Weekly Weigh In Week 13 - Easy Peasy

This weekend my Mother-In-Law asked me how things were going with my weight loss.  I told her it was going great and how easy it was.  Easy.

I honestly am not sure why that particular word escaped my mouth.  Maybe my good mood of being at Lillian's ballet class watching her perform for the first time got the best of me.  Although I do love the Weight Watchers program, I would not normally classify it as easy. With any diet lifestyle change - it's going to take some work. 

It takes work to resist the "Throw in the towel and enjoy hot fudge sundaes because you are beautiful just the way you are"...which is partially true seeing that I am quite the looker.  But there are moments - plenty of them, that I wish I didn't have to track every single thing I eat.  I wish I didn't have to go to a meeting once a week to keep me accountable.  I wish I could eat this giant turtle fudge cookie that I haven't touched since beginning WW.  Yes, I could eat it - after all I really can eat anything - but I haven't been able to bring myself to indulge in that particular treat.  I have no idea how many points the Dreamy Cookie (I just made up that name) has - can't find any nutritional info on the company's website.  That just means it's really, really bad for you. 

My eyes are set on my 20% goal and I had a light bulb moment where I decided I would eat that lovely Dreamy 200+point Cookie once I hit that goal.  I felt satisfied.  But then what did I hear at my WW meeting today?  "Don't reward yourself with food".  Shit.

I get it. I really do.  But my cookie was my 20% goal prize and a nice dinner with creamy gnocchi and a bottle of wine was going to be my "AT GOAL" reward.  I may start rethinking my little awards because I do think it's important to learn that food is not the answer to everything. With food not being the answer, well, finding the right answer is not going to be easy.

What other rewards have you done?  Any ideas for me?   I'm already planning for my skinny wardrobe!!

Oh, my weigh in.  Did I trick you?  This is coming at the end but I actually did lose weight this week! YIPPEE.  My weight loss of 3.8lbs included a dinner at 5 Guys - and yes I had a burger and fries.  As well as an unexpected lunch at Red Robin  - no burger but I ate the fries.

4.4 lbs til my 20% loss.  Will I do it in 1 week? I doubt it but mark me down for a mini celebration on August 29th!

Mommy Guilt Monday

I've mentioned before that Lillian has mastered the art of making me feel guilty as I leave for work in the morning.  It's the reason why I only stick my head into her room to check on her before I leave in the morning.  It's the reason why I blow dry my hair in the downstairs bathroom.  I love seeing my sweetness before my work day begins but the sadness in her voice doesn't exactly start my day off on a high note. 

Lillian is a smart ass girl however.  I think I heard her thought process tonight.  It went something like this,
I haven't been getting up early enough to punish Mommy for leaving me each day so I need to reconfigure my master plan.  AHA!  I will start the scrapping away of her soul in the evening!! Yes, that's brillant! Briillllannnnnntnttt!

And our conversation went something like this.  Please think of Lilly's voice as extremely cute yet with that heartbreaking sadness only a child can come up with:

Lilly:  Mommy why do you have to go to work tomorrow?
Me:  Mommy gets paid money to work.  Then we use that money to pay for things like food and ballet.
Lilly: But Mommy whhyyyy?
Me:  I'm sorry sweetie. I think of about you all day.
Lilly:  But Mommy, I won't be happy in the morning.
Me: Because I won't be here?
Lilly: Yea.

Heart. Stabbed. Ow.

Oh and once that conversation ended, she threw in a bonus clip, a bit later:

Lilly: Mommy I want to sleep in your bed.
Me: No
Lilly:  Mommy, I want to sleep with you.  I don't want to sleep by myself.
Me: No


Now, I think I may have to start hiding from her at night to avoid the Mommy Guilt.  If I slide a plate of food into the living room, switch on SpongeBob, and sit in the laundry room until she falls asleep, it may just work.


Oh, and it was Weekly Weigh In Day.  Can you guess by me burying it this far down in a post completely unrelated to weight loss means I gained?  Yup.  1.2lbs.  Boo. Hiss. I am so close to reaching my 10% lost (the first major goal for WW and if I reach that goal before the end of the session I get 1/2 my $ back from work) and I just took a small step back.  It's frustrating. Not exactly sure what I did wrong.  Sure I had a pulled pork sandwich  french fries and a little crab rangoon on Saturday night but I honestly thought I had enough "extra" points to be a-okay.  I guess not.  Onwards and upwards I suppose. 

This is not the first gain and I'm certain it won't be the last.  I am taking this though as motivation to re-focus which will be good for me.

In summary: Mommy Guilt + Weight Gain = Monday.  'nuff said.

Weigh In and Birthday Cake

I don't like going more than 1 week without a blog.  It's not so much an ego thing, me thinking that you are waiting and wondering when I will update. No.  It's more me trying to be disciplined and not fall out of the habit of keeping myself writing.  The longer I go, the harder it is to get back into the swing of things.

I've been wanting to share my Weekly Weigh In numbers but to also share a fun weekend.  This week's scale was kind, showing in bright red numbers that I was down another pound.  I even got a sticker for achieving another 5lbs lost - now for a total of 15.4lbs.

Again, I claim true love for the Weight Watchers program.  I love losing weight while still living and enjoying life.  This weekend I enjoyed said life by throwing James a little surprise party for his upcoming birthday. 

James is not the biggest fan of birthdays.  I don't believe it has much to do with the aging aspect as it is the whole pageantry surrounding it and by some previous let downs surrounding the big day.  But he married a chick who loves the birthday.  One of my life motto's is "Everyone deserves a birthday cake on their birthday".  A birthday is a special day after all and you should take the chance to celebrate the most important person in your life - YOU!  I have no problem taking the spotlight for that little chunk of time each year and bask in the glory of me cake. 

The party came together quickly.  Our good friends had made plans to visit that day so I took it upon myself to also invite a few more people.  Because of our little house and our backyard not being quite so visitor friendly yet, I had to limit who was invited.  That was the only bummer.

I love hosting parties - I just don't do it often because of the aforementioned tiny house.  It was nice to be in total control of the food.  A girl in the middle of a lifestyle change is often hampered by the lovely goodness of spinach dips and onions dips at parties.  This party I had a beautiful platter of fruit and sandwiches. 

There were two naughty things though. 

1. Ambrosia - nectar from the gods.  Well, maybe not as good as the immortal magic of ambrosia but sangria certainly tastes good, doesn't it?  It's my drink of choice lately.  To my happiness I've also discovered that 4oz of sangria is only 3 WW points.  Not too horrible.

2. Cake!  I told you, everyone deserves cake on their birthdays!  And since it was not actually James' birthday - he will get another cake on his actual day.  It just has to be done that way.

So what's better than cake on your birthday?  A FREAKING AWESOME CAKE on your birthday.

I told you, I have some talented, amazing friends.  One talented, amazing friend created this for James:

If you haven't guessed, James likes to fish. 

 Everything...EVERYTHING was edible!

If you are looking for a cake in the tradition of Ace of Cakes and live in the Chicago land area, I've got the girl for you! 

Oh before I forget, I also had a Culver's burger on Sunday for dinner....and french fries! Did I tell you that I lost a pound? 

Weekly Weigh In - Week 6

Have you ever had one of those mornings when after you press the snooze button for a good hour, you finally sit up in bed, wipe the sleeping dust from your eyes and then just flop right back down on your pillow?  Yea, that was my morning. 

It's not so much that I was overly sleepy, I just didn't want to go into work today.  It's going to be a hectic and stressful week both here and at home (as we prepare to go out of town again) and staying in bed seemed like the perfect solution to delaying the inevitable.

The hardest part of being lazy like this is not the panic once I do actually get out of bed but it is the likelihood of Lillian waking up grows immensely.  Don't get me wrong, I love seeing Lillian before I go to work but the girl knows how to lay down a guilt trip like nobody's business.

As I was finishing upstairs, about to escape - Lillian comes stomping (she doesn't know how to walk like a normal person, she stomps) out of her room, her hair less Justin Bieber-like and more Tina Turner looking.  She runs to me and I get to just hold her.  Maybe the guilt trip is worth it.

Of course, this slows down my progress of getting out the door even more significantly.  I "make" her breakfast which today happens to be a donut that she didn't eat from the weekend but is supplemented by a cup of milk and sliced up strawberries.  The girl loves her fruit. 

When it is finally time to leave, I get the "Mommy, why do you have to work?" and I reply with "Mommy needs to make money so we eat and have a house".  Her "But I want you to stay with me." and this goes on and on.  Luckily my sadness turned to laughter when she said "You bring home your money from work and put it in my piggy bank."

Ok, so I will stop procrastinating and announce my weight GAIN for the week.  Yup, I gained but honestly, I did expect it.  I didn't track at all this week and being on vacation was just too big of a temptation for me.  I am up 2.8lbs so am now back to only 8lbs lost.

Not the end of the world.  It was totally expected.  But I'm still a bit disappointed.  I am happy to have a new, fresh week but heading to Kentucky makes me really nervous.  I don't want to gain again with the excuse that I'm on vacation.  But Kentucky - a family visit - is often filled with biscuits and gravy and fried chicken.  James' aunt makes all the good southern food for when her boys visit.  I think I'm in trouble!!

But I will try and if I gain or even maintain, I will just try again.  It feels good to finally feel motivated about weight loss....I don't want to lose that again.

Weekly Weigh In - Week 3

I find myself compulsively weighing myself at home.  I know this is not healthy but I keep doing it anyway.  I scratch my own head wondering why I do this since my scale seems to like to add a couple of pounds compared to the one at my meeting.  But I seem to be obsessed with weighing myself at different times and with varying degrees of undress to see what really makes the difference.  The only big thing I saw was the time of day.  When I weighed myself last night I was 3lbs heavier than I was at noon.  Viva la early weigh ins!

Anyway, that's just my long introduction on saying that I did lose weight this week: 1.2lbs and I'll take it. (Weight loss total at 6.4lbs). It was a relatively good week.  I passed up one of my favorites - a Fannie May Turtle.  Yes, Weight Watchers does allow you to eat whatever you want but 1. I need to learn how to say NO and 2. I knew I was going out to eat shortly after to a Mexican restaurant for my boss' farewell lunch. 

I probably overdid it at lunch.  I should have wrapped half my portion to start.  But it was soooo tremendously good.  I had steak quesadillas (chosen over some yummy  fattening cheesy enchiladas) that I slathered with guacamole.  I don't know if its because I'm eating healthier or this was just one fantastic restaurant but it just melted in my mouth. 

Once I got to a computer, I did my best to estimate my points. And it was high.  But because WW allows you extra points every week I didn't feel that guilty.  And luckily, the scale was good to me.  (If anyone from WW is reading, I would be happy to be a compensated blogger!)

Next week will be the true test.  On Sunday, I will be leaving on a mini vacation with my crew of two and some wonderful friends. Just a few days and a couple of hours away but I'm so over-the-moon excited!  Goodbye work (although I'll likely carry my pager just in case.  And for those of you who don't know me, yes I carry a pager. Yes, I live in 2011. No, I'm not that important).  Hello relaxation.  And when you relax, who really wants to be counting points or watching portion size?  Not me!  Seriously, though, I am going to try my best to follow the plan.  The good news is that we'll be cooking for ourselves so I can control what I devour a bit easier. 

I will try to weigh in on Sunday before I leave so I can have a nice fresh start with (hopefully) even more pounds in the negative column.

Thank you all for your wonderful support!

Weekly Weigh-in: Week One

Welcome to Weigh In Monday Tuesday!

"Hi, love of my life.  How are you on this lovely Tuesday?"
"Lovely wife thanks for calling me.  I love you."
"Why I love you too dear.  Guess what?  I lost weight!"
"Fantabulous!"
"Guess how much I lost?"
"10 pounds"
"WTF JAMES! How can you say *#&$(*% 10 pounds?  The average weight loss is 1-2 pounds!! Now my loss sounds measly next to 10 freaking pounds!!!"
"I just woke up."
"Whatever"

Ok, so only half this conversation is true and perhaps not quite so much profanity. 

Balloon. Deflated. 

Luckily I quickly rebounded and can say that I am still quite happy with a 5.4 pound loss in 8 days!  Hooray, hooray!  My sagging self esteem (along with other saggy parts) got a great little boost.  Now, I understand that I will not be losing this much week every week but it was a great way to get things rolling for me. 

I am a happy camper knowing that I didn't feel too damn deprived.  I had a tall mocha frappacino yesterday.  2 small chocolate chip cookies another day!  I survived a BBQ and a birthday celebration. I up'd my intake on veggies, fruits, whole grains, and water.  This whole balanced lifestyle thing may be doable afterall!!

Losing It

Well, at least that is the goal.

I have been waiting to update the blog until I got some pictures loaded into my computer.  But it just hasn't been happening so you'll have to deal without seeing the "before" picture I took.

I am on the weight loss train.  Chooo Choo!  I'm speeding right along - no stops in sight.  Of course, I'm only on Day 3 so a derailment is quite possible by say, Friday. 

Day 1 was Monday where I weighed in at work for Weight Watchers.  I was introduced to the new Points Plus system and was motivated from the get go.  Motivated by how horrible my weight has crept up and motivated by the new way of thinking.  I needed motivation, I needed a good ol boost of "I think I can. I think I can"  to turn into "I know I can. I know I can". 

Like I mentioned, I took a before picture which I am not pleased about but I guess that's the point of a "before" picture.  I have read other weight loss blogs and many people post the forbidden number but right now, I just don't want it out there.  Maybe one day when I've put some poundage to the side, I will announce just where I started from.  Plus, you can draw your own conclusions once I post my picture.

Besides staying in my Points for the past couple of days, I also started at the gym today.  Hooray for getting out of bed early!  I simply walked the treadmill for 30 min.  Would have gone more but I got there a bit late and needed to get to work.  I also signed up for a cardio class on Mon, Wed, Fri from 7-7:45am.  See I'm going all out!

I've started off strong before and just eventually simmered down so I need to figure out what is going to keep me motivated.  This isn't a diet - this truly is a life change for me.  I do think I can do it.  I want to do it.  I need to keep myself accountable so I am tracking my food, tracking my activity and sharing here.  I plan on having a Weigh In Monday post each week to keep myself honest. 

So here I go...anyone want to join me on my little party train? All aboard!