Week 31: Happy New Year

PJ Weight:  158.2
Week Gain:  +0.4
Cumulative Loss:  -33.4

Seth Weight:  169.6
Week Loss:  -1.0
Cumulative Loss:  -29.5

As it turns out I have a lot to say this week, so I'll break the entry up into sections.

1.) Regarding this week's weigh in

So this past week I gained back my Christmas miracle weight, leaving me precisely where I was before the holidays.  Given the number of dinners and celebrations from the past 2 weeks, I'll take it and be happy with it.

But Seth - Somehow he managed to lose a pound this week and break into the 160's.  Go Seth!  I know that I often complain about the fact that men have an easier time dieting than women do since they get to eat more for their height, and their weight doesn't fluctuate during the month due to wild hormonal imbalances.  Even though it may be somewhat easier for guys, he's working hard.  He's making good food choices and is putting more into his morning workouts than I am of late.  Seth is doing an absolutely fantastic job and I'm proud of him.

2.) Changing up the Workout

Last Friday we tried the bonus DVD that came with the Power 90 workout.  I think it's called Power 90 Fat Burning System.  It's a 35 minute cardio routine that they recorded in Hawaii during 2006, so there's random shots of the ocean here and there, and the wireless mic Tony has leaves much to be desired as far as sound quality goes (this from Seth), but as a workout it's far superior to the cardio in the standard Power 90 package.

Many of the moves are the same as in the standard routines, but the arrangement of them makes all the difference here.  In the standard workout, there's stretching then yoga for about 5 minutes, then low impact for 5, and high impact jumping for 5, then some low/high impact for 5, some kicking for 5 and punching for 5. (Times are very rough guesses.)

The 'Fat Burning'  workout  mashes it up, so that you have 5 minute blocks with a little bit of everything in each block.  So even though I can't jump for any period of time, I can do it for 30 seconds, and then we're on to something else.  My heart rate was higher for longer during this workout, but despite that I felt it was much more doable, as well as more enjoyable.

3.) Why ladies with bunions shouldn't run

And this would be the story behind why Seth is working out so much harder than I have been these past few days.  Sunday we took the girls and dogs out for a walk because it was a nice day.  Sunday's our workout rest day and I had lots of energy.  The dogs wanted to run, so I ran with them for a little while.  Very little.  Perhaps a minute of running total, during the 30 minute walk.  I'd only run for a few seconds at a time now and again when the pups would want to go fast.

For this minute of canine joy I've been treated to shin pain for the past 3 days.  Mr. Internet has all kinds of helpful  things to say about shin pain encountered by beginner runners and what you're doing wrong if you get shin pain.  As far as I can tell, it's because I have bunions, which makes me... under pronate? over pronate?  who the heck knows.  My gait is wrong, and that means I'm not running with proper form, and that leads to shin splints.  I've known i have some kind of pronation problem for years because my heels of my shoes wear *very* unevenly.

All this serves to tell me is that I'm not built for running, which I already knew.  I just hate to have the lesson reinforced in such an uncomfortable manner.  (Yes, yes...  I know there are all kinds of things you can try, or special exercises you can do, or special shoes... bah.  If I need to go fast I'll take a car.)  But in any event, I've had to take it even easier on the jumping  because I need to let the shins heal up, so I've not been going whole hog in the cardio workouts since Sunday.

This too will pass.

4.)  A picture? It's about time!

Another big reason I'm not upset with my weight gain this week relates to this picture.  The before shot (left) was taken October 31st.  The after (right) was taken January 1st.  Now, there's a 5 pound difference on the scale between those two pictures, but it looks to me like a lot more than 5 pounds.  So I'm not all that distraught over a 0.4 pound gain.  I'm packing on muscle.

5.) And while I'm sharing pictures:

The left was taken on May 31st, the night before we started.

The right is January 1st.  

Not much to say - it's worth a thousand words.

Week 30: A Christmas Miracle

PJ Weight: 157.8
Week Loss: -0.4
Cumulative Loss: -33.8

Seth Weight: 170.6
Week Loss: -0.4
Cumulative Loss: -28.5

Maybe there's something to that whole Christmas miracle thing after all.  Somehow amidst the holiday donuts, dinners, lunches, and the other assorted holiday gluttony, Seth & I managed to lose about half a pound apiece.

I have no idea how this happened, so I'm chalking it up to a Christmas present to us from the scale.  I was so totally mentally prepared for a gain this week that I really don't know what to say about it other than "Yay".  So...yay!... moving on.

We tried the Phase 2 cardio workout from Power 90 on Monday.  It went so well that we were back to Phase 1 yesterday and today.  Really, it wasn't any different than Phase 1.  All the moves are the same, it's just sped up and you do three rounds of the exercises instead of two.  Since we don't have the time to devote almost a full hour to cardio in the morning, we're going to stick with Phase 1 and just work harder at it.

I figure we'll try the Phase 2 weights workout tomorrow and see how it goes - the weights workouts are generally shorter.  Hopefully we have enough time before the tiny one wakes up and demands our attention.  She seems to have a sixth sense for when we're exercising, and wakes up halfway through the workout, which makes the last 10 minutes or so somewhat rushed and stressful.

My thoughts on Power 90 is that it lacks variety in a big way.  I was hoping Phase 2 would be at least some different stuff to do, but no, same exact workout - just longer.  So we're now about 45 days in, and I've gotta say it's kind of boring.

We're sticking with it, but ... yawn.

So that's it for this year, I'll check back in with y'all in January.  Happy new year!!

Week 29: The Perfect Donut

PJ Weight:  158.2
Week results:  0.0
Cumulative loss: -33.4

Seth Weight:  171.0
Week loss:  -0.4
Cumulative loss:   -28.1

Perhaps a year ago, Dunkin Donuts had a little "design a donut" contest going.  Now, I don't know what won, but the point is you could design and submit your dream donut and they'd make it for a while.  The one I designed was like a boston creme donut, but with vanilla frosting instead of chocolate.  It of course did not win.

But fast forward to this weekend, and what did I see when I went into a Dunkin Donuts for some coffee?  Lo and Behold! It was the perfect donut!

OK, it's star shaped and has some of those crunchy round sprinkles on it, but it's a vanilla frosted boston creme donut.  And it's only there seasonally.  LIMITED TIME!!  Who knows whether it will ever come back again?!?!

I will be eating these donuts, make no mistake.  I will not be denying myself this long-dreamed-of dessert while it's here within reach only to pitifully mourn its loss when it goes.  Oh hell no.

I'm doing my best to fit them into my weight watchers points for the day (with neutral results, as shown by my remaining at exactly the same weight as last week), and I'm limiting myself to a maximum of one per day, not half a dozen, but lest there be misunderstandings allow me to reiterate and make this abundantly clear:

I.  WILL.  BE.  EATING.  THESE.  DONUTS.

That is all.

Week 28

PJ Weight:  158.2
Week Loss:  -2.4
Cumulative Loss:  -33.4

Seth Weight: 171.4
Week Loss: -0.8
Cumulative Loss:  -27.7

What a week for Team Mintz!  We just hit the combined weight loss total of 61.1 pounds.  GO US.

Take THAT, plateau!!  HAH.

But now... ah, the challenges abound.

This week I have a buffet Indian lunch to go to, a coworker's mid-afternoon baby shower to attend (with baked goods aplenty in evidence), and then my boss is taking me and some other coworkers out to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch on Friday. Friday evening, we generally dine out with friends.

Hm.  And this is before all the holiday festivities and related gluttony of the following two weeks.

Methinks I may foresee a problem.  I'll just have to do what I can.  (You can find healthy options everywhere, etc, etc, blah blah blah.... It's the frickin' Cheesecake Factory for cryin' out loud!! Do I really WANT to find a healthy option??)

Seriously.  I'll try.  And I won't have dessert.  Or the pasta dish that I absolutely love and haven't had in a year that's 2500 calories.  Sigh.  [After finishing this blog and doing some research, it appears they have a "Skinnylicious" menu now.  We'll see if I can bring myself to order from that.  The thought depresses me.]

On the exercise front, we've finished our first 30 days of the Power 90 program.  We dutifully took pictures this morning to track our progress.  You'll note the distinct lack of any pictures here.  This should tell you that I'm not as of yet keen to post a picture of myself in a sports bra & workout shorts, and have not arrived at my "After" photo.

I might never get to a point when I'm ready to share these pictures.  They're a record for me (and for Seth) to see progress over time.  Though I have to say this month showed but little progress, honestly.  Seth's pictures show a lot more progress, but guys put on muscle quicker than us ladies, and it shows a lot more.  (And they get to eat more, and lose weight faster.  But it's more taboo for women to carry extra weight in our society than it is for men.  WHERE IS THE JUSTICE?!?)

When we get closer to the June finish line, I'll certainly post my non-workout-clothing pictures from before diet & after, but those are T-shirt / Jeans pictures.  Different story entirely.

Back to Power 90 - we're still doing the "easy" DVD.  The program comes with two DVD's.  I forget the exact terminology they use for them, but no matter, it breaks down to easy & harder, no matter what you call them.  I'm starting to get sick of doing the same 2 workouts all the time, and I think we might switch around the 45 day mark to the more advanced DVD just for a change of scenery.

Certainly the weight routines have gotten MUCH easier over the past month.  I've upped the weights several times, and I don't feel that my form's suffered at all.

Cardio is much more difficult for me.  I just can't take the jumping.  My feet have bunions, and it's just plain painful to try to jump around, so while I try to do as much as I can without hurting myself and I just keep moving, I don't think I'll ever get to a point where I'm duplicating everything the trainer does.

I'll keep trying not to get discouraged, different strokes for different folks and all.  It's tricky.  Now that I think about it, it gives me a whole new respect for those athletes who compete missing limbs and such.  I get bummed about not being able to do everything the trainer does because a few little bunions.  Those folks get out there and rather than just get discouraged, they do these amazing things while MISSING ENTIRE LIMBS.

Thinking of it from that angle, I'll just shut up about my bunions now.

Week 27

PJ Weight: 160.6
Week Gain:  +1.2
Cumulative Loss:  -31.0

Seth Weight:  172.2
Week Loss:  -0.8
Cumulative Loss:  -26.9

Dear Scale,
I am becoming very frustrated with you.
Sincerely,
PJ

At least Seth is doing well.  Yay.

The exercising continues, though as it nets out I haven't lost a pound since the program started.  I'm hoping that I'm adding muscle, which is causing me not to lose weight.  Not seeing any results on the scale is really disheartening.

Week 26: Halfway There

PJ Weight: 159.4
Week Gain: +0.4
Cumulative Loss: -32.2

Seth Weight: 173.0
Week Loss: -1.4
Cumulative Loss: -26.1

Ah Thanksgiving - an inauspicious start to the second half of our year-long diet experiment.  Well, for me it's inauspicious.

Seth, evidently, can eat his face off for a week and lose weight.  Sigh.  But yay for Seth.  His loss this week brings our cumulative Team Mintz loss total to 58.3 pounds!  That's certainly something to be thankful for.

All the sundry sweets and naughty nibbles of this past week weighed heavily on my scale this morning, but they weigh only lightly on my conscience.  We had a lovely weekend away, and made some great memories, so I regret not a bit(e) of it.

We kind of blew the exercise routine.  It was just too hectic to keep up while we were away, so we missed 3 days' worth of the program.  (Hey - we did one day while we were away - we get a gold star for that!) But now that we're back home, we're back on track.  I even had an easier time with the cardio program after having been off for a few days, so let's hear it for the accidental benefits of sloth!  Yay!

In any case, I feel like this long Thanksgiving weekend was a great holiday from the diet, and it was a welcome break.  Perhaps it's wrong to celebrate a half a year's dieting success with pecan pie, candied sweet potatoes, various fast food lunches, and chocolate & reeses chip cookies, but if that's wrong then I don't want to be right!

(In other unrelated news, I found the size 12 pants that I knew I owned but were mysteriously missing.  And I found them just in time for me to be out of them and into my size 10's.  Timing in life is everything.  Sigh.)

Week 25: Happy Thanksgiving

PJ Weight: 159.0
Week Gain: +0.2
Cumulative Loss: -32.6

Seth Weight: 174.4
Week Gain: +0.2
Cumulative Loss: -24.7

Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

We're making our preparations for our Thanksgiving feasting.  We're planning on continuing exercising right through the holiday.  No taking time off.  As for diet...  Well...

Erm...

We'll just see how that goes, shall we?

I'll try not to completely gorge myself on things that are unwholesomely awesome.  But I make no guarantees.

Hear that?  No Guarantees.  At all.

As long as we're clear on that.

Our gains this week have to be some kind of weigh in day water phenomenon or something.  Both of us were down a full pound yesterday, we didn't go overboard yesterday or anything, and this morning the scale decided to get cheeky with us.  I hateses that scale.  But the gains don't worry me too much.

The exercising is going well.  So far we've seen progress.  Seth was saying this morning that he's able to do a little more every time we go through the cardio workout, and I see the same is true for myself.  We still have a long way to go, of course, but we see progress.

And I didn't mention it last week, but it really says something about you when you're doing an exercise video, and you turn to your exercise partner and say "Did he just say let's go to lunch?  BEST WORKOUT VIDEO EVER."

No... that was "go do Lunges".  Right.  Sigh....