Weekly weigh-in (two days late)

4.2 pounds

Yep! That's what I lost. Go me! I was so nervous Friday night, I decided to do my Biggest Loser video 
It was harder than I remember it. Then the next morning I got my basket at Bountiful Baskets, went to the gym and did part of a step class (in which I was totally lost a good amount of the time), then went to weigh in. Needless to say, I was very happy about the loss. Hopefully, this week goes just as well; though I'd be pleased as punch with a lesser loss... but I'll take another 4 lbs. if that's how it works out! :D

Also, yesterday, I recorded my measurements. I don't have any losses to report in that area yet, though, because it's my first measurement. I'll keep you posted on that.

I love the new WW program. It seems so much more doable now (for me). I love the extra points you get for a week. The free fruit is great; it really motivates me to eat more fruit and veggies. The online tracking tools are easy to use. Activity also seems to be stressed more in the program and rewarded more. Overall, I love it.

Here's to a great week, friends!

Nervous

Tomorrow is weigh in and I have to admit I am nervous. I am not concerned about whether I gained or lost (I am pretty sure I lost), I am mostly nervous about how much. Tuesday I had high hopes that I would lose like 5 lbs. in one week. That ain't gonna happen.

However, it's been a pretty good week. I've been able to stay within my points range and have had some really yummy food, too. My favorite discovery of the week was a kicked-up tuna sandwich. It'll be even better when it's two points lower because of low-cal bread.

And I have gone to the gym twice! (Yeah, didn't do the little walks with the babe. My patience was not at it's pinnacle this week.) My gym attendance had been dismal up until this week. But Zumba was kind of calling my name and it lived up to it's sweat-filled promises.

Tomorrow's plan is to sweat off as much as I can at a step class right before my meeting/weigh-in. It'll be a busy, busy morning. I can't wait!

Hi! I'm new here.

*waves* I just started WW today. After being depressed for too many months about my weight and not being pregnant yet, I decided to try to be more successful at the one I probably have more control over, my weight (since God seems to be saying, "not yet" on the baby issue). I weighed in and went to my first Power Start meeting. I have done WW before and this time it didn't seem much different. Though I must say, I am excited to have most fruits now cost me nothing. Because before I was not at all motivated to eat fruits if they were going to cost me a point. Now I am excited because THEY'RE FREE!!! 

My exercise plan right now consists of going for a daily walk with my almost-two year old and getting to the gym at least three times next week. I'll let you know how it goes. 

I am new at the blogging thing, so forgive me while I get my bearings. Anything you'd like to hear about, just tell me. 

P.S. I feel totally nervous posting along side my good friend and blogging diva, Hilary, but I know she'll be nothing but supportive. 

Weekly Weigh-In

Well, I missed Weight Watchers on Saturday because we were out at the Walk Now For Autism Speaks event. It was fantastic! Not to mention we walked 1 mile so I got some exercise too. :)

My goal this week is to focus on being more active. I want to workout 1 hour 3 times this week as well as try to be more active in general.

Ways To Accomplish This Goal:

- Train with my amazing trainer one night this week

- Do a yoga video on Netflix, it really is good to do at least once a week

- Walk to the park instead of drive

- Play more Wii games like Just Dance, Wii Active, or Wii Fit as part of my evening activities

- Dust off my 30 Day Shred dvd. We all need a little Jillian in our week. :)

How do you workout and stay active?

Weekly Weigh-In

Last Saturday was my first official Weight Watchers weekly weigh-in since we came back from vacation. I had gone to a weigh-in the day before we left for our trip, and this weigh in was 6 days after we came back from our trip. The scale showed I was up by .4 but if you take into account the unofficial weigh in result of +3 lbs. I did at home when we got back from Disneyland then I lost almost all of the vacation weight last week.

I'm still not at my lowest since I started this journey in January though and that is a tad frustrating. I've got 2.6 more pounds to lose until I'm back where I was before I got discouraged by the silly .8 loss weigh in and jumped off the wagon. But really, that was a good lesson and one I'm glad I learned early on so hopefully I won't make that same mistake again and if/when I do I won't let it discourage me so much.

This week's goal: Weigh less than my husband. When I checked the scale yesterday I was 3 pounds away from matching his weight. Now, he's a whole foot taller then me so I know I really should weigh a lot less than him, but small steps here people. I'm super excited to reach this goal!

Weekly Weigh-In

Hilary and I frequented the local WW meeting again this past Saturday for our weekly weigh-in. I started watching the current season of The Biggest Loser last week and now anytime I step on a scale I swear I hear someone say: "And your current weight is..." Thankfully they don't actually say that, but still, it's nerve wracking!

This week I was down by .8. That's not even a whole pound people! I injured my back about midway through the week so I wasn't able to do my crazy workouts, just simple things like walking, yoga, etc. I was also low on my water intake and my fruits/veggies for the week.

I was pretty frustrated with myself and just couldn't shake it. A loss is a loss right? The number went down! In fact, that .8 moved me down into the next range of numbers so that's an accomplishment, right?

Today I am trying to stay positive, jumping back on the bandwagon, and am recommitted to doing my best! Not that I didn't do my best last week, but this week I'm going to try even harder. My goal for this week is a 1-2 pound weight loss. Totally do-able.

How do you stay positive when the scale doesn't show what you want? How do you resist the urge to be upset about it and go eat your weight in chinese food later that night? (Just as a hypothetical).

Weekly Weigh-In

Yesterday I met up with Hilary at the local Weight Watchers meeting. I wasn't going to go because I felt like I hadn't done my best during the week and I was afraid the scale would show that I had gained. I stuck to my points but I didn't eat the healthiest foods within those point ranges and my exercise for the week? Well, I did go on a long walk one day but that was about it.

Thanks to Hilary and her last minute work cancellation (sorry Hil!) she emailed me and said she was going to go. I figure she's a nurse, so if seeing that I have gained a few pounds back makes me pass out or something she'll know what to do. :)

I got dressed and headed out, actually loving that I live on the 3rd floor and had to walk down three flights of stairs to get to my car. Anything that helps burn a few more calories, right?

I got there for the last 5 minutes of the meeting but was able to weigh in before they did all the "awards" for weight loss that week. I wish someone had taken a picture of the look of shock on my face when I stepped on the scale and the woman told me I had lost 2.2 lbs this week. What the...?! She quickly ran over to the leader and gave her my name for the awards because I had hit another five pound marker, making my 3 week total of weight loss 10.6 pounds. That's like a whole newborn I've been carrying around! (Well, at least one of MY newborns. I have big babies.)

Honestly, I really was surprised but when I thought back to my week I made healthy choices, I tried to be active and sometimes that's all you need.

For today, I'd like to share a quote by Jillian Michaels. She posted this on her facebook page last week and I really love what she says.

"Many are so preoccupied w/what others think it defines their existence.It's fear based to be told & to accept that you are this or can only accomplish that. When we fixate externally it keeps us from truly knowing of ourselves & our destiny.Most fear looking inward for worry they won't find greatness, but when we stop allowing others to define our worth you'll see-greatness exists in us all, waiting to be expressed."

My challenge to you for this week: Don't let others define who you are or what you can accomplish. Look inside and find that greatness. Push yourself, challenge yourself, and see how strong you really are.

Last Chance Workout

I'm beginning to not like Fridays. See, I go to Weight Watchers on Saturdays. That means that on Friday I'm counting points like crazy, trying to eat fruits and veggies all day long, drink enough water, and of course, getting in that last minute workout right before bed, praying and crossing my fingers that in the morning I will wake up a few pounds lighter.

At my unofficial weigh in today I was down 1.6 pounds this week. I'm always afraid that the scale is wrong or that I'll get all excited about my weigh in but then the WW scale will say I gained 50 pounds that week, or something crazy like that.

Anyway, since this all started with Hilary as my inspiration to begin this journey I thought I would go with her goal from last year: lose 1 pound a week. I think I started off on the wrong foot by losing 4 pounds each week for the first 2 weeks. Now that I set the bar high I want to hit that each time, which is totally unrealistic unless I'm on the Biggest Loser Ranch and Jillian is kicking my butt 12 hours a day. :)

Shouldn't I be happy with 1.6? Shouldn't I say "Good job Mary. Nice going, keep it up!" No. Instead all I hear is Jillian yelling at me saying "this is your last chance workout, get up and get on that treadmill!" I have to say, I think Jillian (or at least my mind's version of her) is right. Yes I could say, "hey, I worked hard this week, I met my goal. I'm good, I'm good." But would I feel good about my efforts at weigh-in tomorrow? Would I feel like I did ALL I could do? No, I'd be wondering just how much lower that number on the scale might have been if I'd given just 10, 20, 30 more minutes, whatever I could do.

So here I am in the middle of my busy day actually looking forward to working out tonight. Me! Can you believe it? I sure can't. I'm ready to work, I'm ready to put in the time tonight, I'm ready to see those numbers on the scale go down.

It's never too late to try. It's never too late to get up and move, even if it's just for 10 minutes. That's 10 minutes more than it would have been and that's progress!

I Can Do This

Hilary and I went to the local Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday and it was epic. I mean, seriously epic. My total weight loss after my second week on points plus...8.4 lbs.! I hit my first goal of losing five pounds! I weighed myself this morning and was happy to find that I'm one pound away from 10, and it feels good.

There really is something to say for the power of positive thinking. When I wasn't working towards losing weight I just felt fat, thought fat...fat, fat, fat. I hated looking in the mirror because I felt like I was a trillion pounds and ugly. I didn't do my hair or make-up each day because I just felt like I was so ugly it wouldn't help.

Now, almost 10 pounds later, I feel great and motivated. The past two days I've done my hair and make-up! I noticed myself this morning looking in almost every mirror I passed, giving my hair a flip, smiling at myself, and thinking, "Hey, I look good!" Now, I'm not saying I'm a model or that I'm trying to be conceited, I'm just taking the time for me and appreciating and loving myself.

The whole way home from the weigh in on Saturday I was pumped up. I was so happy to see that my hard work is paying off I just kept saying to myself, "I can do this, I can totally do this."

My challenge for you this week is to change one negative thing you say or think about yourself (examples: I'm too fat, I'm not smart enough, I don't like my hips, I'm a loser, I'm not like so and so, etc.) and make it a positive! Start seeing that part of you in a positive light for a whole week. Tell yourself you're beautiful, smart, and worth being appreciated and loved. Put notes on your mirror to remind yourself and anytime you catch yourself starting to think negative hurry and make it a positive!

And for your viewing pleasure, here is a video that circulated the blogs a while back of a little 4 year old who is all about positive affirmations!

Weekly Weigh-In

I missed going to the Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday but I have kept to my points and hoped that when I did get a chance to weigh-in there would be a weight loss.

I don't own a scale so I asked our apartment complex if they had one in their clubhouse. They said that they have one in their women's restroom by their gym area. I haven't had a chance to run in there to weigh in but on the way out to run errands today I thought, "why not?" I was wearing jeans and wasn't really expecting there to be much of a weight loss since I had only been doing Weight Watchers for about 9 days.

Well guess who was surprised to see the numbers?! I have lost 5 POUNDS!!! I was so shocked. I knew I had lost weight, I can feel it in my clothes and my face, but 5 already? 5 pounds was my first goal, the goal that I thought I'd be striving to reach for the first few weeks. I guess when you stop eating crap and start eating healthy the fat starts melting away.

Now my next goal: 10 pounds. Dr. Oz has this whole campain going this season called "Just 10." He's encouraging everyone to lost just 10 pounds because of the immense health benefits that can come with a 10 pound weight loss.

My new challenge? Implement my workout schedule as follows:

1) Do a moderate/intense workout (with a workout video) for 30 minutes 3 mornings a week
2) Do a low-impact/moderate workout during naptime Monday through Friday (this will be something like my Zumba Wii game, Just Dance, Wii Fit, Wii Active, etc.)
3) Do something active each evening (On a warm day this may be a long walk on a trail by my house with the family, on rainy or cold days it may be Dance Dance Revolution or Wii Sports Resort with my husband.)

What are your favorite ways to exercise? Do you like the gym? Do you like videos at home? Or how about a walk in the park?

EEA...

Hi. My name is Mary and I am an emotional eater. After 3 great days eating healthy foods and only eating when I truly was hungry, I gave in. I had a long rainy day inside with the kids running like crazy and I used food to deal with the stress. I still counted every point and I didn't eat anything that was different from what I normally ate, but I just kept eating, and eating, and eating. All day long I just did not feel "full" and that was when I realized I was eating for the wrong reasons.

I know I am not alone. There are thousands, maybe millions of people (a lot of them women) who use food to self-medicate. There are hundreds of articles online about EE. I read one from Weight Watchers Australia/New Zealand that, other than making me wonder what the heck Tim Tams are, was really well done. They mention how from the time we are nursed as babies we are connecting food with emotion. That food/emotion connection is one we make often enough that even the media picks up on it. When girls on tv go through a bad break up they often pull out the big carton of Haagen Daaz, grab a spoon, and go to town.

The key is to recognize that in ourself and know our triggers. I know that if I have a particularly rough "mom day" I am going to want to eat a big bowl of ice cream, get a huge Cafe Rio salad, etc. Those kinds of days are a trigger for me. What I could have done yesterday was go into my room where it's quiet, take a nice long shower, and then read a book or watched my favorite movie while my husband took care of the kids.

One important thing to remember: It will hurt. You will feel uncomfortable. I remember one day last year coming home from BYU where I had just failed a big test. I felt like a huge failure. I felt like I had let my family down. And the whole way home do you know what I wanted more than anything? A milkshake. I was trying to eat healthy but man I just wanted to say "forget it," stop at JCW's and get a nice huge chocolate chip cookie dough shake. I stuck to my goals and made it home without the ice cream but the whole rest of the night I was on edge. I felt like an addict going through withdrawal. I was still extremely upset about the test and the situation but I was refusing to use food to self-medicate. At one point I think I even got jittery. It was crazy, but it really made me see how much EE can really affect a person.

What we need to realize is that there is hope! In the article one woman said, "When you don't self-medicate with food, emotions are going to bubble to the surface, and they may seem intense because they've been eaten away for so long. Once the emotion was felt and let go, the cravings disappeared."

Today is a new day, I am determined to find better ways to deal with my emotions than food and am slowly finding what works for me. Is emotional eating something you struggle with? What healthy ways have you found to deal with your emotions?

Weight Watchers: Again.

I went to a weight watchers meeting with Mary on Saturday (like she just said below).  I wasn't really looking forward to it.  But I'm glad I did it.  My goal last year was to stick to WW ALL. YEAR.  And frankly, I didn't really make it ALL. YEAR, but I did it pretty close, and I felt pretty good about my results.

But, it's a new year with a new plan and I was actually spurred on by the teacher.  I feel like it would make a difference and the new plan was the way to do it.

I have chosen to do the 39.99/month plan.  This gives me etools and unlimited meetings for the month.  After the month I plan to cancel and go it alone, but i may just attend a weekly meeting for the month.  Really pump myself up. :)  You know, so I can deflate. :)

So, I took the weekend to mull over the plan, how it's different, how it's the same, thinking about how it will work into my life.  Today I started in with both feet (Monday is my usual starting day anyway).

Here's my thoughts so far:

1)  Point values are pretty well the same, I think bread/carbs are higher but everything else seems to stay pretty similar.  Bread is something I chose to stay fairly far away from last year, except when choosing to use my extra points so this isn't a huge change for me.
2)  I have more points, 29 to be exact.  That's the lowest amount you can have.  Who knew I was that skinny?
3)  Holy crap, does WW take a lot of time!  I was figuring out points for what seemed like all the danged day!  I forgot about that, although acutely aware of it last year.  I need to do some calendar clearing so I can really dive into this!
4)  Free fruits and veggies.  I'm excited about this, not as excited as SOME people in the meeting, but excited.  I know that if I'm ever hungry and without points I can have a banana.  I just need to make sure that I am stocked with some good fruit and ALL. TIMES.
5)  I liked how they gave us a point breakdown in the manual.  I don't remember this before, but I often felt like I used too many points later in the day.  This gives me a guide to have 5 points usually for breakfast, I'm glad to know that.
6)  You can not follow both plans, don't think you can follow the old system and get free fruit.  Sorry dudes, break up with the old plan. :)

And now my final thoughts
1.  Same as before, what to do with activity points.  For this week (because, frankly, I feel like I'm working out harder than I did before...) I think I'm going to use 1/2 of my activity points and I need to use them within 4 hours of the workout session.  So, no giant dinner because I worked out, but i can have a big breakfast.  Today I had 1/4 an avocado with my eggs and an extra piece of toast.  It was good. 
2.  Will this really work?  Last time it worked so well, I worry about having more points and free fruit.  Will I just go crazy?  They say I won't, but do I believe them?
3.  I'm so glad to have a lot of friends on WW with me.  That helps a lot.

Anyway, those are my thoughts for today.  I'm hoping to post a day's worth of points every week, just to give you guys an idea of what I'm eating.  But, for now I need OFF this computer.  For real. :)

Back on the Wagon

So.

I dropped off this blog in a major way. Crazy life and no time.

I did stay off of sugar for all of January, February and March. I had a few slip ups in April (and gained about 7 pounds because of them, and they were small slip ups!), and also stopped exercising for a while.

But, now, following Hilary's lead, my husband and I have started Weight Watchers.

So far, so good.

I'm not the best at keeping track of things, but I can see how helpful it is. So I am giving it my best shot. My husband on the other hand, excels at this sort of thing, so perhaps he will keep me on track. The last time we did WW together, he lost about 25 pounds (which was all he needed to lose) and I only lost 10. Mostly because I gave up.

So that is what I am working to overcome. The whole giving up on things too easily.

And so, I'm back on the wagon.

Again.

I'll report next week.