What happened to the weighins?

Well, I haven't stopped, but there's been no change at all; I've been holding at T plus 70 and being in a holding pattern isn't really worth blogging about. In fact, I haven't really been trying at all -- it's been no real regular exercise and no change in the diet for some time. Will this change? I don't know... right now the Magic 8 Ball would probably read "Outlook not so good."

I know that I need to lose weight. I know there are health implications, especially as I age. Unfortunately, I keep seeing people who are fatter than I am and, rather than take that as a warning, I sigh and think, "well, at least I'm not that fat." Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure people look at me sometimes and think the same thing.

At any rate, I am holding steady -- I haven't gained anything yet.

Weighing in a day late.

So, I can confirm the fluctuation now... yesterday morning, I weighed in (and forgot to post) and I was T+70; this morning, for the heck of it, I checked again and was T+64. Meh. At any rate, I did want to say that the T+70 was without cycling for a week. I biked yesterday but not today (though I did get in some extra walking/outdoors time).

Still struggling with always wanting something to snack on but for the most part I am doing less snacking, I think. Tea is good, but I think it may be time to throw out some of the old flavoured teas we have stockpiled and buy some fresh.

Dining In

One of the best ways to control food intake and monitor portions is to avoid eating out. As a family, we eat out quite a lot but this weekend we kept it to a minimum -- one treat and one meal. The treat, well that was some ice cream from Ben & Jerry's (probably about 600 calories worth of a splurge, oh well). The meal was Boston Pizza; Mike and I shared a medium BBQ Chicken pizza (I figure my share was about 1500 calories. Oops). I know I could have chosen something else -- but even the salads at most restaurants are crazy high calorie. Sigh.

Lifehacker put out the question to its readers about the best items to eat from the "value menus" at fast food restaurants. My fave treat came up top of the list -- the Wendy's Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger. Then they listed the details: 310 calories, 16 grams of fat, 670 milligrams of salt. I'll bet there's plenty of sugar, too. Oh well, I'm watching Fast Food Nation right now, that should cure any fast food cravings for a while.

Weighing in and wondering.

First the weigh-in. It's up. T+72, which means I re-gained the 6 pounds I had lost and they brought a friend. So of course my inner dialog brings out the old, "but muscle weighs more than fat!" chestnut which only succeeded in reminding me that weighinwednesday needs to incorporate some other measurements -- measurements I am not yet ready to take. Of course, I also have to accept that my weight regularly fluctuates by as much as 5 lbs in any given day.

Weigh in aside, I am now wondering how I can adjust my snacking habits. I am a night snacker. When I am sitting around, even after an active day and a large dinner, I get "peckish" and start to graze. Now, I'm not as bad as I used to be but my default craving is still popcorn. Unfortunately, it's usually settled with a package of microwave popcorn coated in a horrifying butter-flavoured fat/salt slurry that I then coat with flavour toppings. Oh, now there's a side rant if ever there was one. I used to love movie popcorn for the basic butter and salt combo but then they (the theatres) added flavours and made me want them. Tangy salt and vinegar, floury sour cream and onion, eye-watering dill pickle. Stupid chemical additives. So now, I have flavour shakers at home, too. Of course I know that air-popped popcorn is hundreds of times healthier but I no longer like plain popcorn. I might as well be eating packing peanuts.

So what do do about the night snacking? I've tried smaller portions of popcorn, those flavoured rice or popcorn cakes, fruit, tea, water.... but that's just variations on a theme. I still feel the need to be shoving something into my mouth. What the hell for? Honestly, I suspect this might be the kind of thing therapy is made for.

In the meantime, I will be thinking about this, nightly.

Weighing in.

Bleary-eyed I stepped on the scale early this morning and noted the number. While it's already 6 lbs lower than last Thursday (wow!) it's still a big number: T+65.

Today is the first weekday I haven't cycled -- and yesterday I only biked one direction -- primarily this is due to the weather; I don't have decent rain gear and I really hate being pelted by little thumbtacks of rain. Maybe tomorrow I will get back on the bike. I am not too worried about not cycling on the weekends -- right now there is plenty of yard work to be done that amounts to at least a half hour of exercise daily.

Of course exercise is only half the equation -- food is the other. For now, I am just going to work on controlling some of my junk food intake and working on portion sizes. I'll get into more detail as I go.

dusting off the cobwebs...

Hey look! It's a new blog post here...

So. I'm staring down my 40th birthday and realizing my goal of "fit before 40" may not be reached. I am the heaviest I've ever been and I've slipped back into some very bad habits... plus my attempts at exercise have not "stuck." Then last week, on the exact day that I was lamenting to anyone who would listen that I still didn't own a bike "or I could at least bike to work," Mike picked me up and we bought bikes.

That was last Wednesday and on Thursday, I biked to work for the first time in years. It took me about 30 minutes. It hurt and I was bright red when I got to work but I felt better. I made it home in even better time, realizing that the work-home trip is ideal: mostly slight uphill to work, mostly slight downhill back home. Friday, I did it again and while I was pretty physically exhausted, I felt good about myself. Today, despite the turn in weather, I biked in again. I left a little extra time for myself and didn't push quite so hard.

My goal is to bike all week this week and next -- next week is Bike to Work Week in the region, too -- and see how I am doing at that point.

I am also going to start a weekly weigh-in. The plan is "weigh-in Wednesday" but I won't be putting down my actual weight or my goal weight. Instead, I will start with a T+number (target plus the number of pounds I'd like to lose which as of last week looks like about 70.) and work my way down. I don't expect to shed magical amounts of weight --I don't care if my clothes are still size XL -- but I need to be healthier.

Motivation...

Sometimes, a few well-written words is all it takes to make me want to get out there and exercise or start fishing through my cupboards and throwing out all the crappy empty-calorie foods...

Personal trainer Sonia Ulrich has written 10 fitness tips that make me want to do just that. Go read them in full at her vox blog: Fit Tips that are Actually Useful and Not Lame. Really!

Here's the recap:
1. If it feels good, do it!
2. If it doesn't feel good, don't do it!
3. Find a fitness activity and set that as your goal.
4. Everything counts.
5. Don't beat yourself up -- literally or figuratively.
6. The deleted 11th commandment: Ladies, thou shalt not "bulk up."
7. Strength training to lose weight? You bet your sweet ass!
8. Turn yourself into Maria Von Trapp, baby!
9. What should you eat? Food! Duh!!
10. You don't have to change, just be aware.

The recap is more for my reference; do yourself a favour and read them in full.
.