Big Run #2 and "Ice Cream"

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

This evening I ran at 5.4 mph for 60 minutes. My total ended up being 5.39 miles and about 632 calories. I do think I could handle 5.5 mph next time, BUT I need new sneakers that fit me better. My current sneakers are only about 3 weeks old, but they are 8.5 wides because they were out of 9 regulars. My right foot is bigger than my left and my right little toes were sore after about 40 minutes. So I'll just get a pair of real running shoes that are properly fitted and wear the other sneakers when I'm not running. They've never hurt before.

I have a friend from college, Jason, who is coming to Boston to run the marathon. I haven't seen him since 1998, but we're going to get together when he's here in early April. He and another friend of his running the marathon and I are going to go for a three-mile run on Sunday morning! Yikes! He promised we could go slow, but I don't want to embarrass myself in front of two marathoners. Gotta train for that run. :)

Now on to my "ice cream" - it's a container of Hood low-fat cottage cheese, Splenda, a couple drops of almont extract, and a sprinkle of cinnamon mixed with a splash of water in the blender. Who knew cottage cheese had added salt and more sodium in one container than I ate all day today? I'll have to look for low-sodium cottage cheese. If you know of any, please let me know! So I poured it - with difficulty - back into the original container and put it in the freezer til tomorrow. It's 4 points and a light yogurt is just 1...so this isn't going to end up being a usual thing for me, but it's a neat change of pace.

Okay, so I cheated a LITTLE. What I couldn't pour back into the container, I licked out of the blender. But I had far more APs today than I ate (I earned 7!) so that's okay. And I'm "counting" the whole thing tomorrow, not subtracting the part I licked tonight.

  

Um...

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Just reading over my recent blog entries.....
Do I brag too much?? I don't mean to sound obnoxious. I just do this to motivate myself to keep on going. All the positive feedback I'm getting from everyone has been sooooo much fun. I don't think I've ever gotten this much positive feedback from a diet before.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

SUSINOK 3/8/2007 6:26AM

No, you don't brag too much. You are celebrating your successes, and you should. Be proud of your accomplishments because this is NOT easy, is it? No hiding your light under a barrel, so to speak. Report Inappropriate Comment

Everybody's Got an Opinion

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

This morning, the first thing Jess said to me was, "Hi skinny." Fishing for compliments, I asked where I look skinny. He proceded to run his cold, just out from under the faucet hand down my side. Ow!

Next, two women at work, both moms of women not far from my age, told me not to lose any more weight. I insisted that I still have a bit more to lose.

Then, a woman I don't even know - pretty sure she's a cafeteria aide - asked if I've lost weight. She said she noticed I'm looking tiny from the side view. (Nice view to look tiny from, don'tcha think?) So I told her I'm on Weight Watchers, and of course, like everyone else, she's been on Weight Watchers too. It's a total epidemic! :)

I just know I'm going to weigh in the lower half of the 100s (in other words, less than 150) reeeeeeeally soon - tomorrow perhaps?? If so - it's gonna be party time. :)

  

"you look marvelous!"

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

I got an email today from a coworker. Subject: "you look marvelous!" Here's what it said:
Susan,
I guess I have not seen you in a while - You look marvelous!
I have put on 6 pounds since Dec. 1 and would like to get it off.
Any suggestions ???
Mary

Here's what I said: "Re: you look marvelous!":
Thank you! :) :) I am on Weight Watchers and have lost 16 pounds since late January. It feels fantastic! You have to eat the right number of calories (points, if you're doing Weight Watchers). That's probably most important. Exercise and making healthy choices (fiber, low sodium, healthy fats, etc.) help too.

Oh, and Mary's already quite thin herself.
Later we were chatting in person and she told me I have "no lumps or anything." Heehee.

Sleep has got to be more of a priority. Without it, I want to eat more and exercise less. It is just as important as drinking water, I think.

I already mentioned this in a post on the Spring Challenge page, but here are some milestones for me to celebrate:
*Breaking out of my plateau range (163-170 for at least half a year in late '06-early '07): MET
*Reaching the healthy BMI range (154): MET last week (end of February, 2007)
*Reaching my Weight Watchers "official" goal (155): MET as of last Thursday, 3/1/07

Here are some milestones I'm unbelievably close to reaching:
*Under 150: 1 pound away!!!
*My "official" Weight Watchers 10% goal (148.8): 2 pounds away!!! (but I've already been given my 10% keychain because I claimed I didn't want to lose that much - yeah right, I just wasn't sure it was possible. Now I know I can do that and much more.)
*My lowest adult weight ever (147): 4 pounds away!!!
*According to one web source, I am "marginally overweight" until I reach 145lb: about 6 pounds away
*BMI of 22 (that same website said a BMI of 17-22 yields an above-average life expectancy) (136lb for my height): only 15 pounds away!!

Another goal is the one I have here on Sparkpeople....when I last reset my goals, I entered 2lb per week until May 2, which is the date of my last at-work Weight Watchers meeting. SP calculated my goal to be 137.

Like I've mentioned before, I don't know how low my weight will get. Jess doesn't want me to be too thin. I bet that personally I will NEVER feel too thin and will always want to lose more...but will get to a point where I plateau and maybe end up deciding that's the weight my body "wants" to keep. When I reach that point I will need to be very diligent in following the maintanence rules, which are the same as the weight loss rules except that you add 4 extra points per day, plus you must earn 4 APs per day. Each week after you weigh in, if you've gained a pound drop one point per day, and if you've lost a pound add one point per day.

It's going to be hard emotionally, I think, because on the one hand I need to learn how to maintain for life and certainly I want to eat as much as I can and while remaining thin and healthy. However, the idea of losing more and more weight is going to be very tempting, I just know it...

Anyway, I'm not there yet. I've been told - by Carolyn, Mary, and 2 Saks employees that I don't need to lose any more weight. HOWEVER, I still weigh over 150 pounds and I still am for the most part a size 10-12, so I KNOW I can comfortably lose more weight and become more healthy. When I get to a point where ALL measures point to "thin," it'll be time to maintain...for example, consistent size 4-8, weight in the 130s-140s, no extra flab to pinch, visible muscle definition.

Even if I maintain it doesn't mean I can't continue to improve my fitness level. In fact I would say that in maintanence it will be MORE important to focus my goals on being able to run faster and longer, and strength train with heavier weights, become even more flexible, and try new activities like races, yoga, outdoor running/biking, and in general being able to do athletic things like swim across a pond, boogie board, play a sport or climb a rock wall if the opportunity should arise. I have still never ever done even one real, full, quality push-up and definitely need to achieve that goal someday...I need to be able to do 10 of them!

So anyway, even in maintanence I can still improve my appearance...all that additional fitness will make me look more toned and firm - plus a whole lot healthier!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

CRUELLA 3/6/2007 5:59PM

Congratulations! What fabulous NSVs AND SVs you've experienced. I'm in pretty much the same situation. I chose a high WW goal weight, because I couldn't see myself getting much below it. I've since lost an additional 14 lbs, and I feel great. You will definitely get to the point where you realize you are ready to stop losing. And you are right... maintenance is more difficult that losing. Don't get completely focused on the 4APs per day... some days I earn 5, some 2, some 8. It just depends upon my schedule. If you are currently a flex person, you might want to give CORE a try when you get to maintenance. It's SO much easier than counting points for the rest of your life and really feels like something I can live with long term. Good luck as you continue on with your goals! Report Inappropriate Comment

Saturday Shopping Spree

Sunday, March 04, 2007

On Saturday Jess dropped me off by the Brook House so I could spend the day in the city and he could go work on his condo. I walked from there to the Prudential mall - maybe 2 or 3 miles. Along the way I stopped for a large coffee with splenda and lots of skim milk.

Anyway, without going into every possible detail, here's what I bought:
*a red necklace
*a wide red belt - size SMALL!!!
*wanted to buy red leopard print flats but they were a bit too small
*tried on a gold dress for the wedding in sizes 10, 8, and 6. The 6 was the best. Wonder how the 4 would have fit. $320...expensive. Tried on with a pair of $480 Gucci sandals just for fun.
*Got Spanx - size small! Would definitely make vast improvements to my rear view in a satin dress, but will also make me look better in anything
*Tried on bras that you can lower the back to (34 B and C, as given to me by the woman who measured me at Saks - both seemed to fit), but didn't buy
*Tried on many tops and even leggings at another store, all size smalls fit though one button down top probably fit a bit better in medium
*At Ann Taylor Loft tried on a top in an 8, 6, and finally 4. I bought the FOUR!!!!!?!!!!! Really cute white spring top. Wore with red necklace and red belt.
*34C Ipex in white
*At the Gap was told I looked like an 8. Tried on size-8 jeans, couldn't even button. 10s were tight. :(
*At Banana Republic the 8s and 10s both could be squeezed on but were both tight.
How can I be a 4 at one store and have 10s be too tight at another? Okay, they probably were the right size, because I was wearing my old 12 jeans that day and they kept falling down. But they would have been TIGHT. Also, I think I'm smaller on top than on bottom. The woman in intimates at Saks actually said I am small around the rib cage (because one kind of spanx fit me weird there). Me - small??

It makes me wonder. At 150+ pounds, if I am fitting into size small, then will I be able to fit into anything at 136? Did I mention Jess said 136 might be too skinny?

After all that shopping I had dinner at Chili's in Copley Plaza with Laura, Lisa, and Jess. I was going to have the Guiltless Salmon but decided that was just way too much food. I mean, it's healthy, but who needs portions that big? Laura and Lisa were splitting the 2-person beef fajitas and I got in on that. Laura said she was really hungry but Lisa and I offered to split just one person's share. I ended up eating 1.5 tortillas and probably enough fillings for 2 whole fajitas, but without cheese or sour cream and limited guacamole. It was the perfect size. Lisa isn't dieting but she thought it was the perfect size, and SHE is a great size herself. So this is the way I gotta eat for the rest of my life. Of course when I eat at home I can eat a little more because it's healthier - less sodium, more fiber, no butter or whatever they cooked in.

Random - at Express Laura and Lisa both tried on black pants that were too small. Lisa tried on the 2s and Laura tried on the 4s.

I see how vanity sizing really would make people want to buy more. Who wouldn't want to buy the size 4 top they fit into if they've never ever ever worn a size 4 before? (heehee) Me! Size 4? I just can't get over it. Today I wore my old size fourTEEN jeans and they weren't that baggy

Also in Saks I asked about that size 30 question I had. They told me size 30 is equivalent to a 10. So I should fit into those size 30 Seven for All Mankind jeans soon.