Love the good life, hate the 50 pounds it’s added

The last 10 days have been horrible (discipline-wise). Oh I’ve had fun. I’ve eaten foods that I’d not allowed myself for the last 8 months or so. And it seemed like a dam broke open. I knew it would be a difficult month. First I had the work trip and then my brother was in town for 5 days, which meant our favourite meals at home. And I’d told myself that this month I would be ok with not losing any, as I’d lost a lot last month. So this month would be a maintenance month. And I ate and ate (but exercised to make up for the food excesses).  Unfortunately for me, 1.5 hrs of exercise in a day does not make up for gluttony for the rest of the day. And so, here I am 4 lbs heavier than I was at the beginning of the month. This is so sickening. I can’t believe that I did this to myself. This is hara-kiri. I knowingly let myself go. Now, I’m taking charge of my life again. I am back to being careful about food. And no cheating AT ALL. I’ve realised that a little cheating here and there adds up to a lot of cheating, which in turn adds up to 4 lbs!

Anyways, I have set myself up with 3 challenges- with my Dad, my friend S and my Bro.

The first is with my Dad. We’re competing for who gets to 74 kgs first (162.8 lbs). This bet has been on for a while. And I am hoping that now with my newly resolved will-power I shall achieve it by first week of May.

The next challenge is with my friend S. Both of us have to lose weight. Though she has a lot less to lose. Our challenge is that we both lose around 10 pounds by June 26th (3 months from March 26th which was when we shook hands on the challenge). So I’m aiming for 154 lbs and she for 121 lbs. (She’s around 5 inches shorter than me)

The third and last challenge is with my brother. We both want to eventually lose around 20-25 lbs. So our challenge is who gets there first. My target is 143 lbs and his is 187 lbs. We’ve given ourselves till November. Which gives us enough time to realistically achieve our goals.

Phew! That’s three challenges I just have to win. And the ones with my Dad and my Bro are bets more than challenges. My father refused to bet anything. But with my Bro, we’ve agreed that whoever loses has to visit the other for a weekend/ holiday. With the increasing airfares, this is going to be one costly bet to lose!

The stats today:-

Weight: 169 lbs

Exercise: 50 mins cardio + abs + stretches + 15 mins walk to gym

Yay! I am back on track. I’ve dropped 2.5 lbs since yesterday. Must be all the water-retention weight that’s dropped off. But it does feel good. I was feeling pretty low to see my weight so high yesterday. Went to the gym today morning after 5 days and managed to put in 1.5 hrs altogether. I’ve completed my Level 2 salsa and my next level is starting only in May. So I’ll have to figure out what I’ll be doing for exercise over the weekends. Maybe I can go to the gym on Saturday and just go for a walk on Sunday. Let’s see. I certainly can’t rest on weekends. I’m far behind in the April challenge as it is. So here’s to pushing the limits and over achieving this month’s targets as well.

Weight: 167 lbs

Exercise: 32 mins cardio + 40 mins weights + 5 mins stretching + 15 mins brisk walk to gym

I indulged (and how!) the last three days. I ate (everything possible) and drank (a lot, including the dreaded super-fattening beer). And unsurprisingly, I weighed in at 169.5 lbs. My God! That’s like 3.5 lbs in 3 days. That’s crazy. I am hoping that some of it is water weight. Otherwise I have 7 lbs to lose this month, as per the target I have laid out for myself. And that’s a scary thought. I really did want to go the gym today but I returned from my trip yesterday late afternoon and I was super exhausted. I am back to my regular eating pattern. So that’s some good news. Tomorrow, I get back to exercising. I am also way behind in the April challenge. So I have to pull up my socks, literally!

Weight: 169.5 lbs

Exercise: Nada

        Yay! Unbelievable but yay!

March has been a fabulous month.

We all completed the Eileen’s March challenge FINALLY. I have earned a total of 59 stars. I had four cheat days and 5 days of absolutely no exercise. BUT I have lost more than 6.5 lbs in this month. That’s amazing for me as that’s the highest I have lost in a month where I didn’t crash diet.

My target was 168 lbs for April 1st. I am at 166 (I’d gone down to 165 but the scale has been showing 166 for the last couple of days)

Anyways, since I have been going faster than the targets I’d set for myself, I am re-looking at my weight loss targets for the next three months. Here goes:

May 1- 162.5

June 1- 158.5

July 1 - 154

Again, as always, I have not kept very ambitious targets. I am off for a three-day work related awards-fest where I will eat, drink, be merry (and come back a few pounds heavier I’m sure). Also, am planning a 2-week holiday in May-June, which will again mean no exercise and not much control/choice on food. So I really hope I can achieve my targets. Like I said my targets are very doable. And maybe if I have another good month like March, I’ll reach 154 lbs even before July 1.

I’m a happy girl today

Weight: 166 lbs

Exercise: 65 mins cardio  (arc + treadmill + cycle ) + 10 mins abs & stretches + 15 mins walk

Something is seriously wrong. I weighed in at 165 lbs. How on earth is it even possible?! There must be some trick somewhere. My scales are teasing me, playing a game. Tomorrow I’ll go back to 168 lbs or something and then I will be seriously depressed. It’ll be like letting the dog lick the biscuit and then taking it away. Arrrrgghhh!

But my God! 165! That’s 1 pound away from my May 1st target. And because I have been exercising I know the weight loss can’t be water loss or bone density loss (somebody told me that dieting causes bone density loss, don’t know if it’s correct). Anyways, which means that the weight I am seeing on the scales may actually be my weight. But even if it were my actually weight, it’ll be up next week. Sigh!

I am going for an advertising three-day awards fest next weekend (have I ever mentioned that I work in advertising?). Which means- three days of sun, sea, sand, lots of fattening food and lots of alcohol. It won’t just be difficult to maintain my diet, I won’t get any exercise either. Besides, I have been really looking forward to these three days. So I know I will indulge myself. I know it. I will have two nights of crazy partying. I sure deserve it. The last one year has been tough, personally and work-load wise. So yes, I do deserve to let my hair down for three days. But the only thing that’ll be down will be my hair. Am sure my weight will spiral right back to the late 160s. I am so torn between keeping up the weight-loss momentum and giving myself 3 days off. God help me!

Weight today: 165 lbs!!

Exercise: 30 mins cardio + 45 mins weights + stretches + 30 mins walks (to and fro from the gym)

I am in shock. I weighed in at 167.5 lbs today morning. That’s lower than my April 1st target. I don’t know whether it is just weight fluctuation, but I don’t care. I am seeing numbers that I haven’t seen in a long time. Not to say that I truly don’t care. I do care. I hope I am not back to 170 tomorrow. But even if I am fluctuating and touching 167.5 it means that that has become range. And that’s simply wonderful. And to think that I was cribbing just the other day that the scales weren’t moving. There really is light at the end of the tunnel.

Weight: 167.5 lbs

Exercise: 30 mins cardio + 40 mins weights + stretches + 15 mins walk

Things were going really well this month and then something happened. I have been exercising and sticking to my food targets most of the month. (Eileen’s March challenge has helped tremendously). And I had started seeing results. I lost 2 pounds early on in the month. And that’s it. No further weight loss. I am at 169.5 lbs and my target for this month is 168. There is only one week to go. And though I am keeping my fingers crossed, I am getting a feeling that I am not going to achieve my target. Yet again. And it sucks. It’s not like I keep very high targets. Then why is the weight so difficult to get off. So ok, I have finally started gymming. So maybe, just maybe, I have gained some muscle weight. And so I am not seeing any overall weight loss. Sigh. It sucks, big time. I read on other people’s blogs that lose up to 10 pounds on a regular month. Why not me? What am I doing wrong? I can’t do more than this. I’d promised myself that I won’t kill myself trying to lose weight. Sigh! I need to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Weight: 169.5 lbs

Exercise: 35 mins cardio + 40 mins weights + stretches + 15 min walk

I am in pain. But I am happy. I got my periods today, which is great. I’ve been waiting for it to start and get over with. So the painful cramps are welcome.

I am also happy about the fact that yesterday I actually pushed myself to exercise more. Apart from the hour and a half of gymming in the morning I also did a 25 minute Jane Fonda workout video and a 20 minute walk. I’ve been reading on other people’s blogs about exercise videos so I went and picked up the Jane Fonda CD. And I really enjoyed it. I used to do another Jane Fonda video (in the good old VCR days) which was fun. What I like about Jane Fonda is that her workouts are intensive. You can feel your muscles burning. That’s a sure sign that something good must be happening in your body. I know I will not have the energy to exercise this much everyday but I do feel good about yesterday.

Weight: 170.5 lbs (hopefully this’ll go down in a couple of days when I finish with the periods)

Exercise: 50 mins cardio + stretches + 15 mins walk to gym

Hello everybody. It’s a beautiful day today. It’ll soon get very hot, so let me enjoy it till it lasts. I have managed to push myself to go to the gym all four days this week, so if I go tomorrow this’ll be a successful week. Today was weights and I increased the weights across exercises. Even though at that point of time I was ready to scream out loud in pain, I am feeling so so good now. It’s unbelievable. And I know my ideal weight is like 40 pounds away, and yet life seems beautiful. Amazingly, I am finally enjoying the whole losing weight and getting fitter regime. I look forward to it. It’s rare these days that I ever complain, even to myself, about how I can’t eat so many things or about how I need to exercise (something that I hate). I am loving the fact that when I get up in the morning I have something to look forward to. I have something to look forward to two months later, 6 months later. Because every week, every month will take me to where I have always wanted to be. I have spent the better part of my youth being unhealthy, looking fat and feeling miserable. Damn if I am ever going to go back there again. Never ever. On that note, have a great day ladies!

Weight: 169.5 to 170.5 lbs (keeps fluctuating, may be PMS weight)

Exercise: 32 mins cardio + 45 mins weights + stretches + 15 min walk

Update on Exercise: 25 min Jane Fonda workout + 20 min walk in the eve