weigh-in – This Crazy Life of Mine

Tag: weigh-in

09
Aug
2014

Weight Watchers Update – July / August

categories: anxiety, depression, marathon training, meeting, mental health, PiYo, stress, weigh-in, weight, weight loss, Weight Watchers, wellness, Zoloft

Somehow I missed a July update for Weight Watchers. So, I’m combining July and August in an update . There is just not enough time in the day!

In my last update in June, I shared with you that I was not doing very well and I ended up going to the doctor for some pretty severe anxiety I was having. It was incredibly overwhelming and I felt like going to the doctor for medication was a last resort. I am just a week shy of two months on medication now and I have to say, going to the doctor to discuss what was going on, and getting a prescription for Zoloft and Xanax was a lifesaver. Any trepidations I had of taking medication for fear of weight gain now seem ridiculous. I feel that taking medication for something when needed is not a bad thing and it’s okay to ask for help.

Zoloft has mostly leveled me out. Being prone to anxiety and depression means that I can be all over the place with my emotions. Up one minute, down the next. After about three weeks, I started to feel more normal. Things that were setting me off – which really was anything and everything – seemed more manageable. If I’m in a stressful situation, I don’t automatically freak out and feel like my heart is going to pound out of my chest. I feel like one way or another, I can handle it. My mind feels less cluttered now. And most importantly, I feel like myself. Zoloft does not make me feel numb or not care about things. It allows me to handle things and face things in a more appropriate manner.

I have a follow-up appointment and a physical in two weeks and I am positive I will stay on the Zoloft (the Xanax is only as needed, not daily). Clearly, I need the Zoloft, and I’m okay with that.

So! How am I doing with my weight loss and Weight Watchers? Here is where I am currently.

And here is a look back at my weigh-ins since my last update here on June 29.

06/28/14………………………156.2

07/05/14……………………….156.0

07/12/14………………………..Used my no weigh-in pass

07/19/14………………………..Skipped

07/26/14……………………….155.0

08/02/14………………………Skipped

08/09/14………………………155.2

Looking at these numbers, the first thing that jumps out at me is that I’ve only lost a pound in the last 6 weeks. That’s not the case. When I used my no weigh-in pass (the first time I’ve not weighed in at a meeting that I attended), I did it because I knew I would be up and I just didn’t want to see it. The skipped meetings were me just being lazy and wanting to not get up at 5am. Sometimes, sleep just wins.

Another thing is, all of this is while on Zoloft which does have weight gain as a side effect. I’ll take a one pound loss all day long if it means not gaining.

And lastly, I am now marathon training and I want to eat ALL the food there is. I know this is only going to continue as my mileage increases over the next 16 weeks and I will have to do my best to counteract that. I need to make the best food choices I can, when I can, especially when eating and snacking for fuel.

One thing I’m still having a VERY hard time doing is tracking. I want to do it, I think about doing it, I make mental notes of the points I consume, but I don’t actually do the tracking. I really need to get back in the habit of that because I know it helps.

As far as activity, it’s all about running and marathon training. But, I am also doing PiYo which I love so much. It is wonderful for flexibility and keeping me stretched out after running.

One other change I have made is I have cut out alcohol – almost. Since starting on my medication, I stopped drinking beer and wine because the prescription bottles said no alcohol. I did, have attend a margarita tasting last week and enjoyed samples, but that has been it for the last two months (which by the way gave me a headache the following day, I’m sure it was the combination of the medication and alcohol). Also, I didn’t want to drink while marathon training. Do I miss beer? YES, very much so. But, for now, I am choosing not to have it. I certainly don’t need the added points.

My weight graph looks very similar to my last update but it’s a great visual for me because it shows how far I’ve come – and for the most part, it’s continuing to go down.

I feel like I will always be working towards my goal of 140. Some days it feels farther away than others. But 155 is a pretty great place to be compared to the 178 I started at on January 1, 2013. And more importantly, I feel strong, and that is a wonderful thing.

What one factor affects your weight loss the most?

28
Jun
2014

Weight Watchers Update – June

categories: anxiety, depression, meeting, stress, weigh-in, weight, weight loss, Weight Watchers

Confession time…. I have slipped. I have not been consistently counting or tracking points and I’ve just been eating bad more often than not. But I have been dealing with some issues and frankly, it was just one thing too much. Cop out? Bad attitude? Excuses? Some might say yes, but my answer is no, and I will tell you why.

For the last couple of months, I have been dealing with some anxiety. Anxiety is nothing new to me – I dealt with it back in 2009 and 2010 when infertility got the best of me. In addition to anxiety, I was diagnosed with moderate depression. Who could blame me after the roller coaster we rode for almost 4 years? I was put on Wellbutrin daily for depression and Xanax as needed for the anxiety. Over time, I was able to manage everything better and I stopped taking both prescriptions. I didn’t want to take them to begin with but I needed help. The medication didn’t magically solve our infertility issues, but it helped me deal with them and cope better day to day. And over time, running and working out became my go-to therapy for whatever ailed me.

So when my anxiety started to flare up again, I was not happy. This time around it’s due to work stress and things that are out of my control. I was waking up with my heart pounding out of my chest, the feeling of panic very overwhelming. I tried to ignore it, but it got the best of me. Even running was not helping. I decided to go back to the doctor and see what I could do since the circumstances causing my anxiety are not easy to change. I was also not myself and that made it more difficult.

Going in for my appointment, I had one giant concern. I knew I would leave with a prescription for something, but whatever it was could NOT cause weight gain. When I took the Wellbutrin, I was told that some people actually lose weight on it. Well, not me. I gained weight. It may not have been the Wellbutrin exactly – probably my depression and anxiety in general but still. After coming this far with my weight loss (again), I cannot go back to that 178 pound person I was in 2012. I just can’t.

This time around, my doctor decided that Wellbutrin would likely not work for me because it’s for depression, not anxiety. And what I am currently dealing with is mostly anxiety. The kind that makes me imagine every possible bad thing I can imagine. I can so easily get lost in my own head. And the anxiety was causing me to worry about things that weren’t even happening. It was just downright scary.

So, she prescribed a low-dose of Zoloft which will help with anxiety, as well as depression. I also have Xanax to take only as needed if I’m having particularly bad anxiety and feeling really overwhelmed. There is a chance of weight gain with Zoloft, but she felt that given my weight loss, my knowledge of HOW to eat properly, and my running, I can avoid that.

I have been on the Zoloft now for two weeks and I do feel a difference. Again, the stress and issues causing my anxiety were not magically fixed, but I am able to cope with things better. I do not feel so anxious or in a panic as I did before. I have not woken up with my heart pounding out of my chest in awhile and I am more restful at night. I can manage problems as they arise better without freaking out. I am feeling much more optimistic than pessimistic.

While typing all this is not the easiest thing to do, I am doing it because it’s okay to need help. It’s okay to reach out. And if my experience can help someone, well then that makes me feel a little better.

What does this all mean for my weight loss and Weight Watchers? The scale has not been going down as I want it to and that needs to change. I skipped my meeting last Saturday for no reason other than I wanted to sleep in. I miss that drive and motivation I had to get up and go to every Saturday morning meeting regardless of how I ate that week. I could face the scale no matter what. But the last several weeks I have not felt that way and that bothers me.

So yesterday morning, I ignored the desire to sleep in and got up and went to my beloved meeting, ready to face whatever the scale said. The world did not come to a screeching halt and I did not fall apart when I saw the scale. I expected it. That’s what happens when you don’t work the program.

Here’s a recap starting with where I left off on May 17, my last WW update.

05/17/14……………….153.8

05/24/14………………Skipped

05/31/14……………….Skipped

06/07/14………………Skipped

06/14/14……………….153.8

06/21/14……………….156.2

It’s a miracle that I skipped three weeks and maintained my previous weight. I was shocked. I was not shocked to see that I was up 2.4 pounds this week. I fully expected it.

Back in January, I was down to 146.4 lbs. and from their I’ve been fluctuating. Up some, down some, and now here I am up 10 pounds from that lowest point. BUT! in the grand scheme of things, I am still down 21.8 pounds since I went back to WW in January 2013. I’ve come a long way, but I want to see this graph go back down….

Weight loss is hard work. And it will be a lifetime of hard work. Add in some anxiety and it’s a recipe for disaster for me because then I don’t care. And that’s not good. Getting on the scale yesterday morning was a reminder of what I need to do and how I have to get back to that place where I didn’t let anything stop me from taking care of myself. I can’t not take care of myself. It’s not good for me, for hubby, or my family.

Besides watching what I eat, it also means spending quality time with hubby, going to hot yoga, running, working out, and doing things that I enjoy with family and friends. Or like yesterday morning…. I went to the bookstore after breakfast and spent two hours there drinking coffee and browsing books. It was nice and relaxing. Laying on the couch and getting lost in my own thoughts isn’t good for anyone, especially me.

My goal is still 140 pounds – that’s 16 pounds to go. It means buckling down, counting points, and tracking. But it also means cooking and enjoying recipes and foods that I love. Feeling better will let me get back to that. And my goodness, I have a marathon to train for! I can do it – weight loss, marathon, and all.

If you are still with me on this long post, thank you. I’ve been wanting to put this into words and this morning it finally spilled out of me.

I saw this on Weight Watchers Instagram yesterday and it really hit home. No matter what we are going through, what we are facing, we still have to take care of ourselves – and we can still shine.

17
May
2014

Weight Watchers Update – May!

categories: meeting, power foods, Simple Start, Simply Filling, weekly points, weigh-in, weight, weight loss, Weight Watchers, WW

Happy happy Saturday! I have not checked in on here with my WW status since April 20th, so today is a good day to do that. Let’s recap, shall we?

04/19/14………………155.6

04/26/14……………..155.4

05/03/14……………..157.4

05/10/14………………Missed meeting

05/17/14……………….153.8

This is the best I’ve been at attending meetings in the last couple of months due to our busy schedule. I missed last week and was anxious to get back to it this morning. Seeing a 3.6 pound loss on the scale this morning was a real pick-me-up!

I felt good going into the meeting. I made a conscious effort this week to do what I can to trim back points, when I could. This meant taking my lunch a few times a week, drinking a lot of water, fruits and veggies, and cutting out the ice cream for dessert which I think was getting a little out of hand. I went back to cake-in-a-cup for my nightly sweet cravings and enjoyed it.

I still splurged, though… We had PF Changs on Mother’s Day, which turned into leftovers for lunch on Monday. We also went to the Thresher’s game on Tuesday for Dollar Night, which translates into beer, hot dogs, and popcorn.

For activity, we ran Tuesday morning and walked the boys a couple times. We had plans to run Thursday morning but the weather nixed that, although it was short lived.

So, mostly, I was just more mindful this week of what I was doing. I find myself slipping from time to time when it comes to portion sizes, so I need to focus on that. They can easily creep back up to what would be considered 2 or 3 servings if you’re not careful.

I am still focusing more on power foods and perhaps a version of Simply Filling where I don’t track every single thing I eat. Not only are power foods good for you, but they are more filling, and you don’t have to track them. Anything that does not fall into the power foods category, counts against my weekly points.

This week’s meeting topic was the good health guidelines. These are so important in successful weight loss. Usually if I am feel like I’m struggling or at a plateau, going back to these will help get back on track. The recommended daily healthy guidelines are:

At least 5 servings of fruits and veggies
Whole-grain foods
At least 2 servings of milk products
2 teaspoons of healthy oils
1 or 2 servings of lean protein
At least six 8-ounce glasses of liquid
Multi-vitamin / supplement
Limit sodium, added sugar, alcohol.

All of these are a good foundation for a healthy lifestyle and they are all pretty doable. Many times by lunch, I’ve met my fruits and veggies requirement. I love olive oil and use it in many ways (salad, marinade. etc…). We eat a lot of chicken in our house, but fish and hard boiled eggs are good for lean protein. I drink A LOT of water every day and I always take my vitamin. Where I might have a tendency to fail is the milk requirements as my favorite almond milk does not count as dairy. I wish I could eat yogurt, but I just can’t stomach it. One other way to get my dairy in is cheese. All of these are very manageable.

I love Weight Watchers. I was thinking how crazy I am to get up so early on a Saturday, especially after a long stressful week. I could have easily skipped the meeting and just lay on the couch and let laziness set in. But, much like running, going to the meetings is all about ME. It’s MY time. It’s a wonderful investment in myself and it is worth getting up so early every single time.

I am still working towards my goal. There is no time frame for getting there – I’ve realized the added pressure of setting a date makes it a little harder. I am focusing on all the small achievements along the way, knowing that one day I will get to my goal.

Tomorrow, I plan to make my healthier mac n’ cheese recipe I first tried when I was doing Simple Start back in December. I’ve been thinking about it for a few days now and it will make great left-overs. We all know how much I love left-overs in my house.

Have a great week!

What is the first thing you do when you feel yourself slipping back into old habits?

20
Apr
2014

WW Update!

categories: #beamazing, #expectamazing, accountability, running, tracking, weigh-in, weight, weight loss, Weight Watchers 360

Somehow, I have not posted my weekly WW weigh-in since March 9! It’s been crazy around here… Work always keeps me busy, I ran the Sarasota Half Marathon and ElectroDash in March, squeezed in a few T25 workouts, my aunt was in town, we went to Las Vegas, I went to Orlando for my first Super Saturday event, and Iron Girl last weekend – my 10th half marathon. Whew!

Since my last WW post on March 9, I have been to 4 meetings, including yesterday. Yesterday was my first week back after missing 2 meetings. I always love the meetings, but when I return from missing a couple in a row, it’s a reminder of how much I miss them when I don’t make it. And how much I need them not for my accountability.

So catching back up, here’s where I’ve been…..

03/09/14………………155.6

03/15/14………………150.6

03/22/14………………154.2

03/29/14………………149.0

04/19/14………………155.6

Ironically, my last check-in here was the exact same weight as yesterday. Clearly, there has been a lot of fluctuation in my weight this last few weeks. I also may have eaten my way through Las Vegas, but I enjoyed every minute of it. And at the end of the day, I am still WAY below my highest of 178.

It’s been a bit of a challenge getting back into the swing of things since getting home. I may still be in vacation mode. But I am determined to get my mind back in the game and get to my goal.

Where I need the most work is getting back to tracking. I need to make that a habit again. We went grocery shopping on Friday and being prepared will help with that as well. It really all boils down to a healthy mindset.

In addition to the eating part, I need to get back to running regularly. Hubby and I went out to the causeway this morning and ran 3 miles. It felt great. I have missed going out there weekly and I hope we can make it a routine. I am also setting a goal to run 2-3 times during the week. I need to build my base back up for when marathon training starts in July.

I will say, though, despite the ups and downs on the scale, I am still having fun with buying new clothes. I have probably bought more new clothes in the last 6 months than I have in the last 3 years. I used to hate it. HATE it. There is nothing worse than shopping for clothes when nothing fits right. And now I am stepping out of my comfort zone and buying clothes in colors and patterns I would not normally buy. But I certainly don’t want to wear the same thing I’ve always worn. What fun is there in that?

Yesterday, I scored 8 cute new tops from JC Penney, all for $67. I saved a whopping $120. One thing I don’t’ want to do when clothes shopping is break the bank, so I have to get the most for my money.

As soon as I have more rewards built up and a more coupons, my next purchase will be more shorts! This girl is absolutely wearing shorts this summer.

How do you handle setbacks in your weight loss?

09
Mar
2014

WW Weigh-In #59

categories: #beamazing, #expectamazing, journey, power foods, race, running, Simple Start, Simply Filling, weigh-in, weight, weight loss, Weight Watchers, Weight Watchers 360

What a crazy few weeks it has been… After my last WW Weigh-In post on 02/15, I missed the next two weekly weigh-ins and meetings due to races. Looking back, I could have – should have – attended a different meeting during those weeks to weigh-in and try to stay on board. Unfortunately, in my tunnel vision mind, I don’t think like that and I just knew that I was going to be busy during my regular meeting time.

Yesterday, I finally made it back. I was very excited to go and see everyone. I cannot explain how much I love that meeting and the people there. It’s such a great feeling to be a part of something like that. It also doesn’t hurt to be cheered on and made to feel very special about my running… During the meeting, Beverly mentioned that I was finally back and asked me to step to the front and tell everyone what I had been up to the last two weeks. And, much to my surprise, she gave me a cool little Thumbs Up! award. This is just one of the many reasons I love my meeting…

Of course, I knew going into the meeting that I was going to be up on the scale. Besides missing two meetings and running three races, we had a busy couple of weeks where we ate out 4 times just for dinner. Outback Steakhouse, Molly Goodheads, Mellow Mushroom, and The Thirsty Marlin. Everyone of those dinners was a great time with great company and in my world, part of the good time is enjoying food and beverages that I love. I believe that will never change. I work hard and MOST of the time, I am mindful of what I eat and the points. However, it is a rare occasion to eat out 4 times in such a short time.

I briefly thought about not weighing in until next week, but I reminded myself that I have yet to back down from the scale since January 1, 2013. So, I went in knowing that whatever it was, I could deal with it and move on from there. The scale told me that I had gained 5.4 lbs…. Happy? No. Frustrated? No. Holding myself accountable Yes.

I didn’t really want to see the 150’s again, but I know it’s not permanent. What I have decided, though, is that after doing the Simply Filling / Simple Start since the beginning of December, I think it’s time to get back to tracking my daily points. I still eat many power foods, but I think I need the added accountability of tracking every single point that I eat, as well as getting back to weighing and measuring portions.

Despite this weight gain, I went shopping afterwards and bought 3 new bikinis for our upcoming Vegas trip. Hubby is going for work and we are very thankful we could make it work so that I could go with him. I look forward to pool and sun time while he’s at his meetings during the day and I knew that I needed a new bathing suit. The last time I bought one was back on 2006 and it’s too big on me now and I wanted something new. When I couldn’t decide on just one, I bought all three. I’ve worked hard to be able to wear them and I deserve them!

My activity was way down this last week. After running 3 races over the course of 8 days, I was exhausted and my legs were tired. My back was also bothering me and I knew it would be best – and very smart – to take the week off from working out hard. That will change tomorrow when I get back to it again. And, I have half marathon #9 coming up next Sunday, the Sarasota Half Marathon.

I am breaking from my regular WW post and skipping what I did right and what I will focus on this week. I know what I need to do and I know how to do it. And, I will.

How do you handle weigh-ins after missing a couple? What changes do you make to get back on track?