for real this time

So after I wrote about how I was going to jump back into Weight Watchers with both feet and a renewed vigor for toting up points, I… well… I didn’t. I was ready, kind of. But then I scraped acoustic popcorn off the ceiling in my office and painted stripes on the walls and it was so much work, how could I exercise on top of that? And if you’re not exercising, eating less is a pathetic half-assed dietary attempt to make you feel like you’re doing something even when you’re not. Or so I told myself. And then vacation came along and Irvine and… well… I left my Nordic Track at home and temporarily lost my points-counting bible and… well…

I’m back. Again.

I figure it this way: if something is hard, you often have to try a number of times, ramming your bike into the wall, falling in a tangle of spokes and legs, getting up to try again. And then it clicks in your head and you’re pedaling along and it feels right and true and you keep going, at least to the end of the block and back. And then maybe you have to take a break but when you get back on the bike, it’s easier than it was last time.

Besides, what’s the point of beating myself up? It doesn’t change anything. And it’s much easier to do this in a good mood.

So I started again this week. Not counting calories or Weight Watcher points, though I may pick that up in a week or two if this non-food-log method doesn’t work out for me. Right now my plan is:

Exercise: Do at least 20 minutes on the Nordic Track (working up to 40) three to six times a week. Do free weights every other day. Add ab crunches and push-ups in the next two weeks.

Food: Eat less. Eat healthier. Weigh and measure food when appropriate. Watch portions. Eat lots of fruit and veggies. Lots and lots and lots. And lots.

Keeping track: This blog. I’ll post here once a week, on Saturdays. I’ll tuck it behind a “more” button so you don’t have to read it if weight loss blogs bore the crap out of you, though I do hope to talk about more than the bare facts of how I did. I’d create a new blog but there’s a limit to how many different personal sites one woman can handle, y’know?

So there it is.

Current facts:

Weight (yes, I’m going to admit my weight): 153 lbs. Down one pound from last Saturday, so good. I’m perfectly happy with a single pound a week, as long as the trend is in the right direction. Down fourteen pounds from my high last summer of 167. Up ten pounds from my lowest weight this past winter (143 lbs). So it goes. It was a tough spring. No regrets. Goal weight: 125 lbs. To lose: twenty eight pounds. Deadline: none. I’m just gonna do it, is all.

Exercise this week:

Nordic Track four times. First time: 18 minutes. Second time: 20 minutes. Third time: 10 minutes. (What? I was tired!) Fourth time: 23 minutes.

Weights three times. I did two sets of each one and approximately 12-15 reps each set. Well, I didn’t do two sets yesterday. My knee started to hurt. Gotta watch that. And wrap it. I lifted twenty pounds for the one-handed exercises (standing row, I think it’s called, and one other). Forty pounds for the squat. Twenty in each hand, you see. I like consistency, it makes things easier.

Eating habits this week: Well, I ate. Yes. And it was good. Yes. And it did include veggies for dinner every night. Also chocolate bread pudding Thursday night at our favorite seafood restaurant. Yum.

Next report: Saturday July 31st.

Funny thing, I think I started this weight loss regimen last July, right around this time. I think that bodes well, don’t you?

Oh, and if you feel like it, feel free to leave your stats in the comments every Saturday, keeping me company in a kind of mini-Weight Watchers style dialogue. But It’s also okay if you don’t. I’m doing this because of my own need for accountability. If one or more readers do it with me that’d be awesome but it’s not strictly necessary.

Posted by Tamar at July 24, 2004 10:34 PM