Day 38 - The Lost Days - Official Weigh in #4

Happy Thanksgiving. So why haven't I posted since 11/9? A simple explanation but not an acceptable one. At my last weigh in, I weighed 159.6. When I got weighed the following week, I tipped the scales at 160.8. Since I hadn't gone off my diet, I knew that it wasn't possible to have gained weight but nonetheless, I found it discouraging. The part of this story that is so unlike me is that this would typically be the time that I would throw my hands up, say (usually outloud) "what's the use," and find comfort in a bag of potato chips and a large pizza. I don't know what stopped me from doing that but something did and despite the small weight gain, I stuck to it. Something interesting is occurring. On my carb up days, DH and I generally eat out. I'm finding myself full on a smaller portion and even better than that I actually don't stuff myself until every last morsel of food is off my plate. It's probably too soon to call this a milestone but it is an encouraging start. I'm still exercising 6 days a week, working out with weights and alternating cardio workouts. I feel firmer and I've finally taken an inch off of my waist. I haven't worked my way up to exercising off 400 calories a day consistently and I may even abandon the idea. I can get there but when I do, I find that I don't have time for the things that I enjoy doing so at this point, I'm sticking with all in moderation.

Thanksgiving Day and for the first time in years, I do have a plan. We're going to a restaurant this year and the plan is to get a take home box when my meal is served and to eat no more than half of everything.

Starting weight: 168.8
Current weight: 156
Total lbs. lost: 12.8
Goal weight: 127
Lbs. to go: 29!
Lbs. to go to get under 155: 1.1
Lbs to go to get into the final 20's: I'm there
Lbs. to go to get into the final 10's: 10 lbs.

I can do this, And I this time I really believe it!!!

Day 23 - Official Weigh in #3

Good morning. What a difference a day makes! I got on the scale this morning and guess what? It was water weight. I weighed in this morning at 159.6. I'm under 160. Whoo Hoo! One goal reached. I'm so excited.

I started to work toward my goal of exercising off 400 calories. The reason that the Biggest Loser contestants are able to work off 600 calories a day is that let's face it, that's really all that they have to do and it doesn't hurt that they have Jillian and Bob to kick them in the butt. The rest of us do have to balance work, our daily lives and exercise without Bob and Jillian to yell at, I mean motivate, us. On the other hand, when the B/L contestants are voted off, they manage to get the rest of their weight off by finale time. Yesterday, was a very busy day for me but I managed to burn off 281 calories using a treadmill program that I read about in Self magazine a couple of years ago. Great program it only takes a half an hour but you burn off a ton of calories and get a great workout. I hope to get to 400 calories by the end of the month. I'll need to do at least that one to survive Thanksgiving.

Stats:

Exercise calories burned: 281
Goal: 400
Calories to goal: 119

Starting weight: 168.8
Current weight: 159.6
Total weight lost: 9.2 lbs
Goal weight: 127
Lbs. to go: 32.6
Lbs to go to lose 10 lbs: .8
Lbs to go to get into the final 20's: 2.6

Goals that I achieved:
Lbs to get into the 150's!

Day 22

Good morning. Okay, now I'm really upset. I got weighed yesterday morning and I weighed 160.6. I like to weigh in on a carb up day because it is always my hope that will keep me on plan. Today was my official weigh in and my weight was 163.6. I know that there is no way that I could possibly have gained three pounds overnight but it is still discouraging. I'm going to assume that the 3 lbs is water weight and take yesterday's weight as my weight for the weigh in. This will be the absolute last time that I will ever do a carb up day the day before my official weigh in.

I also wasn't able to fit in my last chance exercise session. Fred didn't feel like going to the gym and at this point in his illness, I can't leave him alone. We ran around all day long and I did some fairly heavy yard work so I thought that I would be o.k.

I felt so discouraged this morning. This is the point in the diet where I would normally just give it up. I am so determined to get the weight off that I'm not choosing that option this time. I'll give this diet another couple of weeks and if I don't see any further weight loss, I'll move on to something else.

I recall on one of the Biggest Loser episodes that one of the contestants mentioned that for women the program called for them to burn off 600 calories and for men 800 calories per day. I'm not certain that I would have the time to do that at this point but I think that I'll make that a goal. This week, my goal will be to burn off 300 calories. I'll post calories burned off every day and let's see where we can take this.

And how is your day starting off?

Starting weight: 168.8
Current weight: 160.6 (Is this cheating?)
Total weight loss: 8.2 lbs.
Goal weight: 127
Lbs. to go: 33.6
Lbs to go to get into the 150's: .7 lbs
Lbs to go to lose 1st 10 lbs.: 1.8
Lbs. to go to get into the final 20's: 13.7

Day 21

Good morning. Can it be three weeks since I started this diet? Hard to believe. It's gone by so fast. Yesterday was my second carb down day in a row and today I have a carb up day. I have some concerns about doing a carb up day, the day before my official weigh in but it is what it is.

Since I started the official diet this week, I also had to change my exercise program. I only lifted weights three days this week, so I only had two full body workouts. Not sure how comfortable I feel about that. I've also been changing up my cardio. Finally got back on the elliptical. I haven't been able to do it since Fred stopped in home therapy.

I don't feel like I've lost weight this week. I don't really feel any changes in my body so it will be interesting to see what the numbers show when I get on the scale in the morning.

Day 20 - No longer shiny and new

Good morning. Yesterday was a carb down day and it went o.k. It's interesting to me that when I initially went on the diet, I felt so full that I could barely squeeze in all of the required meals. Now, for the first time, I feel hungry and have no problem eating 6 meals a day. I'm hoping that's because I'm eating smaller portions but I suspect it has a lot more to do with the motivation factor. The diet is no longer shiny and new and actually requires willpower. (Yes, this is the point where I would usually give up and put all of the weight back on that I lost plus a couple of pounds more). Hopefully when I weigh in on Sunday, the weight loss will give me the motivation I need. DH and I are also planning a trip to Phoenix in January and I should be able to lose a minimum of 10-15 lbs before we go. As I get closer, I'm going to have to formulate an eating plan that will allow me to have a good time but at the same time not completely blow the diet. Our hotel has a kitchen so that should help somewhat but eating out is ineveitable.

Yesterday was the first time that I didn't work out with weights since I started going back to the gym. This week weight training is three days only and today's cardio is 45-60 minutes of slow exercise. I usually do an hour of cardio when I work out so yesterday, I did an hour and fifteen minutes to do my take on the program.

I have back to back carb down days but that should work out well because that will mean that I will have a carb up day on Saturday.

Day 19 - I blew it

I purposely got weighed yesterday even though I had my official weigh in on Sunday. I always weigh in before carb up day. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I love carb up day but I'm also afraid that I'll lose control. Yesterday was that day. I did well through lunch. DH and I went to the mall and I ordered ziti with meatballs and ate until I got full and stopped. I was surprised to discover that I only ate half of the pasta and half of a piece of garlic bread.

So what's the problem? I had a sandwich for dinner along with a glass of wine, followed by another glass of wine, followed by yet another one. At that point, I lost all control and had a couple of handfuls of trail mix and a cup of pudding. I just couldn't get full. The question is whether I was feeding physical hunger or emotional hunger.

To compound the problem, Weds, is my exercise day off . All that I can do at this point is pick myself up and jump right back on and hope that I didn't do too much damage.

Day 18 - It had to happen

Good morning. It had to happen. For the first time, 18 days into the diet, I was tempted to cheat. I bought DH some trail mix that seemed to call my name. Still, I didn't give in to the temptation. Not because of any great willpower on my part but probably because I knew that today is my carb up day and I can eat anything that I want today.

Although I find myself getting fuller on smaller quantities of food, I'm still very worried about blowing it on my off days. DH and I went to Subway for lunch yesterday and after I ate about 3/4 of the sandwich I felt full. Interestingly enough and another one of those dig deep down issues is that although I felt full, I continued to eat until I finished the sandwich. Probably goes way back to childhood and those poor starving children in India thing.

I worked on lower body weights yesterday and did an half hour on the elliptical. I finished the day with a half and hour on my treadmill.

Day 17 - First day down

Good morning. The official diet is a little bit complicated. Lots of things to remember but I managed to get through the first day. The necessary information is in a couple of chapters so rather than flip back and forth, I created an excel spreadsheet that contains everything that I need. The first two days of the day are carb down days and I have one day down. It seemed like I ate a lot of food yesterday but when I put a calorie count to it, I actually ate a little over 1,000 calories.

I broke my exercise into two segments. I did 25 minutes in the morning on the treadmill at home at a slow and easy pace and then kicked it at the gym. Yesterday was my day for lower body exercise and I worked out with weights for about 20 minutes. I spent a half an hour on the treadmill. The first five minutes and the last five minutes were devoted to warming up and cooling down. For the remaining 20 minutes, I ran at 4.1 mph for one minute and alternated it with two minutes of walking at 3.5 mph. The plan is to increase the speed each month in .1 increments. Trying to change up my weight lifting by alternating heavy weights with fewer reps with lighter weights and more reps. The book calls for lifting weights on Mon, Tues, & Fri this week and I'm going to try to stick to that plan although I'm used to weight training six days a week.

First day down...55 more to go!

Day 16 - It's official!

Two weeks and 7.4 lbs. later, I am officially on the carb cycling diet. I got the book last week and went to the market to get the supplies that I needed. I've been loosely following it since I got the book but obviously wasn't prepared for everything.

I squeezed in 25 minutes on the treadmill this morning and plan to go to the gym later today. Today I'm scheduled for lower body exercises and I want to do 25 minutes more of cardio.

I'm excited and pumped. Can this finally be the answer to my lifelong weight problem?

Day 15 - Weigh in #2. Confused yet?

Good morning. Weigh in day today and I tipped the scales at 161.4, a loss of 1.6 lbs. I'm on track to dip below 160 next week but just barely. Funny, this would typically be the point where I would give up. The larger question is whether I'll be tempted to give up if I don't dip below 160 next week. My goal is always to lose at least 2 lbs per week. This time, I'm trying to not focus on the numbers so much but to aim for permanent weight loss and even more importantly permanent weight control. A loss of any kind is a loss and still keeps me on my path,

I'm loosely following the book at this point and the diet by the book starts on Monday. Carb cycling is an easy diet for me to follow although last night I was pretty tempted by the bowl of Halloween candy and serving my husband the left over pasta. Yesterday was carb down for me.

So in terms of goals, I have 1.5 lbs to go to get into the 150's. Other short term goals are to lose 10 lbs., so I have 4.6 lbs. to go to reach that goal. The last short term goal that I have is get my pounds to go dip into the 20's. To reach that goal, I have to lose 4.5 lbs so it's very closely linked to short term goal #2. Confused yet?

Start weight: 168.8
Current weight: 161.4
Total lbs. lost: 7.4 lbs
Goal weight: 127
Lbs. to go: 34.4

Day 14 - Changing it up

Amazing how a little thing like a pending weigh in can scare you straight even on carb up days. We went out to dinner last night and I ate about a third of the pasta dish that I ordered. Guess what? After eating only a third of it, I was actually satisfied. I suppose that the difference between last night's meal and the way that I usually eat is that I usually inhale my food while last night, I tried to eat more slowly and to savor my food. Yesterday, I did 20 minutes of lifting weights and only did 30 minutes of cardio. I'm trying to make sure that my body doesn't get used to my diet or to my exercise routine. So I did more reps with lighter weights. Today, was lower body workout day and I did fewer reps with heavier weights and 50 minutes on the treadmill.

I've learned that you have to change things up every 48 hours or else you risk your body becoming accustomed to the way that you're eating and/or exercising.

Today is my low carb today which works out great just before weigh in. I won't officially start the diet as detailed in the book until Monday so I'm going to be happy with any number that I get as long as it's a loss.

Day 12 & 13 - Does it seem like rocket science?

Good morning or good evening. Once again life got in the way and I didn't get a chance to blog this morning. I got the carb cycling book yesterday and as I suspected, I'm not doing the diet entirely according to plan. In addition to balance, carb up and carb down days and specific times in which to eat them, there are quantity limitations as well as food limitations on days when you're not carbing up. There was also an exercise plan which is making me rethink my resolution a couple of days ago to run for 40 minutes and walk for 30 minutes. I think that I can blend the two approaches to come up with something that will work. There are also specific times to exercise in conjunction with the "eating" day that you're on.

At times this seems a lot to absorb and it almost seems like you have to be a rocket scientist to put it all together.

Needless to say since the eating plan that I've been on isn't exactly as detailed in the book, I may have to take a bit longer than the two weeks that I planned on to get below 160.

Day 11 - Back on the track!

Good morning. Yesterday, I started my new exercise program. I haven't jogged in years and my exercise program has been limited since DH got sick in January. I am really out of shape!

My goal is to run 40 minutes a day and to walk for 30 minutes a day. I could barely run for 1 minute. I knew that I would have to work up to the 40 minutes but 1 minute! How crazy is that? So, I improvised a program. For 2 minutes walk at 3.0 mph with a 5 % incline. The next 2 minutes is walking at 3.5 mph at 1% incline and the last minute run at 4.0 mph at a zero incline. That gave me a total of 5 minutes running a minute at a time. I walked on our home treadmill for 40 minutes so I got my entire 70 minutes in.

Yesterday was my day for upper body workout and I lifted weights for 20 minutes. I was starting to have some major problems with my legs before I started to lift weights. As much as I hate weights, my leg problems have virtually disappeared since I started lifting weights as a part of my lower body workout.

My carb cycling book is scheduled to arrive today. Can't wait to actually see what kinds of results I get when I know all of the ins and outs of the diet and actually do it correctly!

Day 10 - Kicking it

Good morning. I kicked it at the gym yesterday. I lifted weights for 20 minutes and added a half an hour on the treadmill. I found a great treadmill program last year. For the first five minutes, the elevation is set at zero incline and the speed at 3 mph. For the next two minutes, the elevation is set at 15 and the speed at 2.8 mph. The following two minutes elevation is set at 1 and speed at 3.8 mph. The next minute, elevation is set at 1 and the speed at 3.1 mph. The set is alternated three additional times. With this program, I'm able to burn off 200 calories in about 31 minutes.

I stopped exercising completely when DH got sick. I spent 6 months at his side and simply didn't have the time for it. Before he got sick, I alternated the above treadmill program with spin classes and the elliptical. At this time, DH can't be left alone so the spin classes are out but I'm going to try a life extension exercise program that I read about today.

MSN had an article this morning about living to 100. Not sure that I would want to but the older I get the more attractive that seems! Several ideas were mentioned in the article. Two are probably not new, walk for 30 minutes a day and burn off 285 calories per hour doing housework (I'll never look at housework the same way again!) but the third idea was rather surprising. The article suggested that people who run for 40 minutes a day live longer. Not surprising in and of itself but what was astonishing to me is that scientists have discovered that people that do so, are not only less prone to heart disease, but also to infections, cancer and less neurological disease.

I know that at 62, it's not a good idea to hop on the treadmill and kick it for 40 minutes but I think that I could start with a minute and build up to it. The larger problem is creating a program to get up to 40 minutes.

Day 9 - Making it work

Good morning. Although I planned to go to the gym on Sunday, I had a horrible night's sleep on Saturday so I couldn't find the energy to work out. DH and I went to the mall and had an early dinner and walked for about an hour. With carb cycling, it's very easy to eat out which is a huge benefit for me. Since DH got out of the hospital in June I haven't done a lot of cooking. I just don't seem to want to cook. It's too hot or too cold or too late. It's almost always too something to cook!

I know that I'm getting more fat and sodium than I like to have in my diet because of all of the dining out but I almost lost my husband in January and that started me on a soul searching mission. We both put a lot of things off in our lives. Things that we would do one day when we had more time or more money. His stroke and traumatic brain injury made me realize the fragility of life. We never know at what point there won't be a tomorrow and I finally realized that we have to do the things that we want to do today. Because of that realization, I just can't get caught back into the routine lifestyle that we lived before his illness. I make every day count.

Day 8 - The first weigh in

Good morning. When I started this journey a week ago, I tipped the scales at 168.8. This morning, I weighed 163.6, a weight loss of 5.2 lbs. I set my first short term goal at 160 lbs and I set the target completion date for 11/8. That might not seem like a stretch but I know that the 5.2 lbs that I lost isn't total fat loss and most of it is probably water weight. The weight loss should slow down at this point. I still have a way to go yet I'm excited that I'm out of the forty plus lbs to lose and into the thirty plus lbs to lose. My intermediate goal is to get into the twenty plus lbs. to lose.

So far, the process has been painless but isn't that always the case when our diets are in the honeymoon phase? After a couple of weeks, the progress slows down and then my resolve weakens. The next thing that I know, I'm eating all of those things that I haven't been able to eat during my time on the latest diet du jour. I'm hoping that since I am able to have two carb up days a week that I won't feel deprived and will not only be able to get the weight off but will also discover the secret to keeping the weight off permanently.

I'm still not sure that I'm doing this diet according to plan. The book isn't scheduled to arrive until approximately 10/28 so I'm on my own with my own interpretation of what this means until then.

Goal weight: 127 lbs
Current weight: 163.6
Total weight lost: 5.2 lbs
Lbs still to lose: 36.2 lbs

Day 7 - Loving things that can't love me back?

Good morning. Weigh in days are going to be on Sunday mornings. I work out at the Claremont Club and each year they have a "Biggest Loser" weekly weigh in program. Even though it's only a few months until the end of the year, I decided to weigh in with the group. This blog holds me accountible and the group weigh in is one more way to keep me honest. I'm pulling out all of the stops. I've been lifting weights for 20 minutes a day and doing some form of cardio for 30 minutes a day. Not only helpful for me but good for my husband who still needs some physical therapy.

I met a fellow dieter at the Club yesterday who lost 90 lbs. last year. She keeps herself faithful to exercise by hiring a personal trainer three times a week. That way she has to work out at least three times a week. A great idea and a very expensive idea! The lengths that we go to take off weight.

I'm either on or off. When I'm dieting and exercising, I'm fanatic. I stay strictly to the guidelines of the diet and if there is more than one phase, I stay on the strictest phase for the entire diet. When I exercise, I lift weights every day; I do a spin or yoga class every day; I squeeze in a Pilates class or two every week, and walk/run on the treadmill every day. Once I lose the weight, I eat all of the things that I wasn't able to have on the diet in quantities that I'm too embarrassed to describe. My exercise goes down to three to four days a week and is pretty much limited to cardio. I hate weights.

My intellectual side tells me that there are no bad foods...
All things in moderation. Some side of me (one that I can't define yet) uses food to comfort and as a substitute for love. Can I really continue to love something that can't love me back? Until I wrote this , I didn't realize just how ridiculous my relationship is with food. Loving something that can't love you back seems like a good place to start with the whole digging down deep thing.

Day 5 & 6 - Why are numbers so important?

Good morning. Somehow, I got off track. I thought that Weds was a carb up day only to learn that it was a low carb day. Can this really be as confusing as I'm making it? I decided to do two low carb days in a row to get myself back on track. For some reason, although I feel thinner, that number on the scale holds a lot of importance in my life
(another one of those dig down deep issues that I need to figure out). Probably much more importance than it should. Although I know that I should weigh once a week, the scale beckons and I find myself weighing sometimes as often as twice a day.

The more important number, ratio of waist to hips, is one that I usually don't measure. My diet isn't just about losing weight. It's about taking it off and keeping it off and it's also about getting healthy. I was born an apple and I suppose that in some sense, I'll always be an apple but I want to get this number down to something that is in a healthier range. So some more sad truth. Waist measurement is 36" and hip measurement is 41". BMI is .878. Need to get back to the gym!

Day 4 - A little bit of knowledge

Good morning. I started this diet based on an article in "First" magazine and decided not to buy the book until I was sure that this was the diet that would work for me. Of course now I'm afraid that because I didn't buy the book that I may not be doing this diet correctly. Yesterday was my first carb up day. I was soooo not looking forward to this day. My greatest fear with this diet was that once I started to eat carbs, I would lose control. (There's that control word again that made it into my day 3 blog). On carb up day, I was to eat one carb meal before 3pm and 2 carb meals after 3pm. Alcohol wasn't even a no no on the carb up day. I had pizza for lunch and a six inch Subway sandwich for dinner. I honestly could only manage two carb meals. I felt stuffed, bloated and positive that I gained weight today. I'm so sure that I'm not doing this diet correctly that I'm even afraid to get on the scale. Am I only supposed to eat certain kinds of carbs? Am I only supposed to eat a certain number of carbs? Lots of questions about this diet but no answers. Maybe I should buy the book!

Day 3 -Why are we afraid to ask?

Good morning. Yesterday was my day to eat a balanced carb diet which means that two meals before 3pm were carb meals and one meal after 3pm was low carb. I took advantage of the day to have carbs for breakfast and for lunch. DH threw a wrench into the works by suggesting that we eat at our favorite Italian restaurant for dinner. What to do? Initially, I told him that I didn't think that it was a good idea to eat out the second day of my diet. After I gave it some thought, I realized that even though I was dieting, I still had to live life. We went to the restaurant and somehow I worked up the nerve to ask for something that wasn't on the menu..a piece of broiled fish and some steamed veggies. The hardest part was watching DH sop up all of that yummy crunchy bread in olive oil and balsamic but I did survive without anything horrible happening to me.

I've read a number of times that restaurants are more than happy to accomodate special requests but I've always had a hard time asking for special treatment. That's probably another thing that I'm going to have to explore when I get to that place where I can finally dig deep enough to discover what this weight problem is really about.

In exchange for giving in to the dinner invite, I talked DH into walking to the market to pick up a couple of items. We walked the mile to the market and back. Great exercise since the walk back is all uphill. DH is on board now and we decided to walk to the market every time we need fill in items.

Today is my carb up day. One carb meal before 3pm and two carb meals after 3pm. Funny. I'm actually afraid of this day. I'm so worried that I will lose control. Why is it that I can control everything in my life except for my attitude towards food?

Day 2 - The Magic Number

Doesn't everyone have a magic number? That number that catapults you from the bathroom scale to the kitchen in a mad frenzy to throw out all of the junk food in the fridge and to replace it with the fruits and veggies that you know that you should eat. When I posted Day 1 of my journey, "The Sad Truth," I left out one very important and very sad truth, my weight. When I finally mustered up the courage to step on the scale, the number read 168.6, just 1.4 lbs from my magic number.

I always know when I'm gaining weight. It's the time when I gravitate from my favorite jeans to the pair that has an elasticized waist. Yet, I don't want to know the truth so the way that I refuse to acknowledge the weight gain is by refusing to step on the scale.

Yesterday was my low carb day and everything went well. Doesn't the first day of any diet go well? Today is a balanced carb day and that may be a little more challenging for me.

I went to the gym yesterday and worked out with weights for 20 minutes and spent 30 minutes on the treadmill. Working out has never been a problem for me. I've always enjoyed it. Kind of makes you wonder why I have a weight problem at all. I am a stress eater and when I'm stressed, nothing passes my mouth without going into it.

Underneath it all, there is a reason why I'm overweight that has nothing to do with food. To keep the weight off permanently, I'm going to have to figure out what that reason is. That will require that I dig deep and the saddest truth is that is what really scares me.

Day 1 - The Sad Truth

The sad truth is that I'm 62 years old and for forty of those 62 years, I've been on a diet. I've done Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and countless others. The end result? I've lost a significant amount of weight on each one of them. The problem? The weight comes back; I get disgusted with myself'; discover the diet du jour and the cycle starts all over again.



My husband has never had a weight problem in his life. He has also exercised every day of his life, yet when it was time for someone in our household to get sick, fate chose him. In January of this year, he suffered a stroke and a traumatic brain injury. My fast food and hospital food diet during the six months that he was in the hospital packed 15 lbs. on my already "I need to lose 15 lbs body." Since he came home, we've spent a lot of time living the good life and making up for the months that we lost. That meant we ate a lot of good food. I drank a lot of good wine (DH can't drink any longer). It also meant that I packed another 17 lbs. on my "I need to lose 30 lbs body."



I know that I need to make a lifestyle change. This time it can't be just another diet. This time, I have to take the weight off and I have to keep it off. I am 62 and I've probably already completely screwed up my metabolism.



So what to try? I've always had a lot of luck wtih low carb diets and I've got one of those apple shapes. Much of my weight is carried in the stomach area which medical professionals tell us is the most dangerous place to carry excess weight. My problem with low carb diets is that I can't eat that way permanently. I love pasta and bread way too much for that! At the supermarket checkout, I stumbled across an article about carb cycling. The premise is that 4 days a week you eat low carb, 2 days a week you carb up and on the final day of the week, you have a balanced carb day. So, I'm going to give it a shot.