I did the final weigh-in for The Biggest Loser this morning. Down 11.1% according to their scale; a little wee bit more according to mine. Almost 30 cm of my circumference (in various areas) is gone, as is about 5% of my body fat. My ultimate goal is to lose about 5.5% of my starting weight from January 9, and I know it is doable. Of course, right now, I'm waiting to find out if I will be in the top 5 Losers who will get to carry on through into June. That's tomorrow's news.
Stay tuned!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Five percent!
I've achieved the first major goal of my weight-loss challenge -- 5.18% of my starting weight is gone, which translates to about 3% of my original body fat content. I've lost just under six inches in total according to the measurements done at the start of the R2 Fitness Biggest Loser challenge. I seem to be on target for what I want to do, as my average weekly loss so far is about 1.3 lbs. For me, and according to everything I've read, that's a nice steady pace at which to lose weight.
I was concerned in the first few weeks that my loss rate would stagnate because I'm not using all my extra weekly points, nor am I diving into the activity points I've earned. Many people on Weight Watchers say they have to use up their weekly points, otherwise they don't lose. I'm finding that if I use the weekly points as the 'buffer' to my daily food 'budget,' it works out well for me. I can have a glass of wine in the evening, use four or five of the extra points, and it's still good.
I was concerned in the first few weeks that my loss rate would stagnate because I'm not using all my extra weekly points, nor am I diving into the activity points I've earned. Many people on Weight Watchers say they have to use up their weekly points, otherwise they don't lose. I'm finding that if I use the weekly points as the 'buffer' to my daily food 'budget,' it works out well for me. I can have a glass of wine in the evening, use four or five of the extra points, and it's still good.
I'm probably not getting in as much activity as some of the others in the Challenge, but I'm also cognizant of the fact that I need to be doing something that will be sustainable over the long term. Statistics I've read say that many people who start an exercise program quit (or drop off significantly) within the first month or so. Well, I've made it six weeks, and I'm really not doing much more activity on a weekly basis than I was before Christmas. I'm teaching Zumba two hours a week, and doing strength training two hours a week. I've not committed to any classes on weekends because I want to keep those free to go visit grandbabies, or do the things we don't have time to do during the week.
It's the other aspect of weight loss that I've changed. Weight loss happens when calories being burned are more than calories taken in. I know that; and I've always known that. For me, it's controlling what goes in that is crucial. I can't let myself slack off on that accountability of recording what I eat on a daily basis. For me, Weight Watchers works well in that respect. All my fruits and veggies are free, so that's encouraging me to eat more of those good things. I'm getting really good at eyeballing three ounces of meat (I check with my kitchen scale just to be sure!), and I'm constantly surprised by how much a serving of something really is! For example, one cup of whole wheat pasta is as much as I would want to eat on a regular basis anyways. By the time I throw on some Healthy Choice Chunky Lovers pasta sauce, and either a few reduced-fat meatballs, or some cooked shrimp, I've got quite the filling meal. There's been several times when I've given myself one cup of something like rice or yams, only to find that it really is more than I want.
Of course, my biggest downfall when I'm not watching is salty snacks. I love potato chips, snack crackers with cheese, fat-laden dips -- all those lovely high-carb, high-fat things that go straight to my butt. Even something as 'healthy' as hummus packs a load of fat calories. However, yes, moderation is the key. I've found some pretzel crackers that are fat-free, and are absolutely yummy with hummus. If I dip judiciously, and not scoop outrageously, I can enjoy a nice snack and take care of those salt-carb cravings.
My ultimate goal to lose almost 17% of my original, January 9, 2012 starting weight. I won't be there by the end of the Biggest Loser challenge, not if I keep up at my current rate. But I'll be well on my way (weigh?)...
Monday, January 23, 2012
Just because I can....
So I did it. Such that it is. It's longer than I thought I would have it, but it's rather neat right now. I may cut it a bit more later, but for now I'll just play with it and see what happens.
As for the Biggest Loser contest, I'm still losing. I'm down another 8/10ths of a pound for a total in two weeks of 2.5 lbs. I haven't weighed in back at the gym yet because we had one of the granddaughters on the weekend, and between that and getting my hair done, I just didn't get there.
However, I earned 30 activity points last week! One solid hour of Zumba is worth 11 points, but I only count 10 because I'm not really going full-bore for the entire 60 minutes that I'm teaching. I used up some of my weekly extra points last week, but still had plenty to spare by the end of Sunday.
This week's goal is to make it to the gym at least twice, on top of my two Zumba classes. We'll see how that goes -- it's the week before report card marks are due and there are comments to be submitted. But I should be able to squeeze an hour or two extra just for me!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
The Biggest Loser -- one week in...
...And I'm doing okay. Well, mostly okay now that I'm getting over the nasty chest/head/sinus cold thing that came back for round two just over a week ago. 'Tis the season...
In spite of the nasty little bug invading my body, I still managed to teach two hours of Zumba. I had no new students this week, so it was go-go-go all the way through! When it came time to record the activity on the WW site, I had to do a little skulking around online to find out how many points an hour of Zumba is worth! Everything I found said to record it as high intensity -- makes sense to me, judging by the amount of water that leaves my body during that hour! So, I recorded each session as 55 minutes of high intensity activity, and I was shocked to see that I'd earned 10 activity points for each! Wow! I could go on a real pigout! Or, maybe not...
Several people on the WW forums say they use all their weekly points (49 'extra' points a week to use as you will) and their activity points every week. I don't think I've every used all my weekly points any time I was actually following the plan. But it's nice to know I have them in case we go out for dinner or something like that.
I saw Brett on Wednesday and she went through the program Craig built for me. As I was still feeling pretty cruddy, we didn't do anything too strenuous, so I didn't bother recording any extra activity points. There were a few things we had to get Craig to demo for us -- it's that yoga thing of his. I may be a pretzel by the end of this! One program is all 'push' movements and the other is 'pull.' In addition, I have 3 sets of core exercises every time I work out, and I'm supposed to do another 20 - 30 minutes of cardio, but I think that two hours of Zumba each week ought to take care of the cardio end of thing! I also plan to sign up for TRX/bike class at the end of the month and that always ends up being major cardio, especially if we're on the bikes!
I went to the gym this morning and hopped on the scale just to see how it compares to my scale at home. My home scale says I'm down about two pounds, and my body fat percentage is down -- according to my scale. On the scale at the gym, I'm also down about two pounds this first week, but I needed to make sure I've been eating enough to cause my body to burn fat, not muscle. Yay! Body fat percentage is down too! But, I realized I need to start recording the body fat each week too, so I know exactly what is going on.
After confirming that yes, indeed, I did lose a couple pounds in the past week, I tackled the first workout. The first round is a set of four different exercises, all done for one minute each, one after the other. I'm supposed to do two to three sets this first week, but I managed two. then I went to the next round of exercises. I don't read very well. Craig had written down the number of reps for each exercise, but I did each for a minute because...well, because I'm a creature of habit -- and I don't read well! Then again, when I really read the program and saw that he wanted me to do 100 leg extensions, and my quads were crying by the end of a minute... I think I'll be doing some 'building' towards that 100 reps!
I'll have to play around for a couple sessions to figure out which fitness ball will be the best so that I don't put too much strain on my back (those Zumba booty circles did a number on me!), but none of the exercises are crazy stupid. I also know my own body well enough that if I need to modify, I can -- and I will! As the 'boss' keeps telling us, we're in this for ourselves -- and yes, I am. I'll do what I need to do to lose the weight I want to lose -- safely. I have a closet full of clothes waiting to be worn again!
In spite of the nasty little bug invading my body, I still managed to teach two hours of Zumba. I had no new students this week, so it was go-go-go all the way through! When it came time to record the activity on the WW site, I had to do a little skulking around online to find out how many points an hour of Zumba is worth! Everything I found said to record it as high intensity -- makes sense to me, judging by the amount of water that leaves my body during that hour! So, I recorded each session as 55 minutes of high intensity activity, and I was shocked to see that I'd earned 10 activity points for each! Wow! I could go on a real pigout! Or, maybe not...
Several people on the WW forums say they use all their weekly points (49 'extra' points a week to use as you will) and their activity points every week. I don't think I've every used all my weekly points any time I was actually following the plan. But it's nice to know I have them in case we go out for dinner or something like that.
I saw Brett on Wednesday and she went through the program Craig built for me. As I was still feeling pretty cruddy, we didn't do anything too strenuous, so I didn't bother recording any extra activity points. There were a few things we had to get Craig to demo for us -- it's that yoga thing of his. I may be a pretzel by the end of this! One program is all 'push' movements and the other is 'pull.' In addition, I have 3 sets of core exercises every time I work out, and I'm supposed to do another 20 - 30 minutes of cardio, but I think that two hours of Zumba each week ought to take care of the cardio end of thing! I also plan to sign up for TRX/bike class at the end of the month and that always ends up being major cardio, especially if we're on the bikes!
I went to the gym this morning and hopped on the scale just to see how it compares to my scale at home. My home scale says I'm down about two pounds, and my body fat percentage is down -- according to my scale. On the scale at the gym, I'm also down about two pounds this first week, but I needed to make sure I've been eating enough to cause my body to burn fat, not muscle. Yay! Body fat percentage is down too! But, I realized I need to start recording the body fat each week too, so I know exactly what is going on.
After confirming that yes, indeed, I did lose a couple pounds in the past week, I tackled the first workout. The first round is a set of four different exercises, all done for one minute each, one after the other. I'm supposed to do two to three sets this first week, but I managed two. then I went to the next round of exercises. I don't read very well. Craig had written down the number of reps for each exercise, but I did each for a minute because...well, because I'm a creature of habit -- and I don't read well! Then again, when I really read the program and saw that he wanted me to do 100 leg extensions, and my quads were crying by the end of a minute... I think I'll be doing some 'building' towards that 100 reps!
I'll have to play around for a couple sessions to figure out which fitness ball will be the best so that I don't put too much strain on my back (those Zumba booty circles did a number on me!), but none of the exercises are crazy stupid. I also know my own body well enough that if I need to modify, I can -- and I will! As the 'boss' keeps telling us, we're in this for ourselves -- and yes, I am. I'll do what I need to do to lose the weight I want to lose -- safely. I have a closet full of clothes waiting to be worn again!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Another January, another round of Weightwatchers
Here I am again. Getting older does nothing for the ability to keep the pounds at bay. Especially for someone who loves food, especially food that goes straight to my butt. Or now, my belly. Okay, so we're back where we were two years ago, with about 25 pounds to lose.
Two years ago, I kept up my motivation by taking part in a "Biggest Loser" competition at school. I won the first round, and more or less kept the weight off for almost a year. But then I changed schools, and slowly, ever so slowly, started eating things that weren't being worn off by my visits to the gym, or by my new-found interest in Zumba. I hate to think what my weight would be like if I hadn't been doing weights once a week and teaching Zumba twice a week, along with taking part in a spin and TRX class.
So...motivation works for me. Well, competition is motivation for me. Realizing that, I've joined the Biggest Loser competition at the local gym. I spent money to enter this thing, but it's not the money that's the motivator. I want to win, dammit!!!! The contest runs until the end of April, with the top 5 losers continuing on until early June. We get three different training programs from three different trainers, weigh-ins every two weeks, and a few other perks (like a coupon for smoothies at the local juice bar, and before and after photos!).
I met with the first trainer, Craig, yesterday. My bodyfat percentage was 41% -- ugh. My water was also low. I know -- I struggle with getting enough fluids into me, especially at school. I'm going to have to focus on that. My schedule is so crazy during the week, though, he's going to give my program to my usual trainer, Brett, so she can go over it with me during our regular session on Wednesday. She is one of the three trainers in the contest, but I don't work with her until the third section. My goal is to get to the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, and once on the weekends. I'll also be teaching Zumba at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I might throw in a spin or TRX class later too, depending on the schedule.
As for the food, well, like the title of this post says, it's back to Weightwatchers. I use the online program because I really hate going to meetings. It's a time thing more than anything. I can track all my food and activity online, as well as my weight. I know the program, and it works for me, as long as I stick to it.
Tomorrow is start day. Besides the weigh-in I did at the gym yesterday, I will weigh myself first thing in the morning to record my start for the WW record. Today is grocery shopping day. I will try to get to the gym tomorrow after work, but that will depend on how this wretched head/chest cold is doing. However, there is Zumba to be taught on Tuesday, and I will be there!
Here we go!
Two years ago, I kept up my motivation by taking part in a "Biggest Loser" competition at school. I won the first round, and more or less kept the weight off for almost a year. But then I changed schools, and slowly, ever so slowly, started eating things that weren't being worn off by my visits to the gym, or by my new-found interest in Zumba. I hate to think what my weight would be like if I hadn't been doing weights once a week and teaching Zumba twice a week, along with taking part in a spin and TRX class.
So...motivation works for me. Well, competition is motivation for me. Realizing that, I've joined the Biggest Loser competition at the local gym. I spent money to enter this thing, but it's not the money that's the motivator. I want to win, dammit!!!! The contest runs until the end of April, with the top 5 losers continuing on until early June. We get three different training programs from three different trainers, weigh-ins every two weeks, and a few other perks (like a coupon for smoothies at the local juice bar, and before and after photos!).
I met with the first trainer, Craig, yesterday. My bodyfat percentage was 41% -- ugh. My water was also low. I know -- I struggle with getting enough fluids into me, especially at school. I'm going to have to focus on that. My schedule is so crazy during the week, though, he's going to give my program to my usual trainer, Brett, so she can go over it with me during our regular session on Wednesday. She is one of the three trainers in the contest, but I don't work with her until the third section. My goal is to get to the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, and once on the weekends. I'll also be teaching Zumba at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I might throw in a spin or TRX class later too, depending on the schedule.
As for the food, well, like the title of this post says, it's back to Weightwatchers. I use the online program because I really hate going to meetings. It's a time thing more than anything. I can track all my food and activity online, as well as my weight. I know the program, and it works for me, as long as I stick to it.
Tomorrow is start day. Besides the weigh-in I did at the gym yesterday, I will weigh myself first thing in the morning to record my start for the WW record. Today is grocery shopping day. I will try to get to the gym tomorrow after work, but that will depend on how this wretched head/chest cold is doing. However, there is Zumba to be taught on Tuesday, and I will be there!
Here we go!
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