My concoction

Sometimes, especially with Stuart gone, I really crave bad food.  I mean, I'm eating well 89% of the time, and sometimes I just NEED mac & cheese.  Today my craving was Broccoli, Cheese & Rice.

Here's where a dash of "Big Poppa" comes in.  Big Poppa is what the kids call my dad.  He's far too cool to be called Grandpa or anything like that.  Honestly, he and my sisters play laser tag every Tuesday.  I'm not kidding in the least.  He is the master of throwing a bunch of crap in a pot and it becoming a meal.  In the last few years, I've really discovered that it's rubbed off on me a bit.

I digress...

I didn't have the proper ingredients for my dish, so I had to improvise.  When I had the Culver family over for Memorial day, I bought some Tostitos Salsa con Queso.  I figured that would be better than Kraft Fat Free cheese.  :p  In fact, the Queso is really low in points - check it out.

So, here's what I ended up with:

1 bag Success Brown Rice

1 can Condensed Cream of Chicken soup  (I didn't have cream of mushroom)

1 16 oz bag frozen broccoli

2/3 cup Tostitos Salsa con Queso

1/3 cup shredded fat free cheese

I cooked the rice and broccoli, following package directions.  In the meantime, I preheated the oven to 350*.  I combined the queso and soup in a casserole dish.  Once the rice and broccoli were finished, I dumped them in the dish, and mixed it all together.  I topped it with the shredded cheese.  Cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes.  :)

Using the recipe builder on WW.com, I estimated that this was about 8 servings, so 3 pts a serving.  Not too shabby for comfort food!

I think, in the future, I'd put a little less queso or a little more rice.  It was nice to have the extra kick of the salsa.  You know, it also would've been good with chicken breast in it.  I had a chicken breast separately, though.

All in all, it was a satisfying little "cheat".  Plus, since it's spicy, I have PLENTY left over, because the kids wouldn't eat it.  Hee hee.

Weighing in...

This week's weight is 199.0!!!!

I'm so excited that I'm under the 200 lb mark.  I really didn't know that I could possibly see it this fast.  I'm proud of myself, frankly.  

If I'm able to lose 15 total pounds before the hubs and I head to NOLA, I'm going to be so excited.  Since I've only got 2 weeks, it's a little much to lose, but I guess it could happen.

I'm down another point - now at 25 points a day.

This past weekend Stuart came home for a couple of days.  I ate REALLY badly while he was here.  I'm surprised I didn't gain 5 lbs, really.  I'm glad that I didn't let it get me down.  In the past, I would've had a weak day or two, then given up.  I got right back on track.

I now need to work on being more assertive when he comes in and insist on cooking healthy meals when he's home.  It's just so rare for him to be here, and we end up partying while he's here...  BBQ ribs, pizza, the whole deal.

I'm so excited that my trip is soon, and I'll get to wear my hot little dress.  

Why Do People Think It's Their Business...

... and their "right" to comment on YOUR goals?
Setting a personal goal and reaching it is something that you already know will be hard work. But, that it will pay off once you've accomplished it. It's something that you do for yourself. So why do other people feel the need to dictate what, and how you should go about doing it?
For example:
According to WW.com, my ideal weight is between 113 and 130 pounds.
I have made the choice that my goal weight is 130 pounds. I know what I look like that that weight, I know my pant size will be around an 8 in womens, that my arms will lose that flab, my ever persistent double chin will go away, my thighs won't rub together anymore, and if I continue with my elliptical routine I will have an ass that you could bounce a quarter off of. 130 pounds is a comfortable, attainable, familiar number to me.
113 is another story, I don't know what I would look like at 113 pounds. So, I figure I'm going to get down to 130 and go from there. If I can look at my body when I'm 130lbs, and see how losing 17 more pounds would benefit me, then I'm gonna go for it. If I think I look great and am feeling comfortable at 130 - then I'll stay put.
A lot of that has to do with the fact that I'm not changing to be "skinny", I'm changing to be healthy. At the same time, with how busty I am, I don't want to look like I'm about to fall over due to being "top heavy" LOL.
I've chosen to not mention what I'm doing to too many people in my life, because I hate being pestered about it. "So, how's that diet going?"... "Seeing any results yet?"... and yadda yadda. It makes me feel like they are just waiting for me to fail. Like they might as well just ask "So, have you totally bombed out yet?"
But, with the few that I have shared it with - they are feeling the need to tell me what they think is an appropriate amount of weight for me to lose. It's frustrating because I don't think that their input is necessary . This is MY personal goal. I didn't ask for advice on it, and I'm not asking for their thoughts either. It's a goal I've set that I feel is a great one for me.
Maybe they don't see how their comments and opinions come off so negatively?

:)

Amber is doing SO well, she is putting me to SHAME! Lol - congratulations Amber, you are doing so awesome!!

I'm back on the wagon after a brief few days of slipping.

Which got me to thinking...

I really hate that I'm one of those people that make things "all better" by eating food.
The first thing I did after my ER visit because of my m/c was say "F___ it" and I had DH go to Taco Bell for me. WHY do I do that? What is it about food that makes things "all better"?
In the long run, it doesn't. And you KNOW it doesn't. It just continues that damn circle of being unhappy.
And after spending all night in the ER with DD? Came home, cried, and ate two frozen pretzels.
Those silly little things are something that I love, and I had bought them as little treats for myself. Yet, they were the first thing I reached for when I was upset.
I really want to be/wish I was one of those people that threw on their tennis and went for a run to solve anger, frustration, sadness issues. Can you retrain your brain to do that? Or am I fighting a never ending battle here?
I guess I'll be experimenting on myself, because I'm going to try as hard as I can to remember that my tennis are sitting right by the front door - and when I'm upset, I'm going to go for a walk. I'm gonna do my own little test to see if I do it enough, if I can get it to be an automatic "need" when things get rough. Instead of reaching for the food.
The walk would have done me so much better than the Taco Bell.

So anyways - starting over here! Scale said 187, so, I've got some catching up to do if I wanna keep up with Amb - that girl is on a roll baby!

Weigh in day!

This morning was weigh-in time.  I am happy to report that I now weigh

200.5 lbs

I honestly cannot believe the progress I'm making on WW.  I've tried unsuccessfully for such a long time to lose weight.

Oh, and I now have one less point per day.  My new points target is 26.  :)

A little update...

Well, the "goal dress" that I got for my trip to New Orleans came today.  I'm glad I listened and ordered a large instead of an XL.  I tried it on, and it doesn't look half bad.  It's awfully short, though.  I haven't worn a short dress in a long time.  It's an adorable dress.  Aw, heck, I guess I'll post the picture.

It happens that my trip will be happening almost a month earlier than I'd planned.  I think there's still a chance that I could meet my goal of being down 15 lbs before we go.  If not, I'm confident that I will have lost 10.  Just being under the 200 lb mark will be reason enough to go celebrate.  It's been almost 2 years since I've seen that.

I really am amazed at my progress.  I'm really sticking with this and documenting everything I eat.  I'm exercising, and enjoying it.  I'm feeling better about myself little by little.  I know I've started taking better care of myself, and that's something to be proud of.  

Thank you for continuing to keep up with us.

**on a personal note, I just want my friend, Roni, to know that she and her family are in my prayers.  I'm not going to pretend to understand how you must feel, but I do know that you are a strong, resilient woman, and I love you.**

Weigh in Week 2!

Well, today marks the beginning of week 3 for me.  I had my weigh in this morning and, drumroll, please...

I'm down 2 lbs!  My weight today is 203.5!

Kinda Sad!

So, I went to the clinic today (will write about that in my other blog..) and I was, of course, weighed. I was a little excited because I haven't gotten a recent weight. At first I kept putting off getting a scale, and THEN I lost my debit card. THEN I lost my husbands and his was taken and used fraudulently.
Needless to say, both cards were canceled and new ones are on the way. They just haven't gotten here yet.
Anyways.
My weight is 189.2. I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't less, I thought it would be as my pants are fitting noticeably comfier. Maybe it was all in my head.
BUT, some weight loss is better than no weight loss and a LOT better than weight gain.

I'm in the same boat as Amber, with being hesitant to use up Flex Points. Although, I keep reminding myself that I do need a little reward now and then, so I don't burn myself out.
I want my new card so I can order my WW calculator too darn it!

A struggle

After Logan was born, I lost my baby weight and then some pretty quickly.  I felt WONDERFUL, and I looked all right, I think.  When I had my hysterectomy, I gained 20 lbs that wouldn't go away.  No matter what.

I tried SO many times, so many ways to lose it.  My weight would fluctuate.  I'd lose 2 lbs here, then gain 4 lbs there.  Nothing would be different about my routine.  I guess my metabolism was just shot.  I was running 3+ days a week, going to the gym 3+ days a week, and wasn't seeing any results.

Now, I'm finishing up my second week of WW, and I'm noticing that I'm having a hard time some days making myself finish all of my points.  My week ends tomorrow night and I still have all 35 flex points.  

In the back of my mind, I'm scared.  I've lost 4 lbs, and want to keep losing.  I want to be healthy, too.  I just don't want to screw it all up sneaking an extra 5 pts here and there.  Even though I KNOW they're there for me to use, it's hard to allow myself permission to use them.

Is this something that gets easier?  Do you always use all of your flex points?  How do I teach my brain that it's okay?  

Here's a goal for me

This sexy little number will be headed my way in 3-5 business days.  I think it's pretty cute.  It's a size smaller than I'm wearing right now, which is a risk for me.  I was encouraged to order it that way by multiple parties, though.  I'm planning on wearing it in mid-late July, and if I stay on the right track, I could possibly lose up to 18 lbs, if I lose 2 lbs/week.  I know that's not likely, and is on the high end of what's healthy to lose, so if I lose 10 lbs by then, I should be all right.  

And you know what?  If it doesn't fit by then, maybe it will a month after that.  

I'll be doing pilates to try to help my posture and strengthen my abs and back.

I have to get back on track with the elliptical since hubby is gone again.  I need to do 30 minutes at least 4 days a week.

Please keep checking on me.  This accountability is awesome!

Oh, and my new favorite healthy food is Ronzoni Smart Pasta.  Check it out!  Faaaaabulooooous!

A woman possessed

It sure hasn't taken long for me to get obsessive about my measuring cups and scale.  I've all ready gotten pretty dang good at eyeballing serving sizes.

Case in point:

For lunch today, I cooked some large chicken breast pieces, some yellow squash (MMMMM!) and some instant organic mashed potatoes.  (the potatoes are pretty low in points because I only use water and a tiny dab of light Country Crock spread.  Not like grandma makes, that's for sure!)

I digress...

I served up the kids' lunches, fixed a plate for DH, and there was a hunk of chicken on the pan left.  I eyeballed it, and cut myself a slice.  I placed it on my food scale, and it was exactly 3 oz!  How cool is that?  I've also developed that eyeballing ability with baby carrots, too.  Don't worry - I still measure always.  It's just that it's kind of a game for me.  ;) 

Oh, and here's a little tip - I really enjoy old fashioned Quaker Oats for breakfast from time to time.  They're comfort food for me.  Back in the day, my Nanny would make it for me for breakfast every day when I stayed with her.  Of course, she'd add a pat of butter, Lord only knows how much sugar, and some whole milk to it.  

Today I made my Quaker Oats, with water only - no butter -, and was trying to figure out the best way to sweeten it a little bit.  I looked up brown sugar, I looked up table sugar, and was thinking about what else I had here that might work.  I ate the last of the yogurt last night, or that would've been an option for me.  I decided on Lite pancake & waffle syrup.  2 tablespoons is a serving size, and is WAY enough sweet to make the oatmeal palatable.  A serving is very low in points, too!  Yay!!!

I didn't finish my points yesterday, so I know I really need to make sure I'm keeping my blood sugar stable all day instead of waiting and letting it crash when I'm hungry.  

Okay, off to WalMart.  I've gotta stock up again.  :)

Thursday Weigh in! Week 1

Let me preface this with a little info:

This past week, I have eaten pizza - from a restaurant, Chik Fil A, and numerous not healthy choices.  My husband just got back from being out of town, and it's hard to convince him not to want to eat out.  I have been VERY aware of points, portions, and drinking calories.  (Thank you, diet coke, and unsweet tea!)

My starting weight before this whole adventure was 209.5.

Do you wanna know what the scale said this morning?

205.5!!!!!!  I cannot believe it.  CANNOT!  I have lost 4 lbs!  

I haven't been drinking enough water, and I haven't been working out AT ALL.

I am on cloud nine.  I honestly am.

Checkin' in...

So today is the end of my first week of WW.  I've been doing a really good job of tracking all my points and keeping up with them.  As of right now, I still have over 20 weekly points to play with.  I'm really having a hard time allowing myself to use them.

Here's the craziest part - we've eaten out a few times!  I'm very aware of serving sizes and appropriate choices after just the first week.

I haven't done much playing on the boards on WW's site.  I'm just using the trackers and points search features.  I don't really have much time, frankly.  The hubby's home for just a few days before going to drydock for a while, and I'm trying to spend as much time with him as I can.

I'm hopeful about tomorrow's weigh-in.  I'm hoping to see some results.  I really am.

I know that I'm not drinking enough.  I need to purchase a water bottle.  If I don't have it readily available, I'm not going to drink it.  

I need to get moving.  With Stuart home, I haven't done any exercise at all.  I purchased a Pilates video with resistance bands, so I'm going to try that tonight and see how it goes.  I need to work on my flexibility since I'm not able to take dance classes right now.

I'm doing a great job weighing my foods and measuring accurate portion sizes.  Go me!  

Thank you so much to all of you that are reading and keeping up with us.  I've gotten countless e-mails and private messages about it.  It's the accountability that's going to keep me accountable.  I appreciate you caring enough to check in!

Nifty Little Thing

So, I was in Wal-Mart today doing some veggie shopping, and picking up some odds and ends meal stuff. While I was walking through the bread isle I noticed a woman who was picking up a loaf of bread, punching some numbers in to a calculator, picking up another loaf of bread, and would again, punch numbers in to a calculator.
My mind started wandering about people who bring calculators to the store. I usually just keep a mental note of what I'm spending, rounding up to the nearest number. I figured though, that if you were on a tight budget, or you were super strict about your budget that this might be a worthwhile thing to do. Just, making your total a more accurate number.
When I passed her however, I noticed a familiar symbol on her calculator:

So, I had to stop and ask her what exactly it did, and where she got it.
I'm really not a person to stop and talk to people here in this town - people are generally really rude. But this lady was sweet as sugar. I told her I had seen her earlier looking at different types of breads. She explained that the one she usually gets they didn't have, but it wasn't really a problem since she had her Points Calculator with her. I told her that a friend and I had recently joined, and that we were blogging about our journey with it. She thought that was the neatest thing! She asked if I was going to go to meetings, and I told her I hadn't really made up my mind on that part yet. That I was going to see how online'ing went first.
We chatted for a little bit, and she showed me her WW Calculator. It seems like the handiest thing, you simply enter in the calories, fats, and fiber and it will give you the points value of each serving. Turns out the bread she was looking at was 2 pts. per slice. I guess the bread she normally bought was 1pt. per slice.
I asked her if the calculator was something that she maybe earned as a perk for losing weight, or maybe they handed out to people who went to the meetings. She said she did infact get hers at a meeting, but that she was almost positive that they sold them on the WW site - she said she though it was around 10 bucks.
She said it was worth every penny!
We chatted for a few more minutes, and then parted ways. She said she'd keep an eye out for me at the meetings, incase I decided to show up. If the majority of the members are like her, I just might go try it out :)
So, I came home and after awhile of looking on the WW site, I did find the calculator and it is about 10$. It sure looks handy, especially if it's kept in your purse for the times like the lady at the store found herself in. If your "usual" isn't there, you can do a little looking around and find the next best thing.
There are a few different models. Some track your steps and will calculate point values for you, which I think is neat too.
I think I'm gonna stick with the calculator for now though, and maybe upgrade later on!
They offer a points calculator online, which is nice. But, it can be a pain to go back and forth checking thing on the computer. It would be nicer to have it right there on the counter, or in your purse for at the store.

I'm doing ... better with my water. Finding more creative things to do with my salads too. I now have two of those spray dressings in my fridge. One is Italian (Yum!) and today I picked up a Caesar. I have yet to try it, I hope it's good.
I'm going to start looking up some good, low point marinades for my chicken breasts too. I could eat some diced up chicken on my salad every day :)

I have also been walking twice around my block every day. Some days I am doing it all at once, others I'm walking around once and then walking around later.
I need to find a place that can replace the tires on my Jogger stroller for Ryleigh (anyone know where to even look for those). It's an LL Bean Jogger, so I don't know if I would have to specifically look there for them. Anyways, the tread is worn, which makes it a pain to push.
My elliptical days are becoming Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's easier to do when DD is at Pre-school. If I do it while she's home, she wants to "play" with it too.
I'm going to have the ass of J.Lo by the end of summer if I keep it up! Man, that thing makes ya feel the burn!

This weekend I'm going to follow up with a WW suggestion, which is going through your cabinets and taking a permanent marker and writing the point values of each thing on it's box or container.
Part of one of my lower cabinets is going to be designated as "Mommy's" also. It's going to be a little spot for items that are just for Mommy. It will ensure that when I need a quick snack or special treat that Daddy and Baby haven't oinked it all!

I still need to buy a scale!

Daily Point Target : 26

22 to 27 points seemed to me like I was going to be hungry all day long while doing this. But, I've found that it's a tad challenging fitting it all in.
I can eat salads like they're goin' outta style, so you'll probably see a lot of those on my updates. I'm trying to just squeeze lemon juice on the salads, as a substitute for the salad dressing - but I'm a total Ranch girl, and I might up giving in and taking the points hit :) I seriously could eat a salad with a baked or grilled chicken breast cut up on it everyday!
I know that water is going to be a struggle with me. I am a juice kind of gal. But, the more I thought about it... I really would rather be able to have a couple more snacks than 1 glass of juice.
Breakfast has been a struggle for the past 3 days for me also. I'm just not a breakfast person, and am working on training myself to be. One thing that I've noticed is that I'm not as hungry during the day. From what I'm reading, that's due to ... eating breakfast :)
I'm still figuring out all the features on WW.com - and trying to decide if I want to combine the WW meeting with the Online features, or just stick to the program online. There's a coupon I believe you can take to attend a free meeting that's posted on the WW homepage. I think I might check it out just to figure out what would be more beneficial to me.

According to WW online, my "goal weight" is...

113 lbs.

Want to know how much weight I need to lose?
(let me say I cannot believe I'm posting this, my DH doesn't even know my weight...)
80 pounds.

Yep, I'm 5'3 and 193 lbs.

My 10% difference is:

174



It's overwhelming, but the reading that I'm doing on WW.com is helping. It's making it not seem like some never ending battle.
I like seeing others' weight loss amounts too. It makes you think "If they can do that, I can do it".
Plus, I'm TTC now - and I want to be as healthy as I can possibly be. The extra weight that I'm carrying around can be a contributing factor to why I haven't conceived yet. I'd rather work my ass off to lose this weight, than do any more rounds of Clomid.

I've also decided to start with the Flex Plan, like Amber is doing. I think it seems a little simpler. The nice thing about WW online that I see, is you're able to easily switch plans.

I'm working on building to courage to post some pictures similar to Ambers - but my mind is still reeling at
1. The fact that I'm 193 pounds
2. The reality being that I need to lose 80 pounds
***********************************************************************
I'm adding in some websites that we're suggested to me on WW.com :)
http://www.freewebs.com/tink24neverland/justfornewbies.htm
http://www.freewebs.com/purduepicc/fyi.html
http://www.freewebs.com/wwlaricha/faq.htm
***********************************************************************

Wish me luck

...and so it begins

So today is my first day of Points counting, water tracking, measuring and weighing Weight Watchers life.  Surprisingly, over the last week I lost 1 lb.  LOL!  Maybe just being in the mindset that I was about to get started on all of this.  

I find it really easy to track points on the site.  They make it very user friendly.  

For breakfast, I had:

1c Special K Red Berries cereal

1/2c skim milk

1 banana

2 glasses of water

and my daily vitamin

Not too shabby, and a whopping 5 points.  I've got 27 for the day, and I'm going to have to really work to eat that much.  

Lunch:

1 chicken artichoke sausage with mozzarella  - yummy and low in points!

2 cups raw baby spinach

3 oz baby carrots

100 cal Rice Krispies treat - Choc Drizzle

Unsweet Tea to drink

Dinner:  (You're not gonna believe this!)

Cici's Pizza

2 slices Spinach Alfredo pizza

1 slice Ole' Pizza

1 slice Alfredo Pizza

2 pcs cinnamon roll dessert

salad

Diet Coke (how funny is this after eating all that?!  ROFL!  Every calorie counts, though, and there's no sense in drinking calories!)

Snack:

1 Weight Watchers Giant Fudge Bar (yumm-o!)

Total points for the whole day?  29!  EVEN with eating out!  So I used a couple of my weekly cheater points, but we ate out!  We ate PIZZA!  Yay for day 1!

For the record, the May issue of Good Housekeeping (with Paula Deen on the cover - the irony kills me...NOW?) has some great exercises to do at home.  If you don't subscribe, maybe they'll post them online.  I tore 'em out and tacked them to the wall in the computer/elliptical room.  

I'll be filling you in on my daily progress.  :)