BL Week 1 & 2

So, our very own Biggest Loser competition got off to a great start. On January 6th, 2011, we all scampered into the bathroom, scale and change of clothes in hand. We agreed before Christmas break that we would each wear leggings and a university t-shirt to be "even". We were praying no one from the other office suites would come into the bathroom. So, armed with a clip board and a excel spreadsheet I made, we dutifully wrote down what each weighed. To my surprise, only 34 lbs separated the heaviest from the lightest - I thought it would be a much larger spread (I seriously under-estimated what one friend weighed, she looks so tiny!). We set up a bi-weekly weigh in schedule, so we all set off determined to see less weight on the scales in two weeks.

The Monday (which happened to be MLK, Jr. day) before the impending Thursday weigh-in, we had a last chance workout, just like they do on the NBC tv show. We met up on campus with one of the cops who we're friends with. He is a personal trainer and agreed to work with us, so we were thrilled. He worked us! We did cardio and weight training, and I left feeling pretty good, especially considering I had to wake up and drive to campus by 9 am on my day off!!

On Thursday, we all delayed weighing-in as long as we could. Talk about anxiety. We made sure the halls were clear and scampered back down to the bathroom, changed clothes, and had a staring contest until someone finally (graciously) volunteered to go first. The scale flashed while it was calculating (OoOoOoOo).... DOWN THREE POUNDS!! Cheers were shouted, congratulations all around. Our first victim contestant succeeded... would we all?

One by one, the rest of us climbed on the small, white, potential harbinger of bad news. One by one we were greeted with happy news! The first three of us who climbed aboard the small white tile of doom lost THREE POUNDS! We're awesome. Finally, it was the final turn. The results: SIX POUNDS! Way to go! Our first w-i, and we were tremendously successful. We happily changed back into work attire and giddily went back to the office. Week 1: Major Success.

So, here are my stats for week one:

Weight lost: 3 lbs

% lost: 1.23%

BMI: down .5

Hoping this momentum continues!

What the what?

Wow. I haven't written since 2009. I'm either a bad blogger or a bad dieter. I'm going to go with both. I never did do that fad diet that I said I was going to do, although I did make the soup..... which is still in my freezer. I guess that means it's been in the freezer for 16 months. I should probably throw that away. Hm....

I'm still struggling with losing weight. I start something & I'm really good at it for a week and then kerplat. I'm back to binge eating and eating a ridiculous amount of calories a week. Since 9/09, my weight crept up about 10 lbs. SERIOUSLY?! Ugh. For a while, J and I weighed ourselves religiously each morning and wrote it down on a sheet of paper taped to the bathroom wall. This was both encouraging and depressing. On the days that my weight went down I was ecstatic.... however, it made me terrified to ever eat out, thanks to the 5 lbs that Olive Garden was guaranteed to pack on. But we got lazy and that hasn't happened in a long time.

I also joined a fitness thing at work, but I was traveling a lot for work and once I forgot my sneakers so I couldn't log my runs, and blah blah blah, I dropped the ball and didn't work out the prescribed number of times that month and was kicked out of the program. LAME.

Well, I've determined 2011 will be my year. And I won't be alone. I have an amazing support team. I have joined ranks with three other fabulous ladies in my office who want to lose weight in 2011. And, my loyal reader, money is on the LINE! We created our own Biggest Loser contest. We are weighing in twice a month and it's $10 a weigh-in. The person that loses the highest percentage of weight at the end wins the pot. We are encouraging each other, making sure we stay on the straight and narrow, and we're in it for the long haul. Round one started in January and will go through May. We may do another one from May-December; we'll see how the first one goes! Wish us luck!

Yes, I've Been Called Both Cheesey AND Nutty

So the past three days, my lunch has consisted of a baggie of almonds (about a heaping handful) and a WW string cheese. Today I threw in frozen grapes for some fruit action, because I haven't had much of that. Lunch has been deliciously filling, right up until the time I got home. Of course then it's supper time! I have been super hungry at night, after dinner. HURRAY for WW desserts, although I've been eating a single serving bag of chips at night too. But I'm still dropping the poundage I put on last month, which is excellent.

On Tuesday I'm starting a 7 day cleansing diet that my co-workers told me about (although I will most likely only make it 5 days - day 6 and 7 I will be traveling for work and no access to the stuff I'll need to eat). I realize it's a fad diet, but it's all fruit and vegetables, so I can't see where it will do any harm, and those who I've know to have tried it have had a lot of success. So if nothing else, it will jump start the weight loss. The way I see it, at the best, I'll lose 10 pounds. At the worst, I've stuffed myself full of veggies for nothing - although my body will probably be happy with the veggies, so it's a wash! Fingers crossed, all will go well. :) I just have to figure out what I will feed the Beau while I'm doing this, because there is no way he will be up for doing this with me. The man likes to eat!

So I'm excited about this venture - I'm hoping it will give me the jump start that I will need! I will report back soon!

YAY Labor Day Weekend!

Water, Water, Everywhere.... And Now I've Got to Drink

So, I'm back to drinking water on a regular basis. I'd drifted away from my 32 ounces of water daily, but I decided it's a habit I'm picking up again. It doesn't taste as good as Diet Coke, but it doesn't leave me bloated either. And water is so refreshing! I actually enjoy drinking my giant glass of water everyday. AND, I have to walk downstairs and down the hall to get to the water machine (I get free water out of the coke machine in the dining room - ROCKIN'!!!), so it's a healthy little walk to break up my day too! w00t!!

Something else I did.... I signed up for my work's Fitness for Life program. There is a whole list of stuff I have to do. To start off with, I have a health screening next week that I have to do. I'm a little nervous about it. PLUS, I signed up a little late and all the early morning spots were taken, so I have to wait until 11:00 am to do mine.... so I cannot eat ANYTHING until lunch time. I am going to be sooooooo hungry. My office better be prepared, because I am Cranky-Pants McGhee when I don't eat. I'm a little bit nervous about what they will find in my test results, but I've never had the cholesterol checked, or my gluclose levels, or anything, so it will be really good that I get this done.

Along with the program, I have to work out 10 times a month. I either have to sign in/out at the HR office to prove I did my time, or there were a list of other options. I chose to buy a Nike+ to go with my iPod. This way I can print out my times and dates that I work out. I have to give it to HR monthly. I am almost going to the 5:15 work out sessions that my work has. So, as the school year starts, I am determined to start a program and stick with it. This lasts for 6 months. I get a cash reward if I am successful in the program. So, here goes nothing! All I have to lose is... well... 60 pounds. haha.

UUGGGHHHH!!!

Oh goodness gracious me. Why is this SO HARD! On so many different reasons.

I had lost almost TEN POUNDS! Go me! Then we had a little bit of sadness when the Beau's mother died. It was a tremendously hard week... that was one special woman, and I already considered her my mother-in-law, even though we aren't married yet. Well.... we are from the South.... and people like to make you a lot of food when someone dies in the south. Well, I gained FIVE freaking pounds this month between the week I spent in the hospital with his family, and then with the funeral. But, the way I see it, these lbs are just a little grief weight, and should come off pretty quickly now that people aren't waving fried chicken and cakes and cookies and banana pudding under my nose.

BUT, off of that... why are the only food options for those people visiting loved ones in the hospital fried, greasy, and nothing you would eat on a regular basis if left to your own devices? I really think they are just trying to create more patients for the 10th floor (cardiac!).

But the past few days have been better, the weight is coming back off. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll finish up the month where I started, but if I can just break even, I will be estatic.

Last night I followed in the footsteps of my girl H, and I checked out the fitness TV section of OnDemand. I decided it would be fun to try the Carmen Electra strip tease workout. Well, not so much. I am not cute enough, nor do I have the ability to move my hips all sexy-like to be good at that workout. Although, I did demonstrate my workout to the Beau (fully clothed, of course), and he told me "not bad". But I think he's obligated to tell me that!

So, I'm going back to Jillian. She's the best. Plus, I spent $30 on her DVDs, so I need somethign to show for that. :) And my eating is getting so much better now that I'm back in my own house on my own schedule and can cook fresh foods.

So, fingers crossed! Here's hoping for a good, healthy week. :)

Progess Tracking

Well it's July! My daily weight tracker is slowly moving down, so that is a good thing. I've lost 8ish lbs since May. Which actually doesn't seem like a huge accomplishment in a 2 1/2 month time span, but I will take what I can get. Another 2 lbs and I will be in the 220s, and can work on knocking those down too.

I've been working out, which I am happy about. I am attempting to do a Jillian Michael's workout DVD, but it kicks my ass. Tonight I just couldn't bear 30 minutes of her, so I went for a 1.10 mile walk/jog instead. Tomorrow I'll have to put in my time with Jillian though.

Also, I'm looking into a personal trainer. I *NEED* someone to hold me accountable and kick my ass and not take my whining. A friend of a friend goes to one near my work, so my friend is investigating cost for me. If it's reasonable, I am all about it. What can it hurt?

I also make and take my lunch every day. That's helping a lot....although - secret - I totally was having a bad day and today and went downstairs to get some fries from the grill. It's so bad having that place in my building... their fries are amazing. But, the weight is looking pretty good, I'm hoping to be another .5-1 lb down again tomorrow. :) We'll see if the weight fairy is good to me or not!

Happy dieting...... (oxymoron?)

The Post With Two Parts

This posting has two parts:
Part I: in which I tell you how well I did (diet-wise) during a dinner out last night.
Part II: in which I take out my frustrations on the women's clothing industry.

Part I:
So, yesterday was the Beau's 27th birthday. I told him I'd take him out to eat anywhere that he would like to go. So we went to Texas Steakhouse. I ordered a 12 oz steak w/ baked potato and a salad. Now, I realize I could've been much more healthy with the sides, but baked potatoes are kind of my weakness, and I love them. But back to the story, I ate my salad and the rolls when they were brought to the table, but when my steak and potato were brough to the table, I *immediately* cut them both in half and only ate 1/2 of each.... then boxed the other 1/2 to take home. I was mildly proud of myself. Granted, I could've gotten 2 sides of steamed veggies, or gotten a vinegarette to put on my salad, but I was very proud that I didn't gorge myself. Baby steps, baby steps.

This morning, I was down 1 pound from yesterday. Yay! :) This makes me 1.5 lbs down for the month so far - not as good as I would like, but I'm working on it!

Part II:
So, as I mentioned, yesterday was the Beau's birthday. I got it in my head that I wanted to buy something sexy-ish to wear out to dinner last night. I was really just looking for a hott tank top or something. However, the garishness that I was faced gave me the strangest mix of emotions - disgust, disappointment, self-loathing, annoyance, frustration, sadness, and a twinge of hate, just for good measure.

Seriously, what is up with those people who design women's clothes for sizes 14 and up? I was wandering through the "woman's" section at JCP yesterday, and I was slammed in the face with Alfred Dunner seperates (which I won't be interested in for about another 45 years) and a collection of the most off-the-wall, in-your-face, loud, obscene patterns ever. It's like they figure we'll just throw the most outrageous patterns and colors on a shirt, and the public's sensory system will be so overwhelmed, they won't even realize how fat this person really is.

And really, there is no originality. It's the same basic shirt in 17 different patters or color tones. Really, it can't take that much more material to make a shirt for someone with a DD bra size than a C bra size. Or someone with a little bit wider shoulder span. And if it's really a huge deal, take a page from the wal*mart book - add 3 or 4 more dollars onto the clothes that are over a certain size (they do this in the men's section for extended sizes, fyi).

It just frustrates me that I have to look like a circus tent b/c designers assume since I can't wear a size 8 I want to hide my body. Seriously, I have a great rack and love to show it off. I love some of the looks out there that are unavailable in sizes over "L". WHY PEOPLE. WHY.

Okay. Now that that's out. It does give me more motivation to keep losing weight. Even though I've said that for ages. Maybe it's time to be really serious. Day by day.

Over & Out.