Tuesday, March 18, 2008

"Better Dead Here than Dead in the Core"

What mesa talkin' 'bout?

Sorry, couldn't resist. I don't know if you have seen Star Wars: Phantom Menace, but the first time I ever heard about Core plan, I had a mental image of Boss Nass saying "Through the PLANet CORE..."

Anyway, for those of you who are interested, I maintained again this week, so that's two weeks in a row with no losses or gains. Honestly, I'd thought that plateauing would have taken longer to get around to. I mean, really! I'm only in week 11! That's just not fair on so many levels.

Of course, I'm having serious guilt issues about having bought new clothes, since I haven't lost any weight in the last two weeks, I feel like I don't deserve them. And I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'd be ok with no loss if I was cheating, but I'm not. What I eat, I write it down. According to the Daily Plate, I'm getting in no more than 1650 calories a day on days that I work out, and around 1300-1400 on days that I don't. I'm working out, I'm not nibbling or grazing, or stealing or cheating, and I'm still not getting anywhere. Tell me how that's fair.

It's not. And life isn't. Why I'm surprised and offended by this, I have no idea.

I didn't have the energy to stick around for yesterday's meeting, after I got 'no loss'. I was planning on it, originally. I went by myself (well, Darcy went with me because she wanted to, but Thomas stayed home because he's got some Mongolian Death Virus... of course, she started whining for her dad mere moments after leaving the house...) and I waved at my new friend Leslie, and was hoping to sit with her during the meeting and gossip about new clothes and shoes and stuff.

And then I got the 'no loss' and I just... couldn't. I used Thomas as my excuse, and went home.

So... we're gonna mix it up with Core for this week. Which is, honestly, a freaking daunting task. I don't know the first thing about it - aside from what's in the book... despite the fact that Beth (our leader) is on Core, she doesn't talk about it much, so I've had to scour Weight Watcher's community message boards for information.

Couscous, for instance... is that a once-a-day food like brown rice or pasta, or is it 'free'? Why plain yogurt only, when there are tons of fat-free flavored varieties? Is deli meat core?

(it's free, because flavored yogurts are abused, and no)

I'm trying to plan out menus for a whole week so I can do my shopping today and not having an easy time with it. I expect Thomas and I will subsist on a modified Atkins sort of diet (No bread!) with salads and fruits thrown in. It also means that I'll have to make him lunch every night, since if I expect him to do it himself, he just won't eat.

If you have any Core recipes that you'd like to share, PLEASE, I am begging you, do so. (keeping in mind that Thomas is allergic to shellfish, so anything with shrimp, crab, etc, is Right Out)

6 comments:

Pattie said...

Hey Lynn -

Core is pretty easy, once you get used to it. And remember, you CAN have bread (or ice cream, or whatever else your little heart is craving!) You just need to use your 35 bonus Points to do it.

Fat free plain yogurt... yep, no flavored stuff. But you can make your own by adding fresh fruit, or maybe vanilla extract and a little sweetner.

As for meats - avoid the deli meats, if you can. If you don;t want to cook your own meats, you might try buying those pre-roasted chickens they sell in the deli. Our local store also roasts turkey breast. Yum!

I hope this answers some of your questions. You're doing the right thing. Hitting a plateau is SO frustrating, but the only way to break it is to mix things up! Same with your exercise: do something different so your body goes, "Hey, she's serious about this weight loss thing!"

Hang in there, girl!

Anonymous said...

Good luck, hon!

I turned this recipe archive up in a search, and I'll send along some forum links I found (sorry, blogger won't let me link): http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=25930

How long has your leader been on Core, or did she choose to go that route permanently?

Cammy@TippyToeDiet said...

Excuse my stern font here, but you DESERVE the splurge on new clothes because you have done so well on your journey so far. Face it, you could have hit a flat week last week and decided, "Well, that's it, I'm done!" And dived mouth-first into a bowl of cheese dip. But you didn't. You continued to do the right things for yourself. You won.

Now, as far as your 'jiggle things up' plan, I like it. Throw your body a curve and see what happens.

HappyBlogChick said...

Oooooh, go you with the trying Core. I've never done it ... every time I look into it I think "yeah, not gonna happen." But from what I understand it's a great way to shake things up and get a loss going.

And you very much deserve new clothes. :-)

Anonymous said...

Oh, honey...it totally sucks to not lose when you're doing everything right! And you are! I'd harp about the muscle-building and whatnot but I know that's really just annoying a lot of the time, not reassuring. (At least for me.) Even if it's true...

Don't you dare feel guilty for the new clothes! You've earned them! They're not contingent on continued success, they're a reward for the success you've already had and you deserve them big time. And you'll be getting more because you'll start losing again. Just hang in there and be strong...you're definitely making the right moves and handling it the right way.

Thanks so much for your donation too, that is just awesome. If you'll leave me your mom's name, I'm starting an "in honor of" roll on our page for the survivors of family and friends in whose honor we're walking/running. I'd love to have her name on it! And congratulations to her for being a survivor. :-)

V.

Anonymous said...

Enjoy those clothes girl. You deserve them. Two weeks no gain, hey your body is catching up with the fantastic loses you've had.

I don't know much about weight watchers or the Core plan, so I'm going out on a limb here.

It sounds crazy, but it looks like you need to add more calories to your plan. Your body needs the nutritious content to help boost your metabolism. I think that's what you're doing with Core, right?

Also, if your workout routine is similar as to your March 5th post, I recommend lifting 5 pound weights at lower reps or more weight to overload your muscles with proper form for 12 reps/3 sets. Add intensity to your current cardio routines.

Your body is more efficient with your increased activity. It's time for a shake up and up the level a bit.

You're doing fantastic. Keep up the good work. You'll get over this plateau.