Moving, shopping and calories

Moving, Closet and Clothes Happiness

Well, yesterday after my weigh-in my husband and I had to tackle the rather large task of moving our room upstairs and cleaning it out.

Now I don't really leave out much, but I'll spare you photos of the disaster that was our bedroom, it was bad! 3 years of outgrown kids clothes, 4 wardrobes worth of clothes for me as I gained weight and went through two pregnancies. My husband never quite got to actually putting his clothing in a specific place, so it was basically a pile beside our bed. I would often wonder if we actually had carpet. Well now we know. It's there.

In the new room upstairs we got a brand new walk-in closet with full organizer, and it has two sides!! Man side and Lady side!!  I love it because it fits absolutely everything I have (clothing-wise).  I never even knew I had so many clothes!

I had done a whole bunch of moving/organizing, so while my husband was doing some moving/procrastinating himself, I decided to take my break.   I got a coupon to Pennington's (Plus sized clothing store) back in December when I purchased an outfit for my husband's Christmas party.  Sunday was the first time I could use it.  I was highly in need of pants that actually fit.  I've been slumming around in my 22/24 pants ever since I started this journey.  I can still wear them, but sometimes there is an issue with them staying up.  I hadn't really tried on new clothes for a few months so I was eager to see which size I could get in to.

Well, I got there and took in a few pairs of size 18 jeans, and some 1x shirts.  I knew it may be a long shot, or at least they might be snug, but I went in anyhow figuring if they didn't fit yet, they damn-well better fit me soon.  Here are two of the outfits.  I didn't end up getting the plaid one because it wasn't on sale (I can be a bargain shopper), but I did get the outfit on the right.  Both shirts are size 1x, and both jeans 18's!!!!  This was my LAST trip to a plus sized store.  I am determined not to buy any more new clothes until I am in normal people size!!

Calorie Goals are a Changin

In other news.  On the calories front, it sunk in to me today what people are talking about on MFP when they talk about eating back exercise calories, and just eating more in general.  Originally I had been set a calorie goal that would enable me to lose 2lbs a week without exercise.  I didn't regularly eat back my exercise calories, but would use them more on special occasions.  I had decent success with it that way for a while, but eventually after a really ambitious week I would feel drained.

The basic theory is that when you create too much of a deficit, your body will metabolize muscle instead of fat because it is a quicker source of energy.  Some people talk about going into starvation mode, or losing energy, or binge eating when you remain in too much of a deficit.

For me I am most concerned about energy.  I work out pretty hard, and I LOVE to work out hard.  When my energy is low I tend to go for quick sugars, and just feel crappy in general, thus losing motivation to go out and work hard!

For the next few weeks, especially since I am going to start Chalene Extreme next week, I have decided that I am going to try out upping my calorie goal to my BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) to see if it makes a difference in my energy levels so I can give a more consistent effort than "week on, week off" because that's what it feels like I have been doing.  Also by eating more, and possibly slowing my rate of loss, I will be maintaining more muscle, and keeping my metabolism running higher in the long-term (at least that's the goal).

If it all works out I may stay at that calorie goal until my birthday.  NOW, I do like to switch it up every once in a while, so nothing is set in stone. I may play with it a little bit and have a week here and there where I eat less, or if I don't think its working then I may drop it down by 100 and just keep adjusting to see where my happy place is.

One of my big concerns is meeting my 30th Birthday goal of being under 200.  I still want to maintain a rate of loss that gets me there in time, and hopefully with time to spare.  (Right now I need to lose a little less than 2lbs a week until my birthday)

30 Day Shred


This week will most likely be my last one on this round of the 30 Day Shred.  I missed my workout this morning because I was exhausted from the move yesterday and a little dehydrated as I didn't get around to my normal water intake, so I spent the whole day dreading it!  I did it after my Bridge to 10k workout and it was actually ok.  It was still stupid hard but it was doable and dare I say slightly enjoyable?


Final Note


I guess I had a lot to talk about... I'm dreading/looking forward to my progress pics on Wednesday.  We'll get to see when 10 (or 11) pounds and some 30 Day Shred action actually looks like.  I feel like overall January was a very successful month for me.  Bring on February, Chalene Extreme, and Bridge to 10k.  I want to be able to run 10k + well before May because that's when I will officially start my half-marathon training!


P.S.  I am loving having real fitness goals!  They totally keep my head in the game and give me something so focus on other than what the scale says because no matter what you do, you never know what that guy is going to say!

Weigh-In Jan 29, 2011

Awesome!! Down two, even with TOM!

Motivates me to really want to go out and get it done this week!!

Jan 28 (Week in Review)

Exercise

4 30 Day Shred workouts
3 20-40min runs
1 Treadmill Hills
3 hour-long walks (roughly)

Total of 450 min of Exercise this week
3898 Calories burned through exercise this week

Nutrition

Sunday - 2632 cals (My Sunday brunch at the spa)
Monday - 1630 cals
Tuesday - 1655 cals
Wednesday - 1446 cals
Thursday - 1595 cals
Friday - 1716 cals
Saturday - 1584 cals

Challenges

Well I found it really hard to keep motivation to finish level 2 of the 30 day Shred.  I just plain didn't enjoy this level at all.  I did 4 days, I was going to do the 5th day today, but I'm just not up for it and got a ton of stuff on my plate at home, so I'll move on to level 3 Monday morning.

TOM.  This bastard is taking it out of me this month. He is totally kicking my butt!  I only had 40 mins less of exercise this week than I did last week, but I managed to burn over 1000 calories less than I did last week, and I ate 1000 more calories... That's over half a pound alone.  Mathematically I should be down 2.5lbs, but with TOM in town, I'm going to be happy with 1.

Successes

I would have to say my successes this week would be in my lunch creations.  Some of them are pictured above.  The baked chicken with avocado lime salsa and broiled tomatoes would have to be my number one pic, followed by my low-cal spinach and feta pizza, and finally my avocado, tomato and onion wrap with baked sweet potato fries.

Another success I had, was that I showed perseverance this week. I wasn't at the absolute TOP of my game, but hey, I did pretty darn good regardless.  

I made a commitment to Melissa from "A healthy change in my lifestyle weight loss journey from 330'slbs to 140" on my Facebook page to start Chalene Extreme not this Monday but the following one.  I'm looking forward to it.  Also I have been looking up half-marathon training plans.  I figure I need to be running about 10k on a semi-regular basis in order to start my training plan in May, so today I downloaded the Bridge to 10k app on my phone.

Hopefully I have more energy next week, because being low on energy makes me feel like I'm doing less than I actually am.  I feel SO lazy, but just now when I was crunching the numbers above I realized that I actually did pretty good this week.

Weigh-In in the morning.  I know it won't be quite as exciting as it was last week, but I am hoping for at least a 1-2lb loss.  I guess we'll see in the a.m.!

5 diets that made me fat

Not so long ago I had a friend ask me "I just don't understand Megan, how did you get SO fat?".

I'm sure people wonder, how I got this way.  Many people met me after my last successful weight-loss journey, when I was on my way back up the scale of doom.

It's pretty simple really.  My diet was not good (ok, that's an understatement, it was freakin horrible).

My diet changed frequently, so here are some of the diets I used to get fat,

Eat Your Feelings Diet

Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?  You deserve a Bacon Bagel and Starbucks BIG coffee for breakfast.
Jealous of someone, that calls for donuts my friend, maybe an ice cap too.
Someone pissed you off at work, better stop by a drive-thru on your way home.
Feeling self-conscious, this one calls for some closet cookie eating... you start out thinking you'll just have a couple, but then the whole darn row is gone and you don't know where the heck it went.
Feeling lonely, order a pizza and his friends pop and dessert to keep you and your gut company.
Disappointed in yourself, well then you should treat yourself with whatever treat food you can find! Buy a damn cake if it'll make you feel better.

This one was used regularly.  Probably a few times a week.   Obviously this is not a healthy diet, but it is a diet none-the-less.

Damn That Looks Good, I Want Some Diet

Stupid food channel and its shows, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. Cupcake Wars, Cake Boss, Hell's Kitchen, Eat Street, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, all these shows assisted me in this diet.  I would watch the shows and then go out and re-create my own versions of these gluttonous dishes.  Things that also help on this diet are food courts, bakeries, weddings and parties.  Sometimes when too much good stuff is around, you just gotta have it!

This diet was used most recently last summer. I have a baking album on my personal Facebook page that documents a few of these endeavours.





Grab and Go, Watch me Grow diet

Wake up late (or just plain need to go to school/work) stop at the drive-thru.  Packing a lunch take 5 minutes you don't have, take 10 minutes to go get something on your lunch break.  Got TV shows later you want to watch, order pizza or Chinese!  Hey if you get really ambitious, shop in the frozen section and you can enjoy lasagne, chicken strips and fries, pizza, burgers, perogies, AND pretend like you made it! Its win-win... well except on the scale I guess.

I used to be so busy I had no time to cook(or so I thought at the time).  Now I'm even busier, and I just make sure I'm prepared.  DON'T GET ME WRONG, I still LOVE my frozen foods, but I make healthier choices or enjoy them in moderation.

I'll Start of Monday Diet

This is probably the worst diet of all.  Every week you tell yourself you are going to start on Monday, so you  spend the week over-indulging in all your favourite foods because you fear you will never have them again.  "I'm starting Monday so I better eat pizza while I can", "I'm starting Monday so I better have McDonalds while I can", "I'm going to make a big cake, because come Monday, cake is off limits".  You get the idea.

So, guess what happened on Monday?  I'll give you a hint, I went from 149, to 307... You don't gain that in a week!

Inconsistent Instant Gratification diet

In this diet, you have healthy days and "Fuck it" days.  On your healthy days, you do really well eating healthy foods.  Then come the "Fuck it" days where you eat whatever the hell you want, because come on, you had two healthy days and you deserve a reward for your hard work. You may have times when you cycle through all the above diets.  bouncing from one to another, having a healthy day here and there, but getting frustrated because you're not losing weight.

Did a lot of this one too.  A LOT, there were many times where I would wake up in the morning thinking I was going to do well that day, but come dinner-time I would be like "FUCK IT" and have fast food and dessert too!

There is one common theme in the diets above, they are all full of excuses I fed myself so I could avoid feeling guilty for bad decisions.

I wouldn't normally refer to what I do now as a diet, but for the purpose of this post, I would say I am on the "Don't go overboard, eat more good than bad, but less overall, diet".

Look what came in the mail!!

I love getting packages in the mail!!

I ordered Chalene Extreme about a week ago.  After I finish the 30 day shred I'm going to start and I'm so excited!  I don't know a whole lot about strength training and I'm doing pretty good with my cardio so I figured that Chalene Extreme would be a good choice for which program I wanted to do next. Originally I wanted to do Turbo Fire (and eventually I still WILL do Turbo Fire) but seeing as I recently had impact related injuries with my plantar fasciitis and knee I decided that is should wait a bit.   So HERE is my Chalene Extreme!

Now, I'm not one for shakes ( I prefer my home-made smoothies, or my go-to breakkie wrap), but they gave me a free 7 day trial of Shakeology, so I thought I would see if any of the hype is true.  I figured since it was free I would try it out and form my own conclusions. 

So after the next two and a half weeks of hell 30 Day Shred with Killian Jillian Michaels, I will begin with Chalene Extreme.  I'm really excited because I love love love Chalene's Turbo Jam DVD's, I find she really know exactly what to say at exactly the right moment and I miss having her "with" me for my morning workouts!