Thanksgiving has come and gone. I spent Friday EARLY morning shopping, followed by a quiet day at the office. And now the holiday season has begun....
I was very proud of myself. It is hard to stick to a plan on Thanksgiving. Let's face it, we usually end up eating food that we didn't anticipate, have double portions, or a second plate, and end up with a food coma by the end of the night.
I was on a mission!!!! Having Thanksgiving at my house made all the difference in the world, I think. I was able to make some things that perhaps were not "traditional", but were lower in calories than other options, and tasted just as good (thanks to the weight watchers website for the great recipes!). I was also very upset that my hardboiled eggs did not peel as easily as they should have, BUT that meant, fewer of those little buggers ended up in my mouth. Not a bad thing at all!!!!!
In the end, I used a small plate (realistically it was the only plate left after everyone else had one) and I only got a few things that I really wanted. I did have a bit of dessert, but because I hadn't overblown the rest of the meal, I felt I could and I would be okay. All in all, a successful Thanksgiving, I would say.
And the scale was good to me...Weight Watchers weigh in...down 2.2 lbs, total of 8.8 down, with the big number creeping downward towards the not so big 200. My official WW weight is now 203.6. I am feeling energized, rejuvenated, and most of all confident that this may be something I can finally do!!!!
Now, the real work begins. The holiday season...everyone's excuse to eat a little more, forget that they had "just a couple of those", and all in all forget their goals. I am hoping that I can continue on this path, with only a few slips ups, but at the end of December, to come out with a little less weight than I went in with. The path is laid, I just need to follow it!!!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Food Coma Ahead?
With Thanksgiving just a day away, I know the challenge ahead. I mean, who doesn't kind of like "food coma"? But in the end, will you enjoy your food, or will you be eating because you have to?
The last few years, I have taken over more and more of the cooking for Thanksgiving. My family comes over to my house, my dad and I cook together, and now my little sister is starting to join. I am finding I am enjoying that time just as much, if not more, than the actual dinner. So, that is my plan...to avoid food coma, if I can, focus on the family, and less on the deviled eggs. Because let's face it, deviled eggs are the best food invention ever made, after perhaps ice cream. They are tiny little, pop in your mouth deliciousness, and you can tell yourself you are getting protein! They are my downfall every year.
So, here is my plan. I will eat my little deviled eggs, but rather than popping them in my mouth like a piece of gum, I will actually take bites and chew. I know it is a simple plan, but I am a simple girl. I will enjoy the food that crosses my lips, and consider each bite. I may have just as many, but I will enjoy each and every one!!!!
Also, since more of the cooking is done by me now, I have decided that Weight Watchers recipes will not hurt my family to eat. So, I downloaded several recipes, and hope that they are as flavorful as the fat filled version we normally make. This should help to at least reduce the calories, if not the intake.:-)
Will I be successful? I'm not sure on that, but by thinking about it ahead of time, I might find that I am more successful than if I just blindly pop those little white and yellow bites of pure joy in my mouth, then later sit on the couch looking at the Black Friday ads saying "wow, how did I eat that much?".
Saturday, November 19, 2011
National What Day?
Wednesday is National Cashew Day, meanwhile we are in the midle of National Peanut Butter Lover's Month. Explain this to me! Why do we have a national day for almost every kind of food, e.g. ice cream, chocolate, sandwiches, but not any sort of national exercise day. I want a National Squat Day, where everyone goes around and gives me 10 squats. Or a National Pushup Day, where I can walk up to someone and say "Give me 20" and they drop and give me 20 pushups.
Maybe that's what is a little wrong with our nation, and honestly much of the free world. Les Mills talks about "Fighting Globesity". But we aren't just fighting ourselves, we are fighting a world where we give food that perhaps is not so good for us a national day, and people think that if they walk for 20 minutes, they have exercised enough. I was looking at the "activities" that you can earn points for in Weight Watchers. Here are a few examples of things you can earn activity points for:
Spreading dirt with a shovel
Washing the fence
Sweeping the garage
Hunting
Hmmm...and we wonder why we are fighting this ongoing battle with globesity.
Exercising isn't my issue. I got that down! Food....well, that is another story. I could tell a story about how my mother would withhold food as a punishment, etc, but in the end...I eat, either too much, not the right stuff, or really a combination of the two. You would think by now, I would have figured out the right way to eat. And I sort of have, but it is so easy to fall into bad habits. And Thursday will be a real test!
I'm finding on this journey so far that I can allow myself to be creative, try something new and I probably won't hurt anyone (although if you ask my husband, he might disagree since I made him eat "unexciting" tofu last night). I bought milled flax seed yesterday (apparently you can use it instead of oil in baking recipes!) and shallots. I have no idea what a shallot is, or what to do with it, but I am determined to give it a shot!
Today was the big Weight Watchers weigh in....drum roll, please....down 1.8 lbs from my last weigh-in which was about 3 weeks ago. I would guess that entire 1.8 was actually from the last week, so thank you to my supportive friends!!!! This week will be a test. My goal is to pass...I'm not looking for an A+ on my test, a C will work just fine the week of Thanksgiving.
So, happy national whatever day. And here's to trying something new this week!
Maybe that's what is a little wrong with our nation, and honestly much of the free world. Les Mills talks about "Fighting Globesity". But we aren't just fighting ourselves, we are fighting a world where we give food that perhaps is not so good for us a national day, and people think that if they walk for 20 minutes, they have exercised enough. I was looking at the "activities" that you can earn points for in Weight Watchers. Here are a few examples of things you can earn activity points for:
Spreading dirt with a shovel
Washing the fence
Sweeping the garage
Hunting
Hmmm...and we wonder why we are fighting this ongoing battle with globesity.
Exercising isn't my issue. I got that down! Food....well, that is another story. I could tell a story about how my mother would withhold food as a punishment, etc, but in the end...I eat, either too much, not the right stuff, or really a combination of the two. You would think by now, I would have figured out the right way to eat. And I sort of have, but it is so easy to fall into bad habits. And Thursday will be a real test!
I'm finding on this journey so far that I can allow myself to be creative, try something new and I probably won't hurt anyone (although if you ask my husband, he might disagree since I made him eat "unexciting" tofu last night). I bought milled flax seed yesterday (apparently you can use it instead of oil in baking recipes!) and shallots. I have no idea what a shallot is, or what to do with it, but I am determined to give it a shot!
Today was the big Weight Watchers weigh in....drum roll, please....down 1.8 lbs from my last weigh-in which was about 3 weeks ago. I would guess that entire 1.8 was actually from the last week, so thank you to my supportive friends!!!! This week will be a test. My goal is to pass...I'm not looking for an A+ on my test, a C will work just fine the week of Thanksgiving.
So, happy national whatever day. And here's to trying something new this week!
The Unexpected
Wow!
When I thought about starting this little blog, I thought to myself "it can be just a little thing for you, because no one will read it anyway". And in the first post, (along with my dreaded weight number) I believe I put something like "10 people might read this". Boy, was I in for a surprise! A good one. I posted it, and in about 5 minutes, I was calling my friend...you know, the one who can calm you down when nothing else can? I was panicking because all of a sudden there were a ton of views. I was in shock!!!! Less than 24 hours after posting it, it had 88 views. I didn't think I actually KNEW 88 people!!!!
More than anything though, do you know what I got from that first post? I got such love and support. Everyone was so supportive, sending great comments and positive messages. I thought, okay, maybe this will help. People apparently didn't read it and say "Wow, she put her weight out there...that's nuts!" So, thank you to everyone for their support....I have a feeling I am going to need it through this, but I promise to give it everything I have. I may not get exactly where I want to be, but I won't have failed, I will just continue on the journey.
I had a YMCA member tell me this morning that it inspired her. That was so touching. I certainly never expected that! I hope that I am often inspiring when I am teaching a group fitness class, but never expected this to be inspiring to anyone but me.
Sometimes, with the unexpected, you have to just let go. Know that although it may not be what you were expecting, but great things can come from the unexpected. I'm not sure that this can be considered great. I mean lets face it, whether I lose that 40 pounds or not, it is not going to change the world. But it will be great to me, both health-wise and happy-wise.
Another unexpected thing happened Friday. The chocolate craving. You know it, right?...it creeps up on you when you least expect it. I have usually chocolate in my office, because I have people coming to my office all the time. I would walk by it on Friday, and look at it, and then walk back by it (wow, maybe this will work!). I left work on Friday without a single piece of chocolate crossing my lips. A true feat. But have no fear, my friends! The Super Chocolate Craving Man came to visit last night. Staring at my computer screen trying to make heads or tails of the annual open enrollment, he appeared. I stamped him down, but he kept coming back. Finally, my trip to the kitchen yielded two options....chocolate chips or yogurt. I ignored Super Chocolate Craving Man and had yogurt. Somehow after that, he went away. Hmmm....maybe there is a theme to this after all?
The unexpected came in actually getting through that. And that leads to the most unexpected of all, I have all of you to thank for it. I am on a roll, and through the love and support, I didn't let it go. I am the Honey Badger this weekend. I may eat the wrong thing, but I will get back up and continue on.
When I thought about starting this little blog, I thought to myself "it can be just a little thing for you, because no one will read it anyway". And in the first post, (along with my dreaded weight number) I believe I put something like "10 people might read this". Boy, was I in for a surprise! A good one. I posted it, and in about 5 minutes, I was calling my friend...you know, the one who can calm you down when nothing else can? I was panicking because all of a sudden there were a ton of views. I was in shock!!!! Less than 24 hours after posting it, it had 88 views. I didn't think I actually KNEW 88 people!!!!
More than anything though, do you know what I got from that first post? I got such love and support. Everyone was so supportive, sending great comments and positive messages. I thought, okay, maybe this will help. People apparently didn't read it and say "Wow, she put her weight out there...that's nuts!" So, thank you to everyone for their support....I have a feeling I am going to need it through this, but I promise to give it everything I have. I may not get exactly where I want to be, but I won't have failed, I will just continue on the journey.
I had a YMCA member tell me this morning that it inspired her. That was so touching. I certainly never expected that! I hope that I am often inspiring when I am teaching a group fitness class, but never expected this to be inspiring to anyone but me.
Sometimes, with the unexpected, you have to just let go. Know that although it may not be what you were expecting, but great things can come from the unexpected. I'm not sure that this can be considered great. I mean lets face it, whether I lose that 40 pounds or not, it is not going to change the world. But it will be great to me, both health-wise and happy-wise.
Another unexpected thing happened Friday. The chocolate craving. You know it, right?...it creeps up on you when you least expect it. I have usually chocolate in my office, because I have people coming to my office all the time. I would walk by it on Friday, and look at it, and then walk back by it (wow, maybe this will work!). I left work on Friday without a single piece of chocolate crossing my lips. A true feat. But have no fear, my friends! The Super Chocolate Craving Man came to visit last night. Staring at my computer screen trying to make heads or tails of the annual open enrollment, he appeared. I stamped him down, but he kept coming back. Finally, my trip to the kitchen yielded two options....chocolate chips or yogurt. I ignored Super Chocolate Craving Man and had yogurt. Somehow after that, he went away. Hmmm....maybe there is a theme to this after all?
The unexpected came in actually getting through that. And that leads to the most unexpected of all, I have all of you to thank for it. I am on a roll, and through the love and support, I didn't let it go. I am the Honey Badger this weekend. I may eat the wrong thing, but I will get back up and continue on.
Friday, November 18, 2011
And the Journey Begins....
We all need motivation sometimes, for many things we do in life. Sometimes, it is to get ourselves to go to work in a job that isn't suited for you. Sometimes, it is to get yourself exercising, when you haven't been active before. Sometimes, it is to get yourself eating better. When we have those types of motivations come into our life, we can either ignore them blindly, or allow them to be the impetus to begin a new path.
My entire life I have been overweight, not morbidly obese, but definitely overweight. Now, I can blame it on genetics...there is a lot of that in my family, but in reality, I have done little to change that. I have lost weight (at one time up to 50 lbs!), and gained some back--fortunately not all. But in the end, I am still overweight.
I began exercising during my last attempt at weight loss, and have never looked back. Even being overweight, I have become a group exercise instructor, I have run half marathons, I have scaled walls, but in the end, I am still overweight.
It used to seriously bother me. Not as much anymore, because I can still do all the things I want to do. However, in the last few months, and even the last few weeks, all that has changed in my mind. It isn't about the vanity of the overweight, but the fact that I have other things ahead that I need to keep in mind, and my weight is challenging that.
First, I am most concerned about my health. My family is fortunate, as there is not a bunch of hereditary diseases throughout the family, no cancer, diabetes, etc. What we do have though....lots of increased blood pressure and heart attacks throughout the family. I was "lucky" enough to get my dad's genes and my blood pressure has become a bit of a concern. I would like to keep it at a normal rate, and I don't foresee that happening without some serious change.
Second, I am planning on an exciting activity this time next year, that I would much prefer to do without the extra weight on. (More on the activity later.) It would make it much more enjoyable, and would make me even more proud to be there.
So, my plan...well, I am hoping that by doing this, I will make myself accountable to the 10 people that may someday follow this, as well as to myself. I joined Weight Watchers a few months ago, and about 4 pounds have come off, and I can fluctuate on that in a weeks time! Maybe this will be an answer, because really...who would want to post on their blog, "I gained 3 pounds this week..."?
However, I do have to question my timing here. Really? The week before Thanksgiving? But, no time like the present, so they say.
So here goes. I am going to do something few people will do. I am not only going to write down my goal, I am going to write down my starting point! YIKES! My ultimate goal will be more sized based, because in all reality, my legs are like tree trunks, solid and huge. I won't be losing any mass there. It should all be tummy. But, seems that whenever we give something a number, we become more accountable. Here goes nothing!
My goal is 40 pounds in 11 months. (Is that doable?) Even more scary, I am going to give the starting point. This morning my scale said 209.0 lbs, while two weeks ago at Weight Watchers, their scale said 207.6 lbs. I'll go with the bigger number (after all, it will make a bigger number at the end), as my starting point.
So, there it is. I have gone completely crazy and posted my actual weight out there for everyone in the world to see. WTH am I thinking????? But, in the end, I am looking at another number...smaller and hopefully acheivable.
What do I hope to accomplish in 11 months, besides (hopefully!) having 40 pounds off? I hope that I have given people an idea that just because it has always been this way, doesn't mean it ALWAYS must be that way.
So, I am calling this blog "we all need motivation"....if putting my actual weight out there in the world is not motivation enough, what will be? My hope is to laugh and smile as I do these, and maybe do the same for someone else. But more than anything get that positive message out there.
My entire life I have been overweight, not morbidly obese, but definitely overweight. Now, I can blame it on genetics...there is a lot of that in my family, but in reality, I have done little to change that. I have lost weight (at one time up to 50 lbs!), and gained some back--fortunately not all. But in the end, I am still overweight.
I began exercising during my last attempt at weight loss, and have never looked back. Even being overweight, I have become a group exercise instructor, I have run half marathons, I have scaled walls, but in the end, I am still overweight.
It used to seriously bother me. Not as much anymore, because I can still do all the things I want to do. However, in the last few months, and even the last few weeks, all that has changed in my mind. It isn't about the vanity of the overweight, but the fact that I have other things ahead that I need to keep in mind, and my weight is challenging that.
First, I am most concerned about my health. My family is fortunate, as there is not a bunch of hereditary diseases throughout the family, no cancer, diabetes, etc. What we do have though....lots of increased blood pressure and heart attacks throughout the family. I was "lucky" enough to get my dad's genes and my blood pressure has become a bit of a concern. I would like to keep it at a normal rate, and I don't foresee that happening without some serious change.
Second, I am planning on an exciting activity this time next year, that I would much prefer to do without the extra weight on. (More on the activity later.) It would make it much more enjoyable, and would make me even more proud to be there.
So, my plan...well, I am hoping that by doing this, I will make myself accountable to the 10 people that may someday follow this, as well as to myself. I joined Weight Watchers a few months ago, and about 4 pounds have come off, and I can fluctuate on that in a weeks time! Maybe this will be an answer, because really...who would want to post on their blog, "I gained 3 pounds this week..."?
However, I do have to question my timing here. Really? The week before Thanksgiving? But, no time like the present, so they say.
So here goes. I am going to do something few people will do. I am not only going to write down my goal, I am going to write down my starting point! YIKES! My ultimate goal will be more sized based, because in all reality, my legs are like tree trunks, solid and huge. I won't be losing any mass there. It should all be tummy. But, seems that whenever we give something a number, we become more accountable. Here goes nothing!
My goal is 40 pounds in 11 months. (Is that doable?) Even more scary, I am going to give the starting point. This morning my scale said 209.0 lbs, while two weeks ago at Weight Watchers, their scale said 207.6 lbs. I'll go with the bigger number (after all, it will make a bigger number at the end), as my starting point.
So, there it is. I have gone completely crazy and posted my actual weight out there for everyone in the world to see. WTH am I thinking????? But, in the end, I am looking at another number...smaller and hopefully acheivable.
What do I hope to accomplish in 11 months, besides (hopefully!) having 40 pounds off? I hope that I have given people an idea that just because it has always been this way, doesn't mean it ALWAYS must be that way.
So, I am calling this blog "we all need motivation"....if putting my actual weight out there in the world is not motivation enough, what will be? My hope is to laugh and smile as I do these, and maybe do the same for someone else. But more than anything get that positive message out there.
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