A Reminder to myself

This post is totally for myself....Self, you will not get upset when you see a gain tomorrow. You were On Plan all week, got in an enormous amount of exercise, and did everything you were suppose to do, so the gain is just a combination of TOM and a rebound gain from losing 4lbs last week.

That being said, I'm kinda expecting about a 3.2lb gain tomorrow. 2lbs rebound gain, 1.2 from TOM.

Ok, I feel better.

May Wrap Up, June Goals

I have today off of work, so I get to write a quality post sitting at home, drinking my coffee with no interruptions! How neat is that?

Well I think overall, May was a great month. Lets look at the goals I set out for May:

1. Lose 3.2lbs and reach Goal.

Well I accomplished this one, I am still somewhat skeptical, as I feel as though I've gained weight this week, even though eating and workouts have been fine. But I'm also thinking TOM is around the corner. So we will see. But regardless, my last weigh in of the month was at goal.

2. Activity Goals: Try to make it to the gym 12 times, plus 2 bike rides, 2 hikes and 2 rollerblade outings. Plus walk the dog everyday in which the weather is permitting, and I'm not doing another activity.

I think I did well with activity. Below are my activity totals, which of course doesn't include my plans for today or tomorrow (60 minute bike ride, and two walks with the dog...perhaps a hike).

I made it to the gym 12 times, in which I ran for 370 minutes total.
I walked 18 times, for a total of 580 minutes
I biked 7 times, for a total of 200 minutes
I hiked once for 90 minutes
I rollerbladed once for 20 minutes

So I think I did good. Lots of activity.

3. Try to control my bites, nibbles and licks.

I think I've done well with this. I think there was a day or two where they got the best of me, but hey it happens.

OVERALL VERDICT: It was a good month. I had one bad day where I went off plan, which seems to happen once a month. But I met my activity goals, my weight loss goals, and my other goals, so I think it was a successful month.

So....June Goals

1. Activity Goals:

I am going to cut back on my gym based workouts. Gas Prices are high, and the weather is nice, so there is no reason to drive to the gym. I would like to get to the gym twice a week, which will be 9 times this month. I would also like to set an activity point goal of 25 points per week. These can be earned in any combination I would like, biking, gym workouts, hikes, rollerblades, etc. And I am still going for walking Duke everyday the weather is permitting and I'm not doing anything else.

2. Aim for no bad days this month.

It's been once a month it's happening. I'm going for none this month.

3. Weight loss goals.

Well this one is sticky, Not sure what to put. So, I am just going to put I would like to end June somewhere between my Weight Watchers goal of 145 and my personal goal of 142. Don't know how much to expect to lose. If I'm under 145 I will be happy!

So there we have it, the goals for the month. I will be reporting the weigh in on Sunday, as I always do! I will also be switching to Friday morning weigh in's soon, as with the "going up north" season approaching, I am not home every Sunday to weigh! But that's a couple weeks out I think.

Anyways, hope everyone has WONDERFUL and OP weekends, and talk to you all soon!

"Fortune favors the brave"
~Publius Terence

Happy Memorial Day one day late to everyone!

Well lets see here, my weekend went pretty well. I managed to get alot of running around done on Saturday, and it was a very pretty day outside, so I managed to get a nice long walk in with Duke. I typically try to keep my Saturday's relatively easy on the exercise front. Sunday I weighed in, and was ecstatic, hit the gym for 30 minutes on the treadmill, came home, got some chicken marinating for dinner on Monday, and then headed off to my first tigers game. That could have went better, as we lost in the bottom of the 8th when the Twins hit a grand slam...bummer! The rest of the day was uneventful, but did take Duke out for a walk.

Yesterday, I got up, and the weather was looking to be sketchy all day according to the forecast, but at the time, it didn't look bad, so I went out for a nice long bike ride, which I ended up doing about 8.5 miles in roughly 40 minutes. Nice good workout. Then did some running around, and chores around the house. Took Duke on a Walk over to the park and played fetch for a bit, then headed over to my parents for dinner. We had grilled chicken, corn, some honey wheat rolls and salad. I let feeling satisfied, but not stuffed. Got home and tracked it all, and ended up swapping 1 activity point for a snack later on. Not bad for Memorial Day if you ask me!

I'm really hoping that Sunday I can at least maintain the 4lbs I lost last weekend, I'm not asking for a loss just a maintain. My body typical rebounds with a gain after a loss like that. So I'm just hoping to maintain. But It's ok if it's a gain, I can handle it.

I think I've decided my goal present to myself is going to be a new pair of "earbud" earphones for my ipod. I've just had the standard ones that have come with it, and I would really like a new, comfortable set. Plus I use the ipod like crazy on all my workouts, so I figure that is a proactive present to myself! So I will buy them in a couple weeks when I know this for real (I sound skeptical don't I?).

Well that's it for today, but from reading everyone's blogs it sounds like everyone had pretty successful and OP weekends, which is great! Keep up the great work!

Hopefully I will get around to a May Wrap up, June Goals post by Thursday or Friday!

Weigh In

Well, I weighed in this morning for a loss of 4 pounds. And this puts me at GOAL!

You heard me right, that puts me at 145 pounds on the dot, which is my Weight Watchers goal. Perhaps my scale needs new batteries? Ha Ha, it was a shock, I was never expecting it this weekend, never!

4lbs is a large loss, so my goal for next week is just to maintain that loss, since it is quite a bit over my "average".

3lbs to go until I get to my personal goal. I feel so motivated right now, so I know I can see that number next week!

And what a better way to celebrate today than to go to my first tigers game! If they win my day will be complete!

Hope everyone is having great long weekends!

a NSV

I normally don't post on Saturday's but just had to share a little NSV with you guys!

I went shopping for some new shorts/pants today, and I bought Size 8! The Size 8 fit fine, but I still almost bought the 10, because I like to wear my clothes big, but decided to go with the 8 instead, because I've worked hard, time to show it off a little ;)

Anyways, just had to share, size 8! Even in HS I was a 9/11!

"There are two ways of exerting one's strength,
one is pushing down, the other is pulling up"
~Booker T. Washington

Real quick post today, because I'm super busy at work!

It's been a great week, and I've stayed OP all week, I don't forsee that changing.

I feel as though I've lost weight, but we will see what the scale says when him and I rendezvous on Sunday. I would really like to lose the 1.6lbs and get to my next goal, but we will see.

Activity has been good. Monday, long walk with the dog. Tuesday 30 minute bike ride, Wednesday 32 minutes on the treadmill and tonight I'm planning a bike ride after work (about 8.5 miles, 45 minutes).

No real plans for the long weekend, but I am going to a Tigers game on Sunday and I am very excited about that! What about you guys any real plans?

Anyways, hopefully a longer post tomorrow, keep up the good work everyone!

"Never stop. One stops as soon as something is about to happen."
~Peter Brock

Happy Tuesday Everyone! It's one of those days around here, where it's hard to have a bad day. It's gorgeous outside, it's sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and it's about 60 right now, and I've been busy at work, but not too busy!

I've been doing good and staying OP. Yesterday I was a little munchie when I got home from work, and while I was putting dinner together, but I managed to just munch on veggies, so that's a NSV! Another NSV of sorts was after dinner I was pretty full, and I had made a sweet potato (and had already figured the points for it), but decided not to eat it, because one, I wasn't hungry, and two, I had eaten alot of zero point veggies, so I used those points for the veggies I ate. I'm learning to stop when I'm full! Great feeling.

Yesterday was nice outside, so I got a little walk in with the dog. I think we walked for about 50 minutes, it was really nice.

Tonight is normal gym night, but I have a haircut, so I will be skipping the gym tonight. But I've decided I will ride my bike there and back, which is about 12 miles round trip. So that will be a nice little workout and get me some activity points. I'm looking forward to it, plus I get to conserve gas!

There has been talk on a couple blogs recently about how people find it harder to stay OP when their schedule, or "routine" is off. Does anyone else find this is true? I know I totally do. I'm a very routine person. I have a set way I go about things, set times I eat, and quite truthfully, for the most part, I have a certain number of foods that are "routine" for me as well. I find when I am out of my routine, it's much much harder to be OP. Just wonder if such was the case with anyone else. I don't remember being this borderline OCD about routine and schedules pre-WW's though!

Anyways, nothing much exciting or new around here. Just wanted to update, say hello, and say I hope everyone is having wonderful OP days!

Weigh In

Well, I had been so not looking forward to weigh in all week, I knew that I had a bad day a week ago, and it would show on the scale in some form. It wasn't as bad as I anticipated, with a gain of only .6 pounds. All the hard work and staying OP this week paid off!

But, I did have a "victory" of sorts with this weeks weigh in. I've never stayed below the 150 mark for more than 2 weeks, well today marked the fourth week which I weighed in the 140's! So I was very happy about that.

This weekend has been good. Friday on my day off, I hit the gym and ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes, and then Duke and I went for a 5.3 mile Hike. On Thursday night I went for a bike ride at the park, I did 8 miles in 40 minutes. So lots of activity. I took yesterday off, and just did some yard work, although I think loading and unloading bags of mulch should count for something ha ha.

This morning I hit the gym again, did 3.1 miles in 32 minutes. Felt great!

Anyways, have great Sunday's everyone!

"Achievement seems to be connected with action.
Successful men and women keep moving.
They make mistakes, but they don't quit."
~Conrad Hilton

Well I figured I would just give you guys a quick little update of how my plan went last night, since I was having kinda a crappy day foodwise.

Well it worked great! I hit the gym for a grueling 30 minutes of intervals on the dreadmill, and it kick my butt. Somedays easy, yesterday, not so much! Then I came home and kept rather busy doing chores and stuff, and managed to sit down after 8p to eat. I got in all my 8GHG's yesterday, and managed to leave 6 points to my "work mishap", plus I didn't eat the 4 activity points I earned running. So I think yesterday (which easily could have turned into an Off Plan Day!), turned out to be a success. That's why I love WW's.

Tonight it's a decent day outside (about 60 and sunny right now), I think I will take the bike over to the park nearby here and ride the long paved trail. I was going to go mountain biking, which would be a heck of a good workout, but quite honestly, I don't want to spend the money in gas to drive 20 miles there, and 20 miles back. It's just not that important.

Tomorrow, I have the day off work, and I think I am going to take Duke Hiking. He loves going, and its suppose to be a nice day, so I think we will go out and enjoy it. Plus I might hit the gym before I go if I am feeling ambitious. Not promising anything on that though, ha ha. Goal is just lots of activity, because I think week, I really need it.

As far as the scale, I haven't even peaked, don't really want too. My pants don't feel tight, in fact, they feel kinda loose, so it might be a sign I didn't gain much? Lets hope.

Anyways, I gotta be back to work (and of course, caught up on read you guys blogs!). Have a great Thursday!

If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed.
-- David Viscott

I receive emails on a regular basis with motivational or positive sayings. I signed up for a bunch of these sites back a couple years ago when I was having some issues with depression, and I was trying to get a handle on a more positive view of life. Well now they come in quite handy for this weight loss thing ;) The above quote is oh-so-true. If you have to courage to start this long, grueling and lifelong battle with the fat, you have the courage to succeed at it. I think the first success is just starting it!

That being said, I've had a less than stellar day today. Now mind you, what I consider less than stellar, most people assume they've done fine! I had to make brownies and banana pudding for a a potluck at work (like how I am the dessert girl?). Well I did great while making them last night. I snuck in like a lick or two, but quite honestly, barely anything! yes! Well today I got to work, and was cutting the brownies so that I could give my dad one for breakfast. Well it was between allowing mom to do (which means she would then eat one, and this is what I'm trying to avoid!). Or me doing it myself and trying to resist a nibble. Well I took one for the team, and I cut them myself, and I did nibble. A little. And then I nibbled a little when I was dishing them out for the guys at lunch, and I snuck a taste or two of the banana pudding. I could have easily said oh screw it and had a brownie, or had some pudding, but I let it end there. And quite honestly, even that few nibbles have given me a sugar headache. And it wasn't even much.

Normally I wouldn't fret over such small indiscretions, but taking into account sunday's mishap, It bothers me. So I will be eating lean the rest of the day. I've gotten all my water in and my veggies won't be a problem, and I've gotten both oils, so for the rest of the day I'll have a sandwich for dinner, and my dairys and call it good enough, lending 5 or 6 points to the brownies and pudding, which hopefully (should) be enough to cover it.

As far as my weigh in this week, I'm really just hoping for a gain of under 1 pound. If I can gain under a pound from this week, I'll be happy. I've been getting activity in, quite alot, so that should help. Fingers are crossed.

As far as activity:
Monday I hit the treadmill for 30 mins, and did an Ab routine.
Tuesday I walked Duke for 25 minutes (even though I was so busy, I made time!)
Wednesday, I'm going to hit the gym tonight for a 30 minute treadmill.
Thursday, I'm going to do Pilates (dvd I have from netflix), walk duke, and maybe ride the bike?
Friday, I might have the a day off, and if I do, I plan to go Mountain Biking and walk the dog, if I don't have the day off, I will hit the gym for another 30 minutes of the treadmill. Maybe I will do both if I have the day off.

Alright, well there is how my week is going, not too bad, but it hasn't been stellar either. Guess we all have weeks we are off our game once in awhile huh? ugh!

Have a healthy happy day bloggers.

The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.
-- John F. Kennedy

Thanks so much for all the nice comments on my "Bad Day" post yesterday. I know we all have them, and it's nice to know there is people who understand the feeling too! So thank you! I could've easily skipped posting that I had a bad day yesterday, but as much as I love posting the good things, I know that I have to post the bad also, to keep it real!

I still feel kinda crappy today. My guess is my body is just processing the junk I ate still. Since it really didn't get much "nutrition" yesterday. But the day is one of those dreary days out, so I'm sure that isn't making matters any better, plus after my eat fest, I didn't feel that great, and slept like crap!

But I will be hitting the gym today when I get off work, for what should be a good run. And today has been a good and OP day. And I don't see that changing.

I'm hoping with a little extra activity points this week I can make the gain from the weekend minimal, I'm planning on getting in three gym days, at least two walks with the dog, maybe a bike ride or two, and if the weather holds up, my first mountain bike ride of the year. Also I am going to start an abdominals routine this week, and I'm going to try pilates at home. So lots and lots of activity. Just keeping my fingers crossed that the gain is minimal.

Other than that, nothing really new and exciting. The weekend was great. Saturday I go in oodles of activity. I walked the dog, Biked 5 miles, Rollerbladed 3 miles. I got alot of little things done around the house yesterday that I had been putting off, because the weather was nice. Since yesterday was gross (cold and rainy) it gave me time inside to be lazy and get stuff done (and eat apparently!). I marinated a bunch of chicken, and cooked it on the grill for the family for mothers day and we had a healthy dinner (great for mom!), and I made her her favorite banana cake (and this was where my eating issues started lol).

Overall though, the weekend as a whole was good! I hope everyone elses weekends were good, and that they were OP!

Stay healthy and happy everyone!

Bad Day

Was all excited about a loss this morning........lets just say I ate my face off this afternoon. No reason for it, now I feel like crap. Every day is a new day, and for that, I am glad! Here is to a great week, with great food!

On a side note...isn't it funny when you eat the stuff that you used to eat all the time, now it makes you feel crappy? Imagine what your body was running on before...I apologize to my body for those years of treating it badly...and these occasional minor blips.

Weigh In

Well this morning was suppose to be my TOM gain, instead I lost one pound. Not that I am complaining, but interesting! So I have 3.4lbs to goal, and one pound until my next goal of losing 20lbs. Hopefully I will see that next week!

I skipped the gym this morning. Yesterday I biked 5 miles, Rollerbladed 3 miles and took Duke on a walk. Needless to say, my legs feel like jello this morning, so I didn't think I would make it running. I'll go tomorrow ;)

Happy Mothers Day to everyone!

"Take care of your body, it's the only place you have to live!"
-Jim Rohn

Let me start by thanking you for all your nice comments and suggestions regarding my Mom. I really appreciate others opinions, and means more than you know. It's surprising to me how many of you have dealt with similar situations yourselves.

Here is what I've done so far. As most of you suggest, I am taking the "keep quiet" approach. If she asks me something, or asks for a suggestion, I offer it. I did take it upon myself to bring her and my dad in leftovers twice this week, so they would have something healthy to eat for dinner that night, one night they ate them, the other night they went out to eat instead. But at least I had them better that one night. I've also bought her a couple snacks, and offered suggestions of what I like to eat. I brought her in a Fiber One Bar, and she liked that well. Today someone brought doughnuts into work (and the good ones at that) and I asked her if she had resisted them, and she said she did. I gave her a high five and said way to go!

Now, she told me earlier in the week she wanted me to make her her mom's banana cake for mother's day. So I asked her today if she wanted me to still, and she said yes. But I suppose it's mother's day, and rome wasn't built in a day right?

Other than the mom situation, there isn't much new.

I've been OP and kicking some butt if I must say so myself. Now this week, I have gotten alot of activity points, and I haven eaten a few (which is a rarity for me) but, I have been tracking everything. So I think in general I'm eating less, if that makes any freaking sense. I have been tracking all those zero point foods that I kinda stopped tracking, and even the veggies are counting as zeros.

So what have I done for activity this week:
Monday- walked Duke for 20 minutes.
Tuesday- Treadmill, intervals, 30 minutes
Wednesday- walked Duke for 20 minutes and rode my bike 3.1 miles (in the rain even!)
Thursday- Treadmill, intervals, 30 minutes
Friday-? I'm thinking maybe a bike ride and a walk for duke. We will see.

So that's been my week, pretty happy with it if I must say so myself. Only bummer is I won't see a loss this week even a pesky gain due to TOM.

But another week of this, and I can imagine I will see a very nice loss on the 18th! I can't wait!

I hope everyone will have wonderful (and OP) weekends! Don't forget to honor those great Mom's we have!

"Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself."
-- Harvey Fierstein

I think this quote goes to the root of everything we need to learn. We spend so much time living our lives for others, or doing things for others, that we forget to do things for ourselves. So remember, especially in this weight loss journey, do it for yourself, do it because you want to! Because you are who really matters.

So I got some news yesterday, I can't say I haven't been expecting that it would come. I've written several times about my mom, in several different ways. The first being that she is not terribly supportive of me, and my efforts to lose weight. I often feel that this is almost a jealous defense mechanism, as she is overweight, and I think she doesn't think she can lose weight and keep it off. So she is jealous that I have lost weight, and for the most part (we won't talk about Christmas!), have kept it off.

Well in the second way I've talked about her, I've mentioned that she is overweight, with bad eating habits, and that I've talked to her about joining weight watchers with me in order to lose some weight, and learn new eating habits. Well she's always resisted, most of the time saying "I know what I have to eat, I don't need to count points". So I always drop it.

Well yesterday I am on my way out of work, and I notice she is eating chopped up bell peppers, instead of her normal vending machine fare (I work for the family business, in case no one knows that). Well I mention that's a good choice, and she said she is trying to "be better" with her eating, and I said, well I'm proud of you.

She tells me she is beginning to have problems with her blood sugar. I've always worried about Type 2 Diabetes with her, because of the way she eats, and her weight, and it now looks like my worries are coming true. She said last time she had her blood drawn, her sugar was high, and now she is starting to get some of the classic symptoms of diabetes. So she knows she needs to change. It's scary. I'm glad I caught myself and changed my life before I started getting major medical issues.

But I guess my real question for you guys, is how do I work with her on her eating habits? Do I push alot and try for healthier options? Weight Watchers Subscription for Mothers Day? Or do I just let her ask me questions, and let her come to me on it? I'm not sure which route would be more productive.

As far as me, I'm doing well OP. I got a walk in on Monday, and hit the treadmill for 30 minutes last night. I've also been tracking EVERYTHING. Now yesterday I did end up using 3 of the 4 activity points that I got, but I was hungry, so I figure that is ok. Plus I've never tracked like this, so I think I actually ate less.

I'm feeling a bit "thinner" this week than I was last week, so maybe I won't see such a big TOM gain this week since I gained last week, that would be great!

I want to get out and walk the dog, and ride my bike tonight, but the weather isn't cooperating, so that might not happen (can we say 25mph winds and rain! yay!)...actually bums me out, kinda scary that it bums me out really. Since when did I become one of those exercise freaks? yikes!

Alright, I gotta get back to work, but thanks so much for listening, and for your kind comments, they make the world a brighter place!

Some before and during pictures

Unfortunately I don't really have the standard "before" shot, this picture was taken about a week after I started weight watchers, I was probably weighing about 165 here.


Now the next two pictures were taken at my brothers wedding, and then I was weighing about 153-ish. I personally don't see much of a difference...maybe in my arms? Hard for me to tell. But I thought with everyone posting pictures lately, I would get in on it!

"I've learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires,
rather than in attempting to satisfy them"
~John Stuart Mill

Happy Monday fellow bloggers in blogland. Also, Happy Cinco de Mayo. I hope you all had fantastic weekends.

I actually had a very nice, long weekend. I managed to stay OP for it too. Although as I mentioned in my post yesterday, I could have easily derailed on Saturday when I wanted to eat everything that wasn't nailed down. But I didn't. And I suppose that is what counts. Sure I probably ate my weight in vegetables, but that's better than the alternative.

I had a good day yesterday, despite my gain in the morning. I went to the gym and hit the treadmill for a 3 mile run, and then did stuff around the house. Lots of this and that. I did make a Lemon Pie for my parents, and some caramel apple dip for one of my brothers, and I managed to stay out of both of them while making them. I did have just a dab to make sure they were not posionus, but otherwise, good to go. Then I took Duke for a nice long walk last night, I mapped it out with google maps, and we walked 3.1 miles. So I got some good activity points yesterday, 6 to be exact. I did end up eating two of them.

My first day of counting everything went good. I did end up using 2 points for "zero point" foods, which surprised me a bit. Mind you, I eat ALOT, and I do mean ALOT of veggies. Veggies are not what made me fat in the first place. It was what I used to dip those veggies into. Cucumbers in Ranch Dressing. Carrots in Peanut Butter, Mushrooms fried in Butter, Green Beans and Corn Drenched in Butter. You get the point. I always have been a veggie lover, just now I eat them without stuff on them. So needless to say 2 points for veggies yesterday, that's ok, I'll learn to live with it, I have to get these last, now 4 pounds off.

And a question about the weight. I will, at my next weigh in be over 150lbs again, since TOM will cause me to gain. I know this isn't a true gain, but do I bump myself a point again, or should I be ok with staying at 21 points? I would rather stay here, since I am just now beginning to get used to it.

On a side note, I was craving a summery "dessert" the other night, and I couldn't decide what I wanted, a small DQ sundae, a hot fudge sundae or a slurpee from 7-11. Now the slurpee was significantly less points than the other two, so I chose that one. But boy did I forget how great a slurpee tastes! yum! Crystal Light ones are very low in points, for a 12 oz only 1 point! So keep that in mind!

Alright, well I've babbled long enough! I hope you all are having great days, look forward to catching up on your blogs!

Weigh In

Well, I gained 1.2 pounds this week. Not a big deal. I was expecting it. If you take the 5.2 pounds, I lost, and even minus off this, for a loss of 4 pounds in 3 weeks, I'm still above my average weight loss of 1.2 pounds a week. So how can I be upset?

Fortunately, I'm still in the 140's ;) Unfortunately, next week is TOM, so I'll be back in those pesky 150's for weigh in, BLAH. But at least I know thats not a real gain.

So, anyways, I was off work on Friday, and I enjoyed my day off, got some stuff done around the house.

I managed to stay OP all weekend, yesterday was really hard though, I was having one of those crazy munchie days, and I could've very easily eaten everything in the house, but I didn't, so I'll count that as a little NSV of its own!

For this week? My goal is to have the perfect week (even though I won't see a loss, bah!). My perfect week will consist of.

Activity everyday. (Sunday,Tuesday, Thursday Gym, Walks with the Dog Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday).
Get all my 8 GHG's in everyday (which I haven't been having a problem with)
No sneaking extra bites, tastes, licks, spoonfuls and that type of stuff.
Be conscious of zero point foods. After I've had 5, they count as a point.

Alright, so there is the "perfect week" plan. I can do it. I know it.

Have great sundays!