Hiatus and Maintenance

Ok! Hubbo and I are about to leave for our vacation, which means this will be my last post until June 2nd. Wish me luck!

The unofficial goal of being at under 210 lbs by the time we leave has been met: I am 209 lbs this morning. My new unofficial goal – for vacation – is not to gain more than 3.5 lbs while we are gone. I think I can do it.

We are bringing a cooler with healthy snacks in it, and a ton of fruit/nuts/etc. This should make snacking on good stuff throughout the day easier so I won’t overeat when we go out to places that may not have SBD-friendly foods. My philosophy is this: I am on Phase III for a week. Phase III is the maintenance stage where nothing is expressly forbidden, but good decision-making is key. I’m not “off the diet” while we’re gone, because the diet is a “way of life,” and all that we’ve heard a million times before – I’m just moving to the maintenance stage and hoping it does what it says and I don’t gain a bunch back.

Plus, we will be walking all the time while we’re gone.

I do not want to see any number above 212.5 when I return. That is what I’m shooting for!

Phase II, Day 25: Encouraging Progress

I am back on the boat, baby!

This morning I was down another half-pound, putting me at a new low of 208.5 lbs. This is so encouraging to me! When I saw I lost 1.5 lbs in a day yesterday morning, I was worried it wasn’t legit and I’d yo-yo back up a bit again today. But the pounds are still moving in the right direction – downward!

I know, I know. I never cease to be encouraged and excited about the littlest losses. Just 0.5 lbs and I’m all a-twitter. But after a week of not really losing anything at all, it just motivates me to see the pounds continue to come off. But then again, I guess that’s really good. I don’t have the problem most people have – feeling that their weight-loss is too slow. I actually think it’s progressing quite rapidly. I may not have to buy a new wardrobe yet, but the numbers don’t lie and the clothes I do have fit a whole lot better now. Time seems to be flying in general for me – can anyone else just not believe it’s going to be June? – so I guess I just don’t feel like it’s going to be too long before it’s next spring and I have lost 70 lbs.

So yes: I still feel great about the South Beach Diet. It is working, and I know I’m getting a lot healthier, and there’s nothing else I could ask for.

Phase II, Day 24: Reclaiming my Goal

New low of 209 lbs this morning. That’s down 1.5 lbs from yesterday.

Geesh. See what happens when I don’t cheat and I quit carrying water-weight around in my uterus?

I’m glad to see this loss, finally. I knew I didn’t deserve a loss for the weigh-in yesterday because I fell off the wagon so badly, but seeing the weight come off is the biggest motivator to continue faithfully with the diet foods. It was hard not to cheat yesterday, and I really came thisclose to having a candy bar. But I was good (Mocha Ricotta Creme satisfied my chocolate craving instead) and it paid off.

Huzzah!

Oh, and by the way: I went bathing-suit shopping in preparation for the va-cay the other day. Yes, I am still over 200 lbs and by no means have a “beach body,” but I was surprised that I am much more comfortable with my upper thighs than I have been in years. I am surprised about this because I still weigh more than I did at this time last year, and I have some pictures of myself in my bathing suit back then. Yuck! But I guess it’s not all about weight-loss; sometimes it’s about weight-redistribution. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is: I didn’t buy a bathing suit that has boyshorts or a skirt on the bottom to help cover my giant thighs. They are still bigger than I want them, and jiggly, but they are by no means unsightly (in my opinion, at least) anymore.

Wednesday Weigh-In #5

I did not lose weight this week, though I did manage to lose some fractions of an inch. But I did not gain either, and I count that as a victory.

I know that I didn’t make good decisions this week. I started off well most days (except for Sunday with the hash browns), but I had cheated at least once by the end of almost every evening. It was moderate cheating, but it was very cultural and hard to resist. By “cultural” I mean that it all started with the Juevos Rancheros – the meal served with hash browns on Sunday morning. I also mean, for instance, that over at a friend’s house on Friday night, I did try to snack mostly on fruit, but of course we had some chips and salsa and a quesadilla (on whole wheat tortillas!) also. I also mean that a good friend’s birthday was Monday night, and although I had purposely left some calories to spare, I went a little overboard by ordering a Dos Equis and a Mexican pizza the restaurant called a quesadilla. (Who fries a quesadilla? Honestly.) And finally, my family wanted to go out for barbeque last night. I tried to order one of the healthier sandwiches on whole wheat, but it was a no-go, so I wound up getting a salad. The problem was I knew that salad wasn’t enough for me, so I had a kid’s-meal-sized beef & been burrito (flour tortilla) afterward.

Oh, Mexican food, I love and hate you so.

So considering all of the above, and that I’m quite crampy and PMSing right now, yes, I am proud that I did not gain. I also know that if I just stick to it, I can continue to lose. The diet did not fail me; I failed the diet. This means I can control whether or not this happens again.

With 47 weeks left to my goal date of April 14, 2009, I have 60.5 lbs left to lose if I want to be at 150. My average now needs to be 1.29 lbs lost per week. So far on Phase II, my average weight lost per week is 1.17 lbs, which means that this week cannot be repeated.

Here are the numbers:

Starting Weight: 226.5 lbs
Last Week’s Weigh-In: 210.5 lbs
Current Weight: 210.5 lbs
Weight Lost This Week: 0 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 16 lbs

Starting Waist: 45 in
Last Week’s Weigh-In: 40.5 in
Current Waist: 40 in
Inches Lost This Week: 0.5 in
Total Inches Lost: 5 in

Starting Hips: 47 in
Last Week’s Weigh-In: 45 in
Current Hips: 44.5 in
Inches Lost This Week: 0.5 in
Total Inches Lost: 2.5 in

Phase II, Day 21: Stalled

It was a pretty busy weekend for Hubbo and me, so apologies for the lack of blogging. Anyway, there is not a whole lot to report. Right now I am at 210 lbs, so I am still hanging out right around the same weight that I’ve been at all week. At least I haven’t gained anything.

I’m feeling ok about the weight loss (or lack thereof) this week, but I am finding it harder every ay not to cheat. It used to be really easy not to break the diet, but for some reason I’m feeling so tempted recently. I keep telling myself that if I just make it one more week I will have plenty of cheat foods while I’m on vacation (have been trying not to cheat before the trip because I know I will make lots of bad decisions there), but it’s difficult. I’ll get this feeling that I just really, really want something (a cookie, Chinese food) and it won’t go away. Yesterday morning, I ate an order of hash browns.

So yes, I have been caving in more recently. Luckily it hasn’t been too terrible and hasn’t really affected my weight that much, but it’s just hard to stay on track right now. It’s been over four weeks and so I think the diet is losing its luster.

Hopefully when I come back from vacation I will have satisfied all my cheat-desires and can begin again with renewed passion. (If I don’t have renewed passion, I’ll be in trouble, as I intend to do a bit of Phase I again when I get back!) Also, once I’m back on Phase II, the C25K training will start, and I am going to be building in a cheat meal (not a cheat day) once every week or two so I don’t get to this place of feeling completely overwhelmed by my desire for non-diet foods.

Still 16.5 lbs lost this morning, so I’m still happy. Hopefully I will shed another half-pound tonight to be back at 209.5 for the weigh-in, but if I don’t, I’m not super-concerned.

Phase II, Day 18: Goal #4 Achieved

I made it to 209.5 lbs this morning. That’s 17 lbs lost total. Rockin’.

Anyway, Hubbo and I went on our weekly “date” last night and ate at Chili’s. I was really good! I found this really helpful nutritional info chart on their website (first link takes you to a .pdf of the file) and I decided what I would have before I went. For those who are curious – or just living vicariously through my diet meals – I had the Guiltless Black Bean Burger on a Whole Wheat Bun. It comes with a side of steamed veggies, and I also ordered a salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing (it’s actually lower in calories than some of their vinaigrettes!) I also allowed myself a Diet Coke. The whole thing was fairly delicious, I must say, but the best part was that we both ate for $21 not including tip.

Now, some of you are out there thinking, “Wow, she eats a lot for being on a diet.” And yes, my dinner last night did turn out to be somewhere around 750 calories. But I think it’s important that I share something with you – especially those of you who read this blog because you’re considering going on the South Beach Diet yourselves.

After this crazy rant of a post wherein I discovered I might actually have been inadvertently starving myself, I started upping my calorie intake. Now, I don’t know about everybody else’s bodies, but 1200 calories a day just did not do it for mine. I stopped losing for a good week.

The thing is, I didn’t really feel that hungry. I was still eating throughout the day; it’s just that all the things I was eating were so low-calorie that it didn’t add up to much. Using my-calorie-counter to compare my calorie-intake with my weight loss, I’ve discovered that my body actually needs me to eat between 1450 and 1700 calories a day in order to lose weight. On days when I don’t hit 1400, I gain. Now, I’m not a doctor, so don’t take this as any medical advice or anything; I’m just telling you what’s worked for me.

As a result, though, I have to be very careful to monitor what I eat and what I don’t throughout the day. When we decided to go to Chili’s last night, for example, I decided what I wanted and tallied it in. At that point, I realized that just ordering the Black Bean Burger, if I got it on whole wheat, would not do it for me, and I found a salad and some salad dressing to add as well.

I don’t want to sound preachy with this at all, because I’m obviously a compulsive eater who is struggling with her weight as much as anybody out there. But I’m going to say the terrible thing that all of us compulsive eaters hate to hear, and I’m going to say it because it’s true: be conscious of what you’re eating and what your body needs you to eat. If you pay attention to what you put in your mouth and listen to your body’s responses, you will succeed.

I’m not trying to get all intuitive eating on anybody, and in fact, here is a fabulous post I found the other day that voices my true (negative) opinion of that idea. But if you track what you eat and watch what the scale does after you eat it, you are sure to notice some trends and be able to place limitations on yourself that are proper for you.

And to end with something completely cliché, please remember: every body is different!

Phase II, Day 17: Holding Steady

No gain, no loss this morning, so that’s encouraging. Usually after I hit a low I start creeping my way back up on the scale for a few days again, so hanging out here at the 210.5 marker is ok with me.

However, I have the worst stomachache in the world right now. I feel totally nauseated and gross. I don’t know how I’m going to get myself to choke down any breakfast, though part of me does feel slightly hungry.

I guess I will just have some tea and find something bland (I knew that oatmeal would be good for something) to eat with it.

Wednesday Weigh-In #4

Well, today officially marks the end of week four and the last day of my first month on the South Beach Diet. I can’t believe a month has already gone by!

With 48 weeks left to my goal date of April 14, 2009, I have 60.5 lbs left to lose if I want to be at 150. That’s right, this morning I weighed in at 210.5 again. I will get there if I lose an average of 1.26 lbs per week. Thus far, my average weight per week lost (on Phase II) is 1.75 lbs. If my math is correct, continuing at that rate, I will reach my goal in 35 weeks, or January 14, 2009.

Here are the official stats:

Starting Weight: 226.5 lbs
Last Week’s Weigh-In: 212.5 lbs
Current Weight: 210.5
Weight Lost This Week: 2 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 16 lbs

Starting Waist: 45 in
Last Week’s Weigh-In: 40.5 in
Current Waist: 40.5 in
Inches Lost This Week: 0 in
Total Inches Lost: 4.5 in

Starting Hips: 47 in
Last Week’s Weigh-In: 46 in
Current Hips: 45
Inches Lost This Week: 1 in
Total Inches Lost: 2 in

Phase II, Day 15: Cheaters Never Win

Well, you’ll all be glad to know that I did in fact successfully re-board the wagon yesterday. I didn’t have a single cheat food yesterday and I got back down to 211.5 this morning. Hopefully the trend will continue in the right direction for the weigh-in tomorrow.

Also, I just have to mention the absolutely delicious lunch I made myself yesterday. I made a “pizza” on a whole-wheat tortilla. Pesto sauce, some reduced-fat mozzarella, bell pepper, and mushrooms. It was fabulous! I was still satisfied by it several hours later.

I share this with you because I think it’s important to find “diet-acceptable” foods that we really like, not just ones that we’ll deal with for the time being. To be truthful, while almost all the stuff I’ve been eating on the diet has been ok, I haven’t come across a ton of things I would say I could necessarily crave. This pizza was one of the exceptions, as is the Lemon Couscous Chicken. The way I see it, the more healthy foods I can find that I really love, the less likely I am to be tempted to eat things I know aren’t good for me just for the taste. And the more likely it is that this will actually be the “lifestyle change” it should be, not just a temporary trend.

Phase II, Day 14: The Wagon

The other night I came to a remarkable place in my weight-loss journey. I have been writing recently about how I really felt like I was learning to listen to my body – discerning the signs of hunger and fullness and all of that. Well, I realized I was full before my plate was empty. And I stopped eating! But I also learned something strange about myself. The major emotion I was battling in forcing myself to stop was worry. The exact thought was, “If I leave this on my plate, what if I am hungry later and I regret it?”

So there you have it, folks. I eat “just in case” I might be hungry later. I eat to store up. DUH, storing up food you don’t need does not help you to not be hungry later – it only stores as fat! What an idiot am I. At least I recognized it.

Anyway, the past two days I have kind of fallen a little bit off the wagon. It wasn’t totally my fault, but I do have to take some responsibility here. One, on Saturday we took my mom out to dinner for Mother’s Day. (Not Mother’s Day, I know, but we had commitments Sunday night.) My mom and I are both on SBD, but my dad picked the restaurant. Italian, of course. I was good and didn’t have any pasta, but the only dish I could find on the menu that I could order without pasta was Chicken Parmesan. Baked, yes, but also breaded.

And last night we had planned a healthy dinner, but found the restaurant we planned to go to closed. This normally wouldn’t have been a big deal except we weren’t in our own city, so we didn’t really know our way around to find any really healthy places. We wound up at Panda Express. I only ate half my rice, but still – I ate half my rice.

Today I’m at 213 again and hopping back on the wagon.