Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Katie: Week 3


Here we are at week 3!

Current weight: 161 pounds
Last week's weight: 161 pounds
Total weight loss: 9 pounds



What?!  Did anyone notice I'm at the SAME WEIGHT?!  We'll talk about it in a minute.  But first...


Pictures:  Week 3


Week 1:



I do feel like my tummy has gotten a little flatter/smaller.

Now let's talk about that weight staying the same thing.  Here's what I think happened (by way of doing a re-cap on my rules)...

My rules:
1. No Sweets!
Absolutely NO sugar sweets/junk/desserts/candy/etc. for three months (i.e. until April 1, 2010).  At that point I'll reassess and see if I can allow myself small things here and there or if I need to keep up the no sweets rule.  I will allow myself the occasional healthy dessert, but it will count as a processed snack (see below).

I didn't eat any sweets this week, so that wasn't the problem.  However, I have found some really great "desserts" with hardly any sugar and lots of good healthy things (like veggies!) that Bryan and I have been enjoying.  Yes, that's right, even the chocolate and ice-cream eating husband of mine enjoyed these treats just as much as I did.  I'll post recipes for you all to try.


2. No Fast Food!
No fast food or eating out.  Period.  And if on the off chance I'm stranded somewhere or something and I have to get fast food I will order the healthiest thing.

I didn't eat any fast food this week, so that wasn't the problem.  (Although I'm scheduled to go to Zupas with some good friends next Monday.  I'll have to do my homework so I can order the healthiest thing.)


3. Healthy Meals and Snacks!
Eat three healthy meals each day along with 2-4 healthy snacks, with no more than one processed snack (100 calorie packs, etc.) per day. 

Okay, well other than some alfredo sauce that I didn't realize was such a killer until after I had already eaten it, I really think I've been very good about eating good foods.  I basically eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day and then we always fix dinner (This is a huge step for us, by the way.  I really have no idea what we were eating this whole time in our marriage.  Cereal?  Probably.) or eat left overs.  Either way, we're always eating a healthy, delicious home-cooked meal.  While these meals may not always be ultra low in calories, I know they're healthier because I know what goes into them.  Also, I try to only eat one serving, although I did have an extra serving one or two times this week.  That could have contributed to my not losing any weight this week.


4. Fresh Foods!
Trade out cravings/impulses to eat granola bars and other processed snacks with fresh fruits and veggies.

I have definitely been enjoying my fresh fruits and veggies.  Also, I found some 100% carrot juice at the grocery store and I've been trying it out.  (Remember all our talk about carrot juice?)  I'm counting this as a fresh food because it says on the side of the bottle that they harvest, process, and package the carrots within 24 hours to make sure it's fresh.  Cool, no?  I will admit that for the first few days I was moderately whining the carrot juice down, but I think I'm developing an acquired taste.  Yesterday when I had a glass with my lunch I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.  (Although I think it helps that I wasn't having any fruits or anything sweet with lunch.)  Anyway, I don't think my lack of weight loss was due to not eating fresh foods.


5. Keep Track!
Write down everything I eat in my food journal (a little notebook I can carry around and keep with me).

Well, I wrote down everything I ate, but I think this ties in with part of the problem.  I'll get into it more in #8.

 

6. Exercise 30 Minutes!
Exercise in some way for at least 30 minutes every day and write down what I did to exercise in my food journal.

Okay, I think this is the main source of my problem.  While I did exercise for at least 30 minutes every day, I don't think it was the kind of exercise my body needed for losing weight.  My friend Sarah and I went on walks for about an hour most days (the other days I went on a walk with Bryan or did some yoga at home) with both up-hill and down-hill parts.  Sarah and I both agree, however, that walking is probably a better exercise for maintaining a healthy weight rather than trying to lose weight.  So, my plan for this next week is to keep going on walks with Sarah (that is, when she hasn't made herself sick with leftovers or whatever it was that happened--Feel better Sarah!) and ALSO do "Tighter Assets" at least 3 times this week (hopefully more, but let's start small...ish). 

 

7. Drink 80 Fluid Ounces!
Drink at least 80 fluid ounces of water every day and write down how much I drank in my food journal.

Here is another part of my problem.  I was way under--closer to 40 fluid ounces--almost every day this week.  No good!  I think this also has to do with #8.

 

8. Balance Food Intake!
Enter the foods I eat each day into the Menu Planner on MyPyramid in order to make sure I'm getting a good balance of the foods I need.

My second downfall this week.  So while I was still very dutiful in writing down all of the food I ate and all of the water I drank, I got behind in actually doing my little recap at the end of each day where I totaled up how much water I drank and assessed my daily calories and amounts in each food group.  During the first week I entered things in a few times each day and that helped me stay on track and know "Oh, I've already eaten a lot of grains today.  If I'm hungry I should really have some fruits or some veggies since I'm really low on those."  Since I got behind in entering things in, I didn't know where I was at, so my snacks were chosen based on what I wanted (still healthy, but) not what my body needed.  Now that I know how important it is for me to enter things in and keep track of my daily balance of food throughout the day, I'm going to put more emphasis on this this week.

 

9. Stay Active!
No sitting at the computer/TV for more than an hour (or one movie) at a time.

Again, no real problems here.  I could of course always be more active, but with the cold weather, a 4 month old baby, and a small apartment, I think I'm doing the best I can at this point in my life.  Although I want to be clear, I do get up and do a chore or walk around or fill up my water bottle or something every so often when I'm working on the computer so that I'm not only sitting for a long time.


10. Get out!
Get out of the house at least once a day!

I am happy to report that I have definitely made it beyond our apartment complex every day this week.  No snowfall and clear sidewalks/roads makes it much less tempting to just go to my sister's and back.


Now, what's that?  Did I get a haircut?  Why, yes, yes I did.  What?  You think I have a poof ball head now?  Ah, well, me too.  Although it's a little better now with mousse to maintain my natural wave instead of blow-dried and fluffed up.  Here are some normal, not-so-revealing pictures of me from this past week of my new haircut. 









Above: How long my hair was before.  They cut off a little over 7 inches.

Below (left to right): Me with a cute hat (that I think I lost on our walk yesterday--hopefully it'll show up in the lost and found soon).  A weird picture of me with the mousse and the natural wave thing going on that I tried this morning.  Just trust me when I say that this picture is much less weird than the other pictures I tried to take of myself. 










I'll admit that I was hoping one side effect of getting my hair cut would be a little bonus weight loss.  My hair is so thick that when it was as long as it was before I got it cut, it wouldn't even really stay up in a pony tail anymore.  It was so heavy that it would make the ponytail just kind of...fall.  Anyway, so I was hoping that with getting a little over 7 inches cut off and having it thinned (in order to make my life easier and also to keep my 4 month old from grabbing and pulling it) it would get rid of some weight too, but no luck.

Well, I hope things are going well for all of you in your goals!  Don't be too discouraged if you have a week like mine where you don't seem to be making any progress.  Even though I didn't lose any weight, I did make progress in turning my goals into habits.  And that is an important step.  And, like Bryan said to me this morning, and least I didn't gain weight!  So true.  Have a great week everybody!

Oh, and I'll get to work on posting those yummy recipes.

12 comments:

Kathy Haynie said...

Still, if you average your weight loss so far, that's 4.5 pounds per week, which is still amazing. Good for you to keep up with your goals and assess where you want to do some fine tuning. And I do agree with you that your tummy looks more toned in this week's pictures! Cute haircut - looking forward to more photos.

alee said...

I like the short hair! I actually did stop and say to myself "was her hair that short last time?" when I saw your weigh in pictures...then to my pleasure I scrolled down and realized I was not crazy after all! :)

Keeping habits instead of "great ideas" that last for a few days or weeks at a time is hard and I think you are doing a good job at it. I do think your face looks thinner in this weeks pictures...and let me just tell you how excited I was to realize today was Tuesday and that I would be able to see your progress today! Woohoo! :)

Kristen said...

Keep at it girl!

I use livestrong.com/daily plate to track my food and exercise. It is so helpful & does all the math for you. It even tells you what your intake should be depending on how much you want to lose per week.

Whitney said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lauren @The Little Things We Do.... said...

i love that your friend called it the "mom chop".... i always call it "the mom bob".

sounds like you're having a good attitude and not giving up. you've still lost 9 lbs. overall and that's seriously impressive girl! you're doing awesome!

Tricia said...

Katie...I have to just comment on the walking bit. Yes some exercises are definately more intense when it comes to fat burning but I want to remind you too that you burn as many calories walking a mile as you do running a mile. You just get to that mile faster when you run. Meaning exercise is exercise. YOu Are burning calories if you are doing some type of exercise. I know as you gain muscle by walking or doing what ever you increase your metabolism and you burn more calories. A few years back when Beth and I did our Marathon, I lost a whopping 5 lbs first week and then nothing for ever...But my body shape changed as I gained muscle mass ( my legs looked awesome!!! sigh) and by the time we were done I was down two dress sizes. I just wanted to point out that consistancy in exercise is good and that moving is good. So Keep Moving!! It is truly one of the main ways your going to loose weight!
Hope I didn't sound preachy :S
It is fun to see how you and your mom are doing. Keep at it. You are doing awesome :)

Whitney said...

love the new hair! i love haircuts, they always make me feel so refreshed.

i definitely wouldn't feel so bad about not losing weight this week, especially after the amazing week you had yesterday.

its actually kinda funny, because I am a huge fan of the show the biggest loser, and they call week 2 a curse basically after the first week of losing tons of weight, the second week for some reason they don't lose very much weight at all, and some gain. and these people are working out like it's their job. hopefully that makes you feel a bit better?
my goal for tonight is to do jumping jacks, situps and pushups during the commercials of biggest loser. if you haven't watched it, its a good show and you should check it out. its very inspiring. :)

anyways, kudos to you. you are so awesome.

Marae said...

-i love your haircut
-there's a major difference in the pictures
-do you weigh first thing in the morning? even if so...eating something salty could have caused you to retain a couple lbs. you are surely making progress, whether the numbers are the same or not!
-miss you mucho

Anna said...

I agree with Marae that I can tell a difference in the pictures. Keep at it, Hero.

Hillary said...

Yes, your tummy is WAY WAY smaller! Very nice!!!! You know... sometimes even though you didn't loose weight... you did loose fat. Like, maybe you gained some muscle? I think you're doing awesome.

The other thing I have to say is that I'm convinced of two things and wanted to share my two things...
1. Portion control is huge. Monitoring your portions of what you eat is the biggest thing that will make you actually loose weight. In my opinion at least. :) Even if you eat really great healthy foods but you eat a ton of it, you won't loose very much. But, you're being healthier so that's good. But, portion control is my number one idea of how to maximize your weight loss.
2. Exercise, for me, is not to actually take off the pounds. It makes me feel good. It makes me energized and positive. All those endorphins help me to WANT to continue eating less and being healthy. That's why exercise is important in my opinion. Not just because it gets your heart rate up... but it makes you feel things that make you keep going. It squashes depression and feeling bad about yourself. That's why I exercise. :) It makes me stay motivated.

Those are two things I know for myself.

GREAT job Katie. I'm so happy for you and proud of you.

Stephanie said...

Katie, you've inspired me! Yes, I fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes, but I still have a pudgy tummy, and what my friend calls a "muffin top" when I wear my jeans (fat hangs off the sides, and I guess looks like a muffin?...and no she didn't say that to me). I think this is a great plan! I do want to warn you though, I have read several places that if you loose more than 3lbs. a week when you are nursing, it could excrete toxins into your milk that can harm the baby. However, I am not too worried about you because it sounds like you are eating enough, and you are definitely eating healthy! Good Job!

Emily said...

Dear Katie,
I have three things to tell you:
1) way cute haircut! :)
2) Don't get discouraged. :)
3) Zupas! I am so excited! :)
Love,
Emily

We'd love to hear from you!

Want to write a guest post for The Skinny? E-mail Katie at kathleenann08 (at) gmail (dot) com.