Health: Lose Weight

As seen in my lose 25 pounds goal, I have met that goal. My weigh-in this morning put me there. I still want to lose one more pound by Dec 2, but I don’t expect that to be a problem. My goal weight and my lose weight are not separate, but really this goal was tied to losing 25 pounds. I have lost 16.6% of my body weight. My % body fat, as measured by my Tanita scale, has dropped signficantly (although I don’t remember exact numbers and don’t have them in front of me.)

It took about 18 months, but I’m viewing that as positive. I still get compliments on how great I look now, although I think people are getting used to me being a size 6P. Getting to size 6 was not even my goal, so I feel like that is a bonus.

Thanks to everyone who has given me support on this goal.

So, I hit the lowest I had seen since college in early July. Then, due to a few bad weeks and other stuff, I hovered around there for about 2 months. Saw it again yesterday. Want to lose 2.5 pounds by 3 months from today. Should be possible, right?

So, I lost two pounds from last week. I was not expecting to, in fact, I was expecting a gain due to a higher Calorie intake for the early part of this week. I’m happy. Within 1.5 pounds of my total pounds to lose goal and 2.5 pounds of my goal weight.

I don’t know why, but I gained one pound from last week. I was really good this week and stayed even closer to my 1500 Calorie per day intake than usual every day. Normally, if I get close to 1800, I don’t worry about it because that is within my maintenance intake. I also exercised every day except one when I was feeling poorly.

So, no good reason for me to have gained one pound. Possibly: I gained muscle weight while losing fat weight to gain weight since I think I have exercised more this past week than usual. There’s another possibility too. Well, it still keeps me in my goal for my iPod reward, so I’m not going to worry too much. It is just slightly disappointing. I’m just so close to my goal weight that to slip back is very frustrating.

On another note, despite the gain, I am pretty certain I am a size 6. Went shopping for shorts today (did not find any since the long walking style and the short-shorts are both really not flattering at all on me) but found several size 6 items which fit nicely. So, I now wear a size 6P or SP. It is hard to not pick up mediums because those feel safe.

I purchased this dress today, only in the dark blue.

I see I’ve failed to do a proper update in the past 3 weeks. It’s been very busy. Today’s official weigh-in had me down 3 more pounds from the weight 3 weeks ago. I think it was 0.5# for a couple weeks and then 2# off this past week. That’s how it seems to go for me.

Good news about this is that as long as I am 130.0 # or below on July 21, I get to go out and buy my iPod. DH and I have been talking about what I want a bit. I have 11 GB of music in my iTunes, so I’ll need to trim what I want to put into my iPod. Hmmm… maybe just all my favorites and not whole albums.

Anyway, that’s my update.

I took a break in May. It was not planned, it was not intentional, but I took it, and now I’m back on track.

The break started because I had finals and a big presentation. I simply do not require myself to stay at the same levels of watchfulness for eating or exercising with that much stress.

Then, I had a nasty cold, so for awhile I was not watching what I ate. Some days I seemed to eat a lot and some days I seemed to eat nothing. I could not breathe, so I did not exercise. I barely had enough energy to get through the day, and I did not have any days off.

The cold lasted at least 10 days, and lingered a bit as well. After that, I would get back on track, and then something else would come up, warranting no exercising and/or not being careful with food, like feeling unwell, cropping with friends, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day. Overall, I tried to do what I need to when I could and did not worry about when things came up to interfere.

I now face a very busy month, but am going to do my best to exercise well and eat well. I actually have lost some weight over the month. I don’t recall my last reported weigh-in, but at this re-start, I am 131.5# That is a 19.5# loss from my initial weigh in many moons ago. I still want to see 125#. (I really want to see 130 for one month so I get my iPod reward.)

30 weeks until I turn 30. I like numbers that repeat like that. Anyway, my goal is 125# by my birthday. I started at 151# about 13 months ago. Honestly, I wanted to lose 25# and if I get below 127#, I will be happy with the number. At that point, I plan to continue to eat healthily on the same Caloric diet and exercise similarly. If I continue to lose weight and slim down, great! If not, well, that’s where my body is healthy then.

I lost another pound this past week. So, I have lost a total of 19# and have 7# more to go before reaching the goal weight. I am firmly a size 8P. (I’m short.) Depending on the cut and fit, I can fit some regular size 6, but that is only for those brands that cut down their petites instead of just making them shorter. I feel like my ideal size is a 5/6. I was informed this past week, though, that because I have broad hips, size 5/6 often will not fit me. They are often designed for women with narrow hips, but carry weight in their belly. I have broad hips and carry weight on my hips and thighs, not in my belly. I think that is why people are recently calling me skinny, although I do not consider myself skinny. While weight on the hips and thighs is harder to lose, my consolation is that it is healthier place to store excess weight. At least I am at less risk for heart disease and other plagues of women’s health in that respect.

Anyway, I am blabbering here. I just wanted to report in where I am at.

These last pounds are not going to shed easily. :(

On official weigh-in I was the same as last week, again. It was a case, also, where I was careful about food and exercise and did do an evening weigh-in within a couple nights of the last morning one. I had a weight loss then.

I should not feel bad as on Tuesday I was sick and did not watch food consumption nor exercise. Wednesday and Thursday were both busy and still not feeling well, so no exercise. And, the scale this morning did want to give me a half pound loss, it just settled on the higher number, which is what it must be programmed to do. (It’s digital with 0.5# increments.)

OK, so I really will work at eating at the right Calorie level and getting daily exercise. I’m just so close to “earning” that iPod!

So, I have a mixed idea of what happened this week. My weigh in was one pound less than my official weigh-in last week. However, last Friday, the day of my weigh-in, I fasted for religious reasons. I checked my weight on Saturday because I knew Sunday would be an unrestricted day. From my Saturday weigh-in until today, I have gained one pound.

Considering that I did not watch Calories for a couple days this week, did very little to no exercise Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I think a one pound loss from last Friday is acceptable, and I should be happy. However, knowing I had actually lost 2 pounds and gained back one is disheartening.

It is also hard to tell, since the two pound loss may have resulted from fasting, if that loss was a true loss or an artifact of fasting. It could be my plateau had caught up with me and I had a large loss due to the lack of previous loss. Or, it could be just water weight shed from fasting, that would have been gained back either way. I don’t know. And, sadly, I do care as it is slightly disappointing, even though I know it should not be as one would expect a gain anyway from the way I have eaten and exercised this week. I do know that if I had not weighed myself on Saturday and all I knew was a one pound loss, I would be extremely happy at this point. This is one of those things I just need to let go and move on.

However, I think I will be better about having a fasting day once per month. Regular, but not often, days of fasting is quite healthy for the body. I’ve not usually been able to maintain a day of fasting without religious incentive, but I think that I might be better. By the way, my way of fasting the past couple months has been no food, only water, from waking until dinner. Dinner I am allowed up to 600 Calories, but I have consumed less I think, and then no food, only water, until bed. I do not exercise on days of fasting. I think that is asking for nausea and faintness. I don’t have time to pass out. :)

So, as a reward for losing after my plateau, I purchased a pair of climbing shoes. At the climbing wall, you can rent shoes, but I find that a bit gross. I have gone once each week for three weeks, and intend, as long as the rec center is open (there is about two weeks coming up when it is closed) to go at least once per week to climb on the wall. That should make good use of my purchased shoes. And, after one year, the cost of renting shoes will have equaled the purchase and I doubt I will need to make another purchase that soon. The photo is a picture of the shoes I purchased.

My plateau has ended. I lost another half pound this week. The scale is digital and actually showed a full pound loss, then changed its mind last minute and added half pound. Oh, well. I’m pleased for things to be progressing again.

On Wednesday, I received several compliments on how skinny I looked! That always makes me feel so good. One woman, earlier this week, said she thought I must have a tape worm, when I mentioned I could pick 3 of 4 things from my lunch to eat to stay at my Calories. I took that as a compliment, too, although I work hard to eat a specific Calorie intake and exercise so I can lose weight.