I can totally do this

I'm pleased to report I had a butt kicking water aerobics class last night and I still got up and did some elliptical at 6am. Sure, it was only 15 minutes but I plan on increasing that every day as I get used to getting out of bed early.

I've been fooling myself thinking 2 or 3 days of exercise is enough and it needs to be double that. Back when I lost 100 pounds I was working out 6 days a week. While Weight Watchers is working really well for me I need and WANT to average 2 pounds a week instead of 1.

I plan on going to my water aerobics class Monday and Wednesdays after work. All other days will be up early doing BL Yoga, Elliptical or other various DVDs. Maybe even an extended dog walk in the morning with the husband. Saturdays will be a long walk with the dogs or a trip to the gym if the weather is bad and Sundays will be my day off. I'm going to make a chart of my schedule and tape it to my alarm clock :)

I'm trying to take advantage of all the help that's available to me. I've been reading the material Weight Watchers gives me and more than once so it really sinks in! I've also just downloaded a ton of Jillian podcasts to listen to in the car on my hour-each-way drive. These things are there to help me and it's time I used them to help motivate me and educate me.

If anyone has any more Podcast suggestions I'll take 'em. :)

Boredom Binge

Blogging has made me so much more aware of my feelings about food and why I have a problem controlling my eating. I don't consider myself a true binge eater because I don't consume mass quantities of things when I binge. Just lots of variety!

I was bored bored bored this weekend. The weather was awful and I was super lazy which led to a comatose grocery shopping trip and way too much bad food. I ate so much crap that I ruined my sleep in Sunday morning with horrible stomach pains. Just because I was bored and lazy.

This is getting serious. I have NEVER been lazy. I normally love to clean and do house projects all weekend not to mention all the other weekend type things like long walks and meeting friends in the pub.

I've gone through a list of reasons why I feel this way so I'm putting them all down here so maybe I can address them one by one. Some things I can control and some things I can't (like the weather)

a. weather has been awful every weekend and I tend to get depressed from lack of sun.
b. the bout of flu I had
c. I'm on meds for anxiety/depression that may need to be changed. Do they stop working after a few years I wonder?
d. lack of exercise
e. too much sleep (I have no kids) :)
f. I work a lot of hours and I'm getting older
g. all of the above

That's an overwhelming list to me and I'm not sure where to start. I know I feel best when I'm exercising so I'm committing to that this week. Pool tonight then up early tomorrow morning for BL Yoga. (that counts for 2 since it's exercise and sleeping less). I'm also making extra effort to be happy today and am going to sit in the sun for lunch today! I also need to go get a physical so I will put that on my list of calls to make today. Ugh. Scale at the doctors. I've been avoiding you.

See? I already developed a plan just by writing it down. Another thing my mom was right about.

All I can do about my binge is get right back on track and try to undo any damage done with eating clean and exercising this week. There was no way I was going to face the scales this morning. I will wait until my weigh in at the WW meeting on Wednesday.

Have a great week everyone!!

Friday!

Thank you all for your advice yesterday about the husbands plateau. I looked up some things for him on Spark People and sent him a link to some manly workouts on FitTV which we have On Demand. That should be a good start for him. I think we will eventually share a trainer once I'm not afraid to spend money anymore! I'm super busy at work so that's a good sign.

Today started with a chicken biscuit which is not good but I logged the points and will eat a light lunch. I'm still starving after my flu but I'm trying to keep it under control. Especially with the weekend coming up.

If it ever stops raining we are going to walk to Decatur and back (5 miles round trip) to get our morning coffee on Sunday. Other than that I have no major plans for the weekend which will be nice to recover from my Chicago trip last week. My gym bag is packed for tonight and even though the pool will probably be closed due to weather, I'm going to try to force myself to go. Not sure why but it's extra hard on Friday nights.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Pushing past the plateau for men?

My poor husband is about to enter onederland but he's stuck at 203 and can't seem to get past it. I asked him this morning how long it's been and he said about 10 days. I can usually mess around with his calories a little and break him through but this time it's not working.

I think it's time for him to start lifting weights and I think it would be best for his schedule to do some free weights at home at least to start. He has access to the machines at the gym but has trouble changing it up because he doesn't know enough about it.

Anyone have any ideas on setting up a routine for him at home? I haven't done any research yet but I thought I'd put it out there for the asking. Maybe even something we could do together! I thought about exploring some DVD's or FitTV or something like that. We have free weights and a ball. I might try to get him to do BL Yoga but the poor thing is not at all flexible.

Boys are still a mystery to me. I never had any brothers so I'm kind of hopeless when it comes to knowing anything about them :)

How much did she lose this week?

It was an expected GAIN. + 1.6 pounds. This is after my huge loss last week due to the flu. I think anything I ate was going to put a little of that back on after not eating for 3 days. My co-worker found this image of a 1.6 pound beach blanket and wrote "Dirty Justin Memorabilia" on it. It's a long story. It is however representative of something I hate.

I'm still averaging 2 pounds a week and I'm so happy with that. Weight Watchers is the best. My next goal is to hit the 10lb. mark which should happen in the next week or two if I behave myself. I've been afraid of exercise lately and now that I'm feeling better, I keep making excuses and talking myself out of it. I keep thinking it's leftover tired from the flu but now it's just plain laziness.

I'm diving back in to the pool tonight after 3 weeks off. I hope I remember how to swim:)

I didn't think feeling better would be a bad thing!

I want to eat everything now that I feel like eating again! For some reason my usual, healthy favorites aren't filling me up. Must have been all the bagels I ate while I was sick to settle my stomach. Damn those white carbs! I also ate so many chocolate covered caramels that I made myself feel sick again. I'm doing so well so why do I sabotage myself?

Today is a new day and even though it's probably too late to salvage my weigh in tomorrow, I have good food packed for today and I'm ready to get back on track. I'm walking the dogs tonight and will go back to my water aerobics class tomorrow night. Hopefully that will get me going on the exercise again after my lovely flu.

Off to drink my water and get some work done for a change! :)

Back to earth

I can't believe it but it actually feels good to be back to the routine today!

My trip was amazing and Oprah was better than I ever imagined. Michael J Fox and Dr. Oz were the guests so we got really lucky. It airs on the 31st of March and I highly recommend it! Oprah is everything you would imagine. Gorgeous, nice, larger than life. It feels good to have accomplished something I've wanted to do most of my life!

I finally feel well enough to stop eating white carbs and I have no other trips planned until April. The weather is gorgeous so I plan on a solid week of eating well and exercising to keep myself on track. I really didn't overdo it in Chicago but I know I will gain some since my last weigh in was post-flu.

Just the small bit I've lost so far has helped me so much. I felt more comfortable on the plane (even in the middle seat on the way back) and I feel more flexible and energetic. I walked around the city in boots with heels in the jeans that were uncomfortably tight on my birthday but are now a little too loose. Also, my sweet husband has hit the 15 pound mark and we're using this momentum to keep going and to kick the exercise up a little more.

Have a great week everyone!!!

How much did she lose this week?

A woolly Mammoth Tooth.

-5.6 pounds!

Thanks to the flu I got rid of those Gwen Stefanie CD's and then some! Not my favorite way to lose some pounds but I'll take it! I weighed in at home this morning because I'm just not going to have time to get to the meeting. I'm in for a half day at the office and then running home to go to the airport.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I will tell Oprah y'all said hi. See you back here on Monday!

I'm back - sort of

I have been completely laid out with the flu since Wednesday! I'm back at work today and about 75% back to normal. I lost about 7 pounds during all of this but I think I've put a few back on since I started eating food again.

The sickness has left me feeling very sad and deflated and I'm hoping my spirits will lift a little. Work has been terrible and it's hard to come back to such a toxic environment. I didn't even get a "how are you feeling?". I must continue to be thankful I have a job and just get through it. Things have got to get better. For everyone's sake.

I'm leaving on Wednesday night for Chicago (my Oprah trip) and I haven't packed a thing or even thought about what I'm bringing. Hopefully I'll feel a little more myself as it gets closer!

How much did she lose this week?

It was a gain. A horrible bloated gain. My Tanita says I'm up a percent and a half in water.

I told my coworker that pictures for gains had to be something I hate. (she knows me so well!)



I GAINED 22 Gwen Stefanie CDs. 4 pounds.

I'm not beating myself up about it. Next week will be better. BLERG!!!

An unexpected workout

We went to see the Pogues in concert last night and I danced and danced and danced. As young as I felt last night, I was reminded how young I'm NOT this morning. I'm SO sore and no amount of coffee is waking me up! It was so fun and a seriously good workout.

My cramps are gone so I'm slowly coming back to life. I'm sure I will show a gain tomorrow for my weigh in and was considering not going but I think that's a dangerous thing to do. I might as well just get used to the fact that one weigh in a month will probably have a + in front of it. I'm sure that my eating to dull the pain didn't help much and neither did the drinking!

girly woes

I'm seriously dying of cramps. I feel like I wasted an entire day of the weekend laying on the couch in pain yesterday.

I don't know what the deal is because I've never had any problems before. I spent a long time on the pill and went off of it when I got married 4 years ago. Going off the pill made it slightly worse but nothing like I've experienced this weekend. I suppose I should just quit trying to self diagnose and get to the doctor who I've been avoiding while I try to lose some pounds. I'm busting my butt and not in the mood for a lecture. Anyone know a fat gynecologist in Atlanta? :) I used to have one but she did South Beach and lost a ton of weight and got so bad with the lectures she made me cry and I switched to someone else in the office.

Because I was in pain I over ate quite a bit but I think it could have been much worse. I was at the grocery store and things were literally calling out to me. I wanted to fill my cart with junk and lay on the sofa and eat it all to dull the pain. Instead I grabbed one pseudo-healthy treat which was a box of Fiber One pop tarts. I ate one and I was fine. But we did have pizza instead of fish we had planned. I ended up eating a Philly which was so salty my fingers were like sausages. Not worth it.

I'm feeling better today and have the weeks food planned. I won't stop this time. Even though the scale says I'm up 4 pounds. Hopefully that will go away when these awful cramps do!

careful planning

Luckily I'm a planner by nature because it didn't bother me that I just spent the last hour figuring out what I could eat at the salad buffet restaurant I'm going to for lunch.

Normally, I would have figured out in my head what I thought was healthy while I was piling it on my plate but I had a sneaking suspicion there were loads of hidden calories and fat lurking in the things that seemed harmless. Boy was I right. Some of the harmless sounding vinaigrette dressings had 20 grams of fat! So a big YAY for Sweet Tomatoes posting ALL their nutrition info on the website.

That was the topic at yesterday's WW meeting. You can't do it in your head. You HAVE to write it down and you HAVE to plan and then it works :)

Here's what I chose:
Unlimited salad with Fat Free Ranch and Fat Free honey mustard
French Onion Soup
Low fat cornbread
Sugar Free Chocolate Mousse

425 calories - 9 Points (having fish and veggies for dinner allows a FEW more points at lunch)

I looked up some of the things I would have normally eaten and let's just say those will never be discussed again. Sorry Mac and Cheese and Won Ton Chicken Happiness. I had no idea you were THAT bad!

Hope everyone is having a good week. Thankfully a gorgeous and fun weekend is ahead!

*Updated to say that I totally stuck to plan and didn't look at anything else. I'm perfectly satisfied. I feel so dang proud :)

How much did she lose this week?

The British PREMIERE Gift Basket from Amazon. (This one is in honoUr of my sweet Scottish husband who is so encouraging)


5.8 pounds!

All those fabulous gourmet cheeses and short breads came off my body! :)

The meeting was really good and I got my little gold 5lb. sticker. I told my co-worker that the meeting is kind of like elementary school for fat ladies. I, being one of those fat ladies, proudly put my sticker on my bookmark just like when I would put my scratch n sniff stickers on my folder when I was little.

There were 2 annoying girls there who talked a lot to each other. One was teeny tiny and complaining of a gain after 4 months of Boot Camp 6 days a week. I guess everyone has their issues!

I love Weight Watchers because I haven't felt the slightest bit deprived. I even had Pizza on Saturday - I just worked it in. I make good choices and I track every single thing that goes in my mouth. I ate 4 almonds yesterday which I logged and found out is half a Point. The more I log my points the easier it is because everything I enter is saved.

Here are some things that are changing after only 2 weeks:
1. No more heartburn. I haven't had a Tums since Day one.
2. In my dreams I'm active and jumping around instead of stressed out.
3. Clothes fit better already.
4. Biggest Loser Yoga is getting easier (still a killer though)
5. I'm taking more time to look better.

Things I need to do better on this week:
1. More veggies
2. More exercise
3. More water

Right now I'm drying off my water shoes by my desk heater because I left them outside during the snow storm and they are frozen solid. The old me would have used that as an excuse not to go to my class tonight. That's a great one actually..."I can't go to water aerobics because my water shoes are wet." Thank goodness I'm changing my ways!

Eating healthy? Check with your dishwasher!

My husband announced yesterday morning that we were on the last tablet of dishwasher soap. I clearly remember passing the dishwasher soap at the grocery store Saturday and knowing we didn't need any because I had just bought some 2 weeks ago.

I asked him how many times a week he's been running the dishwasher and he said 3 or 4. I was SHOCKED. Not just because I have an awesome husband who loads and runs and unloads the dishwasher but because it used to be once a week. Twice at most.

What does this have to do with eating healthy? Well the dishwasher is full to the brim of plastic containers and dishes every other day because we are packing our lunches and eating all of our dinners at home. It's amazing what a difference it makes. The water bill goes up but the scale goes down. It's a wonderful trade-off if you ask me!

Stay tuned for tomorrows 'How Much Has She Lost This Week' complete with a picture of something that equals my weight loss for the week.. I've been peeking at the scale and it's going to be a good one!

Magic Erasing and Magically Erasing

I can't believe it's Monday again already! I had to dig the car out this morning from many inches of snow. We're such Southerners that I don't even own an ice scraper. I had to use a kitchen utensil! Any Northerner would have died laughing at us in the driveway standing around wondering what to do :)

I took advantage of the horrible weather to do a deep cleaning on the kitchen. I cleaned every single tile with a magic eraser and it's like I have a new floor. Every muscle in my body hurts from that adventure. The positions I found myself in weren't far off from my Biggest Loser Yoga video!

The pounds are also magically erasing. Well maybe not magically because I've been busting my butt BUT I've been peaking at the scale and the Wednesday weigh in should be a good one! It was so hard this weekend. The weather made me want to eat everything in sight but I tried to snack on good things and I got plenty of exercise. I can't remember the last time I got through a weekend without a gain. I'm loving Weight Watchers!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Snowy Sunday!

Today has been a very unexpected snowy day here in Atlanta! We very rarely get flurries much less a full on snow day.

We decided to take the dogs out for a walk despite the cold and wet and it was really fun but I was ready to come home after about 30 minutes walking. That's Sophie up on the wall and Lucy on the ground. Now that we're home I'm wishing I had one of those Snuggie things :)