400th Post

It's hard to believe that I've been blogging on & off since 2006. It's harder to believe that I've written 400 blog posts - all about my struggles & successes losing weight. You would think by post 400 that I would have it all figured out. But I don't & I'm still learning things about myself. I'm learning that I can really push myself when I am motivated. I'm also learning that I can really talk myself out of exercise or into eating/drinking something bad if I really want to. That's one thing I'm working on - my inner voice.

Today has been great in terms of diet & exercise. I got to the gym for a 45 minute spin/strength class. We cycled for 35 minutes & did arms & abs for 10 minutes. It was tough. I have been off the spin bike since July & that is surprisingly long enough to become out of shape. I held my own though & tried to look like my lungs weren't about to explode out of my chest. It was a great workout & my coworker wants to go to the 60 minute spin class tomorrow. I can do this.

Weight: 152.2 (yay! The scale really moved!)
Breakfast: Quaker Oats Lower Sugar Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal (2), large iced coffee with skim & splenda from Dunkin Donuts (1)
Snack: Special K chocolatey pretzel bar (2)
Lunch: Fat free spicy refried beans (2), cheese sauce (1) & fat free sour cream (1) - sounds gross but to me it's like a tortilla-free bean burrito
Snack: 1/2 WW bagel (1) & 1 tbsp of WW cream cheese
Dinner: Smart Ones Fettucine Alfredo (4)
Desert: Weight Watchers chocolate chip ice cream cup (2), Sugar Free Angel food cake (2), Fat free cool whip (2)
Exercise: 45 minute spin & sculpt class (-2?)
Total: 19 out of 21

Hump Day!

Today is day 3 of Weight Watchers & so far, so good! So far I'm down 1 lb but I will take it. My goal is to lose 2 lbs a week & if I can lose another lb by Monday I will be a happy camper. Baby steps.

I made it to the gym, which I'm really proud of. I met the goal I set Monday of getting to the gym at least 2-3 times a week. Yay! I'm going to a strength & spin class tomorrow morning with my coworker. Work was crazy but I managed to get away for about 45 minutes. I'm lucky to have a free gym at work, which I need to take advantage of more. They offer spin class, step class, Zumba, all sorts of fun classes that the offer all day long.

Weight: 154.4
Breakfast: Egg white omelet with veggies & 1 slice of American cheese (4), iced coffee with a splash of skim & splenda (0) - omelette was made with no butter, the cook uses Pam...I'm also very lucky to have a really affordable cafeteria at work as well that makes healthy, yummy food!
Lunch: I was in and out of meetings all day & didn't get a chance to eat before my 3pm gym "meeting"...that's bad, I know. I was starving & never made it back to my desk to grab a healthy snack.
After Work Snack: Arnolds sandwich thin (1), slice of Turkey (.5), slice of American cheese (1), 1tbs of light mayo (.5)
Dinner: Turkey taco salad: lettuce (0), 97/3 turkey meat (4), cheese sauce (2), light sour cream (1) - we didn't have any other toppings but it tasted great!
Desert: 100 calorie Hostess chocolate cupcakes (1)
Exercise: 30 minutes on the elliptical - burned 275 calories (-2)
Total: 13 out of 21

I did a lot of organizing & cleaning after work as well. All in all a productive day but I should have eaten more...lesson learned!

Snoozeday!

Happy Tuesday! Or Snoozeday as I like to call it. So last night's menu did include wine but in my defense, I had points left over & used 2.5 flex points. It's not the end of the world & I wasn't going to let delicious vino go to waste! I have one glass of Pinot Grigio left in the house, may or may not drink that or may save it for the weekend. We're going out of town this weekend for a wedding. I'm going to try to stay on-point as much as possible but will try to save my flex points just in case. Anyway, on to today's progress report...

Weight: 154.8 (did I mention I'm on my period? That counts, right?)
Breakfast: Quaker Oats Lower Sugar Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal (2), Oikos Plain FF Greek Yogurt (2), Coffee with splenda & a dash of skim milk (0)
Lunch: Michelina's Lean Gourtmet Lasagna (5)
Snack: Special K Chocolatey Pretzel bar (2) - sidenote: these are amazing, sooo good for 2 points - salty & sweet
Workout: 40 mins on the elliptical (burned 390 calories) (-3?)
After work snack: handful or 2 of popcorn (1), boca burger (1), Arnold's sandwich thin (1), 1 slice of American cheese & light mayo/ketchup (1), 2 cupcakes from 100 calorie pack (.5), 1/2 glass of Pinot Grigio (1)
Dinner: Lean Cuisine Fettucine Alfredo (4)
Desert: Smart Ones Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sundae (3) & Defcap hot tea
Total: 20.5 points out of 21

Starting Over...Again

Ok - let's get real. I've gained a solid 15 pounds over the past year & a half. This is crazy to me, considering I'm only 5'2 & that is a lot of weight for my frame. Oddly enough, I can still fit in most of my clothes. Then again, most of my clothes are stretchy dresses & outfits that incorporate leggings in some way or another. I even own a pair of jeggings. Jeggings are jean leggings. And I wear them often. With all of the stretch & material in my clothing, I have comfortably & knowingly put on these pounds.

So starting today (and I know I've said this before), I'm on weight watchers & I'm going to be honest with myself about what I'm actually consuming. No more handfuls of chips, bites of ice cream, or bites of whatever delicious food my husband is eating. I need to get back on track before it gets too far. Before I am resorting to filling out an application for The Biggest Loser because it's gotten too out of hand. And also, because my husband & I are trying to have a baby. When that happens (lord willing), I do not want to be overweight.

Goal: drop 20 lbs by Chrismas
Plan: Weight Watchers, exercise (3-4 times a week - at least 30 minutes of cardio with strength training at least 2x/week)& less alcohol

Alcohol
Now this may be my Achille's heel. I actually don't think I eat a lot of food, I'm not a binge eater by any means. At the end of the day, I don't dive into a gallon of ice cream, I'd rather have a glass or 2 of wine. But one or two can lead to three & this can be 200-500 extra calories a day. Slowly adding up to the weight I am now.

So how much do I weigh? 155.4 lbs according to my scale this morning. I must say, I think that is from some of the junk I ate over the weekend and I wouldn't be surprised if the scale is down 2-3 lbs tomorrow. I have been averaging at about 149-151 lbs for the past 9 months.

So here is my food journal for the day...I will keep updating as the day goes on or tonight when I get home from work. I really want to be accountable so any bite, lick, taste or sip I take, I will record it here. Even if I reaaaally don't want to.

9.27.10
Weight: 155.4
Breakfast: Special K with skim milk (4), iced coffee with splenda & a splash of skim milk (0)
Lunch: Lean Cuisine Cheese Raviolis (4)
Mid afternoon Snack: Special K Chocolaty Pretzel bar (2)
After work snack: Cup of cauliflower & cheese (0), Sugar-Free Jello (0), Smart Pop Popcorn (3), 1 100-calorie cupcake out of 3 pack (.5)
Dinner: Turkey burger (4.5), Arnolds flat bread (1), low fat mayo & ketchup (1), 1 slice of American cheese (1)
Workout: 35 Minutes Elliptical (burned 368 calories) (-3)
Wine: 1.5 glasses of Pinot Noir (3.5), 1 glass of Pinot Grigio (2)
Total: 23

Which means I used 2 flex points...considering I get 21 points a day. Not that bad but could have done without the wine. However, it's Monday & after a long day, I think that's not "thattttt bad". :)

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

healthy eating is boring!

I've been eating very healthy for the past 3 weeks & I'm down 5 lbs. I'm happy with it but I'm still not at a happy weight. I want to lose 9 lbs this month & I have a goal in mind. I have two weddings to go to in the next 5 weeks. One is a friend from high school & another was my college roommate. So within 2 weeks I will be seeing a lot of people I haven't seen in a while.

I think Couch to 5k is in order....I've done it in the past & it's easy & a great way to exercise. Couch to 5k