Weekly Weigh-In: Moving in the Right Direction
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Happy Wednesday! It’s Weekly Weigh-In time. I love this time each week because, good or bad, stepping on that scale holds me accountable to my actions. What about you? Are you keeping yourself accountable this week?
I admit, I was as nervous as I’ve been in a long time stepping on that scale yesterday morning. As I mentioned in my 12-Week Sprint post, I’d had a few rough days, nutritionally.
Thanks to the fact that I’ve been very consistent with logging my food on My Fitness Pal, I knew the problem stemmed from too many calories at lunch. See why logging food is so important? It allows you to see what’s getting you off-course and to make corrections. I’m being very conscious of what I’m eating for lunches this week.
Although I had tried to make some adjustments after realizing I’d gotten off-track, when I peeked at the scale on Monday, it was showing a gain. Because of that, I was thrilled to see a half-pound loss when I did my official weigh-in on Tuesday morning! It’s been a long time since I’ve been so happy to see such a small loss, but a half-pound at least keeps me moving in the right direction…and it lets me know that my recalculation efforts were effective.
I’ve been asked, “What is working for [your] weight loss journey? Are there certain habits that you have changed that are really enjoying? Is there something you have substituted in your diet that you really enjoy? Or a certain workout that you are surprised you can actually do?”
Wow! I could write a whole book – or, you know, a whole blog – about that. I’ve actually been compiling a “top ten” list of things I didn’t know I liked before I started losing weight (and, no, it’s not all food).
Do I have new habits that I enjoy? Yes! I love exercising. I love eating right. I love being healthy! All those years that I wasted being sedentary and eating junk were just that – wasted years. All those things I thought I would be sacrificing to lose weight were just junk.
It’s been over 19 months since I’ve eaten at McDonald’s (though I have stopped in for sweet tea a time or two or twenty). I don’t miss it. It’s been that long since I’ve had more than one sip of somebody else’s milkshake. I occasionally miss them a little, but they’re not worth the calories. I’ve eaten 1.5 doughnuts since November 2009. Yeah, I miss them a little, too, but, again, not worth the calories.
And, you know what’s really cool? I enjoy being able to say that.
Some things that I have changed in or added to my diet that I really enjoy are:
- Red peppers.Yum! Love ‘em! I love them diced on a salad or sliced and roasted with other veggies.
- Quinoa. Quinoa is something I don’t think I ever would have tried before, but I love it. Even Brian and a couple of the kids eat it.
- Spaghetti squash. I don’t know that I could honestly say that I like it better than pasta, but it’s a good substitution. Josh, who hasn’t been able to stomach pasta since getting really sick after eating some a few years ago, will actually eat spaghetti with us now – as long as he can put his sauce on spaghetti squash rather than pasta.
- Fruits and vegetables. I never would have thought about putting fruit on a salad, but I love it – apples, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple. They’re all delicious on a salad.
Y’all are probably getting tired of hearing about the workout that I’m surprised to find out I can do, but I can’t help it; it’s my new passion. Running! I love, love, love it. When I first got that idea in my mind that breaking out into a little jog on the treadmill wouldn’t be so bad, I never dreamed I’d go from thinking I would die before 90 seconds was up to being able to run an entire 10K.
I love that I can run. I love that I want to run. I love the running feels as necessary to my life now as breathing.
Most of all, though, I just love feeling healthy. I love feeling that I’m taking care of my body and adding years to my life. I love that I am successfully doing something that seemed impossible. I love not being ashamed of my appearance, not avoiding being in photos with my family, and and dreading meeting new people.
I love my new life.
What about you? What changes have you made as part of getting healthier that you’re really enjoying?
Do or do not. There is no try.
Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.
I lost two pounds last week. I joined WW watchers 2 weeks ago – I needed the accountability with food and it is helping. I have lots of changes to make still but that was the first one. Right now I'm working on finding things to eat for breakfast, lunch, and snacks that are 0-low points that keep me full. I want to be able to plan a good, healthy dinner – but have the points to be able to enjoy it. It is a hard transition! Still not walking on the treadmill but I'm sturggling to find a time to even get it in during the day. It doesn't help that my beadroom, where the treadmill is, is also where the munchkin I babysit naps. Limist my time to be able to use it when my kids are also sleeping
I couldn't wait to log in this morning! I lost 4.5 lbs this week! My secret weapon was again the veggie soup in the fridge. I enjoyed having it on hand instead of mindlessly wondering around eating 15 things and still not being satisfied. I also cut out fast food lunches…I didn't realize how often I was taking the kids for a quick $1.99 happy meal until I started logging it all in MFP. Too often! I love logging everything in there…I love that I don't have to eat a whole or even half of something…I can put in 1/4 or any random fraction and the computer calculates the numbers for me. I know that's weird, but on diets before I'd go ahead and eat it b/c it was easier to do the math! (Sad, I know!) 🙂 And I tried to be faithful on the elliptical…the days I skipped were the ones I was less energetic and more tempted to snack.
I never tire of hearing about you & running…I really and truly thought it was just for those athletic people who've always been athletic…not something you could just take up, like crocheting! I'm just really enjoying having a plan. (Even if I don't always follow it perfectly) 🙂
I, too, was so excited to see your progress and report my own this morning. I was down 2lbs!! SO exciting. A lot of that was cycle-related, I'm sure, since I was pms-y at my last weigh in and just finishing up my period at today's, since I don't think I actually worked hard enough for 2lbs this week. I'll take it, though!
Besides logging calories in MFP, which I did with pretty good consistency, I also dramatically reduced my diet coke intake. That's not necessarily related to weight loss, but it was a health decision I had been wanting to make for a while, and I decided that if I was going to start taking care of myself, now was as good a time as any to ditch it.
Overall, I'm feeling encouraged and motivated! Off to chase preschoolers!
Roasting veggies! They taste so much better that way. I discovered quinoa this past year too and my husband loves it. I think we'll eat a lot when our nest empties this fall.
Disqus generic email templateSteady changes are so important. One way we beat ourselves up is thinking that we have to change completely all at once. If you're getting your food choices under control, you're making progress. The workouts will come. I posted on my Facebook page yesterday the link to an article about how even little bouts of 5, 10, or 15 minutes of exercise add up to result in big changes for your body. Don't feel like you have to get in a whole 30 minutes to an hour of exercise at once. Even little blocks of time are helping!
Disqus generic email templateWay to go, Abby!!! That's an incredible weight loss! Your excitement and enthusiasm is contagious! I love when you find something that really, truly works for you — like the veggie soup.
I totally know what you mean about tracking food. Sometimes just seeing what you're really doing right there in black and white is so sobering. For me, it's also something of a challenge — one of those "rise to the occasion" challenges — to see how consistently I can track my food and stay in my calorie range. It's like a game that I want to win.
I'm so glad you said that about running and never looking at is as something that the average person could just pick up. That really encourages me to continue sharing my journey with others and trying to inspire others to do things they didn't ever think they could do. Thank you!
You've inspired me today! Stay strong!
Disqus generic email templateWay to go on the 2 lb. loss, Erin! Yes, always take it, no matter what the reason might be. 😉
Good for you reducing your Diet Coke intake. I've never been a fan of Diet Coke, but I know how hard it was to reduce my Coke and sweet tea intake. You know, reducing your Diet Coke may have had something to do with your weight-loss. I've seen lots and lots of studies where people who drink diet drinks actually struggle more with their weight than people who don't. Something about the way your body reacts to it.
Enjoy chasing those preschoolers — that's a great calorie burn! lol
Disqus generic email templateAh, roasted veggies. Yum! We've discovered that just about any veggie tastes better roasted. I'm seriously roasting some kind of veggie nearly every night.
YAY YOU, Kris! Just movin' on down the scale. 🙂 And everyone else too! Great losses posted this week!
My loss was .2 lbs this week, but I'm just happy it was a loss at all. It was a hard week, and I had to let the exercise slide a bit. I actually did not realize how much the exercise was helping me keep my calorie intake within the limits until it wasn't there.
Hey, I know those weeks — the ones where any loss is a good loss. I quickly figured out with MFP that if I don't get in at least 300 calories in exercise, I have to guard my calorie intake much closer than I like, so I know exactly what you mean about how important exercise is.
Good job, Kris and everyone! I'll weigh in on Friday officially, but I have to admit that I've done some scale stalking (love that phrase, whoever used it in one of the comments!) this week and was very excited about the number I saw this morning. I knew that I'd been having a good week so far after a rough weekend, and then figured that running back and forth at my kids' swim meet last night from the chairs to the pool to the bathroom (a billion times with my 4 yo) had to be doing some good! I just kept thinking about those calories burned:) I really enjoyed reading your list of things you've discovered as you've taken this journey, Kris. Thanks for sharing that – it's got me thinking about what's working and what I'm enjoying most. And I have to say that I feel the same ways about MFP – that it helps my by providing a challenge to me to stay within those calories and also that I notice a huge difference when I've been able to add a few hundred calories to my daily amount by exercising. It really makes it harder when I don't exercise (officially) and makes me think more about at least increasing my normal activity level throughout the day to help burn any calories I might end up eating over (running up the stairs instead of walking or sending a kid up for me, playing hopscotch with my kids, treading water when in the pool instead of just standing there watching my son play, etc.). It's made me become more active again.
I have totally been scale stalking (I love the phrase, too!) already this
week after a rough week last week. I don't think it's necessarily a bad
thing from time to time, as long as it's not constant because your weight
can fluctuate so much…but sometimes you've just gotta peek!
I'm so glad you're having a good week so far. I totally agree about MFP
encouraging a more active lifestyle. It's always in the back of your mind
that you need to be burning some calories and getting in some activity.
Can't wait to hear how you do on Friday!
Oh that is soooo exciting!!!! I love hearing all the good things that have come from your life change. Congratulations!!!!!! Thank you for being such a great inspiration! And thank you for joining WLWed!!!
Thanks, Alicia! And thanks for hosting WLW. I love the weekly themes.
My scale and I are fighting. It said I was 5 lbs down one day and I thought that was a little odd so I stepped on it again and it showed a totally different number. 5 tries later I changed the battery. It then showed a more consistent number but 2 pounds up from what I thought I was!
It's all good because, in some weird way, it motivated me.I lost that stinking 2 lbs and back to were I thought I was.
I know it's not all about the number on the scale. It is a daily challenge but I am eating healthier and moving more. I feel better and sleep better.It makes me happy to see the results I see so far and motivated to get to my goal!
Sandy, that made me laugh out loud. You kick that scale's butt! 😉 Hey,
whatever it takes to motivate, right? Congrats on that two pounds — both
times you lost it!
I just started using My Fitness Pal too and I've also discovered a new found love of quinoa 🙂 And feeling healthy is ausome!
Feeling healthy does feel great! I need to experiment with quinoa beyond the
one or two recipes I've tried. I've heard it's good for breakfast. I need to
try that sometime.
I haven't really lost a lot of weight in the past few months but what has happened is my shape has really improved.
I think my weight was not so bad, it was just I was so flabby and unfit.
I'm still persevering with the pull ups and can now do 4 real pull ups and 4 real chin ups so that is very pleasing.
I love seeing your running pictures,they are very inspirational.
That's great that you're toning up! I've had that happen before where I
would go a few weeks without losing, but would notice that I was toning up.
Of course, I wasn't okay with my weight at the time, so I had to keep
perservering on that front. 😉
Way to go on the pull-ups and chin-ups! That's awesome. I'm not there yet,
but I keep working at it — when I remember. I need to make myself a note so
I remember to practice at least 3 days a week.
Friday Weigh in time for me… I was really dreading this morning's weigh-in because I was wanting so badly to be below 170 and not sure I could do it. I saw 168.2 on Wednesday morning after my kids' swim meet but I thought that was probably just water weight lost from all of the sweating! So I didn't want to get my hopes up too much that it was a "real" loss. But I have had a great week exercise-wise and a quite good week nutritionally. When I weighed this morning it was 169.2 which means a loss of 1.6 pounds and below 170 which I've been fighting to do for months and months now! Just barely but I'll take it! I was really in a funk yesterday about whether I was getting anywhere and also just feeling really, really tired. Not haven't-had-enough-sleep tired, but tired from my workouts this week. I've never worked out for the lengths of time I am now or with this intensity so this is new to my body, and I guess I'm just having to get used to it. But I hope that I'm not overdoing it. I'm excited that things are moving and hope it continues this way.
Way to go, Christine! That's so exciting to get into a new "tens' column"!!
I'd take it, too…with a big, happy smile on my face. 😉
I hope you're not overdoing it, too. Hopefully, you're just challenging
yourself. I did a sneak peek at the scale today, too. If I can keep up my
hard work over the weekend, I think I'll be pleased with my results on
Tuesday.
Yeah! Lost a pound. And, that's with a full hormone week, and husband's schedule making it impossible for my walks every day. Thank you, MFP! I've logged in every day, and it is making all the difference. And,
Congratulations!! I can completely understand that "full hormone week"
thing. I'm dealing with that myself and hoping it doesn't affect my numbers
too bad this week. Totally agree about MFP. It's helped tremendously. Way to
go!