The Struggle

The followers of this blog know that I have been using the Body Bugg to help me with my weight loss. Once I hit under 200 I thought it was time to take a little break from the constant logging of food and being so extremely diligent about my weight loss. A pound a week was probably very do-able without the constant logging.

...um, yeah....RIGHT.....

Here's the thing. I have lost. And then I'd gain. Thanksgiving was KILLER for me! I had lost a few pounds from Monday to Thursday, but then when I went to weigh in Monday...I had gained what I had lost and then some. All in a week's time.

So, what seems like a depressing reality to me is just simply reality. The reality is this...I have to be not only conscious of what I eat, but VERY conscious. So, I am logging food again. And what I saw today really surprised me.

I logged food for months in the Body Bugg program. Months and months and months. But, I also lost pounds and pounds and more pounds! So by the time I stopped logging I was pretty dead on for estimating my calorie target intake every day. Well, apparently for me that really slides when you add a little this here and a little that there.

I just sat down and logged in breakfast, am snack, lunch, and pm snack. That leaves me with a whopping 450 calories left for dinner. Really? I was pretty sure I had at least 6-700 available. Ouch. But, the most amazing thing wasn't the fewer calories, it was my NUTRITIONAL breakdown. When I was in the big "dropping pounds like crazy" phase of this I had a hard time getting enough fat in my diet. Yeah, you read that right.

So, imagine my surprise when today I logged in what I had eaten thus far and realized that not only was my fat intake WAY off the chart for me for a day, but my sodium was also. Ouch...did I mention OUCH?

Do I love logging my food? NO. But, am I going to get back to doing it to help me get those last 30 (well, more like 35 now) pounds off? YES. Abso-freakin-lutely. Because I didn't work this hard for this long to toss it away. I want to get a comfortable 20-30 pounds away from 200 so that I can absolutely say I will NEVER see the 200's again.

I must admit...I normally have NO problem getting the "calories burned" target in. I can hit that target every day, so I had this false sense of security that I was staying within my "calories consumed" target. Apparently I was hitting the target and then some. Time to get real. Granted, it's the holidays so eating healthy EVERY DAY will be a bit of a challenge, but I intend on being good MOST of the time and over-correcting for those days when I totally blow it.

Stay tuned....

Tomorrow is the day!

So anyone that's been around my blog for a while knows that I have participated in several "Biggest Loser" type challenges at my gym. These competitions are good for me, because frankly, I don't like to lose!

Unfortunately, I haven't been involved in any competition for a while and I think I'm in need of a good old competition. This is why, when recently I was browsing the body bugg website message board, a particular post caught my eye.

The post was for people needing to lose those last 20-30 pounds.

Normally I would've glanced at it and gone on reading posts that are relevant to me. BUT, I paused for a moment...20-30 pounds. Wow, that is FINALLY me. In all honesty, I'd be pretty happy with 15 pounds, but then the competitiveness of me kicks in. Why lose 85 pounds? Go for 100, 'cause really, doesn't "I lost 100 pounds" sound so much more epic than "I lost 85 pounds"???

Well, not really, because both are totally epic, but to my deranged head, go for the wow-factor of 100!

So, sitting at 70 lost I'm thinking....20-30 pounds...that is ME! I'm going to join this group.

Now, please let me make perfectly clear...this group is NOT a competition. There is no prize for the person that hits their goal first. We weigh in on Monday, post our stats, and then the group organizer keeps track of all of that and reports on how we're doing.

It's just the whole THOUGHT of it for me, though. I want to see those other folks' numbers and see if I can just make mine a LITTLE better....what a nut job, right? Seriously, I am...total freaking nut job.

BUT...if THAT is what it takes to help me get these last 20-30 off, then SO BE IT! Bring on the competition moves baby, 'cause I'm READY and I NEED the motivation!

So tomorrow it begins. Today there is no accountability. I eat, I exercise, I lose a little, and life goes on. Tomorrow, it's on like Donkey Kong. Because tomorrow there is going to be someone else looking at that number from MY scale. And they're possibly gonna think "Hmmmm...she's about my weight...wonder if I can lose more than she does this month....". Or, maybe NOT, but there COULD be, and so because of that, I will be motivated.

Sick, aren't I?

The point in all of this is to know what motivates you, and if a little competition motivates you, then go for it! Or if a cute little black dress or pair of jeans that's a size smaller than what you currently wear motivate you....plaster it to the fridge! Find your motivation BEFORE you need it. Then, when you start to stall, bust out the motivation and work it! Use the motivation to help drive you closer to your goals!

I will keep you posted on how the first weigh in goes and which of the group members I've got my focus set to!

Lori

The HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!

Seriously, is anything worse for a person on a diet than the holidays? I think not. I think this time of year should be renamed the Terrifying Trifecta or some such, because seriously, this is a hard time to eat healthy.

BUT...it is NO TIME to give in, either. Now is the time to buckle down and get serious. I'm serious...time to get serious. I have decided that even though getting totally serious and continuing to lose 2 lbs per week would be GOOD, it is actually BETTER for ME to cut the loss back to maybe 1 pound per week and ENJOY the season.

That's right...I'm going to ENJOY the season.

Now, let me state right here and now (before some of you run out and grab a pint of Ben and Jerry's) that when I say ENJOY I don't mean GO INSANE.

I can enjoy an occasional dessert...I can enjoy some of the kids Halloween candy...I can enjoy a few glasses of wine at a party. But I'm not going to go insane and eat every thing within my reach and drink the liquor cabinet dry.

There is an easy medium between total denial and total free-for-all consumption.

You just have to find YOUR easy medium.

Here's what's working for me:

• Halloween candy: Yep, I ate some, and I continue to eat some! Today, however, I set my absolute LIMIT at 2 pieces. I enjoyed those 2 pieces and will not eat any more. I ate some on Halloween night...I even "helped" the kids demolish the scary gingerbread house. I didn't DENY myself, but I did enjoy SOME, but just not ALL.
• Pumpkin anything: I'm a sucker for fall flavors. Pumpkin bars, pumpkin soup, pumpkin spice latte, etc....etc....etc. I LOVE it. So, I will enjoy a bit here and there...again, not total denial, but I'm not going to eat the whole plate either.
• Thanksgiving: I host Thanksgiving at our home. My sister-in-law actually called me to make sure I wasn't going to be serving a "Tofu Turkey and/or all diet food". Ha ha! No, my Thanksgiving menu will be the same...the same stuff my Mom always fixed, and the same stuff I've fixed since taking it over 9 years ago. But, you can bet your sweet bippy that after enjoying all of that stuff I'm going to be making darned sure I burn a LOT of calories that day, the day after, and after that, and probably even after that. You've gotta off-set the extra consumption by extra burn!
• Christmas: Sorry...no wise words of wisdom here. I honestly have to get through Thanksgiving before I can wrap my head around Christmas. I wish the stores wouldn't put a single Christmas thing out until at least 11/15. But, I am sure inspiration will strike, and when it does, you'll be the first to know!

So, there you have it...my holiday plan is to scale back on the intense weight loss and expect a bit less from the scale. I still expect movement DOWN in the digits, but not as quickly as I've experienced at other times during this journey. I will enjoy all things, but in moderation. For me that is the only way to make this a sustainable life long commitment.

Good luck to you during the holidays and if you have a great "surviving the holidays" tip, please share in the comments below!

Lori