Finally losin’ it

My computer can’t seem to find the server … And since I can’t go too long without posting a blog entry, I had to hop back over here to let y’all know what’s going on.

Yesterday wasn’t the day I’d hoped for. Instead of losing 0.6 pounds and hitting that 50-pound loss mark, I GAINED 0.2 pounds … so now I’m 0.8 away from that goal.

That sucks. But I guess it’s not all that surprising, after Wednesday night’s book club meeting and all those cookies at the open house Thursday. A fairly good weekend wasn’t enough to counteract those two bad days, I guess.

That’s OK. I’m back on track now, and by NEXT Monday, I’ll be at my short-term goal (lose 50 pounds). I’m going to succeed, because it’s my birthday present to myself. WI is Monday, the birthday is Tuesday. I want to give myself that gift.

I’m going to keep reminding myself to think about what I want MOST, not what I want for the moment.

It seems there’s something wrong over at Blog to Lose, so I’m posting this here instead. Guess it’s nice to have a backup plan, eh?  I’d planned to get up and work out so I could earn some extra APs for tonight’s book club meeting. Well, I must have been exhausted, because I didn’t get up until 11 a.m. So I’ve had lunch, but no workout. Guess sleeping through breakfast gives me some extra points for my meeting … but I should still get out there and take a walk around my neighborhood. The problem is, I also still need to finish the book for the meeting. It’s a pretty fast read, “Sister Mine” by Tawni O’Dell, but I have to be at work by 3. Argh … I guess if I’m walking and reading, I don’t have to worry about eating something I shouldn’t!

I’m doing the American Cancer Society’s Climb to Conquer Cancer this August, and, for the first time this year, am trying to raise some cash for this great cause. In the past, the Daily Sun has had a team but unless no one told me, we haven’t done any fund-raising.

It’s more than just a great workout — seven miles up Snowbowl Road, just north of Flagstaff, Arizona. It’s also a chance for me to honor my dad, who was killed by lymphoma in 2003. I call that summer the summer from hell, because my mom went into the hospital (quadruple bypass) and then, while she was in there, Dad collapsed in the yard and was rushed to the hospital (admitted with a fever of 105 and an unknown infection). He was gone a week later, and my mom died a couple of weeks after that. I spent a lot of time on an airplane that summer!
If you want to contribute to the cause (and didn’t already give at the office!), check out my Climb to Conquer Cancer site.

Thanks in advance for your support.

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/CommunityFundraisingPages/CTCGreatWestDivision?px=5751851&pg=personal&fr_id=10197&et=feJ1FmJ0IuTaZtM-kCWkMg..&s_tafId=152843

Here’s the link to my blog (which has only the post I just made here …)

http://www.blogtolose.com/profile/Arlene

I think I’ve discovered one of my “trigger” foods: Cheez-Its.

I bought a box of those 100-calorie pack Cheez-Its Friday because they looked good and I was craving something savory. I ate one — just one — last night, and another today. But I noticed that after eating them, I was kind of wanting something else to munch on. (Today, I blew through the snacks I took to work, including 4 Points worth of leftover cabbage and smoked sausage. Consequently, I consumed a total of 36 Points for the day — but when I subtract 3 APs from Zumba class and 5 FPs, I’m back to the proper level, 28.)

I swear: If I weren’t sure I’m not pregnant, I’d be worried that all these savory cravings are telling me something. See, I’m usually more of a sweets person … but for the last month or so, I’ve been having a little something sweet and then wanting something savory soon after. I haven’t figured out why, though.

I consider it a small victory that I went home from work and had 1/2 a light English muffin with LF cream cheese instead of hitting a drive-thru, though. That was just 1 1/2 Points, whereas some fast-food snack would be many more.

I’ll take any triumph I can get!

OK, it was actually a 2 a.m. meltdown, because we got off work late. But after work, I drove straight to Del Taco and bought a cheeseburger, small fries AND a taco. (As I was eating the taco, which I had first while driving home, I was thinking “this doesn’t even taste good.” It didn’t stop me from devouring the thing, but still … I wish I’d thought the same thing about the burger and fries, but those were both delicious!)

I guess I should take it as progress that I’ve only had one late-night drive-thru snack attack this week. It’s better than doing it every worknight, like I have some weeks.

More encouraging was the progress in my measurements. We had our final Lose To Win meeting today and they gave us results of the pinch-test they did a couple of weeks ago.

The good news? In the last four months, my BMI has dropped 2 points — from 33 to 31 — and my body fat percentage has gone down 4 — from 33 to 29.

At first I was disappointed, thinking it should have been more. But as I started to think about it, I realized that’s quite a bit of progress in 16 weeks. So even if I haven’t seen a lot of pounds lost on the scale, I am toning up and building muscle.

It’s better than nothing! And I have been getting a lot of compliments in the last couple of weeks. Several people at work and at the gym have told me I’m looking good and they can tell I’m losing weight.

I’m not really losing much, but it’s still one of those times when I should just say “thank you” instead of pointing that out. Why is that so doggone hard to do? Just say “Thank you” and then shut your mouth! But I have a heck of a time doing it.

Today has been an OK day. I made it to the gym, spending 20 minutes on the treadmill and 20 working with weights. The eating thing is a bit rough, though. It’s only 9 p.m. and I’ve used up pretty much all my Points. (I guess I have a couple of APs I can tap into, since I work ’til midnight and usually snack after.)

That’s probably a habit I should break, but I like to eat a little something when I get home from work. Better to have half an English muffin with low-fat cream cheese than to hit the drive-through on my way home, right?

I think I need to stretch more after my next training run. I tend to skimp on that aspect when doing regular workouts, but tonight my quads hurt. I’m pretty sure it’s the run and not the softball, because I felt fine when I woke up this morning (after the game).

The good news is I managed to keep the food under control for the rest of the day. For dinner, I tried a new recipe from the WW “5 Ingredient, 15 Minute” cookbook mag I picked up at Wal-Mart Monday. The Chicken Marsala was pretty darn tasty — and only 5 Points! (I did the non-alcoholic version, with balsamic vinegar and extra chicken broth, because I had those things on hand, unlike the wine.)

I think tomorrow, I’ll try Roni’s Mexican casserole recipe. I’ll fix it at lunchtime and take a serving to work for dinner. I had a bit of trouble finding the spaghetti squash, though. The first store I went to said they were having trouble getting spaghetti squash. I actually called ahead to another one to make sure they had some, prefacing the call with “this might sound like a crazy question, but …”

Honestly! I’ve never heard of a spaghetti squash shortage before!

I consumed a total of 31 1/2 Points today, then subtracted 4 of the 7 APs I earned for the workout to bring my total to 27 1/2 — a half-point under! No FPs today. Hooray!

Now it’s time for bed. Gym time tomorrow will be spent mostly working out with weights (I’ll probably spend a short time on the treadmill or elliptical, but I’m not going to do another training session!) Saturday, it’s Zumba time … and on Sunday, we may or may not have another softball practice. (After getting our butts kicked Wednesday, we need one!)

Well, I told Ronji that I might start a “couch to 5k” training program for her May activity challenge.

So last night, I found one online and printed it out. This morning, I hit the treadmill at the gym. I did the “brisk 5-minute warmup walk.” Then I alternated 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking — six times, which by the calculations I just took the time to do was 15 minutes … with the 5-minute cool-down I completed, I actually was on the treadmill for 25 minutes instead of the 20 prescibed.

Wow! I guess that means I just completed the first of my three Couch to 5k sessions for the week. Yipee! I wasn’t sure I could do it, but I did. It wasn’t easy. I was gasping for air at the end of each running burst, and I didn’t really want to do that last one (Turns out I probably didn’t have to) … but I DID IT!!! With the additional 25 minutes of walking and 10 minutes of biking I did, I earned 7 APs.

I’m patting myself on the back. Though I’d kind of planned to hit the gym for a weights class and then the boot camp express class that immediately followed it, I’m glad I ended up doing the C25k thing instead.

Now, the big challenge will be trying to not let the munchies derail the rest of my day. So far, I’ve eaten about 13 Points, and have 15 left. If I have a 0-Point dessert with lunch and a couple of small snacks, I should be able to keep things under control.

It’s time to make up some more SF Jell-O cups. I bought some of those little 1/2 cup Gladware containers and fill them with Jell-O from a box … it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than buying the pre-made cups. I guess that’s a Food Find. I’ll file it as such.

The big bummer tonight is that we lost our game … by a score of 15-8, we think. (No one was working the scoreboard, and I lost count at 15-6.) This team was REALLY good, though. We decided most of the guys probably played ball in high school or college.

The good news is, that with the 70-minute game, I logged something like 170 minutes of exercise today. I spent some quality time on the treadmill, including 1 uninterrupted minute of jogging at 5.1 mph, and did a few minutes of weight work and a pilates class. Guess I was making up for missing yesterday’s workout.

It’s a little troublesome, though. Like Roni, I’m struggling to convince myself the extra workout time does not give me license to eat whatever I want. I’ve already tapped into about 6 of my WPAs tonight (before adding back some APs, so it won’t be quite that bad), and I’m still craving something. I may have to eat the 4-Point frozen dinner that I packed for dinner and then didn’t eat because the Boyfriend and I met at Carl’s Jr. before the game.

On that front, I have an NSV to report:  I only ate 5 of the Boyfriend’s fries! I enjoyed those 5 fries,  with a little ketchup, and then stopped eating them. I can do it! ( I ordered the BBQ chicken sandwich, so dinner was 9 1/2 altogether.)

Another thing I noticed: The XL men’s shirt I ordered is huge on me. It’ll probably shrink, which is why I ordered that size, but I still didn’t expect it to fit like a night shirt! Woo-hoo. All the eating right and exercising is finally starting to pay off.