Weighing In

I woke up at my usual 6:15 today, but instead of popping out of bed, I stumbled - to the kitchen, to pour a cold glass of water and pop a couple of Tylenol for a crampy tummy -- then back to bed I went...

...which means that I totally did not wake in time to get to my WW meeting with Gabby.  When I woke up at 8:15, I had a text from her, asking if we were "on" to meet at the 8 AM meeting. 

BUT, my center has open hours for weighing in, so instead of skipping it altogether, I raced over to at least step on the scale, and then venture over to The Good Earth for eggs, coffee, and girl talk.

What can I say?  Shame is a powerful motivator.  I'd committed to Gabby that we'd do this together, so I was going to be damned if I missed after just one week.

Despite having a week where I basically did not prepare a single meal myself, I lost .8 lbs. 

Hurrah!  The closer I get to that silly 5 lb marker, the more I want that stupid gold star sticker.  I remember when my weight watchers booklet used to be COVERED with them - for 5 lb markers, major milestones, etc.

It is amazing to me how something so tiny and seemingly insignificant can mean more than the most expensive of reward. 

And then onto eggs and girl talk.

In my friend Gabby, I may have found a soul mate - we're in the same industry and have achieved some level of success, and we both struggle with our weight. 

Personality wise, we could NOT have more in common.  

And how we met is perhaps the oddest part - when I was newly single following The Worst Breakup In Recorded History, I dated her husband.

HA!  Yep, you read that right -- they were separated and in the process of divorcing (no judgment: I was still LIVING with my not-so-recently-an-ex-boyfriend), and I met and dated her husband.  He immediately identified that his soon-to-be-ex-wife and I were a TON alike, and after a few months, introduced us for girlfriend and networking purposes.

We became fast friends.

So, here's two smart successful chicks who spend our days in the workplace talking about strategy, accomplishing goals, and planning projects -- yet cannot figure out our weight?  What's up with that?

The past two weeks we've approached weight loss the way we would a business-related project: with a plan, teamwork, accountability, strategy, and measurement.

And coffee. 

And it worked. 

This week Gabby lost a pound; I lost .8. 

The Strategy:
Ensure we don't have Another Fat Summer

The Goals / Milestones:
Lose 1-2 lbs per week, each week, up until Gabby's birthday (March 5th), then create a new goal!

The Plan:
Weight Watchers on Saturdays, eggs and coffee at The Good Earth to talk tactics and strategy for the week ahead.

The Tactics:
Journaling, water, exercise, and limited wine consumption.  Great honest conversations about weight loss, body image, relationships, work, and life. Email / text check-ins throughout the week to stay on track.

The Measurement:
Proof of concept is evident in the decreasing numbers on the scale

The Payoff:
Smaller jeans, and a bigger friendship.

This week:
I've identified a tough week ahead, in terms of weight loss.  Bowling league on Tuesday; Timberwolves game on Wednesday.  Baby shower on Saturday, Grandpa's 95th(!!!) birthday brunch on Sunday. My plan is to get in 5 treadmill sessions (today and tomorrow for sure, then Monday and Thursday evening, and perhaps Tuesday or Friday morning); skip the beer during the social events, get plenty of sleep, lots of water, and journal my points. 

Gabby, thanks for being a great partner and friend.

(And for the huevos.  Yum).

Off and running,
Jessica

January Thaw

The past two weeks have been tough.

Winter finally hit MN - blustery, icy, windy, cold, grey, wet, snowy... you name it.

And that was just my attitude.

After  an out of state trip to visit a friend who is struggling (fun and good, but hard), a day off to clean the house from top to bottom, a less-than-stellar return-to-work that was difficult for a number of reasons,  a head cold, an upset stomach, and a few days of getting the last of my little house emptied out and ready for a renter, I wanted to throw in the towel.  I was starring in my own version of "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."

I had fantasies of randomly taking the week off; booking a ticket somewhere tropical.  Of quitting my job and becoming a freelance writer, of moving to Tahiti... ANYTHING.

Anything but this. 

Yesterday was probably the worst of it - I woke up with anxiety in the pit of my stomach.  I went to work and put my head down and didn't look up until my desk was clear.  I walked into a meeting I'd been dreading, only to find that it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating - rather, it was good.  I confronted a fear, faced up to the truth, and like magic, all the walls I'd put up, came right down.

And then this morning, when I woke up, I felt something I hadn't in a while.

Energy.
Warmth.
Peace.

It was 33 degrees out - the world had thawed, and so had my attitude.

I stepped casually out of bed a solid 15 minutes before my alarm went off, and easily - wordlessly, thoughtlessly - made my way to the basement; to the treadmill... to my favorite way to start the day.

45 minutes.  Done and done. 

And just like that, my role of Alexander evolved to that of Harold.  Wielding a purple crayon, I saw my ability to paint the whole world (and especially my life), exactly as I wanted it, all based on how I chose to see.

If I saw cold, grey, and blustery, I was going to ice everything out.  If I saw rainbows and puppies and glitter, granted, I was delusional, but at least with a smile.  I chose to color today with optimism, sunshine, love and light -- and spent the majority of my treadmill time crafting today's column*.

I could not wait to write.

When I walked up from the dark basement, like Plato** from the cave, I felt enlightened.  The world was lighter.  Brighter.  And on my counter, I noticed this:

Not a great picture, but you get the point - a beautiful pink amaryllis, in full bloom.  I'd started it from a bulb, and seemingly overnight it transformed into something beautiful.  Not due to magic or science or luck or wishful thinking - conversely, not by whining, being lazy or stubborn.

It turned into something amazing, just by doing what it was supposed to do.

Off and running,
~Jessica

*Well, and watching a rerun of The Real Housewives of Washington DC.

**Every once in a while, that liberal arts and crafts degree / english major comes in handy.  I hope that SOMEBODY from Lawrence reads this post!

A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama.

The subject line today is weird one, but it is a phrase that runs through my head all the time.  It's a palindrome, and I learned it in 4th grade.  Along with "Jhirmack, Bounceback, Beautiful Hair" and "Lordy Lordy Look Who's Forty," it is one of those rhythmical phrases that just gets stuck and won't go away.  Of course, the difference with the "panama" line is that frontwards or backwards, it's always the same.

I mustered up all my courage and went to weight watchers today, prepared for the worst.  And instead I was pleasantly surprised to have a 1.8 lb weight loss.  Despite a steak dinner last Friday, a weekend in Chicago, and mediocre food choices this week, I still managed to lose weight.

Sometimes, when things you do things "backwards," it's just the change necessary to get positive results.  For example, yes, despite all those elements I listed above, I also probably ate less overall than my average week.  While I didn't do a great job of planning lunches, it also meant fewer snacks and less overall food consumed.  While I definitely had my fair share of wine on Saturday in Chicago, I'd had less-than-usual to drink while out for dinner the night before.  I am short one treadmill workout for the week, but did have a good hour long skyway / power-walk with a co-worker last week. 

Frontwards or backwards, its always the same.

I met Gabby again at WW this week, and afterwards over eggs and coffee, we came up with our plan -- a 6 week challenge, to each lose 1-2 lbs per week.  That brings us up to Gabby's birthday, early March, and the hopeful start of spring. 

This week's goal?

Exercise 3 times.
Drink wine only one night.
Water.
Journal every day.

This is not rocket science, or even that hard - once again, it comes down to mindfulness, choices, and commitment.

Off and running,
Jessica

Easy As Pie

I have been absent from the old blogosphere for a while - no good excuses, just really busy.  There was a trip to Chicago, a couple of birthdays, lots of social engagements, tons of work, and now a head cold keeping me away.  Through all of it -- well, except for the past two days of being a little bit sick - I've rocked the treadmill. 

Last night was the first night of "true MN winter" temps.  I think that the windchill was -30 overnight.  You'd think that after 34 years, I'd be used to this, but no -- it still hurts, every single time.  In honor of the frigid air, I decided comfort food was in order:  Chicken pot pie. 

Here's the deal with this recipe - if you use 98% fat free cream of chicken soup, then the only part of this that is bad for you is the crust.  And certanly you can lighten that up by using only one crust, or using puff pastry, or whatever.  So this isn't a diet recipe, but it is an easy and delicious recipe that probably won't kill you.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie:

Rolled up pie crust

1 bag of frozen vegetables
2 ten-oz cans of shredded chicken breast
2 cans of 98% ff cream of chicken soup
Poultry seasoning
Pie pan
Salt and pepper to taste
Dried parsley

Unroll the first pie crust...

Flatten into the bottom of the pie pan...

In a mixing bowl, combine chicken, soup, vegetables, and poultry seasoning...

Pour into the bottom crust.

Unroll the other crust and cover (note: not very interesting photography when your pie crust matches your countertops!):

Cut some holes to vent, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, parsley....

Wrap the edges with tin foil so that the crust doesn't burn.

Cook at 425 for about 40 minutes, removing the foil for the last 10 minutes.

I was so starving that I forgot to take a picture before I cut it and served, but this is basically what it looks like when done:

Cut like a pie, but spoon into a shallow bowl with a ladle if necessary.
Serve with a large leafy salad.  Have seconds. 
Delicious.

Off and running,
~Jessica

Burn Energy To Make Energy

Now, I'm not a scientist or a mathematician, but there's one thing I've learned through life experience, and that's that if you want to make energy, you have to use energy.

Our bodies thrive on being used -- and there's no truer example of this than my past week.

Hit the treadmill for an hour on Monday and an hour on Tuesday.  Resulted in amazing sleep both nights -- Wednesday morning, I woke up super early, packed lunch, made some eggs, prepped dinner, got ready for work, got to work on time, and proceeded to have one of the happier and more productive work days than I've had in a while.

After working until 6:30 PM, I drove home, walked in the door, turned on the oven, kissed The Hubs, changed into workout clothes, put some chicken in the oven, and while it cooked, headed down to the basement for a quick 30 minute run/walk.  Then enjoyed a nice quiet night of dinner and TV - packed lunch, and was asleep by 10:30.

This morning, more of the same:

Out of bed easily.  Dinner -- a good one, if I do say so myself -- is prepped and ready to be placed in the oven while I enjoy some treadmill time.


It is similar with food -- food is comprised of calories, a unit of energy.  Sometimes we're not eating enough, sometimes we're eating too much.  You'd think that when we're not eating enough, the natural occurance would be weight loss.  And sometimes, that is the case -- but sometimes the body hoards calories for fear that it isn't going to get anymore, a throwback to our caveman "survival mode" days.  The trick is finding that magic number where your body is neither starving or hoarding or feasting, but maintaining -- or in the case of weight loss -- burning. 

Again, burn energy to make (room for more) energy.  

Like stoking a fire, sometimes you have to add another log to get things to really ignite.

This week, I've played around with points and calories a bit - technically, I'm 10 weekly points in the hole right now.  But the kicker is that I've only eaten those extra points when I've truly been hungry.  Yesterday around 4:30 PM, when I was hungry and knew I wouldn't be eating for a couple of hours, I had some almonds that I keep at my desk. 

Did I have the points for it?  Not totally -- did I NEED to eat something?  Yes.

Today's plan is similar to yesterday's - come home, kiss my husband, turn on the oven, change into workout clothes, and hit the treadmill while dinner cooks. 

And then... relax.

Off and running,
~Jessica

WWJD

Excuse the crappy iPhone photography but what you're seeing above is the console for my brand spankin' new treadmill, which has a lovely slot to insert my iPad so I can stream TV while walking my butt off.

(literally). 

(hopefully).

Right ABOVE my iPad, you see a smaller square, which does all the typical exercise things: heart rate, speed, incline, calories, distance -- and also synchs with my Polar HR monitor to provide a constant heart rate read.  It also has a slot for the iFit module, which my parents bought me for Christmas, which I haven't QUITE figured out yet, but it offers the ability to race with other iFit users, watch maps to run routes in other destinations (think: Central Park, downtown Paris, Chicago Lakefront, or even use Google Maps to create a route through my old beloved neighborhood).  You can also download training programs from old pals like Jillian Michaels.  Below the iPad, you see a built-in fan, that is actually pretty handy and effective at cooling me off after a long workout.

I think I'll call her Trekkie, and I think she's my new best friend.

Trekkie and I spent about 65 glorious minutes together last night -- and another 60 tonight, burning just over 450 calories each time.  Additionally, I took an impulsive 45 minute skyway walk during lunch (in heels, ouch), to walk over to Lifetime Fitness and cancel my membership.

(Don't get me wrong - I love Lifetime and I've been a member forever, but it isn't working with my life right now.  When I get there, I love it - but getting there has been hard.  The thing about dropping a membership?  You can always go back.  So for now, I'll just use my at-home equipment, coupled with the occasional yoga class and outdoor running (weather permitting, of course), until the treadmill has paid for itself).

Already I am thrilled with this purchase - there's no schlepping things to and from the gym, no frustration about when to cook or eat dinner or breakfast... I don't feel like I'm barely getting to say two words to Mike because I'm racing to the gym either before work or right after.  I don't have to get cute after using it, unless I use it in the morning before work, I can just quick rinse off, put on my PJs, and get ready for bed.

Later this week, The Hubs will wire cable down there for me so that I can watch regular programming - one of the things I really want to be able to do is to watch The Biggest Loser while exercising. 

When I was 26 years old and beginning my weight loss journey, I lost the first 30 lbs on a shoddy eliptical, in my apartment, while watching the first episodes of The Biggest Loser.

Whodda thunk that 4 years later, I'd be having lunch with Jillian Michaels, telling her about my upcoming marathon and the columns I'd been writing for Health. 

I guess some things really come around full circle.

Tonight as I started watching the new season of The Biggest Loser, I thought "you know, I can sit here and watch this, or I can go work out and watch this later."

WWJD?

Not Jesus - Jillian.  

And I decided that Jillian would probably tell me to get off my butt and start moving, ratings be damned.

And then I got a text from my dear friend Kath, who has a similar treadmill/iPad set up going, and just as quickly as I'd decided to be content with my skyway-in-heels-walk-to-quit-the-gym, I was inspired to head downstairs and put my investment to use. 

So there you have it -- 125 minutes and close to 1000 calories in two days... already this investment is proving to be better than the $60 / month (which was translating to about $15 / workout), that I was spending on the gym.

On that note - I've got a lunch to pack, a coffee pot to set, a shower to take, and a bed to collapse into... I think I'll be setting my Sleep Number LOW tonight.

Off and running,
~Jessica

Day 1 of 365

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I've apparently reached the age where I can barely stay awake until midnight, so it was a quiet night at Chez Messifer.  I'm not a huge fan of NYE - or rather, the stereotypical NYE of partying and drunken revelry and overhyped parties and overpriced steak - so as has become our tradition, The Hubs and I stayed in -- although this year was different in that we stayed a his our house instead of mine.

2011 will always stand out as a wonderful year to me, for the obvious reason of getting married, but it didn't come without some negatives as well -- weight gain, a lack of a significant fitness routine, and some general enuii with aspects of professional / corporate life.  I feel like I always make the same resolutions year after year, so this year I'm not going to go down that road, except to resolve one thing - to figure out exactly what it is the truly makes me tick, and find a way to do it.  Every day. 

I made a surf and turf feast of king crab legs, filet mignon, shrimp... bread and salad.... I cracked a bottle of champagne, and drank from our wedding crystal for the first time.  And then when the crab shells were thrown away and the kitchen tidy, we retreated to the sofa to flip between the NYE specials.

However, I've apparently reached the age where I can barely keep my eyes open until midnight.  At about 10:30, I started yawning.  A lot.  By 11, I was periodically nodding off with my head on Mike's chest.  I did manage to wake up and pull it together to watch Dick Clark countdown to 2012, but I was definitely DEEPLY asleep shortly thereafter.  Between the two of us, we didn't even make it through half of a bottle of champagne (which is making me think that it might be a mimosa night!)

Our day was an exciting one - I'd gotten up early to go to the grocery store and run other errands* before it got crazy, and in the midst of laundry and dishes, discovered that the basement drain was backed up.  AGAIN.  We just had roto-rooter come out a month ago, so that was pretty disappointing.  They were back again by 4 pm, and by 5 we had a working drain again, however it is symptomatic of a bigger problem, further down the line, so that stinks. 

On the upside, while we were waiting around unable to do much of anything, we basically cleaned the house - I decluttered, dusted and vacuumed, while Mike did a bunch of work in the basement. 

Today The Hubs is off to the Vikings game, while I'm off to a small gathering of high school friends... and tomorrow... OHHHH tomorrow:

Tomorrow is treadmill day. 

Part of yesterday's household cleaning project was getting the basement workout room set up and ready for our new toy!  It is getting delivered tomorrow morning and I CANNOT WAIT!  The basement room is the perfect size for the treadmill, a weight bench, and some free weighs / BOSU trainer / balance ball, and I look forward to spending some time down there on a semi-daily basis! 

For Christmas, my parents bought me the corresponding iFit technology, so if any of you gentle readers use that, let me know so we can... well, so we can do whatever it is that the iFit does.  :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a Weight Watchery note -- one of those "errands" I got up early yesterday to do was to hit a weight watchers meeting - I'd overslept after being out late on Friday night, so all I did was run in, weigh in, and leave, but I was determined to be accountable.  Unfortunately, I was up again - to be expected after an evening that consisted of a restaurant dinner and a few beers.  I'm going to play the positive here and say that while I didn't lose any weight over the holidays, rejoining Weight Watchers probably kept me from gaining any.

Now look out, 2012.  Because I'm coming for you.  And I want my size 10 jeans back. 

On that note - the coffee is brewing and the eggs are calling my name.

Off and running,
~Jessica