False alarm, I think... (2011 Week 28 Update)

Here are my stats for last week:

1251 calories under budget
down 0.6 pounds
2,234 calories of exercise logged.
13% protein consumed (50% carbs, 37% fat)

My back/hip area isn't hurting today. And my foot, though still tender, is still alright. I need to be more disciplined about doing my physical therapy exercises and stretches, and wearing my splint at night.

My new job has a fair amount of walking and stair climbing built in. And I *do* take the stairs, rather than the elevator, as most of the residents where I work really _need_ the elevator and it is a good reminder that I don't actually require it yet.

I am way behind on the whole year-long goal I had set out, but moving in the right direction. I can tell it may be a challenge to keep up a solid exercise routine now that I have two jobs, but I'm feeling determined.

Over and out.

Bronchitis is kicking my a** (2011 Week 8 Update)

So, this week I am down another 2 pounds, going from 337.4 last week to 335.4 this week. Given the way things were going earlier on in the week (I was up to 338 again at one point) I didn't expect that kind of progress, but I think I can mostly credit it to being sick, especially yesterday. I ended up in the ER due to bronchitis/asthma combination and only ate around 1200 calories yesterday.

Today I'm planning on staying home all day, drinking lots of fluids, and hanging out with my kitties. No planned exercise for now! I'm worried because I read online that bronchitis symptoms can last 3-4 weeks. Hopefully I can nip it in the bud earlier than that. My doc prescribed antibiotics but also told me that most cases of bronchitis are viral, so they might not help. Also supposed to take some tylenol to reduce my fever and get lots of rest.

I've been keeping my sugar intake in mind all week and I managed to get my daily average of sugar intake down to around 112g, still higher than what my loseit friends are reporting (40-60g), but much improved over my past values (as high as 250). I am going to keep working at it.

I also did pretty well on protein this week, about 90g on average per day. I tried to have a protein shake with breakfast most days.

I did get myself back to the gym on Friday, for the first time in almost 2 months. Ugh. That's really bad. And because I wasn't feeling well I only walked for about 1/2 hour. But at least it was a step in the right direction.

I am still about a pound behind my gradual yearly goal (which wants me at 334.6 today) but that's fair enough. Life happens, and maybe it's not realistic to lose 2 pounds each and every week. But I will keep striving toward that goal.

A book I've been wanting to read came in at the library, Moose: a memoir of fat camp. It's a very candid look at some of the things that overweight children go through and I'm enjoying reading it.

I wish you all warmth and wellness!

Off the Wagon (2011 Week 5 Update)

I'm up to 339.8 again, and that's after weighing myself 3 times in succession and taking the lowest number. That's up 2 pounds from last Sunday. Argh.

Excuses, excuses:
I have been sick this week with a cold. Exhausted sick. So very little physical activity (but my appetite has also been down, so I thought it wouldn't matter).
I'm in pre-cycle week so I could be retaining some water.

Another likely culprit:
My tutoring job started back up last week so I've been spending more hours on campus, and I didn't do a good job of packing a lunch to bring with me, so I was doing cafeteria food. I tracked everything I put in my mouth, and it wasn't above the calorie limit I set for myself, but it still could have set me back compared with eating mostly home cooked for the last couple weeks.

So that's frustrating. I've lost my lead on my 2 pounds per week goal. For the next week I'm going to return my colorie goal to the lose-it default for my weight, around 2300 calories. And as soon as I'm feeling 100% health-wise again I'm going to try to bump up the exercise. Also, on my last grocery trip I brought home more fruits and vegetables and salad makings so maybe that will help. I've been craving oranges so I got a huge bag of them.

The Woes of Chairs and Mirrors (2011 Week 3 Update)

I lost an amazing 5.8 pounds this week, going from 344.6 to 338.8. It was pretty surprising, because I was well over my loseit calorie budget almost every day of the week -- but, as I've been hearing on fat2fit radio, I am supposed to be eating 1.2 x my bmr, which currently would be putting me around 2800 calories if I am being lightly active (up to about 3200 if I am moderately active, exercising 3-5 times per week). My loseit calorie budget is only 2300 calories. So, maybe, I accidentally found out a calorie range where my body is happier right now.

The reason I kind of let myself go higher on the calories last week is because I lost my new job. I was sad about it, and doing some emotional eating, letting myself have a little more ice cream because it was comforting, etc. So it really was a nice surprise that all that weight came off instead of the scale going the other direction. Another thing to note is, yesterday for the first time all week I hit under my loseit budget again and this morning my weight had held constant. So... maybe I need to be aiming toward that higher range with my calorie budget and just make sure what I'm eating is more nutritious.

I had kind of a self esteem hit last week. It was the first week of classes for me. With some exceptions, I am usually able to fit into the normal sized student desks. I do always have to ask for a seatbelt extender on the airplane, but in the classroom I have typically been alright. However, my psychology class was in an old building with very old fashioned student desks and there was just no way it was going to work out. I had to go ask the teacher if it would be alright for me to take a separate chair from the front of the room to sit in. It was embarrassing, but I think I handled the situation a lot better than I would have a couple years ago. By the end of the night I was glad to be sitting in the comfy padded chair instead of the hard plastic student chairs.

I bought a new over the door style mirror today. My current mirror has just been messing with my head. Maybe you know what I mean. It makes me look much thinner than every other reflective surface I see... extremely so, and it only leads to let-down later on in the day. I just want to see the real me.

I'll update my weight loss graph below. I am currently 5 pounds ahead of where I need to be for my 100 lbs lost in 2011 goal. That's good, I should be getting ahead of myself now because I know as I get smaller the loss rate will probably slow down.