By the way, I came home from work today to find my mother-in-law in the kitchen, making dinner. She sets in front of me a plate with a HUGE, flash seared rib-eye, a baked Yukon Gold potato, spinach souffle, a salad, and three or four onion rings*.
The food was wonderful. Really, really tasty. I had three ounces of steak, the potato plain, a couple bites of spinach, the salad with a little vinegar, and half an onion ring. I left 3/4 of the food on the plate and gave it to my husband.
This probably sounds stupid and shallow, but I feel like it’s some kind of milestone that even presented with a wonderful dinner dished out in huge portions, I didn’t even want more than what satiated my hunger. I slowly chewed and savored each bite, and it was fantastic, but I didn’t even want to over-indulge. Yay, me.
I’ve been doing Weight Watchers since late May. I got motivated after visiting with friends, and feeling like an absolute blob next to them. Starting weight was 206.4 lbs. I weighed in at 188.2 last Saturday. My goal weight is 140.
And yay! I’m getting into clothes I wasn’t able to wear last summer!
I joined a gym in May and have been working on my own (cardio) and with a personal trainer (weight training) since then and have been eating smaller/better/more often, and I’m down 20 lbs. with a goal of 25-30 more.
One of my biggest successes so far has been to cut out 80% of processed foods including those with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats, processed sugars, corn syrup, wheat gluten (you can’t imagine how much stuff has this in it), etc. Another smaller success is to check in with myself mid-meal and really focus on how my stomach feels. Usually when I do this I discover that I’m fuller than I realize, and it’s easier to slow down/stop. Also if I’m at a restaurant and the remainder of my too-huge meal is still sitting in front of me with no server in sight (and I don’t intend to take it home with me) I dump a bunch of sugar or salt on it to make it inedible, then I don’t feel the urge to keep nibbling.
One thing you should know about me is that one year ago you wouldn’t have caught me dead in a gym. I always said I would never ever show my face in a gym, and furthermore I would never go on a “diet”, and I don’t know what happened in May but I just went for it and never looked back. I don’t call what I’m doing a “diet” anyway, I call it “fueling my body with the best possible stuff”- it’s easier to do when I think of my body as a very valuable “engine” and I want to treat it that way.
Now when I pass by a “5” or a “0” on the scale, I congratulate my self and say, "I never have to weigh “__ lbs.” again!
Good luck (and congrats) everyone, and give your valuable engine some good fuel today!
Can I jump in, too, 'cause this isn’t the sort of thing to normally happen to me, and I gotta tell someone? I got wolf whistled at last Saturday. Really. I was on my way to QuakeCon in Dallas and stopped to get gas (and directions; I got lost). On my way back to the truck, a man honest-to-god whistled at me*.
Oh, and I think the cute plumber who was here today was sort of flirting. Or he was just a very outgoing happy guy. Either way, he was cute, had a great body, he kept wanting to talk, and he looked at me every time he walked past. They’re coming back tomorrow (and probably a day or two after; this is a pretty big job.)
I’ve lost 40 lbs and have another 18 to go, and I’m technically only 3 pounds overweight. I could never have done Weight Watchers without having done Atkins for two years first, but I think I can stick with Weight Watchers forever. Weighing and measuring everything and tracking it on the computer works very well for me.
*My husband made me laugh that morning. I made a joke about being one of the few women at QuakeCon (which is true; it’s about 10:1 male to female) and being surrounded by so many good-looking men (also true; yow!), and he “offered” to pick out my clothes since he wasn’t coming with me. I got out of the shower to see a long-sleeved black sweater (keep in mind, it’s triple digits here), long, baggy jeans, and my ugly-ass bulky sandals laying on the bed. I chose denim shorts and a sleeveless polo shirt. Guess which outfit made it to QuakeCon?
The cute plumber was definitely flirting. He called me beautiful. [Referring to his work] “I get to talk to beautiful women like you all day.” Talk about me grinning like an idiot for the next hour. It’s pretty obvious he’s just a naturally flirty guy, but who wouldn’t love to hear a compliment like that from a gorgeous stranger?
Do I have incentive to keep losing weight, or what?
No pics. I’m singularly unphotogenic, and I don’t even wear makeup.
Count me as back in, please. I signed up in January, then went traveling for work for the next five months or so. I had not even got a good start and was off to airports, hotels, and irregular hours. I kept reading the thread but had nothing to report. Then on July 1 I climbed back on the horse and things have been good so far.
15.5 pounds down as of this morning. 87 pounds to go.
I am doing Atkins, which worked for me before, and the Tour de Basement. That’s where I try to ride as many stationary miles in the year as the pros do in a month. I get to add up my weekly progress tomorrow, so I can tell you what stage I am on.
OK, 4 weeks no chocolate. No cookies. Some hard candy during the day and a thin slice of cheese cake last saturday. No more diet cola, even at lunch. Much much less beer. (A little tomorrow if the guys come over for American football.)
Walked through the candy aisle and didn’t even think about getting chocolate. In the past, I would say: I’m just gonna look. Then: Well, I’ll peanut butter m&ms and only have a handful to curb my craving. Then I would have a handful, but I would go for another in 5 minutes and another and another. This time I didn’t even have to fight with myself. Just nothing looked good.
The Tour de Basement? I love it!! I hope you don’t mind because there’s no practical way for you to stop me, but I’m going to shamelessly steal and spread this concept as much as possible now, and extend it to other events (i.e., the Pro-Rata Iron Man Triatholon, or in my case on a treadmill, the Extrapolated NYC Marathon).
And hey… Who ya callin’ a loser… Loser? (Lose on, my friends, lose on!)
Went to Physio today for my ankle…there is a chance I can still run this half marathon. He said it could be rehabilitated soon, and that my prior training likely will keep me going, especially if I keep excercising on the elliptical trianer.
Oh, my bike got stolen (go to the pit for further details on that), so exercising has been difficult lately.
As for weight, I’m still sitting at about 173, oh so close to not being in the overweight category.
I am glad you like the idea. I figure that even though I am only riding in my basement, it actually feels like motion when I translate it to distance against the real Tour stages. So, if it inspires somebody else, I feel like a winning Loser. Go Team. I am officially riding the fifth stage now, and will hit the quarter-way mark this week.
Wow, norinew that weight is flying off now. 5 pounds in a week is very fast, you feeling OK with that much? If it’s OK for you then it’s just right, I know. And some weeks are better than others.
**Quasimodal, ** your thief should burn in hell. Best wishes on the half-marathon. My body won’t stand up to running anymore. It’s great that you can, or at least can return to it soon.
GingerOfTheNorth it depends when in September. Details?
(Lose on, my friends, lose on!)