August 2011 Archive

19Aug
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A Trend In The Right Direction

Last week was all about getting my son ready to go back to school. At first, I worried that would translate into another gain on my weigh-in day, since we were so busy running errands that we ate out far more often than usual. More than once I found myself in the drive-thru lane cursing how impossible it is to eat a salad while driving, so I’d order a grilled chicken sandwich without sauce, mayo or anything else fattening. That order, apparently, is impossible for fast-food employees to understand so after the second time I opened my sandwich to find it dripping with mayo I gave up and started packing a turkey wrap made with fat-free cream cheese and veggies in a multi-grain, fat-free tortilla.

Meanwhile, I’ve started exercising daily, only I refuse to think of it as such. “Exercise” is something that has to be done vigorously, or so we’re told, and it has to be done with a constant eye toward pushing one’s self further. Until recently, we’ve also been told we’re supposed to do it an hour a day if we want to lose weight, and that skipping it for several days in a row annihilates any gains we’d made. For perfectionist-types like myself, it’s easier to just skip exercise altogether if I don’t have time for a full hour-long, hard-core workout… and the requisite shower afterward.

So, I don’t think of my time on my my beloved recumbent bike as “exercise” time. It’s TV time, thanks to my DVR. The fact that I’m pedaling an average of 12 mph — which is considered ‘moderate’ — for a half-hour, five to six days a week? That’s not exercise. It’s actually fun! And, because I didn’t go from one extreme (sitting on my fat ass all day) to another (pedaling a vigorous 14 mph for an hour a day), I haven’t been sore, and it hasn’t felt like an obligation. It’s just become part of my day, is all.

Whatever it is — exercise or TV time — it’s working. I’ve lost that 1/2 pound I’d gained, and another pound on top of it. Whee!

My next weigh-in is Sunday, though I’m somewhat concerned about it since we’re attending a benefit dinner Saturday night where we’ll be having a seven-course meal prepared by a Michelin-rated chef, along with cocktails that, as I’ve explained, make me retain water. Yes, I’ve spent the week building up my Activity Points and refusing to spend my weekly allowance points in anticipation, but seven courses? At the price we’ve paid for the tickets to this benefit, I’m not about to insult the chef AND waste our money, but even if I only take a couple bites of each course I’m sure it’s going to add up.

Weird thing: so long as I’m pedaling daily, I don’t feel so bad about that because I know it’ll come off again.

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Exercise, Weight Loss Matters
11Aug
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A Sudden Moment Of Clarity

So, I was a very, very good girl on my Weight Watchers diet last week. Or, at least, I was a good girl all the way up until Friday night when, having been productive as well as steadfast on my diet, I accepted a friend’s invitation to go out for cocktails. And, as often happens, one turned into two which were soon followed by a third and… that’s when I stopped counting.

Except my scale didn’t.

Sundays are my weigh-in day, and I was furious with myself when I saw a 0.5 pound gain. This, of course, prompted me to pick the scale up, dust it off, move it across the bathroom, and weigh myself again. Yep, still a 1/2 pound gain. So I moved it to another part of the bathroom, stood on the thing again and saw the exact same gain. Lather, rinse, repeat across various hard surfaces in my house until I had to accept — however grudgingly — that going out for cocktails was a stupid, stupid thing.

It’s not that I don’t have a few extra Points Plus to play with. It’s that my body reacts to alcohol by first dehydrating (it’s a diuretic, after all) and then holding onto water like a sponge for several days no matter how much liquid I drink to reset my system. I know this, and yet every time I go out with friends I hope this time it’ll be different. You know that saying about repeating the exact same thing and hoping the results will change? Yeah, insane. I know.

So, although I’m not willing to come right out and say I’m not going to drink anymore, because that would pretty much guarantee I’d be drinking wine straight from the bottle by dinnertime tonight, I’ve decided that for now I’m just going to decline such invitations. Out to dinner? I’m in. There are plenty of WW-friendly foods I can order. Out to a bar? Sorry, but spending the night drinking club soda while my friends pound shots of Patron really isn’t that fun. When they’re in their cups, they’re only tolerable if I am, too. (And vice versa, I’m certain.)

And while it may sound pissy to turn down such opportunities to socialize, I’d turn down invites to meet at Dunkin’ Donuts or tour a candy factory offering free samples for the very same reason. Testing my willpower is a dangerous thing; you never know when I’ll snap.

Anyway, that week’s in the past and a new one’s underway. I spent the first two days of it sick as a dog with a stomach bug. Wouldn’t it be nice if that paid off at my next weigh-in?

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Living With Fat
04Aug
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I’m Bringing Chubby Back

I wish I could say that, in the five months this blog’s been on hiatus, I’d kept up with the workout routine I’d been following, stuck with the diet I’d been on and was now rocking skinny jeans that really are skinny.

Fact is, I really did lose 38 pounds. Then I found them again. And that, in a nutshell, is why one doesn’t do mostly liquid diets: because the instant you start back on solid food, the pounds reappear, seemingly overnight.

Which is not to say that I’ve given up trying to lose weight. Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact: I’m working at it harder now than ever, only this time it doesn’t seem like work. See, this time I’m on Weight Watchers, and for the first time in my life I feel like I’m learning good eating habits. Most importantly (to my mind, at any rate), I’m not feeling constantly deprived. Unlike the Medifast diet I’d been on, I don’t have to fight my hunger urges and chew on my fingernails because I “can’t” have tempting foods. (I never did figure out the calorie count of fingernails.) In fact, if I want some potato chips I can have them… so long as I report the points and calculate it into my overall daily balance.

What a game-changer that is! No more feeling like ten potato chips just ruined my dieting efforts for the day — if not the entire week — and then going on a food binge because I’m angry with myself and tired of feeling deprived. Instead, I’ve been loading up on my fruits, veggies and scrambled egg whites throughout the day knowing that I want to save the majority of my Plus Points for our family dinner… and potato chips. Or a bowl of 94% fat-free popcorn. Or a glass of wine. In other words: this is a diet I can live with, and I love that!

Of course, now I wonder why I hadn’t tried Weight Watchers before. I think maybe it was because it just seemed so cliche. Also, I didn’t want to “do” meetings. But now that they’re doing an online only diet, I’m loving it! (Well, as much as anyone can love dieting, I guess.)

So now that I’m starting my third week of WW, it seems like a good time to reboot this blog. Hence the pretty new theme, and hence why I’m back to blogging here. As far as how often? Well, I plan to track my weekly progress and hope that by blogging here I’ll help myself stay accountable.

Now, to catch up:

WW Week #1: -3 pounds!
WW Week #1: -2.1 pounds!

I chose Sunday as my official weigh-in date to help myself stay on track over the weekend. So, if anyone’s reading this, I’ll see you Monday! In the meantime, here’s a great article on 9 surprising tips to break through a weight loss plateau. Considering the success of my first two weeks, and my past dieting history, I have a feeling I’m going to need those quite soon.

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Diets and tagged with ,