Weighsday Success

I didn't get a chance to report yesterday. But I lost 4.4 pounds. Woo hoo! I was pretty excited. I'm loving this program with the free fruits and all. Feeling rather blah today though so I don't have much to say other than I'm staying on track and looking forward to making my "first 5" next week!

C'est la Vie

 I had a lovely 3-day weekend. The weather was incredible for late February. Plus, I stayed completely on program the whole, entire weekend. I'm pretty happy with myself today. I mean, my weekend included lots of temptations. I had lunch at Red Lobster on Saturday with the fam and I ate a Caesar Salad (7.5pts- totally worth it to me- I L-O-V-E their salad), 1 (you read that right, 1) cheddar bay biscuit, because they're 4.5pts and while I love them, I didn't want to fill up on bread. I also ate 2 servings of shrimp scampi which, as it turns out, is only 5pts each. That may sound like a lot of points but I still had plenty left and it was well worth it. Plus, since fruit is now free on the new WW Points Plus program I snacked on grapes and apples during the morning. (Side Note: OMG. I just said I snacked on fruit. I am so a super model these days. ~tee hee~) Then on Sunday I had McDonald's for lunch and pizza for dinner. I realize this sounds like I'm making horrible choices, but the truth is I ate pretty healthy. I had a cheeseburger and a yogurt parfait from McD's, opting out of fries because they just weren't worth the points. Then I ate about 6 small squares of pizza (kind of like Cassano's Pizza, if you're familiar- mmmmm.....Cassano's!) Anyway, I totally stayed on track. Then yesterday, I met my wonder second mother (Christie) for Culver's. Now, you might think I was all out torturing myself and just begging for failure. Not true, kind friends. I looked up all of the points and planned my meal before I went. I had a single cheese burger and a small fry, which I shared with my baby girl, who is also a small fry. I just cracked myself up. I do that sometimes. But I digress. All in all, a weekend I am most proud of considering I faced some pretty tempting places.

 I want to document this for myself because it always happens that the first few weeks and months are the easiest. Starting a new program, losing weight a little more quickly, etc. But then you hit those pesky plateaus that cause you to consider giving up the fight. So, I want to remind myself of what just one week on the plan has done for me. I feel amazing. I'm sure it's all of those fruits with their body-loving, health benefits. I'm actually craving healthy food now. Last week, my back hurt. My lower back is always bothering me. But this week, it isn't. In just one week, eating healthier (and filling my belly just a little less) is making a huge difference. Not to mention, every time I look in the mirror I think, "you know, I'm kinda cute". Generally, I avoid mirrors. How about that for a reason to stay on track. Plus, I have so much energy. I really do think all of those horrible carbs and heavy foods and beverages drag you down. I feel so amazing. I usually feel so tired in the afternoons because I eat horrible lunches. Do you know how many times I've eaten a snack size bag of Combos and drank a Wild Cherry Pepsi. What, am I in college or something?? Geesh. Today, I packed a can of tuna, lettuce with salad dressing for a salad, and a bag of orange slices for lunch. I know, right! How healthy is that?? For breakfast I ate a grapefruit (I did! I'm such a super model) and drank coffee with just some FF vanilla creamer in it. I gave up sugar in my coffee. I also have lots of sparkling, flavored water in the fridge at work now. No more soda!

 I just read a WW success story about a woman you lost about what I'm looking to lose. I'm too embarrassed at this stage to go into those kind of intimate details, but what I liked is that she had a lot of weight to lose and set smaller goals along the way and rewarded herself at each one. Her reward for getting to her goal weight was to jump out of an airplane. It got me thinking about what I want my rewards to be. If I set smaller goals and give myself big rewards, I think maybe it'll really help me look at a smaller picture instead of the bigger and kind of scary/overwhelming picture. So, for my first small goal I am going to reward myself with the Rosetta Stone series for learning French. I've always wanted to learn French. I don't know about the in between goals yet, but for my final weight goal I am going to reward myself with a trip to Paris! I'm going to overcome that fear of flying and I'm going to Paris! And, by then, I'll speak the language. Maybe I'll even pick myself up a hunky Parisian man! C'est la vie! (See, I already know some French)

I'll Have Half a Grapefruit, Thank You

I am officially on my way to becoming a super model. I just ate a grapefruit for breakfast. Yes. You read that right. A grapefruit. If you know me, you know that generally I don't even eat breakfast, but if I do it's generally some sugary, fatty, yummy pastry. I also usually drink coffee. Or, I should clarify, I used to drink a little coffee with my 4 lbs of sugar and container of creamer. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. But the point is, I'm eating a grapfruit! For breakfast! And no one is holding me against my will and forcing me to. I sprinkled a little bit of Truvia on it. (Side Note: Truvia is the best, hands down, artificial sweetener of all time. It's even granulated like real sugar and it does not, I repeat, does NOT have that chemically taste that so many of those evil sweeteners have.) So, I'm well on my way to being a supermodel. (Think- "I'll just have half a grapfruit, thank you" in a very snobby tone. Yep, that's me.)

 I've been begging God to give me the "want to", my mind into this diet. Yeah, I know I shouldn't call it a diet. It's a new lifestyle. A new way to eat. Either way, I've been begging, nay PLEADING with God to give me that want to. And today, my friends, I have it. I have the want to. I'm even excited. First of all, WW new plan allows you to eat any fresh fruit for free. Fuh-oh-er fuh-reh-ee. I've eaten grapes and apples and, well, grapefruit. I'm totally taking advantage of the free fruits. Which is actually good, in turn, because that means I'm not snacking on carb-laden sweet treats. Nope. Fruit. Last night I made meatloaf (the best meatloaf of all time, you should know) and it was only 4 points per serving so I ate 3!! I was stuffed. But I was happy. That might sound like a lot but you actually get more points with this new program. However, high-carb foods cost more now too, thus also giving you that extra motivation to grab a free fruit. And protein is a factor in a good way so it makes some stuff lower in points. Like, my amazing meatloaf.

 Today, I'm going to Olive Garden. Before you start laughing at me, believing that I just flushed my "I'll have half a grapefruit, supermodel wannabe new lifestyle" down the proverbial toilet, hear me out. I have figured up all of the points it's going to cost me. And, I'm going with my WW buddy, which is always the right thing to do. We're each getting lunch portions of our fave dishes, two breadsticks and we're splitting alfredo dipping sauce. No salad. Don't judge me. One serving of their salad was gonna cost me more, MORE I say, than my Ravioli di Portabello pasta dish. So, salad was out. I don't like it enough to sacrifice that many points.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to finish my half a grapefruit!

I'm Baaa-aaaa-aaa-aaaack!!!!

So, here it is. I originally created this blog to be for losing weight. You know, losing weight little bits at a time. ~tee hee~ I crack myself up sometimes. Anyhoo, I've gotten on and off the "diet" roller coaster several times since starting this blog. And now, the time is once again upon me to resume my weight losing efforts. I'm actually at a quite wonderful place in my life now. I've efficiently licked my wounds from past hurts and the stress has delved down to a minimum. I'm off to quite the amazing start. I lost about 250 pounds on November 15, 2010. =) heh heh Did you catch that one? As in a whole person? heh heh Trust me when I say that by the time November 15th rolled around I was quite ready to part with that, uh, weight. So, like I said, I'm off to a great start. I have absolutely no reason not to get my head in the game.

 But that's where it's the most difficult for me, yet the most important place to start- the head. I don't know if it's true for men as it is for women. But if a woman's head isn't in it, it ain't gonna happen. Whether you're talking about "baby-making" activities  or losing weight, you've got to be committed to it in your mind or else you don't have the motivation to get turned on. To a diet, people! Minds out of the gutter. It is in this one area that I have failed miserably time and time again. It doesn't help to grow up being told that the standard is to be "skinny minnie" and "anorexic thin". So, at an early age I had a total misconception of my body. Boy, what I wouldn't give to go back and tell my high school self, "honey, you are perfect the way you are." C'est la vie. We all have baggage hanging around that keeps us from totally committing to things that could and would better us. I am great at committing for a time, in the moment, when I'm all jazzed up to lose weight. Give me about 3 weeks and I'm right back to the place of being uncontented. *sigh*

 I have a million and one reasons to lose weight, none quite as important as my baby girl. But isn't it amazing that sometimes, even the biggest motivator still isn't enough in those stressful moments when chocolate sings out to us, "I'll be there for you when the rain starts to fall..." (Friends theme song) And chocolate is such a good friend, he always sticks around- on your thighs! I have a little post-it note stuck to my computer at work that says, "If hunger isn't the problem, then eating isn't the solution." I think that's a great saying for someone like me. But how many times have I engulfed a chocolate bar sitting right in front of that note? Too many to count. It's all about getting your head in the game. It's all about making up your mind to commit.

 I am at the heaviest weight I've ever been. Yep. I'm just putting it right out there. But I am. I've been telling myself I have to get a handle on things and get my head in the game and start losing weight. I need to. For me. For my baby girl. For life. My co-worker decided she wanted to start attending Weight Watcher meetings and she asked me if I'd go along so she didn't have to go alone. I'm a pro at the meetings. I've been countless times. I've just stopped when I shouldn't have. So, today I attended my first meeting in a couple of years. It's a new program and I've been avoiding it. No longer.

 So this week, I'm committing to just getting started. Just doing it. Day by day. Hour by hour. Minute by minute. And sometimes, second by bloody second! I'm already ahead of the game. I'm not even wearing maternity pants this go 'round! hehehe