"Athletic"

This week was my fitness test again. I have to admit, I was extremely nervous based on my slower progress this month. If I had only lost a couple of pounds, could I have dropped much in my measurements and/or have increased my performance on the fitness tasks? Time to see.

When I weighed in that morning, I had reached 168, a new all-time low...SEVEN pounds from my goal! Then as Darren took my new measurements during the test, he compared each one to the last test at the beginning of February. Each one had stayed the same or dropped...yahoo! When I took the VO2 max test, my number had skyrocketed. I'm sure that is as a result of Darren increasing my target heart rate zones last month. While I have been an absolute sweaty mess during workouts (not that that is new...I've always been a sweaty mess, but now I'm an even SWEATIER mess!), it has obviously paid off. I was able to do 42 push ups this time (one more than last time), 51 sit ups (one more than last time) and reach farther during the sit and reach. As a result, I felt like my fitness test was already a success. And I didn't even know the body fat/lean muscle mass results yet!

After the test, Darren did my calculations and my body fat was now 21.11%...in the "Athletic" category! Now, people who know me would tell you how absolutely hilarious that is. I've NEVER been what you would call "Athletic" in any way. Now I am. How cool. I continue to be amazed at all the ways in which my life has changed.

This week, I talked with a class at our school about weight, body image and fitness. I challenged each of them to think of something they felt like they needed to change about themselves and develop a plan to change it. I encourage anyone reading this to do the same. If a 320 pound woman can get to the "Athletic" range of body fat percentage, you can do anything!


Today, I weighed in at 167. I cannot believe how close I am to my goal. Who knows? Maybe now that I'm "Athletic," I'll become a runner like Steve. I'll let you know!

Finally!

169! 169! 169! 169!



This morning, I finally broke the barrier to the 160s. I literally danced a jig and made Steve come at look at the scale (he was thrilled I woke him up for that. Actually, he really was!). That means only EIGHT more pounds to reach my goal. I've got to stay focused.



I have really been struggling to get there. I've hovered around 170 for about a month now, and I've been so frustrated with myself (as you know from my previous posts). Well, during my Thursday afternoon workout with Darren, I realized something in talking with him. What I have been doing for the last month (and what Steve has been doing for the last several months) is learning how to eat for my new life. All of my binge eating (by the way...I remembered several food items I did not include in the long list of foods I consumed...including doughnuts!) was for a purpose. I am now figuring out what I can eat and still lose weight, what I cannot eat and still lose weight and what I can eat and still maintain my weight. There are some general guidelines, of course (NO ONE will lose weight in a healthy fashion by eating copious quantities of cookie dough, no matter how good it is!), but each person is different and his/her food triggers differ, too.

Darren and I talked about the resting metabolic rate, which is the number of calories you burn just by being alive in a resting state. It does not include any movement whatsoever, so if you are active and exercise, the number increases significantly. The way to estimate this rate (according to Darren's blog!) is to multiply your body weight number by 10. For me, that would now mean that I burn roughly 1690 calories a day without doing anything. Factor in movement and exercise and I think I burn about 2500 calories in an average day. That explains why I lose weight so easily if I stick to calorie counting (of about 1200 or 1300) and the nutrition plan. It really is a simple formula...in theory, anyway. And who knew how much math was involved in losing weight??

Binge Week

Oh, my goodness! I thought giving in to my french fry craving would be the end of it. Not so, I'm sad to report! I have had quite a week of absolute binge eating. Sometimes I get so "snacky," as my dear friend, Beth, would say, that I just can't stand it and have to give in. Well, I've done NOTHING but give in this week.

Here is the good news, though. This morning, I was back to 170. Still not 169, but after all I've eaten this week, it's pretty remarkable to me.

As you know, I had the delicious french fries last Friday. Later that afternoon, I went to a happy hour, where I had nacho dip and chips, spinach dip and chips and mozzarella sticks. Now admittedly, I shared them all with Steve and our good friend, Jim, but still. Quite a snack fest. Then we went to a terrific fun card party at Jim and Don's house, where I had more snacks and a bowl of chili...with tiaramisu for dessert. I thought, "That will do it. One day of terrible eating. Back on track tomorrow." Not so!

Saturday, Steve and I went to see two movies. I DID take my own popcorn, so that helped. BUT then...we had to hit Hong's Buffet and Mongolian Grill for lunch. Spectacular food, but not great for you and NOT on Darren's nutrition plan! For dinner, we had Mexican food. Again, I thought, "That will do it. Two days of terrible eating. Back on track tomorrow." Not so!

Sunday, I was back on track for the most part. Steve and I get totally into the Oscars every year, so we made a delicious chicken crock pot recipe for dinner. Actually, quite healthy. I was feeling smug. I should have known better. After the delicious and healthy dinner, I was absolutely struck with the most overwhelming desire for cookie dough and cookies. I hesitated to tell Steve, because cookie dough is his absolute weakness. I didn't want him to think I was sabatoging his efforts. Finally, I couldn't resist any longer and I told him I wanted to make cookie dough. He was quite supportive of the idea. I went to the pantry, got a bag of double chocolate chunk cookie mix, added pecans and went to town. We did manage to bake about a dozen, but I think I probably ATE a dozen if you count the actual cookies and the dough. Once again, I thought, "That will do it. Three days of terrible eating. Back on track tomorrow." Not so!

Monday, I weighed in at 172.8 pounds, almost three pounds more than my Friday 170. Now, you'd think that remembering my Aunt Judy's mantra that it's a whole lot easier to take off five pounds than it is to take off 50, I'd be back on track. Not so!

The rest of the week I continued to snack like crazy. We made another batch of cookie dough and cookies (walnut chocolate chip this time), I had a McSkillet burrito from McDonald's (actually, I only ate about a fourth of it), greasy pizza from Sam's Club (which is actually delicious if you haven't tried it...and quite the bargain!) and half a blue cheese burger. I hit 175.0 as my high of the week. Oh, my. Not the direction I'm trying to head at all.

Well, I am proud to report that yesterday and today my snacking seems to have calmed down. I think I'm writing all this to say that even with all of the horrible eating, I didn't beat myself up about it. I continued to do my regular workouts at the gym, which I think really helped. Also, I realized that I was not going to make my goal weight by the end of February. I think that's part of why I was so out of control. Well, guess what? It's not really that big a deal to me. I'm going to sprint through March, or until I reach my goal. I know in my heart if I had diligently followed Darren's nutrition plan for the entire two months, I would be at my goal right now. BUT I enjoyed the HECK out of every bite of cookie dough! After all...who said the sprint had to be two months anyway??

Turns out ONE WEEK of terrible eating really did do it!