Thanks KatieO!

KatieO over at Sister Skinny who posted on the PNP Board that if anyone was feeling bloated, gross and unmotivated after the holiday trough-eating of sugar and crap (guilty as charged), to get a workout in as soon as possible, and that a domino effect would occur -- you feel PUMPED after a workout, and all things seem possible again. 

And she was totally right. I just got finished (see my other blog for my post about my new HRM) and am now feeling much better about everything. 

Oh and also -- I saw Megan over the holiday and can testify she looks GREAT! So proud of her. 

Sanity Check = Doin OK!

I've managed to do OK this week, despite temptations GALORE. I've had several dinners and lunches out, which I always view as a treat = splurge = not necessarily good for me. I've made good choices for the most part and had a few bites of desserts here and there, but overall I've stuck to the plan. Next week I'm arming myself with Larabars (the cleanest bars ever!), almonds, my beloved prunes, and natural peanut butter. This'll get me through the schnacky-let's-have-some-pie-between-meals thing.

Workout-wise, I posted on the fitness forum this week with Phit-N-Phat, and Corinne told me to email my workout schedule to her, then email every day after I get my workout done. Damn, this has really worked. I was really, really close to not working out yesterday, but instead modified my exercises to include most of the workout (Ok, so it wasn't perfect). Next week my workout plan is to walk in my parents' neighborhood (very hilly, and about about a mile round trip -- I'll be doing 3-5 laps), with walking lunges. The upstairs hallway is perfect for bear crawls, crab walks, and push ups. I'm working out the 25th, 26th, 27th and 29th. On the 28th I'm coming to see Megan -- woo woo!

Oh the downward spiral of negative self-talk

I felt strong yesterday. And stable. And happy. Then an offhanded comment sent me into a downward spiral of self-doubt and negative self talk. I managed to get in my workout, which I did 99% of, and then inhaled my dinner and had 7 oz of white wine and 3/4 of a dark chocolate bar from Trader Joe's. While watching the Biggest Loser finale. How's that for irony?

I find that when I'm inhaling food and in that mindset of Must.Get.More.Food.In.Mouth.Now. that I'm really shoving down my feelings, typically anxiety, about something, and that really I'm just terrified of talking about something that's making me crazy. So I consulted my therapist/husband, who actually is much better than a therapist cause he's REAL honest and tells me all the time that I overthink things, and told him what was on my mind, and we agreed that reality = reality, and there wasn't much I could do about it. And I felt immediately relieved, just by voicing it. The dark cloud lifted, my need to eat more chocolate (yes I considered it) and to be completely buzzed by bedtime passed. I wish that I hadn't eaten the chocolate and wine but I'm working on finding the courage to voice the scary, dark and twisty (Grey's Anatomy reference, thankyou).

I Can't Get No...

You know the rest. It's all about being satisfied as Heather pointed out in her last post. If you eat something that makes you feel satisfied in both the taste and feeling full categories, you're less likely to go searching for additional food. And the problem is, this time of year, there's all sorts of "satisfying" foods out there at parties, luncheons, etc. I literally had to leave a party the other night because I just didn't want to eat or drink anymore and it was too much of a temptation.

I'm having such horrible PMS that I just want to eat! I had 18 pieces of sushi the other day. That's the equivalent of three rolls. Trust me, I could have eaten MUCH more. But it was sooo good. Then I went on to linguine with white clam sauce at a work dinner. I inhaled my food while the other women were daintily making their way through their meals. Yeah me.

But I've lost 8.8 pounds and my jeans are huge. I just want to keep going... Goal AHOY!

Then Again ....

Sometimes I act like a rebellious teenager when it comes to eating right and exercising. Today is one of those days. After thinking a lot about the 80% rule, and still, frankly, not back to 100% from the cold/flu/plague that possessed me last week, I am not excited about working out. This is a departure for me, as I mentioned on my other blog on Friday.

Yet I need to summon the motivation. I'm going to try drinking coffee before the workout. I'm wondering if I'm not eating enough carbs. I just had a very unsatisfying salad with a limp chicken breast. Sigh. I may hit the vending machine for a granola bar, I'll say it.

The 80% Rule

I remembered this when I was panicking from not working out last week: 80% of person's weight loss success depends on what they eat. 10% of it is exercise, 10% genetics. Isn't that incredible? I'm looking for some articles that refer to it, but it's in the Clean Eating book and cited all the time in fitness articles. I always thought that since I was working out like a demon, I had some wiggle room diet wise. Uh no.

I was hangin in the forums of Phit-N-Phat, and Corinne advised another sick client to stick with her eating plans and don't sweat (har) the workouts until she was feeling better. So that's what I did this weekend, barring an unplanned cheat meal consisting of spicy peanuts, gingerbread men and wine. And I feel sizzle lean (but I didn't weigh because my cycle started today.)

Megan, you have some positive news to share, yes?

Oh. Maybe that was it?

Looking back at my food journals, and recalling with fondness the SEVEN chocolate chip cookies I ate over a three-day span, I'm amazed it wasn't more than a half a pound. To self: Being sick does not mean cookies do not have calories!

I'm rededicating myself to the Eat Clean Diet. One cheat meal a week; not three!

THE FRIGGING SCALE WON"T MOVE

No seriously, it won't move. I actually wondered if it was broken this morning. You'd think that not working out for 6 DAYS I'd lose at least some muscle. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I gain a half a pound. FUCK!

I'm going to experiment with edging my calories down a bit just to see what happens. I'm also looking into calorie cyling, which means something about keeping calories lower for three consecutive days, then increasing them slightly two days out of the week.

I'm also trying not to go completely postal and crazy about beating myself up -- you have GOT to get serious Heather! But still, I downloaded new workouts today from Phit-n-Phat and am going to try to do a bit of cardio tonight, assuming I am not wiped out from being back at work today.

Happy Birthday to... My Thighs!!!!!!

OH MY GOD. My kid and all her little friends had their birthdays this past week. I was really good and either had no cake or just a tiny piece. Then there was the pizza, the chicken nuggets, the ziti... Are these people deliberately trying to sabotage my weight-loss efforts?

There was this one cake, it was so delicious. Heather, I would have given you all the cake and eaten the icing...just like at your wedding shower. The icing was buttercream and had a little almond extract in it. Soooo... good.... I was weak, I kept eating the icing left around the bottom of the cake.

I guess we'll see how this all plays out when I weigh-in on Thursday.

Absolutely nothing to do with weight loss

But look! The Daily Show now has every episode including... 

Slow and Steady...

So I weighed in earlier and I lost .8 pounds this week. That's a total of 7lbs in 6 weeks. I guess that's good. Heather said that slow and steady wins the race and that the slower it comes off, the easier it will be to keep it off.

But, I'm impatient. I want it off now! Guess I should stop having those nightly glasses of wine...

I've got Finley's kids party tomorrow, the adult party Saturday and two kids parties on Sunday. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cookies and Stuff

As predicted, this trip to LA has been harder than I thought to eat healthy. Last night was Cuban food, which was To DIE For, but I suspect the extra oil on the plate from the flank steak remains wasn't exactly calorie conscious. Still, I am awake at an obscenely early hour (I've actually got up an HOUR ago) to hit the treadmill and get my workout in. Gotta do it!

Tomorrow night's landmine: the Google Christmas party. God help me. I'm considering wearing the bridesmaid dress from your wedding; if I can fit into it. I think I can... The party is semi-formal and I'm sure will be jaw-dropping in terms of food and fun. Maybe they'll have a moon bounce!

Good luck at your weigh in tonight; hope you've had a great week!

P.S.

The previous post was written with nothing but love and admiration for Heather. : - )

Heather is a Blog-A-Holic

Ok, so I'm not addicted to blogging like SOME people we know (Heather), but I do have something to say. In fact, I've had a post written in my head since I weighed in last Thursday. I just never got it posted. Here goes.

You know that great scene in "Mr. Mom" when Michael Keaton is dropping the kids off for school and he's going the wrong way into the school's driveway and everyone is yelling, "You're doing it wrong!" Well, that's how I felt after weighing in last week. I only lost .4 lbs in 2 weeks after kicking my ass at the gym nearly every day. However, all of my exercising apparently doesn't mean squat if I'm not eating enough. If I exercise and eat the same amount, my body will hold onto what it has rather than shed the pounds. Go figure. So, I'm doing it wrong according to Weight Watchers, my husband, etc.

So, I need to go back to really counting points AND exercising AND eating enough. That's doing it right. We'll see if it works when I weigh in on Thursday.

Megan Has Gone Blog AWOL

So really, I'm posting solo. Sob.

I'm adopting the more-protein plan! I really am! I'm so freaking full I can barely move! I had cheese Thursday and Friday, and took massive amounts of Lactaid to avoid disastrous consequences, only to find that those things + a McDonald's double cheeseburger on Friday night = cement block stomach. Seriously. I ate prunes this morning, am taking my probiotics and drinking gallons of water. Please God let it help.

Yes, I ate a McDonald's cheeseburger. I was desperate, and stupid. I thought it was around 300 calories. Wrong. It's 440. Dammit.

You're probably wondering why I haven't weighed. This is why, though I'm considering the idea of weighing every day, rain or shine, just to get in the habit. That way I won't be pinning all my hopes, dreams and poo on one day. Know what I mean?