August 5, 241

So...

I'm beginning to get tired of this 240 thing.

I'm still, of course, sticking to the meal plan and have come back down to 241 since the family reunion. At this point, I just hope to see something in the 230s when I weigh in on Saturday. At this point, I have no plans to change my current plan.

After all, there was that family reunion interruption. I hate that it has interrupted or stalled my weight loss. I also hate that I can't eat as much cake as I want to without losing weight. Wait, where did that come from? Sorry, that was uncalled for.

Also I went to the gym on Monday night to lift weights. Every once in a while I feel my triceps or the deltoids, and Monday night was a good workout session - I worked out everything except the triceps. I should probably go again tomorrow or the next day, even though it could mean a disappointing number on the scale on Saturday.

I had a GREAT yoga session this morning. I made it all the way through the video as far as I ever go, through the and was ready to keep going, but the next pose was "Prayer Pose" which is way too advanced for me. I suppose the next time I make it all the way through to Prayer Pose and am ready to do more, and have time, I should fast-forward past prayer pose, or just practice some other poses for a while, build up strength in my thighs to maintain these lunging poses. There was definite improvement in my forward bend, which I put to use throughout the day picking clutter off the floor and shaving my toes. I love seeing progress with the yoga program. Consistency is the key to results, in yoga, weight training, and everything else. Consistency is the hard part, too.

I decided to take measurements today. Once I finished, I couldn't really see the point. Except, I did seem to notice that there is less lower belly sagging into the hip measurement, so my hip measurement went down some.

As for planning a little booklet of meals for myself to rely on during maintenance, well I haven't got very far. I designed one meal with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but I had a hard time getting enough protein in it to balance the carbohydrates and fat. Eventually I just added an egg white to the meal, and eliminated one of the slices of bread.

I have to go to the grocery store now.

July 11, 249.5

Okay, I did it. Weekly weigh-in and I'm back down to 249.5 like last week. I gained 5 pounds and lost it before ediets had a chance to notice. Plateau OVER am I right? I hope. Work is overwhelming now. I hoped to be done with a project by 3:30 a.m. last night (no sweat, plenty of time, if I just stick to it!) and it took me until 8:00 a.m. and I wasn't finished when I left. This doesn't bode well for the rest of the job to come. A few things don't bode well about it - I think I might run out of time - I can't seem to get anything done on time!!

Ok, my anticipated goal date for 220 has been pushed back to October 24, which is where it was originally, but I was excited about pushing it into early October.

This week's exercise:

Saturday - none
Sunday - none
Monday - weights
Tuesday - none
Wednesday - yoga
Thursday - 30 minutes exercise bike
Friday - none (unless you count climbing ladders for 8 hours)

30 minutes on the exercise bike claims to yield 300+ calories burned. The small room is cool when I walk in, but too warm after 10 minutes into it, so I'm sure I'm creating heat. It's convenient because there's one in the condo clubhouse and I have access to it at any hour, plus I can get some reading done. Yet, last time I was on the exercise bike, I felt guilt. I thought "I can do more." I feel like I should step up, do the elliptical more often. Which may not happen this week because I may not have time for the gym, and I'd be surprised if I get any exercise in.

So today, for the diet, I have to plan this week's meal plan, buy the groceries, and possibly even prepare it all for the whole week today, with all the repetitiveness and convenience I can handle.

July 4, 249.5

I'm a little disgruntled about this week's 1-pound loss.

For one thing, I hit 248.5 one day early this week and got excited about getting *significantly* below 250 (below enough that a little gain wouldn't get me above 250) and also to get closer to being able to say I'd lost 40 pounds. I decided to work all week to lose even more weight before weigh-in. Normally I don't do this so much, normally I just take what comes to me, and lose 2-3 pounds. This time, I'd get on an exercise machine specifically to boost my weight loss down another half or full pound here and there. And of course, I stuck to my meal plan (although I occasionally found myself making substitutions, and am still not actually measuring my amounts for the most part). After only one day at 248.5, it bounced back to 249.5, which I accepted easily at first, but all week I kept hoping to bump back down and all week I stayed at 249.5 and did not budge. Frustrating.

Now I plan to have a "cheat day" but I don't have a lot of playroom on the scale.

My belly seems larger and heavier than ever, and I just took my measurements and it does seem like I gained everywhere except my chest. According to today's measurements, my chest is now smaller around than my waist, which is NOT what I'm going for, and my hips are reducing faster than my waist too. Once an apple always an apple I guess.

It seems possible i'm retaining water. I feel and look kinda puffy. I don't know enough to guess why I'd be retaining water - pre-menstrual?

And maybe today's cheat day will shock my metabolism?

Well - 1 pound lost since last week, and still on track for October 17th goal, but not getting safely ahead of schedule like I'd hoped. Frustration has brought me a little crisis of faith, but I am still sticking to the plan, so I obviously haven't given up all hope.

This week's exercise:
Saturday - weights
Sunday - none
Monday - 20 minutes yoga
Tuesday - none
Wednesday - 20 minutes yoga + 30 minutes elliptical
Thursday - 30 minutes exercise bike
Friday - none

meeting exercise goals at the expense of getting anything else done

Ok, well, I didn't do much else today but I did get some exercise in. I did 20 minutes of yoga (approx.) again, and was able to get to the end of section 2 by skipping some of the section 1. I really wanted to get to the end of section 2, and it was definitely hard. I really need to get further along in those poses before moving on to section 3, so I think for the longest time now I can just focus on getting through sections 1 & 2 1-2 times per week to maintain and improve my progress in the yoga.

And then I did go to the gym because it was important to me, to hopefully push the numbers on the scale down. 30 minutes on the elliptical - not bad. (I remember days I've been more dynamic on that thing, but I'm building up from the recumbent bike these days.) My heart rate stayed a little above the recommended rate most of the time, going into the 160s and 170s (probably - when it got the 170s it was off their chart and so the HR reading got a bit off.) However, it felt fine, pretty typical - felt like exercise, you know. I know I'm getting older and should expect to exert my heart rate a little less, but I felt good.

And I did it without asthma medication. Although I will say when it was over the inside of my mouth was uncomfortably phlegmmy, especially uncomfortable around the throat. I generally assume this is my lungs clearing out with my exhalations.

So I am hoping for pleasantness on the scale tomorrow! :-D

After my workout, I was pretty sure that I wanted to have a cheat day on Saturday (which is the 4th - oo, that sucks) because I realized I really wanted those Russell Stover Roman nougats and molasses chews. Mmmmmmm. Used to love those Russell Stover boxes.