I need an NSV...

I really don’t want to write this entry… but I must.  I was so excited over last week’s loss and guess I really blew it.  I tracked through Friday, but let it go after that.  Bad mistake.  I’d like to say my body was retaining water, or I was attacked by gorilla’s and had horrific swelling…  or some other legitimate (or not-so legitimate) excuse, but I can’t seem to come up with anything believable.

So to get this over with… you probably guessed it… I had a gain.  A 3.8 lb gain.  Ouch.  That hurt.  Mostly my pride…  Still, it smarts.

I decided I needed to focus on some NSV’s this week.  Below is a before/after collage.  The picture on the left was taken the day after my 30^th birthday.  It’s not the most flattering picture, of course, but full length and brutally honest.  The picture on the right was today… 21.2 lbs lighter… I’m smiling.  That’s a good thing.  No one wants to post a public blog about their gain.  You'll notice both pictures are slightly tilted... it's a cool effect available through Picnik and hopefully it makes me look even skinnier...

So last week, my dear cuz asked me whether or not I exercise as part of my weight loss plan.  Well, if good intentions were worth anything, I could count that… but the honest to goodness truth is that I do not regularly exercise.  That is the beauty of Weight Watchers… no exercise required.  Trust me, they regularly talk about it and encourage it, but it is not required.  I know of one lady that lost 100 lbs without exercising. 

Now here’s the “facts” according to me, myself, and I:

• I’d probably lose faster if I exercised
• I’d most likely tone up better if I exercised
• I’d probably sleep better

So why don’t I exercise?  There’s a combination of excuses – which do you want to hear today?  Too tired?  Not enough time?  It’s cloudy out… I can’t walk unless the sun is shining.  Oh wait, I guess it shines every day.  Scratch that excuse. 

People that exercise as a part of their daily life amaze me.  Seriously – they must have won the lottery in exercise gene’s.  I admire them and I wish I had that stamina in me.  The last time I got up at 6:00 AM and worked out, my metabolism actually worked.  Shocking, huh?  No kidding… I’d bet money that I ate that 100 calories that I burnt off several times over that day.  I need to give it another try and drink something hot to stave off that hungry feeling. 

So what is your experience?  Does exercise help your weight loss?

Link - what inspired you?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/25/lose.weight.over.100.pounds/index.html?hpt=C2

This is an incredible story of one man who had a defining moment happen in his life.  It made him step back, re-evaluate himself, and make changes to his life story.  Incredible story, John Memmer!

Have you had a similar moment in your weight loss story?

Big News!

I’m struggling to get back in the blogging mode, but I’m doing my best to get back on track!  Especially since I’ve got big news since my last blog…

Tuesday, March 8^th, I blogged that I’d hit my 20.4 lb mark.  That was such an encouragement to me to get past that!

Well, on Monday, March 21^st, exactly 5 months since my first weigh in… I hit 25 lbs!!  Yeah, baby!  That was exciting!  I haven’t officially celebrated at my meeting though… But when I do, there will be pictures!  (Would you believe, the day that I hit 25 lbs, was the day I was sick, my Baby Boy is at home sick, I need a shower, I’m in old clothes because I’d been cleaning up sheetrock mess all day, and my hair is a wreck!  I wasn’t planning to stay for the meeting…. Needless to say, we put off the celebration until next Monday night.)

So this week, still feeling under the weather, but I’m doing my best to shed another pound (or two or three!)  I’ll be in ONE-DERLAND!!! I haven’t seen a 1 as the first number on the scale in quite some time.  It’ll be nice to see that number again!

Now, call me crazy, but I’ve got this little thing going on at work… With Weight Watchers, when you loose 5 lbs, and at each 5 lb increment afterwards, you get a little grey star with ‘5 lb’ written on it.  I started sticking them to my monitor at work as motivation at work.  Now there are 5 of those little dudes staring at me.  With that many, it’s hard to ignore them any longer.  They look great and I’m just a little proud of those!  I’ll post a picture soon…

I’m lovin’ losin’! 

Yaaay!!! I did it!

20.4 lbs GONE for good!  I'm so happy!  Next goal: 10% of my starting weight which would be 23 lbs. 

PS: I'm too tired to blog right now... more later!

PS #2: If anyone has pictures of me, taken around the end of October... please send them to me!  I want to do a before and after collage...

I'm such a Looser

Goodness!  Where to begin?  Somehow I’ve allowed myself to get behind on posting.  It’s been pretty hectic at work, as I’ve been training a new girl.  When I get home, there’s so much to do there.  And I’d forgotten how exhausting it is to train a new person!

I have good and bad news:

Bad – I didn’t hit the 20 lb mark yet… but…

Good – I did hit 19.4 lbs!  Woohoo!  I lost another 2.2 lbs last week making the total 19.4.  I will sail past that 20 lb mark this week!

The last post was about measuring the little things.  I spent a lot of last week measuring and focusing on the little things that could be tripping up my weight loss.

Creamer:  I measured my creamer and was shocked to see that I normally used about twice what was in the cup.  So… if I previously used 4 Tablespoons of creamer per day, that’s 28 PointsPlus per week that I wasn’t counting.  Nearly an entire day’s worth!  By measuring out 2 Tablespoons of creamer per day (and counting the PointsPlus) I saved myself 14 PointsPlus!

Cheese:  Cheese always trips me up.  Cheese slices and sticks are easy – they’re pre-measured serving sizes.  But what about shredded cheese?   I found that 1 ounce of cheese was enough for two fajita’s!  Sure, pre WW, I would have used 1 oz plus on one fajita, but now I’m satisfied knowing I saved 3 PointsPlus by cutting back on the cheese.

Salad dressing:  As far as I’m concerned, Aldi’s Fit & Light Ranch dressing is the best light dressing around.  It doesn’t have that diet taste to it.  Very delicious and only 2 PointsPlus per 2 Tablespoons!  I’d been estimating correctly on my dressing, which was a relief.  Still, it was nice to see again how much dressing is in 2 Tablespoons!

Cappuccino: I gave it up.  Not altogether… but I’ve switched my nightly drink to a relaxing chamomile w/mint hot tea, sweetened with 2 teaspoons of honey.  I still indulge in my occasional cappuccino, but now I’m counting the PointsPlus.  Previously, I did not count the PointsPlus, which was 3 PointsPlus per serving – that’s 21 PointsPlus per week!  Even though the honey gives my tea a 2 PointsPlus value, I’m counting it (and raw honey is healthier than sugar!).  That’s a savings of 7 PointsPlus per week!

So between the creamer and cappuccino alone – I was consuming 21 PointsPlus that I was not counting!  That’s just two food items I was sliding under the rug.  Who knows how many others I let slip by?  No wonder my weight loss was stalled!!!

I’m actually excited and challenged again – mostly to be aware of the unaccounted for PointsPlus I am consuming.  I’ve also increased my water significantly.  Between the two, I know success is in my future!

I’m such a looser!