Stephany Writes

Categories: Healthy Living

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 4

weighin

This was a hard week for me. If last week was about carrying momentum throughout the week, this week was about resisting temptations and trying not to completely fall apart. (I’m slightly dramatic, yes?)

Eating healthy just doesn’t feel natural. And it’s not like I expect it to, but I had so many feelings of overwhelm come over me throughout the week. From telling myself that I didn’t need to pick up take-out for dinner, to waking up early to work out, to choosing water over soda. I had a rough start to my week, as it seemed to slip my mind that stores would be closed on Easter and, since Sunday is my grocery shop + meal prep day, it meant I had to shift that over to Monday/Tuesday. (And I do not do well with changes in my schedule. It usually makes me want to “cheat” and give up and say I’ll try better the next week.)

But I made it through the week. I didn’t give into temptation, stayed away from soda and most sweets (I think I’m realizing I don’t need sweets and even having healthy ones on hand is a trigger for me), and got in another six days of solid workouts. (You guys. I still can’t believe I am working out six days a week! I know it’s only for 30 minutes most days, while others work out for an hour+, but this is monstrous for me!)

My workouts for the week were more of the same:

Monday: Couch to 5K (30 minutes)
Tuesday: Stationary bike (30 minutes) and this killer circuit training workout (30 minutes)
Wednesday: Elliptical (30 minutes)
Thursday: Stationary bike (30 minutes)
Friday: Elliptical (30 minutes – used this workout), strength training (15 minutes)
Saturday: Couch to 5K that devolved into a walk (30 minutes), Ripped in 30 (30 minutes)
Sunday: Rest day

I’m quite pleased with my working out, though I’m still not sure how many calories I’m burning. I’m using the sensors on the workout machines but I don’t think those are very accurate. For strength workouts, I typically divide what MFP tells me the calorie burn is in half. I need a heart rate monitor, ASAP! I’m still working through week one of Couch to 5K and I’m trying to take it slowly this time around, not moving on the next week until I feel comfortable. I’m still not sure if I like running, but I wanted to add something different to my workouts. I’m going to keep it up for 2-3 more weeks, and then evaluate. I never look forward to my runs like I look forward to my gym workouts or strength workouts, though.

All in all, a great week for me! I was very nervous about getting on the scale because I weighed myself on Thursday and I was up 1.5 lbs from Saturday and that seriously bummed me out for two whole days. It’s so interesting how every ounce of work and effort and time you’ve put into weight loss comes down to those 5 seconds of waiting to see what the scale says.

What I’m trying to remind myself is that the scale won’t always reflect my work. Some weeks, I’ll lose an incredible amount for little effort, while others I’ll lose nothing, or very little, or even gain weight when I thought I put in the work. The most important thing is that I try hard. That I do my best because the ultimate goal is feeling better and being healthy. As long as I do that, as long as I eat healthy and exercise, the weight will come off. Maybe not as quickly as I want it to, but it will eventually come off.

So what happened on the scale this week? I am happy to report it was a successful week – I lost 1.4 lbs! This puts me at 6 lbs lost over the last three weeks (8.2 lbs since the start of the year), and I just need to lose 1 lb next week to win my DietBet. Hooray! I am so pleased with that number. I did a little fist bump in the air when I stepped on the scale and saw that. (And stepped on the scale again… and stepped on the scale again… and stepped on the scale again. I wanted to be 100% certain it was accurate!)

Last week, my goals were:

  • Stay under 1,500 calories a day and under the limits MFP gives me for fat/sugar. PASS. I easily stayed under 1,500 calories, stayed well under my recommended sugar grams, and most days, under my fat grams (one day, I went over by one gram, the other day by five grams).
  • Drink 40 ounces of water a day. FAIL. I think I managed this one day. Ugh.
  • Take a multivitamin and iron supplement daily. FAIL. I managed this one day, too. This is an important part of healthy living (especially iron, as I have an iron deficiency), so I’m going to try to do better.

My goals for this upcoming week are:

  • Make one meatless meal.
  • Drink 40 ounces of water a day.
  • Take a multivitamin and iron supplement daily.

The last week of the DietBet commences today, and I want to win my $25 back! That’s my motivator – winning some moolah! Here we go!

Categories: Healthy Living

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 3

weighin

I had a feeling about last week. The week prior had gone so well, and I was worried about carrying the momentum into another week. For some reason, the second week always seems the hardest, where you really have to dig in and remember why you started.

For the most part, though, I had another strong week of eating well and exercising. I passed up treats at work, tracked daily, and exercised every day. I could have done better. I ended up, most days, eating the majority of my exercise calories (which I know aren’t accurate anyway). I was a little too snacky-snacky. And there were a few days where I consumed too much fat and sugar grams, well over the limits MFP gives me. So I had some successes and saw areas of my healthy eating that need work.

As for my workouts, it was another kickass week for me! I’m really proud of how I’ve fallen back into a regular exercise routine. It feels so, so, SO good. Here’s what I did:

  • Monday: Stationary bike (30 minutes)
  • Tuesday: Elliptical (30 minutes – I used this workout) and this full body strength workout (15 minutes)
  • Wednesday: Elliptical (30 minutes)
  • Thursday: Stationary bike (30 minutes) and this arm workout (20 minutes)
  • Friday: Couch to 5k (30 minutes)
  • Saturday: Stationary bike (30 minutes) and Ripped in 30 (30 minutes)
  • Sunday: 100 burpees (22 minutes)

I was so nervous to step on the scale. I just had a feeling I wasn’t going to be super proud of the number. And the result? I lost .4 lbs. Just about half a pound. I was really, really unhappy with that number and it actually made me angry for a while. I put in so much work! Yes, I wasn’t perfect but gosh darnit, I never went over 1600 calories, put myself through a killer workout right before weighing in, and even ordered fish and brown rice with dinner the night before. Fish. And. Brown. Rice. WHEN THERE WAS PIZZA ON THE MENU! I wanted to be rewarded!

I eventually calmed myself down because I am still happy about losing weight and I am now under 170 lbs, a feat I don’t think I accomplished once last year. And I lost four freaking pounds the week before. And I’m probably starting my girly time in the next few days. (Sorry to any boys who read this. Which is probably zero.) So. It happens. I still managed to lose weight, I still tried my best to follow my plan and eat well, and I still put in a lot of effort in my workouts. And that. That has to be more important than a number on a scale. I still did my very best, and that’s all I can ask of myself.

As for my weekly goals, I did okay. I tracked daily, and I drank water with most of my meals (I could have done better), but I completely flopped getting up from my desk every two hours. Man, that’s a hard goal to accomplish!

Here are my goals for this upcoming week:

  • Stay under 1,500 calories a day and under the limits MFP gives me for fat/sugar.
  • Drink 40 ounces of water a day. (Not even close to what I should be drinking, but baby steps.)
  • Take a multivitamin and iron supplement daily.
Categories: Healthy Living

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 2

weighin

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was equal parts relaxing and busy, which is always nice. On Friday night, I spent four hours at Starbucks working on my current fiction novel with my writing partner. On Saturday, I got in a killer workout, laid out by the pool, & my mom and I worked together to completely reorganize our kitchen. (We got rid of so! much! stuff!) And on Sunday, I accompanied my mom to her 5K race, we went out to breakfast afterward, and then took long, wonderful naps (over four hours for me!) in the afternoon.  It was a great weekend!

Healthwise, last week was a really great week for me! I am concerned I’m going to fall off the wagon because that’s what I tend to do. I’m super passionate and laser-focused in the beginning, and then once it all starts feeling hard, I give up. I’m hoping that I won’t do that this time around, so these check-ins are helpful!

I exercised 6 times, something I’m really proud about. I haven’t been exercising as much as I should lately, and I think knowing I could add my exercise to MyFitnessPal and gain extra calories helped me find the motivation to wake up and get out there.

Here are my workouts last week:

  • Monday: Stationary bike interval workout (34 minutes)
  • Tuesday: Elliptical interval workout (30 minutes)
  • Wednesday: Couch to 5K (28 minutes)
  • Thursday: Elliptical interval workout (30 minutes)
  • Friday: Stationary bike interval workout (30 minutes) & a strength circuit (15 minutes)
  • Saturday: Couch to 5K (30 minutes) & an arm workout (20 minutes)
  • Sunday: Rest day!

I did pretty well with my goals, too! I tracked every day in MFP, and though I had a goal to exercise every day, six out of seven days ain’t none too shabby! My third goal was to start using the stairs at work, which I did most days, and getting up from my desk every two hours, which is a goal I, surprisingly, had a difficult time doing! I really need to set a timer to remind myself to get up and move a few times a day.

So, with all that said, how did I do this week? Well, I lost 4.2 lbs! Whoop, whoop! It puts me at my lowest weight yet this year and I am very, very proud of that number. I worked hard for it! I still need to lose about a pound per week for the next three weeks to win my DietBet, but I’ve built a great buffer. As long as I stay true to getting in lots of cardio workouts, eating healthy (and tracking!), and not drinking my calories, I think I’ll do just fine.

Next week, my goals are:

  • To continue tracking daily in MyFitnessPal. I didn’t find this too difficult last week, but I’m going to keep this as a goal until it becomes more of a habit.
  • To drink water with every meal. While I gave up soda this week without too much difficulty, I still tend to drink other things aside from water (coffee, Gatorade) with my meals.
  • To get up from my desk every two hours.

How do you stay focused on a big goal when you find yourself losing motivation and/or momentum? (I am so worried I am not going to be able to keep this up for longer than a week or two!)

Categories: Healthy Living

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 1

weighin

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the one time I was super successful with losing weight. Way back in 2007, I lost 30 lbs and felt amazing. I had been struggling with my weight ever since I hit puberty, seeing the scale dip up and up and up with every year that passed. I was never a big girl; just one of those girls who could stand to lose 15 or 20 pounds.

The year I lost weight was also one of the worst years of my life. I was away at college, struggling to make friends and find my place. I hated every part of living on campus, crying myself to sleep more nights than I care to remember and feeling the ache of loneliness down to my bones. (I also had a horrible roommate who would lock me out of my room to have sex with her boyfriend, take my food/drinks without asking, and was a total slob – one time, she left an apple core sitting on top of her dresser for two weeks.) So that was the year I found the essence of my faith and a new healthy living lifestyle.

My faith was there to provide comfort and hope. My weight loss was there to help me feel good about one part of myself since I felt every other part was totally useless. (What type of person can’t make friends?!) In the space of about four months, I lost 20 lbs and then, when I moved back home in May, I lost another 10 or so. I looked great, felt great, and was so proud of how far I had come.

But then life just got crazy as I started a job in a preschool, continued with school as a commuter student, and generally fell apart with healthy living when I failed my final student teaching internship. The weight crept back on. And on. And on. And on. And, as is well documented on this blog, I’ve been trying to lose it for years but can’t seem to find that magic formula I found back in 2007.

I’ve been thinking about that time in my life and figuring out what I did to lose weight, and here’s what I figured out:

1. I was a cardio monster. When I was living on campus, I went to the gym almost every day, and I would spend 45 minutes on the elliptical or the stationary bike. I didn’t do any strength training, just cardio. And guess what? It worked! My workouts lately have been heavy on the strength training side, but when it comes down to it, cardio is king when it comes to losing weight and burning fat.

Moral of the story: I need to do more cardio, at higher intensities, at least five days a week. (Though I still plan on strength training, but only about two days a week, for 15-20 minutes, because I know it can’t hurt!)

2. I tracked every morsel of food and found a community to support me. I started a blog on Xanga (yes, Xanga) to detail my healthy living journey and joined SparkPeople to track my food. I believe I was on a 1,500-calorie-a-day diet, which is a plan I followed to a tee. I wrote down everything I ate and was accountable for it. Sadly, I also found a terrible world of dieting blogs (think: girls surviving on 500 calories a day) but luckily, I found a great group of girls who were also dieting the right way, and they were instrumental in providing support and encouragement in my journey.

Moral of the story: I need to get back into the habit of tracking my food (even though it’s annoying) and I need to have a place to be accountable for my weight loss journey.

3. I walked everywhere I went. As anyone who has lived on a college campus knows, you walk everywhere. Anytime I wanted to go anywhere (whether to class, to the gym, to the student center, to the library, etc.), I had to walk at least half a mile to get there, but it was usually longer. I went from a sedentary lifestyle to hoofing it everywhere I went. I wish I could still do this! I really wish I lived in a more walkable city.

Moral of the story: I need to find ways to sneak in activity throughout the day, like walking the stairs at work, making myself get up from my computer every few hours, doing mini circuits in the bathroom, etc.

4. I ate Subway a lot. You guys, the Subway diet is not a lie! It actually works! I’m so dead serious. There was a Subway on campus that was close to the gym and all of my classes, so I usually picked up a sub after my workout and took it back to my room to eat. I probably had a sub 4-5 times a week, no lie.

Moral of the story: There is none, but I dunno, maybe I just need to eat Subway for lunch every day?!

5. I never, ever felt deprived. During this time, I never gave up drinking soda and I had a serving of chocolate every night. (And I tracked it!) I don’t remember ever feeling truly deprived. I think, at first, I just started by cleaning up my eating a bit and exercising, and once I started seeing results, it became easier and easier for me to follow my eating plan and keep up with exercising. I was getting compliments on my weight loss, loving my body, and feeling so amazing.

Moral of the story: It’s not important to quit every unhealthy habit at one time. Built it up slowly, be consistent, and the work will pay off.

***

So here’s what I’ve decided: I’m going to start detailing my weight loss journey on this blog. I know, I know. I’ve done this before. (Need proof? More proof? Even more proof?) But I’m stubbornly going to do it again. I need accountability. I need a place to talk about the ups and downs, to get feedback and encouragement. I’ll be detailing my workouts, writing down weekly goals, and talking to you about my struggles, my victories, and my weight loss. I am hoping these updates will be filled with more awesome milestones than sad failures, but we’ll see.

I am also going to start using My Fitness Pal to track my food (friend me?) and I’m doing Amber’s four-week DietBet to give me further motivation to lose weight (especially since the pot is now over $10,000!). Additionally, I’m going to settle on three goals to work towards every week that will propel me to the finish line.

This week, my goals are:

  • To start tracking my food daily and following the limits MFP gives me as best I can
  • To work out every day (five days of high-intensity cardio, two days of walking with Dutch)
  • To make myself get up from my desk every two hours and use the stairs instead of the elevator

***

And that is that, as one of my coworkers likes to say.

What do you think is the biggest key to losing weight and keeping it off?

Categories: Healthy Living

40 Days

40 days

I grew up in a Christian home and church that didn’t observe Lent. I knew of it, but it wasn’t something I ever put into practice. I always thought it was more of a Catholic thing, something that had no bearing on my faith. But over the past few years, I’ve thought about the practice of observing Lent and the idea of giving up something I love for 40 days, to give honor and glory to the suffering Jesus Christ endured for me.

I’ll be honest: my faith is not where it should be right now. It’s been almost a year since I’ve been to church. I read my Bible, but I rarely pray unless it’s to ask for something. I feel so far from God and I feel so confused about my faith lately. I know what it is and I know what I stand for, but I struggle sometimes to put it into practice. I struggle to be of the world.

My idea for observing Lent this year comes from a selfish place: wanting to get control over some of my addictive habits. But I thought long and hard about my desire to do this and I feel like using Lent as my guide for why I’m doing this will help me to carry it out to fullness.

So for the next 40 days, I will be completely eliminating all chocolate and soda from my diet.

My two biggest vices are my soda and chocolate consumption and it is going to take so much willpower to resist them for 40 days straight. I know it will be hard, but I also know I am capable enough to do this. I have it in me to eliminate two things that bring me great joy and pleasure. (But also, admittedly, intense feelings of guilt and failure.) It’s a different kind of suffering, a first-world kind of suffering if you will. But Lent is about giving up something that you love, something that will cause you to try to understand the depth of Christ’s sacrifice.

Ideally, I would love to stop drinking soda period, because it brings absolutely zero health benefits and is just horrid for my body. Plus, I drink regular soda (although I honestly don’t feel like diet soda is any better) so that’s a lot of sugar going into my body on almost a daily basis.

As for sweets, I want to eliminate them for 40 days and then slowly add them back into my life on a more moderate basis. (As of right now, I eat sweets daily, sometimes two or three times a day. Bad, I know!) I want sweets to be a special treat, not a daily occurrence.

By eliminating soda and sweets, I will be severely cutting down on extra calories, fat, and sugar, which will help with weight loss efforts. And more than losing weight (though that is a major benefit!), I think it will help me feel better. It will help me feel better physically – by giving me more energy and forcing me to snack better. And it will also help me to feel better emotionally – by proving to myself I can resist something I love for a period of time and also to find better coping skills for when I have a bad day. (You can keep the wine. When I’ve had a bad day, nothing cheers me up faster than a cold Dr. Pepper and some cookies.)

I am prepared to see this through to the end, so feel free to text me, message me, email me, leave a comment, or do whatever to ask how I’m doing throughout these next 40 days. Knowing people are going to be asking me about it is just what I need to make sure I don’t give up. (Accountability is so key, especially when it comes to losing weight.)

I’ve always been intrigued by the practice of observing Lent because I believe giving something up for 40 days that you think you can’t live without is something we should all try to do. Maybe it’s social media for you, or watching TV, or complaining about trivial matters, or sleeping in, or eating meat. Whatever it is, whatever your beliefs, giving it up for a period of time will only prove how capable you are of doing something you never thought you could do. And only gives you a jumping-off point to try to do more things outside your comfort zone.

Are you observing Lent this year? If you had to give something up for 40 days, what would you choose?