Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Review: Nathan QuickView Bottle

Since the topic of this post is at least related to running, I thought I'd start off with this meme. Although I don't nearly look as good as this girl while running, I think it's pretty cool and appropriate.



A few weeks ago I got my first handheld bottle. I also said I would review it on the blog. I already did three runs with it so I figure I'll let you know what I think - so far.

I should probably first put up a disclaimer that this is the first handheld bottle I ever used. I've only been running for a year, safe to say I'm still a novice, and this is my first bottle. Therefor I can't compare it to other bottles.




  • How it feels - At first it was strange, very strange, to run with something attached to my hand. The weight in itself didn't bother me but after 15 minutes my arm did start to feel it. My hand also cramped up a bit. Switching hands is the way to go here. It never got painful though. The system with the thumb hole is, all in all, pretty comfortable. During the third run I'm starting to get used to it.
  • The hydration - Fantastic! It felt really good to take a swig or two from time to time. Yesterday evening it was quite hot and humid out and if it wasn't for that bottle I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to finish my planned 15K. I filled it with water and two spoons of Isostar. Quite tasty and refreshing. I think it was like 100kcals or something, but if such a long run doesn't justify a sports drink I don't know what will.
  • Leakage - Some reviews of this bottle complained about nozzle leakage. I didn't experience that at all. I had no problem drinking from that nozzle, nor did it leak. I did feel some drops during my run yesterday and I thought "Hey it does leak!!" but it was actually a few rain drops. Hah! Didn't actually start to rain though, fortunately.
  • Extra storage - There's a small pouch for smartphone and other stuff. I don't have a smart phone (yet) but it is nice to carry my cell phone with me during a run. I can actually keep track of the time and pick up when someone calls.


Overall, it takes some getting used to, but I think I made a good choice for my first handheld bottle. All thumbs in holes up for this one.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Maintaining, for now

For the past week it's been like crickets in here, hasn't it? Haha!

No falling off the wagon for me. I'm still at a nice 66.0kg so all is well in that regard.

The energy I put into the weight loss efforts has slowed down a bit. I think it's only natural since I've been at it pretty hard core since three months now. I need a break.

I'm no longer tracking calories in vs calories out. First the weekends left big gaping holes in my spreadsheets and now the rest is also empty. I've decided it's a good thing though. Next week Friday we leave for vacation, where it will just be plain impossible to track everything like I have. That's why I'm going with a more intuitive approach right now. I still apply all the good habits I learned while calorie counting, but no more spreadsheet. I hope I can develop some decent coping skills before we leave, while maintaining this weight of ~66kg.

To be completely honest, this past week has me feeling pretty good. I think I'm getting a little more fat in my diet which my bowels are thanking me for. I am now regular again. I'm also no longer seeing my weight go up after the weekend which is probably better for my body overall.

As far as exercise goas, badminton is done for the summer, but I'm still biking and running, trying to increase my running mileage and (most of all) speed.

I've accomplished all my non-scale goals: I'm fitting in all of my pre-children clothes again, my body is toning up, I feel pretty and sexy. When I look in the mirror I love what I see. In no way do I look skinny, but I do look slim. I'm getting compliments on a daily basis now. I still have my eye on that goal weight, but I really can't be assed about it right now.

In conclusion: My short term goal for the vacation is to maintain my current weight and keep up my workouts. Fingers crossed!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Handheld Bottle is Here

Weight loss update: 67.5kg this morning. I'm calling it the weekly weight cycle. I'm totally fine with it, I know I can get it back off during the week easy enough.

In other news, my handheld bottle is here, you know the one I talked about in this post. The Nathan Quickview. It doesn't look extremely pretty, but that's not why we buy these kind of things. Practicality is key. The pouch looks good. There's a pocket for a smartphone, if I ever get one, and plenty of room behind it for other stuff (keys, money, some food). There's even a little hole for earbuds. I tested it on mu hand and it seems to fit nicely. Now here's hoping that will still be the case while running. I've read on some reviews that people  were complaining about leakage, but there was a tag on the top that said they are using a new system.

I'm looking forward to using it tomorrow on my long run (I'm thinking 15K, but let's see how it goes). I wonder if hydration will make me go faster.

Some pictures to go with that:


Friday, June 20, 2014

Food Changes I've Made

Going over my blog posts I noticed I talk a lot about the results of my weight loss journey, but not so much about how I actually do it. Well, at least food wise. For this post I thought I would go a little more in-depth about how I changed my eating habits.

As you know, I started counting calories about two and a half months ago. And it was a really positive experience for me. My goal is to stay within 1200 and 1500kcals a day. I didn't take any specific approach (low-carb or blood type diet or whatever), I don't even check protein versus fats versus carbs. I just try to make smart choices within the calorie limits. I keep a spreadsheet with my daily weight, calories in, calories out, water intake and general mood. Although honestly I've been slacking a bit with the spreadsheet lately. It's hard to keep track of everything during busy weekends.

With this tracking, changes in eating habits follow naturally. In the beginning it was mostly about portion control, and after a while I started noticing I could get more satisfied feeling out of food if I ate more of the healthier stuff.

The foods/drinks that I'm now consuming less of:

  • Booze - I used to have a glass of wine or beer several times a week. I looked up the calorie content for my favorite drinks and saw that it just wasn't worth it. I still have a drink here and there, but it's usually only a few during the weekend.
  • Cookies - My employer places fresh cookies at our coffee machines every morning and afternoon. I'm no longer eating them, unless they are those yummy Belvita ones, then I will have one or two.
  • Milk/cream and sugar in my coffee - I used to drink my coffee with milk and sugar, now it's virtually always black. In the weekend I'll sometimes have a latte with stevia or a cappuccino with steamed milk. Yes, in the weekends I'm definitely less strict.
  • Sub sandwiches - I used to have these often at work. I once did the calorie math on my favorite sandwich and it was over 600kcals. Hmmm, not something to do every day.
  • Bread in general - Bread has a lot of calories, actually. I never really knew that. I still eat it, but I will usually only have one or two slices per meal, and add some fresh veggies or trail mix instead.
  • Potato chips - Need I say more? One of my top vices, together with booze. I often had a sneaky bag of them in the evening when Engineer Daddy wasn't home. I checked my favorite kind: 500kcals per bag. I could not believe it. And it's not even that filling; what a rip-off. I will still eat potato chips from time to time, but only when someone else puts them out. And even then it will just be a few handfulls.
  • Portion sizes in general have become smaller. One meal I used to go to town with was spaghetti with tomato sauce. I looove that stuff, preferrably with lots of cheese. Well, I don't do that anymore. Now I have a sensible portion, often without cheese, but with a nice spoonful of hot sauce instead. I've noticed that I got rid of the "stuffed" feeling I used to have on spaghetti nights. Odd, don't you think?


The foods/drinks that I'm now consuming more of:

  • Fruit - I have always been a good fruit eater. But I'll usually have more one or two more servings than before. They help keep me full and keep me away from the cookies at work.
  • Fat-free yoghurt - I eat a yoghurt every morning (125g, 45kcals). Calcium, protein, and keeps me going until lunch.
  • Cottage cheese - Curbs my cheese craving and is so versatile. Throw in some veggies, olives and pickles when you want savoury. Do the same with strawberries, mango or pineapple for sweet. I simply adore this stuff.
  • Crackers - They are basically my bread substitute. For lunch I will usually put some lean lunch meat on them and eat them with a big bowl of fresh soup.
  • Trail mix - I do try to restrain myself when I'm around this stuff because it's still pretty high in calories. It is delicious though, and I find myself craving it more and more so I will happily make space for it in my daily calorie allowance.


That's more or less it, I think. I will probably make a similar post about my workout habits sometime soon.

Compliments from Colleagues

Exactly what the title says; I got compliments on two different occasions from colleagues.

One guy who I don't work directly with, but often see in the bicycle shed, said: "Hey, you've lost quite some weight, haven't you?" And then another one, who I'm pretty close with, saw me yawning at the coffee machine this morning (this was before I had my coffee off course) and said "Well, often when you're losing weight sometimes your energy levels can get a bit low. I see you have been losing."

Woop! And it only took 20lbs. Haha! I'm only kidding a little bit, but it is nice that people are noticing. After all I would fool myself if I said this weight loss is not fueled by at least some vanity. Now tell me I am skinny, DAMMIT! ;-)

On the weight loss front still doing OK today. 66.9kg this morning. 66 is a number I haven't seen in over 4 years now.  Reunited, and it feels so good!

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Second Progress Pics Update

67.2kg this morning. Yay, I knew I could get back here in a reasonable time. I'm feeling good about my eating and exercise lately. The exercise has been status quo, but I've actually started consuming more calories. Looking over my spreadsheet I noticed on some days (even workout days) I would only consume like 1000 kcals. Not fucking enough. So now I'm making sure that my intake is somewhere between 1200 and 1500 and it's going well. Still losing weight, apparently.

Right now I'm wearing some pre-children pants (the black pants from my pre-children clothes post, actually) and they're even becoming a bit looser. I figure I might not be able to wear them when I'm at my goal weight. Hmm, maybe with a belt? We'll see.

With this new lowest weight I've reached another milestone, i.e. 20 pounds lost. Hurrah! That calls for some new progress pics.


When combining the pics I saw that I took the profile one on the wrong side, so I had to mirror it before pasting. Hahaha! I haz the picture dumbz, that's for sure.

And yes now I can see a difference for sure! The love handles are a LOT less, and my stomach is looking so flat. Quite happy with those results. 7 more lbs to go, but I bet the pictures won't look much different than today. It's OK, if I can maintain looking like this, where do I sign up?

Here are the new stats, too. I normally only do stats on Friday, but who fucking cares? I'm excited enough to wanna share. There we go:

Height 165cm (5'5")
Starting weight 76.5kg (168.7lbs)
Starting BMI 28.1
Current weight 67.2kg (148.1lbs)
Current BMI 24.7
Lost weight 9.3kg (20.5lbs) - 74.4%
Goal weight 64kg (141lbs)
Goal BMI 23.5

In running news, I did a new long distance yesterday. This is becoming so much fun, I'm even thinking of doing a half marathon someday. Not soon though, because this summer and fall are going to be hectic enough, I don't need any added stress. But maybe next year.


Monday, June 16, 2014

WANT!

After losing 8kg, I've decided I deserve a reward for all the good work done so far. I'm doing longer runs now so I would really like something to help me keep track of distance, elevation, heart rate, calories burned and maybe more. I'm getting a GPS watch. After looking around on line I'm leaning towards the Polar GPS RC3. Look at its beauty:

Source: DC Rainmaker

All the reviews I've found on line are positive. It's not cheap but hey, I figure if I am going to spend money on it it'd better be a decent one.

My last long run was almost 14K. I have to admit I got a bit thirsty towards the end. If I want to increase my mileage further, I will need a method to hydrate during the runs as well. I really lke this Nathan QuickView handheld bottle. It's got a little pocket to carry stuff around with me as well, which I haven't been able to do so far.

Source: Coolblue

I will for sure review both products if and when I get my hands on them. Watch this space!

Some Favorite Snacks

My weight has been all over the place the past few days. A big influence is the constipation I'm dealing with - again. Ugh it's pretty bad. I had some fatty food during the weekend and as a result I have been doing number twos all day today. So I'm wondering what the scale will say tomorrow. This morning it was 68.6kg. We shall see.

Get ready for another favorite food post.

First up: Trail mix! It's pretty high-calorie but a few of these can really keep me going for a while. I love the combination of the sweet raisins and the fatty nuts. Totally hits the spot.


Secondly: Prunes. This is my attempt at getting my bowels moving. I have 4-5 of these as a mid-afternoon snack; they have a nice natural sweet taste so I don't mind. I just wished they helped more than they seem to do.

Thirdly: Belvita multi-grain cookies. Ooooh, these are so yummy. 55kcals a piece, so I often have two of them as a special treat.



Wednesday, June 11, 2014

A "Healthy" BMI

I did it, people. This morning the scale said (drumroll please)...


This means that my BMI is now 24.9 and I am officially classified as a healthy person. I know this is just a number on a scale and I considered myself a healthy person at my starting weight. I have always been in good shape, even with the extra flab. But this is still pretty cool.

This also indicated that I've finally cracked that damn plateau. OK, it may not officially have been a plateau but rather a period of eating too much good food. Which is not a problem when done occasionally. Anyway I broke it. Woop!

In food related news I discovered something new; well at least new to me. Around the runner blogosphere I had read about combining cottage cheese and fruit but always raised my eyebrows at it. For some weirds reason I have problems with the idea of combining sweet and savoury foods. But last week I gave it a go: I took some cottage cheese and mixed in our own home grown strawberries. When I ate it, in my head it went something like this:



That's some good stuff right there. Why did I not do this sooner? In the meantime I also tried cottage cheese and mango which is just as good, if not better. I am going to TOWN with this one.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Run Eat Repeat

Weight at 69.2kg right now. Weight loss has been stalling, as you can tell. Honestly I haven't been as careful with my calories as the weeks before. I'm still tracking them, but I'm usually closer to 1500 than 1200 calories the past few days, hence the plateau. I'm OK with it. The plan is still to get to my goal weight, but right now I'm feeling healthy and comfortable in my own skin. I don't mind to take a bit longer.

Running is still going great. Did some intervals yesterday evening, which was interesting and something I'll be doing again. I wonder if they will have an impact on the timing on my longer runs. We'll see.

I haven't been extremely active right now, mostly because I have been reading this awesome blog: Run Eat Repeat. I can relate to this girl, mostly because we kind of have the same built: Small waist and big(ger) butt. Definitely not a runner's body. Off course that's where the comparison ends; she is a much better runner than I am (or probably ever will be). I also love her approach to intuitive eating and will probably look into that a little bit.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Switching it up

I'm a creature of habit, always have been. Seriously, if I could do this weight loss thing by eating the same food I liked every day, running the same route I enjoyed every day, I'd be happy. But nooooo... I hate it when I read that in order to keep losing weight, you have to keep changing your routine, push your body in different ways etc etc.



So today I did it. It wasn't even too bad either. I did a completely different jogging route with a high elevation. It was supposed to be 11.7K but I kinda got lost so it ended up 13K. It took me 1 hour 35 minutes, that includes the time I spent wondering where the fuck I was. Tomorrow it's Zumba (gotta keep cross training) and on Wednesday I'll do some interval training. I'm not sure how I'm gonna do that quite yet, but right now I'm thinking some hill climbing in the neighbourhood.

On the food front I'll have to think of something too. Not too sure yet, I'll need to do some research for that.

Let's lose those last kilos, mmmkay?

Another foody weekend

68.9kg this morning. No surprises there. I had another weekend with a lot of food; Thursday evening a dinner party where the food was sooo delicious it was impossible to resist. Add several glasses of wine and no wonder I gained. And then Friday there was a bit of hangover eating going on.

Moving right along. The following weeks there will be a lot less distractions and temptations, so I can finally get back to this weight loss thing. First goal is to get below 68kg and finally get into the healthy BMI range. I'm so ready for it.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

On the verge of "Normal"

Just a quick post to say that this morning I weighed 68.1kg, giving me a BMI of 25.0. Eeeeeek! Almost "normal", hahaha!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

BEST fruit EVER

I'm introducing you to the best thing that grows in our garden: STRAWBERRIES! I love them so much, and right now they're just ready for the picking in our own garden.

Feast your eyes on this, first harvest of the season:

I felt like a cocktail, but didn't feel like spending calories on the liquor, so I created my own virgin cocktail: Half a lime, three strawberries, two teaspoons of caster sugar, fresh mint, ice and sparkling water. It doesn't look like much, but it hit the spot just right. Cheers!



Weekend of Indulgence

I had a glorious weekend, food wise. Thursday was dinner with the in-laws. It was a decent restaurant, and I had starter, main course and dessert. Yes, I had dessert. It was a little dark chocolate cake with gooey center; soooo yummy! I can't possibly feel guilty for that.

Friday evening there was a work party for Engineer Daddy with a BBQ where I had a few glasses of wine, a full plate of food and ice cream. Saturday evening Engineer Daddy made lasagne in the most fattening way I have ever seen. I only had a small portion, but I could taste the fat. Tasted good though. And then Sunday evening was the usual dinner at the in-laws. complete with birthday pie for my sis-in-law.

Yesterday morning came the bill: 69.4kg. I was actually surprised it wasn't more. I guess it was a good thing I worked out on Saturday and I kept my portions reasonably small (except on Thursday).

I had a good day yesterday, complete with workout. I even managed to do a new long distance! Check me out:

957 calories burned in an hour and 9 minutes. Not too shabby. For now I'm going to concentrate on my speed. My goal is to run this 10K in an hour or less. I'm not going to set a time limit on this goal, just see where it goes.

And then this morning I read 68.9kg. Today should be a good day too so I expect to be back around 68.5 tomorrow. Then there's a long weekend coming up. There's probably going to be plenty of food too, so if I can maintain this weight for now I'll be happy. I still plan on meeting my goal of 64kg, but right now I feel good in my skin and I'm going to enjoy life. The weight will come off, I know it will. I'm in no rush though.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Pre-Children Clothes

68.5kg this morning. Hurray! The past few days have been good and I guess it shows. I'm going to do a stats update today because we are having a fancy dinner tonight. I AM planning to make good choices and stay on track, plus I'm going for a run during my lunch break, but I predict there will be some bloating going on tomorrow morning and I don't want that to throw off the results. Without further ado, here come the stats:

Height 165cm (5'5")
Starting weight 76.5kg (168.7lbs)
Starting BMI 28.1
Current weight 68.5kg (151lbs)
Current BMI 25.2
Lost weight 8kg (17.7lbs) - 64%
Goal weight 64kg (141lbs)
Goal BMI 23.5

Just 0.5kg away from being classified as "healthy". Woot! And apparently I'm almost 2/3 of the way to my goal weight. This is so exciting.

----------------------------------------------------

In my previous post I said something about posting some outfit pics. And here they are! I took some last night.

Item the first: A wrap dress that I really love because it's comfortable and it hugs my curves in the right places. The colour is a little dull but I usually add some cute accessories to liven up the outfit.

Item the second: OK, this is not technically a pre-children. I actually bought it on sale right before I got knocked up with ZwitsalBaby. BUT it didn't really fit back then anyway, it was too tight. The pricetag is still attached haha! Last week I tried it on and it fit! I was ecstatic because I love polka dots and it's the perfect skirt for summer; it's dressy enough to wear it to work but light enough for the weekends too. Looking at this picture now honestly I think my body looks good! My stomach is pretty flat. The amazing shrinking boobs taken into account, the only flab left in my body are on my arms, butt and legs. I can't wait to see the difference side-by-side once I get to my goal weight.


Item the third: Workout pants! These fit nicely around the stomach but probably a bit tight in the ass area. Definitely wearable though.

Item the fourth and fifth: A black shirt and pants combo. (This is actually the uniform that I wear when playing music in on the of the ensembles I'm a part of.) I totally forgot about those pants until I discovered them in the back of the closet last weekend and I'm relieved because the post-children black dress pants I have are getting seriously big on me.

That was all for now. I still have some favourite pre-children clothes lying around that don't fit quite yet. I hope I'll be able to update this when I get to goal (sooner or later).


Monday, May 19, 2014

First Weekend Loss

69.2kg this morning. Huh? First time I've seen a loss during the weekend EVER. I usually gain during the weekend. I did work out on Saturday but all in all my food choices weren't better than any other weekend. Very odd, but I'll take it.

Look at my ticker! My BMI is coming so close to me being classified as "normal". Yay! I know it's just a number and intellectually I know that I am perfectly healthy right now, but it will still feel like a victory when I cross that border.

I am starting to wear the clothes I had before I got pregnant with MiniMe again. They were stashed all the way in the back of my closet, but after trying on some stuff last week I noticed I am starting to fit in many things again! Not all of them mind you, but enough so I don't have to replace all my "fat" clothes. I'm thinking about doing an outfit post or something, to show off the stuff I'm able to wear again.

People are definitely commenting now, after a 7kg loss. Enigineer Daddy said I look good with my new "fit" body and my mother in law said "Wow, you just keep on losing, don't you?" It's certain they both noticed the loss before, but they are only commenting now. I love getting these compliments and I'm sure many people have already noticed but are just too shy or diplomatic to say anything.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Holding on

69.4kg this morning, hellz yes! Holding on to that loss, like I planned.

Nothing much else to report, really. Had a good day yesterday and played some awesome badminton.

Except off course new stats. I added the % of the way I have made it to my goal weight so far. Great motivation.

Height 165cm (5'5")
Starting weight 76.5kg (168.7lbs)
Starting BMI 28.1
Current weight 69.4kg (153lbs)
Current BMI 25.5
Lost weight 7.1kg (15.7lbs) - 56.8%
Goal weight 64kg (141lbs)
Goal BMI 23.5

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Bye to the Seventies

69.7kg this morning yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! Byebye seventies, I will NOT be missing you! Weren't the sixties the decade of peace and love? That sounds kinda good right now.

I had a GREAT day yesterday. Beautifully within my calorie count and I managed to squeeze in some exercise in during lunch. Usually on Wednesdays I do an evening run, but Engineer Daddy had a dinner with friends, so I anticipated and went running during my break (6K, 560 calories burned ;-)). In the evening I had a small portion of spaghetti leftovers, which was yummy.

Now I have to be super focused though so I don't go back up too quickly. I am feeling pumped today and my motivation is right where it needs to be.

In other news, I'm still watching YouTube videos about weight loss in the little spare time that I have. Right now I am going through the seasons of the Biggest Loser. It's so much fun! I have my doubts that it's completely healthy to lose that much weight so fast, but it's still fun TV to watch. Inspirational too.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Dear Boobs,

I know we've always had a love-hate relationship. When I was 13 and you started growing there were times that I resented you. You were quite large, covered with stretch marks and often uncomfortable. Over the years, I did grow to like and even love you. So can you please please stop shrinking right now? I'm loving the freedom of movement but all my bras are starting to become too big. I really don't want to spend my money on a new bra-collection, mmmkay?

Sincerely yours,
me.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Check me out

70.5kg this morning. Like I said, same thing as last week.

In more interesting news, I did a new longer distance today. Woot!

This running is becoming easier and easier. And fun, too. I am almost looking forward to lacing up my shoes in the evening and getting into the fresh air. Even more significant: It actually rained during the second half of my run yesterday, and I didn't even care. It even made me feel like a pro "Look at me, running in the rain like it doesn't bother me." I'm getting the runner's high more often now, that feeling like I could go on running for hours. All my muscles and joints are cooperating, no injuries so far. I know I should be careful not to push too hard, so I'm going to try and shoot for a regular distance of 10K and stay there for a while, to see how fast I can get it done. This is a new goal of mine.

While I was running I was actually thinking "The scale can suck it, check me out!!" But I do care what the scale says, unfortunately, even though intellectually I know it shouldn't matter that much. I have to start celebrating non scale victories as much as I do the ones on the scale. Maybe I should make a new ticker, one that is related to my running. I should probably think about that for a bit.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Plateau

4 days, I think that's the longest I've gone without posting in the past few weeks.

Don't worry though, no falling off the wagon for me, at least not yet. Weigh in summary: Friday 70.3kg, Sunday 71.1kg, this morning 71.3kg. It's like seeing last week's numbers coming around again. I've been taking some laxatives that are helping with the constipation, so I should not have a problem there. In conclusion: I think we can officially call this a plateau.

For now, I don't have time to think about elaborate ways to break this plateau-thingy. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing and see what happens. Tomorrow I should have lost the weekend-bloat as usual, and we'll see how we go from there.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Feeling Shitty

70.2kg this morning. Ugh this suuuuucks!!! I mean, I'm happy the scales are going down but I'm literally feeling like SHIT today. This morning I was able to drop a deuce but I can feel there's still something in there that needs to get out. WHY DOESN'T IT GET OUT??? I'm bloated and crampy. For a moment yesterday I felt like Aunt Flo was coming over, but false alarm, it's just the constipation.

Speaking of Aunt Flo, it would seriously surprise me if she came to visit, since I haven't seen her for 2 years and 4 months now. I breastfed ZwitsalBaby for 9 months and then got Mirena, and haven't had a period in all that time. I know it's still possible she'll make a comeback, but I think it's unlikely.

If I haven't done a huuuge dump by the end of the workday, I'm stopping by the pharmacy because this shit's getting ridicolous.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Not That Easy

70.4kg this morning. Bummer. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed. Yesterday was a great day. I was within my allowed calorie intake AND I did a workout during my lunch break (gym, elliptical and treadmill). This is the first time since the start of the weight loss journey that I did not lose anything after such a great day. I was sooo anxious to get below 70kg too.

I can think of two things that might be the problem:
1. Once more, I'm a bit constipated. I haven't done a good number two in a few days now. I'm praying it happens today because I am becoming uncomfortable.
2. For dinner we had risotto yesterday. I had only a small portion, but there's a lot of fat and salt in there.

Anyway I know weight can fluctuate from day to day so I'm not going to let this derail me. I'm sticking to the plan. For today that's to drink a LOT of water and hope I can eliminate some of that shitty weight. I will see that 6 in front of my weight sometime this week, this I tell you now!!!

----------------------------------------------------

Yesterday I was reading through my posts so far. Somehow I make it seem so easy, this weight loss thing. Well, it's not actually. And I'm not just saying this because I've had a disappointing weigh in this morning.

I have said no to a lot of food items that I would have eaten and enjoyed otherwise. To name a few:
- Easter chocolate in all shapes and sizes,
- pie with raspberries,
- an appel cake that looked extremely moist and delicious,
- ice cream,
- a chilled glass of rosé on a hot day,
- potato chips - which I LOVE,
- beer,
- cookies at the coffee machine at work, twice a day on every workday,
- rhubarb pie with mascarpone cream on the side.

Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard. Oftentimes I do want that treat but I decide it's just not worth it. Don't get me wrong; I say yes occasionnally, but more often I decide against it. Saying no to food is not becoming easier over time, either. I hoped that it would, but no not the case, unfortunately. Those chocolate eggs look just as yummy to me now as they did a month ago.



The exercise part is not a breeze either. There are times that I just want to fold on the couch and stay there for an entire evening instead of lacing up the running shoes. Luckily though, this part is getting easier. I do look forward to the workouts and running longer distances is becoming a very satisfying activity. That's probably because my physical condition is improving and I've lost some weight. The weather is also improving and it's light outside for a longer time. Side note: While at the gym yesterday, I did this "fitness test" that was available on the treadmill. It makes you run for a while and then measures your heartrate. You know what the machine said? Apparently I'm "elite". It made me laugh a little bit because it's definitely far too optimistic, but I'll take it as a sign that I'm on the right track.



So to sum up: It's not easy. But it is rewarding and I am determined to keep it up and meet my weight loss goal. I'm an optimistic person anyway and I don't dwell on the downsides of things. That's why most of this blog is so upbeat. Let's keep it that way.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

People Noticing!

70.4kg this morning, and we're back on track. Yesterday was a really good day and I'm ready to make this a fantastic week.

This weight actually means I'm about halfway through this weight loss journey (see ticker). This is so exciting! I just have to make sure to stay focused and not let it slide.


Ahhh... nothing better than that shirtless hunk of manhood telling me to focus. Yes, darling.

In other news, last Friday I had dinner with my parents and sisters and they were congratulating me on the weight loss. Finally people are noticing!!! I can't be too surprised my colleagues don't notice since they are all men, but I still expected someone to see it. And it only took a weight loss of 6kg. Jeez. Just kidding, just kidding. I'm really extremely happy that they saw it. Gives me a confidence boost and the motivation to keep up the good work.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Good Weekend

71.1kg this morning. Up a little bit again, not as much as the previous weekend though. I'm happy with that, actually. It was Engineer Daddy's birthday, and there was cake and booze. I made good choices and I worked out on Saturday so IMO I handled it pretty well. Today I'm feeling good, no bloated icky feeling like last week; I'm totally ready to roll again today.

Monday evening I usually have my evening run. However Engineer Daddy has a work thing, so that won't be possible. My plan is to do a slightly shorter run during my lunch break. The weather is absolutely amazing today, so I have no excuse whatsoever. I'm almost looking forward to it, even. Also looking forward to seeing an even lower weight on the scale tomorrow. Wish me luck!!!

Update: So my lunch break run was OK, just a bit longer than expected. I took a wrong turn somewhere, tried to find an alternative route, but in the end I had to turn back. That resulted in a run that was 3km longer than expected. Woops! But it went good. I never felt out of breath or in pain. WIN!

Friday, May 2, 2014

Fries Hangover

70.5kg today, same as yesterday. I'm very happy with that. Especially since yesterday evening we ate fries. FRIES!!! It was a small portion, without extra salt and with just a little bit of ketchup, but still FRIES. I think it evened out because I was very conscious during the rest of the day, plus I drank plenty of water because I was afraid of the bloating.

I'm feeling a bit tired and I've got a headache today. We took the kids to a playground yesterday so I think it might be from standing and running around in the sun all day. Or I figure fatty foods give me a headache nowadays, so it's like a fries hangover? I hope it gets better because I would like to go for a run during lunch break.

Otherwise I don't have too much to blog about today. Just the stats! Quite happy to see my BMI is now 25.9. It's not that much lower than last week, but I see that magical "overweight" barrier 25 slowly coming closer. I know it's only a number, but I will still be extremely relieved once I'm on the other side.

Height 165cm (5'5")
Starting weight 76.5kg (168.7lbs)
Starting BMI 28.1
Current weight 70.5kg (155.4lbs)
Current BMI 25.9
Lost weight 6kg (13.3lbs)
Goal weight 64kg (141lbs)
Goal BMI 23.5

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Please comment!

On this here blog, I thought it was just me rambling and sending stuff out there, mostly to keep myself accountable. I haven't commented on any other blogs with a link to this one because I'm scared shitless that they won't like me.

Then I saw this:
So... people are actually reading this blog? Or are those just some automatic internet search robots looking for places to spam?

If you are an actual person reading this, please comment! How/why did you come here? Share your story! Kthxbai.

Lemon Water

70.9kg. Wow! I did not see that coming. Certainly because I ate spaghetti leftovers yesterday. It was a small portion and I didn't put any cheese on it, but afterwards I did feel a bit bloated and was worried I would weigh in 1kg heavier. Apparently it went in the other direction. Yay! Moving right along.

I would like to talk about lemon water right now, if I  may. I've always been great with my water intake; drinking at least a glass of water first thing in the morning has been a habit of mine for the past few years and the rest of the day I spend sipping water constantly. I read somewhere online that lemon supposedly speeds up weight loss, so I decided to add it to my new routine along with calorie restriction. First thing in the morning I drink half a liter of water with some freshly squeezed lemon juice in it. I figured "Eh, if it's a myth at least I'm getting some vitamin C first thing in the morning. Can't be a bad thing."



Well, yesterday evening I started reading about in on line and apparently there's a whole story about drinking lemon water first thing in the morning. Just google "drinking lemon water" and you'll find a shitload of websites that praise this habit. They do talk mostly about drinking warm lemon water, but I'll bet a lot of the advantages are true for the cold(er) variant as well.

I am always skeptical of things that are praised into the high heavens, so I also googled "drinking lemon water myth". Interesting stuff too. This blog post gives some interesting critiques. Fortunately many of the hits I got there still claim it is a good idea to drink lemon water anyway.

I don't know if it's actually helping my weight loss or that it's merely a placebo thing or all in my head. Truth is that I am losing weight at a nice rate. I'm also starting to enjoy the taste of this lemon water. Our bodies are designed to enjoy a whole range of tastes. It seems most of us go for the sugary or fatty stuff. If you give other things a try though you might find your world is much broader than sugar alone.

In conclusion: Drink up and enjoy!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Why is it working this time around

Weigh-in update: 71.9. Woot! Diet wise, I had an excellent day yesterday. A bit low on the calorie intake I suppose, but I never felt hungry. The bloating probably masked it a bit. I drank a LOT of water, which probably solved that problem mostly. I also had an excellent evening run: 8.3km! I did it in a great time too, almost matching the time I clocked at my 8K race in December. The only thing that's missing is a good number two on the toilet, but I'm sure that 'll be here soon. I'm seriously feeling so much better this morning. I will not be scoffing down large quantities of food late in the evening. Hell no.


I've been wondering why this has been working so well for me this time around. Since having my son I've started dieting so many times I've lost count. Then clear out of the blue I decided enough was enough and got serious about it. I've even kept it up for three weeks now! What made the difference this time around? 

What's Working for Me, Now

We've all had at least one friend who used some amazing weight loss technique and lost a bunch of weight. Shakes, WW, prepackaged meals and so on. And then we think "Oh my that's great! I have to try that!"

The thing is, we are all so different! We have different lifestyles, different bodies, different exercise routines, different family and social lives. While I do think the simple basic equation is calories in vs calories out, the way to achieve that is not so simple at all. We need a hook, a method, something to hang onto. What method will work for you depends so heavily on the factors above, there is no one solution for all.

When I read about the newest diets I often shake my head: Cutting out carbs alltogether for instance,  what is that about? I love my carbs! I also need them in order to do a longer run (see above). Since Engineer Daddy is the chef of the house and he would never agree to cut out anything alltogether, it wouldn't work for me anyways. I don't want to start cooking separate meals for myself. Furthermore his cooking is delicious, so that wouldn't last long anyway.

I can shake my head all I want though, if it works for other people, that's awesome! More power to them. Clearly there must be something to it.

Timing is also important. Several years ago I did WW to lose a nice amount of weight (8kg). I was also pretty good about keeping it off until I got knocked up.While it worked beautifully back then, that doesn't necessarily mean it will work now. It was like 10 years ago. I'm older now and my lifestyle is so different. I got bored of the WW thing, clearly I needed to shake things up. Mission accomplished.

Cutting Myself Some Slack

During my previous attempts, there would (obviously) be bad days. When they happened, I would always feel tremendously guilty and think "Well I screwed it up anyway, I'm a fat pig and can just as well eat ALL the things!" Which I subsequently did. That's no longer the case now. When I eat something that wasn't planned, I take it and enjoy it without chastizing myself. I just count the calories and move on. I will simply tighten the belt a bit more the next day.

One Step At a Time

I started with a new exercise routine last year (running). Even though there was no diet and accompanying weight loss, I kept it up and enjoyed it. Adding the calorie counting a few weeks ago was a big step, but luckily I didn't have to start the exercise thing too, since it was already in my system. 

Progress Pictures

I had never done that before. It helped, actually. Seeing them next to each other last week was interesting. People around me are not noticing the weight loss yet, so I was wondering if there was any change at all in my body shape. Looking at those pictures, I can see there is. It's not massive but it's there.


--------------------------------------------------------
So here's hoping I can keep it up this time. I'm feeling fantastic and I don't want to give up that feeling.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Like a Balloon

Weight went up, as was expected: 72.9kg this morning.

Man it was a hectic weekend. I did stay in within my allowed calories AND I got my exercise (lots of bike riding). The main reason for the big number on the scale is the fact that I had my main meal very late yesterday: 8PM, after the kids went to bed. And it was quite a big portion of spaghetti. (No cheese, I don't need those extra kcals...) Result: I feel bloated as fuck. Tie me to a string and call me a balloon. I didn't even finish my fairly small portion of oatmeal this morning. After my bike ride to work I still don't feel hungry at all. My bowels are still working at full capacity to get everything processed. I'm sure a big number 2 is in my near future.

Did I used to eat like this all the time? Because I don't feel too good now. That'll certainly teach me to eat too much late in the evening. Ugh ugh ugh.

Back on the wagon today. I've got my whole day planned out: Healthy snacks, small dinner, evening run. Shitloads of water to get rid of this bloating. Avoid salt. I'm sure this extra weight will be gone by tomorrow.

Update after lunch: I just had a soup (chinese chicken broth). It was yummy but it filled me up so quickly I did not have any of the crackers I brought. Still feeling so stuffed and bloated. I hope this gets better while the day progresses.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Progress Pics Update - Finally

Since starting this blog... uhmmm... 9 months ago I finally have some progress pictures to share. At this moment I lost a little over 10lbs so I figure that's a good reason to look at the progress, if any.

Yes you read that right, another loss today. We are at 71.8kg at the moment. *Waits for applause.* This puts me firmly under the pre-pregnancy weight from ZwitsalBaby. 5.8kg to go until I'm at the weight I was before MiniMe and then another 2kg to goal weight. Somewhere in my mind it starts dawning that I might actually be able to do this thing. The scales going down is certainly quite the motivation.

Enough with the blabbering, on with the pics and stats. I blacked out the camera flash from the before pic because it bugged me. At first I thought "Meh... not that much progress." But looking more closely, I think I can see some shrinkage going on. 4.7kg is not an earth shattering large loss either; I have to keep my eyes on the goal. I'm at one third of my lost goal now, so still some way to go.


Height 165cm (5'5")
Starting weight 76.5kg (168.7lbs)
Starting BMI 28.1
Current weight 71.8kg (158.3lbs)
Current BMI 26.4
Lost weight 4.7kg (10.4lbs)
Goal weight 64kg (141lbs)
Goal BMI 23.5




Thursday, April 24, 2014

Temptation in Pastry Form

This morning the scale read 72.2kg. Hellz yes!!! Ticker going down yet again. That also means I lost 4.3kg since starting my journey last summer. That's a third of the way to my total weight loss goal. Woop woop I'm so excited. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to update the stats though. Maybe I'll even take some progress pictures, if I find the time.

After my scale victory I went down to have my usual breakfast of oatmeal porridge. I packed snacks and lunch for MiniMe and myself, helped her get dressed, gave her breakfast, kissed and cuddled everyone goodbye. When I arrived at work I remembered it was Bike To Work Day, a yearly event where all bicycle commuters get a free breakfast. Totally forgot about it. A whole array of pastries were displayed: Croissants, donuts, eclairs etc etc. I used to love that stuff, so my brain did have an initial reaction like "Ohhhh yummm..." but then I thought twice. One of those things probably contains like 500kcals, it contains no nutrients just butter and sugar. Although it does tastes nice, I was not hungry and I did not need them. I took a black coffee, munched 4 strawberries (luckily they also put out a huge basket of fresh fruit) and before I left I also took a banana and a clementine with me.

Picture from http://www.ecns.be/


I am kinda proud of myself. After all I could've just gone for it. I do allow myself the occasional indulgence. It just didn't tempt me that much. I was also reminded of my indulgence the past weekend and that I actually felt a little sick on Tuesday. Nope, not worth it.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Onward and Downward!

I had an excellent day yesterday. I probably went a bit low on the calorie intake, but I figure after the weekend feast, that was OK. It all balances out. And the scales rewarded me with a beautiful loss: 72.7kg! Woot woot! That makes me indeed believe that yesterday's weight was a combination of bloating from the salt and booze of the weekend and the shit that I hadn't evacuated yet.

Anyhoo. Pretty excited that I can have sone (controlled) indulgence during the weekend and get right back on track during the week. That's honestly what I'm aiming for: No all or nothing approach, but something I can keep up for life.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Abs Like Hers

I admit it I look up to the celebs that seem to have it all. One of those is Sharika. I loved her from the start: Her singing was OK but I was mostly in love with her dancing. I followed a belly dancing class during a few years at university and she's got that down perfectly.

She had a baby in January of 2013 and showed off her perfect abs in August 2013 already. I know that she has a personal trainer, a personal chef and she has all the money in the world to pay for the perfect child care and blah blah. I still think she's an inspiration. I will not be able to do it quite as fast as her - that ship has sailed - but let's see how close we can get.

Here's some motivational pictures for my own sake.

Easter Weekend Aftermath

So, how did we do this Easter weekend? I weighed in this morning at 73.5kg. I'm totally fine with that. It was a weekend full of temptations. I gave in to some, said no to others. I worked out on Saturday and Sunday and my total calorie count was always OK. The highest was yesterday, at a total of 1684kcal. Considering I didn't work out, I am not surprised to see a small gain.

I was able to resist the easter eggs quite easily, which I'm happy with. It seems that chocolate is slowly losing its grip on me. Phew.

I have to keep in mind that I lost a LOT of weight last week and it's normal to gain some of that back. Plus I did a major number two when I arrived at work, which probably weighed me down as well.

Normally, a few weeks into a new weight loss effort I would totally be losing interest and motivation. Certainly after a small weight gain. Not now though. I'm ready and rearing to go. I've got my workout clothes packed for a lunch workout. All my healthy snacks are sitting on my desk. After a weekend of (controlled) indulgence I am SO ready to go again. Can't wait to see the scales move down again. Woot!!!

Sunday, April 20, 2014

The Art of Eating Out

I've had a few nights of eating out in the past few days. First time since my calorie restriction journey, and it was to nights in a row, but I've taken it as it comes.

Friday night Engineer Daddy and I were childless, so we decided on a whim to have dinner on a terras in the sun, It was one of my favourite restaurants in the city that has an amazing salad with feta cheese, bacon bits, fruit and honey mustard dressing. Yes there was feta and bacon, but also an entire mountain of salad and fruit. It came with bread and butter that I ignored. My drink was a diet coke. Good choices, methinks. That evening I had a serious bicycle ride that burned quite a few calories so I burned some of it of rightaway.

Saturday morning weight was up from 72.9 to 73.3. Mmmkay then. I didn't feel too bad about that, since I had a crazy fast weight loss last week anyway. I went on a pre-breakfast run and didn't eat much during the rest of the day since I knew that evening we would be going out to dinner again, for some friends' birthday at a Mexican restaurant. As aperitif I had a margerita that was amazingly delicious. There were tortilla chips and salsa on the table that I ignored. Many people took a second aperitif, but I declined and asked for sparkling water. Then I had a dish with filled jalapenos, rice, some mixed salad, guacamole and some other stuff. There was some cheese and sauces involved, but all in all it wasn't too bad. I didn't get a dessert, just a coffee. We went to a bar afterwards and I had a sparkling water and a coke zero. I think overall it was a win. I'm extremely happy I didn't fall for the booze trap (boozy trap?). I love to get a bit tipsy, but we all know how much calories there are in alcohol and when I am hungover the day after I have to eat all fatty foods to make up for it. This time, I certainly avoided that. Huzzah!

This morning I took a serious dump before my weigh in and the scale read 73.0. So I think the weigh in from saturday was shit weight. Bwahaha. Anyway. Today was an uneventful day, food wise. I basically stayed on track and I went for a run. I added an extra 1.2km to my typical 7km run. Score! I hope I can start doing that more often.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Spirits are back up again!!

First an update on yesterday: I continued feeling like crap for most of the day. I took something for my headache that gave me some relief, but the fatigue and the sore muscles stayed.

I did make sure to eat more calories, unfortunately I was too exhausted to really prepare something healthy in the evening so I just ate some of the kids' cereal. It was yummy though. Then I had to decide whether or not to go to play badminton. I seriously did NOT feel like it. Hell, even mounting two flights of stairs to put on my workout gear had me catching my breath. But I went anyway, because I was sure I would regret it if I didn't. It was harder than usual, but I played my usual 1.5hours and it was fun. I certainly felt a lot better afterwards. Back home I drank 600ml of water and had 20g of "student mix" (a mix of raisins and nuts) for a total of 90kcals. Yeah!


This morning I woke up quite refreshed. I did my morning pee and did a massive number two, which was SUCH a relief! I had been kinda constipated in the past week, and it seemed like a few days worth of shit finally came out. I think that might have contributed to yesterday's "shitty" feeling as well. I hopped on the scale and KABLAM: 72.9. Another half kilo gone. I shrugged. I can't keep worrying about this fast weight loss anymore. I'm feeling really good today and I'm certainly eating enough calories. It was probably shit weight, literally.

I guess it's time for a stats update then, is it not?

Height 165cm (5'5")
Starting weight 76.5kg (168.6lbs)
Starting BMI 28.1
Current weight 72.9kg (160.7lbs)
Current BMI 26.8
Lost weight 3.6kg (7.94lbs)
Goal weight 64kg (141lbs)
Goal BMI 23.5





So that puts me nicely under the weight I was before I had my son. Woot! Also my BMI has gone down from 28.1 to 26.8. I think that's fucking fabulous. Still overweight, but definitely on the way down. Woo to the hoo.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Utter Crap

I feel like crap today. Utter crap. It's like having a hangover or something, except I'm not nauseous (thank God). But other than that it really fits the description: Headache, sore muscles, fatigue. Getting out of bed this morning was the hardest thing EVER.

Not me by the way, just a picture from http://www.healthymejournal.com/


Why is this happening to me? I can think of a few reasons:
1. I haven't been taking in enough calories the past days and my body is protesting.
2. I didn't have any coffee yesterday and these are withdrawal symptoms.
3. I exercised quite vigorously for three days in a row and it's just too much.
4. A combination of the above.

How am I going to fix this?
1. I have brought more snacks with me this morning: An extra piece of fruit and some whole grain cookies that have a supergood taste. They are still low-calorie options, since I am determined NOT to solve this issue by diving face first in a piece of chocolate cake.
2. The ideal solution to this is to cut out the caffeine alltogether. But I can't do that right now. I've only started this calorie restriction so coffee is one of the few pleasures I still have. I'm just going to drink them in moderation (3 cups max each day). Maybe I'll quit coffee sometime in the future, when I've got this weight loss thing in my routine.
3. I still plan to go play badminton today, since it is an organized event and all, but I'm going to take it slow and listen to my body. When it says STOP, I'll stop. Then I am not going to do any exercise for a few days to rest my muscles. I think they need a break.

It's too bad though. I felt so high yesterday when I read 73.5kg on the scale and today I came crashing down. It fucking hurts. That's what you get from too much too soon. This morning the scale said 73.5 again. I was actually happy to NOT see a loss today. 1kg in two days is not healthy, so I'd like my body to just go steady for the next couple days and find its balance.

Right now it's 1PM and I just returned from lunch; I had leftovers from yesterday (cannelloni with spinach yumm-o). I'm feeling a bit better now. Crossing my fingers; I do NOT want to give up on this!

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Not enough calories?

Hmmm... Another half kilo gone in a day... That's too much, too soon. I guess I'll have to increase my calorie intake, at least on the days that I work out. Hmmm I'm thinking nuts, raisins and high fiber cookies. I'll go by the store later to check that out.

On the bright side I now weigh 73.5kg. That puts me back to my lowest weight of last year AND back at the weight I was pre-ZwitsalBaby. This also means I'm almost 1/4 of the way along to my goal weight.

I must not get too excited now and stay on track. One to two weeks is usually when I start slipping on a diet. On that note, look at the yummy lunch I just prepared:
3 crackers with cottage cheese, topped with pickle slices and spring onion. Total of 278 calories.

I just went through my archives and I laughed at this post. Clearly I have not lost my love for cottage cheese. Unfortunately it's pretty expensive, but I don't care.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Making the case for dairy

Yesterday I was surfing YouTube again for some videos on diet and weight loss. I stumbled on this BBC documentary called "How to be slim". It focused on finding the best methods to lose weight. Woot! Sounds perfect, so I started watching.

The first couple items were interesting, but nothing I had not heard of before. Then the topic of dairy came up. From what I've read on the internet (because the internet is always right off course), dairy is getting a bad rep. People bashing the stuff and cutting all dairy out of their life. Whut??? Such drastic measures always baffle me.



On the show, they had a guy consuming a dairy-rich diet during one week (mostly low fat dairy products) and the other week he consumed a low dairy diet. Both weeks he consumed more or less the same amount of calories and fat. Then they measured the amount of fat in his feces. This is the icky but fascinating part. During his dairy week, he pooped TWICE the amount of fat than he did in the other week.

TWICE. That's some impressive shit right there.

I have always been mindful to consume enough dairy, because I know us ladies have to remember to keep our bones healthy (osteoporosis, anyone?) and in my experience the easiest source of calcium is still dairy. But I had no idea it could have such a drastic effect on losing fat.

I love me some science and I started researching further. WebMD talks about a study that compared three groups of people with varying dairy intakes and it was clear the high dairy group lost more weight. In addition, they also found that this group lost significantly more body fat.

I'm liking what I'm reading. To put that in practice, this morning I had my usual oatmeal porridge, prepared with semi-skimmed milk. For lunch I packed a 200g jar of cottage cheese and I also have a 125g pot of fat free yoghurt at my disposal for a snack. These are all low calorie food items, but also quite delicious and filling. Apparently they can help me lose some body fat too. I'm excited right now.

That was a fast one!

So, as you know I've been weighing myself daily now. I try not to put too much value on the number though, I know it can fluctuate for many many reasons.

It showed me that I stayed more or less the same over the weekend, probably because I did consume more calories during those days. And then I hopped on this morning. Half a kilo lost compared to yesterday! Holy Moly.

Is this normal? I guess since it's still the first week my body might still be in shock mode. Like "WTF is happening here with this calorie restriction, y'all???" I'm so happy but also a bit scared. Losing too much too fast can be dangerous; I have to make sure I remain on the straight and narrow. Today I packed a shitload of snacks to keep me from getting hungry. I hope it'll work.

I also had a non scale victory today! I have this pair of pants that I bought in between the two kids. It fit me snugly a few months ago. I put it on this morning and now it fits perfectly, maybe even a little on the loose side. That means I'm definitely losing some inches as well. Yay!

Monday, April 14, 2014

BBC docs on crash dieting

I love looking for diet inspiration on the world wide web and on TV. I wrote a post about a TV show I enjoy a lot some time ago.

Well this weekend I was searching YouTube for some videos on diet and weight loss and I stumbled on a few gems: Two BBC documentaries on extreme dieting. They are called "Super Skinny Me" and "Super Slim Me" (just type these names in the YouTube search bar and you're there). It shows a few female journalists going on crash diets to obtain a size zero figure, resulting in serious physical and mental health problems.

It's pretty clear to see that these kinds of crash diets are a verrrry bad idea. And still... I feel like such a freak admitting this (I would only do it on an anonymous blog and never in real life), but I was intrigued. Who doesn't want to diet with fast results? The thing about crash diets is that their rules are usually very simple; basically you get maximum results with a minimum amount of thinking. No calorie counting, looking for the healthiest options, making sure you get enough protein, calcium blah blah blah.

Ugh... I know this is such a dangerous way of thinking, but these kinds of crash diets will always be just a little bit fascinating to me. I can already (kind of) notice it now while I am counting points. When my daily calorie intake is on the low side and I contemplate having a snack, I have opted to just skip the snack so my calorie count is lower. While having a snack and being closer to my maximum allowed intake of 1500 cals a day would be the more reasonable and healthy thing to do, the fact that I showed restraint gives me a feeling of pride.

I need to cut that shit out. Next time I will HAVE the snack, this is a promise to myself.

Post weekend update

The weekend has gone by and I admit I am kinda proud of myself. I wasn't as diligent as I was during the week, but I made good choices and managed to stay within my maximum intake (Saturday 1510, Sunday 1580). I am so happy about it, because I want to allow myself to still enjoy some things, which I certainly did. But no more weekend bingeing that used to make me feel sad and bloated.

Weight wise it's also been going well. 5 days in and a 0.7kg loss. I am weighing myself daily now, thanks to the scale I got for Christmas. This is mostly for logging purposes, because I'm really interested to make some graphs in a few weeks to see how my weight reacts to certain amounts of calories and exercise. I'm not going to post new stats more often than weekly though.

My mood has not been too bad. On Friday I did have a hard time at work. I was really hungry during the morning and then 1.5 hours after lunch I had a total sugar crash. Not fun. Today I took some extra snacks (fruit) with me to avoid that. Let's see how it goes.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Where have I been?

Sooo... I'm back again. I have no idea why I stopped posting. All I know is I'm back again, ready to roll.

Life's been good. MiniMe is doing great at school and growing up so fast my head is spinning. ZwitsalBaby's lungs are completely better now. The only real ailment that's still bothering him is eczema, which we are keeping under control with a moisturizing cream. He started walking at the end of January, which he is clearly loving. With the weather improving in our area, they are enjoying playing outside together; they are becoming more independent and frankly, I'm loving it.

On the exercise front I have been able to keep up the momentum. I'm still running my 7km twice a week. In december I finished my first run: 8K! I did it in 51mins, not too shabby if I say so myself. Below is a picture to prove I'm not lying. I'm the second one from the left, my father is the guy next to me. We ran the whole thing together and I had a lot of fun. There is something exciting about runs like these. The anticipation in the group before the starting signal, the wild outfits (this was during the end-of year holidays, so lots of Santa Claus hats, reindeer antlers and such), listening in on other runners' conversations. Definitely something I'll be doing again.


I'm also still playing badminton weekly and going to work by bicycle. In other words: Same old, same old.

On the eating front: Blech. Well, honestly it could have been worse, but it certainly wasn't great either. My main weaknesses, as always, have been potato chips and booze.

Weight wise I was holding on to my weight loss until December. then over the holidays it completely went to shit. I did have a lot of fun though, so I'm actually not feeling too much guilt. Own up to it and move along. Right now I'm at 74.9kg. New stats update and ticker below.

Updated stats:
Height 165cm (5'5")
Starting weight 76.5kg (168.6lbs)
Starting BMI 28.1
Current weight 74.9kg (165.13lbs)
Current BMI 27.5
Lost weight 1.6kg (3.5lbs)
Goal weight 64kg (141lbs)
Goal BMI 23.5




As far as food intake goes, I'm in a complete slump; I'm so over those fracking WW points. I need to shake things up with a fresh approach, so I decided to go with good old fashioned calorie counting. The nice thing about this is there are so many on-line resources out there, making it easy to look up anything, including calories burned from exercise. I'm logging everything right now in a spreadsheet: Weight, calories in, calories out and water intake. I am shooting for an intake of 1200-1500 calories a day. I'm not sure if I will take the exercise calories into account as well, i.e "eating" my exercise calories. At this point I'm not, but let's see how the first weeks go and maybe I will start doing that at some point if I notice my energy levels are problematic.

I'm making a commitment to myself to blog about the calorie counting as often as possible. Because I want to log not only the numbers but also how I'm feeling. From everything I've read online - and that's a LOT - I have realized that all of our bodies respond differently to certain diets. It's important to find out what works FOR YOU, physically and emotionally. So these first few weeks are going to be experimental. I'm going to try to stay on track as well as possible and then make some graphs to see the fluctuations in weight, energy levels, mood etc. I lurves me some graphs.

Back on the wagon we go!