Weekly Weigh-In #3 to #5 : -2.3 , -0.3 & -1.1kg (Total -6.3kg)

For once, the radio (blog) silence has NOT been the telltale sign of me giving up on this road to health.  On the contrary, I am still going and going strong as well.

I have thought about what I want to do with this blog (considering nobody is even reading this), and in order to keep things light and fun for myself, I have decided that I will be doing weekly updates and maybe an occasional post in between, if I have a major accomplishment to share :o)

Weekly Weigh-In #2 : -0.4kg (Total -2.6kg)

Friday, my weekly "official weigh in" day. The only day of the week I should actually be near a scale that isn't a foodscale, but unfortunately I can't let go of the daily weighing. I am afraid that if I let it slide one day, I'll fall of the wagon altogether again.  So even if the fluctuations are bringing me down when they're on the upside, it's part and parcel of this journey.

As expected the weight loss was less than remarkable this week than last, but in the end no matter how small, a loss is still a loss and a few steps closer to my goal.

Weekly weigh-in #9 : -0.5kg (total -9.5kg)

Well, Miss Scales had a surprise in stall for me, because until yesterday morning, my weight was 0.8kg higher than this morning. I was kind of hoping on a status quo, but instead I got a medium loss.  Life is good sometimes :o)

On my way to the -10kg now ...

Until tomorrow,

Overview of my day :

Breakfast : 8 pts (20 cl halfskimmed milk 3pts, 45g nestlé fitness chocolate 5pts, apple)

Lunch : 9 pts (Meatless Friday: pasta ricotta bento: 75gr dry penne pasta 7pts, 50g ricotta 2 pts, fruits and veggies 0pts)

Dinner : 13 pts (Bouchot mussels with mustard dressing)

Snack: 3 pts (cup of pumpkin soup)


Unused : 14 pts 

Drinks :   1.5L still water

Weekly weigh-in #6 : -3 kg (total -8.1 kg)

Did you read the title?

You did?  Well, let me tell you again : I lost 3 kg this week.  When I said yesterday that I was expecting a nice number on the scales, I obviously didn't have that figure in mind. After all, Miss Scales was still stuck on on a 1,3 kg higher weight yesterday morning (as she had been for the better part of this week).  I was hoping to go over the -7 kg mark, in order to be able to grey out the top shelf of my sugar collection, but I did even better : I cleared out the top shelf and took down the first package of the second one as well.  Additionally I noticed that at the moment, I lost slightly over 5% of my starting weight.  If last week, I was down in the dumps due to that unprovoked gain, today I am feeling high as a kite. :o)

Next week, the result is likely to be less spectacular.  First of all, because a weekly 3kg loss is not sustainable, but mostly, because I am nearing the end of my cycle and according to my P.D. app (yes, I am such a nerd that I even track my monthly visitor's comings and goings on my phone), next week will be highly hormonal.

Looking at my charts, I noticed that I am often having little plateaus that last 4 days on average.  I should take this into account when the scale victories are not present on "official" weigh-in days.  All too often, I get discouraged when Miss Scales stubbornly indicates the same digits day after day, despite the fact that I exercise and eat on plan.  But every plateau is invariably followed by a steep dive to a lower weight.  And that is something I (willingly?) ignore when Friday arrives with bad news.

After 6 weeks, I lost 8.1 kg.  I don't want to jinx my chances but I would love to lose an extra 4kg by September 11, the day that I am expected at the hospital for the whole battery of testing and doctor appointments.  Of course, it will be just after my week's holiday in Spain, so to be on the safe side, I should probably have to lose more before our departure.

This is a bit frustrating.  I am so looking forward to discovering Madrid, and indulging on Serrano, tapas and all the other goodies of the Spanish cuisine.  On the other hand, I am worried about gaining back in a week, what I have painstakingly lost over several weeks leading up to the holiday.  I will try to keep a record of what I eat, confiding every bite into the fitbit app, but what if it isn't enough?

What do you do on holiday?  How do you combine dieting with enjoying local foods? Any suggestions on how I could handle the situation?  

Until tomorrow,

Overview of my day :

Breakfast : 8 pts (20 cl halfskimmed milk 3pts, 45g nestlé fitness chocolate 5pts, apple)

Lunch : 12 pts (I didn't have time to make a bento last night, so I ended up with a vegetarian ready made meal from the grocery store which was worth 12 pts and I rounded up the meal with 2 apples 0pts)

Dinner : 26 pts (spaghetti bolognese with light emmental -> yes, I did go a bit overboard and I will probably regret it on the scales tomorrow)


Unused : 0 pts

Drinks :   3L still water.

Calorie counting according to FitBit:  2.305 kcal

Weekly weigh-in #4 : -2.3 kg (total -6.1 kg)

I am working seriously at depleting my sugar shelf.  Almost, cleared out the top shelf, but even if I am one pack of sugar short, I am happy with my scale achievement : a whopping 2.3 kg vanished in the course of a week.  Who wouldn't be please? :o)

A large part of it, disappeared the day after the last weigh in, where I had been plateau-ing for the better part of the week.  And I have to admit that even though I am happy with the loss (obviously), I really prefer a gradual loss throughout the week (even if it is in 100g increments), than being stuck on a same weight for days and then lose over a kilo all at once (usually the day after weigh-in).  Because plateaus are really demotivating. I know I shouldn't react that strongly to the number on the scales, but I do. And if (important) losses are really boosting my moral, any status auo or gain is throwing me into the throngs of despair.

It was my final day at work, which means I will have whole of next week off.  Without the work routine, I will have to be extra diligent when it comes to drinking my daily amount of water and I should also try to avoid skipping meals.  Dieting on holidays, whether at home or abroad is always a bit challenging.  Hopefully, I'll continue on my losing streak ...

Until tomorrow ...

Overview of my day :

Breakfast : 10 pt (same as every day)

Lunch : 11 pts (Meatless Friday Toscana Bento :  valess filet 4pts, 60g orzo 6 pts, 1 tsp olive oil 1pt, all fruits and veggies 0pts)

Dinner : 17 pts (the second valess filet that had to be cooked 4pts, 160g mussels 4pts, 1 slice of bread 2pts, goat cheese 2pts, mussel sauce 5pts)

Unused :10 pts

Drinks :   1.5L still water & 1 can of Diet Coke .

Calorie counting according to FitBit:  1.851 kcal

Nearly Wordless Saturday

Until tomorrow...

Overview of my day :

Breakfast : 5 pt (Greek yoghurt with strawberries)

Lunch : 6 pts (Saladwich with feta and cucumber)

Dinner : 21 pts (Bouillabaise with cod and sea robin with homemade rouille and french baguette)

Unused :17 pts

Drinks :   2.5L still water.

Calorie counting according to FitBit:  1.248 kcal

Bold move

After much pondering, I decided to add a new page to the blog with facts and figures ... and pictures.  I am still not 100% convinced by the whole picture posting thing, but I guess I have the face the fact that I look the way I do and come to terms with it. At least for the time being, because I expect to see some changes in my appearence quite soon! 

I don't know if I am the only one but there always seem to be discrepencies between what I see in the mirror and how it looks on picture. Oddly (or not), pictures invariably look horrible. This is also the reason why I have been absent from any picture in our albums for the past decade.  Somehow I manage to convince myself by looking in the mirror that, yes I am fat, but I manage to hide it rather well.  Duh ... I am only kidding myself of course.  Same thing with buying clothes.  I take a pair of trousers, think no way, those are way too large, decide to try them on anyways, only to find out that they are too small. O_o  What the hell is wrong with me?  Maybe something I'll have to discuss with the psychologist, who will be assessing my candidature to the programme in two weeks time.

Because I fail to see any improvement in my appearance at the moment (this morning : unchanged weight but lower fat percentage), I was looking for ways to visualise the amount of weight lost.  I found a list on the net with weight equivalents but as it is expressed in pounds and contains many US food references, it didn't really serve its purpose for me.

I finally opted for ... sugar packs, that come in 1 kg format.  I could have picked butter packs but I would have needed twice as many pictures and that would just have been gross to begin with.  So sugar packs it is ... a whole palet of them, one pack per kilo.  I am greying out those that have already disappeared.

How do you visualise you weight loss?  Or don't you feel the need to have an extra visual support?

Until tomorrow ...

Overview of my day :

Breakfast : 10 pts (half skimmed milk 3pts, 45g nestle fitness cereals 5pts, a glass of pear juice 2pts and an apple)

Lunch : 13 pts (Endives Casserole Bento : 1 serving of endives, minced pork/beef, lean bacon & potatoes)

Dinner : 10 pts (200g potatoes 4pts, 140g porkchop 6pts, yellow beans 0pts)

Snacks :

Unused : 16 pts

Drinks :   2.5L still water

Calorie counting according to FitBit:  1.581 kcal

Weekly weigh-in #2 : -2.1 kg (total -3.3 kg)

The end of my second week on the road to a healthier me and after a slow start, I am very pleased to announce that I lost a total of 2.1kg this week. :o) I am only 1.7 kg removed from my first milestone. I am not going to jinx my chances by saying that I will meet that goal by next week, but I will definitely be working towards it.  How did you do this week?

Exercising more is not only working out in a gym or running on the road, it is also incorporating more movement in your daily routine at work.  And that's what I started doing today : taking the long road from the parking lot to the office entrance, going to my co-worker's office when I need info or papers instead of just picking up the phone; collecting documents at the main printer immediately after printing them instead of heading over there every 10 printouts.  All these little things may not seem much but they do have an effect :  I already reached 5.000 steps by the end of the workday. :o)  Or how a little gadget is helping me get on the moove ...

I promised to keep you informed of my "sleep analysis" and this is what it looked like :

Apparently I fell asleep after only 9 minutes, woke up about 15 times (I know I woke often but didn't keep track) and had a 95% efficient sleep.  It is far from scientific of course, but it's interesting to get those stats.  It seems like I become more "agitated" from 4.30 onwards.  I'll do the sleep test a couple of times more, to determine whether there is a discernable pattern to it.  I wouldn't be surprised if the kitties are a factor in my waking up more frequently in the early morning, as they are getting hungry and start stalking around at that time ...

Until tomorrow ...

Overview of my day :

Breakfast : 10 pts (half skimmed milk 3pts, 45g nestle fitness cereals 5pts, a glass of apple juice 2pts and an apple) - same as every day

Lunch : 11 pts (Salade nicoise 8pts, 35g breadroll 2pts, 1 portion of WW cream cheese 1pt)

Dinner :  24 pts (starter : carrots, cucumber & radishes 0pts with 4 tsp light cocktail sauce 2pts; dinner : 60g lean ham 2pts, 166g ricotta spinach tortellini 13pts, 5 cheese sauce 7pts, )

Unused :  4 pts

Drinks :   3.5L still water.

Calorie counting according to FitBit:  1.900 kcal

Sore shins

Source: 24.media.tumblr.com via Ingrid on Pinterest

If Miss Scales keeps up the good work, I have a feeling we are going to be BFF in no time.

Yes, indeed, she said I was again a bit lighter than yesterday (and I even dipped below my previous all-time high). Don't you just love to get that kind a good news to start the day with?  I know it boosts my morale and on the way to work I found myself singing at the top of my lungs all the upbeat songs coming out of the speakers.  It got me a few odd looks from the drivers in the nearby cars, I can tell you :o)

On another note, I am still feeling Sunday's run in my legs.  Especially in my shins, of all places.  I expected to have sore thighs or calves, but shins? O_o  Frankly, I didn't even consider that there were muscles on that side of the leg.  Because I found the whole sore shins business slightly disconcerting, I discussed it with my colleague (who is an occasional runner) and she said that she had the same experiences after runs.  Hmm ... so I am not reacting weirdly.  That's good to know. Maybe it's because I didn't stretch out after the run.  Because I know I should, I looked up some "stretches for runners" on youtube, but honestly, I can't contort my body in that way.  Pulling your foot up to your bum to stretch seems easy enough, until you have my pear shape and all the "extras" located on your tighs and bum. It just doesn't work. I wonder how other plus-size beginning runners do it. I won't have time to redo the first day of the 5K programme tonight, but (weather permitting) I will tomorrow.  Because as the sign says :

Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Gloria on Pinterest

Until tomorrow ...

Overview of my day :

Breakfast : 10 pts (half skimmed milk 3pts, 45g nestle fitness cereals 5pts, a glass of apple juice 2pts and an apple) - same as every day

Lunch : 11 pts (Ham Salad Bento 65g bread 5pts, 120g lean ham 3pts, philadelphia cheese 2pts, fruits and veggies 0pts)

Dinner :  19 pts (appetizer : 2 mini chicken bites 4pts & South African Bobotie : unweighed portion of rice 7pts, ground beef 5 pts, green beans and apple 0pts, egg 2pts, oil 1pt)  + 3 pts snacking on bread while grocery shopping (Note to self : don't go shopping on an empty stomach !)

Unused : 7 pts

Drinks :   3L still water.