Gotcha

210.6

Wednesday the 25th was Sebastian's "Gotcha Day" (as his rescue organization calls it), the anniversary of the date when I adopted him. It's hard to believe he has been my dog for EIGHT years! I have now had him longer than I had my previous dog Saffron, who missed eight years by less than two weeks.

Sebastian has his annoying habits, just like any dog, but he is super-smart, friendly and lovable. My life has been immeasurably enriched by having him in it for the past eight years.

Thank you, Sebastian, for being such a wonderful companion!

(The photo of him above was taken during our engagement photo session in October 2008.)

Hmm

210.6

I can't quite figure out why I always seem to weigh less in the days right after my weekly weigh-in than I do on the day of my weigh-in.

So anyway. . . .

211.8 (at home)
212.4 (official JC WI)

I am a day late weighing in this week--had to go out of town for a deposition yesterday--and still only down 0.3 lbs from last week. Honestly? Given the level of effort I put into my eating last week, I'll take it.

My week started out well, and I did make it to the gym four times. . . . but I ate four more meals out than I'd planned--I actually ate more dinners & lunches out than on plan--and I didn't always make the best choices. (Witness last night's stop at In N Out Burger on the way home from Tucson and the pasta I ordered last Saturday when grilled salmon & vegetables was available instead.)

So what is the take-home lesson from last week? For one thing, I need to be better about adjusting when plans change, interfering with my planned menu for the day. On at least two occasions, I could've made a healthier choice and did not. I also still need to eat more fruits and vegetables; I got in at least 5 servings most days but could've done better.

On the other hand, I'm not going to beat myself up. Overall, I am generally making better choices, and even the "slips" I had this week were not as bad as they could've been. For instance, yes, I ate In N Out Burger last night, but I got a single burger, rather than my usual double, and drank a diet soda rather than my usual Dr Pepper or lemonade. I could've ordered pasta with a cream sauce or cheese but instead I opted for pasta with shrimp in an arrabiata sauce.

And let's face it: I am faced with temptations every day and am trying to overcome years of bad habits, so lasting change isn't going to happen overnight.

Moving forward. . . . .

Query (post #700)

Do you consider it disrespectful, disloyal, or otherwise inappropriate for a married man to send a woman he had a relationship with in high school a message on Fac.ebo.ok including the following:

Hope all is well, you look great, and I see you are married. He is a lucky guy, you were always a sweet heart!

Other factors to consider: the man in question has other ex-girlfriends on his friends list besides the recipient of this message; he and his wife have been married for 16 years and have two children, ages 15 and 9; and the sender and recipient have not seen one another in nearly 20 years.

Woohoo!

210.2

Yesterday was another 100% on-plan day. I didn't go to the gym but did take the dogs on a 15-minute walk.

I can't wait to get under 210. It's been over 18 months since I weighed less than 210. ;-)

Baby steps. . . . .

Pat on the back

211.0

I must pat myself on the back because I had a 100% on-plan day yesterday. I ate all my planned meals and snacks and nothing extra. I ate 6 1/2 servings of fruits and veggies (strawberries, a peach, an apple, spring mix greens, low sodium V8, cauliflower, and a banana--whew!). I drank over 3 liters of water.

In addition, I went to the gym and did 32 minutes on the elliptical trainer plus some strength training and stretching. Very good!

If every day could be like yesterday, I would be at my goal weight much, much sooner. I am learning to become more accepting of the ebb and flow of this process, though.

Today is one of my "rest" days from the gym (that term makes me chuckle because it's not as though I work out so often or so intensely that I actually need a rest), and MM and I are going to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. Breakfast is under my belt, and my healthy lunch and snacks are with me here at work. Should be another good day.

Slip

211.6

I must confess, I had a big slip-up eating-wise yesterday. I was feeling very down all afternoon after spending too much time entering my billable time in our computer system and generally dwelling on all the negative things in my life.

I decided I was going to "treat" myself with some off-plan food. I was tempted to go to Chino Bandido again, but I didn't want to go quite that far off plan. So I went to Qdoba and had a mini quesadilla and mini nachos.

All told, my little "splurge" cost me close to 1000 calories. Not great, but I estimate about half the calories of what I would have ordered at Chino Bandido. I tried to ameliorate some of the damage by just having fruit & cereal with milk for dinner.

I have to say, the meal *did* make me feel better, at least temporarily. Of course, after a couple of hours, I felt icky because I'm just not used to eating like that anymore.

Today my mood is slightly improved--trying to focus on the positive--and I am back on track.

And ironically, the scale was the lowest this morning that it's been in days. Go figure. . . . .

Week 6 re-cap

212.2 (at home)
212.7 (official JC WI)

I was down 1 more pound at this morning's official weigh-in. I am making slow but steady progress: in six weeks, I have lost 8.4 lbs. Not exactly dramatic results, but I'll take it.

I suspect my loss for this week might have been a little more if not for the fact that I had dinner at my in-laws last night and ate more steak than I should have. (Probably 6-7 oz instead of the 3-4 oz I'd budgeted for.) Oh well.

I am noticing a difference in the way my clothes fit, and I have had a few people comment that I look like I am losing weight. So that's good.

At this pace, I won't reach a "healthy" BMI until early July 2011. . . . but at least I am sticking with it and making some headway. My last several attempts at weight loss have lasted less than a month, so just the fact that I have managed to stick with this for six weeks is encouraging.

I do think I could be doing more. I still struggle with getting in all my fruits and vegetables some days. I only go to the gym 2-3 times most weeks (though I got in 4 workouts this past week). I have had the occasional slip-up where I've eaten things that weren't on my plan for the day.

But because I know I am going to be doing this for a long, long time, I don't want to burn out. So I am taking it easy on myself and learning to be content with these smaller losses which are the result of not working quite as hard as I could.

Plugging along

212.4 (this morning)
211.0 (Wednesday morning)
213.7 (official JC WI on Monday night)

I have been remiss in updating, primarily due to the fact that I have actually been busy at work this week for the first time in months. I'm not complaining--I actually couldn't be happier to be busy again--just explaining.

My official loss for last week, based on Monday night's weigh-in, was 1.1 lbs. I'll take it. Because I usually weigh in before 9:00 a.m., without having eaten breakfast, and weighed in this time at 6:00 p.m., I probably actually lost more for that week. . . . but it will all even out in the end.

The scale is up a little this morning due to my eating a late dinner plus 320 calories or so worth of wheat bread which was not on my list of planned foods. Oops. That's what happens when you schedule your hair appointment at the time you'd normally be eating dinner and then go to the grocery store famished: you end up buying things you shouldn't.

I got right back on track this morning. That is one thing I am fairly proud of myself for in the these 5+ weeks on Jenny Craig; I've had some slips, but in each instance, I have immediately gotten back on track. So often in the past, I've allowed one meal, or one day, of poor choices to lead to my quitting altogether; not this time.

My gym bag is packed for my second gym workout of the week tonight. So things are going pretty well.

212.2

The scale was up a little this morning after a not-so-great eating day yesterday. Through no intent (or fault) of my own, I ended up eating breakfast at 8:15 a.m. and not having lunch until 2:00 p.m. . . . . at which time I was FAMISHED and ate one more slice of veggie pizza than I should have (plus a Hansen's soda which I didn't realize until after I'd drunk it--duh!--was not diet and in fact had 150 calories).

I also know I didn't drink enough water or eat enough veggies yesterday, and I only got in one serving each of fruit and dairy (as opposed to the 3 and 2 servings, respectively, I was supposed to). And I'd had a sensible dinner out Saturday night, but still a dinner out, so I'd probably consumed more sodium than usual.

Given all this, I am not too bummed out about the fact that the scale is up a little from earlier in the week. I feel confident that now that I am back on track and drinking lots of water again, the number will come down again.

No JC weight for today yet, as I had to move this morning's appointment to after work due to a deposition this morning. And with a later-in-the-day-than-usual weigh-in, it's almost a sure thing that I won't show a loss at the scale. . . . or if anything, a smaller loss than usual.

Ah well. Onward and upward (er, downward?).

Ya-hoo!

211.2

Was THRILLED by the number on the scale this morning. Looking back, I haven't been under 210 in over 18 months. Can't wait to get there!

Today will be a challenge with lunch and dinner out. I had input about the places and have planned good choices. Fingers crossed that I can stay strong and stick with them.

Scale hop

212.4

I know some say it's bad to weigh daily, but I sure hope this morning's weight is real!

Another Tuesday

214.0

I thought I had a headache when I first woke up this morning. Then I realized it was just the feeling of dread at having to go to work. Ugh.

The scale was kind this morning. So that's nice.

My day's meals are planned, with lunch and snacks here at my office. My gym bag is packed, and I'll be meeting MM there around 6:30 this evening. I'm already on my third 12-oz glass of water of the 8 per day I usually drink, and it's not yet noon here. So I am on track to have a good day, weight loss/healthwise.

Now if I could just finish entering my billable time for the second half of July in our computer system, I'd be all set. Three days down, eight more to go. Why do I do this to myself?

That's more like it

214.8 at JC
215.0 at home

I had a decent loss at this morning's WI: down 2.2 lbs. Interestingly, I believe my effort this past week was about equal to that of the two previous weeks in which I lost little or no weight; in fact, I only went to the gym twice, vs. the three to four times a week I'd gone during the other weeks. Whatever, I'll take it.

This puts me at a total of 6.3 lbs lost for my first four weeks back at JC. Not stellar results, but certainly a step in the right direction. If I could continue to lose weight at this rate, I could be under 200 in a little over 9 weeks. It would take just over 41 more weeks to get to a "healthy" BMI at this rate (for me, that translates to a weight of 149). That's less than a year, actually just a little over 9 months. That sounds reasonable.

I must confess, I did not eat all the servings of fruit which I was supposed to last week. So this week I am going to focus on being more diligent about getting in all my fruits & veggies, in addition to just generally staying "on plan."