Weigh-In Wednesday

Current Weight: 184.2 lbs.

Body Fat: 59.4 lbs.

Body Fat Percentage: 32.3%

BMI: 27.6

Loss this week: 2.6 lbs.

Total Weight Loss: 6.6 lbs!

As I predicted last week, this past weekend was a bit emotional and involved me eating some of my stress. Even though I wasn’t totally successful in avoiding stress eating, I did manage to take note of when certain cravings were the result of stress or emotions. Friday was an all-around busy day since I had to work all day and then make the 5 hour journey up to Maryland. One thing that has always made that task a bit easier is stopping at Jersey Mike’s on my way out of Wake County to grab my favorite sub. I never really thought about the fact that my tradition might be the result of feeling some of the stress of making a long drive after a long day. But this time I realized that the oily, greasy goodness satisfies a craving and helps dulls some of the stress I feel. Hard to say whether or not I would ever be able to completely do away with this ritual, but I at least recognize that those times should be a way of treating myself once in a while rather than a regular thing.

I had a great time on Saturday with cleaning our apartment (maybe that earned me some activity points??) and then attending the theatre banquet that evening. I had already agreed with myself that I was going to enjoy the dinner served at the banquet without worrying about points. The banquet was a time to celebrate with a great group of people and was sort of a final goodbye to a group that had played such a large role in my life over the past year. I ate pretty much all of the beef stew dish that was my entrée as well as every bite of the bread pudding dessert. I also indulged in a beer and a glass of wine.

Sunday was another slightly emotional/stressful day. We wrapped up some of the cleaning we had done and loaded up a good bit of stuff into my car (more activity points perhaps?? Here’s hoping!). As a result, I had a hard time resisting the greasy goodness of Five Guys. I did opt to get a burger with no cheese, but had to have some bacon. I had originally planned on eating the burger and trying to resist the fries, but come on… they’re called “Five Guys Burgers and Fries” for a reason. After having such a high point lunch, I tried to talk myself out of the other end of my travelling tradition: A Spicy Ranch Chicken Club from Wendy’s as I roll into Cary. My craving overtook my willpower, though, and I was soon stuffing my face with spicy chicken deliciousness. I did somehow manage to resist the temptation of fries.

Even though I wasn’t able to completely overcome my cravings, I do feel like I am getting better at recognizing when certain cravings are the result of stress or emotions and taking a moment to make a conscious decision about my food choices. Those choices aren’t always the best, but I am at least starting to take some time to think about them.

Weigh-In Wednesday

Current Weight: 185.8

Body Fat: 59.3 lbs.

Body Fat Percentage: 32%

BMI: 28.1

So I maintained this week. I consider that an accomplishment after the food-filled weekend I had! I was genuinely shocked when I got on the scale this morning! The only downside this week is that WW cut a point from my daily allowance. I now have 31 daily points. That at least tells me that I am on the road to progress.

This weekend will be interesting. I am going up to Maryland to clean and start packing our apartment up there. Since I moved down here in October for a job, Chris has been living in Maryland to continue working there while he searches for a job here. Our lease on our apartment up there only had about 4 months left at the time so we figured we would just keep the apartment through the end of the lease rather than paying the penalties of breaking it. Our lease is up at the end of this month, so we only have 3 more weeks to get everything wrapped up there.

I think that honestly is beginning to stress me out a bit. I am trying so hard not to turn to food to comfort my stress.

I am so happy that we made the move down here to NC and I have loved every minute of being down here. I know I’ll love it even more once Chris is down here full-time as well. But I think I’m having a little bit of a hard time saying a final goodbye to southern Maryland. I know I’ll be back to visit fairly often, especially since my parent’s and Chris’s parents still live up there. But I know it’ll be different once Chris and I no longer have a place of our own up there anymore. It’s been great to be able to ease into the transition of moving. When it was time to move me down here, I didn’t have to worry about making sure our apartment was emptied out (we had to leave Chris with some stuff to live reasonably comfortably!). I didn’t have to worry about closing out our utilities accounts or even changing our address on everything at once. It’s been nice to take our time with some of the stresses that come with moving.

All that also meant, however, that I didn’t feel like I had to say a full goodbye to SOMD when I packed up and headed south. I still had direct ties (and bills to pay!) to Maryland. All that is quickly coming to an end. The trip this weekend may very well be my last time in our first apartment. Chris will still be up there through the end of the month but I don’t know if I’ll have a chance to make one last trip up there. 

So I will bid a fond farewell to our humble first apartment and try to channel those emotions into positive energy this week.

Epic Points Fail

On Wednesday I predicted that my weekly points would end up a 0 since I had so much going on this past week. I am currently at -92 weekly points. That is – as in “minus”… as in “negative”… as in I used up all 49 weekly points and then proceeded to use 92 more.

Yeah, totally shattered that prediction.

On the bright side, that at least means I stuck with tracking everything I ate. I also managed to save myself 4 points by actually earning some activity points! I earned them by going bowling with my mom and cousins, but still, activity points are activity points. And my arm is sore enough that I feel like I truly earned those points.

So how does one proceed to use up all 32 daily points and then eat a total of another 145 points throughout the week?

Things started off well enough on Wednesday. I was encouraged by my 5 pound weight loss. I did my normal breakfast and lunch routine and had 19 points left by dinner time. My mom drove down to visit on Wednesday so we had decided to grab dinner at one of our favorite places: Firehouse Subs. I normally get an Italian sub but this time I opted to get the Engineer sub which is a total of only 19 without mayo. I just couldn’t bring myself to forego the mayo though. I estimated the mayo to be about 6 points (this could be a drastic over-estimation but they do slather it on so it was probably a fair estimation). But all in all, not bad to dip into my weekly points for 6 points to treat myself.

Things only got worse from there.

 I enjoyed some mini cupcakes on my birthday as well as my favorite sub from Jersey Mike’s. I have a strange love affair with their Original Italian sub. It can cheer me up after a tough day and make the world seem like a brighter place. The sub itself is isn’t too bad in the points department. Only 18 without condiments. I could eat that and still have a point left over on most days. But sadly, adding the oil onto a regular sized sub adds an additional 8 points! Someone please tell me this is a miscalculation! The oil makes the sub! It’s just a sad little sandwich without it… not the great and mighty sub it is meant to be. Since it was my birthday though, I decided that I must treat myself to a PROPER Jersey Mike’s sub and there went some more weekly points.

The rest of the weekend was just a steady, downhill slide.

On Friday, I went to the Hot Stove Banquet in Charleston and enjoyed every bit of my meal. I also enjoyed 2 beers (my first beer in over a week people!) That night, after the banquet, I also had some delicious birthday cake and a bit of ice cream. Saturday included lunch at a Greek restaurant (Baklava is a gigantic points bomb, but it was oh so worth it!), Spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner and my favorite dessert- Key Lime Pie. Sunday was just one big points party. For lunch, I had one of my favorite fast food meals: Zaxby’s Wings N Things platter and I ate every last bit (OMG, so worth being fat for that). Later that night was pizza and wine for dinner while watching the Super Bowl. And of course I couldn’t just let that pizza and wine go to waste so I finished all that off for dinner last night.

Although it ended up being a terrible week for WW points, it was a great week for me. I know I will probably pay for all that by undoing my progress from last week but I think it was definitely worth it!

Weigh-In Wednesday

Current Weight: 185.8

Body Fat: 59.5 lbs.

Body Fat Percentage: 32.1%

BMI: 28.1

Total Weight Loss: 5 lbs!

Well, this is a great way to start things off! I am down 5 whole pounds this week! What a great birthday present! This past week has been all about getting the hang of tracking my points and pinpointing easy ways to cut down on high-point foods. I have definitely found places where I can make easy substitutions or cut out things entirely. I dipped way into my weekly points allowance this week but surprisingly did not max out. I even had a few days where I couldn’t even eat all my daily points.

The biggest change I’ve made so far has been cutting back on beer and random snacking. I did enjoy some wine over the weekend (which killed my daily points allowance pretty quickly) but I balanced that by not over indulging in snacks. I’ve cut out some of my weekday snacks and replaced those with fruit (0 points!).

I know this upcoming week will be a challenge. Between my birthday and visiting family this weekend, I expect my weekly points to be at about 0 this time next week. My goal is to make sure to balance out days of indulging in fast food with drinking more water and trying to get a workout or two in. I definitely plan to treat myself to some of my favorite foods this week but I don’t want to completely undo this great start I’ve made.

My main challenges now will be sustaining some of the food changes I’ve made while increasing my daily activity (and maybe actually earning an activity point or two!)

For the Love of Beer

I already know that one of my biggest weaknesses on this journey will be beer. I am a complete and total beer lover. I love trying different varieties from different breweries. I love seeing how different beers pair with different foods. I love the flavors and the complexities of it.

On top of that, moving to NC means unlocking a whole new world in terms of beer buying: Having beer available at the grocery store. In Maryland, buying a six-pack meant making a special trip to the liquor store. It was kind of a hassle. Now, I am greeted every week by a tempting variety of new beers to try. It also doesn’t help that North Carolina has some amazing local brewers that have found their way into my beer loving heart.

Unfortunately, beer tends to be several points… points that I suppose would be better served eating nutritious foods. And, even though I know there are light beer options… those are not much better points-wise and I definitely prefer quality over quantity when it comes to beer. So I will relegate my beloved beer to occasional treat status and find a way to incorporate this magical beverage into my new healthy routines.

Maybe this will help me cut out other unhealthy foods. No one wants Buffalo wings and water.

Weigh-In Wednesday #1

Today is the day to kick things off! I weighed-in this morning to find my starting point:

Current Weight: 190.8 lbs.

Body Fat: 62.7 lbs.

Body Fat Percentage: 32.9%

BMI: 28.9

Weight Watchers goal weight #1: 179.7

Current Points Plus daily allotment: 32 Points

This week will be spent getting a feel for point totals for foods I currently eat and taking a look at where I can cut back or substitute healthier options. My main goal for this week is to get into the habit of tracking all my food.

25 for 25

Welcome to 25 for 25! I’ve decided to start this blog to document my journey of attempting to lose at least 25 pounds this year. I turn 25 years old next week and decided this was the time to get serious about making some healthy lifestyle changes. For now, a brief introduction:

Why 25 pounds, why now?

Although I’ve never considered myself overweight, my weight has been creeping up steadily over the last few years. I figure now is the time to get a handle on things. Everyone’s early 20s are usually marked by the major life changes. For me, this included going away to college, finding a job and then making career moves, marriage, and moving to a new state. I know the 2^nd half of my 20s will include just as many exciting things and I want to kick it off by adopting some healthier habits.

25 pounds seems like a great goal to strive for in an effort to make some of these new habits permanent. Even though I would like to lose closer to 40 or 45 pounds to get to my ideal weight, 25 seems less looming and will allow me to focus on making sustainable changes.

I joined Weight Watchers online recently to help me track what I eat and how much activity I get. I’ve followed Weight Watchers once before for a few months before my wedding and was fairly successful then.

What all can we expect in this blog?

This will really be a way for me to track my progress and share any successes and struggles. I hope this will be a way to document what works for me and what doesn’t in terms of healthy eating and exercise. If those things can help others on their journey, then that is fantastic!

I plan on doing “Weigh-In Wednesdays” and posting the progress here. I bought a Weight Watchers scale from Target that measures body fat, body fat percentage, and calculates BMI so I will track those numbers as well.

There may end up being some just general life posts interspersed with the weight loss focused ones since this is really about making an overall lifestyle change. Stresses, achievements, and life in general will all play a role in this journey.

So I hope you will join me on this journey. We begin tomorrow with a first weigh-in and getting a feel for some of the changes I hope to make.