Watching tv, there are…

Watching tv, there are of course kazillion weight-loss ads on right now -- Weight Watchers, Slimfast, etc. It's just that time of year. I'm told that average American weight gain over the holidays (from Halloween through New Year's) is 12 pounds. According to my scale, I gained 5. I suppose it's nice to not be quite as bad as average, but still, sigh. The consequences of ten days of free food; I think I reverted to college eating habits. It's free! Must eat like a lumberjack!

Back to the counting calories and exercise thing. It's not the most exciting weight loss plan in the world, but it does seem to work.

Anyway else out there joining me in my misery? I hear company helps...

9 thoughts on “Watching tv, there are…”

  1. I’m there with you, sweetie. I gained 5 over the holidays, too, mainly because our vendors at work sent us two HUGE boxes of delicious cookies (mexican wedding cake cookies and fancy thin-mint kinds, I mean, really, how do I resist those?) AND four 2-lb boxes of See’s chocolates. FOUR! Honestly!!

    Anyway, I’m back in the count calories and exercise saddle too. It’s really the only way to do it, even if it’s slow and makes one a bit obsessive about what one eats. Tim’s getting into cooking, which is helping, as I can be certain of what I’m eating. And I found a really good yoga DVD which I’m doing on a regular basis, though I really need to find the time to drag my ass into the gym and lift weights again….

    We are strong women, we can do this 🙂

  2. Yup. I’m back at it, too. Doing WW again. Which is basically counting calories. I also got myself a Belly Dance DVD as a Christmas present, and I found a free belly dance class nearby. That and lots of walking.

    I even managed to snag a 2 month free membership to Bally’s. Gonna see what I can learn there about the weights and stuff. But when that’s over, I’ll probably invest in a Fieldhouse membership.

    Did you ever go to the Fieldhouse when you were out here?

  3. I’d be back to the weightloss grind if the weather here weren’t sucking too badly for me to be cycling. Still tryin’ to work out ways I can keep up with the exercise regardless of weather.

    The fun thing about using mondo-exercise is that the calorie counting means I have to eat more. The less fun part is that sometimes I put in so much exercise that eating as much as I need to (and keeping it balanced) feels like an onerous chore. And then, once I’m not regularly cycling, my eating habit is to eat a metric ton of food. Meh.

  4. Yeah, I’m working on getting back into the exercise routine. I’m doing something loosely based on the Eowyn Challenge by logging the miles counted by the elliptical machine and plotting that on a map of Middle Earth. It’s 458 miles from the Shire to Rivendell, and in the past week I’ve done a little under 6 miles. Good thing Frodo and Sam didn’t have to elliptical to Mordor – they’d never have made it. Still, I’m finding it really helps to keep a record of my workouts

    I’m probably not calorie counting as strictly as I should, but I’ve been making an effort to cook more and cook lighter dishes.

  5. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    The Eowyn Challenge is fabulous! 🙂 I don’t think I’m going to do it now, but very charming and I’m glad to know about it.

    Carol, I never used the Fieldhouse in Utah; I’m not sure I ever actually exercised in Utah. 🙂

    The moral support does help, so if anyone else out there wants to chime in here, please do. 🙂

  6. I recently realized my need to lose some weight. I didn’t realize until a recent physical that I had gained around 30lbs from extensive use of prednisone (a steroid). I had to take prednisone for health reasons for around 8 months at very high doses, which was the reason for my physical, to check my bone density, but was shocked to find out my weight. Being about 5’11” it is very hard for me to tell that I’ve gained weight, I’m wearing the same clothes I was wearing 8 months ago, they are just a smidge tighter than they were before. I don’t own a scale, and find myself rebelling against even owning one, or even doing the calorie thing, which I know is necessary. Though my health is better, I still have this sense that I’m too weak to exercise, even though I know logically to get stronger exercise would be the best thing. Has anyone else been concious of this rebelling voice in there heads which says that being a calorie counter is just not cool? I need to learn how to fight that voice and realize my health is way more important.
    –Tanima

  7. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    I’m totally self-conscious about calorie counting. I feel like a big girly dork when I mention it in public. But I figure gaining five pounds a year is super-bad for my health long-term, never mind the aesthetic issues, so I’m just trying to suck it up and cope with my lack of cool.

  8. I try to refer to it as “watching my health” or “getting healthy” instead of “watching my weight” or “losing weight”. If I eat healthier, choose more veggies and fruit and try to balance my meals, I might eventually not even have to count calories. Getting healthy IS cool.

    WW even has a new program that lets you eat as much of certain (healthy) foods that you like — you only have to count if you eat off the plan. And nearly everything good for you is on the list of acceptable foods, which is nice. Not that I can do that. It has carbs on it, but no bread, and I have trouble making meals that don’t have bread as a part of them.

  9. Yeah, I saw some stuff about that new WW program. It might not be too bad. Although for me, I find that portion control is important. If they say I can eat all I want, I, well, eat all I want. (A lot!) And that’s one of the things I liked about the Winning Points program. Besides the simplified way of counting fat and calories.

    It makes it easier for me to have a budget of points to spend. If I want to be foolish and spend it all on chocolate cake, I can. Which is a great psychological boost actually.

    And MA, I remember you exercising. 😉 How about those long walks home from downtown? I think I even accompanied you on a couple of those. hee

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