August 2007 Weight Loss Journal

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August 2007, Weight Loss Journal

12 August 2007

Weight: 173 (lost 27 lbs.)

BMI: 31.64

Up and down. Up and down! Why can't the numbers just go down?

Every day, the numbers are drastically different. I know that means it's mostly changes in water weight, but I still want to see lower highs and lows than I've been having.

When 2007 started I was 172. I've been hovering between 174 and 168 all year. In 2006, I lost 28 lbs. In 2007, my goal was to lose 10 lbs, but I just keep losing and regaining the same 5 lbs. I would definitely call this the plateau year.

I'm officially blaming the plateau on my lack of muscle building workouts. I've been doing strength training, but I haven't been lifting weights much this year. Not like last year. Last year I was working toward muscle building every day. I tracked my workouts religiously. I did my workouts while I talked on the phone, worked on my computer, and watched television. So, duh, I should start using weights again. It will probably make a difference. It's the advice I give other people all the time: "If you plateau, then start building muscle." I just haven't been taking my own advice.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to look on the bright side.

Hovering between 174 and 168 is much better than hovering between 200 and 210, or 190 and 195, or 183 and 178. At least my body seems to be comfortable at a lower weight than it used to be.
At least I can jog now. I could do that when I started. I could barely walk when I started. Now I walk 3 to 4 miles on an average walk. I can also ride my bike without huffing and puffing.
I don't have to shop in the fat lady section anymore. (Some people call it plus size, some people call it women's, I call it the fat lady section.) I don't have to wear anything that includes extra or X or 2X in the size label. I'm just a plain ol' large now, size 14, and that's much easier to shop for. My size 20 and 18 clothes just hang off of me now, and they used to be tight.
I don't feel so tired all the time (except when I'm sick or hormonal).
Photographs of me don't make me cringe like they used to.

OK, now that I have a little warm, happy feeling about the progress I've made, I just have to keep reminding myself that I made that progress by weight lifting EVERY DAY and doing some sort of cardio EVERY DAY. I've been doing fine on the nutrition part. I eat healthier than anyone I know. (I'm a vegetarian who eats about 30 grams of fiber per day, drinks soy milk, and consumes lots of anti-oxidant and flavanoid rich foods.) I just need to switch my focus to muscles, muscles, muscles.

12 August 2007

So this week I went camping.

Prior to the camping trip, I was 172 lbs. I weighed myself this morning... 176! I gained 4 lbs. on my camping trip.

I love camping, but as fun as camping with kids is, it's also very stressful. As soon as I got home, I ate and ate and ate just because of pure stress. On top of that, camping is a diet nightmare for my weight loss efforts.

My daily routines disappear.
Long car rides = lots of time for snacking.
I'm surrounded by food the entire time. (In an RV the living room is also the kitchen. In a campsite, everything within view of the campfire or BBQ is also the kitchen.)
Lots of salty snacks. (My big hope right now is that the majority of the weight I gained is water from all the salt I consumed.)
We ate out twice, and the portions were huge, huge, HUGE.
I was feeling very stressed out by several situations (my daughter had to go to the dentist for emergency tooth extraction for an abscessed baby tooth; she and her bike also rolled off the road and into a deep ditch filled with thorny cane berries; there was an injury at least every hour; my kids are going through yet another whining phase; it was pouring rain for two days straight, so the kids were going crazy with boredom; I have a fear of mountain lions and bears, and there were warning signs about them everywhere; I kept having nightmares; I kept getting sinus headaches from whatever junk the people in a nearby campsite were burning; the water was rather icky tasting, so I kept putting lots of sugar in my tea to cover up the taste; yadda yadda yadda).

I love camping. Love it. LOVE IT! It triggers me to eat, though, and I need to figure out how to deal with trigger situations. I think I just need to plan for them more.

OK, back home on a new day. It's time to start monitoring my diet and making time for exercise.

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