I lost one this week. It’s Monday weigh-in and the scale showed 180. There were so many days in the last couple of weeks where the scale showed 180 but not once did it dip into the 170s. I guess I’ll have to wait for next week to see a new second number!
Oh well. As always, a loss — any loss! — is better than a gain, so I’ll take the pound with a smile. 
Tags: weekly weigh-in
On my dad’s side of the family there are seven cousins. My dad was one of three kids, and each of them had two, three and two kids respectively. My brother and sister posed with our other four cousins last year and again this year. I have blurred all their faces, because I didn’t really get permission from any of them to post these pictures. But, I wanted to show the change I’ve made so I didn’t blur me. I’m the third-born of the cousins, so you can see me 3rd from the left in the photo above.
It’s not a close-up, though, so I wanted to include one of my favorite pictures of me recently. This one was taken earlier in the morning before we went to the park:
Tags: before and after
This week’s weigh-in results in nothing to report — well, except that the scale didn’t move. My weight fluctuated a little over the week, up and down, but the net result is the same as last Monday, 181.
I’m happy with that however! This past weekend was another road trip, this time for a family reunion. This year the elders in my family decided it would be a fun thing to do to hire a vendor to custom-make large batches of homemade ice cream. We’ve made homemade ice cream for reunions in the past, but it meant each of a half dozen people each bringing their own ice cream makers and all the ingredients to do the different flavors. While they were busy cranking the handle (or monitoring the automatic version if available) they couldn’t enjoy the festivities. Problem solved! Hire someone!
The ice cream was good, but fortunately not SO GOOD that the temptation would be higher than it was. I stopped at only a quarter cup! Despite the huge potluck spread and the obligatory “road snacks” I didn’t gain any weight this weekend. I’m happy!
The nicest thing about this weekend was the flurry of compliments that I got from those that haven’t seen me in a year. The photo that is part of my site header was taken at last year’s reunion. I promise as soon as our family photographer provides the link to download the reunion photos from this year, I’ll show you a “before and after”. Pretty awesome if I do say so myself! While one week had no change in weight, there were 87 pounds difference between this year and last. Nice!
Tags: before and after, weekly weigh-in
I went to two different jewelers in town yesterday for estimates and ideas. I live far enough out in the suburbs where it would be a drive to larger chain jewelry stores but our town is affluent enough to have a couple of options locally. It has been almost 20 years since these rings were purchased, and I do not make a habit of visiting jewelry stores, so didn’t really know what to expect.
The first place I stopped was a goldsmith jeweler in a strip mall whose window dressings indicated that they also did gold repair. I didn’t really get good vibes from my visit there. I was worried that the diamonds I was dropping off wouldn’t necessarily be the ones I got back when I went to pick up the resized rings. He also seemed to be pulling numbers out of his butt when it came to providing estimates. I did like the numbers he gave, but just didn’t feel right about it.
The second place I went was a shop that was more artisan, home-grown, and well-established in the community. I seemed to relate much better to the non-slick manner of the woman that greeted me. She was definitely representing the “crafter” side of the business. I couldn’t imagine any chest-hair-laden-wide-gold-chain-wearing going on with her! Her prices were 2.5 times higher than what I got at the first place, but her attention to detail and obvious knowledge was comforting. The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way about her was that she had a definite superiority complex. She put down the jeweler that set my solitaire (I didn’t bother telling her that it was purchased from a well-known jeweler on Jewelers Row in Chicago) and she also bragged that the “guy across town” that sized me didn’t know what he was doing because he marked me as 7.5 when I was “clearly!” a size 7 now.
Whatever.
I’m not wild about spending the extra money that the second lady quoted. Because they do everything in house and do not have a farm-out system, they have to charge higher rates. I get that. I also like to support small business-owners whenever I can and I think their esteem in the community makes them reputable. I certainly don’t want to hand over the most sentimental material possession I have to someone I don’t trust! I’m almost “sold” on the second quote. I’ve eliminated the first option and am just wondering whether I should get a third opinion. Maybe go to an artisan jeweler like option #2 so that I can compare apples to apples? Maybe there is more difference in services provided and there is definitely more value in having the work done by a “craftsman” (or woman) rather than farmed out where the work is performed by an unknown person?
I do want to act quickly, though, before these prized possessions slip away without me knowing it. Four sizes is a lot to lose!
Tags: ring resized
I have been putting it off and putting it off, trying to wait until all of my weight is lost, but I’m becoming extremely fearful that I will lose my rings. My wedding band is (I’m guessing) about four sizes too big and the engagement ring (not soldered) has a rubber spacer on the back of it but still slides around a LOT! Every time I wash my hands, I worry that the water pressure will make the rings slide right off and go down the drain. I curl my fingers like a monkey all the time just to keep the gold from slipping over one too many knuckles! Here are two pictures I took the other day, the top one which shows just the band and the bottom one with the rubber “resizer” that no longer makes up the difference!Tags: ring resized
Another three pounds are gone, and today’s weekly weigh-in showed me at 182. I made lots of sensible food choices and logged all of my intake diligently, so my weigh-in is a logical reflection of my eating.
I only worked out once this past week, and I would really like to be doing more, but I’m thankful for the weight loss despite the low activity level. I never count all of the running around I do with my toddler, so maybe that accounts for more than I realize! She is not particularly fast, but she keeps going! We probably walked to the park four times this week, and over to her little buddy’s house a few times too. While those destinations are all relatively close to home, the fact that we “walked” them instead of gone by car helps! It’s nice to live in a neighborhood where there are so many conveniences close by!
This coming weekend is the annual family reunion and with a potluck buffet line as long as our bloodline, there are endless choices and opportunities to splurge. I’m going to have to behave this weekend!
Tags: weekly weigh-in
Katie asked me recently what my goal weight was. She asked nearly a week ago and I have found it so difficult to find the time to respond, although I’ve really given it quite a bit of thought!
If you were to look on the blog header, you think that my GW (goal weight) is 168, as it will be at that weight that I will have lost 100 pounds from the day I started on my latest weight loss journey. I set that as a goal weight because it was a magical round number, not because it meant anything in particular to me.
Many people want to be the size they were in high school, or in college, or on their wedding day. For me, that is not necessarily the case, as I am already smaller than I was in college and on my wedding day. (I don’t remember for sure what I weighed when I was in high school, but I think I am close there too.)
Going based on BMI, I will be at 22.5 when I weigh 140 pounds. Should that be my goal weight? For my height, any weight between 120 and 160 is considered “Healthy” and no longer “Overweight”. So, around 140 would be right in the middle. That seems low to me, but perhaps it is just my perception based on what I have always weighed!
I don’t want to stop short and deny myself an even better health, but then again, as a 40 year old woman, I am not striving for perfection and I will not be strutting any runways!
With all things considered, I am going to make my ultimate goal be 148. Once I reach 168, which will mark 100 pounds lost, I am going to celebrate. I will continue working towards 148. If I don’t make continued progress (beyond the 100 pounds) or if the remaining 20 pounds take me a whole additional year or two to come by, it won’t matter. I am not going to dwell on the pound-a-week pace not being met, and in fact, I am hoping I can omit the daily calorie counting. After a few months, I’m getting pretty darn good at predicting how many calories are entering my mouth even if I don’t pre-plan a meal with the help of Lance Armstrong’s “Daily Plate” caloric content lookup!
I’m hoping that somewhere between my current weight of 183 and my ultimate goal of 148, I will have lost more of this stubborn belly fat! With only 15 more pounds to go in my original 100, I don’t think it will happen before the 100 pound mark, and this is the biggest reason I don’t want to stop at 168. I feel like I have the arms and legs of a 150-pound woman already but the belly of someone that still weighs well over 200! Ugh.
Tags: belly fat, BMI, counting calories, goal
I was out of town again this past weekend. I was doing an outdoor show in Indianapolis. It was HOT. I think this was good for me, as all the sweating and lugging equipment helped me use more calories than I needed apparently. After last month’s road trip resulted in 11 more pounds upon my return (bad food choices, lots of snacks, less sleep than usual, time of the month, etc.) I was determined to be satisfied if only two pounds to re-lose were displayed on the scale at weigh-in this morning…
Imagine my surprise when it showed two pounds less! Yay! I have to give myself a lot of credit though… all of my meals were sensible and I behaved very well. I had four of my meals in fast food restaurants and the highest calorie meal of those was still less than 400. At McDonalds I had a Chipotle BBQ grilled chicken wrap, apple dippers w/o the caramel and a side salad with vinaigrette dressing. At Wendy’s I had a small chili, a side salad with lo cal dressing and a cup of mandarin oranges. At Arby’s I had a roast beef sandwich with some raw carrots that I had packed ahead of time. It CAN be done!
So, I’m at 185 now and feeling on top of the world. Go ME!
I was reviewing my list of tag words and was happy to see that I haven’t used these words in a long time:
- plateau
- boredom
- plus-size
- rut
I haven’t used them because I haven’t felt them! Many people I come across are bored with their exercise routine or feel frustrated that they (think they) are eating right and exercising enough but still aren’t losing weight. Or, they’ve fallen into a rut or became stuck at a plateau.
Fortunately, despite a recent “bump” from which I quickly recovered, I have had steady weight loss for about three months — four in April, six in May, four in June and three so far in July! It is only averaging about one pound per week, but I am not complaining. I’m still ahead of target for losing all 100 pounds before the end of the year and I’m not bored with the process. Sure, I wish the journey took less time, and if I had been willing to beef up cardio even more, I could be doing this at a faster pace. But, I’m hoping that by losing it one pound (or occasionally two) per week will help enable me to keep it off, as have suggested many weight loss experts in articles I’ve read.
Weight loss is a journey that is much easier to take if the traveler is optimistic by nature. I’ve got that going for me!
While working with the Wii Fit Plus, I took the full Body Test, which measures weight, calculates BMI, determines center of balance, and issues little “tests” that along with your actual age helps determine your “Wii Fit Age”. So, as a 40 year old woman, I was delighted to see that the computer thinks I behave younger than I actually am. Sometimes I do feel younger! Getting some weight off has helped. Everyone tells me I look younger too, and I can’t say I disagree. It feels good — to hear it and to feel it.
Tags: Wii Fit
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