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.

Full Disclosure

As of today, the first day of the new year, I weigh 210 pounds. The scale I used may not be in total agreement with reality but it's the one I've been using for years so I figure it's consistent if nothing else. I wear a size 16 in clothes, and that's been the case for at least the last decade, perhaps longer.

I like to take long walks and hikes, though much of those activities have been thwarted due to a serious ankle injury at the end of April 2011. I am still working with a personal trainer to rehabilitate it. I have a membership at Gold's Gym in Chantilly, Virginia. I like it there. I like my trainer, too.

My biggest food issue is breakfast. I absolutely love fast food breakfast. McDonald's sausage burritos and Burger King's croissanwiches are my favorites. I try to replace them with Jimmy Dean's turkey sausage breakfast sammiches. They're tasty but nowhere near as satisfying.

I love going out to eat. I don't even know why, really, since my husband cooks delicious and interesting meals, but there is pretty much never a time when I would rather eat in than out. I could easily do it for every meal of every day.

I think that's it for now. Happy new year.

Catching up (again)

Yeeeeah. Been a while. First it was the BookCrossing Convention, then only a week later, on Easter Sunday, I sprained my ankle. Badly. "Grade 2 or possibly 3," the doc said; they think I tore a ligament. May 23rd is my Day of Reckoning: at that point I'm either 100% healed or we start looking into surgery. Ugh, I so hope it doesn't come to that. But anyway, since I can't go to the gym, I decided to use some of my time convalescing to take my measurements again.

The last time I took my measurements was December 29, 2010 - so that's what, not quite five months ago. I've lost two inches in my waist and hips, one inch in my bust and thigh. I've also lost a total of 26 pounds in that time. A bit of a plateau, actually, but I'm not complaining.

Now I just need to figure out what the hell size jeans I wear now. My old ones are falling down so badly I look like an ad for crack prevention. Ha!

Impatience

My weekly weigh-in was last night. I'm down another two pounds, for a total of 20 since the beginning of the year (12 or so of which are since starting Nutrisystem). Yes, you read that right: I have lost twenty pounds over the last 11 weeks. I don't feel like I look all that much different, which is frustrating, but my husband assures me that my tummy is shrinking. Quantitatively, I'm solidly back into the clothing size I've worn for many years (rather than hovering between that and the next size up), and I'm wearing my belt one notch tighter with no trouble. So there's that.

I know I should be more pleased with my progress. I guess I'm just impatient. I've always worn my weight well, meaning that I'm actually far heavier than I look. This is a wonderful trait when gaining weight, but a little frustrating when losing, because it takes just as long to look noticeably thinner as to look noticeably fatter.

Then there's the disheartening fact that 20 pounds is only a quarter of the total weight I need to lose. Sure, if I can sustain this rate I'll be at my goal weight by my next anniversary, but I'm not optimistic about that: as I lose more weight, it will come off more slowly.

Well, I guess all I can do is keep doing what I'm doing. And maybe learn a little patience. :)

Belated weigh-in

Man, not being part of the current Shrinking Jeans challenge sure has made me lazy in terms of updating this thing.

In short: I lost another 3 pounds over the last week, bringing my 2011 total to 18 pounds lost. That's pretty awesome, and my husband says he can see a difference in my body - specifically that my tummy is getting smaller, which is gratifying because I was really starting to hate my tummy.

I didn't go to the gym yesterday because my period started with a vengeance. I don't like to go to the gym during my period. It's a Thing.

Weekly Weigh-in

Weight change this week: -2
Weight change so far in 2011: -15

Whoop whoop whoop! Those are the klaxons of celebration.

That is all. :)

Checking in

First, the weigh in, after 9 days on Nutrisystem:

Weight change this week: -4
Weight change so far in 2011: -13

Glad to see all this hunger and frustration hasn't been all for naught. :) (Actually, my husband and I were just talking about how we have more energy and have been sleeping better, so I'm not complaining.)

Gym recap: First Day to 5k, week 1, day 2
Distance 2.08 mi
Duration 30:00
Pace 14.4 min/mi
Speed 4.2 mi/h
Calories 187

Hump Day Happies

Weight change this week: -1
Weight change so far in 2011: -8

I attended the goodbye luncheon for my former supervisor today. It was at T.G.I. Friday's. I thought long and hard about what to eat, and ended up with a half sandwich/half wedge salad, with water to drink. It was really tasty, and at the end of it I felt like I could have eaten more, but didn't need to. So that felt good. You can't imagine how hard it is for me to resist french fries!

I wasn't really in the mood to go to the gym tonight. I didn't feel like lifting weights and most of the cardio was off-limits while I recover from yesterday's fall on the ice. So I went up to the indoor track, loaded up one of the Podrunner mixes, and told myself that I didn't have to do anything in particular, but I wasn't allowed to leave that track for the entirety of the hour-long mix.

And you know what? I mostly walked, but I ran quite a bit too. I took it easy, careful to put most of the impact on my toes, not worrying about speed. And I kept moving for that entire hour.

And most importantly, my knee didn't hurt at all. Score! :D

Weekly Weigh-in (a little late)

Weight change this week: -2
Weight change so far in 2011: -7

I really didn't expect to lose any weight this week, but I guess being sick burns calories too, since your body has to work to fight off the infection. Whatever; I'll take what I can get. :)

This week's challenge involved more micromanaging than I am comfortable with.

• First, plan your menu for the week, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. On paper.
  
• THEN go food shopping.
  
• THEN, write your workouts into your schedule or onto your calendar or into your Outlook, share these “appointments” with your family or whomever you need to know what your plans are.
  
• FINALLY, make sure that this planned-out week is written into the same calendar as all of your other goal milestone dates and the big goal! And if those aren’t in there, go put them in there! You CEO, YOU! I got a new planner just for the occasion from a store that rhymes with Schmall Schmart and it is pink and it is lovely. Best of all, it was $7. It is my partner in crime and my right hand man and it WILL get me to all my goals this year. That little pink planner.

See, now, I've tried this before. Many times. This sort of "treat it like a work appointment" trick is used for everything from painting to blogging, and it simply does not work for me. As soon as I start seeing something as a chore or obligation, I start actively avoiding it. This is true even for things I enjoy doing. For example: I view sitting down with a good book to be a real treat, but if I schedule the time from 7:30 to 8:00 tonight specifically for reading, I won't do it. I'm not entirely sure why this is, though I suspect it has to do with feeling like once it's scheduled, it's no longer a choice. And I like having choices.

Don't get me wrong: I love planners as much as (and probably more than) the next person, but scheduling every moment of every day backfires every time. I need freedom and spontaneity. Yes, I technically plan to hit the gym after work each day (though not this week while I continue to recover from illness), but I don't hold myself to a set routine, or make sure I stay there for a certain amount of time. That's just not my style. Instead, I make sure I hit all the major muscle groups and include some cardio. Telling myself I must show up for thirty minutes a day and do this-this-and-this guarantees I won't. Some days I want to use the weight machines; other days I prefer free weights. Sometimes I just want to read on the stationary bike, but then occasionally I want to use the stairclimber.

This, of course, is all completely aside from the fact that I am not the only person eating in my house. My husband does the grocery shopping and cooks dinner every night. But anyway, I know this sounds like I am wimping out on this challenge, but I know myself too well for this. I hope I can participate next week, though.

Wednesday Weakness

Weight change this week: +1
Weight change so far in 2011: -5

I fully expected to gain weight this week, and in fact I'm a little surprised I didn't gain more. I ate junk all weekend and didn't hold back at all. I skipped the gym on Friday because I had too much to get done (and indeed didn't get home until after midnight), Saturday and Sunday because I had people over all day to work on convention stuff (though I certainly got a workout lugging boxes of books all over the place), Monday because I was just insanely tired, and yesterday because we had an ice storm.

I went today, however, and tried out the BODYPUMP class. I'm not really one for group classes, but since they're included with my membership fee I figured I should at least try them out. The instructor was really nice, taking a few minutes before class to show me what kind of gear I needed and what sorts of moves we'd be doing.

And you know, it was really hard. But it was a good kind of hard, and the hour went by quickly. The instructor remembered my name and encouraged me to come back next week. I just might.

Weekly Weigh-in and Gym Recap 1/5/11

I lost 5 pounds over the last week. I dunno how meaningful that is, but I have been far more mindful of what I've been eating.

And now for the gym recap.

Format: exercise - reps x sets - weight - notes (if applicable)

* abdominal crunch machine - 50x2 - 35lbs
* hip abduction - 12x3 - 90lbs
* hip adduction - 12x3 - 90lbs
* chin-ups - 5x3 - 112lb counterweight - all elbows out
* dips - 12x3 - 112lb counterweight
* lat pull-downs - 12x3 - 62.5lbs

I've been very tired all week, and I suspect it's because my body is fighting off my husband's cold. He's been sick for two weeks and I've had nary a sniffle, but I need to be careful that I don't get run-down. That's why I took it easy again at the gym. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things starting Monday.