Well, I didn't break 140 before school started back up, mostly because last week was a wash. I'm around 141-142, which is fine, but I need to get rolling again.
This quarter I plan to take yoga (vinyasa flow) in the morning and aerobics in the evening on Tuesday and Thursday. Next quarter I'll have pilates before lunch on Monday and Wednesday, so I'll switch my yoga to those days. On the alternate days, I'll do cardio and strength exercises on the machines/mats, and maybe on some days I'll do a run instead of machines. I'd still like to do Bikram each weekend but I'm debating which location and second-guessing whether I'll really be able to go often enough to use up all my classes before the expiration date (they usually rig it so you have to do at least 5 per month which is a leetle more than I think is realistic).
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Photographs
I'm happy with how I look in photographs.
It's pretty cool. I could look better naked, in front of the mirror, but when I look and see public-eye documentation of myself, I look fine. I look nice. I don't look fat anymore. And especially when you stick a picture of me leaning on a fence against the backdrop of Paris two weeks ago next to the picture of me leaning on a stone wall against the backdrop of Aix-les-Bains nine months ago, the difference is ridiculous.
It's pretty cool. I could look better naked, in front of the mirror, but when I look and see public-eye documentation of myself, I look fine. I look nice. I don't look fat anymore. And especially when you stick a picture of me leaning on a fence against the backdrop of Paris two weeks ago next to the picture of me leaning on a stone wall against the backdrop of Aix-les-Bains nine months ago, the difference is ridiculous.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Reflection on the trip pre weigh in
So, before I even look at the scale, I am going to make a little evaluation of how things went as far as my diet and exercise on the trip.
I ended up altering my exercise a little. 10 sun salutes is really too much, so I did 5 instead. I got bored doing 2 different kinds of crunches, so I eliminated the regular crunches and just did oblique crunches, because you still use the middle muscles for those. I still did my yoga routine, knee pushups, and oblique crunches most of the days, like I wanted to. The last couple of days I didn't do the pushups and crunches, but I did the yoga.
As far as the weight I expect to have, the first thing to note is that I left on day 7 of my menstrual cycle and tomorrow, when I have my official return weigh-in, it will be day 23. So I will expect a water-hormone-related gain related to that, but my body fat percentage will tell me about that. Hopefully, I have drunk enough water today to stabilize my hydration level despite the 22-hour assault of airplanes. In France, I may have managed to lose a pound because we walked SO MUCH and often we either were too busy to eat lunch or we ate a big rich lunch and weren't hungry for dinner, so we had only 2 meals a day sometimes. In Finland, I probably about broke even most days (well, except for those two dinners with the obscene flow of alcohol) but it's hard to say. We did some walking, but it was cold and the city was very compact, so not as much, and we usually ate three square meals. As for the travelling days, the ones in the middle were normal, the short day I really have no idea how well I matched my calories to my time, and on the long day (today) I was incredibly hungry, probably because we got up at 3:30 AM, so I've eaten a lot, but then it's been a 34 hour day.
My pants have gotten looser, but that means nothing because I've been wearing the same 2 pairs of pants for 2 1/2 weeks. My dress, which would be less likely to stretch and which I wore only twice, I think fit a little better than when I acquired it, but it's hard to tell. Based on my body image when I looked in the mirror, I felt like I was losing weight in France and at best maintaining in Finland, but there are psychological factors including my knowledge of my behavior during that time, so that's probably an unreliable indicator for such a small potential weight change.
I have to admit I couldn't resist calorie estimating entirely. I didn't think much about it in France because we were walking so much, but especially in Finland where I could tell I was near the line and kept being faced by large dinners I wanted to keep a rough mental tally (estimated to an increment of 100) of how much I had probably eaten. I also weighed myself once, about 3 days ago. I saw the scale in the WC when we were at a dinner and had to step on. Of course, it read in kilograms, and it read 64 1/2 kg. Well, 65x2 = 130 so 65x0.2 = 13, adds up to 143, minus a pound for the 1/2 kg, so about 142 pounds. Considering I was wearing clothes and it was 7 PM, not bad. But then I remembered that analog scales, in my experience, tend to run low.
So, I may have lost my pound or I may not have. I would be surprised if I lost much more than a pound, and I would NOT be surprised if I lost a pound or less of fat but maintained or gained overall because of my cycle. I would also be somewhat surprised and definitely disappointed if I gained fat overall. We'll find out tomorrow, and in a few days I can do a check between Saturdays 3 weeks apart.
I ended up altering my exercise a little. 10 sun salutes is really too much, so I did 5 instead. I got bored doing 2 different kinds of crunches, so I eliminated the regular crunches and just did oblique crunches, because you still use the middle muscles for those. I still did my yoga routine, knee pushups, and oblique crunches most of the days, like I wanted to. The last couple of days I didn't do the pushups and crunches, but I did the yoga.
As far as the weight I expect to have, the first thing to note is that I left on day 7 of my menstrual cycle and tomorrow, when I have my official return weigh-in, it will be day 23. So I will expect a water-hormone-related gain related to that, but my body fat percentage will tell me about that. Hopefully, I have drunk enough water today to stabilize my hydration level despite the 22-hour assault of airplanes. In France, I may have managed to lose a pound because we walked SO MUCH and often we either were too busy to eat lunch or we ate a big rich lunch and weren't hungry for dinner, so we had only 2 meals a day sometimes. In Finland, I probably about broke even most days (well, except for those two dinners with the obscene flow of alcohol) but it's hard to say. We did some walking, but it was cold and the city was very compact, so not as much, and we usually ate three square meals. As for the travelling days, the ones in the middle were normal, the short day I really have no idea how well I matched my calories to my time, and on the long day (today) I was incredibly hungry, probably because we got up at 3:30 AM, so I've eaten a lot, but then it's been a 34 hour day.
My pants have gotten looser, but that means nothing because I've been wearing the same 2 pairs of pants for 2 1/2 weeks. My dress, which would be less likely to stretch and which I wore only twice, I think fit a little better than when I acquired it, but it's hard to tell. Based on my body image when I looked in the mirror, I felt like I was losing weight in France and at best maintaining in Finland, but there are psychological factors including my knowledge of my behavior during that time, so that's probably an unreliable indicator for such a small potential weight change.
I have to admit I couldn't resist calorie estimating entirely. I didn't think much about it in France because we were walking so much, but especially in Finland where I could tell I was near the line and kept being faced by large dinners I wanted to keep a rough mental tally (estimated to an increment of 100) of how much I had probably eaten. I also weighed myself once, about 3 days ago. I saw the scale in the WC when we were at a dinner and had to step on. Of course, it read in kilograms, and it read 64 1/2 kg. Well, 65x2 = 130 so 65x0.2 = 13, adds up to 143, minus a pound for the 1/2 kg, so about 142 pounds. Considering I was wearing clothes and it was 7 PM, not bad. But then I remembered that analog scales, in my experience, tend to run low.
So, I may have lost my pound or I may not have. I would be surprised if I lost much more than a pound, and I would NOT be surprised if I lost a pound or less of fat but maintained or gained overall because of my cycle. I would also be somewhat surprised and definitely disappointed if I gained fat overall. We'll find out tomorrow, and in a few days I can do a check between Saturdays 3 weeks apart.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Leaving weight (and such)
Leaving weight is 142.4 pounds. Also 29.2% fat, 27.5 inch waist, 38.5 inch hips, 22.5 inch thigh, 11.0 inch arm.
I guess this makes the returning goal 141.4.
Remind me to talk about pants when I get back...
I guess this makes the returning goal 141.4.
Remind me to talk about pants when I get back...
Monday, January 3, 2011
Vacation
Tomorrow I am leaving for my trip to Europe. I'll be back on the 19th which makes me gone from my spreadsheet, and regular computer access, for 15 days.
I'm not going to count calories, however, I have decided to keep a rough record of what I eat. I'll probably look at nutrition information (which will be in kilojoules!) if I buy snacks that are labeled, but I won't record it. I won't be measuring anything. I will simply jot down what I've eaten each day, and visually/intuitively police how much. When eating in restaurants and at hosted dinners, my guideline will be: try anything that looks good or is necessary to be polite, but you don't have to finish everything that is served. Insofar as the meals are fairly high calorie anyway, I will hopefully be walking a lot, doing exciting things that will distract me from the idea of snacking, and I can do things like have a cafe-creme for a snack or a snack for lunch. I understand that the way "French women don't get fat" is they have lots of moderate daily activity and don't eat much between meals.
My grandpa is 72, but I believe he walks a couple of miles each morning at home, so hopefully I can convince him to walk most places. That will be most of my exercise, but I'm going to also bring my yoga mat and do a little yoga and strengthening routine most mornings (it probably won't happen on the days I'm flying):
10 sun salutes
Standing Bow/Dancer
Warrior II, I, and III
Pigeon, Boat, Forward Stretch, and Cobbler
Rocking, Wind Relieving, and Floor Twist
3 x 5 knee pushups or best effort
2 x 10 regular crunches
2 x 10 oblique crunches
I'm not sure how long this will end up taking, but I figure this might burn 100 or 120 calories. I'm going to go ahead and make it my goal to lose 1 pound from whatever my weight is tomorrow while on break. I think that should be possible, and if I overshoot it, I might do as much as break under 140 by the time I come back.
I'll post my leaving weight tomorrow.
I'm not going to count calories, however, I have decided to keep a rough record of what I eat. I'll probably look at nutrition information (which will be in kilojoules!) if I buy snacks that are labeled, but I won't record it. I won't be measuring anything. I will simply jot down what I've eaten each day, and visually/intuitively police how much. When eating in restaurants and at hosted dinners, my guideline will be: try anything that looks good or is necessary to be polite, but you don't have to finish everything that is served. Insofar as the meals are fairly high calorie anyway, I will hopefully be walking a lot, doing exciting things that will distract me from the idea of snacking, and I can do things like have a cafe-creme for a snack or a snack for lunch. I understand that the way "French women don't get fat" is they have lots of moderate daily activity and don't eat much between meals.
My grandpa is 72, but I believe he walks a couple of miles each morning at home, so hopefully I can convince him to walk most places. That will be most of my exercise, but I'm going to also bring my yoga mat and do a little yoga and strengthening routine most mornings (it probably won't happen on the days I'm flying):
10 sun salutes
Standing Bow/Dancer
Warrior II, I, and III
Pigeon, Boat, Forward Stretch, and Cobbler
Rocking, Wind Relieving, and Floor Twist
3 x 5 knee pushups or best effort
2 x 10 regular crunches
2 x 10 oblique crunches
I'm not sure how long this will end up taking, but I figure this might burn 100 or 120 calories. I'm going to go ahead and make it my goal to lose 1 pound from whatever my weight is tomorrow while on break. I think that should be possible, and if I overshoot it, I might do as much as break under 140 by the time I come back.
I'll post my leaving weight tomorrow.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year (and weigh in)
After a couple of days of disgusting holiday bloat, followed by more moderate period bloat, I have suddenly dropped 2 pounds overnight for a new low of 143.6, oh, and it's Saturday, so my body fat percentage is 29.2. Happy New Year, everyone!
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