lookin' out for #1

Early in the week, I was a bit discouraged when I stepped on the scale. I had eaten better than last weekend (and only had ONE Halloween treat to boot!), yet last Monday I somehow lost 1 pound over the weekend, and this Monday I was up 1.8 pounds.

It's not unusual to for me to be up slightly on Monday, but not quite by that much. Besides, by Tuesday morning I'm usually right back to Friday's weight which leaves me 3 full days to turn on the gears and drop a pound or so. But this Tuesday, I was still up by over a pound which left me wondering how I was going to be able to report a loss on Friday.

While doing a mid-week check-in with my Biggest Loser team, it soon became clear to me that everyone seemed to be having a discouraging week so far. Some were doing emotional eating, some were visiting family and therefore not really watching what they were eating...and then there was me, who was still trying hard but yet struggling. We were all hoping we could somehow get to the point where we could at least maintain, but nobody was expecting a loss.

I decided right then and there that since we were obviously going to have a bad week to report come Friday, that I was going to just go hard-core...in the wrong direction. I was going to allow myself to stop trying for the rest of the week and just do what I wanted. Not to sound conceited or anything, but in both rounds, I was/am the most consistant 'loser' and I felt a lot of pressure to carry the team. Don't get me wrong, others were and are definitely contributing -- but as one of the bigger people to begin with, I'm one of the ones more likely to pull in big numbers. And I was just tired of that pressure. If everyone else was going to gain or just maintain for another week, then darn it -- so was I!! Forget my strong will power for the Halloween candy. Forget denying myself the Pepsi that I was craving so very much this week. I was just going to have whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it.

Yup, I was. My mind was made up.

Except I couldn't do it. I had given myself the freedom to be reckless and throw caution to the wind for just one week...but I just could not bring myself to go through with it. Instead, I changed my thinking. Who cares if the rest of my team isn't pulling in big numbers? First of all, I don't doubt that they are trying. Maybe some of them have hit a plateau, or maybe they are having a hard time finding that balance between eating enough and eating too much. Whatever it is, that shouldn't even affect my own personal weight loss journey.

Yes, we are in this as a team. But we are also each only responsible for our own weekly results. And why would I want to intentionally bring bad numbers to my scale when I have been working so very hard to get to where I am? The answer was simple: I don't!

So before I could do anything I would regret, I snapped out of it and buckled down for the remainder of the week. Of course I still want my team to do well, and I will continue to encourage them throughout the remaining 5 weeks of the competition. But with the way I changed the prizes this time, instead of the winning team getting all of the money, each team's individual Biggest Loser also wins a nice chunk of change ($50). And I intend to win that title on my team!

So I made good food choices, I gave it my all during my daily work out (or two) and was rewarded by another loss this morning. I am down another 1.4 pounds this week, meaning that I have officially lost 10 pounds in the first 7 weeks of Round II.

It was a good reminder for me this week that while doing this as a team increases the motivation level, and public recognition for a good results week gives me the encouragement to keep going, I also need to do this for myself. Really, that's the only way weight loss can be truly effective -- both in achieving it and in maintaining it once the goals are reached. Especially once this competition is over and I don't join in for another round...if I'm doing it for ME, and not my team or competitors, then I will be more likely to be able to succeed even outside of the competition.

i think i need a new goal

I heard on the radio earlier this week that people are more happy on the journey to a specific goal than they are when they actually reach that goal. Not sure if that is entirely true in my case or not (although I see their point), because I know I was pretty darned excited when I found out today that...

...I reached a goal that was 7 years in the making!!

I know I have a few different goals going on right now -- I am well on my way to my Progress #4 Goal (which is a 40 pound weight loss), and I am also closing in on my Biggest Loser Round II goal of losing 17.2 pounds (of which I have lost close to 10 pounds already). But this one wasn't a particular weight goal; rather I had a pair of "goal pants" that I have been waiting to fit into again.

I've had these pants since before Les and I got married -- so they're probably 9 years old or more -- but I haven't been able to fit into them for the past 7 years. I have hung onto them all of this time, not only because they were my favorite pants, but because it was my ultimate goal to one day be able to fit into them again. If I'm being honest, I didn't actually think that time would ever come. But since starting Biggest Loser back in June, I thought that maybe -- just maybe -- I might be able to attain this goal afterall...one day.

I tried these pants on a couple of months ago just to see what kind of progress I was making. It didn't go so well. A couple of weeks ago I tried them on again. This time I could button and zip them up...but barely. As in I was squeezing out all over the place. Today I tried them on again -- and they fit!! Truth be told, they are slightly tight around the waist still, so they might be a tad uncomfortable if I were to actually wear them all day. But other than that, they are ready for public wearing (and yes actually, style-wise they are good to go too).

Now, back to my opening statement...was I happier on the journey to this goal than after finally reaching it? Nope. I'm pretty sure that today has been my happiest moment so far. But I am excited to embark on a new journey to a new goal...or rather just continue on the journey to my other goals that have not yet been reached.

And I certainly plan on enjoying the ride!!

you know you're really making life-long changes when...

...the only Halloween treat you've had so far is one Reese peanut butter cup!

this ain't no trick -- it's more like a TREAT

Last week I broke through my last 'nasty number' and I was hoping to leave it behind permanently. But since I was only 0.2 pounds below that number, I didn't know if we would be reunited this week. But even after another week of "the munchies" (darned that time of the month), I still managed to report a loss of 1.2 pounds this morning!

By "my last nasty number", I mean that I am now -- as of last week -- officially lighter than I was before I ever got pregnant 6 years years ago (I was 5 pounds lighter than that for about a month before I got pregnant with Malia 2 years after that, but I hardly count that). I honestly never thought that I would be able to permanently part ways with that number, and the fact that I have now is truly a miracle in my mind.

But I'm not stopping here! Even though I have had people ask me if I am done now -- if I have reached my goal -- there is no way that I am finished! It's nice to know that people think I look good enough now that I could be at my goal weight...but they are wrong!

I am still hoping -- planning -- to lose the rest of the 17.2 pounds for this challenge, but that means losing another 8.8 pounds in the remaining 6 weeks. And since I seem to be slowing down...well, it remains to be seen on whether or not I will actually accomplish that. But I'm sure gonna try! Halloween candy has got nothin' on me!!

breaking it down

Over the past 18 weeks, I have done some serious work in the weight loss department and I am going strong at 31.4 pounds of loss (a 1.4 pound loss this week). I scrolled through my old posts to gather some statistics of how that all has broken down over the past 4 months.

At week #2 I had lost 5 pounds
At week #6 I had lost 10 pounds (11.4lbs to be exact)
At week#7 I had lost 15 pounds (16lbs to be exact)
At week #10 I had lost 20 pounds (20.4 to be exact)
At week #14 I had lost 25 pounds (27.2 to be exact)
At week #17 I had lost 30 pounds (exactly)

Weeks #7 & #9 were my biggest losing weeks with -2.18% both times.
Weeks #8 & #15 were the only weeks that I had to report a gain (both times were "time of the month" times). Other than that, it was all losses (not even just maintaining).

My average for Round I was 1.85lbs lost per week.
My average for Round II (so far) has been 1.48lbs lost per week.
My average overall has been 1.74lbs lost per week.

In Round I, I was my team's Biggest Loser 6 out of 13 weeks.
In Round II (so far), I have been my team's Biggest Loser 3 out of 6 weeks.

If I keep going the way that I have, I will definitely reach my goal of losing 17.2 pounds in Round II -- which, as I've mentioned before, will make me lighter than I have been in at least 8 years.

You can be darned tootin' sure that I'm pretty pumped about that!!

believe it!

I'm telling myself that this is too good to be true; that I could not have actually lost 30 pounds (exactly) in the past 4 months.

But it is true. I did it.

That makes 6 pounds lost in the first four weeks of Biggest Loser Round II. Which means that I have 11.2 pounds left to reach my Round II goal of 17.2 pounds. There are 8 weeks left, which means I need to lose an average of 1.4 pounds a week in order for that to happen.

I'm not sure how realistic that is, since I don't know how long I can keep losing weight that steadily. But even if I don't reach that goal, I don't care. All I'm focusing on is the fact that I have lost 30 pounds!!!

Thirty pounds?!?! I still can hardly believe it...!!

back to basics

This last week -- especially the weekend -- prove to have more than its fair share of challenges. The potential for a lot of over-eating (and big regrets) was looming, and I had many tough decisions to make.

Let me just give you a brief over-view of just this past weekend of challenges. Friday consisted of Malia's birthday supper -- which included home-made pizza and of course cake. Saturday was my sister-in-law's 30th birthday party -- which included the most delicious Reese peanut butter cheese cake known to man. Sunday was a joint birthday party for both of my girls at my parents' place -- which included enchiladas and apple pie. Monday was another party -- this time for my sister -- also at my parents' house, which included my Mom's scrumptious home-made tacos and of course chocolate pie. That's 4 -- count them, FOUR -- days in a row of festivities.

Huh. That was a doozie of a weekend in the food department. But even after all of that, I still managed to lose 2.2 pounds this week! Chalk it up to the basics really. Eating in moderation, and regular excercise. I may have only gone for 3 short runs (2 miles each) this week -- but I have faithfully been doing at-home video work-outs (and giving it my ALL while doing them) and that has proven to also be effective.

Last week I know I was really down about my 0.4 pound gain. And I had a very negative attitude about running a second round of Biggest Loser. I'm not gonna lie -- I'm still wishing I would've called it quits after Round 1 -- but I am at least starting to get my groove back and the attitude that I *can* do this. I was putting too much stress on myself last week about making sure I didn't eat too much, but yet that I was eating enough at the same time. That's such a delicate line, and too often I was crossing over that line on the wrong side. So I figured that I had such good success for the duration of Round 1 with what I was doing (the basics: eating in moderation and regular excercise), that all I needed to focus on was doing just that again for Round II.

So that's exactly what I did this week. And it paid off.

My grand total now -- since June 19th -- is an even 29 pounds. That's right -- I am one measly pound away from hitting 30 pounds of weight loss. After that, there is only 10 more pounds to go to reach my Round II goal. Yes, Thanksgiving is this weekend...and Halloween not too far around the corner...but if I could handle this past weekend of festivities and end the week off with a substantial loss, I can certainly do it again. And again. And again. Until I eventually reach my ultimate goal.

I just have to go back to basics!