Mandy's 2009 Journey

[PalmTreeGal]

I have been weighing daily since I got back on track Wednesday and am surprised at how much I lost this week (not even a week). I am enjoying it but trying very hard not to do the "I must lose 1.765 pounds this week to meet my goal" thing. Still browsing LCF but it is helping to not obsess so much.

[PalmTreeGal]

Doing well - down to 151.0 today, which is 30 pounds even. Halfway there! I know weight loss slows down as you get closer to goal, but I'm hoping I stay on track more and take less than 8.5 months to lose the next 30.

[Livywilltim-mom]

Yahooooooooo!! I am so happy for you! This is wonderful news

[PalmTreeGal]

Thanks Jaimie! It does feel good.

[PalmTreeGal]

150.0 today! I totally do NOT deserve it since we went up to see MIL for Memorial Day and it was a bomb as far as my eating plan. I brought lots of legal food and had MIL buy me some cream and cold cuts. but then she had this huge canister of Mini Eggs left over from Easter. I have an enormous weakness for them and I went to town, and that led to Chinese food, cannollis and similar carbness. Got back on track Tuesday and after eliminating a lot of water, here I am at 150.

[Livywilltim-mom]

Wow, what fantastic news! I am so happy for you. Do you think that having your move settled and looking forward to it has helped your stress lower and that is contributing to your loss? Whatever...it's going great!

[NewYorkGiants32]

Congratulations on 150...before you know it you will be in the 140's!!

When do you move?

[PalmTreeGal]

Jaimie, I do think I am losing better now that I am happier! I've also been a bit more consistent with exercise. The routine I'm doing is pretty low-key but it makes me feel good and I am actually starting to look forward to my weight-lifting! Last week I could only do one full pushup and now I can do three!

Today at work was my goodbye lunch and I ate some high-carb stuff. I felt bad only eating meat from the cold cut platter when people had brought in these special homemade dishes for me. So I stuck to the things I like and tried to keep the amount small, and I will eat nothing but bacon and eggs with cheese for the rest of the day. The pecan pie sure was yummy!

Jen, the packers come Friday and the truck is loaded Saturday. Then the stuff will be delivered anywhere from Mon-Thurs, we won't know until they load the truck. So by next Thursday at the latest we will be in our own house!

I am so psyched to see the 140s! I bounced back from 150 and have been 151.8 the past couple days, blech. I wanna see 149!

[Livywilltim-mom]

Hey Sweets,

Where are you today? New England yet??

Thinking of you today and always

[PalmTreeGal]

Jaimie, I am in VT now, staying in a hotel tonight until the movers arrive with our furniture tomorrow. We stayed Sat night in PA and had dinner with my BFF who I haven't seen for several years, and drove to VT on Sunday. It is beautiful here today, we took the dogs down to the waterfront dog park, and then we got a picnic lunch and ate in the city center park, and then drove by our house but DH left the key at the hotel so we didn't go in. The rhododendrons, iris and peonies are in bloom at the house, I am so excited to have our own house/yard/garden back!

They have a teeny fitness room at the hotel so I did my weights and 20 minutes on the treadmill. Man, I hate that thing, I will be a Leslie Sansone fan for cardio until the day I die.

I haven't weighed since my scale was packed Friday but two NSVs lately. First, my size 12 Gap jeans were hanging uncomfortably loose and I was ignoring it since they always stretch out after a day of wear . . . then I realized they were fresh out of the dryer! I had bought a pair of J. Crew jeans at a secondhand store in San Francisco in April - at the time they barely zipped but I liked them and figured they would fit soon and would make a good inexpensive pair for when I got to that size. And now they fit, yay!

Also husband and I were snuggling the other day and he told me my waist was "disappearing" - I said don't you mean my waist is appearing (out of fat)? He said no, pretty soon I was going to be just ribcage and hipbones with nothing in between. Love that man!

I attribute both of these victories to weight lifting since I haven't lost much on the scale lately and have not been terribly consistent about eating on plan. I am doing a ridiculously minimal program and am amazed at the results. I do one set (12 reps) of squats, pushups (as many real ones as I can, then knee pushups), overhead press and dumbbell row. That's IT! Weight lifting rocks!

[NewYorkGiants32]

I like your exercise plan. That even sounds like something I can do! Just two questions....what is the overhead press and the dumbell row? How heavy of weights are you using? I have 10 pounders...yay or nay?

[PalmTreeGal]

I have 10, 15 and 20 lbs. For each exercise I use whichever weight has me exhausted before or at 12 reps. 10 pounds is a great place to start.

Overhead press: Dumbbell Shoulder Press

I do it standing up because a trainer I respect told me to, but I don't remember the reasoning why standing was better than sitting.

Dumbbell rows: Dumbbell Bent-over Row

An amazing and helpful website for women's weight training is stumptuous.com.

In addition to this I am doing 20-30 minutes of cardio twice a week, which is not much at all.

[Livywilltim-mom]

Checking on you Sweets!!

Terrific Tuesday

[PalmTreeGal]

Hi Jaimie!

We are home in VT, mostly unpacked. It feels great to be back. The weather has been coolish but frankly I love cool New England summers! It's the winters I can't stand. And I'm sure MD is heating up about now.

My weight was 156 at doctor's yesterday, dressed and with some coffee in me. Yuck. However, after a day of wear I can pull my size 12 jeans off without unbuttoning them. I think I have gained a bit eating too many homemade LC sweets but it hasn't actually hit my butt yet.

I had to get a tetanus shot for work today and my arm started aching within an hour! I've never had it hit that fast before. I wouldn't care except today is my weights day and I think I'd better skip the upper body.

[Livywilltim-mom]

Yeah, I am glad you are HOME!!

I have to say...this crappy weather is taking a toll on me! It's been a LONG, moldy spring

How is your arm now??

Hugs

[PalmTreeGal]

Thanks Jaimie, sorry for the slow response. It was hot and humid here today but I had a pleasant walk with an old friend (yay for being home!) and then we had a nice thunderstorm cool things off.

The deltoid was sore for about 3 days, and I did go ahead and lift about 2 days in.

I tried on a bunch of pants the other day and was surprised to find some fitting and some almost fitting (not flatteringly). So I took them to get hemmed and look forward to some new duds. I am not seeing loss on the scale, I'm hovering in the 150-152 range, but the smaller clothes are fitting. I guess it's true what they say about losing inches without pounds. Truly, I would be happy if I could fit back into my size 4s and still weighed 150 - but a teeny piece of me would still long to see 120 on the scale. Ah well, it's still a long way away.

[NewYorkGiants32]

Originally Posted by PalmTreeGal

I have 10, 15 and 20 lbs. For each exercise I use whichever weight has me exhausted before or at 12 reps. 10 pounds is a great place to start.

Overhead press: Dumbbell Shoulder Press

I do it standing up because a trainer I respect told me to, but I don't remember the reasoning why standing was better than sitting.

Dumbbell rows: Dumbbell Bent-over Row

An amazing and helpful website for women's weight training is stumptuous.com.

In addition to this I am doing 20-30 minutes of cardio twice a week, which is not much at all.

I took your advice and have started a very small workout plan,so far I am loving it!!

Glad you made it to VT safely. It must feel so good to be home.

Congratulations on your inches lost-you really are doing great!

[Livywilltim-mom]

Mandy,

Stopping in to say that I LOVE your input in my journal...please, always share what you think. You are never butting in...I love your outlook.

Hugs

[PalmTreeGal]

Glad I could help Jaimie!

I have been on plan since June 2 and feeling frustrated at lack of loss. Granted I was eating waaay too many LC treats for a week or so, but was always in ketosis. So now trying to really watch the calories as well. I think my thyroid is near optimized but not quite and that probably slows things down. I also should probably start some cardio but I dread it! And I'm not totally sure I believe that it helps with weight loss, but in the past it has helped me get smaller.

I'm still enjoying the "whoosh" of inches that happened earlier this month, however. I look forward to picking up my clothes from the seamstress tomorrow.

I started orientation for work yesterday. It is very very boring. Eight hours of sitting in a cold auditorium listening to various departments lecture . . . infection control, health and safety, social work, environmental services, chaplain . . . and the list goes on. I have 1.5 more days, then I go get oriented to the OR. Which will take a few more days. I'm petrified about actually doing anesthesia in a new place, so in a way I'm glad for all this orientation delaying things. :P

[PalmTreeGal]

Took an off-plan day yesterday - I have been tinkering with the idea of doing one a month. I ate four doughnuts with whole milk, three slices of pizza, a cheesecake brownie, a mini fruit tart, and several glasses of wine. I think that's everything. My weight this morning was exactly the same as yesterday! Very weird, I would think I'd get some bloat from all that junk.

The doughnuts were SO not worth it. I remember Dunkin Donuts with great longing and now I think that addiction is broken. They were too sweet and just didn't taste good to me. DH says that Dunkin doesn't make doughnuts fresh anymore, that they are all trucked in and that is why they don't taste so good. I don't know.

The other stuff tasted good but none of it was amazing. Not worth it at all. Back on plan today. DH bought some grassfed beef and is going to make burgers that have olives, garlic, chives and oregano in them for dinner.

[Livywilltim-mom]

Mandy! Wow, what a day! Did you fall asleep or get sick??

Around here, Dunkin' Doughnuts are fresh...but doughnuts give me such heartburn...even if I wasn't LCing, I couldn't eat them very often...

BUT, when I was pregnant with DD...lemon filled doughnuts were my passion! Didn't have one before preggers...haven't had one since! With the boys, it was Boston Creme doughnuts...LOVED THEM! Ahhh, those were the days...now they are all so grown up!!!

Hugs sweetie!

[Livywilltim-mom]

Mandy!

I am missing you

Come back to me!