Trying Noom for Weight Loss

A few months ago I was at a stage in my life where I found myself desperate.  I was desperate with where I am in terms of my weight loss journey.  This journey to lose weight has not been easy.  It’s been long and arduous.  And about two months ago I found myself in a position of saying that something needed to change. I needed to shake things up.  I needed to finds something different, something new.  SOMETHING.   I needed to enter a new era of my weight loss journey.  And I did just that.  I joined Noom. 

 

Noom

 

In an effort to shake things up in my weight loss efforts I joined Noom.  I was totally hesitant to join this program for a few reasons.  First and foremost, I am cheap and Noom costs money.  Secondly, the program is cloaked in secrecy.  All I could find was that it was calorie based in its approach.  I was good with that, but wanted to find more.  I couldn’t find more, not until I signed up.  In fairness, they do give a 10 day free trial…..or rather a 10 day ‘give a donation if you can since it costs such and such amount of money to give you this free trial.’  Every time I had looked at the program that turned me off!  But this time I was open to it.  I was actually open to paying also.  I guess you could say I was desperate for a change to get my life (my weight loss and fitness life at least) back on track.  I joined.  So as a brief rundown.  It is calorie based and if you drill into your calories, it ranks all your calories into three different colors.  Orange, yellow and green.  As you can expect green colored foods you can eat pretty much as much as you want.  Green foods are things like your vegetables and fruits.    The yellow foods are foods that are still pretty healthy.  This includes options like eggs and chicken breasts.  You can have yellow foods but you just want to pay a little more attention to them.  And then you have the orange foods.  Orange foods are foods that you can still have, but in moderation and with care.  Nothing is off limits with Noom, just work it into your day’s budget for calories and more specifically for calories in each food color.     The program also gives you daily ‘lessons’.   The early lessons teach about the program and the science behind it but those lessons segue into lessons about the psychology on how to combat some of the issues in life that cause weight loss issues.   The program also works treat days into the program  to make this program a sustainable option.

 

What I like about Noom

There are some aspects of Noom that I really like. 

1.      I really like the concept of the colors within your calorie count.   I like that they break down your projected calories so you know how many of each color you SHOULD be eating and how many you did eat.   It is a great way to quickly identify if you are eating the right kind of calories.  Because lets face it, I could eat my daily calories in cake and then eat nothing else.  I would still be within my calories…but would it be a healthy day?  So the colors really show where your weak points are. (I’m looking at your butter and jelly on my toast…….).    I know that with myfitnesspal you can use the macros for this aspect of tracking.  But there are so many different macros to watch that it can get overwhelming.    Weight watchers also tries to steer you toward the healthier foods with their number system and their ‘free foods’.  But seriously, a color system is SOO much easier!  

2.      I really like how they work the treat day.  Randomly (I know, there is a system to when I earn them…and they may have explained it, but I don’t want to know, I like the surprise aspect), you will get a message that says you earned a treat day.  You can use it immediately, or you can bank it and save it for a later day.     I have discovered a few neat things about the treat day.  The first thing was that the day that I used a treat day, when I went back the next day the app greeted me with a “did you have a fantastic treat day?”   It took all negativity out of a treat day, which I have talked about numerous times when I say I don’t like the word cheat day! (which so many people use).    In this way, Noom is encouraging people to live their lives and celebrate life without guilt and without shame.   Furthermore, that day when I came back after a treat day, it stopped and had me reaffirm my commitment to my journey!    The second thing I discovered that I liked was that one day I didn’t go onto the app because I was busy and life just got in the way.  When I went back the app prompted me with ‘do you want to use a treat day”.   They recognized that days when you aren’t on the app, may likely be the days that you slip.     So yeah, I really like how they manage the treat days.  It is a refreshing way to handle a treat day.  From ‘earning’ the treat day to the celebratory attitude to the recommitment when it is done, it is all refreshing.

3.      I debated about where to place the psychological aspect of Noom was it a like or a dislike?  It honestly falls into both.   The psychological aspect of Noom is conveyed to the user through daily lessons.  These lessons take about 5-10 minutes to complete.   You do not have the option to do more Noom as the program limits how many lessons you can do it a day.  The lessons rare full of information and knowledge about weight loss, techniques for losing weight and yes the psychology behind it all.   The information is solid, and that is why I am placing it on the what I like side of things.    However, after so many years of being on a weight loss journey the information is more a review and a reminder.  (How can it almost be 19 years since I started this blog/website?).  But a reminder isn’t a bad thing!    On that note though, how I wished I would have had Noom and all the information when I was first starting to lose weight!

 What I Dislike about Noom

Of course with the above things that I like about Noom, there are things that I dislike!

1.      I do not like the tracking app.  This is probably my largest dislike!  In fairness, it is functional and does a great job of keeping track of my caloric intake.  However, it is a rather cumbersome application.  I have tried to give it the benefit of the doubt and say, “well I used myfitnesspal for so many years that I am just set in my ways”.   But not.  Even after months of using Noom, I am still finding the tracking aspect to be awkward.  My biggest issue.  You have to click into tracking….then click into the meal you want to add.  Standard up to this point.  From here is where it gets unwieldy.   You can enter your food.   They give you four standard options for portion size.  To change the portion size, you have to click her and click there and whatnot, it’s not just clicks on the same screen.  It is click here and it takes you to another page…and then click there to go somewhere else.  So when you finally get the food and the portion you can start entering your next item.  And you start the process again.    When you are done entering, you are actually not done.  You have to click “Done” at the top of the page….which to me means it’s done and you have entered it into your tracker.  But NO….then you have to click the tab at the bottom that says log ‘breakfast’ (or lunch, dinner or snack).   Done yet?   Nope, there is now an intermediary page that pops up and you have to the chose close which takes you back to the main page.   Ohhh, not the main page of the tracking….the main page TOTAL.  So if you are entering your days foods all at once (either at the start of the day as pre tracking or at the end after you’ve already eating, you now need to start right back at the beginning and CHOOSE tracking….then CHOOOSE the meal…..and then start again with the multiple clicks.   It just seems over the top annoying!   Ohhh and if you try to bypass one, it will delete all your hard work and take you back to the beginning.  Believe me, I have done it so many times by accident because crazily enough, I think that when I click ‘done’ it really means done.  Or that when I click ‘log meal’ that it means I’m logging the meal.  So frustrating!

2.      The psychological mumbo jumbo lessons!   Yes, I am putting the daily lessons on the dislike page also.  I really should have made an ‘ambivalent’ section, but since I didn’t I am putting this one on both the like and dislike!   These lessons.  They are not a work at your own pace in the regard that you only have the option for 3 or 4 a day.  Now if you don’t read through them, they just transfer to the next day.  So you definitely have the option to do them slow!  But you do not have the option to do them faster.   That is annoying and I can clearly see that as a ploy to keep people coming to their site…and paying.

3.      And with that dislike, I will talk about the cost.  I dislike the cost of this program and how they operate.   You can purchase one month at a time, which would be the standard way things operate.  I will preface the next few sentences by saying that I can’t remember the actual prices for each payment plan, so I may be off in the prices a bit.   But, if you pay month to month you will be paying somewhere near $70 for that month. (yes, you read that right…and yes, this one is one of the prices that I know I’m pretty close to what it cost it’s the following numbers that I can’t remember.)  If you opt in for two months, you will get a deal and pay less, $60 a month.   Three month plan?  You pay even less at $55…..and downward to the longest plan, which was 10 or 11 months….at $200 dollars.   The longest plan is actually doable at $20 a month…but I had to commit to the long term.   Which is what I did.  I made a commitment to try it for long term.  

So, here I am in a long term commitment with Noom. Some of the things I like are important and are helping to ‘reset me’.  The color system for my calories is really neat because it is helping remind me that all calories are not created equal.   So I am ok with my commitment.  But the tracking is so annoying that I can honestly say that unless something changes drastically In the next 6-8 months that my time with Noom will end when my current commitment runs out.   

And once again, I ran out of room to unpack all of what has been going on in the last month.   Tomorrow, I promise.  I am kinda dreading sharing and actually admitting this out loud (well, I consider on here 'outloud), but it's time! Tomorrow I will finally share the elephant in the room.
 

 

 

A busy month to unpack and share

 Has it really been a month since I last posted?  Well, it has been a bit less than a month, but we may as well call it a month!  Life has been crazy!  There is so much to share.  I need to give an update on my Noon experience.  I have been out exploring the world around me a bit.  Zoey had a birthday.  We had a wedding anniversary.   Last but not least, I really need to discuss the elephant in the room in regards to my weight and fitness journey.  I’m telling you, there is a lot to unpack and share.   I am not going to have time to get into everything today….so let me give you a run down on what I’ve been doing in the last month.  Buckle up and let’s see where the last month took me. In no particular order!

Zoey Turned Two

As I am writing this post, it is super early in the morning and Jason is still in bed sleeping.  Zoey has come out of the bedroom to hang with me and has commandeered the couch, where she is stretched out, upside down, hogging pretty much the whole couch and snoozing away.   To say she is a bit spoiled is a serious understatement!  With that in mind is it any surprise that we spoiled her like crazy for her birthday?   On the day of her birthday, she got a new toy and I made her a doggy cake.  (It had apples, peanut butter and an egg as the main ingredients).  She did share that with the bird (who also loved it).   Then on the weekend Jason made her a steak dinner. Ok, I think he may have wanted to just make himself a steak dinner and Zoey was the excuse.  Especially considering he is still talking about how good HIS steak was and her birthday was more than three weeks ago!  Zoey gobbled that steak and sweet potato down!  There was no hesitation there!   She also got three new toys over the weekend and I bought some doggy cookies for her. (They smelled and looked like fig newtons…but were supposed to taste like bacon and cheese…..No, I didn’t try them personally!)  I would say that the dog had a pretty good birthday! 

 

Staying Busy

In my last post, I talked the fact that I have more vacation days allotted to me than Jason, meaning that I have random days where I am off work by myself with nothing to do.   Those days have been difficult for me as I used to spend them with my mom, they now open me up to that all encompassing grief that overtakes your soul.  And grief is ok, it’s part of life, it’s part of loving someone and having been loved by someone. But I decided a while back to not sit around the house and wallow in the grief.  That would not be honoring to my mom. Although, I can hear mom jokingly saying, “I expect you to sit and cry each of those days that I’m not there to go out to lunch with you.”   You think I’m joking?  This is the woman that was apologizing to me the night of her stroke. She had been airlifted to a different hospital  I had just driven the four hours to be with her in Pittsburgh hospital and we were sitting in the ER there when she apologized.  Of course I told her not to worry about it, and I made a comment to the effect that, ‘this is what family does, and if it were me laying in the hospital bed, I know you would be here beside me”   She looked at me and clear as a bell said “No I wouldn’t, I would be at the beach”   I KNOW that comment was a joke!   SO yeah, I can hear her jokingly say that she would expect me to mourn and cry on those days.  But I also know that mom wouldn’t want that.  She would expect me to go on living.  She would demand that I get out and go to lunch and do something. SO, that is what I have started to do.   I wrote about this grief and how I handled a day off at the beginning of September.  I wrote about how I sent exploring and had a great day. (You can read about that here.)

I was riding high on my successful day of not succumbing and allowing grief to overtake my day and started to think about my next day off, which would be two weeks later.  I came up with a tentative plan and then had the brain child idea to ask my oldest nephew to ride along with me!   We visited the Old Jail in Chambersburg and the John Brown House also located in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Jason and I had visited the Old Jail back in 2017 and while I had already experienced it, I knew it was worth a second visit. The John Brown house?  Who knew there was a John Brown house in Chambersburg, so that would be a new tour for me!  Our tour guide was…..well, he was nice.  He led us on both the old jail tour and the John Brown house tour.  He knew the tour information amazingly well.  However, extraneous questions that we asked were hit or miss in terms of getting an answer.  We walked away happy that we had visited.

 

Before the day was over, my nephew and I had made tentative plans to do ‘something’ on my next days off.  Yes, two weeks later I had two days off without Jason.  (Seriously, he needs a job with more vacation time!)  We didn’t know what we wanted to do so we spent some time researching.   We settled on Renfrew Museum and Park in Waynesboro.  The grounds are open free for public use, but they had a farmstead tour that would give you access to the interior of the buildings and we were interested.  Sign us up!   

 

This farmstead tour was another guided tour with a tour guide.  And I don’t know how in the world my nephew and I got another one, but we did.  We got another tour guide who was AMAZING at conveying the information on the official tour.  She had memorized the tour and did a great job.   She however was not able to answer a single solitary extraneous question that we asked.  “Can you tell me about that table beside the window”.  Nope.   “What is that device in the kitchen used for?”  I have no clue was her answer.    Seriously, items in the house and on the property were not marked and the workers didn’t have a clue about what they were.  Things in the museum we asked about and they had no clue!  NO worries though, we still enjoyed the tour and our visit to Renfrew.      Renfrew made me truly appreciate the museums where they have a notebook in each room with information about every item so that if a tour guide is asked a question about an item that they do not know that they can readily supply an answer!  

 

My nephew and I may have been done for that day, but our grand tour was not complete yet.  The next day we reconvened at the Hagerstown, Maryland City Park.   We have both been to the City Park numerous times.  In fact, both of us have toured the Train Museum and The Hager House before.  But we chose to go hit up the City Park due to the fact that the 202 may be going away.  What pray tell is the 202?  That is  a steam engine that was gifted to the “children of Hagerstown” by the Westen Maryland Railroad back in 1953.  I can not tell you how many times I visited the 202 in my life.   Way too many to count.   Seriously, we have pictures when my parents brought my brother when he was a baby…and the visits continued through all the years.  My brother and then my two nephews have always been intrigued with trains, is it because of the 202?  Quite possible!    So, this steam engine has been part of my life for each of my (almost) 52 years.  It has been announced that the City is in negotiations to divest itself of the 202 once and for-all.  (They tried once before about 20-30 years ago, but the engine ended up back in their possession after a few years.)   The train hub museum was closing for the season and who know if the steam engine would be there next year, so I knew I had to go see it for maybe my final time…..my farewell visit.

SO off we went!   We visited the Train Hub Museum.  The employee at this museum was the worst one yet.  He actually had no clue and gave us incorrect information on at least one instance.  This museum was small.  So very small. We are not sure what they will do with that museum if they take away the 202.  Because the 202 is the focal piece of the museum.  Other than the steam engine there are only  few caboose (or is it Cabeese  or maybe Ca-bi for plural) and a few artifacts .  And even with the caboose, only one is there for touring, the others are in a state of disrepair.  So, farewell said.   Although, it may not be a final farewell.  I did learn that they are in negotiations with the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad to have them take the steam engine, refurbish it and use it for one of their train excursions.  So conceivably, I could at some time in the future ride on a train that is pulled by the 202 steam engine.   That is the silver lining.

 

We walked through the park and took a stroll through the Mansion House Art Gallery.  This is an art gallery that is dedicated to local artists.   We enjoyed ourselves there also.  We did like some of the art, but admittedly, may have been a bit critical of some.  But to each his own!

We also decided to tour the Hager House that is also located in City Park.  The Hager House is the original house that was built by Jonathan Hager, the founder of Hagerstown.    Here is where we struck gold in terms of tour guides!  Our guide was FABULOUS!  There was not a question that we asked that he didn’t have an answer for.  And I will tell you that we asked a lot….and some of the questions I had a vague idea of the answer and he confirmed it and expounded on the information (letting me know that he wasn’t blowing smoke and making up answers.)  Both Riley and I were impressed with him and his knowledge.   He knew his stuff and that is saying something when it is coming from two people that are fascinated with history and two people that have life long roots in Hagerstown.  

 

My nephew and I have started to talk about our next adventure.  Because yes, there will be a day or two upcoming before the end of the year where I am off work while Jason works!  Aviation Museum?   Finding Fort Duncan?  Who knows!  But stay tuned.

Jason and I have also gotten out a bit.  We took the dog and went hiking at Kings Gap Environmental Center, which is considered a state park in Pennsylvania.   It was the first time we had been hiking in a LONG time.  Neither of us had been to this state park and we were both impressed with the area and plan on going back.   It felt good to get outside in nature again!  Zoey was a trooper but SOOO tired after hiking! 

We also explored the Mont Alto State Park.  This is the oldest state park in Pennsylvania.  It’s only 24 acres, and we have used the parking lot to hike in Michaux State Forest but we never actually explored the actual park. We did walk in the woods but it was very short as the park is very small. 

 

Last but not least, Jason ad I also headed to the Pine Grove Furnace State Park.  This park is also in Pennsylvania.  This was a drizzly wet day so we didn’t hike far, but we did walk around and explore a bit. But the main reason I wanted to go there was to visit the Appalachian Trail Museum.   We had also been to that museum years ago (which I talked about here), but I wanted to see it again.  I am so glad I did, they expanded it quite a bit! And it was a great way to spend a drizzly day.  

 

Wedding Anniversary

I have laughed and said that I celebrated my wedding anniversary with my nephew and not my husband since I spent the day with my nephew!   The day we went to Renfrew  Park and Museum was my wedding anniversary and my husband had to work. Jason just recently just switched jobs and couldn’t get it off…no worries, we are both off on a week-long vacation now.   I still celebrated with my husband when he got home that night though.  I had a nice dinner.  I purchased a cake and of course there was a gift waiting for him.   Weirdly enough, he walked into the house and didn’t see the cake and gift sitting on the counter.  Zoey kept running to the counter and then back to him.  Is my dog that smart? 

So, we have been married for 3 years!   Later this month we will hit the anniversary of our meeting which will mark 9 years that we have been together!   How time flies by.  I was reading through old posts from the time when I met him.  From the beginning when I just casually mentioned ‘a friend’ to when I started to refer to my mysterious friend as “J” and then onward to actually talking about him by name and admitting that I had fallen in love.   It has certainly been a fun ride. 

There you have it!  The last month has been a good one.  We have had celebrations.  I’ve gotten out and explored both with Jason and with my nephew.  There is so much more that went on, but this is a start in the process of unpacking what has happened since I last wrote!    Stay tuned for updates on my weight loss journey!

Grief rears it's Ugly Head

 Last week was a rough week for me!  It was tough in more than one way.  It was difficult for my emotions and it was also difficult for my health journey.  

The health journey was difficult.  I joined Noon a few weeks back and had great success my first few weeks.  And then "BOOM" my weight loss stopped!  It stalled and here I sit again not losing and yet trying!  It is so frustrating.  I feel as if I hitting a brick wall and can't break through!  I know a few things.

    * I struggled with exercise.  I honestly planned on exercising each and every day.  First thing....at 5AM.  Yet most mornings I stumbled out of bed and headed to exercise and kept moving right to the couch!  My window of time to exercise is the first 45 minutes I"m awake.  After that, It gets more difficult due to other extenuating circumstances.  GRRR   It' been difficult!  I keep say I am going to exercise after work, or on my lunch break or whatnot.  But life happens and exercise doesn't!

 *  I kept my eating in line with calories.  But as I have been reminded via Noom, all calories are NOT created equal.  I have been trying to eat healthier foods.  More veggies and more fruits!  (thus the accidental overdose of a week or so ago).   I have seen more of the 'orange' calories in the last week or two.  Just as a side note, with noom they break a calories into three groups (or rather all foods into three groups).  The green group...which is your fruits and veggies....eat those as much as you want (but don't overdose on fruit like I did).  Then you have your Yellow calories.  These are things you can have but don't go overboard with. (whole grains, low fat dairy, etc)  and then you have your Orange foods.  These are things that you can definitely still have.....but do it in moderation.  (Things like butter, ice cream, cakes, etc).  So a lot more orange foods were creeping into my daily food intake.  And I wasn't eating crazy....but a pat of butter....a splash of olive oil...the veggie dip that was not low fat.   It added up!

Luckly, I haven't gained.  I'm just sitting stagnate and not losing!

The second big thing that made last week rough was the fact that I had a day off.   Yeah, I know.  A day off shouldn't be difficult!  But it was.  I get a lot more vacation time than Jason  and it is use it or lose it time.  So I end up taking vacation days randomly throughout the year.   Typically on these days that I have off where Jason is working, I have spent them with my mother.  Before her stroke I would drive up and we would go shopping, go out to lunch, just roam around and have a good time.  Once she had her stroke, I would still use the days off  to spend with her but I would spend the day with her in whatever nursing home hospital she was in.   At the end of last year, I had a health scare and that necessitated a bunch of medical tests and doctors appointments.....which filled up those days off.   Last week, I had my first day off that wasn't filled up with medical tests since my mom died.  It was horrible. I dreaded it all week long.  I cried and missed mom more throughout the week as I moved toward the day.   I made plans to occupy my time, but it wasn't the same.  I was still alone without my mom.

I am not going to say that I didn't have a good day.  I forced myself to get out and stay busy.   I spent my morning exploring.  I went and drove through (and walked around) the James Buchanan Birthplace State Park.  I did not linger, I had a really sketchy feeling about being alone in that out of the way deserted park.  

 

 After leaving the James Buchanan Birthplace State Park I headed to the Conococheague Institute.   Jason and I had visited there about two years ago, right after we moved to Pennsylvania and we did the free self guided tour, which was all that was available to us that day.   This time I went back because every First Friday of the month they offer guided tours which include the inside of the houses.    I had an enjoyable time...even in the midst of my grief.

 

I went out to eat by myself.  I even went to the local historical society to try to do some research on the caves /lime kiln that is in front of my house. (they were not able to help much).  I kept myself busy, but it was an emotional day.   

Hopefully, my next solo day off will be a little easier.

So yes, I had a rough week.  However, I'm not down for the count.  I am still working on living a healthier life.  I'm not giving up!  As for the grief and the day alone with out mom.  I will have another one in a week or two.  I know it will be hard but theoretically it should get easier....right?

I Overdosed

 I overdosed this week!   Big time!   It started out innocently enough but it escalated quickly and now I am here feeling the effects!  And it’s no fun!!

So it started innocently enough!    I was feeling happy on my loss on the scales and I was ready to make this week a success also!  So when I went to the store I picked up plums.  I picked up a huge watermelon (Jason doesn’t eat watermelon…so a huge one for one person is excessive…a bit), I picked up the biggest cantaloupe I could find (he also doesn’t eat cantaloue…not my fav either)   I grabbed bananas, and strawberries and raspberries.    And that was the fruit for ME!   Jason picked up peaches, apples and kiwi for himself!  But back to me…this is my website after all!   At the beginning of the week everything tasted so good!   I was eating big bowls of watermelon!  And cantaloupe and blessedly delicious oranges!  I shared my bananas with the bird!  The plums dropped their delectable juice down my chin.   It was great.  Honestly…probably 70% of my daily calories was coming from fruit!  Ok maybe not 70…but a lot.  It is what was for breakfast…lunch.and all snacks!  

I made it through Thursday…and then came Friday.   I put that bowl of cantaloupe on the table with my morning oatmeal….and I could t do it.  Just the thought of putting a piece of cantaloupe into my mouth made me want to gag!  (The raspberries in my overnight oats were ok though!).   Lunch came around and the thought of eating a plum was repulsive.  And watermelon.  Tears well up in my eyes as I even think about eating a bite of that! 

I literally OD’d on fruit!

I am making my grocery list for next week.  I will be eating fruits and veggies ….but not in that quantity!   

Ohhh and the worst part?  My weight hasn’t moved much!!!  

10 Week Challenge Week 4 and a change

 4 weeks ago I started a 10 week challenge!  I would love to say that it was a rousing success and that I had lost a lot of weight, but that is not true!  However, there has been a success!

At the end of the first three weeks, I was so frustrated.  What the what?  I was doing it.  I was counting my calories.  I was exercising and after three weeks I was the exact same weight!  Oh my weight had moved.  UP. DOWN.  UP.   But the end result was that I was the same exact weight!  And let me tell you, it wasn't a weight I wanted to see!

I will admit to being in tears.  I will admit to feeling frustrated enough to quit.  But no, I quit at so much in life. This wasn't going to be one of those times!  So I vowed to stick with it for the 10 weeks, come hell or high water!

The tears were not just privately shed in the shower and washed down the drain.  These tears where shared with Jason as I lamented my struggles.  In my mind I had been starting to think about medical intervention (which I knew my family doctor was ok with as she had mentioned it last year, but talked about waiting until my gastro issues were attended to).  Jason and I discussed the possibility of different medical interventions.  I remain resistant but at least a bit open to it!

In the meantime, I decided to switch things up TOTALLY.   I started a new weight loss program....one that I am paying for.  The program is similar to what I have been doing (or trying to do) but has a few different facets and tricks.   I have competed week one of that program and I am happy to say that I have lost 3 pounds!  WOO HOOO!

Yes, I will be sharing the new program with you eventually.  Right now I am just really deciding if this program is for me or not!  

10 Week Challenge week 2 and 3

 What in the world!   I thought I posted about week two of my 10 week challenge, but somehow I failed to do so!   This, you will get a two week update.

Week two  of my challenge went well.   I did great with my food.  I got all 5 days of my exercise.  I drank my water.  The only thing I struggled with was the simple 5 minutes of exercises…the planks, squats, sit ups, etc.   the biggest deterrent is the dog.  The dog thinks that whenever I sit (or lay) on the floor that it means that it is time to play.   It’s hard to do a plank in perfect conditions let alone with a 100 plus pound dog trying to climb onto your back.

At the end of week two I saw my weight drop!  A nice drop actually.  3.8 pounds.

I went into week three confident.    And my weight almost immediately spiked right back up.  And there it remained!   My food was ‘eh’. Nothing horrible, but it could have been better!  I still struggled with the simple 5 minutes of exercises.  Water was a struggle.  I did however do 3 out of the 5 cardio days (but picked up one on the weekend with outdoor work so a total of 4 cardio days completed).   The two days I missed I didn’t do it first thing in the morning and promised myself I would do it later.   Yeah, that doesn’t work for me!

And at the end of the week my weight was still back at the original number. That  3.8 pounds loss on week two  was an anomaly and I have officially lost NOTHING on this challenge.

I know that my actions and this challenge are good for ME, even if I don’t lose weight so I am continuing!  I’m determined to finish this challenge.   So many times I start something and then stop when I struggle.  Not this time….I am vowing to see this through!

Rain - Finally!

The week is flying by, but not fast enough!  I want the weekend!!!!

 

 This summer has been a dry one!  We have had to water our garden, flowers and plants almost constantly.  It's been insane!    Dry as a bone!  Yesterday after work I ran around and did a lot of the chores and things that needed done.  I stepped outside with the dog a bit before Jason was scheduled to come home.   She will hound me to be outside because she likes to wait for him and greet him out there.  And hey, it is no skin off my back!  SO outside we went.  I was on the phone with a coworker and we were talking.  The sun was warm but felt awesome on my skin after being in the cold house all day.  Things were going well and then literally I heard the dog back and run across the yard and the next thing I knew the wind was whipping around like crazy and the sky had turned black (ok, maybe not black...but dark and ominous).

I spent the next few minutes getting the yard prepped for a storm.  Well, first I had to run after some garbage that he blown across the yard from the overturned trashcan!   But dog toys cushions from the chairs, etc etc etc.  I moved it al to safer locations.  I  moved our big potted elephant ear plant up against the house to protect it.  I did everything I could to protect against wind.  Then I played with the dog.  I had a sneaky feeling that she wouldn't be able to run outside and play with Jason when he got home (they have their play hour).  So I got her running to expend some  of her energy.  

I was right.  Shortly after Jason got home the skies opened and it poured.  It rained for quite some time.   It was sooo nice!   And soooo needed!  As we have had rain maybe twice in the last month or two and it was just a short 10 minute dealio each time.   We have also had about an hour or rain again today!  Yay!   They say it should rain through Friday.   We just need a nice steady rain!!!

I'm frustrated with my eating and the numbers on the scales.  It's like they just have a mind of their own and no matter what I do they are going up.  It's driving me crazy!  I am TOYING with not weighing myself for a while.  At the beginning of this 10 week challenge I thought about going scaleless for the whole 10 weeks.  but that scares me!  What If I work really hard and only maintain or worse, gain???  So I dismissed that notion.  But I'm back to thinking about it.

 The other thing I am toying with is going to the doctor and asking for help!  I don't want to take medicine for this.  But something is clearly wrong if I"m doing what I should be doing and not losing (and gaining).  

 Weight loss is not a fun journey all the time!

10 week Challenge Week 1 Recap

 I started my 10 week challenge one week ago.  The week has flown by and it is time to share my progress!  If you are doing the challenge with me, let me know in the comments how you did!

 To start with, I will go ahead and recap quickly what the 10 week challenge is.  There are 4 basic parts.  Food, water, cardio and a few strength moves to be done 5 days a week with two days of rest built in (or two days with extra opportunity to get more movement).  The strength moves are easy and focus on functional movement.(you can download the chart here)

 Cardio

I totally nailed the cardio aspect of this challenge. I got my cardio and completed each of the five 'required' week days cardio workouts.   On the weekend I didn't do any formal exercise routine but rather  stayed busy with life and yard work and other manual labor things.  (I used the push mower and did all the trim work, I weeded a LOT, I moved downed tree branches to the burn pile, took mulch from our big pile and mulched a complete path, etc.  )

Admittedly, there was a one day (Day one actually) were the cardio just about killed me.  OK, killed is rather dramatic!   But seriously, that day I was NOT feeling it and wanted to quit every one of those 20 minutes!  But I stayed consistent and completed it.  The only thing that kept me from quitting was this 10 week challenge!

While I did have my day of struggle, I also had some victorious days where I went above and beyond to complete 40-50 minutes of cardio.  Some in one sitting and once with a double workout! (Once before work and once after work, for 20 minutes a piece.)

Water

I nailed my water consumption also!  Totally nailed it.  I did so well on this that toward the end of the week I went from 64 ounces of water consumption to 80 ounces.  I did have a few issues with bathroom trips in the middle of the night on one day when I didn't get my water done early enough in the day. My typical plan for water is to drink the bulk of my water during the day and to be done heavy drinking by 5PM.  I still drink in the evening, but not as much.  This has historically always been the trick to keep me from getting up a gazillion times in the night for a potty break. I didn't do that one night this week and I lived to regret it with multiple bathroom trips that interrupted my sleep.  But I learned my lesson and didn't do that again! 

Strength

As you can see from the above chart the strength stuff is really just functional movements.   I am embarrassed to admit how difficult these have become for me.  There was a day just a few short years ago that these movements were NOTHING.   I remember when Jason and I were talking about planks one day in our early days of dating.  We did a plank challenge to see who could hold it the longest.  I lowered to a plank and  held it....and held it....and held it.  Minutes upon minutes.  No shaking, no quaking no struggle.  I just held that plank.  This week I discovered that my plank ability has disappeared.  5-10 seconds was a struggle.  How sobering is that?

It wasn't just the plank that was difficult. The sit ups and crunches were tough and the wall sits were murder.    I don't know why I was so shocked at how difficult they had really become.  If I am being honest with myself, simple functional movement in life has become quite difficult for me in the last year.   It was seemingly overnight that it became difficult for me to kneel and then stand again.   Even sitting down and standing again has felt like a lumbering chore.   It has freaked me out.  It happened overnight.  I'm only 51! I'm too young for that!  This challenge is a place to start to regain that movement!

It was difficult, but I completed my week of movement for this aspect of the 10 week challenge.  I may have had to do my planks in 5 second intervals.  My push-ups may have been the sissy version and barely a push up at that.    I may have been shaking and struggling on the wall sits and my sit ups and crunches may have not been perfect or even correct.  But I did them!

Food and the Scales

I did great with my eating!  I kept my calories within the proper range each and every day.   I had a few struggles through the week, but I kept it under control.  I was so super proud of myself!   So how in the world did I manage to only maintain my weight?    I was sure that I was going to show a loss!  How could it be anything else?   Yet, the weight didn't budge.  (In fairness, it didn't go up either, which is a good thing!)

How disappointing!  How demoralizing!  How utterly horrible!

On to week Two of the 10 Week Challenge

I'm not letting it get to me though.  I made great first steps toward regaining some of the mobility that has been slowly slipping away.  I have been drinking my water.  I've been exercising.  And my food has been controlled.   What I did would have been enough to see BIG losses in past years.  However, it's not working for me now.  My body and hormones are adjusting, so that means I need to adjust also.   I just need to tweak one or two things to start losing.  I can't blame it on anything other than my food this time because I've gotten all the components for success in place.  So food is where I am focusing.

My first thought was to up my protein.  I've heard protein is huge for a woman of my age.  So I did my research to see how much a 51 year old woman should be eating.  I then went to Myfitnesspal to see what my recommended daily amount was. (It was the same.)   I then looked at my past week to find out where my stats lay.   I was pretty spot on with my protein.   There may have been one day that was a bit lower.  But for the most part I was spot on.  So I knew that protein was not the issue. (However, I will continue to monitor and try to increase wherever I can.)

So that left me with my second thought.   Calories.   I have long kept my calories at a low level.  1200-1500 is my range (and honestly, I prefer to keep them 1200-1300 for weight loss).     Now immediately, I know that some people will be like 'well that is your problem, it's too low".  BUT, I have long tried to hold on to some semblance of normalcy.  I am already hyper focused on tracking my food, I wanted to retain some sense of freedom by not weighing and measuring every bite of food I eat.  So for me, the lower calorie count is my way or allowing myself to not measure everything and to not worry about counting that squirt of ketchup or drizzle of chocolate syrup.  It has historically worked for me, so I had no thoughts that it wasn't working.  But clearly SOMETHING is not working.  So, the goal for this upcoming week is to measure, weigh and count EVERYTHING.   It's possible I will need to do this long term.  However, it is possible that I just need a reset of my mental judgement for measurements and portion sizes.

Honestly, I am NOT looking forward to this.  I have always resisted losing this last piece of freedom.  But it is what it is!   I want change to occur, so that means I need to change.   Crazy that that thought of change came to me a few days ago.....and this disappointment on the scale that has forced me to look at myself and forced  ME to change.   I don't like the view of where my life is going without change.......so I will change myself to change my future!