2012 Week 27 - RESULTS

Sorry again for the delay - we're deep in exam territory now!

STARTING WEIGHT:   220.2 lbs

ENDING WEIGHT:  220.1 lbs

WEIGHT LOSS:    0.1 lbs

Only managed one run last week, but it was just enough to give me a small loss for the week. I was busy cramming like a demon on Monday, so didn't get around to blogging. Tuesday was the exam, and they were pretty brutal and I'm not overly hopeful, so home and straight to bed it was for me, and then yesterday was a recovery day, preparing for a week's revision before the next exam on Thursday!

Again, nothing to get too excited about with this loss, but at least its heading down. At this rate it would, of course, take me years to reach goal, but that's taking a negative view. On the plus side, if I think back to the way I was before, and some of the aborted weight-loss attempts of the past, a busy period like exam time would have seen my weight absolutely SKY-ROCKET. I'm happy that I am at least keeping the weight stable, or even very slowly losing it.

Depending on what my results are like (and as I say, I'm not hopeful), I might have to do some more tests during August, which would inevitably distract me further from weight loss. I was hoping to have about a month for the summer, where I could finally let my hair down a bit, maybe get out of this tiny room for a change, and actually make some progress on the weight loss. We'll have to see, but for now, it seems that what I'm doing, while not conducive to big losses, is at least holding the gains at bay. And at a time of extreme stress like this, I'll take that with both hands, thank you very much!

 2012 Weight Loss: 

4.8 lbs (77.0 total loss)

2012 Week 27 So Far...

Evening all!

Only a few days to go before the first exam now. Frustratingly, I've had to spend most of the week sorting out random course admin (chasing up signatures, filling in compulsory feedback forms etc), so I'm not where I had hoped to be with the revision so far. Still, having next to no time makes prioritising my studies much easier - rather than "should I do this, or this?", I get to say "I only have time to do THAT!". Even if I can't do enough in the time left, I get a chance to make up the grade in the second phase of exams, so it wouldn't be the end of the world, although one of the problems I've had is that I'm burned out on studying and need a break, and I wouldn't get one this year if I had to take the second exams! Ah well, I can only do so much, so I'll do that, and see what happens.

I haven't exercised yet this week, but being at Uni on my feet all day chasing down tutors has actually led me to a little loss so far. Now that I'm nose-deep in the books though, I'm a) very sedentary, and b) surviving off too many energy drinks and high-sugar snacks, so I'm going out for a run tonight. It'll have a double benefit of not only counter-acting revision calories, but should also help me to sleep, which is always a problem when exam stress looms!

If I can keep up these small regular losses over the exam period I'll be happy. I'll hopefully have a bit more time over August to then give the weight loss a bit more attention, but I'm going to be careful this time to not OVERDO it trying to score a big loss, and end up burning myself out and having a rebound afterwards. Now I've finally seen the folly of that approach, I'm much more cautious - no full frontal assault this time, but rather, a war of attrition...

P.S. keep everything you've got crossed for me!

2012 Week 26 - RESULTS

Apologies for not getting this up yesterday, ended up having to pull an all-nighter to finish a report, and only a week before exams too!

STARTING WEIGHT:   220.5 lbs

ENDING WEIGHT:  220.2 lbs

WEIGHT LOSS:    0.3 lbs

Even though I only ran once last week, I think my diet is settling down after the carb-loading of the previous month, so the loss is slightly more than the previous week. I didn't actually weigh during the week, only on the Monday, so I have no idea of whether this represented a steady loss, or a zigzag pattern of loss and gain. Still, its heading in the right direction, and seems quite stable at the moment, which is good. As I've said before, big 'power weeks' are well and good, when I get loads of exercise done and lose several pounds, but the inevitable rebound that follows just means they're not really worth it.

 

My first exam is next week. I feel so unprepared, and there never seem to be enough hours in the day for revision. I guess I can only do the best I can giving the short time I have to prepare, but my expectations are pretty low. There has been so much going on this year, on top of the Uni work, and my weight-loss attempt, and my general laziness, that I actually EXPECT to do poorly. Its really depressing actually, and I envy those who have been really inspired by the course, and have been doing their extra reading all through the year, in the evenings and on weekends. I just haven't been as motivated as they seem to, and I don't know if that means I'm lazy and need to work harder, or if the course just isn't for me and that's why I struggle to get engaged. Probably a bit of both. Sigh.

 

Anyway, sorry to divert from strictly weight-loss topics for a while there, but I don't really have anyone to talk to about all this, and because I've always got by in the past, I think most people get fed up with me when I try to explain how worried I am - they think I'm being facetious, making a big show of being nervous when actually I've been prepared for months. That is really not the case, and when friends tell me "you'll be fine, you always are," I know they're being nice and I thank them for it, but that mindset is what turned me into an unmotivated and lazy achiever - why work when I can just cram at the end, and still do pretty well? That can get you only so far, and I wouldn't want this year to be that limit.

 

Anyway, I'm planning on getting a run in tonight (wanted to go last night, but work got in the way), and we'll see on Monday next week if I can continue this slow and steady pace.

 2012 Weight Loss: 

4.7 lbs (76.9 total loss)

Rebound

Good evening folks!

Just got back in from another run - only my first this week, which isn't too great, but I managed my 5 mile distance again, so its definitely becoming my standard distance now, which is good. I've already knocked 4 minutes off my time since last Monday, and part of it is, I think, because I moved the 'extra' mile to the start of the run, rather than the end. When I used to run 4 miles, I knew where the half-way point was, and everything after that just felt like 'going home'. Now, with an extra mile tacked onto the beginning, that 'half-way' point is actually three miles into my five mile distance, so actually more than half way! I think that's giving me just a little boost at the end.

Anyway, as usual I am posting whatever it was that side-stepped into my mind while I was running. Tonight, I was ruminating on the fact that, over the last few months, I've had a series of 2-3 good weeks, followed by 2-3 weeks of total absence. I realised this evening that, both times I've disappeared and stopped exercising/blogging, its been after one of my big exercise-challenge Marathon Weeks.

What I think has been happening is, by exercising hard every night for a week, I've literally drained my batteries, and so after those big events my body (and mind) has gone into recuperate mode, and I've spent a few weeks afterwards eating too much and resting from exercise.

I'm glad I've realised this now, as my exams are coming up in the next few weeks, and I had tentatively planned to have another big Marathon Week challenge once they were over. Instead, I think I'm going to just stick with trying to exercise 2-3 times a week. You know what they say, slow and steady wins the race...

2012 Week 25 - RESULTS

One week back on the wagon - did the weight continue to shift?

STARTING WEIGHT:   220.7 lbs

ENDING WEIGHT:  220.5 lbs

WEIGHT LOSS:    0.2 lbs

Pleased to see the scales moving in the right direction. Not a massive loss obviously, but after about a month of no exercise, I expect it'll take some time for my body to shift gears. I managed three runs last week, or 15 miles, which again pleases me considering how long I went without exercise before.

So, just need to try and do the best I can over the next few weeks. I have exams looming ever closer, which is going to a) limit the time I have spare to exercise, and b) potentially increase my calorie intake, as I always end up surviving on coffee and high-sugar snacks when I need to study. But I'll just try to keep it slow and steady until after exams, and then maybe I can give a nice big push.

 2012 Weight Loss: 

4.4 lbs (76.6 total loss)

Backward Momentum

Evening all!

Just got back from my third run this week. I'm really pleased about that number, especially after so long without exercise. I'm also REALLY happy that I've managed to up my distance to five miles for each of those runs. When I was just doing four, it always seemed as though that was all I could manage, but I've realised that I ALWAYS overthink things, and if I just switch the brain off for one second and DO the thing, its never as hard as I think!

What is less pleasing are the scale readings this week. Even though my activity this week has been...well, many many times more than it has been the last few weeks, the scales haven't really been reflecting it.

But you know what? Even as I type this, I'm bored of saying it, so I can't imagine how bored you must be of reading it. OF COURSE the scales are disappointing - about the only thing that would satisfy me would be if all the weight suddenly dropped off at once, and I was at goal tomorrow morning. After all, its dissatisfaction with my weight that has led to this weight-loss attempt, right?

Haha, I seem to have derailed my own post here, and the title doesn't make sense anymore, but I quite like it. I'm fed up with being fed up - the fact is, I NEED to be fed up, as it's what drives me to make a change. So, I'm not going to bitch and moan about the scales any more. My new rule is I'm aiming for a loss of just 0.1 lbs a week. That is moving in the right direction. Anything more than that is a bonus. So there!

I'm not even going to bother write about what I planned to now. The title of the post won't make sense, but who cares - if anyone is reading, maybe they'll get a surprise. Night night!