Another 5K! Hotcake Hustle in Addison Circle

The starting line!

This morning I walk/jogged another 5K - the Hotcake Hustle in Addison Circle - and finished! I also BEAT MY GOAL and finished under 45 minutes! My official time was 44:24 (at a pace of 14:19 per mile), compared to 49:16 in December. I was definitely worried I wasn't going to make my goal, so I'm totally stoked right now! And hungry.

Monthly Weigh-In: May 2011

May's Goals:
Weight: -7.2
20 days in calorie range
20 days working out

May's Progress:
Weight: -2.2
Days in calorie range: 12/31
Days calories NOT TRACKED: 4/31 (Boo!)
Days worked out: 5/31



Total YTD Progress:
Weight: -27.8
Days in calorie range: 77/120
Days worked out: 62/120


June's Goals:
Weight: -7.3
25 days drinking 8+ glasses of water


Clearly May did not work out for me....since I basically didn't work out the whole month of May. I'm re-evaluating my weight loss goals. NOT to change my ultimate goal in September, but this is the second month where I didn't meet my goal, and I just need to re-situate the numbers. Instead of the 6 pounds a month I planned, since May was such a blow-off month, I'm going to up it to a goal of 7.3 pounds per month. Otherwise, I would have to lose 11.2 pounds this month to stay on track with my numbers the way they're set up now. 


May was difficult because of the teambuilding event at the beginning of the month coupled with Ashley and Rivka's visit this past weekend. Not that I regret that because we had a total BLAST, and I knew I would be taking a break from the diet, but I also don't want to set myself up to fail, to get discouraged, to give up, and to not reach my goal by my birthday. The whole reason this is working this time is because I'm being realistic - I'm going to take vacations and eat chips and drink margaritas - and if I need to adjust my goals, I will. 

See? Look how much fun we were having!

With that said, I really want to step it up in June. I only have one out-of-town trip planned for one night, and I don't have a big event at work that will consume my entire life for two weeks either. I do have a fantastic trip planned for July to see Meaghan, back from Korea (!!!!), so I would like to get a head start on July since I know we will be celebrating her return! 

I decided not to set a goal for days in calorie range or days worked out this month because I am committed to those fully. I have noticed that I've been really dehydrated lately, though, so I want to make sure that I get all my water in for the day. I have also read that it helps a lot when losing weight, although I can't really believe it would make that much difference besides an initial pound or two in water weight. I'm going to start tracking that as carefully as my calories, and we'll see if it actually does make a difference like everyone says.  

UPDATE: Now the Scale Is Just Messing with Me

And I'm down another 2 pounds the day after I'm supposed to meet my goal....oh well. :)

Monthly Weigh-In: March 2011

March's Goals:
Weight: -4
Work out at least 15 days



March Progress:
Weight: -2.8
Days in calorie range: 15/31
Days worked out: 18/31

Total YTD Progress:
Weight: -19.8
Days in calorie range: 52/90
Days worked out: 42/90



April's Goals:
Weight: -7.2
20 days in calorie range
20 days working out


So for some reason even though I was below my goal a few days ago, I've gained back a little under 2 pounds. Who knows what my body is thinking - I've been eating at my calorie levels and working out every day since I posted that I met my goal. Go figure. 


Now. Considering that I went on vacation this month for a week (after which I weighed six pounds more than I did at the beginning of the month), I did pretty well. That said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. 


Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I've been doing really well with working out. (At least 5 days a week at the gym! Me! Crazy!!) I definitely need to learn to manage my time better now though. Before the gym workouts, I had plenty of time to come home, cook a delicious meal, eat, and then write the recipe down for all of you to enjoy. Now, as I'm sure you've noticed, I haven't had time to do any of that since I've been staying at the gym until at least 7 every night, sometimes later. I've been getting takeout more (usually healthier choices, but still, it makes it difficult to track calories exactly) and I've also been hungrier, so I've been allowing myself to flex more with my calorie intake. 


I think the theme for my April will be balance. I was watching the A&E show Heavy the other week and I wrote down a phrase that one of the girls said about her time at the weight loss facility: "Creating new normals." Sort of like how people always say weight loss is a "lifestyle change," but her phrasing didn't make me want to roll my eyes. I need to just get used to working out and cooking well for myself. It's creating my new normal. 


So my official April goal will be to work out at least 20 days and eat within my calorie limits at least 20 days. I have no vacations planned for April, so there shouldn't be any sudden weight gain. The only big plans that I have are Cathy's birthday (when we will go out to eat at least once) and Easter, but I think my mom is going to come down to visit and we'll probably eat mostly healthy stuff, so that shouldn't be an issue. 


To end on a positive note, the consistent working out has really made a difference in how I feel, how I look, and how my clothes are fitting, even if the scale isn't reflecting the changes ... yet. That's why I'm not too down about this month's outcome, because I think once I build a little more muscle the pounds will start coming off again. 

Goal Met: New Charm AND Early Reward!

After a LONG month with very little progress, I finally hit my goal for this month this morning!! My total loss right now is at -21.4 pounds, so I've officially crossed over the 20 pound mark. It's very exciting! I can't wait for the -27.5 mark, which will mean I'm halfway to my birthday goal. I decided I get a large reward (like a new nice purse or something) when I hit the halfway point, so I'm trying to decide what that will be. 

Anyway, this month has been really long and I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to make it to goal or not because of vacation and building muscle while working out 5-6 days a week, but I'm so glad I made it. In the past, I might think that this month was a failure because I only set a goal of -4 pounds, but the whole point of this system is for that to be okay, as long as I stay on my long-term target. Six pounds a month will get me where I want to be in September, so there's no reason to be down on myself as long as I stay on track. Even though people always say you can lose 1-2 pounds a week, that doesn't mean you should set your goal to make that 2 pounds every week. I have faith that this will work if I just stick to the goals I set for myself and celebrate those. 

Now for the fun part...I'm going to order a charm for my bracelet and I also get a mani/pedi this month (which is really, really necessary). As part of the Memorial Day Challenge with Cathy, we also will get a new outfit to go out out in uptown, have a nice dinner, and go dancing next weekend. Can't wait!

PS I promise I have some recipes to post once I get a chance to sit and write them all down. They are coming!

Monthly Weigh-In: February 2011

February's Goals:
Weight: -7.2
Track budget


February Progress:
Weight: -9.2
Days in calorie range: 18/28
Days worked out: 8/28
Budget Tracked: 28/28

Total YTD Progress:
Weight: -17
Days in calorie range: 37/59
Days worked out: 24/59


March's Goals:
Weight: -4
Work out at least 15 days 


I've done really well the past month, but quite a bit of that can be attributed to the fact that I was sick for two weeks, so I didn't eat. I did do well tracking my budget and actually saved money this month even with buying a $300 plane ticket, so I say that is a success! I will continue to track that for the rest of the year. 


I didn't work out the whole time that I was sick, so that number was really low. I want to make up for it this month by working out at least 15 days. Especially now that I'm working out at the apartment gym; I think it will make a big difference this month. I will be going on vacation during March, so that will present an extra challenge as well. 


For my rewards I got a new pair of shoes, a pair of pants, and two floral shirts for spring. Since I kept the weight off after I met my goal early, I also get to pick an extra reward. I haven't decided what that will be yet. Maybe a new food processor since I seem to have misplaced the blade attachment for my old one. 


The goal seems small for March, but I've decided to stick to the monthly goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year. The main point is to stick to reaching my goal by my birthday. If I do it a month or two early, great! If I get a few more rewards up front, great! I set small goals at the beginning of the year for a reason - they are achievable. It would defeat the purpose to change them all just because I did well this month. (Remember last month? When I didn't meet the goal? Yep.)

Quick Update and February Goal Met! For Now...

This isn't me. I don't look this cute when I'm sick.

Just a quick update since I've been MIA for a few days. I've been really sick, finally went to the doctor today and got my antibiotics for a sinus infection. While I've been moping around the house in my pajamas the past three days, I've lost roughly six pounds. I'm sure at least half of that will come back on once I start feeling better, but I'm still counting it as reaching my February goal early! Total weight loss right now is at 16.8 pounds since January 1, which I think is pretty awesome.

Anyway, I haven't really been cooking and have been surviving off of leftovers made last week and takeout, so I'll just list a few of the things I've been doing the past few days:

1. Drinking a lot of V8 Fusion Strawberry Banana. I usually don't drink these since an 8 ounce serving has 120 calories and I prefer to eat, not drink, my calories, but I bought some cans a couple of months ago and they have been a real lifesaver this week. Got a bunch of good vitamins and fruit and veggie servings, and it's tasty too.

2. Watching Jersey Shore. Before this year I was one of the few proud people to be able to say that I'd never seen Jersey Shore. No longer, my friends. I have crumbled in my resolve and I love every minute of it. They've been running marathons on MTV and VH1, and I can't get enough. 

3. Ordering Asian takeout. I've been very good about cooking at home and not ordering food in or picking it up on the way back from work, but the past few days I just haven't been able to get myself psyched up for cooking, and there's always something comforting about some chinese or thai takeout. I called into my favorite thai place today for a pick up, and when the woman asked for my name, I said "ReDAY" with my stopped-up nose. She asked again, seemingly alarmed. I replied, "ReDAY! ReDAY! Sorry, I have a cold." She started laughing and said she'd see me soon. When I went to pick it up, I found that she included an egg roll and a cup of soup for free and told me to get better. (This is why I love Thai Spice. Seriously, check it out.)

4. Eating gummy vitamins. I love these, and the fact that they make them for adults now only proves how right I have been in taking the children's vitamins all along. The best I've found is the Slice of Life brand, but I've been known to take some Spiderman gummies from time to time. 

Hopefully next week I'll be back in full force. Stay well!

Goal Met: New Charm!

So after a couple weeks of ups and downs, I finally started dropping weight again and made it past my second charm bracelet goal for a total loss of 11 pounds!! I got so excited yesterday morning that I spent 20 minutes before work online shopping to pick out which charm I wanted. I chose this one:

It's a french macaroon charm, so I thought it would go nicely with the Eiffel tower charm I got last time. One of the women at work complimented me on my bracelet yesterday, and I told her about what I was doing and that each time I lost 5 pounds I bought myself a new charm. She was so excited for me, thought it was a great idea, and then commented on how much progress I was making. That made me feel really good. It's amazing what a little bit of validation from someone else can do!

Because I'm not the type of person to go in and complain about my diet (because there's really not that much I can't eat, I just have to eat smaller portions of it), people take longer to realize that I am working on losing weight. I think the thing that stops me from telling people I'm trying to lose weight is the unsolicited advice that comes with it. Every time they start in on that, I just want to tell them, "I've done this before! I know my method works! No need to tell me!" I don't know if it's because I'm overweight that they assume if I knew what to do I wouldn't be overweight anymore or what. So usually I just try to avoid the whole situation. But it is nice to get a little unsolicited encouragement along the way. 

I'm going to be making some Valentine's treats for the office this weekend, so not much actual cooking. I may post a few of them, but no promises that they will all be healthy recipes!

Some Reflections on January

I know I posted the January update yesterday, and even though I technically met the goal on the 24th, I was honestly a little bit disappointed at the result when I had gained back weight and didn't meet my goal on February 1st. The first few weeks are always the easiest to drop weight (mostly water, whatever, it still counts) so I really wanted to see myself beat my goal for the month. So I set myself a higher goal for January (9 pounds instead of 6 pounds) and when I didn't meet that, I didn't feel good about it. 

I think this is why I've gotten discouraged a lot in the past. People have told me that because I'm young, I should be able to easily lose 10 pounds a month, averaging about 2.5 pounds per week. When I wasn't able to meet that, I'd get frustrated with myself and eventually lose faith that I could do it. I’d mess up a couple times during a month and think, well now there’s no point, cause there’s no way I’m losing 10 this month! I have to remind myself that it's a lot of hard work and commitment for a very, very slow payoff. But I’ve been overweight my whole life; why wouldn’t it take a while to change that? It only makes sense.

That's why my goal system right now is going to work for me and help me get over the 10 pounds a month mindset. With the exception of January, my goal for each month is to lose 6 pounds, or about 1.5 pounds per week. When I think about that, my automatic reaction is that the pace is too slow. It’s a self-imposed guilt trip. I think to myself, "You're supposed to be able to lose 2 pounds a week. Why wouldn't you want to do the best that you can?"

I have to remember to answer with reason. I picked a specific weight I wanted to be at by my birthday this year, September 30^th (-57 pounds total). Then, I worked backwards and set my monthly goals, just evenly distributing the weight I need to lose over nine months. I set the goals low on purpose – so I could realistically meet them. I can't argue with math. If I only need to lose 6 pounds a month to meet that ultimate goal, then that's all I need to do. I can take it easy on myself a little bit. I can have a Mexican dinner complete with chips and a margarita and not blow my whole plan out of the water. I can work out on the Wii Fit and actually enjoy it instead of dragging myself to the gym for an hour-long, 600 calorie-burning workout. I can be normal at a Superbowl party and have a beer instead of wine so I don’t lose any street cred with the boys.

With all that, and at the risk of wiping out everything I just said, I weighed in today 2 pounds less than I did yesterday, so I'm already well on my way to meeting February's goal and .2 away from getting another charm for my bracelet! The important part is that I only missed January’s goal by a day, and I’m okay with it. 

Monthly Weigh-In: January 2011

This morning I woke up to a beautiful snow day! So while I'm working from home in my pjs, I'll give you the run-down for January.

 So it's the first month wrap-up for me. Overall, I'd say I did pretty well. If it hadn't been for the liberties taken this last week with food and working out, I definitely would've shown more of a loss. That said, my granma died on the 7th and I pretty much checked out for five days, so I am proud of the fact that I didn't gain any weight during that time. I think the main point is that I actually lost weight, and if I continue to lose at even less than this pace, I will meet my goal by my birthday. Now without further ado...


January (and total YTD) Progress:
Weight: -7.8 pounds
Days in calorie range: 19/31
Days worked out: 16/31

February's Goals:
Weight: -7.2
Track budget






February's goal was going to be to lose 6 pounds, but since I didn't quite make it to January's goal, I'm going to add on that extra 1.2 pounds to February and try to catch up to my goal. I'm also starting to keep track of my spending with a budget Excel spreadsheet that I worked on all weekend, so I'm also going to make a non-weight goal of keeping track of what I spend for the whole month and see how much I can save when I put my mind to it.