Saturday Post = On a Mission

Oh Chris Powell (see above). Adorbs. Chris is like an earnest, mega-church version of Bob from Biggest Loser. He's the host/trainer on Extreme Makeover Weight Loss and he released a workout DVD which I bought a few months back and I finally opened last night after work. There are three levels or workouts- 15, 25, and 30 minutes. I assumed that the 15 minute one would be pretty much a breeze; something for nursing home residents or hefty mental patients wearing grey slippers. Nonetheless, I was feeling overwhelmed with doing ANY kind of exercise since it's been two months, so I went for Level One.  15 minutes later I was sweating pretty good, and I was impressed with the workout.

That being said, I sincerely hope and I absolutely plan to be well beyond the level one sweat experience in a few weeks from now, but I am happy that his dvd even exists since so many fitness DVDs, even ones marketed to the very overweight, have ridiculous exercises that are practically impossible to do if your waist is over 40 inches or you have more than 100 lbs to lose. His Level One workout had zero jumping, it didn't have mountain climbers or burpees or traditional push-ups- I could DO EVERYTHING THE PEOPLE ON THE SCREEN DID. If you're substantially overweight or a true beginner I highly recommend buying the tape- it's under $8 on Amazon.

So I've had four days now back on WW points and I'm feeling calm. The dietbet challenge is definitely a motivator, but I'm also getting back to the positive way I was thinking from the end of September to the end of November when I lost 23 lbs. This week I'm appreciating that even with money out there or special foods purchased or a big trip on the horizon, it all comes from me; period.

I hope you're all doing well and if February is a better start time for you than January, so be it. Also, I am stubbornly refusing to move the weight tracker above, but I will confess where I am as of this morning- I'm 12 lbs up from my lowest WW weigh-in. I plan to be back under by Saturday February 9th and get back to a meeting so I can add official weight losses to my side bar again. For now the diet bet challenge got me on the scale to face reality, and I'm happy with where I am today. More serious workouts are also on the horizon!

Prepackaged Assistance, plus a $25 Bet

So the food is from Fit Foods- you walk in, pick out 'fresh made' prepackaged meals, bring them home, and voila portion control. I'm entering the food Weight Watcher Points style, but I'm in need of a crutch right now. And a kick in the ass.

Meanwhile, I also joined a Diet Bet group- have any of you heard of this? You put up money (the one I joined is $25 per person) and everyone who loses at least 4% of their starting weight in 28 days gets an equal share of the pot. Right now the one I joined, which was started by Shawn from 344pounds.com , is up to like $2500 and counting so it could be a nice prize. The site is www.dietbet.com if you want to check it out.


The four week period starts this coming Friday Jan 25th and ends Feb 21. I like it because 4% is not an insane amount, but it will require me to lose a nice handful of lbs per week. Tomorrow I will weigh in again for the purposes of the Diet Bet challenge but I'm not sure if I will officially update my weight tracker on this blog. I've been a bad poster because I keep saying I need to 'relose' the weight, go to a meeting, and then starting moving the number down again. But I can't live like that; I need to just get going. Here...I...Go!

interacting with my dreams

(the gold = food and my fat)

The above picture says it all, but since I'm hardly ever brief I will say that I really continued to junk everything in December- I let my precious (see the nerd theme just won't stop!) ActiveLink run out of juice, I stopped tracking altogether, I ignored your blogs, I quit checking Pinterest (shock and awe face), I ate and drank like I was in a contest, and I am now dealing with tighter jeans and general disappointment. 

So what is different today? Well, I took an extra day off so I'm home. Today I'll be able to shop/stock up and I've got a long walk planned for 2pm with a great friend. The Precious (ActiveLink) is charged up and already attached to my bosom. I tracked my breakfast (fage 0 w honey, packet of oatmeal, cup of coffee= 9 pts), and now I'm actually blogging. There. Big old sigh.

At some point over the last few weeks, a facebook friend posted something along the lines of   'In order to make your dreams come true you must interact with them daily'. Among the many (many) inspirational posts and ecards in my feed, that one really stuck with me. It's a goal that is relatively mild on a day-to-day basis but over time it adds up. Going way off the wagon over the past month has given me a new perspective- while I feel more than a little overwhelmed about the truths I need to face in the next few weeks (ie the scale and my fitness level), I feel like I can handle the daily interaction part. 

I'm off to see how you all held up over the last month, and I so appreciate anyone who checked in over here and sent good vibes my way. I'll be back to interact often.

Trrrraaaaacck----iiinng? Track---ing? Tracking!

Oh boy. During my first 7 weeks on WW I would track my food every day- good, bad, in between, I just did it. I would go to meetings and hear people say that they didn't lose any weight but that tracking alone was something to celebrate and I would clap and smile along with the leader but I certainly wouldn't MEAN it- what kind of lazy slack-jaws couldn't login to WW or press buttons on their phones? Well, now I get it. I've been Johnny Adrift ever since we got back from our Thanksgiving trip.  Tracking and regular workouts have been (TEMPORARILY- and no longer) replaced by eating anything I want and laying on the couch. Foods that fall under my own personal  'anything I want' category include egg nog, chips and guac, pastries from Bouchon, miniature peanut butter cups, store-bought mashed potatoes, ice cream, Southern Comfort, loads of wine, and lots of other shit I can't recall.

I know that Weight Watchers purists would gently remind me that I can truly eat anything I want, all in moderation- and I get that. Lately, though, I've been going for it with abandon and it's not only affecting me mentally - mild depression, lethargy, general grumptastic mood but also physically- fingers and face are swelling up again, lower back pain, and then there's the real deep-tracks embarrassing stuff that no one talks about - for example, if you're very overweight and you're on the toilet for too long your legs fall asleep. Yup, there's that.

So now we're at two weeks and a few hours until Christmas and I am going to give myself the gift of tracking and getting back on my chosen plan- Weight Watchers. This coming Saturday we're helping Adam's parents move so we'll be away and then I will actually weigh in again on Saturday December 22nd. That will officially put FIVE WEEKS between my last weigh-in and my next one. Unfortunately I feel like I'm up about 5-8 lbs so it will be serious work just get back down to my previous weight... and I will be hoping for a loss.

Thank you to any new readers who cruised by here in the last few weeks- believe me I am also disappointed that I'm not actually weighing in and posting new losses; I promise to go back to Saturday updates and stop hiding from the scale.

Chunky Rants will NOT be relegated to the blog graveyard; I am going all the way. 

My head is out of the sand and I'm off to read your blogs. Hope you have an amazing week!!

since my last post

Tuesday 11/20- Work day, no formal exercise except for cleaning the apt- earned 2 Activity Points

Wed 11/21- First day of va-CAAAA-tion! Family time. 35 min of walk/jog intervals around Adam's old neighborhood- 7 APs

Thu 11/22- Thanksgiving, y'all. 90 minute cardio workout at the local 24 hr fitness before helping with dinner creation- 9 APs

Fri 11/23- The day after. Met up with friends and took a long walk around a lake- 2 APs

Sat 11/24- More relaxing and another walk/jog outside- 4 APs

Sun 11/25- last day of va-CAAAA-tion. Zumba for 30 min and set up the tree!- 3 APs

Mon 11/26- first day back at work. sniffling and crampy. ate 6 extra points and earned ZERO APs

This would be the MOST active Thankgiving break I've ever had; thank you very much. I got in the promised 4 workouts and I am pretty thrilled with how that made me feel. The best way to describe it is that I felt like I was part of the secret club of people who just quietly make working out a priority. I don't know if that rings true with anyone, but I feel like it might. I just needed to get out and move.

I will quit with the back-patting, though. My food intake was the opposite of exemplary for the most part and it was occasionally gluttonous. I tracked it all as promised;I just have no idea where I am- last week I ended up at negative 100 points so basically I ate two extra DAYS worth of calories during those seven days. So...

Yeah, I came here to write about it and I'll stay online to read your blogs to get motivated.  I'm also writing tonight because I'm three days into my current 7 day week and I feel a cold coming on and I don't want the next four days to meld together into the half-assery that comes at this time of year. I'm starting to worry that my extra exercise last week was not enough to stave off my first gain.

I will be at my meeting Saturday morning and the only person who can control what happens on the scale is me.

77. 64. 64.

Seven weeks in and I've had seven weight loss weeks in a row. I know this works; I know I will be back at Weight Watchers on Saturday Dec 1st expecting a nice chunky loss since there will be a two week break between scale visits.  I'm doing a good job, and I don't plan on quitting or slacking just because KOST 103.5 is churning out Christmas songs, I'm constantly craving holiday grog or chocolate pecan pie, and the weather in SoCal is chilly enough to warrant using the 'cuddle blanket' on the couch- right? Right.

77, 64, and 64 are the number of points consumed the first three days of this week- Sat, Sun, Mon. Three days before Thanksgiving I've officially decimated all of my weekly points. I do have 6 Activity Points in the bank but that kind of start to the week does not bode well for the goal I've set for myself.  I plan to lose 6.8 or more in these next two weeks so that I can hit 30 lbs gone the next time I go to WW. Long car rides, days with the in-laws, and of course Thankgiving dinner are all coming up and I cannot just let things unravel. I will not blow off the rest of the week off and then get all 'hardcore' next Monday- I know that is not a good plan. Today was just a pointlessly snacky day and there was no reason to eat so much- at least on Sat and Sun I drank some red wine.

Anyway I'm blogging and reading other blogs tonight to remind myself that it CAN be done, even over the holidays, and to write out my intentions so that I keep this front and center. I'll be gone from Wed-Sat but there are things I can control. My goals for the next 5 days:

1) Get in four good workouts
2) Track and enjoy every drink and morsel I consume
3) Congratulate myself every day on 23 lbs lost in 7 weeks and visualize 30 lbs gone on Dec 1st

Happy Thankgiving, Turkeys. 

The Happiest 3.2 lbs on Earth

Fuck. Yeah. That's my entire message; for reals. I've been on WW seven weeks and I did not have the *best* week- I went over my points a few times actually, and even though I earned 24 Activity Points, I was bracing myself for my first gain.

Instead, I peed six times before my weigh in and got the happy news that I am 3.2 lbs down.

So what did I decide to do after losing 3.2? Well, friends, I went to Disneyland! We have a good friend who gave us passes at the beginning of 2012 and we finally went today, and it was great. It's all holiday decorated and people are in good moods and rides are fun and it's just lovely. I could talk all kinds of smack about dieting and sticking to it and all that, but not tonight.

Here are a few pics from today: