Keeping My Eye on the Prize (Megan)

While I firmly believe in setting rewards for weight-loss goals (I bought myself a Gucci bag when I lost 85 pounds in 2005....) that's not what this post is about.  Not exactly anyway.

My husband and I are going on a baby-free trip to Ireland in March - exactly 8 weeks from now.  While not the first person to normally suggest climbing a monument or taking the long way, our recent vacations have been even worse.  My athletic energetic husband, god bless his non-complaining soul, has to stay at my pace.  I don't mean my walking pace necessarily.  I just mean my I-can't-do-everything-in-one-day-anymore pace.  I want some of that back!

So the Ireland trip isn't a reward for weight loss since it was booked long ago.  Instead, I'm looking to that trip as my first goal.  Stay the course and shed some serious weight before that trip.  I'll have more energy, I'll be more comfortable on the plane and the motorcoach and I'll be happier in general.  I may have to buy some new clothes too, and that never hurt anyone.

What's my exact goal?  Well, in 2005 (my only real benchmark for weight loss) I lost exactly 40 lbs in the first 9 weeks.  So, I guess that's my goal. 

9.8 down, 30.2 to go.  It's steep, it's just about 3.75 pounds a week. We'll see!

I ran a 5k and a new goal (Melissa)

I am gonna brag cause I am damn proud of myself. First, I have stuck with the gym over the past 2 months. Even though my life is chaotic and tiring, I still find time to go. I am making myself a priority! I have felt myself getting stronger, I can run longer, I can even walk faster.... Well today I made a goal to run 3.1 miles on the treadmill. I walked the first 3 minutes to warm up and then ran and ran and ran..... Finally I peeked and saw 3.1 and it took 39:32!! I was so excited since my goal for the 5k mid-March was to be under 40 minutes! Plus I walked the first couple minutes so it would be a little quicker! And I have 7 weeks until the 5k to get even faster!! I should also add that I continued to run to 3.25 miles since I did walk the first .15 miles. So, yay go me!

So my new goal is to reach 199lbs by my 4th wedding anniversary, June 8th. I weighed right above 200 on my wedding day and I'd like to be at onederland for this anniversary! So I have 23lbs to go and 19 weeks to do it. It's a little more than a 1lb a week and I think I can do it! Since going to the gym consistently I have been averaging almost 2lbs a week. I'm also going to sign up for some more 5k's to keep me running!!!

Feeling Better (Megan)

Day 5 (Friday) was rock bottom (see my prior post!).   I kind of had a feeling that if I could just make it through that day I'd be better.  Was that day perfect?  No.  But, I didn't let one (very minor) early morning slip up give me license to just 'blow' the entire day, as I would have normally.  I stayed on plan, made it through that day and am feeling much much better.

Doesn't hurt that I weighed myself this morning (official weigh-in is tomorrow) but it was very encouraging :P

So, I'm hanging in. Back riding the wagon. 

Source

-Yee-haw

Off the Wagon, a little (Megan)

Let me start by saying that I have been feeling great!  If I don't let myself go too long without eating, the hunger really does stay away and my energy has been up!   The bad news is, it's getting harder and harder to choke down the food.  It's dreadful.

Because of that, I sometimes go too long without eating (b/c I have to talk myself into eating...).  When that happens I turn into a ridiculous beast.  I was basically crying in my cab this morning because I was so hungry and I just did.not.want. the chocolate peanut butter bar I had on me.  Fine, I could just get to work and eat something I like better, like a shake, that's not as portable.  Only....I couldn't wait.  I started having food demon thoughts "fuck it, just go get an egg sandwich".  No, no, no.  "OK, no bread, just get an omlette".  NO NO NO NO NO NO. 

I opened the damn bar and choked it down.  Nasty.

But, when I got to work, I decided I was going to have some eggs anyway.  I needed real food. Now Medi_fast allows you a "Lean and Green" meal and there are better and worse choices.  For example, 14 egg whites is one complete lean.  So, you can have 7 and have a half a lean and then still have a half a lean later.  That's how I've been doing my 'real' meal, I've been splitting it up.

Only, the egg whites at work are really gross (like, realllllly gross).  So, I took a small amount of whole eggs (which was probably closer to one entire lean).  Fine.  But, then some bacon snuck on my plate.  A teeny bit. 

I ate it all and feel full for the first time in nearly a week.  Feels strange.  I will stick to plan for the rest of the day and call that meal my 'lean'.  It's going to make the day very long having already burned through a MF meal and a lean in an hour (normally space 3 hours apart).

In other news, I was 324.8 on day one (Monday).  By Wednesday I was 319.0.  Yesterday I was up, today I am up.  WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.


That is all.

Face it, I'm fat (Lauren)

Hi, I'm Lauren, and I am overweight.

This post is hard for me to write... but I think it may be a little bit of the kick in the butt that I need to really get me motivated.

You see, I am a serial photoshopper.  And I am wicked, wicked good at it.  I can make my arms skinnier, my waist trimmer and my legs longer.  There is a good chance that any publicly posted photo of me has had a little work.  But, that is not what Cut the Crap is about.  This is about looking honestly and objectively at where I am and how I can get back to a place where I no longer feel the need to change the way I look through a computer program.

The one place that my weight really bothers me, my face.  Lucky for me I have a diary of face photos because of my office's lack of mirrors (gotta check my hair somehow!)  Let's take a little journey.

October 29, 2008- about 152 lbs

September 11, 2009- about 158 lbs

October 8, 2009- 165 lbs

January 13, 2010- 175 lbs

 March 23, 2010- 190 lbs

August 3, 2010 (7 weeks pp)- 185 lbs

September 24, 2010- 180 lbs

November 22, 2010- 185 lbs

February 17, 2011- 180 lbs

Today- 198.6 lbs

I really can't get over how bloated I have become in my face.  I would love to go back to a shorter hairstyle like I had way back in the day, but everything is so round now.  

Goal #1 in this weight loss journey--- stop photoshopping and start loving the way I look.

Motivation (Melissa)

I often start out great with tons of motivation and then it fades fast. For some reason in the past two months that motivation has remained. I have been going to the gym at least 2-3 times a week and can now run for 30 minutes straight. So I feel myself getting stronger! I keep wanting to run a bit longer, or get a little faster. My husband and I are going to run a 5k around St. Patty's Day and my goal is 36 minutes. So I am working towards that.



Also, another piece of motivation that is keeping me going these days, even through my daughter's birthday, baby showers, etc (basically lots of events with yummy food and cake) is that my clothes are getting loose. Last night my MIL commented on how my pants looked too big. Yes, thanks, I did notice that, so I guess they are too loose to keep wearing. Same thing with my pants today. I have a belt on and that just bunches up the waist. Blah......but I did buy a pair of size 16 jeans last night! They are a little tight, but the 18s are too loose after wearing them for a couple hours.



So I say goodbye to size 20's and I am just about to say goodbye to my size 18s as well!! My XXL tops are becoming too big so I have been starting to wear my XL again. So HELLO motivation and goodbye plus sized clothes!!!

Slacker (Sarah)

I just realized I never posted in at Weigh-In, what a slacker. I don't have anything exciting to report, I stayed the same- no gain or loss. I am frustrated because I am keeping in my point for Weight Watchers, so I feel like I should be losing! I need to incorporate more exercise, I know. I am going to have to try to find sometime between school and work to fit it in because I cannot seem to make myself get up at 4 and do it before work. Le sigh. I am also considering cutting the amount of points Weight Watchers allows me and seeing if that makes a difference.

In honor of Megan, here is my WTF picture that makes me cringe:

In contrast, here is my inspiration pic (I have better ones, but none that are digital...)

Fading Fast (Megan)

Day 3: Medi_fast

Girls, I don't think I am going to make it.  It's not even the hunger (that sucks, naturally, but I've been able to work through it).  The problem?  Is that the food kind of blows.  All these online reviews are that some things are really good and others........not so much.  So far, there is not one thing I've had that I look forward to eating again.  Two things were so bad that I don't even know if I could will myself to eat them again.  *Sigh*

For anyone familiar with The South Beach Diet this seems similar - only w/ pre-packaged food.  The food they provide is low calorie, low carb and high protein.  You supplement with one meal of lean meat and veggies. 

Thing is, I miss eating real food.  I experimented yesterday with breaking my lean meal into two and eating it at two different times a day and that helped.....but that still leaves five of their meals to suffer through. 

The shakes aren't terrible.....but they are shakes.  It's not the feeling of eating something, you know?  The bars are also decent.  The oatmeal is a joke as are the pretzel sticks and the cookie bake.  Inedible.  There are recipes online about how to turn the oatmeal into on-plan muffins - so I'm not the only one who thinks it's terrible as is (and I actually really like Oatmeal!).

I am still really trying to give it a month because so far it's been a good 'de-tox' head start.  I've already lost like 5 pounds (water, I'm sure, but I'll take it) and I feel more energetic during the day, but crash hard around 8PM.

That's how it's going so far.  Fingers crossed I can make it through another day!

Blog Challenge - Hideous Picture

I challenge you all to post a recent (maybe not you, Trickey :) :) horrible picture that you look at for inspiration on this journey.  One that made you say 'dear God is that me?  Is that really what I look like?

Megan:  OK, here is mine.  Pretty much every picture taken of me is awful but these from Christmas are especially unflattering.  I can't believe I'm sharing them.  Eeeeks.

Me and my girl on Christmas.

Ummm, are you kidding me that THAT is my back.  MY back?  Ew. Ew. Ew.  That's about one 'Ew" for ever roll of back fat, yes?

Good News, Bad News (Megan)

Sick of me yet?

The good news is that I've lost weight already.  Wait, wait, let me explain.  Remember in my previous post I was scared to get on the scale for a 'starting weight' because I was positive I was at 330 (my highest ever) or even above it?  Well, imagine my delight when the scale said only (ha! only) 324.8 this morning.  Given that I thought I was 330+ - I'm ahead of the game :) :) EDIT: I just went back and looked at my weight loss tracker spreadsheet from 2005 and my starting was 320.  That was my highest, I thought.  So.....I am higher than my highest but still not 330. Whatever, I'm fat.  Let's move on.

So far this morning I've had my first ever Medi_fast meal and it was.........OK. Definitely not bad tasting.  Just small.  I am at work today so I had to bring only portable things and hunger struck in the cab so I had a bar.  It was a chocolate peanut butter bar which was an odd flavor for 8:30 AM but, whatever.  

The bad news is that I am really really missing my normal breakfast.  It's not even that I'm that hungry but, I mean, come on.  Let's be honest, I clearly have food issues, this is no surprise.  One issue is that I am very routinized about food.  When I come into NYC I always go to 'my' deli and get an egg white and cheese sandwich on a roll and eat it at my desk as my way of easing into the day.  Since I had my bar in the cab I kind of feel lost at my desk w/o my yummy eggy cheesy breakfast.  Sigh.  

One month.  Repeat.  One Month.  You can do this for one month and re-evaluate. 

Here Goes Nothing (Megan)

Tomorrow I start Medi_fast.  Here is a box with my food for a month.

The way the plan works is you have 5 servings of their food a day plus 1 'lean and green' meal.  That meal is basically lean protein and salad or veggies.  I did a bunch of reading on Medi_fast message boards this weekend, though, and people who've been on it for a while get really creative with recipes and stuff so I'll have to go back and check those out after I'm on the plan for a while.

I definitely enjoyed this weekend food-wise and I am STUFFED tonight.  Blah!  I am looking forward to starting this tomorrow because I'm looking at it as an experiment and I told myself it's a month.  Just one month and see how it goes.  It doesn't have to be longer if I don't like it, but I have to give it one month.  I am, however, not looking forward to getting on the scale tomorrow morning.  I know that I am at my highest ever (previous highest ever 330 - I have a feeling I've surpassed that.  Vomit).

Wish me luck!

I'm Baaaack (Megan)

 Better late than never, right?  I am about to start a new plan and I know I'll need to have the blog accountability.  I think it'll be interesting for our readers, too (do we have readers?).  While most girls here are doing their own thing/tracking or Weight Watchers - - I am giving Medifast a try.  It's drastic and restrictive but I've come to the realization that I really need the following:
1. Something that is going to give fast results (even if only initially) to get me motivated.
2. Something I don't really have to think about. 
3. Something drastic and restrictive that's like a detox of sorts

I ordered a one month supply and figured I'll see how it goes for one month.  I ordered everything today, not sure when it will arrive.  The way it works is you eat 5 of their "meals" a day: can be everything from eggs to shakes to bars plus one of your own "lean and green" meals.  Everything is nutritionally balanced and you eat 6 times a day.  Despite that, it's very low calorie so I'm expecting to be kind of a raging bitch for a little while.   I have warned my husband and he's 100% on board.

We'll see how it goes!  I'll weigh in when I start.

Peace with Food (Teri)

I just came across this blog post, and thought I would share. This certaintly resonates with me, as I have largely been an emotional eater. Food is comfort to me.

Although I still get the urge to return to my old ways and often need to drink that extra glass of water to get that sugary treat out of my mind, I try to stay focused. I am constantly striving to find that balance, that peace with food, and myself.




http://www.canyoustayfordinner.com/peace-with-food/

Weigh In (All)

First week in 2012 and let's see how we did:

Amanda:

Ah, what a great way to start 2012. Down 1.8 pounds, for a total of 38! I made up for my Christmas indulgences by pushing myself to get back on track this week, and it was worth it. This journey has really taught me an appreciation for my body. I can feel the subtlest of changes in it now; paying attention to and knowing what health

y feels like. My energy was up this week, and my mood was brighter - it's true that poor food choices, and bad exercises habits just make you feel crappy, which is pretty much how I felt internally throughout the Christmas and New Year holiday. This week I...

Melissa: Well I really focused on staying within my calorie allowance. I tried to eat foods low in sodium since I had indulged on sushi for New Year's Eve and was so swollen for days! I went to the gym only 2 times but made such progress on my running goal that I was pleased. The scale showed my hard work and read 227!! Whoohoo.... My MIL even brought over pizza last night for Abby and I resisted... ugh it was hard, but I did it!

 

My goals for the week, continue tracking everything and go to the gym at least 3x. My wonderful hubby and I are also signing up for a 5k to run on St. Patty's Day! I've done the 5k before and am eager to do it again! Plus it gives me some time to train and since I can already run 30 minutes straight, I am not as terrified!

Teri:

I had a good week! I was back on track with what I ate, tracked everything, and went to the gym twice. I am so close to finally hitting the 10lb loss mark, and I really hope that next week is the week!

This week, I plan to stay within the 1200 calories/day, make it to the gym at least 3x this week, and really bump up my water intake. I do better with this during the work week, but at home I drink slowly for some reason. I will try to drink the majority of my water during the day, and replace any other evening beverage with a glass of water.

Sarah:

I dropped this week! 288! That is a loss of 4 pounds! I am so excited. I will post a picture tomorrow. I have started focusing on eating healthy this week. Tomorrow is the start of using my Gazelle again. I also cut myself down to only 1 soda a day this past week, eventually I will cut it even more. But considering how much I normally drink, 1 a day is a big deal.

Megan:

Cheryl: Not to shabby if I say so myself! Almost down 20 pounds from my starting weight here. Down 3.8 lbs this week.. Maybe I can break the 240 mark next week!

Just need to brag (Melissa)

Well, not really brag, just express how proud I am of myself. On Monday I went to the gym and ran 20 minutes straight, ended up being 1.5 miles at a pace of 4.6mph. So it was a slow pace, but I am focused on building up my stamina. I was so impressed with how long I was able to go! Well tonight I wanted to try and run the same 20 minutes but at a slightly faster pace. So I just bumped it up to 4.7 mph and ran for 30 minutes!! I ran the 1.5 miles and 20 min and thought, "just a little longer, let me try to get to 2 miles." Then I ran to 2 miles and wanted to keep going the few extra minutes. My fingers wavered over the button to slow down, but I said, "NO, you can do this!" And I did. I ran for 30 minutes and went 2.25 miles. Then I walked for a bit at an incline of 15 and 5, and eventually ran the last 6 minutes at a pace of 5 mph. So now I have set the bar for myself and will have to run 30 minutes every time. Yikes, what did I do!!!

Also, hey lady on the treadmill next to me.... OMG did you really need to wear so much baby powder... my goodness you stunk!! I was gagging from the moment she got on next to me!

Anyway, just wanted to share my excitement! Hopefully the scale cooperates and reflects all the hard work I have been putting in!!