Weekly Weigh In- June Tune Up/Weight Loss Wednesdays- 6/13/12

       

Not sure if you read last week's post, but I mentioned how last week's weight loss helped me psychologically. Unfortunately this weeks weight GAIN also impacted me psychologically. I know I snacked more this past week and didn't meet most of my goals. And then I got upset and really snacked today. Wondering if I will ever learn. Here's to a better week.

 Here are my goals for June. Let's see how I did.

Green = success

Red= Failure

1. No snacking after dinner. (Only exception is Saturday for movie and popcorn night.)
2. Get to bed by 11:00 or soon thereafter depending on baby.
3. Get moving somehow everyday.
4. Dessert at lunch is fruit.
5. Dessert at dinner is a healthy snack. Like today we had graham crackers and fat free cool whip. 
6. I will allow myself a unhealthy dessert once or twice a week (if I am making something with the girls.) 
7. I will write down everything I eat. I am not going to attempt to sit down and figure out my calories at this point. But I will keep a record of what I eat.

Didn't drink my tea every day and my water consumption wasn't as good. Guess I know why I gained weight. Thing is, I didn't expect to gain almost ALL of it back.  Grrrrr.

So, my starting weight for this summer of weight loss is 242.1

Last week's weight was 238.5

This week's weight is

I gained 2.9 pounds.

I am now 19.5 pounds lighter than my highest weight in Dec of 2010.

And I never did get my measurements.

Weekly Weigh In- June Tune Up/Weight Loss Wednesdays

       

I did it, I did it!!

Not sure how, but I lost 3.5 pounds this past week. Well, I guess I have some ideas, but I didn't do anything drastic (I can't seeing as I am nursing). My biggest hope was that I stop gaining weight by making my small changes I outlined last week in my goals. I know I can't keep up this pace with these small changes, but this felt good and helped a great deal psychologically.  

I haven't done a good job getting my meals written down, but I have been more conscious of what I have been eating. I have started measuring out my food as best I can. The only problem is, it really does take longer to make a meal this way, especially taking into account that I am making meals for the 3 girls and a hubby while trying to get it all done before the baby starts crying again.  

 Here are my goals for June. Let's see how I did.

Green = success

Red= Failure

1. No snacking after dinner. (Only exception is Saturday for movie and popcorn night.)
2. Get to bed by 11:00 or soon thereafter depending on baby.
3. Get moving somehow everyday.
4. Dessert at lunch is fruit. Most of the time
5. Dessert at dinner is a healthy snack. Like today we had graham crackers and fat free cool whip. 
6. I will allow myself a unhealthy dessert once or twice a week (if I am making something with the girls.) We had ice cream the other night but there was such a small amount we also had a graham cracker and cool whip.
7. I will write down everything I eat. I am not going to attempt to sit down and figure out my calories at this point. But I will keep a record of what I eat.

Let's see, what else did I do. I also added my one morning cup of green tea and started drinking my 2 cups of water before a meal. Okay, okay, I know I should have already been drinking sufficient water because of breastfeeding, but I keep forgetting. Making myself have the 2 cups before a meal helps me to insure I get it in, plus it helps curb the snacking while eating. I have done some snacking between meals (so glad I didn't make a goal not to), but usually it was only if I was hungry. I couldn't believe how hungry I was getting without all the snacking. 

This week, over at Weight Loss Wednesdays the topic is Summer. I am not sure how I am going to do this summer. Two summers ago is when I was gaining weight after having Hannah. Then I lost weight between Dec of that year and May of 2011. Last summer I was pregnant. It's going to be fun seeing how the summer will go. We will get outside to the park and for walks (as long as it decides to stop raining...today is hopeful), but I am not sure what else I will do yet. 

So, my starting weight for this summer of weight loss is 242.1

Down to 238.5

Weight loss- 3.6 pounds!!

I am now 22.4 pounds lighter than my highest weight in Dec of 2010.

Now I just need to get my measurements.

Weight Loss Wednesdays June 29, 2011

I am not sure what happened.  I weighed the same on Monday that I did last Wednesday. I had that same result last week.  Only this time I went up from Monday.  It may be the two slices of pizza, 4 mini donuts and sodium filled lunch from yesterday.  I realize I should have had one slice of pizza and some salad.  I really should have had a salad for lunch instead of the canned LaChoy Chinese food.  Especially knowing that I had to weigh in today.  But with our long walks at night I thought I was okay.  I have found it more difficult to record my calories these last few days.  Not sure how to figure out how to fill in the tacos I ate the other night.  Definitely not sure how to fill in the pizza as it was store bought.    Then I ended up having a snack after our walk today.  Oops.  And I was doing pretty good not snacking too much.

Previous Wednesday Weight: 217.4

Weight on Monday: 217.4

Today's Weight: 218

Weight gain from last week: +.6

Weight change from Monday: +.6

Total Loss since weight loss journey got serious on December 13th 2010: 43.9

So this week I did try to write down what I ate at the time I was eating/preparing the meal.  Sometimes I succeeded, other's I didn't.  I either lost the paper or forgot altogether.  I can say I did better on the days when I got the food recorded.  With trying to keep up with the children it is a little daunting spending time online trying to find the food that matches what I ate and if it is not there I have to add it in.  Very time consuming.  In fact I still need to log in today's.  I'm trying really hard to eat healthy, but sometimes I just need to eat what we have available.  

Weight Loss Wednesdays June 22, 2011

I mentioned last week that I wasn't sure how I would do with the birthday cake during the weekend.  On Monday I still weighed the same as I had last Wednesday.  I already confessed how bad I was on Friday and Saturday.  I do have to say though that I used to down a lot more of the cake after birthdays.  Does anyone else do this, I will see the cake and take a tiny sliver, thinking one little bit won't hurt.  Then I will take another and another until I've eaten most of the row away.  I didn't do that this time.  I had my one piece, with some ice cream at the party, then I had only a couple more little slivers the next day.

Another thing that affected my weight loss, or lack thereof, was the fact that I wasn't getting in my second walk or my stepping.  I have remedied that.  I stepped for 35 minutes last night (that includes the 5 minute increase I said I would add) and the last few nights we walked around River Rd two times instead of one.  See, we walk one mile around town and then when we head over the bridge by our house their is another dirt back road that follows the curve of the river and comes out a little ways up the street.  I used to know the exact distance, all I know is that it takes me 5 minutes with the stroller and 4 minutes without the stroller.  In effect I added 4-5 minutes to my walks.

Drum roll please...
                    

Previous Wednesday Weight: 220.2

Weight on Monday: 220.2

Today's Weight: 217.4

Weight loss from last week: -2.8

Weight change from Monday: -2.8

Finally, finally, finally, I made it below 220!  

Here is the new outfit I bought

Total Loss since weight loss journey got serious on December 13th 2010: 44.5!

And here is this week's discussion from over at Confessions of a Snowflake.

This week we're talking about what is working for us in our weight loss journey.  Are there certain habits that you have changed that you are really enjoying?  Is there something you have substituted in your diet that you really like?  Or a certain workout that you are surprised you can actually do?

I think what has really been working for me lately is exercising in the evenings.  I do so much better when I get my walk in plus the extra walk with hubby or stepping while watching tv before bed.  And it is not cutting in to our lesson time, which is a big plus.  As always I am drinking 2 cups of water before or during a meal with another cup in between each meal and in the evening.  And I have been enjoying a cup of green tea in the afternoons.  

Weight Loss Wednesdays June 15, 2011

This was a pretty good week. It feels good to be back to sticking to my goals.  Yesterday was the only day we didn't take some sort of walk.  Every day we try to get in an evening walk around town (town is 1 mile around) before Bible Time and putting children to bed.  Still not doing a great job keeping food away from my mouth while I am cooking, that is a very bad habit I've had for years.  At least I haven't binged because of the mess ups.  So much better than last month.  Now, the only problem is, Amelia has a birthday this weekend and of course we are making a cake.  Fortunately it is the only one this month (cake, not birthday...my son turned 18 last week). 

So, the results before the birthday cake this coming weekend:

Previous Wednesday Weight: 221.8

Weight on Monday: 220.8

Today's Weight: 220.2

Weight loss from last week: -1.6

Weight change from Monday: -.6

Still staring at that 220 I wanted to be for my birthday two months ago. I will share a picture of me in my new outfit after I pass that goal.  Was hoping it would have been today.  The chicken nuggets late last night probably didn't help. Or the fact that I didn't get to take a real walk as Miss Hannah didn't go to bed until 2 am.  In her defense she had slept in the car on the way home from the Homeschool Used Curriculum Sale (over an hour away).  While we did walk around at the sale it's not the same as walking around town.

Total Loss since weight loss journey got serious on December 13th 2010: 41.7!

And to answer Alicia's question about what keeps me motivated on this weight loss journey, I would have to say my low self esteem plays a big part.  I am competitive in that I want to do well as to not embarrass myself, I want to show that I can do this.  I want to be able to have a shot at winning a prize  over at Plus Size bloggers.  Maybe that shouldn't be my biggest motivation, but I would be lying if I said it didn't play a big part.  I want to lose weight to get healthy too.  I definitely do.  But it is knowing that I have to weigh in that keeps me from putting the extra food in my mouth.  I know I have to stay healthy so I can keep up with my girls.  And, I've already said, if we have another baby I need to be at a healthy weight before getting pregnant this time. 'Cause I can't continue to lose weight, obviously, while pregnant. And I don't want to get so big again, or be so out of breath.  I know it is in God's hands, but my prayer is that I get healthy before having another child.  I'm approaching my 40's and my doctor has already said the sooner the better if we are going to have another one.  I was already over 35 when I had Hannah, placing me in the "advanced maternal age" category. 

There is one other motivation.  I've mentioned before that I agree an overweight person is not a great witness for Christ.  How can I say that Jesus is Lord of my life if it is obvious I have no control over my food.  As we were getting started with the weight loss challenges this month I read the following in my Our Daily Bread devotional (which I had just started reading again)

"O Christians, remember, you bear His dear name, 

Your lives are for others to view;

You're living examples-men praise you or blame, 

And measure your Savior by You"-Anonymous 

The Scripture was 1 Timothy 4:12

1 Timothy 4:12   Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 

Weight Loss Wednesdays June 8, 2011

I am back to posting my weight twice a week for now.  I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to arrange my posts.  I am going to continue weighing in on Mondays and posting for Plus Size Bloggers Bye Bye Booties challenge and the Slimmer this Summer challenge.  Maybe next week I will just link that post up to Weight Loss Wednesdays.  Not sure yet.  Guess there is nothing wrong with weighing twice a week.  I know some weigh themselves every day.  I stopped doing that because the daily fluctuations frustrated me.

Thanks be to God, I have re-motivated and have been sticking to my goals.  I am getting my water in, though sometimes it is just the 8 cups like I was doing and not the 10 recommended for Slimmer this Summer.  I am also drinking my green tea faithfully again.  I am not eating after dinner.  I have not been quite so good with the snacking (yesterday I made the mistake of munching on the leftover raviolis from lunch while I was on the phone).  I have been getting a walk around town and/or stepped for 30 minutes at night.  Sure beats feeling like my day is gone when I exercise in the morning.  Though I miss my aerobics DVD and the Wii (of course the balance board isn't working anyway).
It would be a little easier to get my morning devotions in if my 4 year old daughter didn't wake me up 3 times in the middle of the night (hmmhmm...4am, 5am, 6am).  Working on this one as it is the most important of all my goals of course.
So, I have had a really good week.  A little shocked actually:

Previous Wednesday Weight: 226.4

Weight on Monday: 223.4

Today's Weight: 221.8

Weight loss from last week: -4.6 (huh?)

Weight change from Monday: -1.6

I'm once again staring at that 220 I wanted to be for my birthday two months ago. 

Total Loss since weight loss journey got serious on December 13th 2010: 40.1!!

And now for the question asked by Alicia over at Confessions of a Snowflake

Motivation

Why did you decide to lose weight in the first place?  What was that motivating factor that moved you to action?

I will be sharing more about this at a later date, suffice it to say I didn't like huffing and puffing up the stairs and being out of breath when I wanted to read the children their stories at bedtime.  It was the same as when I was pregnant and I didn't like it.  I also realized I had gotten a lot bigger than I thought.  I had made it back up to the weight I was right before the baby was born, and she was 8 months old.  I don't want to be to fatigued to play with the girls, I want to be able to play in the park with them, and I want to see them grow up and be there for them.

It is not too late to join in on the  Plus Size Bloggers challenge.  She is keeping it open through today.  Head on over to check it out.

Weight Loss Wednesdays A Day Late, Plus Two New Weight Loss Challenges

I am frustrated and excited at the same time.  I have had another week of not meeting my goals.  I know I have gained weight, I am just not sure how much.  The balance board is once again not working.  The batteries were left in it and it drained them too much again I guess. The last time this happened I had to buy brand new rechargeable batteries, because the charger would not charge them sufficiently enough to be used in the balance board.  So, I now have to use the digital scale, which might work out better, because I noticed one thing about the Wii Board, it was not always very accurate.  It would give me different weights within minutes of each other if it was moved a foot.  Unfortunately the digital scale is a least 2 pounds off from the balance board according to Steven.  I am actually putting this week's weight down as a new starting weight.  That is because I am starting two new challenges for the summer.  Plus Size Bloggers is once again hosting a challenge, and this time there are lots of prizes.  Head on over to join up, the challenge officially starts on June 6th and runs through August 29th.  What kind of goal are you looking at? A loss of 15 pounds in this 12 week period.  Think you can't lose that much in 12 weeks, don't worry, there are prizes just for checking in and tracking your progress.

Plus Size Bloggers Bye Bye Booties Challenge

To help me along the way to making the goal for this challenge I am also going to be joining in on Debbi's Slimmer This Summer Weight Loss Challenge

There are a few more details with her challenge. Here is the low down:We need to 1. Blog our goals!!2. Track food and water as it is essential (This is the one I may have trouble with. Anyone have any simple quick ideas for tracking while trying to keep up with 3 little girls?)3. Watch calories and drink water (I am actually not following this quite as stated as I am still nursing)4. Get moving!5. Stay accountable and blog weekly with results.6. Have fun7. Challengers should support other challengers.
Head on over to Debbi Does Dieting to check out the details.
I am not sure how to show my weight.  It was obviously a gain. I was snacking, eating after dinner, eating sweets, not getting my water, not drinking my green tea, not exercising.  Which is still bothering me.  I started out May with such high hopes and it was a complete flop. I am going to put the last two months behind me.  April was bad, but May was worse.  And because of the Balance Board not working I am not sure how my weight compares.  According to the numbers I am actually more than I was at the beginning of the May challenge.  If I take into account that my son says the digital scale is usually 2 pounds more than the Balance Board then I ended this month at about the same weight.  From now on I will be using the digital scale for my weigh ins, that way there will be no confusion.  Unfortunately that means no pretty pictures of my Mii.  Oh well.This is a new start:

Today's Weight (Starting weight for the 2 challenges): 226.4

Total Loss since weight loss journey got serious on December 13th 2010: 35.5!!

I'm also excited because I am going to be guest blogging over at Plus Size Bloggers.

Weight Loss Wednesdays May 25, 2011

I didn't do that great this week. I had decided last week that I really need to focus on the children more and have been having great lesson times with them. But I had to sacrifice my exercise time in the morning.  I understand it is important to take care of myself.  I understand that I need to exercise.  But I was getting to the end of my morning and wondering where it went.  We have been getting out more to the park and for walks, so I am more active than I have been.  My snacking was terrible though, as was my water and tea consumption again.  Though these last few days I have been working on improving those.  I don't think I met any of my goals.  However, I did lose .8 pounds, so I am pleased.

Previous Weight: 222.4

Today's Weight: 221.6

Weight loss from last week: .8

Total weight loss for May: 2.4

Total Loss since weight loss journey got serious on December 13th 2010: 40.3!!

I was also pleased to notice the other day that Plus Size Bloggers is starting a new challenge for the summer months- June 6-Aug 29.  Head on over to check it out.

If you would like some encouragement on your weight loss journey I invite you over to Tots and Me (my main/homeschooling blog) to enter my giveaway for Chicken Soup for the Soul: Shaping Up the New You.  I even have some extra entries for anyone who is on a weight loss journey.  Come check it out!!!

Weight Loss Wednesdays

Here are my goals I listed on May 1st:

*I will drink 2 glasses of water before each meal. Nope
*I will drink 1 cup of green tea each day. Nope
*I will not snack between meals or while cooking/preparing meals. Nope
*I will not eat after supper.Nope
*I will not eat any candy, cake, frosting, ice cream, "sweet" cereals (Frosted mini wheats do not count), etc.  I am committing to this on a weekly basis. Nope
*I will exercise for at least a half an hour every day.  Hope to get the Wii fit routine in at least 3 days and the Aerobics DVD in at least 2 days.  Other days I am hoping to walk or at the very least step for 1/2 hour.Nope

Well, as you can see I didn't do so hot this week.  I am really not sure what happened, but I was just feeling off this week.  I was going back and forth deciding whether I wanted to continue to participate in the May Your Way challenge.  There were a couple of new features that didn't sit well with me, but I wanted to have the accountability of the challenge.  As a Christian their "mantras" and the new Friday Feature were not what I wanted to be associated with.  As first I just decided to ignore those additions to the Sisterhood.  I participated in the Sister Chat.  But I struggled with trying to figure out the #tworkout.  It was after last Tuesday evening that I started to get really upset.  I couldn't figure out the #tworkout and I had been all set to exercise.  So, instead of exercising anyway, I sat on my behind.  Duh!  Then when I saw the results when I weighed in I just about lost it.  I had exercised everyday the week before, I had drank my water and tea, I hadn't snacked.  And what did I have to show for it?  A lousy two tenths of a pound lost.  I know people tell me it was a loss and I am doing great.  But I didn't feel that way.  I had been losing an average of 3 pounds a week.  I thought for sure I would blow past the 220 pound goal by or around my birthday.  I haven't made it there yet and it is over a month since my birthday.  

So anyway, I decided to add in the night exercising again, wondering if that was what had made the difference all those weeks.  But something just came over me this last week.  I broke every stinking goal I made for myself.  I just didn't care.  I liked the idea of the point system that had been initiated with the May Your Way Challenge.  Until I realized that to receive my point for keeping my goals I needed to keep every single goal.  And I have a lot.  As soon as I missed one glass of water or ate one extra sweet treat or sneaked one bite of food while cooking I failed at my goals.  At least as far as the challenge was concerned.  My hubby suggested it would be better if they had people pick a certain number of goals and then get a point for each goal that was kept.  I loved his idea.  That way if I missed my water goal I could still have gotten the points for the goals I did meet. The thing is, I have decided not to participate any longer because of the concerns mentioned above.  Plus I decided it wasn't worth my time to sit and chat for an hour while I should be getting ready for bed.  I did it two weeks in a row, just so I could get the "point" and I missed the board because of not being able to participate in the #tworkout.  It also bothered me that I would never get a reply to my questions when I left a comment.  So, though I enjoyed my time and the accountability these last few months, I have got to move on.

I am going to try to keep most of my goals (though I am changing them up a bit), but it won't mess everything up if I happen to miss one one day.  I can put it behind me and start over.  I just wish there was a way I could motivate myself more.  I have decided to not wake up early in the morning and exercise.  I am trying to restructure my day because our homeschool has really been suffering because of my fixation with exercising.  I would wake up early, get in an hour or more of exercise.  If the children woke up I would let them eat while I exercised.  Then I would have to nurse the baby and get myself breakfast before being able to get the children dressed, and their hair and teeth brushed.  By the time I was done with that and cleaning up from breakfast it was past 10:00 and we were maybe getting a chance to get some school in.  I was tired from getting up early.  Hadn't been getting to bed on time.  Hubby mentioned that probably was affecting the weight loss (or lack thereof) too.  And I agree.  So I am going to try to be more active during the day, maybe exercise a couple of days in the morning, do stepping at night while watching TV, take walks, I don't know.  I do know I have got to get out of the habit of snacking and back into the habit of drinking my water and tea (though it has been nice not having to go to the bathroom every five minutes).  And I have to get back into reading my Bible or at least listening to the new daily Bible plan app on my phone.  

New goals (but will not beat myself up if I miss one)

*I will drink 2 glasses of water before each meal. Keeping this one the same
*I will drink 1 cup of green tea each day. Keeping this one the same
*I will not snack between meals or while cooking/preparing meals.  Keeping this one the same
*I will not eat after supper. Keeping this one the same
*I will limit myself to one sweet treat a day right after a meal, preferable lunch but not written in stone. This is obviously a change.
*I need to get in at least 3 days of exercise, not sure how just yet.  

*I will wake up in the morning, get kids dressed and breakfasted and get ready to do lessons. (The last few days since starting our new curriculum we have been seated at the school table by 9 or 9:30 and I feel great about it)

* I will read or listen to my Bible.

Anyhow, even though I had a rough week I lost .5 pounds this week.  And that weight was taken with out exercising first.  I always see a loss after exercising, so if I had had time for exercise this morning I may have shown a bigger loss, though I can't prove it of course.  Go figure, I lost more weight by being bad than I did last week when I followed everything.  Can you see my frustration?

No pictures today as my memory card is full.

Previous Weight: 222.9

Today's Weight: 222.4

Weight loss from last week: .5

Total weight loss for May: 1.6

Total Loss since weight loss journey got serious on December 13th 2010: 39.5

If you would like some encouragement on your weight loss journey I invite you over to Tots and Me (my main/homeschooling blog) to enter my giveaway for Chicken Soup for the Soul: Shaping Up the New You.  I even have some extra entries for anyone who is on a weight loss journey.  Come check it out!!!