"To go forward, you have to leave something behind."
-Steve Jobs

Hey Everyone, I hope your all having good weeks.

My week is off to a good start, the scale has been showing up in the past week, but with TOM around the corner, those pesky few pounds should be dropping off in the next couple days. But on a high note, my clothes are still fitting nice a lose, and I'm feeling skinny, despite those couple pounds.

I've had two non-scale victories in the last couple days, yes, two! The first one was, the jeans I bought last summer (mid way through my weight loss journey), had become too big, I mean I like my clothes on the looser side, but they were getting a little ridiculous, so I went and bought new jeans, and I'm pretty sure I could've bought 28's, although I bought 29's because I'm not one of those girl who likes their clothes to fit like spandex. So I was very excited, I think it's the only time (I can remember anyways), ever buying pants under the 30 waist size. In fact I found an old pair in my closet not long ago that were 33's!

My second NSV came last night. I was incredibly munchy when I got home from work, and I pretty much had to do everything possible to keep from eating everything in my refrigerator. I've been keep whole bagged carrots in my fridge, and when I'm feeling like I need to eat something, I peel a carrot and eat it. My theory behind this is that since it takes work, I'll be less likely to just "grab a handful of carrots", and I think it works. But regardless, I had a couple carrots, popped a stick of gum in my mouth and called it a day. So this is where the NSV came.

Later, by this time dinner was done, I actually left some of my portion of dinner on my plate. I just wasn't hungry for it. I ate what I wanted, and then stopped, but the rest back. I think it's the first time especially since being on WW's I've put food back. Usually if I've counted the points for it, I'm gonna eat it. So a major bonus for me.

I think I've been trying to "enjoy" my food more, and eat slowly, and I think that is helping, and perhaps that's the reason why I put the food back. But I also just don't feel like I need to eat a certain amount everyday with maintenance. I know some days I will want to eat a bit more than others, and that's fine. I'm no longer trying to lose. I think it takes alot of pressure off the situation.

But I have a confession! yesterday was also the first day in quite sometime I didn't get both of my oils in...opps! I forgot about the second one, and then even though I had the points left, I didn't feel like adding it to something else to eat it, just solely to get that in, so I skipped it. I think I will probably live.

Running has been going good. The run on Sunday went good as I said before, and yesterday was a rest day, which was much much needed! It's amazing how this running stuff takes it out of ya. Tonight I have 4.25 miles scheduled in the heat. Not overly looking forward to it, but I know I will feel great when I get it done.

New little feature I'm going to starting doing a "Question of the Week" feature. You guys can even suggest a question for the future ones. But every Tuesday I will compile the answers, and hopefully we can get some new ideas based on what everyone else is doing. I love to get new ideas. So brings me to the question of the week;

What are your guys favorite cereals?

The ones I eat the most are Kashi Go Lean and Go Lean Crunch along with All Bran Extra Fiber and Fiber One Original. But I love (and can't keep from eating straight out of the bag) Capt Crunch and Honeycombs (yes, I know, I'm like a 2 year old!).

Alright, back to work I go. Have great evenings, can't wait to hear your answers.

"Think Beyond, and you will go beyond"
-Marion Licchiello

Well I think my first "maintenance" weigh in went well, I was up 1.8lbs, but that's a pretty standard TOM gain for me, so I should be back down by next week. Plus with weighing daily right now, I know it's not a real gain as I seen 141 a couple times this week. I'm good with it!

I ran 6.5 miles this morning! I was so excited, once again, it's a milestone because it's farther than I've gone previously! Plus, I had good times too, I had several miles that were in the 12's! That's awesome for me! And, I surpassed 50 miles run for the month! Plus, I picked a route today (unintentionally) that had some pretty big hills in it, so I was bustin my butt! The first three miles were into the wind, and that was a little hard, but overall a great run. I'm exhausted!

No huge plans today, I have to clean a bit, do some laundry, you know, that normal fun sunday stuff...yay!

I hope your all having great weekends, and I'll talk to you soon!

"A person is only as big as the dream they dare to live."
-- Unknown

I typically don't post on Saturday's, but I had to post about a great run that I had yesterday on my day off!

My day started off not so great, my phone rang at 7a on my day off, it was work, telling me they were having computer problems, which I had to come in and handle. So I was not a happy camper. So it threw my schedule all off, I was suppose to get up when I wanted, mosey around, and then go out on a run. Wasn't turning out that way.

Well I got home from work about 10a, and I decided to go out on a run, even though I totally didn't feel like, and my allergies were miserable. The first mile or so of my run was hard, I wanted to turn around, but I kept telling myself it would get better, and it did!

I ended up running the 4 miles I had planned, and two of those miles were at a pace almost a minute faster than I normally run! I was so happy!

So I got home, and I was totally wiped out, but felt so energized, I actually wanted to go out and run more! After that "high" wore off though, I was just bushed, I think it was probably the combination of allergies, being a little stressed this week, and not sleeping well. So I spent alot of the day off just kinda lounging on the couch.

Food-wise things are going great, I haven't had any problems with maintenance so far, I'm sure I'll hit a bump in the road eventually, but so far, so good.

Weight-wise, those 2lbs I was up earlier in the week have seemed to disappear, yesterday I was actually my lowest weight ever at 141.6, and this morning I was just a tad over 142. So I don't know what this means, I thought I should see a TOM gain this Sunday, which would actually mean that I'm about 2lbs less than that, which isn't good, because that would mean I'm still losing. So we will see how this plays out, might have to make some adjustments to eat more. Suppose with all the running it's still possible I'm losing. We'll see what it looks like over time.

The rest of the weekend, no real plans. My truck needs a bath and cleaning, the dog needs a walk (or at least thinks he does!), zucchini is sitting on the counter begging to be baked into something, and chores around the house screaming my name. Plus I have a 6.5 mile run tomorrow that I can't wait for!

Anyways, have great weekends bloggers, and I'll be catching up soon!

"What ought one to say then as each hardship comes?
I was practicing for this, I was training for this."
- Epictetus

Happy Thursday Everyone! This is actually my Friday, as I felt I needed a day off, so I took tomorrow off! I'm very excited, it will be nice to have a day to "catch up".

Things have been going good over in this neck of the woods.

My Running has been ok. I've been getting out there and doing it, but the runs have been a bit harder this week. I think it's the fact that one day, I started off to fast and tuckered out, and then yesterday my allergies were bothering me pretty bad. My long run will be 6.5 miles this week, that will be a new record for me, and I can't wait.

I have learned though, that I need to just focus on getting the miles in, and not worry so much about the time it's taking me to complete them. I get a little wrapped up in that aspect of it, so I'm trying not to focus so much on that. I'm slow, but I'm running, and that's all that matters!

Eating has been good, it's taking some getting used to to be eating more, I guess I'm still in that mindset that I should be losing, even though I'm not anymore. So I think it's more mental than anything, and I'm sure I will eventually feel like this is the norm for me.

I have decided that I will be counting points until my subscription ( I buy three months at a time) to WW's online comes up at the very end of September, and after that, as long as I haven't gained, and I am doing well, I will not renew it.

Weight-wise, I'm doing ok, I'm up 2lbs for the last two days, but, I believe TOM is right around the corner, and this is a normal gain for that. Plus I totally forgot how inconsistent my body is! I looked back at the sheets from when I weighed everyday last year (around this time), and it's not abnormal for my body to be up and down as much as two pounds on any given day, does anyone else who weighs everyday see this?

Tonight I'm hitting Red Lobster with a girlfriend and cannot wait! Yum!

Other than that, 4 mile run planned for tomorrow during the day at some point, and some relaxing on my day off (speckled with some chores of course!), and I was given some zucchini, so I think I will make some zucchini bread this weekend for other people of course! lol.

Anyways, if I don't chat with ya'll tomorrow, I hope you have great weekends!

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it's
dressed in overalls and looks like work"
~ Thomas Edison

I'm a firm believer in the mantra "if it were easy, everyone would do it!", and I think the quote above kinda puts that into perspective. But then again, I don't think any of us are here because we think it's easy (we may have thought it might be at the beginning!), we all understand this weight loss thing takes hard work (heck, this running thing is the same way!). We all understand that there are days we are going to be in our groove, and then there are gonna be days when we feel like giving up, but the important part is, in the long run, looking at the overall picture, we stick with it.

So little bit of a confession, since hitting maintenance on Sunday I've been weighing on a daily basis. I would like to not weigh on a regular basis, but right now, I think it's kinda necessary. I have to know how my body is reacting to the amount of food I am feeding it. I want to find a good number of points that will let me maintain. The good news is, so far, I'm doing good, so I might be where I need to be! But truthfully only the results over the next couple weeks will tell the full story. But I don't want to not weigh for a month, and gain 5lbs over that month because I was eating too much, so that plan isn't feasible yet.

So I've been thinking alot about this running thing. I set a goal of running in a 5k, but I think I need to set some more tangible goals. Or something that working harder will produce results. So here are a few goals for the upcoming months, I think I will add a sidebar eventually.

1. Run in my first 5k, just finish it, but give it all I have.
2. On my long runs, get to where I am holding a steady pace of under 12 min/mile, right now I'm at about 13:25 on my long runs.
3. On my shorter runs, break into the 11 minute/mile range.
4. Run over 20 miles a week (this week I will be running 16).

So there are a few goals. I'm looking forward to trying to beat some of those!

Eating has been good, I do find that I'm not hungry for all the points I have now, lol. I just feel like I get so much, and it's only 4 points more some days! But I will get used to it. Right now, I'm eating alot of fruit because of the season of course, so that's more filling and lower point.

I have started to bring a few of the things back into the house that I didn't buy when I was trying to lose, mainly Peanut Butter. I have issues with Peanut Butter, anyone who's read my blog for while knows this. But Peanut Butter is an important part of a runner's diet, so I bought a small jar. And so far, it hasn't been calling to me. I'll keep you posted on that.

I have a four mile run planned tonight, really don't feel up to doing it, as my allergies have been bothering me, but I'm gonna go, because I know it will make me feel better. Then some crunches and a Jambalaya for dinner. YUM!

Anyways, I better get scootin, but have a great day guys!

"Seek respect mainly from thyself, for it comes first from within."
-- Steven H. Coogler

First of all, I wanted to thank all of you for your kind words on my post yesterday. It's so nice to have people who are supportive and proud. I don't know what I would do without my blogger buddies.

My first day on maintenance went off without a hitch. In fact, it was great!

After I posted yesterday, I went for a 6 mile run, and I'm proud to say I ran the whole thing without stopping to walk once! It was great! Mind you I'm slow, very slow, but at least I ran it all without stopping!

After that, I came home and was exhausted and sweaty, so I did some crunches, took a shower, ate my normal oatmeal for breakfast, and did some other stuff around the house.

In the afternoon I met my parents for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Normally I just get the salad bar, since I like to eat throughout the day, and by the time I get to dinner, I seldom have a ton of points left for a good dinner on the town, as everything adds up so quick. But last night, I had plenty of points. So I had a half of turkey burger, and half order of french fries (I may have sneaked an extra french fry or two!), and that was 13 points for dinner...I don't know that i've eaten that much for a meal while being on WW's....and I still had 2 points left for some sherbert when I got home. I was happy.

I did decide to add the 4 points they recommend, which brings me to 25 points a day. On top of that, my Garmin estimates calories burned running, and I'm eating 1 point for every 100 calories burned (I am rounding up). I'm not touching my weekly points....because I never really have. So yesterday I had 25 regular points, and then I burned 450 calories on my run, so I took 5 extra points. I'll probably weigh in on Sunday just to get a gauge on whether or not this is working.

Once I do figure out what is working, and what is not, I will be back to monthly weigh in's. I like that approach alot.

As far as the weight range I am going to set for myself, I'm not going to set a lower limit, because I'm not worried about losing "too much" weight, but my upper alarm limit is 145 (on a non-TOM weigh in). So if I hit 145, it's time to go back into loss mode and really buckle down.

I'm also not worrying so much about the zero points foods anymore, if I start to gain, I can reexamine that.

I already feel substantially less stressed over my food plan. Much more relaxed. I was micro-managing my food big time, and now I feel like I don't have to as much. Although it will take a bit to get into the schedule of eating that revolves around more points. It will take some adjustment and getting used to, but that's ok, I'm up for the challenge.

Anyways, that's about it, no run tonight, scheduled rest day, maybe a walk with the dog. 4 mile run scheduled for tomorrow.

Have a healthy happy day bloggers!

Well....

Well this morning, I stepped on the scale and he decided to be very nice (amazing huh?). I seen the lowest number I have ever seen (or at least since like Junior High). What was that number? 141.8 pounds. What does that mean?

I have reached GOAL!

Of course, I ran to get the camera, and take a picture of what the scale said, and somehow, I gained .4lbs doing that! But I did take a picture yesterday on several occasions when I seen 142....So I have a picture (yes, I'm a dork). So here it is ;) Excuse my ugly feet!

So there it is!

I removed my weight loss ticker from the top of the page, and smaller ticker in the sidebar, plus I changed the layout, figured it would be a good "new start". On the sidebar is still my current weigh in, and how much I've lost, etc.

I do plan on writing a quality post of "what I learned on my Weight Watchers Journey", but I have to actually put some thought into it, so that will come.

For those of you who have reached maintenance, or thought about it, how have you handled adding points? It adds 4 points to my daily total, that seems like alot, should I add the 4, or start with two and see if I lose still or what? what do you guys think?

Alright off to run now....6 miles, and I'm so freaking excited! Have great Sundays!

"Seek respect mainly from thyself, for it comes first from within."
-- Steven H. Coogler

Happy Friday Everyone!

Just a quick little update....

Took a day of "rest" yesterday from running, can't say that I enjoyed it, all I could think about was how I wanted to go out and run! But, it was crazy hot yesterday (hotter and more humid than the day before for my run), so I was very happy I had the night off. But today, I've not been feeling so hot, so I don't know that I will be able to handle a run, I'll go grocery shopping after work, and then we'll see how I feel, definately don't WANT to take the night off, but might NEED to. Usually exercise does make me feel better though.

No huge plans for the weekend, just grocery shopping tonight, maybe a run and the tigers game is on. Tomorrow I think I am going to golf with my brother in the morning, and then maybe just take it easy for the afternoon, maybe head down to the Ann Arbor Art Fair, and see what is going on down there if the weather holds up. Maybe a walk with the dog if I think he can tolerate the heat. Sunday, I have my long run planned....6 miler! Wowsers! It's scary because I've never ran that far, but exciting too, because I know I can do it! Then probably lunch or dinner with the parents and chores.

Oh, and weigh in on Sunday! I'm looking forward to it! It will be interesting to see what it holds after a month (yes I have peeked in that month, but only a time or two). Decided my next weigh in after this is going to be the same day as my First 5K....August 17th, so exciting day :)

Anyways, that's my weekend plans, what do you guys have planned?

"Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through
which you must see the world."

-- George Bernard Shaw

Good Morning! I just thought I would swing by for a little update this morning.

The Running is going great! I guess I never believed that you could get "addicted" to running, like everyone said you could, but now, I totally see how you can. It's only been two weeks since I've been running, and It's all I think about!

I had a run last night, and it went well. I almost didn't go out, because it was just plain out nasty out yesterday, about 88 with high humidity that made it feel like it was mid 90's. But this is where that "addiction" comes in, I wanted to go, I wanted to go bad, so I did. Needless to say it was my "long run" for the week, the pace was very slow (heck it was hot out!), BUT I did run all 4.5 miles of it, and I didn't stop once! I was very proud of myself.

I'm not as worried about speed right now, just the distances that I'm doing. Today is a rest day, and I'm looking forward to it, plus the weather is suppose to be worse today than it was yesterday, so good thing I got the run in yesterday :)

Tonight I have to go get some compression shorts to where under the shorts I'm wearing while running, I am getting some "chaffing", and it should fix the problem hopefully.

I got some new running shoes, I picked up the Asics Gel-Nimbus 10's. I've only ran in them two days, but I'm in love. They have helped my knees soooo much!

As far as staying on WW's goes, I'm doing good, I haven't had any bad spots. I've been getting in my 8 GHG's and everything so that's no problem. I do realize I am a bit more hungry than I have been, but I'm sure the running has something to do with that. I've been basing the extra points I am eating on the calories my Garmin tells me I'm burning. I'm figuring an Activity Point for every 100 calories burned, and I'm eating half of those.

My monthly weigh in will be on Sunday, and I'm looking forward to it, I feel like my pants are falling off of me, and that's great! So I can't wait to step on and see what it's got to tell me after our long hiatus.

On that note, I am also thinking monthly weigh in's are good for me right now. It helps me to take the focus off of just that number on the scale.

Ok, well other than that, I don't have anything terribly exciting to update on, but I will be cruising by your blogs soon!

"Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat."
-- Malcolm Forbes

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I have an announcement to make! In 32 days, I will run my first 5k race! I took the plunge and signed up for a race here in town on Sunday August 17th! I was going to make my first race be one in Septemeber so I would have a little more time to train, but I wanted to get one under my belt, so I have an official "time to beat". So there we have it.

I have also decided (now this is a long shot, especially for a, newly aspiring runner like myself!), that on Saturday May 23rd, 2009, I am going to run in my first half marathon. It gives me a goal to work towards. I think ultimately, I would like to run a marathon, but right now, a half seems very much attainable, so that will be my goal. And the half that I intend to run in is up north in Traverse City, along the Lake, so it's suppose to be gorgeous!

So there we have it...a MAJOR goal! I'm very excited.

I figured out what my problem was last week. I do have a tendency to get into these depressive states, where I am just not happy, not feeling motivated among a variety of other things. Well normally these happen between "major things" in my life. Such as the point in my life after I got done with my undergrad, bought my house and settled in....all of a sudden no goals...enter depression.

Time # 2, After I got out of my master's program and before I started Weight Watchers, I got into a mild depression, which was helped along by a failing relationship, among other things. When I joined Weight Watchers though, that turned around, I had motivation and focus again.

Ok, well you get the drift, you see where it's going. I'm essentially done losing weight. I'm still playing with a few pounds here and there, but I'm at or under my weight watchers goal, and have been for awhile. So I lost motivation and started to get depressed, because I don't have anything to focus my time and energy on.

So enter running an half marathon....What better way to maintain my weight, and give myself goals then to set a goal to run a half marathon come spring. It's not something you can do on a whim. I've found the 10 week training program that I will follow come March (10 weeks pre-race), but in order to follow the plan, you already have to have been running 30 to 35 miles per week, for at least two to three months.

So, I've set up a plan to gradually get myself to that level. I'm increasing mileage by 4% every week, which the sources I read say this is a safe increase, which will least likely lead to injury.

So, just a few of my training plan details. I am starting running 15.5 miles a week (that is this week), and I will top out and maintain 30 miles per week in early December through March. I will be running 4 times during the week, one long run, two medium runs and one short run. I'll be keeping you guys posted.

I did have a NSV the other day! I ran a complete 2.5 miles...without stopping once! not once! Now granted, I wasn't fast....but I ran it all!

As far as eating goes, it's been going good. I've been munchy (perhaps the increase in running?), but when I'm feeling that way I'm just grabbing for carrots and not counting them, no one got heavy eating carrots right? But other than that, still avoiding the processed food, and it's going good.

Weigh in on Sunday, I think it will go fine my clothes are fitting good!

Other than that, nothing new and exciting around here, I'll be dropping in on your blogs soon :)

"Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th."

-- J. Andrews

Just a little update! I got in a 3 mile run last night...it felt great! Since I've been using a heart rate monitor, I can run farther and longer. Turns out I was just flat out running to hard, to fast, to soon, hence the reason I would tucker out like in no time! My mile times aren't stellar, but I'm working on being able to run for a full mile, then I can worry about getting the times down.

Tonight, 2 mile run! Can't wait. Yes, I'm now an addict.

Totally had a great moment running last night. I was on a bike path near the road and a whole truck of guys honked and whistled at me. It was a good feeling, I NEVER get hit on!

Date with Up North boy went well. He's kinda OCD like me....which could be scary. He had his DVD's alphabetized. I'm a list person, my spices for cooking are alphabetized...yes I'm one of those...and so is he, could make things interesting. Ended with a nice hug, and the offer to take me golfing this weekend...very exciting!

Eating, great! I've been doing well, and I allowed myself my treat of vitatop and ice cream last night....yum! I think I appreciate it more when I'm not eating it every night.

No huge plans for the weekend. A guy from work is taking me fishing tomorrow, that will be exciting. Planning a 2 mile run tonight, 4 miles tomorrow...and another short one on Sunday.

Hope everyone has fabulous weekends!

"If you really want something,
you can find out how to make it happen."
~Cher

This is a completely non-weight loss related post! One mention of weight only, and that is that I spot checked myself yesterday, and I was showing to be up a bit...but I expected that after my weekend of eating, so no biggie.

Onto other, and more important topics. I'm kinda becoming addicted to this thing they call running, I now know what they mean by a "runners" high. On the days I don't have runs scheduled, I WANT to run. Yes, you heard me right, I WANT to run. Funny thing isn't it? I'm a total non-runner. But I know the rest days that I have incorporated are important, so I am taking one full rest day, and one day on the bike.

For this week the exercise is as follows, so far;

Sunday: 3 mile run
Monday: Day 1 of pushup challenge, Rest Day
Tuesday: 3 mile run
Wednesday: 10.25 mile Bike Ride
Thursday (planned): 2 mile run
Friday (planned): 3 mile run
Saturday (planned): 4 mile run

Not looking to shabby huh? Tonight was originally suppose to be a 3 miles run, but I have a 2nd date with aforementioned up north boy, so I had to do some moving around of the schedule so that I could get out the door in time. But look at me "squeezing in" a run, how's that?

Eating has been good, not using any activity points this week because of the eating of the weekend, but I will be back to using some of those come Sunday again. I do feel like I could use them, as I'm hungry with the exercise I've been doing.....but my body has plenty of "extra" to run on, believe me! I've been munchy this week, but I'm just grabbing for the carrots when I get a bit hungry, and not counting those as long as I don't eat two pounds.

I was worried date boy might think I'm odd. I don't frequently share my weight loss trials and tribulations with someone new, very few people I've date since my ex have know I'm trying to lose weight or have lost weight. So date boy decided he wanted to have me over for a movie, said he would make me dinner....sounds nice right?

Very nice! But who in god's creation knows what he would make and how many points it would be! So I weaseled out of dinner by coming up with an excuse (I know, I'm terrible!), and then he said ok, just a movie is great, can I make or buy a dessert you like? So I told him I was training for a 5k race right now, and I'm trying to stay away from sweets, and he said ok. Hopefully he doesn't think I'm too much of a crazy!

Everything else is going good, except for the fact that my Tigers are currently tied 6-6 with the twins in the bottom of the 9th since we have a closer who flat out stinks!

Anyways, back to finishing some work...then a run and a date....have a healthy happy evening bloggers.

I'm baaaack!

"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars,
or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."
~ Helen Keller

Well hello there! Thanks for all your sweet comments on my last post about the break. It was much needed, and I've done much thinking. So I've got a lot to catch you guys up on! We will do a little bullet pointed list.

- one of the things that was getting me so down, was my cat. I got a kitten about 7 months ago, it was kinda be default, as we had one at work, that we needed to get rid of, and no one would take him...so I ended up with him. I was never a cat person, I just didn't care for them, nice as pets, but not as my own pet. Well I'd tried hard over the past 6 months to love him, but never could feel "connected" to him, not the way I feel with Duke (who might as well be a child to me!). It bothered me big time that I didn't feel he was getting the love he needed from me, so I made the decision to find him a home. And I did. It was hard, and involved a ton of crying, and feeling badly, but I found him a home, where I know he is well taken care of, and he has a 4 year old who just adores him. I now feel good about that decision.

- My exercise routine was getting stale. I was getting sick of what I was doing, and that was bothering me too. I had been so good with staying on a steady exercise plan for over 6 months, that I certainly didn't want to falter on it. But I wasn't feeling it anymore. Needless to say, I have a new plan. I'm now running outside. And I'm actually running (instead of just intervals), and I'm actually going to train towards something. I'm thinking a 5k this fall, I haven't picked one yet though, but will let you guys know when I do. I've been out twice this week running (3 miles both times), and I've wanted to go out the days I haven't ran...so that's a good sign!

- I completed Day 1 of Week 1 of the 100 Pushup Challenge on Monday. It felt great! I was tired when I was done, and my arms, even today, are still very sore! Tonight is Day 2, and I can't wait!

- Besides Running 5 Days a week, I'm going to try to get in at least one day of "Cross Training" on my bike. Tonight is cross training night! Yay!

- Weight-wise, I couldn't tell you where I'm at, because as promised, I haven't stepped on a scale. I plan to weigh in on July 20th!

- I went up north for the weekend. Eating was less than stellar. My mom does like to sabotage me intentionally sometimes I think, and I know that sounds bad, but I think it's the truth, she purposely made, and set out things she knows I can't stay out of.Thanks mom! But I was right back on plan, exercise, and not eating any activity points when I got back...so that's is awesome!

- Feeling about my weight right now, I'm probably up a little. But I'm ok with that, I'm feeling good!

- I decided to re-examine my diet, I was beginning to slip into eating alot of processed and high fiber, high calorie, low point items. Such as, I was eating ice cream with a vitatop at least every other night....that's not necessary. Did you know I gave up ice cream for lent this year, and I didn't miss it? I proved I could live without it. So my approach to food right now is, get in my 8 GHG's, still count a point for every 5 zero points I'm eating, and stick to primarily whole foods. Aka, Fruits, Veggies etc, for snacks. This has been my mantra since sunday, and I'm glad to say the first food I had that wasn't really a "whole item" was a western alternative bagel last night with my homemade whole grain pancakes. I've decided to limit myself to One Western Bagel, one vitatop with ice cream and one bad of popcorn per week. Other than that, I'm sticking to fruit and veggies as snacks. One staple I haven't give up, yogurt with Kashi Cereal. Kashi is whole grain, so I'm not giving it up.

- I think I feel better and I have less cravings without the processed foods in my diet.

- I had a good date up north (the guy is also living downstate, but from up there), and I'm looking forward to date two! That's a record for me lately...two whole dates! lol

- I'm enjoying my break from the scale. It's so easy to get caught up in that number and not appreciate everything you've done and how you've changed, its nice to step back from that!

Alright, I think I've wrote enough of a marathon post, I hope your all still awake...I'll post again soon...until then, Happy Healthy Day Bloggers!

A little break.

I've been kinda in a funk lately. I'm down, kinda out of it, just a wide variety of yuck. Nothing anyone else can do or say to get me out of it, just kinda something I have to work through. Frustrated with alot of aspects of my life. One of them is the weight loss area, I don't know why honestly, I've been losing ok, just seems like 142 is eluding me.

So whats this mean?

I need a break from things. I won't be updating the blog for a couple weeks. I don't know whether it will turn out to be a week, or a month, but I'm gonna take a bit of break. I will also be taking a break from the scale. He's going to be put in another room, and I will focus on eating right and how I feel as opposed to what he's telling me. I will however spot check myself once or twice, in case I should be switching to maintenance during this period.

What this doesn't mean? No, I'm not quitting weight watchers, I will still be counting points and staying on track. My motivation hasn't been so great lately, but it also hasn't been bad. So I'm still planning on counting points and staying on track. Just will be skipping some weigh ins.

Exercise wise I am going to pay attention to my body. Some weeks I feel like could exercise everyday and be fine with that. Other weeks, my joints hurt and I'm sore and tired. If I'm sore and tired, I need rest, it's my body's way of telling me that. That's how I feel this week, My knees hurt, my calfs hurt, I'm tired and my hip is bothering me. But at the same time exercise makes me feel better...what a catch 22.

Also doesn't mean I won't be keep in touch via your blogs!

So a little vacation for me! But I will talk to you all soon via your blogs!