Weight Loss Week #2 In Review

SATURDAY/SUNDAY: Last weekend was a bad one. I didn't eat particularly bad things, rather I didn't slow down enough to eat but once a day. I still made that a healthy choice, but I'm sure it will affect my number drop this week. It seems it was a blur due to my hubbie working overtime on his days off. The poor guy hasn't had a day off in.....I don't even know without checking the calendar. Despite being as tired as he is, he wants this for me as much as I do - it's just remembering that during inconvenient times. I also had to take those 2 days off from the treadmill due to the blister on my right heel, but I used that time to locate my old stash of workout video (tapes and DVDs).

MONDAY: 2 miles and 50 minutes on the treadmill with hand weights and arm exercises. Blister is getting sore toward the end there. Jumped on the Soloflex and did some leg curls and extensions. Used to love doing those. Shorted myself 2 glasses of water. Dunno why, just can't get myself to drink it.

TUESDAY: I managed to get my workout in, transcribe Dr. JabberJaws (40 mins for 4 patients), and to take in my daughter's friend and her dog so that her parents could attend an out-of-town funeral. Whoo-wee. That dog barks more in 15 minutes than our dog has barked in the 6 years we've had her. It's ear-piercing. Owner said they never let it roam free and to keep it in it's crate. Yeah, well.....not if I'd like to hear myself think. I made it a spot in the back foyer with a doggie bed and it's own supplies by gating it in there on the tile floor, but the lil' bugger climbs out. When I put another gate on top of that one, he pulled it down onto himself. It's going to be a looong night with trying to get 2 yapping girls to bed on time on a school night and this dog.....how am I going to get my work done and make sure it doesn't mark it's territory inside my house? If I lock it up, even in the garage, the whole neighborhood can hear it. Shorted 2 glasses of water again. Just don't feel like drinking it.

WEDNESDAY: It was a looong night, only 3 hours of sleep. Got my work done at 4 a.m. My youngest woke at 1:30 to play with the dog. I got him back to bed, took the visiting dog out at around 2 a.m. in the rain, brought him back in, put him in the room with the girls for some peace, and came down to try to finish work. Hubbie came home at 2:30'ish and found it had crapped in the living room. At 5 a.m. we found my daughter with every light in the house on playing with this dog in the living room due to its bark. Got them both back to bed to wake at 6:30 to get my oldest off to school to find the dog had crapped again in the living room. I let hubbie grab some more sleep, etc. so that the workout today came in at around 5 p.m. Yes, the friend and the dog were still here. In fact, they weren't picked up 'til almost 10 p.m., but hubbie dealt with it all so that I can do my thing. It only ate a couple of toys, but a small price to pay for some nonbarking time, so I call them sacrifices.

Today I started my Slim in 6 program, turned the background music off and played my own. As I expected, I didn't make it through all the reps Debbie (I think that's her name) and her associates do, but I made it through. What attracts me to this program is that there are little green bubbles off to the side of the screen, as well as a timer at the bottom of the screen counting down. Each time you complete a section, a bubble disappears working its way down and you can see that timer counting down. Just when you think you can't do another rep, you think "I only have 34 seconds to go, and you do it, or at least I do. I did better than I would have had I just jumped into this 2 weeks ago instead of working a tad on my endurance and stamina on the treadmill. Overall, I'm pleased I made it as far as I did. After the Start It Up Program section, I jumped on the treadmill for only 10 minutes until my blister told me to get off. I drank all my water today, all 6 glasses. I ate breakfast and lunch together because I missed breakfast for work. I try to keep my breakfasts and lunches real low in points anyway, so figured it wouldn't be a big deal to put them together.

My Holy Crap moment of the day was when I hadn't eaten any breakfast and hubbie had prepared chicken nuggets in the oven for the kids (the visiting kid is way pickier than my daughter, which I didn't think was even possible). I caught myself wondering how often I have done this in the past, despite this being the first time in the almost 2 weeks of counting my points....I popped the 3 uneaten nuggets into my mouth rather than throw them away.....5 nuggets is 7 points I discovered upon recording them into my log. So not worth it, and in fact, making note to not buy them, even when hubbie is in charge of dinner. I had fish and asparagus for dinner at bout 9:30 p.m. and finished just as the extra child and dog were picked up. I looked really scary at that moment with my bangs in ringlets and a sweaty V on my shirt with more in all the usual places. Egads. Oh well.

THURSDAY: Again let hubbie get some extra sleep. He has a dangerous job, so I can't help but put that priority up there once in a while, despite my desperation and goals. It is 1:18 p.m. and I haven't eaten anything but a taste of scrambled eggs to ensure they were cooled off for the little one (it's his reassurance). Got my morning workload taken care of while little one ate breakfast. So I'm going to wind this up quickly and get up there and figure out what to eat. Another day of the Slim in 6 Start It Up program and I finished almost all reps, but the lunges are getting my already-sore thighs today. Afterward I hopped on the treadmill for 25 minutes and 1 mile, stopping long enough to work my, ummmm, what are those muscles called again? triceps! That's it.....Are fat people allowed to refer to their muscles by name? It feels silly to do so, but they are there. In fact, I can feel my muscles in my abdomen, biceps, triceps, and thighs again. Motivation indeed. Actually, and I know it is soon, but I feel that I look a little less "round" than I did 2 weeks ago, i.e. my silhouette.

I'm trying to not care that the scale has only moved 1/2 pound so far this week when checking it today, but not eating enough and not drinking water are probably going to contribute. The important thing is that I've worked in the workouts each day for my health. I'm also secretly hoping it has something to do with the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) phenomenon I read about. This is where your worked muscles retain fluid to protect themselves and it is temporary. I'm also reminding myself that the WW leader waaaay back the last time I was a member had told me that if you are the type of person who wants to pull big numbers to stay motivated, then working out should come later because you may not see those big numbers when working out simultaneously. At this point, I don't care if my scale reads 230 pounds when I'm done, as long as I'm wearing jeans that are 12 sizes smaller - who am I kidding, wearing jeans again period.

FRIDAY: Hubbie let me sleep in, which isn't good for the girls waiting for their work from me, so I hopped out of bed and attached myself to the computer immediately. Afterward, around 11:30'ish I had my orange-melon smoothie for 5 points (should've been only 4 points, but I bought the wrong yogurt). I also weighed myself as my computer was booting up and it says that I'm up now 1/2 pound.

WEIGH IN: Up 1/2 pound from previous Friday.

WEIGHT LOSS TOTAL: 3 1/2 pounds in 2 weeks.

REFLECTION: I can see the problems I had this week. I skipped 2 meals a day for 2 days. I put 2 meals together on a day, and I know it is better to spread them out to keep my body fueled properly. I shorted myself a couple glasses of water a few days. I had waaaay too much going on around me. I am also severely lacking in sleep. I hopped onto the scale just before writing this about 1.5 hours after my last weigh-in this morning out of curiosity -- I had a BM and hoped my number dropped with it (Admit it, you've tried this too!) You won't believe this, but the scale says another 1/2 pound up from earlier, so I'm sticking with my original weigh-in, mostly because the time frame is consistent with my usual morning weigh-in time. My muscles are really sore today, and I'm hoping DOMS has something to do with that, as mentioned previously. On the upside, I've improved my heart health 5 days this week and strengthened my muscles despite not dropping numbers.