Every week, on Monday afternoon, I think (something like) the following to myself:

Oh, I’ll have time later this week to sit down and write up my thoughts on how this whole weight-loss thing is going. I’ll write about how much I love this whole dance exercise thing, in detail, and how the myfitnesspal.com has really helped me understand how to pay attention to what food goes into my mouth, and why I should be a little more choosy in that respect.

But then work and life happen, and I run out of time. But I am super happy with how this new routine is going, and these tools are seriously helping me figure out how to change my life for the better. One day, I will go into detail about what seems to be working for me, because I am nothing without details.

Anyway, so here is my extremely brief weight loss check-in (which, by the way, is all kinds of awesome!)

4/18/11 (AM)
Weight: 134 (last week – 135.4 lbs.)
BMI: 24.67 (l.w. – 24.91)
Waist: 32″
Hips: 39.5″
Thighs: 41.5″

Change since last weigh-in:
Weight: loss of 1.4 lbs
BMI: loss of .24
Waist: no change
Hips: no change
Thighs: no change

Total
Total Weight Loss: 4.5 lbs.
Total BMI Loss: .81
Total Inches Lost in Waist: .5″
Total Inches Lost in Hips: 0″
Total Inches Lost in Thighs: .5″

Progress on goals was split about 50/50 on Win/Fail, so I’m just going to leave it at this: I need to do better next week, but I’m reasonably pleased with my progress so far.

…and then life got in the way.

Work, birthday parties, juvenile delinquent toddlers and about 80 other obligations (and maybe a little laziness) prevented me from working out every day and blogging about it. Like today, with work and trying to get in my hour exercise, I didn’t have time to write everything I want to about my amazing experience this week (hence the whole “no picture” thing).

I do want to say, though, that I have found the only way that my body seems to be able to shed pounds…by eating less and exercising more.

No shit, right?

I started using myfitnesspal.com to track what I eat, and realized just how many calories I was consuming everyday that I would never burn off sitting in front of my computer. So, I watched what I ate, cut out some of my favorite junk food and drinks, and got off my butt as much as I could. I exercised with the Just Dance 2 game four nights last week, and it made such a huge difference.

For the first time in forever, I lost most than one pound in a single week! And, even more amazing, I am now just barely into the range of normal BMI for my height. Yes, you read that right…NORMAL! I am thrilled, although I don’t want to do too much celebrating too quick, as I’m sure that is the fastest way to make myself gain a pound in a day (besides eating birthday cupcakes, eh).

4/18/11 (AM)
Weight: 135.4 (last week – 137.3 lbs.)
BMI: 24.91 (l.w. – 25.27)
Waist: 32″
Hips: 39.5″
Thighs: 41.5″

Change since last weigh-in:
Weight: loss of 1.9 lbs
BMI: loss of .36
Waist: no change
Hips: no change
Thighs: no change

Total
Total Weight Loss: 3.1 lbs.
Total BMI Loss: .57
Total Inches Lost in Waist: .5″
Total Inches Lost in Hips: 0″
Total Inches Lost in Thighs: .5″

I have to say that I feel pretty good about my progress on my goals from last week, and I believe that I’m going to stick with them again for this week. If all goes well, we may be stepping it up a bit next week.

New Goals

1. Log every single thing I eat and drink on myfitnesspal.com account, every single day this week, as well as all of my exercise

I totally rocked this one. Honestly, I think it made a huge difference. Not only did I log everything, but seeing how many calories were in the foods that I wanted to eat really made me think before scarfing down junk.

2. Start eating a healthy breakfast everyday and make sure that easy, junk food meals only happen twice a week (absolute maximum!)

Well, I didn’t do as well on this one, unless you count a cup of coffee as a healthy breakfast. In my defense, I don’t think I’ve regularly eaten breakfast since I was…I don’t know, in high school? So, a few days this week, I ate a granola bar for breakfast, which was huge for me, since I have always hated granola and never liked eating anything before 11. Given that information, my eating a peanut butter and chocolate chip 100 calorie granola bar for breakfast 4 of 7 days this week was pretty good.

As for not eating junk food meals, it was also a half win. We did have McDonald’s for lunch twice, but those were really the only completely unhealthy meals we had. The girls and I had sandwiches and fresh fruit for lunch most days, and we had dinners every night save one that included meat or fish and vegetables. I hate to admit it, but that is definitely a huge improvement for us.

3. Work out on the Wii (Wii Fit and Just Dance 2) for at least one hour total per day, at least six days this week (and keep track!)

I almost made this goal. I worked out Monday and Tuesday nights for more than an hour and a half each night. Wednesday was a little more than an hour. Thursday and Friday ended up being lost to Pinterest and work, respectively. I managed to work out for almost an hour and a half Saturday night, even after being exhausted from the day trip out of town to a birthday party with both of the girls. Sunday was also lost to work. So, the goal for the week was 6 hours, which I technically met. However, I know that I really need to stay with exercising every night if I’m going to keep this metabolism thing going.

4. Cut out bad/nervous habits…when I want to do it, stop, and go exercise

Eh, still working on this one. I have a ton of bad habits to shake, and progress has been slow. On a good note though, I’m making major progress on part of one of those habits. See, one of the habits I want to break is sleeping late…meaning that I want to get out of bed before the girls start screaming “MOMMY! MOMMY! WE’RE AWAKE!” over the baby monitor. Yeah, I’m a lazy POS…most days, I will stay in bed until they make me get up. The goal is to try to get up at the same time everyday, shower, get dressed, maybe workout, have my coffee and get them up at the same time. You know, a real schedule. Some progress has been made on that front, as I’ve been in bed before midnight every night (even by 11 one night!), and up before the girls twice. Hey, baby steps, people.

5. Replace all snacks with less-terrible-for-me alternatives

Except for the McDonald’s, I rocked this one, too. I got those granola bars on sale, as well as some fresh fruit and veggies and whole wheat crackers, and I’ve gone the entire week without potato chips or any of my favorite junk foods. Oddly enough, I didn’t miss them that much, since strawberries are delicious.

6. Drink schedule per day: no more than one cup of coffee, no more than one glass of Coke, no more than two glasses of sweet tea and at least 6 glasses of water

I totally kicked this goal’s ass. I had two Cokes ALL WEEK! That deserves more exclamation marks. TWO!!! ALL WEEK!!!!!! Y’all, about three months ago, there was a day where I realized I had finished almost two whole 2 liters of Coke by myself. That’s almost 4 liters of caffeinated soda, all by myself, in the roughly 17 hours that I’m awake in a day. And I went this entire week consuming about 48 ounces. I’m beyond amazed.

I’m still drinking my coffee in the morning, and I did have two glasses of sweet tea, so I’m not completely off the caffeine. But I have an emotional need for Coke, so I’m impressed. I also drank 6 glasses of water for a few days, but fell a little short of that part of the goal. I just don’t think about drinking water unless I’m working out or otherwise moving around and getting thirsty. I don’t like to sip it like I do Coke or tea. But, at least it has no calories!

So, I’m determined to post even more impressive numbers next week, and possibly a proper write-up of my experience so far (which is shaking my exercise-hating self to the core, let me tell you).

I’m kind of late with my McFatty post today, and I’m actually kind of glad.

See, because I was late today, I got to read the eye-opening words of Miss Blair, in which she describes the exact issue that I have been having lately.

Most days, I still feel skinny. I still feel like, when I put on those low cut jeans and that cute lacey tank top, I’m going to strut around the house looking like a svelte and stunning college girl. When I wear my black dress pants, feel like I’ve got a rear end that would make JLo jealous. Yet I am shocked when I see a photo of myself in those same clothes or step on the scale. My body image is totally in denial.

To add to the problem, as ol’ Blair mentioned, I lie to myself constantly about how hard I’m working to lose this weight, and I justify every little temptation enough to rationalize why I should give in. Of course, all I am doing is cheating myself out of making real progress on my goals.

Her post was so timely, because when I got on the scale this morning, I was confronted with a grave reality. I had just cheated myself out of an amazing opportunity this past week. I knew that I was going to spend all day on Sunday walking around in the hot sun, up and down hills, chugging water like there was no tomorrow. I promised myself I would not drink soda or beer while I was there, and I would totally take advantage of the positive effect that the activities of the day could have on my fitness goals for the week.

So what did I do all week prior to my trip? I snacked…I overate…and I indulged. I reasoned that it was ok to have another bowl of chips because I would spend all day walking. It was ok to stop at McDonald’s for another cheeseburger because I would sweat so much on Sunday.

I actually gained weight. GAINED. As in, added MORE weight to my body.

I ate so much and was so slack on my exercise goals last week, that spending an entire day sweating my ass off while hoofing it up and down hills in the Georgia heat and drinking gallons of water did not even cause me to lose enough to get back down to my starting weight for the week.

Ugh.

So, I am not lying to myself anymore.

Even though I still think of myself as being skinny, I am not. Even though I feel alright, and feel like my health is good enough, it is not. I am not happy with my current weight, my current appearance, and most importantly, my current state of health.

I cannot do as little as I did when I was breastfeeding and expect to lose weight. I cannot justify junk food and convenience meals that are going to be counter-productive to my goals. I cannot keep going like I’ve been going.

So, on the suggestion of several of the commenters on Blair’s post, I looked around at online tools. I decided to give myfitnesspal.com a try. Now, let me say that I have never liked the idea of counting calories, or having to keep track of everything that I eat. I honestly am terrible with remembering to do that kind of thing everyday (I could give some colorful examples here, but I won’t), so I am highly skeptical about my ability to stay on top of something like this. However, something must be done, and if there is a chance that having those numbers staring in my face yelling “HEY FATTY! Put down that damn cupcake!” will help me achieve my goal, I’m willing to give it a shot.

So, before I get into my new goals, here are the sad little numbers that I mentioned:

4/11/11 (AM)
Weight: 137.3 (last week – 137.1 lbs.)
BMI: 25.27 (l.w. – 25.23)
Waist: 32″
Hips: 39.5″
Thighs: 41.5″

Change since last weigh-in:
Weight: gain of .2 lbs
BMI: gain of .04
Waist: no change
Hips: no change
Thighs: no change

Total
Total Weight Loss: 1.2 lbs.
Total BMI Loss: .21
Total Inches Lost in Waist: .5″
Total Inches Lost in Hips: 0″
Total Inches Lost in Thighs: .5″

Now, for the goals…you already know that I blew my goals from last week big time, so I’m going to save myself the embarrassment of those details, and just suffice it to say that I did not do well at all. I am going to keep the spirit of the previous goals, but the new ones will be a bit more aggressive.

New Goals

1. Log every single thing I eat and drink on myfitnesspal.com account, every single day this week, as well as all of my exercise

2. Start eating a healthy breakfast everyday and make sure that easy, junk food meals only happen twice a week (absolute maximum!)

3. Work out on the Wii (Wii Fit and Just Dance 2) for at least one hour total per day, at least six days this week (and keep track!)

4. Cut out bad/nervous habits…when I want to do it, stop, and go exercise

5. Replace all snacks with less-terrible-for-me alternatives

6. Drink schedule per day: no more than one cup of coffee, no more than one glass of Coke, no more than two glasses of sweet tea and at least 6 glasses of water

Alright, I’ve already started on these goals today, and I’m doing pretty darn good. Let’s see how well I can keep it up, and give this whole fitness diary concept a try.

Yeah, apparently, my will power is no match for a weekend of sweets.

See, all week last week, I did great. Minimal snacking, healthy fruit and nuts for munchies and breakfast, working out almost every night on Just Dance, and generally just being awesome.

I was on track to lose another pound or two for the week, and I was excited. I was so close to the “normal” weight range that I could just taste it.

Then Friday came. And I was apparently ready to taste something else.

I ate a whole snack bag of Funions on the way to Charlotte with my ladies (while they all chatted…I stuffed my face). I did good at Ikea, having a nice helping of Swedish Meatballs and resisting the ice cream desert. Then on to the Cheesecake Factory. Oh, Cheesecake Factory, how I adore thee. The Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake is just about heaven in my mouth…but not so fun now that it’s apparently hanging out in my thighs.

Friday night, we finished setting up for the baby shower we were hosting on Saturday, and I was helping The Godmother with her baking by disposing of the “ugly ones.” You’d be surprised how many ugly ones there were once you started looking. And then we can’t forget the actual baby shower, at which I had one large cake pop and about nine red velvet whoopie pies.

So yeah, even though I exercised my butt off and was good all week, I totally caved during my weekend of fun and blew my progress all to bits.

Not that I was surprised, but when I saw the number on the Wii Fit scale this morning, I was so “blech” about the results, I didn’t even bother taking a picture.

Yeah, I know…I’m a sore loser.

4/4/11 (AM)
Weight: 137.1 (last week – 137.8 lbs.)
BMI: 25.23 (l.w. – 25.38)
Waist: 32″
Hips: 39.5″
Thighs: 41.5″

Change since last weigh-in:
Weight: loss of .7 lbs
BMI: loss of .15
Waist: no change
Hips: no change
Thighs: no change

Total
Total Weight Loss: 1.4 lbs.
Total BMI Loss: .25
Total Inches Lost in Waist: .5″
Total Inches Lost in Hips: 0″
Total Inches Lost in Thighs: .5″

Goals Shmoals

1. Make healthy recipe list (for real!) and add at least two really healthy meals to the dinner schedule

So, finally, some progress here. I’m still having trouble finding really healthy recipes that sounds good, but I did add two healthy(er) meals this week. Since we had tons of fruit in the house for the baby shower, the girls and I ate fruit for breakfast three days last week. They really loved it, seemed more excited about it than cereal, and I felt like they actually ate a little more than they do when they’re eating a fairly boring breakfast.

I also tried this recipe for a simple tomato sauce and pasta dish. It’s just whole wheat pasta and a light sauce made with olive oil, a little bit of seasoning and a can of diced tomatoes. Like I said, it’s at least healthier than a huge plate of meaty spaghetti.

2. Work out on the Wii for at least a half hour, four times
Totally rocked this. My foal for the week was a total of 2 hours, and 7,000 “burn points” on the Just Dance game. My total time was actually over three hours, and I got over 8,000 burn points. I seriously love that dancing game. I pretty much credit my workouts on that as the reason I did not gain five pounds this week, since my dietary weakness could have totally caused that.

3. Continue weeding out bad habits and replacing with exercise and other active choices. Do not back slide on nail-biting, and try to get rid of other “picky” nervous/bored habits.
Major progress on some big ones…feeling pretty optimistic.

4. Avoid snacks like the plague. One fattening junk food snack allowed every three to four days max, and only if I’ve worked out for more than a half hour that day.
BIG FAT FAIL

5. And the big one…limit myself to one serving/glass of Coca-Cola per day.
I actually did really well on this one. I may have had one day with more than one glass of Coke, but I honestly can’t remember doing it, so it might not have happened. My whole house drank more water this week, so it was a lot easier than I thought ti would be to not focus on how much I wanted a Coke. This is getting much easier.

This week, I have no excuse to not have some major progress. I don’t have any “food events” this week, and I’ll actually be spending all day Sunday strolling through the azaleas at the most beautiful golf course in the world, so it’s not like I’m going to be sitting on my butt all weekend doing nothing.

This week has got to be better. For real.