2007 Results

It's the last weigh-in of the year! And, phew, I still managed to lose .3 pounds this week - even with Christmas and a very meaty pizza-and-burgers outing. Hooray! I must be doing something kinda right.

And since this is the last weigh-in of the year, a look back....

I have now been tracking my weight loss progress officially since June 3, when I was at my heaviest weight. Blech. That means I've been doing this for 30 weeks. That's a long time, and it includes the always difficult fall season with our Gala and the holidaze.

How did I do?

I have lost 13.7 pounds, or 5.8% of my total body weight, and I've brought my BMI (body mass index) down by 3 points. That's an average of just under a 1/2 pound a week, which isn't bad considering there were some really tough weeks in there.

I feel good about all this, and even better knowing that this really didn't take all that much effort... meaning that I can follow my New Year's resolution to step it up just a bit both in terms of diet and regular exercise, not in a fanatical way, but just improvements - and that should make my results even stronger in 2008.

Thanks for coming along for the ride, and here's to an even better year in '08!

Navigating the Holidaze

Oh, the holiday season is tough for dieters. Big meals, and - even worse - huge plates of cookies and boxes of chocolate delivered to your very door!

But, I've been doing okay, surprisingly. Sure, I've had some treats here and there, but I'm also keeping to pretty decent meals when I can.

So, that means that I'm still on track, and almost 2 pounds less than I was after Thanksgiving. Sure, I'd gone up a bit then, but the overall trend is still down. In fact, last week, I had a great downward spike one morning as the scale showed me a number I haven't seen in a very long time. Whee! It's gone up a little since then, like you do, but at least I know it's out there... and I'll be bringing it back!

Just a quick trip to see the family, with some more big meaty meals, then I'm back and really working on getting the numbers - both weight and cholesterol - down again.

You Are What You Eat

And I can't figure out what that is yet... I'm leaning lots of good stuff about what to eat both for my own health and for basic environmental sustainability, but my discipline level has had its ups and downs this week.

I had a good doctor's appointent. Of the two sets of bad numbers I had over the summer, one is now firmly in control thanks to some medication and some improvement in lifestyle choices. Hooray!

So now it's really time for me to focus on the other set of numbers... and those will be the much harder ones to fix, since it will all come down to my self-discipline. Yep, we're talking about cholesterol, so I *really* have to spend the next 2 months -- the time until my next blood work appt -- getting those numbers in line. And, of course, I just had a real whopper of a 24-hour-period for consuming bad stuff. I was bored this afternoon and, truly against my better judgment AND my inner voice, found myself downing kettle chips and onion dip. Egad. Thus the cycle of guilt and shame begins again.

So... I'm considering that snack blowout to be Cholesterol's Last Stand, the last splurge before I really get serious. And so what am I having for dinner? A plate of green beans, flavored with a little light Smart Balance spread and some seasoned rice wine vinegar. It's actually pretty tasty.

I Don't Know How...

...I lost weight this week, but I did! Somehow, I managed to lose 2.4 pounds in the last 7 days..... and that's with either a big cookie or a pumpkin-cream-cheese muffin or both every day. Yikes! Can emotional stress make you lose weight? Cuz I've practicially been mainlining that this week.

I've got a few more days of big work stress, but then pretty much the rest of the month can be wrap-up and holiday fun. Hooray! I just have to remember not to indulge too too much!