Progress...yes, progress...

I went to my meeting yesterday and at my initial weigh in I was 185 exactly, giving me a loss of 1.2 pounds. After the meeting, I had to pee, and since I had a 20 oz coffee prior to the meeting, I wasn't surprised. What did surprise me was the -.6 pounds! That makes a total loss of 1.8 pounds!  

Is that cheating? I don't know....Do I care and does it make me feel better? Yes, so I will consider it a 1.8 pound loss last week. 


Let's look at the totals so far...
August 1 I weighed 191
August 30, I weighed 184.4. 


Total weight lost the month of August: 6.6 Pounds. 


Last year, when I rejoined WW and was making mad progress I started jiving at a record hop every Friday night. I think that jiving contributed at least half pound a week to my weight loss. Not only was the jiving fun, helped me loose weight faster, but it trimmed my waist down! My waist was more than 2 inches smaller at 190 than it was the last time I was 190 in 2007. 


Here is something that has helped me stay in my points and track this week:

Frank BBQ'd tri-tip steak on Sunday night. I was a little worried about having it, even with 14 points left for dinner. When he was done cooking it, I programed strip steak into the scale, threw on some meat and saw that it was 9 points. With the potato at 1, the light butter on the potato at 1 and vegis that were grilled on the BBQ at 0, Dinner was 11 points! 3 were left over for my weight watcher's ice cream snack. 


With the help of the scale to be accurate, it helps me not over eat. I already know, not guess, how many points I'm eating which then stops me from telling myself "maybe I over calculated? I can have another slice!" That rationalization has cost me at the scale many times! 

Yesterday's weigh in and adventures in shopping

Yesterday's meeting was good and bad. 

I will start with the bad. I was up 8 tenths of a pound, but I will blame my dress. I wasn't wearing my usual light weigh in dress. I will also blame the tub of buttered movie popcorn I ate on Sunday with peanut M&Ms. I think my biggest mistake and what I can blame the most, is that I ate when I wasn't hungry on Friday. I ate when I felt full, even. Why I did that? I'm not sure, but it is a mistake I paid for by not losing anything last week. I won't beat myself up too much, though. Often times after a big loss like I had last week, I will not lose and sometimes gain the following week. It usually isn't a significant gain, like yesterdays, so I'm not sweating it.


Now...time for the good. Yesterday our leader told us that if we are repeat WW members, who have a different original start weigh in total than what is currently on our cards, we can reset our start weights. Well, after resetting my start weight to what it was when I joined in 2005, I was thrilled to realize I have lost 65 pounds!

Now for another big thrill I got. I went shopping Friday at Kohls for some work clothes. That was not the thrill, trust me, I don't like to shop for square clothes. Since almost everything I have purchased in the last few years has been vintage or custom made, I couldn't believe it when I tried on a skirt in a size 12 and it fit!  I know sizes may have changed in the last 20 years, but I honestly haven't put on anything in a size 12 since 1986. 


Now for a little treaty tip:

2 point bagel and cream cheese...perfect breakfast or morning snack!

Tracking makes the difference! Plus an easy breakfast solution.

Yesterday's meeting was a huge success. I lost 4 pounds last week, and I know it is due to my diligent tracking. I have just 5.4 pounds left to get to my low point, post Viva, 10 pounds to get to my birthday goal October 9, 20 to go to get to my weight watchers goal and 25 to get to my goal of 160.


Thursday was my husband and my anniversary. We had plans to eat out and I saved all my bonus points for that dinner out. I ate light during the day, with yogurt, fresh strawberries (2 servings) and a a couple of hummus sandwiches. I went to dinner with 14 points, plus my 35 bonus.
I ate:
bread with olive oil and wine vinegar
salad with Gorgonzola and light dressing
Soft Polenta with fire roasted vegitables
Tirimisu for dessert.


I may not have used all my bonus points, but I counted that I used all but maybe 5, to keep me in check over the weekend.


Friday night Frank BBQ'd Filet Mignon, which was 7 points, and I balanced it out with fire roasted veggies from the BBQ. Saturday I was with the girls and we went out for Mexican. I had used 3 points for the day, so I ordered chicken fajitas which are 4 points per fajita. I added a couple points for the guac and the few chips I ate. Later we went to Cold Stone Creamery and I had watermelon sorbet.


With all that eating...I still lost 4 pounds! The calculator tracker really works! 


Here is a tip for a filling breakfast on the weekends if you want to avoid eating out during the day, which I did on Sunday, when I went to a car show:
1 and 1/3 cup potatoes O'Brien (frozen)
additional chopped up red bell pepper and onion
1 egg
salsa
1/4 avocado sliced


Spray pan with non stick cooking spray. Saute the pepper and onion then add the potatoes O'Brien. When browned, add the egg, beaten. Cook until eggs not runny. Top with salsa and avacado.


Total points: 5


For an extra point, you can throw a broken up piece of bacon into the potatoes. To lose a point, remove the Avocado.

Week 1

Week one of being back on weight watchers...


I did pretty well until Friday...well, Thursday night. I still lost 2.6 pounds, but I could have done a lot better on week one, as I usually loose a minimum of 4 pounds the first week I go back.


I'll share with you why I know I did not do as well as I could have and what I'm going to do to remedy it.


1. I did not track beyond day 2!!! I am pretty good at math, but no matter how good someone is at math it won't make them able to track points in their head! That was biggest downfall for week one.
Solution: I bought a points calculator that is so much easier to use and not conspicuous to track the points. Weight Watchers has this cute calculator that will calculate points on items for you (no need for a slider point calculator!) and it will track the points you use, counting down, as you use them.

It is small and looks like a cell phone, and is so simple to use. I didn't even have to read the directions.


2. Starbucks and their pesky cold drink for $2 after 2 P.M. promotion they are doing. If you buy a drink in the morning, they will stamp your receipt and you can get a cold drink for $2 bucks after 2. I took advantage and even though I ordered Caramel Light Frappicinos, it is still 3 points! So with those added points every day, it is no wonder I didn't do as well.
Solution: I am throwing away the receipt in the morning! I know I will eventually have to either switch to coffee or cut out Starbucks completely. I think I will wait until I go down one more point level. It might motivate me to join the gym and be able to add activity points onto my daily points.


3. Going into Bonus points on Thursday and not tracking the bonus points either!
Solution: Save bonus points for Friday or later! I will have to make an exception this week because it is our anniversary on Thursday and we'll go out to eat.


4. Knowing I was going over my points and doing it anyway. It's one thing to to over the points when you aren't quite aware, but I KNEW I was over and still ordered a Crispy Chicken Ranch Sandwich instead of a salad at Chilis.
SOLUTION: With my trusty points finder, I will be more aware with the number in my face before reaching for that more fattening choice. 


I hope that writing this down and telling on myself will help me to do better next week. I don't want this to be a blog of failure, but more a blog to encourage people. Besides, even with my screw ups I still lost 2.6 pounds!

Quick one...what I need

I was reading the Blog   of Ms. Bitchcakes, and she talks about snacks, in particular the artificial sugary 100 calorie snack packs and how they distorted her taste buds.  She now eats almonds and fruit as snacks. She had the problem of binging and over eating those 100 cal snacks. I can relate because I've been guilty of that, too. She's given up all the artificially sweet snacks and I think that's all well and good...more power to her. I know for myself I HAVE to have something sweet. Not naturally sweet, like fruit, but artificially sweet. I can't deny myself completely some of the things that I really love, like ice cream or candy. One reason I know I have binged on those 100 calorie snack cakes, etc., is because the portion is so small. It just isn't satisfying. I have attached 3 of my FAVORITE sweet snacks that I have yet to binge on since one seems to be enough.


I'm going to show you some of my favorite low points treats that I can't live without:

Jello Sugar Free Mousse 1 point! ( I think it would be ok to have 2...but I haven't felt the need to have more than one at a time yet!)

Bryers Ice Cream bars 3 points

Weight Watchers Ice Cream Candy Bars 3 points

I also have other snacks I can't live without. For 2 points, I will snack on a 2 point sandwich made with Sandwich thins and 2 Tablespoons of Garlic Hummus...mmmmmmm

Sandwich Thins 1 point

Two Tablespoons of Tribe Garlic Hummus 1 point

As I discover other snacks and treats that are Weight Watcher friendly, I will post them here.


Day 3 of strict adherence to my points and feeling stronger and stronger. I will be back to my post viva weight and then on to my goal!

A new start...

I am going to try to write in this blog at least one a week from now on. I didn't get a chance to go to WW the night I wrote my last blog, but I did go the next day and was 186, which is up 6 pounds from my low of 180.

I went on Vacation last week, as evidenced in my other blog and as I stated, it was an orgy of food. It was, as my weight watchers leader described it "A Last Supper" vacation. Any of you who has made a commitment to lose weight, knows what she was talking about. We have one last binge before we head to that meeting and step on the scale. Well, my last supper cost me 5 POUNDS! The fried twinkie, Claim Jumpers and buffets took their toll.

I returned to Weight Watchers tonight. I started a new job today, so it seemed to make sense to me to restart Weight Watchers. I returned to the meeting I attended in 2005-2006 and to my old leader who I totally relate to.

Today's meeting was encouraging. I am confident that if I follow the program, I will successfully lose and get to my goal weight. I have stuck to my points today and am really committed. I'm relieved that there are not people selling fried twinkies anywhere close, because those things were tasty!

8/2/10
weight: 191
goal: 160

31 Pounds to go!