Backsliding

Hey everyone,

I have been gone for a while.  I've been hiding.  Since moving back from Portland I have gained back seven of the pounds I lost.  I had been down 22 pounds before we moved back home, and I'm slowly getting it back.  I am still attending TOPS meetings, and have signed up for an officer position to help motivate me to get back on track.  I steadily gained at each weigh-in with my new group, and kept the same weight at our last meeting.  Hopefully, I have leveled out and will get back down.  I have been too ashamed to write to everyone that I am gaining.  I am failing every single day.  Even weeks where I do everything I should- I stay under my calories, log all my food, and workout five times a week, I still gain!  I know this is common, and I know that others are struggling with this right now.  That's why I've decided to write about it-- maybe it will help clear the air and help me restore faith in myself.

The biggest problem I have right now is nowhere to work out.  At our place in Portland, I had a fitness center in my apartment.  It was small, but it was enough.  I rode the exercise bike for 35 minutes most days, and got at least 8-9 miles in per day on the bike.  The cost of living in a smaller town and smaller complex is that it doesn't have a fitness center.  I didn't realize how heavily I relied on that bike to help me lose weight.  When I rode the bike, I ate better that day.  I drank more water.  I didn't want to waste my workout.  I loved riding that bike.  Now, my only options for exercise are running, following YouTube videos, or playing tennis.  Running is not fun!  Tim and I keep at it, but it sucks.  My ankles, knees and hips are sore everyday.  It is difficult to continue to exercise when you do not enjoy it.  I like playing tennis, but we are terrible.  It is a lot of running to pick up the ball and get the game going again.  Once we improve, it will be more fun, but right now, it's about as enjoyable as running.  YouTube videos are great, and we really like doing Yoga, but it really doesn't burn all that many calories.

Financially, we have been struggling quite a bit.  We emptied our accounts moving back home, because in the long run, it will pay off.  We make more money here and it has the added benefits of being a lower cost of living and much closer to our families.  Because of the financial hardship, we haven't been buying healthy food as much, and haven't been able to get a gym membership for me.  Over the two months we've been home, we have spent more on takeout food than we have since January.  We haven't had the cash to make a big grocery store run, so we've been picking up cheap dinners.  It's digging us into a bigger hole financially, and into bigger pants for me.

I'm writing now to get back on track.  We are tracking all our spending to get our finances in order.  We have picked up second jobs.  I am right now working on a freezer meal plan for today, and finding the best deals to get the most dinners prepped for the least amount of money.  Writing is what makes me lose weight.  You all are the reason that I do this, for support, for encouragement, and to help realize that weight loss is crazy difficult, but so many of us are in this together.  I am 61 pounds from my goal weight.  I do not want to be any farther away from that magic number than I am now!

Please, let me know if you are struggling too!  If you have freezer meal recipes, or want some of mine, email me here at eringesine@gmail.com!

Leave of absence over!

Hey everyone!

Sorry I've been away for so long, I surprised my family with moving back home from Portland. The last month before the move was extremely stressful. Between working as much as we possibly could, getting my wisdom teeth removed (ouch!) and lying our behinds off to our families, exercising and eating healthy took a backseat. I kept up with my TOPS meetings and only gained two pounds that last month, which I am thankful for! After wisdom teeth removal, my diet was pudding, soup, Mac and cheese and ice cream. It's a miracle I didn't gain more weight. It was difficult to keep posting when I wasn't exercising, and even more difficult to post without ruining the surprise. But, I am back!

I haven't been to a TOPS meeting since we've been back, so I've weighed myself between a doctors visit, on a digital scale at my mother's and at the gym I'm joining. I have gained one pound in the three weeks off from meetings. That's all I'm gaining back!  I have found an Anytime Fitness near our new place, and am getting back on track with eating better. Thanks to months of eating well and exercising regularly, my metabolism kicked up a bit and kept a lot of weight off during the move. We used a U-haul Box to ship all of our possessions across the country so we didn't have to drive them. It was cheaper than a moving truck, however you have to go without your things for a long time. We had three days in Portland without our furniture, extra clothes, or kitchen stuff. When we got to Ohio, we had a week to wait for the box to arrive. It was a lot of take out and frozen food. Also, a lot of repeat outfits. It was tricky, stressful, and exciting to surprise our families. I would not recommend it. Support from everyone would have been preferred over the excitement of pulling off the surprise.

I am hoping to be down a few pounds at my next meeting, which will be on Mondays from here on out. I'm going to have to behave on my weekends now!  We finally got to go to the grocery store and stock up on veggies again, and have most of our kitchen unpacked and will be able to cook healthy very soon!  I am planning on training for a 5k to keep me motivated and in check. I will be recruiting workout and/or TOPS buddies for support and mutual encouragement.  If anyone around home wants to train with me, try out a meeting, or meet up for a freezer-meal prep day (or healthy dinner day) please let me know! You can always email me, or comment from the full site (mobile commenting still seems to be on the fritz).

I'm glad to be back, and I'll keep you posted on everything!

The Struggle

Hey everyone!

Sorry I've been out for a while.  We are moving in about three weeks, and we are working as much as we possibly can until then.  The restaurant has been super slow- so we end up working doubles everyday to scrape by.  In doing this, I have lost focus on working out and making sure we are eating healthy.  We go in to work in the morning, have about an hour or so break, and are at work until way past supper time.  So, we make a frozen pizza, or pasta for dinner.  I don't work out before work because we sleep in until it's time to get ready.  I knew that this month would be bad for weight-loss, because I honestly don't know how to focus on working/saving money 100% and weight loss 100%.  If anyone has any tips, please let me know!

I missed TOPS this week because I've also had a migraine for the past few days.  It's sneaky and keeps coming back.  The headache has been pretty manageable, and I'm making it through all my shifts without having to go home, so I can't complain too much about it.  So here's what happened the last two weeks:

Two weeks ago at weigh-in, it was awful.  It was the second week of working as much as we could, so we hadn't been making dinner each night.  I got on the scale at TOPS and I was up 4.6 pounds!  In one week.  Then everyone else got on the scale, and we were all up by a lot.  Our scale was breaking. Our leader took it home and fixed some of the wires that needed to be soldered together.  My scale at home isn't too reliable, but it said I stayed the same weight... The following week, after the repair, we were all down again.  I was down 3.6 pounds.  I'm sure I just maintained my weight over the past few weeks, I haven't lost, and I haven't gained.

We are burning a lot of calories with all these extra hours, but they are calories that we wouldn't normally be eating, so I haven't lost.  I'm five pounds away from my first goal, and it seems like I won't get there unless we figure out how to plan ahead for healthy meals.  I will be researching healthy meals we can make ahead of time, and are simple enough to reheat at 11pm when we get home from work, if I find any good ones, I'll pass them along!

During this month, I have gotten to a weight where I fit into one of my motivation wall outfits!  I had a pair of shorts hanging on my hallway wall, and I tried them on a few weeks ago.  They fit!  I wore them to class:

We are done working doubles for the week, we only have the hours to work single shifts, so I'm hoping to get some workouts in this weekend, and we will at least be able to cook healthy on Saturday and Sunday night.  I can tell my body misses healthy things.  I have been craving Tilapia with veggies all week.  I haven't been jonesing for cheat foods, I miss my broccoli.  I hope to be down at this next weigh-in, and I may even be down the week after that.  I have surgery scheduled to remove my wisdom teeth late next week, so I'm hoping the no food diet will help out :)

I'm struggling with not losing weight.. I want to keep losing each week.  But, sometimes, when you're strapped financially, it's ok to shift priorities for a month.  Once we are settled into new apartment, I'll find a gym again, and get back on track.  Maintaining my weight is still a huge success when our lifestyle has shifted so much.  Right now, we have to focus on the dollars.  Next month, I'll focus on the pounds.  

Inspiration & Reflection

Hey everyone!

Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday, but here it is.  I weighed in at my meeting, and for the first time, I Turtled.. for those unfamiliar with TOPS lingo, that means my weight stayed exactly the same.  No gain, no loss.  I was thrilled!  We went to Pendleton, OR for my TOPS conference, and we ate out each night we were there.  There was also a fairly well known local brewery there, so we had to sample a few beers- how could we not?

The beers were great, and you could get them in a 5 ounce pour!  Portion control! My favorite was a Beer Named Sue, Tim really liked High 'N' Rye.  

The conference was held in the convention center next to their rodeo.  As expected, it was filled with about 530 elderly men and women (mostly women).  I saw two people who were maybe around my age, and one young girl with her mother.  I couldn't believe how many skinny people were there!  It completely reinforced what the speaker said, "You are still you, even if you're skinny."  We will still have the same issues once we make it to our goal weight, we might still need the support to keep the weight off.  Our speaker said she has to remember that she isn't a fat person about to burst out of a skinny woman's body.  These women are still dealing with the emotional reasons they gained weight in the first place, even years after they have lost it.  

I have never been self-conscious about my weight.  I knew that I had gained more than I ever meant to, but I have always been a confident person.  I don't look at someone else's weight and judge them for it, because I don't think that my size has any difference on how I see myself- why should it matter about someone else's?  But, I did make the decision that it was time to lose weight because of how I felt physically.  I missed being able to shop and pick up an outfit, not try it on, and leave the store right away with it.  I missed playing volleyball and being active.  I missed riding my bike.  I wanted to feel better all the time and not get tired all the time or have to catch my breath.  Basically, I want to be healthy!  Appearance will always play a role in motivating me, I want to feel as confident in a swim suit as I do in my favorite jeans, but my weight doesn't give me value.  Maybe being a book nerd inherently teaches you to value your mind over anything else (even when it isn't the sharpest mind out there).  

I was sharing a few weeks ago about how it is easy to miss progress.  While I've lost 21 pounds, it would be easy to see the fat person still looking at me in the mirror.  I look at myself every day- so the progress can sneak along, undetected.  But, the scale and my clothes don't lie.  I remember that just because I don't see my arms as skinnier than they used to be, doesn't mean they aren't.  And, it doesn't cheapen what I've done.  I'm not doing this to look good.  I'm doing this for me, I'm doing this for Tim, I'm doing it for my family, I'm doing this to show people that it can be done.  I'm not doing this to be thin.  Putting that much value into appearance is something I've never been able to comprehend.  Issues of body image are extremely serious, and I am grateful and very fortunate not to have developed them.  For a ton of information, the National Eating Disorder Association has resources for symptoms, treatment, and volunteer opportunities.  It is a great source of information if anyone wants to take a look.  

While at the conference, hearing these success stories of women who have lost over 100 pounds, gone from a size 28 to a size 6, I was hit with the idea that this is where I'm supposed to be.  I want to be surrounded by these women who have conquered so much more than I could, and who are running around the conference hall.  They are thrilled that they don't need to use the seat-belt extender when they fly, that they can walk straight out of a church pew instead of shuffling out sideways.  I recognized my "small victories" because of them.  I have to safety-pin my pants at work, I don't have to wear a tank top under another shirt to help hide my belly, I bought my first dress one size smaller, I bought a shirt without trying it on, in a size smaller and it fit!  These are the victories worth celebrating, the unexpected perks of losing weight that make you feel awesome.  

Sorry for the selfie (I'm not proud of it), but I realized this is the only picture I have of just the dress.  Tim doesn't like to take pictures, so I have to do it myself!  

I had a great time at the conference and learned a lot about the success of losing weight.  All of the major losers (someone who lost at least 50 pounds) had the same advice: keep a food journal/progress journal, drink a lot of water, get moving, and use a support system.  I have that support with TOPS, but a workout buddy or mentor will work just as well!! I took a lot of notes from the presentations, and will share that document here.  Hope some of the tips work for you!  

One last thought I had seeing these women who have lost so much to get to their goal weight:  I had been told (a lot of times) that "maybe you're just not meant to be skinny" or "your body isn't built for running," and, I'm sorry for the language, but that is complete bullshit.  These women didn't look like skinny-women-who-used-to-be-fat.  They looked like women.  You couldn't tell that they were heavy before.  There is no asterisk following them around: *used to be fat.  You can be as fat or as thin as you want to.  Something they all had in common?  They were happy and healthy.

First Goal Within Reach!!

Hi all!

I was able to go to my TOPS meeting this week!! I had to skip last week because I was blessed with a week-long migraine.  Yikes.  It knocked me on my bum.  I couldn't even exercise this week, which stinks, I like exercising and, even though its tough to get down there sometimes, I always feel more confident after.  Last Tuesday, I jogged home from class.  It is about 2 miles, and I wasn't very fast, but I jogged almost the entire way.  That afternoon the migraine hit, and stayed until last night.  I tried to run earlier in the week, but I only made it for six minutes before I had to stop.  Migraines do not like exercise.  But I am feeling better, it's down to just a normal headache now, and seems to be on the way out (which is great, because the conference I'm going to is tomorrow through Saturday).

So, last meeting, I was up- 1.4 pounds to be exact.  I missed last weigh-in, and today I'm down 4.4 pounds.  That's down to 204 for a total loss of 21 pounds so far!! I have six weeks until our lease is up, which is my goal date to be under 200.  Four pounds in six weeks is totally do-able!  I just have to keep behaving!

You all know I go to TOPS meetings, and I love them.  They are awesome.  The support, friendship, and fellowship really helps with weight loss.  I can't believe how much I like going to meetings.  Those of you who know me, know I am usually uncomfortable with that kind of thing, but it's one of the best decisions I've ever made (also one that took me the longest time to make).  Anyway, TOPS has little prizes for motivation, and they really do help.  I've won three months of dues paid, three certificates, and today I won my bracelet!  You get one after you've lost 10 pounds with TOPS.  I've lost 15 with TOPS to date.  Here's my bracelet:

Its plain, and will get filled up with charms as I win them, but I love it!  It is a small, simple reminder of how far I've come and how much farther I have to go.  I'm hoping it will keep me from overeating, or from getting lazy when I don't want to get my run on.

This past week, Tim and I have been grilling a lot.  We love cooking on the grill, and have made brats a few nights, some steak, and chicken.  We also tried a new version of spaghetti last night, and it turned out good!  We took a page from our work, and sautéed some veggies to go along with the sauce.  We have also tried ground turkey in the spaghetti sauce in the past, but it wasn't quite right.  This time, we blended plain ground turkey and some spicy Italian turkey sausage for our meat sauce, and it was perfect!  It doesn't come out as greasy as ground beef and it has a better flavor, so now we have a go-to spaghetti sauce (its also what Tim used for lasagna last week).  I also came up with an idea for dinner earlier in the week, that turned out pretty well.  We buy our meat in bulk from Costco, so we have a ton of boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the freezer.  We had an extra packet of Shake 'n' Bake in the pantry, so I cut up the thighs and tossed them in the mix.  They turned out like chicken nuggets, but way better for you.  (I know Shake 'n' Bake probably isn't the best thing for you, but hey, baby steps!)  We had some extra calories for dinner, so we also made french fries in the oven, and had some broccoli as well:

The picture isn't great, but the nuggets were tasty!  That dinner was about 650 calories.  We didn't use any oil or anything with the fries or nuggets, and we only used about 1/2 tbsp of butter to sautee the broccoli.

I'm getting really excited with my progress, and I feel like my motivation is coming back.  As long as my headaches stay under control, I can keep up with the exercising.  

I really like how much we've changed since we started eating healthier.  I've been able to cut back on logging my food everyday, because our eating habits are changed.  We don't mindlessly eat like we used to.  I have also learned a lot about calories, serving sizes, and nutrition, so I know before logging if we've gone over or under for the day.  We've been drinking much more water than before, and are buying a lot less pop, and almost no junk food.  Our biggest weaknesses are still pizza, chipotle, and tortilla chips with guacamole.  But, I'm not ready to give those up yet.  

We-- well I-- have made us get healthier in other parts of our lives as well.  I forced both of us to go to the Dentist this week, and we are heading to the Eye Doctor this afternoon.  I'm getting us both healthy and feeling better.  We hadn't been in so long because of not having insurance.  Now, we both have it, and I made appointments (and forced Tim to go).  He wasn't too happy about it.  But our teeth look awesome, and we are going to be able to see so many things after the Eye Doctor!! We do have to get our wisdom teeth out next month, so if anyone has any tips about that surgery, please email me!! eringesine@gmail.com.  The commenting won't work if you're looking at the mobile version of the site- you can comment by clicking on "view full site" and it should work from there.  

I'm really happy with the progress I'm making, and the overlap into other parts of my life!  I hope everyone else is having a good week!! 

Remember motivation??

Hey everyone!

Sorry I missed last week, but as some of you know, I picked up a second job.  Last week was the first week of getting fully scheduled at both the retail store and the restaurant.  It was a little hectic, but I'll get it figured out when I can regularly get these up.

Bad news, I was up last week a pound, and I'm pretty sure I gained a little this week, or at least stayed the same.  I have had a migraine for the past three days, so I missed my TOPS meeting yesterday.  I was down (won biggest loser) the week that I was sure I'd gain (last post).  I'm working on getting back down for next week.  It's my last meeting before the TOPS conference I'm going to next weekend.  I'm really excited about it, and it couldn't come at a better time- I need some inspiration!  I'm really struggling with getting down to the gym, and sticking to my calorie limit everyday.  We grabbed dinner with a new coworker Sunday at our Mexican restaurant, and that wasn't even the worst calorie day of the week!

Here's the problem:  everyone has been telling me how great I look.  It feels awesome, but then I get a little complacent.  I feel good, I look good, why do I need to keep losing?  I forget that my end goal is a lot bigger than what I've lost so far, and I need to keep losing.  I'm just a few pounds away from my goal of being under 200 by the time we move, but it seems like a huge challenge that I can't get past.

Here's what I'm doing to fix it:  I am starting a challenge for myself.  I'm printing off a calendar, where I will write both work schedules and school schedule.  I'm going to write in the days I will workout, and follow them like they are meetings.  I will keep track of how many glasses of water I drink everyday.  I will try harder to stay under (or very close to) my calorie limits for each day.  I want to feel good about myself each week after weigh-in, and keep up with the progress.

We've been cooking at home again this week.  We are trying to not pick up food anywhere but the grocery store.  I even tried Shake and Bake for the first time Monday.  Not bad!  And, it only adds about 40 calories!  We made fajitas twice this week, and I made mine into a bowl to avoid the tortillas.  Tim also made me lasagna when I was working late, with ground turkey and spicy turkey sausage.  It saved a ton of calories and was better than standard lasagna.  Sorry mom, but it was the best lasagna I've ever had.  These are a couple of the new recipes we tried since I last posted:

Left is Pork Chops roasted with Thyme, Garlic, Sliced Potatoes, and Onions.

Right are Muffin cups with spinach, cheese, green peppers, and onions with Turkey sausage breakfast links.

I'm not sure what new recipe we will try this week, but I'll keep pictures up!  Also, here is a bad picture of me that I took at work to send my sister.  It's not a great shot, but I think it shows some progress.  I also feel sneaky, 'cause I wore it to work, where its all about fashion-ey things, and I got these pants at a thrift store, which earned me lots of compliments!  Thanks, $2 pants!  Great work!

Well, I'm setting myself up to do better this week, and hopefully will have good news after next weigh-in!  I'm sure I'm not the only one who's hit a road block when losing, it's part of the process, and I'm dealing with it pretty well (I think).  Here's to doing better!

Struggling

Hey everyone,

This has been a bad week in terms of motivation.  I have had about zero.  Zero motivation.  I've gone over (way over) my calories at least three days this week, and have only exercised three times.  It's been really hard to make myself go down to the gym.  Normally, once I'm down there, I'm fine working out.  I'm glad I'm down there and I feel better all day.  This week, I have been forcing myself to get on the bike, and am resentful the whole time!  I don't know what's going on with me, but it's been a tough week.

I've also been craving a lot of junk food these past few days.  We went to our local bar for dinner one night.  We picked up an extra shift on Saturday for the managers at work, so we got sent home with two entrees, which we ate.  And I baked a Texas Sheet Cake to bring in to work on Easter.  We over ate with calories a lot this week, and I'm pretty sure I'll be up at weigh-in tomorrow.

I did try a new recipe substitution this weekend.  Texas Sheet Cake, for those who don't know, is a flat, dense chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  It looks almost like brownies with frosting made of milk, powdered sugar, cocoa and butter.  I substituted half of the butter for avocado in the frosting, as well as in the cake which saved 1 1/2 sticks of butter.  It cut down the calories per serving by 14% (29 calories per piece) and the fat by 40%.  There was no taste difference, and no one at work noticed, which made me feel good and also sneaky.  I miss baking a lot, and that's the only baked good that I'll eat a lot of if you let me.  So, for Easter, I had cake for breakfast and snacks throughout the day, and more cake at night time.  It was bad.  I did work out after work, but I don't think it made up for it.

Even as I'm writing, I'm having hot chocolate!  I can't get focused this week.  Yesterday, I made myself put on workout clothes, worked myself up to going to the gym for another 15 minutes, finally went down there, and it was closed!  It was hard enough to make myself go down there the first time, and I had to do it again, later that day.  The second time I went down, the guy I always run into down there was working out on the treadmill, with his headphones on.  He had accidentally (or on purpose) locked the door and I couldn't get in, nor could he hear me knocking.  I had to motivate myself three times to go down there, and I hated every minute of it while I was on that stupid bike.  I was even reading one of my favorite books that I found at a thrift store, jamming out to my show tunes station on pandora, yet I was still miserable.  Today I couldn't even make myself get down there because I've had a killer headache all day.

I'm telling myself that next week will be better, and I will get my focus back.  I've noticed that we've been eating less veggies lately, so Tim is at the store now, picking some up for supper.  We are making chicken on the grill (breaking the lease agreement) and roasted veggies.  I don't normally condone rule-breaking, but our lease is up in less than two months, and we have to move anyway, so we're going for it!

I'm sharing my crappy week a day early, because I'm sure I'll be up at weigh-in tomorrow, and I wanted to let everyone know ahead of time!  I also have to work both jobs tomorrow, so there may not be time for my usual Wednesday post.

I wanted to share this mostly because these weeks are part of the weight-loss process.  I didn't gain weight every week when I was putting on the pounds, and I sure as hell won't lose weight every week while I'm taking them off.  Even when everything is going well, you're seeing progress, feeling better, and losing weight, you can hit a wall.  This week my wall was no motivation or drive.  Next time, it could be that I do everything right and gain that week.  No matter what, I just beat myself up a little bit when I have a setback, then move on.  Tomorrow starts a new week for me, and after weigh-in, I'll do better these next seven days.

Down Again!

Hello!

Well, following my checklist of what to do last week paid off!  I am down 2.2 pounds today, losing the weight that I gained last week plus a little extra.  I've been focusing on working out almost everyday (five days this week), drinking a lot more water, and staying under my 1500 calorie limit each day.  We even had a splurge day- Tim and I went to Applebees Monday after our lunch shift.  We went for the $5.99 burgers, and happened to hit happy hour as well.  We went a little crazy, and got burgers, mozzarella sticks, and I had a margarita.  It was wonderful after a rough shift at work, and nice to not think about the calories for a little bit.

I was immediately filled with guilt after we splurged.  We also aren't used to having that heavy food anymore, so we promptly passed out when we got home.  After the nap, I hit the gym for the second time that day, doing 35 minutes on the bike in the morning and 25 in the evening.  To top off the day, we went for frozen yogurt (we did walk there- about 1/2 mile).  Total calories for that day were very high, about 2400!  I burned about 800 at the gym, and serving averages about 150-230 calories burned per hour, so I ended up breaking even.  Still, it is crazy to think that used to be a regular day for us- without the exercise.  Now, when we go over on food for the day, I make sure to make up for it.  I'm ok working off the food, as it allows me to break the healthy food cycle every now and then.  Days like that also serve as a reminder to how easy it would be to slip back.  2400 calories is about 2/3 of a pound.  If we didn't work out, I could easily have gained about a half pound (theoretically) in one day!  I also recognized how terrible I felt after eating.  We fell asleep almost immediately after returning home- I felt so sluggish, and had to make myself go back down to workout again.  I have gotten used to feeling better everyday, and I don't want to give that up for burgers!

This week, we are planning on trying out this recipe I found on Women's Health Magazine for a healthy version of Arroz con Pollo.  We will also be walking to the frozen yogurt place down the street a night or two this week.  As long as we don't pile on the toppings, an 8 ounce serving only has 110 calories, and it's delicious!  This coming from a girl who loves ice cream- got hooked on it from a young age.  This is just as good, and we walk there and back, so it's not a terrible treat to have!

I am hoping to be officially down a size within a month.  I can fit into one size smaller jeans, but they are a little snug for how I like the fit.  I have lost three inches around my waist (so it looks like I am curvy), an inch around my hips, belly and boobs, and about a half inch each from my neck and arms.  That's a total loss of seven inches!! Sadly, I haven't lost anything from my legs yet,  but I'm really looking forward to it!

I hope this is helping some of you get motivated to be healthier!  If I can manage to lose weight without feeling like I'm suffering, I know anyone can!  Feel free to ask any questions, or comment any tips of your own!  I still haven't worked out with the website how to comment anonymously from smartphones, but hopefully that bug will be worked out with blogger!
(you may be able to if you go to the full site version on your phone)

Have a great week!

Perks!

Hey everyone!

Sorry I missed yesterday, I try to write every Wednesday after my meetings and weigh-in, when everything is fresh in my brain.  I had to meet with my bank yesterday because they kept calling me... to help me avoid my monthly service charges.  Never had a bank do that!! It was awesome.  The woman also helped show me where I can start saving, paying off debt, and improving my credit.  Thanks Wells Fargo!  Because of that meeting, and because I'm one of those weirdos who loves making budgets, lists, and plans (see fitness goal), I spent the three hours after the meeting, before work, working on financial planning.  I am now set up to either be extremely poor or extremely stable- money-wise.

To move into weight-loss talk, I have to admit that I gained a pound this week.  1.4 pounds to be exact.  I stayed under my calories, but instead of working out everyday, I did three 1 1/2 hour sessions in the gym.  I did a lot more strength training than normal, doing full circuits of weight-lifting followed by about 35-45 minutes of cardio.  Each session burned about 700-800 calories.
We also worked less hours than normal last week, as we had just paid rent, just got our student loan rebate, and had an opportunity to take three days off in a row- so we did!

Because serving burns a lot more calories than I factor in, I ended up gaining a bit back.  I know that some of it is muscle weight, and I'm ok with gaining, as long as I'm losing more often (which I am).  Gaining some weeks is completely normal!  They tell me at TOPS, "no one loses every week."  When I do gain, I make a list of things I'm going to focus on this week, including: staying under my calories everyday, balancing out a hard workout (cardio + strength) with a day of just cardio, not giving away any shifts all week (which will keep me burning calories all day), and drinking more water than I did before.  Gaining doesn't make me feel frustrated, I use it to get more motivated.  I want to win my biggest loser dollar next week!

With financial planning, and since we've been eating healthier, Costco has become our new friend.  We buy all our meat in bulk, freeze it, and try to make dinner at home.  We went today and got 20 dinners worth of meat, 10 pounds each of taters and onions, 2 dozen eggs, and a gigantic bucket of cottage cheese for under a hundred big ones!! We are set up for healthy eating for a while again.

One of my biggest reasons for not losing weight in the past is that I didn't want to lose out on cooking.  We love to cook.  We eat at home almost every night, and cook as much as we can.  We both come from families that sat down to eat together every night, which was weird to do when I was in grade school.  We do it now.  The surprise of losing weight and trying healthier things, is that we get to try a lot of new recipes.  We experiment in the kitchen a lot more, and have found some healthy staples.  I thought I'd share a few pictures of some of our favorite dinners we rotate through:

Spicy chicken with cumin, over brown rice with cilantro, lime, avocado.  With sautéed green beans with garlic. 

Roasted veggies.  Just toss a pan full of vegetables with a tiny bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast at 400 for about 40 mins.  Some nights this is all we have for dinner.  It's that good.

Spicy pork chops (we use cumin a lot) with sweet corn, and our favorite veggie: the green bean with garlic.  Seriously- eat it.  

I love pierogis (best recipe I've found for them).  However, they are problematic: 1. They are a ton of work.  2.  They are not good for you. 

This is a healthier, faster version of them.  I still use a mix of dry cottage cheese and egg for the filling, but stuff them in wonton wrappers instead.  You can cook them with just a little bit of oil or butter, no need to boil first with these (or make the extremely temperamental dough).  

I haven't been missing out on cooking, we have just been finding different things to make.  I definitely miss making fried chicken, homemade pizza, and snacks that we always refer to as "super bowl food."  But, when we get a craving for them, we try to make healthier versions, or just make it in smaller amounts.  Eating healthier hasn't deprived me of kitchen time, we've just gotten craftier in there.

The last perk I want to talk about is energy.  I've mentioned before how much more of it I have.  And, something that our leader at TOPS said got me thinking: he mentioned that he doesn't like to workout because he wants to have time to relax, or just kick back on the couch.  I used to think the same way.  Why would I want to waste an hour at the gym, and an hour showering, when I could have two hours on the couch?  It sounds like a bad deal.  After working out regularly, I realized I'm not losing one hour of feeling better by not exercising.  The hour of exercising sucks- but I feel good doing it.  I feel powerful, and awesome.  I do not feel those things on the couch.  Plus, the exercising gives me a good feeling the rest of the day.  I've accomplished something, and made myself better.  I get all those hours in the day of feeling strong and healthy.  I'm not losing an hour of relaxing, I'm getting a day's worth of awesome.  I'll trade that hour in the gym for that satisfied feeling every single time.


Hope everyone has a good week!!

Loser! With Photos!

Hey everyone!

I'm down 16 pounds... sixteen!! I lost 1.4 this week, we cheated a bit on food.  Tim was sick all week, and it was easier some nights to pick up dinner from Chipotle, or make something quick at home.  We also tried a new recipe for Barbacoa, and that was pretty hefty calorie count.  It was super good though.  We did some experimenting in the kitchen.  First we did the barbacoa, which was a new recipe for us.  It was so good!! Tim had the leftovers for dinner the next day, and I'm sure that's what got rid of his cold.  We also tried substituting greek yogurt for oil in a boxed brownie recipe.  I love baking, and I really miss doing it.  I have always liked baking and cooking, but with baking I never eat the treats.  Unless it's Texas Sheet Cake.  Then I'll eat the whole thing.  I'll have cake for breakfast, I have no restraint or shame.  But brownies, I don't really see the big deal about them, I just like to make them, and Tim eats them all.  So we thought we'd try a substitution from my list last week, and we subbed out 3/4 cup oil for 1/2 cup greek yogurt and two tablespoons of oil.  Tim is still eating the brownies, but I like them even less than normal brownies.  They came out with a weird texture- a little tougher, kind of chewy (not in the good way) and I know people hate this word- moist.  They were shiny on top.  You know how brownies get that cracked top when they are perfect?  Not these.  And they get shinier every day.  They taste more like really heavy cake than brownies.  I would not recommend this substitution.  Texture is a really big deal.  Saving 1,000 calories isn't worth it if it doesn't taste good.

So, as you've figured out, I have TOPS meetings on Wednesdays, and we weigh in.  I've been the "biggest loser" for two weeks in a row there.  Sometimes I don't think it is fair- I'm competing against women 40+ years older than me.  It's just easier for me to lose weight, I can do a lot more exercises than they can.  Anyway, I won my dollar and change, last week for 2.8 pounds, and this week for 1.4.  That's a loss of 6.6 pounds lost in the past three weeks!  I've been exercising about six days a week with cardio, and I'll do a walk or yoga on the seventh day.  I've also incorporated weight training two days a week- I think I gained some muscle this past week.  I thought I'd include my "before" picture that I took my first week of TOPS, and show you what 16 pounds lost looks like on someone who is already bigger.

Those are obviously my before shots... Here are my current photos, please ignore the mess, I am cleaning out our hallway closets :)

Also, please ignore the dorky smile on this side shot, I was getting a little impatient with the posing.  

I can definitely see the progress this way!  I'm getting there, and have a long way to go, but sometimes it feels like you're just standing still- I know that I'm losing though.  My pants are now too baggy, but I'm not small enough for the next size down.  My clothes are fitting better, and these used to be pants that I couldn't wear without a really baggy shirt!  Now they fit nicely!! 

It feels awesome to be losing!  If you're looking for support, I'm here!  If I can do it, you can!

Losing!!

Hello!

I hope everyone is feeling great!  I've made some progress with the weight loss!! I had hit a wall for about two weeks, and am finally seeing some changes!  People at work are noticing a difference, and some of my clothes are fitting bigger.  I've really noticed a change in my face- it looks smaller than before!! I've lost 15 pounds total, and 8 since I've been going to TOPS meetings.  I can't say how much TOPS has helped me.  The support I get from all of the members, and knowing that I have to weigh in every week is a huge motivating factor.  It's really wonderful to go to a group where everyone is always happy to see you, always is supportive and encouraging, and shares their tips.

I have been focusing on making small changes everyday to reach my goal.  I worked on, and finished my motivation wall/center in my apartment.  Here are some pictures:

I picked up some poster board, and put this on my hallway closet door, here is a closer shot of the white board, the blue has my fitness challenge, and our local rec center's class schedules.  

I hung up a couple outfits I want to fit into soon.. these aren't my goal size, but it's progress and I want to fit into them anyway!

Having these hung up where I have to see them everyday really keeps me on track.  It's hard to snack on something bad for me when my jeans are staring me in the face.  They're also just one size smaller, which I can fit into, but not comfortably.  When I fit into these nicely, I will replace them with a size smaller until I get to my goal.  

I've been doing what you're supposed to do when losing weight- nothing more or less.  I've been eating better food, a lot more veggies, a lot less processed food.  I've been working out everyday, taking one day a week to "rest" with just walking or doing yoga.  I've been drinking a lot of water, and have cut out almost all other drinks.  If I get a craving for something, I eat it- in a small amount, and move on.  We did splurge last night and ordered pizza- stuffed crust no less.  

I'm hoping to keep up with the losing each week!! 

Also, I thought I'd include the presentation I gave last week at TOPS, it just includes some motivation tips I found online, with the sites where I found them listed above each section.  There's some recipe substitutions as well.  Hopefully a few of them help!

It's working!

Hi everyone!

After almost two weeks of my fitness challenge, I'm seeing progress on the scale!! At TOPS this week, I was down 2.4 pounds!  Running is working!  I'm still not fast, but I am now down to a 12 minute mile, and can run for about half the time I'm on the treadmill.  I am extremely grateful for the group at work, and the leader of our challenge who got me to believe that I can run.  This is the most weight that I have lost in a week since starting with TOPS and I can't believe it.

I have been drinking about as much water as I can get in everyday.  So much so that I pretty much always have to run to the restroom.  Sorry to anyone who sits in my section at work- I gotta stay hydrated!

I am making a motivation wall for myself in the apartment.  I've got my poster board and calendar, and small goals I want to have on it.  Right now, I've been focusing on "earning my showers."  It's really making a difference!  It's such a dorky thing to think about, but it's helped me stay motivated.  Disclaimer: I hate showering.  I think a fair amount of women do.  It's a lot of work.  I have a lot of hairs, it takes a long time, it is cold, and it's a lot of work after- all of the grooming.  But, changing how I think about showering, instead of a chore, to something that I only get if I workout and sweat, makes me feel pretty badass.  I have to earn the privilege of showering.  I don't get to shower unless I'm smelly (I realize this is lame, but whatever works).

I finally downloaded a countdown app on my phone, and I set up a countdown until our move out day- which is two days after my birthday.  I want to be under 200 pounds by that day.  There's no real reason why I picked then, but it was just a date that is already significant- so it will help me remember.  I think I chose a pretty good image for the countdown:

I am also going to hang up an outfit I want to be able to fit into.  I have plenty from what I've gained in the past few years, so there may be a couple in my apartment, but I will use that as motivation to keep myself in check.  I have been working out and eating better long enough now that it doesn't feel like something I have to dwell on.  I'm getting to the point where it feels normal now, which is really exciting.  Junk food is much less appealing now than at the beginning.  I don't want to sweat my ass off everyday just to ruin it with something terrible to eat.  I am worried about turning into one of those crazy health people- I'm drinking almond milk and putting soy protein powder in smoothies, I could easily turn to the dark side.

Participating in this fitness challenge has really helped get me on the right track, keep me motivated, and given me an idea of what I can accomplish.  I never thought I could run, and here I am, getting faster every day I do it.  I didn't think I could stay under 1500 calories a day, but I am.  And I am losing.

"Progress"

Hey everyone! 

I'm still doing my challenge- but I think it should be a "fitness" challenge instead of a "running" challenge.  My legs really aren't running legs yet.  It gets really hard on the joints, and I don't want to be walking around like an old lady yet.  Here is my journal from where we last left off: 

Day six:  I went a little bit longer today!  I ran for 23 minutes, and kept up with the warm up for three minutes, then intervals of 2 minutes after that.  I’m getting faster little by little every day!  My pace today was 13.29 minute miles, so I went 1.73 miles!  I’m hoping to be up to two miles next week, in about 25 minutes.  I wanted to push myself today to go 25 minutes, but I don’t want to push too hard and have to stop.  I also went to the grocery store today and got healthy food, because I gained one pound at TOPS today, and I don’t want to be doing all this running and sweating for nothing.

Day Seven:  I opted for the bike instead of a run today.  Running is hard on the hips and knees.  I figured I’d give them a bit of a break.  To keep up with exercising, I went for 35 minutes and did just over seven miles, with higher resistance on the bike.  Thanks to the running, I’ve built up more cardio strength.  I was able to do much higher resistance than normal for both rest and work periods.  

Day Eight:  I got up to two miles today!! I really, really didn’t want to work out.  I almost skipped it for a nap.  A nap wouldn’t have gotten me as sweaty, but I also am really proud of getting up to two miles- at 24:54!!!  I kept going, and did my last rest interval, for a total of 26 minutes, 2.07 miles.  I’m down to under 13 minute miles!! Much better than the 15+ minute mile I started with (or the 17 minute mile outside).  12.56 minute miles to be exact!! I am very glad I worked out when I wanted to do anything but that.  I made myself put on the shoes, and said I was just going to do a short workout.  I ended up doing my longest and farthest run (so far).  Keep at it!!

I am getting a little discouraged with my weight loss so far. I've been working out way more than I ever have (which was pretty much nothing), we have cut out all fast food, and judging by my "cheat days," we've cut out about 800-1000 calories on a daily basis. I've also cut back on beer- I didn't drink a lot before, but now I don't drink any. With all of this that we've cut out, and all the work I've been doing, I haven't had a lot of progress. I'm still only down about ten pounds from my heaviest at the beginning of the year, and have only gone down about three pounds since I joined TOPS. It's very frustrating!!!

We sometimes go out to eat, and I'm sure that doesn't help, but overall, we've made a drastic change in what we eat, and I'm really sad about the lack of results.

On the plus side, I've never been able to do a mile in 12.5 minutes, and today I did two of them! I know my heart is getting in better shape, and I am getting healthier. But can't I get healthier and lose some pounds?

Anyway, things that I've been doing to hopefully be down this week are: stocking up on healthy lunch things. We've been having turkey wraps on either spinach tortillas or using lettuce wraps, with soup or cottage cheese for lunch. We've also been getting back into our smoothie kick. I now know that I can eat lettuce wraps, and that I like almond milk. We put it in our smoothies, and I put some in coffee or hot chocolate when I have a cup.

I have also been getting better at recognizing when I am hungry versus when I want to eat. It gets pretty difficult sometimes to stay under 1500 calories, but I really do try! We have also been trying to take out dinner from the freezer in the morning, and prep meals before we go to work so we have no excuse to make dinner at home.

I hope some of this is helping with your weight loss goals!

Also, I've discovered that mobile commenting isn't working as "anonymous," but it works to comment if you are on a computer. Don't know why that is- but feel free to email me! eringesine@gmail.com

Running Challenge Progress!

Hey all,

So I started a 21 day challenge to run every day.  I'm very much a beginner, so it's been difficult, and I already missed a day due to pain.  I'm working through it, and it is making me feel pretty good about myself.  I've been keeping a daily journal after each run, and here it is so far:

Day one: I “ran” about a 15.4 minute mile.  Last time I ran- around my birthday last year, I was at 17 minute miles, so its better.  All the cycling I’ve been doing has helped a bit with my cardio strength.  I was able to run for two minutes straight, and could have gone a little more, but I don’t want to go too hard and have to stop before the challenge is even over.  I’m happy with being able to run for two minutes at a time!  Before, when I’ve tried running, it was a struggle to get to 30 seconds at a time- even when I was in better shape than I am now!  So, I warmed up for five minutes walking, ran for two then walked for three.  I repeated until I got to twenty minutes.  I’m planning on running twenty minutes each day the first week, 25 the second week, and 30 the third week.  If I can manage that through this challenge, I will then start focusing on shaving time off my pace.  My legs feel like jello, and I was a little dizzy when I stepped off the treadmill, but more water before I run will help that!

Day two:  My time went down a bit, today I did a 14.19 minute mile.  It’s not great or anything, but for me, I’ll take it.  My shins hurt a bit when I was on the treadmill, but I think they’re just more sore than anything.  To be safe, one day a week during my running challenge, I’m going to get on the bike instead of the treadmill.  I know that it isn’t running, but I’m hoping it will help with stretching out my legs.  They’ve never really run before.  I kept with the run two minutes, walk three minutes thing today, but I upped the speed a bit, where my “rest” periods were at a brisker pace, and my “work” periods were a bit faster, about a 5.7 on the machine- about 10 minute miles.  I wasn’t dizzy this time, and ran a bit later in the afternoon, after eating breakfast and having a couple glasses of water, and binge-watching The Following.  I definitely need to find some stretches and exercises to get my knees stronger, they are sore.  

Day three: I skipped today. :(  I didn’t want to!  I busted my toe up real nice at work and it was too swollen to get into my running shoes.  The group at work I’m doing the challenge with is starting tomorrow, so I’ll “start” with them.

Day four:  I ran outside today.  It was difficult. It’s pretty hilly by my place, and my toe was still in bad shape.  It hurt to jog, so I mostly walked.  I went about 1.5 miles in 25 minutes, and only made it through one “work” period of about 1 ½ minutes.  I am glad that I went for a run, but I will stick to the treadmill for right now.  As a beginner, it is nice to be able to set a pace, and see the timer for each rest and work set.  I like knowing exactly how fast I am going at each interval.  

Day five:  Back to the treadmill today.  I picked up the pace a bit, and ran 1.44 miles in 20 minutes.  I’m trying to decrease my rest interval times, so I warmed up for three minutes today, then did 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off for the rest of the run.  This is difficult, and very challenging for me, but something about it also makes me feel strong.  Running through the shin splints, sweat, and past the voice in my head saying “stop!” makes me feel pretty powerful.  

I'm getting faster on the treadmill and am able to shorten my rest periods, which makes me feel pretty badass. Tomorrow is TOPS, so I'll see at weigh-in how it's working. We haven't been as diligent with our food as we have in the past, but we are slowly getting back on track.

I'm also working on a presentation for TOPS, every week someone does about a 20-30 minute talk on anything weight-loss related, and it's my turn next week! I have it done, if it goes over well, I'll post it here.

If you want to come along for a weight loss challenge, let me know!!


Also, I've had a few people tell me they've had problems commenting directly on the blog- I removed the word verification part, if it helps, comment! If it doesn't, email me! eringesine@gmail.com

Thanks! Talk to you soon!

Ups and Downs

Hi all,

Sorry it's been so long!  I've been having a hard time staying focused.  I've stayed at the same weight for two weeks, so at least I'm not gaining, but I haven't worked out since last Tuesday (yikes).  We also had a hard time these last few days staying on track with eating healthy.

We went to the coast for Tim's birthday last week, and that's when the eating took a turn for the worse.  I was able to pick up a few gifts for Tim, and he isn't big on desserts, but he asked for some Chocolate Chip Cookies.  It was his birthday, I had to make him cookies.  Everyone gets treats on their birthday!  We stayed in a small inn for the night, and ordered in pizza.  We went way overboard, but the inn was adorable:

It gets really frustrating trying to eat healthy all the time.  It was nice to not worry about it for a couple days.  And we had wine!  Wine!  I don't drink a lot- maybe a drink or two a week, but it's a lot of calories, so I've pretty much stopped.  Man, wine is tasty! 

We had trouble getting back on track this week, and the two of us went out for trivia at our neighborhood bar (which we won).  

Bar food and a pitcher of beer really adds up and puts you over for daily intake.  Feeling a little queasy the next day (not used to drinking) I stayed home from TOPS.  I wouldn't use myself as a role-model for weight-loss this week.  We ate some junk food yesterday, and made some fried chicken for dinner.  I'm not proud of these past two weeks-but they can't all be good weight-loss weeks, right?

But, on to the Ups!  I've learned a lot overall with eating healthier.  First, I hated drinking water.  A lot.  I used to make myself drink a glass or two a day, some days I wouldn't  have any.  But after making an effort to drink more everyday, I can manage about 5 glasses a day.  And on days I drink less, my body notices.  I've gotten to the point where I need that much water, and I like drinking it.  

Next, I've found that I can make a lot of healthier substitutions and not miss the junk parts of food that I used to eat (too much).  We love making tacos for dinner.  We tried switching out ground beef with ground turkey and made our own taco seasoning.  It tasted great, but the texture of the turkey was a little too different for me.  Now we use half ground beef and half ground turkey, we don't notice the difference at all, and we save a lot of calories and fat.  We do the same for chili.  We've also switched to using turkey sausage when we make kielbasa for dinner.  We double our veggies instead of eating pasta or rice with dinner.  I have english muffins instead of a bagel or toast for breakfast.  Every little bit helps!  I'm learning a lot about what kind of foods I like, simply by trying new, healthy things.  It does make me miss a lot of food we used to eat, but we are working through it.  

I've also struggled with exercising this past week or so.  I get really bored just getting on the exercise bike and peddling for a half-hour.  I try to shake it up a little with yoga and weight lifting, but I needed a new challenge.  Since I haven't been able to make myself do a Zumba class, I am working with a friend from the restaurant to do a 21 day running challenge.  She went down a lot of dress sizes and went from not being a runner at all, to being able to run five miles!  She just did it herself last year, teamed up with a friend, and promised to run everyday for three weeks.  I am using her as my inspiration, and starting tomorrow, will begin a 21 day running challenge myself.  I made a calendar to track my pace, time and distance each day.  Hopefully having a set goal, and holding myself accountable will get me out of this funk- and turn running into a habit!

I'll keep you posted on how the challenge goes, and hopefully will have good news at my next weigh-in!!

Well, that's a surprise

Hey all!

So I've been focused on eating a little better and exercising more for about seven weeks now.  I'm down about 8-10 pounds.  I lost that bit of weight I gained back during the "blizzard," and am trying to reach my new goal: 16 pounds (to get under 200) by our move-out date in our current apartment: June 25th.  It comes down to about one pound per week.  This should be manageable, and I am hoping to lose a little more than that, but this also allows for weeks where I gain (everybody gains at some point, right?).

Since I've been losing weight and eating better, I've noticed a few non-weight-loss related things that are also happening.  I want to be clear though; while we have been eating better (no fast food, very limited junk food, and really cut down on extra condiments) we have also had cheat-days or cheat-lunches.  If we have something we aren't really supposed to, like Chipotle, Papa Murphy's, or the new and only good Mexican restaurant we've found out here in Portland, we try to have it for lunch, do a light dinner, and make sure to work out those days.  I told you, we aren't trying to go crazy with calorie counting.  I always eat a healthy breakfast, Cheerios, English Muffins, or Hard-Boiled Eggs, but lunch can get a little murky.

Anyway, interesting side-effects of weight-loss have included: cravings for things I never had much interest in.  I now pine for chocolate.  I never really went for too many desserts.  I like ice cream, I like baking, but Tim is usually the one who eats the brownies I make.  Now that I've been eating better, I want all the chocolate I can get.  It's been really strange--anyone else have something like that happen?
Next side-effect: moderate exercise- usually cardio, has been helping get rid of my headaches.  In most cases, exercise seems to trigger headaches, so this was an added bonus, but it does happen!  It doesn't help when I have migraines- I've been getting them a lot since we moved out to Oregon, but for headaches that are about to morph into migraines, I hop on the exercise bike for about 30 mins and it helps a lot.  Strength training absolutely makes it worse!  So, be careful if you try it!  I'm not even a little bit like a doctor.
Another awesome bonus: clearer skin!  Boom!  I've had trouble with breakouts on my face since I was in high school.  It's gotten a lot better that I am older, but wow!  It's been great with eating healthier and working out 3+ times a week.  I try to drink a lot of water, but I have trouble with it, so I think it's just the healthier food choices that are really helping!

Slightly bad news, now that I've found a routine that works for me, I'm starting to get a little bored with it.  I'm going to check out a Pilates class, and maybe brave a Zumba class at our local rec center.  Tim and I went hiking today, and had a great time!  We might have ruined it a bit by getting Mexican food after, but I'm still under the calories for today!  It was so pretty out, and such a nice change from the tiny fitness center at our apartment.  We went to a local park, and went off the paved walking-path and braved the hiking trail.

Tim's birthday is coming up this week, so we are going to explore the Oregon Coast!  We are planning on walking a lot on our trip, and doing a lot of sightseeing.  Exercising can be really fun when you're looking at something pretty (the landscape, not my man).

If you have tips on fun exercises, please share them!  I'll keep you updated on things that are fun that also burn calories, (we torched about 500 calories hiking in less than an hour!)

Biggest surprise of this week, I like hiking! I also like clearer skin (no foundation on my face for the first time pretty much ever), and less headaches!  And I feel pretty badass after an awesome workout. How about you?

Rookie Mistake

Hello all!

After having four weeks of success, I gained a couple pounds at my last weigh-in.  F.

TOPS has the weekly weigh-in, and little prizes for the biggest loser of the week, or special contests.  Each chapter is different, and at mine, whatever change you want to put in the "kitty" gets collected, and the total, plus one dollar, goes to the biggest loser of the week.  On February 5, I won the kitty!  My little rolled-up dollar and about $2.50 in change was awesome.  I lost 2.2 pounds that week, which is the most I want to lose weekly.  The following week (last week) I gained 1.8 of that back.  UGH.  It was really discouraging.  I exercised the same amount as I usually do (about 150 mins total) and stayed at my calorie goal each day.  I did everything I was supposed to do- but gained because I forgot to factor in something that should have been obvious.  We didn't work.

I am from Ohio.  We get snow.  Lots of it.  So when we got snow here in Portland that week, I didn't expect anything major to happen.  We only got four inches.  I've been mandated into work as a waitress in Level 3 snow emergencies back home (where only emergency personnel are allowed on the road, tickets and fines to those driving who aren't).  So four inches shouldn't do anything, right?  I was so very, very wrong.  It shut down the whole city!

We had to walk to the grocery store, where we saw people skiing to New Seasons.  We also saw lots of snow-shoes, umbrellas, hiking backpacks, tire chains, and ski goggles.  It was crazy.  

We were used to it.  Hats and scarves were enough. 

Our restaurant, where Tim and I both work, closed down Thursday night through Sunday.  We got called off Tuesday and Wednesday, so we only worked one day that week.  One day of lifting trays, running my butt off for customers is not enough activity for the week.  Even staying at 1,500 calories, exercising normally, I forgot to factor in the lack of work- I burn a lot of calories as a waitress.  If I work a double shift, I don't exercise that day, because I burn so much just doing my job.  I didn't factor that in when we were snowed in for the "blizzard" of 2014.  Rookie move.

Lesson learned: when one is not working at an active job, one must exercise more, or eat less.

I'm glad that I didn't gain back everything that I lost.  And, even more glad that I am at a supportive group that simply says "We're glad you're here" when you admit you gained that week.  You'll be happy to know (as I am) that weighing myself at home shows that I have gotten rid of those couple pounds this week, and will hopefully be down at weigh-in.  My analog scale is horribly inaccurate, so it's impossible to know for sure.

Dinners for this week have included steak, orzo-stuffed peppers with feta, and a hot fudge-brownie sundae that we made for Valentine's day.  We also got some Chinese take-out, and made lots of roasted veggies.  I've learned that watching calories doesn't have to mean eating blah-food everyday.  If I go over a few calories, that's ok.  I'm sure I'll regret lots of things.  Eating a brownie will never be one of them.