Tag Archives: 30 Day Shred

Non Scale Victory & Other Randomness

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I have a great NSV (Non-Scale Victory) to report for this week. I now have two pairs of pants, one pair of jeans and one pair of work slacks, that I can pull down without unbuttoning them. This is fantastic, except they are loose enough to hang down over my shoes, which means I step on them, which means I pull them down with my feet while I walk around the office. This lead to an almost embarrassing moment yesterday while walking to the ladies room (damn you water for making me pee every 13 seconds.) Luckily no one was looking and I was able to get them up before anyone noticed. Perhaps they need to move to the back of my closet. Other pants are fitting as they probably should have all along, instead of me having to lie down to zip them up or do lunges to loosen them around my thighs. Yes I have done lunges in various pairs of jeans to stretch them out enough to be able to wear them in public. No I am not embarrassed by this hehe.

Motherhood Uncensored is doing a 30 Day Shred Workout and started a side website I’ll Stop the World and Shred with You, where I found an interesting link to this article. According to this article, I am an hour glass shape. Even with as large as I am I have a fairly proportionate build (which means I carry the fat EVERYWHERE.)

HOURGLASSES will find that there is at least a 6-inch difference between their chest and waist and between their hips and waist. The girths of their chest and hips are within a couple of inches of one another. Common Hourglass measurements for chest, waist and hips respectively are 33-26-33, 36-30-38, 34-28-35, 39-32-38, or 42-35-44.

My favorite part about this article is that it tells you what exercises are best for your body type and which exercises to avoid for your body type. Who knows if this is just all hype, but I know that some of the exercises that they list for me to avoid (such as step aerobics) tend to really build up my legs and I tend not to lose when I do them. So perhaps there is something to it. Who knows, but I did find it interesting.

Today is Day 2 on the Wendy Plan. I had 39 Points yesterday, and will have 45 today, which actually works out pretty well since I am going out to dinner AND we had a baby shower today at work. The baby shower was assorted sandwiches, so I headed to Chick-Fil-A and got myself a grilled chicken sandwich, so I’d know how many points I was having. I did have a piece of cake at the shower, but I counted all freaking 7 points of the tiny thing. I am going to be interested to see what the scale does this week after the days that I have more points than usual.

I’m learning more and more that losing weight isn’t as simple as some people make it out to be. Whenever you talk to a nutritionist or trainer, they constantly reinforce that losing weight is simple math; Calories In VS Calories Out. Perhaps over a month or a year this is true, but it certainly isn’t true from week to week. I think each individual’s body handles things differently. Sure a pound might equate to 3500 calories, but if this were the case (simple math), I should be dropping right around 2 lbs each week. If you look at my loss history, this just isn’t true from week to week. Some weeks my body holds onto water, some weeks it just doesn’t want to give up a pound. I am happy that my body feels like losing weight right now. I am pretty thankful for it actually.

I feel like I have my groove back when it comes to tracking. I am now on a two week streak of tracking everything. Actually in the last 72 days, I only have 1 week where I went over all points I was allowed for the week (Activity Points AND Weekly Points Allowance) and one day where I sort of gave up counting and slashed through the day in my journal. For me, this is all a personal success. I have a history of just slashing through days where I don’t want to face what I have done. I have gotten so much better at taking ownership of what I put in my mouth, and am learning each day how to control myself more and more. I know that this isn’t a habit yet, I know that this isn’t second nature to me yet, but I do know that I am working towards a healthier lifestyle.

I hope that everyone has a great weekend! I have a couple of dinners out planned, but I think I will do OK after checking out the menus. I am going to get scallops & seared green beans tonight and lemon chicken & seasonable veggies tomorrow night….I’m skipping the mashed potatoes that come with each. Besides that, it should be a good weekend to get to the gym on both Saturday & Sunday and get some grocery shopping and laundry done! Ohhhh and I want to plant my herb garden this weekend to get the seeds started!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

PS-I feel so blah after eating that cake today, usually I don’t have much issue with an afternoon slump, but today I can completely feel the sugar crash. I need a nap!

Strange Scale Occurrences (and a FANTASTIC Workout)

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For as long as I can remember, I have always weighed a good 2-3 lbs more before bed than I have when I first wake up (after my morning bathroom break of course.) For the last two weeks however, this has not been true. The scale at night has been a few pounds down, making me think that when I wake up the next morning, I am going to have a great scale victory. NOOOOO of course it doesn’t work out that way, instead I am a good 2-3 lbs higher than I was at night.

I’m going to buy some new batteries today for my WW Scale (from The Chin Chin Chronicles….Book 1). It has been very unreliable the past couple of weeks, I can weigh anywhere from 279 to 285 on it, and no not at different times. If I weigh myself 10 times, I weight 10 different amounts. I can’t stand the drama. I am not willing to give up weighing myself, I’ve tried and that method doesn’t work for me. If the new batteries don’t help bring the scale into check, I will likely go out and purchase yet another new scale. Oh scale, why do you mess with my mind the way you do.

Onto the good news, my fantastic workout last night. On my late weeks, I mix and match Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred and The Biggest Loser Cardio Max. On my early weeks, I mix and match the Elliptical and the Treadmill. This is one of my early weeks at work. Last night I did the Elliptical for 40 minutes and did 3.4 miles in 40 minutes! That is amazing for me folks. I started out doing about a 17 minute mile on the elliptical and now I am down to a 12 minute mile! Granted, I don’t know if yesterday was a fluke or not, but I am completely excited to see how I do on the elliptical again tonight! I was just going to town on the machine while flipping between the news and Cash Cab. I left the gym last night, literally dripping in sweat. It felt so amazing!

For the Lent Exercise Challenge I am 11 for 13 days of exercising, which is right on track for me taking off 1 day per week! Yay!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

Thanks!

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Thanks to Not Just Celery for letting me know how to add links without adding the entire URL! It looks so much nicer this way! FYI-She’s a true WW success story, so check out her blog!

My 3 Month Challenge asked what hurts most when I’m done working out with Jillian, I’d have to say my legs, thighs and hamstrings in particular. The more I do the work out consistently the less sore I am the following day.

I have decided to give myself one day off each week for the Lent Challenge. At least once per week I have some event that comes up that makes it incredibly hard to get exercise in. Still working out 6 days per week is pretty fantastic in my book. I know that there is no way that I will get true excercise in today, so this is going to be my day off for this week.

I’m getting a little frustrated again. My scale keeps going up and up even though I am back to tracking and exercising more (was 5 days a week, now its 6). The scale just wont go down. I’m almost dreading getting on it each morning because it wont quit going up. UGH. I’m sticking with it, no matter what, because I know that I am eating way healthier than I was before, and I really am feeling great with all of the exercising, but jeez CAN A CHICK GET A BREAK!!!!

Randomness:

I LOVE reading Blogs, Weight Loss ones in Particular, but several others as well such as Dooce and Just Nesting. When I find a new blog, I typically read the first couple of posts that I see, usually the most recent. If those posts capture my attention, I go to the archives and start with the very first post, and read from the beginning of their blog all the way through current posts. Maybe this is nuts, maybe I have downtime at work some days and have a chance to do this. I really feel that I get the bloggers entire story by doing this. Some blogs this is/was much harder to do (such as DietGirl), others it was pretty quick. By the end you feel like you know the person that is doing the blogging.

Well I’m back to work for a few hours and then off to Raleigh with Fireman. Why is it that going on a road trip immediately makes me want fast food? I haven’t had fast food since I started WW (with the exception of Grilled Chick-Fil-A Sandwiches and Fruit Cups for 6 points.), so Fast Food scares me still. I’m hoping Fireman wont want to stop for food on the way. If he does, it’s going ot be Chick-Fil-A damn it (hehe I said Damn It after the name of the company that we call Chicken & Jesus….they are closed on Sundays…..even in big towns.)

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

PS-Thanks to Not Just Celery aka Karen, I am now a hyperlinkin‘ fool!

Weight Watchers Meeting

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I am really glad that I went to my WW meeting today. I decided not to Weigh In, but really wanted to stay for the meeting. I typically do not stay for the meetings, since I go during my lunch break. Usually I just hop on the scale and head out to lunch with my co-workers. Today I decided to skip eating with them, and stick around for the meeting. It felt like today’s meeting was speaking directly to me. The entire meeting revolved around the changes that one goes through during the weight loss process. One of the parts of the process is losing motivation towards losing weight, and then returning back to being motivated after you catch yourself slipping. I feel that is exactly where I am at right now. I sometimes forget how motivational the meetings are, and I plan on staying for at least the next few until I feel like I am really back on track again.

I haven’t had a 100% on track day food wise since Saturday. I have managed to exercise 8 out of the 9 days for Lent so far (yay me!). Today I have tracked all of my food in my food journal. When I went to pick up my lunch today, I also ordered food for dinner, knowing that this is my late week. Usually I just wait until I get home to have dinner on my late weeks, but when I do that I wind up going through several 100 Calorie packs that I have stashed in my snack drawer. I’m thinking that getting dinner will help me stay more on track today.

I’ve also gotten out of the habit of packing my lunch (well I got out of the habit for week 8), so plan on packing my lunches everyday next week, with the exception of Thursday. I’ve already made my grocery list for next week and have my meals all planned. I will grocery shop on Sunday once I get back from my mini-trip.

This weekend I am heading out of town with Fireman to see one of my bestest girlfriends (and her boyfriend) in the world, who up-ed and moved to Raleigh, NC. We have a tendency to eat when we are together since we both LOVE to cook and LOVE to find new foods. Since we are both trying to watch our weight (she for a wedding that she is in, chickie couldn’t really afford to lose more than 5lbs), we are going to go to the farmers market Saturday morning while the boys are still sleeping and pick out some fun things to cook for dinner. She also agreed to walk with me Saturday and Sunday morning so that I can get in my 30 minutes of exercise. Tomorrow (Friday) exercise is going to be tough, I am coming into work early so that I can leave early for the drive down to Raleigh (you don’t want to know what DC traffic is like heading south out of town…ugh!) I am not entirely sure when I will be able to fit the exercise in! I suppose I could wake up at 430 AM to get it done, yeah, that doesn’t sound like a good option to me either :D

In 30-Day Shred news, I met with Jillian this morning. While I was about to pick my standby Level 1, I decided to give Level 2 a shot. I’m not sure what my feelings were about it. There were a couple of things that I just couldn’t do (Plank Jumping Jacks-I’m looking directly at you!), but over all I thought the majority of the moves weren’t as difficult as Level 1. Maybe it was less intense because I wasn’t able to do a couple of things, instead I either did regular jumping jacks or ran in circles. The GWF (if you have questions about this, please reference post http://adauntingtaleofscalewarfare.blogspot.com/2009/02/gowear-fithow-i-love-thee.html ) shows that I have burned more calories during Level 1 in the past several times I’ve done it, that I did at Level 2. I think I am going back to Level 1 for a while, mainly because I feel like I get more out of it at my current ability level.

Well back to work I go.

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

PS-I seriously know very little about html, does anyone know how to insert a link to a page or posting and just have the name of that page or posting show as a hyperlink instead of the ENTIRE page url?? I’d appreciate any help! My email is scalewarfare@gmail.com Thanks in advance!

Sore…and request for Receipes

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I was sore most of the day yesterday (30 Day Shred on Monday), but still headed to the gym right after work. At the gym I decided to mix up my workout, which typically consists of either the cardio setting on the elliptical or walking on the treadmill at 3.5-3.7 mph. Last night I did the “random hills” setting on the treadmill. Holy $hit batman, I could hardly walk down the stairs this morning. This morning I have another meeting with Jillian, and I’m seriously hoping that I can make it through it. I am so sore! Today is day 8 of the Lentel Challenge, and I am 7 for 8, so not too shabby!

The scale had me up several pounds this morning. While I’m sure that a portion of this was just water weight, there is seriously no way I gained 3 lbs since yesterday morning, I am sure some of this weight was due to me not tracking my food on Sunday and Monday. I am contemplating using my no weigh in pass tomorrow at Weight Watchers, I really dont know if I can handle a gain. I got back to tracking yesterday, and I plan on tracking today of course. This weekend was just a reminder of how quickly I can flip back into my old habits AND how quickly things can go wrong food wise.

Weeks that I do the best on Weight Watchers are the weeks that I prepare a big casserole or a soup or chili on the weekend and then eat it for lunches and randomly throughout the week. I havent done that in a couple of weeks, and I think that it is something that I should get back to. So, if you have any recipes that are point friendly, for casseroles or soups or chilis, I’d love to try them/it out! You can either respond via a comment or email me at scalewarfare@gmail.com

Thanks in advance!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

Back on Track

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First, I’d like to thank everyone for all of the great comments to my last post, I felt a lot better after reading them!

Yesterday (Monday) I didn’t track my food again, I wasn’t exactly bad, but I knew that at least at lunch, my portion was larger than it should have been. I did get my exercise in though! Between Jillian’s 30 Day Shred and shoveling my car out, I got in a pretty good workout. I don’t think I have ever sweated as much in the past as when I did the 30 Day Shred yesterday. It felt so good to get in a good workout.

Today I am back at work, after yesterdays snow day, and have my gym bag packed and my food journal already planned for the entire day. I do the best when my food journal is prepared for the entire day either the night before or in the morning; it then seems more like a prescription that I have to follow. I do write the food journal out in pencil though, that way any changes that need to be made can be made.

Again, thank you to every one for the kind and thoughtful comments and emails! They certainly help to make this journey much easier.

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

Crazy Dream

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I had the most insane dream last night, it was one of those dreams that seemed so real that I thought that it was actually happening. The dream was that I went into the bathroom for my morning potty break and weigh in (usually at about 5:30 am when my alarm first goes off) and I got on the scale and it said 163 lbs, which happens to be my goal weight. I then immediately stripped down to my lady roo’s and looked in the mirror and had a perfectly flat stomach and looked amazing. The dream was so real that when I did wake up, I actually grabbed my stomach to check to see if it was still there. Sadly the stomach is still there. What a let down lol

Oh-and I’ve joined Scale Junkies Healthy You Challenge for 2009! You can see the button over on the right, and I will update it as I lose weight. I’ve also decided to participate along with Fatbridesmaid on her exercise challenge for Lent (I am so not Catholic.) It will be 40 days of at least 30 minutes of exercise each day. I plan on doing the 30 Day Shred tonight to get my butt back into the habit of excercising!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

I have a confession…it’s been three days since

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….my last workout….and I ate Mexican Food last night. I like to think that I handled it really well though. I got up and did the 30 Day Shred this morning and I counted my meal last night as 35 points (which is approximately 1800 calories give or take.) I had to use 20 of my Flex Points, which is more than I have used in any given week yet, but at least I counted it. I think I didn’t do horribly food wise, I shared an order of Queso (entire bowl is 9.5 points) with four people and we all shared an order of guacamole (entire bowl 12 points). I ordered a “create your own burrito” with grilled veggies, black beans, beef (it was incredibly sad…yet good for me how little beef was in the burrito) and I had it grilled instead of fried. I drank water with dinner and only had one glass of wine when we met up with one of my girlfriends was in town for a hot second, for drinks. Yes I ate a LOT of tortilla chips at dinner.

I am not counting last night as a cheat though, because I wrote down to my closest possible estimation what I had. It does mean that I ate 55 points yesterday, but I suppose that is what flex points are for. Usually (or previously) when I cheated, I’d just make a slash in my food journal for the day and count the day up to a complete loss. Yesterday I took responsibility for what I ate. I wrote it all down, every last bit.

Last night before I went to bed, I got super bra out and put my work out shoes next to the TV with socks. I woke up and walked the dog, got my glass of water and went to town with Jillian and my official ass beating. I know I was supposed to move onto Level 2 today, but after three days off, I didn’t think that was a great idea. I am SO glad I stuck with Level 1 today. Wow, three days off really sets you back a bit. It felt like Jillian was trying to kill me. I am going to delay going to Level 2 for a few days until I am back into my normal routine.

Tonight as most of you know is the Super Bowl. Fireman and I decided to stay in and skip any parties this year. I really don’t want to be tempted by all of the food that is usually at football parties…I’m just not strong enough to resist the food folks! I am instead going to make healthy options so that we don’t feel like we are losing out. I am going to make pigs in a blanket and pepperoni rolls…but healthier versions. I am making them both in the reduced fat crescent rolls and am using fat free hot dogs and turkey pepperoni with 2% cheddar. We are also drinking light beer. These things will be our dinner of course….not the healthiest dinner in the world but points wise, it will fit right in!

Ugh I am so happy that my work out is already done for the day! I am so not looking forward to going into work tomorrow. I haven’t been in the office since last Tuesday. I worked from home Wednesday and a little on Thursday morning and got my email inbox cleared out, but I just checked it this morning and I apparently have 106 unread emails. YIKES!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

Nervous!

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I am having Lasik Surgery next Thursday, and today was my final check up prior to the procedure. I am incredibly excited to have it done. HELLO? I’m so tired of contacts and glasses. I gave up on my contacts several months ago; my eyes were just always dry. I’ve tried just about every type of contact out there, some were better than others. My glasses are a pain, I can never wear sunglasses, they are constantly falling off of my face when I’m walking the dog or exercising, and really the list goes on and on. I am incredibly nervous however. The doctors today told me that this was perfectly normal and that I was an excellent candidate, so I really shouldn’t have any worries….they also said I’d get a Zanex (sp?) prior to the procedure…YAY!

I was also worried about how the procedure would affect my working out. The doctor assured me that I can go back to working out the day after the procedure, but no water aerobics for 7 days. That actually works out well since the week after the procedure is my late week at work where I can’t get to water aerobics anyways. The only modification to my schedule will be no water aerobics on Saturday the 31st; instead I’ll do a workout DVD at home.

I was originally going to go to the gym this morning because the kids are with us. I didn’t want to have to work out in front of them. Seriously, why am I nervous to workout in front of them? They could probably care less what I look like. I sweat like a fiend when I do any of TBL workouts, so I really like to keep that “look” to myself hehe. Turns out that they were still sleeping when I got up, so I was able to get a workout in with Jillian prior to going to my appointment this morning.

The Level One of the 30 Day Shred was much easier this morning (NOT easy, just easier). I’m beginning to wonder if I should step it up and check out Level 2. I’m worried though, the reason being that they have an advanced person to follow and a beginners person to follow on level one. I pretty much follow the beginner’s person. The advanced person is insane…I think she hates me (just kidding); maybe I should start following her more before I get to Level 2. Tomorrow is Water Aerobics, my favorite…I love being in the water. The water is really the only place that someone as big as I am can actually feel light and graceful. We end class doing various ballet moves to stretch and I feel so much more flexible and graceful (and I can not do most of the moves out of the water!)

One of my best girlfriends and her husband have kids every other weekend also (well they have them during all of the weekdays too) and our weekends are off, every weekend that we have kids they don’t, and vice versa. FINALLY we have a weekend (on a fluke) that we both have kids. I’m really hoping that we can get the kids together tomorrow. (BOO Just heard from her and they already have plans!) We really do need to get the kids on the same schedule. They youngest ones that they have are the same age as fireman’s kids and we know that they would have a great time together!

Dinner is all planned for tonight and I am staying right on my points target. Here is to yet another day of staying on plan! 16 days straight is somewhat of a record for me! I’m feeling great and really enjoying being on plan. So far I haven’t found anything that I couldn’t eat. At some point it wont feel this easy, I know that the beginning is when I have a completely gun-ho (sp?) attitude towards the whole weight loss thing. I just need to keep on track and make this as much of a habit as I can!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare