My Birthday and Weigh-In

This is a big week. Yesterday I turned 27, and today is my last day of work. Then on Tuesday I start the new job! I thought I would be sadder to leave, but while I will miss my boss and many of the people here, I am just so excited for the new position, and have been waiting so long to leave (over a year), that I'm not upset. This has been a long time coming.


I had another good weigh-in - down 1.4! That's 3 pounds for the month, and a total of 11.4 pounds in 12 weeks. I think the last time I lost a pound a week for three months was in college.


I was debating a lot how to deal, food-wise, with all these awesome things happening. My birthday was originally going to be a freebie, but then it happened to occur in conjunction with all these other events that were also going to be freebies - namely, the cake and then farewell happy hour for my last week of work. I had assumed they'd be a lot more spread out.

Also, I realized that I DON'T want to have a whole freebie week. I don't want to get on the scale and see that I erased the progress from the last couple of weeks. It doesn't seem worth it. Therefore, my goal for this week - for my birthday yesterday, for the end-of-work events, and for a relaxed movie/pizza/hangout we're going to have with some friends on Saturday as a birthday party - is just not to gain, and to do my best.

I was trying to figure out "What can I live with?" "Indulging but not going nuts?" I came up with w birthday meal instead of a birthday all-day-snackfest. Last night we went out to dinner, and I ate fettuccine Alfredo and creme brulee. It was beautiful. But I (mostly) stuck to the plan during the day.

That's my goal for the next week or so, leaving my old job and starting a new one. There's a lot of wonderful changes going on, but I'm going to try, at least, not to get too caught up in the eating part of it.

So bring on the cake and drinks, I (kind of) got this!

Weigh-In: BirthDAY, not week

Alright, let’s dive right into this.

This week’s weigh-in:

	Starting	6/8	8/19	9/30	10/29	11/19	12/31	1/14	1/28	2/4	2/11
Weight	200	191.2	182.6	181	181.4	177.6	177.2	175.8	174.6	175.8	174.2
Lbs. Fat		82.7	72.5	70.3	70.8	68.1	67.1	67.6	65.3	66.8	64.7
Lbs. Muscle		67.3	66.8	65.2	67.3	63.3	63.9	65	64.4	65.2	63.5

Well, I’m glad last’s week gain is gone, along with another half pound - and the fat numbers match the net weight numbers, so at least that half a pound was fat lost and not muscle or water. I was hoping for more, of course, since this means I’ve lost just half a pound in two weeks of eating well and working out. It’s been a good few weeks of consistent workouts, actually bringing lunch to work, and staying within my calorie range.

This means that I will definitely not make my goal of getting into the 160’s by my birthday. I knew it was a tall order based on my history, but I really thought it was doable and I’m extremely disappointed that I didn’t make it. New goal: I’m going to try and do it by the end of February, but that might be a long shot as well.

The upside is that I’m not going to do anything about it; I realize that I have no choice. I can keep trying and know it will eventually catch up, or - what? Give up and gain back 25 pounds? Can’t, nope. So onward we ride. Weight loss is definitely like riding a bike at a really low gear - you pedal and pedal, so quickly, but move so slowly.

Because confidence is key.

Upcoming challenges:

Birthday - My plan for my birthday on Tueday is to have a maintenance day and treat it as its own one-day week. I know it’s probably not worth eating so much that the calories spill over onto another day, so I’ll try my best. Bottom line: As long as I keep it to birthDAY, there’s only so bad it can be.

Wedding - we have a wedding of a family friend next weekend (yay!), which will also involve a weekend at my parent’s house. It should be too challenging, but I’ve learned that I don’t do great out of my comfort zones of work, home, and occasional outings. It won’t be hard to eat healthy with my parents, as they eat very well, I just have to watch portion sizes and do my best at the wedding.

Things that are not challenges: Valentine's Day, because I don't really care about it. Our wedding anniversary is my Valentine's Day. The upside is that everything is discounted on my actual birthday because it's on the 17th. Woot!

Goals for February

A blogger I like used to post monthy goals for herself, and I like the idea of that. I’ve made plenty of short term goals, like my original “Weight loss reboot” or when I stopped eating sugar for a month. It’s good to focus on the short term because my goal weight is likely a year away at least.

February Goals:

• Get to a New Weight Decade
• My original goal was to get into the 160’s by my 26th birthday, but I’m not sure I’ll make that. So while I’d still love to make that, my next “deadline” is to get to this place by the end of the month, two weeks later. Just 4.6 pounds...
• Increase Strength Training
• I’ve been going to the gym, and even pushing myself, consistently 4-5 times a week. However, I only strength train once a week, sometimes only a few times a month. For this month, I’m aiming to do weights 6 times at least, and hopefully 8 or 10.
• Probably not 10, since this is a short month.
• Get a New Weekend Strategy
• Or, something. Every week I overdo it on Friday and Saturday, and it turns my pound loss into two-thirds or half a pound. Still progress and great and all that, but I need to be better at this.
• Possible strategy: stop making desserts for potlucks, dammit Leah. People will still like you when you don’t bring them sugar.

• Get Creative with Breakfast
• I literally eat oatmeal or Greek yogurt for breakfast every day. I want to try at least one new work-friendly breakfast (so probably no eggs).
• One option: I’ve always liked that if it’s food and you have it for breakfast, then it’s breakfast food. Stew, beans, chicken, why not?
• Bring Lunch
• Bring lunch at least 4 days a week. Laziness if the only thing stopping me. Even if it’s an Amy’s meal, it’s still cheaper than buying, and still better because it takes away the necessity of a decision.
• Remember that it’s a birthDAY, not a birthWEEK
• My mother was not in labor for a week; in fact, she was barely in labor for an afternoon. Celebrate/eat accordingly.
• Call my mother on my birthday, to thank her. She did all the work that day.
• Cook on Sundays
• It helps so much for the week. I cooked a couple of dishes over the last two Sundays that were good for lunch - mainly fish chowder and balsamic chicken with fajita vegetables - and I need to keep this up. Today will be a challenge since we’re going to a Superbowl party so I shouldn't procrastinate like I usually do.

Alright, February. Here we go.

Who else has goals, weight-related or other, for this month?

What are they?