cathythin

So, today, I start anew.  I’ve been away from Buddyslim for awhile.  I was on Jillian Michael’s site for awhile.  And it helped.  I lost 20 lbs.  Then, I gained back 14.  So, at least, I’m starting out lower than I was before…before it’s all gained back.

I think the biggest challenge this time is the fact that I’m fighting other health problems at the same time as the weight.  I recently found out that my hemoglobin was low…it was 6.1…and normal is between 12 and 15.  I had a transfusion of 5 units of blood.  And now, I’m up to a 10.4.  My blood was low due to heavy menstrual cycles over the past few years and I have an 11 cm fibroid.  I am scheduled for an ablasion on October 1st.  So, hopefully, that will end the heavy periods and I won’t have that problem any more.  Also, my iron is really low…20…and normal is between 45 and 130.  So, my energy levels are not terrific.  With all of this, I’m a little concerned about dieting because I don’t want to deplete any of these things further.  So, I decided to do a calorie counting diet…so I will still have a variety of things in my diet…just less of them.  So, hopefully, that will be okay.

I really want to get some of this weight off.  My tummy is huge.  I feel very unattractive.  I know part of it is the fibroid and bloating…but it’s not all of it.  So, here I go.  I entered my breakfast in the food journal.  And I plan to enter the remainder of my foods throughout the day.  I have a goal of 200-300 calories for breakfast; 300-400 for lunch; and 500-600 for supper.  That would bring me into my goal range of 1000-1300.  I met my breakfast goal.  So, it’s early, but I’m on track.  :)  And I have my plan…and I think that will make a difference.  And I see this as really “doable”…and that will help too…I think. 

OMG…went out to eat with daughter and husband last night to a local steak house.  Ate way too much…and REALLY hurt afterwards.  Ick.  All I could do when I came home was go to bed.  It was a really not fun after effect.  Have burned that image into my brain…to motivate me to not do it again.  I felt SO awful…and I have the extra weight today to show for it.  Okay, I’m done.  I’m back to the diet, 100%…and staying there for more reasons than just the weight loss…to feel better, too.  Overeating is NOT fun.

 So, I’m back on…plateau or no plateau…just going to stick to it from now on.

Hope you all have a great day.  Press on!  You can do it!

I was thinking about the whole stuck/plateau/week 2 thing yesterday…and it occurred to me that, if every week was Week 1, I wouldn’t have this problem.  So, I thought if I would take a break from my diet every little bit, then it would always be Week 1.  However, the problem with that is that I have keep getting back on the diet and there is the danger that I would get out of the groove of the diet and not be able to get back on…definitely been there/done that.

So, anyway, at supper last night, I purposely went off my diet and ate more that I should.  But that was it.  And I stayed on for the rest of the evening and ate correctly this morning.  My weight was up a pound when I weighed this morning.  So, I’m going to stay on my diet today and see what the scale says tomorrow.  I hope this is enough to shake things up and get me off the plateau.  We’ll see.

I had read before on some other diets that they have a “break day” where you go off your diet to keep your body from adjusting to the diet and plateauing.  So, I think I understand why they have that as a part of the plan.

Well, hope you all have a great day.  Press on!  You can do it!

I’m still plateau’d at 238.5…but now I know why.  I watched The Biggest Loser last night and I am just suffering the plight of Week 2.  I’m in weeek 2 of my diet and the people on the Biggest Loser were on week 2 of their diet.  The trainers kept saying that week 2 is notorious for a decrease in weight loss.  They said most people either do not lose anything or lose very little or even gain weight…and last night’s contestants were no exception.  That’s exactly what happened.  And it’s what’s been happening to me this week!  Now I know why!  Whew.  So glad I watched the show.  I had never heard this before…but last night it was the main theme.

So, now, I am not concerned about the plateau.  I know it’s normal and natural.  I just have to keep on keepin on.  The weight loss will resume.  I just haven’t actually been in week 2 of this diet…for a very long time.  I usually start and give up sometime during the 1st week…then I never get to see week 2.  So, this time, I am in it for the long haul…I’m staying on the diet…keeping with it until all the weight is gone…and going to maintain the loss.  Now, I know that I will have to push on through some plateau times…and this is one of them.

I think I will work on a plateau plan…so that when plateau’s hit, I am prepared with my plateau plan.  Maybe have some special rewards or motivational reading ready to keep me pushing on.

Well, hope you all are having a great day!  Press on!  You can do it!

Well, I guess I’m doing more Rock Climbing today…no weight loss again.  So driving yet another stake in at this point.  Well, I’m solidly at this weight…okay…now move on!  I’m just going to absolutely stick to my diet and keep my focus…I want to see 237 on the scale…and stay motivated.  It’s a good day for it.  Biggest Loser is on tonight.  That will be motivational.

It’s hard going to the scale, expecting and hoping to see weight loss, and not seeing it.  But I knew it would happen.  And it has.  So, it’s okay.  I don’t appear to be “closer” to losing weight…but I am…because I’ve made it through one of my plateau days and I’m about to make it through a second plateau day.  They were stepping stones along the path to thinness.  I had to go through them, stay focused, and stay motivated to move on to more weight loss.  So I AM closer…each and every day.

Well, hope you are all having a great day!  Press on!  You can do it!

Weighing in…238.5…again.  This was the first day since I started the diet that I did not see progress on the scale when weighing in.  Am I discouraged?  No.  I knew the weight loss would slow down and I would have plateau days.  It’s just a part of the dieting game.  And the way to win the game…not getting discouraged through plateau’s.

I am not discouraged.  I was trying to think of a metaphor for the plateau.  I am in the 230’s and glad about that.  So, I think this just makes me more “solidly” in.  I am thinking it is comparable to a mountain climber who drives in a stake as they climb…so if they fall, they will have the stake to stop their fall.  This plateau is a stake…and I will not backtrack past this point.

I did do my progress pictures and video.  In comparing them, I can just see a very little difference.  However, in the two videos, I could definitely see a difference…in my face and neck…yay!  So, it begins.

This is the first time I’ve been on a diet past the first few days for a long time.  I’m actually in Week 2.  I have a whole week of success under my belt.  Woo hoo!

I’m looking forward to watching the Biggest Loser tomorrow night.  It is very motivational…and I really need to keep my motivation high and my focus set.  I’m really guarding against losing my focus.  So…focusing on!

 Hope you all have a great day!  Press on!  You can do it!

Well, for my reward, I got a new video.  I got “The Lake House.”  I had never seen it before.  Last night, I watched it.  Good movie.  The moral of the story…the things you want will come…in time…but you have to wait and cannot force them.  …Hmm…just like this weight loss.  As much as I would like to wake up tomorrow and be thin and be done…it’s not going to happen.  I have to wait.  It will come in time.  I cannot force it.  I CAN, however, stick to my diet everyday and every meal…so that I do not hinder it.

It’s been a week now.  Altogether, I’ve lost 8.5 pounds.  From Sunday to Sunday, I lost 6.5 pounds.  Today, I will take new pictures and do another little video.  Ah…one week down.  That says to me that I can do this for a week.  So, if I can do it for a whole week, I should be able to make it…because life is just made up of a lot of weeks.

My next goal is 237…now 1.5 pounds away.  That’s the lowest I have been in 2008.  So, I’m kind of traveling back in time, visiting old weights. 

Last night, I was thinking…hmm…so if I get to 237, the least I’ve weighed in all of 2008, then anything I’ve worn in 2008 will fit.  It’s always a best guess…what will fit…my weight has fluctuated so much.

 Well, this is Day 2 in the 230’s.  I’m glad to be here.  No more 240’s…yay!

Yesterday, my husband and I went and walked around a mall.  The one window we walked  past had formal gowns.  One of my reasons for losing weight is that I would like to be thin for my son’s wedding.  I wondered what my mother-of-the-groom dress will look like.  I’m so glad I will be thinner for that.  I  think I will start shopping for it in January.  His wedding is in March.  That’s early enough, right?  I want to be closer to my “marriage” weight and still have time for alterations…to take it in…:)  I am so relieved I am losing weight…and glad I have time between now and then…so the weight loss has time to happen.

I hope you all have a great day!  Press on!  You can do it!

Well, I went to the scale this morning, hoping for the 1/2-pound loss…so I could reach my goal of 240 and I got it!…plus some!  239!  So, I didn’t get to have a farewell party for the 240’s…they’re already gone.  That’s okay.  I’m IN the 230’s now.  Wow.  Wasn’t expecting that!  But I’m very pleased. 

So, my next goal is 237.  That is the least that I have weighed all through 2008.  So, I want to get back to that low point.  In learning about goal setting and achievement, one of the things I’ve heard is that, when you reach your goal, you should set a new goal.  So that is what I am doing.  I plan to make goals at all the 5 marks.  So, after 237, my goal will be 235.  Then, after 235, my goal is going to be 233 (that’s the weight I “started” at when I came on BuddySlim way back when…in February 2007).  So, anyway…at any given time, I will have a goal within 5 pounds of my reach.  That’s worth reaching for.  If I were just shooting for the whole goal…125 pounds away…now 119 pounds away, it would be so far in the distance that being excited about it would be difficult.  But I can be excited about a goal that is 5 or less pounds away…and I can have a LOT of celebrations (non-food ones) as I reach each mini-goal. 

Ah…so I’m in the 230’s…still letting that sink in.  So, here I go…next goal…237.  I took my camera with me to the bathroom this morning because I expected to hit my goal of 240…and I wanted to capture the visual on the scale of seeing the 240 in  the little scale window.  Well, I didn’t get to capture it…since it was gone…but I did capture the 239.   Woo hoo!

I wish I had a standard “celebration” or “reward” that I could have or do when I reach each goal.  I’ll think about that today and see what I can come up with.  I just really want to stay enthusiastic and motivated…so I keep going forward.  I’ve had experiences with reaching goals and then getting comfortable and complacent…and then, it’s right back up the scale I go.  I just really don’t want that to happen this time.  I need to keep going.

Well, hope you are all having a great day.  Press on!  You can do it!

Today, as I was padding my way to the scale in the morning, I was thinking…well, I will either see the same number as yesterday, or I will have lost some, and I may see the 240 that I am shooting for.  Yesterday, I was 1.5 pounds away from the 240 goal.  I was so excited when I saw the numbers on the scale…240.5…so yes, I still have .5 to go…but I could SEE the 240 on the scale…it had the .5 after it…but there is was…really in my sights…woo hoo!  Wow, my first goal…coming to light.  I LOVE it!

I was thinking about a course I am taking…simpleology.  If you want to check it out, it’s free and online at simpleology.com.  It teaches about reaching goals and how to hit them.  Yesterday, my lesson was that the way to reach your goals is to…get your goal in your sights, keep it in your sights, and hit it until you hit it.  I was thinking about that and about my weight loss.  That’s what I’ve done…I have my goal…240…and every day I “hit it until I hit it”…I think that taking each meal and “doing it right” it me hitting it…until I hit it.  I’m very close to hitting it now…a 1/2 pound…give me a break!  That is awesome.  It’s within spitting distance! 

Well, that’s just really exciting to me.  And I reflect on all the meals where I sat and ate over this past week and stayed within my limits.  They all brought me to this point.  So worth it!  So exciting.

 Hope you all have a great day!  Press on!  You can do it!

When I watched the Biggest Loser this week, I got a visual that I can’t shake.  I keep thinking about the picture of the inside that the Dr. showed the contestants.  I can’t get it out of my head.  He showed a picture of the heart and lungs and the abdominal fat in there taking up space and making it difficult for the heart and lungs to function.  It was really shocking to me.  I never thought about it before.  I’m thinking about it now.  I get breathless a lot when I exert myself.  Now, I think I know why.  Makes so much sense.  I had thought that I think I really want to just lose the weight first and then start exercising to tone up.  Now, I definitely think that is the way I should go.  I really am not excited about working my heart and lungs to full exertion while they’re trying to deal with the strangulation of the fat in there.  I know most people think you should/have to exercise as you lose weight.  That hasn’t been my experience.  So far this week, I’ve lost 5.5 pounds…in the last 5 days…with no exercise.  I think, for me, it would be best if I just got the weight off…really focus on that…and when I get down closer to goal, I will incorporate the exercise.

 Today, our office was closed so I could wear my jeans to work.  I had baggy pants!  I’ve lost 5.5 pounds since starting…and now I think I know where the weight came off…in my seat!  Woo hoo.  I had baggy jeans.  It was so exciting to me.  And after work, me and hubby went out to eat.  We went to my favorite…Chili’s.  Big test.  I passed!  We brought home enough food for another meal!  I ate only my allowed amount and then I STOPPED.  Wow.  Yes!  I feel like I’m “in the groove” with my eating.  Now, I just need to stay there, stay there, stay there…and let the weight fall off.  It will happen.

Hope you all are doing GREAT!  Press on!  You can do it!