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.  

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!

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.