Ice Cream is NOT a Breakfast Food

That's been my ongoing mantra this morning as I continue my weight loss journey. Yes, hello, I'm still here. I haven't posted on this blog in awhile, just a little ditty awhile ago to say that I'd been maintaining. And here I am...still maintaining. Yes, I'm happy to not be gaining. That is something. But I'm really wanting to continue with the weight loss.

Hubby bought ice cream last night and it was delicious. Moosetracks...yummo. And it's great as an occasional treat. The icy refreshing feel of ice cream sliding down the back of your throat combined with chocolate sending me into absolute euphoria. Yes...ice cream is good. In it's proper place, that is. BUT I can imagine that I would feel anything but euphoric a few minutes after consuming said ice cream for breakfast. In fact, I would probably feel guilty. Is that any way to start the day or the week for that matter? No. It is not. So I will head into the kitchen and pour myself a bowl (carefully measured of course) of shredded wheat (honestly it's pretty stinking good - I love shredded wheat) with some milk on top and wait for my coffee to brew. Ah - coffee - sweet coffee. Well, that's a different kind of euphoria perhaps for a different post!

I've maintained!

Well, I haven't been to a WW meeting in quite some time. I haven't even weighed myself in forever. Boo threw my scale down the stairs awhile back and I just now got it replaced. So of course first thing after getting it home I weighed myself.

I'm doing great! I'm maintaining my weight loss, which is huge. I may even be down a few pounds, but I'm not sure. I go by my ww weigh in for my official weight, so I need to get to a meeting to see where I'm at.

Now to kick my rear in gear and get back on the weight loss train! AND get back into regular ww meetings. I'm going this Saturday. I'm going this Saturday. I'm going this Saturday. I need to keep repeating that to myself. I think it's possible to lose this week despite Thanksgiving turkey with glorious fatty sides and desserts. I can do this!

A Weight Watcher's Milestone

Well, one of the big milestones in the weight watcher's program is losing 10% of your body weight. This is the first goal that everyone works towards when they join weight watchers. Weight watchers sets this goal for everyone coming in because just losing 10% of a person's body weight can lead to significantly better health.

This week's weight loss was 2.4 lbs. Woo woo - back on the weight loss train.

I felt really great about my success and decided to head to Goodwill for incentive clothing. I did find a pair of jeans that I can squeeze into. I definitely need to lose in order for them to be comfortable and more wearable. So they will be my new incentive jeans. I also got a few long sleeve shirts for fall and I found some cute overalls for Boo. Now I don't have to do laundry for him to have something to wear to the circus tonight!

Anyhoo, hopefully I can stay on the weight loss train. I know that I'll be splurging a bit tonight, but I have my weekly points for that. And as long as I stay within my points tonight and the rest of the week I should see a loss next Saturday!

Checking in Midweek

I'm reposting this. I accidentally posted it on the wrong blog!

Well, so far so good this week. Even though I ate a lot over the weekend, it came out of my extra weekly points that weight watchers allows. So I'm doing okay. I've been able to stay in my points every day and it's showing on the scale. Also, activity wise I think I'm doing okay. With having 5 children in the house 4-5 days a week I pretty much don't sit down all day. I'm constantly on the move. We still do our morning walk. Granted, this is not at all at a brisk pace. I have two walkers now and that really slows me down. But oh well. I try to go for another walk in the evenings with Boo and Wally. That walk's a bit faster since Boo rides in the stroller!

I'd love to get in some yoga during naptime, but right now I'm lucky if I sit down for 20 minutes during naptime (even though the kids sleep for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours). But there's so many things that need to get done in that time, plus there's a little baby that usually wants fed somewhere in there!

Anyways, it feels good to see some progress on the scale after buckling down and putting forth the effort!

Getting Back on Track

This has got to be my millionth post about getting back on track. But I really am trying here. I was finally able to attend a meeting last Saturday and wouldn't you know the topic for the week was about getting back on track. I found that a bit ironic!

Anyways, I've been tracking consistently the last few days. I didn't realize how much food had crept back into my weekends. Weekdays I do okay, which is why I'm not gaining weight. But the weekends are why I'm not losing. I am happy at least that in being off track I haven't gained weight. But I'm ready to get back on the weight loss train again. So here's hoping to the weigh-in this Saturday!

Come on...Seriously??

Well, I've been having an issue with weight watchers in that I've been sleeping in a lot of Saturdays and missing my weigh-in opportunity. Oops. I've also been cheating. Another oops. I know attending a few meetings is what I need to get back on track and stop all the cheating nonsense. So today was going to be the day.

Well, as I was getting ready to go today I realized that thanks to my wonderful housekeeping skills, I am missing a very important article of clothing that is necessary in order to step outside of my house. So I'll be doing laundry instead of going to my meeting today.

I can say that I know I'm up. I pigged out yesterday for sure and I've been cheating a lot. However, I've had enough good days in between the cheating that I've managed to stay steady overall. I do think that currently I'm up a few pounds though.

So I guess I'll make it a point to get the laundry done today.

Weigh-In This Week

Well, I went to my weigh in today to see the verdict now that I feel more on track. I'm down 5 pounds. Granted, 1.8 of that is weight that I gained while off track. But that still means that on top of losing that I have a significant loss. YAY!

It feels wonderful to be back on track again. I'm going to try to not get so far off track again. WW is easier when I'm "in my groove."

I have seen some significant numbers go as I've dropped pounds. Sorry - not sharing any specific numbers here. But it's been so wonderful and thrilling to see. I'm very happy with where I'm at now.

I don't know how much I've shared here, but one of my goals with this weight loss is to be at a healthy weight for my next pregnancy. It may seem weird to some to lose a bunch of weight only to put it back on with pregnancy weight. But it's not weird to me. Pregnancy is taxing on a woman's body...especially the back. Any weight that I can take off prior to putting that stress on my body would be wonderful. Not to mention, finding cute maternity clothes is hard enough without having to worry about finding something halfway cute in a larger size. Pregnant woman don't need more reasons to feel unattractive and having to wear stuff that you don't love doesn't help a woman to feel attractive!

Anyways, I pretty much dropped my baby weight with Boo immediately. There were a few pounds that came off more gradually after the pregnancy, but mostly the weight melted off when he was born. So I'm hoping to be that lucky again. The nice thing about weight watchers is that if I meet my goal weight prior to becoming pregnant I'm what they call a "lifetime member." I can go to meetings for free as long as I stay within a reasonable distance of my goal weight. I think it's within 2 lbs of my goal weight. Anyways, for pregnancy they give a woman so many weeks to get back down to their weight and then after that a woman would have to start paying if she hasn't gotten to her goal weight. That's a pretty great incentive to bust my arse after the pregnancy.

Anyhoo, this is long and rambly, but I'm glad to be back on track!

Back on the Weight Loss Train

I realize that it's been forever since I've posted on this blog. Oops. We had a week of constant cooking out. It was great fun and great food and I've been off track ever since then. Granted, I haven't gone hog wild. I just haven't been tracking my points. I did go and weigh in two weeks ago and found that I had gained 1.8 lbs...but that was after blowing off WW for 3 weeks. So I feel like that's pretty good actually. I got back off track after that weigh in and so didn't go to my weigh in this last Saturday. Bad bad bad - I know. Anyhoo, I'm having a great week so far and feel like I've finally hit my groove. I'm pretty sure that I've already lost that 1.8 lbs that I gained back, so we'll see how much of a loss I end up with at the end of this week. I can feel that I'm in my groove now though. I'm not sure why I was off track for so long. For some reason I was having a rough time feeling motivated to get back on track. I knew I wanted to, but my motivation would go right out the window as soon as I was presented with something scrumptious! I did have a lot of stress and change in the last month, so I'm sure that contributed to the problem.

So anyways, what's done is done and I'm moving on!

No Weigh In Last Saturday

Well, I didn't have a weigh in last Saturday. Well, actually, there was a weigh in and I've chosen not to attend. Between cooking out for T's birthday, two American idol parties, and another cookout with family this past Sunday it's been eat, eat, and eat some more around here. I need to add a cookout strategy to my weight loss plan! So...I knew I gained a bit and didn't want to go to my meeting and weigh in to confirm it. The good news is that the gain stopped after the first few parties. I've been maintaining. The bad news is that I haven't lost it yet. But today is a fresh day and I'm ready to dig deep for my motivation. So I'm ready to start being a loser again!

Caffeinated Duck

Well, I'm all done with no caffeine in the morning. There's been a couple of mornings where I was barely functional and found myself wishing for a coffee IV. So, I've returned to my caffeinated ways. And it's been delicious! Coffee - I missed you. I'm sorry I ever left. Will you forgive me and please take me back?

Down by 2.6 and I've Lost a Food Point

Well, I'm a loser again this week. Yay - I LOVE being a loser! :) Anyways, my total is now over 16 pounds lost. I feel pretty fantastic about that. I'm starting to actually believe that I will make my goal weight. Sometimes I feel pretty discouraged about the fact that there's so much to lose. I think it feels especially discouraging because this is weight that I'd lost previously. I thought at that time that I'd never see all this weight again. However, I lost weight last time mainly to working out. I did change my eating habits, but I didn't decrease my consumption of food as I lost weight. That's one thing I like about weight watcher's. Weight is one of the things used to calculate how many points a day I get to eat. So when weight goes down I get less points...which brings me to my next point (no pun intended).

I have lost a food point. So now I have one less point to use for eating everyday. I'm not sure if I'll really feel the difference that much or not. I guess that remains to be seen!

Weight Watcher's Update

Well, my "cheater" weigh-ins this week have confirmed that I'm on the right track. Unless I really gorge the next two days I should see a loss on Saturday morning. So we'll see how that goes.

This week hasn't been as active. I've been a bit busy with a few other pursuits this week. But T and I are hoping we can get out and jog this evening. So we'll see.

I do feel that my clothes are fitting better. I can already see a difference in my midsection. Granted, it still looks terrible. Having a baby will wreak havoc on a person's abs. I mean, they were flabby before. But good God - it's just downright scary now! My butt and hips are being stubborn - as usual. Unfortunately I'm thinking I'm going to have to start lunges, squats, and all that good lower body toning stuff to really make a difference in that area. UGH - I HATE lunges. But they work SO WELL!!!

Oh well. At least the eating is on track for this week and there's a great chance for weight loss.

And the verdict is......

In my previous post I stated that I wasn't sure what to expect this week. Well...are you ready for the verdict???

The verdict is - - - - -

NOTHING. No up or down. I stayed the same. Honestly, I'm okay with this. I know that I ate badly 2 out of the 7 days. Also, I know that when I really kick it into high gear work-out wise I tend to gain muscle and slow my weight loss a bit. Better in the long run for sure.

So my goal for this week is to not blow it any day of the week. Splurges are okay of course when they're within my weekly points. But no blowing it (i.e. - eating so many points that I blow through daily, all the weekly, and some points that aren't there in one day). Yes...I did that last Saturday. Maybe Sunday too...but I was so disgusted with myself that I didn't even add Sunday up!

I'm wondering if I should start taking some basic measurements. It might be good if my weight loss slows due to building muscle mass. That way I'd still be able to see the measurements shrinking even if it's not a "great" week with the scale. We'll see if I get around to that or not!

Not Sure What to Expect

Well, I'm not sure what to expect at my weigh in this week. I did my "cheater's" weigh in a couple of times this week and so far I'm still weighing heavier than I did this time last week. Yikes! And workout wise, I've been working my arse off. Here's what I've done this week:

Monday: resistance training and jog with hubby
Tuesday: digging in garden, jog with hubby, and bikeride with Boo
Wednesday: dogging in garden, bike ride with Boo
Thursday: bike ride with Boo

I'm going to try to get in more resistance training today as well as more cardio. I know from past experience that my body tends to build muscle as I lose weight (if I'm working out). This sometimes slows the weight loss.

However, I also had two very bad eating days this past week - Saturday and Sunday. So it's hard to say if the extra weight is from those two days or from building muscle or a combination of the two.

So I've got one more day. I'm not sure what will happen at my weigh in on Saturday. I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

On another note, T is going to start doing weight watchers with me. He wants to learn how to eat healthy. So I'm going over the program with him on Sunday night. He's not going to officially join and go to meetings and all that. That would just be expensive for both of us to do that. But I'm going to show him my materials and how to work the points.

My Entire Body is Sore

It hurts to move. My entire body is sore. I've been on the move nonstop this week. Hubby decided that he wants us to jog together every night. This is wonderful as I've been trying to get him to do this for years. And, once I'm in the habit, I really enjoy jogging outdoors. The first night we went Boo was actually with my mom. So that made it pretty easy. Last night we took him with us. We have a jogging stroller that hubby found. He fixed a side that was broken so that it's usable. But it veers to the right. So I'm constantly pushing harder with my right arm than with my left. No fun. But oh well, it's better than nothing. So I'm just happy we have it. Boo seemed to enjoy the jog. When we got back he kept saying "bike." He went into the garage and started trying to pull his bike trailer out of the garage. It was so cute that we then went on a short bike ride. Supper was way late, so I'm going to have to figure out how to fit dinner in at a reasonable hour with our jogging. And just when I had a great evening routine down! I'm actually so thrilled about this though. I think hubby's actually pretty serious about this, which is great. But, oh my goodness, I need new running shoes. Mine are probably about 4 or 5 years old and have no support. I can feel the shin splints wanting to start up. So hopefully I can splurge on some new running shoes soon.

I've also been working on digging out an area for our garden. I don't know - it is middle of May after all. Hmmmm.....really need to get those veggies in the ground! We had a tiny garden last year. This year we're relocating it and we're expanding. And guess who's done all of the digging so far - ME! That's not hubby's fault - he's just working a lot of hours and completing his EMT course. Also, on Monday I dug out my resistance bands and did some toning exercises with those. I'm hoping to keep that up. It's been so long since I've used them though that I need to find some exercise instructions for them. Right now I want to focus on upper body. Remember the previous post about the "Cherrington arms"? Yep - trying to combat that one. I even did a couple sets of push ups. Fun.

So anyways, between the jogging, biking, digging, and resistance workouts I'm pooped. My body is so sore. Kids are down for nap right now and I just gave myself a foot bath. That felt great. I have some of that pepperminty foot lotion and spray. That was wonderful. I need to take time to pamper myself more. Granted, the only reason I took the time for it was because my feet were filthy from digging in the garden while the kiddos played this morning. So they needed washed anyways. But it really made a difference as they're super sore from all I've asked them to do this week.

I did get back on track with eating as of Monday. And I've done well since then. I wonder how much those first two days will hurt me. Perhaps with all of this killing myself working out, I'll end up losing nothing because of two lousy days of eating poorly. Oh well - I'm still getting healthier and becoming more fit. And even if the numbers don't show that this week, it's still worth it to get up and get moving!

More Weight Loss and Starting the Week with a Bang

Well, I've lost another 1.6 pounds. YAY!

On a different note, after getting weighed in, yesterday was one not so great choice after another. Oops. My mom offered to buy me a tenderloin and shake from one of the restaurants in town that has the best. So, of course I folded. I figured I'd use my extra weekly points for it.

Then I went out with some friends last night and had a mixed drink. No idea how many points it was. I still need to try and figure that one out. It was smallish, so we'll see. Well, then, we went back to a friend's house for awhile and ate some frozen pizzas. I had three slices. Oops again.

Then I came home and hubby gave me some chocolate. Well, I ate some of it. Another oops.

So...I may have to get back on track with the working out if I want to see a loss this week. On another note I have started weeks out on an even worse note than this and ended up with a loss. The key is to not go, "Oh well" and consider the whole week a loss.

Remember those incentive jeans?

Remember my post awhile back about a pair of jeans that were a bit too snug? Well, I've been wearing them pretty comfortably all week. I guess it's time to see if I can find another incentive piece!

Still on my way down

Well, from my "cheater's weigh-in" it looks like I'm headed down, down, down. Yay! I'm a little disappointed with myself regarding the exercise though. I almost think part of the problem is that I'm losing weight at such a great rate without the exercise. So I'm not as motivated since I'm still achieving my goal of weight loss. I just need to remind myself that weight loss is only one aspect of being healthier. To truly be healthy I need the exercise!

I did get some exercise on Sunday. I started digging out a new area for this year's garden. We're expanding quite a bit and I got the perimeter dug. That took some effort for sure. It's rained the past few days so I haven't been able to get out there and get any more digging done. So any working out I do this work will probably be in the form of digging. And let me tell you, that's quite the workout!

I really do want to add some toning and get back on track with my treadmill. But it seems there's always a reason not to. I usually work out during nap time. So it's easy to come up with excuses to do something else. I'm too tired, the dishes need done, I want to check my facebook/email/online parenting forum, I want to read this book, the sky is too blue today. You get the idea. Blah blah blah, excuses, excuses.

The Weigh In - 2.4 Pounds Lost!

Well, another 2.4 pounds has gone. Yippee! I only need to do what I've already done approximately six more times and I'll be at my goal weight. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

I did better than expected this week. I didn't get in any working out (see previous post) and that was kind of a bummer. But I did stick to the plan!

This week my goal is to continue to stay on track with my points. I would like to get more working out in. Weight loss aside, regular exercise just has so many health benefits. I want to be able to keep up with my child and any future children. I want to have a healthy heart and lungs so that I can live to an old, incredibly wrinkly age. I want to avoid the "Cherrington arms". All family members will know of what I speak. Right now my arms are headed down that path. Sooo...while I've been doing great incorporating the treadmill, I need to do push-ups and tricep dips and bicep curls and the like **huge groan**. Let's just say workouts that focus on weight resistance are not my favorite. But totally a must for a healthy and fit body. Also, weight resistance exercises are proven to prevent osteoporosis, something I'd like to avoid in my old, wrinkly age.

Working Out Not So Great This Week

Well, my "cheater's weigh-in" did confirm that I'm on the right track...but much more slowly. I don't think I'm going to see as big of a loss tomorrow. I wanted to get in some work-outs this week and it just didn't happen. There were a couple of different things that derailed me on the days I was planning to work out. And now, for the past two days, I've had a migraine. I've never had a migraine before. OWWWWIEEEEEE. And for those that suffer from these regularly...my God...I'm so sorry for you. This sucks. I wish someone would just take a shovel to my head.

Anyways, it's hurting my head to stare at this computer. So another short and sweet post. I'll update tomorrow after my weight watcher's weigh-in.

The Weekly Weigh-In

Well, here's what happened after busting my arse on the treadmill and riding my bike with the fam. I went down 2.2 lbs!

Woo hoo. I'm very excited about my success. I'll update more later. Just wanted to get in this short little diddy!

Kicking into gear this week

Well, tomorrow the scales will tell if I've done enough. The week started off on a not so great note. But come on, Sunday was Easter. Was I really supposed to sit there and watch everyone else eat dessert and rich, yummy food. No way! So I allowed myself Sunday - whatever I wanted. And let me tell you, I had some brownie a la mode that I brought as a dessert. That was great. I also had several servings of the dessert my mom made. Some layered cappuccino pudding thing.

So anyways, Monday and Tuesday I spent in a sugar coma or so it seems. I was exhausted on Monday and Tuesday. I'm not sure if the busyness of the weekend caught up with me or if I really did lose a lot of energy from the less than healthy way that I ate on Sunday. Who knows?

So Tuesday I did my little "cheaters weigh in" that I do almost every week midweek. Well, let's just say that I was NOT on the right track. SOOOoo...on Wednesday I did some interval training and stuck like glue to my points. Thursday I did a long, slow workout instead of the interval training. I walked on an incline for an hour while the kiddos were down for nap. Then I went for a bikeride that night with the fam to and from a local park. It was nice. I packed a picnic dinner (well within my points) and we headed home. Granted, after we got home I had a glass of wine and some chips and salsa. I was hungry after all of the exertion. So I dipped into my weekly points a bit there.

Today I haven't done anything major. I took Boo for a walk in the stroller and to the park. But no major working out. I've just been running here and there all day.

I did do another "cheaters weigh in" this morning and I will say that it looks promising. But I still have a birthday party to get through tonight. Although, I don't think I'll be as tempted to indulge knowing that I step on the scale first thing tomorrow morning. I mean, I won't have time to work out and undo any gain that I create. So, I'm going to try really hard to be good.

I'll update again after the weigh in.

Uncaffeinated Duck

I haven't had my coffee for several weeks now. This wasn't intentional. I stopped drinking it to help with a health issue. No intention of quitting whatsoever. However, that being said, here I am several weeks out with no caffeine. And honestly, I think I feel better. Believe it or not I've been able to find energy in my morning once I'm up around. The difference is that it's a more gradual energy and not a jittery burst. I've always been pretty sensitive to caffeine's effects and for that reason am very careful not to overcaffeinate myself. The few times that I've done that it's been downright frightening. But anyways, I feel like my energy level is more even...not as up and down as it is with caffeine. I know that's a duh no-brainer statement, but oh well. I don't know. I'm seriously considering kicking it to the curb. Granted, I'd probably enjoy the occasional coffee drink now and then on the weekend or something, but not this everyday thing that I've been in. I think my energy level would be a lot better. Also, I think my irritability has decreased somewhat without the morning cup of joe. Decreased irritability is a pleasant side effect of my cutting caffeine. So now I wonder if I can really do this? I'm one of those people that actually drinks coffee for the taste just as much as the energy boost. So that I would miss. I could always look for some good decaf - but the kind that's decaffeinated naturally. I think it's some sort of water process - haven't really researched. Not the kind that has formaldehyde (typical decaf). So we'll see. But for now I think I'm going to keep on going with no joe in the morning. I guess that will be one less thing to do.

The Weekly Weigh-In

I went to my weight watcher's meeting this morning and weighed on. Looks like I was right about being back on track. I lost 2.8 pounds this week. Woo hoo!

Here's some things that helped my success:

I didn't sit around and mope about the gain last week. I just got back onto the program and stuck with it.

The few times that I had food that wasn't prepared at home I tried to make better choices and really watch the portions. We had La Gondola on Thursday night when my son and his cousins dyed Easter eggs. Their garlic bread is amazing. However, instead of mowing down on it I limited myself to one piece - I was the one that cut the bread, so I cut the pieces pretty small. I ate more of the Torpedo sub - a cold cut sub. I had a small portion of the spaghetti. Okay - and I did have a dilly bar afterwards. But because I was so good with the dinner I was able to work this in using some of my weekly points that are available for splurges.

I worked out. Okay - only one day. But one is better than none. And I will say that I busted my arse. We have a treadmill that someone gave us awhile back. It's stuck on an incline...so needless to say it's quite the workout. Granted, it's not a horrible incline, but still enough to make everything harder. I did interval training. I enjoy interval training much more than just plain walking or running. For those that have never tried it, here's the gist. You get your heart rate up by it's max for a minute or so and then you bring it down to more of a fat-burning level. You keep it at the lower level for a minute or so. Then you go back up. And back down and back up. And I think you get the gist. You do that for 20 minutes and you've got the equivalent of a 60 minute workout at a slower pace. Granted, the 60 minute workout has it's place as it helps with endurance. But, it's very hard for me to have a longer amount of time to work out. And this way I still feel like I'm getting a great workout. I also add on a 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down. So total, it's 30 minutes. Anyways, I did a lot of interval training when I lost tons of weight before my wedding. It definitely works. And it really helps improve cardiovascular fitness big time.

I didn't give up even when I felt I might have overindulged. Last week I made that mistake and gave in to the lure of Girl Scout cookies towards the end of the week. I tend to get suckered into that type of "Oh hell...I've already screwed up" mentality a lot. So, I fought very hard against that.

Outdoor time. Being out in the sun lifts my mood and helps with my motivation level.

Anyways, that's the update for now.

You Might Notice That The Turtle Went Backwards

The turtle on my weight ticker at the bottom of the screen, that is. Last week was not great. I didn't feel well. Boo didn't feel well all week. So I turned to the comfort of my Girl Scout cookies. Big mistake. Too many cookies. It would've been worse if I hadn't worked out a little last week.

However, I have already cheated and weighed myself at home this week to see if I'm on the right track. Much better. I can tell you that there's probably going to be a loss this week when I weigh in at Weight Watcher's on Saturday. So, boo for a bad week. But hurray for not getting down about it and getting back on track.

I'll Be Happy Just to Not Gain

Well, despite my success at the last weigh in, this week is not going great. I've had a couple of not so great days. That in and of itself wouldn't be horrible. And I did work out last night on our treadmill. That felt pretty good and I earned points doing that.

However, I'm having to drink massive amounts of cranberry juice at this point in time for a health issue. And if I add the cranberry juice into my points tracker, well, I have next to nothing left to eat on. So I've chosen to ignore the cranberry juice altogether and not add it in. This will likely keep me from losing this week. But I don't want to starve...and the cranberry juice is just not optional right now. It's a bummer...but I'm still going to try to do what I can to be responsible with everything else. There's a time where I'd say to hell with it and just eat like crap all week, since I couldn't be "perfect." However, I'm not going to go that route. But I may have to accept little to no progress this week. I'm really just hoping to not gain anything back.

Incentive Clothing

Well, I'm pretty excited about losing 6 pounds in the last 2 weeks, especially considering being gone and eating out for a whole weekend for my conference.

We stopped by Goodwill on Saturday as I was looking for some daycare items. I decided to browse the clothing and found some great buys. I found a pair of jeans that look brand new and they were super cheap. I also got a bright red long and flowy skirt and a pair of brown corduroy capris. The jeans are the size I wear now, but they're in a brand that runs smaller, so they're a bit snug. After getting them home and wearing them around the house, I realized that they're even more snug than I originally though. So they're now the designated "incentive jeans." Granted, I have a whole pile of "incentive clothing" that I lent to my mom until I lose my weight. However, they're all about 5-7 sizes too small for me, whereas these jeans will probably fit great after the loss of just 5-10 pounds. So, it's nice to have something that will be a much more immediate reward. So here's to those incentive jeans fitting in a few weeks!

The Weigh In

Well, I had my second weigh in since restarting weight watchers. The verdict????

I've LOST 6 pounds. YAY...Woo..Woo!

Here's hoping for a successful week until next weigh in. I'm going to continue to focus on staying within my points. Today I'm starving. I was in such a rush to get to Weight Watchers that I didn't have time for breakfast. I ate a little bit for lunch around 1:30. It took me forever to get Boo down for nap and I was wanting to wait for lunch until after that. So I've had a bagel with cream cheese and chips (a single serving, mind you). I think I'm going to head to the kitchen and scrounge around for some veggies after I get off of here. I know that missing meals contributes to overeating later in the day to make up for it. So I'm trying to be sensible. Hopefully if I fill my tummy with some veggies I'll resist the temptation to overeat!

Staying on the Steady Path

Well, I'm happy to say that I still feel like I'm doing great. The nice thing about weight watchers is that it's not overly restrictive. I can eat whatever food I want pretty much. It's just that splurges have to be accounted for by cutting back elsewhere. Yes, I'm talking about balance, that elusive concept that baffles so many of us.

I'm proud to say that we have boxes upon boxes of Girl Scout cookies just sitting in the pantry. Now, mind you, I've had a cookie or two now and then, but I've accounted for it within my allowed points. I'm proud that I haven't sat down and eaten through a whole box in one sitting. Anyone who cherishes Girl Scout cookies the way I do will understand the amount of restraint this takes. But honestly, I haven't even really thought about them that much. I eat one or two, okay usually two, when I think about it and that's it. They're not off limits, so I guess I don't feel the need to gorge on them. In fact, the less I eat, the longer they'll be around and I get to enjoy them. After all, Girl Scouts are a once a year opportunity. So I'd hate to gobble them up too fast!

Lowered Points

Yesterday was my first day that I ate with lowered points. My points lowered because I changed the way I answered some of the questions on their online quiz that tells you how many points to eat. I took away the 5 extra points for nursing. Apparently there's some conflicting research out there as to whether or not women really need to eat extra calories for nursing. Some women do feel hungrier and should eat to satisfy that hunger, while others are content without adding in extra calories. The breastmilk will still be great either way. So I've decided to take out those extra points and see what happens. While I definitely wouldn't want my points to be too low and risk slowing my metabolism, I don't want too many points as that will slow my weight loss unnecessarily. So I decided to take those points out and see how it goes. Not to mention, Boo is nursing - but he's also a toddler with a wide variety in his diet. So I don't think he's taking in all that much milk. So the nursing points just don't seem necessary to me right now. I also adjusted my activity level on the quiz. I had it at a higher level. It will probably go higher as it gets warmer and I get out more with the kids and do more walks. But I admit that with winter I've done a lot more sitting, even with two toddlers around all day. So I changed the activity level to reflect that. So I lost 9 points. This means a little less room for my splurges - beer, wine, ice cream, whatever. So I have to be a bit more mindful if I'd like to have that little treat at the end of my day!

Anyways, I feel that I did okay yesterday. I did dip into some weekly points, but hey, that's okay. Overall I feel okay about it. I did feel a bit hungrier. So we'll see how it goes and if my body adjusts to this lower point level.

Feeling Good

I have to say that I'm feeling pretty good about my Weight Watchers despite the rough weekend. I feel like I got back on track pretty quickly. Today I redid the questions on the site and my daily points dropped down a bit. So now I'll have to be a bit more careful as I adjust to eating with less points.

That's the thing about Weight watchers that will be difficult. As I lose weight, I'll have less points to eat with and it will get harder to eat within my points. I think this has been my problem in the past. I've lost weight by working out tons and eating reasonably. But when I stopped working out as much, I didn't reduce my eating to coincide with a lowered activity level. A lot of the time, I've still been eating healthy foods - just too much of them for my activity level. Or...a major problem...too many sweets!

I'm really excited about losing this weight. I know it's going to happen because I've made my mind up. It's a familiar state of mind as I experienced this state of mind the other times in my life when I lost tons of weight. But I really believe that weight watchers is going to give me the tools to keep it off - something that I didn't have before.

Didn't Do So Hot With That

Well, I must say that it was incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for me to count over the weekend while at my conference. I think one thing that made it harder is that we were on the go the entire time. Lunch time flew by. We usually ate lunch at a restaurant on the street that we were on or at the university's food court. So it was all fast food type stuff. I'd love to say that I cut down on portion sizes to make up for it, but I was starving every meal. I even finished an entire Qdoba burrito - usually I can only eat half of one of those things! I'm hoping maybe it's because I was on the go so much that I was burning it off. I guess the scale will tell the truth on that one when I step on it on Saturday. I'd weigh myself here but I'm trying not to obsess. Also, it's a different scale than the weight watchers one, so it's not like it'd tell me much if I weighed on a different scale, know what I mean? We had Olive Garden one night and the angel on my shoulder told me to go for a red sauce. Well, the little devil won out on that one. I got the fettuccine alfredo - and boy was it good! Boo split it with me, so I didn't eat the entire thing. But once again, I can usually only eat about half of their serving - if that much - and I scarfed the entire thing down. I will say on a positive note that there wasn't much munching or eating sweets, something I usually reserve some points for at home. So hopefully the fact that I didn't have anything sweet will help. Okay - I did have a Girl Scout thin mint - but only one.

We had Panera a couple of the mornings for breakfast. I ordered a "Power Sandwich" which looked like a pretty healthy option. I know better than to go near those bagels. That probably would've been over half my daily points right there! Anyways, the sandwich only had 340 calories. I didn't have the fat and fiber information, so I couldn't calculate the points. But it was advertised as one of their healthy options. So hopefully it was as healthy as they made it out to be. When I had Chick fillet one day I got a grilled chicken instead of breaded. So I did put forth some sort of effort. But I did not actually track points. So I'm a bit curious to see the scale this Saturday.

Anyways, I'll post on how that all turns out after my meeting on Saturday.

Anyways, it was just terribly difficult as my choices were pretty limited and I was pressed for time most meals.

Not Sure How I'm Going to Manage This One!

I'm going to a conference this weekend. I'll be leaving with a friend tomorrow evening and will be gone until Sunday evening. That's A LOT of eating out. So I'm trying to figure out how to prepare myself. Part of me wants to say, "Ah, screw it" and eat whatever and get back on track after I get him. Thing is, I don't really want to do that. I want to stay somewhat on track so that I can see some good progress at my next meeting. I won't be able to go to this Saturday's meeting due to being out of town. So my next weigh in will be a week from Saturday. And I know I'll need to see some progress for two weeks on weight watchers.

I'm going to take my weight watcher's books. They have common food items listed with point values. I have one that's a guide specifically for eating out that has popular restaurants and their food. So, I think I'll be able to find stuff to stay in my points. Problem is, will I be able to find enough filling food so that I'm not insanely hungry by the end of each day. I wonder if I should try to purchase some healthy snacks to take with me. Any ideas?

No I will NOT gorge myself on Girl Scout Cookies!

I placed an order for Girl Scout cookies a month ago and they're finally here. I picked them up today. I forgot how many I ordered. Ummm...I missed out Girl Scout cookies the past 2-3 years because no one asked me and I found out they were being sold after the fact. This year a Girl Scout called me to ask me to buy some. YAY - I was so excited that I decided to stock up so that I'd have GS cookies to eat all year long!

Yeah - there's a lot there. I haven't even counted them yet. Maybe 10 boxes or so? I've had 2 samoas today (worth 3 points total). And I made myself wait to eat them until after I'd already eaten lunch! Samoas are so good - I could easily eat a box of them without thinking about it if I let myself.

So, NO I WILL NOT GORGE MYSELF ON GIRL SCOUT COOKIES. I WILL NOT. I WILL NOT. I WILL NOT.

My 20.5 point lunch

Yes...20.5 points for lunch. That will mean something for those who have been on weight watchers before. For those who haven't...well...for someone who is a decent weight that might be close to all of their daily points!

What did I have? A crispy chicken wrap and a small hot fudge shake from Dairy Queen. The crispy chicken wrap was sooooo tiny too. It's smaller than the similar one that Taco Bell has.

Anyhoo, that left me with not very many points for dinner. But, the nice thing with weight watchers, is that I was very aware of the need to cut back for dinner. This doesn't mean that I starved myself. I still ate dinner and finished out the night pretty satisfied. I probably could've been a little more satisfied if I hadn't splurged on lunch. But I definitely didn't go to bed hungry or anything like that. The key to that??? LOTS of veggies at dinner time! I still had 1/2 cup of mac 'n' cheese too! I did cut into my weekly points a bit so that I could have a beer.

The ability to use weekly points at my discretion is one of the things that I LOVE about weight watchers. Granted, I could choose to not use them and lose weight quicker. But I would end up feeling deprived and binging. Using my weekly points ensures that I get a little something almost every day. Usually it's beer. I often don't have enough extra points for both beer(or wine) and ice cream. And wouldn't you know it that most days I'd actually prefer the alcohol? That's a good thing. Alcohol in moderation (such as once a day or once every other day) is not bad for you and in fact has some health benefits. I don't know that ice cream has any known health benefits, except maybe mentally! :) Anyways, I was really getting into a bad habit of eating ice cream almost every night while I was preggo. In fact, Boo had started to ask for "ice keem" in the evenings. This is not something I want to pass onto my son...the need to gorge on ice cream in the evenings. So I will definitely continue to include ice cream in my life as it's a huge love of mine, but it will be less frequently enjoyed!

So, while a 20.5 point lunch is not the wisest thing that I've done lately, I still made it work!

First Day Complete and Ticker Added

Well, I stayed within my points today. Woo hoo. Wasn't great...could've had more veggies, but I need to go grocery shopping. So I'm just going to be content with the fact that I stayed within my points. I'm sure that I'll get back into the swing of things more and more as time goes by.

I created my weight loss ticker and added that to the bottom. I can't wait to see it start to move!

Welcome

Given recent events, I'll be resuming my weight loss journey. I want to focus on something positive and getting healthy is positive. I'll be rejoining weight watchers and getting back on track.

So, as with the original blog, sexyby30, I have a lot of reasons for wanting to do this.

I want to be healthy for myself. I want to feel good when I look in the mirror. I want to be in good shape and able to keep up with my kiddo and any future kiddos.

I want to stop using food as an emotional crutch, craft more, and mindlessly munch less.

I want this extra weight gone as it's putting a lot of stress on my body!

So join me on my journey. I'm hoping this will add a greater sense of accountability and also that this will inspire others to make healthy changes!