Weekly Weigh-in

So, I will get right to it. I weighed in today and here are the results:

Previous weight: 285.4 lbs
This week: 279.4 lbs
+/- : -6 lbs!!!!!

Now, I know that in the beginning I will lose more than I will regularly but the last time I started Weight Watchers again (September or October I think), I only lost 1.2 and 1.4 lbs a week. Which is respectable but I was hoping that when I started again I would see a really big number. I really needed that to boost me up and keep me motivated. I am not 6 lbs away from the weight when I first weighed in at Weight Watchers last year and about 9.6 lbs away from when I last weighed in at Weight Watchers. I am kind of hoping that I can get off all the weight that I put back on by Spring Break. It might be a little unrealistic but that is what I am going for. I was really surprised at this number though because I have not been great with my food choices. I did ok but not great. I did however not count my activity points for more food with the exception of one day. That might have helped. I also think that moderate intensity workouts that last longer rather than high intensity workouts that send my HR shooting up have helped as well. We'll see how that goes next week.

So, here are my goals for this week. I want to earn 28 activity points for the week. Last week I earned 19 activity points but I did not do any exercise 4 of the 7 days last week. I am going to try and change that this week. I am not sure how often I am going to be able to get to the gym (I am hoping at least 1-2 days) but I will definitely get out my Wii Fit everyday. For those of you who do not know about activity points and what they equate to, here are some examples for someone of my "stature" :)

30 minutes of moderate intensity activity (sweating after 10 minutes) is 3 points
30 minutes of low intensity acitivity (not sweating) is 2 points
30 minutes of high intensity activity (sweating after 3-5 minutes) is 7 points

I try to round down with my intensity levels. I figure it is the safest way to assess my actual activity level. Also, I sweat like nobody's business so I don't think that the sweat assessment of activity is really the best for me. I consider all of the aerobics stuff on the Wii Fit to be moderate intensity because I know my heart rate goes way up and all of the other stuff (Yoga, strength training, balance games) to be low intensity. Some of the Yoga and strength training probably could go into the moderate intensity category but like I said, I like to round down. My high intensity workouts come from 30 minutes on the elliptical. I think I start sweating as soon as I see the machine but that is definitely high intensity for me. Another goal is to start getting positive reinforcement from my Wii Fit instead of "Do you trip while walking?" in response to a balance test. As my friend said, that machine is a little bitch. I am improving with my balance and am making an effort to remember my posture both when I am walking and sitting.

I also realized this week one of the reasons that I fell through last time I tried this. I tried to go really gung-ho from week 1 and only eat fresh vegetables and fruit, meat that I prepare for myself, and cook most of my food. That was a mistake. While that is what I would like to achieve in the long run when I am not getting home between 7 and 9 pm it will not work in the short run. It is not feasible for me to try and cook all of my meals at home. This does not mean eating out but I mean actually cooking and not just heating something up. For now, it is easier (and cheaper) to use canned veggies and fruit, buy my meat pre-cooked (which does save a lot of time), and generally try to find things that are super fast to make. When I am coming home at 8 pm, I do not want to spend another 30 minutes making my dinner. I much prefer being able to just microwave something and throw a salad together real quick. I think I am being much more realistic and am instead focusing on the quantity of food I eat and the points value of the food I am eating. I am trying really hard to track my food all day. I really do think that it makes me much more mindful of what I am eating and just how much. It is amazing how easy it is to forget the little bouts of snacking throughout the day. As I start to get a handle on my schedule I will start to plan my meals a little more but for now I am planning for chaos and making sure I have a backup plan (something I did not do the first time around).

So, there it is. Maybe this time I can go longer than a couple of weeks. My overall weight loss goal is to get to 150-160 lbs (or a size 10, whichever comes first) and I would like to be around 250-255 lbs by the time I go back to California in May and around 200 lbs (or *gasp* even under the 200 mark) by the time I go home for Christmas. My activity goals are to keep above 20 activity points a week because no matter how I get 'em I need to start regularly getting 'em. I would also like to be able to jog/run a 5K by Christmas but we will see about that one. I have never really been a long distance runner even when I was more athletic and played sports so I am going to have to play that one by ear. I do like the idea of running and I think it would be a great stress reliever but like I said I am not very good at it. I am gonna try though. So, that's all till next week when hopefully there will be less of me to share!