Challenge Day 4

Challenge Day 4:

No soda/artificially sweetened drinks 

Done. Although I've had stevia in my tea and stuff. So maybe I'm a liar. I guess my main objective was the soda, and I've been solid all week.

 No alcohol 

I've been dry all week. Not to say I haven't thought about it. Yesterday I went to let the dog out and the sun was shining, the weather was beautiful, I spied my cozy backyard chair and wanted a gin and tonic in my hand like a heathen. I resisted.

At least 20-minutes of walking each day 

I went for a walk. 30 minutes, I believe. My legs are feeling a little like jelly.

Log all calories eaten 

Again, I was under. About 150 under. I really don't get it. I did pump up my veggie intake something fierce, though yesterday. I pretty much ate a big bowl of broccoli. And I liked it.

Water intake of 8 8-oz. glasses per day 

I killed it yesterday with my water. Well, killed it for me, a dehydrated freak. I think I had more than 9, but once the water splashes over the top of the water tracker, I'm pretty happy.

I'm going to be honest, there's a 50/50 chance that I might break my alcohol fast tonight. I'm going to try not to, and I'm weighing heavier on the "not to" side because I know we're going out to dinner tomorrow and I'm diving headfirst into a vodka martini the moment my fat foot clears the threshold. But tonight I want a backyard fire and a glass of brandy. Wah. Woe is me.

One more day, one more day. I can do it, I can.

Probably. I know I can, it's do I want to? 

I'm pathetic.

We'll see what happens.

I did weigh myself and I lost .4 pounds. Meaning I was 250.6, and now I'm 250.2

I'm not too encouraged. But it's only been 5 days, that I've been calorie-cycling and doing my challenge, and only 2 days since I last weighed myself. I shall have faith and continue, and see what the scale renders me next week.

I'm already contemplating this same challenge next week. My biggest challenge next week is that we have a trip planned and it is REALLY difficult to stay on task when you're vacationing, but even worse to be (trying to) eat low-carb and doing it. OY. 

I hope everyone has a nice Friday. It is gorgeous outside here. The air is off, the windows are open.

254.6

Two pounds down. Interesting.
Kind of humbled because I was ready to start whining about how frustrating it is when hard work doesn't pay off on the scale, and then Mr. Scale shoves that right back in my face.

I was completely prepared, although ready to revolt, for another 256/257 weigh in today. I was scared because I can't seem to figure things out, or get results from what I feel like is hard work.

The past week has gone OK, but I have been dealing with some old issues and cravings. Like I said in the post a couple days ago, I drank too much on Friday night. Or I ate too little. Combo of both. We had Mother's Day. I didn't go too crazy, but I did "splurge" and get these:

It was a compromise between eating the sugary version, the sugar free version, or nothing - and letting my cravings run wild. Have I told you I've had cravings? It's been kind of a scary week. So, I settled on those babies and ate 3 of them. My boys ate the other ones. It hit the spot.

I don't miss too much right now as far as food goes, but I also know that I'm going to be losing for a while, and then trying to maintain. I can't get stuck in the rut of being militant about things to the point of failure, which is kind of my tendency. I need to find that sweet spot happy medium.

For the record, the past few days I really ramped up a couple things:

• Fat intake (adding coconut oil to my coffee, along with the cream, 2x per day). Remember I'm doing a Low Carb, High Fat way of eating (more on that in another post). My calories have bumped up a bit to between 1800 and 2000, and my fat intake has been about 160, carbs less than 70g. When I factor in fiber, it's been less than 50g per day.*

• Water intake (shooting for at least 64oz. - I'd like to up it from there). When I feel thirsty, I know I haven't given myself enough water. I feel thirsty often. 8-8oz. glasses of water really isn't cutting it, and is my bare minimum. Oftentimes I don't hit that mark. I'm really working to exceed that daily.

• Movement/exercise (just ramped it up a bit - have slacked off). I normally shoot for 3-20min. walks per week or 3 miles. I want to, in the end, be more active than that, though. With my sedentary job, I think I need to fit in more exercise. I'm not running or doing anything like that at this time, but shaking it up a bit. I could do 3-20min. walks when I was 330 pounds. I should be able to do more than that, now.

*One thing I notice about this Holy Grail of Fat/Water/Movement - my skin. I think it's mostly the fat and water, but it feels so much better. When I started upping my fat I noticed that my skin almost felt like it had a protective layer on it when I shower. It's great.

I don't know if that kick-started things for me, or the combination, but I'm happy to have been able to lose a bit again. Still shooting for getting below 250 this month. I know I shouldn't have my goals married so directly to the scale, but I also know that I don't want to hang out here forever. The longer I hang out here, the more I've been feeling like my body is inclined to start pushing upwards again. It settled so nicely in that 265 zone that I feel it pulling back there again. I want to get far away from that and reset my "meter" again, God willing!

My FitBit is helping a bit, though it's only been a couple days. I like that it tracks my steps, though I don't think it is the most accurate, but it is still another tool for me. I'm definitely below that 10,000 step range. This morning I got up and did a 2-mile Walk Away The Pounds and got some steps in right off the bat, but it registered me as doing 1.5 miles. A little frustrating.

Summed up - today was a good weigh-in day. They aren't always good, as we all know.

Weighing In Before The Weekend

I weighed myself today. It's not some horrific sin, but I couldn't help myself. Realistically I try to weigh in every Monday morning. Sometimes I dread it (well generally I dread it) after a weekend where I feel I overindulged. For some sick reason I thought it would be a good idea to weigh in today.

283

That's three pounds down.

I was almost brought to my knees in gratitude. Thank God for small blessings, eh? My body was cooperating?! Crazy. That's 3 pounds down this week. That's 3 pounds away from dipping under 280. Wow, wow, and WOW.

But hold the phone, because here comes the weekend. Tonight is wine and dinner with the girls, tomorrow is pizza night with the family - and a grillout, and Sunday we have a family celebration.

It ALL revolves around food.

I can do this, though. I can. I've done it before. I didn't duck out of engagements because of the food. Well, maybe sometimes. I actually considered brining my own lunch to the grillout tomorrow. It might be corny, but this is a matter of survival. If I were an alcoholic and I were going to a "alcoholic drinks only" party - I might just bring my own soda. Maybe I have to stop caring what someone else would say, since I'm the one in battle.

Or maybe I eat sensibly. Or try to. Small portions, stick to familiar foods.

What a decision to have. I can think of worse ones. It makes me wonder if weighing in before the weekend was a good idea, though. If I hop back on Monday and it tells me 285, I will be bummed (crushed).

It's done, though. I'll use it to motivate me not to have to read a higher weight on Monday.

Answering a question from the comments:

elenamary said... what are you goals with water? how did you come to set your water goal? any suggestions?

I aim for 8 8oz. glasses of water a day (the common standard). No real reasoning, but that seems to be a happy medium, so I use that number as a marker.  I also use the amount of times I go to the bathroom (color of urine, etc.) as a guide. It's important enough to me to pay attention tot that. If I'm having wine or alcohol, I want to increase the water intake, or keep up glass to glass with water/wine.

There are days where I will be making dinner and realize I hadn't gone to the bathroom or drank anything besides my morning coffee or a soda. That's not good. I get headaches from not drinking enough water. That's not good. My problem is, unless it is right in front of me - I forget. I don't like to stand by the sink and chug water. The visual of the tap doesn't help me. BUT, the visual of a clear water bottle does.

Usually I take my travel water bottle wherever I go. It helps me remember and saves money. I take it to work every day. One day I forgot it and purchased a disposable water bottle with a drink spout. I noticed I drank it all easily without even thinking about it. If I'm drinking from a straw, I'm likely to drink more, too. So I purchased one of those clear tumblers with a straw and can't believe how much more helpful it has been (to me) for getting my water in. I've been drinking at minimum 3 cups full a day (60oz), and that's not including the water with meals. That's much better than I was doing before.

Everyone's different, but for me the visual of my cup, the ease of drinking and portability (I set it by the computer if I'm working, in the kitchen when I'm cooking, livingroom if we're watching a movie). This has worked wonders for me. I know some people use very large water bottles and mark each 8oz on it, and use that as a guide/goal.

I Lost Two Pounds

Big deal, right?

Well, it's been a struggle to lose weight for me. I don't know if it is age or what the factor, but I've been having trouble breaking out of a plateau (for lack of better word).

I stepped on my Wii fit and it read 286 after a week of tracking my calories and walking/moving a bit more. Beautiful! It has not been easy to keep on top of tracking. I'm busy, like anyone else. Beyond that, I'm cooking for my family, trying to stay on a budget, and having to run all my recipes through trackers takes up time and energy.

But so does being unhealthy and depressed. 

Today I am very motivated.

I want to get that "needle" to dip below the 280 mark.
I want my pants to be loose again.
I want to fit back into the clothes that are hanging in my closet, waiting for me.

My lowest weight I remember was 269. I have a ways to go to get there. I very much hope that I can make it. It is hard not to get ahead of myself, push things, and not get frustrated.

I'll look at my small goal of getting below 285. I should be able to accomplish that by the end of the month.

WATER
I have a hard time getting my water in, especially at home. Trying to do better, I finally purchased one of those clear tumblers that have a clear straw to sip through. It holds  20oz of water. I really had to coach myself into buying one, though, instead of writing it off as a waste of money. But, I notice if I have a water bottle or something with a straw, I'm waaaaay more likely to drink water. Since I've caught myself a few times lately realizing I had only drank a few ounces of water during the day, I thought it was important for me to pay attention to.

I've had the cup for a week and have already doubled my intake. Yay me.