Week 16: April 29 Weigh-In

Food column: 5 stickers and 2 Fs. FAIL! I didn’t reach my goal of all stickers, but I did turn things around this week. I noticed that I still need to be more organized on the weekends with my food. During the week, my days are so planned out that eating easily fits into the structure. On the weekends, there’s almost no structure so I find myself eating at weird times and eating things I shouldn’t be. This week I am going to make lunches for the weekend when I’m making lunches for the week. I think that will help.

I still want to see what all stickers in this column will do!

Exercise column: 5 stickers and 2 Fs. FAIL! I got back in the groove of exercising and I started feeling better. At the beginning of the week, I was having problems managing my time. I was going to bed too late and having a problem getting up in the morning to work out. Mid-week I was able to change that and it was much easier to wake up. All in all, a valuable lesson.

I want all stickers in this column too!

Water column: All stickers. PASS! I honestly don’t know what I would do without all the water I drink. I LOVE it! It seems to help everything.

Lose 2.2 lbs this week?: No. I lost 1 lb this week. Fail. Three more weigh-ins until my next milestone and I need to make some serious progress. I’ve hovered in these few pounds WAY too long. It’s time to start moving again.

How will I feel if I reach my goal this week?: I don’t like it when things feel impossible. This week it would feel amazing to prove it is possible to get all stickers in all categories. I think that will help me with my mental barrier and help me move into a new gear.

How will I feel if I don’t reach my goal this week?: Demotivated!

Total weight loss: 17.35 lbs. I’ve been here for too long! In the big picture, 17.35 lbs in 16 weeks is not that great. It’s time to get better results.

Week 15: April 22 Weigh-In

Food column: 4 stickers and 3 Fs. FAIL! I made some really poor choices that were my fault.

This week I will get my 7 stickers!

Exercise column: 3 stickers and 4 Fs. Even bigger FAIL! I had some major issues this week.

I will get all my stickers this week in this category too!

Water column: 6 stickers and 1 F. FAIL! I can’t believe it, this is the easiest one of all and I didn’t get it this week!

This week I will get back to normal here too! All stickers, all categories, here I come!

Lose 2.2 lbs this week?: No. I gained 2 lbs this week. Super FAIL! This week was a rough week for sure. It started when my body basically fell out from underneath me. I was sick among other things and that started my problems this week. I was having mood, attitude, and body issues this week and it all came together in the wrong way. I am feeling particularly upset but I am not giving up. I will get back on track this week. Now that my body is feeling better, I will make sure to get my head back in the game!

How will I feel if I reach my goal this week?: Great! I would feel happy that I can minimize the time spent moving in the wrong direction now. I use to get derailed and then spend 2, 3, or even 4 weeks heading in the wrong direction before I could turn myself around again.

How will I feel if I don’t reach my goal this week?: Not an option!

Total weight loss: 16.35

Week 14: April 15 Weigh-In

Food column: 6 stickers and 1 F. Fail. I missed my goal of all stickers this week. Honestly I don’t even remember what I ate that day that was bad. That makes it easy to decide it wasn’t worth it then!

I do need to start reading my emotional eating book again this week though. I’m starting to let my guard down a little. It would probably be best to get control over it before it derails my progress. So, my goals for this week are all stickers and read at least a chapter in my emotional eating book.

Exercise column: 4 stickers and 3 Fs. Fail! I missed my goal of all stickers this week in this category too. On the days I did exercise I successfully increased the distance by ¼ of a mile. So that’s good progress. Now, I just need to get back up to 7 stickers this week.

My body is feeling great though and I can feel my jeans getting baggier so I think I will have some great measurements at my next milestone date!

Water column: All stickers this week! Pass! I continued drinking a minimum of 96 oz a day and I think it’s the perfect minimum. Some days I only drank 96 oz and I felt pretty good. Definitely better than the days I only got 64 oz. I am happy with this change so I will leave it alone for a while.

Lose 2.2 lbs this week?: YES! I lost 2.25 lbs! Pass! I am very happy with these results considering all the Fs I got this week. It must be at least partially due to the increase in exercise. I wonder how much I would lose if I got all stickers in every category WITH increased exercise. Let’s find out this week, shall we?

My confidence is definitely rising. My inner dialog is changing from “This could be my year” to “This is my year.” In fact I was talking to my husband recently and said, “I think I can make it happen this year.” He quickly corrected me by replying, “You ARE making it happen this year.” It feels great to believe that! I never thought I would be patient enough to try to lose weight a couple of pounds at a time. I thought it would seem like it took forever. To my surprise, I am happily taking a week at a time and when I lose a couple of pounds I know what they’re worth because I know what they cost. They’re bigger than they sound and I’m proud of every one that has disappeared!

How will I feel if I reach my goal this week?: I will feel great! I’m only 11.25 lbs away from my next milestone and I would be so excited if I had a great number this week to subtract from that.

How will I feel if I don’t reach my goal this week?: I would feel lazy and ungrateful for the opportunity. It may be a long way off now, but time is still ticking away and November will be here before I know it.

Total weight loss: 18.35

Week 13: April 8 Weigh-In

Food column: 5 stickers and 2 Fs. FAIL. One day I didn’t plan as well as I should have. The other day, we went to a buffet and I was thinking there would be plenty of good choices too. There was, but having all of those bad choices at my fingertips proved too much for me. Although, there were some little wins. I picked a cupcake and they all had a ton of frosting on them. When I started eating it though, I discovered the actual cake part was nearly tasteless and the frosting tasted like shortening. I only had one bite and didn’t eat the rest of it. I tried another dessert and found that after the first bite, it was too sugary and I didn’t eat the rest of it either. It’s interesting how the body’s tastes change when you start giving it what it needs vs. what will simply fill it up.

Exercise column: 6 stickers and 1 F. FAIL. The F this week was more of a scheduling issue. The room I have the elliptical in was occupied for part of the day. Unfortunately, it was the part of the day where I would have been able to exercise so it didn’t work out.

I have decided to up the distance I exercise daily by ¼ of a mile. It’s time. The distance I have been doing is getting easier and I need to keep it challenging.

Water column: All stickers. PASS! I have decided to make my requirement 96 oz minimum instead of 64 oz. I find that even if I get 64 oz a day, I still feel like I’m dehydrated. As always, I will adjust again if needed, but I feel comfortable with this change.

Lose 2.2 lbs this week?: YES! I lost 3.0 lbs actually! If I was staring at a wall last week, this week has helped me put a big crack in it. I should be able to knock it down next weigh in if I keep the pressure up. I don’t know if I ever mentioned it, but I keep track of my weight by two different scales. The scale at home and the scale at the gym. (There’s roughly 2 lbs difference between them.) Well, this week on my home scale I broke into the next 10 lb range! It should follow on the gym scale next weigh in, but I am excited!

I also noticed I’m able to wear different clothes in my closet. I was beginning to hate some of my shirts because they made me feel fat. Now I have most of them in a bag ready to donate. I’m exploring the clothes I forgot I have since I haven’t been able to wear them for a long time.

Aren’t closets funny things? If yours is like mine, you will have it divided into invisible categories:

Clothes I can wear now:

I mostly hate them. The rest I’m just tired of. I won’t buy any more because they’ll be the size I am now so I’ll just deal with these.

Clothes I can almost wear:

If I’m good by starting to exercise and eat right I can fit into these soon.

Clothes I bought in the hope I will fit into them someday:

            This is how I wish I could dress all the time. If I lose all the weight I need to lose, I can!

THE outfit:

The one outfit that epitomizes the way I wish I could feel all the time. Fitting into this outfit would boost my confidence to its peak. I would feel like a whole new person.

Speaking of past weights, I looked back on my weight records and found a couple of interesting things:

I haven’t weighed my current weight since December 2011.

When I lose 13.5 lbs from my current weight, I will weigh the same as I did in 2009.

When I lose 19.5 lbs from my current weight, I will weigh the same as I did in 2003.

Some exiting milestones approaching!

How will I feel if I reach my goal this week?: My goal this week is all stickers. I believe that will lead me to lose 2.2 lbs and then the scale at the gym will be in the next 10 lb range as well.

I will feel amazing and energized in my quest. I will feel excited to continue progressing and happy that I am staying on track to reach my goal weight.

How will I feel if I don’t reach my goal this week?: I would be very disappointed. I don’t even want to think about it. I will reach my goal this week!

Total weight loss: 16.1 lbs

Week 12: April 1 Weigh-In

Food column: 3 Stickers and 4 Fs. Colossal FAIL! This is the low for my week. I didn’t eat poorly all day every day, but there were poor choices each day. Since I was on vacation for a lot of it, my normal control was gone. I didn’t have the control over my routine that I normally do because I was away from home and sometimes had to rely on what was available. I also know some of my choices were emotional choices. I probably need to pick up my emotional eating book again. I haven’t been reading it as much lately.

This week there’s no reason why I can’t get all stickers. My next milestone date is in May and I won’t be on vacation at all before then. Now is the time to start gaining momentum again!

Exercise column: 2 Stickers and 5 Fs. Even worse colossal FAIL!! The two days I did exercise I was on my feet all day at theme parks. I was exhausted. My week was the classic “worn out and staying up late” vacation and getting up to exercise was really tough.

There’s no reason why I can’t get all stickers here too this week. I need to get back in the groove and start gaining momentum toward my goals again.

Water column: All stickers this week. Pass! Although I met my 64 oz quota, many days I didn’t drink much more than that and I felt bad physically. I’m not sure if I need to adjust my quota to 96 oz or not. I think I may hold off on tinkering with this just yet.

Lose 2.2 lbs this week?: No. FAIL! My weight change this week was zero. I’m not kidding. Exactly zero. It’s actually my high point for the week because it is a major gift! I deserve to have gained weight this week.

I don’t like to take gifts for granted, so I want to show my appreciation by turning this week into one of my best weeks ever. All stickers across the board this week!! That’s my goal!

How will I feel if I reach my goal this week?: I would feel great. I’ve hit a wall that I’m having trouble breaking through and I would feel amazing if I was able to break through it this week!

How will I feel if I don’t reach my goal this week?: I would be VERY upset. I really dread the thought of coming back here next week and writing that I failed…again.

I’m realizing that I’ve been at this for 12 weeks and have only lost 13.1 lbs. That’s falling way below what I could have done. I am thankful for the lessons I’ve learned and for the positive adjustments I have made. It’s time now to make some real progress. I can still reach my goals if I don’t waste any more time!!

Total weight loss: 13.1 lbs