Birthday Challenge Weigh-In: June 8

Have you ever done really, really well one week; so well that you expect to see a gigantic (in my case, gigantic is anything over 1 pound) loss? And then when you get on the scale, and loss is like .2 or .4, and you get so pissed off you want to throw your scale out the window and then run it over and over with your car? Oh, no? That’s just me?  Well, that’s fortunately NOT this week’s case, though I truly was expecting it to be a super tiny loss!  I was so surprised when the WW Receptionist exclaimed, “You’re down 1.6 this week!” I’m pretty sure I did a, “whaaa-? Are you SURE? Mouth-gaped-open” face. 

So what went right and wrong this week?

I started out this week with good intentions: track every morsel, make it to Zumba twice, go on walks on my lunch hour; none of which happened, hence the surprise good weigh-in!  I was super snacky this week(I can think of a reason or two), and my exercise was pitiful.  I only made it to Zumba once this week, and it wasn’t even a great burn. I only burned 460 calories because of a few reasons: for one, it was a new instructor so I have to learn her moves instead of just grape-vining my little heart out wondering what the heck is going on.  Two, I have a skin issue and it was hurtin’ like hell, so I was trying to take it easy so that I don’t make the skin issue worse.  Even so, I was proud of myself for going after work, and getting some activity in.

Thursday, the day before my weigh-in, my coworker Natalie asked me if I wanted to grab lunch with her.  “Um DUH. I NEED to get outta here” was my reaction; then immediately silently panicking to myself, oh crap, weigh-in is tomorrow…Sodium overload.  I didn’t want to retract my lunch acceptance because I honestly needed to get out and spend some one-on-one time with one of the ladies in the office who keeps me sane, so when she suggested Naf Naf, I was relieved.  You can make some really awful choices here, but I planned ahead and got a grilled chicken breast pita, and we split an order of their foodgasmic homemade French fries. Yummy.  Afterwards, she wanted to check out a new Fro Yo place that opened u p, so she bought me some Fro Yo and I ate half, and tossed the rest.  I was full, but not overly stuffed, so I was pleased that I tossed the rest.  When we got back to work, I chugged a boatload of water.

This week I decided to take pictures 4/7 days and kept a food log on my Spark People.  This was a bit eye-opening, and a lot of my SP friends had some good insights for me.  Some recommended that I include more protein in my diet, which I KNOW I struggle with.  Cheese is a trigger food for me; it just leaves me wanting more savory snacks, so that isn’t really an option on how to get more protein in.  I did hardboiled eggs for weeks and weeks, and seriously, if I look at another one anytime soon, I may just toss my cookies.

This week ahead, I am truly motivated to rock it out.  You see, when I just lose another OUNCE, I will reach a new weight “decade”. Ya know, get the F out of decade I’ve been stuck in for MONTHS because my body has rebelled against my hard work?! Yes, please, and thank you. My plan for this week is to make it to Zumba 2 times(Tues/Thurs), and MAYBE(if I get the kahunas) try a Body Pump class. I’ve been hearing such fab things about Body Pump, and I know the benefits of strength training are so much more important than cardio, but after trying a Step Aerobics class months ago and loathing it, I’m a bit terrified to try a new class.  My eating will be on par this week, and I hope to continue my food log over on SP a few days this week to see if I get any other good advice.

My b-day is in 4 weeks, and my goal was to lose 10 pounds by then.  So far, I’m down  2.4. That means, I still have 7.6 pounds to lose in 4 weeks.  That’s roughly 2 pounds per week, and I doubt I will be able to achieve it, but I hope I can come close!

So I leave you with this question:  What is your favorite way to get filling foods/protein into your diet?(That does not include cheese + hard boiled eggs)

Birthday Challenge

Well hello there!

This is my first official blog post on here, and it's honestly something I've been wanting to get started for a while now, but just never got it going!  While talking with my partner in crime slash best friend, Angie, we both decided that our creativity has been lacking hardcore since graduating college a few years back, and that we should both work on expanding our creative outlets for sanity reasons.

With that being said, I've been reading other bloggers' blogs for a few years now, and was inspired to get a blog going because of some of them.  http://bethsjourney.com/ , http://backtoherroots.com/ , http://iowagirleats.com/ , and  Laura's blog are just some of my faves.  I'm no stranger to counting calories, and trying to live by the 80/20 rule-- that is, tracking and on plan about 80% of the time, and being more flexible the other 20%.  Some weeks are easier than others, that's for sure!  I've been a Weight Watchers member on and off for years now, and finally recommitted at the beginning of last year. I'm also the girl who hates working out, and will do just about anything to get out of it.  That is, until I found ZUMBA! I've been going to Zumba since the beginning of February, a few times a week, and would do it every single day if I could.  The hour flies by, and it just feels like I'm making an ass of myself and having fun, instead of watching the darn clock and counting down how much longer I need to work out for.  I love it, even if I look like a giant assclown.  Since recommitting to WW and getting in a ZUMBA routine, I have lost 27.8 pounds, and still have a ways to go, but I am hoping that this blog helps me meet some more of my milestones!

I don't want to keep droning on about my weight loss history, but it helps me make mini challenges for myself to stay motivated and persevere. The last challenge I set for myself was an 8 week Vegas Challenge.  Did I get close to my "goal" for that challenge? Sadly, no.  However, keeping my goal in mind for those 8 weeks before my Vegas Vacation definitely kept me on track! And ya know what? Sometimes or bodies are juts stubborn and don't want all of our hard work to pay off immediately.  Is it frustrating? Oh, absolutely.  But what's the alternative?

Therefore, my next mini challenge for myself is my Birthday challenge.  I am in Week 2 of my challenge, and my goal is to lose 10 pounds by July 8. So far, I've lost .6 pounds.  Not a very good start, and I have no idea why that darn scale is being so stubborn, but I'm just going to keep doin' what I'm doin', and hope that my hard work pays off!  I plan on blogging each week with how my challenge went to keep myself accountable.

Thanks for reading!

~V

How do you keep yourself motivated to stay healthy? What are your favorite healthy snacks?