Let's do it again!

I am just about to drop a bomb, so brace yourselves. (And please be gentle!)

In the past, I used to blog about my weight loss progress. I was down to 160 pounds at one point. Well, then my thyroid wreaced havoc on my system over the winter, and despite my continued diet and exercise, I gained over 20 pounds in one month. One month!! (I'll let you absorb that for a moment.)

As anyone with this condition can testify, once you see that all your efforts produce absolutely no results, you get depressed (another symptom of hypothyroiditism) and discouraged. And then you stop exercising as before and stop dilligently logging every calorie eaten. That is what happened to me, which then made things even worse.

Luckily, I went to the doctor and had my thyroid levels re-checked, and my medicine dosage was increased to make up for the measly amount of hormones my thyroid was producing. I am starting to have a lot more energy now, and am ready to take it on all over again.

It's time to get my calorie intake in check, and to increase my cardio activity (I never stopped doing my 2-3 strength training sessions per week.)

And then yesterday, I had lunch with Professor Under 200 and discovered that she has been blogging about her weight loss (check her out - she is hilarious). It inspired me to do it all again, and this time, I will watch out for those evil symptoms and will visit the doctor sooner rather than waiting and letting things get really bad.

My trainer challenged me to record my weight on Friday and then again on Monday, and make sure Monday weight is equal to or less than the Friday number. It will make me accountable over the weekend. (I have already canceled a dinner at my favorite pizza place with my bff Spomi tonight- so there!)

And here is the truth as of 10pm on this Friday night, April 16th, 2010 (reader discretion advised - this is not for those faint of heart):

Okay - so it's no secret that I've gained weight - keeping this a secret doesn't change the fact that I've gotten pretty chubby. But now that I know you all know it, I want to make that number smaller. So if you catch me binging, please do me a favor and scold me. I won't hold it against you.

Weigh-in Week 8

My mismatched socks say it best: Champion! Down 1.4 lbs. from last week.
Now my sister, mom and I are competing to see who will reach 150lbs first. I have the most to lose, so I will have to work extra hard. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Weigh-in Week 7

Booo! I hate that time of the month. :(
Up 1.2 pounds. Drats!

Weigh-in Week 6

Yeah! Awesome! 1.6 lbs down since last weigh-in. That's 0.98% down. Not bad.

Weigh-in Week 5

Booo! It's the week of fatigue, bloating, cravings, and crazy mood swings. And the scale shows it. I knew this would happen, so I am not really disappointed. Just got to keep going. Today's workout was awesome. I burned over 800 calories based on my heart rate monitor. Yeah!

Weigh-in Week 4

OMG! Wow, I really liked what I saw tonight! I am down 3.8 pounds compared to last week. I have been working really hard - so for those of you on any kind of diet/exercise plan: do not give up.

This is a 2.3% weight loss in a week. I am not sure I am going to see big results next week. I just hope the weight doesn't creep back up - since it's going to be that time of the month. :(

Weigh-in Week 3

Okay... it may not be great, but it's not terrible. I lost 0.6 pounds. That is still in my 0.5-1.5lbs range. On the lower end of the spectrum, but still respectable. I figured I'd have weeks like this.
Not bad, not at all. That is a 0.36% loss. Yeah! Good bye, 0.6 old pounds. Hope I never see you again.

Weigh-in Week 2

That's right, folks. I lost weight! 1.6 pounds, to be exact. That's 0.96% of my last weight. Yeah!

And it was thanks to exercise, exercise, exercise... and good eating. The zucchini I bought at the farmers' market turned out as "spaghetti" together with some red peppers from my garden. It was delicious.And of course, I had those hard-boiled farm-fresh eggs with my heirloom tomato salad drizzled with olive oil, basil, and sea salt.
My goal is to lose 0.5 to 1.5 pounds each week, so this week was excellent. Just hope I can do this again. I must admit, I did slip a few times last week. I didn't exercise as much because of the teeth issue, and I broke down and ate some bad stuff here and there. I can no longer do that.
Let's hope for good health and results for the next weigh-in.

I must be crazy

What I am about to do takes some guts, so please be gentle. :)
I've been struggling with weight for a while now, and this year is the first year that I have been making progress through diet and exercise. At the beginning of this year, I weighed in at 183 lbs. This has gone down, but I still have a while to go to be in the normal BMI range. Plus, I got to work on my cholesterol and other health issues.

Inspired by this season's Biggest Loser TV show, I decided to share my struggle via this blog. I hope it will keep me motivated and maybe inspire someone else out there. So, starting this Tuesday night at 11:00pm, I will post my weight on a weekly basis. It will be every Tuesday night at the same time, in the same clothes in the same exact spot in my bathroom.

These updates are really for my family and my awesome fitness buddy, who have been the greatest support through all this. They are always interested in how I am doing, and they always cheer me on. Oh, and they really keep me accountable.
So here it is... 167.2 lbs. Woohoo!