Update of the past few weeks

Sooo when I gain weight I don't really feel like posting... hence, I haven't posted in the last couple of weeks :( Here's a brief update:

2 weeks ago I went on my first official ride - a 25 mile ride that turned into a 30 mile ride because the route was so poorly marked. My dad came and did it with me, and it was a lot of fun. I didn't even feel that tired afterwards. Unfortunately, I gained 0.4 lbs that week because I felt that the ride entitled me to eat whatever I wanted.

Last week I gained 2.4 lbs because of Halloween candy, a visit from my boyfriend that involved restaurants, and our breakup at the end of that visit that spurred some emotional eating.

A few days ago, after I weighed in and saw the big gain, I decided to join weight watchers meetings. I've been doing WW online since January but I've never been to a meeting before. There happens to be a meeting location at a church in my neighborhood, so I went to try a meeting and signed up right there. I'm hoping that group support will help get me through these gains and re-start my motivation, then help me through the last part of my weight loss. I did like it when they all clapped for me when I told them about the 30 mile bike ride :)

Finally, although I don't normally set numeric weight goals for myself, I decided to do just that. The big Christmas party with my entire mom's side of the family is December 23rd, a little over 6 weeks away. I would like to get to 165 by then, which means losing 11.8 lbs. 165 was how much I weighed at my sister's wedding, and everyone told me over and over how great I looked. I know 11.8 lbs is a bit much to lose in 6 weeks, but I want to push really hard and make up for my recent gains. I'm going to use the new meetings as a reason to stick to the plan.

Weigh in day 10/13/09 and 10/22/09

I lost 1.8 and 1.6 lbs, or 3.4 lbs together, in these last two weigh ins. I know it's all the bike riding, because I keep going over my weekly points! I try to stay within my activity points but sometimes that doesn't even happen. Anyway, knowing that makes it much easier to get up at 7am and ride my bike when it's 35 degrees outside. My big 25 mile ride is in 3 days!

Weigh in day 10/8/09

So this past weigh in I lost 1.5 lbs, which got rid of my gain from last week and put me back down to where I was 2 weeks ago. That's fine, because I'm training for a 25 miles bike ride on October 25th, so I'm working my way up to 25 miles and burning tons of calories on the way. Today I rode 18 miles and burned 1077 calories! I think I should definitely lose this week. We'll see!

Weigh in day 10/1/09: ahhh gain!

I gained 1.6 lbs :( I knew I had it coming... this past weekend my boyfriend flew in so we could celebrate his birthday and my sister and her husband threw a huge Oktoberfest party. I ate sooo much that it was impossible to track. Plus I haven't been able to ride my bike much lately because of cold weather and medical problems.

BUT... I'm not letting this get me down. I was actually happy because I was fearing a bigger gain. I'm glad I'm still in the 170's. I was afraid I might be back in the 180's. Today or tomorrow I'm going to buy some cold weather bike clothes and get back on the bike, and stick to the plan, damn it!!!

Weigh in day 9/24/09, plus 9/14/09

Since I last updated I both experienced and then broke through a plateau. My weight loss has been going slowly lately, so last week I tried really hard to stay on plan and exercise. When I weighed in I was frustrated because I didn't lose a thing. So, at my cousin's wedding this weekend, I sort of let go and ate everything. I expected to gain this week but instead I've lost 2.4 lbs!

I also went to my Dr. back home for the first time since last November. She was thrilled with how much weight I've lost! I asked her to look back for my heaviest weight and she said in October of 2008 I was 225 lbs! It was really motivating to hear how far I've come. Hopefully I really have broken through this plateau and I'll have another big loss next week!

Weigh day 9/10/09 - just one pound?

I was actually excited about weighing in this week because I followed the plan closer than I have in a long time. With my boyfriend in Texas, I didn't go to a SINGLE restaurant. I used all my weekly points, but for the first time in a loooong time, I didn't use ANY of my activity points. Also, I got a lot of activity points by frequently doing a long and difficult bike ride. I was expecting a huge loss, but all I lost was a pound. It feels like a failure :(

Weigh in day 9/3/09 - How did I lose???

Somehow I lost 0.2 lbs! I was expecting a huge gain - I had told myself to expect at least 2 lbs of a gain, but I feared it would be even more. I mean, come on, while I was in Texas my bf and I went to restaurants every night, and we almost always got appetizers and desserts. Then when I got back there was a family reunion with a potluck of southern food, and then a birthday celebration for my mom and sister where I went to town on the cake. I was resigned to gaining weight. Like I said, I did work out every day that I was in Texas (except on the weekends), burning 600 or more calories each time, but I only thought that would reduce the damage. This is newly motivating for me - I was going down through the 180's pretty quickly until I started sabotaging my own efforts. I think if I recommit and stick with the plan I can burn down through the 170's.