Exercise is Key

I say it like its something new....but obviously exercise is the key for me to lose weight. Last week I only lost a little and didn't really exercise too much, and this week I lost 1.4 lbs. even with lots of holiday eating because I made sure to get to the gym 3 times. It was actually a surprise that I lost that much because I've really found myself slipping last week and indulging just way too much. I'm getting closer to my 10% though, now I only have 2.8 lbs. to go. My original goal was to make 10% by the first meeting of the year (Jan. 8th) but when I gained after Thanksgiving I didn't think I'd be able to. Now I'm thinking its definitely possible if I work at it. I'm not going to a meeting next week because of New Year's Eve so hopefully by the 8th I'll be able to make that 10% goal!

Weight to date: 242.8 lbs.
Weight loss this week: 1.4 lbs.
Total weight loss: 23.2 lbs.

Missing my Meeting

Well I lost 0.6 this week. I had to go to weigh in on Monday because I wasn't going to be able to make it on Tuesday. I got lost on the way there since it was in another town, so I was all flustered when I finally got there 20 mins late. I weighed in and was a little disappointed my the 0.6, honestly I thought I'd at least get a pound. I didn't even feel like staying for the meeting...it wasn't the same anyway since its not my meeting with my leader. Oh well, I have to tell myself that a loss is a loss right?? I'm going to have to go to a Monday meeting next week too since Tuesday is Christmas. But I'll be going in CT since I'll be home there for Christmas. And I'm also going to have to go Monday before New Year's....bummer. January 8th is the next meeting I'll be at that's my real meeting. I don't like the change because I'm used to the leader and people at my meeting, that's what makes it a good meeting to me.

Weight to date: 244.2 lbs.
Weight loss this week: 0.6 lbs.
Total weight loss: 21.8 lbs.

Addicted?

Even with two holiday parties this past weekend I was still down 1.2lbs at weigh in last night! I was pretty excited about this since I only went to the gym twice and I usually do three or four times a week. It was hard, after my work party on Sunday I didn't want to go to the gym, all I wanted to do was go home, put on my PJ's, and watch movies (at 2pm, lol). And that's exactly what I did (well after about an hour of Christmas shopping). Its been harder for me to get motivation to go to my new gym because I just loved the old one so much. I've been thinking that if I don't like the YMCA after about a month I may change back to my old gym (which was a great all women's gym), but it is really expensive there and the prices are going up after the first of the year. I managed to get to the gym on Monday, and I must get there tonight because I'm going to be taking probably Friday and Saturday off since I'll be away.

I'm also really trying hard with the food. It seems like everywhere I go there's something to tempt me. Today at work they had a happy holiday breakfast to thank employees for their work. Well I had eaten my yogurt and fruit but my coworker asked if I wanted to go to the breakfast. I said I would just go over there for the walk and then I ended up eating 4 slices of bacon! That's 5.5 points people. I just feel like so much of the time I have no self control. I wish I could eat like a normal person and not be thinking about food all of the time. Before WW all I could think of was the junk I was going to eat next, and now in WW all I can think about is planning my meals, and how many points are in a certain item. Sometimes I feel like an addict with the food, I just can't stop. But with a drug/alcohol addict at least they can give up their vice. You obviously can't give up eating or we'll die. Its really hard to find that delicate balance but I'm working on it and since starting WW I have gotten better at it.

Weight to date: 244.8 lbs.
Weight loss this week: 1.2 lbs.
Total weight loss: 21.2 lbs.

Back in the Game

I'm getting back on track after that disappointing Thanksgiving gain. I ended up losing exactly the 2 lbs. that I gained so I'm back at a 20 lb. total loss. I thought this was pretty good because I joined a new closer gym last weekend, and didn't exercise much at all...I'm not really sure I like the new gym but its $15 a month cheaper than my old gym. Also, it was my time of the month and I felt really bloated. I'm sure I was retaining some water so I'm hoping that next week I'll have a good loss. This weekend I have 2 holiday parties, so it'll be a challenge to make sure I stay on plan and really get the exercise in. I'll be going to the gym tonight and I'm committed to working hard to earn those extra activity points.



Weight to date: 246 lbs.
Weight loss this week: 2 lbs.
Total weight loss: 20 lbs.

Disappointed After Thanksgiving

Well last night was disappointing, I gained 2 lbs. I sat at my meeting and wanted to cry, this just hasn't been my week (I also found out I didn't get accepted to BU for grad school). I know I ate more than usual but I did exercise everyday so I thought I'd at least stay the same. I couldn't even talk at my meeting because I was so upset about everything. To make matters worse I went and got a sandwich from Panera for dinner. I had 20 points left for dinner so I wanted to use them up (the sandwich is 18 points), but I know there are a lot healthier ways to use my points.

Last week at the meeting we wrote our goals for the new year, and mine was to be at 10% by the first meeting of the new year which is January 8th. Now I have 8 pounds to lose to be able to do that. That means I have to average 1.6 lbs a week to do this, no gains, no staying the same. I'm still going to work hard at this, but I really hope I can do it. **Sigh** I know I shouldn't have this defeatist attitude and that I need to accept that gains are part of the journey but when you're actually in the situation its really hard not to feel disappointed. I just need to get past it, this week is a fresh start and new week.

Weight to date: 248 lbs.
Weight loss this week: + 2 lbs.
Total weight loss: 18 lbs.

Down more!

I forgot to post last week after weigh in. It was a really good one, down 4 lbs!! That was supposed to be really encouraging for me going into the Thanksgiving holiday, but I think I ate way too much. We'll see tomorrow at weigh in. **Crossing fingers**


Weight to date: 246 lbs.
Weight loss this week: 4 lbs.
Total weight loss: 20 lbs.

Weak moments

I thought I was only going to update once a week but I'm struggling this morning to stay on plan. Although since starting WW things have been a lot better with my binging, it has still been really hard to be in control. I think the biggest difference is that now if I binge I don't go out and buy a load of junk to eat but I'll eat things I have at home. For the most part I have healthy food, but I do have things like full fat cheese (the fat free stuff is just horrible).

A lot of times I'll binge on the cheese or pasta or something. Its been really hard for me at work because the drug reps bring in food all of the time (I work in a hops ital). Before starting WW I was eating a catered lunch everyday but Fridays, and most of the time they don't bring healthy good. Now I bring my lunch and the only time I eat the catered lunch is at our Monday meetings. On Thursday and Fridays they bring us breakfast. I'm not a huge breakfast person, so no problem until they bring bagels and scallion cream cheese. Gosh those things are good. I used to eat 2 of them in a morning. So I broke down and had one this morning and do you know those bagels are 6 points and the cream cheese is 4 points for 2 Tbsp. Ok, I knew this so I really shouldn't be surprised when I double checked in the points tracker but I'm kicking myself for eating that thing. Things happen though, I just need to try to control myself better I guess. I've been drinking lots of water and chewing sugar free gum (which is something I need to do more to keep my mouth busy). Live and learn, right?

Back on track!

I have to say that last week when I gained 2.6 lbs. it was a wake up call for me. Thank goodness it helped me get back on track because I had not been making very good food choices, and exercise was basically non existent except for lunch time walks. I love my walks at lunch (usually about 45-60 mins). That just isn’t enough exercise for me I found. I really need to get myself to the gym at least 3 times a week for a more intense workout. Plus, on the walks we're always stopping to look in store windows or to see puppies (they're so cute I can't help it). I have been getting good about always making it to the gym from Friday through Monday. Since Tue. is my weigh in day I don't really have time then, I try to get there Wednesday if I can, and Thursday is class day so I don't get home until after 9pm. I'd really like to start doing the gym in the morning but I just don't know if I can bring myself to get up early enough to make it there by 6am so I can make it to work on time.

I think I was very good with the food this past week, there were no eating out days which helped me a lot. I realized that I need to definitely control myself better with eating out. I always have enough points to get something I want and I can also use some weekly points, but I don't necessarily make the best choices when eating out, so I know I could be using those points in a much better way. I only had one potential snag this week which I thought I handled well. I had to be at a dinner meeting for work until 6pm on Tuesday, which meant that by the time I got home on the bus and got into my car I wouldn't make my weigh in and meeting that night. I was pretty bummed about this but there was nothing I could really do. Well the meeting ended up finishing at 5:45pm and dinner was served after...chicken parm, pasta, and cookies the size of your head. It looked good, but I decided to skip dinner and head home so I could get to the meeting, which I think was a really good decision for me because I know I would have ended up eating too much anyway.

I was so nervous for weigh in on Tuesday because of the gain last week, so when I saw I was down 4.2 lbs I was so excited! That means I'm only 10.6 lbs away from reaching 10%!! Less than half way to go to my first big goal. This definitely gave me the encouragement to keep going and have another great on plan week.

Weight to date: 250
Weight loss this week: - 4.2
Total weight loss: 16

And the transformation begins

Well, I started my weight loss journey almost 2 months ago on September 11th, so I decided it was time for me to start writing about it. After finally just being sick of what I looked like I decided to join Weight Watchers about 2 months ago and begin my journey to a better me. So here's a little background on how I got here:

This was a big step for me because I've never exactly been a skinny person. Since I've been in high school I've gone on a few diets with my mom with her encouragement and support but it never really worked because I think I was always doing it for her and not for myself. After my freshman year of college I gained 30 pounds, so I went from kind of overweight to just out of control. I did go on Jenny Craig that summer and lost about 20 pounds but by the time I graduated 3 years later it just came back on.

After I graduated I got a job in Boston where I've been living for the past year and a half. I thought that moving out on my own and being away from the bad school food would give me a new chance. I was determined that this was my chance to do something. But then about a month I moved here I had a bad fall and tore some ligaments in my foot. I was pretty much out of commission for 3 months and had to undergo physical therapy. During this time I was not exercising because it just hurt too much so basically I'd go home from work and sit and watch tv.

I went to the doctor in March for a physical and was surprised to see I weighed 254 lbs! You think this would have been a wake up call for me but it really wasn't. In August I had to go back to the doctor and was shocked to see I weighed 260lbs! I was completely eating horribly and not taking care of myself at all. Finally after moving into a new apartment with new roomies I decided that I just had to do something. On September 11th I decided to go join Weight Watchers. When I weighed in for the first time I topped the scales at 266! So there began my transformation.

A huge part of my problem is that I'm a compulsive binge eater. Its like I can just go numb and eat thousands of calories in a very short amount of time. I was really unhappy in my living situation when I first moved to Boston and had lots of problems with my roommate. I think to fill some kind of void I would go buy tons of junk food and just sit and eat and eat until I went to bed. Since starting WW I have really tried to get control of that but its still really hard. When some people lose weight they look at the crap they used to eat and say "oh that's so gross, I don't know how I ever ate that". For me I'm not sure I'll ever say that. I still think those things look good, and they taste good even though I know they're horrible for me. The great thing about WW though is that if I plan right I can still have some of the foods I used to eat every once and a while.

My last weigh in was on Tuesday night and I actually had my first gain...+ 2.6 lbs. Yes, it was disappointing but I knew I wasn't going to do well because I had a bad week with the exercise and was kind of so-so with the food. All this on top of the fact that it was my time of the month. So with my gain this week I've lost a total of 11.8 lbs so I'm pretty proud of myself. I've finally made a commitment to do this for myself and I'm going to see it through.

Weight to date: 254.2
Weight loss this week: +2.6
Total weight loss: 11.8