I posted a comment on Ashley’s blog, and then decided to expand on it here, because I wonder if others had the same childhood learning that they had to unlearn (or if you learned it but it still works for you).
I know a lot of us were members of the “clean plate club” … you couldn’t leave the table until you finished your dinner, there are starving kids in China, blah blah blah. A lot of us had to drop out of that club and change that learning before we could successfully lose weight.
That's not the club I'm talking about, though. I was a member of another club. I was a member of the “don’t spoil your dinner” club. I remember being RAVENOUS waiting for dinner to be ready. Mom was cooking, kids were helping out, and OH the hunger. And I remember not being allowed to eat anything during that time because it would “spoil my dinner.”
I carried that idea into my adulthood … if I was cooking or especially if I was going out to dinner, I wouldn’t let myself eat anything. That way I’d be good and hungry at dinner.
Oh my gawd! Talk about a recipe for overeating!
I really had to retrain myself on the whole eating before dinner thing. It’s extra-important for me these days, since my husband gets home from work fairly late. Now, I have a late afternoon snack with some protein (often a vitamuffin and skim milk – 3 points and oh so good), and then sometimes an even later right-before-dinner snack of raw veggies. I find it really helps me keep the overeating at dinner in check, and I make better food choices when I’m looking at a menu because I’m not ravenous.
Was anybody else a member of the “don’t spoil your dinner” club? I’m curious – have you dropped out of the club?
Tangent … the phrase “ruin your dinner” makes me think of this video, which makes me very happy:
Can you tell I’m totally trying to distract myself from thinking about the fact that I still haven’t heard from the doc with my test results? I called the office four and a half hours ago (after three hours of watching the clock), and asked them to call me, and they said they’d call me back. No word yet. ARGH!
I did get my MyShape clothes, though. I’m holding off on the review for now … details to follow (I wouldn’t consider the MyShape experience over at this point).
----------------------------------
EDITED TO ADD:
I heard from the doctor. STILL no definitive answers. STILL they THINK this is a typical not-of-concern hemangioma, but they don't know for sure and they need to know for sure because the alternatives are bad news. Now they're sending me for a Nuclear Medicine Scan. That'll have to happen after I get back from vacation.
I guess inconclusive news is better than bad news, right?
I was really hoping for good, or at least reassuring news, though ...
Showing posts with label Weight Watchers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weight Watchers. Show all posts
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Where am I? Volume 9 (Alternate Title: Second verse, same as the first)
It’s Wednesday, so it’s time to ask the question I ask every Tuesday … Where am I in my weight loss health and fitness journey?
Yeah, I’m late this week. Oops.
Anyway, where am I? Well, as I mentioned yesterday, I am AT GOAL in terms of weight! Yay! The last few weeks I've been de-emphasizing weight because it was making me crazy to focus on the scale when the numbers were decreasing soooooo slooooowly, but this week I’m all about talking about weight. I’m at goal! All my pants fit again, shopping is fun again, I’m satisfied when I look in the mirror. There’s nothing crazy-making about being at goal.
The thing is, there’s nothing FINAL about being at goal either.
This isn’t the end of anything, really. I get to eat a wee little bit more, I increase the calories some, but otherwise I have to keep doing what I’ve been doing. Don’t get me wrong, I have a sense of accomplishment about reaching goal and I’m going to reward myself for getting here, but I’m also well aware that the journey isn’t over. Heck, it’s hardly begun.
I’ve been at goal before. Actually, I’ve been at goal a couple times. I’ve never STAYED at goal. When it comes right down to it, my big overriding goal isn’t to be at my goal weight, it’s to stay at my goal weight. That, for me, is the true challenge.
So, a quick moment of celebration and badge-tasticness:
(It says at goal and maintaining … I am at goal, and since I’m looking at the average weight from the past week, I’m calling that maintaining. Yay for a pretty badge!)
Now, back to the business of living a healthy life, because the journey isn’t over.
On to EXERCISE!
Exercise: My goal for last week was 3x cardio via couch to 5k workouts and 2x strength training. Uhhh, yeah. I’m glad I got that “goal” badge because I sure wasn’t going to get the exercise badge this week. I did 1x couch to 5k and 0x strength training. Thank goodness for new weeks – this week has already gone better than last week.
And thank goodness my slackerness last week doesn’t seem to have affected my ability to run 25 minutes. I did OK with my run on Monday (which is, for me, the start of the new week). It was hard, but I took it slow and it wasn’t impossible. I’ll do a 25 minute run again today – wish me luck! Today will be couch to 5k week 7 day 3 … later this week I start week 8 and increase my time to 28 minutes. YIKES.
Oh yeah, and let’s do the official numbers on the weight loss:
Weight loss since last Tuesday: 0.8 lbs (134.0 vs. 133.2).
Weight loss since fall 2007 (most recent leg of weight loss journey): 19.2 lbs (152.4 vs. 133.2). Hmmm, I bet I’ll get a 20 lb badge at some point. We’ll see. I’m happy with my weight right now, but it never hurts to see a bright shiny new badge, and it falls in my weight goal range …
Total weight lost (entire weight loss journey): 33.8 lbs (167 vs. 133.2).
I want to thank all of you for your support on this journey and helping me celebrate my new at-goal status. It means a lot to me. I’m looking forward to having all of you join me here in maintenance-land!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Just keep on keepin’ on
I have to confess; this past week I’ve been feeling a little weary when it comes to my weight loss journey. I’m losing weight, there’s no doubt about it, but for the past month my average loss is less than a pound a week, so it’s slow going.
I’m not giving up – I’m on plan and actively working to find my motivation. I tell myself that losing slowly is the way to go, since I’ll be more likely to keep it off. And I tell myself that going at weight loss reasonably, without depriving myself all the time, is going to teach me how to watch my weight and still live life at the same time. I tell myself that I should focus my mental energy on exercise, and try to get my mind off the scale. And I tell myself that I’m close to goal, and to hang in there. But all the messages I’m sending myself aren't always effective motivators.
I think learning how to send ourselves positive messages is an important part of the process of getting healthy. I think that what we believe will come true - if we send ourselves negative messages we’ll lose faith in ourselves and get off track, and if we send ourselves positive messages we’ll have faith in ourselves and stay the course. But, no matter how important positive self-talk is, sometimes the positive self-talk isn’t enough. Sometimes re-energizing words come from other people’s mouths.
I get an enormous amount of positive energy from reading other people’s blogs and the comments on my blog. I get positive energy from hearing people’s weight loss and weight maintenance success stories. And sometimes, I get positive energy from VERY strange places.
Over the weekend I was in the car clicking around to find a radio station, and I ended up on a 70’s station. Time passes, I’m day dreaming and chatting with my husband and half-listening to the radio, and Ease On Down the Road by Michael Jackson comes on the radio. I’m half-listening, but the more I hear the closer I listen. As strange it as it sounds, I found that song very comforting. I’m not a huge Michael Jackson fan, the man clearly has issues, but put that aside for now and look at some of the lyrics …
I’m sure ol’ Mikey was not thinking about weight loss, but his song is so appropriate for what we’re all going through. It sends a message about just keepin’ on keepin’ on through the long journey down the weight loss and maintenance road, and not getting discouraged when you take a few steps backwards, and if you keep on walking down the road you’ll be OK, and … I tell you, back in the day, Michael Jackson might have been able to lead a Weight Watchers meeting or two.
So, as cheesy as it sounds, my Monday message to you all and to myself is that the road we’re walking might be long sometimes, but just keep on steppin’, ‘cause we’ll be just fine.
I’m not giving up – I’m on plan and actively working to find my motivation. I tell myself that losing slowly is the way to go, since I’ll be more likely to keep it off. And I tell myself that going at weight loss reasonably, without depriving myself all the time, is going to teach me how to watch my weight and still live life at the same time. I tell myself that I should focus my mental energy on exercise, and try to get my mind off the scale. And I tell myself that I’m close to goal, and to hang in there. But all the messages I’m sending myself aren't always effective motivators.
I think learning how to send ourselves positive messages is an important part of the process of getting healthy. I think that what we believe will come true - if we send ourselves negative messages we’ll lose faith in ourselves and get off track, and if we send ourselves positive messages we’ll have faith in ourselves and stay the course. But, no matter how important positive self-talk is, sometimes the positive self-talk isn’t enough. Sometimes re-energizing words come from other people’s mouths.
I get an enormous amount of positive energy from reading other people’s blogs and the comments on my blog. I get positive energy from hearing people’s weight loss and weight maintenance success stories. And sometimes, I get positive energy from VERY strange places.
Over the weekend I was in the car clicking around to find a radio station, and I ended up on a 70’s station. Time passes, I’m day dreaming and chatting with my husband and half-listening to the radio, and Ease On Down the Road by Michael Jackson comes on the radio. I’m half-listening, but the more I hear the closer I listen. As strange it as it sounds, I found that song very comforting. I’m not a huge Michael Jackson fan, the man clearly has issues, but put that aside for now and look at some of the lyrics …
… Come on, ease on down, ease on down, down the road
Pick your left foot up
When your right foots down
Come on legs keep movin’
Don’t you lose no ground
You just keep on keepin’
On the road that you choose
Don’t you give up walkin’
‘cause you gave up shoes, no
Ease on down, ease on down the road
Come on, ease on down
Ease on down the road
Don’t you carry nothing
That might be a load
Come on, ease on down
Ease on down the road
‘cause there may be times
When you think you lost your mind
And the steps you’re takin’
Leave you three, four steps behind
But the road you’re walking
Might be long sometimes
You just keep on steppin’
And you’ll just be fine, yeah
Ease on down, ease on down the road
Come on, ease on downEase on down the road …
(Etc. etc. etc.)
I’m sure ol’ Mikey was not thinking about weight loss, but his song is so appropriate for what we’re all going through. It sends a message about just keepin’ on keepin’ on through the long journey down the weight loss and maintenance road, and not getting discouraged when you take a few steps backwards, and if you keep on walking down the road you’ll be OK, and … I tell you, back in the day, Michael Jackson might have been able to lead a Weight Watchers meeting or two.
So, as cheesy as it sounds, my Monday message to you all and to myself is that the road we’re walking might be long sometimes, but just keep on steppin’, ‘cause we’ll be just fine.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Where am I? (Volume 5)
It’s Tuesday, the day to review where I am in my weight loss journey.
Where am I? Is sore a location? Because after my workout last night, I’m sore. Last night I did my couch to 5k week 4 day 1 run, and then an hour of strength training with some intense cardio mixed in. It was a great workout, and an interesting run. I’ll talk about couch to 5k run in more detail in another post, though.
Let’s talk about the weight loss part of this journey for now. Where am I in my weight loss journey? We’ll start with the data.
Weight loss since last Tuesday: 0.6 lbs (137.2 vs. 136.6)
Yay for a loss! I had a wonderful on-plan week last week until Saturday, and then I crashed and burned over the weekend. I’m glad to see the loss this week.
Weight loss since fall 2007 (most recent leg of weight loss journey): 15.8 lbs (152.4 vs. 136.6).
I got my 15 lb badge last week, so there’s nothing new to report this week.
Total weight lost (entire weight loss journey): 30.4 lbs (167 vs. 136.6)
I earned my 30 lb badge! Woo hoo!
Exercise: Last week was the first week I’d earned my exercise badge, and I felt confident I’d earn it this week, too.
I was wrong.
I worked out Monday and Wednesday, but I dropped the ball on my 3rd workout of the week. Life got in the way on Friday and Saturday, and because of the intensity of my Monday workouts a Sunday workout is unwise.
I’m bummed that I didn’t reach my exercise goal for a couple reasons. First, I’m going to be in maintenance soon, and I’ll need to shift some of my focus from my weight to my fitness level. I don’t just want to be skinny, I want to be fit and healthy and strong. I need to ramp up the exercise, not slack off on it.
I’m also bummed because I’m training for a 5k that’s on April 19th. That should be completely doable; if I follow the couch to 5k plan by the books I’ll finish on April 4th or 5th. That means I have a couple weeks in between in case I need to repeat weeks … but only a couple weeks. I’m annoyed with myself that I gave up some of my ability to repeat weeks if I need to by missing my workout this past weekend. Life happens, I know that, but … well, I need to find a way to fit these workouts into my life.
Oh well. Maybe now that I’ve annoyed myself, I’ll be more focused on making sure I get the 3x/week couch to 5k run in, right?
My exercise goal for this coming week stays the same … 3x/week cardio doing couch to 5k and 2x/week strength training. I am going to try something different, though. I’d been doing strength and cardio on Monday and either Friday or Saturday, and cardio-only on Wednesday. Since my Wednesday evening is unscheduled, I’m going to plan to do strength on Monday and Wednesday this week, which means my Friday or Saturday workout is shorter. I can always do strength on Friday/Saturday, too, if I have time. Who knows, maybe if I do that I’ll get 3 strength workouts in, exceeding my goal. If not, maybe I’ll at least meet the goal.
And as far as a weight loss goal for the week, I’m not setting a specific goal. I’m going to stay on plan eating within my WW points, drink lots of water, and track everything I eat. If I do that, the weight will come off.
Where am I? Is sore a location? Because after my workout last night, I’m sore. Last night I did my couch to 5k week 4 day 1 run, and then an hour of strength training with some intense cardio mixed in. It was a great workout, and an interesting run. I’ll talk about couch to 5k run in more detail in another post, though.
Let’s talk about the weight loss part of this journey for now. Where am I in my weight loss journey? We’ll start with the data.
Weight loss since last Tuesday: 0.6 lbs (137.2 vs. 136.6)
Yay for a loss! I had a wonderful on-plan week last week until Saturday, and then I crashed and burned over the weekend. I’m glad to see the loss this week.
Weight loss since fall 2007 (most recent leg of weight loss journey): 15.8 lbs (152.4 vs. 136.6).
I got my 15 lb badge last week, so there’s nothing new to report this week.
Total weight lost (entire weight loss journey): 30.4 lbs (167 vs. 136.6)
I earned my 30 lb badge! Woo hoo!
Exercise: Last week was the first week I’d earned my exercise badge, and I felt confident I’d earn it this week, too.
I was wrong.
I worked out Monday and Wednesday, but I dropped the ball on my 3rd workout of the week. Life got in the way on Friday and Saturday, and because of the intensity of my Monday workouts a Sunday workout is unwise.
I’m bummed that I didn’t reach my exercise goal for a couple reasons. First, I’m going to be in maintenance soon, and I’ll need to shift some of my focus from my weight to my fitness level. I don’t just want to be skinny, I want to be fit and healthy and strong. I need to ramp up the exercise, not slack off on it.
I’m also bummed because I’m training for a 5k that’s on April 19th. That should be completely doable; if I follow the couch to 5k plan by the books I’ll finish on April 4th or 5th. That means I have a couple weeks in between in case I need to repeat weeks … but only a couple weeks. I’m annoyed with myself that I gave up some of my ability to repeat weeks if I need to by missing my workout this past weekend. Life happens, I know that, but … well, I need to find a way to fit these workouts into my life.
Oh well. Maybe now that I’ve annoyed myself, I’ll be more focused on making sure I get the 3x/week couch to 5k run in, right?
My exercise goal for this coming week stays the same … 3x/week cardio doing couch to 5k and 2x/week strength training. I am going to try something different, though. I’d been doing strength and cardio on Monday and either Friday or Saturday, and cardio-only on Wednesday. Since my Wednesday evening is unscheduled, I’m going to plan to do strength on Monday and Wednesday this week, which means my Friday or Saturday workout is shorter. I can always do strength on Friday/Saturday, too, if I have time. Who knows, maybe if I do that I’ll get 3 strength workouts in, exceeding my goal. If not, maybe I’ll at least meet the goal.
And as far as a weight loss goal for the week, I’m not setting a specific goal. I’m going to stay on plan eating within my WW points, drink lots of water, and track everything I eat. If I do that, the weight will come off.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Oops.
I did not have the best weekend.
I mean, from the perspective of “was it an enjoyable weekend?” it was quite nice. But from a fitness and healthy eating perspective … ugh.
Friday night I met up with some friends for happy hour, and we ended up staying for dinner. Luckily we were at an Asian fusion restaurant, so I was able to have sushi for dinner. I didn’t drink much and I stayed on plan using a few flex points. It was all-good on Friday … my healthy eating halo remained untarnished.
But then Saturday came along.
To stay on plan, I would have needed to do my couch to 5k run on Saturday, and I’d need to eat reasonably but not impeccably on Saturday and Sunday … I had about 20 flex-points left. Completely doable, right?
Apparently not.
Remember late last week when I was saying that I needed to go to the grocery store? By Saturday morning, it was a desperate situation. If you opened the cabinet door, moths flew out.* Anyway, I got up Saturday morning, did some cleaning and organizing, and then got ready to head out of the house. My plan was to go visit a friend in the hospital, then go grocery shopping, then go to the gym, then go home and have dinner with my husband. Unfortunately, by the time I got out of the house on the road, I was RAVENOUS. I’d eaten a little something, but not much. And when I get to the point where I’m so hungry I could gnaw my arm off, I don’t make good choices.
And then I saw those golden arches. And as I was driving by, somehow a quarter pounder with cheese and a large order of fries jumped through the window and into my mouth. It happened just like that, I swear! Damn you, combo #3!
Ugh. That was definitely the largest single misstep on the eating side of things. But it all just snowballed … I got back from seeing my friend hours after I expected, making my grocery trip much later than expected (yay! We have healthy food again!), making going to the gym before dinner not an option, and the Saturday gym hours making a post-dinner gym visit impossible … ugh. That meant no weekend workout, since I didn’t want to do my couch to 5k run on Sunday because I knew I’d be doing couch to 5k and strength training tonight.**
Add a couple late-Saturday and Sunday not-horrible-but-not-the-best-choice-ever food choices to the Mickey D’s fiasco, and by the end of the weekend … well, let’s just say that by the end of the weekend my points balance was waaaaaaaaaaaay into the negative range.
All I can do after a weekend like this one is get up, brush the crumbs off my sweater, and move on. I’m trying to look back and learn from the weekend, and not beat myself up about it.
What went wrong? Looking back, it boils down to priorities. Not going grocery shopping did me in. I should have jumped out of bed Saturday morning and gone straight to the grocery store rather than doing cleaning/organizing. I’ve been trying to do some de-cluttering every weekend, but the de-cluttering should have been a lower priority than the grocery shopping trip. I shouldn’t have let myself get into the position of being that hungry, because I get irrational. I don’t give a rat’s ass about healthy eating when I get that hungry.
Also, I hate to admit it, but I should have gotten up earlier on Saturday. Beauty sleep be damned - there just wasn’t enough time in the day. If I’d gotten my arse out of bed there would have been more time. If I’d shifted the hospital visit to earlier in the day, there would have been time for the workout before dinner.
All in all, though, it’s not the end of the world. The scale is up, but it will go down again. I made some bad eating decisions, but I also made good eating decisions. My “bad weekend” was nowhere near as bad as the weekends I had before I was being health-aware.
I’m not having a terribly hard time getting over the food mistakes. I’m more annoyed with myself about not doing my couch to 5k run. Not doing the couch to 5k run has set my 5k training plan back; the missed run shifts the workouts I’ll be doing for the next 6 weeks. Since I’ve got my sights set on a specific 5k to run, now I have a tad less flexibility when it comes to repeating days or weeks as the running gets more intense.
Oh well. Time to move on. Tonight, the gym and I will get reacquainted. Sorry I blew you off Saturday, gym!
* Even though I suspect moths are a low-point choice, I'm not eating moths. Period. I ate a stir-fried silkworm pupa once when I was overseas ... I'm not eating bugs again. Blech.
** Remember, Monday is always workout night - I meet up with my husband, a friend, and a trainer.
I mean, from the perspective of “was it an enjoyable weekend?” it was quite nice. But from a fitness and healthy eating perspective … ugh.
Friday night I met up with some friends for happy hour, and we ended up staying for dinner. Luckily we were at an Asian fusion restaurant, so I was able to have sushi for dinner. I didn’t drink much and I stayed on plan using a few flex points. It was all-good on Friday … my healthy eating halo remained untarnished.
But then Saturday came along.
To stay on plan, I would have needed to do my couch to 5k run on Saturday, and I’d need to eat reasonably but not impeccably on Saturday and Sunday … I had about 20 flex-points left. Completely doable, right?
Apparently not.
Remember late last week when I was saying that I needed to go to the grocery store? By Saturday morning, it was a desperate situation. If you opened the cabinet door, moths flew out.* Anyway, I got up Saturday morning, did some cleaning and organizing, and then got ready to head out of the house. My plan was to go visit a friend in the hospital, then go grocery shopping, then go to the gym, then go home and have dinner with my husband. Unfortunately, by the time I got out of the house on the road, I was RAVENOUS. I’d eaten a little something, but not much. And when I get to the point where I’m so hungry I could gnaw my arm off, I don’t make good choices.
And then I saw those golden arches. And as I was driving by, somehow a quarter pounder with cheese and a large order of fries jumped through the window and into my mouth. It happened just like that, I swear! Damn you, combo #3!
Ugh. That was definitely the largest single misstep on the eating side of things. But it all just snowballed … I got back from seeing my friend hours after I expected, making my grocery trip much later than expected (yay! We have healthy food again!), making going to the gym before dinner not an option, and the Saturday gym hours making a post-dinner gym visit impossible … ugh. That meant no weekend workout, since I didn’t want to do my couch to 5k run on Sunday because I knew I’d be doing couch to 5k and strength training tonight.**
Add a couple late-Saturday and Sunday not-horrible-but-not-the-best-choice-ever food choices to the Mickey D’s fiasco, and by the end of the weekend … well, let’s just say that by the end of the weekend my points balance was waaaaaaaaaaaay into the negative range.
All I can do after a weekend like this one is get up, brush the crumbs off my sweater, and move on. I’m trying to look back and learn from the weekend, and not beat myself up about it.
What went wrong? Looking back, it boils down to priorities. Not going grocery shopping did me in. I should have jumped out of bed Saturday morning and gone straight to the grocery store rather than doing cleaning/organizing. I’ve been trying to do some de-cluttering every weekend, but the de-cluttering should have been a lower priority than the grocery shopping trip. I shouldn’t have let myself get into the position of being that hungry, because I get irrational. I don’t give a rat’s ass about healthy eating when I get that hungry.
Also, I hate to admit it, but I should have gotten up earlier on Saturday. Beauty sleep be damned - there just wasn’t enough time in the day. If I’d gotten my arse out of bed there would have been more time. If I’d shifted the hospital visit to earlier in the day, there would have been time for the workout before dinner.
All in all, though, it’s not the end of the world. The scale is up, but it will go down again. I made some bad eating decisions, but I also made good eating decisions. My “bad weekend” was nowhere near as bad as the weekends I had before I was being health-aware.
I’m not having a terribly hard time getting over the food mistakes. I’m more annoyed with myself about not doing my couch to 5k run. Not doing the couch to 5k run has set my 5k training plan back; the missed run shifts the workouts I’ll be doing for the next 6 weeks. Since I’ve got my sights set on a specific 5k to run, now I have a tad less flexibility when it comes to repeating days or weeks as the running gets more intense.
Oh well. Time to move on. Tonight, the gym and I will get reacquainted. Sorry I blew you off Saturday, gym!
* Even though I suspect moths are a low-point choice, I'm not eating moths. Period. I ate a stir-fried silkworm pupa once when I was overseas ... I'm not eating bugs again. Blech.
** Remember, Monday is always workout night - I meet up with my husband, a friend, and a trainer.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Motivation looks a lot like a bikini
In a couple months, my husband and I celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. It’s been a great 5 years, and we have a lot to be grateful for. There have been ups and downs, but many more ups than downs. To celebrate, we just booked a trip to a beach resort in Mexico.
Now there’s a reason to lose these last few pounds!
I tell ya, going to Mexico feels a liiiittle bit like a cop-out. Typically we like to visit places we’ve never been before; we like to go, see and do … we like to sight-see and learn and experience local culture and change hotels every night or two to see more of the countries we visit. Not this time – this time we are going to a region we’ve been before, we’re staying at one place all week, and we may never leave the resort. We talked about doing an interesting go-see-do vacation, and decided that isn’t what we need right now. This vacation is all about relaxing. As far as sightseeing goes … well … been there, done that, pass me a cocktail.
I can’t wait!
This upcoming vacation definitely gives me a motivation boost. Knowing that I’ll be in a bathing suit … knowing that I’ll be in PUBLIC in a BIKINI… that’s definitely going to keep me focused. Plus, most of my nice clothes will only fit when I’m at goal. And won’t it be nice to look at pictures of myself on our honeymoon and look at pictures of our 5 year anniversary trip and be able to say I’m the same size?
Heck, I may even be able to say I’m in better shape. We leave for our vacation exactly one week after the 5k I’m planning on running.
Yay! If I wasn’t focused before, I’m definitely focused now.
How are things going, you ask? I’m still on track in my “back to the basics” week. I drank all my water yesterday, journaled everything yesterday, and managed to make healthy choices eating out last night. Even after splurging a little on Tuesday night, I still have plenty of flex-points left for the weekend.
From an exercise standpoint, I finished Couch to 5k week 3 day 3 on Wednesday. It was hard but not impossible … it was easier than Week 3 day 1, but harder than Week 3 day 2. (Even though all three days were the same – isn’t it odd how the difficulty seems to vary even though the workout doesn’t?) Tomorrow will be much nicer weather than today, so I’m planning on doing my couch to 5k week 4 day 1 run tomorrow, along with a strength training session. I’m still on track as long as I do it before Sunday. I’m nervous about week 4 (it looks a lot harder than week 3), but I’ve surprised myself before doing these runs so maybe I’ll surprise myself again.
I’m going out to dinner again tonight, but based on what I hear about this place I should be able to make healthy choices. If all goes well I may even be able to get a little popcorn at the movies tonight and still be on plan.
All in all, things are good! The only challenge is that I still haven’t made it to the grocery store. To get my fruits and veggies in, I’m dipping into the cabinet and freezer … applesauce, edamame, and other frozen veggies are my friend right now. I’ve got to get to the store – I miss fresh produce!
Now there’s a reason to lose these last few pounds!
I tell ya, going to Mexico feels a liiiittle bit like a cop-out. Typically we like to visit places we’ve never been before; we like to go, see and do … we like to sight-see and learn and experience local culture and change hotels every night or two to see more of the countries we visit. Not this time – this time we are going to a region we’ve been before, we’re staying at one place all week, and we may never leave the resort. We talked about doing an interesting go-see-do vacation, and decided that isn’t what we need right now. This vacation is all about relaxing. As far as sightseeing goes … well … been there, done that, pass me a cocktail.
I can’t wait!
This upcoming vacation definitely gives me a motivation boost. Knowing that I’ll be in a bathing suit … knowing that I’ll be in PUBLIC in a BIKINI… that’s definitely going to keep me focused. Plus, most of my nice clothes will only fit when I’m at goal. And won’t it be nice to look at pictures of myself on our honeymoon and look at pictures of our 5 year anniversary trip and be able to say I’m the same size?
Heck, I may even be able to say I’m in better shape. We leave for our vacation exactly one week after the 5k I’m planning on running.
Yay! If I wasn’t focused before, I’m definitely focused now.
How are things going, you ask? I’m still on track in my “back to the basics” week. I drank all my water yesterday, journaled everything yesterday, and managed to make healthy choices eating out last night. Even after splurging a little on Tuesday night, I still have plenty of flex-points left for the weekend.
From an exercise standpoint, I finished Couch to 5k week 3 day 3 on Wednesday. It was hard but not impossible … it was easier than Week 3 day 1, but harder than Week 3 day 2. (Even though all three days were the same – isn’t it odd how the difficulty seems to vary even though the workout doesn’t?) Tomorrow will be much nicer weather than today, so I’m planning on doing my couch to 5k week 4 day 1 run tomorrow, along with a strength training session. I’m still on track as long as I do it before Sunday. I’m nervous about week 4 (it looks a lot harder than week 3), but I’ve surprised myself before doing these runs so maybe I’ll surprise myself again.
I’m going out to dinner again tonight, but based on what I hear about this place I should be able to make healthy choices. If all goes well I may even be able to get a little popcorn at the movies tonight and still be on plan.
All in all, things are good! The only challenge is that I still haven’t made it to the grocery store. To get my fruits and veggies in, I’m dipping into the cabinet and freezer … applesauce, edamame, and other frozen veggies are my friend right now. I’ve got to get to the store – I miss fresh produce!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Back to the basics check-in
Tuesday I mentioned that I needed to get back to the basics of the Weight Watchers program. Here’s a quick update on where I stand in my week of “back to the basics.”
- I got aalllll my water in yesterday. I’m tempted to count activity points for running to the bathroom, I was peeing so much.
- I journaled all my food yesterday, and I went back and journaled my Tuesday food intake, too. Looking at the numbers, Tuesday was not great, but it could have been worse. Thank goodness my husband and I split the cheeseburger and fries that we ordered Tuesday night. And thank goodness for flex points.
- Yesterday ended up being a very good on-plan day from an eating standpoint.
- Yesterday I blew off my evening plans, and went for my couch to 5k run (which I didn’t manage to do at lunch – stupid work). I was able to relax at home, eat sensibly, and watch The Biggest Loser which I’d recorded on the DVR. Unfortunately, I also had a great deal of guilt because I blew off entertaining a co-worker visiting from out of town. If it had been any other week, I wouldn’t have blown her off. But … I needed a night to relax. I’ll live with the guilt and the career fall-out. It’s not like I enjoy my job much these days anyway.
- The scale FINALLY moved in the right direction this morning. The up up up up trend has been broken.
- Tonight and tomorrow are both nights out. I have every intention of making healthy choices both nights. I'll keep you posted.
In short, getting back to the basics is going well. Yay!
Now I need to find time to get to the grocery store. Yesterday I ate the last apple and all the carrots and celery in the house.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Where Am I? (Volume 4)
Happy Tuesday! Time for the "Where am I in my weight loss journey" stats check for the Healthy You Challenge.
Let's start with the official numbers. The envelope please ...
Weight loss since last Tuesday: 0.6 lbs (137.8 vs. 137.2)
Well, I was aiming for losing 0.8, but 0.6 is a-OK. I'd been losing fairly quickly given that I'm close to goal. Losing 0.6 is completely respectable. I'll take it. I'll just aim to lose 0.2 or more this upcoming week, right?
Weight loss since fall 2007 (most recent leg of weight loss journey): 15.2 lbs (152.4 vs. 137.2)
I earned my 15 lb badge!
Total weight lost (entire weight loss journey): 29.8 lbs (167 vs. 137.2)
So close, so close, so close to the 30 lb badge. Next week. I'll get it next week.
Exercise: I'd been having a hard time with exercise up until very recently. My current goal is 3x/week cardio doing the couch to 5k running plan, and then 2x/week strength training. Last Tuesday I couldn't say I earned my exercise badge. But this Tuesday ...
Ta daaaa! I met my exercise goal!
I did the couch to 5k run on M/W/Sat, and did strength training Monday and Saturday. I'm on track for earning the badge again this week, too ... I did my run and strength training yesterday, as well.
All in all it wasn't a bad week; in fact, it was pretty good. That said, my scale numbers drifted down until Saturday and drifted back up through today. I don't pay much attention to one number on one day, but I do watch trends. I'm slightly concerned about this upward drifting. It might just be normal weekend weight gain combined with some water retention from the exercise, but it might be that I need to focus a little more.
In case it is a lack of focus, here's my plan for the week:
- Meet my exercise goal again. That's 3x cardio via couch to 5k runs, and 2x strength training.
- Eat on plan, and journal everything. I think I've been on plan, but I've been slacking on journaling lately. I keep a running total of points in my head, and generally it works OK, but it is much safer to write it down. It keeps me focused and helps me plan. I'm less likely to go over my daily points accidentally if I write down what I eat. So ... I've got to get back to journaling.
- Water and more water. I suspect some of the upward drift on the scale is water retention. I'll fight back by being extra-focused on water. As soon as I finish this post I'm going downstairs to fill a pitcher to the line I measured years ago when I first started Weight Watchers. I'll do that daily, keep it in the fridge, and I'll make sure it gets emptied every day.
The last two bullets are very "back to the basics of the Weight Watchers plan" for me, which is exactly what I need when the scale isn't sayng what I want it to say. I'm not sure I have a scale issue here, but I'm not taking any chances.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to a great week. Hope you all have a great week, too.
Friday, February 15, 2008
A Weight Watchers confession
I was supposed to go to a Weight Watchers meeting with a friend of mine tomorrow morning, and it looks like she’s bailing on me. I’m not terribly disappointed about this change in plans.
Why? Weeeelll …
I haven’t been to a Weight Watcher’s meeting since early October 2007. There. I said it.
I used to get a lot out of the meetings. People had words of wisdom and advice, everyone was supportive, you could help others and others could help you, someone would always have a new product to tell about … good stuff. It really was. It was good stuff. I have no regrets about going to the meetings. In the past, I could not have lost weight without the meetings.
If you asked me today if you should go to the meetings, I would say yes. Go.
They were the best thing ever for me … in 2003.
And they were pretty darned helpful … in 2005.
But when I went back last year, I wasn’t feeling the love. I went back twice when I started losing weight again. And I liked and respected the leader. I didn’t mind weighing in. I had faith in the program. I didn’t even mind paying … they came up with a great program, so I’ll pay for it. But … ugh! The lines! All those people! All the waiting! And this was back in October … I’m not even talking about January, when the place REALLY becomes a zoo.
I think somehow in my mental cost/benefit analysis, the costs became greater than the benefits.
It probably sounds crazy, but I feel like a bad Weight Watchers person. I feel like I should want to go to the meetings. I feel like I should encourage YOU to go to the meetings. I feel like I should keep my big fat mouth shut about the fact that I’ve stopped attending meetings. (I also feel like I drank the Kool-Aid, since I feel bad about all this.)
Know what’s even worse than the fact that I’m not going to the meetings? I don’t really miss the meetings. Especially now that I’m blogging. I feel like there is a community out here that is just as supportive, if not more supportive, than the community at the meetings.
But I was willing to give it a shot, since I had a friend who was going, too. If nothing else, I’ll be there to support my friend, right? The meeting we were going to attend tomorrow is in the next town over, in a different center than the one I used to go to. Maybe this place will be less of a zoo. Maybe it won’t just be about supporting a friend, maybe I’ll regain my love for the meetings.
But I won’t find out this week, it seems …
Why? Weeeelll …
I haven’t been to a Weight Watcher’s meeting since early October 2007. There. I said it.
I used to get a lot out of the meetings. People had words of wisdom and advice, everyone was supportive, you could help others and others could help you, someone would always have a new product to tell about … good stuff. It really was. It was good stuff. I have no regrets about going to the meetings. In the past, I could not have lost weight without the meetings.
If you asked me today if you should go to the meetings, I would say yes. Go.
They were the best thing ever for me … in 2003.
And they were pretty darned helpful … in 2005.
But when I went back last year, I wasn’t feeling the love. I went back twice when I started losing weight again. And I liked and respected the leader. I didn’t mind weighing in. I had faith in the program. I didn’t even mind paying … they came up with a great program, so I’ll pay for it. But … ugh! The lines! All those people! All the waiting! And this was back in October … I’m not even talking about January, when the place REALLY becomes a zoo.
I think somehow in my mental cost/benefit analysis, the costs became greater than the benefits.
It probably sounds crazy, but I feel like a bad Weight Watchers person. I feel like I should want to go to the meetings. I feel like I should encourage YOU to go to the meetings. I feel like I should keep my big fat mouth shut about the fact that I’ve stopped attending meetings. (I also feel like I drank the Kool-Aid, since I feel bad about all this.)
Know what’s even worse than the fact that I’m not going to the meetings? I don’t really miss the meetings. Especially now that I’m blogging. I feel like there is a community out here that is just as supportive, if not more supportive, than the community at the meetings.
But I was willing to give it a shot, since I had a friend who was going, too. If nothing else, I’ll be there to support my friend, right? The meeting we were going to attend tomorrow is in the next town over, in a different center than the one I used to go to. Maybe this place will be less of a zoo. Maybe it won’t just be about supporting a friend, maybe I’ll regain my love for the meetings.
But I won’t find out this week, it seems …
Thursday, February 7, 2008
My love/hate relationship with Buffalo Wild Wings
Tonight I’m meeting up with some friends to go to Buffalo Wild Wings. (From here on out Buffalo Wild Wings = BWW because that’s too durned much to type.) Do you guys have BWW in your area? My gawd they have good wings. I credit some of my 2007 weight gain to BWW and their wings.
I used to go to BWW with my friends all the time. I’d order 12 wings with sauce, plus a little ranch dressing, a couple 24 oz. light beers, AND some sort of appetizer to share. Hey, at least they were light beers, right? Ugh. Based on what I found online, the 12 wings cost me about 35 points, the beer would be 8, I’m going to throw another 4 points for the ranch, and who knows how many points for the appetizer. That’s 47 points before the appetizer is even factored in! That is MORE THAN TWO DAYS WORTH OF POINTS FOR ME! In ONE MEAL!
Sorry to yell, but that’s just crazy.
When I got my eating back under control last fall, I stopped texting people saying “BWW 7 PM” … and our friends stopped going for a while. It seemed my husband and I were the big BWW pushers in the group. But then in December when a couple of months had passed without a BWW trip, my friends started talking about how much they missed going. At that point, I started trying to hunt down BWW nutrition and points information.
There is a little bit of information out there. You can find info if you really dig around, but in general the company does not openly provide nutritional information so it isn’t easy to come by, and I wonder if the information that I do find is spot-on. Anyway, from what I did find, it was clear that I’d have to seriously alter my menu choices. Since my friends started organizing BWW visits every few weeks or so, I had to figure something out. I’m not willing to kill my social life because I’m eating well. I work from home – if I don’t get out of the house, I go a little insane.
What stinks about BWW being the hangout, though, is that some of the healthy choices there are really not good.
They have naked wings – basically “grilled” unbreaded chicken breast strips. Theoretically that would be a good choice, and it is a good choice nutritionally, but they are like shoe leather. I asked a waitress about it (you know, the one who knows us because we used to go there so often?), and she said that they get made early and then they’re microwaved when folks order them. YUCK! They also have a grilled chicken sandwich that is a little easier to stomach because the texturally challenged chicken is masked by the bread and stuff, but there is SO MUCH bread. There are grilled chicken salads which are pre-made (so they’re not fabulously fresh), and they’re covered in cheese. And then there are buffalitos, which are basically chicken soft tacos.
I’ve found that the buffalitos are my best choice … it comes with chips – if I sub the chips with celery sticks and get all the sauces on the side so I can control how much I get, I estimate it to be 10-11 points. The texturally challenged grilled chicken is chopped into chunks so you don’t notice the texture as much. If I get a beer, I’m still eating more points than I usually eat in one sitting, but thank goodness we don’t do this every day or even every week, so it works out fine with a few flex points.
You know what’s funny? Now that I have been doing this eating well thing for a while, I don’t really miss the greasy regular wings. It doesn’t bother me to see folks eating them, and I enjoy being there with my friends. Plus, I get that yummy spicy sauce in my buffalitos. What does bother me is that there are so few good healthy choices there. I try to be grateful that there are some choices, but is it too much to ask that there be a variety of good tasting healthy options?
I didn’t have much of a point with this post. I just wanted to get all that off my chest.
By the way, I know switching restaurants would be an option. I did ask the group, and we did try. But because of the location and the fact that the place is run more like a bar than a restaurant (so folks who are getting off work at different times can show up at different times), BWW is the one that has worked out best for the group. Being with my friends is valuable to me and I enjoy the atmosphere, so I plan ahead, use some flex points, and it all works out. (But again, why so few good healthy choices in that place? Grrrrr!)
Oh, and also? BWW’s not providing nutritional information … it pisses me off. I’m not going to boycott them because I would be shooting myself in the foot socially. But it pisses me off.
I used to go to BWW with my friends all the time. I’d order 12 wings with sauce, plus a little ranch dressing, a couple 24 oz. light beers, AND some sort of appetizer to share. Hey, at least they were light beers, right? Ugh. Based on what I found online, the 12 wings cost me about 35 points, the beer would be 8, I’m going to throw another 4 points for the ranch, and who knows how many points for the appetizer. That’s 47 points before the appetizer is even factored in! That is MORE THAN TWO DAYS WORTH OF POINTS FOR ME! In ONE MEAL!
Sorry to yell, but that’s just crazy.
When I got my eating back under control last fall, I stopped texting people saying “BWW 7 PM” … and our friends stopped going for a while. It seemed my husband and I were the big BWW pushers in the group. But then in December when a couple of months had passed without a BWW trip, my friends started talking about how much they missed going. At that point, I started trying to hunt down BWW nutrition and points information.
There is a little bit of information out there. You can find info if you really dig around, but in general the company does not openly provide nutritional information so it isn’t easy to come by, and I wonder if the information that I do find is spot-on. Anyway, from what I did find, it was clear that I’d have to seriously alter my menu choices. Since my friends started organizing BWW visits every few weeks or so, I had to figure something out. I’m not willing to kill my social life because I’m eating well. I work from home – if I don’t get out of the house, I go a little insane.
What stinks about BWW being the hangout, though, is that some of the healthy choices there are really not good.
They have naked wings – basically “grilled” unbreaded chicken breast strips. Theoretically that would be a good choice, and it is a good choice nutritionally, but they are like shoe leather. I asked a waitress about it (you know, the one who knows us because we used to go there so often?), and she said that they get made early and then they’re microwaved when folks order them. YUCK! They also have a grilled chicken sandwich that is a little easier to stomach because the texturally challenged chicken is masked by the bread and stuff, but there is SO MUCH bread. There are grilled chicken salads which are pre-made (so they’re not fabulously fresh), and they’re covered in cheese. And then there are buffalitos, which are basically chicken soft tacos.
I’ve found that the buffalitos are my best choice … it comes with chips – if I sub the chips with celery sticks and get all the sauces on the side so I can control how much I get, I estimate it to be 10-11 points. The texturally challenged grilled chicken is chopped into chunks so you don’t notice the texture as much. If I get a beer, I’m still eating more points than I usually eat in one sitting, but thank goodness we don’t do this every day or even every week, so it works out fine with a few flex points.
You know what’s funny? Now that I have been doing this eating well thing for a while, I don’t really miss the greasy regular wings. It doesn’t bother me to see folks eating them, and I enjoy being there with my friends. Plus, I get that yummy spicy sauce in my buffalitos. What does bother me is that there are so few good healthy choices there. I try to be grateful that there are some choices, but is it too much to ask that there be a variety of good tasting healthy options?
I didn’t have much of a point with this post. I just wanted to get all that off my chest.
By the way, I know switching restaurants would be an option. I did ask the group, and we did try. But because of the location and the fact that the place is run more like a bar than a restaurant (so folks who are getting off work at different times can show up at different times), BWW is the one that has worked out best for the group. Being with my friends is valuable to me and I enjoy the atmosphere, so I plan ahead, use some flex points, and it all works out. (But again, why so few good healthy choices in that place? Grrrrr!)
Oh, and also? BWW’s not providing nutritional information … it pisses me off. I’m not going to boycott them because I would be shooting myself in the foot socially. But it pisses me off.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Happy Meal: Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
It is cold and dreary and blah here. I'm thinking it's a day for a big warm bowl of soup.
I'm going to make this soup tonight or this weekend. It's a little work, which stinks because I'm feeling very lazy right now, but it'll be worth it. It is spicy and sweet and yummy and thick without being full of fat. It's Weight Watchers friendly, high in fiber, and just all around good. Mmmmmm soooooup ...
I'm going to make this soup tonight or this weekend. It's a little work, which stinks because I'm feeling very lazy right now, but it'll be worth it. It is spicy and sweet and yummy and thick without being full of fat. It's Weight Watchers friendly, high in fiber, and just all around good. Mmmmmm soooooup ...
Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Makes 14 cups at 3 pts/cup
2 Tbs unsalted butter
2 Tbs olive oil
4 cups chopped large yellow onions
2 Tbs mild curry powder
5 lbs butternut squash (2 large)
1 1/2 lbs sweet apples, such as McIntosh (4 apples)
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly
ground black pepper
2 cups apple juice or cider
Warm the butter and olive oil in a large stockpot over low heat. Add the onions and curry powder and cook, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.
Peel the squash, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into chunks.
Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes until the squash and apples are very soft. Puree it coarsely in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade or run it through a blender.
Pour the soup back into the pot. Add the apple juice and enough water to make the soup the consistency you like; it should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.
This recipe makes a LOT of soup, but it freezes well. I usually serve it with grilled/broiled chicken or a small steak along with a salad or steamed green veggie.
Do you guys have any favorite healthy recipes? I need to get back in the groove of cooking, and new recipes motivate me.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
It just might work!
I had to share.
From: Husband
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 3:59 PM
To: Female Friend, Male Friend, Wife (me)
Subject: Calorie Calculator
According to this, I need about 2,500 calories per day. Woo-hoo!
From: Female Friend
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 4:08 PM
To: Husband, Male Friend, Me
Subject: RE: Calorie Calculator
Yer calorie counter SUX! Females don’t even get the option to eat 2500 calories a day!
If I started exercising a little bit, I could work my way up to 1900 per day. Uhm yah… I think I’m in trouble. :-)
From: Male Friend
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 4:13 PM
To: Husband, Female Friend, Me
Subject: RE: Calorie Calculator
If I knock off 20 years, increase my height by at least a foot, and consider myself “very active,” I can have 3,450 calories a day.
Pass me a brownie!
From: Husband
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 3:59 PM
To: Female Friend, Male Friend, Wife (me)
Subject: Calorie Calculator
According to this, I need about 2,500 calories per day. Woo-hoo!
From: Female Friend
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 4:08 PM
To: Husband, Male Friend, Me
Subject: RE: Calorie Calculator
Yer calorie counter SUX! Females don’t even get the option to eat 2500 calories a day!
If I started exercising a little bit, I could work my way up to 1900 per day. Uhm yah… I think I’m in trouble. :-)
From: Male Friend
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 4:13 PM
To: Husband, Female Friend, Me
Subject: RE: Calorie Calculator
If I knock off 20 years, increase my height by at least a foot, and consider myself “very active,” I can have 3,450 calories a day.
Pass me a brownie!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Drink the Kool-Aid
I had these great plans to share some of my favorite points-friendly products with you today. That didn’t pan out - I want to take pictures of the products, but I’ve thrown away the packaging. Maybe another time with that post.
Instead, I’m going to share yesterday’s lunch with you.
Well, I’m not actually going to share my lunch per se; that would be awfully hard given that 1.) I already ate it, and 2.) although the Internet thing has done quite well, technology wizards have not yet created the Eaternet.
Back to the lunch. Yesterday I had a boring lunch … a Lean Cuisine frozen entrée. Not original, I know. And even worse, after I ate the Lean Cuisine, I realized that I had leftover sushi in the fridge! I’d forgotten to eat my leftover sushi from Tuesday night! What a shame. A shame verging on tragedy, in my world view.
I do love sushi.
Sushi … there are very few low points/low cal meals in which you can enjoy a salad (dressing on the side, please), soup, a veggie-tastic appetizer, and a variety of entrées. Variety comes into play since you can have a little nori maki and a little nigiri sushi, and/or different types of fish … mmm mmm mmm. Good stuff. On top of that, you might have leftovers.
Regarding the leftovers, I’m not a complete lunatic. I’m not talking about eating days old raw fish. I do eat the raw fish varieties of sushi (mmmmm diphyllobothrium), but those aren’t the ones that come home with me. There are plenty of cooked or veggie sushi options … California rolls, cucumber rolls, unagi (eel), some places have seared tuna, anything with shrimp, etc. etc. And even with the cooked sushi I make sure I’m eating any leftovers the very next day.
Thus the shame-verging-on-tragedy. If I was to enjoy the leftover sushi, I needed to enjoy it yesterday. And I’d already used my points for my lunch, and I planned to eat dinner with my husband.
In the past during some of my less Weight Watchery moments I might have just scarfed down the leftovers on impulse, then regretted it and beat myself up about it. Instead, I waited until I was hungry for an afternoon snack, I looked at the points I’d already used, I looked at how many points the sushi would be, I estimated how many points I’d be using the rest of the day for other food, and I contemplated my upcoming weekend to decide if I needed to save all or just some of my flex-points.
I worked the numbers. I considered my priorities.
And I ate the sushi.
AND IT WAS GOOD.
I essentially ate two lunches, and I didn’t feel guilty, and I didn’t go off plan, and it didn’t throw off my day or my week or my game or anything.
I’m not a Weight Watchers sales person, and I feel like some sort of brainwashed cult member saying this in a public forum, but yesterday made me very grateful for Weight Watchers. They did a good job of giving me some flexibility and helping me make a choice without regret. There are a few things about the program I don’t like (we’ll talk about that some other time), but they do provide some good tools and guidance.
So, the moral of this story is … sushi rocks.
No, wait, that’s not the moral. The moral of this story is drink the Kool-Aid, trust me, drink the Kool-Aid ...
Nononono, that's not it either.
Whatever, forget the whole moral thing. We can be immoral instead. Basically, I wanted to share this with you because it felt so good to indulge, but also be in control. It is a nice change after my out of control indulgences over the holidays.
Instead, I’m going to share yesterday’s lunch with you.
Well, I’m not actually going to share my lunch per se; that would be awfully hard given that 1.) I already ate it, and 2.) although the Internet thing has done quite well, technology wizards have not yet created the Eaternet.
Back to the lunch. Yesterday I had a boring lunch … a Lean Cuisine frozen entrée. Not original, I know. And even worse, after I ate the Lean Cuisine, I realized that I had leftover sushi in the fridge! I’d forgotten to eat my leftover sushi from Tuesday night! What a shame. A shame verging on tragedy, in my world view.
I do love sushi.
Sushi … there are very few low points/low cal meals in which you can enjoy a salad (dressing on the side, please), soup, a veggie-tastic appetizer, and a variety of entrées. Variety comes into play since you can have a little nori maki and a little nigiri sushi, and/or different types of fish … mmm mmm mmm. Good stuff. On top of that, you might have leftovers.
Regarding the leftovers, I’m not a complete lunatic. I’m not talking about eating days old raw fish. I do eat the raw fish varieties of sushi (mmmmm diphyllobothrium), but those aren’t the ones that come home with me. There are plenty of cooked or veggie sushi options … California rolls, cucumber rolls, unagi (eel), some places have seared tuna, anything with shrimp, etc. etc. And even with the cooked sushi I make sure I’m eating any leftovers the very next day.
Thus the shame-verging-on-tragedy. If I was to enjoy the leftover sushi, I needed to enjoy it yesterday. And I’d already used my points for my lunch, and I planned to eat dinner with my husband.
In the past during some of my less Weight Watchery moments I might have just scarfed down the leftovers on impulse, then regretted it and beat myself up about it. Instead, I waited until I was hungry for an afternoon snack, I looked at the points I’d already used, I looked at how many points the sushi would be, I estimated how many points I’d be using the rest of the day for other food, and I contemplated my upcoming weekend to decide if I needed to save all or just some of my flex-points.
I worked the numbers. I considered my priorities.
And I ate the sushi.
AND IT WAS GOOD.
I essentially ate two lunches, and I didn’t feel guilty, and I didn’t go off plan, and it didn’t throw off my day or my week or my game or anything.
I’m not a Weight Watchers sales person, and I feel like some sort of brainwashed cult member saying this in a public forum, but yesterday made me very grateful for Weight Watchers. They did a good job of giving me some flexibility and helping me make a choice without regret. There are a few things about the program I don’t like (we’ll talk about that some other time), but they do provide some good tools and guidance.
So, the moral of this story is … sushi rocks.
No, wait, that’s not the moral. The moral of this story is drink the Kool-Aid, trust me, drink the Kool-Aid ...
Nononono, that's not it either.
Whatever, forget the whole moral thing. We can be immoral instead. Basically, I wanted to share this with you because it felt so good to indulge, but also be in control. It is a nice change after my out of control indulgences over the holidays.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Watch out. She's just a little irrational right now.
This morning has not been smooth sailing for me. In the grand scheme of things, there's nothing terribly wrong, but I'm cranky anyway.
I weigh in at very close to the same time every day. Every day I watch the clock, and I aim to hop on the scale every morning between 8 AM and 9 AM. This time is technically after my office hours begin, but it works OK for me because I work from home. I don't like to weigh in earlier because I like to be fully awake and rational before I jump on the scale. In all honesty, I can't handle seeing those numbers until after my first cup of coffee. Plus, if I go into our bathroom and weigh in any earlier, I wake up my husband whose work schedule runs later than mine.
Well, some jackass scheduled me for an 8 AM meeting this morning which lasted an hour. I had another meeting that started at 9 AM and lasted an hour. And now, I have some man here in the house working on a minor plumbing issue, so I don't want to take off all my clothes to jump on the scale.* This all means I haven't weighed myself today. Which means I don't know where I stand from a weight perspective, and I am hoping for a drop based on how I've done over the last few days, and now I won't know for sure until tomorrow because I don't trust the numbers if I don't weigh in at the same time, and IT IS MAKING ME CRANKY.
Sorry for yelling.
To top all of that off, there is a remarkable amount of jackassery at work at the moment. I have people who I emailed a month ago and who didn't reply until yesterday pressing me to quickly finish work that I could have done a month ago if they'd just replied to my damned email. Now their delay in responding is my problem, and I don't have the power to tell them to BITE IT like I'd really enjoy doing. Plus, other projects are also urgent, and still other projects are being poorly managed, which is out of my control but will come back and haunt me later.
I am feeling cranky this morning. My employers would not appreciate me blogging on company time, but I need a break or my head might explode.
The irony is that even though I'm feeling cranky and I'm writing about it on a weight loss blog, I don't think** I'm doing poorly when it comes to the whole weight loss thing. On Monday I ate well and went to the gym and had a great workout, yesterday I ate well and tried to recover from my great workout, and I have every intention of eating well and working out today. I'm trying to focus a little more on the good health guidelines, I've forgiven myself for the Christmas/New Years eating-everything-in-sight fiasco ... all in all, things are good in Weight Watchers-land. Well, except that I haven't weighed in (grrrrrrr....).
I am thankful that this cranky state of mind is not usually a trigger for me to overeat. Some emotional situations do challenge me ... OK, many emotional situations challenge me. This one could become a challenge if it continues too long, which is why I need to pull myself out of this pissy mood.
My hope is that if I eat on plan, prioritize my work with buy-in from higher ups (higher-ups in my department aren't irrational in most cases, thank goodness, it's other departments I have to worry about), get some exercise to work off some of this tension, and maybe go drink a shit-ton of beer ... oh no, wait, scratch that last one. I'm kidding about the beer.
But seriously, I'm hoping that if I can take some positive steps now I can prevent overeating problems later. I'm an emotional eater, and I've realized that recognizing and managing my emotions is the best way to handle this sort of thing. With emotional eating (at least for me), the problem isn't exactly the eating. The eating is a way of trying to deal with the emotions. When I overeat in emotional and/or stressful situations, it's because I haven't found, or at least haven't used, effective alternatives to cope with my emotions.
So, if you guys have any suggestions on how tostifle my desire to strangle some coworkers effectively cope with frustrating situations, I'm game for hearing them. I don't mean specifically with this specific job situation (this one I've got a handle on - prioritization and re-setting expectations should work fine once it's done, it's just an unpleasant process), but with frustrations and stresses throughout life in general.
How well do you cope with stress? What works for you?
* Yes, OK, this means I take off all my clothes during business hours. Daily. Sue me - I work from home. It takes less than two minutes, and no one sees this behavior (well, except my husband who is getting ready for work, but he just enjoys the view). It's not like I'm standing there buck naked*** in the middle of a bunch of cubicles.
** But I don't know, do I? Damned meeting schedulers and plumbers and grumble grumble grumble grumble ...
*** I'm pretty sure I'm officially a geek, since I felt the need to look up the term "buck naked" because I was interested in where the saying originated.
I weigh in at very close to the same time every day. Every day I watch the clock, and I aim to hop on the scale every morning between 8 AM and 9 AM. This time is technically after my office hours begin, but it works OK for me because I work from home. I don't like to weigh in earlier because I like to be fully awake and rational before I jump on the scale. In all honesty, I can't handle seeing those numbers until after my first cup of coffee. Plus, if I go into our bathroom and weigh in any earlier, I wake up my husband whose work schedule runs later than mine.
Well, some jackass scheduled me for an 8 AM meeting this morning which lasted an hour. I had another meeting that started at 9 AM and lasted an hour. And now, I have some man here in the house working on a minor plumbing issue, so I don't want to take off all my clothes to jump on the scale.* This all means I haven't weighed myself today. Which means I don't know where I stand from a weight perspective, and I am hoping for a drop based on how I've done over the last few days, and now I won't know for sure until tomorrow because I don't trust the numbers if I don't weigh in at the same time, and IT IS MAKING ME CRANKY.
Sorry for yelling.
To top all of that off, there is a remarkable amount of jackassery at work at the moment. I have people who I emailed a month ago and who didn't reply until yesterday pressing me to quickly finish work that I could have done a month ago if they'd just replied to my damned email. Now their delay in responding is my problem, and I don't have the power to tell them to BITE IT like I'd really enjoy doing. Plus, other projects are also urgent, and still other projects are being poorly managed, which is out of my control but will come back and haunt me later.
I am feeling cranky this morning. My employers would not appreciate me blogging on company time, but I need a break or my head might explode.
The irony is that even though I'm feeling cranky and I'm writing about it on a weight loss blog, I don't think** I'm doing poorly when it comes to the whole weight loss thing. On Monday I ate well and went to the gym and had a great workout, yesterday I ate well and tried to recover from my great workout, and I have every intention of eating well and working out today. I'm trying to focus a little more on the good health guidelines, I've forgiven myself for the Christmas/New Years eating-everything-in-sight fiasco ... all in all, things are good in Weight Watchers-land. Well, except that I haven't weighed in (grrrrrrr....).
I am thankful that this cranky state of mind is not usually a trigger for me to overeat. Some emotional situations do challenge me ... OK, many emotional situations challenge me. This one could become a challenge if it continues too long, which is why I need to pull myself out of this pissy mood.
My hope is that if I eat on plan, prioritize my work with buy-in from higher ups (higher-ups in my department aren't irrational in most cases, thank goodness, it's other departments I have to worry about), get some exercise to work off some of this tension, and maybe go drink a shit-ton of beer ... oh no, wait, scratch that last one. I'm kidding about the beer.
But seriously, I'm hoping that if I can take some positive steps now I can prevent overeating problems later. I'm an emotional eater, and I've realized that recognizing and managing my emotions is the best way to handle this sort of thing. With emotional eating (at least for me), the problem isn't exactly the eating. The eating is a way of trying to deal with the emotions. When I overeat in emotional and/or stressful situations, it's because I haven't found, or at least haven't used, effective alternatives to cope with my emotions.
So, if you guys have any suggestions on how to
How well do you cope with stress? What works for you?
* Yes, OK, this means I take off all my clothes during business hours. Daily. Sue me - I work from home. It takes less than two minutes, and no one sees this behavior (well, except my husband who is getting ready for work, but he just enjoys the view). It's not like I'm standing there buck naked*** in the middle of a bunch of cubicles.
** But I don't know, do I? Damned meeting schedulers and plumbers and grumble grumble grumble grumble ...
*** I'm pretty sure I'm officially a geek, since I felt the need to look up the term "buck naked" because I was interested in where the saying originated.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Quick note
I did indeed make it to the gym last night.
I'll post something about that, or fitness, or Weight Watchers, or SOMETHING on-topic soon. In the meantime, I'll (hopefully) entertain you with the post below.
I'll post something about that, or fitness, or Weight Watchers, or SOMETHING on-topic soon. In the meantime, I'll (hopefully) entertain you with the post below.
Monday, January 7, 2008
I don't like Mondays
Can I just say …
I don’t like Mondays!
These people at my job seem to expect me to work today. What’s up with that?
I’m kidding. I like my job, but I’m feeling a little slammed at the moment. The post-holiday wave of work didn’t hit me last week, but it sure knocked me on my arse this morning.
Monday. *sigh* It’s my first five day workweek in many weeks.
I’m trying very hard not to pout about work. Today, even in all its Monday-ness, isn’t all bad. Today begins my first seven day week of being full-on dedicated to eating well and working out in 2008.
From a Weight Watchers standpoint, my new week of points begins today. Ahhh, the joy of all my flexpoints right there ready for me! And the opportunity to earn activity points, too! Halleluiah for new weeks and fresh starts. The mishaps and slip-ups of the weeks prior are behind us. And I don’t know about you, but I had some rather large mishaps and slipups over the past couple weeks.
There is something else for me to be joyous about, too. Today is my first day back to the gym in weeks. Seriously. I know after the last few posts you probably doubt me about making it to the gym and working out. But you see, I've been holding out. I have a secret weapon. Monday nights are my nights to go to meet my husband and a friend of ours, and we workout together. After we do 20-30 minutes of warm-up and cardio together, then guess what? We meet with a trainer for 60 minutes of ass-kicking … er… I mean strength and interval training.
Before October, I wasn’t on board with the trainer thing. I had a really hard time with the cost (have I mentioned my cheap tendencies?). Plus, I honestly felt like I didn’t need it. I figured workouts on my own and in aerobics/group fitness classes would benefit me just as much. But I was wrong.
You heard me. Wrong. I was wrong.
I originally decided to get a trainer because my husband kept talking about working out, and it never ever happened. Plus, I was exercising, but only intermittently. Really, though, I was more worried about him than me – he’s never been in a regular workout routine, and he doesn’t know much about health and fitness. I’ve been in workout mode on and off and I have half a clue about eating well, but I can only help so much (and there’s only so much he wants to hear from me, in all honesty). As time passes, I get more and more worried about his health.
So, we decided we’d give it a shot with a trainer. To offset the cost, we chose to do the training together and invited a friend to join us. We’ve been working out with our trainer once a week since mid-October (except for the weeks of Christmas and New Years. Our trainer had the audacity to go on vacation. How dare she?).
Working with a trainer has been better than I imagined. Meeting with her once a week really keeps me focused. I’m accountable to her, my husband, and my friend, so it’s really hard to slack completely during the rest of the week. Plus, I’m stronger than I’ve ever been before.
Want me to move all your furniture? Why, I’d be happy to!
Anyway, today I’m back to the gym and back to consistently tracking my food and their points values. Know what that means? I will be able to fit back into my jeans before too long.
Hooray for today!
Oh, lunch is over – back to work.
Did I mention, I don’t like Mondays? (And for those of you familiar with the song, no, I’m not going on a shooting spree … I won’t even go on an eating binge.)
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Free! A little pathetic, but free!
I haven't talked about it yet, but I have a gym membership at a local gym. I got the membership in October when I re-started my "weight loss journey" (as they say in Weight-Watchers-land). You haven't heard about the gym because, um, I haven't been to the gym. Well, I haven't been since December 21st, anyway. Last night, I went back to the gym.
At our gym, they had this super-cool motivational contest where you weigh-in October 29-November 2nd, and then you weigh-out January 1st-4th. If you maintained or lost weight through the holidays you won a free gym bag. A gym bag! For free! Sweet! I'm all about free, so I participated. It was good motivation, because, yeah, did I mention I'd get something for free? And I was trying to lose weight anyway, so ... sweet! Free gym bag!
Yesterday I'd decided to blow off working out, and I had no intention of going to the gym, but last night I remembered it was my last day to weigh-out for the contest. So around 9:30 PM I put on workout clothes and headed to the gym for the first time in two weeks.
Don't get all excited about my wonderful workout, though. The workout is nothing to get worked up about. You see, I put on workout clothes, and I went to the gym, but I didn't actually work out.
How sad is that?
The good news is that I did win my free gym bag. I'd lost about 7.5 lbs according to their scale. Woo hoo! Free gym bag! Actually, the gym bag was kind of a piece of crap. But so what - free!
But how pathetic is it that I managed to put on workout clothes, get my ass out of my house, get over to the gym, and then not work out? Ugh. Last night it seemed like a fine plan - I needed to wear the same clothes pre/post, it was late and I was hungry. Last night it all made sense. Now, the next morning, it seems a little nuts to me.
Ahhh, well, whataryagonnado?
I won't make it to the gym this weekend - they have very few group fitness classes over the weekends, so I might as well use my stationary bike and dumbbells at home - but I am SO getting my ass back to the gym on Monday. And this time, I'll actually work out there.
At our gym, they had this super-cool motivational contest where you weigh-in October 29-November 2nd, and then you weigh-out January 1st-4th. If you maintained or lost weight through the holidays you won a free gym bag. A gym bag! For free! Sweet! I'm all about free, so I participated. It was good motivation, because, yeah, did I mention I'd get something for free? And I was trying to lose weight anyway, so ... sweet! Free gym bag!
Yesterday I'd decided to blow off working out, and I had no intention of going to the gym, but last night I remembered it was my last day to weigh-out for the contest. So around 9:30 PM I put on workout clothes and headed to the gym for the first time in two weeks.
Don't get all excited about my wonderful workout, though. The workout is nothing to get worked up about. You see, I put on workout clothes, and I went to the gym, but I didn't actually work out.
How sad is that?
The good news is that I did win my free gym bag. I'd lost about 7.5 lbs according to their scale. Woo hoo! Free gym bag! Actually, the gym bag was kind of a piece of crap. But so what - free!
But how pathetic is it that I managed to put on workout clothes, get my ass out of my house, get over to the gym, and then not work out? Ugh. Last night it seemed like a fine plan - I needed to wear the same clothes pre/post, it was late and I was hungry. Last night it all made sense. Now, the next morning, it seems a little nuts to me.
Ahhh, well, whataryagonnado?
I won't make it to the gym this weekend - they have very few group fitness classes over the weekends, so I might as well use my stationary bike and dumbbells at home - but I am SO getting my ass back to the gym on Monday. And this time, I'll actually work out there.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Today's daily weigh-in. What? Daily?
Well, my daily weigh-in shows a downward movement. I'm sure some of that is water weight, but hopefully some of it is also a real change. I finally got my eating back on track yesterday - hooray! I didn't exercise, but the plan for today is eating well AND exercise. My body might explode from shock.
I know Weight Watchers recommends weekly weigh-ins, but I weigh-in daily. Years ago when I was working on losing 35 lbs, the weekly weigh-ins worked well for me. But at that point, I was all about LOSING. I didn't dedicate much brain-power to thoughts of maintaining. Now I've got my eye on maintaining, and from what I've read a big key to maintaining is daily weigh-ins. So even though I'm trying to lose weight now, I'm weighing in daily to prepare for maintaining the weight loss. I want to be in the daily weigh-in habit.
I'm not pulling this daily weigh-in idea out of my (larger than ideal) ass. Here are some articles on research which support the daily weigh-in game plan:
I know Weight Watchers recommends weekly weigh-ins, but I weigh-in daily. Years ago when I was working on losing 35 lbs, the weekly weigh-ins worked well for me. But at that point, I was all about LOSING. I didn't dedicate much brain-power to thoughts of maintaining. Now I've got my eye on maintaining, and from what I've read a big key to maintaining is daily weigh-ins. So even though I'm trying to lose weight now, I'm weighing in daily to prepare for maintaining the weight loss. I want to be in the daily weigh-in habit.
I'm not pulling this daily weigh-in idea out of my (larger than ideal) ass. Here are some articles on research which support the daily weigh-in game plan:
- Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
- Annals of Behavioral Medicine (heh heh heh, I said annals)
- International Journal of Behavior, Nutrition and Physical Activity
I'm not saying everyone should jump on the scale daily. I'm not one of those preachy types who assumes what is good for me is good for the world. I am, however, a research-geek. It's true - I believe in well designed research, and the research suggests this is a good plan for most folks. Now, it isn't a good plan for people with eating disorders. And if you really honestly can't handle the daily weight fluctuations up and down, it probably isn't a good plan for you.
You may be able to learn to deal with the daily weight fluctuations, though. I had a little bit of a problem with the daily weight fluctuations at first, back in October when I started losing again. What helped me work through it was some positive self-talk and watching the trend. Even though my weight went up and down through a two week period, it always trended downwards, and I always saw a drop from the beginning to end of the period. Well, that's what I saw if I was following the Weight Watchers plan.
I also began to learn what behavior affected my daily weigh-in results ... after a long hard exercise session I might see an initial spike in weight the next day but then a nice big drop a day or two later. If I eat sushi or Chinese food or any other high-sodium treat I'll gain some water weight. If I travel by plane my weight goes up a bit (even if I eat well), but then it goes back down after a day or two (and what is up with that? Do you see that, too? Does anyone know what causes that? It is a mystery to me ... but that's the pattern I've seen). Learning those types of patterns and telling myself that if I'm working the Weight Watchers program the program works (it's true!) helped me get comfortable with the daily weigh-ins.
Anyway, if you're eating disorder-free, here's my suggestion. If you weigh-in weekly, you might consider weighing in daily. It may not work for you, but it might be worth at try. It appears to help folks maintain, and if it helps folks maintain, that's a good pattern to learn, right? Because I can tell you, losing the weight is great, but gaining it back sucks. Isn't losing it and keeping it off what it's really all about?
That's my plan this time around. Losing the weight and keeping it off.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
