The scale is going up!

And I have to stop it. I saw 139.2 this morning. That is completely unacceptable. My thighs also got an inch bigger. that is CRAZY! I've been running more but it is not enough to offset the crazy amounts of food I've been having at all the events, and when I get home.

The excuse I've been using is that my stomach has "expanded" and I'm hungry more often, but that is just not true most of the time. I'm eating out of boredom, stress, or just because. It has got to stop.

Been MIA: Recap and musings on the life of a big firm summer associate

I've been MIA for almost two weeks now (not even sure exactly how long!). Anyone miss me?

I started my summer internship at the big firm last Monday, and on day 3 after much training I had to fly out to Maryland for a client visit. Great opportunity, but also another way to make it much harder to stay on track! (those Maryland crab cakes were so delicious!)

My eating this past few weeks has been horrible. I haven't gone to meetings in two weeks. I weighed at home though. The first meeting I missed I was up 3 pounds from my week before (when I was so close to goal!). This past Saturday when I weighed in at home I'd lost 1.4 pounds, but I'm still battling that 3 pound gain.

With work 8am-9pm and fancy lunches and dinners out, alcohol flowing at every opportunity, and ordering dessert everyday, not to mention coffee runs, it is going to be a very hard summer. I realize I'm complaining about getting paid a whole bunch of money to do interesting work when I can squeeze the time to do it in between trainings and afternoon tea, 2 hour lunches and cocktail receptions at fancy places with views like the one pictured... it's very hard to do all that we're supposed to do to impress people (so that they hire us) and NOT gain 15 pounds.

I'm fixated on the 15 pounds because that is what the first person who spoke to us at our job orientation last week said: that by the end of the 12-week summer program most of us would have gained 15 pounds.

I'm determined to be at goal at the end of this summer program! Immediately after DBF and I are taking a much deserved two week vacation in Budapest and Cyprus, where I will be wearing very skimpy clothing at all times. I want to be below goal goshdarnit. I just need to remember that next time that everyone is ordering individual desserts!

Bad week

I haven't tracked at all this week. And yesterday was a fantastic and very extravagant dinner at Grill 23 (steakhouse). Today it's TOM and I feel super bloated and in pain. But at least DBF and I looked good at the dinner! :)

Random picture post

I ordered some dresses from Ann Taylor in one size too small (4P, which I'm wearing in jackets but I know the girls don't really fit in dresses that way. One dress I know I can fit into soon. The other, even though the same size, I don't think I'll ever be that small. I'll have to return it I think.

But I did find this other dress in my closet that I hadn't tried in a while. I actually ordered it ages ago, and though it was a big size, the girls just refused to get with the program and fit in it. Well, I think they're okay now, what do you think? :)

Endurance training and marathons

Some part of me really wants to do a marathon someday. But I've decided that I won't be training for one until I am at a weight I am happy with. So many people on the Weight Watchers boards train for marathons while still trying to lose weight.

They think (and why wouldn't they, it only makes sense) that they will lose even more weight (or at least continue losing) while training. But what seems to be the universal consensus is the complete opposite -- when you train for an endurance race like a marathon, your body will just not let go of the weight.

It seems so counterintuitive. But in a way, it makes some sense, running 10+ miles is crazy on the body, no wonder it doesn't want to let go of anything.

My friends wanted me to do a marathon in October with them, but I had to pass. I decided two things -- I won't do a full marathon until I've done a half, and I won't start training for that until I've gotten below my goal by 5 pounds (so 130) because then I'll be able to firm up and gain a few pounds of muscle. As soon as I hit my WW goal of 135 I'll start looking for a half marathon at least 3-4 months away so that I have a chance to drop 5 more pounds and start training.

Planning to go for a run today

It's so nice out. But I have to work, and then I have to run. I am writing this down so that I actually do it :)

Update -- It took some prodding from the 50+ board ladies, but I did make it on a 3.8 mile run today. Such a nice day! I'm very glad I went.

Numbers ...

I've been in a bi t of a posting hiatus this weekend ... running around and not in front of my computer much, so I'll catch up.

I lost 1.2 pounds at weigh in yesterday -- really 0.2 since last week I had lost 1 pound (as measured at home). That brings my current official weight to 136.6 (down 52.4 pounds) and 1.6 pounds from my Weight Watchers goal of 135!

A 0.2 loss may not seem like a lot, but I'll totally take it. I had a pretty bad week, with lots of exercise but also lots of bad choices including an encounter with a roll of Ritz crackers and a small fresh loaf of whole wheat bread (my downfall everytime).

After the meeting I went shopping at BJs for lots of healthy produce and frozen fish, and the spent the afternoon/evening at Ikea. I love that place! I walked it twice yesterday because my friends didn't show up until I was done with my shopping. I did a lot of shopping, as you can see by the picture of my cart ...

Today I went on a 5.36 mile run, bringing my total number of runs since April 2007 to 100 and a total number of 282.19 miles as measured by my Nike+ sensor. As an aside, I totally recommend the Nike+. It has made me way more excited about running than just going out. I guess it's because I'm competitive, and I like to see my little graphs of my runs. You can see them too, on the right of the screen :)

I stuck around for my Weight Watchers meeting yesterday. It was the first time in over a month that I didn't just weigh in and walk off. I'm really glad I did. I'm not religious but meetings sometimes feel like a religious experience. Not that anyone talks about a higher power or anything like that, but it just has that people-coming-together feel, among strangers. They feel like I imagine AA meetings are like. I never liked going to church growing up, and I stopped going as soon as I could, but perhaps WW meetings are like my religious experience.

"Hey skinny!"

That's what the crossing guard in front of my apartment said to me today as I was coming back from my run. He's been working that post for more than two years, and he sees me most mornings and afternoons, so it's a great NSV!

It's halfway through the week and I promised I would check in with the exercise. So how's it going? Monday I stayed on schedule, biking around town for about 5APs earned. Tuesday I changed things up a bit, I did the biking and yoga (vinayasa at home from Yoga Today) but I did not go running. Instead I cleaned the apartment, which really needed it :)

Today I biked about 5 miles running back and forth between the chiropractor and the supermarket to fill up on some fruits before the weekend (5 APs), went for a 4 mile run (4 APs) and did abs and upper body weights using the resistance band at home (1 AP). Not what I had planned but elbows were hurting from yoga yesterday and I decided to take it easy. I really want to go to the class on Thursday, especially since I won't be able to go to the advanced one on Sunday.

So far I'm on track for the rest of the exercise this week, which is good, because the scale has been up for days now :(

Setting weight loss goals ("I want to lose x pounds by x date")

I just don't believe in them. I think a few people will reach these goals, if they're realistic (within 0.5-2 pounds per week on average). But most people will be disappointed that they won't have lost enough, that halfway through their months of trying to lose they are "behind" in reaching their goal. Lots of those people will quit.

It's just so unnecessary. When I started losing, I had a dream that I would be down 50 pounds in one year (at a healthy average weight loss of 0.96 pounds per week). However, I figured that even if I lost 26 pounds that whole year (1/2 pound per week on average), I would be a lot lighter than I was the year before. Frankly, I was just thankful not to be gaining! It took me a little bit over thirteen months to get to 50 pounds, and it has been very slow since then.

I think the best goals you can set as you're trying to lose weight are the ones you can control. Things like: I will exercise 3xs this week, or I will get 8 servings of fruits and veggies each day this week, or I will drink 96 oz of water each day this week. We know that if we do these things our body eventually will drop the pounds, but we really have no control over how fast that happens.

Whenever I see people posting that they have a particular # of pounds to lose by a certain date, I think, I hope you're the one person who doesn't quit way before that, or who doesn't get there then gain it all back, but that's what will happen to the majority of people who are in such a hurry to lose weight that they gained over years and years of bad habits.

Okay, off my soap box now. Here are some pictures I just took, wearing the size 16 Gap jeans I wore to my very first Weight Watchers meeting (and boy were they tight then!)

Unstructured Free Time

I have two weeks of limbo. I have to work on a paper, but there's nothing specifically scheduled that I have to do (other than dentist appointments and that type of thing). It feels so bizarre. I think I just need to schedule in my exercise and my working time so that I'll feel more in control. I can totally see how this kind of flexibility could turn into lots and lots of eating.

So let's see ...

• Monday (today) - biking back and forth a ton (5 APs)
  
• Tuesday - biking (2 APs), running (3 APs) and power yoga (3 APs)
  
• Wednesday - lower body weights + abs (1 AP) and ashtanga vinyasa yoga (3 APs)
  
• Thursday - running (3 APs) and hatha yoga (2 APs)
  
• Friday - running (3 APs) and upper body weights (1 AP)
  

Sounds like a plan. I'll check in with how I do.

1.8 left?

I had a test from 8:30am-4:30pm this Saturday, which conflicted with my usual Weight Watchers meeting at 10:30am, so I didn't end up weighing in officially. My home scale is usually within 0.2 of the meeting scale, however, and there it said I was at 136.8 in the morning, which means I lost a pound!

I'm excited and disappointed, I had a good week -- it was stressful studying for two exams but I ate within my points, got my 8 Good Health Guidelines everyday and even had more than 12 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. I wanted to lose more :) Then I thought, how silly. You've been diddling around the last few months, be happy you lost at all!

And I am happy. Hopefully I can pull off similar losses for the next two weeks at official WI which would mean I'll be at goal before the summer starts. I think that's a great plan.

Other than the scale victory of 1 pound lost, I had a fantastic NSV (non-scale victory) today. I had a lazy day walking around town, shopping, had brunch with an old friend, and bought two pairs of very cute Tahari shoes (pictured).

After shopping I biked to the 1 1/2 hour yoga class (2 APs biking, 3 APs yoga) which was fantastic. I love that class because it's always challenging, yet I can keep up. This is only my second time going to the Sunday class but I've been doing the Thursday class with the same instructor all semester. This past Thursday the instructor asked me if I was an undergraduate, which was awesome! And today (and here's the NSV), I was actually the model for a bunch of the poses! She kept saying, "do it just like the girl in white is doing." It was awesome!

2.8 pounds from goal

I started this journey in November 2006. Now, almost eighteen months later I am 2.8 pounds from reaching my Weight Watchers goal. I will blog here about this second part of my journey.