Apr 23: Fresh numbrrrs!

It's the weekend! The long weekend! Ba-da-buh-buh-baaaah I'm lovin' it.

So as you know, I like to count. I know I'm always joking about how the numbers aren't important and it's all about healthy lifestyle blah blah tofucakes. But for me, the binge eating/ food obsessing thing is a compulsive behaviour. People use compulsive behaviours to cope with the big bad world when a more grounded, in-the-moment sort of approach may be beyond their reach. When I make efforts to rein myself in and cut out that compulsive behaviour, it makes sense that I would offset the loss by turning to another obsession, right? I'm not saying I'm obsessed per se. Just sayin: thus, the origins of the counting love.

With that said, I have many fresh numbers to report:

Pounds lost this week: TWO
Total pounds lost: 17.2

Measurements!
Chest - down 2, total loss: 3
Waist - down 0, total loss: 3
Hips - down 2, total loss: 4
Thigh - down 1, total loss: 1

Training!
Ran 5 miles in just under an hour yesterday on the wonky home treadmill. I don't know what the dillio is with this treadmill. It's an old donated thing that does this weird stoppy-starty thing that can throw your whole rhythm off. I always seem to run faster on it, but maybe I'm running slower and the speed settings are also wonky. Regardless, I ran for an hour. Next weekend is the 10k, so I'm feeling prepared. It's gonna hurt but it's gonna happen.

Rock on, I loves me some numbers. Happy long weekend everybody!

PS regarding the image: I did an image search for "fresh numbers" and this was my favourite image returned. Don't care non sequitur.

Feb 4: Inches, away!

Good Friday morning, chubmates,

I trust you've all had a week that could be described with some sort of adjective. I have to say, thus far, I am coping pretty well with winter in Catnada, comparatively speaking. Long time followers know that I struggle with depression, particularly in the winter months. This year my mood has been fairly stable, for whatever reason. This despite the fact my weight is still, after 9.6 pounds of weight loss, at an all time high. Whatever. I got a ton of new clothes on the weekend with my Christmas returns – a couple of outfits at full price goes a long way if you wait for the clearance sales – and I'm faithfully following the DubDub plan, so I feel in control. The lethargy lingers but I chalk that up to ancestral hibernation patterns. Evolution, you done me wrong.

So time flies when you're calorie restricting, n'est-ce pas? I've been on the DubDub straight-not-narrow lifestyle for four weeks now. Lost 1.2 this week, bringing me to 9.6 pounds, as mentioned. Significantly, I hit my 5% goal with this weigh-in. At DubDub, they like to tackle the mental challenge of long-term weight loss by giving people small, achievable goals to focus on to keep them encouraged. So the first goal is to lose 5% of your total body weight. All you math whizzes are getting out your calculators and gasping at the implication. Yes, I was 182.2 at first weigh in. Five foot two. So, yeah, everything I bought at the mall this weekend was size XL. Oh well. It is what it is.

Anyway, point being, if one is not totally embarrassed to put their hand up at a meeting to admit achievement of one of these goals, they will be soon after, because the leader gives you a STICKER, like you're in kindergarten and you made a poopy in the toilet and managed to pull your pants up all on your own. Despite my amusement, I quietly admit to you, my close, discreet circle of friends, that I proudly affixed the 5% sticker (it is, indeed, a STAR with 5% in the middle) to my weight tracker booklet. After all these years, there is still a Pavlovian thrill response attached to receiving merit badges or stickers.

Also, took my measurements last night. First of all, let me stipulate that this is an inexact science. Unless I get a tattoo on my hip and one on my waist – maybe just a line marker – I can't say for sure that I'm measuring the same place each month. With that said, it looks like I've lost an inch off the chest, three inches off the waist, two inches off the hips and one off the thigh. Right on! Maybe.

Okay, have an awesome weekend!

Apr 26: Return of the Stubby Hourglass

Wouldja lookit the date on this post? It's almost MAY! It's a windy day here in Toronto and on my walk to work I looked up and saw a big old tree, covered in glorious green leaves, rustling and swaying to and fro, and it just made me beam. Love this time of year! Blossoms on the trees everywhere too. Fabulous.

Okay, so on Saturday I had my monthly measurements taken. In addition to the .8 of a pound lost, bringing the grand total to 15.4, I was heartened to learn I've lost another 2 inches off my waist, plus an inch off the pooch and an inch off the gazongas as well. The hips remain stubbornly shapely. Rump likes being rump!

Since the start of February, I've lost seven inches from my waist! Wow. My middle was getting pretty thickly there. My measurements as of Saturday are 38-30-41. (Maybe 41.5?) If I was 4 or 5 inches taller, that actually wouldn't be too bad! But for now, I'm pretty pleased - at least everything is in proportion. Total inches lost all over is 19. But I take this number with a grain of salt because they now measure the abdomen/pooch, which means you get another bunch of inches to add to your overall total that once went un-tracked. Still, though, it is great to see the progress represented numerically: NINETEEN! NINETEEN INCHES OF FAT REMOVED, AH, HA, HA, HAAAAAAAAA!

Okay so this Sunday is the big 10k run. I'm feeling ready - last night I ran 5.5 miles (10k is about 6.2 miles), in a blistering time of 57:51. I don't know how it's going to go, running outside. Last year I was surprised by how much faster I ran than I had been training/expecting. I think a lot of it is the adrenaline, the excitement of the event, being surrounded by all these other runners, the energy you get from one another. I would like to better my time from last year (1:09:07) by 4-5 minutes if possible. I feel like I've been training a lot stronger and faster than I was last year. But I realize that's a lot of time to shave. I'll be happy with any time that is an improvement on last year.

Rock on kiddiewinks!

Jun 8: Progress report(s)

Okay, vacation weight has been banished to... um... hey, where does the fat go when we get rid of it? Is there another Lindsay in a parallel universe who just keeps getting fatter? Would that also mean there is a super-skinny Lindsay universe too, who sacrifices fat every time I gain weight? I guess that would mean I'm the Jerry Seinfeld Lindsay: even Steven.

Anyway! So yeah, at last check, my weight is at 150 which means I can say that I have lost 15 pounds in total since January. I am trying hard not to refer to this number sheepishly, because I feel like it should be a lot higher. And it would be, if I didn't keep veering off course with my eating habits. But you know, I'm still here, right? I'm still working out regularly. And I am still a person who struggles with binge eating disorder, so, hellz, 15 pounds is a-okay. I decided last week that I'd like to be 10 pounds less than I was on May 3 (the date I ran the Sporting Life 10k), when I run the Toronto Island 10k in the fall. So I have 8 pounds to go, which at my current rate is an achievable goal.

I need to make another video, I know. I haven't bothered with measurments for awhile because they haven't changed. But I can still make a video, just for shits 'n' gigs and to liven things up around here.

So, how are y'all doing? Making progress? In a holding pattern? Gaining? Feeling okay? Feeling frustrated? Avoiding feeling? Share, if you can or want. I think it helps everyone to know they're not alone, or to be inspired by those who are in a good place.

Apr 23: The Prodigal Returns (with new viddie!)

Ummm... hello?

Anybody still here??

Let me just dust off the keyboard and wipe away the cobwebs. Sorry I've been gone so long! Not sure exactly what happened there. A bit of laziness, a bit of diminished focus and engagement in the process, a lack of faith that people are still reading this... stuff like that.

But I do know from some of you that people are still reading (THANKS, you're the best) and wondering how I'm doing, and even looking to this blog to kick-start your own focus and engagement in the process, which kinda blows my mind. I LOVE US!!!

So, I took a few days off the eating right thing, and I took about a week off of the regular exercise business. Went up about 2.5 pounds. Frickin jeez, you know? It takes like, a month to lose that weight and it comes back on in a week. Gah. But actually, as of yesterday morning, I had managed to get the extra pounds offa me again, so maybe it was just a lot of water hanging around from all the salty badness. I will do an official weigh-in video this weekend, but yesterday morning my weight was 151.5.

Okay, I will blog more this week, about important and/or random topics. It's 4:45 in the a.m. right now so... what the eff am I doing up? Answer: I went to bed at 9 because I was fried and now my sleep schedule's all mucky. Added bonus: rambly blog.

Mar 9: new viddie!

Hiya! I have a new video. It's really long; sorry about that. I had to cover a bunch of stuff, including measurements, weigh in, a very special shout out, and the 10 k announcement for the YouTube community.



For my video challenged mom:

lost another pound
chest: down 1.5" this month (down total 2.5")
waist: down 2" this month (down total 3")
hips: down /75" this month (down total 1.75")
thigh: no change (down total .5")

Feb 7: New measurements viddie!

Hey, check it out! I'm shrinking...aaaggaghhhghh!!!