Allo, Allo!?

So I haven't posted in a while- don't kill me!  I've still been logging calories, just been uber-focused on work and home and haven't had time to go online and type.  Now... I have no work to do!  Literally.  I don't exaggerate.  Hense, my post here today.

Finally- FINALLY- I got my period!  Woo Hoo!  So happy!  Actually, I got my period on Monday night, not a moment too soon! 

It's actually funny.  Monday night, I came home from work and could not.  stop.  eating.  Literally- I wasn't even hungry, but I chouldn't seem to cram enough chocolate ice cream in my face.  I also at McDonalds for the first time in a while.  I didn't even just 'indulge'- I flat-out BINGED.  To the tune of about 2500 calories for the day.  Yes, it's okay to face-palm, I did.  Afterwards, in a completely stuffed and salt-filled stupor I asked myself 'What the hell just happened?' 

Within an hour, my period arrived.

Okay, when I said it's 'actually funny', this is what I meant:  Last month, the very exact same thing happened.  I had this UNCONTROLLABLE URGE to binge.  Stuffed my body with garbage.  And within hours, my period arrived. 

Now, I can't remember if this is something I do EVERY time I get my period because, to be honest, I went almost two years without having one and I just can't quite recall.  Definitely an odd coincidence that I would behave the exact same way two months in a row, within hours of getting my period.

Like I have been saying all along, though, my period came with a major dip in weight DESPITE my huge junkfood binge.  I've been eating well since then (well, okay.  I've had chocolate two nights in a row, but I've stayed within my calorie range!) and when I weighed myself today, I had a pleasant little surprise: I was at 142.8 pounds!  Nice.  That's the first time EVER that that scale has gone below 143. 

(Note: For those who also track my weight loss at MFP.com, you might notice a discrepancy.  THERE, my weight is logged as 141.1 pounds.  The reason for this is that I started with MFP around the same time I got my WiiFit.  So the weight I log THERE is the weight that my WiiFit gives me.  I have to keep logging from my Wii scale in the name of consistancy, to be able to accurately track what I've lost.  When I started this blog, however, I weighed myself using my bathroom scale- so when I track my weight lost for the week, I'm using the measurements from THAT scale, again in the name of consistancy.  The overall loss will be the same from week to week, regardless of the scale I use.  But if I were to put my weight here at 141.1lbs, it would suggest I lost more than I did, and I don't want to seem deceptive.)

Anyways, since last week I've lost about 1.2 pounds, 5.6 pounds altogether since the end of March.  Not too bad.  It's taking a lot longer to lose this weight than in the past (In January alone, I lost about seven pounds!) but it's just a fact that the less you have to lose, the more your body resists letting you lose it.  According to my MFP tracker, I'm about 6.1 pounds away from my (first) target weight.  I'm so close I can taste it!!!!

Wednesday Revisited

Another day gone by, still no TOM.  Woke up today having the WORST 'fat day'.  The scale says I haven't gained a pound and I'm lighter than I've been in years, but the MIRROR is a mean bitch.  EVERYTHING I put on made me look puffy.  I was almost in tears.  Steve was like, "You look perfect!  What's wrong with you?"  Yeah, definitely PMSing.  Bloated.  Have I MENTIONED how much I hate water retention???

:p

Yesterday was crazy.  I had a performance review and the meeting took two hours.  Plus it's month-end, so I had tonnes of work to catch up on.  As a result, I skipped lunch.  And because I was so hungry, ate a donut.  Got home, my MiL was there- so I needed to come up with a quick quick supper that she would eat (she's not big on healthy food.  Actually, it looks like she's gained 20 pounds since I saw her last- the result of her blowing out her knee and not really being able to walk anywhere).  So I made some meat-filled tortellini with tomato-based sauce.  Threw in some mixed veggies for extra vitamins and to make it more filling.  It was pretty good.  Normally I avoid pasta, though- and it was pretty salty so my sodium levels were higher than I would have liked them to be.  But hey, calorie-wise I didn't do too poorly.  Even WITH all the fucking carbs I ate.  Gross.

Because my MiL was there, I couldn't do any housework really (out of the usual) and didn't work out.

Consumed: 1277kcal (-200 nursing calories)
Burned: 0kcal
Total deficit: 959kcal
Target deficit: 811kcal

Deficit for the day wasn't bad overall.

Oh Period, Where Art Thou?

It's funny, because I never thought I'd find myself in a position where I was HOPING my period would start (except for, of course, in situations where I had pregnancy scares, lol) but that's where I'm at now.  It was due at the beginning of the week but still nothing... though I've felt 'on the verge' for over a week now.  I'm puffy, I'm bloated- bring it on!!!!!

That said, aside from that, feeling good right about now.  Weighed myself this morning and it was slightly down, though I won't do an official weigh-in until Friday. 

Didn't have a chance to update my blog yesterday- was busy doing month-end stuff.  Today I had a performance appraisal that went EXCEPTIONALLY well and will result in me having a nice little $1.46/hr wage increase.  Boo-yah!  I'm pretty stoked about that.  Now I'm caught up and done celebrating so time for me to get this organized....

Monday:
This day I didn't get a lot done exercise-wise except for basic housework, which I don't count, because it's not 'above and beyond' my normal routine.  I stayed pretty close to my target calorie range, and even allowed myself an extra small snack or two to 'reassure' my body that it wasn't starving after the weekend's burn-fest.  I work around the premise of 'calorie zig-zagging' which means that instead of eating a set amount of calories per day, sometime's it's good to keep your body guessing by eating more some days and less others.  A lot of people have great success with it, and it seems to work for me.... so if I have a few days of REALLY big deficits, I usually follow it up with a day or two of smaller deficits.

Consumed: 1524kcal (-200 nursing calories)
Burned: 0kcal
Total deficit: 712kcal
Target deficit: 811kcal

Tuesday:
COULDN'T STOP SNACKING this day.  This is how I know my TOM is around the corner 'cause I ate ice cream and fruit snacks, lol.  And it was good.  And so worth it.  But my calorie count was a little high, so it has to be a 'rare occassion' type of thing.  Also didn't do anything exercise-wise other than the usual.  Watched 90210, Glee and Avatar.  Yay for being a couch potato!

Consumed: 1876kcal (-200 nursing calories)
Burned: 0kcal
Total deficit: 360kcal
Target deficit: 811kcal

So, yeah, didn't do toooooo well yesterday but at least I still had SOME sort of a deficit, so it could have been worse.  DEF hope my TOM starts today so that the water weight is shed by Friday.  I'm excited to see where that would put me!

Weekend Update (+Weigh In)

As you know by now I'm terrible with my weekend blog posts so I'm going to summarize my weekend here and talk a little about my latest weigh-in.

Friday:
This was a busy day all around- dentist visits, shopping, chores.  Lots of running around, plus I did housework and installed shelves in the boys' closets.  I forgot to wear my HRM all weekend (I remember it when it comes to doing actual 'work outs' but never think to put it on when I'm doing anything else labour-intensive.  Should work on that!) but MFP gave me an estimate of 389 calories burned.  I think that's a little on the conservative side but, hey, works for me (would rather under-estimate calories burned than over-estimate!). 

I didn't eat very good foods Friday (or all weekend for that matter!) but I kept my calories at a pretty good level.  Sodium was a touch on the high side.  I had a bacon cheeseburger from McDonalds for lunch- which is SUPER salty.  But I counted the calories and didn't go over (also didn't get pop or fries with the burger, so that's an accomplishment in itself!), so that's fine.  Also, I made homemade cinnamon rolls!  Which is very exciting for me because it's the first time making anything with active yeast since Home Ec. when I was 13.  Go me!  (BTW- they were delicious, though I only had one.)  Total calories for the day were about 1571 (I love when cookbooks include nutritional information for their recipes!

Consumed: 1571kcal (-200 nursing calories)
Burned: 389kcal
Total deficit: 1054kcal
Target deficit: 811kcal

Overall not too bad numbers for the day.  My target for the day may be 811, but bigger deficits just mean I'll hit my target faster.  Provided, of course, I don't have deficits bigger than 1000 for too many days in a row....

Saturday:
I had energy to burn this day (I'm thinking it's the Ritalin) so I decided to attack our storage room.  Long story short, when we first moved into our house, Steve shoved a bunch of boxes (mostly seasonal items and keepsakes, plus items I'd planned on giving/throwing away) into the pantry, which is a big storage room just off our porch.  He didn't even clean it, first, so there were mason jars and paint cans from the previous owner in there.  We had a mouse problem for a while (since taken care of) and mice ran rampant through there, making nests.  Because of a severe mouse phobia, I wouldn't go back there and organize the room.  So it's been a completely non-functional area for 4 years now.  The mess started spilling to our porch, which also because largely non-functional.  Imagine Hoarders.  Seriously.  It was that bad.

Well, Steve is on Graveyard Shift right now, which meant hanging shelves and pictures (which was my ultimate goal) was not an option.  I thought, "I'll start tidying this back room," and began moving boxes around.  I thought, hey, if I just do a couple of boxes a day, the room will be cleaned within a month.  Ha.  Well, the Ritalin makes me more focused than I thought because once I started, I just couldn't stop.  I spent over eight hours straight in that back room, hauling boxes and sweeping and sorting.  I was EXHAUSTED when I was done- and MFP estimates I burned about 1731 calories.  Holy crap.  Sounds high but is actually very realistic- works out to about 216 calories per hour.  I burn more than that just going for a walk around the neighbourhood (confirmed via HRM), so if anything, I burned more than that.  Yikes!

At the time (before I'd sat down to calculate calories burned) I THOUGHT I'd done a pretty good job of eating.  Again, I didn't eat the best foods (because I was so busy I spend much of the day snacking on fruits, but I had a turkey stuffed pita with lettuce and pickles for lunch and didn't eat any junk other than a small cinnamon roll so it wasn't a total write-off) but I stayed within my calorie range.

Consumed: 1560kcal (-200 nursing calories)
Burned: 1731kcal
Total deficit: 2407kcal
Target deficit: 811kcal

So, holy cow, what a crazy deficit!  This isn't something I'd want to do every day, of course, but a few times a month won't kill me or affect my metabolism too badly.  I really did eat plenty of food- it's just that, when you're burning that many calories, it's very very difficult to eat them all back.  My sodium consumption for this day was ok (not great, but didn't consume more than my 2500mg limit) and I THINK my water consumption was OK.  I chugged water constantly.  But it's hard to say if you're getting enough water when you're working that hard because the standard 8 cups a day rule goes out the window.

Sunday:
This day was pretty much about finishing what I started on Saturday.  I completely gutted the porch, and worked for about six hours straight (at least!) doing this.  After I was done I folded laundry, vacuumed, did dishes, and made dinner.  Estimated calories burned were 1298 but that calculation is based off of the 6 hours spent doing hard labour (and not off of the light housework).  I probably burned more than that, to be honest.  Again, 1298/6= 216kcal/hr which isn't that unrealistic.

Food-wise, I didn't eat well all day.  Nibbled here and there.  Actually made myself eat a bowl of ice cream after all my chores were done, just to TRY and consume extra calories.  Even after that, when I added everything up, it turns out I'd only had about 1380kcal through the whole day!  That really shocked me because I was actually FULL most of the day, and had no desire to eat.  DEF. should have eaten more yesterday.

Consumed: 1380kcal (-200 nursing calories)
Burned: 1298kcal
Total deficit: 2154kcal
Target deficit: 811kcal

ANOTHER ridiculous deficit.  I'm going to spend the rest of this week making sure to eat every calorie allotted to me so that my metabolism doesn't hit 'starvation' mode and start storing fat.  One weekend of intense activity like this shouldn't do too much harm but it's def. not something to keep up long-term. 

Between Friday-Sunday, my net deficit was somewhere in the range of 5615kcal, or 1.6 pounds.  It will take a day or two for that to show up on the scales, so today's weigh-in didn't reflect that.  Also, I'm retaining quite a bit of water right now (I always can tell- I always wear my watch at the same position.  When I look at it today, it's creating an indent on my arm that isn't usually there, telling me that I'm puffier than usual) and my period is due to start ANY SECOND.  This means I'm carrying at least two or three pounds of water weight, which will drop off as soon as I start my period.

That being said, I weighed in at 144 pounds today, which is a one-pound drop from last time and a 4.4lb drop overall (well, since March 22/10).  Not too shabby.  Not TERRIFIC (it averages out to less than a pound per week) but it's too be expected since I'm so close to my goal weight. 

Start weight: 148.4lbs
LW Weight: 145lbs
Current Weight: 144lbs

Anyways, I've made sure to pack a bigger lunch today!  It's full of fruits and veggies, and I've been drinking lots of water.  Impatiently waiting for my period to kick in so I can shed this water weight!

Will post again tomorrow to let you know how today has gone. 

Ja ne!

"Temptation Challenge"

If you ever watch The Biggest Loser, you'll regularly see 'temptation challenges'.  Basically, they put the contestants in a room with a bunch of food and give tempt them.  There's always prizes involved, and the whole idea is that these people need to learn how to lead healthy lives outside the ranch.  When they're on the show, they have easy access to a gym and good food, but what happens when they go back to the real world?

I bring this up because, when you're eating well and trying to lose weight, there will always be those situations that throw a wrench in your plans.  You can either avoid those situations entirely, or you can accept that temptation will always be a part of your life.  So you can deprive yourself, or you can make those situations work for you.

Yesterday, I had my meals all planned for the day, with a couple of calories to spare.  I was doing SUPER well, fourth day in a row of eating well!  (I'm really taking it one day at a time.  Over the past two months or so, I'll have two or three days of good eating, but then I wind up  having a BAD day, which negates the work I'd just done.  This is fine, if you're looking to maintain but not good if you want to lose like I do.)  For dinner I planned on eating chicken breast, brown rice and mixed veggies (which is pretty standard fare for me). 

Then my mom called me in the afternoon and said she and Kelly (her husband) would like to take me and the boys out to Dairy Queen for dinner.  I could meet her at her place, then we could walk down to meet Kelly after fire practice, then walk to the restaraunt together.  I thought, hey, that would be fun (because Steve is on Graves and asleep when I get home, and it's hard keeping the boys quiet).  I knew the boys would enjoy the walk and the treat- but I was worried for myself.

This is where planning comes in handy.  I went online, and looked up Dairy Queen Nutritional Information.  I decided in advance that I would have the grilled chicken salad and a small vanilla cone- and I logged the calories at MFP.  Perfectly planned- the calories fit in my 'budget' with 35 to spare.  Boo-yah, that's how it's done!  So when I went to DQ, I knew exactly what to order and that I could have ice cream without feeling guilty.  It was awesome.

I wore my HRM when we walked.  In 90 minutes, we walked 5.5km and I burned 545 calories.  Because I'd burned so many calories (I was at about 300 when we got to DQ) I decided I could 'afford' to have a crispy chicken salad instead of a grilled chicken (it's my fave).  Dinner was DELISH- and the exercise was fun.

Consumed: 1537kcal (-200 nursing calories)

Burned: 545kcal
Total deficit: 1244kcal
Target deficit: 811kcal

In the end, while I'd had DQ and everything (and hadn't been hungry all day!) I could have stood to eat a bit MORE than I did.  An extra apple or salad , some nuts, maybe a yogurt.  I'm finding it hard to get the perfect balance between calories consumed and burned, even after all this time- but it's definitely something I'm working on!

The only thing is, regardless of how healthy even the grilled chicken salad is at DQ.... their food has SO MUCH DAMNED SODIUM!  It's ridiculous.  I'm already retaining water with my TOM around the corner.  I'll be drinking extra water today to make up for what I ate yesterday.....

Anyhow, that is all.  Will check back tomorrow!

Another day...

Here I go again....

Yesterday was another pretty good day.  Drank lots, ate well, feeling good. 

Still haven't trouble fitting exercise in.  I know I HAVE the time- I exercised every day in January, just about- but how to re-figure out HOW to put the exercise in is a different story.  Because I'm not exercising, it's okay to eat fewer calories without risk of going into starvation mode.  I always boost my food intake when I'm working out, eat most of my exercise calories.

I had a peanut butter and banana wrap yesterday for breakfast, with a bit of chopped pecans- it was delicious.  For lunch it was a Gourmet Steamers (Red pepper alfredo) meal and for dinner I had half a can of tuna in half a whole wheat pita with a couple pickles and some lettuce.  Through the day I snacked on strawberries, grapes, laughing cow cheese, carrots... and I had a 100-calorie pack of oreo thinsations after dinner.

Consumed: 1360kcal (-200 nursing calories)
Burned: 0kcal (it was Glee night!  Barely even did housework...)
Total deficit: 876kcal
Target deficit: 811kcal

So my total deficit for the day was pretty good.  Probably should have eaten a touch more but the thing is, 200 is just a guess when it comes to nursing calories- I could be burning less than that.  Most nursing mothers burn 200-500 calories per day, but since Logan's a toddler he doesn't nurse as much as he once did, so I'm counting calories on the lower end of the scale. 

Anyways, on Monday I seemed to have gained about two pounds (not surprising- a combination of water retention and less-than-ideal eating over the weekend) but it's already dropped off and then some.  I retain water so badly and my weight fluctuates up and down so much, sometimes it's hard to get a handle on where I really 'am'.  We'll check back next Monday and see where I'm at.

God, these last 10 pounds are HARD TO SHAKE!

On the plus side, I'm taking Ritalin now and one of the side effects is weight loss.  Ha!  I think this is the first time I've ever HOPED for a side effect.... ;)

"Counting Calories is TOO HARD!"

It always blows my mind when friends/family make comments about how 'hard' it is to count calories.  They can't believe I track every calorie, and have been doing it since the end of November.

Even when I wasn't losing weight, just maintaining, I still counted the calories.  I think it's good to know what's going into your body.  Also, it helps keep you on track.

It's really not a hassle for me! I enter in my food for the day at the beginning of every day.  This allows me to a) plan ahead so I'm never hunched in front of the fridge saying, "What should I eat?" b) not accidentally go over in any area (sodium, sugar, etc) c) make sure I'm getting enough of the proper nutrients and d) keep on track throughout the day. 

Of course, what I enter isn't set in stone.  I may decide in the morning that for dinner I'll be having tuna, rice and vegetables.  When I get home, I may decide I'd prefer coucous, veggies and chicken.  The overall calories of those meals are similar, and I'll just switch it out.  But the primary calorie entering happens in the morning, after I've eaten breakfast and packed my lunch for work.  Bada-boom, really simple.

I did fairly well yesterday- didn't get a work-out in though because, like Sunday, my focus when I got home was organization of my house.  On the plus side- cleaning house burns calories.  Certainly beats my normal routine of coming home and sitting on the couch to watch TV until bedtime!  (Well, minus dinner prep and clean-up, of course). 

Consumed: 1591kcal (-200 nursing calories)

Burned: 325kcal
Total Deficit: 970kcal
Target Deficit: 811kcal

So, all in all, a pretty successful day!  I ate lots of veggies, drank quite a bit of water, and my daily deficit was pretty respectable.  No complaints here!

Aches & Pains

Was going to start Chalean Extreme yesterday but couldn't find a freaking 40 minute window to exercise in- how sad is that!?  Def. planning on getting a workout in today.  At the end of the day, I don't think it matters WHAT exercise I do (I have Chalean workouts, Insanity workouts, 10 Minute Trainer workouts.  I've got 30 Day Shred, Tae Bo, and several Pilates DVDs.  I also have JMFU2010, The Biggest Loser and Wii Fit for the Wii), as long as I'm doing exercises and burning calories. 

On the plus side, I HAVE been living up to my promise to myself and becoming more active again.  On Saturday I went golfing for 2h23m and burned 958 calories (thank you Polar f6 HRM!).  UNFORTUNATELY I spent much of Saturday dealing with the nibbly-nibblies and ate back all those calories and then some.  Faaaaaack.

Sunday, which was the target date for starting Chalean, was a lot better for me.  And it was a huge victory because I ate well on a weekend, which is always almost impossible for me.  Like I said, I didn't get a formal workout in, but that's because I was so busy with housework and renos.  I hung shelves and reorganized our bedroom closet.  Moved furniture, organized MORE shit... ugh.  Actually, it was AWESOME because I'm not always so productive.  Wish I'd worn my HRM but MFP gave me an estimated calorie burn of 584 for three hours of work.  I know I worked more than 3 hours, but I prefer to err on the conservative side when estimating caloric burn without the help of my HRM.

Like I said last entry (god, I suck at writing over the weekends) I'm still really trying to focus on boosting my overall fruit/veggie intake.  I'm also working on adding healthy fats to my diet, because apparently I don't do enough of that.  I bought myself some ground flax seed, which I've been adding to my food to give it a nice boost of Omega-3 fatty acids, and fibre. 

Yesterday I had a cup of Fibre1 raisin bran cereal for breakfast, with a half a cup of skim milk.  I snacked on some strawberries in the afternoon and for lunch I had a half a can of tuna in a half a whole wheat pita, with iceberg lettuce and 5 bread and butter pickles (btw: YUM!).  I snacked on some pecan halves  later on in the day and for dinner I had half a baked chicken breast with lemon spinach couscous and zucchini, spring peas and carrots. 

I DID nibble on some jellybeans during the day, but I counted and tracked them, so I didn't go overboard.  And I had some Oreos Thinsations for dessert.  Drank lots of water through the day as well.

I've started tracking my nursing calories as a food deficit instead of an exercise (on MFP) because not only does nursing burn calories but it also steals nutrients away from me.  I am STILL working on weaning Logan, and it's... a work in progress.  The child has discovered the fine art of the tantrum, and he wields that tool like no child I've ever seen.  On the plus side, nursing burns calories and has kept him SUPER healthy thus far so at least there's that.

Here's yesterday's numbers:

Consumed: 1300kcal (-200 nursing calories)
Burned: 584kcal
Total Deficit: 1520kcal
Target Deficit: 811

So, I did pretty well diet-wise and exercise-wise, but didn't consume nearly enough calories.  I usually try to keep my deficit closer to 1000kcal max (which should equal about 2 pounds a week of loss) and my target is 811.  I just got super-focused on my house projects and all the work I was doing and, honestly, forgot to eat.

I've previously talked a bit about focus issues, and how I have a difficult time focusing on any weight-loss 'regime'.  Sometimes my lack of focus causes me to nibble without me even realizing I'm doing it.  Tomorrow I've got an appointment with a Dr. to talk about those focus issues and hopefully address them.  I'm looking forward to it because I really want to start feeling more 'normal', with a little more clarity and a little less noise inside my head.  Wish me luck!

Day 23 - Veggies and Planning! (+Weigh In)

So it's been a while since I last posted.  To be honest, it's just difficult as hell to update my blog OR my livejournal during the weekend.  To actually sit down and type something coherent when little buggers are tugging at my shirt or screaming or being... little buggers?  Difficult, very difficult. 

I've decided that I need a direction, fitness-wise.  I'm losing weight, but not at the rate I was when I was working out every day.  And since I'm down to the last 10-15 pounds, I really need to push myself that extra mile!

I am thinking of starting Chalean Extreme this Sunday.  The program is a 90 day one, and is supposed to be REALLY good for getting those extra pounds down. 

I'm also trying to really focus on my intake of fruit and veggies.  I tend to do an ok job of eating what I'm supposed to during the day (calorie-wise) but I seriously don't eat enough of the green stuff.  Nor do I get enough healthy fats, but that's a different matter entirely. 

I've done very well in other areas.  That is, I RARELY eat red meat anymore, my sodium levels are (usually) down.  I've been drinking lots of water.  But it's so hard to stay on track during the weekends.  During the week, it's easy to sit at my desk all day chugging water.  And I can't nibble because I pack my lunch in the mornings and don't have the $$ to buy anything extra.  The real trick is that period of time between when I get home from work, and when I go to bed.  I think I've mentioned that before. 

Anyways, I got busy doing work stuff yesterday and didn't record my weigh-in.  Ooops!  As always, I weight more on Mondays than I did the following Friday, because I tend to eat too much sodium during the weekends and retain water!  But I have to stay true to what the scale says on MONDAY because that's when I do my weigh-ins, and I want the total amount loss to be tracked accurately.  That said....

Start weight: 148.4lbs

LW Weight: 146
Current Weight: 145

So a pound down, not too bad!  I was 143.1 on Friday, though!  Gotta make sure I keep a better eye on that weekend sodium and water intake!
Now... off to plan my workouts for next week!

Day 15 (Summary)

So here's the thing: I'm awesome at keeping to my calories all day.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks.  Then after dinner, when I'm sitting down to relax, I wind up snacking without fail.  It's like a compulsion, one I cannot seem to shake.  Last night Steve sat down next to me with a bowl of popcorn, and I started eating- WITHOUT EVEN REALIZING I WAS EATING.  How fucked-up is that?  That you can be sitting down and putting food into your mouth without thinking about it?

I'm aware of this- this is what I'm going to focus on all week.  Going from dinner to bed without snacking.  Can I do it?  God, I hope so.

Calorie intake last night wasn't TERRIBLE, but I was at 1700 which is about 200 above my target. 

Didn't exercise (excuses, excuses!  Really I was just too busy setting up my computer, which I FINALLY got back from the shop!!!!), either. 

Target Daily Deficit: 811
Actual Daily Deficit: 336 (+200 nursince calories)= 536

So, not terribly abysmal but also nothing worth writing home about.  On the plus side- I did get my 8 cups of water in yesterday and, popcorn and all, was only at 1479mg of sodium (more than 1000mg under my 'max').  Hurray for small victories!!!

Day 15 - (Third Weigh-in)

Well, it's been about two weeks since I decided to start eating better (after taking a month off).  Time to do another weigh-in.  As of today I'm at 146 pounds, which is down 3.2 pounds from last monday and 2.4 pounds overall.  Yay!

But also, boo!  Because on Friday (April 2) I was at 144.4 pounds.

Basically, I had an Easter weekend chock-full of turkey dinners.  Didn't do too bad as far as candy is concerned, but I had three turkey dinners in a row which isn't ideal.  Calorie-wise, I don't think I did TOO terribly, but I know I didn't drink nearly as much water as I could have and consumed more sodium than I should have.  I'm confident that the 1.6 pounds I seem to have gained over the weekend is water weight, so I'm not TOO upset.

Actually, I'm very happy right now because for over a month, my weight bounced between 147 and 149 pounds.  I could NOT seem to get below 147.  I do believe it was because I lost 20 pounds so fast- my body didn't know what was going on, so I hit a plateau.  I spent a little over a month not eating too poorly, but also not creating a calorie deficit.  I just ate to maintain my weight.  This 'reassured' my body that no, I wasn't starving to death.  So now that I'm trying to lose again, it seems that my body is (again) willing to let go of some weight.  Thank heavens!  I'm so happy to be below 147.  Plateau breaked!

Still, I wasn't exactly miss good-dieter over the weekend.  Time to start fresh again today!  I'm happy because there are no events on the horizon that would cause temptation.  Joey's birthday is over, Easter is over.... it's all smooth (well, smoothER) sailing from here. 

Honestly, I'm just excited to hit 135.  Of course 125 is my ideal target weight, but 135 is my 'happy' weight.  That is, I look good when I'm 135.  I feel good, I'm healthy and happy.  I don't have to work as hard to maintain 135 as I do with 125.  I can LIVE with 135. 

I've got today all mapped out, calories counted.  Doing really well so far- wish me luck!

Day 10

Not really an ideal day yesterday.  Most of the day went well then I got hungry and snacked on cookies.  Not celery or carrots, which were available.  Then I got so pissed at myself I threw all the cookies in the trash.  Hurray for small victories!

My calories for the day were at 1703, but minus my nursing calories (which automatically deduct from my food tracker at MFP), I was at 1503, which is almost perfect.  Didn't do any exercise, though, again due to chest cold and that time of the month.  Hey, body, any time you wanna get better......

So my TDEE is 2036-1703+200=533

Target daily deficit: 811
Total daily deficit: 533

Not as good as it should have been.  Glad I threw those cookies out.

On the plus side, I have pre-made tonights dinner last night, so at least I don't have to fumble around wondering what to eat come dinner tonight!  I'll be having a half-cup of parboiled rice, a half cup of mixed veggies, and half a chicken breast.  Total calories = 325.  Also going to treat myself to a six-inch subway sub for lunch (turkey breast on wheat, no cheese or mayo) which will work out to 226 kcal.  I anticipate today's numbers will be better than yesterday.

Day 9

While I LOVE that my TOM allows me to drop water weight, I HATE HATE HATE the fatigue that comes with it.  Am looking into what foods I can eat to help get my energy up, but I'm pretty sure it's due to low iron levels.  Spinach would probably help.  Hrm......

Yesterday was an OK day.  Didn't exercise at all, but I think my overall deficit for the day made up for it! 

Here's my summary:

Target Calorie Intake: 1500
Actual Calorie Intake: 1253

I had a small serving of ice cream for dessert, which is fine because I was way under for calories for the day.  I was also under for sodium, which is also always a plus because I tend to have issues with that!  I try to aim for no more than 2000mg per day (ideally I stay in the 1500mg or less range) and I was at 1862mg.  Not 'perfect' by any means but certainly acceptable. 

If I were to be critical, I'd say that I need to work on getting more veggies into my diet, and more water.  I drank about six and a half cups yesterday, so I definitely could have done better (though, I could have done worse, too!!!!)

Target calories burned through exercise: 275
Actual calories burned through exercise: 0

Still dealing with a chest cold and that time of the month (which always = fatigue for me).  Can't wait for this to be over with. 

Target daily deficit: 811
Actual daily deficit: 783 (+200 nursing calories)

So my deficit for the day was 983, which was 172 above target.  So even though I didn't exercise, the day was an overall success.  Woohoo!

Day 8 (Pt. 2)

Well, thank heavens for that time of the month!  I've already let go of a lot of the water I was retaining and was down to 147.4 this morning, which is about two pounds down from where I was at the same time yesterday.  I'm not counting it as an 'official' weigh-in, we only do that on Mondays.  But still, nice to know all the same. 

Time for a summary of yesterday: 

Target Calorie Intake: 1500

Actual Calorie Intake: 1530

Only 30 calories over, not too shabby!  Probably could have eaten better things, though.  We still have hot dogs left over from Joey's birthday party and I want to make sure they get eaten before the buns get mouldy so I had two of those.  I also had a couple of chips (only a couple though, not too shabby) and two chocolate chip cookies.  Still, can't complain about overall quantity of calories consumed. 

Target calories burned through exercise: 275

Actual calories burned through exercise: 0

I won't lie, I just didn't feel like exercising.  I'm bleeding through my yoohoo, after all!  Plus, there's all the period-related fatigue.  Boourns!  I suck.

Target daily deficit: 811

Actual daily deficit: 506
 
Not too bad a deficit.  Not IDEAL.... but not too bad.  Can't really complain.  Will do (and have done) better today. 

I'm Baaaaack!

And so begins day 8.  I haven't been off to a terribly good start, I'll admit it!  I did well much of last week but Saturday was Joey's birthday.  Despite having lots of healthy snack options, I just couldn't stop eating.  Much of what I ate was healthy, but I just consumed so damned much.  I got to the point where I wasn't even HUNGRY, I just wanted to eat.  NO idea what the hell caused it. 

Finally, yesterday, my TOM arrived.  Two weeks late, actually (I'm still not regular, having just started getting periods again in January after almost a two-year pregnancy/breastfeeding break).  I'll admit, I HATE getting my period but there is a sense of relief when it arrives because I know I'll let go of all the water I've been retaining.  PLUS, the terrible cravings will subside and I'll be able to just focus on my diet/exercise plan.

I've also been terrible about updating this blog!  I was so focused on getting ready for Joey's birthday party, I just didn't find the time to write.  Thank heavens it's over and I can get back to life as usual! 

My monday morning weigh-in was brutal this morning- 149.2 pounds!  That's almost a full pound up from last week.  I'm not overly stressed, though, because I know that I'm retaining water like crazy!  In a couple of days, my weight will dip down again.  Next monday should be lower number, for sure! 

The day has been off to a good start- some Fibre 1 raisin bran and skim milk.  I've got a nutritious lunch packed for the day.  When I go home, I'll do a nice workout and burn some cals.  I may have been roughly thrown from the wagon last week, but it's time to get back on and start trucking!

Day 2 - Challenges

So in addition to my regular daily challenges (meet calorie/exercise goals, drink 8 cups of water) I think it would be fun to take on daily challenges.  It will help mix things up and keep me from getting bored (which, let's face it, is the number one thing that's held me back in the past).'

TrainerBob (Bob Harper, The Biggest Loser) tweets daily challenges, and I'm going to take today's challenge from him:

-50 bicep curls
-50 tricep dips
-50 shoulder presses
-50 lateral raises

Wow!  That's a lot.  :)  However, I can totally do it!  Was planning on doing an upper body workout today, anyways.

You know what, though...  Why don't I make it 51 of each?   3 sets, 17 reps each.  Boo-yah!

Phase 2, Day 1 (Details)

Off to a rough start!

Seriously, why do I bake?  I HATE having tasty treats in the house because I'm too tempted to partake.  NO MORE TREATS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK!  I've got haystacks, sweet marie bars, peanut butter cookies.... too much temptation for one person to handle. 

Target Calorie Intake: 1500
Actual Calorie Intake: 2085

I also didn't work out like I'd hoped.  Got caught up with mommy duties- dinner, bathing children, folding laundry- and then wound up with not enough time to fit my workout in.  I'm going to start getting up a half-hour early to do a morning workout.  Thankfully I don't work for the next 5 days, which will give me PLENTY of time to fit workouts in.  I DID however manage to play Super Hula Hoop on the Wii Fit for 10 minutes, which burned 80 calories.  I burn an extra 200 calories per day breastfeeding (yes, I'm still nursing.  Still trying to wean.  My son is 16 months old now- but he's in the 25th percentile for height and weight, so he's VERY small for his age.  Small babies are hard to wean!). 

Target calories burned through exercise:  275
Actual calories burned through exercise: 80

If there's anything bad about the days you don't do so well, it's that you learn where your failures are and how to improve the next day!  Fluid intake wasn't ideal yesterday, but I DID manage to drink 6 cups of water so I was about 75% there! 

Today is already much better.  Have drank 3 cups of water so far.  It's lovely outside, so I'll take the boys for a walk as soon as I get home and that should burn another 200 calories. 

Target daily deficit:  811
Actual daily deficit:  31 (+200 nursing calories).


So, my deficit for the day was only 231 calories yesterday.  At that rate, it would take me 15 days to lose one pound!  Not good enough.  Time to ramp up.  Feeling motivated.

Carrie's Total Body Makeover. Phase 2 - Day 1

Well, it's been ages since I've posted here!  Fear not, I haven't fallen off the wagon.  I just discovered MyFitnessPal.com, which is only the BEST weight-loss site EVER.  I mean it- it's amazing!  I can't say enough good things about it.  Best of all- it's free!  Can't get any better than that!


I've been pretty consistantly losing weight since I last posted.  Then my weight was 165.8lbs.  Today, it's (drumroll, please!) 148.4lbs!   17.4 pounds down altogether.  If you want to get TECHNICAL, I know that I'm carrying a good couple pounds water weight right now (TOM is due any day now!) so those should fall off pretty easily.


So, you ask, if you're doing such a good job with your weight loss journey.... why are you posting in your blog again? 


Here's the thing- I've been bouncing between 145 and 149 pounds for over a month now.  Plateau much?  I've learned that this is what happens when you lose this much weight this fast.  Your body goes, "Wait a minute!" and works harder to hold onto the fat.  Oh, also?  I don't totally hate myself anymore.


Four months ago, when I looked in the mirror I said, "ICK!  You're disgusting.  What is wrong with you?  You're a fat tub of lard and you need to fix this!"

Now I look in the mirror and I say, "Hey there sexy buns!  Looking good!"

That's not to say I look GOOD.  I'm still a good twenty pounds away from my final goal of 125.  However, I look so much better than I DID that it's hard to not just want to sit and savor the results.  So I've sat and savored... long enough. :)

So I've decided, on this Monday- the first Monday of Spring- that it was time to get my little buns back in action, and burn off these last few pounds.  My goal is to hit 125 by July 1, 2010.  This means I've got to lose 1.6 pounds per week in order to hit my goal.  DOABLE- but it's gonna take some time and commitment. 

That's where this blog comes in.  My lovely, sexy and BEAUTIFUL friend Ninny has started her own fitness/lifestyle challenge, which she's documenting in her own blog.  Since losing weight and getting healthy is so much easier (and FUN!) when you have someone doing it with you, I've decided to re-boot this blog and truck along with her. 

Also, I've found that I always dig deeper and work harder when I have someone to be accountable to.  This blog has helped me lose weight in the past, and I know it will help me in the future.  So consider this PHASE TWO of Carrie's total body makeover. 



Which brings me to my FAVORITE part.... the number crunching!  I love crunching numbers and setting goals, don't you???  No, seriously.  I love it!  I wish losing weight were as fun and easy as PLANNING to lose weight... ;)

Start weight: 148.4lbs
Target weight: 125
Goal Date: July 1, 2010
Days until goal: 101
Total loss goal: 23.4lbs
Pounds per week to meet goal: 1.62

Like I said- totally doable!  Let's go!  And hey, why stop here?

I work in a desk all day, but I also have two little boys, so I'd consider myself lightly active.  Based on my current age, height, weight my (estimated) TDEE is 2036kcal.  That is, I burn about that many calories just living my life, no exercise or anything.

So if there are 3500kcal in a pound of fat, and I need to burn 1.62 pounds per week, that means I need to create a deficit of 5670kcal per week in order to hit my target.  If I were going to do that through diet alone, that would mean reducing my caloric intake to 1225kcal per day.  However, I don't just want to lose weight- if I do that, I'll be skinny but FLABBY.  I also want to work on toning my muscles and becoming a more fit and healthy person.  So I'm going to work towards a caloric target per day of 1400-1500kcal per day, and aim for a minimum of 275 calorise burned per day through exercise.  While that may not sound like that much, it will require a bit of work.  Four months ago, I'd burn 275 calories in a twenty minute workout!  But after exercising 3-4 days a week over about 18 weeks, I've built up some pretty good endurance.  Now I burn 185 calories during a 25-minute stint of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred!  Good- but makes weight loss that much harder!

Thank heavens for my Polar F6 heart rate monitor, which makes tracking calories burned that much easier!!!

I'll be keeping daily track of my weight loss journal here, and continuing to track everything at MFP (calories in vs. calories out).  If you'd like to join me at MyFitnessPal, my username is MercuryBlue.  I look forward to seeing you!