Rethinking My Goal Weight

When I first met my personal trainer last October, he weighed me and did a body fat analysis. I don't remember the exact results off hand, but I do recall that I commented that, after reading a whole slew of "ideal weight" articles, I'd come up with 150 pounds as a reasonable goal weight for someone who is 5'6" tall. My build is pretty large, and 150 is a good stone heavier than any of the target weights the internet came up with.

Anyway, I told my trainer my goal weight and he said that with my body fat percentage and body type, it wasn't likely, but I could certainly get to the point where I look like I weigh 150. So yesterday during our regular session I asked him what would be a reasonable weight goal, and he suggested 180 pounds.

I'm sticking with 150 as my goal weight here for the time being, but his assessment did help me feel a little bit more patient with the process. My thighs and butt will always be relatively large, especially since they're already almost all muscle as it is. But I'm looking forward to a smaller belly. I miss my hourglass figure. :)

Random note: according to the internets, I can achieve "extreme fat loss" at 1800 calories per day. On Nutrisystem I've been eating around 1400 calories per day, but except for today I haven't been too terribly hungry. (This evening I was effing ravenous.) I'm not sure what to say about that, really. Just felt like jotting it down here.

Gym Recap

Since Jeev couldn't make it today, I asked him to tell me specifically what to do today in his absence. Amazingly, he actually gave me a very detailed workout. This is what I did:

Treadmill: 2.25mi, 36.5min, 272cal
I did a warm-up of .25 miles then alternated .25-mile "laps" of 4.2mph and 3.5mph.

Exercise: reps x sets [weight]

Push-up position rows: 16x2 [10 lbs/arm]
Push-ups: 10x2
Squats: 12x2 [with 12-lb bar]
Medicine ball slams: 15x2

Pretty good work-out over all.

By the by, Nutrisystem is going pretty well so far, though I foresee today will be a Hungry Day.

Nutribears (oh my)

Nutrisystem has made a lot of changes since last year. In addition to new food choices, they've kind of restructured the program to give you more variety. Last time, the snacks were all prepackaged Nutrisystem snacks. Now the only prepackaged one is dessert, and the rest are groceries you buy yourself. And while this might mean you're receiving less food for your buck, they've also added in a daily protein shake, which makes up a little bit of the deficit. The groceries are also more varied: you have "powerfuels" (proteins, more or less) and "smartcarbs" (starchy vegetables and more traditional carb). Also, you're supposed to get at least four servings of vegetables per day but they no longer have any requirements as to what meal you have to eat them at.

The best part is that the women's plan now has six "eating occasions" just like the men. Last year, my husband got three snacks a day while I only got two, and that really made my mornings long at work. So while I'm eating much smaller portions, I'm eating far more often. The only trouble is finding the time to dash out to the kitchen between meetings!

And then there's a somewhat stranger change: as an added incentive to use their online weight tracking website/community/thingy, every ten pounds you lose you receive a Nutribear. Not just a little blog badge; an actual Beanie Baby-type plushie.

I can't decide if this is kind of awesome or just really, really weird. I guess I'll decide if/when I receive one.

Pause

Decided to solve the "what will I forget to bring to the gym today" cycle by not going to the gym at all this morning.  So there!

Because yesterday I forgot my bra.  Seriously.  So I had to wander over to Wal-Mart and pick up a "forgot my bra bra".  Luckily, I got a nice pretty one with purple polka dots. :D

Gym Recap

Elliptical, 30 minutes, 360 calories.  Kind of intense.  This is the sort of elliptical machine where when it makes a jump in resistance, I am stopped cold for a second.  But I made it.  And sweated mightily.

Aaaaand forgot my toiletries.  So guess who got to bathe with hand soap!  Hooray!  Gah, I feel so gross.  On the bright side, somebody forgot their conditioner in the shower before me, and I know people who only use conditioner (no shampoo), so maybe that helped a teeny bit.  Either way, I put my hair up in a ponytail today.

Here we go again.

I have two doctors (long story), and both of them were holding my prescriptions hostage until I did something for them: one of them wanted me to get bloodwork done and the other wanted an in-person visit.  So I paid the ransom and the good news is I've freed all my medications.  The bad news is twofold:

First, I've gained 30 pounds since July.  This is not okay.  Second, the bloodwork came back with "elevated liver function" and much higher cholesterol levels.

I know the problem: I eat too much.  My biggest issue is breakfast.  I go to the gym every weekday morning and pass by about half a dozen fast food restaurants on my way to work.  I'm starving after going to the gym, and often (way too often) I buzz through the drive-thru for a tasty treat.  See, I really love fast food breakfast.  Any other time of day I can take or leave it, but McDonald's sausage burritos and Burger King's croissanwiches.  Man, I'm drooling just thinking about them.

But the fact of the matter is that I weigh 226 pounds.  That's a BMI of 36.6, well into the "obese" range.  My goal is to get down to 150 pounds, which is at the upper end of "normal" for someone of my height.  And hey, I might not get there, seeing as I do go to the gym so much and am a bit more on the muscular side than many women my age, but I'd like to at least look like I weigh 150 pounds.

So, long story short, I'm back on Nutrisystem again.  It helped last time - I lost 25 pounds in about three months - and this time I'm going to keep going to the gym at the same time, so maybe I'll progress at a somewhat more satisfying rate this time around.

I won't lie - I'm totally bummed about this turn of events, and I'm going to be the crabbiest of crabby for the next few weeks.  Let's hope I like the new selection of foods they've added since the last time I was on it.  The protein shakes in particular look like they'll be helpful for my post-gym commute.

An hour on the bike is hard on the butt.

Activity: Stationary bike
Time: 61min 20sec
Distance: 24 miles
Calories burned: 1155

Tired now.