Yesterday, I started my new routine of going to the gym and lifting weights. I work at a University where there are several fitness centers available to all faculty/staff/students for free. So, I went with my friend Jess that I work with at my part time job, with a workout that I printed from weightwatchers.com. I ended up kinda following it but wanted to try all of the machines. So, I did 2 reps of 12 on each machine with a 30 second break between reps. I chose a weight that I felt like I could barely complete 12 reps. I lifted each weight slowly and controlled and never let the weights touch in-between reps. These are all things I've read when I was trying to learn how to use lift weights. I am much stronger in my legs since I have walked around carrying 323 pounds around. You never realize how little you use some muscles. My arms and shoulders feel a little sore and tired today after the workout but its a good feeling! My legs only felt a little sore during my walk to work but nothing really big. I should up the weight next time. :) Jess and I are going to try a different gym on campus this Wednesday to see which location we like best. Most of the people that came into the gym last night used the elliptical, treadmill, stair-climber, bikes, etc... So we were pretty much alone in the weight area last night. That was nice.
Tonight, my water aerobics class starts again! YAY! It feels like its been a year since my last class...but its really only been since the beginning of July! I love water aerobics! I have soo much fun and don't sweat too much since I am in the water. (I hate to sweat!) But don't get me wrong, it is possible to sweat while working out in the water...just easier to cool off. haha! My instructor is also a personal trainer and he works us hard! When you are done with the workout you should be tired...no matter how many years you've been doing the water aerobics. If you don't feel tired then you aren't pushing yourself hard enough! I watch some of the girls in my class barely move. They don't push themselves hard enough and I can imagine that aren't burning as many calories as they could. There are some ladies in my class that have been doing the classes for over like 15 years and they still get a good workout! They move soo fast and keep right up with him. I just move as fast as I physically can. I weigh a lot more than them and it just isn't physically possible for me to move as fast as them. I will get there. :)
I am still doing my walking during the week also...as much as I can. So, I am a moving machine! :) I've started reading this booked called "What to Eat" written by Marion Nestle. She is a Nutrition professor at NYU. She is a wealth of information! Her basic principles of a good diet are so simple! They can be summarized in just 10 words: "Eat less, move more, eat lots of fruits and vegetables!" and for added clarification, a 5-word modifier can be added: "go easy on junk foods!" Isn't that easy to memorize!? I will be sharing great information I will be learning as I read along. I am soo excited about this book! :)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Update on my weightloss...
I re-weighed myself this morning just to see if maybe I was retaining fluid yesterday when I weighed in. And my weight was 262! That is 1 1/2 lbs down from last Friday. :) So I am now up to 61 1/2 lbs lost! So I was all depressed yesterday for nothing! :)
Today was a long day of work. I worked from 8 am to 7:30 pm. I wore my pedometer and walked 8853 steps today just working...not bad! I packed a breakfast and lunch today and thank goodness I did. I was busy from 8 am until 4:30 when we were finally allowed to take a break! I did well with my points today! I still have 1 1/2 points left. Yesterday I went over by a few points but not much. So this diet week is off to a great start. :)
I am looking forward to tomorrow and getting to chill and just watch some football and have some yummy football food! :) I am going to make a lower fat spinach dip to eat with baked scoop tortilla chips and we are going to have some Turkey Chili too. :) Yum!!
Well, I am off to bed to rest my poor sore body! Although, I remember hurting a whole lot more last year this time working events, when I was 60 lbs heavier! I love not hurting soo much any more and just crave this feeling good! I look forward to loosing more weight!! :)
Today was a long day of work. I worked from 8 am to 7:30 pm. I wore my pedometer and walked 8853 steps today just working...not bad! I packed a breakfast and lunch today and thank goodness I did. I was busy from 8 am until 4:30 when we were finally allowed to take a break! I did well with my points today! I still have 1 1/2 points left. Yesterday I went over by a few points but not much. So this diet week is off to a great start. :)
I am looking forward to tomorrow and getting to chill and just watch some football and have some yummy football food! :) I am going to make a lower fat spinach dip to eat with baked scoop tortilla chips and we are going to have some Turkey Chili too. :) Yum!!
Well, I am off to bed to rest my poor sore body! Although, I remember hurting a whole lot more last year this time working events, when I was 60 lbs heavier! I love not hurting soo much any more and just crave this feeling good! I look forward to loosing more weight!! :)
Friday, September 24, 2010
Weigh in day!
It's been a busy week at work. That's usually when I find time to blog. I don't spend a lot of time on the computer at home in the evenings because I am on it all day during the day. So, today is my weigh in day. I don't really want to talk about my diet week but I am forcing myself! ha ha I told myself last night that I was probably only going to lose like 1/2 a pound because I lost soo much last week. So, you would think that I would be prepared to be ok with whatever the scale reads, right? Well, when I got on the scale today it read 263.4! That's only a .2 pound weight loss. It's better than gaining right? That's what I try to keep telling myself! But why am I still so down today. I'm grumpy and people are noticing.
I keep thinking about what I could have done differently over the week. I stayed under my points all but 2 days. 1 day I only went over by like 3 points. The other day I had a slight binge...if you want to call it that. I made homemade applesauce for a class project last weekend. Everyone loved it! I brought it into my supervisor for her to try and she loved it also. So she took the container home to wash it and brought it back to me with almonds in it. Good for you right? Ya, but A LOT of calories! And then when you sit and pick at them all day and end up eating 1/2 a cup of them (10 points) you eat 1 1/2 lunch meals worth. A 1/2 a cup of almonds does not fill you up like 1 1/2 lunches does. Just shows why you should choose low cal snacks that will fill you up with fiber or fruit that is full of water. So, I got home from work and was starving. I don't usually eat dinner until 7 pm because that's when everyone is home. So, I ate some flavored popcorn from one of those tins. Not that bad right? Well, if you sit there with the whole tin in your lap and just keep eating and eating until you are full...that's not good! It was very hard to estimate how much I ate. But I felt like I ate half of the tin! So, ya, I could have chosen worse snacks to binge on but I also could have resisted!! I am still mad at myself about it and I bet that I am blaming that one afternoon on my non-weight loss!
I also could have walked more this week! Last weekend I worked all afternoon Saturday and went apple picking that morning. Sunday was spent recouping from working all day. So, not much walking during the weekend...just whatever I did at work. During the week I walked at lunch twice, and walked to work everyday but not home everyday due to either weather or other things I needed to do. So I probably walked home 3 times this week. Next week water aerobics finally starts again twice a week and I plan to start trying to work out at the SU gym this week on the nights I am not doing water aerobics. I will let you know how it goes. I have a friend doing the gym with me and we are going to learn how to do it together. ha ha I found some workouts on the weight watchers website that I want to try.
So here's to my new week and starting over. I want to try to stay under or at my daily points this week and I want to get more exercise in each day. I am working all day tomorrow...8 am to 8 pm. So, I will start by packing my breakfast and lunch and only eating out for dinner. The only walking I will do is whatever I do while working. When I work on the weekend its for my part time job and I stand almost the whole time and walk around parking lots a lot...but not fast. (I don't know how to describe it.) Sunday will probably be spent recouping again but I am going to try to get a walk in. During the week I will start my 2 new exercises...so that will be more than this week.
I think I tend to be harder on myself than necessary. But I really want to get all this fat off of me! I know its never going to get easy, even after I lose all of my weight. That's going to be just as much work to maintain! Eek! But I don't want to think about that. I need to get there first! One day at a time!
I keep thinking about what I could have done differently over the week. I stayed under my points all but 2 days. 1 day I only went over by like 3 points. The other day I had a slight binge...if you want to call it that. I made homemade applesauce for a class project last weekend. Everyone loved it! I brought it into my supervisor for her to try and she loved it also. So she took the container home to wash it and brought it back to me with almonds in it. Good for you right? Ya, but A LOT of calories! And then when you sit and pick at them all day and end up eating 1/2 a cup of them (10 points) you eat 1 1/2 lunch meals worth. A 1/2 a cup of almonds does not fill you up like 1 1/2 lunches does. Just shows why you should choose low cal snacks that will fill you up with fiber or fruit that is full of water. So, I got home from work and was starving. I don't usually eat dinner until 7 pm because that's when everyone is home. So, I ate some flavored popcorn from one of those tins. Not that bad right? Well, if you sit there with the whole tin in your lap and just keep eating and eating until you are full...that's not good! It was very hard to estimate how much I ate. But I felt like I ate half of the tin! So, ya, I could have chosen worse snacks to binge on but I also could have resisted!! I am still mad at myself about it and I bet that I am blaming that one afternoon on my non-weight loss!
I also could have walked more this week! Last weekend I worked all afternoon Saturday and went apple picking that morning. Sunday was spent recouping from working all day. So, not much walking during the weekend...just whatever I did at work. During the week I walked at lunch twice, and walked to work everyday but not home everyday due to either weather or other things I needed to do. So I probably walked home 3 times this week. Next week water aerobics finally starts again twice a week and I plan to start trying to work out at the SU gym this week on the nights I am not doing water aerobics. I will let you know how it goes. I have a friend doing the gym with me and we are going to learn how to do it together. ha ha I found some workouts on the weight watchers website that I want to try.
So here's to my new week and starting over. I want to try to stay under or at my daily points this week and I want to get more exercise in each day. I am working all day tomorrow...8 am to 8 pm. So, I will start by packing my breakfast and lunch and only eating out for dinner. The only walking I will do is whatever I do while working. When I work on the weekend its for my part time job and I stand almost the whole time and walk around parking lots a lot...but not fast. (I don't know how to describe it.) Sunday will probably be spent recouping again but I am going to try to get a walk in. During the week I will start my 2 new exercises...so that will be more than this week.
I think I tend to be harder on myself than necessary. But I really want to get all this fat off of me! I know its never going to get easy, even after I lose all of my weight. That's going to be just as much work to maintain! Eek! But I don't want to think about that. I need to get there first! One day at a time!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Finally gonna talk numbers!!
I started blogging for my an assignment in Social media class this summer! I've continued blogging because I have enjoyed it and met some fabulous people through Fitblog on Twitter and through the wonderful blogs I have found. I have been so embarrassed of my weight, I have yet to talk about numbers or sizes!! Well, I've decided today that I finally need to get over the fear of those numbers and just be completely honest with myself!! So, here we go....
When I started Weight Watchers and losing weight in the beginning of March this year, I weighed in at a whopping 323.4 pounds!! My highest weight EVER!! Last week I weighed in at 266.4 and had lost 1 pound. I challenged myself this past week to really work hard at staying below my daily WW points and walking everyday. I succeed in both! I wanted to try to walk an hour everyday, which I almost did. I walked over an hour 4 out of the 7 days this week. But I did still walked everyday!!
Today is my weigh in day. I weigh in every Friday morning first thing before I eat or drink anything. That is when I can most accurately measure my body weight since water weighs more than fat. So, what did the scale read this morning?! 263.6!! That is a 3 pound weight loss from last week! So I have now lost 60 pounds total in 6 months!! My hard work this week paid off! I am almost out of the 260's!! Yay!
I set a short term weight loss goal is to lose 75 lbs by the time I go home to TX for Christmas...but it turns out I won't be able to go home now! I wanted to be able to say, "I've lost 75 lbs!" when I saw all of my friends and family I haven't seen in a year. Now it looks more like April when I can go to TX...so maybe I will shoot for 100 pounds by my birthday?! (April 25th) :) It sounds like such a large # but I would have 30 weeks to lose 40 pounds. That's 1 1/4 lbs a week. I don't know...doesn't sounds too hard if you say it like that. I am still going to work towards my original goal by Christmas and then work toward my new second goal by my birthday. I just gotta keep doing what I am doing, which is my plan! I know I've said it a few times but I am not setting a final weight loss goal for myself, I am just trying to lose weight, the healthy way, and I don't want to know how much I need to lose. Long term goals can be overwhelming!
Last week I ordered a new swimsuit from Amazon.com. It is supposed to be chlorine resistant and I got one with a higher neck line (to hold things in place) so it is better for water aerobics. The chlorine in that pool water tends to eat up the elastic in my suits! I wasn't sure what size to order because I am in-between sizes. I started out my weight loss journey in a size 26/28. The suit I just ordered is a size 20W! I was nervous ordering that size because in clothes I am in between a 20 and a 22 right now. So, I got my suit in the mail this week and tried it on and "Ta Da" it fit!! YAY! I thought I was ordering to small and I would fit into it in a few weeks...what a pleasant surprise! :)
Friday's are also Jean day at work. And I have this pair of jeans that I have yet to fit into. They were my smallest size jeans I had in my drawer. I had tried them on a few times in past weeks and got them up but not buttoned. So, last night I was getting out my clothes for the morning and looking for a pair of jeans to wear and decided to try on that pair of jeans. And THEY FIT!! I am soo glad I kept all of those jeans that didn't fit me anymore. Less clothes I have to buy right now the better!
So, this week I am going to do the same thing I did last week! Work hard to concentrate on my daily points and staying below them and I am going to walk everyday! It was not as hard as I thought it was going to be and I felt great all week! :) Water aerobics finally starts in a week, I miss it! What a great workout! If you are looking for something different to do for exercise I would definitely recommend it!
When I started Weight Watchers and losing weight in the beginning of March this year, I weighed in at a whopping 323.4 pounds!! My highest weight EVER!! Last week I weighed in at 266.4 and had lost 1 pound. I challenged myself this past week to really work hard at staying below my daily WW points and walking everyday. I succeed in both! I wanted to try to walk an hour everyday, which I almost did. I walked over an hour 4 out of the 7 days this week. But I did still walked everyday!!
Today is my weigh in day. I weigh in every Friday morning first thing before I eat or drink anything. That is when I can most accurately measure my body weight since water weighs more than fat. So, what did the scale read this morning?! 263.6!! That is a 3 pound weight loss from last week! So I have now lost 60 pounds total in 6 months!! My hard work this week paid off! I am almost out of the 260's!! Yay!
I set a short term weight loss goal is to lose 75 lbs by the time I go home to TX for Christmas...but it turns out I won't be able to go home now! I wanted to be able to say, "I've lost 75 lbs!" when I saw all of my friends and family I haven't seen in a year. Now it looks more like April when I can go to TX...so maybe I will shoot for 100 pounds by my birthday?! (April 25th) :) It sounds like such a large # but I would have 30 weeks to lose 40 pounds. That's 1 1/4 lbs a week. I don't know...doesn't sounds too hard if you say it like that. I am still going to work towards my original goal by Christmas and then work toward my new second goal by my birthday. I just gotta keep doing what I am doing, which is my plan! I know I've said it a few times but I am not setting a final weight loss goal for myself, I am just trying to lose weight, the healthy way, and I don't want to know how much I need to lose. Long term goals can be overwhelming!
Last week I ordered a new swimsuit from Amazon.com. It is supposed to be chlorine resistant and I got one with a higher neck line (to hold things in place) so it is better for water aerobics. The chlorine in that pool water tends to eat up the elastic in my suits! I wasn't sure what size to order because I am in-between sizes. I started out my weight loss journey in a size 26/28. The suit I just ordered is a size 20W! I was nervous ordering that size because in clothes I am in between a 20 and a 22 right now. So, I got my suit in the mail this week and tried it on and "Ta Da" it fit!! YAY! I thought I was ordering to small and I would fit into it in a few weeks...what a pleasant surprise! :)
Friday's are also Jean day at work. And I have this pair of jeans that I have yet to fit into. They were my smallest size jeans I had in my drawer. I had tried them on a few times in past weeks and got them up but not buttoned. So, last night I was getting out my clothes for the morning and looking for a pair of jeans to wear and decided to try on that pair of jeans. And THEY FIT!! I am soo glad I kept all of those jeans that didn't fit me anymore. Less clothes I have to buy right now the better!
So, this week I am going to do the same thing I did last week! Work hard to concentrate on my daily points and staying below them and I am going to walk everyday! It was not as hard as I thought it was going to be and I felt great all week! :) Water aerobics finally starts in a week, I miss it! What a great workout! If you are looking for something different to do for exercise I would definitely recommend it!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Life is Good!
Tuesday after work I wanted to go to Rite Aid but didn't have a car so I decided that I was going to walk there and then walk home. I have walked that much through out the day but never that far. It took me 37 mins to get to Rite Aid and then 40 mins to get home. I might have been walking slower on the way home because I was tired. But I did it! I am very proud of myself. I was pretty tired when I got home but it felt good and I felt accomplished. It's good to challenge yourself every once in a while...keeps things interesting.
This week I have done very well to stay below my daily weight watcher points! I have also exercised everyday as well! One more day until I weigh in! I went to a guest lecture today at SU. Her name is Marion Nestle and she has written several books like, Food Politics and What to eat and several more. I looked up her books on Amazon.com and found some great deals on them. I would highly recommend them. She has some great insight on how food is marketed and how it is could be one of the causes of obesity in the United States. I am soo interested in Nutrition. I maybe an IT student but I wonder what it would take to do a duel major?! I don't know...that maybe too much. I think I want one degree for now...maybe I could go back for a second degree?! ha ha Just me, dreaming out loud!
I wore one of my new outfits today that I bought last week. I got some great complements today!! Like 3 or 4 people said that I am just melting away! I said, Ya?! That's my plan! I hope to keep motivated into next week and work as hard as I have this week! I am feeling really good this week and love feeling this way! Well rested and just Feel Good!! Life is Good!!
This week I have done very well to stay below my daily weight watcher points! I have also exercised everyday as well! One more day until I weigh in! I went to a guest lecture today at SU. Her name is Marion Nestle and she has written several books like, Food Politics and What to eat and several more. I looked up her books on Amazon.com and found some great deals on them. I would highly recommend them. She has some great insight on how food is marketed and how it is could be one of the causes of obesity in the United States. I am soo interested in Nutrition. I maybe an IT student but I wonder what it would take to do a duel major?! I don't know...that maybe too much. I think I want one degree for now...maybe I could go back for a second degree?! ha ha Just me, dreaming out loud!
I wore one of my new outfits today that I bought last week. I got some great complements today!! Like 3 or 4 people said that I am just melting away! I said, Ya?! That's my plan! I hope to keep motivated into next week and work as hard as I have this week! I am feeling really good this week and love feeling this way! Well rested and just Feel Good!! Life is Good!!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Feelin' Gooooood!
I have been feeling great this week! Better than I have in a month! I wonder if my eating the right amount this week is really effecting my body that much? I was only able to walk 30 minutes yesterday. Mother nature did not agree with me. :( Both at lunch and after work it was raining. I had my umbrella and could have still walked but it was also a little chilly. I was a little angry at myself for not still walking. Plus, I had to baby sit after work and needed to be home as early as possible so that I could relieve the other person because they needed to be somewhere...but then they didn't go. Ugh! Nothing worked out toward exercise yesterday. :(
But, today is a new day and I walked to work this morning and will walk home today! It felt great to walk today! No sore muscles and it was a bit chilly out so it was great walking weather! I don't have to watch the baby after work so I will be able to walk no problem. But I have my class today so I take my lunch hour to go to that and can't get that extra walk in. :/ Oh well.
I also am wearing new clothes today. I Love wearing new clothes...it's like the first day of school! ha ha I went clothes shopping last Wednesday and bought 3 pairs of pants and 3 tops. I am in-between sizes right now and my legs seem to be shrinking faster than my stomach, so it is hard to find clothes that actually fit and of course not all clothes fit the same. But it is nice to be getting smaller! :) Sometimes I wish it would fall off faster but I am doing it the healthy way and letting my body adjust slowly. I learned in my Nutrition class over the summer that 2 lbs a week is the fastest you should lose it. Up until now I've lost an average of a lb and a half a week. :)
Lastly, I want to make a little plug to the “Lose For Good” campaign and ask that you please get involved by visiting WeightWatchers.com/LoseForGood. Lose-A-Palooza is a one-day social media event created to encourage participation in the Lose For Good® campaign to benefit "Share Our Strength" and "Action Against Hunger". For every accepted mention or acknowledgment of “Lose For Good” made on September 14th through blogs, Twitter, Facebook and check-ins via foursquare, Weight Watchers will donate $1 – up to $60,000 – to Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger. Please help, it's very easy! :) You can start showing your support by commenting on this post. :) Thank you!
But, today is a new day and I walked to work this morning and will walk home today! It felt great to walk today! No sore muscles and it was a bit chilly out so it was great walking weather! I don't have to watch the baby after work so I will be able to walk no problem. But I have my class today so I take my lunch hour to go to that and can't get that extra walk in. :/ Oh well.
I also am wearing new clothes today. I Love wearing new clothes...it's like the first day of school! ha ha I went clothes shopping last Wednesday and bought 3 pairs of pants and 3 tops. I am in-between sizes right now and my legs seem to be shrinking faster than my stomach, so it is hard to find clothes that actually fit and of course not all clothes fit the same. But it is nice to be getting smaller! :) Sometimes I wish it would fall off faster but I am doing it the healthy way and letting my body adjust slowly. I learned in my Nutrition class over the summer that 2 lbs a week is the fastest you should lose it. Up until now I've lost an average of a lb and a half a week. :)
Lastly, I want to make a little plug to the “Lose For Good” campaign and ask that you please get involved by visiting WeightWatchers.com/LoseForGood. Lose-A-Palooza is a one-day social media event created to encourage participation in the Lose For Good® campaign to benefit "Share Our Strength" and "Action Against Hunger". For every accepted mention or acknowledgment of “Lose For Good” made on September 14th through blogs, Twitter, Facebook and check-ins via foursquare, Weight Watchers will donate $1 – up to $60,000 – to Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger. Please help, it's very easy! :) You can start showing your support by commenting on this post. :) Thank you!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Having a Great Weekend!!
Last blog I made some goals for myself and I am happy to report that I am doing very well so far!! Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I have stayed within my weight watchers points and didn't go over. I didn't snack on Friday at work! It's soo hard when there is almost always food sitting around there. Either snack foods that someone brought in to share with everyone or left over food from meetings. And where do they leave the food? In the copier room right near me! It's soo easy to snack and just eat something because it's there. But I resisted on Friday! :)
Today was Football Sunday! :) Last year, at this time, we made all sorts of fattening snacks and ate them all day until we were overstuffed. Today we made queso dip that we love and used to eat but used low fat Velveeta cheese instead so it was less calories and we ate the dip with baked tortilla chips. :) As another football snack we had peel and eat shrimp with cocktail sauce. Yum! For actual lunch we made pizza with Boboli Whole wheat crust, boboli sauce, turkey sausage, turkey pepperoni, veggies, and part skim mozzarella cheese. :) Very tasty. We ate soo differently compared to last year!
I also walked Fri, Sat, and Sun. :) Yesterday, we went on a long walk. Before we started eating better and walking we set a goal for ourselves that we were going to walk up this hill on SU campus called Skytop hill. Well, we did it! We walked from home up skytop hill and down the other side back home. It took us just over an hour...about 70 mins. My legs were burning all the way up but it felt soo good when we got done! This morning when we walked, our legs were sore from yesterday, but we still walked about 25 mins. :) A short walk is better than none at all. It is going to be a wet week to walk...but I hope to get some walking in each day...at least an hour. Will just bring my umbrella. :)
Now it is the end of the day and I still have 4 points left over for the day. :) I am working very hard this week so far and will continue to do so thru the next 4 days of my WW week! :) Wish me luck! Will blog again soon.
Today was Football Sunday! :) Last year, at this time, we made all sorts of fattening snacks and ate them all day until we were overstuffed. Today we made queso dip that we love and used to eat but used low fat Velveeta cheese instead so it was less calories and we ate the dip with baked tortilla chips. :) As another football snack we had peel and eat shrimp with cocktail sauce. Yum! For actual lunch we made pizza with Boboli Whole wheat crust, boboli sauce, turkey sausage, turkey pepperoni, veggies, and part skim mozzarella cheese. :) Very tasty. We ate soo differently compared to last year!
I also walked Fri, Sat, and Sun. :) Yesterday, we went on a long walk. Before we started eating better and walking we set a goal for ourselves that we were going to walk up this hill on SU campus called Skytop hill. Well, we did it! We walked from home up skytop hill and down the other side back home. It took us just over an hour...about 70 mins. My legs were burning all the way up but it felt soo good when we got done! This morning when we walked, our legs were sore from yesterday, but we still walked about 25 mins. :) A short walk is better than none at all. It is going to be a wet week to walk...but I hope to get some walking in each day...at least an hour. Will just bring my umbrella. :)
Now it is the end of the day and I still have 4 points left over for the day. :) I am working very hard this week so far and will continue to do so thru the next 4 days of my WW week! :) Wish me luck! Will blog again soon.
Friday, September 10, 2010
It's been a while!
Wow, it's tough working 2 jobs. Lately, I have actually been spending more time interacting with real people rather than my friends and family over the internet. That's a big switch for me. I spent a lot of time at the NY State fair the past week and a half. I worked there a total of 30 hours and also spent some time enjoying it also. That means I ate meals there a few times too. One of my favorite things to eat there is from the fried veggie stand. I like the fried zucchini and mushrooms the best but I usually get the combo basket which also comes with onion, cauliflower and broccoli. Fried veggies are 5 points a cup. So it's best to eat these in moderation. I also like the chicken pitas that you can get from the greak food stands. I get it with only a little of the sauce. It tastes like ranch to me but its made of yogurt. I also like the mexican food place in the international building. I got a chicken taco salad from there too. It doesn't come with dressing, but with sour cream instead. The only bad part of that is the taco shell...I just try to not eat all of the taco shell. :)
This past week was also my anniversary so we ate out and I got steak and lobster and a dry baked potato with sour cream on the side. So I have been doing my best to make the best choices I could while eating away from home. It has also been difficult to walk while working the 2 jobs. I used to walk over an hour and a half a day but with being so busy lately its more like 30 mins a day. But when I worked at the fair I was on my feet the whole time and running around stand to and from the grill...so I was moving a lot to make up for the not walking. I also started my fall class last week. So, that is 2 days that I do not get to walk on my lunch break.
Now that my life has calmed down a little this week and I am only working 1 job everyday and my class is 2 days a week during my lunch hour I need to get back to where I was before I started working the fair! I need to work hard on eating more meals at home and walking more each day. I miss water aerobics too. The class doesn't meet during August and September. I signed up for the next session but it doesn't start until the last week of September. Not walking to and from work and during lunch during the fair has made me feel a bit lazy and not wanting to walk.
So today is the start of my new week. I weighed in this morning and lost another pound. Last week while working and eating at the fair I lost 2. I am now up to 57 pounds total! :) So I did OK for not being on my normal schedule! But I feel I can still do better! I walked to work this morning and I am going to walk at lunch. I can't walk home because I have to be somewhere right after work but I plan to walk this weekend...hopefully both days!
My goals starting this week are:
1) Get back to my old walking schedule I was doing before the fair!
2) Eat at home more this week...get back to cooking more and not eating out soo much.
3) Concentrate on my daily points and try not to go over as much. I know that I have the extra 35 points a week just for that reason but I feel I am using them too much.
4) Work on blogging more. Every other day, if possible!
So, I start my new WW week with determination and am looking forward to a great week! I am going home to TX for Christmas again this year. I would love to be able to say that I've lost 70 or 75 lbs when people ask me how much I've lost!? :) That is my BIGGEST goal! I want to lose another 13 - 18 pounds by Christmas! That gives me 14 weeks to do it! My current average weight loss per week is 1 to 1 1/2 lbs. So I think it's doable. And if I stick to my goals I've set for myself going forward then I will have no problem!! I CAN DO THIS!!
I know I need to lose more than 75 lbs but I like to set short term goals for myself...long term goals sometimes seem unattainable. I am going to take this journey 1 week at a time!!
This past week was also my anniversary so we ate out and I got steak and lobster and a dry baked potato with sour cream on the side. So I have been doing my best to make the best choices I could while eating away from home. It has also been difficult to walk while working the 2 jobs. I used to walk over an hour and a half a day but with being so busy lately its more like 30 mins a day. But when I worked at the fair I was on my feet the whole time and running around stand to and from the grill...so I was moving a lot to make up for the not walking. I also started my fall class last week. So, that is 2 days that I do not get to walk on my lunch break.
Now that my life has calmed down a little this week and I am only working 1 job everyday and my class is 2 days a week during my lunch hour I need to get back to where I was before I started working the fair! I need to work hard on eating more meals at home and walking more each day. I miss water aerobics too. The class doesn't meet during August and September. I signed up for the next session but it doesn't start until the last week of September. Not walking to and from work and during lunch during the fair has made me feel a bit lazy and not wanting to walk.
So today is the start of my new week. I weighed in this morning and lost another pound. Last week while working and eating at the fair I lost 2. I am now up to 57 pounds total! :) So I did OK for not being on my normal schedule! But I feel I can still do better! I walked to work this morning and I am going to walk at lunch. I can't walk home because I have to be somewhere right after work but I plan to walk this weekend...hopefully both days!
My goals starting this week are:
1) Get back to my old walking schedule I was doing before the fair!
2) Eat at home more this week...get back to cooking more and not eating out soo much.
3) Concentrate on my daily points and try not to go over as much. I know that I have the extra 35 points a week just for that reason but I feel I am using them too much.
4) Work on blogging more. Every other day, if possible!
So, I start my new WW week with determination and am looking forward to a great week! I am going home to TX for Christmas again this year. I would love to be able to say that I've lost 70 or 75 lbs when people ask me how much I've lost!? :) That is my BIGGEST goal! I want to lose another 13 - 18 pounds by Christmas! That gives me 14 weeks to do it! My current average weight loss per week is 1 to 1 1/2 lbs. So I think it's doable. And if I stick to my goals I've set for myself going forward then I will have no problem!! I CAN DO THIS!!
I know I need to lose more than 75 lbs but I like to set short term goals for myself...long term goals sometimes seem unattainable. I am going to take this journey 1 week at a time!!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Learn from my mistake
Last night we were tired and didn't feel like making our lunches so we decided to just pick up food for lunch instead of bringing our lunches.
Well, today was a very busy day at work. I had a meeting first thing in the morning where they served breakfast, and I had decided last night that I would just eat something there instead of bringing something from home. So, I didn't do too bad with my choices. I choose a bagel w/ cream cheese and fruit. Good choices right? Especially since they also had muffins, scrambled eggs, and bacon! I probably could have eaten half the bagel because it was huge but of course I didn't because it tasted soo good!! I usually have weight watchers plan bagels. The WW bagels taste good, especially with the laughing cow light garlic and herb cream cheese on top. But I didn't have that today because I was lazy last night. Today I ate 8 1/2 points (normally I eat 4 or 5 points) for breakfast.
For lunch, I decided I wanted to stop at Subway after I ran my errand at lunch to pick up a sub and baked chips. Well, I ended up not going to lunch until after 1 pm and my errand took longer than expected so I ran out of time and couldn't stop at Subway. So, at 3 pm I was starving and had to have something delivered! I didn't go completely overboard...I ordered from Jimmy John's which is a sandwich place on campus that delivers super fast. I could have probably made a better choice when choosing my type of sandwich but of course I wanted to order my favorite sandwich. I ordered the beach club on french bread. It comes with mayo normally and did exchange that for mustard, so that's a big points savings. The sandwich has turkey, provolone cheese, sprouts, cucumbers, lettuce, and avocado spread. I could have gotten whole wheat bread and no cheese. That would have saved a few points but as I got it, it was 10 points. And then of course I ordered a bag of my favorite chips, jalapeno chips, 5 points for the bag. So, I normally eat 7 points for lunch when I bring my lunch, today I ate 15 lbs for lunch! Eeeeek!
So now for dinner I need to eat lighter. Luckily, I ate lunch later so I shouldn't be that hungry tonight. We are going to have these turkey sausages that are filled with cheese (3 points) on whole wheat sandwich thins hot dog rolls (1 point). :)
So, this is what happens when you don't bring your lunch or plan your day. Especially if you run out of time and don't eat lunch on time and start to get over hungry. You make choices based on taste and speed not calories or point values. I didn't over do it too bad but it just shows that you can eat soo much better when you bring your own healthy food from home and plan!
Well, today was a very busy day at work. I had a meeting first thing in the morning where they served breakfast, and I had decided last night that I would just eat something there instead of bringing something from home. So, I didn't do too bad with my choices. I choose a bagel w/ cream cheese and fruit. Good choices right? Especially since they also had muffins, scrambled eggs, and bacon! I probably could have eaten half the bagel because it was huge but of course I didn't because it tasted soo good!! I usually have weight watchers plan bagels. The WW bagels taste good, especially with the laughing cow light garlic and herb cream cheese on top. But I didn't have that today because I was lazy last night. Today I ate 8 1/2 points (normally I eat 4 or 5 points) for breakfast.
For lunch, I decided I wanted to stop at Subway after I ran my errand at lunch to pick up a sub and baked chips. Well, I ended up not going to lunch until after 1 pm and my errand took longer than expected so I ran out of time and couldn't stop at Subway. So, at 3 pm I was starving and had to have something delivered! I didn't go completely overboard...I ordered from Jimmy John's which is a sandwich place on campus that delivers super fast. I could have probably made a better choice when choosing my type of sandwich but of course I wanted to order my favorite sandwich. I ordered the beach club on french bread. It comes with mayo normally and did exchange that for mustard, so that's a big points savings. The sandwich has turkey, provolone cheese, sprouts, cucumbers, lettuce, and avocado spread. I could have gotten whole wheat bread and no cheese. That would have saved a few points but as I got it, it was 10 points. And then of course I ordered a bag of my favorite chips, jalapeno chips, 5 points for the bag. So, I normally eat 7 points for lunch when I bring my lunch, today I ate 15 lbs for lunch! Eeeeek!
So now for dinner I need to eat lighter. Luckily, I ate lunch later so I shouldn't be that hungry tonight. We are going to have these turkey sausages that are filled with cheese (3 points) on whole wheat sandwich thins hot dog rolls (1 point). :)
So, this is what happens when you don't bring your lunch or plan your day. Especially if you run out of time and don't eat lunch on time and start to get over hungry. You make choices based on taste and speed not calories or point values. I didn't over do it too bad but it just shows that you can eat soo much better when you bring your own healthy food from home and plan!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
My legs are feeling better!
Well I walked to and from work yesterday (in the rain) and my legs were ok. On the way to work my legs felt fine. On the way home, about half way, my legs started getting sore. It was just sore and not the pain like I had last week...so that's ok. I didn't walk at lunch because the weather was very dark and dismal all day. On my walk to work this morning my legs felt fine and also during my walk at lunch. So, my legs seem like they are back to normal. Maybe I just over did it a little last weekend?! Who knows.
The dreery weather yesterday really put me in a yucky mood. I didn't feel like walking or wanting to do anything. What am I going to do when its winter and snowing every other day! I'm going to need some motivation! Any ideas of things I can do to motivate myself? I hope that going to see my family at Christmas time will help me keep working hard and be my motivation.
I thank God for my great support system at home! Helps me keep going for sure! I wish I had more friends here in NY that I could do weight loss activities with though. It's tough moving to a new place and not knowing anyone but family. Even after 5 years in Syracuse I still don't have many friends. Thank goodness for the internet...helps me keep in contact with people in TX. :) I share weight loss pictures on facebook...it helps me see the change in myself easier also. It's like looking at myself through another set of eyes. It's very gratifying to see the results! :)
The dreery weather yesterday really put me in a yucky mood. I didn't feel like walking or wanting to do anything. What am I going to do when its winter and snowing every other day! I'm going to need some motivation! Any ideas of things I can do to motivate myself? I hope that going to see my family at Christmas time will help me keep working hard and be my motivation.
I thank God for my great support system at home! Helps me keep going for sure! I wish I had more friends here in NY that I could do weight loss activities with though. It's tough moving to a new place and not knowing anyone but family. Even after 5 years in Syracuse I still don't have many friends. Thank goodness for the internet...helps me keep in contact with people in TX. :) I share weight loss pictures on facebook...it helps me see the change in myself easier also. It's like looking at myself through another set of eyes. It's very gratifying to see the results! :)
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Update...
I re-weighed myself this morning like I mentioned I was probably going to do. I did give my legs a rest...I have not walked since Friday morning. I think that the swelling and water retention around my muscles went down! When I weighed myself this morning I weighed 3 1/2 lbs less than I did on Friday morning!! So, instead of gaining 2 lbs like I originally thought, I actually lost 1 1/2 lbs!! :) So my average weight loss remains the same...1 1/2 lbs per week!This picture was taken this afternoon! I bought these jeans this week at Old Navy. I can actually fit into jeans bought at a "normal sized person" clothing store!! I am still in a plus size but I am still very excited! I bought my UT shirt I am wearing during my last trip to TX to visit my family. I bought the largest size it came in because I really liked the shirt (It says "Keep Austin Weird" on the back) but could not fit into it! I tried on the shirt today and can FINALLY fit into it!! YAY for small triumphs! :)
My next goal is to become comfortable enough with myself to actually say how much I weigh...I am not quite there! :-/ Soon I hope!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Weigh in day...not so good!
Well this morning I weighed in and the scale said I gained 2 lbs which just can't be. There is nothing I did differently this week than any other week. The only thing I can think of is that my legs have been sore all week and my muscles are probably swollen. My feet were also a bit swollen this morning when I woke up. So I am thinking that I'm retaining water right now,,,and we know water weight weighs more than anything. So I am going to just hope that that is all it is!
Now back to these sore muscles...I didn't walk home last night from work but I did walk a lot around the outlet mall and my legs didn't hurt during the slow walking. This pain I am having is in both legs on the outside of my calves. I've had this pain before when I first started walking at the beginning of my weight loss journey. I never went to the doctor because the pain gradually went away and I figured it was hurting because I hadn't walked that in a long time. Someone mentioned to me that maybe it was because I haven't been drinking enough water before I walk. Which might be the case in the morning but I drink a lot of water during the day and they still hurt during my lunch time walk and on the way home. I am going to rest my legs the rest of today and the weekend and see if that helps the inflammation go down.
I have plantar factious and someone else mentioned to me that the pain in my legs could be caused by that. Plantar factious runs in my family and is pretty painful! . It is pain in the arch of my foot where the tendon tightens from the ball of my foot to my heal. I bought better shoes and that has helped most days, along with taking Omega 3, a twice daily pain med, and water pill. But some days the pain still brakes through and maybe that's all this leg pain is...the pain moving up my muscles?!
If anyone knows anything about this pain, please comment. :)
Now back to these sore muscles...I didn't walk home last night from work but I did walk a lot around the outlet mall and my legs didn't hurt during the slow walking. This pain I am having is in both legs on the outside of my calves. I've had this pain before when I first started walking at the beginning of my weight loss journey. I never went to the doctor because the pain gradually went away and I figured it was hurting because I hadn't walked that in a long time. Someone mentioned to me that maybe it was because I haven't been drinking enough water before I walk. Which might be the case in the morning but I drink a lot of water during the day and they still hurt during my lunch time walk and on the way home. I am going to rest my legs the rest of today and the weekend and see if that helps the inflammation go down.
I have plantar factious and someone else mentioned to me that the pain in my legs could be caused by that. Plantar factious runs in my family and is pretty painful! . It is pain in the arch of my foot where the tendon tightens from the ball of my foot to my heal. I bought better shoes and that has helped most days, along with taking Omega 3, a twice daily pain med, and water pill. But some days the pain still brakes through and maybe that's all this leg pain is...the pain moving up my muscles?!
If anyone knows anything about this pain, please comment. :)
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Sore
WHAT A WEEK! It's been go go go since 4:30 on Friday! ha ha I was off on Monday this week. I challenged myself to exercise more when I was off I did it this weekend! YAY! We went to Seabreeze Saturday, which is a water/amusement park, and we spent about 6 hours there. Lots of walking, stairs and swimming! :) Sunday I took off from exercise because it rained most of the day. Monday I walked for about 2 hours. :) So I met my goal I made for myself. Now this week my legs have been sore nearly everyday when I walk. I had these sore pains when I first started walking 52 lbs ago. I figured it was because I never exercised and my muscles were getting used to being used again. ha ha Now I am not sure why I am soo sore...maybe because I didn't really give my body a break this weekend like I normally have? I plan on walking at lunch today and not walking home...so maybe that will give my legs a little break?
I'm coming up on my busy time again. Summer is pretty laid back for me. I only work 1 job and take 1 or 2 classes in the evenings. I work at Syracuse University full time and I am also a part time student at SU. During the regular school year I work 2 jobs (1 full time and 1 part time), I sing in a choir, and I take 1 class each semester. So, as you can see I am pretty busy during the school year. It is going to be a challenge to still make time for myself to exercise. As long as it is nice outside I will continue to walk to work. Once winter gets here I will walk if it's just cold with no snow or ice...but once the snow hits the ground I will have to start finding alternate forms of exercise. We have the Dome here which is our athletic complex and is enclosed year round. So, I could walk in there at lunch each day. But one thing I like about walking outside at lunch is the variety...I can walk different places and not have to always look at the same scenery. I can change it up each day. :) I can't do that with the dome...it's one big circle...but it would be warm and snow free. Right? ha ha
I've been thinking about joining a gym of some sort. SU does have a gym that employees can use but it is soo crowded during the school year. It is convenient during my lunch hour and I might use it a few times for a bit of variety but I don't like an audience while I sweat to death working out. I looked into the YMCA because of all of its classes it offers but it is soo expensive. I am not sure I really want to spend that much money or would get my money's worth with my busy schedule during the school year. Then I also looked into Planet fitness. It is cheaper, but does not have a pool. My favorite exercise is water aerobics. I could just rejoin the class I've been taking at the community center, but that is another $30.00 every 2 months. The gym is open 24/7 and you can tan there too because it's included in one of the memberships. But I have a treadmill and stationary bike at home that I could use and that is pretty much what I would use at the gym besides weights. So I think I am going to continue walking like I am for now since it is still nice out in Syracuse for another 2 to 4 months at least. Then once I can't walk anymore I will look into doing something else.
I am looking forward to seeing everyone at my part time job again...I've lost a lot of weight since a lot of them have seen me last. I am also looking forward to traveling home to Texas at Christmas and seeing my family. I hope they don't recognize me! I want to try to lose another 20 lbs by then. :) I have been losing weight at a good rate so far... 1 1/2 lbs average per week! As long as I continue to follow weight watchers and keep up my physical activity I should be able to accomplish that just fine! I am going shopping tonight at the outlet mall about 45 minutes from Syracuse. I am only going to buy a few things since my body continues to shrink and I already can only fit into half the clothes I got for my birthday in April. I know this a good thing to be shrinking but it gets annoying when I can't find anything to wear in the mornings...I know I know, tell me to stop complaining! I get to go clothes shopping now, right?!
I'm coming up on my busy time again. Summer is pretty laid back for me. I only work 1 job and take 1 or 2 classes in the evenings. I work at Syracuse University full time and I am also a part time student at SU. During the regular school year I work 2 jobs (1 full time and 1 part time), I sing in a choir, and I take 1 class each semester. So, as you can see I am pretty busy during the school year. It is going to be a challenge to still make time for myself to exercise. As long as it is nice outside I will continue to walk to work. Once winter gets here I will walk if it's just cold with no snow or ice...but once the snow hits the ground I will have to start finding alternate forms of exercise. We have the Dome here which is our athletic complex and is enclosed year round. So, I could walk in there at lunch each day. But one thing I like about walking outside at lunch is the variety...I can walk different places and not have to always look at the same scenery. I can change it up each day. :) I can't do that with the dome...it's one big circle...but it would be warm and snow free. Right? ha ha
I've been thinking about joining a gym of some sort. SU does have a gym that employees can use but it is soo crowded during the school year. It is convenient during my lunch hour and I might use it a few times for a bit of variety but I don't like an audience while I sweat to death working out. I looked into the YMCA because of all of its classes it offers but it is soo expensive. I am not sure I really want to spend that much money or would get my money's worth with my busy schedule during the school year. Then I also looked into Planet fitness. It is cheaper, but does not have a pool. My favorite exercise is water aerobics. I could just rejoin the class I've been taking at the community center, but that is another $30.00 every 2 months. The gym is open 24/7 and you can tan there too because it's included in one of the memberships. But I have a treadmill and stationary bike at home that I could use and that is pretty much what I would use at the gym besides weights. So I think I am going to continue walking like I am for now since it is still nice out in Syracuse for another 2 to 4 months at least. Then once I can't walk anymore I will look into doing something else.
I am looking forward to seeing everyone at my part time job again...I've lost a lot of weight since a lot of them have seen me last. I am also looking forward to traveling home to Texas at Christmas and seeing my family. I hope they don't recognize me! I want to try to lose another 20 lbs by then. :) I have been losing weight at a good rate so far... 1 1/2 lbs average per week! As long as I continue to follow weight watchers and keep up my physical activity I should be able to accomplish that just fine! I am going shopping tonight at the outlet mall about 45 minutes from Syracuse. I am only going to buy a few things since my body continues to shrink and I already can only fit into half the clothes I got for my birthday in April. I know this a good thing to be shrinking but it gets annoying when I can't find anything to wear in the mornings...I know I know, tell me to stop complaining! I get to go clothes shopping now, right?!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Weigh in day!
Weighed in this morning and lost another 1 1/2 lbs. I am happy about that because I didn't seem to exercise quite as much this week as I usually do. There were a few evenings this week that I didn't walk home because of weather (either too HOT or raining). Plus, last weekend I went to a graduation party and ate what they served. I did pay attention to my intake and did not over do it...so that helped! If I wasn't counting points I probably would have eaten a lot more deviled eggs and chips and dip. :) I also ate out Wednesday night at Chili's with my family (we didn't feel like cooking). I chose from the healthier options on the menu (the entrees marked with their special symbol has less than 750 calories). But I did allow myself to have some chips and salsa and queso dip. Just didn't over do it! Anything in moderation is ok! So, it just shows that you can still live life and go out and do normal stuff and still lose weight. :)
My goal this weekend is to try to walk at least 2 out of my 3 days off! I find that I get caught up in the weekend and don't walk at all...but then when my next work day rolls around and it's time to walk to work again I am dragging and feel like I haven't ever walked. ha ha I do have some yard work to do this weekend also...so if I do that I may not have to walk. Gardening is great exercise! Speaking of exercise, I am off to my lunch time walk, it's a beautiful day out! Have a great day all!
My goal this weekend is to try to walk at least 2 out of my 3 days off! I find that I get caught up in the weekend and don't walk at all...but then when my next work day rolls around and it's time to walk to work again I am dragging and feel like I haven't ever walked. ha ha I do have some yard work to do this weekend also...so if I do that I may not have to walk. Gardening is great exercise! Speaking of exercise, I am off to my lunch time walk, it's a beautiful day out! Have a great day all!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
My own little pep talk!
Today I am feeling a bit blah...and kinda discouraged for some reason. It's the day before my Friday morning weigh in. I have no idea if I've lost weight this week or not, so I can't be discouraged because of a low weight loss?! Maybe it's the slow weight loss? I want my weight to just be gone! I look at these slim girls walking around SU campus and I feel fat all over again. I know I look better than I did in March of just this year but it's hard to compare myself to smaller girls.
I also know that it is not healthy to lose weight any faster than 2 lbs a week. It gives my body time to adjust to the changes without going into shock! I am doing this the healthy way and I need to remember that! I also hope that my losing the weight slowly is helping my body mold into the smaller me better. Does that make sense? I watch the shows like the Biggest Loser and they lose their weight pretty slowly also but some of them have saggy skin and I don't want to have that! Hopefully my only being 30 will help since I still have some elasticity in my skin?!
Well, weigh in day is tomorrow. Hoping you something good but I will be happy with anything other than gaining. But I shouldn't have gained because I've had a pretty good week! The only change is that I am not doing any exercise other than walking because water aerobics is over and I haven't been able to join the Y yet. The Y has a bunch of great classes that I hope to participate in! I am looking forward to that. Wish me luck tomorrow on the scales!
I also know that it is not healthy to lose weight any faster than 2 lbs a week. It gives my body time to adjust to the changes without going into shock! I am doing this the healthy way and I need to remember that! I also hope that my losing the weight slowly is helping my body mold into the smaller me better. Does that make sense? I watch the shows like the Biggest Loser and they lose their weight pretty slowly also but some of them have saggy skin and I don't want to have that! Hopefully my only being 30 will help since I still have some elasticity in my skin?!
Well, weigh in day is tomorrow. Hoping you something good but I will be happy with anything other than gaining. But I shouldn't have gained because I've had a pretty good week! The only change is that I am not doing any exercise other than walking because water aerobics is over and I haven't been able to join the Y yet. The Y has a bunch of great classes that I hope to participate in! I am looking forward to that. Wish me luck tomorrow on the scales!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Farmers Market
Saturday morning we got up early and went to the Farmers Market. We like to purchase our fresh fruits and vegetables from there to support our local farmers and to eat healthier (organically). We bought almost every vegetable imaginable. We had to bring a veggie tray to a Graduation party for a nephew. So we bought peppers, carrots, cauliflower, celery, and radishes to make our veggie tray. Everything tasted soo good.
We also bought corn on the cob because we eat it at every meal these days. It's great on the grill! We also bought red potatoes and organic pasta. I tried organic pasta for my Nutrition class when I had to try a new organic food for a project. Now we are hooked! We've tried several flavors now including whole wheat fettuccine, garlic spinach fettuccine and linguine, and a mixed variety of pasta with several different flavors. We would definitely recommend it to anyone!
We had some of the corn and red potatoes for dinner tonight. I used the red potatoes for a Weight Watchers recipe...Garlic Red Mashed potatoes. Very tasty! They are made with skim (or low fat milk) and fat free (or light) sour cream. And then I spice them up with garlic powder, onion salt (my family doesn't like actual onions in the potatoes), minced garlic, salt, pepper, and chives. I just spice them to taste.
I challenge you to visit a Market and try something that you've never had before or even just buy something that you normally buy from the grocery store and compare. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised! :)
We also bought corn on the cob because we eat it at every meal these days. It's great on the grill! We also bought red potatoes and organic pasta. I tried organic pasta for my Nutrition class when I had to try a new organic food for a project. Now we are hooked! We've tried several flavors now including whole wheat fettuccine, garlic spinach fettuccine and linguine, and a mixed variety of pasta with several different flavors. We would definitely recommend it to anyone!
We had some of the corn and red potatoes for dinner tonight. I used the red potatoes for a Weight Watchers recipe...Garlic Red Mashed potatoes. Very tasty! They are made with skim (or low fat milk) and fat free (or light) sour cream. And then I spice them up with garlic powder, onion salt (my family doesn't like actual onions in the potatoes), minced garlic, salt, pepper, and chives. I just spice them to taste.
I challenge you to visit a Market and try something that you've never had before or even just buy something that you normally buy from the grocery store and compare. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised! :)
Friday, August 6, 2010
Weigh in day!
I weighed in this morning and lost 2 more pounds this week. YAY! So, I am now up to 50 1/2 lbs total. :) It keep coming off and at a good pace. Just gonna keep doing what I'm doing.
I have been off from work for 2 days now. We drove to Albany and NY City yesterday and did pretty well eating for the diet. I tried a Flat bread egg white and turkey sausage breakfast sandwich yesterday from Dunkin' Donuts. I probably could have had less coffee yesterday because they are just empty calories but I needed the caffeine to stay awake and I don't like coffee black. I usually fall asleep on long car rides. We went out to lunch at a Pub in Manhattan and I chose to get a Cobb salad which was very good! And then we had Subway for dinner. So over all some great eating choices for the day. We only did a little walking around NY City and then on the UAlbany campus. But its hard to walk when you are driving all day and stuck in a car. :) Oh well!
New week starts today! Planning on going to a Chinese buffet for lunch. I've eaten there a few times since I started Weight watchers. I know exactly what I can eat to stay within my points. I love their sushi plus the Mongolian BBQ part. :) Then I am going over to a friends for dinner for some seafood. Hopefully she will want to go walking with me after dinner. I am not at work so I don't get my regular walking in.
Well, here's to a great day ahead. It's beautiful outside! :)
I have been off from work for 2 days now. We drove to Albany and NY City yesterday and did pretty well eating for the diet. I tried a Flat bread egg white and turkey sausage breakfast sandwich yesterday from Dunkin' Donuts. I probably could have had less coffee yesterday because they are just empty calories but I needed the caffeine to stay awake and I don't like coffee black. I usually fall asleep on long car rides. We went out to lunch at a Pub in Manhattan and I chose to get a Cobb salad which was very good! And then we had Subway for dinner. So over all some great eating choices for the day. We only did a little walking around NY City and then on the UAlbany campus. But its hard to walk when you are driving all day and stuck in a car. :) Oh well!
New week starts today! Planning on going to a Chinese buffet for lunch. I've eaten there a few times since I started Weight watchers. I know exactly what I can eat to stay within my points. I love their sushi plus the Mongolian BBQ part. :) Then I am going over to a friends for dinner for some seafood. Hopefully she will want to go walking with me after dinner. I am not at work so I don't get my regular walking in.
Well, here's to a great day ahead. It's beautiful outside! :)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Goals
Last night I joined a Twitter chat session of Fitblog. I did this for a class assignment for my online Social media class but really enjoyed the hour. There were soo many people tweeting in the chat and they all had blogs about the same general topic that I do! Very cool! I added my blog to the list of blogs and have started looking through the list and choosing some blogs to read. I read one this morning. The women is about the same age as me and going through the same journey I am. She set a long list of goals for herself. She listed some great goals on there that I hadn't thought of. When I started my weight loss journey I decided I only wanted to set 2 simple goals for myself!
1) Lose weight!
2) Be Healthier!
Then, the outcome of my goals will be to feel better, stop hurting, move faster, etc. With these 2 simple goals, I wouldn't feel like I had failed all the time if I didn't reach a goal I set for myself. Or what if I never reached one of the goals I set for myself or it wasn't really obtainable to begin with?! I didn't want to ever feel like what I had done wasn't enough, start feeling like I was a failure and then give up and return to the same unhealthy lifestyle I was living before.
I don't think about how much weight I really need to lose or what weight I am supposed to be at to be considered Healthy. If I think about that all the time I will stress myself out. Some people might think of that as motivation but it would seem like an unattainable goal to me and make me stressed.
So I take my weight loss a day at a time. I feel proud of myself for whatever I did that day. Or if I do have an off day I don't dwell on it. I look at the next day as a new day. There is no way to eat soo much in one day that I would gain even a pound! So, if I have an off day I go for an extra walk the next day or I just start over... It's OK to eat a piece of birthday cake at a party. You should allow yourself something you enjoy to eat everyone once in a while. Don't over indulge, just enjoy! :) Just try to plan around it if you know you want to have it. Eat lighter the rest of the day or plan an extra walk that evening. :)
So, be proud of yourself and keep moving! You'll feel better in the long run! :)
1) Lose weight!
2) Be Healthier!
Then, the outcome of my goals will be to feel better, stop hurting, move faster, etc. With these 2 simple goals, I wouldn't feel like I had failed all the time if I didn't reach a goal I set for myself. Or what if I never reached one of the goals I set for myself or it wasn't really obtainable to begin with?! I didn't want to ever feel like what I had done wasn't enough, start feeling like I was a failure and then give up and return to the same unhealthy lifestyle I was living before.
I don't think about how much weight I really need to lose or what weight I am supposed to be at to be considered Healthy. If I think about that all the time I will stress myself out. Some people might think of that as motivation but it would seem like an unattainable goal to me and make me stressed.
So I take my weight loss a day at a time. I feel proud of myself for whatever I did that day. Or if I do have an off day I don't dwell on it. I look at the next day as a new day. There is no way to eat soo much in one day that I would gain even a pound! So, if I have an off day I go for an extra walk the next day or I just start over... It's OK to eat a piece of birthday cake at a party. You should allow yourself something you enjoy to eat everyone once in a while. Don't over indulge, just enjoy! :) Just try to plan around it if you know you want to have it. Eat lighter the rest of the day or plan an extra walk that evening. :)
So, be proud of yourself and keep moving! You'll feel better in the long run! :)
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Could have been better...
A lot has happened in the past week. Last weekend we went on a mini vacation to Cleveland, OH, just the 2 of us, to see a Yankees baseball game. Vacation can be hard on a diet. Planning helps when going out of town. Making plans on what and where you are going to eat and planning on when and how you are going to get your exercise in. We did pretty well sticking to our plan.
When we got there the first day we drove downtown and walked around and site saw. We stuck to our eating plan well the 1st day by packing our lunch and not eating out during the drive. We told ourselves we were only going to eat out 1 meal and we did that for dinner. We went to a Mexican restaurant and splurged a little on our dinner choices. We also got a little walking in while walking around downtown.
We got up early on our first morning and utilized the exercise room and indoor pool they had at the hotel. We had planned on eating their continental breakfast at the hotel both mornings but it was kinda skimpy so we decided to go to a breakfast buffet where we ate more than we should of. The only good thing about breakfast was we got filled up at breakfast until dinner time. We went to the Cleveland Zoo during the day...which is huge and walked the whole park...it took us 4 hours. Great exercise! Then we went downtown and walked around and site saw some more and then went out to dinner before we went to the ball park. By eating dinner out before the baseball game we eliminated being hungry at the ballpark. Which saved on calories and money (since ballpark food is soo expensive!) We did eat out twice on that day (which wasn't part of our plan) but with all of our walking we did...we burned a lot of calories!
On our last morning there we ate a smaller breakfast and ate the continental breakfast at the hotel. We also did not stop for lunch on the way home, we ate the lunch we had packed in the car. So our trip was pretty successful dietwise...and we had a blast...that's important too!
I didn't get back to my normal routine until Thursday, when I went back to work and did my normal walking. I weighed in on Friday AM and only lost .2 lbs...which is better than gaining, but could have been better. So starting Friday I got right back on track and back to my routine. This weekend is the last weekend that my sister is staying with us. This will make it easier to stay on track with our healthy lifestyle. Not that we changed much with her being here but we did eat out a little more and probably didn't walk as much in the evenings as we would have. I wish we had been able to rub our healthy lifestyle off on her a little more but we tried... Hopefully something sunk in? :(
When we got there the first day we drove downtown and walked around and site saw. We stuck to our eating plan well the 1st day by packing our lunch and not eating out during the drive. We told ourselves we were only going to eat out 1 meal and we did that for dinner. We went to a Mexican restaurant and splurged a little on our dinner choices. We also got a little walking in while walking around downtown.
We got up early on our first morning and utilized the exercise room and indoor pool they had at the hotel. We had planned on eating their continental breakfast at the hotel both mornings but it was kinda skimpy so we decided to go to a breakfast buffet where we ate more than we should of. The only good thing about breakfast was we got filled up at breakfast until dinner time. We went to the Cleveland Zoo during the day...which is huge and walked the whole park...it took us 4 hours. Great exercise! Then we went downtown and walked around and site saw some more and then went out to dinner before we went to the ball park. By eating dinner out before the baseball game we eliminated being hungry at the ballpark. Which saved on calories and money (since ballpark food is soo expensive!) We did eat out twice on that day (which wasn't part of our plan) but with all of our walking we did...we burned a lot of calories!
On our last morning there we ate a smaller breakfast and ate the continental breakfast at the hotel. We also did not stop for lunch on the way home, we ate the lunch we had packed in the car. So our trip was pretty successful dietwise...and we had a blast...that's important too!
I didn't get back to my normal routine until Thursday, when I went back to work and did my normal walking. I weighed in on Friday AM and only lost .2 lbs...which is better than gaining, but could have been better. So starting Friday I got right back on track and back to my routine. This weekend is the last weekend that my sister is staying with us. This will make it easier to stay on track with our healthy lifestyle. Not that we changed much with her being here but we did eat out a little more and probably didn't walk as much in the evenings as we would have. I wish we had been able to rub our healthy lifestyle off on her a little more but we tried... Hopefully something sunk in? :(
Friday, July 23, 2010
Rainy Weigh in day
Today was my weigh in day and I lost another 1 1/2 lbs. I am now up to 48 1/2 lbs total. YAY for me! Today was very rainy which prevented me from walking all day. It rained from when I got up this morning through lunch...stopped for a little while but started back up right before I left work. So, we went to the Mall and walked around there and then Wal-mart too. At least I moved around a little.
We are planning a small trip starting Sunday. We are making healthy plans for ourselves before we go. We picked a hotel that has an indoor pool and a exercise room so that will help us to keep exercising the few days we are at the hotel. Plus we are planning on getting up and walking each morning just to keep our routine. :) We plan on only eating 1 meal out a day and are packing sandwich stuff, water, and healthy snacks (fruit) to bring with us. Planning really helps you be successful. If you can decide where you are eating out ahead of time you can plan what you are going to order and this will eliminate the decision making process and will help prevent from thinking about what would really taste good and what you really want.
I am trying a new class in the morning at the Y...it's called a Cut class. It's weightlifting. We'll see how I do. I need to start strengthening my arms...they are the weakest part of my body. I hope I can convince myself to also try to start doing sit-ups each night. That is my next goal. I know I won't be able too do many but I need to try anyway. :) Hopefully I will have news that I started next time I write. Until then...
We are planning a small trip starting Sunday. We are making healthy plans for ourselves before we go. We picked a hotel that has an indoor pool and a exercise room so that will help us to keep exercising the few days we are at the hotel. Plus we are planning on getting up and walking each morning just to keep our routine. :) We plan on only eating 1 meal out a day and are packing sandwich stuff, water, and healthy snacks (fruit) to bring with us. Planning really helps you be successful. If you can decide where you are eating out ahead of time you can plan what you are going to order and this will eliminate the decision making process and will help prevent from thinking about what would really taste good and what you really want.
I am trying a new class in the morning at the Y...it's called a Cut class. It's weightlifting. We'll see how I do. I need to start strengthening my arms...they are the weakest part of my body. I hope I can convince myself to also try to start doing sit-ups each night. That is my next goal. I know I won't be able too do many but I need to try anyway. :) Hopefully I will have news that I started next time I write. Until then...
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Zucchini Bread
Last weekend we went to the Regional Market like we do every weekend. We bought all of our fresh fruits and vegetables for the week. One stand also had huge italian zucchini for sale...so we bought several. I made Zucchini bread with 1 1/2 of them last weekend straight from a recipe I found on http://www.food.com/. Each of the 24 servings, which were about a 2 inch square, were 4 points. The bread tasted more like cake but was very tasty. But because of the oil I had to eat it in moderation since it was 4 points per piece.
This weekend I decided to make more zucchini bread but exchange the 1 cup of oil for 1 cup of no sugar added applesauce. I've done this before when I made banana bread. I also exchanged the 2 cups white flour for 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup white flour. It doesn't change the point value much but it makes it much healthier. There are a lot of things you can exchange in a recipe to make it healthier but it isn't a good idea to exchange them all at once because it could make the bread bland or rubbery. You can exchange 3 whole eggs for 6 egg whites or sugar for splenda (which sometimes has a little bit of an after taste)...just as a few examples.
Well, we all just had a piece of the zucchini bread and it has just as much flavor as last weekend but seems denser using the apple sauce and a piece was a bigger serving, more filling, and half the points...only 2 points per serving!
This just shows how you can turn a regular recipe into a weight watchers recipe without it being called "Weight Watchers". I plan on bringing some to work tomorrow to let them have some and see what they think about it. They like my healthy banana bread when I bring it in.
This weekend I decided to make more zucchini bread but exchange the 1 cup of oil for 1 cup of no sugar added applesauce. I've done this before when I made banana bread. I also exchanged the 2 cups white flour for 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup white flour. It doesn't change the point value much but it makes it much healthier. There are a lot of things you can exchange in a recipe to make it healthier but it isn't a good idea to exchange them all at once because it could make the bread bland or rubbery. You can exchange 3 whole eggs for 6 egg whites or sugar for splenda (which sometimes has a little bit of an after taste)...just as a few examples.
Well, we all just had a piece of the zucchini bread and it has just as much flavor as last weekend but seems denser using the apple sauce and a piece was a bigger serving, more filling, and half the points...only 2 points per serving!
This just shows how you can turn a regular recipe into a weight watchers recipe without it being called "Weight Watchers". I plan on bringing some to work tomorrow to let them have some and see what they think about it. They like my healthy banana bread when I bring it in.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Weight Loss!
Today is weigh in day! I lost another 2 1/2 lbs for a total of 47 lbs now! I've done weight watchers before and have lost weight before but gained it all back! This time really feels different! It feels final...I'm working harder to lose it. I haven't set a goal for myself I just want to lose as much as possible in a slow healthy way. I've exercised more this time than in the past. I have much more support this time around too! My whole house is eating healthier. Everyone has the same meals for dinner! There's no bad food in the house!
I had a good week of exercise! I worked all 5 days and walked to and from work everyday. Along with one day at the gym at lunch. 1 day walking at lunch, and 2 nights of water aerobics. A lot of moving! Last night at water aerobics class my instructor gave out handouts on portion sizes. I thought that was really cool. And he made a good point that if you want to lose weight you can't do it by only working out. You have to both exercise (about 30 mins to an hour a day) and eat a healthy diet.
One thing I am trying to work on is trying to think of food as fuel to live and not as yummy treats! That is hard I think because it seems my whole life I always got excited for meals and when we ate out to eat. My mom liked eating out and fortunately we could afford to do it 3 or 4 times a week...but that was not fortunate for our waist lines! Now that I live in NY and away from my family in TX (accept my sister that is visiting for the summer of course) I cook most of my meals, bring my lunch and breakfast for work, and only eat out once maybe twice a week.
In high school I worked the last 2 years. Every morning I would stop and eat fast food for breakfast and then go out to lunch and eat fast food for lunch. And then eat out 3 to 4 times a week for dinner, whether is was take out or we went out to eat. I have now completely changed my eating habits! I make it a point to pay attention to my bodies signals. When my body is full, I stop! I used to keep eating until the food was gone because it always tasted soo good! And then I felt sick all night from over eating...but did that stop me from doing it again the next day?? Nooo!
I make a point to drink more during the day also. Drinking fluids helps fill you up too. It keeps you hydrated and helps with the snacking through out the day! I don't drink a lot of diet sodas anymore but if I do it's only 1 can with dinner and that's only like every other night, maybe only 2 or 3 times a week. Soda really isn't that good for you anyway. During the day I bring those individual Crystal light drink mix packets to work and keep refilling my bottle with water from our water cooler. There are all sorts of flavors, I like the Raspberry Lemonade and Pink Lemonade and also tea ones. I also drink diet snapple and fruit-2-o a lot and sometimes Vitamin water zero. All these choices are no calories and I think taste great!
My workout in water aerobics was a tough one last night! He steps up the pace each week and last night he did big time! My legs were feeling it this morning during my walk to work. I was running a few mins late this morning so I was trying to walk faster to make up a few mins time and I could feel the burn in my legs!! ha ha If you ever thought about trying water aerobics? I would Definitely suggest it!! It's a great work out, not so hard on your joints, it can be fun :), and you keep cool while exercising in the water!
So another great weight watchers week to go! Feeling better everyday! I think back to how big I let myself get and I just can't believe it! But that is in the past and I am in the present right now...and Feelin' Goooooood! :)
I had a good week of exercise! I worked all 5 days and walked to and from work everyday. Along with one day at the gym at lunch. 1 day walking at lunch, and 2 nights of water aerobics. A lot of moving! Last night at water aerobics class my instructor gave out handouts on portion sizes. I thought that was really cool. And he made a good point that if you want to lose weight you can't do it by only working out. You have to both exercise (about 30 mins to an hour a day) and eat a healthy diet.
One thing I am trying to work on is trying to think of food as fuel to live and not as yummy treats! That is hard I think because it seems my whole life I always got excited for meals and when we ate out to eat. My mom liked eating out and fortunately we could afford to do it 3 or 4 times a week...but that was not fortunate for our waist lines! Now that I live in NY and away from my family in TX (accept my sister that is visiting for the summer of course) I cook most of my meals, bring my lunch and breakfast for work, and only eat out once maybe twice a week.
In high school I worked the last 2 years. Every morning I would stop and eat fast food for breakfast and then go out to lunch and eat fast food for lunch. And then eat out 3 to 4 times a week for dinner, whether is was take out or we went out to eat. I have now completely changed my eating habits! I make it a point to pay attention to my bodies signals. When my body is full, I stop! I used to keep eating until the food was gone because it always tasted soo good! And then I felt sick all night from over eating...but did that stop me from doing it again the next day?? Nooo!
I make a point to drink more during the day also. Drinking fluids helps fill you up too. It keeps you hydrated and helps with the snacking through out the day! I don't drink a lot of diet sodas anymore but if I do it's only 1 can with dinner and that's only like every other night, maybe only 2 or 3 times a week. Soda really isn't that good for you anyway. During the day I bring those individual Crystal light drink mix packets to work and keep refilling my bottle with water from our water cooler. There are all sorts of flavors, I like the Raspberry Lemonade and Pink Lemonade and also tea ones. I also drink diet snapple and fruit-2-o a lot and sometimes Vitamin water zero. All these choices are no calories and I think taste great!
My workout in water aerobics was a tough one last night! He steps up the pace each week and last night he did big time! My legs were feeling it this morning during my walk to work. I was running a few mins late this morning so I was trying to walk faster to make up a few mins time and I could feel the burn in my legs!! ha ha If you ever thought about trying water aerobics? I would Definitely suggest it!! It's a great work out, not so hard on your joints, it can be fun :), and you keep cool while exercising in the water!
So another great weight watchers week to go! Feeling better everyday! I think back to how big I let myself get and I just can't believe it! But that is in the past and I am in the present right now...and Feelin' Goooooood! :)
Monday, July 12, 2010
Complements and Confidence!
I've had a busy couple of weeks! My sister is visiting for the summer and I've taken a few vacation days and had some long weekends. Back to normal this week. Working all 5 days this week. I walked so far over an hour today and plan to walk home and maybe again later after dinner. The past 2 nights after dinner we've been walking and its been nice. It's not as hot after 8 pm.
I weighed in on Friday and lost another 2 lbs. I am now up to 44 1/2 lbs. total! I had several opportunities for pictures this weekend and I am really starting to notice a change in my face and neck. I had an opportunity to shop for a few clothes also. I was never able to fit into Old Navy clothes and now I can plus I am wearing a size smaller than the largest size they carry! Big accomplishment for me!
I started a weight loss photo album on Facebook with pictures
every few weeks showing the change I am making. I posted the 2 pictures I included here, from this weekend and have been getting tons of complements today. Feels great! My weight loss is giving me such confidence. I know I have so far to go still but I am feeling better everyday! I try to think about how long and hard the journey is going to be but how much better I am feeling everyday and how much better I will feel in the end.
I tried a few new dinner options this weekend. We had steak fajitas one night on whole wheat wraps with light sour cream, salsa, and guacamole. They were delicious! We also make personal pizzas one night using wheat flat bread for the crust and turkey sausage and turkey pepperoni for toppings. My sister is eating our healthy dinner with us but she still eats not so healthy things for lunch and breakfast and large quantities. She also is still yet to go walking with us when we go in the evenings. So, still working on instilling my healthy lifestyle on her. :)
Will do my best to write more soon!
I weighed in on Friday and lost another 2 lbs. I am now up to 44 1/2 lbs. total! I had several opportunities for pictures this weekend and I am really starting to notice a change in my face and neck. I had an opportunity to shop for a few clothes also. I was never able to fit into Old Navy clothes and now I can plus I am wearing a size smaller than the largest size they carry! Big accomplishment for me! I started a weight loss photo album on Facebook with pictures
every few weeks showing the change I am making. I posted the 2 pictures I included here, from this weekend and have been getting tons of complements today. Feels great! My weight loss is giving me such confidence. I know I have so far to go still but I am feeling better everyday! I try to think about how long and hard the journey is going to be but how much better I am feeling everyday and how much better I will feel in the end. I tried a few new dinner options this weekend. We had steak fajitas one night on whole wheat wraps with light sour cream, salsa, and guacamole. They were delicious! We also make personal pizzas one night using wheat flat bread for the crust and turkey sausage and turkey pepperoni for toppings. My sister is eating our healthy dinner with us but she still eats not so healthy things for lunch and breakfast and large quantities. She also is still yet to go walking with us when we go in the evenings. So, still working on instilling my healthy lifestyle on her. :)
Will do my best to write more soon!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Busy weekends
What a fun weekend I had! Lots of fireworks and friends and family...and lots of opportunities for me to eat whatever I wanted! I think that I did well considering the difficulty of planning the unknown. We went out to eat on Friday night to my favorite pizza place. I had a salad before to help full me up and then some pizza...I ordered lower fat options for pizza toppings.
Saturday, we went to the market to stock up on fresh organic fruits, vegetables, and my favorite organic pasta (I tried and used for my Nutrition project). Then Saturday afternoon we had a cookout complete with turkey burgers on whole wheat rolls, turkey hot dogs, grilled corn on the cob, peal and eat shrimp and grilled clams. All healthy options for a cookout. Sunday, I sang in a 4th of July concert at the NYS Fairgrounds and we packed a picnic dinner. My choir also had a picnic for the group and I picked healthy options from my choices there....fruit!! (I did allow myself 1 sugar cookie!)
Yesterday, we went to the beach and packed another healthy picnic lunch. We did treat ourselves with a small ice cream after swimming all day. But, we made sure we walked there (made me feel like I earned it). :)
Back to my routine today, walking to work and home and packing my lunch. I am starting my water aerobics again in the evenings on Tues/Thurs. So, more opportunity to exercise during the day since my lunch hour will now be free again.
I weighed in a Friday morning and the scale showed I maintained for the week which is good but because it was that time of the month I expected I was retaining water. So, I re-weighed myself on Saturday morning and my suspicion was correct and I was 1 1/2 lbs lighter. So I ended up losing after all. YEA!
Saturday, we went to the market to stock up on fresh organic fruits, vegetables, and my favorite organic pasta (I tried and used for my Nutrition project). Then Saturday afternoon we had a cookout complete with turkey burgers on whole wheat rolls, turkey hot dogs, grilled corn on the cob, peal and eat shrimp and grilled clams. All healthy options for a cookout. Sunday, I sang in a 4th of July concert at the NYS Fairgrounds and we packed a picnic dinner. My choir also had a picnic for the group and I picked healthy options from my choices there....fruit!! (I did allow myself 1 sugar cookie!)
Yesterday, we went to the beach and packed another healthy picnic lunch. We did treat ourselves with a small ice cream after swimming all day. But, we made sure we walked there (made me feel like I earned it). :)
Back to my routine today, walking to work and home and packing my lunch. I am starting my water aerobics again in the evenings on Tues/Thurs. So, more opportunity to exercise during the day since my lunch hour will now be free again.
I weighed in a Friday morning and the scale showed I maintained for the week which is good but because it was that time of the month I expected I was retaining water. So, I re-weighed myself on Saturday morning and my suspicion was correct and I was 1 1/2 lbs lighter. So I ended up losing after all. YEA!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Yucky food!
This weekend I let myself give in to the cravings I've been having for a week. Yesterday, I went to the Jazz fest and ate dinner there. I made a good choice for dinner, I had a chicken gyro. But, after dinner we decided to get some fried dough. I over indulged! After the Jazz fest, the people I was with wanted to stop and get some ice cream. And Ice Cream being my favorite, I decided to get some also. I of course ate it all and was over full! I felt miserable all night with a stomach ache and the feeling of nausea.
I am still not feeling all that great today. I worked out this morning and have been trying to drink a lot of water this morning to flush my system out. Lets hope I remember this feeling next time I am craving something.
I am still not feeling all that great today. I worked out this morning and have been trying to drink a lot of water this morning to flush my system out. Lets hope I remember this feeling next time I am craving something.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Temptations
I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the temptations around me lately. Partly, I think, because it is almost that time of the month and temptations always look yummy during this time.
My sisters' visit started out fine but now I guess she getting tired of the healthy food we have in the house. Last night I got home from class and the first thing she asked me was to go and get ice cream cones. I LOVE ice cream and it is something I have been allowing myself every once in a while. But, we had ice cream the first day she was here and that was less than a week ago. Ice cream twice a week is not going to help my weight loss journey! So I told her that they all could go and get ice cream but I had to weigh in tomorrow and it wasn't a good idea to eat ice cream late. So she had the ice cream that we had in the freezer. So, all of them had ice cream last night around me...that sucked! But instead of eating the ice cream I really wanted, I ate my dinner and then got on the stationary bike.
My sister and I are going to hang out and shop and do dinner tonight, just the 2 of us. Emily is excited. This is really the first time we've actually got to get out of the house and do something because of my busy schedule during the week. So, Emily asked me last night if I wanted to drive to work tomorrow instead of walking so that when she comes to campus today to visit we could just leave straight from there. I know she's excited about getting out of the house but I feel like she was tempting me not to walk today. I stood my ground and told her no and that I wanted to walk. So she will have to just wait an extra 30 minutes before we go out tonight.
At work this week we had a little birthday party for a co worker and everyone brought in snacks for the party complete with cheesy bread and dipping oil, fruit, rice cakes, wheatables, blue cheese stuffed olives and birthday cake. I brought my lunch into the party and ate that first so I was pretty full. I ate a few wheatables with my left hummus from my lunch. I had 2 olives and some fruit. So I did pretty well there but because I've been craving things I had some birthday cake. I was served a little larger piece than I probably should have eaten but it was yummy. Then of course after the party was over there is all this leftover food around for days and days. So I've been snacking a little everyday.
This week I didn't seem to walk quite as much as I had been in the past weeks. I've been feeling tired a lot of days and with a little less than normal energy. (Because I am about to start.) So, I've had to push myself to walk as much as I have. I liked riding the stationary bike last night in front of the TV. The bike is great exercise and watching TV makes the time go by faster. Plus, after next week I won't have my night class that I've been attending Tues/Thurs anymore and I can walk to and from work everyday. Plus I will be switching my water aerobics from lunch time on Mon-Wed to Tu/Th evenings so I can walk during lunch time again. All of those changes are really going to boost my exercise each week! :).jpg)
So like I reported last Friday, I didn't lose any weight last week. I weighed myself this morning and I lost 4 lbs! YAY! I attached a picture I took of myself yesterday. I think my body is partly making up for my swelling and retained water last week. So my total weight loss so far is 41 1/2 lbs. I'm gonna keep going and chugging along. I long feel good! I want more and more. The weight loss is almost like a drug. ha ha More later in the week! :) Until next time...
My sisters' visit started out fine but now I guess she getting tired of the healthy food we have in the house. Last night I got home from class and the first thing she asked me was to go and get ice cream cones. I LOVE ice cream and it is something I have been allowing myself every once in a while. But, we had ice cream the first day she was here and that was less than a week ago. Ice cream twice a week is not going to help my weight loss journey! So I told her that they all could go and get ice cream but I had to weigh in tomorrow and it wasn't a good idea to eat ice cream late. So she had the ice cream that we had in the freezer. So, all of them had ice cream last night around me...that sucked! But instead of eating the ice cream I really wanted, I ate my dinner and then got on the stationary bike.
My sister and I are going to hang out and shop and do dinner tonight, just the 2 of us. Emily is excited. This is really the first time we've actually got to get out of the house and do something because of my busy schedule during the week. So, Emily asked me last night if I wanted to drive to work tomorrow instead of walking so that when she comes to campus today to visit we could just leave straight from there. I know she's excited about getting out of the house but I feel like she was tempting me not to walk today. I stood my ground and told her no and that I wanted to walk. So she will have to just wait an extra 30 minutes before we go out tonight.
At work this week we had a little birthday party for a co worker and everyone brought in snacks for the party complete with cheesy bread and dipping oil, fruit, rice cakes, wheatables, blue cheese stuffed olives and birthday cake. I brought my lunch into the party and ate that first so I was pretty full. I ate a few wheatables with my left hummus from my lunch. I had 2 olives and some fruit. So I did pretty well there but because I've been craving things I had some birthday cake. I was served a little larger piece than I probably should have eaten but it was yummy. Then of course after the party was over there is all this leftover food around for days and days. So I've been snacking a little everyday.
This week I didn't seem to walk quite as much as I had been in the past weeks. I've been feeling tired a lot of days and with a little less than normal energy. (Because I am about to start.) So, I've had to push myself to walk as much as I have. I liked riding the stationary bike last night in front of the TV. The bike is great exercise and watching TV makes the time go by faster. Plus, after next week I won't have my night class that I've been attending Tues/Thurs anymore and I can walk to and from work everyday. Plus I will be switching my water aerobics from lunch time on Mon-Wed to Tu/Th evenings so I can walk during lunch time again. All of those changes are really going to boost my exercise each week! :)
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So like I reported last Friday, I didn't lose any weight last week. I weighed myself this morning and I lost 4 lbs! YAY! I attached a picture I took of myself yesterday. I think my body is partly making up for my swelling and retained water last week. So my total weight loss so far is 41 1/2 lbs. I'm gonna keep going and chugging along. I long feel good! I want more and more. The weight loss is almost like a drug. ha ha More later in the week! :) Until next time...
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
New things and realizations...
Well my sister made it right on time Saturday night. I don't think she's used to having all these good for you foods in the house. She's asked for us to get real Pepsi for her to drink (we only have diet soda, diet tea, fruit2O water, etc... She's also asked that we buy some foods for her that she likes.
My sister has never been heavier in my life than she is today. She eats a lot of snacks. I think she eats mostly when she's bored. Last night the food was 5 minutes from being done and she wanted a snack. I made her wait. I am hoping with all of my fingers and toes crossed that our healthy lifestyle will rub off on her. But so far its not looking hopefully. Of course it is still early in her trip.
Before she came she had also mentioned trying to stop smoking while she was here. I am really hoping so. She goes outside to smoke a lot! She said she smokes about a pack a day. Cigarette's are soo much more expensive in NY than TX. She already knows that we are not going to buy cigarette's for her. So we'll also see what happens with that.
It will be interesting to see if just a slight change in what she is eating will help her lose weight. She has no interest to go walking for fun... My lifestyle really has changed soo much...more than I realize sometimes. I used to be like that. Just veg out and eat whatever I wanted and however much I wanted. I feel soo much better now with only 38 lbs off. I can only imagine how I'll keep feeling as the weight melts away. I continue to get comments from coworkers asking how much I've lost. When I don't lose anything and just maintain for one week, I tend to get a little down on myself. When I get good comments from others that helps me feel better.
This weekend I've been studying for my Nutrition exam. I am learning soo much! It's soo interesting! I would suggest to anyone to take this class! Wish me luck on my exam!
My sister has never been heavier in my life than she is today. She eats a lot of snacks. I think she eats mostly when she's bored. Last night the food was 5 minutes from being done and she wanted a snack. I made her wait. I am hoping with all of my fingers and toes crossed that our healthy lifestyle will rub off on her. But so far its not looking hopefully. Of course it is still early in her trip.
Before she came she had also mentioned trying to stop smoking while she was here. I am really hoping so. She goes outside to smoke a lot! She said she smokes about a pack a day. Cigarette's are soo much more expensive in NY than TX. She already knows that we are not going to buy cigarette's for her. So we'll also see what happens with that.
It will be interesting to see if just a slight change in what she is eating will help her lose weight. She has no interest to go walking for fun... My lifestyle really has changed soo much...more than I realize sometimes. I used to be like that. Just veg out and eat whatever I wanted and however much I wanted. I feel soo much better now with only 38 lbs off. I can only imagine how I'll keep feeling as the weight melts away. I continue to get comments from coworkers asking how much I've lost. When I don't lose anything and just maintain for one week, I tend to get a little down on myself. When I get good comments from others that helps me feel better.
This weekend I've been studying for my Nutrition exam. I am learning soo much! It's soo interesting! I would suggest to anyone to take this class! Wish me luck on my exam!
Friday, June 18, 2010
What a week! But Today is a New Day!!
I've had a very off week this week! I had trouble balancing my life and activity! This past weekend I spent most of my time moving a friend and then ate some fast food on both Sunday and Tuesday. I didn't over indulge but fast food is loaded with fat and salt! Since then I have felt very sluggish this week and didn't feel well for about 2 days after. My body didn't like what I ate so much.
I haven't been able to walk as much as I typically do because I didn't go to work on Monday or Tuesday (I normally walk to and from work) and it's rained a lot this week (not so fun to walk in). I also had to miss water aerobics one day this week. Life has been working against me this week! I weighed in this morning and gained 1/2 a pound since last Friday. I've noticed that my feet have been swelling a lot more lately and they were still a little swollen this morning from yesterday. So I am assuming that the slight gain is from retained water.
Well Today is a NEW DAY! I get to start all over! I plan to follow the WW plan more closely than I did last week. I am going to try not to eat out. I'm going to walk as much as I normally do, and go to water aerobics all 3 days this week.
My new challenge this week is that my sister is flying in from Texas tomorrow to stay for the summer. I need to challenge myself to keep exercising as much as I need to even though she is here. I also need to keep eating the same even though I am cooking for 1 more person. She is also overweight and I hope will jump right on the band wagon with us and want to eat healthy and exercise but I can't force her to or expect her to. I hope my lifestyle will encourage her. Well, I will let you know what happens in my next post. Wish me luck this week! :)
I haven't been able to walk as much as I typically do because I didn't go to work on Monday or Tuesday (I normally walk to and from work) and it's rained a lot this week (not so fun to walk in). I also had to miss water aerobics one day this week. Life has been working against me this week! I weighed in this morning and gained 1/2 a pound since last Friday. I've noticed that my feet have been swelling a lot more lately and they were still a little swollen this morning from yesterday. So I am assuming that the slight gain is from retained water.
Well Today is a NEW DAY! I get to start all over! I plan to follow the WW plan more closely than I did last week. I am going to try not to eat out. I'm going to walk as much as I normally do, and go to water aerobics all 3 days this week.
My new challenge this week is that my sister is flying in from Texas tomorrow to stay for the summer. I need to challenge myself to keep exercising as much as I need to even though she is here. I also need to keep eating the same even though I am cooking for 1 more person. She is also overweight and I hope will jump right on the band wagon with us and want to eat healthy and exercise but I can't force her to or expect her to. I hope my lifestyle will encourage her. Well, I will let you know what happens in my next post. Wish me luck this week! :)
Monday, June 14, 2010
Food Choices...Smart Choices
I have been on the go all weekend! Ugh! It's hard to eat well when you are doing soo much! Saturday I had to eat lunch in-between errands. When you need to eat fast food because you are not home to make something Subway is always a healthy option. So we got a footlong sub to split and a bag of chips to share. For dinner I was able to cook. I make a yummy pizza with pre-made whole wheat crust and turkey sausage and turkey pepperoni and WW shredded mozzerella cheese. It was very tasty.
Yesterday I had chicken salad I made with light miracle whip on a whole wheat wrap for lunch. Last night I went to concert in Canandagua and they don't allow you to bring in any food or drink. So we had to eat there. I chose a BBQ chicken sandwich (instead of Pulled Pork). Then later I had a plain soft pretzel (no salt) and then allowed myself to have a small ice cream. I stayed within my points for the day. :)
Also, at the concert I was soo proud of myself! At CMAC there are a lot hills and a lot of walking. I was able to walk up and down those hills without getting winded! YAY! I really am getting in great shape! Also, I was soo busy I didn't have time to just work out but I did dance all night at the concert...Great Exercise!
Making smart choices are a key to doing well on your weight loss journey! Gotta get going again. Still so much to do... having Turkey burgers on the grill tonight! :)
Yesterday I had chicken salad I made with light miracle whip on a whole wheat wrap for lunch. Last night I went to concert in Canandagua and they don't allow you to bring in any food or drink. So we had to eat there. I chose a BBQ chicken sandwich (instead of Pulled Pork). Then later I had a plain soft pretzel (no salt) and then allowed myself to have a small ice cream. I stayed within my points for the day. :)
Also, at the concert I was soo proud of myself! At CMAC there are a lot hills and a lot of walking. I was able to walk up and down those hills without getting winded! YAY! I really am getting in great shape! Also, I was soo busy I didn't have time to just work out but I did dance all night at the concert...Great Exercise!
Making smart choices are a key to doing well on your weight loss journey! Gotta get going again. Still so much to do... having Turkey burgers on the grill tonight! :)
Friday, June 11, 2010
Nutrition 101
I am an Undergraduate student at Syracuse University and I am taking 2 classes this summer. An Online Social Media class, which of course we can thank for this blog, :) and also Nutrition during the 1st Summer Session. Nutrition will count as 1 of my Humanities credits for my degree in Information Systems Management. So, anyway...I am taking Nutrition not only for this credit but also because I am interested in becoming healthier and understanding what I need to do to achieve my goal of being healthier.
Last night in class we learned about Weight Management and Obesity. I am actually also going to take a class in the Fall on this same topic and look forward to expanding more on the topic because class was very interesting last night. I learned so much during the 2 1/2 hours of class. She talked about so much I couldn't write fast enough but got some great take away points!
She explained how when someone wants to lose weight, its best not to make too drastic of changes. It's best to make slow gradual changes for the best success. Changes like, instead of eating out everyday during your lunch, eat out maybe only once a week? Or changing the size of your plate, so when you serve yourself dinner your plate will look more full even though it might be a smaller portion. It's like tricking your brain. She also told us about a topic called mindless eating which was soo interesting. She said that in a survey they asked someone in France when they would stop eating during a meal and they answered...when they were full or when the food no longer tasted good. They asked the same question of someone in Chicago and they answered...when the people I am eating with are done eating or when my plate it empty! Interesting isn't it?!
She also explained the best (healthiest) way to lose weight is slowly. No more than 2 lbs a week. You should reduce your calories intake by about 250 calories per day and then along with that increase you physical activity by just as much. She suggested that for weight management you should do about 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day. But if you are trying to lose weight you should do about 90 minutes of exercise a day. She also said that it is beneficial for weight loss if you spread out your protein intake. Most people, me included, tend to eat minimal portions of proteins at breakfast and lunch and then a large portion at dinner. That is going to be my small goal this week, the try to eat more protein through out the day! :)
We also were given the formula to figure out our body mass index (BMI). Boy was that scary. I knew I was way above a healthy weight recommendation but it is always scary to see it in plan black and white. I am going to try not to dwell on the fact that I am morbidly obese...because I did already know that. I need to remember it's not news to me. I am working towards becoming healthier and I am doing it at a good pace and a healthy way.
My celebration for today is that I lost 4 lbs this week! I weighed in this morning. I lost a little more because I exercised more this week and reduced my points I ate per day by 1. I believe at my weight that I am still losing a healthy amount of weight since I am twice the size of a normal person right now. :) I should ask my professor in my Nutrition class just to make sure. I'll try to remember to let you know what she says. Until next time...
Last night in class we learned about Weight Management and Obesity. I am actually also going to take a class in the Fall on this same topic and look forward to expanding more on the topic because class was very interesting last night. I learned so much during the 2 1/2 hours of class. She talked about so much I couldn't write fast enough but got some great take away points!
She explained how when someone wants to lose weight, its best not to make too drastic of changes. It's best to make slow gradual changes for the best success. Changes like, instead of eating out everyday during your lunch, eat out maybe only once a week? Or changing the size of your plate, so when you serve yourself dinner your plate will look more full even though it might be a smaller portion. It's like tricking your brain. She also told us about a topic called mindless eating which was soo interesting. She said that in a survey they asked someone in France when they would stop eating during a meal and they answered...when they were full or when the food no longer tasted good. They asked the same question of someone in Chicago and they answered...when the people I am eating with are done eating or when my plate it empty! Interesting isn't it?!
She also explained the best (healthiest) way to lose weight is slowly. No more than 2 lbs a week. You should reduce your calories intake by about 250 calories per day and then along with that increase you physical activity by just as much. She suggested that for weight management you should do about 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day. But if you are trying to lose weight you should do about 90 minutes of exercise a day. She also said that it is beneficial for weight loss if you spread out your protein intake. Most people, me included, tend to eat minimal portions of proteins at breakfast and lunch and then a large portion at dinner. That is going to be my small goal this week, the try to eat more protein through out the day! :)
We also were given the formula to figure out our body mass index (BMI). Boy was that scary. I knew I was way above a healthy weight recommendation but it is always scary to see it in plan black and white. I am going to try not to dwell on the fact that I am morbidly obese...because I did already know that. I need to remember it's not news to me. I am working towards becoming healthier and I am doing it at a good pace and a healthy way.
My celebration for today is that I lost 4 lbs this week! I weighed in this morning. I lost a little more because I exercised more this week and reduced my points I ate per day by 1. I believe at my weight that I am still losing a healthy amount of weight since I am twice the size of a normal person right now. :) I should ask my professor in my Nutrition class just to make sure. I'll try to remember to let you know what she says. Until next time...
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
If you fall off your horse, get right back on...
I am originally from Texas and a saying that was always said was "If you fall off your horse, get right back on!". This saying could pertain to several different things in life. When someone is dieting, you will not always eat perfectly everyday of your life! But because you have a little fall to temptation, it doesn't mean you can't get right back on track.
Last night we decided to eat out at Red Lobster for dinner. I did pretty well for dinner. I had steamed snow crab legs, a lobster tail, a baked potato with only a little sour cream, salad with my ranch dressing on the side. They had a special dinner platter that included Fried Shrimp (which is my absolute fav!) and shrimp scampi. So I asked to exchange my shrimp scampi for extra fried shrimp. I felt like that was a better choice than the shrimp swimming in butter. I also allowed myself to have one of their yummy cheddar biscuits (at 4 points a piece). So with that dinner alone I had already went over my points for the day. Then after dinner on the way home I wanted something sweet and I've been an ice cream-a-holic lately. So we stopped at an ice cream stand. The only sizes they had were large and humongous...I got the smallest size they had. So, I ended up using about 15 extra points yesterday after it was all said and done. Which is ok and that is why I am given the extra points. They are there for special occasions like last night.
So, this morning I decided to walk to work again. On days when I have class in the evening I usually drive my car so that I don't have to walk home late. But I've been getting out of class before it gets dark so I decided to walk that extra 3 miles (1 1/2 miles each way) today to help make up for the extra eating last night and will do the same on Thursday too! In this case I am looking at it as I got my reward before I worked for it. :) I'll earn it by the end of the week.
I have such great support around me! Everyone I work with is also trying to eat healthier for the most part and really encourage me and tell me how great I am looking. That helps me stay positive in my journey and helps me recognize what a change I am making in my life! I realized the other day that I really think I can do this this time and go all the way. I've lost as much as 75 lbs in the past but gained it all back plus some. This time, I am in a wonderful supportive relationship where we want the same things and encourage each other. We push each other to exercise and make good choices. I am also surrounded by wonderful supportive friends and coworkers, good influences. I really can do this this time and make this change permanent!
If you are going through the same weight loss journey I really would suggest the same for you. Surround yourself with support and get your spouse in on it too. Everyone could be healthier. Even if they are skinny and don't need to lose weight, they could still get more fit and eat healthier! A healthy lifestyle will help them to live a longer, healthier life. Good luck in your journey! Until next time! :)
Last night we decided to eat out at Red Lobster for dinner. I did pretty well for dinner. I had steamed snow crab legs, a lobster tail, a baked potato with only a little sour cream, salad with my ranch dressing on the side. They had a special dinner platter that included Fried Shrimp (which is my absolute fav!) and shrimp scampi. So I asked to exchange my shrimp scampi for extra fried shrimp. I felt like that was a better choice than the shrimp swimming in butter. I also allowed myself to have one of their yummy cheddar biscuits (at 4 points a piece). So with that dinner alone I had already went over my points for the day. Then after dinner on the way home I wanted something sweet and I've been an ice cream-a-holic lately. So we stopped at an ice cream stand. The only sizes they had were large and humongous...I got the smallest size they had. So, I ended up using about 15 extra points yesterday after it was all said and done. Which is ok and that is why I am given the extra points. They are there for special occasions like last night.
So, this morning I decided to walk to work again. On days when I have class in the evening I usually drive my car so that I don't have to walk home late. But I've been getting out of class before it gets dark so I decided to walk that extra 3 miles (1 1/2 miles each way) today to help make up for the extra eating last night and will do the same on Thursday too! In this case I am looking at it as I got my reward before I worked for it. :) I'll earn it by the end of the week.
I have such great support around me! Everyone I work with is also trying to eat healthier for the most part and really encourage me and tell me how great I am looking. That helps me stay positive in my journey and helps me recognize what a change I am making in my life! I realized the other day that I really think I can do this this time and go all the way. I've lost as much as 75 lbs in the past but gained it all back plus some. This time, I am in a wonderful supportive relationship where we want the same things and encourage each other. We push each other to exercise and make good choices. I am also surrounded by wonderful supportive friends and coworkers, good influences. I really can do this this time and make this change permanent!
If you are going through the same weight loss journey I really would suggest the same for you. Surround yourself with support and get your spouse in on it too. Everyone could be healthier. Even if they are skinny and don't need to lose weight, they could still get more fit and eat healthier! A healthy lifestyle will help them to live a longer, healthier life. Good luck in your journey! Until next time! :)
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Trying new things
I like to keep things interesting by trying new foods and new recipes. Food can get boring if you always eat the same things and don't switch it up every once in a while. Yesterday I tried two new things!
I made turkey burgers for dinner last night. I've had turkey burgers quite a few times since I started WW. I can actually say that I like Turkey burgers better than hamburgers now! Something that I learned in my Nutrition class is that Turkey burgers from a restaurant are a little healthier than a hamburger but not by much because they don't use the leanest turkey. Just something to think about if you find yourself eating out. I try to stick to Salads when I eat out.
So when I had my turkey burgers last night, I usually eat them on the WW rolls but the grocery store was out so we tried Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins. The where very tasty! I would definitely suggest trying them. Also, I couldn't decide what to eat with my turkey burger. I looked on weightwatchers.com and found a recipe for Spicy Potato Sticks (aka baked seasoned french fries). They were very good. I would suggest trying them!
For lunch yesterday I had Subway.I usually order whole wheat bread which is a very good choice but I decided I wanted to try something different yesterday so I tried the flat bread. I liked it and now have 2 options when I go to Subway. I do wish they still had wraps too.
I went to a drive in movie last night and brought my own snacks. Instead of getting the high calorie, high fat snacks from the snack bar there I brought light microwave popcorn and a drink. The difference in calories between light microwave popcorn and movie theater popcorn is amazing. Once you start eating healthier and eating less fat and oil you can start to taste the difference and the oil will kinda start grossing you out. Not to mention how your body will react to the high fat foods when you haven't eaten them in a while.
On a side note, its soo exciting when you put on clothes that you haven't worn in a while that have been tight since you bought them and they fit you well and are almost a little big. :) My little triumph for the weekend!
I hope I can get some exercise in today but it is raining out. Maybe I will turn on my Wii and dance for a while. A great aerobic workout!!
I made turkey burgers for dinner last night. I've had turkey burgers quite a few times since I started WW. I can actually say that I like Turkey burgers better than hamburgers now! Something that I learned in my Nutrition class is that Turkey burgers from a restaurant are a little healthier than a hamburger but not by much because they don't use the leanest turkey. Just something to think about if you find yourself eating out. I try to stick to Salads when I eat out.
So when I had my turkey burgers last night, I usually eat them on the WW rolls but the grocery store was out so we tried Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins. The where very tasty! I would definitely suggest trying them. Also, I couldn't decide what to eat with my turkey burger. I looked on weightwatchers.com and found a recipe for Spicy Potato Sticks (aka baked seasoned french fries). They were very good. I would suggest trying them!
For lunch yesterday I had Subway.I usually order whole wheat bread which is a very good choice but I decided I wanted to try something different yesterday so I tried the flat bread. I liked it and now have 2 options when I go to Subway. I do wish they still had wraps too.
I went to a drive in movie last night and brought my own snacks. Instead of getting the high calorie, high fat snacks from the snack bar there I brought light microwave popcorn and a drink. The difference in calories between light microwave popcorn and movie theater popcorn is amazing. Once you start eating healthier and eating less fat and oil you can start to taste the difference and the oil will kinda start grossing you out. Not to mention how your body will react to the high fat foods when you haven't eaten them in a while.
On a side note, its soo exciting when you put on clothes that you haven't worn in a while that have been tight since you bought them and they fit you well and are almost a little big. :) My little triumph for the weekend!
I hope I can get some exercise in today but it is raining out. Maybe I will turn on my Wii and dance for a while. A great aerobic workout!!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Weigh in Day!
I weighed myself this morning as planned and I was worrying about last Sunday in NYC for nothing! I lost 3 lbs this week! That's 2 good sized weight loss's in a row! I lost 2 1/2 lbs last week! My total weight loss to date is now 34 lbs!
I think all of my exercise is paying off! Of course eating healthier is essential but getting moving is also very beneficial. I feel like I am in better shape. Each week I start to feel like I move easier and don't get winded as quickly. As you can imagine carrying around so much weigh makes it hard to breathe.
This morning I walked to work as I promised myself and usually it takes me about 35 minutes to walk that distance. Plus, I usually move slower in the morning just because I don't have a lot of energy and I am not quite awake yet. But this morning I walked that distance in only 30 minutes. I sometimes am hard on myself because I walk slower than other people. But I have to remember I weigh a whole lot more than they do. I will work up to their speed but it comes with time. As my water aerobics instructor always tells us..."If you can't do something just keep moving, that's all that matters!" Plus, if you think about it...because I weigh more, I am burning more calories with every step I take. Just gotta keep pushing myself!
I like to reward myself when I accomplish something! And of course my favorite thing in the world is food. (That's how I got this way!) So, I plan on eating Chinese take out tonight and then going to a movie with a friend. When I order Chinese takeout, I order from the Diet menu where the entrees are steamed and the sauce is served on the side. My favorite is Chicken with vegetables. I also order brown rice with my meal instead of white or fried rice. Brown rice has more fiber and will fill you up more. Also, soup is a good precursor to the meal because it is lower in points and will help to fill you up a little before you eat the main entree. They give you soo much food when you order, so I first will measure out how much I should eat and put away the leftovers before I even start eating. Portion size and knowing how much you're eating is very important! I don't pour my sauce on the entree I just dip my fork in the sauce with each bite. That way I still get the flavor but without the excess points. Egg rolls are my favorite part of the meal, so I do allow myself to have one (so I don't feel deprived). Egg rolls are high in points because they are fried. I just plan for the points through out the day. It's all about planning! It's too easy to make mistakes or eat too much if you don't plan. Now when I go to the movie later, I will have already eaten (so I won't feel hungry) and will only get something to drink for during the movie. Although, I love popcorn and will sometimes just get a small plain popcorn (no butter)...just enough to get the taste. Just remember to plan for the points! :)
I think all of my exercise is paying off! Of course eating healthier is essential but getting moving is also very beneficial. I feel like I am in better shape. Each week I start to feel like I move easier and don't get winded as quickly. As you can imagine carrying around so much weigh makes it hard to breathe.
This morning I walked to work as I promised myself and usually it takes me about 35 minutes to walk that distance. Plus, I usually move slower in the morning just because I don't have a lot of energy and I am not quite awake yet. But this morning I walked that distance in only 30 minutes. I sometimes am hard on myself because I walk slower than other people. But I have to remember I weigh a whole lot more than they do. I will work up to their speed but it comes with time. As my water aerobics instructor always tells us..."If you can't do something just keep moving, that's all that matters!" Plus, if you think about it...because I weigh more, I am burning more calories with every step I take. Just gotta keep pushing myself!
I like to reward myself when I accomplish something! And of course my favorite thing in the world is food. (That's how I got this way!) So, I plan on eating Chinese take out tonight and then going to a movie with a friend. When I order Chinese takeout, I order from the Diet menu where the entrees are steamed and the sauce is served on the side. My favorite is Chicken with vegetables. I also order brown rice with my meal instead of white or fried rice. Brown rice has more fiber and will fill you up more. Also, soup is a good precursor to the meal because it is lower in points and will help to fill you up a little before you eat the main entree. They give you soo much food when you order, so I first will measure out how much I should eat and put away the leftovers before I even start eating. Portion size and knowing how much you're eating is very important! I don't pour my sauce on the entree I just dip my fork in the sauce with each bite. That way I still get the flavor but without the excess points. Egg rolls are my favorite part of the meal, so I do allow myself to have one (so I don't feel deprived). Egg rolls are high in points because they are fried. I just plan for the points through out the day. It's all about planning! It's too easy to make mistakes or eat too much if you don't plan. Now when I go to the movie later, I will have already eaten (so I won't feel hungry) and will only get something to drink for during the movie. Although, I love popcorn and will sometimes just get a small plain popcorn (no butter)...just enough to get the taste. Just remember to plan for the points! :)
Thursday, June 3, 2010
My last day before I weigh in for the week
On Weight Watchers I weigh in once a week. My weigh in date is Friday morning. I follow the program online and use the online tools on Weightwatchers.com. I don't go to meetings...I feel motivated enough by myself. I have a good support system at home that keeps me going. :)
The last day of my diet week went well. I spent my lunch hour today walking. I pushed myself to walk longer today than I have before. I also tried out a new organic locally grown food at dinner. I went to the Regional Market a few weekends ago and bought organically grown pasta. It was Spinach Garlic flavored and soo yummy! I made it with a WW recipe from my WW cookbook. Pan seared Garlic Chicken with broccoli and Spinach Pasta.
Everyday this week went off without a hitch diet wise except for Sunday. Sunday was a bit out of my norm because I traveled to NYC all day and ate out every meal. I made good choices for each meal but because I was eating at a restaurant my food wasn't cooked as healthy as I would have prepared them at home. On WW I get an additional 35 points for days like this. So I used my regular daily points plus my extra points. And started right back on my normal schedule when I got home.
So I weigh in tomorrow and start my week over. I hope Sunday didn't affect my progress too much?! If I only maintain my weight for another week I am okay with that. I will just start my new week and do that by walking to work. Looking forward to the morning!
The last day of my diet week went well. I spent my lunch hour today walking. I pushed myself to walk longer today than I have before. I also tried out a new organic locally grown food at dinner. I went to the Regional Market a few weekends ago and bought organically grown pasta. It was Spinach Garlic flavored and soo yummy! I made it with a WW recipe from my WW cookbook. Pan seared Garlic Chicken with broccoli and Spinach Pasta.
Everyday this week went off without a hitch diet wise except for Sunday. Sunday was a bit out of my norm because I traveled to NYC all day and ate out every meal. I made good choices for each meal but because I was eating at a restaurant my food wasn't cooked as healthy as I would have prepared them at home. On WW I get an additional 35 points for days like this. So I used my regular daily points plus my extra points. And started right back on my normal schedule when I got home.
So I weigh in tomorrow and start my week over. I hope Sunday didn't affect my progress too much?! If I only maintain my weight for another week I am okay with that. I will just start my new week and do that by walking to work. Looking forward to the morning!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Why I chose to blog about my weight loss journey...
My name is Martha and I am 30 years old. I have struggled with my weight all of my life. I have tried many different diets and supplements in the past to lose weight, including (but not limited to) Atkins, South beach diet, diet pills to suppress appetite, just eating low fat, etc... The one diet that has really worked well for me is Weight Watchers (WW). I have lost over 75 lbs before while following WW but gained it all back over time.
This picture on the left is a picture of me in February of 2010. I am currently back on the Weight Watchers diet. This time around feels different! I really feel like I am dedicated this time and trying to change some bad habits I have developed and make some new good habits. This time around I have been working on portion sizes and exercising more. I still allow myself some of my favorite foods but in moderation and try to stay fully aware of how much I am eating.
I started WW in March of 2010 and have lost a total of 31 lbs so far. This picture on the right was taken a few days ago on May 31st.
I started trying to lose weight because I was going to be in a wedding and I did not want to be in front of people the size I was. Since then, the wedding has been canceled. I started trying to losing weight because I was embarrassed to stand in front of other people...now, I want to lose weight for myself, because I feel better and healthier already and I want to continue to feel this way. I still have a long way to go but try not to set goals for myself. I take it one week at a time and celebrate my small accomplishments.
I chose to blog about my weight loss journey to share with other overweight people my struggles, challenges, triumphs, and experiences. I hope that what I learn will help others in their own journey's.
This picture on the left is a picture of me in February of 2010. I am currently back on the Weight Watchers diet. This time around feels different! I really feel like I am dedicated this time and trying to change some bad habits I have developed and make some new good habits. This time around I have been working on portion sizes and exercising more. I still allow myself some of my favorite foods but in moderation and try to stay fully aware of how much I am eating.
I started WW in March of 2010 and have lost a total of 31 lbs so far. This picture on the right was taken a few days ago on May 31st. I started trying to lose weight because I was going to be in a wedding and I did not want to be in front of people the size I was. Since then, the wedding has been canceled. I started trying to losing weight because I was embarrassed to stand in front of other people...now, I want to lose weight for myself, because I feel better and healthier already and I want to continue to feel this way. I still have a long way to go but try not to set goals for myself. I take it one week at a time and celebrate my small accomplishments.
I chose to blog about my weight loss journey to share with other overweight people my struggles, challenges, triumphs, and experiences. I hope that what I learn will help others in their own journey's.
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