a simple gal.

Wednesday:  Did 50 crunches for my physical.  Hooray for abs!  Mental was to start a running workout playlist on the blog, which you have already seen.

Thursday:  I woke up with a searing muscle rip of some kind in my back, the same place that had been vaguely twinge-y since the stupid Call Me Maybe squats.  So I was unable to complete the physical challenge, which was to go all out with my steps.  Backup was to stay at or under my calorie limit, which I did.  Mental was to pretend I was down to the last 10 pounds, and that I was already the girl who had gotten me to that point.  That was a good one, as I feel like I'm constantly striving and failing to be that girl.

Friday:  Physical was car dance party!  I completed this one with relish.  Mental was to make a list of all my obstacles and decide if they were true obstacles or excuses.  I didn't want to face this one because I KNOW most of my obstacles are excuses!  I've said before that I'm allowed to lose weight, no one is holding a gun to my head and making me eat donuts.  It's just freaking hard.  But basically the only true obstacle I have is the living situation.  And all I can do is find ways to work around it, and work to change it as soon as possible.  Hating exercise and being addicted to junk food are excuses.  All fat people hate exercise.  Everyone is addicted to junk food. (I read Salt Sugar Fat too!)  And all my mental obstacles (not trusting myself, having trouble with consistency, building momentum, yada yada yada) boil down to just getting over it and doing what I know I need to do.  So.

*WEEK 8 CHALLENGE*
Speaking of consistency and momentum, I'm doing a simple challenge too.  (We've had an intense couple of weeks!)  Just do better than you did last week.  Whether that's a better final result, being more consistent with exercise, making better food choices, just make a marked improvement in one area or another.

Choco Week 7 Recap and Week 8 Challenge

Week 7 Results:  I hope Chip had a good week. I think she was SO much more supportive than I was. I moaned on and on about my week and struggles, I think that's the point of this whole thing though, we get to and the other one gets it. :)

This week I have been struggling to pay attention. I tried to keep myself focused and I'm not incredibly surprised it's a gain week for me since I weigh daily and really I lost 2 pounds the other week which was kinda mental. I am up .6 pounds today. It's 165.8 this week.

I did try to stay under and track everything. I'm going to assume this is my body's way of having a laugh at my expense and just breathe through it. I think I'm more bummed that Chip and I can't celebrate my victory this week! 

Week 8 Challenge: This is simply a thinking challenge. When you are about to eat something that isn't the best choice. Think about either not eating it or literally throwing half in the trash BEFORE you start eating it.

Personal Challenge: No fast food breakfast. It's never that good. Stop being lazy and make your damn breakfast. You only like the fountain soda.

Work It!

Some favorite workout songs. . . open post. . .

Acapella - Karmin
Born This Way - Lady Gaga
Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga
Gold Digger - Kanye West
No Hay Igual - Nelly Furtado
Step by Step - Whitney Houston
Higher Medley from Joyful Noise soundtrack
B.E.A.T. - Selena Gomez
She's a Bad Mama Jama - Carl Carlton
Wings - Little Mix
You Can Do It - No Doubt
Chasing the Sun - Sara Bareilles (a little slower, good for warmup/cooldown, but I love it)
Brave - Nichole Nordeman

Choco Week 6 Recap and Chip Week 7 Preview

Week 6 Results: This week was fun. It was a bit scary knowing someone was all up on whatever I was doing. :) It worked though. I lost 2 pounds! I am 165.2! I can't believe it. I was standing on the scale muttering "no suh! no way!". It feels like someone's just coming in and messing with my scale. Of course this is how I feel after all the week's hard work is done and I just take 15 minutes to recognise that it really was my own hard work that got me here.

Saturday was great. Chip sent me a picture of the recipe for the cookies she was making... not that I was jealous or anything. I would SO love my mom's chocolate chip cookies but I know if I make them I will eat them all. :( On Saturday evening I lamented portion control. It's just not that easy to judge how much of your plate is one cup, for example.

On Sunday, Chip asked for a pic of each of my meals. She missed my glorious bowl of Fruity Pebbles. I seriously haven't been eating them and thought I'd throw caution to the wind and eat something I love. I did thoroughly enjoy all of it. :) I took my son bowling for his birthday and sent her a pic of my 'delicious' bowling alley food. And then I totally forgot to send the hot dog (extra lean 50 calories version) and macaroni and cheese dinner pic.

Monday I was up and at 'em. I had my coffee, my lunch, my clothes and everything ready. Chip told me I was to recognise the exact bite of food I love and that this was a week long challenge. The only food I REALLY love is dessert. I would forgo all other food for three bites of dessert for every meal. I especially love the first bite of soft serve ice cream. It's perfect. Then I love bites 3-10 and usually after that I'm like ... alright, I'll finish it. I also was given the task to expand on my post about reasons to lose weight. Which I did in a comment on that post. I think my favorite was "You can wear fall boots because your calves will be small enough to fit."
I was also required to eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies. I think I made it. I had just bought quite a few things at the grocery store and was prepared.

Tuesday I was tasked with picking a theme song for my first 20 pounds and getting 20 very active minutes on my fitbit. I was a bit worried about the Fitbit challenge but I did make it! Again, pretty proud of myself. As for the song, I'll go with a playlist. It's a celebration anyway, right? It's worth more than 3.5 minutes!
The list so far is:
Look at Me Now - Chris Brown

Imma Be - B.E.P.

We R Who We R - Kesha

Firework - Katy Perry

Dog Days Are Over - Florence and the Machine

You Need Me, I Don't Need You - Ed Sheeran

50 Ways to Say Goodbye - Train

It's Gonna Be Me - N Sync

Defying Gravity from Wicked - Glee

 

Wednesday -  There were planks. Two planks and I hated them both. I didn't have to try to hard on the mental challenge since I spend much of my free time reading success stories. They all say the same thing. I got tired of being fat. I sucked it up and lost the weight. It was really hard. I love life now. The end.

Thursday my challenge was to walk to beat my highest step count ever. It was determined that my highest step total was 24,311 steps on a Saturday in June. Since my highest weekday total was 18,625 this goal was modified to beat my current average of 11,001.  I did it, too. Chip wanted 15k and I came in at 14,105. This was the day the phrase "It's not over till the bra comes off!" was coined.

Friday was hard. I love sugar and there are days that I don't actually eat much of it. I did refuse a donut that my husband offered me. I felt bad though because he brought them home from work where they were celebrating his promotion. I know he didn't care either way whether I had a donut. I shouldn't feel bad about it. And for my something girly, I went to bed at 8:30 and looked at Pinterest for an hour before hitting myself in the face with my iPad and supposed it was time to actually sleep.

Oh, also on Friday, I got a prize for Choco Week! A badge book that I can use to write down all of my greatest accomplishments. I fully intend to keep adding new badges because I need to keep looking at the small picture, too.

Overall, I think I did a pretty good job. I know it was just as hard for Chip to come up with things to help me with and I fully appreciate her dedication to the cause. I hope I was a good student and that my teacher was proud of my 2 pound loss! 

Week 7 Challenge: Chip WEEEEEEEK! It's all about you, my dearest cousin! It's going to be hard to top what you did for me but I fully expect that you will be up for the challenge.  We are going to get your weight to creep in the opposite direction, even if it's just creeping. :)

Choco Week Review!/Bring on Chip Week

Soooooooo excited to hear the details from Choco's side of the week!  I really had fun with it.  Of course in hindsight I think of a lot more ways I could have tortured/inspired her, but I think it was a pretty good week.  I will leave the floor to her to describe her own week. . .

As far as my own results, I did complete the tracking challenge!  And it was definitely a good idea to get back to that.  It shouldn't even be a challenge because we shouldn't let ourselves get out of it, period.  I also got moving again.  Not to the level I should be, but I got in some morning yoga sessions, took some walks at work, and even hit the gym.  My eating wasn't GREAT, but I definitely avoided some extra calories specifically because I didn't want to track them.  That being said, I wasn't expecting the earth to move this week, but a modest little loss for sure.

202.2, a gain of .3.  Whaaa. . . ?  I started to get pretty worked up until I went back over my LI logs and realized that yes, over the course of the past seven days I've consumed 400+ calories more than I was supposed to.  Yep, that'll do it.
 

***Week 7 (?) Challenge from Chip is to stay under/at our calorie limits!  Choco has been doing pretty well, but all the more reason to stay consistent :)***


Two things happened this week that caused a seismic shift for me.  The first is that I read "The Shift" by Tory Johnson.  She didn't say anything I didn't already know (I'm really big on proving I'm not ignorant, in case you haven't ever picked that up), and there were some things I couldn't wrap my head around (like the fact that she was okay with her boss telling her she was too fat for TV), but a lot of it just resonated.  The basic premise is that you just need to do it.  My favorite was "Clarity trumps willpower", which means that you don't need to focus on having endless reserves of willpower and never eating ever again, you just trudge through, meal by meal, being clear about what your goal is.  My preference will always be to have big quantities of salty/fatty/sugary food, but my priority has to be more important in that moment.

The other thing was that I was talking to an (obese) (ha, like I'm not) acquaintance and the conversation came around to weight loss like it always does.  She was talking about gearing up for a big New Year's push to lose 100 pounds in 2014.  I encouraged her like I always do, but in my head I admit I was rolling my eyes.  I've known this woman for almost 10 years and she has been over 300 pounds the whole time.  And she's been "on a diet" the whole time.  I used to work with another woman who was around the same size and it was the same deal.  I don't think she ever even lost 5 pounds (unless she was sick), but every few months there would be a round of "I'm going to stop eating out, I'm getting the treadmill back out".  Nothing.  300 pounds every day, rain or shine, donuts or carrots (with ranch).

I.  AM.  THAT.  WOMAN.  NOW.

That thought struck me this week and it literally gave me a spine-cringing chill.  Gah!  200 pounds this entire year.  Face it, the entire last 2 years!  And constantly talking/thinking about weight loss.  I wonder at what point people started mentally rolling their eyes at me?

I CAN do this because I HAVE done it before.  It's 6 months to Vegas, people!  This is the time to do it.

Okay, I'm going to go eat my cold oatmeal and then head out for a pedometer.

Talk about Choco Week!!!!!!!!

Week 5 Reset/Chip Challenge #6

Week 5 Results

Weighed in at 201.9 this morning, up 2.7 from two weeks ago.  Which is unsurprising, considering the last couple weeks.  I'm thinking of it as a reset and moving on.  I really dug the breathing thing too, and will keep it in rotation.  Such a simple thing to make you feel so much more centered in any given moment.  As for Choco's challenge, loved that too. . .

Saturday:  When my nephew asked me to play outside, I said yes instead of staying inside and reading my book.  We played soccer and tossed the football, and I probably burned more calories than any of my previous elliptical sessions.
Sunday:  Got back into the oatmeal groove for breakfast, and took the time to cook a delicious and healthy Mexican casserole for supper that I could also use for lunches in the week ahead.
Monday:  Decided to log my food at the end of the day because I've been so bad at tracking lately.  Ended up pleasantly surprised that my calorie total was way under what I expected it to be.
Tuesday:  Lost day.  I basically worked until 10pm and it was just crazy the whole time.  I know I breathed at some point.
Wednesday:  Ate an apple instead of a candy bar in the afternoon.
Thursday:  Bought some orange juice because I was craving it, which happens maybe once or twice a year.  Realized my body was desperate for vitamins and made a list of fruits & veggies I love and will actually eat.  Shopping trip soon.
Friday:  Cafeteria was serving biscuits & gravy with tater tots, which I love because of my refined tastes, natch.  What did I have?  A salad.

Chip Challenge #6

This is a two-parter, folks!  I've been feeling guilty about the level of support I provide to Choco.  I know we do the blog, and yes we check in with texts and emails, but I'm bad about always bringing the conversation to me.  Not purposely, but it happens.  Choco will text that she's so hungry and instead of responding to that and offering direct support or tips, I text back that *I'M* hungry too plus craving chocolate cake plus have PMS! Commiseration is all part of it, but I've just been catching myself hijacking the conversation too many times lately.  So. . . you're going to love/hate this. . .

WEEK 6 IS CHOCO WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Chip here will still be tracking faithfully, following the plan, etc.  But all the focus is on Cousin Choco.  I am on you like white on rice.  I will be doing detailed check-ins and making sure I know all your hopes/dreams/wishes for each day and through the week.  There might be quizzes and mental exercises.  There will definitely be daily reviews.  It is All!  About!  You!

Lest you think this is a way for me to get out of being accountable for a week (you'll still be able to see my stuff on LI and I'll catch you up on my Saturday blog), know that next week is Chip Week.  And you have the benefit of having your week first, for full revenge possibilities.

Week 5 Recap and HELLLLOOO week 6!

Week 5 Results:
This week is a gain for me. I'm completely unsurprised. I weighed in at 167.2 for a perfect 1 pound gain. I'm going to pretend it had nothing to do with my eating being slightly radical and say it's all PMS.

I loved Chip's challenge and used it SO frequently this week at work. I had quite a few days where I wanted to tear out my hair and the breathing totally helped.

This week for my challenge, I wanted a list of some 7 things that we did daily to show we do make good choices even if we don't realize it.

Saturday: I walked nearly 7 miles. It still amazes me that I walk any miles. I just don't think of it as exercise. I love being alone with my thoughts or my audiobook and just looking at New England.
Sunday: I played most of a round of disc golf. I was still getting over my cold and I was huffing and puffing up and down a mountain while throwing a frisbee. It's honestly not the smartest decision ever but it was good for me.
Monday: I dragged 3 of my coworkers out to take a walk at noon. They don't usually come with me but I convinced them they would be doing me a favor. :)
Tuesday: I chose to have half of my usual fast food breakfast and a piece of fruit.
Wednesday: This is when my week got harder. LOL My good decisions were still good but there were significantly fewer. I did not eat the chips that came with the sandwich I bought at lunch.
Thursday: I had the absolute smallest piece of birthday cake I could manage while trying not to make my birthday boy think his mom didn't want his cake.
Friday: I came home from work and cleaned up my house. I'm going to pretend it's a metaphor.

Since I've fallen off the wagon here, I need to catch back up. I have adjusted my goal on Lose it so I am moving toward an "overweight" BMI. It's 158 pounds. I'm hoping that seeing I need to lose 26 pounds will keep me motivated. There will still be a celebration when I hit that 20 total pounds lost mark though. :)



Week 6 Challenge:
We are starting over. This week is food tracking again. I want CONSTANT VIGILANCE! LOL Just knowing Chip sees everything I eat helps me to not eat everything.

The Week Which Shall Not Be Named/Chip Challenge #5

Yeah.  I wasn't even sick this week (unless you count PMS), but it was just a disaster all around.  I even dropped out of logging for a while because I just didn't care.  I did manage the plank a few times, yesterday being my best effort.  I really should try to work that into the rotation occasionally when I'm doing my yoga, because holy crap, she who can successfully plank is a bad mama jama.  Even though I had a 3-day-weekend last week, I procrastinated until just this morning to do the measurements.  So technically that was a fail too since I didn't do it during TWWSNBN.  I just wonder at what point I turned from an hourglass into a pear?  Will be interesting to check back on those numbers every 10 pounds or so.  (Is that a better idea than every month?)

I am exercising a No Weigh Pass this week, which is something I just invented.  Yes, we have to be honest with ourselves, but sometimes you just physically can't bring yourself to step on the scale.  The only rule is that you can't use it again for 3 months after using it.  I might save one for Christmastime.

Chip Challenge #5
Well, Choco knows me well.  There has been a lot of negative self talk going on, and I was planning a punishing make-up regimen for next week.  But her entry brought me to tears (did I mention PMS?) and changed my focus.  So, in harmony with the love yourself theme, my challenge is to breeeeeaaaaathe.  Once a day (more is better), stop in the middle of whatever you're doing.  Clear your mind.  Close your eyes.  Inhale deeply and slowly through your nose, hold for a beat or two, exhale deeply and slowly through your mouth, hold for a beat or two.  That's it.  (Maybe don't do it at work if people will think you're weird.)  The stress/weight gain link is a real thing, and this will help to bring us back to ourselves and what we're doing.

Week 4 was a total bomb. Choco Challenge 5!

Week 4 Results:

I was sick this week. Let me tell you, I was truly hoping it wasn't. I was averaging 15k steps a day until I caught the bug my husband so lovingly BREATHED ON ME! I am now down to an average of 8k steps. It's still better than most humans who don't even walk 5k steps, but I'm trying to lose weight here HUSBAND! I can't afford to have your crappity™ illness.

 

I didn't get into the plank position more than a few times and when I did. Oh, do I need some core work! I'm so jealous of someone who can do a single full on push up because it's a true feat of strength.

 

I did manage to get Chip's Challenge done! I measured everything from the neck down whether I enjoyed the process or not. I still can't believe some of the results because I suppose, even though when I look at my entire body, I think I'm fat, somewhere in my head I think I can't be THAT fat.

Again, I expected to lose nothing. I was pleasantly surprised that I ended up with 166.2. A complete .6 pound loss from last week. I have 2.2 pounds left to meet my "Lose 20 pounds" goal.


Week 5 Challenge:

After the week that Chip and I just had, I'm going soft. It's been rough for both of us. I know we've both wanted to quit and never make another good decision again. We need to forgive ourselves of last week and be patient with the process. This week's challenge is to love yourself. Each day we will make one great decision. Whether it's choosing an apple over potato chips or even if it's choosing 15 minutes of exercise over nothing. We need to write down the good choices we make and report on them next Saturday.

I know I don't always notice when my hand goes to the better for me food choice. I only notice when I have the big piece of cake. Even though I have food logging, I don't recognize these victories for what they are.   

Week 3 Meh/Chip Challenge #4

199.2, a loss of .9 from last week and UNDER 200!!!  And this isn't going to be one of those flitting fakeout numbers either.  I will never weigh 200 again in.  my.  life.  And I'm back on weekly weigh-ins.  I've lost for 3 weeks in a row, but the pride is tinged by that one stupid time I weighed on in the middle of the week and saw 198.  Feel like I've been failing ever since then, when really overall I've been consistently moving in the right direction.  Next mini-goal is 191, which moves me out of obesity range and into sexy overweight territory.  

Choco challenge:  Check, barely.  I didn't start until Wednesday and was 3 miles short as of Friday morning.  Choco let me substitute 15 minutes of yoga for one mile, so I squeaked through.

Chip challenge:  Big fat no.  I was definitely more conscious of fruits & veggies, and a couple times I grabbed an apple instead of cheese & crackers for a snack, but I don't think I hit my 4 even once.  I'm not so bummed that I didn't get all my servings in, but I am bummed that I didn't keep with the "not an option" nature of our challenges.  Oh well.  Right now it's all about calories, no matter what food they come from!  And I know that more calories means less food.  Eventually I'll get the hang of it.

CHIP CHALLENGE #4

The scale has been driving me nuts the past couple weeks, and it's easy to get fixated on those stinking digital numbers.  This week's challenge should be easy, even though it's something I always put off. . . we are taking measurements!  From this point forward we'll do this at the beginning of every month so we can track inches as well as pounds.  Bust/waist/hips/arm/thigh (<- just pick a side).  You're welcome to measure anything else you want to track, but these are the basics.

 

Week 3 was So-so. Choco Challenge 4!

Week 3 Results:

I am wicked impressed with this week's result. I fully expected to lose next to nothing. I am 166.8 this morning. That's 1.6 pounds down from last week. I have 2.7 pounds left to meet my "Lose 20 pounds" goal.

As far as Chip's challenge for last week goes, I tried. I could have tried harder I guess. I did eat at least 2 servings of fruits and veg every day but I didn't always get in 4. To be honest, I couldn't remember if it was 3 or 4 and every time I got round the computer to have a look, I forgot.

Even with my own challenge, I was slipping. I started off strong and then I just sort of put it off. I ended up doing a 3 mile walk yesterday. It felt great though! I do love it when I work out, I just don't love actually getting up to do it. LOL


Week 4 Challenge:

This week I am challenging us to a daily 60 second plank. If you can already do a plank for 60 seconds on your elbows, then do a straight arm plank for 60 seconds a day.  I'm choosing this one because someday I would like the arm and core strength to do a real push up. GO! GO! GO!

Week 2 Boo! Choco 3

Week 1 Results:
I am down 2.4 pounds from last week at 168.4lbs. Holy Hannah! That's like a week one dieting loss for me. Alright. From the weight standpoint it's not a BOOO. It's more a boo to myself. I did great with water. I really didn't love all the bathroom running but it must have been often because I had WAY more steps than I normally get. lol

I didn't follow my Chip Challenge to the letter. I don't know if my life can be built that way. It would be totally awesome if it was! Trying to coordinate and coheres 3 other humans into doing what I want isn't always easy.  I did make far better choices than I would have otherwise. I was still doing battle with Aunt Flo and I did NOT eat like 80 Snickers bars.

Week 3 Challenge:
 I don't know why I totally spaced out on this week's challenge. Since Cousin Chip STOLE my challenge idea for this week. STOLEN! I have to come up with something really torturous to get her back.
Our challenge this week is to complete 6 Leslie miles.  It can be 3-2 miles or 6-1 miles. Either way, we're walk, walk, walking this week. I'll let you know if I'm completing a 5 mile on Friday night!

Week 2 Results/WTH/Chip Challenge #3

Officially, from this morning's scale reading, Chip is sitting at 200.1, which is down 2.5 from last Saturday.  Which, whatever, that's great.  But Chip is less than pleased, seeing's how (yes, Chip is a little hillbilly) she had a kick-ass week and was 198 at her sneak peek WI on Wednesday!!!!!!

I don't know.  I guess here's where daily weigh-ins would be good, because you see weird fluctuations for what they are and don't flip out over them.  But I still think it would drive me even more nuts in the long run to step on the scale every single day.  I think I'll continue weighing on Wednesdays as sort of a midweek checkpoint.  I guess Tuesday would be the exact middle point, but I'll give myself a little extra grace after the weekends.

On to challenge results. . .

Water:  Check!  This one was a big eye-opener for me.  Water has never been a problem for me.  I'm the one who's up to use the restroom every hour because I'm constantly drinking water.  (After the morning caffeine, of course.)  Except, somewhere over the last year, I haven't been.  I didn't realize how out of habit I had gotten until I noticed myself in the bathroom so many times last Saturday and thought "Ohhhhhhh."  So I thank Choco for bringing this to my attention, because I would've gone on thinking about how awesome I am at hydration and not ever worrying about it.  I did meet the challenge, but there were a couple days of chugging it in the evenings.

Organization:  Not so much an official check, but definitely a check in spirit.  I didn't follow my plan to the letter, but I made healthy choices.  AND, I graduated from the notebook to an official calorie-counting app, AND have been faithfully using that app every day!  Which is huge.  The part I followed of this challenge was the "it's not an option" part.  Even if I wasn't eating what I had planned, I still stuck to one portion of whatever I was eating because it wasn't an option not to.  And that will stay with me, I think.

CHIP CHALLENGE #3:  FRUITS & VEGGIES!
4 servings/day!  (See, I'm not even going full-scale USDA on this one so it should be totally easy.)  We know why, blah blah blah.

Week 1 Results/Chip Challenge #2

Week 1:

202.6, a loss of 1.2.  Yahoo!  But seriously, please can next week be THE WEEK?  I really would very much love to never write a "2" at the beginning of my weight ever again.  At the very least, I'm saying it's happening in August.  Period.

I met both challenges, though I struggled more with the exercise minutes.  Tracking definitely helps me stay in that accountable mindset, and since I'm doing my simple notebook method, there is NO excuse.  I don't even have to take the extra step of figuring out calories or doing a search for a particular food or multiple ingredients.  I just list "chili" or whatever it is and move on.  I reserve the right to get back into a more specific app at any time I want to feel more hardcore, but for now this is what's keeping me tracking.  At the end of the day, I put a star by my favorite food of the day.  With one exception the entire week, the star always goes to "real food" (ie not chips or dessert) eaten when I'm truly hungry.  Go figure.  

I squeaked in my 150th minute at nearly the last minute.  I skipped a couple days midweek, which meant that I had to have a marathon cardio session Thursday night, double yoga yesterday morning (I had been doing 10 minutes, upped it to 20), and I was still 9 minutes short going into last evening.  15 minutes walking around an outdoor shopping center with my friend took care of that.  Whew!

WEEK 2 CHALLENGE:

Organization, friends!  It's the golden key to successful weight loss.  By the end of the weekend (bonus points for the end of today), we will have planned our meals for the entire week and bought groceries for said meals.  We will have chopped whatever veggies we need to chop and portioned anything that needs to go into baggies.  We will have arranged a schedule so we know when we're working out and what we're doing.  (Although walking is different because that fits in wherever it can.)  We will have workout clothes laundered and ready to go.  

During the week, we will simply follow the eating plan/workout plan we have laid out!  It's on the calendar/list, so it's not an option NOT to do it.  If a different situation comes up (ie friend invites us to lunch), we'll roll with it because we're not letting our weight loss plans turn us into antisocial weirdos, but we will make healthy choices wherever we go.  

Week 1 Results!

Week 1 Results:
I am back down to 170.8 lbs! I am totally psyched about this. This! Even with Aunt Flo knocking at the door. The downside was that I was SO HUNGRY! It felt as though every hour was a constant battle with thoughts of "should I eat something?", "should I wait?"
Tracking was definitely the only thing keeping me from binging on corn chips and snickers bars. I did so well with putting everything down, even if I didn't want to that if there's something missing from my tracker, I genuinely forgot it.
Exercise was easier for me than the tracking. I had my full 150 minutes in with time to spare. In reality, more than enough time to actually get another exercise session in but I was feeling so tired, I was in bed by 8:30 a couple of nights. I think I might have come up 16 minutes over the goal.

Week 2 Challenge:
This was a really hard choice. I spent half the week just thinking about what I should do next. A challenge to eat more fruits and veggies? Tracking again? Exercise again? Then I started thinking about those things I just forget about and the one thing I always forget is water. I fill myself a 32oz. jug of water, drink a few sips and it just sits there while I wonder how the heck I can possibly be so thirsty.
Our challenge this week is to drink your 64oz. of water daily.  It can't be in the form of Diet Coke because I would totally try to drink it all that way.  I will allow coffee, tea or crystal light.   

The Glow

The Glow is the natural enemy of The Blerch.  The Glow makes The Blerch so mad that it chokes on its Cheetos.  But The Glow doesn't care about The Blerch because it's too busy glowing.  It's the feeling you get after a workout.  Endorphins and accomplishment.  It's the feeling of going to bed knowing that everything you put into your mouth today was healthy.  It's the feeling of loose jeans.  Loose jeans that were tight not so long ago.  The Glow plays hard to get, but makes it worth your while.  The Blerch makes it easy, but you hate yourself in the morning.  We want The Glow.  We crave The Glow.  WE DESERVE THE GLOW!

This is the remix. . .

I see Cousin Choco's 2-pound gain and raise her 1.4.  Which is my way of saying that I gained a nice luscious 3.4 this week.  Not even a whole week, since I've got a new weigh day.  (I figured Saturdays are good to match up with our new challenges.)  203.8.  The period tracker on my phone perkily reminds me that there's "1 day left!"  So that explains a little bit.  However, I take full responsibility for all my tortilla chips and Tastykakes.

Moving on.

I've been looking back over this blog, old journals, other blogs, trying to make some sense of my teeter-totter ways.  I'm looking at what has worked and what hasn't, what has excited me and what has frustrated me, and here's what I came up with. . .

*Most successful (ie something I stuck with longer than 4 days) tracking method has been pen and paper.  In January I simply wrote down everything in a notebook, and at the end of the day I put a star by what my favorite thing had been.  I learned a lot about my eating habits that way.  Going back to it.

*Organization/preparation are my friends.  Without them, I will fail.

*I vacillate wildly between two schools of thought:  Hardcore Calorie Tracking and Namby Pamby Intuitive Eating.  The NPIE method resonates more deeply and I believe it's ultimately where I'll find my success.  But I've got to bring enough of the HCT mentality into it to be stricter with myself about what I'm choosing to eat.

*PHYSICALLY FEELING GOOD is important!  And wonderful!  And when I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, I feel good!  Cousin Chip isn't as crisp as she used to be.   (. . . long pause taken while Cousin Chip brays like a jackass at her own hilarity. . . )  (. . . no, no, still laughing. . . )  And the body is definitely a lot more sensitive with old age.  I can't eat Cheetos and then go skipping off to listen to my NKOTB tape with no ill effects.

Chip Challenge #1

Okay, even though we will be busy with all that tracking, we are getting in 150 minutes of exercise this week.  Doesn't sound like much.  It's 5 days of 30-minute sessions, 7 days of 22-minute sessions, 3 days of 50-minute sessions, an entire week of mini sessions wherever you can get them, or one really hard day.  Choco hasn't been sending so many walking updates lately, and Chip has been flat-out sitting on her ass until Choco kicked it at the end of this week.

150 minutes.  We take them where we can get them, however we can get them, in whatever breakdown we want, but the bottom line is that they're in before next Saturday morning.  It's not optional!

The Grand Plan™ and nowhere to hide.

I came up with a grand plan. I was feeling into losing weight and I had to open my big mouth. I don't know why Chip didn't stop me. She could easily have been all, "woah, woah, woah there, killer".  She didn't though which is why I'm coming to you live at 6:they-have-this-as-a-time-on-a-Saturday in the morning.  Honestly though, I'm usually up before now but I don't have to think of things to write so it's rough.

Let's see. Here's the state of the union as it were. After a fairly good stretch of saying eff it, I'll just eat a small bit of that, it's finally caught up with me. I have gained for the first time in a while and I have to admit, the job was done spectacularly. Not only have I put on a pound, I've done 2 pounds. I'm at 172. I hope it's like water or PMS or ... constipation. LOL Probably not though. I have not been tracking my food properly.

Back to The Grand Plan™. It was born in a series of text messages as follows:

Cousin Choco: Happy lunchtime!
Cousin Chip: How did you know I'm having chips and salsa again?
Cousin Choco: What? No TastyCake?
Cousin Choco: I forgot I brought my lunch and I'm halfway to Panera. Do I go back for the frozen pizza?
Cousin Chip: LOL It's not dessert time yet. Nah, it'll keep until tomorrow and Panera has tons of healthy stuff! 
Cousin Choco: And cookies! lol
Cousin Chip: Well, true. lol
Cousin Choco: No cookies then. Ask me tomorrow how my Leslie (This is what we call our Walk Away the Pounds videos.) went tonight.

Cousin Chip: Okay. I'll do one out of solidarity, booooo

Cousin Choco:

Cousin Chip: Eeeeeeee! Okay :-)
Cousin Choco: I know right? We SHOULD be able to lose 30lbs. by then.
Cousin Choco: You can do more Miss 5lbs in a week.
Cousin Chip: LOL I always get a big number my first "on" week.
Cousin Choco: Okay. A challenge. 30 weeks. Every week we each pick something and each have to follow both to the letter. What do you think? Maybe we have to blog about it on Saturdays.
Cousin Chip: That's good!
Cousin Choco: Each one will only be a week long unless we want to continue it. Saturday to Saturday so we can lament the new challenge and talk about the old one in one post.
Cousin Chip: Yes, that's perfect. 30 weeks!


Here it is. My challenge for both of us is complete tracking.  Every single, solitary morsel of food that goes into our mouths will be tracked. 

It sounds simple but it's SO hard to do. Good luck and Godspeed.

 

The Blerch.

I'm totally into the Blerch now. If you don't know what this is, please check out The Oatmeal's The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances.  I'll be here when you get back. 

It's amusing, right? This poor guy puts his body through hell so he can eat whatever he wants.  He says he's like a trained circus animal. He does a trick, he gets a reward. This. Is. The. ONLY. WAY.
I can't get weight loss to work for me unless I grant myself food as a job well done. What does that say about me?

I have a Fitbit. It's awesome. Like Ferris says, "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up." The Fitbit is a pedometer. That's it in a nutshell. The other more awesome thing it does is that it's got an app. This app takes into account your height and weight and then tells you how many calories you should be eating to lose weight.  Sounds simple enough, right?

I used the thing for weeks. Followed what it was telling me religiously. I got my 10K steps a day if not more and I was within my calorie range. I was not losing. I wasn't gaining but I wasn't losing.  This is when I noticed there's a "personalized" calorie range and a "sedentary" calorie range.  The personalized range assumes you're a good girl and you've burned the number of calories it wants you to for the day. My goal is 2338 for a calorie burn. I RARELY, if ever, make it to that goal which is why I wasn't losing anything. I was basically eating for maintenance.

I switched my calorie range to sedentary and all of a sudden the skies turned blue and cherubs started singing!  The way this works is it assumes you do NOTHING. Nada! If I woke up at 12:01AM it would tell me I couldn't have any food for the day. Obviously, I don't get up at midnight, so by 7AM when I get to work it tells me that (even without walking around) my body has used enough calories for me to eat 250 calories of something and still lose weight. HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!?!!!?

Then off I go to eat my breakfast of 300 calories and get on with my day feeling like I've accomplished a workout and I've. Done. Nothing. It's amazing, really.  On it goes for the rest of the day. Normally, I move around enough during the morning at work to allow for about 400 calories for lunch. I take a walk and try to get close to my 10K steps. When I get home, I can have another 400ish calories and sometimes, if I haven't had a 200 calorie snack... I get to have dessert.

Believe it or not, it actually works for me. I don't really understand why it clicked but it totally makes sense in my head.

Pandemonium

Yeah, let's start Weight Watchers the same week I start a major new job!  In a county where I have no cell phone coverage for the handy new WW app/trackers I downloaded!  CAPITAL idea!

Argh, I've been a chicken with my head cut off this week.  In addition to the new job (which I'm going to love love love, but which is stressing me out right now because I want to hurry up and know everything), I've been running around town every evening for one reason or another.  The good news is that I don't have time to overeat.  The bad news is that I don't have time to go to the gym or calculate all my stuff by the time I get home.  Okay, that's a lie, I do.  But I've pretty much been coming home after everything, reading a chapter of Harry Potter (I'm up to Goblet of Fire), and crashing.

This will be a big organization weekend!!!  And I'm curious to see how I'll fare at Sunday's WI.  I'm expecting a loss, though not the huge one I'd like if I were 100% focused this week.

*Side note*  Carrot Cake Luna bars are my new favorite thing in the world :)

Cautiously Optimistic. . . screw it, All The Way Optimistic!

Well, as of this morning I am officially a Weight Watcher.  I was going to type "again", but I'm not focusing on that part.  Seriously.  Although I will take one brief moment to state that I lost all this weight once and gained it all back once, and I am NOT doing THAT cycle again!  This time the pounds lost will be even more precious because I know not to take them for granted.  I am going to be like a grizzly bear guarding my weight loss!

I need to get my tracker going again, but right now I'm too lazy to go back through and do the math.  But here's some crappy news. . . my scale has been averaging 5-6 "step-ons" to get my 2 same readings in a row.  (It always varies slightly, so I wait until I get the same number twice to know it's *official*.)  So yesterday to honor my new journey, I got a new scale.  And holy crap, as of this morning my official starting weight for WW is 206.6.  I'm not even going to trip (well, maybe a little) because I know I didn't gain 6 pounds overnight.  I'm still the same, I still have the same work ahead of me, I just have a more accurate tool now.

WW set a first goal of 5%, so my next goalpost is 196.3.  I'm still sticking with my original rewards schedule (though my dates are going to be off), but as far as WW goes, this is my official focus right now.  I like it too, because it's more safely under 200 than 199.9 is.

I'm pretty excited.  Something about starting a new job and being close to actually getting my own life back on track has triggered something, and I feel more calm and ready to do this.  WW is a good tool because even though it's already stuff I *know*, it just seems easier to put the reigns in their hands and let them tell me what to do.  It's not up to me to make healthy choices, I'm just following the plan.  Less stress.  I am the 6-year-old of dieting, and I definitely need supervision.  When I have my own kitchen again, if I still HATE tracking, there's a "Simply Filling" option where I don't have to track, but I only eat foods off the "Power Foods" list (so they're still in charge, lol) - it's basically clean eating.  For now it's easier to stick to my Lean Cuisines and yogurts.

Sooooo here we go!  I still want to focus on FEELING good as much as LOOKING good along the way, so that will be something to think about and figure out as I go.

I'm doing it!

Today: 173.8 lbs
Last weigh-in: 174.4 lbs
Total loss from last weigh-in: .6 lbs
Total loss from highest: 10.4 lbs
July loss so far: .6 lbs
Goals Met:  N/A

July is going to be my month. I'm going to walk walk walk! I bought myself some lovely new shoes and I am going to wear.them.out! I am tired of being a fat girl. I am tired of being a "cute" girl.

I want to win.

Maybe it's a combination of the right time, the right people in my life and the right mindset. It could also be the oatmeal. LOL Whatever it is, I'm not going to take it for granted.  I found an old fitness site that I was using when I wanted to lose weight a looooong time ago. My starting weight was 153 and the year was 2006. It's 20.8 lbs. away. It's also considered "overweight" for me. I was aiming for 164 before I found this and I will still aim for 164 but I want to be 153 again so I can continue losing and show the past that I am not that girl. I have grown wiser and more determined to have what I want from my life. 

Stuck in neutral

So yeah, pretty much if I’m not posting, or saying anything specific in general about how I’m doing, it means I’m off the rails.  Which is the case this week.  I just get so damn disgusted with myself – seriously, over a YEAR in this same exact 10-pound weight range, with the same pattern over and over. 

Gah!  Vegas!  Sundresses!  Energy! 

I am putting all my efforts for the next few days/weeks/whatever into breaking the *%$#ing 200 barrier.  Seriously, it’s FIVE AND A HALF POUNDS.  Really?  In the olden days of dieting, that would be Week 1.

I wish it was (were?) as simple as “just stop eating junk”.  I really do.  No one is holding a gun to my head to make me eat Doritos!  I know exactly what I need to do to lose weight, and I want to get this weight off my body SO BADLY.  And yet, down the hatch goes the junk.  I don’t get it, I truly don’t.  It’s 100% in my power to completely change my body.  I can buckle down right now, eat what I’m supposed to, count my calories, work out like a banshee, and make a major difference within a couple months.  I’m completely allowed to do that.  There are no obstacles in my path other than my own laziness and love of sugar and salt.  I can do it for free!  And I just don’t.  Why the hell not?????????????

Happy Wednesday! (now with more sarcasm)

Today: 177.6 I am battling with my body. It was sugar and salt. Normally about this time of the month (ahem.) I'd be indulging in all kinds of ice cream, candy, cookies, corn chips, tubs for frosting (not the whole thing. I'm not that big for goodness sake!) and just about anything else I could get my hands on. Here's a little TMI for the one other reader of this blog. LOL I am taking birth control to control my "red sea like" (too much?) periods and seriously it's the only thing that's making me aware of what I do to myself the week before. I didn't want to track my food yesterday but I did. That's a HUGE step for me. Usually I will not track for a week and then get back on the train. This week is also the one where (since I'm having a feeding trough style pig out) I'll get all gung ho and beat myself up because I'm gaining weight. I'm not doing it this week. I'm going to try to be understanding of my weirdness and let it be. I'll still try to control myself. I'll keep tracking whether it's good or bad but I'm not going to be pissed about it. In 9 months and 5 days, we will be in Las Vegas celebrating our accomplishments. We will also be talking about all of our setbacks. Whether we aren't at our goals isn't important. It's whether we tried every day to get to them. That sounds totally cheesy but I mean it in the coolest way possible!

Random thoughts

1. Looking good is the number one goal, obvs, but I want to make FEELING good a huge priority too.  I’m just so tired of having no energy, and feeling like a giant non-sexual blob every time I get dressed.  I want to freaking GLOW, I feel so good. 
2.      Sleep is important.  Way important.  Just saying.  (From the perspective of one who did not receive the required quality/quantity last night.)
3.       Speaking of sleep, I keep thinking I need to do early morning workouts because the afternoon ones just aren’t happening like they should.  BUT I seriously don’t want to have to go to bed at 7:30 every night to get the amount of sleep I need.  So I’ve got to make the gym a priority.  Bag packed night before, first stop after work, no exceptions.  And I got in a pretty good streak last week of doing my strength training right before bed, but everything pretty much went to hell after Thursday or so. 
4. Speaking of hell, Lady Time commenced yesterday about 6 days ahead of schedule.  Which explains why I couldn’t keep my mouth closed the whole weekend.  Like twice a year I have a really horrendous painful/exhausted time of it, and it appears that June is the jackpot of 2013!  So today, anyway, I’m just totally in nurture mode.  Hershey Kisses for breakfast, okay.  Nap after work instead of workout, fine.  But I just get this one baby day, and then I’ve got to suck it up.  Hopefully I’ll be past the worst of it after a good night’s sleep!
5.  I was going to come up with this whole detailed plan for the next month (would really like to lose a nice amount before Ty’s bday party), but my brain is fuzzy as part of the aforementioned sleepy Lady Time.  More tomorrow!

WI 6/17

Today: 205.1

Total loss:   -3.1

Next mini goal (199.9 = Under 200):  5.2 lbs to go!

Final Goal (150 lbs):  55.1 lbs to go!

Weekly average needed (to reach goal by 12/31):  2 lbs/week

Goals Met:  N/A

I'm switching back to weekly weigh-ins, or at least just twice a week.  I know I could catch it on a weird fluctuation, but as long as there's an overall downward trend I think I'm good.

Reasons to lose weight ... a work in progress

Some of these are stolen, thank you to people who thought of this long before we did! 

you can wake up and not have your weight be the first thing you think of in the morning.
you won't have to worry about wearing revealing clothes such as shorts or a bathing suit.
you can bury that self-consciousness about people watching you eat.
your clothes will look good on you instead of baggy and sloppy.
you can toss the granny panties.
you can quit worrying about coming up with new excuses for being overweight.
getting dressed in the morning will be cause less anxiety.
you will feel sexier and when you feel sexier, you will become sexier.
you will be able to use a regular towel instead of the beach towels.
you will feel good about yourself.
you will be able to wear one of the patient gowns at the doctor's office and it will close.
you will feel better physically.
you won't mind telling people how much you weigh. your heart won't have to work as hard.
you can cross your legs again without pulling on your pant leg.
you will be happier.
you won't dread having your picture taken.
you will be less winded when walking stairs or long distances.
you will become an inspiration and motivator to others who are trying to lose weight.
people in the grocery store won't be analyzing your cart to see what you're eating that's making you so fat.
you will live longer.
you won't have a fear of scales any more.
you will look better, and when you look better, you automatically feel better.
you won't mind looking in the mirror. you will want to go to that next class reunion.
you will have more confidence and boost your self-esteem. summer can be your favorite season of the year again.
you will get to wear smaller sized clothing.
shopping will be more enjoyable because you can fit in the latest styles.
you can offer support and encouragement to others who are trying to lose weight.
your socks will stay up over your calves.

Choco's Goals ... Format shamelessly stolen from Chip.

Today: 179

Last weigh-in: 177.2

Total loss from last weigh-in:   +1.8

Total loss from highest: 5.2 lbs
June loss so far - .8lbs

Goals Met:  N/A

I am back from Canada and honestly, it could be worse. I kept up my steps and I only slipped a little. I'm hoping that by Monday, the slip will be far less noticeable. :) 

I'm glad Chip's been doing so well. I REALLY want to go to Vegas with her. SO WALK WALK WALK!

Here are my goals broken down into small chunks. 

164 Pounds – September 13th

[I'm starting with what I consider to be a small goal. Losing 20lbs. I think this should be easy but for some reason it's far harder than it looks. LOL I would LOVE to hit this faster but I don't know that I can lose more than a pound a week.]

*Vaguely recall what was "in" the last time I weighed this much.

*New Pandora bead - 25$ or less

*Eat Olie's birthday cake with gusto! 

158 Pounds – October 25th

[This goal would put me in the overweight BMI category. How I would simply love to be overweight instead of obese. I don't even like admitting that I am obese. Even the word looks like shit. lol ]

*I believe the last time I was 158 was when I was pregnant with Olie... so 2000.

*New jeans - 25-30$

*Gear myself up for the next 2 months. Winter is rough because I want to hibernate. So much want.

145 – January 24th

[This is my main goal. If I get here. I will be elated, overjoyed, enraptured!]

*Run around house literally... without being winded.  

*Start the new year off with a grand evening out with my husband.

*Go buy a cute dress... in the middle of winter. Might be rethinking that one. lol

VEGAS, BABY! 136 - March 23rd 

Stretch goal! 132 – April 25th

[This would put me into the Normal weight category.  I don't think I've even ever been 132. I remember being 135 in high school.]

*Enjoy my birthday knowing I don't have to make that deal with myself to lose weight again.

*Get professional bra fitting because I'd need it. I'm sure. 

*Learn more about maintenance... since I'll be needing it!  YEAH!

Just today's stats

Today: 203.7

Total loss:   -4.4

Next mini goal (199.9 = Under 200):  3.8 lbs to go!

Final Goal (150 lbs):  53.7 lbs to go!

Weekly average needed (to reach goal by 12/31):  2 lbs/week

Goals Met:  N/A

Goals! Rewards!

Hope Choco's having fun on vacation!  Even if it is for work.  Fun always takes precedence over anything else when you're out of the country!  It's the law.

Today: 204.9

Total loss:   -3.2

Next mini goal (199.9 = Under 200):  5 lbs to go!

Final Goal (150 lbs):  54.9 lbs to go!

Weekly average needed (to reach goal by 12/31):  2 lbs/week

Goals Met:  N/A

Okay!  Ta da. . . I DID go the gym last night and I DID do my first ab challenge.  Love the Zombie run!  As for the challenge, I literally was getting ready to slip into bed when I remembered it.  I hesitated for maybe one second, then got it in.  It’s definitely both abs and arms!  I think, for momentum, I will somewhat cheat the original plan.  I like the 4 on, 1 off rhythm.  But instead of increasing reps daily, I’ll wait and increase them each new 4-day set.  Getting me into a new workout routine is like getting a feral cat into a carrier.  It HAS to go into the carrier to get its shots and there’s no avoiding it, but you have to ease it in as gently as you can. 

Okay, mini goals & rewards. . .

Under 200 (199.9) – July 8th

[This one is soooooooooo close.  But basically I’ve been dithering in the low 200’s, literally in this same 10-pound range, for a good year.  Yikes.]

*Change pic on Facebook (and every 5 pounds thereafter – 195, 190, etc.)

*Run around house skipping and chanting “I’m back in the 100’s!” until it’s out of my system.

*New earrings (from Target, let’s not go crazy here)

10% (179.9) – September 16^th

*Find a free concert (or something similarly cool) and make a night of it

*Amazon “spree” - $25

The Hell Out of the 70’s (169.9) – October 21^st

[Like 7 years ago, I actually lost a ton of weight and got down to mid 150’s.  It slowly crept back up to the 170’s, where I was in weight loss purgatory FOREVER.  It’s just been in the last couple years when I shot up to current weight.  Right now I’d kill for 70’s, but they do not hold fond memories for me.]

*Run around house skipping and chanting “The 60’s!!!!!!  Virgin fat!!!!!!!” 

*Read all my dating/relationship books (it’s a weakness) and get ready for that whole thing again

The Last 10 Pounds! (160) – November 25^th

*Take deep breath and realize that I’ve chosen the most difficult part of the year for the most difficult part of weight loss.  Feel a little bit self-righteous.

*At 159, take a moment to revel in having a “Normal” BMI.

*Get professional bra fitting (always wanted to do that)

GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (150) – December 30^th

*Run around house waving arms in air and screaming “Eeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!”  (Too much excitement to concentrate on chanting)

*Take an “After” pic and brag on Facebook.  Bask in glory.

*Grin everywhere I go, hoping people will ask why I’m in such a good mood, so I’ll have the chance to say “Oh, I lost 60 pounds” all nonchalantly.

*VEGAS, BABY!  This one will be delayed, or possibly not – I’m realistic to admit that 2 lbs/week is definitely a challenge.  Bur regardless, Vegas is going to be the kahuna of rewards.  Woot woot!

Bleah, another gain

Today: 208.1

Total loss:   N/A

Next mini goal (199.9 = Under 200):  8.2 lbs to go!

Final Goal (150 lbs):  58.1 lbs to go!

Goals Met:  N/A

Boooooo, I’ve been putting this off all day.  Basically I know what I have to do, I just don’t want to do it.  Which is why I am still gargantuan.  At some point, the not wanting to be fat is going to override the not wanting to diet.  It boggles my mind that I continue to choose fat over dieting, but the results speak for themselves.  Yes, losing weight is hard.  Tracking calories suck.  But do they really suck more than being hot and uncomfortable in the summertime but not being able to throw on shorts and tank top without wanting to die?  REALLY?  Because that’s what I’m saying with my continued choices.  “I would rather be over 208 pounds than not be able to eat whatever I want.”  “This bag of cheese popcorn is totally worth being 208 pounds.”  “Being 208 pounds is more fun than getting on the elliptical for 20 minutes.” 

So I just have to either suck it up and do what I don’t want to do, or start looking into “Big is Beautiful” books and rearrange my entire mindset.  I’m not ready for that yet, I’m just not.

And so, we begin the dreaded calorie tracking.  And the STICKING TO calorie limits.  No, I won’t be perfect, but I’m going to aim for it.  There’s too much of a slippery slope when I allow myself a “free day” or “one treat a week” that I don’t have to track.  So I downloaded MyFitnessPal on my phone again.  For tracking, it’s just cleaner for me than SparkPeople.  

I HAVE to get into the damn gym too.  I’m going to aim for 3 workouts/week.  Maybe I’ll get all excited about my Zombie app once I start doing it and want to go more often, but 3 is the official goal.  Plus the abs challenge, starting today.

Homework for tomorrow:  Create the “why we want to lose weight” running post (if Choco hasn’t already) and put my reasons on there.  Create mini goal list and figure out reward system.  GO TO GYM.  

This post is called Cousin Choco's Friday or How to sit on your butt and do nothing!

Yesterday: 177.2
Today: 177.2
Total loss from highest: 7.0 lbs
1st Goal 164: 13.1 lbs to go!
2nd Goal 154: 23.1 lbs to go!
3rd Goal 144: 33.1 lbs to go!
BIG GOAL 132 lbs: 45.1 lbs to go!
June loss so far - 2.6lbs

Money spent in the last 24 hour period: $7.25


I'm calling it a rest day. I did nothing. I was not even motivated enough to get ALL 10K steps for yesterday. I got to 9,742 and went to bed.

Today is me getting ready for a trip to Montreal for business. I am really not looking forward to going because I don't want to get thrown off track this early in my (obviously SO focused) new lifestyle. 

I am going to a quilt shop this morning because I am starting a block of the month with them. I would REALLY like to hand piece each block but I don't know that it'll happen. After the quilt shop, I'm off to the all important grocery shopping so no one in my house starves before I return. :)

At some point today, I will get a workout in, I just don't know which one. If it's raining, I'm going to Leslie it up!

Do we dare?

Okay, I just finished looking up (in pics and on YouTube) the exercises for today and tomorrow's Monthly Challenge.  Some of them I already knew, but Frog?  Hollow Man?  And there are yet other new ones coming down the pike?  It's pissing me off.

WHAT IF we choose 2-3 arm exercises and 2-3 ab exercises and do our own simpler challenge?  We could still follow the same calendar and do the same addition of reps.  What do you think?

Or should we follow through on what we said and just do the stinking Facebook one?

Stress eating? Nahhhhhh.

Okay, here’s what we’re looking at since Tuesday evening.  Doritos, sweet & sour chicken, Wendy’s Spicy chicken sandwich and some fries (there were some healthy meals mixed in there, but that’s boring).  And no exercise since Monday.  So much for the anxiety diet!  That lasted about two hours.

It’s not so much that I’m a stress eater.  I picture stress eating as “Ooh, I’m stressed.  I know what I’ll do, NOM NOM NOM!”  It’s more that when I have other stuff going on, I have no extra energy to focus on being healthy.  And so I just eat whatever, because God knows it takes extreme mental concentration and positive motivation to actively choose the kale salad over the Wendy’s drive-thru. 

I’m back on today, but not feeling particularly cheerleader-y about it.  Also, I have a dinner tonight at a Mexican restaurant with the bestie.  My POTW (plan of the week) (I made up that abbreviation just now) allows for a sensible portion of whatever I want for dinner, so I should be okay as long as I don’t go crazy.  Which I tend to do with Mexican food.  

Ow.

Seriously when I take off my shoes, I hobble. HOBBLE! My feet hurt like I've ran a marathon or something. It's not like I over do it. I'm walking my 10k steps a day. My shoes must suck. Supposedly they are running shoes. I don't know whose running shoes though because they aren't working for me.

I was ravenous today. It may have had something to do with stress but I warded it off and only ended up like 1450 calories. It's within my normal goal but I was trying to stay under 1300. So go me!

Today was a rest day for my challenge. I'm not looking forward to the ab thing tomorrow. I much prefer the weights. Tomorrow is the 3rd Zom run for me. I'll try to do it. At very least, I'll walk it and do the run on Saturday.

I hope Chip had a great day. :)

Tuesday... Fat Tuesday?

I'm not actually having a terrible day. I did my run this afternoon. It was a bit slower than the first one. My legs are in a constant state of recovery. There's always a muscle that seems like it's working itself out. Shins, heels, arches, calves, thighs, groin... I asked my husband if it's supposed to be like this and when it will stop. Of course he didn't know when it would stop. I guess I will have to keep going and it will.

I got up to 7.39mph today. It was only for a second but I think it was when I was told there was a Zom chasing me. Seriously makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. LOL Immersion works so well on me. I also ran through an area that used to be a college. It's kept up but quite a few of the buildings are abandoned.  That and the chain link fences to keep the Zoms out had me freaked. Overall it was about 22 seconds slower than my last training session. That's not so bad I guess since I'm hurting.

What else have I got on today? Oh right. I was feeling sick this afternoon. I laid on the couch and had a couple Tums. I don't know whether it was because I ate popcorn instead of a more substantial snack or if I just wasn't feeling well. Finally, the "bleh" left me and I got up the energy to complete the Monthly Challenge for today.  It's not so bad, I quite enjoy the weightlifting bit. I would like an exercise ball but I'll have to wait for that.

I'm going to Montreal for work from Sunday to Thursday so that week is going to be an interesting food week for me. Thank God I'm not a gravy fan so the poutine won't lure me in.  I'll just have to try not to over indulge. If there's something awesome, I'm going to eat it, of course!

Chip and I would like to take a trip to Vegas together. It looks like for our flights and a hotel for a Monday to Friday trip, it would cost about $450 each. That's not bad... maybe we can give ourselves incentive like a dollar a workout or $10 a pound? We're going to have to owe money to someone! Whatcha think, Chip?

Anxiety Diet

Job interview tomorrow!  Stomach in knots already.  I never used to be the nervous type until my latest interview experience.  Crapfaces.

THIS is the exact feeling that diet pills should replicate!  I couldn't eat anything right now if I tried.  Choco, make a note.  If we can replicate this in the lab, we'll make enough money to pay to look however we want!

Choco Evening

I wasn't feeling it. I wasn't going to do the Monthly Challenge. I thought because I was doing everything else that I didn't have to do it. Then I started feeling guilty. There's my poor cousin doing her cardio AND her monthly challenge. So I did it. PLUS, I got my 10K steps in PLUS I stayed within my calorie budget today.  I changed my desktop background to the challenge calendar and tomorrow I'll continue right on track. It feels SO good. Tomorrow I have my Couch to 5K again and I'm seriously looking forward to being chased by zombies again.

 

Let's get this.

Hello from Chip!

Here’s the other cousin, aka the salty one.  (Wait, I didn’t think about how this whole
sweet/salty thing would work out. . . ) I live In Indiana and am a footloose fancy-free single chick.  Kind of.
(Kind of fancy free, not kind of single! I’m all the way single.  Just saying.  In case you know anybody.)  I do enjoy the sugar (especially in the form of ice cream), but I ADORE the salt. Doritos, Cheetos, Fritos.  Cheese popcorn.  Movie popcorn.  Basically I heart anything salty and crunchy
that comes in a bag.  And it shows. 

I’m here for weight loss too.  Unlike Choco, I am NOT doing it right.  Well, I haven’t been.  While I know the right things to do, I just haven’t been doing them.  At all.  But I think the motivation to bring out my “lithe
beautiful person” is finally starting to outweigh the laziness of my current, um, not-lithe person.  I’m not going to lie, the number one reason I want to lose weight is to look good.  I’d like to feel pretty in a sundress
sometime before I die.  But a close number two (heh) is that I want to FEEL good. I get tired so easily.  I get out of breath so easily.  I have almost zero energy.  And I just don’t enjoy being myself right now.  So getting healthy, as cliché as it sounds, is really important too. And I’d like to figure out some feel-good tricks along the way.  I really don’t want to put off my whole life until I weigh 150 pounds!

Oh, speaking of which, that’s my ultimate goal weight.  And I’m currently 206.4.  Yikes. Right now I’m just focusing on that 6.5 pounds to get out of the dreaded “2” range.  I’m pretty much lasered in on that at the moment.  Hopefully it won’t take too long, and then I can figure out a fitness goal too.  I like the idea of having a fitness goal like Couch to 5K to focus on rather than a pound number!  But I need to think about what will get me the most motivated.    

Greetings from Choco!

I asked my cousin this morning if we should start a blog that follows our MONUMENTAL efforts to lose weight.  Had I been with her in person she likely would have chuckled.  (Chuckling is an awesome word and far too underused.)  She did say yes though. She liked the idea of us pouring out our collective hearts in a blog for the world to see so long as we aren't conjoined in the process.
So who am I? I live in Massachusetts. I am a mother and a wife. I am the sweet one.  I am Cousin Choco as in chocolate! I love anything sugar, sugar, sugar!  Remember Super Sugar Crisp?! "Can't get enough Super Sugar Crisp! It's got the crunch with the punch!" Yeah, it was never the same when the manufacturers were bullied into changing the name.
Where was I? Right. I'm a grammar girl who loves commas and sentences that start with I. I'm vain like that but since this is about me... I guess that's alright.  I am here because I am trying to lose weight. Mostly for me but there's this small part of me that wants to show my doctors I'm doing it right and nothing is happening. Am I doing it right? Probably not. Mostly yes but sometimes no. I like pie.
What I am doing correctly is my exercise. At least I think I am. I am trying to get at LEAST 10k steps a day and I have started a Couch to 5k program.  It's pretty fun because the zombies try to eat me.  I think I have told everyone at some point that I'd only run when I was being chased. I guess that's true.  Holy Flash, Batman! I was running at 7.14 mph at one point. Granted it was for like 15 seconds but I did it.  I (where's the italics on this thing?) I  (there.) ran!  I did it. I ran for 15 seconds 10 times and thought huh, I didn't die! I DIDN'T DIE!
I should probably have a goal to keep on track and make me update the blog on a regular basis.  I'm currently 179.8lbs. and my main goal is completing the Couch to 5k program.  I should be working on that every other day. Tomorrow is a 10 minute walk followed by 10 intervals of 1 minute walking and 15 seconds running then a 10 minute free form run. Or as I call it another walk with a couple of bursts of speed.