dianaschnuth

Official week-ending weigh-in: 202.5

Notable changes in measurements in the past two months:
Bust: down 1.25″
Chest (below bust): down 1.5″
Upper Arm: down 1.25″

I also took in-progress photos today, and was pleasantly surprized at the belly shrinkage since July. My calves also seem to be more defined, and my collarbones might be even a little more pronounced than before. Or maybe that was just the light. I also think my upper back is looking less fatty, although that could be a function of not having a ponytail to hide the definition, too. At any rate, I’m experiencing visible progress, even if the numbers don’t show much.

This week was a slackeriffic exercise week, to a point. On Thursday, I think it was, I did a few sets of deep squats while I was waiting for my dinner to cook in the microwave. Just those two or three sets of ten deep squats worked my leg muscles like nobody’s business. Good stuff. Then, today, I went on a jog in the park with Aaron, and I got a lot farther than usual before I had to slow to a walk. Maybe it was just female machismo on my part, or maybe I actually am getting in better shape, but I’m satisfied with the progress either way.

Because I’m so behind on my PUSH DVDs, I’ve suspended my account for two months to give me a chance to catch up. I have quite the backlog. So, my goal this week is to do my PUSH workout three times, so that I can feel comfortable graduating up to the next disc for next week. I tried Disc 4 once, after a recent hiatus from working out, and it kicked my ass *bad*. I’m thinking that, if I get myself up to speed with the previous workout, the next disc shouldn’t be so daunting.

I’m also going to make a concerted effort to increase my protein intake. I’ve been good with keeping the carbs down to below 40% of my daily caloric intake. Unfortunately, my fat intake has probably been a little higher than it really should. I’m going to focus on increasing protein, though, rather than decreasing fat, in hopes of taking a more positive approach. If I add the right protein-rich foods, then, in theory, those should bump out the fat I’d normally be eating. I just need to make a conscious effort to go easy on the Vegenaise and the less lean meats, and this should work.

In other health news… I should really get myself to various medical professionals. Doctor. Gynecologist. Dentist. It’s been over five years since I’ve seen any of those, and I should probably do that before… well, soon, anyway.

Isn’t that the nicest little chart you ever did see? It’s my average weekly weight, as calculated by my DietOrganizer program. I only just discovered that particular chart today, and boy, does it make me feel good about myself. 🙂

I’ve also been using the “Google 15” widget for my personalized Google homepage, which does a very similar thing by charting both your daily weight and your running average.

(I really only use the personalized Google homepage so I can see the headers of my Gmail at work, since accessing webmail is not only near-impossible with the web-browsing countermeasures they’ve installed, but is also an offense punishable by termination.)

At any rate, it does my heart good to see those numbers going in the right direction. It makes for less drama when I get on the scale every morning (o noes! i gained a pound overnight!).

In other news, my gut seems to be deflating. My upper abs not so much, but my lower ab fat is definitely shrinking like an old balloon. Maybe this Saturday’s bimonthly weight-loss photos will make me a happy camper.

P.S. – It’s interesting to me how difficult it is to share someone else’s weight-loss joy when you’re kind of in a rut yourself. For me, anyway. When James at work is all excited about losing weight, but I’m holding steady, it’s hard for me to give an enthusiastic attaboy. Likewise, when I showed him this chart today, he seemed happy for me, but seemed to remain bummed that he’d gained over the Black Swamp Arts Festival weekend, what with the fair food and friends in town and all. I can also tell it’s kind of awkward for Aaron to be excited for me when he’s not losing as fast as he’d like.

It’s kind of the negative side of having diet buddies, I guess. When neither side is very competitive about weight-loss, all bets are off.

P.P.S. – I took my bodyfat percentage and did some calculations yesterday, and figured that my current lean body weight is probably around 135 lbs. Interesting factoid. Assuming my muscle mass remains a constant, that means I need to lose about 6% bodyfat to reach my initial I’ll-be-content-here-for-a-while first goal of 190 lbs.

Getting down to my ultimate-ever goal of 160 would require me to be… *does calculations* …15.6% bodyfat. Hmm. Unlikely, but not impossible. Honestly, I can’t even imagine what I’d look like in that body.

Good news! I finally broke through my two-week plateau at 206.5 and 206lbs respectively, and have managed to stay below 205 for the last five days or so. My official week-end weight is 203.5, although I weighed in this morning back at 204. I’m fairly confident that I’ll stay below 205 now. w00t!

My major dip in weight happened the day after my resistance-training PUSH workout, and stayed there despite pizza and cheesecake on Friday, and two Pollyeyes stuffed breadsticks on Saturday. You would think that a weight dip after exercise would incite me to exercise more often… but no. I ended up not following up with my kickboxing cardio.

Even so, I still plan to order some clothes for myself this week. Maybe I’ll even treat myself to a trip to Levis Commons and take a turn around Lane Bryant.

This week, I plan to *really* do two days of exercise. One day of strength training, one day of cardio. I know, it’s way less than the nice PUSH people want me to do, but I’m easing myself back into it. Making habits. Losing the weight slowly, so I’ll keep it off.

As much as I’d like to hit my goal weight by Thanksgiving, the statistics are against me. Overall, I’m averaging a loss of just under one pound a week, although my consistency has improved over time. If I were to stick with this program, with these results, I’d hit my goal of 190 just before Christmas. I’m not giving up, though. We’ll see how it turns out.

I didn’t write a diet update last week, mainly because I gained a pound and a half from that damn Chinese buffet right before I wrote my last update, and didn’t manage to lose it right away. In fact, I was solidly stuck at 206.5 for… *checking Excel chart* …exactly a week. Then I dropped half a pound and stayed at 206 even until this morning, when I dropped another half pound. My official week-ending weight is 206, though.

Someday I’ll reach my five-pound mini-goal, and I’ll get to buy myself some new autumn clothes. *sigh* It bothers me that I still fit into last year’s new autumn clothes, though. I’d planned on being so much less fat by now. At least I’m not more fat, I guess.

I’ve been better at doing cardio for these past two weeks, although I’m still doing much less than I should. The Kickboxing I workout from PUSH is excellent, focusing on proper form and working up through the 30-minute workout to a final sequence of moves. I also enjoy the trainer’s positive attitude, which is pleasant and upbeat without making me want to strangle myself.

I’ve also been doing much better on weekends. Usually, I gain anywhere between half a pound and a pound and a half over a weekend. For the past two weekends, I’ve stayed completely steady after the weekend, and I attribute that to being more reasonable at restaurants. We’ve stayed away from my mortal weight-loss enemy, the Happy Rose Buffet, and I’ve employed lots of standard diet tactics, like putting half of an entree into a to-go container right off the bat or ordering from the appetizer section of the menu.

For this week, I’m planning to add another day of exercise to the fray. For the last two weeks, I’ve been doing kickboxing one day of the week, and that’s it. Not including my daily walk, of course. I’m planning to add a day of PUSH strength training back into the mix, and hopefully build up to where I should be. I also need to suspend my PUSH account temporarily, because I’m nearly three months behind on my DVDs.

It’s frustrating to be losing so slowly, but I *am* losing. I’ve learned my lesson about bingeing on weekends, and I know that continued exercise will help me keep losing weight. I may not reach the weight goal I wanted to reach by Thanksgiving, but I’ll keep going, anyway.