The big 30!!!!

Yep! I did it! 30 pounds lost!!!!!!!

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Recap: Week 2, Day 1

Week two hasn't started off quite as successful as last week but it was worth it... please, allow me to explain.

Last night, DH and I had our first date night in quite some time.  It was so nice to get away for a couple hours and just enjoy the evening together.  We went to Ryans because we had a coupon to get a free meal.  I hit the salad bar first and made myself a delicious 4 PointPlus salad.  I like that Ryans has the good lettuce - even though I don't know the name of it.  You know what kind I'm talking about?  The dark green leafy lettuce that makes you feel like you're eating a dandelion?? I topped it with tomatoes, brocolli, chopped eggs, ham, olives, a little cheese, and fat free ranch.  Yum.  It was scrumptious.

Yes, I had a roll.  One roll without butter. 

Then I had a some popcorn shrimp. 

The meal was finished off with one cookie and a rice krispie treat.  Yep, I had to dip into my weekly bonus points, but it was worth it. Especially for the time away with my dear hubby.

Today has been great so far...

Oil? Check! Check!
Activity? Check!
Vitamins? Check!
Dairy? Check!

And I still have a big bowl of watermelon in the fridge to enjoy later!  Yum!

Success - Week 1

So last week started out fabulously!  I did very well until Sunday.  Ugh.  Then I bombed.  I quit tracking when I ran out of PointsPlus - unfortunately, I didn't quit eating.  I'm ashamed of myself... but I can't change the past... only the future!  Two church dinners in one weekend is about more than this girl can handle!

In spite of my bombed out Sunday afternoon, I scored a .2 loss.  That brings my total weight loss to 27.4 pounds. I can't wait to hit that 30 lb mark.  It seems so close, yet so far away.  -sigh-  But I'll take what I can get.  And as I realized last night:  no one sees the number on the scales, but they CAN see the inches I'm losing.  I think it's time to check my measurement's again!

But now I'm scared to death.  Scared because I've taken the plunge. I'm gonna try this on my own.  I have decided, not to quit WW, but to change my plan of action. I will still be paying for the WW eTools.  This means I still have access to the software, just not the meetings, the support group, the weekly magazine, etc.  I keep telling myself that I'll do fine, but truly, I'm scared to death.  Scared that I'll give up and quit.  In fact, I have this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that is telling me I've made a dreadful mistake.  Now I don't know what to do.  Part of me thinks I can do this with the help of the Good Lord and my dear sisters.  The other part of me is just plain chicken. I need me to be strong.  I need me to keep going, even during the gains.  I do NOT want to gain this weight back for the 3rd? 4th? time!  I'm tired of being overweight and unhealthy.  I want a healthier lifestyle for me!  In doing it for me, I help my family too. So here goes!

Today has been successful so far - walked, vitamins, tracking!  It's a date night tonight... and I have 13 daily PointsPlus left for the day.  Hmmm... hopefully we go somewhere with a great salad bar! :-)

Success - Day Three!

I’m feeling pretty good!  3 days of eating my PointsPlus target.  I have yet to touch any of the Weekly Bonus PointsPlus!  Plus, activity too!  Here is this week’s progress report:

Last night I made chicken strips – yep, even fried them!  I have been finding I can fry my foods if I do small things like – use a small amount of flour, using skim milk and egg white only for dipping, and frying in a small amount of oil instead of the deep fryer!  They were so good and I only had two.  It seemed like I’d never quit eating last night.  I had two chicken strips with BBQ sauce, corn on the cob, cottage cheese, and zucchini sautéed in spray butter.   When I was finished I still had 3 PointsPlus left over so yes, as a matter of fact, I did have an ice cream sandwich! It was awesome!

(Aldi has their own version of the Skinny Cow Ice Cream/Cookie sandwich – they’re delicious, huge, and only 3 PointsPlus.)

My sister challenged us all to walk 30 minutes a day – any time of the day, just do it and text us all to let us know you completed your walk.  Little did she know, I’d already intended to start walking.  This is the perfect time of the year to walk in the mornings!  The mornings are cool and beautiful.  I am really enjoying it – even though it means I have to get up at 5:30ish.  I remember reading an interesting article about walking and all the health benefits.  I can’t remember where I read it, but I found this one online posted by Mayo Clinic.  So not am I walking to boost my weight loss and get in shape, I’m also lowering my cholesterol! 

Success - Day Two!

Yesterday was another successful day!  I even had pizza and stayed on plan! Yee-haw!  I love pizza – even if it’s cheap frozen pizza’s like we had last night!

I forgot my vitamins yesterday…  My dear hubby was off yesterday and had Bubby all day.  When I went home for lunch, I ignored my phone so I could spend the time with my boys.  By ignoring my phone, I missed my reminder to take my vitamins.  I should have set a second reminder, but I completely forgot them.  Something I’ve really got to work on!

No activity today – well, none to speak of.  I walked back and forth to work… all 35 steps and back.  J

Working on Day 3!  Taking it one day at a time!

She Did It!!

My other sister, Grace, completed the 30 Day Shred with Jillian!  Now it’s official – both of my sisters are better women than I am!! 

I’m so proud of you, Grace!  Keep up the good work!

Success - Day One!

Yesterday was a success!  By success, I mean: I stayed within my daily PointsPlus target!  Plus had one to spare.  I couldn’t tell you the last time that happened!  Plus, I met nearly all the good health guidelines.  I missed my oil servings and was shy one dairy serving.  But I remembered to take my vitamins, got in a little activity, drank the entire water requirement, and all the F/V [fruit/veggie] requirements.   Yee-haw!

I found individual serving sized bags of trail mix at Aldi last night.  It was 6 PointsPlus for the whole bag, but it was loaded with protein and fiber!  It consisted of peanuts, dried fruit, and a few white chocolate chips.  I really enjoyed the blend.  Plus, I didn’t come home from grocery shopping starving… and I had no temptation to stop for ice cream or some other fat loaded snack after shopping! 

So far so good today…  Will update more later!

PS: I loved this article from Weight Watchers: The Stuck-At-Home Workout!

NSV

Now, after giving myself that royal chewing… I have to post some self-motivation too…

Last weekend we went to the lake with some family… we had a great time, but the most exciting thing? 

Swimming… I swam a lot.  Well, maybe not a lot for an Olympic competitor, but considering I would barely get 6 feet from the boat last year… I swam a lot.  Keep in mind, I’m not really good at guessing feet and yards when it comes to distances… but I was able to swim a distance away from the boat.  My guess is 30-40 feet.  Not just once, not twice, but several times. The icing on the cake?  I was swimming against the current.  Go me!

Clean Slate

 “Tomorrow is new day with no mistakes in it, yet.”

~Miss Stacey of Avonlea~

Don’t you just love second chances?  I know I do.  Recently, it seems there have been a lot of things that have stood out to me… all related to second chances.  More importantly, how I am the one in control of second chances.  (Yes, I am a Christian and I know God is the one in ultimate control, but hear me out.)

My pound-shedding, weight-watching, butt-kicking sister posted this interesting concept:

When you miss your turn, the GPS doesn't berate you, doesn't scold you. Instead it says very politely to take the next available u-turn.
The GPS allows for mistakes and tries to help you correct them.
You're going to turn left at the hotdogs, make a right at the blueberry pie, and occasionally merge onto the interstate of banana-nut pancakes with a side order of sausage patties. Does that mean you should steer off the dietary cliff and fall into the fatty crevasse of destructive eating? Of course not.
Repeat the YOU diet mantra:
"At the next available moment, make an authorized YOU-turn."
Get back on the road.

(Borrowed from the book "YOU On A Diet)

Okay, so it’s an interesting concept and I agree with it, but I wasn’t quite ready to make the change. 

Later, I noticed one of those black and white marquee signs on the side of the road with this quote:

Headed in the wrong direction?  God allows u-turns!

Hmm… I think Someone is trying to tell me something…  But since I’m so hard headed, I still didn’t listen.  I blatantly pigged out through the weekend.  I mean, since I’m headed in the wrong direction, I might as well crash, right??  It was only a .8 gain!!

Then yesterday, a dear friend was asking me about the Weight Watchers plan.  She made the statement “when you were really doing the plan…” and that’s when the load of bricks hit me.  (Don’t get me wrong; I was in no way offended by her statement)

• I don’t have to tell anyone that I’m not sticking with the plan like I should. 
• No one has to see my eTools app to know I don’t track like should.
• I don’t have to post my weight loss on here to know I’m not “doing the plan.”

My body is doing the telling for me.

So even when someone tells me I’m looking good, or they can really tell I’m loosing weight, I should take it for the compliment that it is and the motivation that it is and get myself in gear!

I’m really tired of messing around with this.  Since April, my total weight loss has been a whopping 5.8 pounds.  Did you read that right??  5.8 pounds!  That’s about four and a half months and less than 6 sticking pounds.  I keep saying I’ll take any loss I can get, but this is pathetic. 

Don’t try to stop me or tell me I’m doing great!  ‘Cause I know the truth.

I’m going to whip this thing called fat.  My determination is ready to go.  I’m taking advantage of the fact that today is a new day with no mistakes in it yet.  I’ve set my WW options online back to “week 1” and starting over today.  My phone is set with a bunch of reminders.  There is no reason I can’t do this!

Just so you know… I set my alarm this morning so I could get up and go walking…  sure enough, it went off just like it promised.  I turned it off and promptly fell back to sleep!  Purely by accident!!!   Guess I gotta work on that too.

Fried Zuchinni?

Who says you can't have zucchini and fry it too??? 3 of these babies for 1 PointPlus!

Confession is good for the soul, right?

So, it’s confession time.  No, I’m not Catholic, but growing up, I couldn’t tell you how many times I heard my mother say those words.

I’ve been avoiding a certain question my sister’s keep pestering me with: what kind of workout are you doing?

Well, I decided to start The Shred.  First, I was curious about it to see what all the hype was about.  I’ve watched Biggest Loser and I really don’t care for Jillian.  She seems too arrogant to me.  I’ve always liked Bob better.  But friends kept going on about this workout. My curiosity didn’t get the better of me until my sister posted she was nearly done with the 30 days.  I couldn’t believe how fast the 30 days had gone by.  Surely I could do it for 30 days, right?  I didn’t tell too many people I’d started it… for one thing, if I decided to quit, no one would be the wiser!

I figured up the time I thought I would need to Shred + morning devotions + get my son and I ready =  I would need to get up around 5:30 AM each day.  I recently watched a special by Dr. Oz where he talked about getting the most from your workout.  He recommends a morning workout as you’re jump-starting your metabolism rather than working out in the evening when your body is working through all the calories you’ve ingested through out the day.  It made sense… so I’m up at 5:30.

Pre-day 1 – I borrowed the DVD from a friend at work; the night before Day 1, I watched part of the first workout and was scoffing.  Anyone can do jumping jacks, a few pushups, and chest flies.  What’s the big deal?

Day 1 – Tuesday: by the second circuit, I was about to die.  And feeling like an idiot for scoffing at the workout the night before.   I can’t do a minute of pushups (even the ‘easy’ way).  Jumping rope in place made me hack up a lung… And bicycle crunches… oh don’t go there!  Let’s just say, I’m glad no one saw that!  I made it through but my legs felt like jelly and I wondered how I’d make it through a shower!  I also noticed my right calf felt like it was locked – kinda like a “charley horse”.  I drank a very large, loaded-with-protein, smoothie for breakfast and was pleasantly surprised at how great I felt all day!

Day 2 – Wednesday: Surprisingly, day 2 was much easier than I anticipated.  In fact, my calf muscle opened right up and I was feeling good!  I’d already noticed an increase in my energy level.   After the workout, I drank another smoothie.  Man, them things are great!  Very little hunger after one of those protein packed babies!  However, after I’d cooled down, that calf muscle locked back up – tighter than before.  I limped the rest of the day. 

Keep in mind, I’ve never participated in any type of organized sports.  I know nothing about sport injuries and very little about stretching, etc.  But I knew what my body was telling me about my calf.  I was very concerned I’d pushed too far and was going to end up with a permanent injury.  I can handle sore – and boy was I sore.  But the calf was something altogether different than ‘sore.’ 

Thursday: when the alarm went off at 5:30, I could barely walk due to my calf.  I crawled back in bed wondering if the Shred was right for me.  That day, I looked online and found some good calf stretches and decided to work on that calf muscle throughout the day.  I was limping and had to do a lot of stretching throughout the day.

Friday: the calf is doing some better but I continued to limp some.  I continued stretching off and on throughout the day.  By Friday night, it was feeling much better.  I’m ready to Shred again!

Day 3 – Saturday: I got up and started shredding at 5:30.  About 5:45, my son came sleepily into the room and crawled on to the couch to watch.  After about 5 minutes, he’s up and “working out” with me!  That was so fun!  Especially when we’re punching… man he was swinging those arms, kicking his legs! He was going to town!  His crunches were especially cute too!   And to top it off, the workout was the easiest yet – plus no problems with the calf. (I’d noticed there aren’t many calf stretches on the DVD so I stretch before and after working out.)

Sunday – slept in!

Day 4 – Monday: I worked out and weighed myself.  The weight results were not what I wanted.   Plus, day 4 seemed to be about as hard as day 1!  What gives?  Needless to say, while I accept the .8 loss (which pushed me to a total weight loss of 28.2 lbs!), it was very disappointing after working out 4 out of 7 days.  I know; now I have to try to live by my own preaching, which is: be thankful for the little losses too!

Day 5, 6, 7, etc. have yet to happen.  This week I’ve not been faithful to get to bed at a decent time and therefore, when that alarm goes off at 5:30, it’s been very easy to hit snooze… or off… and keep right on sleeping.  Trust me, I’ve got all KINDS of excuses to stay in bed!

I’m not giving up on the Shred, I just need more motivation.  I expect I’ll get plenty nagging motivation now that I’ve confessed.

So girls, are you surprised?  Or were you expecting it all along?

PS: I also found out - when you work out in secret, you can't get any sympathy for your pain!

Mobile update

Confession:

I'm horrible about tracking. I barely keep up on my iPhone. Then to move it over here? It's nearly asking too much of myself. I know its a pathetic excuse, but unfortunately it's the truth.

Goal:
I've set a personal goal. I'd love to hit 52 pounds by the end of October. That's one year from my start date. I'm gonna have to kick it in to high gear. Really high gear. So I'm doing what I can.

Loss:
My total weight loss has officially topped 28 lbs! Yay!!

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