Lose 12.6 by Xmas - Week 2 Results!

Start weight- 166.6
week 1- 164.0 (-2.6)
week 2- 162.0 (-2.0)
total loss for challenge- -4.6 pounds!!!


This week's measurements (+/- from last week)
neck- 12.0 (-0 inch)
upper arm (widest part)- 13.0 (-1/2 inch)
bust (widest part)-37.0 (-1/2 inch)
bust (below breasts)-32.5 (-1/2 inch)
waist (smallest part)- 31.0 (-1/2 inch)
waist (belly button)-36 (-0 inches)
hips (widest part)-45.0 (-1/2 inch)
thighs (widest part)-24.5 (same)
thighs (halfway between knee and crotch)-20 (-1.5 inch)
calf (widest part)- 14.5 (same)

total inches lost 5 (counting arms and thighs twice)
total lost since challenge began: 14.5 (WOO-HOO!!!!!)

I can't really see a difference between last week's picture and this week's picture, but I pretty much expected that.  It will be a gradual change, but I just know that the final picture that I will share on December 24 on here will be a dramatic difference from the first picture taken on October 15.

In other news, I have completed my first 21 Day No Junk Food Challenge!!! 

How did I do?  I didn't follow it perfectly, but I did really well.  There were a couple of times that I ate some chocolate-flavored graham crackers (chocolate is on the "no" list) and towards the end of the challenge, I allowed natual peanut butter back into my diet (PB is on the "no" list).  Oh, and I ate about 5 tortilla chips at a party one night before I remembered that chips were a no-no. 

Still, I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment!  I have definately learned that I don't need foods like chips and cookies in order to have a delicious day. 

I actually didn't get ANY cookies at the store yesterday, despite this week being a week that I am "allowed" junk food.  I did get a big bag of small baggies of chips.  Half are Stacey's! I also got some crackers, some natural chunky peanut butter, and some vegan ice cream.  I don't know whether or not crackers (such as Wasa light and Ritz reduced fat) are actually any healthier than potato or corn chips, but I do know that for whatever reason, I don't binge on them.

One food that I have stopped buying since week 2 of the 21 days challenge and I don't plan to buy again until next year:  BREAD.  I had been bingeing on bread and I think that is a big part of my recent weight gain.  When I have light bread or sandwich thins in the house, I eat them.  And I eat them ALL within 24 hours.  It's kind of nuts.  So, for now, I'm staying away from bread. 

Anyway, for now I'm going to continue tracking on My Fitness Pal, since I'm feeling really comfortable over there at the moment, and I love that it tells me every day how much I should weigh in 5 weeks.  :-) 

I do plan to get back to tracking on Weight Watchers eventually, but right now I'm sticking with MFP.  I love that I have the option of tracking either or both places, and will probably be switching from one to the other for a long time.

There are 8 weeks until Christmas, and I have 8 pounds to lose.  My awesome math skills tell me that means that I get to lose 1 pound per week, and I am up for the challenge!!!

Do you have any weight loss or fitness goals that you are trying to reach by the end of 2011?

Cheat Days- Good idea or Bad idea?

Every dieter knows about the CHEAT DAY.  In case you are one of the lucky people who stumbled across my blog even though you have never had issues with your weight (jealous of... er, happy for you!), here is a simple definition:

A cheat day is a regularly scheduled day that you eat more than usual, or you eat things that you don't normally eat on your diet.  You either keep on tracking (if your diet requires tracking), but ignore the high numbers, or you skip tracking completely.

That's my definition, anyway.

I have had one version or another of a cheat day for nearly my entire weight loss journey.  Because I'm back on Weight Watchers now, I'll tell you about my WW "cheat" days.

Saturday is my weigh-in day, but it's also my "cheat" day.  I put cheat in quotes because I still track, I just use most of my weeklies + my dailies + some APs (often in advance from actually earning them).  Since tracking on MFP,  I've noticed that this day can be up to 3000 calories sometimes!!!  Usually between 50-75 PointsPlus get consumed on any given Saturday.

I wonder if J-Hud has a cheat day?

The rest of the week, I tried to stick to my dailies and to have some leftover points at the end of the week... it almost NEVER happened.  I would eat all dailies, all weeklies, and all earned AP (sometimes this can be as many as 50) nearly every week.

...and that's on weeks that I'm perfect with my tracking.  Who knows how much I honestly eat when I'm not so perfect?

Anyway, this worked very well for me for a looooooooooong time.  Somehow I was able to go straight from my cheat day to more moderate portions the rest of the week, no problem.

Some time in the last couple of months, I've lost that skill.

Now, it takes me until Wednesday to recover from Saturday's overeating.  As in, I overeat on Saturday, feel deprived and hungry on Sunday, give in to some more overeating on Monday and Tuesday, and am finally back on track by Wednesday... and then it starts over every Saturday.

Now that I've read what I wrote right there.... I can see why I've been slowly gaining some weight. 

Here is a picture that I took of myself before I joined MFP (right around the time that I quit Weight Watchers Online, back in June or July.  At this point, I wanted to lose about 10 more pounds. 

I took a picture of myself in the exact same outfit last night, and I have visibly gained weight in my stomach and hips.  This cheating has to stop!  I will upload and post the pic from last night later, so that you can see what I am talking about.  For now, I will be using this picture as motivation to get my dedication back!

I've finally accepted that although my cheat day worked for me for years, it is time to give it up and to start eating right EVERY day.

This is not to say that I'm going to deprive myself.  I still believe in everything in moderation.

How I'm going to handle this with Weight Watchers?  I will be spreading my weekly and activity points out over the week.  I may still eat a few more on the weekends than through the week, but I will be trying very hard to not have any more 50-75 PointsPlus days, and I will be focusing on the GHGs 7/7 days instead of 5/7. 

You CAN follow Weight Watchers with a cheat day, and you CAN lose weight while doing it.  It's when the cheat day because a cheat week that you will run into problems!

Wish me luck for my first no-cheat-day weekend, I will need it.  :-)

Today is day 5/21 of the No Junk Food Challenge, and I'm going strong.

Do you have a regular cheat day?  Does it work for you?

21 Days No Junk Food Challenge

...Any takers?  ;-)

First of all, let me state for the record that I believe strongly in the Weight Watchers philosophy of "everything in moderation" when it comes to diet and exercise.  But I also feel like it's good for me to step outside of my comfort zone every now and again. 

I found this floating around the internet, and I've decided to jump on the bandwagon.  21 days of no junk food!  This list includes a couple of items that in my opinion can be very healthy, including chocolate (dark chocolate can be healthy) and peanut butter (natural peanut butter is VERY healthy) but besides those two things, I pretty much agree that the things on this list are not foods that should be eaten every day if you have a healthy diet. 

However, lately... I have been eating more junk food than usual.  Like, if I have 7 or 8 PointsPlus left at the end of the day, I will eat waffles, ice cream, oreos, potato chips, redvines, french fries, etc...  And this challenge will help me to realize that I can eat healthy snacks, and those junk foods really don't have to be eaten daily. 

Here is the challenge, and I assume that the blog linked at the bottom of this picture is the original source:

Stacey has decided to join me in this challenge, and so have many members of My Fitness Pal!  If you are on MFP and wish to join in, here is the link to the challenge-  MFP 21 Day No Junk Food Challenge!



If you want to join me in this challenge, just let me know in the comments and I'll try to help keep you motivated.  It should be an tough challenge for me, but a very rewarding one in the end.  It will be good for me to discover healthy snacks, and healthier alternatives to my old snacks.

As for the peanut butter...  I am switching my JIF Natural for Martha almond butter...  I don't consider this to be a "naughty" spread, and am happy with the decision to keep a nut butter around. 

So...  any takers?  :-)