Weigh In

Weigh in Day - Aug. 31
Previous weight - 198.6
Current weight - 198
Difference - lost .6 lbs.

Total weight lost - 47 pounds

That makes 6.6 pounds in five weeks. I'm a little behind where I want to be for my upcoming October goal, but I'm feeling good about this coming week. It's going to be tough to find time to workout with the holiday weekend and some volunteering I'm doing at school. But as long as Jim and I can coordinate it I will go.

I'm so looking forward to this four day weekend.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Off Days

Just want to pop in real quick. Gracie has been fighting a back to school cold this past week and she finally gave into it and stayed home today. I was running up and down the stairs all day trying to catch up on laundry so I felt good about moving. I usually have a hard time with snacking all day in these types of situations but I did well today. The scale has been up all week which has been messing with my confidence but I'm just going to keep doing what I need to do. I went to Zumba tonight but things were just off for me. I told Jim it was like when you put your phone in the fridge by accident. I'm still glad I went and sweated. Every little bit helps even when we have off days.

Finding Time To Exercise

I think making the commitment to exercise is exactly like making the commitment to eat right. Until you're ready to do it and until it "clicks" for you, you can be lost as to why you don't have the willpower to do what you know you need to do. There will always be an excuse. There will always be tomorrow.

Well it "clicked" for me last week when I wrote this post. It took reading my old blog entries when I was working out five days a week to realize that I wanted that back again. And once I decided that, it was a done deal. Nothing was going to stop me.

I went to Zumba tonight. It was crowded and hot and I'm still getting back into shape but it was awesome. I had those feeling of empowerment and knowing that what I was doing for my body was going to help me reach my goals.

While waiting for class to begin I was saying hi to the girls around me. Nichole looked at me and smiled and said "You're back again tonight?!"

My reaction was "YES!!! I'm back; I'm back!"

post-Zumba

And you know what? It is hard! It's hard to make the time to make yourself a priority. Luckily I have an awesome husband that only wants the best for me (all while training for a full marathon himself) and my kids appreciate that I'm setting a good example for them.

For example, this was our schedule today:

5:30 a.m. I'm up and get ready for work.
6:30 a.m. Jim gets the kids up, fed and ready for school
6:45 a.m. I head out to work (45 minute commute)
7:20 a.m. Jim runs 5 miles at Y
7:30 a.m. I arrive at the office
4:30 p.m. I commute home
5:15 p.m. I pick up kids from school
5:25 p.m. I help the kids with homework
5:40 p.m. Jim gets home from work
5:45 p.m. I head to the YMCA for Zumba
6 p.m. Jim feeds kids
7:10 p.m. I get home from working out
7:20 p.m. Jim heads off to his next appointment
7:25 p.m. I finish homework and eat dinner
7:45 p.m. I color with Gracie
8 p.m. I get the kids to bed
8:30 p.m. I shower
9 p.m. Jim should be home.

And that's an easy day!

Weigh In

Weigh in Day - Aug. 24
Previous weight - 198.8
Current weight - 198.6
Difference - lost .2 lbs.

Total weight lost - 46.4 pounds

Yea for Zumba last night and helping me squeeze out a loss this week!!!


One of the great things about keeping a blog is that I can go back and read my past successes and draw inspiration from them.

I recently was looking at posts I wrote in the fall of 2010. That was the last time I had a significant losing streak. One thing stood out to me - I was killing it exercise wise. I was going five times a week.

I pulled out my workout yearly calendar today to update it and it is just pathetic.

Only three workouts each in June, July and August! That has to change now.

I told the kids last night that they will have to start going to the Y's child watch with me when I want to work out and their dad isn't home. I was all nervous about telling them. I had been using this as a huge excuse to not work out. I didn't want them to HAVE to go to child watch.

When I told them last night they looked at me and pretty much shrugged their shoulders. They couldn't care less.

The things in my head that mess me up, I tell you ...

So that's what I'm going to really focus on right now. Exercise has been such a critical part of my past successes. There's a cycle to it. When I go, I feel good; When I go, I don't want to undo the work by eating like crap; when I go, I see results and then I want to keep going.

I haven't been to a Saturday class in ... let me consult my calendar ... May and that was for a fundraiser. The only other Saturday class I've been to this year was in March. Okay, that's just ridiculous. I am disappointed in myself for letting my passion for exercise fizzle out.

Tomorrow I'm going to class. I'm really excited for it - it's a new (well new to me, she's been teaching a few months) instructor that teaches hip hop and she has been getting rave reviews. I can't wait. And I won't use any excuses to get out of it.

No Lectures and Week Four Slump

I went for my annual check up yesterday. I was a little nervous about being five pounds heavier than last year. Lectures from doctors and nurses are not my favorite and it'd been a long time since I've had one. You can read about past doctor visits here.

When it got to that part of my appointment, my nurse looked at my chart and said "your weight it pretty much the same as last year ..." she flipped another page, "but it's way down from 2010. Flip another page, "AND 2009." I mentioned I had been a bit complacent over the summer. She asked how often I was working out and I said twice a week but I'm planning to add more days now that our schedule is getting back on track. She smiled and shut the folder and that was the end of that. No lectures necessary.

I've hit the week four slumps. I'm getting bored with the things I've been eating (bagel thins, yogurt). I've been eating out a lunch (Subway, When Eddie Met Salad). Haven't been blogging as much (shame shame) and I've been pushing the rules to see how much I can get away with (spoiler alert - I'm not getting away with anything!).

It's so not worth doing what I've been doing this past week. I need to clear my head and dig in. This is a critical point in the process. I haven't seen physical results yet and this is when my brain starts playing tricks on me. I need to push through a few more weeks and it will all be worth it. The keys to my success are: zumba, blogging and meal planning. All things that are easy to talk yourself out of, but all things you're happy you've done after you've done them.

I will probably be up a little on the scale for my weigh in tomorrow. It depends on how much Zumba helps me out tonight. I'm planning on going. I'm getting my hair cut tonight but should be done in time to go. (accountability).

Weigh In

Weigh in Day - Aug. 17
Previous weight - 199.2
Current weight - 198.8
Difference - lost .4 lbs.

Total weight lost - 46.2 pounds

I was talking to my friend Stacey yesterday, catching up on how we were doing on our weight loss goals. I was surprised at the confidence that was coming out of my mouth and how far I've come in three short weeks.

I talked about how hard that first week was. I was SO hungry all the time and I went to bed early that whole week just so I wouldn't have to be tempted with food. Now everything has evened out. I'm full quicker and I'm not as hungry as before.

I've gotten more comfortable with food. I know what my staple snacks are that satisfy me while I'm at work. I know what I need to eat to take care of my sweet tooth. I'm not worried about going out to eat. It's all coming together.

This was a tough week non-diet wise. The first week back at school. Going to an amusiment park and the state fair. And on top of all that it was a stressful week at work. I'm really happy with my .4 loss this week, especially when I think about how easy it would have been for me to stress eat. I didn't make it to the gym this week but I did a lot of walking which help.

I'm excited about the possibilities of the coming week. My annual doctor's appointment is next week. Now that I've lost nearly six pounds in three weeks I'm feeling much better about it.

I Went to the State Fair and LOST Weight!!!

It's been a very busy and very fun week! Friday we celebrated the end of summer by going to Holiday World. It was such a great day. I kept my eating clean for breakfast and lunch and then was able to splurge with some ice cream with sprinkles and a heavier dinner. By Monday morning when I checked the scale I was back to my Friday weigh-in weight. I'm sure walking the park and going up all those steps at the water park really helped out.

The kids with Holidog

Jacob and me on the Turkey Whirl

Being goofy

Then yesterday we (along with my Dad) went to the state fair. It was the first time for my kids and we all had so much fun. We ended up doing a scavenger hunt that had us walking all over the fairgrounds. I was nervous that they weren't going to be able to claim their prize for completing their mission because the building the flyer said to go to closed at 7 p.m. but the ladies who gave us the the information at a different spot said we had until 8 p.m. to finish. So we hiked back to the original spot exhausted and luckily the ladies were there an gave them their prizes - cowbells. What? Yes, cowbells. Oh well, the kids thought they were cool.

Moooo!

Grace loves getting her face painted!

My dad did the knot work on this bridge.

I was quite proud of myself when it came to resisting the fair food. I had Subway before meeting up with the family and in the afternoon when I was hungry Jim suggested I get some chips from one of the food vendors. I did and had a few bites, but didn't really care for it and didn't want to waste my points so I gave the rest to the family. My dad and I heard an announcement about finding healthier food options at one of the exhibitor halls, so while others were eating corn dogs and fried oreos I hiked over to the building and ordered a chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread. Still not the best choice on the menu, but definitely better than elephant ears and funnel cakes.

The scale this morning said I was down half a pound!!!

Weigh In

Weigh in Day - Aug. 10
Previous weight - 200.6
Current weight - 199.2
Difference - lost 1.4 lbs.

Total weight lost - 45.8 pounds
Wish it was more but that's just being greedy. Big plans with the family today to celebrate the last Friday of summer before the kids go back to school. I'll try and pop in tomorrow with an update. Have a great weekend everyone.

First Goal Met

I'm back under 200 lbs. today!

On to the next goal - get as close to 194 as I can by my doctors appointment on Aug. 22.

I dreamt about food last night. I knew that was coming.

Day 10

DAY 10

Disclaimer - okay, I think I'm ready to get back to writing like I used to, instead of journal entries that I did last week. Okay? Okay!

We all had so much fun at the lake on Saturday. So much fun that both of the kids shed some tears on Sunday because they didn't want to leave our friends' house.

I had asked my friend Julie Ann what I could bring out to her house and she mentioned donuts. I picked up some delicious looking chocolate and regular glazed donuts along with some blueberry coffee cake and Jim ended up getting some cinnamon rolls covered with icing. I was completely okay with it - I knew I wouldn't eat it and had already planned to take my bagel thins and Laughing Cow cream cheese and some Chobani yogurt for breakfast. (Although the more adult beverages I had that night the more tempting the cinnamon rolls were, but I held my ground.)

We got out to the lake and all the kids went off and did their thing. I love how well they get along. The four adults got caught up on how family life was and a few hours later we headed out on the lake for the ski show. It was a beautiful day. We went back to the house later and met up with some other friends boating by and I just ended up having the best night. At one point I took a photo of the six kids sitting in the hot tub while their parents were all on the porch laughing and telling stories and I just thought how lucky my kids are (no wonder they cried when we had to leave). Did I mention how well the kids get along? They were off telling stories and playing wii and dancing and before we knew it they were still in their swim suits and it was nearly midnight! The next day I heard that Jacob was telling them their fortunes. "You will find much success at the skating rink." or something along those lines.

So on the eating front. I had some yogurt and a corn dog for dinner, but did get into the pizza that was brought out much much later that night.

Sunday I woke up (and felt pretty good considering how much tequila was left in the bottle!) and made my breakfast. I passed up cake and lots of other yummy food at the cookout. I did have some cheese wedges and a couple spoonfuls of pasta salad.

So, of course when I got home Sunday night and started plugging in all those little bites of cheese and crackers and adult beverages, I started to get nervous about how I had actually done. In the end I had used up all my weekly points and was 18 points in the red. I started to panic. Then I looked at the calendar and figured I could work out three times this week and that would eliminate those red points and also give me 24 exercise points to use throughout the week and give me a loss. That made me feel so much better.

Before if I had even bothered to enter points from the weekend, I would have just thrown in the towel for the week when I saw the red numbers. Now, just so you know - these types of weekends don't happen very often (or often enough depending on how you look at it) - so it won't be often that I'm plugging in double digits for alcohol consumption or double digits for digorno pizza, but at least I know I can do it every once in awhile and still have a successful week of weight loss. I've said it before - WW isn't for everyone and this kind of weekend would not work for other people, but for me it does.

Scale this morning shows 200.8 so things are looking good for a decent loss on Friday.

I'm not having nearly the issues with hunger like I did last week. I'm getting full faster. I am starting to want to fill up on fruits and vegetables. Lots of bananas, pineapple, strawberries, salad, cucumbers, snap peas and yogurt - can't get enough of it and these things all keep me full.

Day 9

DAY 9

Just a quick post tonight because I want to hang out with Jim. I'll write about the weekend tomorrow, but overall I think it was pretty successful. If I work out two more times this week I should be set up for another loss.

I went to Zumba tonight and it was awesome. I felt much better this week and had way more energy. Julie subbed and I always have so much fun at her classes. I stopped at the store on the way home and got some egg whites and fruits and veggies. I forgot how awesome egg sandwiches are after working out. They are hardly any points and they are so filling and light after a good workout.

I'm excited to keep the momentum going.

Day 7

DAY 7

So last night went from being a night out with friends to dinner with just me and Jim followed by watching the Olympics at home. It was nice just to spend time together.

I spent a lot of time looking at the On the Border menu beforehand figuring out what I was going to get.

First I looked up the pt. count for what I have been getting there. Jim and I had been splitting the sampler appetizer. 55 pts. And we had been getting pitchers of margaritas. I was shocked when I used the WW cheat sheet online and saw that margaritas are 14 pts.!!! I was pretty disappointed because I had learned to really love that meal.

But I was determined to make it work.

I looked up the point value on a LOT of menu items and was again surprised at what I found. I knew I wanted to spend my points on chips and drinks so I ended up getting two chicken tostadas as my meal which were 7 pts. for both. The chips and salsa were 11 pts. I was looking at their drink menu trying to come up with an alternative to the margarita and was so happy when I saw they had a skinny version. Doing a little online research I figured they were probably around 4 points each and I planned on three.

I felt really good going into the restaurant knowing exactly what I was going to get and knowing that I would get to eat all my favorite food and drink and end up being full and satisfied. I ended up only ordering two of the skinny margaritas (they sure weren't anything like the regular margaritas but the difference in taste was worth saving 10 pts for each drink) so I ate about half the beans and rice that came with my meal.

So ... my total pts for the meal (chips, two drinks, some rice and beans, and two tostadas) was 33 pts. Which is awesome for a fun night out! I will gladly give up some exercise points for that meal. Just for fun I figured out how many points I used the last time I went with the extra chips, sampler, and fully leaded margaritas and it was easily over 90 pts. Holy cow! And we went to a movie after that night and had popcorn. No wonder my weight crept back on.

Day 6 - Weigh In

DAY6

Weigh in Day - Aug. 3
Previous weight - 204.6 (July 29)
Current weight - 200.6
Difference - lost 4 lbs.

Total weight lost - 44.4 pounds

I was pretty excited when I saw the four pound loss on the scale this morning. I felt really proud and knew that I deserved the loss. I worked really hard for it this week. I went to bed hungry ever night. My body is still getting used to the smaller amount of food I'm eating (the normal amount I should be eating). I'm actually eating more often than I had been, just smaller portions and healthier choices. I'm excited for this week and to get back under 200 lbs.

Last night I knew I had left over points for the week and I was tempted to have a package of oreos or nutter butters to use up the points, but we are going out to On the Border with friends tonight and I knew it would be better to save the points for that. I'm really looking forward to tonight - it should be fun.

I haven't really thought much about the weekend but I need to get a plan together now. There are a couple of parties we'll be going to and I want to be in control of what I'm eating. I'm finally starting to feel better and will be able to exercise more next week. It's also the week before school starts so there will be some stress I'll need to be prepared for.

But for now I feel awesome. I started the day with a huge smile on my face after I saw the number. It's jeans day at work and I put on my bigger pair of jeans first. They fit pretty well so I decided to try on my favorite pair of jeans from last winter that are actually two sizes smaller and they felt good. For the first time in awhile I felt good in my clothes - felt like I looked good in them. Man, I've missed that feeling. Even if no one could tell the difference if I wore the same outfit last week when I was four pounds heavier - I know the difference. I can feel the difference in my clothes already and I'm so excited to keep feeling that difference.

I'm excited to try on clothes as I lose more weight. That is always such an awesome feeling.

So today is the start of a new WW week. I'm ready. 

Day 5

DAY 5

No change on the scale today but that's ok. I'm happy with the amount I've lost so far this week even if it doesn't change for weigh-in tomorrow. I've only worked out once this week because I haven't been feeling well and have been going to bed early. I have a really bad headache right now so I'm not sure if I'll make it tonight.

I don't remember much about yesterday afternoon. I asked Jim to take care of dinner last night and we had English muffin pizzas. We hadn't had them in awhile and they were good. I ended the day at 45 pts., which is a little high but I still have 24 weekly points left for the week as of today.

Last night I asked everyone to help me get the clothes ready for the uniform sale which is this weekend. It went so much faster with their help. I was surprised at the volume of clothes that I had especially since it seemed like I was washing the same five pairs of pants each week for each kids last year. I also was surprised at how much still fit them. 

I've started working on Jim's 40th birthday party even though it's two years away. If I don't start now time will get away from me planning it. It's a good distraction.

Lunch was boring today. I ran out of the cucumber salad yesterday so today I just had a Smart One and cut up an orange pepper with Ranch dressing and I'm going to have some pudding. I feel like I bought a lot of snacks at the store on Sunday, but I guess I really didn't. I still need to cut the pineapple up.

So I'm feeling good. The newness excitement has worn off, but I'm still 100% in it and motivated. The biggest thing I've had to say no to this week is this beauty sitting in the kitchen at work.

Day 4

DAY 4

I'm beginning to remember how exciting it can be to weigh in each morning. Today showed 201.8. I didn't get off and on the scale to see if the number was consistent or move the scale around hoping that maybe I'd get a better number. Instead I got on, looked down to see how much I'd lost and got off. It feels so good.

I ended the day with 36 points. I was fine at work yesterday afternoon but last night was a different story. I started the spaghetti as soon as the kids and I got home. I had a banana and Tbsp. of Cookie Butter while I waited for the water to boil. I only had two pieces of garlic bread left to make and I thought Jacob didn't like it and I would get a piece, but he swiped it off the plate as soon as I put it on the table. It was better that way though - I didn't miss it.

I didn't measure my spaghetti (I should have taken that step) but I tracked it as 1 1/2 cups. As I was scarfing down the pasta I was thinking about going back for more. But I decided it wasn't worth the extra points and I was full. A few hours later I was hungry again and really grouchy and very tired. I ended up having a 3 pt. granola bar. As soon as I ate it I was crying out in my head that I was still hungry and that I could have eaten three more. The same thing happened after my afternoon snack yesterday. But I got busy doing something else and 30 minutes later the hunger went away.

Things are going well so far today.

I read this on a blog recently and it's really stuck with me.

"You are doing great on your journey. I will warn you. There will be a time when you are not losing weight. The cheers will fade. The compliments will stop. Then you need to find a motivation for yourself."

(source)

This is so true. I didn't decide to lose weight for the compliments, but man it sure did help to stay motivated. Wearing new clothes and having people notice and make nice comments just gave me a boost of confidence that built up as my shield of motivation. I miss having people tell me that my blog inspires them. But that is like complaining about not winning the lottery when you don't play it to begin with.

I need to go back to the store already. I need more fruit and veggies and some more dinner ideas. I really like the chobani yogurts I tried and want to stock up on them - even the 4 pt. ones - they 're worth it.