Monday, February 10, 2014

Weight loss update: week 10

OK. So the weekly recap this week includes me being much more adherent to the Jenny Craig diet. I have been very adherent caloriewise all along, but obviously something was off last week, despite me thinking everything was fine on the intake and exercise side of things, so per my Jenny Craig consultant's recommendation, I went back to mostly Jenny Craig food (I did the equivalent of 5 days of Jenny food and 2 days "on my own"). I made four dinners of non-JC food this week, and I had a few non-JC "snacks," like a small portion of air popped popcorn one night, and a string cheese snack another night, but otherwise, except for the huge amounts of cooked vegetables and salads I eat daily, I ate only JC food. This is obviously not the long-term goal (which instead is to learn to eat small nutrient-dense portions and watch my calorie intake), but I really wanted to get the weight situation in check quickly, before it impacted my motivation. Because I can't pin down what went "wrong" last week, the only way to be sure to correct it seemed to be to go back to more JC food, since that's been working. So I did. I was kind of dreading it, because after 10 weeks of this food, I thought I was a bit sick of it, but honestly that part of things has been fine. The food is pretty good, so even on the days I opened a package of whatever meal and had lukewarm feelings to it, the actual eating of the meal was pleasurable.

The other thing I added this week was starting the plank-a-day challenge. I don't know if I'll make it to the end of it, but post c-section, my tummy could use some toning (understatement). And I'm figuring my weight is moving in the direction of toning exercises having the ability to actually show. That would be nice! So I'm up to a 1 minute 30 second plank, and OMG it is hard. But nice to focus on progressing on something else, in addition to the scale, just so my metaphorical eggs aren't all in one basket.

I still haven't taken measurements as was so sagely recommended by Melissia last week. But it's a really good idea. I'm definitely smaller than I was when I started this journey, even if I can't quantify it. I'll try to get on that soon.

So where did this week's efforts land me on the scale?


Weight-wise, I did VERY well!! Yay! So last week must have just been some weird temporary glitch.

Weekly Weight Loss
Starting BMI just after Thanksgiving = 25.2 (officially overweight)
Week 1:     - 4.4 pounds (back into normal BMI territory, less than 25!)
Week 2:     - 0.8 pounds
Week 3:     - 3.6 pounds
Week 4:     out of town so no Jenny food and no weigh-in (Christmas travel madness!)
Week 5:     - 4.4 pounds since last weigh-in
Week 6:     - 2 pounds
Week 7:     - 1.6 pounds
Week 8:     - 1.4 pounds
Week 9:     + 0.4  pounds
Week 10:     -4.2 pounds  
Grand Total So Far: 22.0 pounds lost (BMI = 21.6!!)

Oddly, despite thinking I had adhered pretty well to the diet, my JC consultant was still in "we must find out what went wrong" mode and was going over my food for the week with a razor-sharp focus. Which could have felt awesome and collaborative, but somehow the tone of it felt...negative. So one day it was, "you had too much sodium" and overall I "didn't eat enough fruit" (true, I stopped eating much fruit when diabetic, per my nutritionist's instructions, and replaced it with loads of leafy green and other non-starchy veggies). I didn't really hear about much that I had done right. Maybe it was me and my skin was extra thin today for some reason, but weirdly, it felt like I was being chastised and I left feeling a bit down in the dumps rather than elated at the week's successful weight loss.

So I'm strangely not looking forward to next week's weigh-in and another round of scrutiny. Not because I am so fearful I won't have lost weight, although there's some of that, but more that at the end of a long day at work and a week of strong effort dieting and exercising, I hope to have a more positive interaction. Because, you know, I feel like I've been working my butt off -  literally!

But anyway, main point is, I am back on track! Three cheers to progressing again with the weight loss!

Mo

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5 comments:

  1. Strong work Mo! Even if your consultant was having a poopy pants kind of day, I'm floored with that much weightloss in a week! I still wonder when you'll get to the maintain part of the plan as you will melt away soon, I'd think. Way to go on losing 22 pounds; that's fantastic! Keep up your great work, you're an inspiration!

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  2. Yea! Congrats. I've seen many times that a week on track can take a bit to actually show on the scale. Glad you hard work is paying off!

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  3. WOW! That is great progress. I am sorry your consultant did not cheer you on as she should have. Good for you. It is hard to sustain the enthusiasm for dieting and you are accomplishing that.

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  4. wow, that is amazing progress!!!!

    your consultant is terrible for not encouraging you. Even if she wanted to figure it out for herself, there's a way to position her confusion without playing down your AWESOME week!!!!

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  5. I really think that last week's weight was due to physical issues with ovulation, water retention, etc. I think you were on track with the average weight loss of 2lbs/week, which is reasonable and maintainable. so this week's 4lbs down reflects last weeks 2lbs too.

    I think she was feeding off of your own concern from last week. let it go. if she is still weird about stuff next time, just tell her to lay off a little! you know what you are doing. this is a lifestyle alteration... you have to get to a point where you feel comfortable with what/how/when you are eating in the bigger picture of your life, not sodium intake on a particular day... do what you need to do to make this weight loss permanent and your new healthy weight and lifestyle something that is realist8c for you to maintain in the long term.

    great work mo!

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