Sold

So... I have a confession to make.

I sold our scale.  Weeks ago.

As some of you already know, we're moving next month.  We've decided that most of what we own is just junk anyway, so we're selling almost everything and just moving with what will fit in our car.*  So when one of my good friends sent me a message on Facebook a little while back asking if we were selling our scale, I said yes.  A few days later they came and got it and I haven't had any idea how much I weigh since then.

When one of my other good friends came over and took a tour of our empty apartment I was listing off some of the stuff we used to have in the bathroom and I mentioned that we had sold our scale.  I was both surprised and delighted by her response of, "Don't you love not having a scale?"

I'll admit that up until her comment I had mostly been considering the lack of scale to be a source of guilt and a bit of a nuisance.  But after her cheery comment about it being so great, I found myself instantly agreeing with her.  The guilt remained since I've been blabbing about getting down to 135 by my birthday, but it has actually been a huge relief to have no idea how much I weigh.  The truth is: I don't care.

As for my goal, I'd still like to meet it, but mostly because I'd like to slim down in general.  But I'm coming to terms with the fact that it may not happen by my birthday.  There are a lot of reasons why.  Here are some:

• I no longer have a scale, so I'll have no idea if/when I reach my goal.
• I sold both strollers (i.e. a little tricky to go walking).**
• One of my good walking buddies moved.  To Wisconsin.
• My other good walking buddy is enjoying her husband being home more... which means less time for walks.
• It has been raining.  A lot.
• We have been buying Oreos.  And I have been eating my fair share.  And enjoying it.
• Our lives are currently on no kind of regular schedule so I often go a few days before I realize I haven't gone on a walk.  

So, there you have it.  Those are just a few of my lame excuses.  Still, lame as they are, they are real.  Anyway, to those of you still working on the goal to be 135 by my birthday, I commend you.  Will I be meeting that goal with you?  Who knows.


*Both my parents and Bryan's parents are being kind and driving some of our stuff out to us later this summer.  And we've mailed about 5 boxes of books to ourselves via some nice friends who already live in the place we're moving to.


**This is actually a pretty lame excuse since a very nice friend has already offered to let me borrow hers.  Also, we should be getting a new stroller I ordered tomorrow.

Day 2

Bryan and I went running for the second day in a row today.  Boo-yah. 

We've been saying we want to get back into going jogging for the past little while, but things were so busy with Bryan's fall classes and finals and graduation and having family in town that we finally decided to just wait to start until the fall semester was over.  Lame?  Perhaps.  Realistic?  Yes. 

Yesterday we went jogging for a whopping 10 minutes and then decided we were done.  Today we went for 15 minutes, but we were in the indoor track (because it was snowing--blah) and so it felt like three hours.  Especially since it was only the short track this morning.  (Alex knows what I mean.)  Sometimes they shut down the back part of the track (for... whatever) and make you run on the first 2/3rds of the track.  It's something of what I would imagine it would be like to run on a hamster wheel.  Anyway, my point is that our 15 minutes this morning is especially commendable since it was hot and stuffy and boring.

In other fitness news from my life, I am now back down to only one walking buddy.  :(  My BFF Sarah moved away (today officially--good luck driving to Wisconsin with two kids under 2 Sarah!  Haha.)  and now I'm down to just one walking buddy again.  When Sarah was gone over the summer last year I started walking with my friend Katie K.  Since both Katie K and Sarah have two kids each, one of them was bound to have something going on on any given day (sick kid, grocery store trip, etc.) and so it actually worked out pretty well for me to cheat and have two walking buddies.  So it'll be sad to just go back to one now that Sarah's gone.  On the other hand, I am SUPER grateful that Katie K. is still here.  Bryan and I were counting up all of our friends that moved out this past weekend and Katie K. and her family are truly some of our only friends left here.  I guess that's what happens when you live in a college town and everyone else graduates faster.  Haha.  Also, Katie K. is awesome to go walking with because she totally whips my booty into shape when she takes off at power walking speed with a double stroller.  To say that she is more fit than me would be a bit of an understatement.

Anyway, things are generally going well as I work toward my goal.  Not even a full pound of weight loss yet since I first announced my goal last week, but considering the fact that A.) we just had family in town that stuffed us with lots of yummy treats and B.) I'm just getting back into the swing of things, I'd say it's pretty good that I've even lost half a pound.

Oh, and for those of you who are curious (which is probably nobody) I'm back to using MyFitnessPal again.  (Any of you out there with an ipod have my great envy.)  Doing it on the laptop is not as convenient as I'd like.  And it's not as cool as my mother-in-law's Weight Watchers program (it looks pretty snazzy).  But it is free.  So for now I'll continue to use it.  Not that I've been within my calorie range yet.  But I think today I will be.  Wish me luck.

And best of luck to all of you who have decided to join me in my goal to be 135 lbs by my birthday, June 20, 2011!  You have no idea how much more committed I am now that I have company and it's way more fun to have you all along for the ride, even though none of us live near each other.  :)  Thanks so much for your support!  And best of luck as you work toward that goal too!

As of right now I'm aware of the following people joining me in my birthday goal:
Alex
Mom
Lisa


Anybody else want to join?  :)

I have a goal.

Yesterday was April 20, 2011.
I weighed 140 pounds.
I want to be at least 5 pounds lighter
By my birthday, June 20, 2011.

I've been getting tubby lately.
Worrying that people will think I'm pregnant.
(I'm not.)
Holding a pillow in front of my pudge when I sit on the couch.
So that nobody will see the bulge.

I eat too many cookies.
I don't eat enough fruits and veggies.
Or drink enough water.
Or exercise enough.

Now that Bryan's done with the semester
It's time to start running again.
I'll keep walking.
I'll drink water.
I'll track my calories.
(At least to some degree.)
And my exercise.

135.
Happy Birthday to me.
Soon.

After that?
I'll work toward 125.

Hello, it's me again...

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.  Yes, I do still remember The Skinny.  I just haven't had much to say for a while.  And weighing in hasn't been my thing.  Mostly, I just haven't had a whole lot of direction with how I want to take care of my body.  I'll spare you the excuses.  But today I've been thinking a lot more seriously about wanting to make a change (or changes, probably) and be a better steward over my body.

I'm going to try writing on The Skinny again.  It may not be on Tuesdays.  It may not be once a week.  And I may not bother weighing in anymore.  Not because I'm embarrassed about my weight (I'm 140 today), but because I want to focus more on healthy living than on the scale.  Of course I'll still weigh myself, but what I'm saying here now is that I'm making no commitments to be consistent about when I post on here or what I post about.

That being said, I'm still not sure yet what my plan is going to be.  My mother-in-law has been chatting with me about Weight Watchers this afternoon and it sounds great, but I'm not up for paying for weight loss and I don't have an i pod to keep track of it all on.  And of course those things aren't fundamental, but I think they do help.

Anyway, I'm going to try to work out a good little plan for myself.  In the mean time, if you all want to pray for the snow to be over and done with here, that would be okay with me.

Katie: Week 60

One, two, skip a few...

Current weight (Week 60): 136 pounds
Last week's weight (Week 57): 138 pounds
Total weight loss: 34 pounds

Sorry I've been a little MIA lately.  I don't even really have a great reason for it.  Anyway, I'm just going to keep this short and say this:

Hooray for Spring weather on its way!

The past couple of days have been beautiful weather here lately and it is so encouraging to be able to go on walks and spend time outside, even just playing on the playground.  And this means we can finally start running again!

Katie: Week 57 Confessions and A Re-Start

Ok, so I'm posting a little late this week.  And--oh my...

Current weight (Week 55): 138 pounds
Last week's weight (Week 51): 135 pounds
Total weight loss: 32 pounds

Part 1: The Confession:

Hello.  My name is Katie.  And I am addicted to food.  Especially sweets.

I know, I know, we all joke about using a line like that.  But, for the most part here, I'm being serious.  

Some of you may already know this, but my husband and I are also addicted to West Wing.  It's a TV show from the 90's about the inter workings of the west wing of the White House.  Neither of us watched an episode when it aired on television, but we now own the first four seasons on DVD.  And it's actually kind of funny that Bryan and I are so into this show because it's super political and neither of us are really all that into politics.  But it also happens to be very well written and--most of the time--pretty funny.  So anyway, we watch a lot of West Wing.


And there's this one episode where one of the characters is talking about his addiction to alcohol.  And he says something like, "I don't understand people who can just have one drink.  I can't understand why anyone wouldn't want to keep feeling this way.  It's not a matter of smart and stupid.  I'm addicted."  (And for those of us with morals out there, I'll just add that he doesn't say this to justify continuing his habit.  He just says it when he's trying to explain how he used to be.)  

Anyway, back to what he said.  When I watched this episode for the first time I couldn't help but think, "That's how I feel about brownies!"  And then, the moment after I'd had that thought, I recoiled.  Really?  That's how I feel about brownies?  It startled me, but it's true.  I really can't understand people who just want one brownie.  Or one cookie.  Or one helping of a dinner that tastes so good.  Even if I know my body doesn't need anymore, I just want to keep tasting that good food.

Then, when I was at my in-laws' house for Christmas I was reading a copy of Prevention magazine and it was talking about a study that somebody had done recently to prove that people really can be addicted to sugar the same way that people can be addicted to other things.  And, reading this, my initial thoughts from that episode of West Wing came back to me.  Is it true?  Am I really addicted to food, especially sugary foods?  Yes, I think so.




Part 2: The Re-Start


I had let myself relax on my health goals over the holidays.  And I guess I just kept thinking that I would automatically feel motivated to jump right back into my goals again the moment we got back home.  But I didn't.  And I kept waiting to feel motivated.  And I haven't.  

Even my sad attempt at doing something (making homemade meals) last week didn't really pan out to be all that helpful.  Mainly because I kept making sweets and meals with a lot of meat.  No good, no good.


So, last night as I was getting ready for bed and thinking about how my tummy just keeps getting bigger and how I do not want to completely regress, I decided it was time to get back into the swing of things even thought I still don't really feel all that motivated.  So, last night, I wrote down some things on the old goals chart again.  And I wrote down some goals.  And this morning I started entering everything into MyFitnessPal.com again.  Sigh.


I know that these are good things, but I think I've been having a harder time getting super motivated this time around because it's beginning to set in more and more (especially with my recent weight gain just in the past week) that if I'm really going to reach and maintain my goal weight, I'm going to have to make permanent life changes, and not just stick with things for a few months.  


Anyway,  my goals are super exciting, but one other thing I wanted to mention was that in the article I was reading in that Prevention magazine it talked about ways to combat sugar addiction.  And one thing it said is that, when we eat something sugary, our bodies want more of that.  But if we hold off on sugar for a few days, it gets out of our blood stream and then we don't want it so badly.  And I know that entering everything into MyFitnessPal is always a sure way to get me to majorly cut down on treats, so I'm going to be cutting way back on the sweets.  


And I had a friend mention to me the other day that she's made a lot of progress in her fitness goals simply by cutting out dairy (she's lactose intolerant anyway, she says) and red meat.  I don't think I'm ready to fully cut out either, but I have been thinking a lot since my conversation with  my friend about not eating so much red meat.  And, to help with that, I bought some chicken breasts on a great sale the other day.  

But... uhh... here's the thing.  I don't really have any great (and healthy) chicken recipes up my sleeve.  Any great ideas?  (Easy ones, please?  Especially crock pot meals?)


Anyway, I'm still feeling pretty blah, but I do want to move forward rather than backward.  Any encouragement you have to offer would be much appreciated.  Thanks everyone.

Katie: Week 56-- A new goal

Could the title of this post possibly be any longer?...

Current weight (Week 55): 135 pounds
Last week's weight (Week 51): 136 pounds
Total weight loss: 35 pounds

Blah.  That is how I've been feeling about weight loss.  And eating healthy.  And remembering to weigh myself.  Which is why I didn't check in yesterday.  I just forgot to weigh myself in the morning.  Lame, right?  Right.  

I've had a hard time getting back into the swing of healthy living since we got back from Christmas vacation.  And then we had a big family wedding (Yay Lisa!).  And then Bryan started a new semester.  So things were just kind of crazy.  Now life has settled down a lot, but I've still been feeling blah about healthy living.  And a big part of that was due to the super cold weather we were having.  (See last week's post for more whining about that.)  So I haven't wanted to set goals for going running or going on outside walks since I know I'd be frustrated and stressed if I couldn't meet the goals due to bad weather.  Aaaaaanyway, I've been due for a goal.  And this morning I thought of one.  And I'm actually pretty excited about it.


I'm going to make things from scratch this week.  


I'm not generally the kind of person who just loves to cook.  I don't look up new recipes.  I don't try new ingredients.  Out of necessity, I cook the same five meals all the time.  And since I get sick of those meals I don't cook all the time.  And--ahem--we've been having a lot of store-bought cookies lately.  (Sheepish face)  So it was a little strange when I suddenly got the urge this morning to bake muffins, but I decided to go with it.  And it was while I was mixing up muffins that I decided to make things from scratch this week.


Oh, I'm sure there will be plenty of things I eat that I don't make from scratch, but my goal here is to eat meals prepared at home.  And I figure that, this way, if I want some cookies then at least I have to want them badly enough to make them.  And I can make them with whole wheat flour.  And there's no way they will be as bad as the store-bought cookies we've been eating.  (Heh heh...)  


So, to make it all happen, I've already made a batch of SUPER yummy muffins (I'll share the recipe for that in an upcoming post, hopefully later today if my internet connection will stop going on the fritz.).  And I planned out a couple of meals and went grocery shopping.  And I bought bread flour.  Yes, I'm going to attempt making bread again.  Or at least I'm telling myself that I will.


And you know what?  I'm excited about it.  And that's the first weight-loss/ healthy living thing I've been excited about since we got back from Christmas break.  So, while it's not quite the same as counting calories and running three times a week, it's a start.  And that's important.


Anyway, I'll try to share recipes I try this week as often as I can.  Even if they're just the same ol' same ol' ones I always make.  Wish me luck!  :)

Katie: Week 55 Coping with a New Year

ehhh...

Current weight (Week 55): 136 pounds
Last week's weight (Week 51): 130 pounds
Total weight loss: 34 pounds

Sigh.

I ate too much during the holidays.  Too much eating and not enough exercising.  Though, to my credit, I did go running once and to the gym once while on vacation.  And I have tried to go on walks as often as I can since we've been back from vacation.  But it's harder right now than it used to be.

My excuses/ struggles in not progressing in my weight loss goals as much as I'd like are three fold.

1. It's very cold outside.  
2. My daughter throws tantrums nearly ever time I go on a walk.
3. I still want all the goodies.

The first two problems are connected.  While I'm certainly not excited to go out and run or go on a walk in the frigid weather we've been having (since about the middle of December) I'm still willing to do it.  And once I get out and get going I don't really mind it so much.  So if it were just up to me I may skip a few days here and there, but I think I'd still be pretty good about getting out and getting some healthy exercise.

Unfortunately, it's not just up to me.  As a stay at home mom, my life is inseparably connected to my daughter, now almost 1 1/2 years old.  And she has developed two likes/ dislikes that have recently made it nearly impossible for me to enjoy outside walks.  First of all, she's officially started walking.  And with that new-found independence has come a dislike for being strapped into the stroller.  She does okay for a while, but after a certain amount of time she just screams when I don't let her out and walk.  This combined with her utter refusal to keep a hat or mittens on has made outside walks in the frigid cold an impossibility for me for the time being.  It used to be a somewhat manageable problem.  But with the temperature below freezing every single day, I just can't keep her outside without a hat and mittens on.  We have a great little snow suit for her and I've done my best to bundle her up, but she screams when anything covers up her hands or head and she screams when they get cold.  Agh.  So for now I've decided to surrender.  At least until the weather gets warmer or until she'll tolerate things to keep her warm, I've consigned myself to inside walks only.  Needless to say, we've been doing a lot of mall walking.  And it's good, but it's just not quite the same, you know?  Doesn't quite burn calories the same way as walking up and down hills and walking longer distances.  That being said, there are some definite perks to walking indoors, especially at a place like the mall.  Most especially, we can stop and go back to the car whenever we want and there's easy access to public restrooms.  Both of these are major pluses when your walking partner (i.e. my walking partner) is 8 1/2 months pregnant.  :)

As for the third problem, the eating too much.  Gah.  I don't know.  I know I've been eating a lot less at home than I was when we were on vacation.  And I'm glad about that.  But I'm still hooked on the little things--cookies and milk or a little bowl of ice cream at night.  And I don't feel ready to give it up.  I think mostly that's because I feel like I have to do all or nothing.  And I don't want to go completely without sweets.  I think it's a struggle I'll be working on for a long time.  It's hard.

Anyway, I'm not progressing as quickly as I'd like to be right now.  But I haven't given up.  I'm going pretty slow at the moment, but I am still going.  And, at least for now, I'm proud of that.
 

I'm not sure how much I weigh today

Hey Skinnies!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break!  I had a great time out in Virginia with my fun in-laws and then back here at home for my sister-in-law's wedding.  We ate and played and ate and played and ate and ate some more.  I literally gained ten pounds (I think) since Thanksgiving.  But I've already lost at least half of that since we came back--not even really from doing anything.  Anyway, we've still got some family in town and it's been pretty cold outside and my daughter has been sick, so I haven't really been getting back into my regular groove yet.  Part of me would love to switch back into mega workout and eat healthy mode, but the other part of me is content just to kind of ease back into daily life for a few more days while we've got family in town.  So, anyway, I forgot to weigh myself today.  But I did have fun watching my little girl count the days on the calendar and tell me what a doggie says about ten billion times.  Life is pretty quiet and slow right now.  I'm sure it'll pick up again soon.  Probably by next week.

Until then,
Katie :)

Katie: Weeks 50 & 51

Well, now, here's some unexpected progress!...

Current weight (Week 51): 130 pounds
Last week's weight (Week 50): 131 pounds
Total weight loss: 40 pounds

Man, oh man!  Sorry I haven't posted on time for two weeks in a row now!  I have been a busy little lady.  I always mean to post all day Tuesday and then somehow it just slips away from me.  Anyway, you may have noticed that I've gained back a couple of pounds.  So I'm just going to tell you the truth.  I haven't been watching what I eat or exercising a super great amount.  I love the holidays and I love all the food that comes with the festivities and I decided I'd rather work harder after the holidays are over than be cranky about giving up on good food and trying to be overly careful during this cheerful time of year.  So, sorry I'm not the best example right now, but that's the truth. 

And you know what?  I'm happy.  Not content to keep living this way forever and keep my pudgy tummy forever, but content to just enjoy the holiday season and then pick things up again later.  I am still going on walks when I can and I find that I still don't eat nearly as much as I used to, so I'm happy about that.  But with all that's been going on in our lives and some schedule changes we just haven't had time for a lot of running lately.  I hope we'll be able to pick that up again a little more after this week of craziness is over.  :)

And speaking of running...

I got some new running shoes!  I got them on a really great sale, so they were only $30.  Woot woot!  I've only been jogging in them once, but I've gone walking in them multiple times.  So far I like them a lot and I think they're better on my body than the old shoes.  And they're cuter than my old shoes.  :)  However, I am still having some soreness in the bottom of my big toes when I jog or do more intense walking in them.  Maybe it's my old orthodics in my new shoes?  I'm not sure.  But either way I at least feel better about having some new tread and a little more space between my feet and the pavement. 

Anyway, I am encouraged by the fact that I've been able to maintain my weight pretty well.  Since I haven't been watching what I eat and exercising as much I really haven't gone above 132 or below 130.  So I'm happy to be learning a little more about maintaining.  But hopefully after the holidays are over and we have a little more time (and a lot less sweets) I'll be able to work down to my goal weight and then maintain that.  :)

Oh yeah, and, just to let you know, I may or may not be posting next Tuesday.  We'll be with family and I'm not sure whether I'll be able to squeeze it in or not.  So in case I don't pop in next week...

Merry Christmas!

Katie: Week 49

I've been thinking over things a lot lately.  Thinking through why I had myself set on getting down to 120 pounds by Christmas, why I got so frustrated when it wasn't happening.  And I've been thinking about some things over the past week or so.  Maybe these thoughts seem scattered.  I guess they are.  I myself haven't quite finished thinking through them and put them all together into a cohesive whole, but I thought I'd share them with you in whatever sort of in between thinking stage they're in.

Goals- Goals are funny.  Often we set goals about minute details in order to change bigger and more important things about ourselves.  (Or at least things that we deem more important.)  And we know that "by small and simple things, great things are brought to pass," but sometimes our goals can almost seem disconnected from the results we're hoping for.  For instance, other than for the sake of "meeting my goal" I could really care less about how much I weigh.  It's true.  What bugs is my tummy.  I was paranoid about it before I had Olivia, but after being pregnant once now I'm ultra paranoid about looking pregnant.  Because my tummy sticks out.  And I hate that.  And so, as a result, I set goals about how many times I'll go walking and running and what I'll eat and what I won't eat and, in general, how I spend my days.  And somehow the dislike of a tummy that sticks out becomes what my whole days is about.  And, while I do like going on walks and eating healthy food, I don't like spending all day thinking about my tummy.  On the other hand, I do think spending my time working on progressing toward being better is a good thing.  Am I doing both at once?  Am I being both self-promoting and self-degrading at the same time?  I really don't know.

Entitlement- I've been thinking a lot about entitlement.  It's a selfish and dangerous thing.  Always.  I've been thinking about this for a while now and I cannot come up with a situation in which it would be wise for us to feel entitled to something.  In a gospel sense, we might say that we feel entitled to be with our families forever if we are sealed in the temple and live righteously.  But I don't think that's right.  I think that if we've done all that then we seek for the blessings of the Lord.  He's promised us that we can be with our families forever if we're sealed in the temple and we live righteously, but we're never perfect.  We make mistakes.  I try to live righteously, but sometimes I mess up.  I think a mean thought, don't do something I should have done, do something I know I shouldn't.  So I'm really not entitled to be with my family forever.  I've been blessed with an Atoning Savior who makes up what I lack and lets me repent.  Are you following me so far?  In other words, we do our best in life--and we should--but, ultimately, every good thing comes from God, those things are blessings, and we're not entitled to blessings.

This past week- I know there are those of you who will shake your heads and roll your eyes at me when I tell you this, but here's the truth: I was really naughty last week.  I hate cookies and milk every night with Bryan and his sisters and our friends.  I didn't keep track of anything I ate.  And because the temperature outside was in the teens I think we only went on one actual walk during the whole Thanksgiving break.  It was bad, I know.  But you know what?  It was so nice.  It was nice to eat things I liked.  But even more than that it was nice to not be stressed about every single calorie that enters my body.  So maybe you (and sometimes I) will think that it was such a waste to be so stressed about my weight and work so hard and then go in the complete opposite direction, but it really was so good for me--mentally, emotionally.  I needed that break.  Because I certainly wasn't starving myself before, but it was getting to the point where I was eating as little as possible.  And even though the little calorie counter on MyFitnessPal wasn't giving me that "you haven't eaten enough calories" warning, I think it was doing bad things to my body to not be eating more.  But when you're working so hard at burning calories it's hard mentally to eat more, even if you know it's probably going to make your body function better.  So I still really like the tools on MyFitnessPal and I'll use them off and on as I see fit, but, for now at least, I'm not going to keep track of things quite so much.  I certainly don't plan to be quite so glutenous as I was over the Thanksgiving break and now that the temperatures have risen to be more reasonable I'll keep going on walks and things, but I'm not going to be writing it all down all the time.  It was just plain stressing me out too much. 

And so, now I'll post my weekly weight.  It doesn't really matter, but maybe after reading through some of what I've been thinking about you'll understand a little why I feel so blessed to still be under 130.  Because I certainly didn't deserve it after this past week.  But seeing this makes me feel so encouraged.  Even though it's up a pound from last week, it could have been up quite a few more.  And it's not.

Current weight: 129 pounds
Last week's weight: 128 pounds
Total weight loss: 41 pounds

Someday I'm going to make it to my goal weight of 120 pounds.  And I hope that along the way this sticking-out-tummy that bugs will disappear.

I'm going to keep working at it.

Katie: Week 48 -- You were right

Well, now, here's some unexpected progress!...

Current weight: 128 pounds
Last week's weight: 129 pounds
Total weight loss: 42 pounds

Okay, so if you want to know something dumb about me it is this: I ask for advice and then I usually don't like to hear it.  So when I wrote that whiny post last week I rolled my eyes as I read all of your nice and helpful comments.  But you know what?  You all were right.

I don't remember exactly what day it was.  Friday?  I think?  But I just sort of gave up for a little bit.  The snowy weather that's come combined with my frustrations and I sort of took a little hiatus from my goals.  I talked through things with a few people who know me well and told me some things I needed to hear.  And after all that, I just felt like I needed to take the advice you all gave me and not stress so much about my goal to be 120 pounds by Christmas.  Let me explain.

When I made that goal I did it with the observation that I was moving along on-track really well, losing about a pound a week (and sometimes more) and I figured if I just kicked things up a notch, really stayed committed to my healthy eating and exercise goals, and worked just a little harder at it that meeting my goal of 120 pounds by Christmas would be a given.

At first it was great.  I was continuing to lose weight at the same quick and satisfying rate.  But then, as you all know, I got stressed.  Pretty stressed.  And the weight loss came to a screeching halt.  And I even gained a little.  And that just stressed me out more.  "Ahhh!  I'm not going to reach my goal in time!"  That was all I could think about.  Somewhere in there it had strayed from the nice, charming little goal it had started out as.

So I've decided to just keep on keepin' on and not worry about whether or not I make it there by Christmas.  After all, it's not a race.  And as much as I know you'll all look down on me for saying this, I really plan to enjoy all the yummy food that the holiday season has to offer.  I don't want to miss out on all that tasty goodness just to feel stressed and sad and only lose .2 pounds anyway.  This being said, I also plan to keep up a regular habit of healthy eating and, of course, good exercise.  I love my daily walks and even going running has been fun.  I don't plan to give those things up.  (Although I will admit that it is getting harder and harder to get myself motivated to go running now that it's getting so cold and the sidewalks are snowy and slick.  Not to mention it's usually dark outside by the time we could get started.  And I just loathe the indoor track.  Sigh...)

Also, I have made the executive decision to enjoy this current week as a vacation because--it is!  It's Thanksgiving break!  So I plan to keep going on walks and go running if we feel like it, but I'm not going to be keeping track of things on my little chart and probably not on MyFitnessPal either.  I just need a little break from the minute details for a bit. 

Anyway, that's all for now.  Hope you're all having a wonderful Tuesday.  And since I probably won't be posting again this week...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Katie: Week 47

Same as last week...

Current weight: 129 pounds
Last week's weight: 129 pounds
Total weight loss: 41 pounds

I'll admit, I'm a little discouraged. I do have a few days where things just get too busy to exercise or keep track of calories, but for the most part I really have been so good about everything.  And yesterday I went on two walks--both about an hour each--and Bryan and I went running and I ate a good amount, but I definitely burned more calories than I took in... and I still came out at 129.4 this morning.  Bah.  I did make it down to 128.something last week, but things got crazy with a big Relief Society Christmas day I was in charge of and by the end of the week I was back up to 130 again, even though I really am not entirely sure why.

Sigh.

Despite/because of all this, I have raised my goals a little.  Instead of running 3 times a week I am now going to try and go running 5 times this week.  And I'm going to try and go on at least 1, maybe 2 walks a day whenever I can.  And, as always, I try to burn more calories than I take in, while--of course--still eating a healthy amount of the things my body needs.  I don't starve myself.

But anyway, I really am getting worried about whether or not I'll actually be able to meet my goal by Christmas.  If I do it will definitely be because of Divine Intervention.  Because, clearly, my efforts alone are not cutting it.

Oh, and before I forget (again) here are the pictures of me from last week:

 

Oh yeah, and one more thing.  Lately my feet have been hurting more often while I run and after I finish running.  I bought my running shoes back during my sophomore year of college (umm... four or five years ago?) and I think they're worn out and that this could be part of the problem.  But I really don't feel like shelling out the dough for new running shoes.  But is that probably the answer here?  Any input?  Because yesterday my heels were really sore when we got back from our run and while we were running the bottom of my big toes hurt.  Which is weird.  Anyway, advice would be much appreciated.

Happy Tuesday!

Katie: Week 46

Same as last week...

Current weight: 129 pounds
Last week's weight: 131 pounds
Total weight loss: 41 pounds

Isn't funny how I was ecstatic about being at this weight last week, but I'm frustrated by it this week?  I guess that's part of being not-perfect.  We're always trying to be a little better.  Anyway, yes, I'm still at 129.  I'm pretty disappointed that I didn't break into 128 at all this past week, but so it goes.  Here's to hoping it'll happen this next week.  :)

Also, I have a little surprise for you all.  Are you ready?

I took pictures today!

I know, crazy, right?  Bryan and I actually happened to be home and up and ready this morning so I had him snap a couple of quick pictures.  The lighting is super bad, but--hey--beggars can't be choosers.  Not that any of you were really begging though... Anyway, here are the pictures:

Uhhh... so there are no pictures here.  Long story short, they will be up tomorrow.  Hopefully.  :)

Also, I had a yummy treat to share with you all, but I'm having issues with adding pictures to Blogger today, so perhaps that'll appear sometime in the future.

Happy Tuesday!

Katie: Week 45 Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!

Wahooooooooooo!!!...

Current weight: 129 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last week's weight: 131 pounds
Total weight loss: 41 pounds

Yay yay yay yay yay!!!!  I finally broke into the 120's!  Not including this week there are 7 more weeks until Christmas.  So I've just got 9 pounds left to lose in the next 7 weeks!  Yay!  And I totally feel like it's possible.

Oh, and sorry I forgot to check in last Tuesday.  Well, I didn't really forget, I just didn't get around to it.  But last Tuesday I was 131.  Woot woot!  Although, even though I didn't check in, I have been super diligent about keeping up on my goals.  And I'm especially proud of myself for staying strong even through Halloween.  I had a few pieces of candy the night of our ward Halloween party, but that was really it.  I just didn't want more than that.  And that is the part that I think is truly awesome.

As a recap of what I've been doing to reach my goals, I've been...
-entering all of my food and exercise into MyFitnessPal everyday
-striving to drink 8 glasses of water every day
-going on a walk every day
-going running 3 times each week
-doing 50 crunches every night
-eating less calories than I burn

Of course some days are better than others.  And last week I had a thing going on with my back so we had to skip running.  But I've tried to stay active no matter what and be diligent about eating fewer calories than I burn and it is totally paying off.  I really can't tell you how thrilled I was to get on the scale this morning and see it drop down into the 120's.  YAY!  I feel so close to my goal.

Also, I don't know that I've mentioned it on here before, but every Thursday on my regular blog I'm doing a "What I'm Giving Myself for Christmas" this year thing.  Basically I'm just trying to encourage others to make and meet goals by this coming Christmas.  It can be anything really, but if you're reading this on The Skinny then you're probably into fitness and weight loss, so a weight loss or fitness goal might be a good one for you if you'd like to participate.  I'd really love to have a bunch of people chime in and mention what their goals are and how happy they are to be working toward them.  It's just so deeply gratifying to see progress in myself.  Of course that's not something anyone can really give except to themselves, so I'm trying to pass on that feeling by encouraging others.  Anyway, so I'd love for you to share your goals here in the comments and of course it'd be fun to have you chime in on the linky party on my regular blog on Thursdays too.  But mostly I just want you to feel good about the progress you see in yourself.  Because the progress I've been making this past year has made such an enormous difference in my life.

Well, I guess that's it for today.  Today's going to be pretty busy, but I'll see if I can get someone to snap a picture of me and upload it later today.  :)

Happy Happy Tuesday!

P.S. Go Vote!

Katie: Week 43 Committing to 13 in 9

Gettin' back in the groove...

Current weight: 133 pounds
Last week's weight: 134 pounds
Total weight loss: 37 pounds

Hey, guess what?  It's Tuesday.  Uhh... I kind of forgot.  Oops!  Sorry.  But I have good news!  I lost a pound!  Yay!  This past weekend we went to Ohio for the last of our school visits to look at optometry schools for Bryan.  So I was naughty and ate junk food while we were there (two words: pumpkin doughnut), but our friends that we stayed with were really nice and fed us all the time so we didn't have to eat out, so I think that helped a lot.  (Thanks guys!)  Also, I was a lot more determined when we got back from our trip to get back into my healthy groove, so the transition from bad to good wasn't so... well, bad.  :)  What've I been doing?

• Going on a walk every day
• Running 3 times each week
• Doing 50 crunches every day (real, focused crunches, not the sissy kind)
• Drinking 8 glasses of water every day
• Entering all of my food/exercise into MyFitnessPal every day
• Getting to bed by 11pm every night
• Doing something nice for somebody every day
• Recording my daily weight

Well, in theory at least.  I often fail at drinking all 8 glasses of water, but I'm working at it.  And I think in the past three weeks I've only made it to bed by 11pm one night (last night).  But other than that I really am doing pretty well.  And it is totally helping. 

Right now I'm 13 pounds away from my goal weight.  And it's basically 9 full weeks until Christmas.  So my goal is to keep working at it and give myself something for Christmas I've been wanting for a long time--a healthy, fit body (hopefully with a flat tummy--I'm getting there!).  13 pounds?  9 weeks?  You think I can make it?  I do!  Wish me luck!

Katie: Week 42

Just having a little pity party for myself...

Current weight: 134 pounds
Last week's weight: 134 pounds
Total weight loss: 36 pounds

I was so good last week.  At the beginning of the week.  And then toward the end I got lazy.  And had a birthday party for my sister in law with a yummy cake and some yummy ice cream.  And then our weekend got busy.  But I did go for a walk every day and Bryan and I did go running three times.  That in itself was a big accomplishment.  But it's sad to think that I was down to 132 in the middle of last week and then got back up to 134 again.  Especially since yesterday I went on two walks and went on a really good, long (for us) run with Bryan.  I expected/hoped to at least go back down to 133 by this morning.  But instead I went up to 134.4.  What gives?  I'm feeling a little frustrated.

Then when I was checking the calendar a little big ago to see how many weeks we have until Christmas I was caught off guard by another something sad about my progress.  It's the middle of October.  If I had been following my calorie intake and exercise plan that I created on MyFitnessPal some months ago I would be at my goal weight right now.  And I'm not.  Boo hoo hoo.

I'm trying to make all this lead me to a feeling of determination rather than defeat.  But it's hard.  It's hard not to boo hoo over the whole thing.  I could be where I want to be right now!  But I didn't do the work.  Sigh.

Here's to another week of trying. 

I think I can.  I think I can...

Katie: Week 41

Speaking of continuing in patience...

Current weight: 134 pounds
Last week's weight: 133 pounds
Total weight loss: 36 pounds

Things have changed for me.  Again.  I'm not really sure where to start, so I guess I'll just start wherever and cover all the things I'd like to say.  Bear with me.

So I've been a bit... umm... undermotivated... shall we say?  One of the devil's oldest tricks is to keep someone from fixing a problem in their life by telling them that there isn't any problem at all!  From the outside this sounds bizarre.  But it's happened to all of us, I think, at one time or another and I definitely fell for it this time.  Shame on me.  How human of me.  How mortal.  Bleh.  See, the more stressed and sick and lazy and busy I got, the more Satan kept telling me, "You don't even need to worry about eating healthy and exercising!  Your body is fine just the way it is!"  At first I laughed him out of the room.  (This, by the way, is what I should have kept on doing.)  But after days and weeks of hearing this I gave up and agreed.  "After all," I thought, "I can always pick things up again later when I have the time energy money motivation."  And so, despite all of your wise advice, I took a break. 

Now I don't think it's bad to take a break every once in a while.  But my reasons for taking a break were sad; I just didn't feel like doing what it took to be healthy.  And we were traveling and in between trips and I had a cold and whatnot.  But our most recent trip included eating out for every single meal of the day except for breakfast.  By the time we got home I felt like my tummy was bigger.  And it probably was.  By the time we got back, I was ready to get back on track again. 

I'm ready now.  Again.

I know I've gone through this whole cycle multiple times since I made my goals at the beginning of the year and I'm sure you're tired of hearing "I love this!"  "I'm sick of this!" round and round in this little cycle.  But I know I'm not the only one who goes through this with weight loss and health and fitness goals, so I hope it's comforting to hear from a regular person what it's like to keep on going.  It's hard.  It really is sometimes.  But it is doable.

We got back from our trip on Sunday.  That evening when Bryan and I were out on a walk I told him I wanted to get back into the swing of things, that I wanted to eat well and exercise and do more cardio and ab work to work toward the flat tummy I've been dreaming of all along.  After talking about some different options, we decided (Bryan's idea) to go running together three times a week.  I also decided on a few personal goals.  They're really nothing new.  But here they are in all their old school goal chart glory:

Oldies, but goodies.  These are the things that work.  For me, at least. 

And I've also returned to my other go-to success item:

The wrap.

For me, these are a super nutrient-rich, low-calorie food that tastes wonderfully fresh and fills me up.

Here's how I layer mine (calorie info from MyFitnessPal.com):

-1 Flat Out wrap (Spinach and Italian are both good)--90 calories
-1/2 Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss Cheese wedge--18 calories
-2 slices Tillamook medium cheddar cheese--110 calories*
-2 slices Jenny-O Sun Dried Tomato Turkey Breast--50 calories
-3/4 cup Earthbound Farm Spring Mix Salad Greens--6 calories
-4 cherry tomatoes--16 calories
-1 slice Western Family Kosher Dill Sandwich Slices--0 calories

I make sure and spread the 1/2 spreadable cheese wedge all over one entire side of the wrap and then I do everything else in two rows(ish) on just one half of the wrap.  This arrangement helps everything hold together better.
*I think my numbers may be off on how many calories two slices of cheese is since cheese is measured by ounces and not slices.  So your guess is probably better than mine.  It might actually be double this amount.  I honestly have no idea.
(Sorry about the weird spacing here.  Blogger is being kind of dumb.  The new picture uploader and I are still in a fight.)

Today I teamed this wrap up with one sliced banana and a cup of carrot juice.  It was really yummy.  And filling.  And all together (with the carrot juice and banana and my probably wrong amount of cheese) it came out to 450 calories.  Not bad, I say.  Not bad.

So, anyway, I know that today I weigh more than I did last week, but I don't feel stressed about it now that I'm doing what I can to really work toward my goals.  Hopefully this time I won't lose steam before I get there!

Happy Tuesday!

Katie: Week 40

Ugh.  This being healthy stuff is hard sometimes...

Current weight: 133 pounds
Last week's weight: 131 pounds
Total weight loss: 37 pounds

Grumble grumble grumble.  Harumpf. 

That is how I feel about the extra two pounds that have not-so-mysteriously returned.  I haven't been being a good girl.  I have been eating whatever.  Last week was basically a week of grilled cheese sandwiches because that's what sounded good.  And because we got back from one trip and we're headed out on another one soon and so we have a random assortment of food in the house right now.  And because I have been sick.  And--let's face it--lazy.  I haven't used MyFitnessPal in weeks, I think.

It's getting bad.  And with two more trips and not-long-enough gaps of time at home in between the trips and really good barbecue to test out while on the trips, I am just not feeling motivated.  I've been thinking maybe I should just officially take a break from trying too hard to be healthy until we finish all our trips so that I won't have to feel so mentally and emotionally weighed down by the few pounds of weight fluctuation.  But that might be a bad idea.  Any thoughts?  Encouraging words?  Carrot juice?

Katie: Week 39

I remembered!...

Current weight: 131 pounds
Last week's weight: 132 pounds
Total weight loss: 39 pounds

Okay, so "Last week's weight" actually means my weight from two weeks ago.  Sorry I skipped last week!  It was a super busy day and I kept remembering to post and then forgetting and then right after we turned off the computer that night I remembered again that I was supposed to post.  Then of course I had every intention of posting the next day, but it just didn't happen.  Last week was a little crazy!

My husband is in the process of interviewing at optometry schools.  So last week on Wednesday we stayed up until 1:30am packing and then at 4:00am Thursday morning we left to get on an airplane and go out to a school interview.  So, yeah, Emily is totally right that it's been a little slow around here and I am totally to blame.  But things in my life and at my house haven't been slow at all!

And do you know what all this busyness and life-planning means?  Stress eating.  And lots of snacking.  So I was delightfully surprised to see the scale greet me with a lovely little 131 this morning.  It was a very nice surprise.  Because when we got home from the airport on Sunday night I weighed myself and came out at 135.  Gah.  Anyway, it's nice to weigh 131, but I don't know that I've really earned it.  But I like it, so now I've got to try and not go backwards again.  And I know you're probably all thinking, "Why would you be going backwards?  You're home from your trip now.  You can get back into your regular routine."  Well, that's the thing.  We just finished one of three of these school visits.  As in, we still have two more ahead of us.  And we haven't said yet in blogland where these interviews are, but let me just say that a couple of them live in the land of really good barbecue and if you think a weight loss goal is enough to keep us from trying a plate of that, you had better think again.  Anyway, so I've been pretty busy and stressed about all that lately.  Although, now that we have the first trip finished, I don't feel nearly as stressed about our next one since we have some sort of idea of what these trips will be like now.

Moving on...

This is totally unrelated to all that, but can I ask your opinion(s) on home-cooked meals?  See, here's the thing.  Bryan and I always eat food at dinner time, but usually we don't really "make dinner."


At the playground yesterday:
Mom #1: What're you guys making for dinner?
Mom #2: Cooked barley with vegetables.
Me: Nothing.

It's true.  We never make dinner!  Usually we end up thinking of some quick thing to make or we just have sandwiches or a salad or a bowl of cereal or something.  Mostly this is just because I'm lazy.  And also because I have yet to find the balance between making the dinners I grew up making (which made enough for about seven people) and making dinner for just the two of us and my tiny little one year old.  It's nice to have real meals, but sometimes it seems like kind of a waste of time and food and money to make a whole meal that usually ends up going moldy before we can finish the left overs.

(Enter twenty people telling me to freeze leftovers.)

Well, our freezer is pretty full as it is.  So we might do this sometimes, but this is not really my point in mentioning all this anyway.  So I'll keep moving on to my point.

The week or so before we left on our trip I got tired of the regular last-minute something to eat and decided we should plan actual meals to make and eat.  And we did.  And they were delicious.  And I gained at least a few pounds.  Really?  I gained weight on real food?  How disappointing!  Isn't "real" food supposed to be healthier?

Well, I know that pasta and muffins and things tend to have a lot of calories.  So it makes sense to me, but I was pretty disappointed that my homemaking goal was making me digress from my weight loss goal.  Anyway, it seems (for me at least) that things always come back to the struggle between finding good healthy nutrient-rich food that's yummy and that actually fills me up instead of just eating low-calorie food that fills me up, but doesn't have all the nutrients and vitamins I need.  Any thoughts?