It’s end of the semester, so I sure have been keeping busy with that. Finished one paper last night, have another due next Tuesday, and a little conference for class where we are presenting our papers and commentaries on each other this Saturday. Oh, and work is ramping up as my days left are counting down. People realize I’ll be gone in a month and want to make sure to fit in what they can.
Weight loss went well this week despite not getting in any walking at all until this morning. I was worried I would hardly lose a bit, but still managed 2.5 pounds! And my blood pressure is dropping again. Woohoo!
We saw Wicked in Kalamazoo Sunday night (wonderful show, but long snowy drive!), so everyone got to sleep in a bit Monday. Hence, Diana didn’t go to her class to get an official weigh-in, but unofficially lost 3-4 pounds! Guess spending 3 days walking the mall and stores helps!
Also, since it is going so well and because our insurance is changing in February, we are switching to the shorter program. Instead of 12 weeks of no-food and 12 weeks of transition, we are going a 6 and 6 program. Seeing how this is the start of week 5, in just two weeks we get to start introducing real food again!! Yay! The kids’ dinners are getting harder and harder to avoid sampling (tonights chicken & rice-a-roni was especially yummy smelling!). But we’re managing.
It’s odd also, how even with how fast we are losing weight, it still feels slow. I just topped 20 pounds lost. Yet, I still got this big ol’ gut. For a while it felt like it was softening rather than shrinking (which made me worry that I’d have the problem of flabby stretched skin even after the fat underneath was gone), and now it’s tightened back up. So I don’t know. But I’m down a belt notch and might drop another in the next couple weeks, so something is shrinking.
And the numbers help. I’m really pushing to hit 25 pounds lost soon since that would put me at my lowest since before Samantha was born. I’ll have to really exercise if I’m to hit it next week, and it would have to be a major weight loss week, but even if I don’t next week, then definitely the week after. Plus, when I hit that 25 lb mark, they have a body composition test again to check how much fat I have lost versus how much muscle. I’m eager to see that since that matters more than just a number of pounds. Maybe next week, maybe the one after that. I guess we’ll see.
Ken Marable's Blog 
I feel the same way! I’ve lost 15 pounds, but it’s so slow that it’s hard to notice. I do fit into a couple pairs of pants that haven’t fit in a while though! You’re doing great, btw 🙂
Great job, both of you!
I don’t think I’m going to make it through with my program/diet today. I waited too long between meals. Now, I’m starving and everything looks good. I began badly when I got up too late to eat before my PT appointment, then remembered another appt. this afternoon, so by 4 o’clock I hadn’t eaten anything. Bad idea!! Anything not tied down that doesn’t require cooking is in danger!
Yikes! Yeah, not eating until 4 is not a good idea. That will seriously mess up your metabolism, which wont help your body do anything you want! 😛 The rules with the Optifast we are taking is you must have one within an hour of waking up, and then no more than 4 hours between. Personally, I have one when I wake up (6 when I’m being good, or usually 7 when I sleep in), and then have one on all of the 3’s. So at 9am, noon, 3pm, 6, and then 9.
In general its better to have more but smaller meals throughout the day. But even if you do have to eat whatever isn’t nailed down, just try to go for something reasonably healthy. The biggest problem with going off diet isn’t that one meal will be horrible for you, but it’s easy to think that if you going to mess up, you might as well REALLY mess up! And then it is easier to go off plan the next time and so on. BUT if you can keep yourself to just have a very reasonable off plan meal, and make sure to focus later, then don’t sweat it. The guilt will mess you up more than any one meal. 🙂
Oh, and promise me that you won’t go all day without eating again? Love you!