Week 2: A Good Gift (For Myself)

Two weeks ago, my manager surprised me and my other Summit colleague with Best Buy gift cards for a merrier holiday. It's been an extended period of time since I've purchased anything from this fine establishment. Even my Rewards Zone account has expired. What do I do with this gift card?

It took me a good hour of aimless ambling (to get some extra steps in, too, of course) and an excruciating debate with my conscience to decide on what would be the most practical items to purchase. Zumba DVDs? Oh wait, everything is on Blu-Ray now and I don't exactly care to purchase a player or overuse Chris' PS3 to display Beto's gyrating hips. Wii Mu sports-y stuff? Nah, I don't want a new console. The newest console I have is the Dreamcast that my dearest friends bought for me. (It's still at home in LA and still means the world to me.). A cover for my phone? Nope, this store doesn't carry the appropriate case. A phone charger for the car? For $30? Sure. I can justify this. I probably won't find anything else that's more expensive and I do need to charge this phone more often than the dumb phones I've had previously.

What about the remaining balance on the gift card?

Chris had wandered into the audio section while I found myself in the aisle full of digital scales. A wall of pedometers lined the adjacent wall of the scales. The good ol' Omron pedometer was dragging by the hip, pleading me not to consider a replacement that looks more sleek and inconspicuous and wirelessly transmits data for easy tracking.

I couldn't resist this:

Image courtesy of Fitbit.
The Fitbit Ultra in Activity Mode. The more active you are, the bigger this flower grows. Flower power!

At the end of this Best Buy visit, the total at checkout exceeded the amount on the gift card. It didn't matter. I'm happy with the purchase. Look at the results from Week 1 with this device:

Last Week's Over All Results

The scale reads: between 160-165 lbs. Goal: 147 lbs.
The NEW and awesome pedometer + oldie-pedometer total for the week: 108,608 steps
Aerobic activities for the week:

• Dance Your Body Thin (30 minutes)
• Jane Fonda's Low Impact Aerobics (48 minutes)
• Jane Fonda's Lower Body Solution (35 minutes)
• Hiking 7 mi. at Huntsville State Park (3.5 hours)

Results from the first week!

What I've enjoyed so far during the first week of using Fitbit:

• Susy had told me about these fitness devices that kept track of your progress and allowed you to engage in some friendly competition with other users. This visual data and ego-boost from seeing yourself make the leaderboard is the perfect mechanism for accountability in this weight-loss (mis)adventure
• I've stairclimbed more this week alone than I have in the last month of living at my old apartment
• I've started the Jane Fonda routine again
• It helped me maintained my weight during the holidays
• I've been slapped with the reality that I'm sedentary nearly 80% of the week. Got to keep on stepping and climbing!
• I don't need to buy a replacement battery - ever! A USB dongle (haha, what an amusing word) charges it to 100% within minutes
• The clip is pretty sturdy and doesn't need a secondary clip to hold it in place like my previous pedometers
• It's so slim, I can wear anything and it wouldn't protrude out like an unsightly tumor on my hip
• It's pretty accurate with the sleep tracking
• My Fitbit profile is pretty public so random folks in the groups I've joined can hold me accountable

Week 1: Not Too Shabby

Yesterday's Results

The scale reads: 163 lbs. Goal: 127 lbs.
The awesome pedometer reads: 10406 steps (2789 aerobic steps for 32 minutes), 3.28 mi.

December 14's Results

The awesome pedometer reads: 7732 steps, 2.44 mi.

December 13's Results

The awesome pedometer reads: 10622 steps, 3.35 mi.
Other aerobic activities:

• Fat Blasting Cardio (30 min.)

December 12's Results

The awesome pedometer reads: 10023 steps, 3.16 mi.
Other aerobic activities:

• Fat Blasting Cardio (50 min.)

December 11's Results

The awesome pedometer reads: 5930 steps, 1.87 mi.
Other aerobic activities:

• Fat Blasting Latin Dance Mix (20 min.)

December 10's Results

The awesome pedometer reads: 10876 steps, 3.43 mi.
Other aerobic activities:

• Fat Blasting Latin Dance Mix (30 min.)

December 9's Results

The awesome pedometer reads: 13350 steps, 4.21 mi.
Other aerobic activities:

• Cardio Hula (30 min.)

December 8's Results

The awesome pedometer reads: 10053 steps, 3.17 mi.
Other aerobic activities:

• Office party tomfoolery (dancing)
• Goofing off on an elliptical (the awesome pedometer didn't seem to register any of these movements - so much for awesome)
  

December 7's Results

The awesome pedometer reads: 4673 steps, 1.47 mi.

Oh, you've heard this record before. The holidays, office and spontaneous gatherings, and rainy weather are the perfect trifecta in derailing my weight loss plans. The holidays bring sedentary chat fests coated with sugary homemade confections. This past week alone, 4 food-intensive gatherings (that's half of the week) rendered me in a useless siesta state: Chris' company's holiday party, my company's holiday dinner, a random friend's visit (it is a food frenzy every time we meet up), and a visit with my aunt. The rain automatically resigns you to hibernation mode.

Despite the same ol' moan 'n' groan you hear around this time of year, I think I did pretty well gaining only a pound this week. Honestly, I was relieved the scale didn't tip 165 at all. I even managed to lose a pound and kept it off for a couple of days.

To sum up the consumption damage, here's a visual buffet:

Going prime time at Chris' holiday party: prime rib with au jus and just a tad bit too much horseradish

From healthiest to oh my at the holiday party: butternut squash bisque, asparagus, mixed veggies, rice pilaf, pistachio-crusted orange cream chicken, pork loin, some bread thing with a smidgen (OK, maybe more) of butter

Going to <Shakes head in disgust status> at the holiday party: pumpkin pie with Cool W-hip (I'm assuming they'd go for the gold with this particular brand), bread pudding, and cannoli with sprinkles (?! I was mortified I actually bit into this. Sprinkles are no-nos for cannoli. Should've known.)

Breakfast the day after the holiday party: Sunflower Bakery and Cafe's Oyster bienville omelet (Galveston Bay oysters topped with a creamy seafood sauce of white wine, cream, shrimp and crabmeat) with house potatoes and jalapeño toast

Mid-week weakness: Witchcraft Tavern and Provision's Stilton Burger (hickory maple bacon, sauteed mushrooms, balsamic onion, and Stilton blueberry cheese), Blues Burger (BBQ pulled pork, Texas slaw, red onion, and house pickles), and fries. Yes, I shared with Chris.

My company's holiday dinner at Carrabba's: The seasonal special - a combo of the Pollo Rosa Maria (chicken stuffed with fontina and prosciutto, and topped with mushrooms and basil lemon butter sauce) and Chicken Involtini (another chicken thing stuffed with Italian fennel sausage, spinach, ricotta and romano cheese and topped with a marsala wine sauce) with a special appearance by fettucine alfredo and unnecessary levels of grated Parmesan

I ate one of its brethren...

... the Deluxe appetizer from Crazy Alan's Swamp Shack: gator bites, fried pickles, frog legs, boudain, bacon-wrapped scallops

Crazy Alan's 3 lbs. of mudbugs (a.k.a crawfish). Nobody ate the potato or corn. The Miller Lite pitcher was actually a pitcher of Abita's Andygator, a brew from LA (Not Los Angeles).

Crazy Alan's smoked oysters - the Pontchartrain were topped with garlic butter, Pontchartrain sauce, piece of  shrimp and mozzarella; the Mexican were topped with garlic butter, hot sauce, diced jalapeños, piece of shrimp, and mozzarella

Need to have the raw stuff, too.

House of Pies' mincemeat pie. I found out I don't care for mincemeat. There was hardly a trace of meat. A very deceptive name for a pie if you ask me. Not only is the cake a lie, the pie is a lie.

East Wall Chinese restaurant's chicken with ginger sauce

Pot o' beefy goodness and stuff

I'm more fascinated with the container of rice. Prior to this feast, I haven't seen rice encased in such a nice wooden container

Beef: up close

Walnut shrimp

Fatty beef goodness

I forget what kind of chicken. Take your pick: orange, General Tso's, ...

This was only a sampling. To think I only gained a pound! I only did a total of around 2.7 hours of aerobic activity this week and didn't exactly reach my 10k steps/day goal each day of the week. However, I thought the randomness of dancing at holiday parties, messing around with an elliptical, and slowly breaking the sedentary routine did a lot of good.

Let's see what happens this coming week. Even with the holidays, I think I can whittle down to 161.

Rising from the Ashes - Starting All Over

Yesterday's Results

The scale reads: 162 lbs. Goal: 147 lbs.
The awesome pedometer reads: 10911 steps (4967 aerobic steps for 45 minutes), 3.44 mi., 295 calories

Other aerobic activities:

• Cardio Hip Hop (30 minutes)

It's not so amazing what stress and a sedentary lifestyle does to one's health goals. The wintry Texas days feel lackluster in spurring physical activity. The unsuspecting series of rain and early nightfalls do not inspire me to perspire. It is hibernation season, yes?

With multiple weddings around the corner - mine inclusive - I will get back to at least where I started with this blogging adventure - a bit below 150 lbs. I was happier then. I was on track to get to my high school weight. I need to embody joviality and spirit for these momentous occasions. I need to get moving.

Losing twenty pounds in a little over 6 months is mighty feasible, right? I think so since I have the disgusting motivation to get some vitality back in my life and wring that high triglyceride issue out of my system (Not to mention, I have the incredible support of my bridesmaids and soon-to-be-husband).

I'm sure I can lose at least 5 lbs. before December slips into January. After all, I gained the 5 lbs. from a recent vacation where I practically ate beyond my usual foodie limits.

What helped me before was the daily log of my aerobic activities and forays into eating smaller portions at some kind of consistent interval. This blog is rising like a phoenix just you wait 'n' see.