Discouraging week...

I did my week 7 weigh in last week, and I had no lost any weight. I haven't gained any, either. I was so discouraged. So hard to diet and work out and yet "not see results".   Erik pointed out that with the workouts I've been doing I've probably lost FAT mass and gained muscle, to stay the same weight. That's great, but I don't have a way to SHOW that.

So, we've ordered this awesome scale that also does body fat testing, etc.  I know that counts as "results", but when the only way you have to tell for sure is your weight and it doesn't change, it's depressing.

I'm also cutting dairy out of my diet for now. I eat lots of cheese, so we'll see how that goes. Plus, I am going to make a better effort to do my 3 a day workouts BEFORE breakfast, and make sure to actually have a breakfast.

Still down 15 lbs....so a bit upset about my weight but I DO know I've made progress in getting healthier/in better shape.

My foot is still hurting, but better. I ran a little bit on Sunday, I may try to tonight, and I have a 5-miler planned for Saturday.

I can't wait until our new scale comes in so I have something OTHER then just that weight number to go by...

I love Binge Day...but not the day after. And my Friday night meltdown.

So, this diet I'm on allows 1 day a week as a binge day. This is to help keep your metabolism high and spearhead your weight loss. So far, it's worked for me. So, during the week every time I want something that I can't have, I write it down and plan to eat it on binge day - which I made Saturday.

This is awesome in that on a diet I am still allowed one day of food I want. But the problem is, I can't eat everything I want that one day. And...when I TRY to do that I just feel crappy from it. But, I give it a good shot. :)  I also try to narrow it down to the things I want the most, but that's hard when you're a previous sugar addict!

Now, my biggest issue is that the day AFTER binge day I am still in binging mode and usually still have some "bad" food around the house. So, I just want to eat it still because I can see it but also because I got used to eating what I wanted the whole day beforehand. Eek. I had Erik "hide" the bad food, even though I know where it is. And he'll probably eat it all in the next few days.

So far today I have resisted. I ate some low-carb lasagna (see recipe HERE), an Atkins chocolate bar, and a protein shake.  I really actually WANT some more chips, some Coke, etc...But I haven't done it. I think Erik is grilling brats for dinner. Yum.

Here is a picture of the lasagna with NO actual noodles.

I did my kettle bell swings Wednesday/Thursday/Friday...and took binge day off. I didn't do that on purpose, but more because I was sore from the 3 days before. I will do them again today. I still consider this an accomplishment!

Friday night I about had a meltdown while getting dressed to meet some friends.  I've lost 15 lbs...and yet I put on 90% of the clothes I own and I hate how I look. I changed probably 10 times. When I finally found something I thought looked good, I couldn't find the cardigan I wanted to wear over it (we had a bit of a laundry explosion going on) and then I couldn't wear it anyway. So I was VERY upset that I have lost a good amount of weight and yet am still very unhappy with how I look. I can't wait until I've lost more and can be happy in my own skin/certain clothes again. Also, maybe due to my height, it takes me losing A LOT of weight to actually change clothes sizes. So, I hear people say they lost 15 lbs and went down an entire size. Not me, not me at all. I will probably need to lose at least 25 lbs before that MIGHT happen, which is a bit depressing. Now, I know it's not all about the size of my clothes...but it's nice to see that tangible thing when you're working on losing weight.

My foot is still hurt...so it looks like the kettle bell swings are it for me still this week. I know they're great for my whole body, so at least it's something!  Here is to a good week...and looking forward to binge day. ;)

Pizza? Why not?

Last night I started doing kettle bell swings...an exercise that works my whole body and is something I can do while I have a hurt foot. I'm hoping this helps my legs and stomach area tone more during my weight loss. I plan to do them daily, at least 5 days a week (hopefully in the morning buuut we'll see).

I didn't want to do them...I worked all day then had night class. I got home at 9:15 PM and was tired. But I did them! So, that's an accomplishment!!  :)  While I was doing it, I realized it weighs 15 lbs...and that's about the weight I have LOST. It helped me to think about that -- that amount of weight used to be on my body. Eek.

My biggest food issue with low carb is that I don't want JUST "meat and veggies". It's the easiest  to just grill some meat and have veggies with it. But that just gets old. So, I've been working to find all new recipes for some of my favorites like lasagna, pizza, fried rice, chips, etc.  I've been following the blog Peace, Love, and Low Carb and it's helped me tons! I really appreciate her recipes.

Today I made pizza. Kind of. It was portobello mushroom pizza. Quite tasty!!

Recipe/Directions:

2 3 oz Portobello mushroom, stem removed
1/4 cup marinara or pizza sauce
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
toppings

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the mushroom on a baking sheet and cook for 5 minutes.
Remove from oven, spread sauce in the cups of the mushrooms.
Add toppings (I used Jimmy Deans Sausage, onions).
Cover with cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is golden and melted.

Something always seems to happen...

It seems like every time I start a diet and am actually succeeding, something happens. I either get really sick, or hurt, or whatever...it either stops or slows down my progress. Then I get depressed about it and want to quit.

I'm at that point right now. My hurt foot is keeping me from doing much at all, even much walking. And I have been so upset about it but hoping it heals quickly that I haven't looked into alternative ways to get that exercise.

Instead of quitting, I need to be motivated. I need to do ab workouts, lift weights, and do as much as I can that works around the foot injury.

After a nice chat with a friend who also struggles with many of the same weight issues that I do, I have a new plan.  Small goals with incentives. Instead of focusing on the 55 lbs I want to lose in total (AT LEAST) I  need to set smaller goals. I have tried not to think about it that way, and just work to continue losing small amounts each week. But that HUGE number looms over my thoughts...

I am down 14 lbs in 6 weeks. This is GREAT and I should be PROUD, not sad that it isn't more.

So, here are some of my new smaller goals...I need incentives!! Here is what I'm thinking:

20 lbs down -- get a massage
30 lbs down -- do a fun whole day activity with Erik
40 lbs down -- long weekend trip "away"...not super expensive or fancy, just something
50 lbs down -- new, awesome BIKINI

Tracking my progress

I'm just starting to write here...and not sure I'll show this to many people. But I want to start writing some of my food adventures, goals, and accomplishments. Maybe it will help inspire me to keep going!

I started on January 3, 2012 at 225 pounds. Supposedly nobody believes I weighed that much, and I sure hope that's true. But, the sad news is I DID. I am wearing a size 16 pant and XL in shirts. Sigh.

Going low-carb has been very hard for me. I love pasta, bread, sweets, etc...really everything I can't have!! Plus, my boyfriend is on a "gain weight" diet...talk about opposites. He's being very supportive in eating the low-carb meals with me while we're home, and trying to eat all the super extra calorie/high carb foods when he's not around me. But I still KNOW he's eating chocolate and chips and everything else I dream about. So that's quite hard.

I was sick for all of week 5...and then hurt my foot. So, week 6 has been another week of low activity/no cardio. That's killing my weight loss...sigh. I've been extra careful with carbs/calories the last 2 weeks and still managed to lose some weight.

Today is Valentines Day and Erik got me delicious beer...not low-carb. But he made a low-carb dinner. He's awesome.

Unfortunately...cramps and hormones made me cheat today, so I've definitely gone over my allotted carbs per day. Oops. :(

Week 4 weigh-in was 212 pounds. That's 13 lbs down.

Week 6 weigh-in is tomorrow. I'm hoping to be down at least 15 lbs. total.  We'll see...

Here's to my 55 pound goal! I lost 9 in 1 month. Hopefully month 2 treats me decently, too. I'd like to be happy in a bathing suit this year!