Today

I didn't really track today. I gave myself the day off. Baby boy had tubes put in his ears and what I ate was the least of my concerns today.

It is ok to take a day, once in a while.

And this week has been really good.

Next week will be too!

A Vay-cay Update

We've been on a little vay-cay for the last few days, so as you can imagine my food choices are limited. I've also eaten out more in the last week than I have the whole year.....VACATION! Remember when eating out used to be fun? Not so much anymore.

Anyway, we're also at a house with a full length mirror. OH THE SHOCK AND HORROR! No, I am not talking about stretch marks on my abdomen either, they're actually looking fairly good, all things considered. No, no, no, it's me. I'm fat and I'm tired of being fat. So, I guess the good feelings of being in a smaller size of fat pants are officially gone.

I really need to get back on program and really get serious about my weight. I have a mental wall though. How do I get past this? Any ideas? I really want to get down to my prepregnancy weight. Does anyone have a magic wand I can borrow? hehe.

Anyway, on this trip, I've made some decisions about my life and lifestyle. I'm going to be implementing them when I get home. I just hope I can find that mental push to make it happen.

Hurdles

There is a truth universally acknowledged, that when I am stressed I eat.

Been eating a lot these last two days, and I'm not sure how to get a hold of myself and my urges to go to the fridge for comfort.

I know that this is my biggest hurdle of all right now, and the hurdles always scared me at the track meet.

At least I am not just eating spoons of mayonaise anymore like I did when I was teaching. No, I never did that, but you get the point.....it's stress, but different.

Missing!

The scale seems to have disappeared?? But with a small child, I'm not surprised. So when I find it, and that means I have to look for it, I will post some results.

Gazpacho, shoes and some more resolve

A few words then I must go...

I discovered gazpacho this week, and I love it. Summer in a bowl, I will post the recipe I made from 2 other recipies later on.

New shoes came and they are great, except they are glaring white! It made me think of the time I was in Munich in 1991. Hi-top Reebox were all the rage. Me and my American friends were standing in front of the Glockenspeil and some German teenagers cam up to us on a scavenger hunt. We asked them how they knew were were Americans. "You have on white shoes of course!" Oh, of course!

In other news, I'm down to 209#s. Thru no efforts of my own however. I've been sick the latter half of last week, and I tend to not eat when I'm not feeling good. Hence the weight loss. However, I am not complaining. I just need to make sure I don't sabotage myself.

But again, my resolve is to not go down the treat isle at the grocery store at all. If I just avoid it, I won't be tempted. And truth be told, when I am sick, treats have no taste and therefore are totally unwanted.

So here's to another week...

Forgot

i forgot to weigh in this morning....so no results today.

This is what happens on little to no sleep. The baby is teething....I look like death warmed over, microwaved and a week old. Not very pretty.

Hopefully, I'll remember tomorrow and post results then

The Good, the Bad and the Way It Was.

As the old TV theme went: "You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life." And the facts were these, I gained 3 pounds this last week. I have no idea how, other than I just did.

And here is the real truth, I find that I have no motivation to do anything. It's so frustrating to want to do the right thing, but then not. I supposed I shouldn't snivel here, but that's what it is.

Today, I got out and walked the long walk, ate soup for lunch with no crackers or bread of any kind and I'm going to only eat fruit if I get hungry later on.

I hope it will be a better week.

Week 4 update

Today is the start of Week 4. I've lost 3 lbs. I knew it would be hard going back on WW with a newborn, but I didn't realize HOW hard. Most weekdays I don't get to excerceise, which makes me sad. However, I do try to take advantage of my DH being home on the weekend to get out and move.

The eating has been ok. I am still fighting some bad habits that re-emerged during pregnancy and am having to relearn how to self control. However, since I am still post partum and recovering from being pregnant and having a baby, I am not as militant with my food intake as I once was. I know I need nutrients to rebuild what was lost, so I don't feel bad if I have extra milk, or more fruit and veg in a day than my points allow. I figure if I need to eat more, make it count.

But, my sweet jogging stroller came. I can't wait till it warms up a bit more, then we are out of here on a daily basis, and I know excercise will be easier then.

Welcome 2009

Happy New Year and happy back on the wagon for me.

Baby was born on Nov 25th, 2008 a week an a half before his due date. I ended up gaining 45lbs over the course of the pregnancy. It was more than I wanted but, what can you do? You can't stop gaining weight, I just knew I'd have to work harder when the time preseneted itself.

And the time has presented itself and here I am. I am the same weight 220lbs I was when I stared WW, two years ago. However, I am proportioned a bit differently...go figure??!! My lower half is bigger than my upper half and so up until this week I'd still been wearing my maternitly pants. And yes it was totally bugging me too. I finally got out and into town and to the fat lady store for some new fat pants. I found that my old fat pants all look like just that, old and was not ok with that.

So, new fat pants in hand, here I go.

I started my WW diet on Monday. So far, w/o excercising I've lost 2lbs. Granted I have been hungry and it's been hard to not eat whenever and whatever, but I know I can get thru it. I have to get myself out of prenancy mode. I will say this about being pregnant. I did not like it, except for the fac that I didn't have to worry about food. That was nice.

Yesterday (Friday) my DH was home and I was able to get out and walk for the first time in 9 months too! How great it was! How out of shape I am! Anyway, it will take time to work back up to where I was, and I won't be able to go out with Baby till it warms up a bit, but I am hopefull. Right now, I have some walk at home DVDs and a thigh master thingy to do at home on the week days, and I will add that next week.

Bit by bit...here I go again. Hopefully, I will fit into my regular clothes by summer!

A fact of note....

Oh, and I should mention that I am pregnant too.....21 weeks as of this writing, so I've not done WW since the middle of March when I found out.

I will say this, all of the stuff I leared at WW has really helped me as a pregnant lady. I know that I don't need to use being pregnant as an exuse to live at the Sonic. I do have my cravings, but I'm not off the wagon.

So, baby should join us on or about Dec 6th, 2008. In the new year I will be back on the wagon and at my weight loss goals once again.

Amazing belly fat diet, and a factiod

I'm not dead nor have I fallen off the WW wagon. I've just been taking a break from the daily grind of point counting, food portioning and keeping track of things. For the record however, I am maintaining my weight...yay me!

I did hear an interesting factoid the other day which I'd thought I'd share. I heard that for every one pound of weight you loose, it decreases the stress on your knees by four pounds. So for me, I've lost 35 pounds, multiply that by 4 and you get 140 pounds of pressure taken off my knees. I can honestly say that has been one of the most noticeable things about me this last year. My knees do not hurt anymore!

I also got some junk mail today advertising a new wonder diet! It's call the eat fat diet, or belly fat diet. According to the people selling this diet, the more mono-unsaturated fat you eat the more belly fat you will loose and fast. The made some outrageous claim of 7 inches off your waist and X number of pounds in 36 hours. Please.

When, oh when, will people stop falling for these types of things? Take Atkins for example. Sure you loose a ton of weight, but you don't keep it off once you go off Atkins, not to mention some of the harmful sideffects (diebetic askemia, constipation, kidney stones and lack of nutrients). The same will be true of this diet. It will give fast results, but once off the diet, the weight will come back.

This was my whole reasoning behind going to WW. I knew I needed to make lifestyle changes. I knew I needed to learn about food and portion sizes and nutrition. I have learned these things, they have become part of how I live and I am not even tempted by my old life.

Just moderating what you eat and how you eat will be more effective than any amazing diet that comes in the mail or that is advertised on TV.

Hot and Steamy Yoga is not a Cheap Porno

I don't get it....

The day I eat ice cream, and Haagen-Daz, no less and almonds and a couple of bites of sweeted condensed milk (I know it's weird, but I like to eat this plain, but it's really good, creamy and sweet!) I loose weight! I don't get it people, I just don't get it. I obviously went waaaaay over on my points yesterday, but I lost.

Confused I am.

But in good news, a Bikram Yoga studio is opening up in the very small town in which I live. If you don't know Bikram Yoga is Yoga done in temps above 95 degrees F. It's supposed to be really good and good for you. When I explained this to my husband I said, "It's like hot and steamy yoga." To which he quipped, "It sounds like a cheap porno when you put it like that." (I know that's going to net some weirdo googles....be gone ye perverts, this here is a PG rated blog!)

I think spring is on it's way, the snow is almost melted from our yard and I've been puttering in the yard this week. I'm just waiting for it all to melt so I can get back to my garden, which is the best way to relax, ever!

Nipping it in the Bud

I just realized I didn't post last week. It's ok, it has been an unremarkable fortnight. I've seen my scale numbers slowly creep up and some old (read: lazy) habits creep back in. I know I've got to just nip it in the bud.

Start nipping people.

I need to figure out a way to get my brain to listen to my body signals. I know when I'm full, but why do I keep eating? I know I'm not hungry, so why do I seek out a a snack?

I tell you, after a year of WW you think I would have mastered these things by now, but it looks like I haven't.

The Sour Cream Racket

Not only are my family notorious butter sumgglers, they apparently have gotten into the sour cream racket as well.

I thought I would be doing some cooking while here, but no. The Mormons* have come to our food aid with copious pans of enchaladas. I mean, we have chicken, beef, green chili, red chili, hot, and not hot. All with sour cream.

Not only that my Aunt Mae brought over some soup last night. I was eating a bowl, and thinking "How good and creamy is this?" It was then that I realized I was eating sour cream with some token potatoes and celery thrown in. Oh my -- but it was so GOOD!!

It's a good thing I brought my walking gear.

*We are Mormons, when Mormons get sick it's typical that members of the congregation will bring over food etc, for the sick person's family. Since half my family is our congreation, you can see how they have gotten into the sour cream racket. :)

My family, the butter smugglers

Thanksgiving was great, but I am tired of food already, and it's only December 3rd. Seriously, why do we always have to have food around. And it's not that it's just food, it's that it's SOOOOOO much food the table creaks under the pressure!

I admited to my husband that I needed his help to get me thru the holidays. His parents house for Thanksgiving, although a heart healthy desination, was still full of food. My MIL was constantly cooking, wanting to feed us, making us eat. I went to bed with indigestion more nights than not.

So, we've planned our defenses for Christmas, which will be spent with my family, who are notorius butter smugglers. We're going to tell each other when to stop (just like drunks are supposed to do in a bar). No really, he is going to help me naviagate the foods of the season, so that I don't end up a life-sized fruit cake.

I've also resigned myself to the fact that I will have to do the cooking, so that I can cook and eat the things that I know will not be harmful for my diet. I don't mind that really, the trick is keeping things safre from my Mom's butter dish. She likes to slather on that stuff.....

And as for my goal....I have 7# to go. Can I do this before the 21st? I hope so.

Confessions of a Chinese Food Junky

Remember a few posts ago I lamented the fact that my DH didn't want to go the Chinese Buffet, because he thought it would kill us? That day we ended up going to Cleopatra's in the Santa Fe Design Center -- which by the way if you are ever in Santa Fe, you must go it, because it is the BEST Arab food EVER!

Well, Tuesday, I found myself unexpectedly in Santa Fe and very unprepared. Normally when I go down into town, I eat before, bring a snack with me and a few bottles of water. I didn't have anything like that with me at all....like I said, it was a surprise trip! SURPRISE!

I was hungry, so I did wanted to do the trip before, and eat at the Chinese Buffet. It was a mistake right from the start. I walked up and it smelled greasy, gross and not so fresh. I persisted and went in anyway.

I paid, was seated and made my way to the buffet. The usual things were offered -- various Chinese dishes and then French fries, corn dog bites, chicken nuggets?? I took my usual rice noodles, Kung Pao Chicken (which was really lacking in POW!), pepper beef, rice and 2 veg spring rolls.

It was not as good as I remembered it to be. It did nothing for me, and then I felt sick the rest of the day.

Lesson learned, or so I thought.

Yesterday, I was in Abq, and stopped into IHOP for lunch. Now, I was planning this trip because I knew I was going to be out and about. I knew what I was going to order before hand and I had calculated the points and so on before I even ordered. The server brought out my favorite, Swedish Crepes. I'd forgotten that they ker-plob a HUGE dallop of butter in the middle of the plate. The crepes were fine, the lingnon berry jam was fine, but that butter was nasty. I scraped it off as best as I could, but never again. If I ever eat at IHOP, I'll still get my crepes, but sans the butter...sorry Paula Deen, no butter here!

So what does this all mean? It means my food preferences really have changed. I crave homemade, veg and whole grain as opposed to fast, processed, and made to order. I'm really happy about that however, I really am. It shows that all this hard work has worked and that my lifestyle changes are my habits. I like these habits.

That is my confession, a confession from a Chinese food junky, who is now offically going to be clean and sober!

My Weight Loss is like a Third Order Polynomial

Well, I've come to the end of my 3rd WW food journal. I can say, it's been a very interesting 36 weeks or so.....

But instead of buying another book to track things in, my husband created a form for me on the computer to track things on. I've printed it out so I can keep in down stairs by the fridge. He also created a chart of my weight loss and made it all fancy-schmancy with graphics and whatnot. He said my weight loss resembled a thrid order polynomial, whatever that is -- doesn't he remember that I failed all math in high school and that the last math class I took was in 1993 at junior college, and even then I took just enough math to graduate? Ya, there is a reason I was a history teacher, not a math teacher, but I digres.

I've made a new goal for myself -- I want to loose 5% of my current body weight, which is 9 pounds, by Christmas. After Christmas, I think I will re-evaluate where I'm at and decide if I want to continue on with WW.

At anyrate, I think the new habits that I've made while on WW will stick with me. I didn't track my food at all last week and I managed to come out ok. I also found myself stopping eating when I felt full, taking right portion sizes at meals and reaching for healthy snacks when I needed a snack.

I think all is well in weight loss land. If I can make it thru October with out overdosing on Three Muskateers Mint Minis then I should be ok.

Plateau Bustin'

This is the third week I've weighed the same at my weigh in. I manage to go up and down all week, but when it's time to record my progress I am the same. I don't get it.

Well I do get it. I've not been into WW as much as I should be, or as much as I was. It is much easier to just eat and not think about things, but that's what got me Chicken Fat to begin with. And the funny thing is this, I have overeaten alot lately, and my body is screaming at me--"HEY DUMB *** WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?" And then my body says, "I will get her back, release the gall bladder!" And then zing, I have the raging last days of Pompeii in my stomach. I deserve it though, I really do. However, I will say that I am starting to like baking-soda cocktails, my antacid of choice.

I have managed to rid my house of most of the things that tempt me, but I will say this, I love my rice and potatoes. Some days that is what I crave--just rice with some butter and salt or a potatoe with butter and salt. I know these are higher point foods and there are things I could eat with more nutritional value, but I wonder if my cravings are because that's what my body needs or if it's just what my mind and tastebuds want. I love my complex-beige carbohydrates.

I will say this though, I will never stop excercising. I love walking everyday, and it's really good to clear my mind out. I won't stop with that even if I fail at WW. So, I'm going to think about plaeu busting this week. I really need to. I'm at my last big hill--so to speak, and so close to my goal weight! I will say this however, I have netted some good results. My blood pressure is down 12 points and I could not be happier (it's as close to normal as I will ever get--haha). I will not get the lecture this year when I take my physical, and if the NP tells me I am too fat, I will tell her, at least I am in the best shape of my life--so there--sticks tounge out and blows a raspberry!

Tales from the Stomach

I have a serious food hangover today, and I didn't really even eat that much, or that badly yesterday (Labor Day). What is up with that? I swear, when I got up this morning, I felt as if I'd been run over by an onion, hit in the stomach with a hot dog bat and deprived of all the water in my body. Not a good feeling.

However, I did manage to prepare a somewhat healthful meal--we had fat free hot dogs (mostly my husband had them), a baked onion, chicken burgers on whole wheat buns, salad and corn on the cob. No soda, no chips, no desserts.

Needless to say, today, I've had the last days of Pompeii raging in my stomach all day. It's 3pm and I still have 16 food points left. That is an a amazing ammount for this time of day. I doubt that I will even use half of that before the day is thru. Perhaps this is just what I needed to get me in the right mind set for the last 15 pounds.

Who knows, at this point though, I would like a baking soda cocktail followed by a maloxx chaser.

Keeping deamons in check.

I don't think you ever really break a bad habit. I think you just learn how to cope with them and keep them under control. With that said, I've felt like I've been batteling my bad habits for my life the last few days. I don't know why. I don't think that today has been all that bad, but it hasn't been great either. Scarlett O'Hara once said, "Tomorrow is another day!", but I think I use that excuse too much. I need to tell myself that while tomorrow is another day, you are living in today and will have to deal with today's choices tomorrow, so it's best to just leave today where it's at, the here and now.

I've also been thinking about a conversation I had with a very good friend the other night. We had, had a girls dinner party at her house and I was the last one to leave. She and I began to talk about my weigh loss and about some of the others in our group who were all on WW. As she was asking me how I was doing on my program she saked me how I had, had to change my life.

The changes have come in many ways. For one thing, I had to confront my food demonds and figure out why I was eating all the time. I think I was and am like that is because I feel like there is not much to do with my life. I know today I have felt pretty useless and have therefore been so tempted to eat all day. I've fallen a bit, but withheld as well. I gave in to the PBJ craving and skipped the ramen noodles.

It's a constant battle, here's to keeping the demon in check for another 24 hours.