Its been about 10 days without seeing a new low on the scale. While I haven't been perfect (and even went over my calories at least once if not twice) I think I should have saw some sort of loss. I think I have lost weight, but the scale just isn't reflecting it yet (I'm wearing pants I couldn't wear 10 days ago).
I'd really REALLY like to see a new low weight in the next day or two.
Based on what they're saying, I'm thinking that you're probably due for a whoosh.
And now you've got me imagining a curse, in which someone finds that he or she can wear smaller & smaller sizes of clothing, but the scale always reflects the same number. For those with engineer's brains & those who require metrics for a reality check, that sort of curse would be maddening. For someone who can accept their personal perception, like the fit of clothing, it would just be deeply weird.
I forget that being stuffed and being satiated are not one in the same. Experimenting with mini-meals instead of three squares. Why is this so hard?
Isn't this the age-old weight loss question? If it were easy, this website would probably see much less traffic! I "forget" the same thing sometimes... other times remembering is much easier.
Matt, I agree with Saef, you are due for the "whoosh"! It is coming, be patient. I have to remind myself of the same thing - I will lose the majority of the my weight for a month in one week. The rest of the month I get frustrated... except it happens every month, and if my behaviors are consistent the scale will be consistent. I have to remind myself to be patient. Do you measure your waist? Maybe if you did, at times like these it could give you positive reinforcement from that # when the scale # isn't moving. Of course the less formal but really just as important pants-o-meter works too!
Midwife, I actually had to scrape a layer of ice off the boat windshield yesterday (with my blood donor card, because who in Florida owns an actual window scraper?). I was less than thrilled.
Stay warm everyone! (Yesterday I was the warmest while I was working out at the gym - what a great push to go to the gym!)
saef - weird or not, there's a lot of satisfaction in cause and effect. Last year when I was swimming a lot, the scale didn't move a bit, but my dimensions did. Re the metrics, I can certainly relate to that! I've been noodling how to gauge success at this lower end of the spectrum, and was trying some experiments with weighting (pun intended) the scale values and the inches lost over various parts. The more I think about where I want to go, the less important the scale gets, and the more important lost inches become. Physically fit people are ... well, dense ... and I guess my goal for now thru 2011 is to get "more dense".
matt - methinks saef's prediction will come true before the end of the workweek. In the meantime, enjoy the pants-o-meter fits!
midwife - I handle the cold with an LL Bean, bright blue, ankle-length down coat with a huge roomy, fake-fur lined hood. It has a remarkable resemblance to a walking sleeping bag, and it has seen me through -15F with 20 mph winds ... toasty and happy. It was the best money I have ever spent, and it makes Michigan in the winter ALMOST tolerable. I still plan to become a snowbird when/if I grow up.
Yesterday was fully journaled, and came in at 1505 calories. There's still enough time in December to make a dent in those final pounds, so I'm fighting off the "f-it til next year" mentality. My head might not be screwed on fully, but there's no reason to take it out on my body by eating mindlessly. I've had my eggnog and rum, and it was fabulous ... I can go into the holidays with yummy teas and it will be just fine.
Last edited by ICUwishing; 12-15-2010 at 12:38 PM.
Reason: adding
Becky, for some reason I didn't realize you lived in Michigan. We're neighbors!
Speaking of cold, while I was driving to work today my car thermometer told me it was -2 degrees outside. I have also been staying toasty in my Lands End super-puffy coat (also with a faux-fur lined hood!). It's kind of funny because it's knee length and I'll wear it out and my calves, feet, hands, and face will be freezing, but everything covered by the coat will be sweating.
I really need the "don't gain 5-10" push right now. I've been maintaining 135-136 but I can see by my food log that I've been eating too much junk. A coworker gave me a big bag of homemade cookies his wife made yesterday. I thought about throwing them all in the trash but felt like it would be a waste. Then I ate too many. DH and I stashed the remainders in the closet and the plan is to bring them to a holiday party on Saturday.
Meanwhile work is having their holiday dessert buffet today. I have always had a "everything in moderation" approach which works in general, but lately if I take a moderate portion every time that I'm offered junk food, it won't really be moderate anymore.
Extra bonus to maintain: work is having a holiday weight maintenance challenge. I got weighed in yesterday (fully dressed and after eating) at 140. If I come in at 140 or under when they weigh me in again Jan 6 I get entered into a raffle to win a free one hour personal training session or a one hour group fitness class of my choice!
Jessica - the coldest I've seen so far this year on the car temp was a 6 - yikes! Makes me very, very glad that when I bought my Ford Escape, I ponied up to have aftermarket heated seats put in! I'm still waiting for somebody to make gloves that can keep my hands warm. Thankfully the coat has nice deep pockets ...
What an absolutely awesome idea to have a weight maintenance challenge at work - I wish somebody would do that here! The reward is certainly motivating, too. For the secretive, starting numbers wouldn't even need to be posted - it could just be reported as a delta. Like it! May have to set something up at home like that - a little reward for not doing any damage.
We were given a massive Tupperware tub of various kinds of sugary delectables a week ago. I've overindulged in the eggnog, so I figured I'd better get rid of the cookies before the restraints wore off. I repackaged them onto a pretty serving platter (the "nice" seasonal plastic ones), and wrapped the whole thing up in the festive cellophane ... and tied it (knotted it) with a big bow. We visited a friend a few days later, and the platter went with us. Problem solved. No, I didn't try to take credit for making them!
The weigh-ins certainly aren't public knowledge! When you go to weigh in, you go into the private exam room with closed door and the on-site nurse records your weight on a scrap of paper with your name on the other half. Then she folds it away and hides it somewhere in her office. When we weigh in again, if our weight is <= the number on the paper, she tears off the portion with our name and puts it into a jar for the raffle. Only the individual person and the nurse know the true numbers!
midwife - glad to hear things are looking up and you are seeing some results
krampus - mini meals are where its at. i do sometimes struggle with grazing vs true mini meals...sometimes it feels easier to just think about food fewer times per day and eat 3 times!
matt_h - i concur, get ready for the woosh! or maybe you are seeing a little muscle gain at the same time as fat loss...so hard to tell sometimes
quick update from me, fri-today have been super hectic in wonderful ways. my "2nd date" to san diego was beyond amazing. bikinis were worn, compliments were made about my "guns", it was 85 deg, the new guy was a complete and utter gentleman (and a lovely guide of his old town), and for as much as i feel like a formerly obese person apparently even in a bikini it isnt that noticeable...sunday evening in passing I said something about being heavy as a young adult and the new guy was flabbergasted. hah!
my stress levels are slowly leveling off and my dr was quite helpful and supportive yesterday. i even put an offer out to a direct report to start in jan. and thanks to some urging from 3fc friends i found volunteer opportunities that helped quite a bit with stress and perspective
things are def looking up!
wishing everyone else a small dose of sanity and peace during the holidays!
xty, I'm really happy to hear the date went well and that bikini time went smoothly!!!
matt_H, seconding the "trust your pants."
midwife, today is our first snowy day. Fukuoka has very similar weather to the Deep South in the US. Gross sticky summers with cold yet not very snowy winters.
Krampus, let me know how the mini-meals thing works for you. I tried it once but it just wasn't my thing. For me, eating a small meal cues my hunger and I seem to not be able to wait for the next mini-meals. Plus, I sort of the like the structure of knowing what times I'm going to eat. My body has sort of fallen into a routine that way.
this morning has been really strange. I was wide awake at 3am and couldn't fall asleep. I got up and went online for a couple of hours and decided to just lay and rest until I needed to get in the shower. Anyway, I turned off my alarm and ended up falling asleep and missing my train to work. I'm going to be 2 hours late for work today!
However....I when I got on the scale I see that I am 1 pound into new territory. Just 2.6 pounds to 180 and I hope to eventually make it down to 170-175.
Yesterday was a bit of a minefield, but I'm happy with my choices. My lunch date fell through, and I ended up at the company holiday lunch instead. It was basically a big catered dinner with some potluck goodies thrown in. I filled a plate 2/3 with green salad, took the thinnest slice of ham and a bit of white turkey meat, and caved to some spicy Mexican bean dip and 6 tortilla chips (refried beans are my fave food of all time). Very filling, and balanced nicely by the small dinner of brothy homemade chicken and rice soup. Still trying to do the addition on the calories. I somehow forgot how good it feels to exercise the choice of NOT eating something questionable.
matt- Insomnia sucks. I struggled with it terribly before I got my thyroid figured out, and I still take melatonin. Nothing works right when you can't get a good night's sleep. Hope tonight is better for you!
xty - so glad that your stress is dropping and you've had a wonderful date!
krampus - sounds just like Michigan! The summer humidity can make it awful to be outside.
Xty, I'm so glad to read this post from you, since I have thought of you every day, usually several times a day, since reading your post about your stress levels pretty much going through the roof.
"Minefield" is a good word from it. Last night was my co-op's party, or what's called "the building party" down here, in the NY area, where so many of us live in co-op & condo apartment buildings. I brought two veggie trays, store-bought.
As I've said elsewhere, my attitude towards potlucks has completely changed. I used to think of them as opportunities to show off a particular dish of mine. I wanted to make peoples' eyes roll back into their heads with pleasure. I was looking for some kind of ringing affirmation of my cooking skills & my discriminating palate & etc. Now, I don't care. I'd rather they admired my dress. Or my biceps. I'm more than happy to order a veggie or fresh fruit tray for pickup from the deli at my local grocery store. I do like to cook, but I'm fine with saving these skills for my own private use & no one needs to know I've built up a repertoire of delicious, low-calorie dishes, to which I'm always adding this or that recipe.
Then, at the office today, we went out to lunch, but it was to a seafood restaurant, so that was pretty easy. I have a head cold, so I wanted bouillabaisse or cioppino or something like that, hot & brothy & sinus-clearing. (Chicken soup for Saef's soul would have no noodles & would be chock full of seafood of all kinds.) I got it, but it was more like a tomato reduction sauce with a few bits of seafood. Fine. There's my protein.
But this evening, my gym unhelpfully threw a holiday party. So I was working away at the arc trainer just a few feet from the liquor table. Man, some of those personal trainers can drink. And a lot of them are Italian-American, so they had the whole Italian cookie tray thing going on & the cannolis & the gorgeous multicolored Italian pastries from the best pastry shop on Arthur Avenue. I got the heck away from that spread & went to Pilates class. After class, took a couple strawberry halves & nearly sprinted home for a hot dinner. The gym party was starting to get loud & rowdy. I was waiting for them to start swinging on the equipment & such.
Whew.
Made it.
But I don't know if the scale will be kind tomorrow. That tomato-y reduction sauce under the seafood? Was salty. But heck, this was a very hard week. Holding my own, even, would make me very happy.
Saef, you are a brick wall. Cannolis are one of my weaknesses and I've never even been in the same room with an authentic New York cannoli. I stand in awe.
I have also been staying toasty in my Lands End super-puffy coat (also with a faux-fur lined hood!). It's kind of funny because it's knee length and I'll wear it out and my calves, feet, hands, and face will be freezing, but everything covered by the coat will be sweating. 
Insomnia sucks. I struggled with it terribly before I got my thyroid figured out, and I still take melatonin. Nothing works right when you can't get a good night's sleep. Hope tonight is better for you!
