Food and Weighing

It's not Wednesday.  I barely know what day it is.  It's been a crazy week.  Today is my Friday though and I have a four day weekend in my sights.  It's going to be glorious.  I.  CAN.  NOT.  WAIT. 

In the meantime, I had totally hit a weight loss plateau.  I'd been stuck at 239 for what seemed like forever, just bouncing back and forth.  No real change.  It was driving me craaaazy.  So, this week I decided to cut down on the carbs.  And, magic!  I'm down to 236.  I know, three pounds isn't a lot, but apparently it's enough that I'm okay just typing the numbers and not typing them tiny.  So, we're definitely getting there.

What is low carb looking like for me?  Glad you asked.  Here's my typical day:
Breakfast:  A couple of eggs, usually microwave scrambled.  And some fruit.
Morning snack:  An ounce of cheese, cheddar currently.
Lunch:  Lettuce salad with leftover meat from dinner.  A piece of fruit.
Afternoon snack:  Lightly salted almonds and dried cranberries.
Dinner:  Meat and two veggies.

So, not exactly low carb since I'm still eating fruit.  But I swear fruit is what's keeping me happy.  I looooove sweets.  And fruits let me feel like I'm eating sweets while still staying healthy and keeping on track.

I'm not usually one to really eat bread because for the most part I can't eat commercially produced bread so that's no big loss.  We do tend to have potatoes, pasta, or rice throughout the week but I've made sure to swap those for an extra veggie and haven't really missed them at all.  I try to make sure it's an especially tasty veggie -- last night it was the Green Giant Broccoli & Cheese.  The other day it was roasted broccoli.  So, summer delish.

What do you do when you hit those dang plateaus?  Any good tips?

Monday Monday

I mentioned I've enjoyed shopping my closet.  Over the weekend I did a massive session of shopping my closet again and getting things taken in or weeded out.

My mom came to visit and she is an amazing seamstress.  She was able to take in three pairs of pants and four shirts.  Fantastic!  One pair of pants and one shirt she took in 6 inches each!  Crazy!  Some of my clothes I put on and my mom completely laughed at how giant they were.

One pair of black dress pants that I put on, by the time I got to the end of the hall had completely fallen off.  Ridiculous!  Those were the pair she took in six inches.  And I had another pair of pretty nice black/white plaid pants from the Gap that were baggy and awkward, looked totally like old man pants.  Now thanks to my mom's tailoring they fit super well!

My husband and dad did some home improvement projects and spent probably less than $30.  I kept telling my hubby how much money I was saving by having clothes taken in.  He just kept eyeing the giant bag of clothes I have sorted out to take to Goodwill.

I'm going to do a little low carb for the next couple of weeks to see if I can get over this stupid plateau.  I've been stuck for a minute and it's so frustrating.

Why Water Works

I mean seriously.  Water is the best thing in the world for weight loss.  During the week all I drink is water.  Okay, let's be honest, in the morning I have one cup of coffee on my way to work and then it's water all the way.  Weekends, less so.  I still drink water, but not nearly as much as I should.  There's more coffee.  There's more wine.  And less water.  And it shows on the scales.

Yesterday morning I weighed myself sure that I would've lost.  I'd eaten healthy all weekend.  Exercised both days.  And yet, somehow I had gained.  Ug, so not cool.  I was complaining to a co-worker and she says "How much water did you drink."  Duh!  Of course.  So yesterday I made sure I was extra conscious of how much water I drank, 3 quarts to be exact.  And I weighed myself again this morning, back to my low weight of last week.  There may have been dancing.

So, how do I get all this water drank?  It's really easy to me.  I have a mini fridge in my office at work.  I keep a 2 quart jug of water in my fridge and a straw cup on my desk to keep filled.  I try to make sure I have 2 quarts drank by the time I leave work on the afternoon.  I drink another 16oz on the way to the gym.  And usually another 16oz after that.  At that point I quit measuring but I drink another couple of 12oz glasses usually in the evening.  So that's awfully close to a gallon of water.  And it helps.  A lot. 

So I'm totally sold on water.  And I don't buy fancy bottled water.  Just straight tap water that I chill.  I think it tastes better cold and your body has to work harder to process it when it's cold.  I'm going to start keeping a 2 quart jug in the fridge at my house too so that I get my water in on the weekends.  When I don't have water it's way too tempting to run to Sonic and grab a cherry limeade and I'm trying to avoid drinking my calories.

Shopping my Closet

One of the best things about losing weight is that I've kept a lot of my skinnier clothes.  That means every few weeks I go through and try on clothes that haven't fit in years.  So it's really allowed me to save a lot of money and feel great about putting on clothes that haven't fit for a while. 

Today for some reason I decided to tackle the skirts.  Maybe it's because it's finally starting to feel like spring.  I'm going to have to do something about my shockingly white legs before I wear too many skirts though.  They are truly terrifying. 

But, in the sake of honesty.  And really because I was damn proud of myself I took pictures of all the skirts that actually fit.  I've successfully seriously expanded my spring wardrobe for free!  I just threw on a tank top to try on all the skirts with.  And my hair is a disaster since I've been at the gym today.  Also, taking pictures in the mirror never really turns out the best but at least pictures can't really get much more unflattering...

 

Black skirt (Target, Mossimo) size 18.  I bought this back when my husband and I first started dating and I had a regular office job.  Not my favorite.  It may go in the discard pile.

 

Brown skirt (Lane Bryant) size 20.  It's a little spacious.  Pretty spacious actually.  But I think it looked pretty cute on.  I may keep this and wear it for a while.

 

White skirt (Tommy Hilfiger) XL.  Holy geez this skirt is old.  I've had it for, um eight years.  I'm not sure it's super flattering but my husband likes it.  I've seen old pictures of myself wearing it and I'm just not convinced it's flattering.  Also, it matches my legs.

 

Pink polka dot skirt (New York & Co.) size 18.  This is also old and is from maybe seven years ago?  I'm kind of liking it though.  Maybe.

So, I left my closet shopping feeling pretty good about myself.  I tried on a couple of others before I started taking pictures.  A grey and yellow flowered skirt from Old Navy that I'm just not sure the length is great.  And a white embroidered skirt from Lane Bryant that I bought in college and I'm pretty sure looks like a tea towel that my mom would make so I think that goes in the "No" pile.

Weigh-In Wednesday

Let's get some order going on up in here.  My whole goal is going to be to keep myself accountable.  So, I'm going to whip up a little weekly plan for the ole blog.
Move It Monday:  what exercise have I done in the past week that I loved or hated?  Did I meet my FitBit steps goals?
Tuesday:  I got nothing.  I'm open to suggestions...
Weigh-in Wednesday:  okay, here's the moment of truth kiddies, I'm going to snap a picture of my scale.  And I'm keeping it real.  The number is not pretty but hopefully that's going to motivate me to keep going.
Treadmill Thursday:  how's that running going?  An honest answer to how my attempts at running are each week.
Food Friday:  let's be honest.  I love to eat.  Food is delicious.  I'm trying to make my favorite recipes healthier.  So I'll share recipes, both my own and others that I've found.

So, for the very first Weigh-in Wednesday...  I didn't think of this until part way through the day and I'd already weighed myself and then eaten food so...  So, today it's just a number.  239.  Can I whisper that please?  But guys, it's so much better than it was and I feel so proud of that.  So I'm okay with it.

And for fun, a picture post-workout.  Okay, after I'd driven home and quit sweating...

I feel like my face is starting to look skinnier.  And I put on a pair of jeans yesterday that I wore the day I bought my wedding dress.  I could finally tell a difference in how I look.

40 Days

Today is the beginning of Lent.  Many people give something up for Lent, often something that they see as a sacrifice to give up.  In college I gave up fast food and pop for the 40 days.  And then Easter Monday I ate Taco Bell, it wasn't pretty.  Anyway.  The closer we've gotten to those 40 days this year, the more I have thought about what I want to give up.

And I think I want to switch it up a little.  I'm giving up a couple of things and replacing them with something else.  So I'm saying goodbye to social media -- no Facebook, no Pinterest, no Instagram.  I spend way too much time on social media.  And it's just a waste of time.  I'm not accomplishing anything.  It doesn't leave me feeling improved.  I miss out on time I could be spending with my husband because I'm busy checking out other people's lives.  Not worth it. 

I'm also kissing sweets goodbye.  Man, I love my sweets.  But they're gone until after Easter.

And to continue the trend of bettering myself through the Lent season, I'm going to exercise in some manner every day.  Not necessarily the gym, even though I try to do that six days a week.  But maybe even just a quick workout at home.  After all, 40 days is a pretty short commitment when you think about it.

I'm pretty excited about the next 40 days.  Well, I'm not really excited about giving up social media, but I know it will be good for me.

I was even up a few minutes early this morning to get a quick little work out in to start the day.  Nothing major at all, just some squats, push ups, leg lifts, calf raises, lunges, and sit ups.  I didn't (or I'm not yet...) really miss those extra 15 minutes of sleep.  And I feel more energetic than usual.  So hopefully that can become a daily habit.

Move It, Move It

I got back to the gym on Saturday.  My gym offers "Try It" classes every six weeks before a new session of classes start.  My friend and I decided we wanted to try Zumba.  I thought it was going to be a complete beginner class and that we'd been fine.  Um, not so much.  We lasted like five minutes before we looked at each other in horror and left.  Since we were already at the gym, we decided we might as well knock out some regular cardio.  I jumped back on the exercise for the first time in almost a month.  It was fantastic.  I still broke out some, enough that my husband freaked out, but nothing a little Benadryl couldn't fix.

I planned on getting back to working out every day on my way home from work this week.  Monday I had meetings though and had to go to the grocery store so I didn't make it.   But yesterday my butt was back at the gym.  Oh man, I didn't realize how much I had missed the gym.  I did a mile on the treadmill and then biked about 10.5 miles.  I felt great.  And even better, no hives! 

So, I'd like to say I'm officially back in the groove.  My gym bag is sitting behind my desk in my office.  I'm pretty excited about it.  And I'm hoping to start a new 30 Day Challenge here in the next couple of days for a little extra work out on top of my regular hour at the gym.  And I'm looking for a new 5K to sign up for.  I want to try running again, maybe on Monday.