And also.

I seem to have rediscovered the joy of working out. Ever since I started pushing myself towards a harder pace, even just 30 minutes of boring cardio machines seems fun again.

Plugging away.

I hit the 50 pounds mark around July 1 or so. Since then I have lost only 5 more pounds. I had hoped for more than double that by now, and had hoped to hit my goal of being under 200 before Christmas. I don't know if that's gonna happen, but we'll see.

In the meantime I am trying to do with the new slooooooow pace of weight loss by looking fro ways to keep myself encouraged. I have upped the intensity of my workouts so I earn more way activity points (and can eat more).

And just today I went to try and find some end of season clearance shorts or capri pants and had pleasant results. I know that sizes vary but I tried on a size 18 stretch denim jean today that was baggy in the butt. So I bought the size 16. (They are a bit snug, but I have at least a month before I can wear stretch denim and boots anyway.) But OMG I CAN BUTTON SIZE 16 PANTS!!!!

I have not worn size 16 since college, probably.

Thoughts

I'm still annoyed at my unexplained weight gain. Annoyed. Angry. Frustrated.

But I decided to do some thinking about what I have been doing. I know I have not been going over my points. That's the first thing the site says to look at- have you been slacking on weights and measures, etc. NOPE. In fact I have not been using all my points. I am going to make a better effort to use activity and weekly points up. If anything so I feel less like I am on a diet. Because clearly I'm getting burned out on diets. Also, I need to eat breakfast. I was looking at my tracker and noticing how many mornings I just tracked coffee in the morning. That has to stop. I was losing much faster when I was eating breakfast. I love coffee, but it's not a meal.

Hopefully this will help.

I'm going to cry.

I'm up 2 pounds this week.

I'm not overeating. I'm getting exercise. I am doing everything I'm supposed to be doing!!!

This sucks so much. I just want to cry. I am so frustrated right now. I hate this.

Well that's just weird.

According to the activity points thingy, 30 minutes of bicycling at less than 12mph is 3 points. 30 minutes at more than 12mph is 8. In general, 30 minutes of "moderate intensity" exercise is 3 points and 30 minutes of "high intensity" is 8 points. Why the huge jump? I feel like maybe there should be something between moderate and high.

I've been riding my bike a lot and have vastly improved my speed. I'm averaging about 10mph now, where I was doing 5. I feel like I am getting ripped off on activity points. Boo!

Well that was fun.

I was feeling kinda down this week. Weight loss has slowed to a trickle lately. I've only lost 4 pounds since hitting the 50 pound milestone in July.

But when I was looking at my progress charts online I realized I had not taken any measurements since June. I decided today would be a good day to bust out the tape measure and see how things are going. I'm down another inch on my bust, waist, and hips since June. WOO! Then I decided to break out the tub of "might fit me someday" clothing. All the rest of my pants in my stash fit. (sizes 18, and a couple of 20s that run very small)


That was some much-needed encouragement today.

Pain is weird. Bodies are weird.

I have been experiencing some pain in my knees for the last few months. For the most part it's low grade acheyness not even bad enough to medicate. Sometimes it's worse and I take Aleve. I have been considering seeing a chiropractor or doctor, but I'm procrastinating.

Last week I got really motivated to earn some extra activity points. So I went for a couple of walks and I noticed my knees started feeling a little... better.  The last 12 days or so I have done something active every day and my knees are hurting drastically less than they have been. This seems counterintuitive. I exercise MORE and somehow I hurt LESS?

Confusing. And amazing.