weight loss dairy: week 2 of 15

Despite a nasty little cold that I caught last weekend, I managed to hit my fitness goals for the week (working out 2x) and stay on the points plan that I set for myself (28.5/day). Considering I'm another 2 lbs down, not a bad week overall, although it got a little bumpy.

*~*~*~*
Week 2 Stats, 3/19 - 3/25:

• Weight: 130.5
• Body Fat: 29.4%
  
• Lost: 2 lbs total / 0.7lbs body fat
  
• Total Points: 202 (target = 199.5)
• Average Steps: 5,164.2 per day
  

Pictures:













Me, 3/26/06. Nothing quite like a little public humiliation to spur one into weight loss action. (Btw, that's The Dress. Will look MUCH better in 13 weeks!)

Workouts:

• Goal: 2 workouts this week - I'm still easing back into physical activity
• Thurs, 3/23: Reformer I & II Pilates at Core Pilates, 60 mins
• Sat, 3/25: Hip Hop Dance at R&M, 75 mins; Walk in Potrero, 20 mins
  

Accomplishments:

• Remained VERY close to my goal of 28.5 points a day - only ended up 2.5 over for the week, which I'm deducting from next week's total.
• Worked out twice this week, as planned, despite a monstrous cold at the beginning of the week
• Went to hip hop dance and didn't completely suck :-)
  
• Walked more then 5,000 steps a day. I'll be increasing my target steps by 15% now
• Went to my first Weight Watchers meeting with JH. Didn't hear bells ringing or the voice of weight loss god speaking to me, but I've been told by many, many people that the meetings are key to losing weight and keeping it off. Nice to have someone to go with
• Despite some terrible emotional/sick binging at the beginning of the week (40 points/day for Mon and Tues), got myself back on track by being extremely strict about noting my daily allowed points and adjusting as necessary
• Work Goodiness: Had the SharePoint Console 1.0 Release Auth, and it went well; getting a handle on the monster that is Collab Services

*~*~*~*
Phase I is now officially over. Today I move into Phase II, where my target points/calories are the ones recommended by a nutritionist I once consulted (27), just a couple over the WW magic number of 25 per day (20 per day + 35 weekly flex points).

Phase II is 4 weeks long, and I will be decreasing my daily points every week by 1. The goal is to get to 129 lbs by 4/23/06. I'm already somewhat ahead of the game, but might need a little room since I'm not exactly following the strict WW points plan. Phase II is also where I get my activity level back to the standard 3 - 4 workouts a week, and start digging at the roots of my emotional eating.

Week 3 Goals:

• Work out 3x this week. Currently planned: Spinning on Mon, Pilates on Wed, Hip Hop on Sat
• Target Points: 26.6 per day, 186.5 for the week
• Steps: 5,500 per day
• Weight Watchers meeting on Friday
• Weight: 129lbs
• Finish weeks 1, 2 and 3 of Body Intelligence program
• Stop babbling about my diet in every conversation I have. Keep it to the blog and boards where other people are having the same issues
  

*~*~*~*
PHASE I POST MORTEM

What helped me:

• Blogging! No joke. This week was tough emotionally - although probably not much different than most weeks in my life :-) I had a fight with a good friend and stresses at work, as well as $$ issues and BAD THINGS going on with my car. After 2 days of binging, I found a site called extrapounds.com on the WW boards, and set up a weight loss blog. Not only did I put all my rants and ravings on a separate blog so my friends don't have to listen to me drone on and on about it, but I also started reading other people's experiences and connected with a few really cool gals there.
  

• Online Community Boards. Again, I know I'm a geek, but the WW online boards really helped me this week. When I get down, I don't want to tell my friends, because I have this weird complex about it; plus, a lot of times, its when I'm home alone at night, and its pretty late already. I've found most people to be super-supportive, although there were a few nasty emails from people who were like, "You skinny bitch. You're complaining about trying to lose 10 lbs and get to a size 2?"
  
  
• Great Friends. Not to say that my friends aren't wonderful. Karen, Carolyn, and Agnes have all agreed to be my picture-taking person: each week, one of them will take the picture of me in the black dress (which I haven't bought yet!) and help keep me on track. Carolyn and Clyde are definitely in for the workshop, and hopefully Agnes and Fern will decide to do it too. Its also nice that JH is doing WW with me on Fridays. I had a super craving on Thurs, and she saved me with some natural popcorn at work.
  
  
• Planning Food and Snacks. I wasn't great about it this week, since I'm poor and didn't make it to the market, but the pre-measured portions for snacks from last week and single-serve popcorn saved my life! Also, after my pizza-eating binge on Monday and Tuesday, I cooked at home and was able to keep my points relatively low, especially Thurs - Sun. I've made a grocery list and will go to the market today or tomorrow.
  
  
• Being Ruthless about Calculating Points. Yeah, I'm an Excel nerd/freak/nazi. But it helped. I didn't freak out if I went over points. I just plugged in my total-to-date and recalc'd how many I had remaining from the week. Then I updated my notes in the WW tracker so I would have it in front of me. Its not for everyone - maybe just anal retentive people like me - but it kept me on track. Otherwise, the 40 points on M/T? Dead in the water, baby.
  
  
• Gradually Reduced Points. I've read so many people saying that they are just STARVING on WW. Yeah, I did too. That's why I've been on and off the points plan for over a year. Why am I maintaining so far? Because I'm taking it down slowly, and adjusting my lifestyle along with it. Taking it down doesn't actually mean eating less - it also means slowly increasing activity, especially post-op.
  

What hurt me:

• Good old emotional eating. Had a fight with AL, work stresses, etc., and THAT translated to a small Amici's pizza with fried eggplant and anchovies, garlic breadsticks, and a slice of cheesecake on Monday and Tuesday; and 37 SALTINES on Wednesday. If that ain't emotional eating, I don't know what is!
  
  
• Comparing myself to others. I got really down yesterday after I saw how I looked next to all those beautiful people in hip hop class. I started to feel like I would never take the weight off - after all, I've been "dieting" on and off for years now. I understand intellectually that its because I have body image issues (too fat at size 2?!), I was focusing on what I was not doing instead of what I accomplished, because I was obsessed with my weight, and because I had unrealistic expectations of what my life would be life if I were thin. Also, simply, I just didn't have that much weight to lose! This is a more sustainable plan. And although I haven't quite internalized it emotionally, I am using all the tools at my disposal to remain optimistic.
  
  
• Being sick! Quite frankly, it sucks.

Onward, ho...