Weight Loss Wednesday #12

 

Here we are on "Weight Loss Plateau", ahem.  I'm still stuck at 10.2 pounds gone.  I've lost/gained the same 2 pounds for the last couple of weeks.  I guess I'm just not working hard enough, and of course, losing weight after 50 sucks.

Weight Loss Wednesday #10

 

I've finally turned the ship around and am heading in the right direction once again.  I'm at a total of 12.8 pounds lost as of this morning.

So, the month of April was basically "lost" in the sense that it was more up than down with way too many celebration foods.   Ordinarily that would have been enough for me to have given up and just gone back to "regular" eating habits.  This time, I realized it for what it was, a setback.  I picked myself up and got back on track.

What's working:  Raw veggies and avocado toast seem to be what my body likes.  

What's not working:  Sleeping has been an issue.  Partly because I'm walking more (minimum of 10,000 steps a day) and my legs ache at night.  Partly because I'm drinking more water and getting up to pee during the night.  Poor sleep slows down the weight loss train, but I'm hoping the steps and water are going to outweigh (literally) the sleep deprivation.

Weight Loss Wednesday #9

 

This week I saw the scale take a huge move back in the right direction.   I'm at a current weight loss total of exactly 10 pounds.

What's Working:  Raw veggies, nuts and plenty of water.

What's Not Working:  Peppers and hummus aren't as tasty as they were at the beginning of April, so I'm shifting to carrots and broccoli.

Weight Loss Wednesday #8

 

Frustrated doesn't begin to cover where I'm at right now.  I've increased my walking, and have been consistently getting over 12,000 steps per day for the last 9 out of 10 days.  My evening blood pressure numbers are great, in the 120/75 range and sometimes even lower.   Yet, the scale shows that I've regained 7 of the 11 pounds I'd previously lost.

I'll just keep plugging along and hope at some point there's a huge shift, because this is just crazy.

Weight Loss Wednesday #7

 

At the end of last week, I was down a total of 8.2 pounds.  This week, the scale did move in the right direction, and I'm at an 8.9 pound loss total.  

What's Working:  I sat down and wrote out a daily checklist for eating, exercising and supplements.  I do better with a box to check.  It keeps me accountable.

What's Not Working:  I feel like I've lost an entire month of progress just trying to get back to where I was at the end of March.  So, I'm struggling with staying motivated when hard work can be upended so easily/quickly.   But, I'm not giving up.

Weight Loss Wednesday #6

 

This week should be entitled "weight gain Wednesday".  I was down 11.3 pounds a few weeks ago, but I've gained .1 of a pound this week for a total weight loss of only 8.2 pounds now.  But, I'm still at a loss overall, so it's all good, right?

What's Working:  I'm still getting my steps in and tracking food/activities.

What's Not Working:  A month of celebration that revolve around food.  Birthday party, birthday lunches and now Easter have wreacked havoc on my progress.

Weight Loss Wednesday #5

 

As of last week, I was down a total of 11.3 pounds.  This week the scale shows I've gained 3.2 pounds, so I'm back to a loss of 8.1 pounds.   I know a great deal of that is water retention due to having had a lot of sweets and saltier foods this past weekend, but it was my birthday and I enjoyed food without guilt.

What's Working: Portion control.  My family took me out to dinner one night for my birthday, and I deliberately picked a restaurant that is known for small portions (but excellent, flavorful food).  I also chose to eat a salad and fruit salad at my surprise birthday party, so I could enjoy cake without quilt.

What's Not Working: Eating out in general.  I've cut back on my salt intake a great deal to help lower my blood pressure.  When I go out to eat, some things that I used to enjoy are just too salty.  Honestly, I have two more lunch outings scheduled with friends this week, and while I do look forward to the time with them, the food isn't sounding appealing at all.  Hopefully there are some good salad options.

Weight Loss Wednesday #4

 

My total weight loss as of last week was 8.2 pounds.  This week I've lost 3.1 pounds for a total loss of 11.3 pounds!   I'm sure part of that was actually last week's weight loss, masked by water retention of the "hormonal" kind, ahem.  None the less, I'm happy with the big change in numbers!

What's Working:  Tracking my food and activity on the app is really helping to keep me accountable and motivated.  I highly recommend tracking, even if it's just in a notebook.  

What's Not Working:  I've been doing laps in the living room, and it's getting boring.  I'm plan to start walking outside now that the weather is finally spring like.

Weight Loss Wednesday #3

Last week I was down 6.4 pounds, this week I've dropped another 1.8 pounds, for a total weight loss of  8.2 pounds so far!  

What's working:  I think consistency is what is paying off.  I'm eating a lot of the same things (peppers, carrots, hummus, avocado toast and salad) each day.  

What's not working:  Consistency is boring!  Giggle.   But honestly, staying upbeat when the numbers are moving slow is a struggle.  I get frustrated with "slow and steady".  

Weight Loss Wednesday #2

 

Last week, my total weight loss was 5.3 pounds, this week I'm down another 1.1 pounds for a total of 6.4 pounds lost!   Yesterday would have been a better day to post, apparently there is some hormonal weight retention going on today. (Hurry up menopause.)

What is working:  Tracking my food is really helping me.  I don't have to put calories, measurements or anything.  I do list what I had for each meal and snacks, then rate it as small, medium or large.  I also rate each meal as mostly healthy, somewhat healthy, or not very healthy.  This program focuses on realizing that weight loss is an ebb and flow and not a straight line up or down.   Since I'm not having to measure every single thing, it makes it more convenient - and more likely to keep up with.  My fruit and veggie consumption is tracked by the program, and each week it tells me how many servings of each I've had.

What isn't working:  Eating out! We had out of town guests a few days this week and we ended up eating out.  I made good meal choices, and drank water each time.  One day we went to a Mexican restaurant, and I chose a fajita salad, and only ate the meat and veggies.  I left the yummy fried tortilla bowl.  The other meal, we went to a pizza/sub shop. I did order a sub, but got extra veggies on it and didn't eat the chips that came with it.  Those might not sound like big deals, but I'm not going to try to fool myself into thinking I'm never going to eat certain things.  I made choices that still worked with my goals, but didn't make me feel like I'd "fallen off the wagon" and blown it.    The part that didn't work, is just the amount of sodium that was in the restaurant food.  I was very puffy for a couple days from extra water retention, but that quickly cleared out.

How did you do this week?

Weight Loss Wednesday - #1

The Omada app keeps my information and updates daily.  But, I decided I'd schedule a weekly weight update here on the blog too.  The app is great for daily accountability, which I apparently needed more than I realized, but this weekly update here will help keep me accountable to my readers as well.  

I officially started using the app on February 12, 2023, so I'm technically about 3.5 weeks into this journey.   As of today, I've officially lost 5.3 pounds.   Honestly, I was at 7 pounds, and then we had out of town guests for a few days, and my eating was less structured.  However, when we went out to eat, I chose water as my beverage, and opted for salad, or added extra veggies to my meal.   I didn't really do that bad, but I can tell there's a lot more sodium in restaurant food, and I'm puffy.  I'll expect a bigger scale victory next week as I drop retained fluid from those days.

What has worked: Using the smaller plate and cup!   So simple, but yet effective.

What has been a struggle: Boredom.  Honestly, my biggest issue is getting bored and looking for snacks to break the boredom.  I have found that a banana with some dark chocolate dessert hummus is very satisfying.  

What has been your biggest struggle this week?