1,200/1,400

I have read on a few blogs lately that in order to maintain weight, the writers say they need to eat about 1,400 calories per day and to lose, they eat about 1,200. 

Fuck.

That seems low.

Maybe that's why I have been maintaining at 157 and not losing down to 153 or so where I want to be.

This last week, armed with that information, I have kind of given up in frustration.  Not given up in that I am overeating, but given up in that I haven't been trying to lose because I am most certainly eating too much for that.

I haven't been on the scale in a few days and for some reason now I am afraid to get on.

Stupid fucking thing.

Rain or shine

It is raining in Eugene, Oregon (shocker!).  Since I do much of my exercise outdoors, this could create an obstacle if I let it.

My work outs are more ones of frequency than high intensity.  I walk every day, usually for about an hour.  I go out for 30-60 minutes in the morning and then walk again for 15-30 minutes in the evening, depending on what else I am doing that day.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I ride my bike to and from work, which takes about 40 minutes total.  One Tuesdays and Fridays I go to the gym.  I do 30 minutes of cardio (usually the elliptical) and 20 or so minutes of weight lifting.  I often ride my bike on the weekends as well.  And of course, there is housework, yard work, shopping, etc.  I average the equivalent of 12,000 intentional steps per day.

I do some sort of exercise each and every day.  I may miss a couple of days per year if I am sick or traveling.  I am pretty obsessive about it, to be honest.  I enjoy cycling and walking my dog very much.  Neither of those activities feel like a chore.  I do not love going to the gym, but I do it anyway.  I have rehabilitated a shoulder injury by lifting weights so I know it is important.

The right gear is really important to safe and comfortable outdoor work outs. 

This is my bike, which is currently serving as a hanger for my gear in my office.  I have Columbia Sportswear rain pants, a helmet, a cool flashy bike light on the front and back and a super-stylish reflective orange safety vest.  I wear plain old rubber boots on my feet.  You can't see my jacket in the photo, but on a day like today that is both wet and cold, it is a heavy winter jacket.  I wear the rain gear when I walk too, but forgo the safety vest and lights.

It has been dark on my night walks lately and my daughter reminded my of the Woman in Black so now that's all I can think of when I walk in the park.

Have you seen that movie?  I watched it because I love Daniel Radcliff, even though I hate horror movies.  It is very creepy and this freaky woman appears to children and others who then immediately commit suicide in increasingly horrific ways.  They often see her in seemingly innocuous places, like oh, say the bushes in the park on a dark, rainy night. 

So I am mostly just walking around my neighborhood instead. 

 

Frustration!

I can back from vacation in August up about three pounds, which seemed about right.  Since then I have gained another four pounds or so.  September was a tough month and I didn't eat lite, at all.  I continued to follow my normal plan of logging my food and exercising, but I was probably eating about 1,600 calories a day on average, which is a little more than I would need to eat to lose.

All of October was spent really working at it, but at the end of the month, I was still up.  I weighed 158 at my last weigh in. 

Usually when I am not satisfied with my weigh in, I can look at my habits and see why.  It will be too many high-calorie coffee drinks or too many desserts or something obvious.  I just looked at MFP and saw that I was about 600 calories under my goal for the current week, 900 under for the previous week and 1,100 under for the week before that. 

Now, I do know that this time of the year is when I am more likely to gain weight.  It has happened before and it usually starts with Summer vacation.  The first time, I gained about 15 pounds, the second about six.  I'm at seven or eight this time around.  This is dangerous ground for me.  I feel like my body isn't responding or I am delusional or something.