Tag Archives: Weight Loss Challenges

Weekend Recap & Workout Summary

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I can’t believe I haven’t posted since last Thursday!  I was off on Friday to prepare for a dinner party that I was hosting on Saturday and for one of my girlfriends coming into town.  I worked non-stop on Friday either going to my back doctor, grocery shopping, cleaning, prepping food, or doing laundry.  Throw in a conference call for work and 30 minutes on the treadmill and I was utterly worn out by the time she arrived at 7pm.

Saturday morning my BF and I woke up to work out and have a light & healthy breakfast (knew dinner was going to be calorie dense, so wanted the rest of the day to be light!  We then headed out so that she could start to register for gifts for her wedding.  It was so much fun!  I love that I can get to relive some of the wedding planning fun through her.  I know some people hated planning their weddings but for me it was so blasted much fun!  I would do it all over again.  Saturday night’s dinner party was also amazing, great food, great wine, amazing girlfriends.  With the exception of drinking way too many glasses of wine, I actually did great with food on Saturday, impressed myself!

Sunday I took the day off from life and spent time with DH on the sofa catching up on the DVR and watching the Super Bowl.  I made homemade baked potato skins which were fantastic.  They were way healthier than the fried version at a bar, but they were also not entirely calorie friendly.  It was a treat though! 

Last Saturday I pledged to work out 5 days this week and I beat that, I worked out 6 days!  Now I also have a better idea of how many calories I am actually burning thanks to my Heart Rate Monitor!  Here is the breakdown of the workouts from 1/30-2/5:

1/30: Biggest Loser Challenge (Wii) Workout Test (20 Min-147 Calories) Biggest Loser Challenge (Wii) Workout #1 (37 Minutes-269 Calories)

1/31: 3 Miles of Walk Away the Pounds (36 Minutes-269 Calories)

2/1: Biggest Loser Challenge (Wii) Workout #2 (34 Minutes 263 Calories)

2/2: Step Aerobics from EA Sports More Workouts on the Fast Setting (Wii) (32 Minutes 248 Calories)

2/3: OFF

2/4: 30 Minutes on the Treadmill set to 3.0 (easy pace) (30 Minutes 198 Calories)

2/5: 3 Miles Walk Away the Pounds (36 Minutes 297 Calories)

I just realized I missed doing Workout #3 last week on Biggest Loser Challenge for the Wii.  I am going to use tonight to get caught up on that!

In regards to my 28,000 calories in 28 days challenge, I am a bit behind.  Over indulging on both Saturday and Sunday lead to a 1,200 calorie (approximate) deficit between the two days combined, so I have some catching up to do!  I plan to balance out those two high calorie days with two lower calorie days (today & tomorrow) to get my deficit goal back up to where it needs to be.  I normally aim for 1600-1850 calories in a day, but today and tomorrow I’m going to look to be between 1300-1400 calories.  I also plan to get a solid calorie burn in each day to make sure my deficit is lower.  I was well over 2,000 calories on Saturday thanks to the wine and over 2,000 yesterday.  I’m not trying to starve myself, just need to balance things out a bit J

How was your weekend?

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

Weekend Recap-Sick as a Dog :(

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I’ve been pretty sick for the past four or five days.  Food hasnt been great.  I’ve been hungry for comfort foods, and only particular things feel OK going down my throat right now.  I’ve been sleeping a lot and eating things like Mac & Cheese, Mashed Potatoes, Pasta, Ice Cream OJ, etc.  Not exactly health foods, not exactly scale friendly.  I havent tracked either.  I havent been exercising, I havent been walking much.  I have been doing a lot of sleeping, and a lot of lying around. 

I think I am on the mend though.  My throat is starting to finally feel better, and there are entire minutes at a time where I can breathe through my nose or am not on the hunt for yet another box of tissues.  I’m blaming being sick on the excessive drinking last weekend (Labor Day weekend, not this past Saturday and Sunday!)  I think some how all of that excess made my body drop all of its defenses. 

Since I didnt weigh in last week, I am going to make myself face the scale this week and even though I know it’ll be several pounds up, it’s time to just get it over with.  I packed a healthy breakfast, lunch and snacks today.  It’s time for the comfort foods to say buh-bye and go in the trash.

7N7 Update:

Last week, I accomplished 1 and 6.  Besides that, nothing else was accomplished.  I took the GWF off on Thursday to charge it and was so blasted exhausted that I forgot to put it back on, and that lead to not wearing it Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Last weeks 7N7 Goals:

  1. Pack my lunch everyday BEFORE I got to bed.
  2. Wear my GoWear Fit daily except while showering and any pool time.
  3. Be in bed by 10pm Sunday-Thursday
  4. 10,000 steps a day, even on the weekend.
  5. Average at least a 1,000 calorie deficit each day
  6. ENJOY the Virginia Tech game, including the tailgating festivities.  Do not over think food.  Do not over indulge. 
  7. Photo Food Journal every day during the week.

This weeks 7N7 goals (looks a lot like last weeks doesnt it?):

  1. Pack my lunch everyday BEFORE I got to bed.
  2. Wear my GoWear Fit daily except while showering and any pool time.
  3. Be in bed by 10pm Sunday-Thursday
  4. 10,000 steps a day, even on the weekend.
  5. Average at least a 1,000 calorie deficit each day
  6. Rid the kitchen of the junk (ice cream, leftover mac & cheese, mashed potatoes I’m looking at you)
  7. Photo Food Journal every day during the week.

Today starts a Steps challenge with one of my best girlfriends (aka Maid of Honor.)  Whoever has the most steps when she comes up for a visit the fourth weekend in October has to pay for dinner and drinks at our favorite local Thai place.  We will have a check in about two weeks for now when I’m down in Richmond visiting her.  So the GoWear Fit is all charged up and I’ve got some walking to do.  Nothing like a little friendly competition to motivate you to move :)

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

PS-I’m so blasted tired,  I think the Nyquil hasnt worn off yet :(

A Mini-Vacay and No Longer Sick!

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I’m not even sure where to start.  I didn’t blog during my trip, which was by design.  My Mom doesn’t have wireless internet at her house and I didn’t want to spend a ton of time online and miss out on family time since one of my cousins and her family were visiting from Alaska!  It was such a great and relaxing trip but wowza’s did it every fly by.  I feel like I’m still recovering from the first 8+ hour drive (getting there) that the second 8+ hour drive (getting home) is just a blur. 

I was originally going to try to catch up on the posts that I missed, but that is a bit over whelming, so I figured I’d just start with today, a new day, a fresh clean slate and get back into my regular blogging schedule.  I am finally not sick (it took almost a week to get better!) the snow is almost all gone, the sun is out and it’s finally above freezing!

The things that haven’t happened in the last week:

  1. I missed all RLR Runs last week because I was sick.  It was my first week of 2010 missing them.
  2. I didn’t get a new recipe done.  Between being sick and then being out of town, it just didn’t happen.  I plan on making two new recipes next week to make up for the missed one.
  3. I was up and down with food choices.  I ate fast food on both the trip down AND the trip back up.  I ate several snack packs of Oreo Cookies.  What is it about going home that you immediately revert back into childhood habits?

 The things that did happen in the last week/starting this week:

  1.  The meals that we ate in and ate out during my trip were fairly smart choices.  The night that we ate out I got broiled scallops and shrimp with asparagus and a baked potato.  Seriously, had I not eaten approximately 11 million hushpuppies, I would have considered that meal a win, ha!
  2. I did my first outdoor RLR run on Friday (RLR weeks run Friday-Thursday.)  There will be more about this on Fridays post.  Let’s just say that after a week off, me and the outdoor running are NOT buddy-buddy.
  3. The weather was in the 60’s everyday that we were down there so I got in some fantastic walks with my dog and then also with family members.
  4. I spent a lot of time out in the sun, which did wonders for making my cold go away.
  5. The scale is up by almost 3 pounds L

I feel completely out of whack right now, I need things to be back to their regularly organized ways.  I spent a lot of time last night and this morning working on a plan, trying to figure out what I can do to motivate myself for the next movement to drop some weight.  I am determined to lose more weight; I just need to work on my focus.  So here is the plan:

Scale Warfare’s Next 30 Days (which will temporarily replace my 2-3 weekly goals)

  1. Do the Strength Training 10-15 minute sessions that are created by Sparkpeople.com 3 times per week (I’ve never done these before and I’m really excited to give them a try!
  2. Get back on track with my RLR Running.  By the end of these 30 days, I WILL be up to 2:30 intervals.
  3. Get out 1 day a week for an outdoor walk (besides dog walks).  Hopefully this can be on the weekends, but you never know what the rain will do!
  4. Get back to basics: measure, write it before I bite it, 5 fruits/veggies a day, 2 dairy servings a day, whole grains, multi-vitamin everyday, healthy oil everyday (the Weight Watchers Healthy Guidelines.)
  5. Wear my GoWear Fit regularly (not while sleeping, my arm needs a rest lol)
  6. Get my steps in.  Days 1-7: 6,000 per day; Day 8-14: 6,500 per day; Days 15-21: 7,000 per day; Days 22-30: 7,500 per day
  7. Have a calorie deficit of approximately 7,000 calories per week (which equates to 2 lbs)
  8. 30 Minutes of Cardio 5 days per week.  So in addition to my 3 RLR Runs, I will need to do 2 more days of cardio.

There it is, 30 days of getting my focus back.  I already have my GoWear Fit on, and it’s all charged up.  I no longer walk the dog twice a day due to a change in my work schedule (don’t worry, he still gets walked twice a day, just now once by Fireman) so getting these steps in will be tough, but I am focused on doing it.  It will likely mean lots of walking around the office through out the day.  If I find that the goals are too big or too small (regarding steps) I will modify this list a bit (today will be a test day to see how many steps I’m naturally getting.)

Please know that I am not quitting, but this losing weight thing is a constant battle, it is taking me constant modifications to get to where I want to be.  I sometimes wonder if it is easier for people who are not “professional dieters” to lose weight.  If it is easier when you don’t know the in’s and out’s of what it takes to diet.  Sort of like dancing, if you have been doing it for years you’ve gained bad habits that are hard to correct, but if you are new to dancing you are a fresh slate.  If that makes any sense lol.

Can’t wait to get caught up on everyone’s blogs, I feel like I’m so behind!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

PS-I just reset everything in Sparkpeople.com so it’s like I’m starting with a fresh slate.  It’s one of the recommendations that goes along with the Spark book.  It feels so new and clean :)

Pound for Pound Challenge

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After watching the Biggest Loser on Tuesday night, I was inspired to join the Pound for Pound Challenge again.  The Pound for Pound Challenge is an incredible program.  The program donates 14 cents for ever pledged pound lost (you report your actual total up to 50lbs at the end of the prgram.)  The donation is made to Feed America and goes to a local foodbank of your choice.  According to the Pound for Pound Challenge 14 cents can buy approximately a pound of food. 

I had joined a Pound for Pound Challenge at the begining of 2009, and set my goal to 40 pounds, and I had met that goal (granted I’ve gained some back!)  So I’ve joined again, and set my goal to 40 pounds again.  The end of this Pound for Pound Challenge is June 30, 2010.  With the speed I’ve been losing, this might be a daunting goal, but the challenge ends 10 days before my wedding, and I think that’s a lot of motivation right there!  A full 6 months, 40 pounds, it can be done if I stay on plan. 

Last nights holiday party went well.  I had two glasses of wine and a few appetizers and three of the bite sized desserts.  I counted that as my dinner.  I feel good about the choices that I made.  This weekend I am heading down to Richmond with a few of my girlfriends to meet up with one of our mutal friends that lives down there, and then back up to Northern VA for a dinner with another group of girlfriends.  The lunch in Richmond should be easy to stay fairly healthy at.  The dinner back up here on the other hand…well I’m going to do my best!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

PS-On a weight loss journey?  I greatly encourage you to join the Pound for Pound Challenge!!

Yet Another Holiday Function

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First a rant, seriously these things are always called “Holiday Parties” to be politically correct, yet there are Christmas Trees…Christmas Music…Christmas Presents…etc.  Seriously call it what it is, a Christmas Party, that non-Christians participate in.  We are an incredibly culturally diverse company, so I’d imagine a dozen or so religions are represented.  We have parties throughout the year that celebrate a lot of different things.  Example, we celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights which is an Indian Festival.  We don’t call that a “Holiday Party” we call it what it is, Diwali. 

So onto my company Holiday Party.  This isn’t a meal, it’s heavy appetizers and an open bar.  Since I have to leave the event at a reasonable hour to drop my car off for regular service, I wont be able to have more than one adult drink OR spend 2-3 hours grazing on appetizers.  All of this makes me feel a bit better about not exercising this morning.  There’s a reason for that.

 Last night we went to see Trans Siberian Orchestra downtown with another couple.  We had dinner reservations at this cute fancy smancy sort of place, and yes it was expensive.  The portions were good aka small (I had roast chicken minus the skin, polenta and broccoli.)  Things were going well until we ordered dessert.  That put me over the limit for the day.  The concert didn’t start until 8:30, and wasn’t over until 11.  By the time we got the car out of the parking garage, said our good byes, got home, took the dog out and got ready for bed it was 1:30 AM.  So it’s pretty understandable that when my alarm went off at 5:20 AM, I wanted to punt it across the room.  I’m going to walk this evening though!  So at least I will make up for it.

Food today has been good so far.  I got an incredibly tasty salad from Pot Belly and this morning I had a bagel with light cream cheese.  I haven’t been snacking as much as usual, trying to curb off any calories that I can with so many events in the pipeline!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

PS-I am starting to really love Word Press :)

Up, Up & Away?

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I’ll go ahead and get it over with. The scale was up again today, but this time only by 0.6. Seriously, I think my goal for the rest of the year is to just quit gaining weight. Between Fireman’s holiday party, the snow day eating (I’ll explain that in a bit), and the Redskins Game tailgating I figure up 0.6 not to shabby! This week will be even worse. My company’s holiday party on Thursday, dinner on Wednesday with another couple before we go to see Trans Siberian Orchestra, future step daughters birthday party at our house on Saturday (her big party is the following weekend!) lunch in Richmond on Sunday with one group of my girlfriends, dinner on Sunday with another group of my girlfriends. Seriously, there just aren’t enough flex points in a day to get through all of these things. My hope is to be able to exercise enough on most days of the week and stick to my points with lots of fruits and veggies whenever possible. Bigger goal, DO NOT GAIN.

So my Countdown to Christmas Goal has changed to just that, do not gain between now and Christmas. Seriously, THAT would be a Christmas Miracle lol. This time of the year is just so busy with things going on. Next week it becomes even busier than this week, yowzas.

So about the eating and snow I mentioned previously. There is just something about a lazy day with snow piling up outside that says to me “make something warm and hearty and watch movies!” My Mom would always stay home from work with us on snow days and make wonderfully yummy warm foods like beef burgundy, homemade French bread, cookies, etc. Back then we’d play out in the snow all day long so the food didn’t pack on the pounds. For those of you not in the DC area, the 4” or so of snow that we received would have shut schools down for two days had it happened during the week AND the grocery stores would have been out of milk, bread and toilet paper (yeah, seriously.) Fireman and I headed off to the grocery store, because we were legitimately out of milk. I told him we’d pick up some movies and snacks at the grocery store and I’d make a big warm dinner. I made a healthier version of Lasagna, served it with a side salad and glass of wine (um and garlic bread yikes.) It was delicious, but the portion I cut for myself was HUGE.

Sunday at the football game I probably got more points in from drinking that I did from food, but still neither food nor drink were great. I didn’t track points.

Overall my weekend was amazing, sure the food wasn’t great, but it was just so much fun. I’m looking forward to the next few weeks and all of the fun things that are planned. Now I just need to not gain weight!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare

Weekend Recap 1/29/2009

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Technically, the weekend isn’t over yet. Today being MLK Jr Day, I am off from work. Since I live very close to the Nation’s Capital I will be working from home tomorrow for the inauguration, so in a way it’s like a four day weekend. I do have to do actual work tomorrow, but I can do it in my PJ’s in front of the TV! No complaints there!

I was a bit worried about some challenges that I was going to face this weekend. One of those challenges is that it was the first weekend since I have been OP (“On Program” for those not in the WW ‘know) that I didn’t have lots and lots of things planned. I am a boredom eater, so you can see why this would be a problem.

Friday night, Fireman and I decided to watch a movie that was due back to Blockbuster Saturday that we had yet to watch. I kept on thinking that I would just exercise after the movie was over. By the time that the movie was over I was ready to zonk out, so I didn’t work out on Friday….bad scalewarfare! HOWEVER, I woke up Saturday morning extra early, because I had gone to bed so early the previous night, and had lots of energy. I went ahead and did Jillian’s 30 Day Shred (my planned Friday night workout) AND then went to Water Aerobics for 60 minutes. So in the end, I wound up getting Friday nights workout in, just about 10 hours late!

Saturday night we had to head to a bar to see a friend’s band play, this was pretty worrisome for me. As I have mentioned before, you give me a beer or two and I throw counting points out the window. I planned to have 4 points left over of my 35 daily points by the time I got to the bar. I had a pretty big dinner, filled with lots of veggies and protein. I got to the bar and had only 1 beer (yay me!) My boyfriend ordered this ginormous plate of nachos. I wanted them so badly! Instead I waited until there were only 2-3 left on the plate and then asked for one. I counted that as 2 points, and skipped the other light beer that I had planned on having. He offered me a second one, but I declined (thinking about my trip to Paradise that is now 6 months away.) YAY ME!

Sunday is one of my planned days off from working out, but I kept getting the urge to work out. Since my butt was so sore from doing two workouts on Saturday, I decided to let my body have a rest. I went to see a movie with a couple of girlfriends. I even did well at the movies, having a small diet coke and a Fiber One Bar. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Fiber One Bars! I know that they have sugar in them, and technically they shouldn’t be listed as a “health food” but those suckers fill me up and give me something that is sweet and has chocolate in it, for only 2 points. I will keep them in my diet, thank you very much!

One of the girls that I went to the movie with also goes to my gym. She is getting married in the next year, and really probably only has about 20 lbs to lose. She mentioned that I should come to the gyms Boot Camp with her in the mornings. Is she insane? One it’s at 5am, as much of a morning person that I am, 5 AM is before the morning. I’d have to wake up at about 4:30, which is technically still last night in my book! I also know that I am not yet in good enough shape to tackle the Boot Camp. Give me some more time with Jillian Michaels kicking my ass and then we will see about going to Boot Camp (just the name sounds evil!)

I have managed to stay exactly on plan all weekend! Sorry I needed to give myself another pat on the back he he.

Today I had originally planned on going to water aerobics at 10AM, but I think I am going to skip it and do Jillian’s 30 Day Shred instead. TOM has come to town, and I’m just not feeling like squeezing myself into a swimsuit like a sausage (someone is a lotta bit on the bloated side!) I’m hoping that TOM is gone by Thursday, so that I can see the scale move at my official weigh in!

No matter what side of the political scale you stand on, I am hoping that you can really appreciate what an important day tomorrow is in our nation’s history. Just thinking about the inauguration makes me have goose bumps. Perhaps that is just the Political Science major in me!

Tata for now,

Scale Warfare