Sunday, January 30, 2011

Success!

It's good to have a successful eating day.  And the idea to take the photos of the food even if I don't post it on here really seems to help.

I also went for a 4 mile outdoor run yesterday even though I did NOT want to leave the house after my weight watchers meeting.  It's one of those lazy weekends!  But I have to let my parent's dog out on the weekends so I had to leave.  I decided to kill two birds with one stone.  While doing wash, I went for a run!  And caught up a little on the blogging world, etc.

Since I am able to post the pictures from yesterday's food, I'll do it.  I'll forewarn you, the pictures are awful quality since they are taken with my phone.  I also sometimes forget to take the picture before I start eating the food.  LOL.  Crazy me!

Breakfast was oatmeal with apples, cinnemon and splenda.  Looks gross but was delicious!

 









Because I haven't gone grocery shopping, lunch was straight from the pantry with this Italian wedding soup.  It was just "eh", nothing special.





















I decided to pair my soup with a light english muffin.  Yum! Carbs!  And later for a snack, 6 whole almonds!  I love almonds.  But portion control can be hard!















Dinner was boneless skinless chicken breast with a slice of cheese and salsa for an easy salsa chicken.  Paired with brown rice with salsa and some frozen mixed veggies!  Delish!  What's with the small picture????











Ugh, can you tell I'm having trouble with the new layout on the blogger site?  My picture are harder to post, I can't get it right.  I'm foregoing the rest of the photos!  lol.

Not pictured:  1/2 cup 2% milk, 1 cup yoplait light yogurt, and 6 more almonds.  I believe that's all I ate.  I tracked it all but don't feel like looking at my tracker!  Can you say LAZY!

I ate my 29 daily points plus about 4 weekly's.  I ran which the tracker says gives me 8 AP's.  I've decided to use my extra weekly points if I need to but try to hold off on using the AP's.  That way, I have some cushion if I need it. Plus I'm not sure how accurate the tracker is for giving the AP's.  Seems kind of high?

**Do you use you AP's?  How do you figure out how many AP's you've earned?

Today, I went to the gym for 1 hour of cardio (25 mins stairclimber, 25 mins elliptical with arms, 10 mins regular crosstrainer, no arms). Then I did about 13 minutes of ab work. 

Eating today is still going great!!  Had an egg sandwich with homemade hashbrowns for breakfast, yogurt and salad with garbanzo beans for lunch, and 6 spice drop candies.  Just 6!  Woohoo!

I am so ready to shed some of these extra pounds!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

173

I titled this post with my current weight.  Today, I weigh 173.  It's all part of my goal to accept the weight I am right now and move on.  I can't do anything about the fact that I've gained some weight.  The only thing I can do is face it and work on it.

So that's what I'm doing.  Today.  I went to my weight watchers meeting.  I stepped on that scale.  I kicked and screamed told the weigh in lady to have a good day.  And sat and listened to the meeting. 

I never take pictures of my food.  That was one thing I had planned on doing when I started this blog.  But since I don't have a computer at home, it's really difficult to keep that plan up.  And taking the photos with my phone doesn't look very good either.  So, I never really did it.  But at my meeting, someone was talking about how she remembers to keep track of her food and it was because she takes a picture of everything she eats. 

I thought that was a great idea.  Even if I don't post it on here because I'm technologically challenged, I can still record my food for the sole purpose of tracking it. 

I do apologize for the lack of posting.  I'm miserable at work.  Completely miserable.  I haven't had much down time either.  So hang in there.  My posting may be sporadic.  Please continue to read and offer your words of support.  I'll have to do the same and make sure I'm catching up on your blogs!  I get some many ideas and inspiration from your blogs. 

I will post all my pictures from today of my food on tomorrow's post.  I will be posting tomorrow!!  :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

If you track your food, how do you remember to do it or how do you keep it up?

Another woman at my ww meetings puts a dollar in a jar for every day she tracks.  Interesting!  But I'm broke!  Maybe if she would put a dollar in MY jar for every day I tracked, now we have something!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Zzzzoooooooommmmmm!

Fly by post!

I'm here!  I'm here!

Weekend went well.  Went to Omaha.  (It's still there, in case you were wondering).

Got way off eating track yesterday with candy at work (who am I kidding, I've been off track since November!).

Back on track today.  That's a promise.  I'm avoiding that dreaded candy container at work today.  Like the plague.  I almost side-tracked over there and said "Hell No!"  I'll just repeat that in my mind several thousand times today.

Other than that, things are busy at work.  Also, there is the same drama.  So, I haven't been able to post much.  And I haven't been able to read much of your posts.  I'm so sorry!  I'll catch up one day!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

"How you doin'?"

I never watched "Friends" on TV when it was originally on.  But I have watched re-runs.  And I have heard Joey say, "How you doin'?"  in his own little accent.

You all may be wondering where I've been!  Eh, I've just been chillin!

Actually, I've been really busy at work.  They switched around file responsibility since my attorney is leaving and gave me a ton of this one girls files.  

And my eating has still been "eh".  Not too hot.  I gained 0.6 last weekend.  I need to get my butt in gear!

I'm visiting Matt this weekend.  I'm looking forward to getting away from here and not living in realty for a weekend.  lol.  

I will try hard to get my act in gear.  My posting may be a little sporadic!  I apologize and when I get things back together, you will be the first to know!

And I had to bring my car in yesterday and it cost a lot in parts.  So, that's my life in a nutshell!  Let's hope happier times are on the horizon!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Giving Up?

Who?  Me?  Giving up?  NEVER!  Giving up is not in my vocabulary!

Well, ok, it is in my vocabulary but where will giving up get you?

This post is inspired by a comment I received on my last post.  It was an anonymous comment, although I have since found out who it came from (ahem...a family member).  That is neither here nor there.  It struck a cord with me.

I see this comment a lot of the weight watcher message boards.  I also see it periodically on these blogs.

The type of "giving up" that I'm going to address here is when the person sounds desperate and at a loss and doesn't think there is any answer.  I actually almost can't stand the people that give up because they just don't want to try something or hate change and giving up is their way out.

I want this post to be to those people that want help or change but doesn't seem to think they can achieve it!

And who am I to tell you you can achieve anything you set your mind to?  You're right!  Who am I?  I can only speak from personal experience as another person.  As another one of all of you!

I know I've blogged a little about me before and my past and journey to get to the point I'm at today.  But I would like to tell the story again, if you don't mind.  And I don't want to read or post the last post I blogged about this.  I want it to be fresh.  I want to tell you what went through my mind as I read the anonymous comment.

What went through my mind when I read the anonymous comment about giving up was "Where would I be right now had I given up?"

Where would I be?  I probably would have the same job (because I got this job before I lost weight).  I'd have some of the same family and friends.  I may or may not have been ambitious enough to decide to buy my own home.  I may or may not be in a very great relationship right now.  And I definitely would NOT be under 200 pounds!  I definitely wouldn't be as confident as I am right now (although it's always a work in progress for me).  I definitely would not be considering running a FULL marathon this year.

I was never fat growing up.  I wasn't skinny either.  I was taller.  Bigger.  So that made me think I was fatter.  I wore a size 12 pants in high school.  I had a boyfriend in high school that held up a pair of shorts at my house and yelled out in disgust, "These are HUGE!"  All in all, he was more than likely joking but I know there was some truth behind it.  Because of all of this, I was insecure.  I wore plain clothes.  I hated dresses.  I never wore makeup or did anything with my hair.  I used humor as a way to combat what I really felt inside...that I wasn't good enough or pretty enough.

Hello and welcome to the freshman 15!  I didn't even go away to college, I stayed home, so there were home cooked meals.  Well, the freshman 15 actually turned into getting up to a size 20 pants at some point.  I pretty much stayed there.  I went back and forth between size 18's and 20's.  I don't care who you are, or how active you are, you do not feel good wearing size 20 pants.

And I was active.  I consistently went to the gym.  Sometimes I would work out 5 days (even 6 sometimes) a week!  I ate what I thought was healthy.  My mom didn't buy fattening food.  It was fat free all the way!  Fat free cheese, fat free chips, diet pop.  We ate chicken.  Cooked without oil or butter.

So needless to say, I was frustrated.  How can I work out 5 days a week and eat fat free foods and still be overweight?

I had resigned to being fat but fit.  That's what my "thing" was going to be.  Maybe you can be fat and fit at the same time!  Maybe I would never be thinner or under 200 pounds.  I even ran a half marathon in 2006 before this last attempt on weight watchers (oh yes, there were several weight watchers attempts).

But in my mind, I knew this wasn't true.  I knew that I should be able to lose weight.  At least SOME weight.  Other people do it.  I tried weight watchers one last time.

In my previous weight watchers attempts, I was online only.  There is nothing wrong with only being online.  But I knew that I never lasted with doing it only online.  This time, I was going to the meetings.  I was signing up, sitting with a bunch of strangers and staying there until I got to my goal!  This time, I was NOT GIVING UP!

This was in May 2007.  And I haven't looked back.  Even if some weeks were slow losing weeks (I was a slow loser after all), that's ok.  Even if I slacked off a few months, that's ok.  Even if I gained weight, well, that's not ok, but I didn't let that make me give up!

If I felt discouraged because my loss that day, week, month wasn't what I wanted it to be, I just looked back at the previous month or even year.  Where was I one year ago?  Chances are (with the exception of right now), I weighed less now.  Maybe 10 lbs?  That's ok.  That's 10 lbs less than I was one year ago.  Why is that something NOT to be proud of?  Even 10 lbs makes me want to kiss the president or founder of weight watcher's feet!  It makes me want to kiss my own feet for starting this journey one last time and not giving up!

I mentioned in the above paragraph "except for right now."  What does that mean?  Well, I did make goal and lifetime last summer.  And I held on to that without much problem.  Until November.  And I've been struggling since then to get back to where I want to be.  I'm currently over goal.  I resigned back up for weight watchers monthly pass last week.  I always continued to go to meetings though.  I never stopped after making lifetime.

But I'm a little unhappy with my current progress (or lack thereof).  Hm.  I could give up!  I could say this is too much trouble.  I made goal.  I'm done.  So what if I'm 10 lbs above goal.  I'm not 251.2 lbs, like when I started!  So maybe I'll just give up now.

WAIT!?!  Hold on a minute!  Why would I give up?  Why would I chance going all the way back to 251.2 lbs (or more!).  I say it won't happen, but I'm sure others have said the exact same thing that were in the same position I am in right now.  And I'm sure some have gained that weight back plus some.

Giving up will never get me where I want to be.  And giving up will never help me stay where I want to be.  So, even though I'm discouraged right now, it won't do me any good to give up.  I think it takes a stronger person to stay and keep trying.

And due to an insensitive and rude comment on my blog, I now have to start monitoring my blog comments.  Who hates people with no lives??  *raises hand*

And tomorrow is my weigh in!  Um...I didn't do what I should have done all week.  I did track only about 2 days.  So, I'm not hoping for much.  I would just like to see any type of loss tomorrow.  (Yes, my current weight on here is not accurate.  I'm too embarrassed to tell you I weight 170.6. lol).

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Think Before You Eat

Yesterday was an "off" day for me. I was grumpy. The weather (dreary, snowy, cold) was definitely not helping! I think it's making it worse! I'm affected by S.A.D. (seasonal affected disorder)! -that was stolen...I mean...adopted....borrowed (?) from Matt-

In response to my mood, I ate chocolate....lots of chocolate. Lots of those Dove miniatures! Those are so delicious! And because I ate lots of chocolate, I decided I wasn't going to track. Yes, I'm only cheating myself! But that was the mood I was in yesterday. Although I did hit the gym for a double dose of classes...weights/abs class and step aerobics class.

To get back on track, I came up with a novel idea! Wait...are you ready for this? Hang on to your seats folks!

I'm going to (drum roll please!)...think before I eat! Yikes! Really!?! Will that work? How is that going to help? You mean I have to think? You mean I have to consciously think about what I'm going to put in my mouth? What kind of crazy idea is this?

I know, I know. Change is hard! But if you think about it, this Just.Might.Work!

If you think before you eat, you can combat stress eating. You can "Say No" to emotional eating! You can take back control of your life!!!!!!!! (ok, ok, I think I am being overly dramatic now and possibly going crazy!).

I did have an impulse breakfast purchase this morning. But I thought about it before I bought it and ate it. And I'm thinking about not eating my morning banana unless I feel hungry enough to eat it. My morning impulse breakfast was.....

Medium Skim Chai Latte from Argo Tea along with an original Biscotti! And because I've got one of their point cards, I got 10% off for ordering food and drink together! Bonus!



So, that's my plan for today. I'm thinking! :)

Monday, January 10, 2011

Weekend on the Town

Happy Monday Blogger Friends!

Actually, I've never been a "happy Monday" person! Makes me grumpy to come back to work and know I have a 5 day work week! That's neither here nor there!

Matt was in this weekend. Weekends go by too fast though! I also still haven't mastered the fine art of tracking on the weekends I'm with Matt. But I'm kind of in that 80/20 mode. I can track all week and do what I'm supposed and then give myself a little leeway on the weekends I'm with Matt.

I don't go crazy...burgers, fries, ice cream, etc! No, no, no! I know better than that. But when I'm around him on the weekends, we really don't eat much. We eat about two meals a day and hardly any snacks. So my meals may be bigger and contain more calories but I need more calories during those meals because there is nothing else to supplement me the rest of the day. So, as long as I can keep the other days in check, I think right now I'll be fine. It's not ideal but it's not every weekend either. So it's more of a 90/10 motto. 90% of the time, I'm on plan or tracking, 10% of the time, I'm just letting up slightly.

I'll figure it out soon. The most important thing to me right now is the things on do every other day that I'm not with him! That's what has been getting me in trouble.

So my goal this week is to continue to track every day! Also getting my minimum 30 mins of activity in every day.

I had a "cheater" day on the 30 minutes of activity for Saturday. Matt and I went out on the town!

Now, I've lived in the southwest suburbs of Chicago my whole life. I even went to college in the city and have worked in the city for 6 years. But it's a rare occasion I actually do anything fun in the city! And I love Chicago. It's beautiful and there are so many great things to do. My problem is...I never really know what to do or where to go.

But we took the train on Saturday into the city and went to a pizza place and a few drinks! It was nice and fun. My "cheater" activity was walking instead of taking a train to get from point A to B.

After the pizza, we decided to check out the skating rink at Millennium Park. Unfortunately it was about 8:40 pm when we arrived on Saturday night and they informed us the rink closes at 9:00 pm and they weren't renting skates anymore. Really!?! On a Saturday night? I thought they would be open until about 10:00 pm. But Matt snapped a few pictures. Here is one of the skating rink.



So we had time to kill before the train and just went to have another drink at a really expensive place. Kind of disappointed in that place, drinks were small and expensive. Oh well, no big deal. Live and learn.

During the night, I woke up at 4:00 am with major flu like symptoms and was miserable. Couldn't go back to sleep until nearly 5:00. It was miserable. But I'm mostly better now.

Sunday, Matt and I went to eat at my dad's restaurant. Matt wanted to try a Chicago style hot dog and also got a mini burger slider. I had half of the spaghetti, which at my dad's work (since it's a chili place), is spaghetti covered with Chili. I got turkey chili (even though it's not necessarily better for you) and only ate half. The other half is my lunch for today. Here is a picture of Matt's food.



And I was so upset the other day because I weighed in and it showed 170.6. Now, I weighed in on Friday morning instead of Saturday morning and I had work clothes on. I weighed myself at home on Sunday morning at was 167.6. So, I'm not as upset about the weigh in as I was before. I'm going to track all week and workout and see what the number is on the scale this weekend.

If you live in a major city, do you visit it often or do you visit it once in a while and act like a tourist??

Friday, January 7, 2011

So Depressed!

You'll have to excuse my mood today. I'm in a depressed mood for a few different reasons. But sometimes you have to vent and get it off your chest and this blog is an avenue for which I can do that in.

I'm depressed because I weighed in today. I haven't weighed in about a month! And I've gained many...many...many pounds. I now weigh 170.6! 170's! That's depressing in and of itself!

I'm depressed because I hate my job right now. I work in a law firm and my attorney is going to be retiring. But he hasn't really said when. The other attorneys are covertly trying to pick up his files. But no one is really giving good direction and I feel caught in between. Plus, I love my attorney. We work so well together. He is the most normal man in the office. I really dislike (really dislike) these other two attorneys. And they are the ones that I will have to be working with. And am kind of working with right now as they are slyly trying to pick up my files. And I just hate it! BIG BIG FROWN FACE :(

But there is one silver lining that is going to get me through the day (I hope, it's still early). Matt's coming in tonight! Yay! He can shower me with affection and tell me how gorgeous I am. That should perk me up a bit! lol. I'm so excited for him to come here! Not so excited to have to go to O'Hare airport! lol. It's not far, I'm just not as familiar with that airport. I'll be fine! Small price to pay.

My motto for today is going to be...Just make it through today!

Oh and another good thing is that my house is really clean! Really clean for me at least! Wow! I'm impressed! Good job Amanda!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Two Days!

I've had two days of continuous tracking on the new weight watchers points system! I can't tell you how good it feels!

Also, since I resigned up for the monthly pass, I have e-tools again. And I have since started tracking online (I was a paper tracker before).

When you know a points system inside and out...tracking on paper isn't so hard at all! Give me a food and I'll tell you the points!

But with the new system, I found it challenging not to have access to the weight watchers e-tools to help provide me with the point values. I knew nothing of the new points+ system and it was becoming challenging just to figure out what to eat, so I gave up!

But the e-tools tracker is so helpful! I know that's why I've tracked for the last two days (and today is day 3).

And the comments I received from you all on my Tuesday post was really helpful. I can't compare the old points system with the new points+ system. They are totally different. And I get more daily points and more weekly points to use. I love the new system by the way. It just takes a little getting used to.

And I'm so inspired by all of you! I've seen so many of you go full force into the new program, or even rejoin after not doing the plan for a little while! It takes guts and courage to go into something new! It's so easy to give up! But where would that take me. No where good, I know!

I'm also have a "house guest" Matt coming in this weekend. So I needed to clean my house. Therefore, there was no planned exercise yesterday. Just 40 total minutes of walking. Then I cleaned for over 2 hours! Really I cleaned for almost 3! I started around 8 and finished at 11. I was watching TV from 8-9 and was getting distracted though so from 9-11, I turned on the music and hit it! Wow! I haven't seen my house so clean! And it's still not done.

See, I'm pretty messy when I feel there is no one to clean for. Otherwise, I can be neat and orderly! So since there hasn't been anyone to clean for for a while...it gets out of control. But I love when my house is clean! It feels so good!

And my butt is sore today! LOL, must be from all the bending over while cleaning!

I have to finish up tonight though, but I'm hitting the gym for a quick 35 minutes speed interval running first. Then I have to do laundry, run to the store and finish cleaning! Going to be a busy night for me!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Archive Re-Post

I was flipping through some of my older posts and came across one of my favorite posts to date.

So I'm re-posting it to share with those that may not have seen it. Please read it. I truly think there is a good message in there. And with all the new years resolutions cropping up, I think you can take a message out of it for that as well.

September 2010 Post: Don't walk in shoes you can't wear!

Enjoy!

**Also, I updated my Before and After Pictures on my page above. I only have one before picture. I'll try to get a hold of a few more.

Day 2 of tracking on the new plan is going well too...for a change! Here's to being back on track!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

So Different!

Well, I sucked it up and decided to pay the money and join the monthly pass again at weight watchers. I've been going to meetings (sort of) but have NOT been doing what I need to do to keep weight off. And so, it has crept back on! ... And on! .... And on!

And before it gets out of control, I'm nipping it in the bud. The new points system is so different that I'm having a hard time keeping track without at least having etools. And since I'm over goal, I'd have to pay for the meetings anyway. Therefore, I decided to do both in one shot! Hence, the monthly pass.

Monthly pass and etools! I have SO missed you! They are so easy to use! And since I'm so unfamiliar with this new points system, it's been really difficult doing it by myself.

But I rejoined! And I started by tracking all my food today. Even the 6 pieces of starburst candy (3 points+) and the granola bar I ate for no reason (4 points+). That's 7 points+ of worthless junk!

My yogurt (yoplait light) used to be 2 points and I assumed it stayed the same! Nope, it's 3 points+ now! And my subway lunch (if I get a bag of baked Doritos, which I don't always get) used to be 9 points and is now 13 points+!! Subway used to be a good option, but now I'm reconsidering! 8 points+ for the sandwich, 1 point+ for the oil and 5 points+ for the baked Doritos! Oh crap! I can't add either! That's 14 points+ total! And I only get 29 points+ for the day (plus the extra's, I know).

**Note to self: take a new math class.

So, getting the monthly pass is going to be the best thing for me to do right now! Clearly!

I've been doing great on activity however! Still going strong on my 100 day challenge (see tab above). I did a kickboxing class for 55 minutes last night, 15 minutes on the stairclimber and 5 minutes of abs. I wanted to clean at home afterwards...but yeah, too tired after all of this!

Tonight it's my 2 hour gym day. 1 hour will be an advanced step aerobics class and 1 hour of weights/abs. In the reverse order: weights/abs comes first, then step aerobics.

Anyway, getting use to the new points on some of my old foods is going to be the biggest challenge. What are some of the foods that were regular staples of yours that has been the hardest to adjust to? Are you still eating them or have you tried to find replacement foods?

Monday, January 3, 2011

Recommitted 2011

How was your New Years? My was pretty good. It's nice to have a three day weekend from work. For New Years Eve, I spent the night with my cousin and her family. I'm never the "going out to a bar" type for New Years. Too many crazy people on the roads. I'd rather spend it with crazy people at home!

With TOM and endless eating, my stomach has been feeling none too good! I tried recommitting last week to eating better. I tried recommitting on January 1st. I haven't had much success with either. So, third times a charm, right? I'm recommitting today.

Actually, I stepped on the scale the last few days and think it's broken. I saw a number I haven't seen in a very long time! Time for a new scale I guess!

No, no! With TOM, large amounts of sodium, and not enough water...I'm sure that number is inflated somewhat. But it's still too high.

So, what am I going to do about it? Well, resign up for the weight watchers monthly pass, of course. It's either that or not go to the meetings because I don't want to pay since I'm over goal. But that wouldn't solve anything. It would just make it worse. I think I will have a new focus if I resign up, at least until I get back down to my goal.

I've used my garmin twice now. I love it! I've only used one very basic feature, the time/distance feature. It's so fantastic! I can't wait to get into some serious running training in a few months to really see what it can do!

I'm also done my "100 days challenge" the last two days. I added a tab at the top of my page to keep track of the days and activity that is being done. If you would like to participate in the 100 days challenge, see my previous post. I think it's a great way to not slack on "off days".