Category: Fitness

20 Pounds In 20 Weeks: Week 12: Nearly There

20lbs in 20 weeks, Fitness, Weight Loss

Sunday morning, I stepped on the scale and nearly jumped for joy.  The scale said I weighed 185.5 pounds.  This is only a half a pound above my goal weight.  Huzzah!

Starting Weight 205
Current Weight 185.5
Goal Weight 185
Lost 19.5
Left Until Goal 0.5

Of course, I’m not claiming victory anytime soon.  The next three weeks will be tough ones dietarily-speaking.  (Is “dietarily” a word?  Well, it is now!)  As I’ve been saying for weeks now, Passover is approaching.  I’ve been mentally getting ready for packing on some pounds due to Matzoh overload.  Still, I didn’t remember one other “Passover is approaching” danger: Pre-Passover “Gotta Finish It Up” Snacking

You see, when Passover is here, all non-Kosher-for-Passover foods must be put away so Passover foods have room.  Of course, there is limited space to “put away” these foods and some of them might spoil if not consumed during the eight days that we celebrate Passover.  Since I hate wasting food, I wind up snacking on it.  Sleeve of opened Girl Scout Cookies?  Munch on them instead of putting the box in the bin.  Ritz crackers?  They’ll go nicely with that block of leftover cheddar instead of taking up room in the cabinets.

In the end, I wind up with less food to put away (good), but more pounds on my waistline (not so good).  I’ve all but given up on keeping track of points this week.  I’ll try to mentally keep score to keep my snacking down, but I’m not going to add the stress of points tracking to the stress of Passover preparation.  I’ll just have to re-double my weight loss efforts once Passover is done.

20 Pounds In 20 Weeks: Week 11: Back on Track

20lbs in 20 weeks, Fitness, Weight Loss

After Disney World, I gained 5 pounds.  I expected to lose some of that this week.  I figured three pounds.  If I was lucky, four.  During the week, I weighed myself and was startled to see the pounds dropping drastically.  When I weighed myself Sunday morning, I was 187 pounds.  One Hundred Eighty Seven!  That’s a loss of six pounds in one week.  It was quite nice and gives me some hope for my post-Passover weight drop.

Starting Weight 205
Current Weight 187
Goal Weight 185
Lost 18
Left Until Goal 2

This also means that I’m a mere two pounds from my goal.  Given my past weight loss averages, I lose between one and a half and two pounds per week.  With two weigh-ins before Passover begins, I’m nearly certain to hit my goal.  Still, considering that Passover is going to be a guaranteed weight gain time, I’m not going to count the 20 Pounds In 20 Weeks challenge as successful unless I hit 185 pounds after Passover has ended.

Still, I’d say I’m doing quite well and am well on my way to completing this challenge.

20 Pounds In 20 Weeks: Week 10: Disney World Weight Gain

20lbs in 20 weeks, Disney, DisneySMMoms, Fitness, Food, Travel, Vacation, Weight Loss

It was to be expected.  I gained weight while at Disney World.  It was always going to be a battle between the calories burned by walking throughout the parks (and sweating in the Florida heat) and the calories consumed from the wonderful food Disney World has to offer.  The food won.  When I left for Disney, I weighed 188 pounds.  Upon returning home, I weighed 193 pounds.  That’s a gain of 5 pounds.

Starting Weight 205
Current Weight 193
Goal Weight 185
Lost 12
Left Until Goal 8

This setback, though expected, means that I now have 10 weeks to lose 12 pounds.  I also have Passover looming on the horizon.  During Passover, I’m not going to count points as Passover food tends to be high calorie and high in carbs.  Matzoh alone is 120 calories and 27 carbs per sheet and I can easily eat 3 slices for breakfast slathered with cream cheese before I feel full. There is no option of low calorie/low carb bread or rice during Passover.  Matzoh seems to permeate everything that gets made and so it won’t be a good situation to be tracking points in.  I’ll try to give myself a fighting chance by loading up on fresh fruits and veggies and by not buying a ton of Passover cakes/cookies (no loss as they tend to taste awful).  Still, I expect weight gain during those two weigh-ins.

I guess that just means I’ll have to try extra-hard to lose weight during the 8 weigh-ins that I have left during which I’ll be tracking points and (hopefully) losing weight.

20 Pounds In 20 Weeks: Week 9: Last Pre-Disney Weigh-In

20lbs in 20 weeks, Disney, DisneySMMoms, Fitness, Food, Travel, Vacation, Weight Loss

This marks the last time I will weigh-in before we go to Disney World.  (At least, the last “official” weigh-in before Disney.  I might weigh myself just before we leave out of sheer curiosity.)  While at Disney, I’m putting the weight loss plan aside.  This doesn’t mean I’m going to pig out just for the sake of pigging out, but neither am I going to count points.  Let’s face it.  This is Disney World we’re talking about.  The food there is incredible and I’m not going to ruin our good time by trying to figure out which dishes are the lowest in points.  Besides, going to Disney World means a lot of walking.  (Last year, I only wound up gaining half a pound during my trip.)

Starting Weight 205
Current Weight 188
Goal Weight 185
Lost 17
Left Until Goal 3

All that said, I weighed in at 188 yesterday morning.  This puts me a mere three pounds from my goal.  Were Disney not a factor, I could probably reach my goal in the next two or three weeks.  I’d say I’m doing pretty well.  Now, I’m off to prepare to celebrate in Disney World!

20 Pounds In 20 Weeks: Week 7: The Challenge of Eating Out

20lbs in 20 weeks, Fitness, Food, Weight Loss

Last week I gained weight (though just half a pound) and said that you needed to persevere through these dry spells.   Keep your weight loss routine up and you’ll soon see the numbers begin moving down again, I said.  Sure enough, this week saw two more pounds flee my body.  I’m now down 13 pounds since I started this seven weeks ago.  That’s almost two pounds per week on average.  At this rate, I should be in the 180’s by the time we go to Disney World!

Starting Weight 205
Current Weight 192
Goal Weight 185
Lost 13
Left Until Goal 7

On Saturday, we went to B’s parents’ house for dinner.  This is nice as we get to see them, the boys get to play, I get the day off from cooking dinner.  However, there are problems.  For some reason, my willpower drops when I’m at my in-laws’ house and I tend to eat a lot more than I should.  They also are not on the same diet we are on so I worried that the food they served would be high in points for us.

The latter issue was easily resolved.  They used a frozen, pre-made chicken product that turned out to be surprisingly low in points.  They also didn’t serve us the usual high-point fare of rice or bread.  Instead, I helped out by sautéing some bagged vegetables with dried onion and minced garlic (bottled).

SIDE NOTE: While a “true chef” might recoil in horror at the mention of bagged or frozen produce, dried onion flakes or bottled minced garlic, I find them to be essentials.  I don’t have time to mince my own garlic (and clean up the mess) or keep a stock of onions to chop.  While I do like using some fresh veggies, sometimes a quick frozen bag in the microwave (or in the frying pan) is in order.  It gives me a quick and healthy side dish with little to no cleanup.  Very handy for the healthy parent/cook!

All in all, our dinner was 13 points including a salad, the aforementioned chicken and veggies, strawberries and even a few small cookies as an after-dinner indulgence.  Not bad at all.  It just goes to show that you can eat out while trying to stay healthy.  It just takes a little planning before hand.

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