I know, my math is off somehow. I don't know when I messed up my count, but I don't have the time or inclination to figure it out.
What I do know: I am 2.5 lbs from the finish line -- I've crossed over the last big "10" before reaching it, so the the arithmetic is pretty easy.
Even with my socks and shoes on!
Loss this week: 0.6 (as calculated by the WW weight tracker)
Lost so far: 97.5 (as calculated by goal - 2.5)
Still remaining: 2.5 (see above)
Activity points earned this week: 39
Weeks to go: 6
Monday, August 29, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Annie: weigh-in week 45
I'm reporting a loss this week from my weigh-in Monday morning, but by this morning the loss had been all but made back. It's the pattern, and I'm fine with it.
No big news this week, though I've been enjoying seeing people whom I haven't seen all summer - it's a nice confidence booster. My favourite comment so far: "It looks like the summer was good for you!"
It was, indeed. "You look 10 years younger!" was a close second.
:D
I hope to blog this week with the second half of my "figuring it out" post; just need to find some time to do the story some justice.
Loss this week: 1.5
Lost so far: 97.1
Still remaining: 2.9
Activity points earned this week: 40
Weeks to go: 7
No big news this week, though I've been enjoying seeing people whom I haven't seen all summer - it's a nice confidence booster. My favourite comment so far: "It looks like the summer was good for you!"
It was, indeed. "You look 10 years younger!" was a close second.
:D
I hope to blog this week with the second half of my "figuring it out" post; just need to find some time to do the story some justice.
Loss this week: 1.5
Lost so far: 97.1
Still remaining: 2.9
Activity points earned this week: 40
Weeks to go: 7
Friday, August 19, 2011
Annie: Figuring it out (part 1)
I am just finishing a book, Women, Food and God, which I think is going to change my life. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but there it is.
It was recommended to me by a friend I haven't seen in some time, making me think somehow Providence nudged us to meet for lunch this week, so she could share this gift with me. (If you're reading, friend, thank you.)
I'm kind of mid-revelation right now, so don't feel equipped to explain it to this blog quite yet... but I will, I promise, sooner than later.
In the meantime, I was searching Oprah.com for clips from author Geneen Roth's appearance on the show, and came across a video montage of diverse, unhappy women talking about their bodies and food -- and realized that I either have been or completely understand each one of those women.
I can't embed the video here, but if you're interested -- and even more importantly, if you feel helpless in your battle with your weight and feel like no-one understands -- click this link.
It was recommended to me by a friend I haven't seen in some time, making me think somehow Providence nudged us to meet for lunch this week, so she could share this gift with me. (If you're reading, friend, thank you.)
I'm kind of mid-revelation right now, so don't feel equipped to explain it to this blog quite yet... but I will, I promise, sooner than later.
In the meantime, I was searching Oprah.com for clips from author Geneen Roth's appearance on the show, and came across a video montage of diverse, unhappy women talking about their bodies and food -- and realized that I either have been or completely understand each one of those women.
I can't embed the video here, but if you're interested -- and even more importantly, if you feel helpless in your battle with your weight and feel like no-one understands -- click this link.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Annie: weigh-in week 44
Oh, it's so close I can smell it.
Looking at the pattern over the last few months, while it's close, I know the big number is likely at least a month away. But I can actually see it on the horizon!
This last week was a challenge because I was away from home for most of it, staying with my parents. Neither of them is a Weight Watcher, and my mother is a wonderful cook, so their kitchen is full of all kinds of "good stuff" that could have the potential to throw me off... if I were in a mental place where I could be thrown off. But I'm not, because I understand I have to live in a world full of yummy food -- something I think I'd have a harder time with if I had taken the approach of banishing all non-WW-friendly foods from my home, office and life. If the presence of cookies means you're going to eat cookies, good luck living outside your own kitchen.
My Mum went out and specifically picked up things to help me out: WW-brand bread and bagels and low-fat mayonnaise, for example. And as a reader of this blog, she kept asking "can you eat..." and then catching herself: "I'm sorry! I don't want to be that person! What I mean is, would you like..." We'd laugh about it every time, but I understood then how difficult it is to live with a Weight Watcher like me. She didn't want to say "can you eat this?" because I'd blogged previously about how that drove me nuts -- but if she said "do you eat this" or "are you willing to eat this" or some other variant of that, it would make me sound high-maintenance, which she didn't want to suggest (even though we both know it's true!).
Mum: see the scoreboard below for the fruits of your efforts. And thanks for all the yummy, Points-friendly meals, not to mention the support!
My Wendie Plan day
The last time I successfully lost weight on Weight Watchers, we followed the "Winning Points" program (this was around 2002/2003). That version of the Points program gave you a range of Points you could use each day based on your weight, and you had to eat at least the bottom of your range every day -- any Points between the bottom and the top of your range that you didn't eat each day went into a "bank" that you could withdraw (and eat) before the week ended, with some limitations. This was before there was ever a "Flex" Points bank or a "Weekly Points Allowance" -- you had to save it before you could eat it.
At that time, on the Weight Watchers online bulletin boards, there were rogue posts about the "Wendie Plan," which people used to bust through plateaux: it took the number of Points you were allowed during the week and re-distributed them so you had low-Points days with one very high-Points day in the middle of the week. The theory was that getting your metabolism out of its regular rhythm actually kicked it into gear, and people who'd tried it swore it helped them break through long loss droughts.
I think the introduction of Flex Points showed that Weight Watchers saw its value.
At any rate, this week I also did my own version of the Wendie Plan, on Wednesday. It was my last day at home, and we took out our family's favourite submarine sandwiches for lunch. Mum and I de-constructed the sandwich, and it came up to (hold on to your hat!) 28 PointsPlus! Seriously! And that was without the full-fat mayo that usually comes on it! Well, I love those subs and can't get them where I live, and it was my last day. So I decided to take advantage of my Weekly Points Allowance, which I almost never use, and my Activity Points, which I never use all of, and enjoyed every bite. The one sub took care of almost all my regular Points for the day... and then we went out to dinner. I'll spare you the delicious, gory details, but that was another 30 Points.
Did I have indigestion that night? You'd better believe it, but no guilt. I vowed not to eat any of my Activity Points or go over my daily Points allowance for the rest of the week, and kept my promise to myself -- so in the end, I finished the week with all my Weekly Points restored and a spare Activity Point left in the bank.
And a big loss - though the calendar says I might have had that coming anyway. Either way, I didn't pay for it at the scale.
The bottom line for newbies: don't let a high-Points day throw you off -- it can be part of a successful loss program. Just make sure you follow it up with a return to lower Points consumption and lots of activity.
Loss this week: 5.6
Lost so far: 95.6
Still remaining: 4.4
Activity points earned this week: 35
Weeks to go: 8
Looking at the pattern over the last few months, while it's close, I know the big number is likely at least a month away. But I can actually see it on the horizon!
This last week was a challenge because I was away from home for most of it, staying with my parents. Neither of them is a Weight Watcher, and my mother is a wonderful cook, so their kitchen is full of all kinds of "good stuff" that could have the potential to throw me off... if I were in a mental place where I could be thrown off. But I'm not, because I understand I have to live in a world full of yummy food -- something I think I'd have a harder time with if I had taken the approach of banishing all non-WW-friendly foods from my home, office and life. If the presence of cookies means you're going to eat cookies, good luck living outside your own kitchen.
My Mum went out and specifically picked up things to help me out: WW-brand bread and bagels and low-fat mayonnaise, for example. And as a reader of this blog, she kept asking "can you eat..." and then catching herself: "I'm sorry! I don't want to be that person! What I mean is, would you like..." We'd laugh about it every time, but I understood then how difficult it is to live with a Weight Watcher like me. She didn't want to say "can you eat this?" because I'd blogged previously about how that drove me nuts -- but if she said "do you eat this" or "are you willing to eat this" or some other variant of that, it would make me sound high-maintenance, which she didn't want to suggest (even though we both know it's true!).
Mum: see the scoreboard below for the fruits of your efforts. And thanks for all the yummy, Points-friendly meals, not to mention the support!
My Wendie Plan day
The last time I successfully lost weight on Weight Watchers, we followed the "Winning Points" program (this was around 2002/2003). That version of the Points program gave you a range of Points you could use each day based on your weight, and you had to eat at least the bottom of your range every day -- any Points between the bottom and the top of your range that you didn't eat each day went into a "bank" that you could withdraw (and eat) before the week ended, with some limitations. This was before there was ever a "Flex" Points bank or a "Weekly Points Allowance" -- you had to save it before you could eat it.
At that time, on the Weight Watchers online bulletin boards, there were rogue posts about the "Wendie Plan," which people used to bust through plateaux: it took the number of Points you were allowed during the week and re-distributed them so you had low-Points days with one very high-Points day in the middle of the week. The theory was that getting your metabolism out of its regular rhythm actually kicked it into gear, and people who'd tried it swore it helped them break through long loss droughts.
I think the introduction of Flex Points showed that Weight Watchers saw its value.
At any rate, this week I also did my own version of the Wendie Plan, on Wednesday. It was my last day at home, and we took out our family's favourite submarine sandwiches for lunch. Mum and I de-constructed the sandwich, and it came up to (hold on to your hat!) 28 PointsPlus! Seriously! And that was without the full-fat mayo that usually comes on it! Well, I love those subs and can't get them where I live, and it was my last day. So I decided to take advantage of my Weekly Points Allowance, which I almost never use, and my Activity Points, which I never use all of, and enjoyed every bite. The one sub took care of almost all my regular Points for the day... and then we went out to dinner. I'll spare you the delicious, gory details, but that was another 30 Points.
Did I have indigestion that night? You'd better believe it, but no guilt. I vowed not to eat any of my Activity Points or go over my daily Points allowance for the rest of the week, and kept my promise to myself -- so in the end, I finished the week with all my Weekly Points restored and a spare Activity Point left in the bank.
And a big loss - though the calendar says I might have had that coming anyway. Either way, I didn't pay for it at the scale.
The bottom line for newbies: don't let a high-Points day throw you off -- it can be part of a successful loss program. Just make sure you follow it up with a return to lower Points consumption and lots of activity.
Loss this week: 5.6
Lost so far: 95.6
Still remaining: 4.4
Activity points earned this week: 35
Weeks to go: 8
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Annie: weigh-in week 43
I'm not letting it bug me. I'm not letting it bug me. I'm not letting it bug me.
I'm letting it bug me.
Cognitively, I know this is my pattern these days... little payoff for lots of hard work for three weeks, and then a pretty decent payoff for one (sometimes two). But emotionally, it gets pretty tough by week 3 of the pattern.
This last week, I ran 23.5 km and left 28 activity points on the table, not to mention the 49 extra "Weekly Points Allowance" points I didn't eat. It makes me wonder whether I'd be losing anything at all -- or even gaining -- if I was living on the edge of the program, eating all my allowed points. I mean, how can I be barely scraping by, leaving 75+ points on the table?
I know, I know.
Let's just hope I get my reward next week.
GAIN this week: 0.3
Lost so far: 90
Still remaining: 10
Activity points earned this week: 38
Weeks to go: 9
I'm letting it bug me.
Cognitively, I know this is my pattern these days... little payoff for lots of hard work for three weeks, and then a pretty decent payoff for one (sometimes two). But emotionally, it gets pretty tough by week 3 of the pattern.
This last week, I ran 23.5 km and left 28 activity points on the table, not to mention the 49 extra "Weekly Points Allowance" points I didn't eat. It makes me wonder whether I'd be losing anything at all -- or even gaining -- if I was living on the edge of the program, eating all my allowed points. I mean, how can I be barely scraping by, leaving 75+ points on the table?
I know, I know.
Let's just hope I get my reward next week.
GAIN this week: 0.3
Lost so far: 90
Still remaining: 10
Activity points earned this week: 38
Weeks to go: 9
Monday, August 1, 2011
Annie: weigh-in week 42
The scale had me down another pound from this for three days mid-week, then up a pound and a half from this for the last two days - I was fully prepared to be up again for my report this week.
Glad to be wrong!
Not sure how my reporting will be next week - I'll be away from home. There's a scale where I'm going, but I'm not sure whether it measures light or heavy or the same compared to mine... I've no doubt I'll weigh myself because I'm a bit compulsive that way, but haven't decided yet whether to report it. Maybe I'll report and then confirm when I get home later in the week?
This week was all about perseverance; I have to admit, I'm getting tired of this. I'm all high and excited and full of motivation when the scale rewards me, but even still, now, 42 weeks in, the senseless gain/small loss weeks get me down.
Lots more work to do.
Loss this week: 1.1
Lost so far: 90.3
Still remaining: 9.7
Activity points earned this week: 38
Weeks to go: 10
Glad to be wrong!
Not sure how my reporting will be next week - I'll be away from home. There's a scale where I'm going, but I'm not sure whether it measures light or heavy or the same compared to mine... I've no doubt I'll weigh myself because I'm a bit compulsive that way, but haven't decided yet whether to report it. Maybe I'll report and then confirm when I get home later in the week?
This week was all about perseverance; I have to admit, I'm getting tired of this. I'm all high and excited and full of motivation when the scale rewards me, but even still, now, 42 weeks in, the senseless gain/small loss weeks get me down.
Lots more work to do.
Loss this week: 1.1
Lost so far: 90.3
Still remaining: 9.7
Activity points earned this week: 38
Weeks to go: 10
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