I had hoped to be able to tell you that I was at my drivers license weight this week. I hoped to be able to tell you of the years of renewing my license at the DMV and laughing nervously when asked if there was anything that had changed. Of looking wistfully at the drivers license weight and knowing that I would likely never touch that again. I wanted to title my post "drivers license weight!!!", but I can't. Why? Because I slid RIGHT PAST that weight and am now LOWER! I think I have had the same weight on it since I moved here 14 years ago...and I probably rounded down then! So, in case anyone is counting, I've lost 17 pounds so far, from June 14 to July 31. Whoohoo!
My clothes are starting to look a little ridiculous on me, being so baggy, so I took a little trip through my closet. (I should mention that I hate to spend money on clothes, so rarely throw anything out.) There are a number of suit jackets that have been too uncomfortable to wear for a couple of years, being too tight through the arms and shoulders. All of them are nice and loose, now, and some are too loose. Unfortunately, it's not really suit jacket weather right now, so it will be a few weeks before I wear them to work. There is one double breasted jacket that I have worn hanging open, unbuttoned, for years. I was able to button it comfortably today. Last summer, I did a very unusual purging of my closet and got rid of a few things that I wish I had now. Oh well.
I would recommend this empower food plan to anyone who needs some extra help to lose weight. To those who feel that weight loss is really beyond your grasp; who feel that it would be nice, but you know in your heart that it's just not going to happen. Well, it's happening for me, and it could for you, too.
(There is a link to Medical Weight Loss Center's facebook page in the heading at the top of the blog.)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Cheats =(
I just got back from a half-hour walk during my lunch hour at work. It is the first walk I've taken in a long time. One of my goals was to walk 10,000 steps every day, but I just have not done it. That is my main cheat of the week. Really, lack of exercise is my downfall, and has been over the years. I'm not sure how to re-program the brain to like to move. I was a sedentary baby, a sedentary child (report card said "Brenda reads too many library books. Needs more physical exercise."), a semi-sedentary teen (does drill team count for exercise?) and, you guessed it, a sedentary adult (although now they call it couch potato).
There are a couple forms of exercise that I like: snorkeling - I can snorkel for hours in the Caribbean and not get tired of it. I joined the YMCA to be able to use the pool, but they had the pool full of swim lessons when it was convenient for me to go. And I don't think mask and snorkel are encouraged there. dancing - I love, love, love wedding receptions where there is a DJ and dancing. My daughter took me to a couple of zumba classes, but they were a bit outside my stamina zone. I was good for the first 20 minutes, but they go a whole hour. And after the last one, where there was a very defined "bump" in one of the routines, my hip hurt to walk for a month. I liked drill team, where you got to use your brain to memorize a routine (touch back, touch front, touch back, around the knee...you Highland Scots will recognize that!). Maybe I need to find a class where they work on a routine, but then do not perform it (no audience needs to see thunder thighs). Ideas are appreciated.
The food program is going very well. Virtually no cheats there. My husband has jumped on the band-wagon and is just finishing up his first week. This program is great for those who need significant food intervention.
Oh! I lost a couple more pounds this week. Yipee!
There are a couple forms of exercise that I like: snorkeling - I can snorkel for hours in the Caribbean and not get tired of it. I joined the YMCA to be able to use the pool, but they had the pool full of swim lessons when it was convenient for me to go. And I don't think mask and snorkel are encouraged there. dancing - I love, love, love wedding receptions where there is a DJ and dancing. My daughter took me to a couple of zumba classes, but they were a bit outside my stamina zone. I was good for the first 20 minutes, but they go a whole hour. And after the last one, where there was a very defined "bump" in one of the routines, my hip hurt to walk for a month. I liked drill team, where you got to use your brain to memorize a routine (touch back, touch front, touch back, around the knee...you Highland Scots will recognize that!). Maybe I need to find a class where they work on a routine, but then do not perform it (no audience needs to see thunder thighs). Ideas are appreciated.
The food program is going very well. Virtually no cheats there. My husband has jumped on the band-wagon and is just finishing up his first week. This program is great for those who need significant food intervention.
Oh! I lost a couple more pounds this week. Yipee!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
It's the little things!
I lost another pound this week. That makes about 13 pounds in the last 34 days. (I hope my math is right! Did it in my head.)
My last summer's regular jeans are my holey gardening jeans this year. Last summer, I had to go a long, long time between washing them in order to get them buttoned. The shrinkage in the dryer was just too much. THIS summer, straight out of the dryer, I can pull them down without unbuttoning/unzipping. Not a very useful skill, I know, but STILL. Like I said, it's the little things!
Another little thing. In three more pounds, I'll be at the weight on my driver's license. I've been perjuring myself for years. =)
My last summer's regular jeans are my holey gardening jeans this year. Last summer, I had to go a long, long time between washing them in order to get them buttoned. The shrinkage in the dryer was just too much. THIS summer, straight out of the dryer, I can pull them down without unbuttoning/unzipping. Not a very useful skill, I know, but STILL. Like I said, it's the little things!
Another little thing. In three more pounds, I'll be at the weight on my driver's license. I've been perjuring myself for years. =)
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Pssst...
shhh....I don't want to say it too loud, because it might go away...but...today...the scale STOPPED before getting to the 180's. Yep. 179. I haven't been in the 170's since 2004!.
You know how a digital bathroom scale always bounces around the numbers before it actually stops on today's weight? Well, the last few days, the 178s and 179s have been showing up in the numbers show. (I was excited that the scale was even THINKING about the 170s.) Today it settled on 179 Whoot, whoot!
Remember I said I usually have a 20 pound range that I bounce around in? For the last few years my range has been 180 to 200. After last Christmas, I was at 200. I did an loose Atkins-type diet from January to March trying to get below last year's weight for my health screening at work. (If we don't meet a certain health score, we are not eligible for the lowest priced health insurance. Weight and waist circumference play into it.) On that diet, I went from 200 to 187, lost another pound over the next month, and then in May, on vacation, I gained 5 pounds back. You see what I mean, when I say I bounced around in the range? It was in June, when I was around 192 that I visited Bo and decided to give her Empower Foods plan a try. That was LESS than one month ago!
I feel VERY empowered to have broken through the bottom of my 20-pound range! It is very encouraging and motivates me to keep on. Thanks Bo!
Edited to add: This success comes after a week with 1) 4th of July potluck at church, 2) wedding on Monday AND 3) wedding on Friday! It helps to keep a bar and a proticinno drink in my purse when I go to functions. It's nice to have something sweet to eat or drink while everyone is eating wedding cake.
You know how a digital bathroom scale always bounces around the numbers before it actually stops on today's weight? Well, the last few days, the 178s and 179s have been showing up in the numbers show. (I was excited that the scale was even THINKING about the 170s.) Today it settled on 179 Whoot, whoot!
Remember I said I usually have a 20 pound range that I bounce around in? For the last few years my range has been 180 to 200. After last Christmas, I was at 200. I did an loose Atkins-type diet from January to March trying to get below last year's weight for my health screening at work. (If we don't meet a certain health score, we are not eligible for the lowest priced health insurance. Weight and waist circumference play into it.) On that diet, I went from 200 to 187, lost another pound over the next month, and then in May, on vacation, I gained 5 pounds back. You see what I mean, when I say I bounced around in the range? It was in June, when I was around 192 that I visited Bo and decided to give her Empower Foods plan a try. That was LESS than one month ago!
I feel VERY empowered to have broken through the bottom of my 20-pound range! It is very encouraging and motivates me to keep on. Thanks Bo!
Edited to add: This success comes after a week with 1) 4th of July potluck at church, 2) wedding on Monday AND 3) wedding on Friday! It helps to keep a bar and a proticinno drink in my purse when I go to functions. It's nice to have something sweet to eat or drink while everyone is eating wedding cake.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Woohoo! Someone noticed!
Two different people commented today that it looks like I'm losing weight! I love it when that happens! Usually I need to lose about 25 pounds before anyone notices.
I'm getting into the swing of things with the diet. It is becoming normal life. I still am hungry in the late afternoons, but am learning that if I get my mind on something else, I just push through it. It's kind of like pushing on in the half-marathon even though my legs or feet hurt.
Being able to eat a morning snack and an afternoon snack is kind of like having a nice surprise every day, "Oh, goody, it's 10:00. I get to eat my snack!"
I'm getting into the swing of things with the diet. It is becoming normal life. I still am hungry in the late afternoons, but am learning that if I get my mind on something else, I just push through it. It's kind of like pushing on in the half-marathon even though my legs or feet hurt.
Being able to eat a morning snack and an afternoon snack is kind of like having a nice surprise every day, "Oh, goody, it's 10:00. I get to eat my snack!"
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Results...first 18 days
I was able to visit Bo this past week and step on the Tanita scale again. The results for the first 18 days...drum roll, please...9.80 pounds! (I'm an accountant and like to round my numbers, so 9.8 sounds a lot like 10 pounds!)
The breakdown of the weight loss is: 3.8 pounds of FAT (picture chicken fat, blechk), 4.6 lbs of water (remember, I guessed that about 5 of my first week 7 pound loss was water), and the remaining 1.4 pounds from muscle and bone.
Since the diet is pretty high protein, and since I am moving a lot more than I used to, I doubt that much muscle will be lost in the long term. Maybe I need to add in some strength training to make sure? (Strength training sounds impressive, but really, I have to start with very light weights...like tuna cans!)
The breakdown of the weight loss is: 3.8 pounds of FAT (picture chicken fat, blechk), 4.6 lbs of water (remember, I guessed that about 5 of my first week 7 pound loss was water), and the remaining 1.4 pounds from muscle and bone.
Since the diet is pretty high protein, and since I am moving a lot more than I used to, I doubt that much muscle will be lost in the long term. Maybe I need to add in some strength training to make sure? (Strength training sounds impressive, but really, I have to start with very light weights...like tuna cans!)
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