WW Weigh-In, Week 25

Weigh-In: 136
Mood: Bemused

I have no clue what netted me a 136, especially considering my water retention is ramping back up. I give! I have determined, though, that I'm not going to go on any more baking frenzies for awhile. In five weeks I've managed to actually lose... well, nothing. Which is crap. And one thing I've been doing consistently over those weeks, except this past weekend, is bake evil desserts.

It appears I've found my trigger food. I can take it easy with chocolate bars, I can do just one serving of ice cream, but put me near a cake or cookie-like substance and I lose all sense of proportion... or portion. The same thing happens with potato chips. There's a reason I don't bring many of those into my house.

Fortunately I'm well back into working out, and I've been on top of it. I'm still sick unto death of my treadmill and my elliptical is possessed (really, it is) so after forcing myself onto the treadmill all week (I can at least read on the blasted thing) I'm going to repeat last week's hiking theme with the boys. We're heading to the same nature preserve for another gatoriffic hike tomorrow, and Sunday we're heading to a different park that also has hiking trails. This one even promises to have a playground for the boys for afterward.

And yes, there will be more alligators. It's Florida -- we can't escape them. The boys have been informed that if we see one at anything resembling close range the only instruction I have is "RUN!!!!!!!"

Gator cardio. Gotta love it.

I'm curious to see figures for the next two weeks' weigh-ins. There WILL be saintliness, and I'm interested to see if it will be rewarded.

WW Weigh-In, Week 24

Weight: 138
Mood: Relieved

Yep, relieved about sums it up. Honestly, I haven't been eating like someone who's trying to lose weight recently. My activity was spot-on for the week, though, and that's what saved this weigh-in to any degree despite what I crammed down my gaping maw.

I've reached that point where I'm bored with my food again. This time, it seems to be my lunch that's really getting to me. Breakfast is good, dinner is good, snacks are usually okay (yes, usually... some issues there although it's not the worst of it), but lunch?

Nope. There is no way that eating a Chipotle burrito bowl two times in two weeks equals a good choice for someone trying to lose weight, especially not when combined with an outing to McDonald's, a Cuban sandwich, and 2 oz. of Dirty Potato Chips Black Pepper and Sea Salt flavor. Again, I didn't consume this all in one day, but it's still not sane.

Don't ask me about the cookies-and-cream-cheese bars. I'm not talking. See veiled snack references above.

In spite of all this I'm at 138, which all things considered is good, and arguably maintaining. It's not goal, though, and I'd really like to see 130. I've got a new lunch plan which should take care of some of the cravings (must. have. peanut. butter. NOW.), so it's full speed ahead.

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Mammogram results are back and normal. My re-scan on the ovarian issue is at the end of September. Meanwhile, I'm able to give myself numerous diseases and dire conditions (curse you, Doctor Google!), so the rational part of my brain is torn between trying to ignore the fact that I feel like crap (Silly Amanda, you're just talking yourself into feeling lousy!) and trying to explain to the anti-malingering gene that I really do feel sick (Really, Amanda, just because you're capable of talking yourself into feeling sick doesn't mean you aren't legitimately ill).

Good times.

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I spent Saturday de-fleaing the house. Choreboy washed Teddy and put the flea meds on him Friday, so Saturday the Elder and I cornered all three cats and managed to get their flea stuff on them with zero bloodshed. Score! Then we locked down the cats and sprayed the bedrooms, followed by intensive vacuuming. After that, we moved all the cats into one of the flea-free bedrooms and poisoned the rest of the house, after which more vacuuming ensued.

I came close to freaking out when the Elder said later on that evening that he'd found a flea, but he followed it up quickly by saying it was dead. I tell you, four furry housemates in Florida during high flea season? Not fun for any of us.

Sunday I couldn't face the treadmill so the boys and I headed out for an 80 minute hike at one of the local nature preserves. The Gum Zombie spotted an alligator so he was tickled. That got my heart rate up (we were on a path called "Alligator Alley" during nesting season -- what was I thinking?), and it stayed up until we were well away from all vaguely swampy areas. Now I have shin splits because I'm so accustomed to the treadmill that I completely overestimated my ability to walk on normal ground. Genius.

But it was a good end to the last, perfect summer. This was the last year my boys were able to attend the same summer program because the Elder ages out once he turns 13. And he's not yet hit puberty big-time, so he and the Gum Zombie are still my little boys. But the hair over the Elder's upper lip is darkening, and I was just looking at our vacation pictures from last year and noticing how much older both boys now look.

My babies are growing up. They're supposed to, so it's all good. I just feel a little... lost. I'll snap out of it, but I miss my little boys. And I hated to see the summer end.

Ultrasound Results, in Brief

I had a pelvic ultrasound the same day I had my mammogram, and the u/s results are in. I've got a small fibroid in my uterus, which is a non-issue. And I've got a cyst on my right ovary, which may or may not be a non-issue.

They'll be re-scanning me in 6 weeks, and we'll go from there depending on what the results are.

As for the mammogram, no results in on that yet. Word is that 70% of first-time mammograms need a repeat, and considering the whole fibrous-breast issue, I'd put that more like at 90% for me.

Looks like 2011 is Year of the Medical Tests. I tell ya, you get past 40 and the whole body goes downhill :P

WW Weigh-In, Week 23

Weight: 137.7 (okay, 137.66, but I'm rounding up today)
Mood: Less annoyed than I was.

So the scale is creeping down again, albeit slowly. I've still got some weird retention issues going on, so I'm just going to throw it to the hormone gods and try to remember them when I have another super-impressive weigh-in.

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The Elder had his 7th grade physical today, and I am happy to announce that not only can the boy hear perfectly, but I now have documented proof! Those of you who live or have lived with an adolescent understand my excitement.

Gotcha, kid. Heh.

He wasn't too happy about the turn-your-head-and-cough-fest, but I told him that I was the wrong person to approach to expect that to get him out of anything. I just had a pelvic ultrasound yesterday (with The Probe), as well as my first mammogram. No, I didn't share ALL this information with him, but I did make it clear that sometimes we just have to suck it up for our health, and it's only once a year so although I truly feel his pain (so to speak), he's going to have to deal.

Regarding the mammogram, by the way, it was totally no sweat. Even though I'm still retaining a bit of fluid, it didn't get above mildly uncomfortable. So ladies, if you're of that age, get out there and get those boobies squished! If a pansy like me can take it, anybody can.

Speaking of age, Choreboy turns 50 in a matter of days. I'm still working on getting him to go in for all those fun "I'm 50 and over!" medical tests. No, I'm not holding my breath. The man is cute, and that cuteness is equaled only by his hardheadedness.

Outside of all that, I got nothing. Oh, except a new bathing suit. But I'm not posting that on the web. Y'all will have to wait until we get back from vacation sometime later on this year and see if I allowed a camera near me while I was wearing less than full coverage. And my dears?

I just don't see that happening. But it's freaking adorable, and I have that on very good authority.

Have a great weekend, all :)

WW Weigh-In, Week 22

Weight: 138.5
Mood: Resigned

You know how last week I mentioned that the emotional end of the PMS-fest wasn't off the charts? Yeah, that might have been a bit premature. Last Sunday night Choreboy and I were peacefully watching TV when something in my brain flipped and we ended up having a 20-minute "discussion" involving the TV, the air conditioner, and the number 77.

I never said I was logical. And if I had, that particular moment in time would have proven otherwise.

I also did indeed make the chocolate peanut butter cake.


Twice.

Ouch.

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Full disclosure: the need for two cakes was because the first was in part for my mother's bridge group, and that combined with my kids' intake wouldn't leave enough for the office. So of course I had to make cake number two (which I liberally decorated with Reese's Pieces on top of the ganache) to ensure the office got a complete cake rather than three rather tiny slices. Clearly this was entirely a humanitarian effort.

I'm avoiding mentioning the four slices I managed to consume on my own.

So the cake didn't nuke my weigh-in. Outside of the four slices I totally didn't mention in the fine print above, my food intake was on point for the week. What gave? Well, the hormonal water retention fest nailed me, probably in conjunction with the fact that I couldn't exercise. And I'm still retaining bucketloads of that water, which isn't improving my mood in the least.

And although the cake didn't necessarily cause the scale gain, I'm relatively certain it didn't help either.

We'll see what this coming Thursday brings. I'm not holding my breath. I am, however, going to pry my butt out of this chair and go get on my treadmill post-haste. I can exercise again, and I'm going to burn off every calorie possible before next weigh-in.

WW Weigh-In, Week 21

Weight: 136.5
Mood: Meh.

I'm up 3/4 of a pound from last week. I'm mildly bummed because I'd like to have hit the 134 range, but I'm also not surprised because The Main Source of my TMI-Fests is due on Monday. Joy. So I'm retaining a lake's worth of water, basically, concentrated in my lower abdomen and my chest.

Compounding the hormonal misery, I also ate out for lunch on both Tuesday and Wednesday. I stayed within my calorie range both days, but I know the sodium probably didn't help my weigh-in. My hope is that next week I'll have less eventful lunch hours and less fluid hanging out in my torso.

Outside of that, my exercise has been good and I'm even looking at bringing in some heavier dumbbells or something because the 10-pounders I've been using for my curls and triceps stuff are getting less challenging. I also need to find something to give my quad work more "umph", but I'm at a loss on that one because my exercise equipment at home is limited to the treadmill, elliptical, a stability ball (I use it at my back for squats for my quads, and under my legs while I'm reclining on the floor for some hamstring thingies), and the 3, 5, 7, and 10-pound dumbbells. I can't have much more than that due to sheer space constraints. Clearly I need to do some research.

So all in all? Not bad. I haven't even put on a whole pound, and I've had months where I think I've loaded on five. And the emotional PMS-fest isn't off the charts (yet) either. So that's a plus.

All I have to do now is make it through the weekend without making a peanut butter pound cake with chocolate ganache glaze. Not so sure how I'm going to do with that*.

*Not so sure I'm that committed to not doing it, either. Heh.

Music to My Ears

Bet no one's ever said that about their annual girlie exam before. Okay, now that I've already squicked out half my readership, TMI-fest incoming. If you'd like to avoid it and get to my findings on The Great Publix vs. WalMart Pricing Wars, scroll down below the ruled line.

We're all clear then?

Anyway, as you probably figured I had my annual girlie checkup today. I have a new GYN and she's awesome, I'm happy to report. As far as these appointments go in general, I'm good with the results. I had to go in anyway because The Yeast That Wouldn't Die is back, so I've got new medications incoming for that which should nuke it nicely. You'll all be so interested to know that I have a "classic" yeast infection. Thrilling stuff, eh?

The music to my ears part of this was when she looked over my anal-retentive records of two-years-plus of my cycles and said, "I don't like your periods." Yay! I don't like them either! So we're going to roll with the oh-so-fun pelvic ultrasound, followed by the endometrial biopsy, and then assuming everything comes back benign, Amanda finally gets her uterine ablation.

YES. I swear, I've never been so happy about a surgical-type procedure in my life.

On the downside, I'm also being scheduled for my First Annual Boob Squishing. I have really dense breast tissue, so this isn't going to be fun. But I've seen more than one woman with breast cancer who has my same family history of zero breast cancer prior to her own case, so better safe than sorry.

Still, not looking forward to it. Luckily, my GYN understands that I reserve the right to whine about any test she schedules... and that I'll go, regardless of how little I want to.

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Now for the grand price war results! I set my alarm like a good little price checker, and once the boys and I staggered around for awhile, we got out the door and arrived at WalMart at 5:50 a.m. Holy Jesus God that is early. This better be good.

It was, from the financial perspective. I did my grocery shopping, the boys waxed rhapsodic over the toy department, and then later on that day after I'd gone for a walk with my local SparkPeople team, I finished up the shopping with my Publix run to pick up sale items that were actually cheaper at Publix than at WalMart, as well as to cross-check my prices.

Some items were cheaper at Publix when on sale: Diet Coke was cheaper (3 12-packs for $12.00) and eggs were cheaper (2 dozen of my preferred type for $4.00). Overall, though, WalMart came out the clear winner.

Prices will vary from week to week at both stores, of course, and I'm far from crossing Publix off my list of places I'll go for groceries. I prefer to shop there even with the higher prices, to be honest. I like how they treat their employees and I want to support that as much as I am able. But the $13.75 speaks for itself. Over a month's time that's near sixty dollars, and with my income that's nothing to sneeze at.

Money in the bank, folks. And that, too, is music to my ears.

WW Weigh-In, Week 20

Eating is good for you. Who knew?

135.75 lbs., yay! And now I've finally officially lost all my "baby" weight...

...from the 12.5 year old. Somehow I think after a certain point the weight became less about "baby" and more about "Doritos". Ya think?

I need to remember that 1200 calories only works for me when I'm not exercising. And for those who want to know how in the world I can forget that, bear in mind that I've been at this for awhile, and over time I've become well accustomed to what foods will both fill me up and provide my nutritional needs for a minimum of calories. I'm not starving by any means at 1200 calories, and even manage to get in a couple of scoops of ice cream.

Daily. Plus chocolate. So I'm not suffering.

But yeah, about that ice cream. Now bear in mind, it's Edy's Slow Churned Yogurt Blends Caramel Praline Crunch (With Live and Active Cultures!), so it's not as if I'm chugging down the Blue Bell. Plus I can even argue -- badly -- that it's good for me. I can guarantee you, though, that eating two scoops of it wasn't helping matters. I needed something a bit more nutritionally dense, so I switched one scoop out for a 1/2 cup of Cabot 2% Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt and a cup of blueberries.

I kept the other scoop, and they'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.

I've also thrown some avocado back into my life (love avocado!), and that combined with the yogurt and blueberries -- which run a bit higher calorically than one scoop of the ice cream -- plus a change-up to quinoa and chickpeas from my standard lentils or black beans has given me that extra 100+ calories for my day. So yep, going to keep it about 1300 - 1400 calories per day from here on out. Although 1200 calories is sufficient for the nutritional needs (see WebMD or a host of other legitimate and sound sources regarding the 1200 calorie threshold) of a 41-year-old sedentary woman who isn't gestating or breastfeeding or anything like that, it's definitely not sufficient for this 41-year-old woman, even though my activity level can be described as "moderate" at best.

I also had salmon twice this week, and tilapia twice, lessening the legume onslaught. So I may have to watch the seafood sales more closely and see what I can do to keep the fish consumption happening.

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Along those lines, I'm actually going to brave WalMart for my weekly shopping on Saturday. Usually I go to Publix, which is a local chain down here in the southeastern US, but although they have good sales at times, their base prices appear to be markedly higher than WalMart's prices. In general I'd feel the markup is worth it for the atmosphere and the customer service, but in this economy I'm going to attempt to just suck it up and deal.

That said, I'm not dealing with the WalMart crowds. No way, uh-uh, ain't gonna happen, kids. I'm setting the alarm for 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, and I'm going to drag my bleary-eyed self out the door and get the shopping handled before the rush hits. I've done grocery shopping at WalMart during the day before on rare occasion, and it is a flat-out misery. Early morning* is the only way to go.

On the bummer side of this, I kind of thought my early rising meant I'd get to go shopping alone for once in my life. Nope! As soon as the Elder and the Gum Zombie heard where I was going, they excitedly opted in. The early hour was no barrier. It would appear they have some allowance burning holes in their pockets, and because I tend to avoid WalMart at all costs, this is like a trip to freaking Disney for them.

Hopefully they'll remember there's a real trip to Disney happening later on this year (four nights -- squeee!!) and let that guide their spending, because what they manage to save will directly affect Choreboy's and my contribution to The Offspring Souvenir Fund.

*Looking at my weights from last August, which is when that link was located, I'm over 10 pounds down -- yay!

WW Weigh-In, Week 19

138

No tenths or hundredths... just flat-out 138.

I should be more excited, because hey, I finally dropped a whole pound after FOUR WEEKS of this 139/ 139.25 stuff (yay!), but because I'm a moron I weighed myself on Monday and was 137.5 then, so now I'm wondering why I gained a freaking half pound.

I know, a half pound fluctuation is well within normal limits. I just wish it had been fluctuating in the downward direction today. Oh well. Good news is, the near-plateau is busted!

Now I just have to figure out what to eat when I'm actually, say, exercising. Because I'm thinking the big reason I haven't seen much movement in the past 8 weeks (just over 3 pounds down) is because during most of that time period I've been exercising more while keeping my food intake right around 1200 calories/ 29 Points+.

By "exercising more" I mean just the mere fact that I've been exercising, by the way. I burn between 1000 - 2000 calories per week with cardio, along with whatever unknown number of calories I'm burning with my 2-3 20-minute resistance sessions a week. Clearly I'm not killing myself here. It's a moderate effort at most. But it's also the one thing that really changed that correlates directly with my weight loss slowing down to a dead crawl.

However, during the past two weeks while I've been marginally out of commission due to The Illness, I've actually lost a pound. Still eating 1200 calories/ 29 Points+ per day. So... I'm thinking I'm going to go up a hundred calories per day (and up by whatever number of points corresponds to that) for the next two weeks and see what that does for me.

And if the scale won't budge, I'll go up another hundred. Like they say, if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always got.

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In other news, Choreboy is made of awesome. I know this comes as no shock to regular readers of my blog, but he really is.

My refrigerator gave up dispensing water and making ice back some time in 2008. Or it's not so much that it gave up as it is that the water dispenser refused to shut off and poured water all over my floor, and the ice dispenser refused to dispense, which caused the entire ice maker to freeze up... it was ugly. Eventually, we just shut off the water to the blasted thing.

Then last weekend we took it into our heads to clean off the top of the fridge. And by "we" I mean "he" and by "our" I mean "his". During this bit of family fun, his interest in the dispenser was piqued, which resulted in me coming home to a functional water dispenser and ice maker on Monday. Yay! The ice dispenser portion still wasn't working, but only for lack of a part which arrived yesterday, and now we have full functionality for a financial outlay of $40.

Excellent. The man seriously rocks.

And then there are the cats. Three of 'em, to be precise. I brought the cats into the home knowing fully well I was allergic to them, and Choreboy married me knowing I had cats and that he was also allergic to them. What can I say, we're gluttons for punishment. Anyway, allergies must run in the family because the largest of our cats, Daniel, is allergic to fleas. Kind of inconvenient when you're a cat, especially when you live in a house along with a tiny, yappy dog who will insist on going outside to go potty rather than using a litter box like a civilized creature. Even one flea will drive Daniel into a frenzy of scratching and hair loss, resulting in a mostly bald, bloody, pitiful, angry feline. Needless to say, this is unacceptable both to him and to us, so we take the cat in every three months for a steroid shot which helps immensely with the itching.

And this is another time when by "we" I mean "he". Historically, Daniel has made resistance to getting into The Box nearly a pathology. He runs. He hides. He braces himself against the box. He shreds any human attempting to put him in the box into bloody ribbons (did I mention all the cats are fully clawed?). This makes transport somewhat... iffy. And since our vet's office has only limited office hours on Saturday, which is the only day I could get him in (assuming I didn't bleed out in the process), it usually falls to Choreboy to do the deed.

He hasn't needed a transfusion yet.

Monday was The Day for Daniel. He'd actually gone quite a long time without a shot this go-round, due in large part to a change in his diet which appears to have greatly lessened his itching issues. But it's summer, and with summer comes more fleas, so into the vet he went.

And this time. This time, the super-sekrit-cat-whisperer-who-is-my-husband got Daniel into the box without bloodshed.

Not only that, but when they arrived home from the vet's office, Daniel walked right out of the box as calmly as if he did it every day.

Made. Of. Awesome. Truly, I am wowed. And grateful, both for the functioning fridge as well as for the change in The Daniel Cat's behavior. Yay, Choreboy!

WW Weigh-In, Week 18

Followed By Bonus Overshares!

Week 18: 139. Ish. I'm not entirely sure, because I'm still running a fever so I'm not yet back to work. This means that I don't have access to The Official Weigh-In Scale, located at my parents' house (plus they'd really prefer I didn't spread The Plague over their way). So instead this morning I got on our little floor scale, which has an accuracy best described as "quixotic", further aided and abetted by the fact that the dial is way way far away from my aging eyes, and even with my glasses on my reading of it is... iffy at best.

It looked like 139, give or take the wiggle of the dial as I struggled and squinted, so 139 it is.

Oh, and if you want the entire numbers rundown, check the sidebar under my Followers widget. Once I passed 12 weeks it started getting a bit unwieldy; I finally caved and just made it a page element. It is to be hoped that I have a more accurate reading for next week.

Preferably lower as well.

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Okay, next is the overshare part. Anyone reading who doesn't want to be exposed to information about yeast infections, menstrual cycles, ice cream or chocolate needs to go away now.

You have been warned.

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So it's not enough that I'm sick. Oh no. On top of that, I developed a charming yeast infection. I held off asking Choreboy if he'd please pick up an over-the-counter treatment pack for me for two days because I kept thinking surely I'd be better in the morning and could get it myself before things got too bad.

Needless to say, that didn't quite pan out. Bless Choreboy (best husband in. The. World. Bar none.), he went out with my detailed description of the particular pack I needed -- the one with the inserts, the ointment, and the wipes, thankyouverymuch -- and after only a little struggle due to labeling issues, he returned home with the goods.

I raced to the bathroom for some desperately needed relief and quickly discovered that the degree to which I was hosed had just doubled. Nay, quadrupled. Because not only was I dealing with yeast infection treatment (which is sticky and ooky and just plain aggravatingly messy at best), but my period had started!

Ah, good times.

See, you can treat a yeast infection while menstruating, but tampon usage is not recommended. I bleed like a stuck pig for the first 24-48 hours of my cycle which is bad enough with a tampon/ backup pad combo. With only a pad? Basically, I get to sit here and pray I don't spring a leak.

Then to top it all off, my pads were in short supply because my usual weapons of choice in the period wars are tampons, preferably of the "suck up the volume of a lake" caliber. Since I had to drag myself out of the house anyway, the boys got their dearest wish and went to their summer program for the first time this week and I then went straight from their daycare site to the grocery store one block away.

My plan was to buy pads and two cans of soup.

I walked out of the store with two boxes of "Shamwow is Jealous" absorbency pads, two cans of soup, one box of Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters in dark chocolate, and two 2-for-$7.00 1.5 quart containers of Edy's Slow Churned Yogurt Blends -- one of Caramel Praline Crunch, and one of Chocolate Fudge Brownie. Chocolate much? I am such a freaking hormonal stereotype.

I'm just grateful tomorrow is Friday so if I go to work I can wear jeans.

Tardy

Weigh-in for Week 17 was a solid 139, without the point-two-five. I had excellent intentions when it came to blogging, but I got hit by company coming into town followed swiftly by the 4th of July holiday weekend, which was then followed by the post-4th-of-July gastro-intestinal virus.

Fun!

The Fourth of July weekend was actually a blast. We went to my brother's house on Sunday for swimming and sloppy joes (nine Points+ -- yipes!), then repeated that process on the 4th itself, sans sloppy joes for me (I packed some of my lentil soup instead). And for dinner that night I made burgers, oven fries, and broccoli, followed up with Edy's Slow Churned Yogurt Blends Caramel Praline Crunch, which is made of awesome.

My stomach started feeling a bit "off" after dinner, but I chalked it up to two days of being in the sun for hours in the heat of the day, along with the attendant pool chemical inhalation. By the time Choreboy and I got to bed, though, my entire stomach was cramping up. I spent the night in and out of the bathroom, and by morning when I felt like if I could just hurl (I never did -- I was spared that aspect, something of a mixed blessing) I might feel better, but then again maybe not since again with the gut cramping and toilet-sitting...

Uh, yeah.

So. In light of the fact that in the past forty-eight hours I've consumed precisely one piece of toast topped with one tablespoon of peanut butter, who knows what tomorrow's weigh-in will bring?

I think I'm doing better, as evidenced by the fact that I've actually eaten something and it's stayed where it was put with minimal ill effects. I mean, my stomach feels a bit worse for having eaten, but I'm not screaming and I haven't lost it, so that's a plus. The worst thing right now is the achiness (body and head) which may be caused in part by being in bed all day yesterday. So I'm up and vertical today -- even did some typing from work that they brought over -- and my hope is to be back in the office on Thursday.

Prayerfully without a bucket.

WW Weigh-In, Week 16

Meh.

Start: 150
Week 1: 147.25
Week 2: 150.25
Week 3: 148.12
Week 4: 145.25
Week 5: 146.5
Week 6: 144.25
Week 7: 143.25
Week 8: 143.99
Week 9: 142.66
Week 10: 142.33
Week 11: 141.125
Week 12: 140.7
Week 13: 140.25
Week 14: 140.9
Week 15: 139.25
Week 16: 139.25. Yes, again.

Actually, maintaining this week isn't a bad thing. Father's Day was Sunday and we went to a massive brunch buffet late that morning. I still ended up the week with a positive activity Points+ allowance, but it was a close thing. It does give me some concern about when I'm actually on maintenance, though, since my metabolism appears to be on the slower end of average.

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On the end of speeding up the metabolism, though, I've been working on running more again, both with Tabata sprints (two sets of those in one evening had me this close to puking) and with some longer but less "balls to the wall" running intervals. Tonight I managed to run 10 minutes, divided into 2 minute bursts. And so far my right knee, which is usually the one that gives me fits, isn't objecting. Well, it's not objecting any more than it was before my workout, which is saying something.

Okay y'all, I'm going to cut this week's entry a bit short. It seems it's a bit difficult to compose a blog entry when one's spouse is giggling like a maniac watching Wipeout in the same room. Oh well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em... hee!

WW Weigh-In, Week 15

Cue the Hallelujah Chorus, Kids

Start: 150
Week 1: 147.25
Week 2: 150.25
Week 3: 148.12
Week 4: 145.25
Week 5: 146.5
Week 6: 144.25
Week 7: 143.25
Week 8: 143.99
Week 9: 142.66
Week 10: 142.33
Week 11: 141.125
Week 12: 140.7
Week 13: 140.25
Week 14: 140.9
Week 15: 139.25!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh. My. God. FINALLY. Yay!!!!!!! Okay, only 9.25 pounds to go...

Looks like I'm at the part of this whole weight loss thing where I basically lose half a pound a week when averaged out over a few weeks. So if I keep it up at this rate, I should hit goal right before my November 3rd weigh-in. As far as the theory of it goes, I'm good with that. Intellectually I know that I'm at a healthy weight and have been since I got below 160. My body is perceiving these last 20 pounds (now less than 10 -- HAH!) as "vanity weight," and is pretty hesitant to let them go. So I'm having to kind of sneak them out. And it will happen, in time.

Meanwhile, out here in reality-world, it's a royal pain. I keep going because my knees will thank me (the less I weigh, the less strain on both of them, particularly the right knee). And I keep going in part, too, because I gain weight in the "saddle bag" style, which means that I'm not only a pear shape, but a lumpy one at that and less weight overall means the saddlebags get proportionally smaller making it easier to find pants that fit well enough to pay for the price of having them tailored.

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At some point, when the scale gets extremely stingy with the rewards, you have to buy into the whole lifestyle aspect of weight loss. Sure, we can parrot on about how "it's a lifestyle change, not a diet!" all we want, but it takes a long time to truly internalize that concept. That's one reason why the whole deprivation angle of "thou shalt not eat items X, Y, and Z" never worked for me. It's just not sustainable, and there comes a time where it has got to be about what you can live with.

It's about activity.
I walk 10,000 steps minimum 5-7 days per week. On a weekday, that means I hop on the treadmill at the end of the workday for 40 minutes. Even at only 3 MPH, that puts me above 10,000 by the time I'm done. Anymore I'm at a minimum 5% incline and pushing up both that and the speed, because for me walking on a level surface at 3 MPH is just... sauntering, really.

I'm also working on my resistance training 2-3 times per week, 20 minutes per session. I'm once again maxed out on my weights at home (granted the highest I have is a 10 lb. dumbbell). Muscle memory is a marvelous thing.

And I've also been researching the hiking paths around my area. There's only so much one can do on a treadmill. Besides, the boys will enjoy forced marches... maybe?

It's about food.
I had a major NSV (non-scale victory) earlier this week. My parents have been away and in their absence I've hijacked their minivan, in large part because their fifteen-year-old-chihuahua-on-Lasix is staying with us and I need the back of the van to transport her and Teddy back and forth to their daytime location during the week. Well, Monday when I put the key into the ignition I heard an ominous "click-click-click-click-click".

Lovely.

So Choreboy gave me a jump and I got to work. About 4:40, I went out to check the van.

"Click-click-click-click-click."

Oh dammit all to hell. So once again, Choreboy rides to the rescue. I picked up the boys and we met him at the local auto parts store where I then replaced my parents' car battery for them.

You're welcome.

By the end of all this, the last thing I felt like doing was going home and cooking a new batch of lentil soup, so we went to the local family-sports-bar-like place, conveniently located in the strip center right behind the auto parts store.

I scanned the menu. If I were on the Deep Fried Items Only diet, I'd have been in hog heaven. Finally I found the grilled mahi sandwich, which looked fairly okay. I ordered it without the bread and with a side of steamed broccoli. The sandwich toppings were basically a Caesar salad and tomatoes, so salad + broccoli + grilled fish = win, all things considered.

I did, however, snag a couple boneless wings from Choreboy. They were good.

And yes, I logged them.

It's about consistency.
I have set myself up for success. For me, that means having my lunch-of-choice already stocked at the office. Apples, grapes, hard boiled eggs, reduced fat cheese (I usually eschew reduced fat cheese, but I've found two kinds I actually like -- Cracker Barrel 2% cheddar, and Babybel Light), whole wheat pitettes, and Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter -- these are what keep me going during day.

It means making a GINORMOUS pot of lentils or black bean soup. Yeah, I flaked out on the lentils Monday, but Tuesday night I was in the kitchen chopping carrots once again. And I think I'll set the black beans out to soak Saturday night.

It means getting into the habit of choosing wisely with both activity and food, so those times when a truly outstanding food opportunity comes along (hello pound cake/ chess pie/ vanilla bean cake/ REESES!!!!!!!!!!!!!), I can indulge with a clear conscience. Honestly, I'm not going to live a life without certain things (full fat cheese, desserts, guacamole, chips, cheese dip), so it behooves me to find ways to live with them now. Reasonably.

And then I log every bite of it. Because that's what works. For me.

It's about persistence.
I've been at this since fall of 2006. At 5'-7" tall, I weighed 200 pounds which gave me a BMI of 31.32. Technically I was categorized as "Obese Class 1". And I wouldn't have known my weight if I hadn't followed my kids onto the scale at Publix on a crazy whim. They weighed themselves, then I climbed on.

You know, you can tell yourself that the scale is off, that the dryer is shrinking your jeans, that you're bloated... you can say these things for a certain amount of time. And they may even be right. But there's nothing quite like the reality check you get when your seven-year-old announces to the entire freaking store, "Mommy, you weigh 200! Isn't that quite a lot?"

The now-twelve-year-old is very proud of his role in my wake-up call, as well he should be. Since that fateful day I've used just about every method out there to lose weight, and I've learned from each one of them. I started with NutriSystem, which reset my brain for standard sized portions. It also helped me realize I needed to get this weight off once and for all because no way was I going to eat that crap long-term. When Lean Cuisine tastes like a gourmet treat? Something's gotta give. I read The Hacker's Diet (free online!), and that's what finally kicked the calories in/ calories out switch. I got under 160, which officially put me at a healthy weight. I joined SparkPeople. I tracked my food. I exercised. I joined Weight Watchers.

I've had my ups and downs, but over time the trendline has continued to point in the right direction.

And in just a bit more time, goal.

November, watch out.

WW Weigh-In, Week 14

There is no subtitle adequate to describe my feelings at the moment. Well, there is, but it involves more cursing than I'm comfortable using in public.

The scale got an earful, though.

Start: 150
Week 1: 147.25
Week 2: 150.25
Week 3: 148.12
Week 4: 145.25
Week 5: 146.5
Week 6: 144.25
Week 7: 143.25
Week 8: 143.99
Week 9: 142.66
Week 10: 142.33
Week 11: 141.125
Week 12: 140.7
Week 13: 140.25
Week 14: 140.9 !@)(*$(*@*@#$@)(&@%)((!)

Where is the "primal scream" emoticon when you need one?

Okay, confession time: I (foolishly) got on the scale this past Monday, for what reason I do not know. It read 138.5. I was elated. The 130's! I'd done it! I could finally report on my blog that I'd broken the accursed plateau!

Then I weighed myself on Tuesday, and it read 139.25.

Huh. Well, weight fluctuates, and three-quarters of a pound is within reason.

I didn't get on the scale on Wednesday, because I felt like I'd kind of jinxed myself with Monday and Tuesday's weighing-in antics, so for Thursday I was fully expecting to be rewarded for my good behavior.

Nope. 140.9. Probably there are a few more repeating 9's in that series, but we're just going to leave it at one decimal place.

So anyway, the mind started kicking. I know my food has been good. I know my exercise has been good. I even started back with the weights this week! Hmmm... that could cause a little fluid retention, but not this much.

Then I thought to check The Calendar.

Yup. Screwed by hormones again. I'd thought my stomach was looking poochier than usual, but I was thrown off because the latest weight I've lost (and I have lost it) has affected my chest, thus making any retention in that area less noticeable. But indeed, it was due.

So guess what showed up right before I went to bed last night?

Sigh. Delightful.

At least I know what's up. Here's hoping next week will be it!

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Adding insult to injury, my bra size has apparently dropped even where the scale hasn't, which I didn't notice until I wore a dress this week with a certain bra and noticed that we were having a gravitationally challenged moment. The band size is definitely smaller -- I'm going to have to move down to a 32 -- and it's possible my cup size has shifted as well because that isn't a "volume" thing, but is instead proportional to the band size.

Y'all, if I dropped to a C I'm going to need an entirely new vocabulary. Just sayin'.

Oh well, on the plus side I took today off work. I've already bonded with the treadmill and am about to do my resistance stuff without my children staring at me as if I'm a very interesting bug in a terrarium. Gotta take those small pleasures where we can find them. Have a great weekend, folks!

WW Weigh-In, Week 13

Subtitled: ARRRGH!!!!!!!

Start: 150
Week 1: 147.25
Week 2: 150.25
Week 3: 148.12
Week 4: 145.25
Week 5: 146.5
Week 6: 144.25
Week 7: 143.25
Week 8: 143.99
Week 9: 142.66
Week 10: 142.33
Week 11: 141.125
Week 12: 140.7
Week 13: 140.25

*muttering to self* Slow but steady, Amanda... slow but steady...

It was a good weigh-in. It really was. I lost almost half a pound in a week where I baked both a vanilla bean cake and a chess pie, and partook in both of same multiple times. I had a cheeseburger on Memorial Day. And the night before weigh-in I was attacked by a box of Triscuits that were mercilessly taunting me and consumed probably 3 servings of them instead of dinner, along with all the attendant sodium that involved.

So truly, I did well. I'm just looking at that scale i-n-c-h-i-n-g its way down oh-so-slowly and it's driving me nuts! I know the last 10 pounds or so can take forever, but I wish The Grand Stall-Out had started at, say... 139.9?

Perhaps?

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In other news, I completed Jenn's 10K a Day (in May!) challenge and managed a minimum of 10,000 steps per day each day in the month of May. Hooray -- go me!!! And then I cracked Choreboy up because I looked at him on May 31st and said, "I'm not going to get on the treadmill tomorrow. I'm just going to take a break," but then proceeded to jog in place to get my steps up to 10,000 yet again for the first day of June.

Obsessive much, me? Nah...

I did, however, take a real day off of working out yesterday. I needed it mentally if for no other reason. And today I'm going to get on the treadmill but my plan is to mix it up a bit by using one of the pre-programmed workout circuits on the machine. I haven't tried one of those since back in 2001, way before the Gum Zombie was even a vague concept let alone any sort of cellular entity. Then tomorrow morning our local SparkPeople group is meeting at the mall for walking at 9:00 a.m. We had been walking around one of the local lakes (we've got a plethora of lakes here), but the last time we walked the humidity really got to a bunch of us (and to my hair -- talk about an explosion!) so we're moving the party indoors until things cool down a bit.

So... December, probably. Okay, realistically I'm thinking late October at the earliest. I will officially be hating my power bill for the next six months.

My challenge to myself this next week: get some resistance training back into the schedule. Seriously, it won't kill me to lift a freaking dumbbell. I might as well do it.

WW Weigh-In, Week 12

Start: 150
Week 1: 147.25
Week 2: 150.25
Week 3: 148.12
Week 4: 145.25
Week 5: 146.5
Week 6: 144.25
Week 7: 143.25
Week 8: 143.99
Week 9: 142.66
Week 10: 142.33
Week 11: 141.125
Week 12: 140.7

Unfortunately, I let myself hope for the 130's even though I knew it was a bad idea. Four tenths of a pound is something, but it's obviously not quite what I wanted. I guess we'll go with the whole "Slow and steady wins the race" concept. It's not like I have much choice in the matter. My eating is on point. I've averaged right at 1200 calories (+/- 30) for the past five weeks at least (email me if you want a link to my food log on SparkPeople -- I believe there's a version I have shared somewhere out on teh intarweebs), the food has for the most part (*koff* oreos *koff*) been of good quality, I've walked a minimum of 10,000 steps a day.

I'm looking at it and there's not much more I can reasonably do at this time. I'd like to run, but my body has been very clear that any response to running -- even sprints, dagnabbit -- will be along the lines of "Excuse me? What do you think you're doing? I'm taking you down, toots," so we're just not going there.

Some parts of getting old pretty much suck. Just so you know :P

Good news is, it's still trending downward. Yay!

Lentils By Request

In the comments to my last post, Sarah at Thinfluenced asked about my lentil recipe. As many of you know, this year I've been on a mission to lessen my hatred of The Vile Legume. I started with chickpeas, since I already knew I didn't hate hummus or falafel. After mastering the chickpea, I moved on to lentils. Why? People, I have the attention span of a gnat. The "why" for the lentil could be anything. Best I can figure, there was a random nutrition/ fitness/ cooking article out there that mentioned the virtues of the lentil and my ADD-esque brain grabbed onto it, causing me to research nearly every lentil recipe extant. Finally I figured I'd just go with soup. I'm a kitchen slacker, what can I say?

I finally found a recipe I liked, but it's been severely tweaked since reading the comments that followed it (reduced oil, went with broth/ stock instead of water, added curry powder, more carrots and onions, etc), so this is what I've finally come up with:

2 TBSP olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
4 carrots, sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced or diced
2 bay leaves
1 TBSP garlic powder (original recipe calls for 2 garlic cloves minced -- see "slacker" statement above for justification)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 TBSP curry powder
1 lb dried lentils
8 cups/ 64 fl oz. chicken broth (or stock, or vegetable stock if you prefer)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (I like the ones with basil, garlic, and oregano)
1 package thawed and rinsed frozen spinach (optional)
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot (I don't know much about sizes – mine's about 8inches high and 10 inches around maybe?) heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery and cook until onion is translucent. Add bay leaves, garlic powder, oregano, basil, curry powder, crushed red pepper, and salt and pepper. Cook for two minutes. Add rinsed lentils, broth, and tomatoes and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for at least one hour (I usually take about 2). Check periodically and add additional salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste. Use caution especially on that last one. After at least one hour, add the balsamic vinegar. If you're adding the spinach (which I haven't lately, but it's harmless), this is where I'd do it. Then continue to simmer until done, where "done" is measured by "Are the lentils still crunchy? If so, continue to simmer until edible."

The base recipe over at Allrecipes says this only serves 6, but I get at least 10 1-cup servings out of it, and consume it over the course of a week or so with occasional nibblings by the offspring and Choreboy. My favorite thus far is to top it with some shredded parmesan, but I have a feeling avocado would also go nicely on it. Might have to give that one a whirl.

If you try it, let me know how it turns out!

WW Weigh-In, Week 11

My comments never came back from the Blogger outage -- rats!!!!!!!!

Start: 150
Week 1: 147.25
Week 2: 150.25
Week 3: 148.12
Week 4: 145.25
Week 5: 146.5
Week 6: 144.25
Week 7: 143.25
Week 8: 143.99
Week 9: 142.66
Week 10: 142.33
Week 11: 141.125

Yes, those decimals are accurate :P

I'm so close to the 130's... but I'm going to try not to dwell on it because that way lies insanity. And it would probably stress me out too, which would make me retain water, and that would Not. Be. HELPFUL.

I'm just going to keep on with what I've been doing and see what happens.

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As for what I've been doing? Well, my basic day of eating is pretty dull:

Breakfast:
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/2 oz. cheddar
1 cup fruit (usually berries)

Lunch:
1 hard boiled egg (I like eggs a bit)
1 oz. 2% cheddar
1 pitette w/ 1 TBSP Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter
6-8 apple slices (depends on how many I grab from the bag)
1 cup grapes

Dinner:
1 cup lentil soup
1 TPBS parmesan cheese

Snacks:
Range from ice cream and Oreos (in fixed amounts) to apples and cheese.

I tend to stick around 1200 - 1300 calories per day (yes, even on Weight Watchers I'm still counting calories), and on the weekend this varies a bit more; for example I'll bake some fish for dinner, or hit a restaurant for a meal. And for special events I'm admittedly perfectly happy to throw caution to the winds. I've also got a pretty kick-ass black bean soup recipe I've been alternating with the lentils, so that's brought in some welcome variety too.

Tomorrow morning, I fully intend to indulge in a raspberry white chocolate scone for breakfast. Sure it'll cost me some points, but believe me it's worth it.

Points-wise, I stick right around 29 points a day. Sometimes it's a little more (and is covered by activity) and on rare occasion I might end the day with a couple of points left over. Thanks to the 10K a Day (in May!) walking challenge I've been getting a good 3 activity points per day, and that adds up nicely during the week.

I'm not pushing myself severely on the activity front because my body does not like to be pushed, and shares that with me via stress fractures, my knees acting up (I've got a lovely case of chondromalacia patella, if I spelled that correctly), whatever it takes to get me to ratchet down the stress to my joints. So after being sidelined repeatedly with my attempts at running and more intensive physical goals, my goal at this point is to just keep moving consistently.

So far so good. 41 years down, hopefully more than 40 to go.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

GRRRRRRRRRRRR

Stupid Blogger. My last two entries have been eaten, along with entries of thousands of other bloggers.

Anyway, in case they don't restore entries, Week 10 WW Weigh-in was 142.33 pounds, down 1/3 pound from last week. I'd thought I might gain due to water retention but the Scale Gods were on my side.

Also? I wear rubber bands around my wrist sometimes.

That is all. Have a great weekend!

Edited to add: the posts are back (Hooray!!!), but alas, not the comments!

WW Weigh-in, Week 10

Subtitled: Quitcher Bitchin'

Start: 150
Week 1: 147.25
Week 2: 150.25
Week 3: 148.12
Week 4: 145.25
Week 5: 146.5
Week 6: 144.25
Week 7: 143.25
Week 8: 143.99
Week 9: 142.66
Week 10: 142.33

Well color me floored. After yesterday's weight (a "monstrous" 143 -- yeah I know but it was moving in the wrong direction) and the continued increase in size of certain, erm, body parts due to that lovely cyclical water retention, I'm pretty surprised to have netted a loss of any kind. But hey, I'll take it! This also puts me at my 5% weight lost goal for Weight Watchers.

It also caused the WW e-tools severe alarm, because according to their records (inaccurate due to my absence from the "real" scale last week) I've lost more than a single pound at a time. Danger Will Robinson!

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In other news, I'm currently wearing a rubber band on my right wrist. Why, you might ask? Because I'm a complete dork would be the answer. And a creature of severe habit.

I almost always wear earrings. Usually the same pair of gold hoops.
I almost always wear a necklace.
I always wear my wedding ring on my left hand.
I almost always wear my maternal grandmother's ring on my right hand.
I almost always wear my watch on my left wrist.
I almost always wear a bracelet on my right wrist.

And when, for some reason, one of those items is missing, I spend the whole day looking at whatever part it's missing from and clutching it until I remember "Oh yeah, I didn't wear that because..." and today's reason for failure to wear the bracelet is "I got distracted mid-jewelry assembly and forgot." Hence the rubber band, so I don't freak out.

Please tell me I'm not the only weirdo person like this.