Yearly check-in? OR, a fresh start (again)? (Manda)

I'm doing it again. You know, checking in once a year to apologise for being absent and assert my plans to stick around this time.

New plan / incentive: I'm in a competition with my best friend K and her mom, A. We each have a goal (mine is to lose 5 kilos, K is losing 5 and A is going for 7, but weighs more and thus should find it equally challenging).

The fun twist: The winner (the closest to goal on June 25th, or the first one to reach the goal before that) is paid $80 and $60 dollars by the people who come second and third, respectively.

This is cool, because going to Weight Watchers would cost more than that, but I think the incentive of having $140 dollars to spend in whatever I want is going to spur me on a little more than WW would. And we're going to support each other by exercising together occasionally, so it's friendly and spurry.

So, goal: lose 5 kilos, going from 74.5 to 69.5, the lowest weight I'll ever have been since I started weighing myself

Plan:
- keep running (you heard me, running! I can actually do it now, albeit not as well as an actual runner friend would), playing sport, rockclimbing;
- portion control, occasional treats, love food, concentrate on enjoying what I eat

Yea!

Oh, and to make up for not being present for a year, I'll be extra-present and include a picture of what I look like now.

Here but no weigh in (Emily Sue)

I've had a good few days and I'm feeling a LOT better. I think the downward spiral has been halted... phew. I haven't got back to exercising yet, apart from a walk on the weekend, but the compulsive eating is under control, as is the desire to stay in bed all day, every day.

One thing that has helped is discovering this website called My Fitness Pal. It's basically a calorie tracking site where you can input your details and the amount of weight you want to lose and it will tell you how many calories to eat per day. Then throughout the day you can input food eaten and exercise done and it calculates how many calories you have left. It's an American site so many American food brands but any member can add new foods, so there are already loads of Australian food brands on there. There's also a phone app, which I'm using.

And the best part? It's 100% free.

As you know I've been doing Weight Watchers. I haven't been to meetings for a month but haven't cancelled my membership because I didn't want to lose access to the online tracking system, which I've found extremely helpful. Now that I've found this new site, however, I think I'll ditch WW and use the free site instead.

I know this won't be for everyone, but tracking really works for me. It gives me boundaries that help me not to binge but also help me not to starve myself - if it says I can eat 1300 calories per day I will eat at least 1250 calories. Left to my own devices I tend to swing between eating too much then eating not enough. Neither is helpful.

My starting weight on the site was 71kg. I think now that probably wasn't accurate, as in I was having a bloated day when I signed up, so I'll probably have a good, but incorrect, weight loss in the first week. I'm weighing in on Saturdays so stay tuned.

It is all the same

Hi All,

The title says it all, I am still coughing, I thought things were getting better, but on Tuesday my cold freshened up again. So I thought here we go again, back to headaches and coughs and runny nose etc. Well it didn't get too bad this time.

Then you add to that, my 2 sisters came last Friday, so I made a High Tea (with some help from friends) and of course ate it. That was really fun in the end it is worth trying some time. It was good to get out the good china etc. Then take away for Sunday lunch and again for Tuesday night. Of course I must add the frozen marshmallows that are just yummy.

So although my weight dropped some, I usually have a corresponding bounce and when I eat with the bounce the news is bad.

So let me just say the rise is a secret and I claim that weight was as at last week.

I feel as if I have been making excuses since Christmas when the rot set in, so this week I will try to be good and walk regularly and eat less of the naughties.

I hope you noticed the use of the word try.

Stuff this weight loss myth (GdeE)

Previous Weight:  Approximating 66.5 kg

Current Weight:  Approximating 66.5 kg

Any loss at all? Of course not.  What were you expecting?

Wardrobe:  Everything I own is in the wash, except for my pair of size 14 skinny jeans.  I am therefore wearing them, enjoying the way they swim on my body and fall down a bit.  Surely I am losing weight?  No, apparently not.  I am still 66.5ish kg whether I look like my clothes are swimming on me or I look like I'm trussed up like a Christmas ham.

How I look today:  Weird, as I had a drastic haircut and my hair won't go right.  It was Polygamous Sect Length with mandatory frizzing, and now it's layered at shoulder-length with similar frizzing.  You'd think that I'd have lost a bit of weight with the haircut, but you'd be wrong.

How I feel today:  Much more worried about my hair than about my weight.

What I think about weight loss today:  It doesn't exist.  I've been eating less, eating healthy and continue to be really active (pushing single and double strollers around, walking to and from work, generally pushing my body to do that little bit extra.)  Nothing happens.  So why are we here again?

I rowed (HJ)

So you'd all forgotten that I existed?

Mammoth wave of sleeplessness; cold in the head; being away at a residential school. These are my excuses.

But really it all comes down to the fact that I've been comfort eating and not exercising and there is NO WAY I'm going anywhere near the scales.

But this morning I got up and did 10 mins rowing.

That's got to be good, surely?

Still coughing LLL

Hi,

I am still full of cold, I think it is getting less, but still coughing. I have been walking sort of, I know that seems strange, but a couple of days I was slow and didn't do the full 20min walk. Some days I still do nothing. Yesterday I set out and got up the street when it started raining. I turned behind me and there was quite a storm coming fast. Storms don't come from that direction, so on leaving home I had ignored it. I set out walking back and ended up running. Now does running burn any more fat cells? I don't know, but that was the end of exercise.

For some unknown reason, today my weight is down to 64.7 that is down .4 since last week. I am not complaining at all.

I have been told but haven't found anything to verify it, that when the fat is taken from cells the body fills the cells with water, to make it easier to refill them later. After a period when the fat is not returned the body removes the water. That makes sense to me as that would be when the weight drop happens. Does anyone know more of this? I did try google and spent a lot of time and no real info.

That is me for today keep plodding along all you skinny cows.

Meh. (Emily Sue)

Bad couple of weeks.

I mean BAD.

Result:

• Comfort eating. Lots of it.
• Then guilt.
• Then more comfort eating to assuage guilt.
• Then more guilt. Are you seeing a pattern here?
• And of course, no exercise.
• In fact not a lot of getting out of bed at all unless it's absolutely vital.
• I have no idea what I weigh now. Not checking.

------------------------

I'm getting back on track slowly, but I'm not being particularly fanatical about it. My mental health is a higher priority. Having said that, putting on loads of weight probably wouldn't do my mental health much good either so I'm trying to be a BIT sensible. But just a bit. :)
.

Holding Pattern (G de E)

Previous Weight:  Hovering around 66.5 kg

Current Weight:  Hovering around 66.5 kg

Any loss at all? Probably not.  But no gain.

Wardrobe:  After a blog post confessing to old jeans ripping open displaying my old undies, my Mother told me to go shopping for clothes.  She offered to mind my children (which I accepted) and attempted to press $100 onto me, (which I didn't.)  All I bought was underwear.  Because I am, as I thought, an oddly-shaped 12E, spending a frightful amount of money at a posh shop is my only option.  I was delighted to find that 14DD also does the job, and in fact, does it a little more comfortably.  I found a splendid bra and bought three, and I also found that I still look ghastly in those darn mirrors with the fluoro lighting glaring down from directly above.  I also found that if you spend a fair bit of money on briefs that promise to be very comfy due to the absence of leg elastic, they will spend their lives annoyingly wedged, due to the lack of leg elastic.  Fail, Berlei Barely There.


How I look today:  Pretty alright, have dressed for my shape and am rockin the look.

How I feel today:  Fine, wondering if I really need to bother about this muffin top after all, mainly because I look okay today and have forgotten how horrible I looked in that change booth.

What I think about weight loss today: Look, I confess I don't believe in it again.  I'm eating fairly healthy, I am unwilling to give up treats like a little chocolate, I'm active all day every day despite not being able to get out and do heartrate-raising exercise, I am getting good sleep and loving life, and nothing much ever happens on the scales.

And why am I even bothering about getting rid of this tummy anyway?

Oh that's right.  Because of how I looked in that change booth.  That's why.

Still alive LLL

Hi all,

This week has not been good. I had a tummy bug that was most unpleasant, and while still recovering from that started with a sore throat that developed into a really good cold. Mostly in the head but today down to my chest.

The first thing that didn't happen was walking, I went to bed instead. So the last few days have been sitting blowing my nose all day, and feeling hungry.

I did weigh yesterday, and didn't get around to posting, and my weight was the same as last week, fortunately for me.

Still feeling miserable, not at all energetic, and couldn't care less. That seems to sum things up for me.

Next week should be better.

I knew It LLL

My weight was playing around up and down. Well today is the real down. Just for a check I weighed today and found 65.1kg. That means that I have reached the 5kg mark and I am due for the first reward. I have decided that as my clothes don't fit, I will now make 2 t shirts that do fit and I will then have a little more that feels good.

So any time now (probably when this row of lace is finished) I give myself permission to sew 2 shirts, 1 green and 1 mauve. I have even decided on the styles. So all systems go.

I really feel this is an achievement. Onward and downward.

Heading Down (GdeE)

Previous Weight:  Hovering around 67.0kg

Current Weight: Hovering around 66.5kg

Weight Loss: A reliable, consistent 500g

Wardrobe:  Wouldn't mind going shopping for more pants that look okay around the muffin top and shirts that aren't too clingy but aren't too blousey at the same time.  Both styles accentuate muffin top dreadfully.  Have been breaking one of my cardinal wardrobe rules - Sleeveless Doesn't Flatter Me At All - and I've been looking okay (especially if I hold my arms out from my body a little.)  Still a little leg-of-lamb-ish around the upper arms, but not too bad overall.

How I look today:  Started off looking lumpy & dumpy in oversized 3/4 jeans with thick fabric and a blousy shirt that probably should have been in the maternity section in the shop.  Changed to a more fitted 3/4 jeans in thinner fabric and a more fitted top.  Transfigured my look. 

How I feel today:  Dumpy around the middle, okay elsewhere.  Slightly shocked to catch sight of reflection in windows, because body image is slightly better than reality right now.

What I think about weight loss today:  Plan to state weight in "hovering around XX.Xkg" since I am uncomfortable pinning my hopes on a 300g loss when I can wee that much, or becoming depressed at a 500g gain, because that's how much water I drink before breakfast in the morning.  This way I can feel confident in a loss like the one I've seen over the last few weeks.  I guess this all means that I tentatively believe in weight loss for the moment.

That Time Again LLL

I forgot that today was weigh in. I did weigh, just forgot to record same. There has been something strange going on and for some unknown reason my weight went up by 1kg, but at the same time my waist measurement dropped. Go figure. The cullottes that I made for Christmas I have had to take in 4cm. Yesterday I just couldn't keep them comfortable. Yes, that was made in 2010, 5ish weeks ago.

However today I weigh 65.6 so that is a drop of .3 from 2 weeks ago. I can't explain what is going on, I just accept and see that only .5 to go to my first reward point. It will be interesting to see what will happen in the near future.

So I am happy with the drop and will keep walking. It seems to be working.