Weigh-In Week 11 and a Big NSV!

Weight: 279.8

Lost this week: 5

Total weight lost: 45.6

I don’t know how I did it, but I managed another 5lb this week!! 4.4 more to go until I hit 50 and get another sweet, sweet charm! I don’t think lighting will strike three weeks in a row, so I’m aiming to hit 50 in 2 weeks.

I love having these little and medium sized goals within the massive goal. You know, The Goal. I hardly spend any time thinking about that one. It’s too big and too far away, I think daunting is the right word. It’s there in the back of my mind but I find that it doesn’t do me a lot of good on a day-to day basis.

I love all of the milestones that weight watchers sets because I can just aim for that next 5lb loss. It’s forward thinking, it’s a goal to achieve, it’s a win to record, and I can get there relatively quickly (some weeks quicker than others!). Then when I start getting bored or frustrated with the baby-step milestones, all of a sudden a bigger one is on the horizon.

Anyway, more than just the numbers on my scale and clothing tags are changing. One of my biggest motivators for this particular journey was that my knees (especially my right one) had started to hurt on a regular basis. No good. Yesterday I realized that I had sat down and stood up again with zero pain. That made me happier than any numbers or pictures could.

I have been following more blogs and trying to interact more. I am painfully shy (even online) but am feeling the love here and trying to embrace it and pay it forward as much as I can. Thanks for the support everyone, let’s keep going!

Gen

Picture Update!

So I’ve been going a little crazy with pictures lately. Now that I’m fitting into smaller sizes I’ve been making trips to clothing stores where I never actually buy anything, just try stuff on and snap pics 🙂 I started wearing size 26 pants and am now solidly in 24s, even fitting into a couple of 22s. This is exciting.

I’ve been taking a monthly picture, and I just took september’s so here you go:

I think it’s great to be able to visually see the progress. It’s a good motivator and reminder that what I’m doing is working.

I try to not suck in my gut for the monthly photos so I can honestly see the progress, but I wanted to include this one I took yesterday sucking it all in because damn I look good. Ha.

Ok, forward we go!!

Gen

Weigh-In Week 10

Weight: 284.8

Lost this week: 5

Total weight loss: 40.6

Woohoo! 5lb down! I did weigh in a day late this week, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t lose 5lb in that one day so I think it’s ok 🙂

I weighed in late because I was working yesterday! I work on film sets and work is sporadic so this was the first time I had been on set since I started weight watchers. The biggest problem with film sets is craft services. They provide you with food and snacks for the day which is great, but they always have a lot of junk food and depending on the set sometimes it is only junk food.

I have been very good about food choices when eating at home and preparing my own meals, and mostly good when eating out, but my biggest downfall so far is making a smart choice when offered free food. My brain goes “It’s free! Of COURSE you have to eat all of those cookies and chips and candy bars, it would be a waste not to! It would be criminal to pass it up!” Somehow my better sense goes out the window and it becomes a free for all.

I am happy with how I handled myself this weekend. I was not perfect by any means (I’m sure I never will be) but instead of stuffing my face full every time I had a free moment I mostly stuck with the fruit and light popcorn with just a small handful of chips and one cookie. Compared to how I used to eat I call that a big win. And I’m happy with that instead of beating myself up and sliding down a shame-spiral so I’ll even count that as a double win! I can have a cookie and a few chips every now and then and the world will not end, that is good to know 🙂

Gen

Remembering the Wins

Why are past victories so soon forgotten???

I am sitting here at my desk thinking about my 50lb lost goal, thinking about how far away it seems and how frustrating it is that I am creeping towards it so slowly.

Then I turn my head and see my weight watchers keychain sitting there with a nice shiny 25 charm on it. I was so freaking excited to get to 25 and so proud when I did! And I’ve lost over 10lb since then!

I was on the verge of happy tears when I finally fell below 300 but now I look at the number 289 and cringe because it feels so high.

Why do I forget my accomplishments so soon? I guess part of it is good, it keeps me from being complacent and keeps me moving forward, but it also keeps me frustrated and malcontent.

Maybe I should post a ‘Way To Go! You Accomplished (fill in the blank)!!’ list in every room of my house so I can remind myself to be happy with my continuing progress instead of getting bogged down in the when-will-I-reach-(blank) mindset.

In college I had a teacher ask us to keep a record of our ‘wins.’ He wanted us to keep a journal of anything we felt happy about or proud of that we could open up and read when we were feeling down about ourselves. I should probably get back into that habit with weight loss and work and life in general. There are plenty of times that I could use a reminder that I have in fact accomplished some great things and that I don’t completely suck 🙂

Moving forward with determination but also with a smile.

Gen

Weigh-In Week 9

Weight: 289.8

Lost: .6

Total weight loss: 35.6

It’s been a tough week. My mom is in town so for the first couple of days my eating schedule and routine were thrown off but I was doing ok. Then she had a procedure at the hospital which had complications and I was a mess. She is doing fine, it wasn’t anything life threatening, but of course I was worried and had pretty bad anxiety. I went from not eating a thing one day to stress-eating a cheeseburger and french fries at the hospital at 2:30 in the morning the next. I am actually really happy with the .6 loss, it was better than I was expecting. My mom went in for a second procedure this morning, I’m going to try to be more mindful of how I eat but of course it will take a back seat to helping her out this week.

I was able to go to my meeting yesterday which was very inspiring. I am lucky enough to have a bunch of people in my meeting who have achieved their goal weight and still come every week as they maintain. It’s really nice to have living proof right there that my goals are achievable. This week some of them got to share their stories and it got me pumped to keep going. 9 weeks in I’m not exactly bored yet but some of the initial excitement has worn off, so that was a shot in the arm I wasn’t even aware I needed. I also purchased a couple of cookbooks and am looking forward to trying some new recipes.

Ok, deep breath, time to begin another week. Here we go!

Gen

Weigh-In Week 8

Weight: 290.4

-5.8 this week!

Down a total of 35lb!

Turns out I didn’t need to be worried about not being able to go on my walks. I hit my 10% and got a swanky new keychain for my charms!

It makes me laugh that I get so excited for these cheap little trinkets, but they really do make me proud. Next charm is for 50lb lost – only 15lb to go. That’s crazy talk.

In the meeting today we talked about getting rid of old clothes that didn’t fit well anymore. I sat there a little bummed because I had barely noticed a difference in the way my cloths fit. I came home and looked in the mirror and…

How had I not noticed that I was practically swimming in my clothes?! This was the first moment I truly saw a difference. I had seen the numbers on the scale go down and I could tell I was a little smaller, but didn’t think very much had changed. This blew me away. Time to go shopping.

Gen 

 

Owies and Porpoises

Since I started this awesome new way of life I have been walking. A LOT. It’s free, it’s familiar, I’ve found it to be a good starting place for being more active. I have been walking an average of 3-4 miles, 3-4 times a week. One day it was 7 miles.

They’re not leisurely strolls either. I used to be the slowest walker in any group – when I was alone old ladies out walking their pet turtles passed me by. I’m only slightly exaggerating. It wasn’t because I couldn’t walk fast, I just didn’t feel like it. I decided that isn’t who I am anymore. The new me is the one others have to keep up with, the new me walks with a purpose.

Oh man, I thought I accidentally spelled porpoise. Is it too late to call my blog ‘Walking With a Porpoise’? Maybe it could be my tagline? Is a second post too soon to incorporate in-jokes?

I digress. 

So I walk fast now, over gravel and dirt and rocks and uneven concrete, dodging overgrown shrubbery, low-hanging branches, and the dang spider webs that COME OUT OF NOWHERE. The problem is this: I hate shoes. I always have, they make my feet feel trapped (that’s not a joke). I always walk barefoot or (more often) in flip-flops. 

I should have learned my lesson when one night, two weeks ago on a dark and unfamiliar street, I got an ultimate toe-stub when the concrete claimed a chunk of my skin. I really want to post a pic, but I’ll be nice.

I didn’t take the hint and then this week I got a more sinister injury: peroneal tendonitis. Causes include increased activity and walking/running over uneven ground, especially when combined with being overweight and using improper footware. Check, check, check, and check.

Now I’m off my feet for a couple of weeks and trying not to panic. I want to keep losing, I’m so close to 10% of my starting bodyweight lost I can taste it (2.8lb)! I’m scared of stalling or even gaining because of this. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, but I’m already aware that a week with a gain is very disheartening.

I’m doing some stretching and hand weight stuff – if anyone reads this who has recommendations for exercises that can be done sitting that would be fantastic! Oh, and if anyone has shoes they like to recommend! I think for once I’m going to need to invest in something more than whatever’s on sale at Payless.

I guess the moral of the story is DON’T EXERCISE IN FLIP-FLOPS!!! In case anyone besides me needed that lesson. You’re welcome.

Gen

Oh and here’s a bonus pic of my sweet homemade crutch that I used until I got the real thing. 

I told my sister that if I die before christmas then she has to lean this up by the fireplace a la Tiny Tim.

6 Weeks In, 29lb Down

 

Today is September 3rd, 2014. I started losing (this time around) on July 20th, 2014.

This is me that day at 325.4 pounds:

This is me a month later at 301 pounds:

I last weighed in on Sunday at 296.2, 29.2 pounds down in total (127.2 more to go).

It’s been a month and a half now and I’m still doing well and it’s starting to feel like I am going to get there this time, like I am going to succeed! I wanted to start a blog on day one but fear of failing stopped me; I didn’t want to put it out to the universe that I was attempting to be healthier yet again only to have the universe watch me fail like I’ve done countless times before. But it’s been over a month and a half now and I’m still going, so here I am.

This is my first ever attempt at blogging. I hope eventually it might be interesting or helpful to someone else out there, that maybe I can connect with people, but for the moment it’s mostly for myself. I want a record of not only stats and pictures but of thoughts and feelings and experiences.

For now the goal is to update at least twice a week – once on Sundays (my weigh-in day) to update my progress, and at least one other as yet to be determined day for anything else.

Ok, that’s all for now, I’ll come up with a good sign-off later 🙂

Gen