Hit a big milestone today!

In the past when there were big time lags in my posting, it meant I had fallen off the wagon (or was on vacation). Well, now with working full time, it means I'm just super busy that I don't even have 15 minutes to spare to write my thoughts!

Fridays are my day off. (which I wasn't even really taking time off recently as I was working to get things up and running at work in a new efficient way - while also trying to get home purged of junk at the same time!) This morning while Hurricane Joaquin is dumping rain on us and otherwise making life feel blah, I have a few moments to collect my thoughts and write before driving my son to class.

Today, I hit 50 pounds lost on this weight loss reboot. That is 62 pounds lighter than my all time high, but it is the 50 NOW that is huge. And it has been easy to lose - which is weird and scary to say as then why did I gain 50 pounds in the last year? It's even worse - between September and mid May of last year, so in 8 months, I gained 54 pounds. That is crazy, ridiculous!!! See how out of control my carb addiction can get me? Ugh!!!

But today, it's celebration day - 50 pounds gone. 4 more pounds and I'll be where I was a smidge over a year ago. I have a bit less than 40 to go. Do your math people - that means I needed to lose 90 pounds.

Yesterday I also ran into a problem - all my tops are too big for me. Last fall/winter I needed to buy a bunch of tops as I had gotten too big for what I had. Well, now that the weather is cooling down, I'm reaching for my tops and I'm finding they are swimming on me. My tops are 2x and a few 3x. I now need an XL. For pants I'm in better shape as I have various sizes all the way up and down - 10s to 18s. I'm now between a 14 and 16 - depending on the cut of the jeans/pants.

I never was at my lowest weights over fall/winter, so I should be about able to wear many things stored in my son's closet for this season, but probably not quite yet. I'll just have to make do with the least baggy big ones and the few smaller ones that I have already. It's a good problem to have. It feels much better than last fall when I was having to go out and buy a few larger pieces - dipping back into plus size clothes after not being in plus sizes for 3 years.

But, things are getting tougher. I'm more tired. I am more tempted by carbs. It's getting much harder to veer away from the quick fixes to boost my energy. I think I got my treadmill desk just in time. I was feeling all sorts of blah yesterday morning (3rd rainy day in a row didn't help) and I got my treadmill desk adjusted, and took off walking. Nearly instantly I felt better - less tired, more energetic and surprisingly, less hungry. The effect was short lived as I was famished by the time I got home and I started to feel blah again in the evening, but that also could be the weather and also the fact that my mother in law was returning after being away on vacation for 2 months.

Today's plan, tidying upstairs and doing some more purging of stuff. I'm trying to make progress, a bit every day that has a few moments. What else can you do on a rainy day???

But 50 pounds - it feels so good!!!

4 months into this reboot

Hello everyone. I am here and I am still with the program, just that work has been super hectic as I totally redid my office, redid all our storage needs for work, etc. It's all good, but it just means I have like zero free time.

I'm still with the program and it's still super easy. With being so busy with physical work at my office job this past week or so, I've also had a lot more movement to my day which is great!

But, my update of 4 months into this reboot. As you recall, I had virtually a zero loss for last month which was surprising as I had been working so hard, but this month I made up for it as all that water I was holding last month was shed quickly as soon as the month rolled over.

Here is how this weight loss compares to a few years ago:



Do you see that HUGE jump from last month to this month???? That's 14.4 pounds. If I were to add in today's weight (which I won't as that counts towards next month, it would be 15.3 pounds). Basically now I'm eyeing that 50 pounds lost as a new mini goal. I should get there this month for sure and probably more.

Treadmill is set to arrive on Monday. Desk for the treadmill will arrive some time next week (the pope being in DC will probably hold that up for a few days). All the peripherals for the set up are sitting in boxes in my office, just waiting to be unpacked and put to use. Yay!!!

Now, off to run errands for work. One more hard, long day and things should settle down a LOT.

Still here - still chugging along

And slowly chugging is what it has been. I knew it would finally have to finally go down as I was doing everything right, but... hormones were messing with me.

I "think" what happened is that my body was gearing up for an ovulation and then it didn't happen, so it went down a bit and then stalled. Then a few days ago I noticed sure signs of ovulation again and sure enough, 2 days later I lost a pound, then next day two pounds, and then 2 pounds the day after. Over 5 pounds flushed away in 3 days. After bouncing around the same 3-4 pounds for over a month. I was frustrated, but I didn't give up and now that struggle is paying off! Woohoo!

So... at 3.5 months into this I've lost 40 pounds.  Which means I'm also back to the weight I was a year ago... before I went crazy and gained all that weight over the fall, winter, and early spring.

Woohoo! I still have a long way to go, but it's still easy and that helps!

I've also started adding in movement every day since a few days ago. I've been adding in a bit little by little, but now I'm ready to make it a goal to do something every day. And to help with that tomorrow I'm ordering my walking treadmill and desk.

Now that was another big struggle - which to get? I finally opted to get the true walking treadmill once I figured out that the running treadmill desk couldn't lower to normal desk height, which would necessitate standing or leaning all day and that just isn't going to happen! So... tomorrow is the big day to spend some big bucks!

What I just said about attitudes changing?

Well, that might be true, but that doesn't mean that I like seeing zero movement on the scale either - especially after a huge uptick with vacation! I know it's from eating more carbs than usually even though the calorie count is right on. My balance of nutrients has been off which then gets reflected in other ways.

BUT... cake is gone (but gosh did I enjoy my two tiny slices) and now it's truly back to not only timing and amount of my normal food, but also TYPE of my normal food - lowish carb, intermittent fasting, under 1400 calories (on non-exercise days).

Weather here is AWFUL and it's making me realize more and more that a treadmill that can also act as a walking desk is the way to go. Truly 1/3 to 1/2 of the year it's not pleasant to walk outside, so having an alternative to outdoor walking IN the office seems like a good idea.

At home, I have other options - I can do trx, videos, dance to Wii games, or go to the gym. It's the work days that are really hard to fit it all in. I simply WILL NOT get up early (especially in winter months) to work out and I'm too tired after dinner to work out. My days are 7 am to 7:30 pm without gym days added. I need to spend some time with my family and I need some time on other aspects of life. So, I can bring the "gym" to the office! sound like an idea? On work at home days and off days, I can fit more stuff in.

Today is my long day at the office, so I had a big lunch to serve as lunch and dinner. I love those days! If I lived by myself, I would have late lunch be my meal choice always. Eat at 1:30-2pm and then just be done for the day! However, we won't be living the life of retirees for like, forever!

25 pounds down, a gazillion to go!!!

But, it s a really, really good start and it's still easy.

This long weekend I decided that I needed to get a walking desk at work. Any movement I can throw in there WHILE working, the better. Reality is (for me), I work in a beautiful area, but I would never take a walk during work if it meant I needed to stay at work even longer.

I love my job. I really love my job, but I also love being home with my family and staying at work longer means I get less time with my family.

So, that will be my birthday/Christmas present to myself for a LONG time to come as it's pricey, but it's worth it.

I did several mock ups of my office and I could make it fit in any number of ways. I also realized that if I absolutely HATE IT, I can return it, or better yet, sell it to someone who wants to use it. If I buy high quality stuff, it will hold most of its value.  I think the arrangement I like best for the office is this one:

Furniture are right size, but not right colors/shapes. Like, the app I'm using doesn't have a treadmill, but has an exercise bike, so I scaled that to size.  I think I would keep my current desk for now. It is for certain that I need a place to sit as well as stand/walk... I just don't know if I want to invest in something that can sit and stand NOW. Or go with something just for standing. AND if I like it for sitting and standing, I can always put a chair on the treadmill (yes, you can do that, just has to be a type of chair that won't hurt the treadmill. People do it all the time.

I don't know... big desk? Small desk? If I do a big desk (big enough for sitting and standing), then the only floor layout that works well is this one. (Or flipping it so that the desk is at the door, but that would mean removing a wall shelf... something I could do in the future. This way though, I can look out the window which helps my spirit!) 

Insane idea for working in an office just 3 days a week? One day is at home, another day I'm  running around the entire time I'm here, so not sitting!