Weekly WI: A Small Loss

 Good Morning.

It was a very quick turnaround today after having to hold over at work until 4am.  I had to be up for my Virtual WW Workshop this morning at 9:30am.  

I had a small loss this week, “only” 0.6 pounds.  

I was starting to worry I wouldn’t have a loss this week.  Despite my points-bomb Friday at Oktoberfest, it was an on-track week with six days of blue dots.  I ended up WW Week in the red with +1 of WSPA.  

Not too bad.  I tracked as best as I could.  

I have also really ramped up the activity last week with the last push before the end of September and my lofty Apple Watch Activity Goal.  I have two days let and still just under 1,500 calories to burn.  Yikes!

I received some positive news in that our local WW Studios are opening up two in-person workshops for a limited attendance meeting.  Oh man.  How exciting!  I am debating on how I can make one or the other work.  Once I start going back to the in-person studio, I won’t be weighting as light as I do at home, naked, when I jump on the scale after rolling out of bed.  They are only allowing 13 people on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Going back to the “official” WW Scale means I’ll probably not see 199 again for a while.  The scales in the studio locations seem to weight heavier than my home scale.  It will feel really good to be back in the in-person workshops.

I AM...

Over the last few weeks, our Virtual WW Workshop has been talking a lot about confidence.  We have been identifying I AM statements where we feel confident in our ability to do something.

For example, instead of saying I like to run, you can say the same statement with confidence when you say I AM a runner. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I AM statement that I am confident about.  The one that always comes to mind is I AM strong.  I can do hard things.  Sometimes it feels like I get beat down but I remind myself that I am strong and that I can do whatever is that needs to be done.

Another confident statement that has been evident for a while now is:

I AM plus size.

I can say that statement with confidence and furthermore, it is okay to be plus size.  It isn’t a bad thing or a negative notion.  It is a fact that I wear plus size clothing, which fits me and looks the best on me.  I also feel the best when I look the best.

Since 2014, the scale has been climbing.  In 2016, I finally found the courage to take control of my WW program and get back on track.  The weight isn’t coming off as fast as it did when I first lost over 100 pounds.  Along the way, I have gained new appreciation for my body.  I have learned to appreciate myself at all stages of weight loss and weight maintenance.  Recently, I have needed new work pants.  My old pair was a size 16W and I received a lot of comments on how baggy my pants were getting.  While this was a compliment as more people have been noticing my weight loss, it was time to buy new pants.

I swear…pants shopping is like swimsuit shopping.  I was really having a difficult time because I would tray on a size 14 and it would feel too small.  Why was I going to buy new pants if they were still going to be size 16??  I struggled and struggled until last week I finally had success.  I went into Lane Bryant to see what they had for options.  I took a size 14 and 16 into the dressing room and low and behold…the size 14 FIT!  And they looked dang good.  No more baggy pants.  No more saggy but.  I was looking mighty good in these pants and with the added stretch to the fabric, they were quite comfy.

The same thing happened a few months ago when I bought some size 14 shirts from Lane Bryant.  I put them on and instantly felt like it flattered my figure and I get compliments every time I wear them.

I AM plus size.

And that is okay.

Honest Tracking

A WW Member and Coach who attended the Virtual Workshop last Tuesday shared her experience with honest tracking.  She went into the negative on points but she tracked it all. 

This was not only inspiring but something I should get better about.

She further shared that if you don’t know the points values of something how can you make an educated decision of if it is worth it or not?  Her example was a particular blizzard at Dairy Queen that was 56 points.  When we know how many calories/points are in our food choices, we are better equipped to make the decisions on what will help our WW program and what will hinder it.  Are there time the blizzard is worth 56 points?  Heck yeah!  Are there times it isn’t?  Also yes.

I was now thinking about my planned Oktoberfest event this evening.  I wanted to just eat and drink with reckless abandon and not track any of it.   I’ve been doing that for weeks now.  When I don’t want to look up the food item and/or I fear it is too high in points, I just pick an arbitrary number and call it good.  “Um…that was 20 points.”  I decided I would sit down and do some pre-tracking since I bought VIP tickets and we have our choice of entrée.

 

Since I suspect The Hubs will get a bratwurst and I’ll get a jagerschnitzel and we will go halves, I tracked each and that way I can dial back the amount once I eat.  This doesn’t include any beer yet and it doesn’t include any extra food since they will have a food tent (pretzels).  But, it is at least a start!

I don’t know what the night will hold but I know I’ll have tons of fun.  I will probably go further into the negative.  It is okay.  Accountability is key and pre-tracking, I am holding myself accountable.

My Last 10K Race

 This weekend would have been the annual Women’s Fitness Celebration, also called Fit One.  I participated in the Fit One 5K and 10K for many years.  It was always a lot of fun and I really love the energy on race day.  Plus, I love group activities and time to chat while I walk with my friends.

Was This My Last 10K?

Half Marathons And Various Other Road Races

Today’s Facebook memory from four years ago was my last 10K race.

I was working at losing again after regaining 80 pounds but my body was just not up to the 6 miles plus all the walking and standing to/from the start and finish line.  It took a lot out of my 246 pound body.  It is crazy to look back and see big I was in this photo.  It has taken me four years but I am officially down 43 pounds since that last 10K race.

Slowly…I’ll get there.

Weekly WI: The Scale Went The Wrong Way

 Good Morning!

I did not see the success on the scale as I had hoped today, but I also sort of anticipated it.  

I am glad my gain was only one pound and not more.  I also feel it is 100% temporary.  This week will be the week that really counts!

I am going to power through this day and get in a workout that is a bit more intense than usual.  I need to get these movement calories on the up-swing since I am more than half way through the month and have a lofty Apple Watch Activity Goal still to accomplish.  But, I am on my way.

This last week at work, I spent a lot of time standing more throughout the day instead of sitting.  My coworker was sharing some information on how standing during your day burns more calories and she set a goal to stand more.  I jumped on her motivation train and started following her example.  That helped me surpass my calorie goal several days this week

I am going to adopt this new behavior for the rest of this month in hopes that I will reach that goal come the end of September.

I don’t think that this point I will be back under 200 at the end of September.  That is okay.  This means I’ll keep working at it throughout October and beyond.  It is a little bit of a bummer but I am going to adjust my mindset so I am not dwelling on it.

Have a great Tuesday. 

5ish Days On Track Last Week

It has been a good week thus far, but I am still a bit worried about what the scale may show.  I don’t feel like I’ve lost and I am not sure I’ll meet my goal of losing one pound.

I earned blue dots 5ish days this week.  I say 5ish days because I have been a bit lax with my BLTs (bites, licks, and tastes).  I find myself sitting in my office at work munching on this and that candy items.  Or since I have extra points left over for the day, un-tracked items.  On top of that, I was off track on both Wednesday and Thursday.  By Thursday, I had blown through all my WSPA.

So, we really have no idea what this week will hold.

Activity has been strong.  I did the same arm and leg/lower body workout I did last week.  My soreness was not quite as rough as the week before…progress!

 

I am hoping to see a loss come Tuesday.  I would really, really, really love to see 199 at the end of September.  That means I had better make this week coming up a good solid ON TRACK week!

Travel Memories - Three Years Ago On The New England Coast

 Facebook has been reminding me of really great travel memories.  I really makes me yearn for travel right now.

 

In September of 2017, three years ago, we were on a NCL Cruise down the New England Coast.

 

This cruise started in New York City, my first time visiting.  I have always wanted to visit NYC and it was surreal to be around all these iconic places.

 

Ports of Call in Canada were Halifax and St. John’sBay.  

Ports of Call in Maine were BarHarbor and Portland.  

I loved all of these ports and would absolutely do this destination again and next time I hope it includes Boston. 

 

Excuse me while I read over my travel recaps…I am feeling very nostalgic.  I'll be back tomorrow with another round of travel memories.

Super Fast Days Off

 My days off flew by and here were are on Friday again.  I’ve got a long week ahead of me with a choppy work schedule.  Let’s do this!

I had a hair appointment on Wednesday and an afternoon date with my WW Coach/Hair Dresser Cindie, who is moving to California at the end of September.  Our plans were interrupted by a sick callout at work.  We were still able to meet up for a bite to eat but it was sans alcohol since I had to work later that night (I ended up getting called off after all).  We had a very nice visit at Eureka! in downtown Boise and her husband even joined us.  I forgot to get a photo.  We are hoping to see each other again on Tuesday.  I have really enjoyed building this friendship with her and I’ll really miss her when she leaves. 

Thursday was pretty low key but boy did the day just fly by.  Kenyon and I went to breakfast at LePeep and then had a phone call with our time share organization.  They wanted to sell us “more” but it wasn’t really more and they wanted a huge price tag.  No Thank You!  Later, Phoenix came over for patio beers.  I’ve been dying to try more of the Oktoberfest beers I brought back from Reno and I’ve been craving beer like crazy for over a week now.

I also did some decorating for Fall.  Our temps are still a bit high and our air quality is very poor.  I really hope we don’t miss out on our Fall season and things start to improve soon.  It is my very favorite month.

Weekly WI: Slow And Steady

I had a great week and it showed on the scale.  Whew.  That vacation weight is coming off little by little.

I woke up on Sunday feeling really skinny.  I have so much more appreciation this time down the scale.  This slow but steady pace allows me to check-in with myself along the way and really find the value in how I feel not only in general but about my body.  My first trip down the scale was to rapid that I didn’t really get to appreciate the journey.

Despite a few social outings on the agenda, it was a good week overall and I really worked hard to balance my food.  I earned blue dots five days last week.

I have a few possible social outings on the calendar again this week and I still need to get a meal plan in place.  I will work at balance and activity again this week just as I did last week.  In my mind, if I can lost just one pound the next two weeks (and 1.2 pounds one of those two weeks) then I will see 199.8 again by the end of September.  That feels like a manageable goal and fits right in with my slow and steady pace.

Happy Birthday Dad & Emma

 The day is almost done but I wanted to take a quick moment to wish my Dad a very Happy 68th Birthday and Emma a very Happy 10th Birthday.

We celebrated on Saturday with breakfast buffet and ice cream cake.  

I also got to see Grandpa.

Emma asked my Dad “How old where you when I was born?”  

My Dad said, “What is 68 minus 10?”  

Emma said, “I don’t do math on weekends.”  

We got a pretty good laugh out of that.

Happy Birthday to you both.

More Activity

 I tried out another new FitOn workout though this time I was familiar with the trainer.

I really enjoy Kenta’s workouts, especially with the focus is on upper body and weighted arm exercises.  He always has some really good workouts through the Aaptiv app and now he has some through the FitOn app.  WW has developed something really great by adding these workout features to the WW membership.

I have been really sore the last couple days from my lower body workout.  I plan to do a shake out walk on the treadmill today.  Saturday as a very busy day and I was exhausted all day so there was no formal exercise.  I at least used my foam roller to roll some of these sore areas.

I’ve just got two days of work to go and then (hopefully) three days off all in a row.  Let’s do this!

Activity

Good Morning!  Happy Friday to you all and Happy Partial Monday to me.  I am back to work today but then I am off Saturday as part of the switch where I worked Tuesday, which was needed for coverage.  It worked out well because we will be celebrating Emma’s 10th Birthday and Dad’s 68th Birthday with a breakfast brunch.

I tried out a new FitOn Workout through the WW app yesterday.  I wanted a nice lower body workout that as also short but effective.  Based on the soreness level of my muscles today, it was effective!

This trainer is hilarious.  He is Australian and has a very kooky personality. He made me laugh a few times and shake my head a few times.  He was funny though.  It made for an enjoyable quick workout of three rounds of the same moves.  I will see if I can find more videos by him as he sure does make it fun.

Today I will do an upper body weights video and/or an Aaptiv audio workout.  This way I can give my lower body rest and plan to do a shake out walk on Saturday to keep the blood flowing to those muscles.  I was exhausted yesterday after a few days of little sleep and flip-flopping my sleep schedule.  I am up way too early but also went to bed early so that is good.

Every bit of movement is going towards my September goal!

26 Weeks

It has been 26 weeks since my local WW Studio held the very last in-person Workshop thanks to COVID-19. 

 

On one hand, the time since the closure has felt long.  On the other hand, it has passed by quickly.  It was really tough at first.  Sort of like a death where you don’t get to say your goodbye, which I have heard people talk about COVID similar to other types of grief, I didn’t have a chance to say “see you later” to my favorite WW friends.  The longer this drags on it feels like maybe I missed saying “goodbye” to all my favorite WW friends.  The longer this drags on it starts to feel like we will never get back into our in-person Worships and I will never see those friends again.  

Thankfully, two of my local WW Centers are open for at least a weigh-in/check-in a few days of the week.  I was really hopeful that in-person Workshops would follow because other areas around the USA are opening. 

Alas, he were are 26 weeks later and still no in-person Workshops.

I am very thankful WW joined the Virtual Meeting platform on Zoom and I still have the ability to connect with my WW Coach and several other WW members.  I think without the virtual meetings, I might really be completely lost as far as WW goes, which has been a huge part of my life for almost 14 years.  The virtual workshops are just as engaging and motivating as those in-person.  It just isn’t 100% the same.

There is so much of life that isn’t the same post-COVID.  When I really think about it all, I get really depressed.  I mean really depressed.  I was just watching a reality show that was filmed in Vegas and got sad knowing that is no longer what visiting Vegas is like.

While not all sad and depressing (but over 50% is) there have been some good things that have come out of the post-COVID shutdown weeks.

I appreciate downtime more than I thought I would – I am usually a go-go-go type of person and on my days off, I was rarely home.  The COVID shutdown forced me to stay home more and afterwards, I really enjoyed staying home more.  Plus, having to wear a mask everywhere you go makes me re-evaluate if I really want to go.

Reaching out to your friends and loved ones is up most important – I can’t even imagine if I had to be separated from my loved one during these pandemic times.  I feel so sad for all those people in nursing homes.  If you have not called a loved on lately, make sure you do ASAP.

I was able to re-gain control of my weight loss – Even though I hated the shutdown and restriction, it was enough of a change to kick start my weight loss again and helped me to strive towards important goals.  

I interacted with my friends more often – Thanks to apps like Marco Polo, I am connecting with my friends more now than I did pre-COVID.  While we may not be able to see each other in person, the quick video recordings allow us to check in and say hello more frequently.

I value those things I missed even more – While the risk of COVID still exists, when I am able to partake in something I’ve been missing, I value it so much more.  Once restaurants re-opened and travel restrictions were lifted, we decided to get back out there.  It has been really helpful to my mental health to do so.

 

There is still so much unknown with the world these days.  That old saying, “if we could only go back…” or “if we had only known…”

If I had only known that March of 2020 the world would change forever, I sure would have done a few things differently.  There are lessons to be learned in all this, a silver lining of sorts, and hopefully a light at the end of a very long tunnel.

Weekly WI: A Loss After A Gain

 Good Morning!  Happy Tuesday.

I have just been to my WW Virtual Meeting and I am about to head out for a long walk.  We had a horrible storm last night that reaped havoc all over our state.  But, with it came better air quality which is exactly what I was hoping.  I am going to take advantage of it.

I also had a great loss this week following my 4.8 pound gain last week and I am back in the 100-Pound-Club. WhoooHoooo.

I seem to have saddled myself with several meals out this week (gulp) which were not planned until recently.  I am going to commit to 100% honest tracking and really, really, really maintaining control as to not let it turn into a free-for-all.  There is the potential to wipe out my WSPA but maybe at the end of this week, I can at least see a maintain for next week.

I will also commit to keeping up with my activity goals and staying focused on the increased activity I started this last week.

When I got on the scale at home today, I jumped into the related app to look at the “official” weight number so I could track that in my WW app.  I have a tech savvy husband so we have a fancy scale with its own automatic tracking app.  I have not been in the app in a while and it had an upgrade.  It was great to see a downward trend on weight, BMI, etc. and an upward trend on muscle mass (and water mass for some reason) over these last few years.  

It is a reminder to keep at it because the small wins eventually add up.

I LOVE Fall (Beers)

 My very favorite time of year is upon us…FALL!

I am so excited for the cooler temps, jeans and sweatshirts, pumpkin EVERYTHING, and most importantly, BEER.

A switch flipped a few weeks ago.  I was craving a beer and opened up one of my Summer 2020 go-to low calorie beers.  After a taste, it just wasn’t satisfying my tastebuds or the fact that I was sitting down to enjoy a beer while I watched evening TV.  I poured it out (shhhh…don’t tell anybody) and opened up a seasonal pumpkin beer I still had kicking around from last year.

Ahhhhh…..there it was.  That first sip of delicious mildly dark beer that just hit all the tastebuds in all the right places.  Yes, Fall Beer is also upon us too.

Sam Adams Oktoberfest had just hit the market when we headed for vacation but I was waiting to pick some up until we got home.  On our drive home from Lake Tahoe, we stopped into Total Wine & More where I stumbled across a new-to-me pumpkin beer.  That got me thinking that maybe I should seek out the seasonal section and bring some some beloved German/Oktoberfest beers that I can’t often find in my area.

We arrived home and I quickly started in on my purchases…mmmm….

While at the store last week, I spotted the same pumpkin beer (with is a bit too dark for my current taste liking) and right next to it, like a beacon of light, I spotted the new Sam Adams Jack-O Pumpkin Ale.  OMG.  I saw this on their website but I didn’t think I’d actually find it in my area.  I couldn’t wait to try one as soon as it was cold.

Oh yes…that is a good pumpkin beer.  

I went to a different Albertson’s thinking I might snag another 6-pack before it is all gone and instead, I found the VooDoo Ranger Atomic Pumpkin which I really enjoyed last year during the Fall/Pumpkin season.  I decided to grab one of those instead and just drink on the pumpkin I already got as well as the Oktoberfest I picked up in Reno.  If I am not too careful, before I know it I have a ton of beer on hand.

Later in the month a local brewery will have their seasonal pumpkin beer available and they serve it in a brown sugar/cinnamon rim around the top of the glass.  Oh man, it is amazing.  I am really looking forward to getting out and about this Fall season and trying some German Brews at various restaurants that serve some.

Oh yes, I LOVE beer and although I am always having the internal battle of need vs. want vs. points vs. should vs. should not…I just LOVE beer too much to give it up.  Especially in the Fall season.