Monday, June 15, 2009

The excitement continues

Before diving into my weight loss story to catch you all up on the past few days, just a quickee about dinner with Bea and Mark (FYI, DB accidentally erased the photos of our dinner but, after seeing my tears and very angry-ness and buying software, he managed to retrieve ONE -- it is not the one approved one so am waiting for Bea to say it's ok to post before I do!):

It WAS long trek (47 miles took an hour and a half) down to Anaheim to meet Bea and Mark on Friday night, but I talked with my mom on the phone all the way down so time flew. Got there about 7:30 and we decided to head to Downtown Disney for dinner. I immediately started jabbering away with Bea (poor Mark!)...of course, we KNOW each other....even though we've never met in the flesh before. It was THAT comfortable.

She asked me if she looked different than I thought (she has seen photos of me) and I said, "yes, you are a lot skinnier!". True. :-)

As we chatted through the drive over, parking, tram to restaurant, it was clear that she is every bit as wise and creative as she appears on-line. We are all lucky to have her in our circle. :-) We had a ball...I hope Mark did too at least a little...he found it hard to get a word in edgewise, but he has a gleam in his eye and he and Bea share a beautiful affection, spirituality and keen intellect that it was truly fun to be around. I hope that DB and I remain as clearly in love when we have been together as long as they have. I had a fantastic time...and can't wait to go visit them SOMEday! :-)

My trip home was a lot faster (47 miles only took 45 minutes...that's L.A. traffic for you!)...and I gabbed away to DB about all he had missed for a long time after I got home...I was energized! ;-)

I managed to stay on my program for dinner out with the Dynamic Duo. And my reward was yet more weight gone on Saturday morning! We took food to our three parties this weekend and we both stayed on program very well. My net loss for one week on this program? 9+ pounds!! And it is real. I have pants on today that I haven't worn since Christmas. This REALLY motivates me to keep it up!

This week, I add back in a few carbs and I am a little afraid because I have really enjoyed a week of seeing the scale go down almost literally every day (I was up 0.2 this morning, big deal). But DB and I both feel that we need to stick with this program and see what happens. His loss slowed dramatically last week when he added back in a few carbs, but he is still way down.

One thing that I am really conscious of in a whole new way is: portions. You all KNOW that I am not the queen of moderation so this is something new for me to focus on. I am not weighing things, but am going by packaging and that seems to be working. We are using our grill a lot. People at our party yesterday said they could see that we had both lost weight (and they just saw us a few weeks ago). That helps keep us on course too.

It is really good for us to do this together too -- we eat a lot of meals together so (even though we are not at the exact same point in the program) it is really nice to find something that we both like. The weight thing is SO fraught for me that DB admits that he was a little afraid to do this together and to talk about it all and everything but...so far, so good. Just more good lessons in communication. :-)

So far, so good...and huge thanks to Laura and Cindy for recommending this book.

Keep your fingers crossed that I don't gain this week with my little carbs (like the one piece of Ezekiel bread that I ate this morning and one tomorrow) back...

5 comments:

Doc Manette said...

Congratulations!

Sounds like you had a great time with Bea and can't wait to see the photo.

Anonymous said...

Sounds as though the 4 of you had a great time and I'm so glad you connected. Where did you go for dinner? Downtown Disney has so many tantalizing places and I'm sure there were some challenges sticking to your program - but you did!

As for you, dear lady, you have a week under your belt with the new plan and the satisfaction of knowing you have a great jump start - and DB's example of being a week ahead (even though he's a guy and they lose faster). Getting recognition from friends that the loss is visible is a happy thing, too :)

Vickie said...

Still finding this very interesting - and glad you are writing about it.

Question - how much exercise COULD you (have the energy to) do with the carb down thing. Did it impact you much this week?

and you might have said and I missed it - did you think of WHY you were so thirsty - since you are a big water drinker already?

Vickie said...

and you might have said this too - is your idea to 'ride' this new food plan down to where you want to be - so you are done? I know you don't have very much left. And I think it is a lovely thought to just get it off and done (as this appears that it is going to work well for you).

I think I mentioned that I think of these type of plans as carb awareness. But I was struck by what you said about portions too - that is very true. So, maybe it is sort of like boot camp - food awareness in general - ???

Does it stress other things - like sleep - in addition to the food and water?

Helen said...

The water thing is really interesting and, I think, key. Will write more on it tomorrow...I'm planning a post about the various elements of this that are different from things I have tried in the past.

The exercise is a good question. I have kept to my same usual amount the past week. But I noticed that my heart rate goes up about 10 BPM higher than usual doing the exact same thing on the elliptical. DB thinks this is because my body has to work harder to find the fuel because the readily-available glycogen is less than usual. Obviously, this is good for weight loss. I haven't done any yoga yet, but will probably do tonight (if we can't boogie-board -- our first plan).

I really don't know what "done" is. I know I should be about 15 pounds less than I am to have a 5 pound "up" leeway. And, if this is as effective and good as it seems, I might go lower. Who knows? Will I ever be totally happy with my weight? Doubtful!