Do you know how much I weigh?

I don't. After jumping on our scale like it was a pogo stick for the last 3 months, it finally killed itself. The last time I got a legitimate reading from it, I weighed 177. A few days later it declared I weighed 162. Unsatisfied with that result, I boarded the scale again - it read 195. Evidently I insulted it.

My husband, aka the destroyer, is down to 294.4.

We are continuing to lose steadily. I am sort of dreading the holiday season, not so much for the days themselves but for the inevitable abundance of leftover comfort food.

I have started some form of physical activity - zumba. I'm not sure how long I will stick with it, but for now the entertainment value is worth it. There is nothing like seeing 60 year old ladies with buttcheeks hanging out gyrating and doing pelvic thrusts to hip hop music. I participated in classes last week by 2 different teachers and observed a vast difference in the impact level. I am going to try to stick with the higher impact because I don't see any sense in paying for something (and did I mention embarrassing myself?) if it has only limited value in terms of exercise benefits.

There is some family stress going on right now that has resulted in random fits of eating, not necessarily overeating but just snacking. I won't define last night's trip to the Pink Crawfish as 'eating healthy' but for the most part the trend of avoiding bread, eating normal and somewhat healthy food, and abandoning leaded soda has continued.

All of that being said, I still think it would be helpful to have a scale (a functional scale) to gauge the progress being made - or lack thereof. For now, I will just base my findings on the size of my waistline, which continues to diminish as evidenced by the jeans I fit into after almost a year of not being able to get them up over my thighs. I will continue to wage my war against my husband, the destroyer, in an attempt to continue as the reigning champion in highest percentage of body weight lost.

Happy Turkey day fellow fatties. If you need me, I will be the one face-first in the bowl of stuffing.

The Destroyer

As of my last post on October 31, I had lost 13.6 pounds. Now, 2 weeks later, the results?

Well I have lost .2 pounds. Yeah. That's it. That means .1 pound per week. Impressive, I know. I'll give you a minute to recover.

(And for those of you with the karmic calculator, this is indeed my punishment for having bragged last time about how I was so awesome. I am still awesome, for the record, I'm just not much skinnier.)

My husband, "The Destroyer," has lost another 2.7 pounds. At least, as of the last time he weighed himself. He continues not to exercise regularly. Not that I do . . .

What happened? I don't know. I am guessing I'm within my normal point range. I have gone out to eat with my dad a few times and over indulged in seafoody goodness. And of course normal Mountain Dew when we're at a restraunt. Part of the problem is my work schedule. I work 10-2, which means I eat breakfast and then I get home well after lunch time. By then I feel like I am within breaths of starving to death. I eat around 3 or 3:30, and then dinner time comes at 5 or 6. Within a two hour period I end up eating two large meals. After a giant meal, two or three hours later I start thinking I need to eat to prevent malnourishment. The cycle is vicious.

I have been good with not snacking and also with refraining from drinking non-diet soda, at least not at home. I am only successful in drinking water at work half of the time. One of my major long-term goals is to increase and maintain the amount of water I drink each day.

Earlier this week I met a woman who shared that she had recently lost 100 pounds. I would have never guessed. She was a normal sized person. Not a size 0, not a size 28, just an average sized person. After losing 100 pounds! Just by walking! She said she didn't do it much, just on breaks and lunch at work, etc. I am really thinking about it, there are nice sidewalks and parking lots where I could walk even in inclement weather. I keep kidding myself that I'll get on the treadmill at home, but I never seem to make it past the well-intention part.

I would be happy to see 175 at this point, and even happier to get down to 170 and hold. It sucks to be stalled at this point when I'm so close to having lost a total of 15 pounds.

Until then, looks like I'm losing to THE DESTROYER.

Trick or Treat, Eat Eat Eat, Ate So Much Can't See My Feet

Well, my husband and I are stepping up the competition. We decided to race to see who would achieve their "goal weight" first.
Neither one of us is eating particularly well, and neither one of us is exercising. I will give him credit - he did start lifting weights again and riding the recumbent bike, but of late he has lapsed from his exercise regimen.

He claims to have been on an eating spree and figured he had regained all of the weight he had lost. However, he weighed himself and he was surprised he was still under 300 pounds. He is now down to 296.7. Altogether he has lost 13.3 pounds. He says he's going to "destroy me." He has lost 4% of his body weight.

The scale now reports that I am down to 178.8 pounds.
Which means that I am at 13.6 pounds total weight loss.
Not only have I lost more poundage than my husband, but I've also lost more of a percentage of my body weight.
I have lost a fantastic 7% of my body weight.

Destroy? Bring it on.

PS - While on a trip to the store to get me some diet soda, he reported that the store was "all out of diet." He then allegedly checked the gas stations, all also allegedly "out of diet."
One week into the fat race and he is already trying to sabotage me.

170 Pounds, Here I come!

I stepped on my scale this morning and what to my eyes did appear but 181.4 lbs.
I stepped off the scale.
Back on.
Off.
Back on again.
I was down to 181 pounds! Fantastic!

I went to work for 4 hours and came home. Just for giggles I decided to hop on the scale this afternoon. It was a repeat performance of this morning. Off. On. Off. On.
This time it didn't say 181 pounds. It said 179.6 pounds! 179.6!!?!!! YEEHAW!

I just got some size 14 jeans and they fit.
179.6 pounds was correct! 170 pounds, here I come!!!!!!!!!

Sweet 16

On Monday the 12th I shared my discovery of an ultra heinous conspiracy by my scale to thwart my weight loss by discouraging me with unshakable fragments of pounds. Specifically, the attempt by my scale to prevent me from achieving 10lbs total weight loss.

Well. I have blown past the 10lb total down to 181.4lbs. That's right, I have lost 11lbs total since starting on August 30th (weighing in at 192.4lbs) . That picture is of the sweetest 16 you'll ever see - because they are too big for me now.

I've done basically nothing - not really exercising, not making drastic changes in the types of food I'm eating. I'm just not drinking regular Mt. Dew (ok, that's drastic) and I'm trying to limit the amount of food I eat and the number of times a day that I eat.

For you number nuts, here is the breakdown. The largest amount of weight I lost in a weeks time was four pounds, and that was in my first week. The least amount of weight I lost was during my 2nd week, where I actually gained .4lbs. The following week I lost another 3lbs. (I was serious when I was talking about mystery pounds). The average over 8 weeks works out to be 1.475 pounds per week. When I look back at the past few weeks I usually lose about 1.2lb per week. There is insane fluctuation, though. The first time I stepped on the scale and it said 181 (after reading 182 relentlessly for at least an eon) I could have died from shock. Then, the next day, it said 184 again and I figured the 181.blah was just a fluke. So I didn't weigh myself for a few more days.

I have gotten an job (part time) that requires a lot of standing and walking, so overall I'm sure my activity has increased although I wouldn't call it aerobic or strenuous. It also limits the time I am home and able to graze, but I am however tempted by the soda machine next door (completely stocked with regular, delicious, regularly delicious soda).

I wanted to say that I have lost weight regardless of my diet or monitoring of food/point calculating, but when I look back I'm not so sure. The first week I lost 4 pounds and the third week I lost 3 pounds. These last 2 weeks my weekly weight loss averages like 1.2 pounds. However - is that a reflection of my lack of religiously recording what I ate, or is it simply the natural plateau that begins to occur throughout the course of weight loss. Regardless, my continued success despite exerting no effort is likely to undermine the necessity to record everything.

BUT. I want it. I. Want. It. I am so close to being under 180lbs since approximately December of last year. Am I going to continue my lackadaisical dieting of late? Or will I crack down and start recording my food again in an effort (nay, a scientific study) to a) lose weight and b) determine whether or not recording intake actually improves my ability to lose weight.

I want to drop out of size 14 and into a 12. And then back into a 10. A 10? Outrageous. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, here, self. I would settle for a 12. As a matter of fact I'm afraid I'll be content with a 12 and stop. I don't want to let that happen - I am still not even remotely satisfied with my reflection. But - I am excited by my success thus far and am eager to continue.

Most importantly, if I continue with this and am successful in losing weight, my husband will finally be able to get this tattoo he wants:

Conspiracy Theory

I stepped on the scale today. I am right about my conspiracy theory

I am .2 pounds away from the 10-pounds-lost-mark.

.2!

C'mon scale. What did I ever do to you? I only bother you once a day.
Yeah you have to look at me naked, but my thighs are so fat you can't see anything above the knee. What do I have to do to bribe you? Take a day off? Keep on my undergarments?
There has to be something. Something?!

My excess hair has to weigh .2lbs. Maybe it's time for a haircut.

.2! Come ON!

.8 away

Few quick updates. I know I haven't posted in a while.

The bad news: this cold is clinging to me. That's ok because it can suck as much weight out of me as it wants!
The good news: I am .8 pounds away from having lost 10 whole pounds. That's right, I am down to 183.2 pounds - meaning I have lost 9.2 pounds.
I was considering posting last night because I was having a pity party about not being able to break the 184 pound mark. This morning, ta-da.

I am comfortably (ok, pseudo-comfortably) wearing size 14 pants. Which means I can wear them without unbuttoning them or causing my spine to collapse. Admittedly I haven't been monitoring my food intake by recording every morsel, but I have been continuing to eat in moderation and make healthier choices.

I am on twitter now: http://twitter.com/rubynesque This has nothing to do with me needing or wanting to be on twitter. It has everything to do with me wanting to help Drew Carey donate $1,000,000 to a fella with cancer. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/6258857/Drew-Carey-bids-100000-for-drew-Twitter-account-in-cancer-auction.html

I hope you consider contributing to the cause, considering it's free.

Wish me luck with the last .8 pounds. My goal is to have it gone by the end of the week!!