Waistline Wars

Change it up

2010-02-09T18:14:00.002-06:00

Not feeling too terribly verbose tonight, but it is Trim Tracker Tuesday. I'm at 181.0, which is just shy of 7 lbs. Still heading in the right direction, but it looks like I'm starting to hit a plateau.

Time to change things up a bit!

First, two goals for February. One - get below 180 in time for our trip to Milwaukee. 179.9? That totally counts! Two - start Capoeira by the 25th. All I have to do is show up.

Second, it's time to switch up the food. I think I need to add in some extra protein so that my body keeps burning fat and doesn't eat away at my muscles. That would be sad because I'm kind of short on muscles right now!

Here goes!

Is four pairs enough?

2010-02-04T15:27:00.003-06:00

You read that right, people. I now have four different lovely pairs of pants at my wardrobe disposal.

four
cuatro
vier
quatre

my number of wearable pants > three, bitches!

ahem...

The really big deal is that this particular pair of pants involves going one notch tighter on my recently reinstated belt. That's like almost an inch! I can't rest on my laurels now, though. There are some wicked cool plaid pants in my closet that are my real wardrobe goal. What better incentive for losing weight/getting in shape than two pairs of super rockin' plaid pants?!?

'Nuff said.

Rage Against the Hormones

2010-02-02T15:56:00.006-06:00

It's Trim Tracker Tuesday once again! I won't throw the entire computational gamut at you this time. I'm at 183.2 lbs this week - up 0.2 lbs over my PMS week.

What does PMS have to do with it?

Well, every woman experiences PMS in a slightly different way. Our hormone cycles are like snow flakes in that way. Mine? It's a week of mood swings and carb cravings.

Massive carb cravings.

ZOMG I'd trade my right hand for half an Oreo carb cravings.

It was never a pretty scene even when I wasn't trying to be mindful of what I was eating. Combine that primal urge to ingest refined sugar with the Waistline War Battle Plan and I was going out of my head. I think at one point B may have begged me to eat some candy just to get it over with. In my deprived frenzy I was all "are you mad woman?!?"

But she had a point...and she's usually right...

I had to be smart about how I satisfied the craving while still doing my best to stay on track. I didn't want the sugar crash that comes with candy, etc, because that's just what gets me on an eating kick. My solution? Whole grain bread.

I haven't savored bread like that since I was a kid, bored off my rocker during Sunday services.

Trim Tracker Tuesday!

2010-01-26T09:41:00.003-06:00

Some people say that when you're trying to lose weight you shouldn't focus on the number on the scale, that you should pay attention to how your clothes feel. That is so not me. I need numbers. I need data.

I need to make charts in Excel, people!!!

In this slightly obsessive vein, I present to you the first Waistline Wars feature - Trim Tracker Tuesdays! Every Tuesday I'll be posting my progress in numerical form. Who knows, maybe my Excel chart will make an appearance someday! Yes, it already exists...

OK, here goes nothing!

Current weight: 183.0 lbs
Net change: 4.8 lb loss
Percent loss: 2.6%
Current BMI: 31.41 (obese)

Not too shabby for a little under 2 weeks worth of work!

Wardrobe addition!

2010-01-25T10:22:00.002-06:00

When I said earlier that I only had three pairs of pants to wear I failed to mention my lack of belts to go with said pants. I have one belt that I wore with everything, but it was sitting on the sidelines for the last few weeks because it made things a bit too tight.

But no more!

Dear readers, I'd like to take a moment and welcome back to my regular line-up my belt! It's a lovely leather number that manages to pull off being reversible without being tacky.

Oh, how I've missed you dear belt...

Battle ready

2010-01-21T10:40:00.001-06:00

I recently (like, ten minutes ago) skimmed the 1998 NIH's Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults (warning - HUGE file!). This is the report from whence the recommendations for losing 1-2 lbs a week and shooting for 10% weight loss to reduce risk factors associated w/ obesity came from. You know the ones - heart disease, hypertension, diabetes...the fun stuff! For me 10% equals 19 lbs, or 10-20 weeks of work.

From all of this I have developed a strategy, because every good war has a battle plan!

Phase 1: Boot Camp
We're talking basics here. Low calorie diet and increased activity.

I'm doing the Special K thing while I'm at work because it's just so freakin' easy, and I get to eat chocolate! My desk has started to look like a produce stand since that's what I'm eating to keep from being too hungry. I'm pretty much grazing throughout the day.

As for activity, this is where it gets tricky. Right now it is quite dark in Minnesota. Like, I see the beginning of the sunrise on my drive to work and that's it. I also work a phone based job, so it's hard to get away from my desk.

Well, I thought it was hard.

Now I force myself to pull away from the phone and do a lap around my building (1/3 of a mile). I'm doing this about once an hour plus extra at lunch. Right now I'm clocking 2-2.5 miles, but I'm shooting for 3 miles every day.

Phase 2: Ramp it up!
In terms of food, Phase 2 won't look that different than Phase 1. The real difference will be a ramp up in activity. I plan on keeping my walks and adding capoeira. Capoeira is from Brazil and is best described as a mixture of martial arts and dance. It is very leg and core intensive and comes along with some great music (although some would argue the berimbau is an acquired taste). This phase will start once I've been able to easily complete 3 miles each day for 2 weeks.

So that's it for now. I'll make adjustments once I hit that inevitable plateau.

Three Pairs of Pants

2010-01-20T20:45:00.000-06:00

I currently have three pairs of pants that I can wear to work. This is not to say that I only own three pairs of pants. No, I just have three pairs of pants that allow me to sit down. These pants are what I considered my "fat" pants, which should be those pants that you can wear to Thanksgiving dinner and not have to undo the top button at the end. These three pairs of pants do not that fit that way at the moment.

I want my wardrobe back...let the waistline wars begin!