Finally Getting Fit

It’s that time again – weighing in!

I haven’t gone to the doctor, but I am weighing back in again because I have gone the way of assistance.

Starting weight: 256
Current weight: 254

Yes, I gained a bit of weight back during my time off the scales, but I’m keying in on the pounds lost.

What I mean by ‘gone the way of assistance’ is that I am trying an herbal supplement that is supposed to help you lose weight. Now, I know what most of you are thinking, but it’s herbal first off so I don’t mind giving it a try.

What am I trying? FatBlaster (what a stupid name, I reckon) from Naturopathica. I started it on Saturday.

So far things have been good. I’m a bit thirstier than usual and a bit gassy, but those are the only side effects so far. The thirstier part is a good thing, I think, because it will help me keep drinking enough water.

Today is Labor Day here in Victoria, so I’m not at the gym today, but I plan to get back to it starting tomorrow with more determination than ever.

Who knew two pounds could do so much for motivation?

In the future I hope to get some meal replacement powder so I can start having full, nutritious breakfasts. I love my protein mix cereal, but I think it might be making me tired.

How are you doing with your weight loss? Have you lost any? Gained? Plateau? Are you having troubles with anything? What is your plan of action for this week?

Is it already week five? Sheesh, time does fly by fast, doesn’t it?

I’m holding off on weighing in until I see my doctor, but that doesn’t mean we can’t check in how we’re doing otherwise. (And feel free to check in with your scale loss as well.)

Today is supposed to be the day I take my measurements, but I can’t seem to find my measuring tape, so I’ll have to hold off until I can find it. That’s unfortunate because usually even when my weight doesn’t move, my measurements change enough to help get me in a good mood.

Lately, I’m not sure I have the right mentality for hardcore weight loss. I can’t help but think that there is so much more going on and in the grand scheme of thing, humanity shouldn’t be so obsessed with being stick thin. I mean, we see stick thin children who are starving and that’s not even close to sexy, and yet we expect the same of ourselves.

Ever so slowly we are seeing a movement towards ‘healthy’ rather than ‘thin’, but it’s slow going and just plain not enough for those of us who are overweight and bear the burden of bad judgment even though we are watched by the McDonald’s crowd of all people while we eat our salads.

It’s a sad, sad world sometimes.

Forgive the bit of a rant, but I feel society has a lot to do with not only how we view our bodies but what we do to improve/’improve’ it.

What do you think? Do you feel ‘the world out there’ has anything to do with how you view yourself?

Monday weigh in time!

There comes a time in a woman’s life… Well, the time comes every month and is often annoying, presenting weight gain, moodiness, and other fun things men have come to realize can be soothed with chocolate and getting-out-of-her-way.

Can you guess what I’m talking about?

Usually at this time, I choose not to get on the scale. I know there will be a gain because there always has been in the past. I used to consistently have a gain of five pounds, but since taking on a healthier lifestyle and eating better foods, that gain is usually less.

Even with that fluctuation, that doesn’t mean we can’t check in!

How are you doing? What’s going on in your life? How are you doing with your goals and what is your plan of action this week?

I am doing okay. I still seem to be having trouble with whatever it is that’s making me fatigued most of the time. That’s why I did myself (and my husband) a favour by skipping the gym this morning, sleeping in a few hours, and getting as rested as I can so I can get some housework done.

I am planning on the housework giving me my usual daily moving around, but I’m still going to go for a walk later. (Hopefully I can drag the husband along.)

This week I am going to the gym every morning except Thursday when I have volunteering. I really need to buckle down on the water, but if I kick my arse on it, I know I can get back to where I need to be.

How is it going for you?

Hello everyone! It’s that time again – Monday.

Bleh.

Current Weight: 250

Ah, the lovely world of the plateau. But, as they say, no loss and no gain is still a good thing!
This past week has been very hard for me. Something is making it so I’m tired all the time and, if I let myself sleep (which I did this weekend) my days just disappear. I can’t really afford to get that behind with work, so I’m trudging through and trying a few things (red meat every night this week to see if it has to do with iron) before trudging to the doctor.

This week I’m hitting it hard at the gym. I completed my first thirty minutes on the elliptical ever. (I usually have a shorter period time mixed with another machine.) That thing is definitely not as easy as you think it would be, but you can really feel it working all your leg muscles.

My plan this week is to keep on with the elliptical as well as switch up how much time I spend at the gym by throwing in some extra treadmill time on top of my usual routine.

I also need to get going on drinking water again. I would not be at all surprised that my lack of the minimum water over the past week has contributed to my plateau continuing. (Are you drinking enough water? I’ll be talking about how to find out how much you should be drinking later this week.)

So how are you doing? What were your successes/little naughty things from last week? What is your plan of action for this week?

Hello everyone! It’s everyone’s favourite day of the week (insert collective groan here): Monday!

Yes, it’s Monday, otherwiese known as weigh in day. So why don’t we get it all over with?

Starting Weight: 256
Current Weight: 250

Nope, no loss from last week. However, I’m counting it as a positive, given the weekend I had.

I honestly considered calling today a no go as far as weighing in went. We all deserve and need to take time off occasionally, and that’s what I did this weekend. I declared a mental health weekend for myself and stayed as far away from stress as I could.

Avoiding stress meant staying away from the computer, no weekend work, a lot of time spent with my husband, good television…and not worrying about what I ate. I didn’t go out and make silly decisions like death by chocolate cake and a bunch of coctails, but I could have done better.

My portion control wasn’t so great. I ate more than I needed to. However, it was an excellent weekend that was just what I needed to calm down and focus, so I don’t regret it one bit.

This week I am going to focus on getting to the gym every day (except Wednesday, but I have volunteer work that will keep me moving all day) and keeping up with drinking water. I’m also going to make a conscious effort to keep track of my portions, just so I don’t get myself into a habit from this weekend.

So how are you doing? Have you lost, gained, or stayed the same this week? What is your game plan for this week?

Before I forget once again, my February statistics:

(I love tickerfactory.com – you can track weight, weight change, BMI, and a lot of other stuff. There are also non-weight loss tickers as well!)

Starting Weight: 256
Current Weight: 250

Measurements:

Left upper arm: 15.75″
Right upper arm: 15.5″
Bust: (measured in blue sports bra) 48″
Waist: 44.5″
Hips: 50″
Left thigh: 28.75″
Right thigh: 28.5″

BMI: 40.4

Like I said, I’ll only be doing measurements about once a month, but weigh-in/check in will happen every Monday. Feel free to participate and let me know how you’re doing, what you’re feeling, and generally how it’s going.

A very important part of weight loss is having a support group, and I love to talk!

Here it is, the moment of truth!

Okay, it’s not that dramatic, but in this post I will be weighing in here for the first time and you’ll get to know all my dirty little details.

Well, not all of them. Ha!

When you’re starting out, it’s good to get several numbers and not just your weight. One thing you’ll want to have is a measuring tape. I have a nice flimsy one that cost me about two dollars at the local craft shop.

If you see one, buy it. You’ll be using it in the future.

First off, you want your starting weight. I prefer to weigh myself in the mornings. You can do it any time of the day as long as you do it at the same time every day.

With that you have your first piece: Starting Weight

After you’re past week one, then you’ll follow that number with your current weight if you are keeping track of things anywhere – which I highly recommend doing.

Next you’ll want to take your measurements, which is where the tape comes in.

I measure my upper arms, my thighs, my hips, my waist, and my bust once a month. Given that there usually isn’t a lot of change in measurements very fast, once a month is about all I really care to do. You can do more or less; it’s completely your choice.

You can also measure your neck, wrists, calves, and whatever else you want, but that depends on what your big target areas are. Personally, I think what I do pretty much covers the important bits.

The last number you might be interested in having is your Body Mass Index (BMI) number. That’s pretty much the popular number people use to determine how healthy you are, but there are people who are against it. Personally, I just like it on hand.

There are a lot of sites out there to calculate it, but to make your life easier, here is one.

With all those numbers, you’re set to get started!

If you want to keep track of your weight stats on your blog/site/forum/etc, TickerFactory is just the site for you.

Hello world and hello Monday!

Hopefully we have all the site bugs sorted out so you can actually see this post…

As you know, today is Monday. What that means for me and a lot of dieters is that it’s time to weigh in.

I highly recommend setting a weigh-in day – one per week, the same day each week. No matter if you only weigh yourself on those days or whether you like to peek at the scale during the week doesn’t matter as long as you have a certain day picked out that you use to check in and record your weight.

As we all know (or will learn if you are just starting out), weight fluctuates a lot due to water intake, the temperatures outside, and even hormones. That’s why a lot of people don’t recommend looking at the scale every day and why I recommend the once a week check in.

Personally, I don’t care how often anyone checks the scale, but I’ll talk about the whole scale debate later.

Choose the day that is the start of your week, be that Friday, Monday or whatever. As long as the weigh-in is your ’start’ to the week, then you’re set. My start of the week is Monday, and I find that works for me because any fluctuations tend to happen around Friday and Saturday.

In case you were wondering, yes, I’m with you in this. I’ll be checking in every Monday no matter if I’ve gained, lost, or stayed the same. (I’ll be weighing in today on a different post.)

The thing about weighing in is that no matter how much or little you’re going to weigh in, it’ll give you a starting place. Yes, going by how you feel is good, but keeping track of the losses in pounds can help you a lot with motivation and confidence.