Quick drop by....

Woops, I didn't even realize I never posted last week - I hate not being able to post from work.

Here I am on a Friday night - I am not 100% sure if I am going to WW tomorrow morning. I really should.

I did got last week - I was 195.8 at the time. So a loss of -.8. But I've been majorly feasting since then.

I ended up getting sick Friday night (sore throat) but we still went to an all-day holiday party. Eating as so-so there. Sunday I was sick and even with a sore throat, grazed all day. Monday I was diagnosed with strep and Tuesday I was home for a sick/snow day (but working).

Wednesday evening my kids went to my parents, so my husband and I went out to a dinner - a fairly nice one. 2 glasses of red wine,  onion soup, spinach salad, a side of lobster mac and cheese and some ice cream pie for dessert. Yummy!

Since I didn't get to do much holiday stuff last weekend, I have a ton planned for this weekend, which includes lots of cookies and cheese (not together!), topped off with a Chinese Buffet Sunday night.

The eating will just continue through Christmas Day, but then I am DONE! No waiting until New Year's Day. Get it all done now!

Me and I friend were talking today about maybe doing a New Year's Day 5k, which means I need to get on the treadmill! But my cold (which was a head cold in addition to strep) is moving down to my lungs.

Weekly Weigh-in #2

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 196.6
Current Weight: 196.6
Change Since Last Week: -0.0
Total Change: -35.6
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

Okay, one week after my 1 year anniversary of WW and I already blew of the meeting :(

Honestly, I was completely surprised by the maintain (but I'll take it!). The scale was high on Friday morning and a stressful day (and stressful week) resulted in a lot of Chex Mix being consumed at lunch time.

The weather forecast for this morning was ice and snow and we've got a long day of activities planned, coupled with the predicted gain and the real need to catch up on sleep, had me turning off my alarm at 3 am.

The beginning of the work week started off well, to compensate for the less than stellar start to the weekend. But per normal, once my routine gets thrown off, I cave. My daughter was home Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday I took her to the doctor (strep), and I had tons of work to do, then we went to see Holiday lights, but not before a stop at The 99. I hadn't had my snack so I overate at the restaurant. *sigh*

I am hoping this coming week should be better. Originally we were going to go out to dinner tonight but we have a kid's birthday party from 4-6 so my husband thinks the kids will get fed pizza there. Tuesday we were going to go to the Cheesecake Factory before seeing Santa, but there was an impromptu meeting with Santa on Wednesday so we don't need to go to the Mall. Sunday could be an indulgent day - making some cookies and decorating the house, so dinner is just going to be a bunch of appetizers I thrown in the oven.

I am going to try to fit in run tomorrow morning. There just was too much to do today to fit it in. I DID get up on Tuesday morning and ran a 5K on the Treadmill! Mentally it was tough, but I got through it. If I can make myself run 5 miles on the treadmill, that would be great!

Thanksgiving Week

I didn't want my previous post to get too long....

I am so glad it is December - I love Christmas time! And I am always so glad when Thanksgiving is over.

To me, Thanksgiving isn't a big deal. We host, so I do all the cooking, but I don't love the food - We eat at 2:00 so I don't even provide appetizers, it is one meal and it is over....though I did have quite a bit of leftovers on Saturday :)  I don't really like the colors and I am so sick of Fall by that time, so I am just ready to bring on Christmas. That is why I love it when Thanksgiving is the latest it can be like this year, when December comes even before the long weekend is over. I hate, hate it when it is as early as it can be like last year when December is 8 days away.

We don't go overboard early. While it was early last year, we did put up our lights over Thanksgiving weekend because we were excited for the new house. This year we did the same, but mainly because it was so late. We never, ever get our tree Thanksgiving weekend - we'll get it next weekend, and the years Thanksgiving is really early, it may be 2 weeks after Thanksgiving before we get it.

The outside lights are up, our Elf on the Shelf arrives on December 1st every year, the 2 advent calendars are out, but that is it. But next weekend our house will be throwing up Christmas!

But back to last week. I felt pretty out of control over last weekend and into the beginning of the week. Work was stressful and I found myself eating cafeteria food both days even though I had packed my lunch. But I was more calm once I could work from home on Wednesday and got a lot of the food prep done.

Thankgiving I had my normal breakfast, and I always have a cup of eggnog to welcome Santa during the Macy's Day Parade - but I measured out the 1/2 cup (5 points!) which didn't even fill 1/2 of our smallest cups. I had one normal size plate of food and a small helping of dessert (after a walk) and 1 glass of wine. Knowing I had to run in the morning and had WW on Saturday kept me sane. I had a PB&J sandwich for dinner for fuel for the race.

It was chilly! 30 degrees maybe? It was hard to run in the cold, but I still PRed! I don't know my exact time - I double hit my Garmin so I didn't stop as I finished the line, and the official results had my Gun Time and my Chip Time the same. I could have been as little as 33:20 or as much as 34:05, but since my previous PR was 34:28, I PRed no matter what. It was the first time that me and my running friend actually raced against each other. I knew she would be faster (she ran a 1/2 marathon back in October), but I don't care.

I ate pretty well the rest of the day - again, knowing I had WW the next day. And I only had run 3.14 miles so I didn't need to re-fuel. But after WW I did go a little overboard. I spent a bundle at Target (made sure to eat well before I went) and when I came back I was starving even though it was only 11:30 and I had the house to myself so I had enjoyed lots of leftovers (including dessert) before heading back out for more shopping.

Today was a pajama day, so there was some grazing going on, but the Thanksgiving food is gone (a lot thrown away) and the pantry and freezer and fridge full of good foods). I've planned menus for the rest of the month - trying to minimize the number of days I could do real damage (and tried to plan as most of them for Saturdays - in the past I've done cheese fondue on New Year's Eve - this year we will do it December 28th as a final "hurrah" for Christmas, and we'll just do a pasta meal on NYE since I will most likely be running the next morning).

Happy December!

One Year Weight Watchers Anniversary

I have been meaning to come post since yesterday morning, but the long weekend has been crazy.

Here are the stats, one year out:

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 198.4
Current Weight: 196.6
Change Since Last Week: -1.8
Total Change: -35.6
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149


I never post pictures, so here are some:

11/5/2012 - The picture that got me back to WW

11/5/2013 - One year later - 35 lbs down

Thanksgiving 2013

So how do I feel 1 year out? I really didn't know how much I would lose in a year, so I can't say if I am disappointed or not. I knew this journey would take 2 - 2 1/2 years, and I am still on track for that. I am thrilled I am under 200. I feel SO much better about myself than I did a year ago!

BUT Friday night I decided to play around with my weekly weigh-ins (I am an analyst so data is my life) and I found out that I haven't lose 35.6 lbs this year, I have lost over 70 and I have GAINED 35 lbs! I was reminded that I had 14 weeks of gains, 9 of which were 2+ lbs, 5 of which were 4+ lbs.  I can gain weight an an incredibly rapid rate, thus the 50 lb gain in 21 months.

So what will the next year bring?
--I can't estimate how many pounds I will lose
--I want to make it to more WW meetings (I missed 15 this year!)
--No more rapid gains. If I lose 40 lbs in a year, I want to think I've lost 50 and gained 10 or such. No gains would be even better!

I will be as successful or better in the next year by:
--More WW meetings
--Tracking - not necessarily being strict with my points, by accountable for what I eat in non-working hours/ in the 5 pm - 7 pm where I do so much damage
--Less eating out (we need to do this also because we really need to rein in the budget next year)
--Move my body more- not exactly sure how this is going to look since all I've been doing is running once a week the last month or so.

Weekly Weigh-in #52

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 197.4
Current Weight: 198.4
Change Since Last Week: +1.0
Total Change: -33.8
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

Wow - didn't realize I hadn't written since last Friday.

Yep, a gain of a pound. I am pretty lucky to come out with only +1 because during the week I was up +5!!!

So let's re-cap the week:

Friday - Went out on the town with my husband - had 4 pints of beer and dinner - dinner wasn't too bad. The scale wasn't too bad in the morning.

Saturday - My mom's 75th birthday celebration - was in the kitchen all day - but didn't do too bad. Only had a little wine. But did have cheese, and ice cream and cake!

Sunday - Got up and ran SEVEN miles!!!!!!! In under slightly less than 90 minutes. Slow, but steady. Longest run by .8 miles.
And later in the day went skating (ice) with my family!

But the eating was pretty downhill Sunday - Tuesday - Tons of snacking, tons of eating while making dinner. Really out of control. Not exactly sure why. A little boredom, maybe a lot of boredom. Stress of work.

But I reeled it in come Wednesday and turned it around. Hope to not have such a horrible week this coming week. I don't particularly like Thanksgiving food and have a Turkey Trot on Friday, and then next Saturday is 1 year at WW.

I removed the 5 lb sticker from my WW book (for 35 lbs) - hoping to earn it back next week, but that could be a stretch - losing 1.2 lb the week of Thanksgiving!

Weekly Weigh-in #51

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 198.6
Current Weight: 197.4
Change Since Last Week: -12
Total Change: -34.8
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149


I did end up going to WW a day early - I feel so good about myself, not just by the loss, buy by making myself a priority.

Last night I went out with our team at work for drinks - it was 4:00 so not dinner time. I had my snack before I left. I had seltzer water with lime (even sending the second one back when they brought me Sprite by mistake) and didn't have any appetizers. I had some family-free time to spare, so I went to the more expensive grocery store to get stuff for my mom's birthday celebration. Didn't buy anything out of the ordinary and had my normal pre-WW dinner of PB&J.

So thrilled to see the WW scale below 200! It was the same scale I was on last Saturday that had me way more than the normal 1.2 higher. And today it was only 1.0 higher than my scale - so WW said I lost 35 lbs so more stars :) Incentive to keep it low for next week.

I think I am going to try to run in the morning. My friend can't make it and she can only make it on Sunday if we go at 7 am! I'll decide in the morning once I know how much I've eat/drunk and how little sleep I've gotten tonight :)

Will I make it to WW on a Friday?

I don't want to go to WW on Saturday morning - not when we are kid's free for the night, and not when I would rather run 5 miles before cleaning the house and preparing/hosting dinner for my mom's 75th birthday. But if the scale says happy things tomorrow morning, I am going to try to sneak in a meeting. I know I have said that before and never done it. But I think, I might, I pray that the scale could possibly say under 200 at WW tomorrow morning.

Unfortunately I have been exercise-free this week. Sunday I did do a ton of housework. But Tuesday I woke up to freezing rain/sleet and went back to sleep. Wednesday I was pooped. Thursday I just plain blew off Bootcamp and I think I've decided to not go back until at least the spring - I've learned a lot at Bootcamp and I would rather start forcing myself to get up at 5:30 and get some serious exercise done downstairs, than getting up at 5:00 and having to drive in the cold and snow and it has become too easy to blow it off. I hate giving up, but I want more control over what parts of my body I work out when. At least for a while.

Weekly Weigh-in #50

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 199.6
Current Weight: 198.6
Change Since Last Week: -1.0
Total Change: -33.6
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

I hate doubting my weight, so I have decided I am just annoyed with the WW scale.

I woke up at 4:40 having to go to the bathroom like crazy. Neurotic as I am, I weighed myself. 199.4. Okay, I'll take that. Woke up again at 6:00 am (with an absolute splitting headache). Went to the bathroom again and weighed again. 198.6. I believed it, didn't feel the need to weigh myself again. Was excited because if I went to 1 scale at WW which notoriously is 1.2 different than my home scale (versus the other WW scale which is usually 1.4 difference), then that would mean that I would be under 200 at WW. But that scale had me at 200.4. So then I was wondering - does that mean that I am only 199.2 or 199.0 at home?

After WW I went running. We only did 3 miles. She did a 1/2 marathon about a month ago and has had a cold ever since. I could have run so much further! But it was also SO cold. So different running in a hat and gloves and tights. I need to get a longer shirt though. We are running the post-Thanksgiving 5K together, the same race that was my first race 2 years ago, the first time I ran a 5K without stopping.

Didn't mean to not post last week.....

Last weekend just got away from me, it wasn't because I had a .2 gain last weekend. Not being able to post at work anymore makes it harder.

For a Friday, the scale was looking pretty grim this morning. TOM did arrive yesterday morning, but even then I didn't see my usual pre-TOM dip. But I am not going to let it bother me. I will go to WW tomorrow anyway because I don't think I will be able to go next week.

Eating has been so-so. I still have not eaten an Halloween Candy, but...
--Saturday we went to a family birthday party where we made our own ice cream sundaes. Then we went out to eat for Mexican good.
--Sunday I had a large pasta dinner
--Monday I had seconds for dinner
--Tuesday my husband was out so we just had pasta, no veggies, and I ate way too much of an impulse buy - Pumpkin Seed Brittle from Williams-Sonoma.
--Wednesday and Thursday - larger than normal dinners.

BUT....Since Tuesday, I have worked out 4 times. I am trying to work out 5-6 times a week. So far, so good. I really didn't want to get up this morning because I was up late watching Scandal (my only 10 pm guilty pleasure and 1 of 2 shows I will watch live). But the alarm went off at 5:30 and I knew my husband's alarm would go off at 5:45, so what was the point to not getting up?!

Me and my running friend - we haven't run since August when she continued her training for a 1/2 marathon - are going to run tomorrow after WW. Since soccer is over, I have Saturday mornings free after WW, at least for a while, and her kid's have religious ed on Sunday mornings, which was okay in the spring when we were starting to run at 7 and only running for an hour tops. So we are going to try Saturday mornings and hopefully we can continue this until the snow flies.

If I continue doing long runs on Saturdays, then Sunday will be my rest day (Mondays had been), and then I will do intervals on Monday and Wednesday, Bootcamp on Tuesday and Thursday, and strength training on Fridays.

Not hopeful for weigh-in, but positive changes...

I keep trying to tell myself that it will be okay if there is a gain tomorrow morning, because the scale isn't the end all of predictors.

I truly believe that lack of sleep and stress (even if it is just being excited for a sports team) keeps the weight on. This week has been a wild ride, next week should be more calm - though TOM will arrive next week too.

I have made positive changes at work. I brought in my exercise ball to work and sit on it about 5-6 hours out of the day, and I've been setting a timer to make sure I get up every hour for at least 5 minutes.

I chose to not have ANY Halloween candy and so far, so good. There are people out there that say I am depriving myself and it will backfire, but believe me, I have had my share of Halloween candy in my life, one year of deprivation will be okay!

Last night we went to the neighbors house for dinner where I had 3 pieces of pizza (on the thin, thinner side) and 2 helpings of salad and didn't have any alcohol. I didn't eat any candy while handing it out and I made sure to hand it all out so no leftovers for us. When we got home, the kids sorted their candy (my 4 year old didn't go out too long so he didn't have much), we put his in a quart size bag (not full) and we took a representation of all types of candy for my daughter - she had more than fit in a quart size, but the gallon bag is no where full. My husband put away some candy for himself and I gave him the rest to take to his work. And then I had him put all the candy away above the refrigerator where I can't reach it. I am not saying I won't have ANY this weekend, but it will only be by asking him.

So I am not getting discouraged by the scale being a 1 lb higher this morning than it has been in 9 days, but I'll just get through the day and move on.

Bring on the work week!

Mondays are always hard. In this case, I just want the week to be over. I've really come to learn that Halloween is my least favorite holiday. It has gotten so much bigger over the years, but being new in town, for us, Thursday night Trick-or-Treating will be it (besides what the kids have going on at school that day). We skipped the town parade last night. We don't know anyone local having a Halloween party. Growing up I loved Halloween, because I loved candy. But as a grown-up with a weight issue, it reminds me that I know I was born loving candy. I had no self restraint. My candy was gone within a week. As a small child, when I first starting get a quarter for an allowance, I would automatically go to the store to get a candy bar. And when I eventually got a dollar, I would get 4 candy bars.

But I didn't have a weight problem until my adult years. The highest I was until I was 30 was 157, which was only 3 lbs overweight, but I spent most of my high school years and 20s fluctuating between 125 and 142.

I just want Halloween to be over so I can figure out how much candy the kids will keep and get the rest out of the house as quickly as possible. I am thinking I may work from home on Thursday instead of Friday so I can bring in our extra candy on Friday.

I want it to be November. I want to celebrate my mom's 75th birthday and Thanksgiving. I want to get over the looming 1 year anniversary of my mother-in-law's passing. So I can get beyond the anniversary of going to Disney and being horrified at the pictures of me and knowing that we are 1 year away from going back to Disney. Bring on November, so I can get to December, December 1st being my 1 year anniversary of joining Weight Watchers, and December being Christmas, my favorite time of year.

But for now I just want the work week to come and go. I hate being wrapped up in the World Series. We will know by week's end who wins. Of course I want the Red Sox to win, but really I just it over. I want to go to Bootcamp in the morning because I did ZERO exercise this weekend. And I want it to be next weekend because I want to see if I can maintain being under 200 (I was 200.2 on Sunday and 200.8 this morning).

Weekly Weigh-in #48

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 201.6
Current Weight: 199.4
Change Since Last Week: -2.2
Total Change: -32.8
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

Woo  Hoo! I hit 199.4 this morning! I was secretly hoping it would be more, but I will take it!

I made a decision that I can have NO Halloween candy this year because it is such a trigger food. And I want to lose a pound this week so I am under 200 at WW next week.

In 2010 when I was losing 30 lbs, it took me a month from the first time I saw the 190s to the last time I saw the 200's. I don't want the same thing to happen this time. I want this to be it! I need to comfortably get into the 190s, so that means I need to be pretty buttoned up in the next few weeks.

Next week I am going to be speaking at my WW meeting as someone who has continued success - pretty cool! If I could somehow manage a 2.2 lb loss, then I would have lost 35 lbs! (But I am not expecting that at all).

So, so close!

Scale this morning said 200.2! Even seeing the scale say 200.X the other morning was wonderful as it was the first "new number" I had seen since July (at the end of July my weight dropped to 201.6 but then immediately shot up 5 lbs in a few days of enormous stress and sleep deprivation, a weight that wouldn't drop for weeks and weeks).

I have been extremely vigilant this week, because I just want to get under that darn number! To the extent that last night I made the kids Mac and Cheese and had a PB&J sandwich (my usual Friday night dinner, not Thursday night).  I had planned simple dinners I knew I wouldn't overeat.

I didn't run this past weekend. I was up way too late Saturday night celebrating the Red Sox going to the World Series.

I did get up and go to Bootcamp on Tuesday after not going last week. It was hard to get up! One of our stations was having to climb on our bellies the whole length and back of a basketball court - I had serious rug burn on my elbows from that :(

I am not going to do my race tomorrow. This is how neurotic I am (well, that and my daughter has an important soccer game I don't want to miss and my husband was invited to an activity that he didn't want to miss out on, that has him leaving the house at 11 am). Yes, I know I should be putting myself first. But I AM going to still run 6.66 miles this weekend, just on my own on Sunday morning. And I am going to try to run as fast as I would in a race. And then after this weekend I plan on upping my workouts and cutting back on my running.

I didn't go to Bootcamp on Thursday morning because I still hadn't decided if I was going to race or not and I didn't want to tire myself out.

Oh yeah, the neurotic part of why I am not racing tomorrow. If I was going to race in the morning, I would need to carbo load tonight - I can't run 6.66 with only eating a PB&J sandwich the night before, and I really, really think I can see under 200 in the morning and I wouldn't see that if I had a big pasta dinner. So that is my battle with the scale.

Weekly Weigh-in #47

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 201.6
Current Weight: 201.6
Change Since Last Week: -0.0
Total Change: -30.6
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149


What a bad week! Lots of sickies in our family (one of them being me) so I ate a ton of carbs.
I woke up this morning weighing 206.6 and decided not to go to WW because I just have too much to do today, but 2 hours later after lots of trips to the bathroom I was 201.6.

So back to basics this week. Not deviating from the normal routine and see if I can get under 200!

Back to the bike path

It  has been since August 18th since I've been on the bike path that I ran almost weekly since April.

Since then:
--The weekend after vacation I took the first weekend off in running in 2+ months
--The weekend after I needed to run a 5K prior to my race, so ran locally
--Next weekend was the race
--Next weekend I hauled dirt both days
--Next weekend I ran a 5K race
--The next weekend was fogged in a with a To Do list a mile long, I didn't have the time
--Last weekend was rainy, cold and wet - ie I slept in :)

I wasn't exactly sure how far I would run today - I had hope for 6 miles, but wasn't complete set on it. When I reached one of the cross roads I was only at 2.25 miles - I was kind of a maniac in the middle of the (thankfully empty) road, I kept turning around, then deciding to keep going, then turning around. I decided I wasn't ready to turn back. For a but I thought that if I got back to the car after 4.5 miles, I could turn around a run a couple more miles, but I figured that probably wouldn't happen!

So I kept running until I hit 3.14 miles and then turned around. Running felt so great. The bike trail was so beautiful with all the foliage (though also covered in leaves and pine needles so I was a little worried about slipping).

Running with the Garmin is so much better than Map Your Run. I thought I liked the little voice in my ear,  but I don't miss it! I periodically look at my watch to see how fast I am going and I like the vibration at each mile, but I definitely feel like I am running fast and stronger because of it (and minus the voice in my ear - previously as long as I had run .2 miles every 2.5 minutes I was okay, but I can run faster than 12:30 minute miles, so I feel like I am pushing myself).

Towards the end of my run I did feel some pain in my left foot - it felt like stress fracture pain, not muscle or tendon pain. I am hoping not.

I need to clean the house today but I am feeling like a lazy butt!

Weekly Weigh-in #46

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 201.8
Current Weight: 201.6
Change Since Last Week: -0.2
Total Change: -30.6
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149
I am just happy with a small loss this week. It was far from a great week - I don't know if it was stress or just PMS, but 2-3 nights the munchies were huge while making dinner - and by munchies I mean cheese!

But I did make it to bootcamp both Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday kicked my ass. We had a substitute and he pretty much had us running laps in the hallways (and up and down stairs) with a tiny bit of strength in between. The way the normal bootcamp works is you aren't competing against anyone but yourself, but running laps makes it obvious who the strong ones and who aren't and that didn't make me feel good about myself. Thursday was better - a lot more strength that cardio.

I didn't get a run in last weekend either - I pretty much erased my 6.66 race from my mind and my calendar. I had a couple of friends running their first 1/2 marathon last weekend in cold, raw, windy, rainy weather - ugh. I chose to stay inside and enjoy an impromptu (because the weather people totally got the weather wrong) rain day.

This week I am going to keep trucking. I would LOVE to be under 200 by next week, but a 1.8 lb loss would be a lot. So 2 weeks from now.

We have a neighborhood party tonight which I really don't want to go to. I would love a night to myself, go to bed early, get up and run 6-7 miles tomorrow morning. I'll see how the night goes.

Weekly Weigh-in #45

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 204.4
Current Weight: 201.8
Change Since Last Week: -2.6
Total Change: -30.4
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

I am so close to 200 I can feel it. On July 27th I weighed 202.2 having lost almost 4 lbs without trying and by Monday (after 3 sleepless nights) I was up 5 lbs and have been bouncing around over 205 ever since.

But this week I did try. It was not a perfect week by any means- too much homemade apple crumble, too many Oreos, too much grazing on Wednesday and Thursday.

It frustrates me because in this week I only worked out once as well.

I think I've officially decided what I knew a couple weeks ago that I am going to skip the 6.66 race. Tomorrow morning I have to get up at 4:00 am to do work, so no way I can go on a long run after that. Getting in a long run today seems pretty impossible.

It isn't that I am giving up running, by any point. Any someday I would like to do a 10K, but for now I really need to concentrate on the weight loss and if that means cutting back on the exercise (I know, sounds weird) to propel myself below 200, then that is what I am going to have to do. I want to go for a 5 mile run "just because", I want to work out a lot "just because" - I am just not in the mood to be training for anything in particular right now.

I need to keep my weekends as clean as I can. Breakfast and lunches and at least morning snacks should try to be my routine. Afternoon snacks and Saturday night dinners can be off plan. I need to wake up on Monday morning and not be 2-4 lbs higher than I was on Saturday morning.

At my meeting this morning, she reminded us that Thanksgiving is 8 weeks away, and because Thanksgiving is so late this year, the Saturday after Thanksgiving will be my 1 year anniversary on WW. Since I don't do well with specific number goals, all I am going to say is I want to be comfortably below 200 - Of course I would like to be a lot more than that, but I can't commit. I want to be at a place that if I have a large meal, when I wake up the next morning I am STILL under 200 lbs.

Whole lot of nothing this week....

Not much exercise I mean. After blowing off running on Sunday, I did got to Bootcamp on Tuesday - it was a killer leg workout - usually the circuits are a mix of arms and legs and core, but this one was almost all legs.

Wednesday I didn't get up to work out - My husband had to get up at 4 am to travel and I was up at that time, but had gone to bed at 11 so drifted in and out of sleep until 6:30.

And Wednesday night I stayed up way too late after he got home, so I blew off Bootcamp this morning as well.

Eating had started out fairly well this week, but has progressively gotten worse. This evening I thought I would have 2 hours to myself, but instead my daughter had a sore throat so I was at home with just her and found myself munching with all the stress of all the work I didn't get done as planned. Scandal is premiering tonight so no work for me tonight!

No run this morning.....

I had everything laid out last night - it was going to be the first time I had tried to run over 6.22 miles and the first time I was going to try my belt and attempt to eat a Gu. I was excited to run, I really was. Though I was nervous because I hadn't remembered that I hadn't run over 4 miles in over a month.

I went to bed at 10:30, my alarm going off at 6:00. I woke up at 6:00 and went to the bathroom and looked out my window and couldn't see anything. The fog was awful. I looked up the weather on my phone and say fog warnings everywhere saying it would burn off between 8 and 9. I was scared to drive on the windy roads to get to my run, and the thought of running on the dark rail trail in all the fog kind of creeped me out, and I wondered how humid it potentially was with all this fog.

I got back into bed and started making Pro and Con lists in my head about whether I should actually run today, especially a long, long run.

--I have tons of work work to do and I don't want to be up until 11:00 doing it - I wanted to be able to get it done during the day so I could enjoy watching TV tonight.

--The scale continued to say good things (I think last night was the first Saturday night we didn't go out to dinner all summer) this morning (and even better when I truly woke up at 8:30) and by not running I would be able to eat my normal weekday foods and thus keep up the momentum all week

--My husband is not feeling well, so it would be best for me  not to be exhausted all day so I can be on Kid duty all day.

--Work is going to continue to stink all week, regardless of how much work I get done today, so I really want to be refreshed for the week

--There is still lingering housework to be done from the last MONTH because I've been tired every weekend (Diva Dash, hauling dirt, 5K last weekend)

So I decided not to run. I fell back asleep and slept gloriously until 8:30.  The fog is still heavy.

I would like to fit in some exercise today - not sure what it will be beyond housework. But I will okay with this decision.

I am not sure about my 6.66 race in 4 weeks.....Right now I am more excited about stepping it up with Weight Watchers, and that means tracking (ugh!) and working out 4-6 times a week - but I am not sure if training is actually what I want to be doing right now. I still will want to do long runs on Sundays, but more for my own desire, not because I HAVE to do a race. Also, when I signed up for the race I knew I would have to miss soccer and my family wouldn't be able to join me because it would be the last soccer game of the season. I am not sure now that I want to miss it :( I haven't made a final decision yet, but that is where my head currently is at.

Weekly Weigh-in #44

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 204.4
Current Weight: 204.4
Change Since Last Week: -0.0
Total Change: -27.8
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

I didn't realize I hadn't written anything since last Saturday. I hate not being able to post at work.

Last Sunday was my first official 5K since 1/1/2012 and I did it in 3:30 faster to 34:38. I definitely expected to faster since when I did 3 5Ks back at the end of 2011 those were the first time I had run 3+ miles. And since I have been running further, but not faster, I wasn't sure what I could do.

It has definitely helped since I started using my Garmin and not the voice prompts with MapMyRun - as long as I was running 12:30 miles I didn't alter.

I also worked out 3 times this week! Bootcamp Tuesday and Thursday (I almost didn't get up Thursday, but I figured if I blew it off it would be too easy to blow others off). And I got up on Wednesday and did my Spinning video (circa 1995 on VHS!) I didn't work out yesterday but I really should have!

Tomorrow I am going to TRY to run 6-7 miles, but it has been over a month since I've done 6 miles, so we will see. I am not really feeling the desire to run the 6.66 race, but we'll see.

I also signed up for Foam Fest NEXT June! An obstacle race with mud and foam - sounds like so much fun!

I am also going to try tracking this week - I really need to get my butt in gear with losing weight - I know I said that last week, but it didn't happen. I had a few too many "post race" goodies and then a bag of Oreos was in the house (bought by me) and I had made a no-bake Pumpkin Pie last weekend that no one else wanted to try - I ate a third of it (over several days) before throwing the rest away.

Weekly Weigh-in #43

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 206.4
Current Weight: 204.4
Change Since Last Week: -2.0
Total Change: -27.8
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

I did go to WW this morning :)


Despite having a race tomorrow, I want to have a good week. It doesn't give me the liberty to eat like crap all day today or all day tomorrow. 199.8 is looming out there - need to get my butt in gear and nail it!

I WILL go to Weight Watchers in the morning!

I need to start going every week again - Really since the beginning of August my attendance has been pretty spotty.

This week was definitely better than the last!
Tuesday and Thursday I got up at 5 am for Bootcamp
Wednesday I didn't have to drive the kids to school and my husband was home so I snuck in a run before work - since I have a race on Sunday I figured I needed to do something before it. It was 40 degrees when I left - I did 3.14 miles.

I am definitely sore this morning from Bootcamp. And my house is in desperate need to be cleaned, but I don't want to overexert myself before the race, so it will have to wait until after. Unfortunately it looks like it is going to be raining during the race :( I am eager to put another bib on - after the Diva Dash I got the bug again.

Foam Fest opens its registration in a couple of days- it is earlier next year - the 3rd weekend in June - not ideal, but I want to do it!  A 10K I wanted to do would be the next day, but I am much more excited about obstacles than a road race.

Not sure what the scale will bring tomorrow. I haven't been weighing myself everyday and today it was up a little - not sure if the pizza I had for dinner had anything to do with it. But I am still holding at 26.2 lbs lost. 10 more weeks until my 1 year WW anniversary. So you know I never make my goals, so I won't set an official one. Of course I don't even be close to the 52 lbs that I can WISH I would have lost in a year.....Right now my only goal is to get below 200 and that needs to be my focus.

Another week gone....

This was a really long, really crappy week. I wish I could say it is all going to get better, but I don't see it being so for a while.

My eating was fairly crappy this week. After eating a lot during football I continued to eat the leftovers during the week while I was making dinner.

Dinners were pretty unorganized - my husband was getting home late so we didn't all eat together. I hate disorganized dinners. Thursday was the first gymnastics class and we were supposed to get pizza, but I couldn't get through to the place, so we ended up going out for dinner instead and I was starving when we got there.

Bootcamp started this week - Tuesday and Thursday at 5:30 am. Everyone else in the class is so thin :( But not in great shape. I like the class. I think they change up the course each week so we'll see what next week brings.

Yesterday we had dirt delivered for our garden beds - 10 yards. I planned on going running this morning, instead of going to WW, so I could move dirt the rest of the weekend. I didn't end up running this morning, and I am glad I didn't, as I am beat from moving dirt! We aren't even 1/2 done but I am not sure I will be able to do as much tomorrow. I expect to be very sore.

Despite not going to WW this morning, the scale said 206.4 this morning. TOM arrived yesterday. I really need to get the scale moving in the right direction!

Race is over....time to get back on track

Well, tomorrow I will. Today is opening day of football and for the first time in years I am deciding to enjoy some noshes while the game is on, but I won't be continuing this tradition. We used to have season tickets to the Patriots, but during away games I always would eat a ton, no matter what time the game was on, and still would eat my normal 3 meals. So it definitely was part of all the weight-gain early in my relationship with my husband.

Labor Day Weekend
I went to my WW meeting - I was down a smidge. Then we went to Vermont for the night. We brought a picnic lunch for Saturday. We had pasta dinner before going to the fair. I had an ice cream later in the evening.
Sunday breakfast was continental at the hotel - I wish I had brought more good foods. Lunch was crappy fair food. And I ate a ton of crap on the way home.
Monday I wanted to try out my Garmin watch so ran a 5K in our neighborhood - it was so humid!


Eating during the week wasn't that great - I had made 2 of my favorite dinners and ate way too much of them.

This Weekend
Friday night was the first night of soccer practice. We had plans to go out to dinner, so I could have pasta before the race. I was way too hungry since it was after 7:00 when we got there, so I had rolls which I don't usually have at this restaurant.

Saturday was the Diva Dash (obstacle 5K). I went to Weight Watchers but didn't weigh in. I had breakfast during the meeting and then a small snack 90 minutes before the race. The race wasn't too bad but it was hot. Not humid, but the sun was just beating down on us and since I was out in the sun for 90 minutes before the race, I was already feeling the affects of the sun before the race started.

I ate like crap after the race - I usually do. I have a hard to recovering from races.

Today I made pasta salad, veggies and dip, and mini sandwiches for football. Only time until the playoffs I will make food to eat while sitting on my butt doing nothing.

But tomorrow is the day to get back on track. No more excuses. Summer is (un)officially over. Bootcamp starts Tuesday morning. Time to start cross-training, to running more than once a week even if that means the dreaded treadmill.

Summer is almost over.....

Wow, it's been almost 2 weeks since I posted. I've been busy having fun and trying to relax.

Sunday August 18 I set out to run 6.22. Since my friend is training for a 1/2 marathon, I am on my own now. I knew I would meet up with her somewhere on the trail, I just didn't know where. She was running 8.5 and had started way before me. I met up with her shortly before I was going to turn around, so I turned around a little early so only did about 6 miles, which is fine!

2 days later was my birthday. I was on vacation with my parents and family and as a birthday treat to myself I went running :) I've had plenty of adventure vacations, but this was probably the first where it was a typical vacation where I incorporated my own exercise. The area we were staying was all dirt roads and very hilly, so 2 new experiences. I ended up running 4.75 miles, with one very long hill - I did walk for a short portion of it. And then I had to run downhill as well which was hard on the knees.

The rest of the vacation was spent relaxing, but some exercise as well - a long kayak trip, tennis (I love it - want to get back into it!) and swimming.

But since we've gotten back (a week ago) I've been a blob. Both mornings last weekend I slept in (missing WW). This week was back-to-school and while I said I would get up and workout, I didn't. But that was because my back has been killing me at night - I tweeked it pulling a 45 lb bag of kitty litter out of a cart last weekend, but it is also because my husband turned the mattress because his back was hurting, but only turned it 1/2 a turn. So I've been waking up at 4 am every morning in pain - it goes away when I get up and walk around (and take some advil).

I did sign up for Boot Camp at the Y starting in a couple of weeks - 5:30 am twice a week, so I'll have to get up around 5. Which should get me used again to getting up early so I can also work downstairs. No more running outside as it is too dark.

Next weekend I have my Diva Dash (which I am totally not prepared for!) and then I'll be really training for my 6.66 on October 26.

The scale said 206.2 this morning, so still 26 lb down, but I really need to make a push to lose the 6 lbs. Next week will still be hectic, but after the race I should be able to concentrate on our new routine.

Weekly Weigh-in #36

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 209.0
Current Weight: 206.0
Change Since Last Week: -3.0
Total Change: -26.2
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

Phew! Back to where I was a month ago, but still not back to where I was 3 weeks ago, but I will take it.

I continued to be pretty out of control this week. With the enormous stress of all the work I had to do before going on vacation, my husband's last week at his old job and anticipating the future, and my daughter's last week at camp. And the anticipation of getting back in track so eating some things (like breakfast sandwich at work) that I hadn't had in a while and wouldn't have for a long time to come.

TOM arrived yesterday 3 days early, which was a surprise, but welcome if it ends earlier in my vacation!

I have done zero exercise in 2 weeks - I've only run once in the last 4 weeks. Hoping to go tomorrow.

So glad to be going to my meeting today - Need to get back on track.

Not sure what the next week will bring - vacation and my birthday, but hoping to minimize the damage!

Weekly Weigh-in #35

Blew off WW yet again - scale said 209.0 - though I did make tacos for dinner Friday night, when usually I just eat a PB&J sandwich.

Today is a new day! 2+ weeks of lack of exercise, stress, and stress eating, it is time to real myself in and try to lose the SIX pounds I've gained in 2 weeks.

Last week was such a blur - My daughter's 7th birthday, so cake and ice cream. Craziness all around. Saturday I did a lot to get organized (retail therapy weekend #2!) and then Saturday night was The Melting Pot to celebrate my daughter's birthday with my parents. Heaven food. But my stomach ached that night and that with the many drinks and the early departure to the beach, I blew off my run as well :(

We brought a picnic to the beach, but for our one trip a year, I brought soda and cookies and Smartfood (but also carrots, sandwiches and grapes). Dinner was a disaster.

I was scared to get on the scale this morning. 208.2. At least I did it. No more blowing off Weight Watchers - that is how one regains 50 pounds.

I am just trying to get through this week - the last week of camp, the last week of camp and work and daycare until vacation, the last week at my husband's old job before he starts a new one next week. Real routines can't set in until who knows because his first month or so he'll be working 9-6 instead of 7-4. But we'll be okay.

I haven't menu planned this week. Bad me. I am trying to eat up the fridge and freezer and pantry in anticipation of buying anew once school starts again. I'll try to eat healthy on vacation (after all we'll be with my parents, the health food nuts). I've asked for no treats for my birthday.

But I won't let this week get away from me
-No eating in the cafeteria
-Drink lots of water
-No snacks while figuring out dinner
-No eating out
-Exercise

Back on track, here I come!

Weekly Weigh-in #34

Scale up 4.8 lbs - still at 25 lb loss.

Yesterday afternoon I said screw it and the quiet of my own house, had some ice cream and cake for my afternoon snack. And decided to go out for dinner - Thai food. Some Fridays you just need to live instead of living for the scale.

Didn't go to WW this morning - instead lounged in bed until after 8:00 which is so late for me.

This week is a new week! Despite it being my daughter's birthday, only Wednesday night should be the "bad night" and even then we are just having pizza out - we'd normally be having pizza on Wednesday anyway.

Sucky, sucky, sucky week!

According to the scale this morning, I am up 5.2 lbs since Saturday. Not surprised.

Last week my son was complaining of a tummy ache. Friday night my husband slept with him, as I was still sick. Saturday me and my son stayed  behind while my husband and daughter went to an amusement park. He watched TV all day long, but wasn't too fussy. He fell asleep at 8 pm (not normal for him) and at 10 pm woke up agitated about his stomach. I was literally up all night long with him until 4 am - I fell asleep on his floor. So obviously I didn't go running on Sunday morning. And for 3 days my hip was killing me (I had bursitis in my hip during college from sleeping on a hard fouton). I had visions of not being able to run again.

Sunday he was a bit fussy during the day. It was my husband's birthday so I watched my son for the day. As we were walking out the door to go to dinner, my son really started crying like he had been overnight. So took him to Urgent Care. They tested a bunch of things and decided it was probably gas. Again he fell asleep right away at 8 pm and woke up at 10 pm screaming, so my husband took him to the ER. Again, after xrays and a bunch of things, they thought it was gas. They got home at 4 am and I hadn't really slept.

Monday my husband stayed home and took him to a new pediatrician. Monday night he was the same - I was up all night and took him to a pediatrician again. Again, thought it was gas. Gave us instructions on changing his diet.

He slept well Tuesday night and I felt comfortable sending him to my parents Wednesday and Thursday.

Meanwhile my eating was pretty bad - combination of pure exhaustion, routine being thrown off, and depression of being sick and not being able to work out.

"Highlights of eating"
--After Urgent Care on Sunday, we met my husband and daughter out for dinner - I was starving, so had lemonade and appetizers
--With my husband's birthday, we had a delayed birthday celebration and lots of yummy cake and ice cream in the house (so definitely dessert more than once this week)
--Tons of work stress and exhaustion, had lunch in the cafeteria, including fries and Coke, 2 days
--Wednesday night my husband and I had a impromptu date night which included drinks, appetizers and dinnerl
--Thursday night my son came home and was back to his "normal" self of being very whiney, and before dinner (pizza) arrived, I found myself eating 5 store bakery M&M cookies

I am hoping and praying this coming week can be better, more organized (though I need to make 4 dozen cupcakes for my daughter's 7th birthday)

I am still sick, but it seems to be a little better so I am hoping I can fit in a run this weekend. I am dieing to get back to running!

Weekly Weigh-in #34

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 206.0
Current Weight: 202.4
Change Since Last Week: -3.6
Total Change: -29.8
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

I am pretty shocked with this weight loss this week and I am not really sure it is going to stick, but for now, I will take it! Usually the WW scales are 1.4 lb heavier than mine, but for the last 2 weeks they have only been 1.2, so according to WW I have lost 30 lbs!

Mid-week check in

Not much to report. This head cold is still getting the best of me, so I haven't been sleeping well, so I haven't gotten up this morning or Tuesday morning to work out. I fall asleep right away in the evenings after I've taken cold medication, but I wake up around 2:00 and can't fall back asleep.

Eating has been a little out of control.
Monday I made a pulled pork and pasta dish and had 2 helpings, plus a few munchies while making dinner.
Tuesday I made fried rice and chicken stir-fry - that I only had 1 helping, though probably too large.

But despite this, the scale said 204.6 this morning. Holey moley! Yesterday it had been up 3 lbs. And with the soy sauce from dinner and being in the middle of TOM, I never thought I would see a low number.

So I am going to work hard to try to keep it down this week - If by some miracle the scale said 204.0 on Saturday I would be back on track with the timetable I set out at the beginning of June.

10K Sunday!

I did it! Despite still having a terrible head cold, I got up and ran 6.22 miles, on my own (and the last 20 minutes I had no music because my playlist was only an hour)

I finished in 1:20:29 (did about 30 seconds of walking when I turned around), so an average of slightly under 13:00/mile.

I need to work on my recovery. While  it was hard, I wasn't dying, but I just felt like a slug all day long.

The official training for my 6.66 run in late October doesn't start until August 19th, but I think I will just play around the next 4 weeks - keep doing long runs on Sundays, but not necessarily 6 miles. Do some more running around my house which has slight elevations, try some strides, some intervals, and work on my strength and agility for the Diva Dash on September 7th.

Weekly Weigh-in #33

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 207.6
Current Weight: 206.0
Change Since Last Week: -1.6
Total Change: -26.2
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

I did it! Got my 25 lb medal!!




When I told my husband that I had lost 26.2 lbs, he said "A marathon" - That is definitely is! I am not a fast loser - slow and steady wins the race.


Since I was uploading pics, I figured I would do my "before" picture from Disney last year. That was about 30 lbs ago.

 

 

This is today. While I can definitely see a difference, I still hate seeing pictures of myself. Before kids I never gained weight in my stomach.

206.0 is the weight I was when I got pregnant with both kids. At 9 months with my daughter I was 249 and at 9 months with my son I was 231 - I was below my pre-pregnancy weight with him within a month, but with both kids I gained 15 lbs once I stopped breastfeeding.

I feel a lot better at 206 now than I did at 210 because I've been working out.

Onederland is within my grasp. Labor Day is 6 weeks ago. But with 3 birthdays, I am not sure how I will do. But I am going to try!

New Year's Eve is 23.5 weeks away - I'd ideally like to be 22 lbs lighter by then. But I don't do well with goals, and seeing that it has taken me 34 to lose 26, who knows! One day at a time.

Can I make the 25 lb loss tomorrow?

I am practically sitting on my hands this morning working from home, wishing the time would go by fast so it could be tomorrow morning and I would see if I get my 25 lb medal. The scale this morning said I would. And I want to keep that momentum going.

Exercise hasn't really happened this week except for Wednesday. I woke up Thursday morning with horrible post-nasal drip and I was worried if it was strep, so didn't get up. Last night I was up several times with a sick kid, and the post nasal drop was still around - so pretty much I didn't sleep from 2:30 am - 4:30 am.

I am still on tap to try to run 6.22 miles on Sunday. Alone. Lots of mental games. But excitement to run by myself again. I tell myself that once I did this, then I can concentrate on intervals and fartleks and tempo runs. And then I also need to start running outside "for real" - ie hills. But I probably won't do that much before the Diva Dash. With the heat we've had this summer, the shaded enclosure of a bike trail is very nice.

I haven't made my menu for next week - the weather is supposed to break on Saturday night, so we can enjoy grilling outside and nice summer foods. Next week will be TOM so I will want to stay away from anything that could get me to overeat. I am going to be really anxious to get under 205, so I need this coming week to be a good one (isn't that always the weeks that I gain?!) before we enter into The 3 Week Birthday Season (3 out of 4 birthdays in 3 weeks).

Scaleless Monday and Sleeping in Tuesday

Yesterday morning I wasn't thinking straight and I got into the shower without getting on the scale. Part of it was because I knew I wouldn't see a loss after the party the night before, but that hasn't stopped me for the last 8 months - this literally is the first time since 12/1/12 where I just forgot about it. I remembered once i was all wet in the shower, but I am completely neurotic so I didn't check when I got out.

My eating was less than stellar on my day off, but not terrible: a couple of M&Ms in the mouth on my way to throwing them out (because I ate way too  many of them on Sunday, so I decided that at this point they are not a food I could have in the house - they were fine for 10 days, but once i started eating them I knew I probably wouldn't stop), a few bites of leftover coleslaw, a random piece of cheese, some coffee ice cream in the peace and quiet of my house, a bit too many leftovers at dinner. I did pass on more dessert - trying to stick to 1 dessert a week.

But then I didn't get up in the morning to work out. I was feeling really tired. Was in bed at 8:30, asleep by 10. But still couldn't get up, even though without an alarm I woke up at 5:30!

6 mile Sunday!

I headed out planning on doing 5.25 - 5.5 miles. .25 miles per week has been my normal increase, but .5 miles would be a true 10%. I went with my normal running friend and she was planning on doing 6 because she is pretty sure she's going to start training for a 1/2 in October. Our original plan was for me to turn around when I wanted to and run the rest by myself. I made it slightly further than where we had turned around last week and when I looked at my phone it said 2.92 miles! Woops! She turned around with me (she starts her tracking when we get on the trail, even though we walk for a little bit) so her Nike+ said over 3.0. After a little while I knew I needed to slow down so I told her to go ahead. It was humid, even at 8 am and since I was on track to increase my distance 20%, I knew I needed to slow down.

I ended up doing 5.99 miles in 1:17:49, an average pace of 12:59.

Next week I plan on doing 6.2 and then I'll figure out where to go from there. I need to concentrate more on speed. I want to see how fast I can actually do a 5K. I have the  Diva Dash in 8 weeks and then our town's 5K a couple weeks after that. Originally I was thinking of doing a 10K on Columbus Day, but now I am thinking of doing a 6.66 Devil's run the weekend before Halloween. I am planning on continuing to race after that (only 5Ks) - though there is a 3,4 and 5 mile races in February/March where all 3 medals fit together like a puzzle. And then next summer I want to do a couple real obstacle races. So that is the immediate plan!

We had neighbors over for dinner for the first time last night and today my stomach is feeling all squirrely (it had been a little over the weekend) so I am taking the day off to recuperate and mentally decompress.

Weekly Weigh-in #32

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 208.6
Current Weight: 207.6
Change Since Last Week: -1.0
Total Change: -24.6
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

So close to my 25 lb washer!  Hoping and praying I can do it for next week, but next week will be PMS, so I never know (though usually I see a big drop)

Yesterday I took all the 18W out of my closet and put them upstairs! The 16W are a tad snug, but would be doable if I chose not to wear jeans one day.

Planning to step it up today and tomorrow and not "cheat" as much as I usually do over the weekends so I don't wake up tomorrow or Monday with a 3-4 lb gain that I don't see disappear from the scale until Saturday morning.

4 mornings in a row!

I lay in bed this morning really contemplating whether I truly wanted to get up. I had already gotten up 3 times this week, what is a missed one? But I was excited to try out the running interval workout for bootcamp. But I knew I had to set it up technically - I had tried to do it last night but the site was down. But I forced myself to get up.

The workout was 5 minutes of walking and then 8 intervals of 2 minutes fast and 1 minute slow and then a 5 minute cooldown.

I didn't finish the whole workout.-
--I started late because I had to get the workout onto my phone
--I did my running intervals too hard (only 5.8 - 6.2) and my heart rate was too high and I was having trouble recovering in the 1 minute.

So I think I did 5-6 of the intervals and then walked for a total of 35 minutes and 2.5 miles.

So next week when I do it again next week I won't immediately start at 5.8, so I can get the full 8 intervals in. It was a great workout - I was drenched and it felt great to be having the heart monitor on so I really could see where I was.

Not sure where the scale will end up tomorrow morning. I was at 210.0 this morning. I really want to get past this plateau and break the 25 lb loss.

This weekend we are going to a minor league baseball game Saturday night and Sunday night we are having neighbors over for dinner. I hope to do 5.25 miles on Sunday.

It has been fantastic being able to wear jeans every day at work. I am loving the 16W jeans. I feel so much more confident. If everyone at work does well with the jeans this summer they are going to extend it indefinitely, which would be huge for my weight loss. So much easier to get dressed when I am working out each weekday morning (well, 4 out of 5 - Monday is my rest day) and I don't really love the 16W that are waiting for me in my closet (except one pair of pants - I LOVE them). And much easier on the wallet - I wouldn't have to buy much of anything, except probably another pair of jeans, come the fall.

But in the meantime I am doing my normal work-from-home on Fridays and trying to keep any thoughts of munchies to bay because I would really like at least a maintain tomorrow morning.

5 miles on Sunday and 16W jeans today!

Hmmm, seems like work may be blocking blogs at work, so I haven't  had a chance to write until now.

Seems to be another week where the scale immediately jumps up 3-4 pounds and I spend all week trying to get it down.

Saturday we went to the birthday party. I had a hamburger and a hotdog (we ended up being there for dinner, so I didn't have both!), a few chips, and then a little ice cream and cake. No alcohol.

Sunday I woke up and ran 5 miles in 1:04!!! I was so excited. I even ran a little faster than normal. Eating on Sunday was a little crazy but not terribly so.

Monday was rest day. Spaghetti was for dinner and I had 2 helpings and 2 helpings of salad :(

Tuesday I got up and did strength training. Dinner was good.

This morning I got up again! And did an interval workout. I wore my heart monitor to try to get myself to work harder. It felt great to be moving, but I could have gotten my heart rate up a little higher.

Last week they told us we could wear jeans for the rest of the summer! I had been wearing 18W jeans, though with a belt, almost on the smallest hole. I washed them last night and when I put them on this morning I decided that they were just ridiculously big, so I put on my 16W. A little snug, but look so much better! Feels great!

Weekly Weigh-in #31

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 212.4
Current Weight: 208.6
Change Since Last Week: -3.8
Total Change: -23.6
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149
Back to earning my 10% (.2 over what I was 4 weeks ago,  but that week the difference in the WW scale and mine was 1.2 instead of the normal 1.4, so according to WW I am at the same weight I was 4 weeks ago).

Of course I didn't plan on taking a 4 week hiatus, but so glad I am back there! It feels fantastic. I can pull out my 10% keychain again. And hopefully in the next week or 2 I will be able to add a 25-lb washer to it!

We have a birthday/pool party to go to today, but I am really going to try to eat well, even though it is my "cheat day". I may leave some of the "cheating" to tomorrow, as we have some stuff in the fridge that I skipped on the 4th to help with the weigh-in today, but I want it out of here by Monday.

I need to plan our dinners for the week - I may go back to our boring staples for this week, as those help me with a loss, instead of trying to be inventive.

Looking forward to next week

With the holiday over, I feel like Monday morning is the true start to the summer. No days off for any of us for 6 weeks, at which point me and the kids take a week breather before another school year begins - and my husband said he would join us for a couple of days. Yeah! But for the next 6 weeks we can hopefully get into a good summer routine, and for me that truly means working out 6 days a week.

I had intentions of working out on the 4th of July, but at the last minute on Wednesday, work had me working until midnight, and we had to leave the house at 8:30 for the parade, so I needed my rest. And then Thursday night we were up until after 11 (kids too!) and we needed to leave the house at 10:30, but I let myself just sleep in, which is rare (with WW on Saturdays and running on Sundays, I don't get much non-alarm wakings) and I slept up 8:00 and had a lot to do before we left.

We spent the mid-day at my parent's pool club - the one I learned to swim at. It was deserted when w got there, so I jumped off the diving board a bunch of times. I felt like a kid - it was wonderful. I did a few laps too, which was fun. But with no goggles (and even if I had had them, they wouldn't have been dark goggles), I didn't last too long.

When we got home and everything put away, I had a couple of hours to spare. I could have just sat down with my Kindle, but I really wanted to get in a second strength workout this week. Tomorrow I won't have time, so at 3:30 I put on my work out clothes and headed for the basement.

I started with a 5 minute walk on the treadmill, but I was itching to run (who am I saying this??!!) so I decided to run a mile. I set it for me normal 4.8/12:30 mile,  but was anxious to get it over with, so gradually increased the speed to 5.8 over the course of the mile. I finished a mile in about 11:35. I am itching to try speedwork off of the treadmill. I wish I had had my heart monitor on. I really need to get back into the habit of wearing it. Despite being drenched from running that fast, I got my strength workout in as well. And pumped up the tires on my stationary bike (bike trainer) so I can hopefully work out on that this week. I asked my husband to hook up the DVD and VCR in the basement so I can watch videos if I want (I have some VHS videos I love for workouts I can't find on DVD).

My husband insisted on cooking dinner tonight. I am pretty neurotic when it comes to my pre-WW food. Ever since the kids started swimming on Friday nights, I've just had a PB&J for dinner on Fridays. Since I am going to force myself to go to WW tomorrow regardless of what the scale says (it wasn't pretty this morning, post-4th), I want it to be as good as it can be. I was hoping to be back to my 10%, but I know that isn't going to happen. I almost told him that I wasn't going to eat what he was cooking (steak tips, grilled asparagus, pre-cooked rice - all very salty). Instead I ate almost a quart of strawberries and had a small amount of dinner. Whatever the scales tomorrow, I WILL be back to my 10% by next Saturday.

I haven't planned our menu for next week yet. Tomorrow we have a pool party to go to - it is a weird schedule. It starts at 1:00, but they feed us a meal - more of a mid-afternoon/very early dinner cook out. I will eat a normal lunch, so I won't be inclined to eat munchies, and then have a normal meal (with some ice cream and cake).

I am hoping to do 5 miles on Sunday, but with the humidity and the heat wave going on, I am not so sure. But I really want to!

I did have self control last night!

The taco salad I made was amazing! Yes, I did have 2 helpings, but I really bulked it up with veggies and lettuce, so the scale was very pleasant this morning - 210.0 on the dot. So here I am, working at home before the long holiday weekend, and it is only 11 am and I am starving, but I will NOT have salad leftovers for lunch. Dinner maybe - I don't plan on having an organized dinner. My daughter is at a camp event until late, so I'll just pop in chicken nuggets for my son and he'll be thrilled. I want the scale tomorrow to say below 210 SO badly! I never want to see it go above. And then with 209.2 I will "re-earn" my WW 10%.

I did get up this morning to work out, despite another late night (again, watching Extreme Weight Loss on the DVR) - I didn't go to bed until 11:45 and the alarm went off at 5:30. It was interval day on the treadmill. The instructions were to do 15 minutes of 60 seconds fast, 30 seconds easy. I quickly found that 30 seconds was not enough time for me to recover. And I was only doing 6.0 (10:00 mile) on fast and 4.8 (my 5K speed) on easy. So I decided to do 60 seconds and 60 seconds - I've ready your recovery should be as long as the interval, so I was okay with that. The light bulb over the treadmill was burnt out, so I did it with just the lights of the treadmill and the small amount of light (it is cloudy today) coming through the small basement windows. I did a 5 minute warm up and cooldown - actually 7 minutes cool down to get beyond 2 miles. At some point I need to work on intervals on a track so I can feel what a 12 minutes, 11:30, 11:00, 10:30 and 10 minute mile feel like off the treadmill. Less than a 10 minute mile is what you need to sustain for 3.14 miles to do a 5K in 30 minutes or less. But that is so far off!

I am just proud of myself for getting up - I really didn't want to. I was still scared from how badly the intervals went last week. But I was excited to see what the scale would say - that is what I having been missing in this last month of yo-yoing - not doing enough to get a loss in the morning so I wasn't excited to get up so it snowballed.

I was supposed to do planks today as well - actually the schedule had me doing them before intervals. No thanks! I'll gradually add in planks! But I did do some ab/core work.

Tomorrow is more strength training. I was tempted to do 4.7 miles instead, but that means 2 laps of my neighborhood (I can't go to my Sunday running spot because the parade we're going to is there, but it is too far away) - but I don't want to be pooped for the 4th, so I'll just stick to the schedule. Friday needs to be a fun cardio work out.

A week from now is 5 years since I got pregnant the last time - I am 4 lbs away from the same weight. Can I lose 4 lbs in a week? I don't think so! In 2010 I had hoped to be at goal by my daughter's 5th birthday, but with a 3+ year setback and not being able to be to goal by his 5th birthday, I am shooting for when he starts Kindergarten.

Need self-control this evening....

A week later I am still saying to myself that I need to get back on track. This Saturday it will be 4 weeks since I hit my 10% at WW - 4 weeks of gains.

After skipping my WW meeting on Saturday, we went to pick my daughter up from her first slumber party and decided to hit the British Beer Company (I wanted to hit 5 Guys next door - my husband had never been and I had only been their once, but my kids don't really like hamburgers). BBC has a ton of pub food - I got a salad (an entree size with probably a bazillion calories - chicken, greens, nuts, blue cheese, pears, cranberries), but I also got a cheese dip with chip appetizer. After all, I kept telling myself, this was Saturday, my "cheat" day. We also agreed we'd been going out WAY too much and who  knew when the next time would be. Didn't we say that on Thursday?!

I did set up my obstacle course for my Diva Dash training - it was more trying to figure out the logistics. I did ladder runs, hurdles, stretching over and under a rope (fantastic for my body!), a few other things - it isn't perfect by myself (or with my daughter trying to help) - I really need another adult, but I don't see that happening, so I will improvise.

Saturday night was hotdogs (turkey ones for me, with no bun) outside on the deck. Heaven!

Sunday I got up and ran 4.62 miles with my friend - I had hoped for 4.75, but her knew was hurting her and it was humid, humid, humid, even at 7 am. I am not sure how many more times we'll run together because she is going to be training for a 1/2 soon. I am going to run 5 miles this weekend - most likely without her. I may cry if I actually run 5 miles.

I hadn't gone to sleep very early on Saturday night, so I was pretty bushed after my run, and I had quite a headache from the heat, so I had a pretty lazy day. My parents came over for dinner - we made chicken kabobs, cold green bean salad, and friend rice. My mom brought cannolis and strawberries for dessert. It was our first time with company outside. Heaven. Oh yeah, there was wine too!

Monday was my "rest day". I had prepped a cold salad for dinner -pasta (white, not wheat), chicken, apples, golden raisins, pecans, apple. I also made a caprese salad with homegrown basil. I had seconds of salad - I knew I would. This is what I am afraid of. I make these fantastic salads and I can't just stop with 1 serving. I need to train myself. It is even harder when my kids won't eat it, so there is even more left over. I need to learn to cook less. But when my husband is on this 'I will eat nothing but fruit until dinner' diet, I feel like I need to cook more - though regardless of what or how much I cook, often he is eating later in the evening anyways.

So tonight is another cold salad - taco salad made with chicken, black beans, tomatoes, peppers, olives, red onion, chilis, greens, witha dressing of cumin and chili powder.

This morning I did get up to lift weights. It was also time to do my fitness test and take my measurements (I've been doing them every 4 weeks). I went down a little in inches - I am really hoping that by Labor Day they've gone down a lot more. My fitness did increase as well....well, except for the planks. I suck at planks!

Tomorrow is interval and plank day. It was last Wednesday that I felt completely defeated. This time I am going to do my warm up on the treadmill, then do the treadmill intervals, then do planks (last week I did bike warm up, planks (or tried), then treadmill intervals (or tried) - Also last week I didn't have my iphone on to listen to music because somehow I didn't feel like 15 minutes was real running. But I will tomorrow. I am also going to wear my heart monitor - I need to do that at least on Wednesday and Fridays - we'll see about the obstacle course and running.

The scale this morning said 210.8 - the first time below 211 in about 3 weeks, so that is the real basis of my title 'Need self-control' - I don't want to eat too much salad and mainly because I want the scale to say happy things tomorrow. I need to get back below 210. I need to get back to earning my 10% (which is 209).

Weekly Weigh-in #30

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 211.2
Current Weight: 212.4
Change Since Last Week: +1.2
Total Change: -19.8
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

I am beyond mad at myself. Need to get back on track! But if I look at my daily log, there are definitely a lot more comments in the 'what I did wrong' column than the 'what I did right'. Yes there is a holiday coming up, but not one that we celebrate with a lot of food, so I *should* be able to have a good week if I work on it.

My daughter is away for the night, so I let myself "sleep-in" to 6:45 so I am blowing off WW this week :(

Continuing to have trouble getting back on track.....

I woke up at 5:30 am on Wednesday planning to do planks and an interval workout on the treadmill.

I did 5 minutes of warm up on my bike and the planks kicked my ass. Then I tried to do the intervals on the treadmill and started out way too quickly and gave up pretty quickly. I pulled out the computer to do a bootcamp workout instead but the laptop was dead. So I gave up after 10-15 minutes downstairs.

I worked from home and was stressed about work so I found myself munching on trail mix (nuts, M&Ms, raisins) and garlic pita chips.

Thursday morning I was just too tired to wake up.

Last night we went out to dinner - I knew beforehand that I was going to eat a lot. We were celebrating 1 year of closing on our house so we went to Chili's which is where my husband and I went to after the closing. I had 1 drink, many appetizers, shrimp tacos, and we all shared a cookie/ice cream dessert. I couldn't do anything last night because my belly ached.

This morning I did get up and did strength training which I should have done yesterday morning.

We had a going away party for a collegue, so I had 2 pieces of pizza, salad and a 12 oz coke for lunch.

I think I will probably have another gain tomorrow :(

But tomorrow is another week - yes a week with a holiday, but I SHOULD be able to be on track, I hope. Planning on my long run Sunday morning and TOM will be over, so hopefully a good week!

Woke to work out - not running!

My obstacle race is 10 1/2 weeks away - I was originally going to start training last week, but that didn't happen, so I said this week has to be it! Instead of 3 weeks per routine, I am going to do 5 weeks.

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Strength training - this morning was weighted squats, push ups, bent over row, lateral raise, bench press, upright row, tricep kickbacks, curls, crunches - The strength training is done in pairs, so you alternate sets of 2 exercises
Wednesday - planks, intervals on the treadmill, abs
Thursday - Strength Training - lunges, push ups, squats, shoulder press, more squats, core work, tricep dips, curls, abs
Friday - some sort of cross training - this is my own workout - the training plan is only 4 days, abs
Saturday - Agility workout - going to create an obstacle course in the backyard. Should be fun to do. Just not sure what time I will do it. With my summer schedule, I have to go grocery shopping after WW and when I am done, the backyard may already be sunny, abs
Sunday - Long run, again, this is my own work out, not part of the training plan - not sure if I'll be able to get in ab work

To have a schedule, to have something to check off, motivates to get me out of bed. I miss strength training. I did a 5 minute warm up on my bike which felt great - I need to pump up the tires and adjust it some.

Can't wait to do some planks and intervals tomorrow!

Weekly Weigh-in #30

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 213.8
Current Weight: 211.2
Change Since Last Week: -2.6
Total Change: -21.0
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

So I am down 2.6 from last week (when I didn't get a chance to post), but up 2.8 from 2 weeks ago (yes, I was up 5.4 last week - but at one point, after Chinese good, I was up 8 lbs!)

But I did go to my meeting this morning and I was so happy I did.

Hoping the 2.8 lbs are gone in 2 weeks.

I am still sore from my run on Thursday, but plan on going out tomorrow morning as well.

Happy Summer!

Back to running!

I had 3-4 hours to myself this morning, so what did I do - I ran! I drove up to the flat, shaded, rail-trail I've been running on with my friend. I did 4.25 miles in 56:10 - I only walked for about 30 seconds when I turned around. I actually ran 2.25 miles out, so ended up stopping and walking before I got back to my car. Since my last outside run, 18 days ago, was 3.65 miles, I figured pushing myself to 4.5 was probably too much.

I did start out too fast - I started running my 12:30 pace, thinking 'oh, maybe I can keep that up for 4+ miles' - Me and my friend run slower than that, but we are also talking. So the run back was definitely harder and slower.

Running is so much mental. I listened to a different playset - a fun playset I have of mainly wedding dance music, so the beat was definitely better than I've had in the past. I don't really like modern music, so a lot of the playlists I see on FB and Pinterest are not songs I really want to run to.

I am going to try to get out for another long run on Sunday - my friend's brother is getting married on Saturday, so this will be another solo run.

The scale this morning was only 4.4 lb above 2 weeks ago - If I show a gain between 3 and 4 lbs on Saturday, I think I can live with that. My hope would be to be back to my WW 10% by the 6th of July. But me and goals usually aren't great!

We got our umbrella for our deck yesterday, so the deck is finally complete, and we've got a nice stretch of weather ahead, so lots of dinners al fresco! I am going to get lots of fruits and veggies at the store to bulk up on those instead of carbs. I don't eat a ton of meat, but I do want to experiment with lots of recipes this summer. And force myself to eat small portions - that is the challenge!

Slowly getting back on the wagon.....

I went to work on Monday and Tuesday and ate well. And when I got home, dinner was ready for me (yeah!) and I ate fairly okay - no snacking before, but I did have a cupcake each night - I removed a majority of the bottom so I was mainly eating frosting, but I tried to grab the smallest ones. Thankfully the cupcakes are almost gone!

I have the remainder of the week off and I have today to myself (another yeah!) I went grocery shopping and stocked up - though I'll need to go later in the week/weekend for more produce. And I went to BJ's to stock up as well (and avoided all of the free samples). Fresh City is on my way home - a place I LOVE their burritos and their salads (and the 2-3 times I go a year, I get both). I chose to just keep driving by. I was 5 minutes from home. I needed to get home and eat my if-I-were-at-work snack and lunch, which I am doing now.

The scale hasn't budged much  - 5.4 pounds up from Saturday the 8th. The fact that I lost 6.6 lbs in 3 weeks, which is completely insane for me, makes me wonder where my body is trying to set at. TOM is arriving on Saturday, so I am just trying to avoid the PMS munchies and know that it will probably be another 10 days before I know exactly how much "permanent" damage I have done on the scale.

In the back of my mind I considered not going to WW this weekend, because the scale will be up probably 4-5 lbs and that is embarrassing. But I know I have to go. I may chose to take a pass on the scale, but even that I am thinking I shouldn't do. So I have gained. I did have 7 weeks of losses - big losses.

I need to get back to exercising. I am thinking that after I drop off the kids tomorrow I will go running.  I have never run more than 3.14 miles on my own, so this will be a mental challenge. But I would like to do it, then I can go again on my own on Sunday morning.

Tomorrow is my daughter's last day of 1st grade. I am eager for it to come. I feel like our transition year is coming to a close, though we technically didn't start our new work/school/commute schedule until the end of August. I want to organize like crazy the next couple of days and then just live for the next few months.

No posts = not doing so well.....

Well, when the scale this morning was almost EIGHT pounds higher than 9 days ago, it can really put you into a funk on a Monday morning.

Last week I thought the 4.5 lbs would disappear overnight, and they did not. So Wednesday I decided to say "screw it" and didn't bring any food with me to work - I had my yummy yogurt parfait AND a breakfast sandwich for breakfast.I had a sandwich wrap, homemade chips and a 12 oz coke from the cafeteria.

Thursday was Field Day at my daughter's school. After my normal breakfast, and no morning snack, she treated me to lunch - chocolate milk, a hotdog on a whole wheat bun, and chips. I was starving by dinner because lunch just didn't cut it for an adult and I had no snacks. My husband was not home for dinner, so me and the kids kind of pieced together a meal.

Friday - Sunday we were away and meals were sporadic. My husband is okay with passing on breakfast and lunch, and his sister (who I am pretty sure had an eating disorder) won't eat anything until dinner.

Friday me and the kids ate breakfast and I had a snack before we left. We stopped at Unos for an early lunch - I had a 1/2 size salad and 1/2 a flatbread pizza - no soda, no appetizers, no dessert. Then that was it for the rest of the day....! We were with my in-laws at dinner, and while we had gotten food for the kids, it was decided that we would pick up dinner on the way home. We got back at 10:00 at night - I chose to go to bed instead of eating frozen pizza at that time.

Saturda me and the kids ate breakfast before going to the burial. After that we went to Applebee's - I was starving, and not knowing when/where/how I would get dinner, I got a trio of appetizers, plus a 1/2 size salad - no soda, no dessert. My husband and sister wanted to go to a restaurant for dinner at almost 8:00, but I chose against it and I fed the kids back at the hotel and ate a weird combination of foods myself.

Sunday we went to brunch for Father's Day - I had eggs, toast, potatoes, and coffee cake. We were driving home during lunch, so skipped it, so I snacked on Chex Mix (WAY too much of it!) and then had a lot for dinner - and late too.

So I hope part of the EIGHT pounds this morning was due to salty chex mix and salty teriyaki marinade. But I know all of it wasn't.

And have I exercised since last weekend? No....Both nights away I laid out my clothes (there is a rail trail right across the street) but I really didn't have the time and I would have woken up everyone getting out the door, so I didn't.

Another thing I haven't done in the last week is get enough water in, so I am trying really hard.

So this week, even though I am off Wednesday - Friday is:
-Drink a ton of water
-Eat my normal foods
-No snacking
-Small portions at dinner
-Go for a run; get moving
-Go to WW on Saturday even though I will show a HUGE gain

I am really, really mad at myself. I am eager to see where my weight really is at and how much work will need to get me back to my 10%.

I survived my 25th high school reunion.....

It was a lot of fun. And of course I was happy to see that I wasn't the only one to have gained weight - granted, a ton of women looked fantastic and like they did in high school, but not all. I am hoping that I can make it back next year, as I had a lot of friends from the class of 1989, and I hope to look fantastic then as well. Not to my goal weight, but 52 lbs lighter I hope!

I was sad that I didn't dress up as much as I could have because I just couldn't find a dress that I liked how it looked on me.

But now back on track. The scale was up 4.5 lbs this morning! Combination of dehydration and the amount of food I ate Sunday to compensate for the awful hangover. A fun reminder of why I don't drink anymore!

I can just hope to maintain by June 22....but the little I know of where we are going to be eating next weekend, it is going to be very hard!

Weekly Weigh-in #28 - 10%!

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 211.0
Current Weight:  208.4
Change Since Last Week: -2.6
Total Change: -23.8
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149


I HIT MY 10%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got my key chain this morning. Yeah!

I was completely floored by this number, seeing that I was 2..2 lbs heavier yesterday morning.

But I've got challenges ahead this week - leaving in a little while to go to my 25th reunion, which will be a calorie fest. And then next weekend I'll be away for 3 days, eating out.

My goal for 2 weeks from now should be to maintain this weight, but I am also SO close to my 25 lb weight, that I would love to go to WW in 2 weeks and get it.

We'll see!!

25 years ago.....

This weekend is my 25 year high school reunion. I am looking forward to it, but dreading it also.

I went to boarding school, so it wasn't your typical high school experience. I say it was way, way, way better. I had a lot of experiences in high school that people don't have until college. And when college came around, I couldn't wait for it to be over. My brother had just graduated and I saw the "real life" - ie living in his own apartment, going out, all that fun stuff. Plus I met someone early on in college, who for 7 years I thought would be "the one" so I was eage to get college over with and on with my real life.

But high school was fantastic. I didn't live at home, there weren't cliques - and well if there were, I didn't care about them. My school was large - 1,200 kids but spread across 2 campuses, which were 5 miles apart. So a large number of kids in my class, I didn't have much interaction with. But that didn't matter. Unfortunately they have closed down my campus and consolidated the school into 1 school on the other campus, not "my school", so that is where reunion will be held and the majority of the people coming back for reunion lived on that campus. So that is the main reason I am not as excited, because not a lot of "my people" will be coming back. Can't reunion be mandatory?!

And of course the other main reason I am not excited is because I don't look anything like I did when I graduated. For our 5 and 10 year reunions I was probably 10-15 pounds less than I was on graduation day. Now I am 70 pounds heavier. But I am okay with that - I keep telling myself that there will be other people there that have gained weight in the past 25 years.

In preparing to go to reunion, I've been going through my scrapbooks and taking pictures (because I am too lazy to scan), as well as uploading pictures from the last 10+ years. I came across a couple of pictures taken at our 10 year reunion and I saw a picture of this one girl who I know is heavy now (or at least she is on FB) and I was surprised to see that she was heavy at 10 years. I hadn't remembered that. It must have been that I wasn't in that mindframe. It wasn't on my radar. But now I am so self-conscious of it, now I am totally fixated on it.

A year ago, the reunion committee posted on FB that reunion was a year away and "time to hit the gym" - At the time, I had zero desire to go. It didn't even phathom to me that in 52 weeks I could have lost most of the weight - I was in the middle of the move, my life was so up in the air, my weight was still on it's way up - I probably continued to gain another 15 lbs from June 1 until December 1 when I re-joined WW.

But here I am now, where I think I probably was on New Year's Day 2012, so I have thankfully wiped out the gains from 2012. Now to work on the gains from 2011!!! Goal is to be back at my "starting point" - ie where i was when I started to re-gain the weight - by New Year's Day 2014.

I am going to go and enjoy myself this weekend and will probably walk away after the 24 hours relieved that it is over and will feel like a HUGE weight is lifted from my shoulders and go back home enjoying my current life, because while I wish I wasn't almost 43, I don't want to be 16 again. I'd be okay with 28, but having the knowledge, the experiences, the money and the family that I did not have back then.

Time to get back to work....

The heat wave is over, thank goodness, because my poor burned shoulders/back aren't very happy. It is pouring rain, but still humid, but by this afternoon the humidity should be gone and be more comfortable in the 70s this week.

I am dragging a little this morning. I crashed last night around 10. At 12:30 my son woke up with a wet bed - my husband was still up so thankfully he took care of it, but with the rain and the interrupted sleep, I am beat.

Yesterday me and my friend met at 7 am to get a run in - 3.63 miles - Not quite as long as I would have liked, but despite being hot and humid, we got it in. I am going to TRY to do 4 miles this weekend - I will be on my own, so it may be a little harder.

9 days without soda! But yesterday was definitely a munchy day.

Saturday we stopped by McDonald's after enduring soccer in the 90 degree heat. I got a grilled chicken wrap, but I also got a small chocolate shake. I didn't get fries. Dinner was 'fend for yourself' so I had left-over pasta and salad from Thursday, but did nibble some of the kids leftover pasta as well.

Sunday I bought 6 Dunkin Donuts after my run, but didn't have any. We went swimming with my parents, but purposefully asked to meet after lunch so I could eat at home. But I was starving when we got home since i hadn't packed a snack or had any water. So there was licks (making frosting to practice cake decorating), munchies (potato chips) and a pretty good size dinner (burger on WW bun, corn (with light butter), cucumbers, potatoes in the grill).

So the scale was up 2 lbs this morning from Saturday, but it is a new work week and 5 days to get it back.

I am going to try, try, try to get up a lot this week to work out. Today is a day of rest.

Weekly Weigh-in #27

Starting Weight (12/1/2012): 232.2
Last Week: 212.8
Current Weight:  211.0
Change Since Last Week: -1.8
Total Change: -21.2
Height: 5'6"
Goal: 149

Happy 6 month Weight Watchers anniversary to me!

I am 1.8 lb away from my 10%
I am 3.8 lb away from 25 lb washer

We have zero plans this week! We may go out to dinner tonight because my husband is working hard outside in the heat on our deck and I have no dinner plans, but I would like to go to Applebee's if we do.

My 25 year high school reunion is a week away - it would be so wonderful to start that day with my 10%! But I don't make goals. They never work. In 2 weeks we will be away all weekend which will be very challenging eating-wise.

But I am eager to get out of the 210s. The last time I saw a weight in the 220's was April 24. Being in the 200's would just be SO wonderful!

So I am going to have another week of really, really trying.