Week 4: Elvis and Mark McGuire and Me … Rocking the 6-Lb. Loss!

I’m thrilled I lost 6.2 pounds this week, getting down to a weight of 252.2 — one of those numbers that I never wanted to get UP to in the first place. Progress! That’s a total of 13.6 lbs. lost in four weeks on Weight Watchers’ flex plan (the one where you count points).

So I noodled around online for some fun diety info to plug into this post. Check out the results in the celebrity weight comparison chart above. I think it’s pretty damned motivating. I’ll know when I get through being horrified. (I equal THREE Kylie Minogues? Or one Mark McGuire? Or one elder-years Elvis?)

*Reminding myself that the glitterati are paper thin. And athletes … uh … have dense muscles! And so do deceased Southern rock legends! Yeah, that’s it!*

So … What Worked?

I’m not entirely sure how this week’s weight loss happened. The only things I did differently were:

• Watched my sodium. My goal is to get under 2,000 mg sodium per day, at my doctor’s recommendation. (I’ve had kidney stones, and this will help me minimize recurrences.) So far, I’m trending toward 2,500-3,500 mg per day, but I’m working on it and am now reading all kinds of labels. I was APPALLED to see that the slim little can of Campbell’s Soup at Hand Blended Vegetable Medley was just 1 Weight Watcher’s point, but it’s — OMG — 890 mg sodium. We’re talking one-third of what I can have in a whole day, right there in one snack. That went onto the “take it, it’s free” shelf in the work break room, and now I’m shopping smarter.

• Read labels more carefully. When comparing cereals, I clued in to the fact that a “serving” for each one varies from 1/2 to 1 1/4 cups. So much for making assumptions and eyeballing things. I settled on Kashi’s Vive cereal for a good balance of low calories, high fiber, good taste (mmm, vanilla and graham crackers), and acceptable sodium levels. And I’ve been cutting up a small apple to put in my cereal instead of berries. I like berries too, but I was getting tired of their squishy tartness. I’ll probably rotate them back in again in a week or two when the apples make me grimace.

• Re-dedicated myself to keeping a food journal until I get a handle on my eating habits (may be forever on THAT). It makes a difference so I don’t forget to count snacks, the coffee with three creamers that I cannot do without, the immediate snack when I get home so I don’t chew my arm off before dinner, etc.

• Ate a balanced diet of mostly fruits and leafy green veggies, with fairly low carbs (all complex ones), and modest amounts of protein (mostly chicken, water-packed tuna, fat-free cheeses, and vegetarian burgers). I’m OK with lite mayo as long as it’s my precious Hellman’s, and I’m learning to get by with just two level tablespoons of it per sandwich. (Lord knows how much I was using before, but it would squirt out the side of my sandwiches back then if I wasn’t careful.)

Other Notes of Diety Goodness

• I’m still using 1% milk and have gotten used to its thin, milk-like flavor. Piles of fruit in my cereal make up for it.

• I used to disdain cold cereal for breakfast because it would sit, chilled and milky, in my stomach, making me feel queasy. But an exactly measured 1 cup of milk plus equally painstakingly measured cereal works perfecto for me. Guess I was eating too much.

• I’m averaging 12-14 cups of water a day and have ENTIRELY dropped diet Cokes. Not through any excess of willpower — just because I would slosh like a washing machine if I drank more. I’m not quite up to the 16-cup minimum my kidney doc wants me to drink, but I’m working on it. (Last night: Made the mistake of trying to squeeze in the last six cups of water right before bedtime. Got my exercise for the day running to the potty all night.)

• No exercise yet. That starts tonight. I’m trying NOT to groan at the thought of it. At least my laptop is finally out of the shop so I can DOWNLOAD MY PODCASTS to keep me company on the walk. (Like that’s the only thing that held me up. Heh.)

So what’s up with YOUR eating and exercising habits this week? C’mon, inspire me. :o)

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