Wednesday, July 31, 2013

100th Post!

Over the last few days, I debated all kinds of topics for my next blog post--but when I realized that this was my 100th post, I thought perhaps I should post something profound.  Apparently my brain is too fried for profound, because I'm going to post an update on my Challenge #2 to get myself healthy!  Eh, what's 100 posts anyway?  Maybe I'll become profound by 200.  :)

the extent of my profundity for today

I last gave you the Challenge #2 update way back on June 17th...before the insanity of the rest of the month (and apparently all of July) took over.  I had just survived my first week without the safety net of my three scheduled exercise classes, and weighed in at 133.2 that week.  I came out of that week with a loss because I cobbled together some exercise on my own--my friend's Zumba class at her gym, a new Zumba class sort of near my house, and some laps at the pool.  Over the weeks that followed, I did manage to swim laps at the pool a few times, but I never made it to another structured class again until last week!  I'll give you the quick overview:

When things got ridiculously busy, I stopped tracking my calories and fitness in my WebMD log.  I had been tracking diligently, daily, obsessively since I started this Challenge in January, and figured I could probably do without the log--I kind of know what I'm doing now, right?  Hmmm...

At my lowest weight (right after I got so sick out at my sister's house), I weighed in at 131.4--not a true baseline since the weight loss was brought on by sickness, but I just wanted to throw that out there so you could know where I was at the end of June!

The beach vacation was a temptation, to say the least--my parents graciously stocked the pantry with all kinds of goodies that I try not to keep at my own house (because I lack the self-control to stop myself from binging...).  My willpower has improved over this Challenge, but the beach was too much--I figured I was on vacation, what could some cinnamon buns/Hershey Kisses/<insert super fatty deliciousness here> hurt?  I had worked so hard toward my goal weight, I deserved a week off!  (This is what my brain kept telling me.)  I finally understand the self-sabotage that happens on The Biggest Loser, when they stick those poor folks so desperately dedicated to getting their health back on track in a room full of their weaknesses and tell them that they can win immunity if they overindulge.  I used to be super annoyed at the people who ate during those temptations, but now I totally get it--dangle the forbidden fruit (or, as it were, nothing nearly as healthy as fruit) in front of someone and give them any justification for it (you've worked so hard!  you deserve it!  it's vacation!  you can win a prize!), and you're bound to have at least one person who cracks.  I am that person--I cracked.  Big time.

seriously, no one can pass up s'mores!

I weighed in right after vacation, and I was up to 136 pounds--I gained 4.6 pounds in 2.5 weeks.  Yikes.  Not even swimming a few laps in the pool at our beach house or long walks on the beach collecting shells could save me from all the junk I ate late at night...early in the morning...pretty much all day for seven days straight.

I told myself that I would get back on track after we got home from the beach.  I berated myself for my bad habits--eating at night, eating too much, eating junk.  But I was super exhausted after our week of fun in the sun, and it was easy to grab those treats and just munch on them to keep myself going throughout the day.  And then Dan went out of town for 3 days last week, and I thought if I could just eat all the M&Ms and Hershey Kisses in the house, I could get back on track (oh, my old faulty thinking at work).  I found M&Ms hidden deep in our cabinets--who knew we had so many bags?  No one ever will know how many bags we had, because I ate them all.  I ate so much, I felt sick.  Ugh.

So this week, I weighed in at 138 pounds...and I'm not at all surprised.  The only thing that surprises me is that I don't weigh more at this point.  What am I doing?  Um, I can't even ask that question--I know exactly what I'm doing (or not doing):

  • I stopped tracking my calorie intake and fitness.  Clearly, I wasn't ready to take the training wheels off, even after 6 months.
  • I am not getting good sleep every night--I've had bouts of insomnia (especially while Dan was gone--I never sleep well), and the lack of sleep leads to poor decision-making when it comes to my food throughout the day.  The lack of sleep also hinders my metabolism and weight loss...not to mention, makes me crazy cranky.
  • I've been eating all kinds of junk.  It's time for a cabinet clean-out (and not the fun kind where I eat everything)--I need to eliminate all the temptations from the house until I can get my self-control under control again.
  • I haven't been exercising!  Without those scheduled classes, I'm blowing in the wind, and it's too easy to put off exercise when you're not accountable to a schedule of classes for which you've already paid.  Dan's new schedule has definitely added a new wrinkle to my quest...
  • I have not been blogging my weight updates.  What did I just say about accountability?  I need to be accountable to you, dear readers, to keep me from breaking my scale.  Obviously I lack the motivation to do this on my own in a vacuum--I need people cheering me on, and I need folks to know when I've fallen off the wagon so that I have the push to get back on again.

That's where I am--I'm trying to do much better this week, but maintaining my focus is hard and will be short-lived.  This week is our only "normal" week so far this summer, and the only normal week I have before we take off on yet another temptation-laden adventure next week!  It's hard to get on a good schedule when the schedule keeps changing, so I'm just trying to keep my head up and work with what I've got right now.

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