More Exercise=More Hunger=More Ass Fat

Well, not your ass fat.  My ass fat.  And really, I'm ok with the ass fat.  Baby got back.  I just want Baby to have less thigh.  Baby got back, but lean thigh.

So I have a subscription to Fitness magazine.  I like to read it in the bathroom.  I'm not ashamed.  You do it too.  The bathroom is the only place us moms can justifiably lock ourselves in a room while our children scream and pound on the door and not have CPS called on us.  Plus, you get to read.  Score.

Anyway, while in the bathroom reading, there was an article about how working out can actually cause weight gain.  So should we stop working out?  A smarty pants at Harvard says no.

"No, but it's not a panacea for weightloss either, because it does increase your appetite.  The food- exercise equation is imbalanced.  It may take an hour to burn 500 calories but only five minutes to eat them back."-Kendrin Sonneville, R.D., a researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health

Sorry fellow lazy asses-I was hoping for a get out of jail free card too. Actually, I'd still workout because I actually like it.  And I think it makes me sane.  Almost.

And then I read one thing that I've experienced over and over again.   Exercise suppresses the appetite.  Brilliant!  Burn calories and eat less.

"But later that day, your body's hunger hormones can surge, making you want to eat.  At the same time, your body's satiety hormones-the ones that signal that you're full-may decrease." -Barry Braun, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology and director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts. 

So that explains the Oh-My-God-I-Need-A-Paula-Dean-Meal break down about 3 hours after a long run.  And I can't stop eating.

Their advice?

On regular workout days:

• Take a few bites of an energy bar before or during workout

On intense workout days (more than 60 mins):

• Focus on carb rich foods (not garlic bread) the meals before.  So if you're running 10 miles at 7am tomorrow morning.  Eat some whole wheat pasta with chicken and a sweet potato and your body will use it to push through the run.  
• Bring along some electrolytes along for the post 60 mins.  Gatorade or Gummy chews.  

And if I'm running 10 miles and gaining 10 lbs- I'll be one very Grumpy Jen.  And you don't want a Grumpy Jen.

Sursly.

Went to weigh in on Thursday (not my usual meeting day but I wanted to get in a meeting this week). I lost .2 lbs!!! Now, I know that's not a lot compared to my average 1.5 -2 lbs per week but I'm counting it as a major success because I was sure I'd gained and I was terrified to get on the scale. There's nothing like a vacation with ALL FOOD FREE to blow you diet. But when there's a will, there's a way. I made a way to lose. I'm really proud of myself.

The leader (not my usual leader) talked about how we give ourselves permission too much. "It's my birthday." "I'm going on vacation." "I've been good so far, might as well have a few days and splurge." Sooner or later that permission turns into a month long binge fest. I could so relate to that. It was funny she talked about that because I was able to share how in the past I've always given myself permission on holidays/vacations to blow my "diet." And I shared how I planned well to not blow it this time AND I still ate food I loved. I'm finding that if you plan well, you can do Weight Watchers any time, anywhere. You just have to be determined. Before "being determined" meant missing out. At least that's how it seemed to me. But now I plan and then the stress isn't there when the food is in front of my face. Sure- while in the Caribbean I thought: "Ya know? I think I just ate too much. Or I probably shouldn't have ordered that margarita." But that's all part of the journey. You just pick back up and make the best decisions you can.

I'm planning on weighing in at my normal Monday night meeting. (Even though I just weighed in on Thursday) I miss everyone and miss my leader. I haven't seen them in 2 weeks. She's so motivating. And a friend of mine there is really close to goal so I hope I didn't miss her reaching it. I want to celebrate with her! I'll post the results. This morning I was 162.4 lbs That's a pound lost since Thursday. I wouldn't be surprise if I lose a lot because I'm getting back to my normal eating routine and drinking a ton of water.

My goal is to be 155 lbs by Sept 31st. We'll see.... I will say my size 10's are getting awfully baggy!!!! YAH!

I made my 10% goal! I've lost 10% of my body weight since joining back meetings at 184 lbs. 19 lbs down in 2 months! (61 total). I was so excited to get my 10% keychain last night at my meeting. My leader made me stand up front and talk about what has made this journey so far successful. I basically just said sticking to the plan (never cheating essentially) and coming to meetings is the biggest thing. Before when I did WW- I never went to meetings. I see now how that worked against me. Those meetings are an absolute priority for me now. It's what keeps me going. I love weighing in and seeing the results. It's also motivating to see other's have success and we share our secrets (staying on plan-LOL). I proudly put my 10% keychain on my keys last night. I love those cheesy rewards! I weighed in at exactly 165 lbs even. At the rate I'm going- I could see my ultimate goal come Thanksgiving. 135 lbs! I can't wait. I'm very much enjoying wearing my size 10 jeans. They feel good and fit comfortably (no muffin top). LOL

I'm learning more and more now how it's important to reward yourself with other things than food. My whole life I've thought food was the ultimate reward. Now I'm seeing things differently. I've always celebrated birthdays and other occassions with eating. Eating A LOT! To the point of getting sick even. And that habit pretty much cornered me into not enjoying other things like shopping. Mainly because I hated buying bigger clothes. I hated the way I looked. I hate pictures of myself, therefore I never took any. Like I said before- I lived life under the radar. Not really participating because I just felt icky. I just didn't feel like I was "me." That's why now I'm really making this lifestyle change. I want it to stick. This has become a MAJOR priority.

If I want to reward myself now- I'll go walking alone. Or I'll go get a coffee. Or I'll get a pedicure. There are so many things I can do besides hit the frig. It's truly revelutionary to me. If it's 7pm and I have zero points left and no weekly allowance points left- I get creative. Sometimes that means I reward myself with sleep and I go to bed! lol Sometimes I'll take a bath. Whetever it is I DON'T EAT. It's hard. It's a true test of self discipline.

My next goal is to weigh in at 155 by Sept 31st. I'm gonna do it!

My new long term goal is to be 125 lbs at my 10 year High School Reunion in April 2007. (Am I that old?)

Ok- here is me in the 10 jeans!!!



And here's a comparison shot from when I first started bloggin.
184lbs168 lbs


I'm on my way to those 6's!

Well today was nice. Ed let me sleep in until 9am (when the baby woke up) and I fed her and then took my 2 yr old to Starbucks to get a mocha. Fischer gets a chocolate milk and I get a mocha- it's our little tradition. A fat free, no whip grande mocha is 4.5 pts and I'm totally willing to spend them because I LOVE mochas! We got home and got ready for church. Good sermon. It was about money and how to be good stewards of your money. But I kept feeling like it was for me in relation to food. Kris (pastor) kept saying "slow, steady, hard work pays off." I'm such an instant gratification girl that it's hard for me to stay committed to something if it doesn't have an immediate pay off. Alas! There's my problem with diets! I love them when I get that initial big loss and then I get bored and think there has to be the "next best thing" just around the corner. In the mean time I fall off the wagon and gain back the 5-7 lbs I just lost. *sigh* Anyhoo- it was just a good reminder of sticking to something and being patient. I read somwhere that it's important to "have faith in the plan." That's a revelation for me- I tend to lose faith in the plan easily. It will work if you stick to it. It's that simple.

After church we went to Willy's Mexican Grill. I tried to look up points prior (I knew we were going there after church) but couldn't find it on Dottie's site (www.dwlz.com) or any nutritional info on Willy's site. So I looked up another Mexican Grill and it averaged 15 pts for a veggie burrito. So that's what I got. Plus a diet coke, plus chips (roughly 3 pts). I let myself spend those points because I love eating out after church and that's the only time we really go out to eat. Tonight I'll make a 2-3 pt soup for dinner and a salad. Then a snack at bedtime. I spent all my flex this week already. My flex points renew Monday so I have to stay OP (on plan) today and not go over. No exercise today. It's pouring rain here and I'm tired anyway. I jogged 20 mins yesterday and my muscles are sore. I think they need rest. I'm still trying to find a Weight Watchers meeting that will work for me and baby and Ed's schedule. I have to sneak it in between feedings and Ed's work. Most of the one's near me are at 6:30pm or during the day. And I can't really see myself dragging my 2 yr old and infant to a day time meeting- so it's either 6:30pm on a week night or an 8am meeting on Saturday. I think it will be the 8am one. As much as I want to sleep in- I also want some time for myself and that meeting weekly. I guess I'm mulling over it so much because I don't want to skip around- I want to stay with the same meeting each week so I can get to know my leader get connected.

I've been on WW now for 2 weeks. According to my scale I've lost around 5 lbs. But my scale sucks and is always off. So I have no idea how much I actually weigh. This morning my scale put me right at 179 lbs. That made me happy because it's always nice to be out of one range and into the next lowest. Hello 170's! My mini goal right now is to be 175 by July 4th. It's June 25th today- so that's 10 days away. I wonder if I can.....

My goal for this next week is to try and avoid my flex points. This past week I gobbled them up quickly. It's kinda like having a savings account- it's not good to be constantly taking money out of it. I'd rather wait until the day before my flex renew and maybe use half and splurge. Besides- I'm nursing and I have 34 points a day to work with. That's a lot. In reality- I don't need the flex. I can usually do pretty well and not feel deprived if I spread my points out sensibly. My other goal is to drink 5 16oz bottles of water per day. I'm drinking easily around 4. I figure 5 would be even better and keep me hydrated and keep my true hunger in check.

It's incredibly hard for me to post a picture of myself right now. I'm 180 lbs (8 weeks post partum) and let me tell you, 180 lbs seems to look better when I look in the mirror and not so much when a picture is taken. I specifically wore a tank top so that you can see my arms. I used to have the best arms- thin, but toned. Now I avoid showing them. I want that to change. I want to be able to put clothes on and not think about my arms. Now- my post partum tummy is another story. I'm throwing around the idea of a tummy tuck as my ultimate reward for getting to my goal (130lbs). But I'm not sure if that's something I can go through with. Surgery scares me and of course it will cost ya! But regardless-I'm on this path come hell or high water. The good, the bad, and the ugly. It's all part of the journey. The weightloss started 2 months ago when I gave birth to my daughter Amelia. I was 225 lbs right before I delivered. I lost the first 25 lbs leaving the hospital. The other 20 lbs has been due to nursing and a month on Jenny Craig. I opted to do Jenny Craig because I knew they had a nursing mother's plan and I knew I didn't have to think a whole lot. I just ate was on the plan. I did well. Lost 20 lbs. But since it was 20 lbs for $20- I stopped once I lost the 20 lbs because I didn't want to pay more money to join. So Weight Watchers it is! I know in my heart it's the only plan I can really see myself on for the rest of life. Lord knows I've tried them all. Atkins, Jenny Craig (twice), The Zone, Fit For Life (food combining), The Maker's Diet, plain old calorie counting, yada, yada, yada. I definitely get points for creativitiy and diversity. Unfortunately none of them were plans I could be on forever. And- the more I think about it WW is not so much a "diet" as it is a guide. It's a lifestyle. I joined WW (Weight Watchers) the first time before I got pregnant with my first child. I loved it and lost 15 lbs (which was all I needed to lose). I was somewhere around 145lbs (size 8). After I had my son (gained 60 lbs) - I got back down to 165 lbs (size 10). I lost the pregnancy weight with a mix of things- breastfeeding, doing WWs online, and practicing some intuitive eating (only listening to your hunger cue- not paying attention to WHAT you eat). But- I know I could have lost more if I had actually stuck to WW daily.

So here I will document my journey as it happens. Part of my reason for blogging is to keep me on track. It helps to get things out and reflect. It also helps to be accountable to those that read the blog. I was so inspired by another woman who had virtually the same high weight and goals as myself. She blogged her journey (www.noonefamily.com/ww) from day one and I read every journal entry. It boosted my motivation and only confirmed that I can do this. This will be my third time joining Weight Watchers and I want it to be my last. I've decided just doing it online doesn't keep me going. So-though I've been on WW for 2 weeks now- my first weigh in will be this week. Wish me luck!