I did it!

I can't believe it but in 4 weeks i was able to get back down to the weight I was before I started to gain!! I lost about 12.5 pounds in the last 4 weeks and 4.8 of those were this week alone!! Now, I can start losing again and feel like every pound counts because I don't feel like I am starting all over again. It's a good feeling to be back on track. Unfortunately it is a crazy time of year to be dieting. Halloween candy, Thanksgiving, making Christmas goodies and going to Christmas parties... oh my. this is gonna be hard, but I started Weight Watcher's last year in October right before Halloween. I did well too. I lost consistently for about 3.5 months straight without one gain. So, if I could do it then, I can do it now. I will be strong. I fit better in my clothes again and that feels great! I have 12 pounds until I get to my Weight Watcher's lifetime goal! Yay, then it's FREE! I will continue on to lose another 10-20 after that but I will be happy with even 10 more after my lifetime goal. I was that weight when I got married and I was thin. I am 5' 11" and I think a size 6 is good for my height. I do want to get lower but if my body won't go that low I will be ok with it. I can't wait until I can start walking again. My stroller got a flat tire and we are having a terrible time finding an inner tube to fit. I would love to start running again but my neck and back still ache when I try. .(car accident again...grrr.) I will have to walk on my treadmill or do some Fios exercise programs or my Wii. I have some dvd's but I still have to be careful of my injuries from the accident. anyway, I am so excited to share about my weight loss and I hope to have inspired someone out there to not quit! I wanted to. I saw my weight creeping back up and I just couldn't track my food every week. I kept giving in to the candy and the cookies. (my weaknesses!) I made excuses, but when I saw the scale one day and a number popped up that I had not seen in just under a year, I panicked and knew I needed to get back on track NOW, not next week, NOW. before it was too late and I was back where I first started. That would have been discouraging to me and I know my husband who pays for my meetings every week, would have been mad. Well, it is late and I need to get to sleep. Sleep is important in weight loss too. So goodnight everyone. :)

I am down 33.2 pounds!

I am soooo happy to say that I am finally losing weight steadily! I started Weight Watcher's in October last year. Just before Halloween and all that yummy chocolate smell. I have been working hard, eating right and getting as much exercise as I can. With my migrains it makes it hard to do a whole lot sometimes. Plus the back and neck injury from the car accident.

I have been losing 2-3 pounds average a week. Some weeks I have only lost 1 or sometimes I lose 4! (4 this week!!) I took a 3 week break from all dieting and ate what I wanted at Christmas and 2 of those weeks I lost .5 pound each week. the third I lost nothing (but, I didn't gain either) I was shocked completely!! I could not believe whith what I had eaten that I could lose anything. I fully expected to gain. Just goes to show that when you lose at a healthy and slow pace you will be able to enjoy yourself and not have to worry about gaining a few pounds when you have a fun day and splurge.
My husband and I went to Red Lobster for dinner last week. I expected to go to Olive Garden. I looked up the local menu online. I figured out the points plus values of the food on the menu and chose a good sensible dinner that also looked really tastey and wrote it all down. I even planned on not eating the full entree, only half and taking half home to eat for lunch the next day. I was prepared and planned and did everything right. We get to Olive Garden and it is packed. We could not even find a parking space. We saw that Red Lobster was full too but had less waiting time, it was 7:30pm and we were starving. I was a little panicked because I had not prepared for Red Lobster. But I thought, Oh well, I want to enjoy myself. It is our 16 year Anniversary afterall.
We went in and waited for a table. It was 8pm by the time we were seated. We were ravinish. I had my trusty phone with me and I started looking up Red Lobster menu items on the Weight Watchers site. I found some smart choices and that is what I ate. I DID enjoy myself and ate things I love too. I had stuffed mushrooms with lots of cheese and lobster claw and crab in them.(Hubby ate half of the mushrooms) I had 2 (yes two) of the cheddar bay biscuits and a succulant Lobster tail with real butter to dip it in. I ate a salad with ranch dressing. It was soo good. I had to bring the baked potato home to eat the next day as I was stuffed after the Lobster tail. I knew I was ok with all that food because I made a smart choice with the Lobster Tail and I also made sure to exercise a lot more this week to give myself lots of activity points to use. I saved up my weekly's to use. I did well, stayed on my points and lost 4 pounds that week. I was happy. :D Weight Watcher's is not just a diet. It is a lifestyle change. It is a way of teaching you how to eat all the foods you love without saying "you can't eat this or that" and still lose weight and then maintain after. I feel like I eat a lot of food. When I am able to start to maintain I will have to eat more that I am now. I KNOW that I can maintain this for life.

Anyway, I am down 33.2 pounds and have another 27.8 to go!! I can do this!!

YUMMY South Beach dessert.

This is phase 1 friendly and sooo good!

1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 packets Splenda
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 Tb Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix well.

Add:
10 mini chocolate chips (Unless they are sugar free then do not add in Phase1)
1 Tb toasted sliced almonds

Mix gently. Makes two servings.

Biggest Loser season 9!!!

I don't know about anyone else but I am very excited about tonight's biggest loser. I really feel like I am on track now with my weight loss. I realized I had to first get rid of my sugar cravings. I am on day 2 of the South Beach Diet and I think about candy all day and it is sad but true. I have not had any sugar for 2 days now. I am being strong and not giving in. I am determined to be the size I need to be.

I still have not gotten my goal dress yet because I could not find a Lilly in TJMaxx that I wanted. The only Lilly dress I found was a navy blue, long sleeve dress with a nay blue and white belt and a collar to match the belt. It was gorgeous, of course, but.. That was not what I was looking for. I want a nice Springy, pink or green or yellow in color. I wanted a sheath. I am still looking and in the meantime I am losing weight. I know the first 2 weeks will be water weight but hey that is better than no weight, right? I have already seen a 3 pound drop since the weekend!

Will look again for a Lilly dress at the Max soon. I did see some cute Lilly PJ's there but that will not help me in my goal. :)

OK, I will be watching Biggest Loser tonight and getting inspiration. :)

Lilly gave me an idea!

I love this! I bid on this on Ebay but lost the bid :(

(One of the dresses on Ebay that I bid on. Isn't it sooo cute!?)


I was browsing Ebay tonight for some good Lilly Pulitzer deals and I came across a couple really cute sheaths. I saw that they were size 10's. I was an 8/10 when I got married and for 6 ft tall that is pretty thin. Well, I am not a 10 or an 8 anymore but I hope to be back there someday. I am not far from it. I watch the show "Last 10 Pounds" and I see that if you exercise and eat right then after losing 10 pounds you can be down 2 dress sizes. The people exercise intensely and it takes 4-6 weeks usually. Now i will probably take a little longer and I don't plan on eating like a bird. I will eat wisely and still go to the gym as much as possible during the week.

but....... I had an idea that I got while looking at Lilly dresses. Right now I will not wear a Lilly dress because I do not think I would look good in it and do it justice but if I find a cute one in a size 10 then I am going to bid/buy it and that will be a goal outfit. I sooo want to wear a Lilly dress and so if I actually get one and have it staring at me waiting for me to wear it I can be more motivated to eat right. Exercise is not my problem it is the eating.

I can not really afford Lilly right now and that is why I was browsing Ebay. I was outbid on 2 of them. I think I will go to TJMaxx and Marshall's and see if they have anything in a 10 that I could buy. I need this dress very soon so that I can hang it on my door and look at it everyday and motivate me. No other dress will do it. It has to be a Lilly dress.

I did try the Bodybugg recently. I rented it for $50 at my gym for 3 days and they use the website (it costs a lot to buy a bodybugg yourself and then you have to subscribe to the site every 6 months which costs a ton) and get me my info. I found out exactly how many calories I was using in a 24 hour period for 3 days. On a day I did nothing but sleep cuz I was not feeling well I used 2100 calories all day. My goal is 2300! Wow. Another day I did nothing but take care of the baby and then went to church and helped my husband in the youth group and I used 2300 calories that day. Wow! Then I went to the gym and worked out like mad the next day and I used 2900 calories that day. Crazy! I found out my metabolic rate (BMI) is 1690! That is high! I always thought I had a low one because I am not losing weight fast. Then we went through my eating habits with the trainer and we realized I am a junk food junkie and I eat it when I am not thinking and that is sabotaging me. I was told that using the data from the bodybugg we can determine that I can eat 2000 calories a day and lose a pound a week as long as I exercise like I did the day I burned 2900 calories. As long as my food is the right food I should have no problem losing weight.

WOW, that put things into perspective. My new years resolution is to lose weight and fit into a Lilly dress size 10!! I need to do this for myself. I need to keep this goal but to keep it I need to get the dress. If/when I find a dress I will take a picture of it and post it here so you all can see it. then when I can fit into it I will take a picture of me wearing it so you all can see. :)

Ciao for now.

Tuesday weigh-in..

I was a little anxious about yesterdays weigh-in. Partly because I thought I gained weight and partly because my leader wanted to see my food journal.

I had not been doing the food journal as I had been doing it online with the e-tools and not on the paper journal. I am not home a lot so I forgot a lot to record things online. Well, on Sunday when the leader said in an email that she wanted to see my journal I decided to start doing it on paper that day. I did it Sunday through Tuesday. I found it to be better too. I can carry ti with me all day and I keep much better track of my food when I am out all day. I really think I like it better than logging in on the computer. I like the other e-tools and the recipe builder and activity points calculator and such but i think I will track points on paper from now on.

OK, I stayed on point for those 3 days afraid I would get scolded by my leader. I was about 3 pounds above last weeks weigh-in on Saturday. Well, exercising and staying on point (no weeklies) and I lost weight at Tues weigh-in!! I was only down 1.2 pounds but hey I was down! Now I am below what I started again. It says that in 5 weeks I have only lost .8 but hey I am on my way again and I am going to try much harder this week. I have been tracking everything I put in my mouth on my paper tracker. I was also told by my leader to make sure to get ALL the HG's in too. They are the oils, liquids, protein, grains...etc. I was told by my leader that my journal was all junk food. She said that I am not eating fruits and veggies and that all my points I use are junk. That is why even though I stayed on points I only lost a tiny bit. She said to try eating fruits and veggies for my points and not cheese-its and Starbucks. (even thought the cheese-its were 3 points (25 crackers) and the Starbucks was only 2 for the non-fat capp with pumpkin spice, she said that I could have had a huge amount of fat free popcorn with those powdered flavorings for only 2 points or 1/2 a cantaloupe for 2 points. That would fare me much better. I think I will try it this week and also try to get in more exercise. I did 5 days but only 30 minutes a day. The baby screams when I am on the treadmill or doing any other form of exercise. It seems he knows. No matter when I try to do it he knows and is no longer napping and just creams. it is very difficult to exercise when you have a baby screaming for you. he is so precious to me it breaks my heart. I even had my daughter babysit him in his room (right next to mine and I had the door open) and he still screamed. My daughter was at a loss. Poor girl. She tried. :)

anyway, My week was hectic and I ate poorly but I did lose. I think if I stay on track with my eating this week. (the whole week) and exercise consistently I think I should do OK. I really want that bookmark and my 5 pound sticker!! I saw a girl get her 10% key chain yesterday and it is a cute gold keyring. I can't wait to reach my 10%. I have not been there for a few years now.

I will keep y'all posted!!

I did it again!

I got on the treadmill! That makes 2 days in a row! I know, I know. You might be thinking that 2 days in a row is not a lot but like I said in a previous post, Mini goals.., I am trying to accomplish things in mini goals. I am happy that I did it 2 days in a row. Usually I would say, "Well, I did it yesterday so skipping just one day will not hurt. After all, I can do it every other day and still get 4 days a week in." Then I would never get it in the third day and so on. I have to stop making excuses for my laziness sometimes.

There was a time I worked out at the Gym 2 hours a day 5 days a week. I felt great. There were days when I think I worked out too much. I gave myself headaches but at least I was consistent and I did it. I need to make a new mini goal now. I have accomplished getting on the treadmill 2 days in a row so now my new goal is to finish up the week. I need to get on the treadmill everyday for the rest of the week. (Wed, Thur, Fri).

My little bear got upset while I was on the treadmill and that made my heart rate a bit high but I will try to figure out how I can workout without little bear getting upset. He seems to know. That is the one time he will not nap. No matter what time I choose. He just knows. :) He loves his mum and I think the treadmill scares him. He is only 2 months old after all. :)

OK I have a weigh in tonight so I will post about that later. Now, I am off to prepare 4 chicken pot pies for the freezer. (Not WW friendly but my husband loves them)I feel that if I eat a small portion then I can enjoy it without the guilt. Plus as long as I am exercising then I will have those activity points to count. :)

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Update. I weighed in and had a slight disappointment but next week will be better. I gained but only 1.2 pounds. I was told it could be water weight or even muscle mass since I started to exercise again. I am betting on the water weight. (water retention) I should have a better week next week. I will not give up because of something like this. :) I will keep pushing forward. :)

New week..

It is a new week. I know my weigh-in's are Tuesdays but it is Monday and it is a new week for me. I got on the treadmill and was able to finish my workout before the baby got too upset. I am now off to do errands. I feel great and have no desire to eat candy because that would ruin my workout that I had done. I love working out in the morning as it seems that once the day starts and you are part way through it , you just seem to get too busy to exercise. I told myself "No excuses." Not today. I dropped the older bears off at school and drove home. I did my devotions and then learned some moved for turbo jam. I them jumped onto the treadmill for 20 minutes. I have a heart rate monitor and saw that I burned 540 calories!! I have not eaten yet but I will. I have a protein shake I will drink. It is from Arbonne (I sell it if interested) and I will drink the fiber drink and the the NRG tablets as well this am. It is all natural stuff and I am feeling good about staying out of the candy and getting my workout in. I think i may have gained this week but we will see. I have my weigh-in at 6pm tomorrow afternoon. I will let you all know how I did!!

On our way to the park...

I have not gotten on the treadmill all week. I keep telling myself I will. I keep telling myself every time I eat a candy bar from the freezer that I will get on the treadmill and burn the calories off and yet... I never do. I need to get motivated. I know that if I gain at this coming Tuesday's weigh in I will be motivated but at the same time discouraged. I don't want to get discouraged. I can't wait for this candy fundraiser to be over. Ever since the kids brought home the candy i have been tempted to go to the freezer in the garage and grab 2 at a time. (2 because each kid has a box to sell. I tell myself this will be the last time I grab some Candy so I have to be fair to both kids and take one from each box) I am seriously sabotaging myself. I need to stop this.

I have some friends that meet at the park for a home school group thing for a couple hours on Fridays. I think I will head over there and maybe get some walking in. I have a jogger stroller but I can't jog yet because the baby is only 2 months old and his head is not strong enough for me to be running with the jogger.

Maybe i could convince one of my friends to make a date every day (weekdays) to meet me at the park and we can go power walking. I need someone around me to help me.

I used to exercise everyday. I loved it. I was strong and thin and felt powerful. I felt great when I exercised. So...what happened to me? I need to start to make this a habit again. I have read that if you do something 15 times in a row then it becomes a formed habit. I need to do this. I need to make it a habit to exercise again. I need to stop eating candy. I feel guilt every time I do it but I keep doing it.

I hope to have a better rest of the day (already had 2 candy bars today.) I ate oatmeal this morning hoping that would stop me from eating the candy and it did not. I also owe about $28 for all the candy I have eaten. You would think that was a motivator to stay out of it. Right?

OK, have to get a shower and then off to the park. I will let you all know how things went and if I will get a partner in exercise. :)

I can't beleive I lost..

I really can't. I had a bad cold all week. I was off plan all week. I got so off plan that I decided to see how my Tue weigh went and just start all over on plan this week. I ate probably 20 candy bars (My kids are selling them for school so there are tons of them in the chest freezer and oh so tempting) and I had nearly a gallon of cider this week. I just did not focus on diet or exercise all week. I thought for sure I was gonna weigh at least 2 pounds heavier and yet I was down .6 pounds today!!I know it is not a lot but it is still down. Yay!! So imagine if I had actually been on plan and gotten onto the treadmill or went for a walk a few times this week!! I am down a total of 1 pound for 2 weeks. I am thinking i want my 5 pound sticker since that is to be our first goal. I will try for 4 pounds this week. If it does not happen fine but I will try anyway. The goals are: 1) 5 pounds
2) 5% (of what you started at) and 3) 10%. Then after you lose 10% the leader at the meeting will help you make a goal.

I had never done i this way before. They used to ask us what our goal was and I would always come up with a number a few pounds lighter than I was before I got married. (pre-babies) I think people were planning unrealistic goals and that is why WW is doing things this way now. They find a more attainable goal that is healthy and doable. I know I can get to pre-baby weight someday but my focus and goal should be just a healthy weight and when I get there I Can then get to pre-baby.

I used to be very, very thin. I am really not far from a healthy weight now but I am not where I want to be. I have read the WW booklet and a (high end) healthy weight for me would be 179. I am almost there! I like making smaller, more attainable goals. It it less frustrating of a process when you have mini goals and can accomplish them faster. Maybe that is why I failed so many times before. My goal was too big and it took too long to get there and I gave up before reaching it. Not this time!!

Tue weigh-in

I went to the meeting on Tue. I was late. I thought it started at 7 and realized it started at 6pm and ran out the door. I got there as everyone was leaving but I did get to weigh-in. I stepped on the scale and the woman wrote down the weight loss. I took the book and looked at what she had written and it said .4. I was shocked! point four!!!??? You have got to be kidding. I was disappointed and thought I needed to change my points profile. I took the quiz again and realized I need 5 less a day than I had originally thought.

I was happy about one thing. I had taken my measurements the week before just because I had never done that and I was curious how many I could lose. I also know that when you lose you sometimes lose inches and not pounds.

I re-took my measurements on Tue night after the weigh-in and I lost 6 inches all around!!! 2" on each thigh. 1" on the bust and 1" on the hips!! Yay! Ok, now I am encouraged again. I even had someone tell me in church yesterday that I was looking skinny. I don't think this but that was great to hear!

I have not had anything to eat yet today and it is already 9:30am. I do need to go eat my oatmeal and FF milk before I gorge myself on the kids candy for the school fundraiser. That is a bad habit I have always had that I need to break. I love chocolate and candy and sweet stuff in the morning. I would gorge on it and before I had children I could do it without gaining a Pound on my svelte figure but now I can not do that.
Ya know I was thinking, if i had a chef come over and cook me egg white omelets every morning and some whole grain veggie wraps with Quiona and tilapia for dinner... I think I would do ok!!! It is the preparation that kills me. I just feel like I don't have time and I need something fast. I would love to eat healthy all the time and have it ready on the table when it is time for it. I need an easy button. *smiling*

Started Weight Watchers again.

I am embarking on the Weight Watchers journey again! I started it about 12 months ago and then a couple months later found out I was expecting!! I am now ready to lose those baby pounds that crept on and continue to my goal weight! I am 5' 11" and my goal is 145! I was 193 (Yikes!) at the WW weigh in last week. I weigh in again tonight. I will let you knwo what it says. I did the waist to hip ration thing today and found out it is 7.8 and that is actually high normal for a female. (Jillian Michael's said this on the TODAY show this morning) I want to be lower than that and I want to be the weight I was when I got married. I know that with discipline and motivation and some cheerleaders on my side I can do it!! (I can hear Tony Little ringing in my ear "You can do it!!")

Please encourage me on this journey.

This is my 100Th post by the way. I am still waiting for my followers so I can get sponsorship and some great prizes for contests!! Maybe I will make it my 125Th post will be a cool contest! I have written to some companies and got no response. I think I will try Etsy companies but I do want to encourage these sponsors that I do have people that Read my blog and they will get some good advertisement from the contest. So please, if you will for me... tell all your friends to read my blog and follow my journey through life, Weight loss and even view some of my Fave things! I have lots of those. :)

Thanks all!!
Ciao!