I'm stuck...STUCK, I tell ya!!!

Hellllooo out there! It's been a while since I posted. I've not been a very good girl. I've not been exercising or watching what I eat. I keep meaning to get back into the groove, but can't quite seem to. I stepped on the scale this morning expecting to see a gain of everything that I've lost, but was very pleasantly surpised to see that I've only put back on 3 pounds!!! And I know that most of that is only water, as I'm only about 3 or 4 days post TOM!!!

Although I haven't been exerising, I've been doing LOTS of lifting and moving around at work, so I'm very sure that has a lot to do with the fact that I really haven't gained back much of what I lost. Working in Produce is soooo much more different than cashiering. Cashiering involved standing in ONE spot all day long, without very much movement at all. However, working in Produce is waaay different. I'm back in forth all day, stocking and lifting heavy boxes of fruits and vegetables. It is the bomb...the BOMB, I tell ya. I love it!

I'm not planning on getting back to eating all out healthy today. Instead what I'm going to do is try to make better choices and go from there!

Will check in again tonight...

I'm B-A-C-K!

Wow! It's been a while since my last post. Did I mention that we got orders to VIRGINIA???!!! Yep, that's right! We'll be leaving "Hellsworth" in May. I am SUPER excited!!!

I worked from 1 to 7:30 today. It was HELL! Payday at a military Commissary is not pretty! It should be my last one as a cashier, however. I've now moved on to working in Produce. I've only been training there for two days, but can already tell that I'm gonna LOVE it! No more screaming babies, loud obnoxious customers who decide to hold a family reunion right at the register or rude customers on their cell phone. None of that. Just peace and quiet. Whenever I feel the need to get away, I can just go to the back.

I'm also not gonna miss some of the front end employees. There is so much drama at the front end that it's not funny! Backstabbing, jealousy, power tripping...it's all so highscool. I'm glad to be leaving.

In other news, Champie has chewed his cast off, AGAIN!!! Argh!!! This makes the second time in less than a week. We rewrapped it ourselves the first time (Sunday evening) since he has an appointment for xrays on his leg this Friday. He let it alone for all of a good 2 days before he chewed it off again. We're trying to keep him as immobile as possible, but it's sooo hard. He's acting as if nothing's wrong with his leg. It must be healing good, thank goodness!

Planwise, I decided to refocus this past Monday. TOM really threw me for a loop and while I haven't been grossly off track, I haven't been particularly good, either. I haven't lost weight, but I haven't gained, either. I'm doing good so far. I've been going the gym and everything. I have GOT to start eating more, though!!! I'll be weighing in tomorrow for the Turkey Day Challenge that I'm in on the boards.

Well, I'd better hurry up and post my foods and go off to the gym.

Here were today's daily goals and menu:

Daily Goals: Calories 1,853 Fat: 61 Sat Fat: 20 Carbs: 254

Breakfast: Fiber One Chewy Bar (Oats and Strawberries), 3 slices turkey bacon

Lunch: Flame Grilled Boca burger, light bun (Village Hearth Light Italian), microwave Fast Fries

Snack: 1 bag of roasted peanuts

Dinner: chicken curry w/ extra vegetables, 1 cup converted rice

Snack/Dessert: small apple, part skim mozzarella string cheese stick.

Total Calories: 1,387

Total Fat: 59

Total Sat Fat: 18

Total Carbs: 166

Exercise: treadmill: 55 mins. @ 3.0 mph

Water: 100 oz.

STILL HERE!!!

I'm still here! I just haven't been posting like I'm supposed to. TOM just really took me out of the blogging mood, but it's good and gone now. I'm back to my original low of 289 and ready to go! No loss because of TOM really SUCKS!!! It's time for that scale to go down, down, down!!!

I'll be back later on tonight with the day's recap.

4 Reasons We Regain Weight

Read this on Yahoo this morning and thought it was a great article.

4 Reasons We Regain Weight - from Capressa (www.capessa.com)

Losing weight and changing one’s eating and fitness lifestyle is hard work -- that’s a given -- but maintaining a weight loss is even harder. There's no longer the challenge of juggling numbers or the reward of seeing them drop, and keeping up the enthusiasm and dedication necessary to stay at the weight that you worked hard to get to doesn't come easy.

The National Weight Registry surveys and collects data from “regular people” who have managed to maintain a weight loss of 30 pounds or more for at least one year. Based on the data that they have received from more than 7,000 people, there are certain things that almost all successful “losers” seem to do to maintain their newer and slimmer figures:

• Participate in aerobic exercise for least one hour or more each day
• Focus on watching calories
• Keep food logs
• Choose healthier and lower fat foods

I never thought I would be (nor did I want to be) one of the many people who have lost a significant amount of weight only to gain a lot of it back. But, it is high time to admit that I have gained 15 pounds since the start of the year.

Yes, that’s right. I just admitted that on the world wide web, for all to see, that I have gained back 15 of the 50 pounds I worked so hard to lose.

So what happened?

Well, I stopped doing what successful losers do to maintain a weight loss. I stopped exercising as much as I was. I started to think, “a little bit of this and a little bit of that won’t hurt.” And I stopped writing in my food log, because if I don’t write it down, it doesn’t count, right?

I lost track of calories and stopped being accountable to myself. I started to neglect myself. I stopped preparing meals and snacks ahead of time. I stopped getting up early to get to the gym because I was busy and tired. My will power began to crumble, eating special treats everyday rather than on special occasions only.

I have been watching my weight creep up these past 8 months, and instead of getting back on the beam right away, it has become a bit of a vicious cycle.

You become depressed because you know better. You get angry with yourself because you can’t believe you let yourself go. You get paranoid about what people will think—especially since you write this blog about maintaining your weight. You get emotional because getting dressed puts you in a bad mood; pants you looked awesome in a few months ago, no longer fit.

The last thing you want to do when you feel so bad about yourself is get up early the next day, go to the gym and forego the ice cream as the last days of summer arrive. I have been struggling with not throwing in the towel, not caving in and eating everything in sight, only to see the scale not budge or go up!

Now that that skeleton is out of the closet, what do I do?

Well I pick up the tools that have been so freely given to me by the successful losers that have come before me; the same tools that have helped me to be successful in the past, and I apply them again (food logs, calorie watching, exercising more). And this time I try not to think that I am ever cured from my tendency to overeat and under exercise.

In admitting my weight gain I end it there. I hold myself accountable because no one can do this for me, but me.

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For more real life weight-loss wisdom from Micaela, visit Capessa.

Day 20

TOM reared it's ugly head this evening. This means that I will NOT be weighing in on Monday. I easily retain around 10 pounds of water during this time, so I am not even going to put myself through the agony of getting on that scale and seeing a higher number. By skipping this weigh, I will also be giving my body a chance to rebound from my splurge day earlier this week. I'm really looking forward to seeing a great loss at the next weigh in Monday after next!

Boy, boy, BOY! No one has to tell me that TOM is here. My appetite DEFINITELY lets me know, lol! I ate like a total piggie today! Went over on EVERYTHING! I did really good until it came this evening, then it ALL came crashing down! Oh well! Hopefully the water retention from this "pig fest" will be washed away with that from TOM.

The red irritated spot on Champie's leg is worse than I thought. I looked at again this evening. It is REALLY raw. Definitely calling the vet on Monday. I'm thinking it's from the cast and the way he sleeps on it.

I've finally got him to stop moving around so much. I put an old suede bed skirt in his cage. That thing must REALLY be comfortable. I put it in his cage after he'd had dinner. As usual, he tried to rip it to shreds with his teeth. When he didn't succeed, he rearranged it the way he wanted it and went to sleep. He hasn't been up since! Usually, when he sleeps the slightest noise awakens him. As soon as he hears footsteps or voices, he sits up and starts wagging his tail, hitting it against the floor of his cage.

Not this time, though. I've been up and down the stairs all evening and he hasn't sat up once. He'll open his eyes for a few seconds every now and then, but then it's right back to sleep. IT'S ABOUT TIME, lol!

I did log my foods today. Here was today's daily goals and menu:

Daily Goals: Calories 1,500 Fat: 50 Sat Fat: 20 Carbs: 206

Breakfast: NONE (slept too late)

Lunch: 1/2 of a Smart Ones Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla, 1 oz. (14chips) organic tortilla chips, 3 tbsp. cheddar con queso dip

Snack: 1/2 small bag of salted peanuts

Dinner: the other half of the Smart Ones Quesadilla, 1 oz. organic tortilla chips, 3 tbsp cheddar con queso dip, 3.5 oz. beef smoked sausage (YIKES!!), salad (lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, reduced fat chedder cheese, bacon bits, olives, 2 tbsp Dorothy Lynch salad dressing), leftover chicken and broccoli fettuccine alfredo *OINK!*

Snack/Dessert: 4 bags of mini Oreos, 1/2 cup 1% milk

Total Calories: 2,072

Total Fat: 106

Total Sat Fat: 35

Total Carbs: 214

Exercise: NONE (rest day)

Water: 85 oz.