I Have It. Do You Want It?

In the past week I've had two girlfriends send me e-mails asking for my advice on food and weight loss. With one I ended up going to lunch and I shared with her the kind of things my family and I are eating. I told her the best piece of advice I could give her was to start counting calories (not for everyone I know, but I think it will help this specific person). She got started yesterday and I can see the excitement in her eyes about starting this journey full of hope. I wish her the best of luck and hope I can support her in any way I can.

My other friend sent me an e-mail last night asking for my help. She has been struggling with motivation. She asked if there was a special moment that clicked for me. As I've written here on my blog, my success has been a series of many small ah-ha moments that have built on one another. I ended up writing my friend back with the thoughts that came to my mind at the time. I'd like to share them with you (slightly edited):

Let me try and answer some of your specific questions. I took a lot of little steps that built on one another. I was motivated by my friend Liz who had lost weight on weight watchers so that was the first thing I did. From weight watchers I learned how to eat properly. My biggest issues were portion size and thinking that certain foods were "bad" and that I was bad for eating them. So I lost about 25 pounds in the first six months. It came off pretty quick because I had been eating so horribly before I got started.

Then I maintained that loss for a few months and decided I wanted to try to start exercising. I started Zumba in September and lost eight more pounds by November. I lost quite a bit in my face and waist.

From November until July I just kept losing and gaining the same five pounds all while I was going to Zumba two or three times a month. I was getting discouraged and felt like I just couldn't lose weight. I was eating better than I had been and exercising more than I had in my life but the scale wasn't going down. That's why I started my blog in June - it has really motivated me to kick this weight loss thing to the next level.

In mid-July I started tracking my Weight Watchers points again. Religiously. Then the weight started coming off. I've lost 10 pounds in seven weeks. Now that I'm committed to tracking, it's easy. I've got all the components I need to do what I need to do - I'm tracking, measuring and exercising. I know exactly what is happening to my body and I'm in control. It's a great feeling to be in control. To not be confused by the scale. To know that I will lose every week because I know I'm doing it!

So my biggest advice to you is to either count calories or track weight watcher points. I think both are equally as effective. You have to make the commitment that you're going to do it and then the choices will come easy to you. I can give you some examples of what I'm eating if you're interested. I'm not eating rabbit food, I'm eating what I want, when I want it - I just have to plan it accordingly.

People are really noticing my weight loss now and it's awesome. I'm buying new clothes that are showing off what I've been working so hard on. You're not the only one that's asked me what's working for me - so many people are where you and I have been - they just need that little push to get started. I think if you start writing down what you're eating you will see the results you want. Go to http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ and type in your info and it will tell you how many calories you should be eating to lose weight.

I'm happy to help in anyway I can. It's still weird for me when people ask me for advice on this stuff because I was so heavy for so long - it's a big adjustment to make.

The friend that I went to lunch with was telling me that she can tell that "I have it" and I do. I'm so motivated and in control that it's just not possible for me to mess up. I'm not going to go over my points. It's just not going to happen. I know this sounds cocky, but it's true. It's where I am right now. It took me nearly two years to finally get here, but I'm here.

And I feel for my friends. I was where they are for so long. So many times I had told myself "I'm going to do it this time." The difference was I wasn't confident all those other times. I wasn't really sure I could do it. I was afraid of failing. I was afraid of succeeding. I was so very afraid.
Now "I have it." I've gone through this bumpy journey and things are different now. I'm not on a diet. That has been important to me from day one. This is not temporary. I needed to do something that I could do for rest of my life. Staying within a daily caloric value and doing Zumba are things that I'm comfortable with for the long haul. I know myself and I know that I will have to track every day to see the results I want. Every day people. I won't eat anything without knowing what the weight watcher point value is - this is that important to me.

Another thing is, this wellness thing takes up a lot of my time. Between tracking and exercising and blogging and reading blogs, my brain is on wellness all day. There's no time off. There are no vacations. I've committed myself fully. That's what it takes.

One of my friends and I were talking. She and her sister-in-law have been working out together and her SIL is seeing success (I think she reads my blog - hi sister-in-law :). So my friend updates me on how they're doing and her successes and a lot of times we'll talk about my transformation. My friend said something to me that no one else has - I'm paraphrasing here but she said she can see a difference in my personality. She said I have more confidence, that I'm more outgoing, happier, that it just shines out of me. She's right.

I notice that strangers look at me more than they used to. I wondered if it was because of my slimmer appearance, but honestly I think it's because I have my head up. I'm walking with more confidence. I'm looking strangers in the eye with a smile on my face.

Like I said in reply to my friend's e-mail - It's still weird for me when people ask me for advice on this stuff because I was so heavy for so long - it's a big adjustment to make. But I do want to help you if I can. Do you have a question? A comment? Do you "have it?" Let me know in the comments below.

August Goals Recap and New September Goals

My attempt at setting 12 wellness/personal goals for myself went pretty well in August. Let's take a look at how I did:

Met goal all four weeks/met monthly goal.

1. Track WW points daily.
2. Lose at least four pounds.
3. Cut out one WW ice cream bar a week.
4. Read stories every night to kids.
5. Take kids old books to consignment shop.
6. Arrange two date nights

Met goal three weeks

1. Exercise at least three times a week.
2. Game night once a week.

Met goal two weeks

1. Drink at least 48 oz of water a day.

Met goal one week

1. Limit Diet Dr. Pepper to two cans a day.
2. Read every night before bed.

Still working on the "finish all laundry at some point during the month goal." I have two more loads to wash and a couple of baskets to put away.

My proudest wellness accomplishment in August was losing 6.2 pounds. My proudest personal goal will be the laundry goal once I finish it up before midnight tomorrow :) I'll post a picture once I'm done.

Looking back over the month, I think 12 goals was too many. I liked having both personal and wellness goals, but it was a bit overwhelming. I'd like to continue with the goal concept but I'm going to narrow it down.

My wellness goal for the month of September is to lose 4.8 pounds. Why 4.8? Because I have 9.6 pounds to lose until I'm in onderland before my ten year anniversary in October. And yes, I will be modeling my wedding dress once I hit onderland ;) So 4.8 in September and 4.8 in October. I have my eye on the prize and I need to keep my focus there.

I've mentioned before that I keep a yearly calendar taped to my office desk that I sharpie out the days I exercise.

In August I added a chart for how much I need to lose to get to onderland before my anniversary.

I think I will make my personal goal another housekeeping one. I liked having the entire month to work on the project, especially when it's a big project. I think I want to make my personal goal to clean out the closets and drawers in our house. Huge, huge project, but it needs to be done.

So what are your goals for September?

Weekend Water

It's 6:43 p.m. and I just realized I haven't had a drop of water today.

I know why - the main reason is I didn't make my two Diet Dr. Peppers per day goal early in the week which I used as an excuse to not shoot for the goal the rest of the week. When I am meeting that goal I have no choice but to drink water the rest of the day. The other reason was my McAlister's tumbler was in my van.

My cup is out of the van, washed and filled with ice-cold water. Let's get hydrated! 

More Office Temptations

Weigh-in Day
Previous weight - 211.6
Current weight - 209.6
Difference - lost 2 pounds

Total weight lost - 35.4

Today was a big weigh-in day for me. I'm in the single digits now - only 9.7 pounds until I'm under 200 pounds. Another biggie is my daily weight watcher point value has gone from 30 to 27 points. I'm excited that I've lost enough that the value has gone down. I'm confident I won't have a problem adjusting to the new point value. Since I've been eating better quality foods I'm not as hungry and I've been ending the day with 2-6 extra points. Funny thing is Jim's points went down today too. He went from 35 to 33 I believe.

________________________________________________________

I was making my lunch in the office kitchen just now and I noticed we had just gotten a shipment in of our snacks. Here's a photo sampling of what I've been tempted with the past ten years I've worked here.

We always joke with new staff that they will gain 10 pounds the first year they work here. I think I gained 20. Back when I started 10 years ago we had fresh donuts delivered to our office every day. I usually ate two chocolate glazed donuts each morning. Sometimes I'd go back for one after lunch if there were any left.

We don't have the donuts every day but we do have all this processed, high calorie crap pictured above. I used to eat stuff from these pictures every day. We also have Panera's brought in occasionally for meetings and the staff are welcome to the leftovers. That's why my office is my Safe Place. I just don't eat any of this stuff anymore. If I started I would have a hard time stopping. Especially with those boxes of tootsie rolls and Hersey Kisses (not pictured). Also, the M&Ms would be bad news. There's actually a candy dispenser right outside my office.

No money required.

Several times a day I can hear people cranking the lever to get M&Ms out. It's tough to ignore, but I do.

Anyway - I'm still obsessed with finding "in-between clothes" at Goodwill. I didn't have much luck this week. Here's a photo of me wearing one of the outfits I found last week.

Finding Time to Exercise

I think there is a big difference between making the decision to exercise and finding the time to exercise. For me I had to first decide that it was what I wanted. I'll save that for another post. Today I want to talk about finding the time to exercise.

I'm not a morning person, plus I get up at 5:30 a.m. so getting up any earlier was out of the question for me. I work full time so that left me with the option of working out in the evening. Our kids start the going-to-bed routine at 7:30 p.m. with lights out at 9 p.m. I'm usually in bed by 10:30 p.m. So that meant exercising after the kids were asleep was out. I knew from past experience that I wouldn't stick to an exercise routine of the treadmill day in and day out so that was out. That left me at the mercy of the Y's group exercise schedule. Most of their evening classes I was interested in were from 7-8 p.m. Factor in the 15 minutes each way it takes to get there and home. That meant if I wanted to exercise, which I decided I did, it meant I would need to go around dinner time and miss the bedtime routine.

Now, had I not already decided I wanted to exercise I would have concluded that there was no time for me to exercise. I couldn't miss dinner! I couldn't miss bedtime. Are you crazy?

No, I'm not crazy, but that's exactly what I did.

The first step was running this by Jim. If it had been him asking me if he could skip out on dinner and bedtime to go exercise I think I would have nixed the idea. But this is Jim we're talking about - father/husband of the year. He was 100% behind me.

So I went. And I went. And I went. And it got easier.

I get home with the kids at 5:30 p.m. Most nights we'll work on homework when we get home. Then the kids play while I make dinner. We all sit down to dinner (although I don't eat with them because I'm getting ready to workout). Then I'm off to the Y and Jim takes over with dinner clean up and bedtime routines. When I get home around 8:15 p.m. I read the kids stories and tuck them into bed.Then I eat dinner. Sometimes Jim eats with me, sometimes he eats with the kids. I shower, spend a little time with Jim and then I'm off to bed.

Let me address a couple of issues. I see the kids for 10 minutes in the morning and around 2 hours in the evening on the nights I work out - which these days are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. How am I ok with only seeing my kids for 2 hours a day? It's tough, but here are some reasons why:

1. It is really important for me right now to be exercising. It's key to my weight loss and it will be key to my maintenance once I hit goal.
2. I'm a happier, healthier me and that makes me a better mom and wife. It does make a difference and it benefits everyone.
3. This routine helps me get the most out of my time with the kids. I appreciate the time I have with them now because I know it's limited on some days. 
4. I'm setting a good example for my kids. It's important for them to know the benefits of regular workouts. They're used to me going to workout now. They never ask me to stay home.They can put their arms around my waist now and they say it's because of Zumba.
5. Because I'm sacrificing time with my family it motivates me to make the weekend Zumba classes (Sat. at 9:45 and Sunday at 4 p.m.). I don't know if that makes sense or not. But I figure if I'm willing to miss out on family time during the week it means I better get my butt to class on the weekend when I have the luxury of spending the whole weekend with them.
6. I listen to my mind-body-spirit. If I need a night off I take it. On Tuesday I was really missing my kids so I took the night off from Zumba. It was what I needed and I listened. Now I'm ready to get back to class tonight. Speaking of which, I need to kiss the kids and Jim and head over to class. 

Do you sacrifice time with your loved ones to get your exercise in? Why do you do it?

You Always Have A Choice

You always have a choice in how you react to things.

Making the right choice has been a difficult journey for me. In the past I've reacted with tears, anger, revenge, jealousy, self-pity, and on and on. Over the past few years I've taken a hard look at my negative reactions, realized they do me or anyone else any good and have made the effort to react to situations in a positive way. I'm not perfect, but I am improving.

Today I had was faced with several unpleasant situations, both personally and professionally. Some minor; some major. The way I chose to react to them today was far more positively than I would have in the past. Some situations I dismissed without much thought: what's done is done; I will gain nothing from regrets. Some took all my power not to run to a corner, curl up in a ball and let the tears flow.

I'll give you one example. This one wasn't major but it did leave me frustrated and disappointed.

For the past three years I've traveled to Tucson in January for a continuing education seminar of sorts. This January will be my final year of the training. I know from past experience that the rooms in the Marriott sell out and that it's best to book your room as soon as you get back from your last trip. I, however, was lazy and did not book my room. I received an e-mail today about enrollment being open and that prompted me to call the hotel to book my room. You can see where this is going. After giving the customer service rep all my info she proceeded to tell me the hotel was already booked.

I let out a big sigh, thanked her and hung up with a little extra force than usual.

CRAP

I do not want to be in a different hotel. It means I'd have to take a bus to the classes and all the events. It means I'd have to make arrangements to meet my friends out for dinner. It was going to be a major pain and I was ticked at myself for not making the reservations and I was ticked that the hotel was already booked.

How was I going to continue to react?

I could have continued to be ticked and figured there was nothing that could be done and ended up at a different hotel and been bitter about it the whole time I would be at the training.

Or, I could try and do something about it. I chose that option. I sent an e-mail to my other classmates to first of all tell them the situation in case they hadn't booked their room either and secondly to see if anyone had any leads on how I could get into the hotel.

I had three people respond right away. One just to say he couldn't help :) and two to tell me to they were in a similar situation the previous year and not to give up. Keep checking back to see if any rooms open up.

Right away I felt better. Physically and emotionally.

What ended up happening was my e-mail was forwarded to the event organizers who responded to the group (we are just one group of over ten) telling us it was a mistake. There were more rooms available and they were working with the hotel to get the extra rooms released. I ended up booking my room before the day was over.

See how that worked out for me? Granted, it could have gone a whole other direction but the point is I chose to react positively to the situation. I didn't give up. I asked for help. My friends reached out to me and let me know they had been there too. And then I ended up getting what I wanted in the first place.

That's a whole lot better than spending the next six months being ticked.

You always have a choice in how you react. How do you react to the bad choice you made at lunch? How are you going to react to feeling like you don't want to exercise? You have a choice when people offer you a piece of cake at a party (it IS ok to say no - really. I've done it and we all survived). You have a choice when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed - are you going to stay on that side or are you going to say "screw you wrong side of the bed, I belong on the right side!"

You always have a choice.

Before and Getting Closer

Dug around some old photo discs tonight. Adding to my "before photos"

2002

2003

2003 - after I had Jacob

2005 - I'm holding Gracie

2005

2006

2007

2007

 

Jacob took this photo of me tonight. I love it.

Aug. 24, 2010

Taking Control Back From Picnics

Most of you are probably familiar with Weight Watchers point system. You are given daily points, weekly points and points for exercise. I currently have 35 weekly points to play with.

I have been using my weekly points either in one day or over two consecutive days.  I didn't start off doing this deliberately. It just happened that I usually went to a party or out to dinner on the weekend and ended up using them like I stated above. Since I've been losing consistently for the past six weeks and I like using my weekly points this way, this is how I'm choosing to do it.

I know these weekly points can be a controversial topic. So, for the record, here's what Weight Watchers has to say:
"Use your weekly POINTS allowance for indulgences. Just because you’re trying to lose weight doesn’t mean you should be deprived of your favorite foods — it just means that you need to practice portion control and remain within your POINTS budget."

and:
"Use your Allowance all at once, on a dinner out or a special occasion. Divide the extra POINTS values up over the week. Choose not to use them, to boost this week’s weight loss."

So when Saturday came around this past weekend I was debating when to use my weekly points. We didn't have any plans for Saturday and had a church picnic scheduled on Sunday.

I did not want to use my extra points at the picnic because I wouldn't know the exact point value of the foods that would be there. I decide that Saturday would be my extra point day. (Just a side note - Jim did the exact opposite and used his weekly points at the picnic and stayed within his point totals too)

Saturday morning I had a granola bar and some yogurt with Kashi cereal before Zumba. After class I had an egg sandwich and pretzels with hummus. Snacks were dark chocolate with organic peanut butter, another granola bar and some triscuits with turkey pepperoni and cheese. By late afternoon I had used all of my 30 daily points.

I debated what to do for dinner and decided on Five Guys. Oh my, I can't tell you the last time I had french fries and I must say they were delicious. I also got a little cheeseburger. Together they were 20 points.

So here's something I'm proud of ... Like I mentioned, our church picnic was Sunday. I had already used most of my weekly points on Saturday so I went to the picnic knowing I would be very selective of what I ate and only choose things that I could accurately guess point values on. I had a hot dog without bun (5 points), loaded my plate with a leafy, green salad, added carrots (no dressing), watermelon, grapes and a corn, onion and pepper salad (I guessed the fruits and veggies were 4 points). At one point I had scooped up a spoonful of cheesy potatoes but as I thought about how many points it would be, I put it back knowing it wasn't worth it.

The thing is, I don't even remember eating most of the food. I do remember thinking the corn salad was pretty good. But I was so busy talking to friends that it was more about getting food into my belly so I wouldn't get famished.

It made me think - how many times have I been at a picnic like this, filled my plate full of high-calorie food and then eaten it without much thought to the taste because I was busy socializing?

I don't know about you, but now when I choose to eat something that's a treat, I savor every bite. Like Five Guys on Saturday. The anticipation of having our number called. I can still remember the taste of that cheeseburger and fries. Enjoying the meal knowing that I wasn't being "bad" according to the weigh watcher plan.

Things continue to click for me. I'm figuring out new things every day. It makes me happy to know that I have control over picnic eating. It makes me proud that I can make these choices so easily now.

August Goal Update

1. Lose at least four pounds. - Met. Woo Hoo!
2. Track WW points daily. - Met.
3. Exercise at least three times a week. - Met. I rocked this one and exercised five times this week.
4. Drink at least 48 oz of water a day. - Not Met. I didn't get in enough water on Saturday.
5. Limit Diet Dr. Pepper to two cans a day. - Not Met. I missed this one several days.
6. Cut out one WW ice cream bar a week. - Met. No ice cream Sunday.
7. Read stories every night to the kids. - Met. With Jim's help.
8. Game night once a week. - Not Met. Forgot about this one.
9. Read every night before bed. - Not Met. I still haven't gotten a new book.
10. Finish all laundry at some point during the month. I'm very close on this one. Only a few more baskets. Side note - Jim took five garbage bags of clothes to Goodwill for me on Saturday and I sold one basket of the kids clothes to the consignment shop for $70!

I Love My Scale and Other Sappiness

Weigh-in Day
Previous weight - 212.8
Current weight - 211.6
Difference - lost 1.2

Total weight lost - 33.4

I couldn't wait to get on the scale this morning. What a strange feeling. I knew I would have a loss and I was like a kid on Christmas morning running down the hall to see how big my presents were. Today I am at 211.6. That marks my lowest weight since I started in 2009.

Prior to today, my lowest weight was 212 in November of 2009. By June of this year I had put on seven pounds and I was frustrated. I was exercising and eating well. I was stuck. Two things happened to get me to 211.6 today.

First, I started this blog on June 10, 2010. I have my friend Kirsten to thank for that. I had been reading her From Inside to Outside blog since she posted a link on her Facebook page back in January 2010. I didn't read blogs before I started reading hers. But day-by-day I found myself checking her blog first thing in the morning to see if she had a new post. Kirsten and I met in high school and had lost touch soon after we graduated. Reading her blog made me feel reconnected to her. I had never met her husband or children but I felt like I knew them. A blog is a very powerful means of communication and this clicked for me.

Then I started reading wellness blogs and I became hooked. I started toying with the idea of starting my own. I told myself I would get around to it when I had time to really sit down and think about what I wanted to do. I don't remember what it was that gave me that push, but on June 10, I said screw it, went to blogger, created an account, looked at the screen prompting me to name my blog and typed in the first thing that popped in my head - I'm My Favorite. (I'm really, really happy with my blog name btw)

I had not planned to share my blog with family and friends but after I hit publish on my first post. I sat there realizing no one was going to see it. I had to promote it. I started with Facebook and the response I received was incredible. Next I shared it with my Zumba friends and I realized that many of them felt the same way I did about Zumba and wellness. And finally, I've reached out to readers I didn't know and have connected with you. I'm reading your blogs and finding inspiration in all of you.

My blog holds me accountable. I would feel like a fraud if I was writing about wellness and then going home and shoving cake and ice cream in my face. My blog has inspired other people. There is nothing better than having someone come up to me and say "I love your blog." My favorite experience so far was when I was talking to a new Zumba student at the end of class commenting on how I love seeing her smile through class and she responded that she loved my blog. She had seen the link I had posted on our Zumba instructors page and she was reading. I felt so proud. (Hi Chris :)

The second thing that happened was my husband Jim came to me wanting me to be his weight loss coach. It started out as me helping him, but he ended up giving me the kick I needed to get out of being stuck. Watching him begin the weight watcher program triggered memories of my own beginning. The newness of it, the excitement of watching the scale go down. Also, helping him with point calculations and his questioning of my tablespoon measurement of peanut butter (I was way off) was what I needed to get back to tracking points.

Then I just took off from there. For the past six weeks I've been tracking religiously. After a year of maintaining and then going up seven pounds, I have lost 7.4 pounds in six weeks. I'm on fire now. Nothing will stop me.

Things have just had a way of falling into place for me on my wellness journey. I'm so grateful for the week I had with my sister-in-law Kim at the beginning of August. The talks we had about wellness were so motivating. The information she taught me about processed food and buying organic have brought me to the next level. I'm eating real food now and I can feel the difference.

I'm also working out more consistently and knowing that it's paying off. I know now that this past year when I was working out and not losing it was because I was eating too much. Yes, the food was "good" food, but I was eating too much of it and my exercise was being wasted.

If I could bottle this up for you I would. For me, it was all about me being ready to make these changes in my life. No one could do it for me. No one could have encouraged me to do it sooner. I had to do it on my own terms.

But I couldn't have done it without all of you. I don't write this to sound sappy. It's what worked for me and maybe something I've written will be your ah-ha moment. Maybe that deep conversation with your friend about food and exercise is what you need, maybe having a partner to go through this together will help, maybe finding an exercise that doesn't feel like exercise is your missing ingredient.

I want you to be your favorite too!

Why I'm Not Tempted by "Bad" Foods

Thanks everyone for the flattering comments to my I Feel Pretty post yesterday. They were unexpected but appreciated.

At the end of that same post I included this photo.

I talked about how I had passed these goodies on the way to my office and how I could see them from my desk. I wrote:

"I was not tempted to stop.  I do not want it. I'm not interested. This is what success is to me."

One of my readers sent me an e-mail yesterday in response to my comments about the treats. She said she could imagine walking by and not wanting to eat them because of how hard I've worked, but that she would have continued to think about them and feel deprived. Then she asked for my advice.

So I'd like to share why I wasn't interested in those foods pictured above. It is hard to explain, but I will do my best.

1. 
   
   Work is my safe place. This is not the most important reason, but it was the first one that came to mind. Most everyone at work knows that I eat healthy now. I set expectations for myself to prove it. When we get together as a staff it almost always includes food. I have set the standard that I don't eat the junk. No donuts, no bacon, no cookies, no coffee cake. I eat yogurt or fresh fruit. I eat salad or one slice of pizza. If one of my coworkers were to have seen me eating one of those cookies yesterday I would have felt disappointed in myself and like I had let them down. So work is my safe place because I've already established it's a no-crappy-eating-zone and I'm a rule follower so this works for me.
2. 
   
   I don't sneak food anymore. Now if I would have eaten something from that photo, what I would have done was walked out in the hall, made sure no one was around, snuck a cookie and put it in my desk drawer. Then, when no one was in the hallway, I would open the drawer and sneak bites. Yes, I'm talking from experience. Something I haven't addressed on my blog fully but I want to soon is my relationship with sweets and how I would sneak them. I had a twisted view of what sweets were before my journey. I believed they should be totally off limit for me. I believed they were what made me fat. I wanted them all the time, so that meant I needed to hide that I was eating them so no one would know. One of the first things I learned on WW was that no food was off limit, followed closely by the fact that that doesn't mean I should use my 30 points a day only on ice cream. So there was the relief in knowing I wasn't a bad person for eating ice cream, it was just about controlling how much I ate. So now I'm in control. I still eat those McAlister cookies, but now I work it into my plan. I eat it when I have the extra points available to me.
3. 
   
   If I wasn't planning on eating it, I don't eat it. The instinctive reason I didn't grab a brownie yesterday was because I wasn't planning to. It would have messed up my whole day. Wednesday is one of my two non-workout days and I usually save my points up for a nice, healthy dinner with the family. If I had indulged in those treats I wouldn't have been able to eat much at Moe's for dinner and then I would have been obsessing over being hungry and deprived instead of enjoying my time with my family. (My dinner at Moe's was an Art Vandela Streaker w/o cheese or sour cream - 5 pts and a few chips 4.5 pts.). Tracking works for me. When I track I'm aware of what I'm putting in my body. I know how much exercise I need to get in and that at the end of the week I'll have a loss. A brownie is not worth messing all that work up.
4. 
   
   I knew if I ate the potato salad or deserts I would have physically felt bad. When I first started my journey, this was a surprising side-effect. Within the first couple of weeks of being on Weight Watchers I saved up my weekly points to get a small Blizzard. Oh, how I loved Blizzards. It tasted so good and I was so happy to not feel any guilt while eating it. The problem was after I finished my stomach hurt. I notice this more often now that I'm eating better foods and not processed junk. It hurts to eat bad. My stomach is not used to it. Yes, I emotionally would have felt bad, but I think the physical pain would have been worse. It's not worth it.

So those are the four reasons that came to mind.

What are your reasons for not being tempted by your "bad" foods?

 P.S. Here's one of my Goodwill outfits I got this week. I've gotten several compliments on the top today. Shirt and pants cost $6. Love it!

I Feel Pretty!

I've mentioned before that although I may have started out this wellness journey motivated to lose weight and look great, that goal has changed along the way. Now my focus is on having control over my mind, body and spirit.

Having said that, I have to admit that the looking good part is a really nice bonus!

I finally started to do a little shopping. My good friend and co-worker Stacey was very generous and gave me a J. Jill skirt in a size large. Size LARGE people!!! And it fit. I've told you about selling my big clothes at a local consignment shop and I recently purchased a J. Jill jacket with my earnings. Well I put the two pieces together along with a black cami I already had and here are the results!

I was really excited to show Stacey this morning. I got the reaction I wanted - a little squeal and golf clapping :) She's so sweet and I knew she would think it looked cute. Another co-workers, Nichole, stopped by my office to tell me I looked nice today.

Compliments like this mean so much to me. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel proud.

As I mentioned yesterday, I went to Kohls earlier this week. Besides the dress I showed you, I got a cute green shirt that I wore yesterday and I got a couple of compliments while I was wearing it. It's a size XL also and is still roomy. I'm loving that I'm out of plus sizes on top. When we dropped the kids off at school my friend Don said to me "You get smaller and smaller every time I see you!"

And then when I got to work, I walked in a little late to our weekly staff meeting so I stood by the door. On my way back to my office my co-worker Jennifer (who is the cutest mommy-to-be you will ever see) told me I looked so good, or great or fantastic - I can't remember the exact phrase but I do know I was beaming all the way back to my desk.

It's nice to be able to wear these tops that are showing my slimmer waist. It's feel awesome to be able to wear dresses and skirts again. I feel pretty and that is a boost to my self-esteem and my confidence which are all an added bonus to my journey.

I was talking to Jim the other day about the new purchases I've made and how they've made me feel and how I would like to buy more but I don't want to spend the money on a new wardrobe because I still want to lose more weight. Jim is a savvy shopper and buys a bunch of his suit shirts at Goodwill so I decided to give it a try. I went yesterday and found a pair of brown pants and a cute brown and white silk shirt (size XL) to go with it and a pair of black pants and a white and blue striped shirt (size XL - can you tell I'm excited to be out of the 1x and 2x!). All four pieces were less than $20. I'm good with paying that price for pieces of clothing that I will get use out of while I continue to lose weight. It's better than paying $20 for one shirt that I might outgrow outshrink (thanks CL) in a couple of months.

Speaking of continuing to lose weight. This is sitting outside of my office right now.

Work had McAlisters (my favorite) brought in for a meeting. These three items - McAlister's cookies, brownies and potato salad - are the three best tasting menu items at McAlisters in my opinion. On the way to my office to write this post during my lunch hour, I rounded the corner, saw the table, saw that it was McAlisters, saw the sandwiches and then saw the desserts and potato salad at the end and walked right into my office. I was not tempted to stop. It's all still sitting there. I can see it from my desk. I do not want it. I do not want to go and sneak a cookie and eat it in my office while no one is looking. I don't want it. I'm not interested. This is what success is to me.

Day of Firsts

Today was the first day of school so my mind has pretty much been on that all day. Jacob is in 2nd grade and Gracie is in kindergarten.

I did some shopping at Kohls on my lunch hour yesterday. I picked up this cute summer dress for our Florida trip in October. I hope to be rocking it by then. I haven't worn a dress like this since high school.

Looking at old photos I found this one of me on left from last year shortly after I started going to Zumba. There's only six pounds difference between the photos, which were taken nearly 12 months apart, but I can see where that six pounds was - it was on my waist. That's where I've lost the most inches.

218 (Sept. 2009) vs. 212 (Aug. 2010)

Zumba Corner

Zumba was great again last night. Trish's classes seem to be getting harder and harder. My favorite song/routine right now is Walk It Out. It's a intense meringue and arm work out and even more so with the 2.5 lb. weights I wear on each hand.

I Ate an Entire Cake

Well, it was only in my dream but still, you know how real dreams can be.

I had a dream early this morning that I was at my parents house and I walked several miles to a bakery, ordered a small cake and ate the entire thing by myself before I walked back to their house.

In my dream I knew eating this cake would put me over my points for the week and that I would have a gain but I could not stop myself. I just kept shoveling it in. I had no control and I was experiencing loads of guilt while not even paying attention to how the cake tasted. It was all about cramming it in before I could gain my control back and stop what I was doing.

It was a very stressful dream and I was happy when I woke up.

A couple of observations - this is all Leonardo DiCaprio's fault. I've been obsessing over dreams since seeing Inception Saturday night.

But seriously, I haven't had a scene like the one in my dream for a very long time. I can't remember the last time I ate something I knew I really didn't want to eat, knowing that it would keep me from my goals and not being able to stop. In my dream I was not able to stop. I think that's what scared me the most. For me it really is all about control.

I wonder if my subconscious was reacting to my eating on Saturday night. I went to my favorite restaurant and had a house salad, garlic bread and Chicken Marsala. My one regret was I ate all of the Chicken Marsala and I was so full after that I was uncomfortable for about an hour. Usually I only eat half and save the rest for the next day.

Sunday morning I entered my points on WW online and it was really, really high, but I had the points. I used all of my weekly points just on the chicken dish.

On WW this is ok though, I think this is where my dream came in - my brain is having a hard time understanding that my meal on Saturday was "ok" but on this plan it is. I will stay within my 30 daily points the rest of the week and I will get in three more days of exercise points (I went to Zumba Saturday and Sunday) and I will have a small loss on Friday.

I forgot to include my goals update this morning, so here I am adding it a little late ...

August Goal Update

1. Track WW points daily. - Met.
2. Exercise at least three times a week. - Met. I exercised four times this week.
3. Drink at least 48 oz of water a day. - Met.
4. Limit Diet Dr. Pepper to two cans a day. - Met. I did it and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.
5. Cut out one WW ice cream bar a week. - Met. No ice cream Saturday.
6. Read stories every night to the kids. - Met.
7. Game night once a week. - Met. We played Apples to Apples.
8. Read every night before bed. -  Not Met. I think this is due to me not liking the book I'm reading - Corduroy Mansions. I'm 100 pages in and not invested at all. I think I'm going to abadon this book. It's been a long time since I've done such a thing.
9. Take kids old books to consignment shop. - Met.
10. Arrange two date nights. - One Met.

Nom Nom Nom

Happy Sunday everyone. I just got home from a killer Zumba class. The AC must have been broken because everyone was pouring buckets and it wasn't even a full class.

Jim and the kids are a church right now because Jim and I slept in until 10 a.m. this morning!!!! We had a very nice date last night and I really, really like Inception. I had already planned to go to Zumba at 4 p.m. today so Jim offered to take the kids to 5 p.m. mass tonight so I wouldn't have to miss my class.

I wanted to share real quick a really satisfying post-workout snack/dinner I had just now. I had organic peanut butter and jelly on low cal bread for 3.5 pts. and then I tried something I never would have a few weeks ago. Organic french vanilla low fat yogurt with Kashi Go Lean Toasted Berry Crumble mixed in (1/2 cup of each for 4 pts. total). I "thought" I didn't like plain yogurt and I was afraid of Kashi products - I thought they were rabbit food. While I was nom, nom, noming away I thought I should take a photo and share with you all, so here you go:

Weigh-in Day
Previous weight - 215
Current weight - 212.8
Difference - lost 2.2

Total weight lost - 32.2

__________________ ________________ ___________________

I've been stuck in the house the past two days. When I picked up Gracie on Wednesday she was asleep on my mother-in-law's couch so I knew something was wrong before I even put my hand on her burning forehead. We were hoping it was just what her cousins in Maryland had last week - 24 hour fever, but Gracie is going on 48 hours now.

I stayed home with her yesterday using a sick day and I had already had today schedule as a vacation day so that worked out well. I was just laying in our king size bed reading stuff on my phone about 20 minutes ago and Gracie came in and fell asleep next to me after I gave her some ibuprofen. Then Maggie, our pleasantly plump 10-year-old black lab hopped up on the other side of me and promptly fell asleep. Both girls were snoring and I was trapped in the middle afraid to move and wake either of them. I managed to escape a few minutes ago.

As you can see above I had a great loss this week. I was really excited when I saw the number on the scale yesterday. I've been doing everything right and it's coming so naturally to me now. I don't feel like I'm dieting, because I'm not, I'm just living my life with better choices now.

Today (when I thought Gracie was over the bug) we met Jim for lunch and then to Half Price Books to sell the kid's books. This was one of my August goals. We buy most of our books there. I was really hoping that we would get a good pay off for the two laundry baskets of kids books I brought in but we only got $7. I'm guessing it was about 10 cents a book. I'd have better luck selling them at a garage sale. I was disappointed, but Jacob is putting his half of the money towards his purchase of Lego Harry Potter for Wii We have a chore chart for him that's he's been working on to earn the money.

After we said bye to Jim the kids and I headed home. On a whim I asked the kids if they could be good if we went to Selective Seconds real quick. They said they could and they delivered. Jacob sat in a chair in the consignment shop reading his Wimpy Kid book while Gracie worked on a alphabet magnet board that the shop had. I did a quick spin around the store to see if there was anything I could get with the $10 I had on store credit from selling some of my clothes.

I found this super cute J.Jill jacket (size 16) for only $11 plus tax. I love consignment selling and shopping.

Saturday night date night has been on again off again. The latest is it's on again after Jim's night out with the guys fell through and he lined up his sister to watch the kids. We are going to my favorite restaurant Vito's and going to see Inception (I've avoided all spoilers for this movie and am looking forward to finally seeing it). Can't wait.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Twinkies and Ho Hos and Ding Dongs Oh My!

I've been having some internal getting-down-on-myself dialog lately on what I'm letting my kids eat. When it's time for a snack my kids have been asking for ice cream and cookies. On the rare occasion that I take them to the grocery store they expect to be "rewarded" for good behavior by picking out candy in the check out line. They didn't pick up these behaviors on their own - they learned them from me.

I've been conscious of this lately because I've started to make better food choices for me and my family and I'm getting push back from the kids.

BUT, I ask myself - "Am I being too hard on myself?"

I'm a 35-years-old and a Gen Xer. Raise your hand if you're one and see if you can relate to my story.

(I must pause for a second here and tell my mom who reads my blog religiously that you are not allowed to feel any guilt about what I'm about to write).

One thing I remember about my childhood was there was an ample supply of junk food in our house. (Mom seriously - you did not make me eat it and all my friends had the same junk in their house too - do not feel guilty.)

I would come home from school (we were latch-key kids) and eat a "snack" out of the white basket on top of the microwave while watching TV in my parents' room. Then I would go back for another snack. And then back for another one. All before my dad would get home from work. Must have been where my food sneaking started.

School lunches were things like pizza or Turkey Manhattan with mashed potatoes. If you brought your lunch to school you would trade Oreos for Cheetos.

My point is this junk food was everywhere and I don't think that any of us knew any better. Did they even have nutritional information on food back then?

So fast forward to present day and my getting down on myself. Then I remembered an experience I had back in April. It was Jacob's birthday and I asked him what he wanted to take to school for his snack and he said Twinkies.

Here's the good and the bad about these Twinkies.

The good:

I never buy Twinkies - I don't remember how he tried his first one - maybe picked it out at a gas station. So the good news here is that it was so rare that he got Twinkies that I gave them to him as a birthday present two years ago.

The bad:

I gave my son Twinkies for a birthday present.

So back to the Twinkies for his school treat. We have a Hostess Outlet near my house so I figured I could save a few dollars by getting his treat there. I took both the kids with me and my kids had the strangest reaction. They had no idea what anything in the store was besides the Twinkies. They had never seen Ding Dongs before. Or Fruit Pies or Susie Qs or Snow Balls (gross). We spent about 45 minutes in the store just so they could ask me what was inside each white box. I really couldn't believe they didn't know what these things were. Sure, I don't buy them for the kids, but haven't they seen this junk in their friends school lunch boxes or had them during a play date?

Actually, I don't think they have. And I think it's because we parents (and grandparents) do know better now. We know that it's not good to give this stuff for our kids AND ourselves. Just think how many of those Hostess cherry "fruit" pies I've had over my lifetime. I don't think I could physically eat one now. I'm sure there were days growing up that I snuck two. And those packages of little powder and chocolate donuts - how many dozens of those have I consumed.

So am I being too hard on myself? Probably.

Sure, I have room for improvement - I cannot allow myself to reward my kids with fattening food. I will insist that they eat healthier snacks. But as a whole I think I'm doing a better job than the generations before us because of the information we have available to us now.

We have the nutritional information on packaging and the kids are learning about it in school. Both schools my kids have attended have insisted on healthy snacks. School lunches are getting better (in my school at least).

You know, I never would have shopped at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's like I did this week if it hadn't been for this blogging community. You are educating me. You are helping me be a better parent to my kids.

This is what I have in my pantry for my kids lunches when they go back to school next week.

You won't find any high glucose corn syrup in these products.

What Do I Do With These Leftover Points?

So ... funny thing happened last night. I got home from Zumba and went straight to the kids room to read their bedtime stories. As I was into my second book I paused and told Jacob to run and tell Daddy to start making my sandwich for dinner because I was starving. The hunger came on sudden and strong. I told him I'd stop reading until he got back.

Jacob returned with a question - "Daddy wants to know what you'd like on your sandwich?" I sent Jacob back to Jim with a request for egg whites, ham and cheese on a whole wheat sandwich thin. Jacob returned with a little salute and announcement that his mission was complete.

After finishing up "Enchanted" (Gracie's pick). I met Jim in the kitchen and inhaled my sandwich. It was so good. And I was full.

I made my way to the computer room to enter my points for the sandwich and also to put in the ice cream bar I would be eating later and there it was. A seven.

I had 7 points left over. In the year and half that I've tracked points (off and on) I've never had that many points left over. Sure, I might have one or two left and I'll eat a treat to use them up, but never 7.

So I went back into the kitchen, opened the pantry door and pondered what I would eat to use up my points. And I looked and looked.

Finally, I yelled over to Jim, "Hun, I have 7 points leftover. What should I do with them?"

He asked, "Are you hungry?"

I answered, "No. Should I not use them?"

He said, "Well, if you're not hungry ..."

I shut the pantry door.

It was weird. I had only eaten 23 of my 30 daily points and I wasn't hungry.

Here's a breakdown of why I think I experienced this.

For breakfast I had Kashi granola bar (3 pts.). My morning snack was 2 tbsp. of roasted red pepper hummus (1 pt.) (my new favorite) and 15 Kashi crackers (2 pts.). On my lunch hour I went to Trader Joe's* (which is why I didn't post to my blog until last night when I was delirious for some reason). I picked up some TJ crunchy peanut butter, jelly and whole wheat bread. I made a sandwich when I got back to work (7 pts.) along with a banana (2 pts.). Afternoon snack was a TJ fruit leather thingy (1 pt.). On my way to Zumba I ate another Kashi granola bar (this flavor was 2 pts.) and then when I got home I had the sandwich I wrote about above (3 pts.) and ended the night with my ice cream bar (2 pts.)

Now, this all may be in my head but I think the reason I wasn't hungry yesterday is because of what I ate. There was no high fructose corn syrup to be found. Again, it might all be mental, but everything I ate (besides the ice cream) could be termed "healthy" in my eyes. Was that why I was full? None of that process crap I've been eating for so many years? None of that eating a packaged food and being hungry an hour later? I'm really intrigued by this. I hope it wasn't a fluke.

(Disclaimer - please note, I believe WW recommends you use all of your daily points.)

* I wanted to mention I went to Trader Joe's to pick up the low-fat Kettle Corn in individual bags that my reader Two Fat Girls Take Umbrage recommended and TJ peanut butter and jelly that my reader Stacy recommended in my What's in My Shopping Bag? post. FYI - Gracie and Jim both gave a thumbs up to the kettle corn and I really liked the TJ peanut butter and will get used to the jelly :) I'm not loving the TJ bread I got; taste's a little weird to me and it's high in points.

________________________________________________________________

I'm anxiously awaiting my new phone. The camera on my current phone doesn't work so I'm hoping once my new one comes in I'll be able to add photos more frequently. Until then here's a recent pic of me.

My favorite, Liz, and me in California a few weeks ago.

Mama's Got A New Pair of Shoes

Check out my new kicks!

It's been almost a year since my last pair of shoes so while we were picking up school shoes for the kids I picked up these beauties for myself. They're shinny! I love them. They're not as heavy as my old sneakers so I can move my feat faster.

Last night I went to Zumba at my YMCA and I was so glad to be back. I hadn't realized how much I missed it until I was back. If you remember, I tried Zumba while I was in Maryland but wasn't that impressed. I know for sure now it's because it wasn't my Zumba. I've been doing Zumba at the YMCA for nearly a year and most of the people that fill up the room are familiar faces. I know the routines without having to look at the instructor. I get a kick-butt workout and I feel so good afterwards. I see now that it's because of the experience I've built up from my gym.

I was on fire last night and tonight at class. I wanted to keep going and going and going. It was great. I feel great. I'm really tired right now - a bit slap happy. (Can you tell? Was it the two "greats" I just used in the sentences before.)

Anyway, my friend Mary Ellen started going to Zumba five months ago. She was my first friend that gave Zumba a try and she fell in love with it just like me. She goes as often as she can and she's doing great.

She was directly two rows behind me tonight, but I didn't see her for a couple of songs because I didn't recognize her. She looks awesome and I told her so! When she first started Zumba, she was like me - in baggy t-shirts; in the back row. Now she's moving her way towards the front and sporting cute workout tank tops. I can see the confidence in her eyes as she working out. Here's Mary Ellen (I hope it's ok I stole this photo of you :)

Mary Ellen - she's my favorite

On our way out of class tonight Mary Ellen and I were chatting and she mentioned the Zumba class I took in Maryland. I tried to explain to her how I didn't like it as much as I do our class. She said she had tried a Zumba class while she was out of town and she felt the same too. Here reasoning was simple and spot on. She said it wasn't as fun. That's exactly it. My Zumba class is fun. The people in my class are fun, the songs are fun, the moves are fun.

I will be ending this post now since I'm repeating words like "great" and "fun" and because I'm slouched over the computer, shivering from the sweat that's dried and making me cold.

Jim just made me a delicious egg white, cheese and ham sandwich on a sandwich thin for dinner. It was yummy. I read the kids a couple of stories. Next I'm going to shower, eat my WW ice cream bar, read and fall asleep as soon as I shut my light off. Have a great night everyone!

What's in My Shopping Bag?

I have a few minutes of my lunch hour left so I want to do a quick post. I went to Whole Foods for my first purchasing experience. I felt a lot more comfortable having gone with Kim last week and had a few things I was looking for. I had about six coupons I gave the cashier and only three went through - I need to figure out which ones didn't and decide if it was a mistake on their end or mine.

I bought a bunch of snacks for the kid's school lunches. I've got a good grasp on my eating and Jim is on board now too, but I need to make more of an effort with the kids to make sure they are eating healthy foods. Kim and I talked about this a lot last week. My Jacob was always such a good eater - he loved fruits and veggies and it was hard to find food he didn't like (which included macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and chocolate on his "no" lists). It seems like he's getting more picky or more accurately I've gotten lazy by giving him sweet packaged foods that he is now preferring over healthier options.

So some of the things I bought at Whole Foods included a box of Kashi Go Lean Crunchy Chocolate Caramel bars that Kim introduced me to. I got a box of 12 bars for $12.85. I need to do some research and see if Sam's Club carries these (Kim gets hers at Costco). I checked Walmart and they don't carry them. WF did give me a 10% discount since I bought a box. I also got the same bars in chocolate peanut and cinnamon coffee cake at $1.19 each. I got some chewy granola bars for the kid's lunches along with some individual packs of cheese and graham crackers.

I picked up some Cedar's Hommus for me. Kim turned me on to the Zesty Lemon flavor last week and I'm planning to keep it here at the office to snack on. Also on the snacky side is a box of individually wrapped pieces of dark chocolate and crunchy organic peanut butter (another of Kim's suggestions).

Speaking of peanut butter, Jen of Prior Fat Girl (one of my favorite blogs) has been raving about Justin's Almond and Peanut Butter so I picked up a couple of individual packs to try them out.

I had coupons for Popcorn, Indiana and Larabars. And I got a couple of individual fruit strips to see if the kiddos would buy-in to those for lunches.

Well, that's all I can remember of my purchases. There were some other things I can't recall right now. In all I spent $63. I don't think that's too bad considering the $13 I spent on the Kashi box.

One of my readers, Stacy, suggested I do some price comparison with Trader Joe's (which is also near my office) so I will be taking her up on that suggestion soon.

Tell me what your favorite Trader Joe's and Whole Food products are!

August Goal Update
Last Monday I posted goals for myself for the month of August. Here's how I did on the weekly goals last week.

1. Track WW points daily. - Met. Tracking has been the key to my success the last several weeks. This is my most important wellness goal on my list.
2. Exercise at least three times a week. - Not Met. I only exercised two days.
3. Drink at least 48 oz of water a day. - Met. I actually think I set this goal too low. Although it was a big step for me to add more water to my day, now that I've made the commitment, it's easy for me to do it.
4. Limit Diet Dr. Pepper to two cans a day. - Not Met. I stated in my goal "two cans" but there were a few meals out that I had glasses of soda which included refills. This is going to be a challenging goal for me.
5. Cut out one WW ice cream bar a week. - Met. No ice cream Friday or Saturday (could have been because we were out ;)
6. Read stories every night to the kids. - Met. I'm giving myself a "met" on this one because I did it ever night except Saturday which was the night we let the kids stay up until 11 p.m. with their cousins.
7. Game night once a week. - Met. We didn't actually all play together, but the grown ups played Yahtzee at one table while the kids played Apples to Apples at another. I think they played Twister too.
8. Read every night before bed. - Met. This is a pamper goal for me. It's something I enjoy and I want to make sure I treat myself to something special (non-food related) every day. Last week I finished To Kill a Mockingbird and am now reading Corduroy Mansions.

Six out of eight is pretty good. I will work really hard to get reach that soda goal this week. It won't be easy. I also will exceed my exercise goal. I've missed it and I need it.

NSV

Only two more hours in the car until we get home from vacation. We just left Wendy's and I'm so proud of my NSV (non-scale victory) that I wanna brag a little.

We were just planning to stop for Frosty's but decided to go ahead and eat dinner there. I typically don't do well in these situations when I have to order before I can disect the nutritional information.

I really wanted (and was very close to ordering) a single w/ cheese and fries (I looked it up just now - 20 WW points) but instead got a salad and Jr. cheese delux (9 points).

At one point I actually had a fry in my hand but I really wanted that Frosty so I put it down and kept myself busy listening to the aweful disco music and talking to the fam.

We went up to get the frostys after dinner and I was still debating the jr. frosty vs. the small. (Later saw the jr. is 3.5 pts. vs. 9.5 for small). Jim ordered the 3 jr. Frostys and the girl then began to upsell, saying the smalls were only 99 cents and she actually held up the tiny jr. cup next to the small cup to show how much more we would get for our money.

Jim looked at me, not sure what to do and I stuck to my guns and said "you can get smalls for the kids, but I want a jr. I don't care if it costs more."

At that point I felt like I could cave at any second so I got the keys from Jim and took the kids to the car.

Jim came out a few minutes later and I helped him pass the small frostys to the kids and he handed me my teeny tiny jr frosty.

But you know what, I enjoyed every bite of it. There was no shoveling it down before I would feel guilty about it like I would have done had I gotten the larger size. I took my time knowing that I had the calories left to eat it. I had the calories because I had made smart choices at dinner. Instead of the 29.5 pt. dinner I could have chosen I had a 12.5 pt. dinner that included a tasty treat.

What NSV did you have this weekend?

P.S. I can't believe I typed this post on my BlackBerry! My thumbs are tired.

Vacation Update and Whole Foods Review

Weigh-in Day
Previous weight - 215.8
Current weight - 215
Difference - lost .8

Update on Vacation
Wednesday morning Kim and I tried Zumba at her gym. Neither of us were impressed much. Me because I've been taking Zumba at my YMCA for nearly a year and I'm set in my ways and like my instructors and their routines. Kim would have been really surprised if she liked it. I think she is going to stick to her spin and group power classes. She's talking about picking up some turbo kick classes this fall. I'm anxious to hear what she thinks of them.

The rest of Wednesday was pretty relaxing. Kim and I both got in a little nap while her youngest was taking her nap and then we took the kids to the pool.

Jim got in very late that night after his flight was delayed because of weather. My brother picked him up and when I saw Jim walk in the door he looked so skinny. He's down 15 pounds and it's really starting to show in his face.

Yesterday was a marathon day. We got up early and headed to Washington D.C. on the Metro.

Katherine and Gracie on the Metro

Kim's sister Kelly took us on a tour of the Capitol and was able to get us access to a couple of pretty awesome views. Check out these photos.

We had lunch and hopped back on the Metro. We went to see the White House which was really cool even though the walk to it was really, really hot. We were all feeling the heat.

We spent the rest of our afternoon at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. We actually had to wait about 10 minutes (or so it felt like) to get inside and I think the grown ups were starting to question our decision to go out on such a hot day, but we finally made our way in just as some ominous clouds started to show up. Apparently we missed a wicked storm while we were inside the museum.

We got off to a rocky start fighting the crowds inside and decided to stop for a snack. The kids were much better after and we were able to see some really neat exhibits.

Today should be another relaxing day. Jim and I are planning to take the kids to the pool this afternoon. We have one more full day of vacation and then will head home Sunday morning. It always seems to go so fast.

Whole Foods
Kim, the kids and I stopped at Whole Foods on the way home from lunch on Monday. I had never been and I wanted her to show me around a little so it would be less intimidating to me when I go at home (there's one by my office). She showed me a lot of the items she buys and why and I was inspired. I knew I wanted to make the switch from the Fiber One granola bars I eat everyday because they include high maltose corn syrup. Kim introduced me to Kashi Go Lean Crunch bars which taste just as good and have similar point values. I'm also going to try to switch to organic peanut butter and try some of their kid-friendly products in the kid's school lunches. I'm anxious to get started.

My First Spin Class (AKA: My Butt Hurts)

I knew I wanted to get in a couple of days of exercise while I'm on vacation this week, but it looked like the days Kim's gym had Zumba weren't going to work for me because of other plans we had for the week. I told Kim I was open to trying some of the classes she usually does, so this morning I found myself going to my first spin class.

For some reason I wasn't nervous before hand. I should have been. Kim told me about the two spin classes she goes to every week and I felt comfortable trying out this one this morning because it was 30 minutes on the bike and then 30 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical.

When we got to the gym we picked out our bikes. Kim helped me adjust my bike to where it was comfortable. I was in the back row right in front of a fan. Our little instructor, Marianna, came in and Kim let her know I was new. She went over a few basics with me and said something that came in really handy later in the class - "if you don't want to get out of the saddle that's ok."

Marianna let us know what we had in store for class. Something about timed sprints and climbs and what have you. I didn't know what she was talking about. It was time for the warm up and we started by cranking the resistance dial up a turn.

It wasn't long before she instructed the class to get up out of the saddle and peddle. OMG - it didn't take me more than a second to realize I was going to be in trouble if I kept up with the out-of-the-saddle thing. I managed to get through the 30 seconds and was so so thankful she had told me it was ok not to stand up if I didn't want to. I would have really felt self-conscience if she hadn't and stayed down or I would have pushed too hard and ended up not being able to finish the class.

Honestly, there were a few times during the spin part that I thought I wasn't going to be able to do it. I had a hard time getting my breathing under control in the beginning mixed in with the general nervousness of being at a new gym, trying a new class and being next to Kim who was kicking butt at the class.

I got my head together though and remembered that I needed to go at my own pace. I was able to keep up with the resistance instructions and to go faster or dig deeper with the rest of the class.

Once that 30 minutes was up we transitioned to the next room and Kim and I picked out ellipticals to do the second part of the class. Marianna came over and asked what I thought. I must have mumbled something like "good." She told me I did a great job and that gave me a boost.

Kim and I had a few minutes to chat before we got started and she said a few things that made me feel good. First, she said today's class was a lot harder than normal. Then when I told her that I wasn't able to get out of the saddle, she told me it took her a few weeks before she was able to master the out-of-saddle thing for a whole class.

So next up was the elliptical part. Marianna shouted out incline and speed numbers to the participants using the treadmills and gave those of us on elliptical cues like "you're hiking through tall grass" or "your climbing over rocks" to help us set our resistance.

I've only done the elliptical a few times before today and I always struggled to stay on more than 25 minutes or so. My legs would be too tired and I'd be out of breath. It must have been the spin part prior but I felt pretty comfortable on the machine. There wasn't a point where I thought I wouldn't be able to do it.

I just kept to a pace that I was comfortable with, but I could tell the regulars where getting a really good work out with all of her instructions to increase this and increase that. At one point I almost looked behind me because it sounded like the guy behind me was breathing so hard that surely he had to be on my machine with me.

The 30 minutes on the elliptical went pretty quickly. Towards the end of it, Gracie walked past with the other kids in child watch to head into the gym to play Red Light; Green Light. It put a huge smile on my face when she smiled at me waving as she went past. I was so proud for her to see her mommy working out. I think it's so important for me to be a good example for her.

On the way home I was telling Kim what I thought. I think that if it was a class I was able to go to regularly I would be able to work up to being able to be out of the saddle and to follow all the instructions. I think I would learn to really like it and feel a lot of pride after each class because it was a hard class.

Kim was telling me how much she likes this class because Marianna lets you know what's coming up next. She told us sprints were next and we would be doing five of them and Kim says that really helps to be able to feel like you know you can get through it. She also says Marianna mixes things up a lot. Sometimes instead of the treadmill she'll take the class into the gym to do floor work. It seems like it would be a class that would never get boring.

When I got back to the house I did look up the times my Y does have spin class. I'm not sure I could do an hour class at this point. Maybe if I stayed down and took it pretty easy. Then I could just work my way up.

The other night I was talking to my brother who's training for his marathon about how when I read people's blogs about marathons they always talk about how awful the actual race is - how they hit walls and think they can't finish and when they do they say they'll never do it again. Then two days later they've signed up for another marathon. He says it's about the sense of accomplishment, about pushing yourself and seeing what you can do. I wonder if I didn't experience a little of that today. I do clearly remember at some point thinking I couldn't do it, but at lunch when I was talking to Erick about the class I told him it was great.

And yes, my butt really hurts. I'm sure that goes away after a few weeks of class too.