Back from London

Monday, January 28, 2008
Weight Loss: 12lbs
Mood: Fantastic!

It's been a while since I posted in here - but I had a good reason. As pretty much everyone knows I was in the UK from the 15th until the 25th of January on vacation. It was an amazing trip and I had so much fun. C and I went everywhere and saw everything we could in the time we had. I went there at 11pounds lost and was hoping to maintain and at the most gain 1 pound which would leave me at 10pounds lost and having still met my first goal. I got on the scale this morning (leaving time for the plan ride to wear off and any water weight to dissipate) and I actually lost 1 pound while I was away. I am now officially at 12 pounds lost. I am so happy about that.

C and I packed our meals pretty much every day while we were away. We ate out four times, 2 at pubs, 1 at a fish and chip place and 1 at a noodle bar. I had fish and chips 3 times and a noodle meals with chicken at the noodle place. Our packed lunches consisted of salami sandwiches (2 each), carrot sticks, apple/banana, yogurt and crisps (hula hoops to be exact). they were very good and filling but by the end I was sick fo them. For dinners we had lasagna once, pizza twice (the frozen grocery store kind) and pasta with vegetables twice. We ate two mars ice cream bars while we were there and had cadbury cream eggs too (since they are sold all year round over there - so cool). I think we did very well while we were away in terms of food.

We walked on average about 20000 steps a day. The lowest days were 10000 but there were only two or three of those and they were out of our control since they were days in which we were either on a plane or on buses to and from places. Our hostel room was on the third floor at the one place and the second at the other place and everything in London is piled high with no elevators to speak of so there was a lot fo stair climbing for us. We didn't take a taxi once but did tube and bus most of the time, although there was obviously a great deal of walking from oplace to place as well.

Since this was a budget trip the walking was increased significantly from most vacations to London and the food was also decreased in quantity and take-out'ness - which turned out to be good things for our health (although there was no doubt that this would happen). I am very happy with how the trip went in terms of exercise as well.

Everything was so great about the trip and the fact that I lost more weight is icing on the already fantastic cake (which I won't be eating).

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Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Weight Loss: 11lbs
Mood: FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!

So today is the departure date for my and C's trip to London, England and I can officially say that not only have I met my London goal, but I have surpassed it! My goal was to lose 10 lbs and I have actually lost 11 lbs! I am so happy. Apparently my altered weight loss plan is working at least for now and until I hit a plateau or something along those lines, I will keep to it. As soon as I get back from London I will hop back onto my weight loss plan - not that I am leaving it while in London, it is just going to have to increase in calories due to the highly increased activity (all that walking around). I am so excited about everything.
I will be posting when I get back at the lastest and I hope everyone has a pleasant two weeks while I am away - my first trip abroad, I just can't wait and soon I won't have to.

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Weight Loss: 9lbs
Mood: a little bit of everything

Last night I had one ferrero rocher. I felt sad at the time as I know that I will see that when I go to weigh in (despite the fact that it was only one) but at the same time I was a little happy that I only had one even though there were 6 left in the box. I guess I wish I knew how to be ok with my decisions and how not to dwell on them, but that will come with time - right?
I have reached my exercise goals of doing at least 15 minutes each night though at the moment I have only done it in one go once and the rest of the times I have split it up in a couple rounds. I have been doing more on the nights that I get home earlier from work and have even done it on nights where I had planned to rest (due to a busy schedule). I feel my legs burning everytime I workout and when I get up in the morning and that makes me happy. I just have to keep it up until I go on my trip and make sure I get back to it once I get home.
I have not been eating this amount of calories long enough to see how it has altered my weight loss, so I cannot really comment on that - but my daily menu has been going over well and I have not felt too deprived in terms of treats. Hopefully this will remain true when D comes home and I am no longer eating alone on my own terms.
I have done a lot of thinking this morning about my weight loss. I have tried to figure out why I may have failed in the past and ways to prevent that from happening again, I have thought about what inspires me as I go through this journey and also why I truly want to lose this weight. I have come up with some answers but of course I will figure things out more as I progress and hopefully by the time I lose the weight and reach my goal I will be able to keep it off for I will know then what I do not now. I will know my triggers and how to avoid them (or persevere through them), I will know how to get myself healthy and how and when to give into temptations and how to stop myself from over-indulgence. I hope to know myself better and to be happy with that new me, that improved me.

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Top Ten Reasons to Lose Weight

Listed below are the Top Ten Reasons I want to lose weight.

1. To be truly happy (Happy and fat do not go together)
2. For a healthier future (Overweight individuals are more prone to disease)
3. Better (and healthier) self image (to love me for all of me and not have to exclude aspects)
4. Better personal life (It is hard to becomfortable with others when you aren't comfortable with yourself)
5. Increased confidence in my relationship (not have to wonder if people think "what is he doing with her" or "what does he see in her")
6. Increased energy (One shouldn't get winded going up more than 2 flights of stairs)
7. More respect from those around me and the general public(Though it shouldn't be important to me - it is)
8. More accessible, affordable and fashionable clothing (Perhaps I would actually be able to tell people where I got my clothes, or even receive them as gifts without huge worry)
9. To eat in public and not feel judged ("she's eating a salad so she must be on a diet - figures" or "she's eating those chips, that's why she's fat")
10. Better resistance to the elements (no longer sweat buckets when it is hot out, or get heat stroke at the drop of a hat)

Though they are listed almost as equals, or at least in a fashion that would show a linear change in importance, some rank much, much higher than others.

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Inspiration

To me inspiration for my weight loss comes in many forms. Recently I have been watching the new season of The Biggest Loser to inspire myself. Watching the show makes me very sad at first because I feel many of the same things that they do and want the same things for my future. Once I am done being sad (which doesn't take very long - especially as the season progresses and the contestants are less sad themselves) I am very motivated and full of energy. I tend to workout throughout the show (or at least part of it) as it really isn't a show you should watch while sitting on the couch with a bag of chips. I wish the show was on earlier in the day so that I would have more time to workout and use all that motivation and energy - but since it is on Tuesday nights at 8 or 9 (I forget which right now) I have to shower and head to bed shortly after it is done to be able to get up and go to work the next day. Maybe I should tape it and save it for the weekend where I would have enough time, but sometimes lack the motivation, to workout for an extended period of time.
I am also a little inspired despite people - to prove to those who may not believe I can do it that I truly can, that I am a strong, healthy, good person. I don't have many in my life that I would put in this box, and some are in my past but I am trying not to be so hurt by others negativity towards me and instead feed off of it for motivation and drive to succeed. Is that healthy?
I tend not to be inspired by other people's success, not because it isn't a good thing or even that I am jealous but rather because I don't want to be comparing myself to others, even if they are or were in similar situations. I am however, inspired by people close (aka family and friends) to me if not through their battles with weight then through other situations in which they have conquered something unimaginable (like my mom - she inspires me immensely).
I have many inspiring things, people or moments in my life and things like television shows, though as tacky and predictable as they are, help me for at least a short period of time and that is a good thing.

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The Wagon

Everyone knows the term "Falling Off the Wagon" and I constantly aware that I have done this several times in the past as there usually comes a point during whatever new thing I was doing that I let it fade out of my daily routine. Last time I lost weight I made it to about the 6 month mark (and lost just under 20lbs) before I let this happen - I then gained all but five of it back in the next 6 months. This time I am letting myself be a little more leniant with the rules and allowing for small breaks here and there in an attempt to not have a massive falling out later on. Though I currently feel this is a good thing, it does slow down my weight loss a fair bit. I am also a little scared that I may not have the desire or will to come back from one of these breaks. I am not on a break and don't plan on having one for quite some time (in reality I don't plan them, I just take them every now and again as I need them and the length of the break is determined by how long ago the last one was) but I still wonder if they really are a good thing for me overall.

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Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Weight Loss: 9lbs

Mood: sluggish



I am so tired this morning and my legs really hurt, particularly the left one. I think I might have worked a little too hard on the elliptical and stationary bike the last two days and it has resulted in my upper thighs really aching. The muscles are tight and every movement feels like I am lugging a bag of bricks. In a way it feels good because I know I have been doing something good for myself, but in every other way it is sore and tiring. It was a struggle to get up this morning and come to work - but I am here as I need the money for London.

I have realized that my changing my goals for exercise I eliminated my old calorie low. I used to want to burn either 150 or 300 calories a night minimum - well this works out to about 5 minutes on the elliptical. My new minimum is 15 minutes which last night was 450 calories and I was only pushing hard for the last 5 minutes where I set the machine to incline 30, resistance 12 (the highest settings). It is not a bad thing, in fact it is a good thing - I just have to get used to it is all. Tonight I will be taking it easy, still using at least one of the machines, but on low settings.

I am still at 9lbs loss and am really proud that I have made it this far. Even more proud since I am gaining muscle while I am losing fat - I know because I am losing major inches from every part of my body, much more than I have in the past at this point in my weight loss. My clothes are fitting much looser and most of my dress clothes just hang, the slightest tug and some of my pants would be around my ankles, haha!

No one has really said anything about my size, like there have been no comments, which is a little disappointing. I don't need positive comments like that to keep myself going, it is just nice to hear that it can be seen - but maybe it can't be seen yet. Oh well, given enough time, some people won't even recognize me!

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Monday, January 7, 2008

Monday, January 7, 2008
Weight Loss: 9lbs?
Mood: happy yet tired

I had a moment of weakness last night but fortunately I caught it before it got out of hand. I was tired and a little lonely and went to get some snacks even though I knew I would be heading to bed in about an hour. I caught myself and rather than having a meal or anything like that - I had a big glass of water and started my bed-time routine earlier to try to distract myself. It worked and I persevered. I was happy with myself.
Yesterday was a unproductive day. I had wanted to finish up the preliminary cleaning of my room by tackling my desk but couldn't find the desire or drive to do so. Instead I ended up watching movies, cooking and basically just sitting around. I did, however, achieve my goal of doing 30 minutes of exercise though I did have to really force myself to do it. I did 15 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the stationary bike - so I guess the day wasn't that bad.
Speaking of my stationary bike - I love it. The thing is quite old and the electronic component doesn't really work - it turns on and everything but I think the buttons are broken or something because I can't get it to start. But it doesn't really matter since the actual bike part works. It is small so it fits easily in my room. It is tucked behind one of my chairs and I pull it out when I want to use it. I am glad I grabbed it when I did.
I made turkey shepherds pie and chicken vegetable stir fry for my lunches and after altering the recipe of the first to lessen the calories a bit. I went grocery shopping and resisted the desire to buy ice cream and even sorbert, which I probably could have rationalized in my head somehow. C and I went for a small grocery trip earlier and we got this really great PC Blue-Menu breaded chicken breast. They were a little expensive but they were so worth it - only 170 calories for each breast. I think I am going to try to have a box of those in the freezer all the time now (and since I only need one for each meal, they should last a decent amount of time).
I am still trying to figure out my scales. According to the digital one I am down a pound since last week - which means 9lb weight loss. But I am trying to figure out what the actual weight is but I am pretty sure the loss is correct. So I only have one more pound to lose in the next week and I will have reached my first goal. It is weird for me to say that because in the past I have never set timelines for myself as I tend to plateau easily and need time off as to not fall out of the regime entirely and these can be quite unpredictable. It is a new approach and I don't know how successful it will be - I may just end up constantly changing all my goals, but really I don't care when I lose all the weight, as long as I eventually lose it.
I have set out a meal plan for the next week or so, basically until I leave for my trip (I do intend of loggin what I eat while I am in London, but my calorific intake will need to be higher since I will need all the energy I can get to make it through the long days of walking and touring). The daily calorific intake values range from 1300-1500 calories but that is just the initial plan and leaves room for afternoon snacks if I need them. So by the end of it all I will proably be eating 1400-1600 calories per day, which I think it a good mixture of the weight watchers points system and what other reputable websites have suggested I consume.
I have noticed recently that some of my clothes are just enormous. Basically all the winter work pants I have are at least one size too big for me and I am constantly having to pull them up throughout the day. Though I have only lost 9 pounds I seem to have lost many more inches, which leads me to believe that I am getting some good muscle gain as well.
Today I am hoping for 15 minutes of extra exercise since I have some errands to run after work and they will take up a large amount of both time and energy. I am the type of person who likes to set low goals and exceed them rather then set high goals and not be able to reach them, although throughotu this process I am trying to set attainable goals and then meet them, but it is a work in progress - like most of my life.

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Slim-Fast

I have been using the Slim-Fast drinks for two days now and they are actually quite good. I drink one in the morning as my breakfast and then one when I get home from work as a snack. I am able to push dinner off and therefore don't want to snack later on in the night since I am still full from my supper. Snacking late at night has always been a weak point with me and so at least when I am full, there is less chance of that.
The down-side to my slim-fast breakfast is that since it is a drink, I don't have any water which decreases the amount of water I normally get in a day so I have been trying to drink more throughout the morning hours at work.
I have had the chocolate fudge flavour and yesterday I bought the other flavours (since they are currently on sale) and once this one is done I will try another. The thing I am expecting from them is not extreme weight loss or anything like that, I just think it is an excellent way to get some vitamins and nutrients which are lacking in my diet, since I don't eat a great deal of meat (and therefore lack protein) and fruits and vegetables are currently very high in price (since they are out of season).

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Thursday, January 3, 2008

Thursday, January 3, 2008
Weight loss: 8lbs
Mood: confunkled yet excited

Other than the scale issue I did do other things yesterday. I did 300 calories on the elliptical (in two rounds of 150 so not perfect but whatever) and I massively cleaned my room - including moving furniture and washing floors - so that's a but more burnt calories too. I went to Shoppers Drug Mart after work to pick up a few things I needed such as razors and migraine pills and ended up falling for their clever announcements (but I was completely aware that I fell for them so I am not that mad about it). They kept having announcements like "hello shoppers customers, trying to start the new year off right? Keep your commitment and try boost meal replacement drinks...blah blah blah". And every time they came on it reminded me how I had always wanted to try meal replacement drinks since they are actually full of vitamins and whatnot. So I ventured to the aisle and started looking at them and low and behold the Slim-Fast drinks were on sale (they actually cost less than the Shoppers Brand ones due to the sale). So I bought on container of powder and decided to give it a shot. I had it this morning and it was actually pretty tasty. I made myself I meal plan for today and I am going to stick to it to the best of my ability. The only reason I can see myself failing to some degree is that it is a lot of food (but still under 1500 calories). It consists of 2 shakes, 2 snack and 2 meals for a total of 6 'meals' which is a nice way to keep my stomach occupied during the day and working away but not stuffed at any point. I am going to try this today and if it works out I am going to do it to be able to reach my calorie goals that I set out for myself recently. I also bought some healthy snack/granola bars which will help me reach my calorie goals while still eating healthy food (and they were also on sale - bonus!).

Tonight I plan on cleaning my room further and burning more calories (or the same in one go) on the elliptical. I do plan on altering my elliptical goals by planning time goals instead of calorie goals (like be on elliptical for 15 minutes rather than burn 300+ calories) but while I am cleaning my room the way I am (super intensely) I am going to continue with what I have been doing.

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Scale Calibration

So - I got all scared last night (since I am all alone in the big house and I have a wild imagination) and ended up staying up until 1ish in the morning trying to figure out my stupid scale and how it works.
I put free weights on it in an attempt to calibrate it - everything from 7.5lbs (the lowest it would register) to 50lbs. I did this all with 2.5lb and 5lb weights - so it was a great deal of effort and thought put into all of this with equations and charts and tables (since I am a nerdy engineer I was actually really excited to be doing this all). I made a calibration chart with all the actual weights and scale readings and fit a line to that curve and tried all different forms of the line - linear, exponential, power, modal, etc. and none of them fit perfectly although the linear was the closest (of course since it was not only the first one I tried but also the simplest). I got the equation (I told excel to tell me it though it's not hard to figure it out) and did some math, which seemed off to me so I checked the R^2 value to check how well the line fit the curve and it was 0.997 or something which is excellent but still I didn't think the math was really right. I went to the Doctor's in August and I was a couple pounds over (X)lbs then (however the scale could have gone down a teensy bit more so I though (X) even would have been a better weight). I got on this new scale (the one I am having trouble with) late October and it said (X-1).something then. If my calibration curve is accurate then the weight of (X-5).4lbs (what I was told by my scale yesterday) would actually be close to (X-13)lbs which doesn't seem right to me since I don't think I have lost that much weight. If the scale has always been this wonky (which I don't think it has) then the original weight of (X-1).something would be significantly less and that would be near impossible since I was eating utter crap between my doctor's appointment and when I got on the new scale. UGH! (note: sorry about the confusing X's I am just not ready to state my weight yet)
I also calibrated my other scale (it is a dial one) and that was easy to do since I just placed the weights on it and moved the dial to the right place. I then used a complicated method of trying to calibrate the other one to that one with me but that didn't seem to work.
So all in all, I have no way to know whether or not my scale is accurate or not. I can't go to a gym because my membership to the one at my university is gone (since I have graduated) and all others cost money as well and I don't want a membership - just a chance to weigh myself on the accurate scales. I guess I could go to a doctor's office or something, but I have no insurance right now (no longer covered under my parents and have no benefits at my contract job here) and don't know if that would count as something I need to pay for.
I got on the scale this morning and it said a loss of 6lbs. The dial scale said that I should be around a loss of 8lbs or so (it is hard to tell exactly what number it is on since I am so far from it and leaning over to look at it changes the number). I think I am around a loss of 8lbs and that as the scale gets that high in number the degree of error lessens from when it is lower values such as 50 (which was the absolute highest value I could get on my own). I might try calibrating it some more and experimenting with weights more when I have D around to help me since he can not only lift more than me, but that would be two sets of hand and arms to lift rather than just my one. But for now I am just going to approximate myself on the dial scale and then get on the other one and see for now. I think I am about at a loss of 8lbs and not a loss of 6lbs like it says. I don't know.
Mind you, in all this calibrating I got a really good workout. I was lifting weights for about an hour or so and standing up and sitting down constantly and then leaning over bending, picking up weights while bending. I bet you I worked my arms, back and legs - so I mean, it wasn't a complete waste - haha!

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Calories

I have been examing my calorific intake lately and have found that by adhering to the WW plan I might have been to restrictive. I am 'supposed' to eat about 28 points (approximately 1400 calories or less) per day according to WW. According to most other sites I should be eating 1800 on average. I have been looking into things and have determined that I will be increasing my calorific intake to 1600-1800 per day depending on how much exercise I do on that particular day. I am going to keep a close eye on things and see if this helps or hinders my weight loss - or if it does neither. I know when I was at home and eating more, in the beginning I lost weight and then gained it back. I have a feeling this was due to a technique called zig-zagging where yo alter your calorific intake each day (or couple of days) to get low, medium and high days with a weekly average of your ideal intake value. This technique can work since your body doesn't ahve the chance to 'get used to' the calorie value you are giving it each day and therefore it has a tendency to burn weight at a higher rate (essentially increasing your metabolism). I gained the weight back since I did not proceed to decrease my intake and therefore my body was able to adjust it's metabolism for the larger meals. For now I am just going to see what increasing my calories does and then perhaps test out the zig-zagging method, though I don't know if it is a great idea for me since I might not want to go back to the low calorie days after the high ones. This is all in an attempt to find the ideal method of weight loss for me. I do have to take into consideration thought, that while experimenting like this is good overall since I will learn more about how my body uses the fuel from food, it may hinder my progress for a little bit and further readaptation might be necessary in the not so distant future.

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Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Weight loss: 6.6lbs

So I am thinking the 8lbs weight loss was a fluke on my scale. Or perhaps it wasn't and my scale doesn't work properly at home. When I was at my parents place I seemed to lose weight in the beginning and then gained it back by the end - that is okay because my goal was to maintain and I did just that yay! *happy dance* mini goal achieved. My dilemna now is that I stepped on the scale this morning to find that it is up over 2 pounds from what it was when I left my house yesterday. Now it is impossible for me to have gained 2 pounds in that time frame so I have to think about what I ate, was it salty and therefore would cause water retention - hmm well I had stew, stir fry, a couple tootsie rolls, a small cookie and cinammon rolls so not any more salt than usual. Then I thought that perhaps the scale is acting differently in the two places due to level issues. The floor int he bathroom at my parents house is linolium or something and has some bumps in it so maybe it wasn't completely level although I did check it before each time I used it and their own scale said that same numbers as mine (which means I didn't actually have to bring mine but oh well). So when I get home tonight I am going to check to see if my scale is level at the house here because maybe that is the problem. I know when I stepped on it with carpet under it my weight was almost my goal weight - which was neat to see but obviously incorrect. Any way, this is my scale dilemna and I am going to have to resolve it ASAP as I need to be at 10lbs weight loss before I leave for London on the 15th which is coming up really soon. I will check the scale tomorrow and find out if it was just a fluke measurement which is probably was.

Today I re-adapted my weight loss spreadsheet and re-did all my calculations. My goals (both short term and long term) will need to be re-adjusted like this several times throughout my journey and it does not represent a loss in myself or that I have fallen of the wagon or anything like that. It simply recognizes the fact that there are times that I am not going to be able to lose and maintaining will be my goal then (for example while I am in London and when I was at my parent's house for the holidays). There are also going to be several plateaus in my weight loss that I am going to have to work through and it may take a couple weeks for that to occur. I am not going to let these things get me down this time around. Last summer I lost 20 pounds but then plateaued and gave up (I'll admit it, I gave up). This time around there will be no giving up, temporary breaks (max 1 week in length) from exercise or something perhaps, but no giving up. I honestly beleive that if I go into this thing knowing that my expectations will need to be altered and changed as my life changes, I will be able to succeed and reach my long-term goals, it just might take me longer than initially planned.

As for my holiday goals, well I already mentioned that I met my goal of maintaining. I also met my goal of drinking proper amounts of water each day (it was easy because of the water distributor on the fridge). As for my exercise goals, I was let down a little by both myself and the conditions. The new puppy doesn't really like walks and doesn't get very far before he is carried. Not a big problem I carried him on one of our walks, but he gets cold easily and begins to shiver (even with a little coat on) so I didn't want to torment the little guy and we went home most trips out. There was one successful walk where he and I ran (yes that's right I, Stephanie, ran down my road) down to the gas line and then walked all the way back. Now I could have gone out on my own and this is where I let myself down, because I didn't. I also realized on the last day I was at the house that there was an old exercise bike and it still worked (I knew it existed before but thought it was broken), so unfortunately I could have been using that while I was there. I am getting my Dad to bring it up for me when he comes up next since it is light and small. It will be added to my collection of equipment (and used too) and eventually when D and I get our own place we will make a gym for the two of us and we will have free-weights, a weight bench, the bike and my elliptical (and one day I want to get a really nice treadmill but I currently don't have the room or really the funds for it) - it will be so nice to have a proper space for it all.

Anyways, that is all for now. I hope all my readers had a great holiday and continue to have a wonderful New Year - Happy 2008!

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