I'm Losing It!

Halloween happened

2009-11-05T22:06:00.001-07:00

Last week's goals were:

To write it all down.

I did okay for 3 days. Then Halloween happened. I can't blame it all on the candy though. The husband and I had a salesman come over on Saturday to talk to us about buying new windows. He arrived by 10:30 and did not leave until around 3:00. I had nothing to eat the entire day. After he left I had to rush to the store to buy Halloween candy. I had planned to just buy the usual one bag but after speaking to my neighbor and finding out that last year brought 60 kids to their door, I changed my mind. After spending more on candy than I did on my phone bill, I headed home. Since I had not eaten, I of course did not feel like cooking anything and the husband (with help from his friend) decided on pizza and wings. So not the best choice but at least I did not like what they ordered and so I did not eat that much.

My next goal was WATER.

I took a large mug to work with me and did pretty well at refilling it thru out the day. But once the week was over and with Halloween being on Saturday, the water intake seemed to be over as well. I did not do very well liquid wise over the remaining weekend either.

My last goal was to Follow the Guidelines.

I was pretty awesome at reaching this goal. Well except for the oil and only during the 3 days where I wrote everything down. It felt good to cross off the little boxes.

When I weighed in on Monday, I did okay. I lost a little bit. Very little, but at least it was something.

This new week is not going so well for me. It is HIM (Health Information Management) week. So far this week we have had sandwiches with dessert goodies & 2 cakes. With Halloween being over, there has also been tons of leftover candy. Friday (tomorrow) we are having wings. Not very good choices at all this week. In fact I have just one goal for this week. To write it all down (and stay on program) for just ONE day.

This week will be better

2009-10-29T19:37:00.001-07:00

I have gotten lazy. I have stopped weighing, measuring and tracking.

After the craziness of last week, that included a trip to the ER and a special houseguest, I am ready to get back on track. I am not one that expects to lose a certain amount of weight each week. Gains really don't bother me. It is the overall picture and total that I am after. I am trying to accomplish my main goal of being (and eating) healthier. Well as healthy as I can be while still eating processed foods and other goodies. I find it harder to eat healthier since I have been married. When I was single it was a lot easier.

My goals this week are to write it all down, drink lots and lots of water, and follow the guidelines (including eating my oil). So far everything is going okay this week. There are a few obstacles that I need to get past though. On Friday there is a work potluck and then of course there is Halloween.

Halloween is what got me in trouble last year. I have always purchased candy that only the husband likes. That way I won't be tempted to eat any of it and if no kids come he can eat it all himself. Last year I handed the job of candy buying over to the husband. Big. Mistake. I have NEVER seen so much candy. He has since been fired from any future Halloween candy buying. Especially since we had all that candy and only one trick-or-treater. This year will be tough though. We don't know how much candy to buy. We are living in a new place and I don't know if the neighborhood is big on trick-or-treating. I do know they like Halloween as there are many decorated houses. But I don't know if we will see any little ones this weekend.

It's been a couple of years...

2009-10-02T23:18:00.001-07:00

It has been awhile. So here is a quick catch-up.

The last time we saw our hero, she had just lost her job. The time of jobless-ness lasted a full year, during which she went to school and moved from her sucky apartment to the best townhome ever.

2008 found our hero starting a new job doing something she had never done before and where she had to train herself. Stress was an understatement as she worked on reducing the 4-year backlog and had no one she could ask for help. The Halloween candy of 2008 was only a start to additional padding that would expand her rear.

Another year passed, which brings us to the season of 2009. Our hero is still learning on the job and although she vowed never ever ever to do it again, she moved. Only this time she bought a house. During this time she also decided that something really needed to be done about her health and body. It has now been 8-months and 32.8 pounds have disappeared.

But now our hero finds herself in need of motivation to keep going. This past week she realized that she really needed to do something to get herself back on track. So she searched online and found this, this & this...Such wonderful online motivation to help her with her quest.

So far this past week had been good for our hero. Already half-way thru her week and each day of food had been journaled and counted. She had high hopes of making it thru the weekend.

Then came the pizza. How would she count the pizza. Could we please just ignore the pizza.

Please join us next time when our hero asks......What pizza?

Long time, no post

2007-03-30T23:40:00.001-07:00

Wow! It sure has been awhile.

A lot has happened since this year started.

I am no longer employed so I no longer have the option to attend the At Work meetings. I cannot attend regular meetings either for that matter. However….I have been doing Weight Watchers since I was twelve so I really should know what I need to do to lose weight. I have finally figured out that I am just plain lazy!

When I worked I always told myself I did not have the time, and honestly, I did not have the time. But now that I have been home. I have not even tried to exercise. I have WRITTEN it down on my to-do list – but I have not done it yet. :(

The one good thing about not working is that I am eating a lot less fast-food. I have been eating at home now, but DH does not like low-fat food so I have to figure out a way to get low-fat meals on the table without him knowing.

Does anyone have any ideas on some good low-calorie dinner ideas? Something that my DH would not know was low-calorie?

~~ Happy New Year!! ~~

2007-01-01T01:50:00.000-07:00

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

Finally, an update!

2006-11-09T16:11:00.000-07:00

I know that I have had a lack of updates to this site (posting and even template wise). That will soon be changing. I have noticed a lot of hits to the blog lately and I am so sorry for the boring content. I had wanted to wait to post once I updated the template but if I did that, I would never get around to posting. Maybe I just did not want to talk about my weight and what I was not doing to lose it. That must be it because I have no problem posting almost daily on my regular blog.

The At-work program that I signed up for has ended. Well this session anyways. I only got to go to two meetings I think, so it really was a waste of money that I don’t have. I ended up being pretty disappointed with the At-work session as it really was not ‘at work’ and I had to drive to get there. If I wanted to drive I could have joined a regular meeting. Since I never had a car on meeting days either we only had one car for the two of us and some days we had none (read this and this to see why), I never got to go. Either that or I was in a work meeting. It was very inconvenient. I decided not to sign up for anymore At-work sessions.

So for right now I am on a hiatus aka back to eating the way I usually do. Money is tight so I don’t have the luxury of buying anything low-calorie. DH will not eat anything low-fat either. So I have to buy what we can both eat.

I had dinner with an old friend the other day. I was surprised to see that She has lost a lot of weight. She says she kind of was following W/W but mostly just eating regular meals and walking and she gave up soda. So I decided I needed to do something. I need to start small so I can reach the goals I set.

I decided not to drink anymore soda. Not even diet soda. So far I am on day #3 of no soda. (YAY! Go ME!) I don’t miss it but I have to remind myself not to go to the vending machine. I have been a bit tired yesterday and today even though I have been drinking tea and coffee. Ummmm maybe I should have weighed myself too before I started. Maybe I will remember the next time I see the scale.

Week #54

2006-08-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning not feeling well enough to go to work. Since I had a project I had to finish I came into work late. I was only at work for 45 minutes when the W/W meeting reminder popped up. Since I had just gotten to work I did not want to get in the car and drive over to the meeting. I did not feel well either. The At-work program is supposed to be convinient but it appears that it is not since I have to drive a few miles away to attend.

This last week was not good for being on program either. It is really hard to follow program when money is tight and the food we can afford is not program friendly. For example, today I ate a cookie leftover from lunch that my boss had delievered yesterday. I also had a cup of coffee and 2 diet sodas....oh and a small bag of pretzels. That's it. No wonder I am starving!

Here's hoping this next week is much better. :)

Week #53

2006-08-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

I did not get a chance to make it to the other building for the meeting. This past week has not been good. I did not follow program and I am worried what the scale will say.

Week #52

2006-07-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

I had an awesome past week. I am determined to make this session of the program really work for me.

I did not have that much to work with as DH and I have not been grocery shopping but I managed to do okay with what we had and a few items I picked up at the store just for me. DH hates when I buy diet stuff so I just bought a few frozen meals (some for DH too), some salad (he will eat that) and some fruit. Last Sunday we had a friend cook us dinner and I STILL did okay.

Weigh-in for this first week back was today. I lost 3.4 pounds this past week! That is wonderful! I was so afraid that I would be back to only losing .2 as is the norm for me. I hope I can keep this up next week as well.

As is typical with me and weigh-in days......I am not eating very well on program today. But tomorrow I am back at writing it all down and watching what I stuff in my mouth.

I have been keeping this blog for a year now, I believe it has been a year if I am on Week #52 of my journey to lose this weight. I started this blog to keep me accountable to myself and to remind me because sadly I can forget that I am trying to watch what I eat. I may start out good in the morning but by the afternoon I totally forget that I am trying to lose weight. Not so much this past year. I have totally remembered even though I may not have been following program the entire year. My total weight loss for the past year has only been 11.2 pounds but I am very happy that I have LOST those pounds and not GAINED them as I probably do each year.

Here is to an even greater New Year on my weight loss journey!

Week #51

2006-07-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

Today was the start of a new At-Work session. I went. I weighed-in. I stayed for the meeting (such as it was). The new leader seems as if she will be good. I like her already. I was not too happy that all of our paperwork with our previous weigh-ins had been thrown away though. Good thing I had my previous weigh-in book so I could give her my correct starting weight. I gained a couple of pounds since my last weigh-in but that is okay. I am looking forward to starting off tomorrow morning the Weight Watcher way. If only I had food that I could eat. DH does not like for me to go grocery shopping without him and he never seems to want to go so food choices are limited and often end up being fast food. I think I may stop by Trader Joe's tonight and grab a few things just for me. :)

Week #44 ~ Week #50

2006-07-11T17:57:00.000-07:00

No news is good news right? I sure do hope so.

There have been no At-work meetings. I find that if there are no meetings and no weigh-ins then I do not follow program at all. I cannot believe it has been over a month since we last had a Weight Watcher meeting. I am happy to say that the At-Work meetings will be starting up again on the 19th of this month. I am looking forward to it actually. I want to see where my weight stands. Meetings will now be on Wednesdays instead of Tuesdays and we will have yet again a new leader.

I cannot believe it will be almost a year since I started Weight Watchers (again) and started this blog. I am sad to say though that I am not at where I thought I would be weight wise. I did not lose very much weight this past year and the weight I did lose was the same pounds over and over again. My goal this time around is to really be diligent and actually follow the program again.

Week #43

2006-05-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day in this session of the At-work program. I have missed alot so I knew no matter what I needed to go. I was debating on whether I wanted to even continue the At-work meetings but after speaking to the leader I have decided to continue.

I thought I had totally gone wild with not watching what I was eating but even after missing all these weeks and not following program at all I have maintained. I am very happy with that.

Week #39 ~ Week #42

2006-05-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

One bad thing about doing the At-Work program is that if I am at home sick then I miss the meeting. Not that I ever stayed for a meeting as it seems to have turned into a weigh-in session only. I don't think that the leader is even holding the meetings anymore. The few days I did come into work on a weigh-in day I either did not have any gas to get to the other building or I had meetings scheduled.

Week #38

2006-04-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

Not much to report. Only down .2 this week.

Week #37

2006-04-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

I don’t know what I was expecting for this week but the outcome was not as exciting as I thought it would be. This past week I did it, I journaled. I was pretty good at writing it all down except for the weekend. Weekends are usually hard for me to follow program so I just really concentrate on it during the weekdays. My goals this past week were (the outcomes are in pink):

1. Write down everything I eat even if it is not on program (what I meant was even if I don’t know the points) ~ I did not follow plan on Fri-Sat-Sun- Mon

2. Be mindful of what I eat ~ I ate way too much candy this week even if I did not cover over my points ~ too much sugar

3. Drink water ~ Weekdays were great for me drinking all my water and even extra. I drank more water this week then I think I have drank the entire past month.

I had expected a great loss but after reviewing my weekly goals I can see why I only lost .2 of a pound. Next week will be much better!

Thanks to all of you that leave comments. They really do go a long way to motivating me :-)

Week #36

2006-04-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

I actually made it over to the other building to weigh-in today. Today is super busy and I had to go to a later session but I made it. I think I may end up going to the later session as everyone seems to go at 11am and when I went at noon only one other person was there before me. I had a wonderful talk (probably about 30 minutes) with my leader.

As you know (if you have been reading my posts) I have not been following program for quite awhile. It shows too. Even though I was down this week (.4 of a pound) it is not because of anything good that I have done.

I have been using the free journals to journal my food. Today I went ahead and bought the bound journal that has 12 weeks in it. I hope that carrying it around and even (yes this is the shocker) USING it, will really help me get out of this rut.

Also DH and I are maybe getting a membership to a gym. I say maybe because it is a special family plan and my dad has to put us on it. If not then I will have to get one on my own.

There will be some changes to this here blog! No more downer posts!!!!!

Week #35

2006-03-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

No weigh-in today.

It is really hard sometimes to attend as I have to go to another building and I can only go if work is not busy. That is one of the downsides to the At-Work program. I will be happy when tax season is over and I will have more time and less work during the work day. I am ready for a change.

This blog has gotten too depressing.

Sorry about that.

Week #34

2006-03-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

Today was the start of a new session of the At-Work program. Weigh-in today had me up another 2 pounds. Pretty soon I will gain back all the weight I have lost. This is usually the typical pattern for me. I do so well in the beginning but I always run out of steam. Why do I always do that?

Do any of you out there have any ideas to get back on track and stay motivated?

Week #33

2006-03-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

I finally made it in to weigh-in. Today was the last day of this session. I did not accomplish anything this entire past 10 weeks. I am not happy about that. This week I am up 1.6 pounds. That makes my total weight loss a grand total of 10.8 pounds.

Week #32

2006-03-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

I am finally back at work after being sick for a week. I had planned to go weigh-in but since I have been out of work I did not know how my boss would take me taking off for an hour or two my first day back. I really needed to get caught up on my work. Then my boss said there were some things going on in the main building that I would not want to be a part of and to stay away. So I did.

Weigh-in will be back to normal next week. Hopefully it will not be too bad as I have not watched a thing that I ate for quite awhile now. :-(

Week #31

2006-02-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

I was out sick this week so I did not get to weigh-in.

Week #30

2006-02-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

Weighed in and I am up 2.6 pounds this week. I really do need to get back on track.

Week #29

2006-02-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

No Weigh-in today. :-(

Week #28

2006-02-07T23:54:00.000-07:00

Well today I was a bit bummed when weighing in. I started exercising this past week (well walking) and as I expected, I gained. I always gain when I exercise and it is not muscle either. Now I am trying not to let it get to me and granted it was only .2 of a pound but still it was frustrating.

I am starting to get frustrated. In the past when I would do Weight Watchers I could never get past 10 pounds lost. By the time I would quit going to meetings was usually when I was 10 pounds over my start weight. I am determined for this not to happen this time around but sheesh! it is already 28 weeks in and I cannot even loose 20 pounds!

Sorry to be so down in the dumps this week. I hope to have much better news next week!!!!

Week #27

2006-02-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

This week was not a good week at the scale. I was up 1.2 pounds. So I gained back what I lost last week. I sure hope that this is not a habit. Is the 1.2 pounds the new 1.6? I am tired of losing and gaining the same pounds over and over again.

I decided to do something about it. I heard about Couch-to-5K. I decided I could do this. I am doing the 7-moth plan (Conservative Run Program). I have issues with my ankles so I am starting out very slowly. Last night was the first day. It was just walking but it killed me. I always walk at a fast pace when exercising. I usually try to do about 30 minutes but the schedule said to walk for 10 minutes. I thought that it would be easy. Well….either I have gotten old or I am more out of shape than I thought. I could have very easily walked longer but my ankles could not handle it. They were KILLING ME! But I did it! I am on my way! Then this morning happened. I sure did not want to get out of bed. Not only was I still sleepy but my KNEES were killing me! I have never had a problem with my knees so I was pretty surprised. Hopefully my body will be back to par tomorrow when I have to walk again. I look forward to crossing off the days on this work out calendar. Now I just hope that when it comes time to run on this plan that my ankles don’t make me fall.

Week #26

2006-01-24T10:38:00.000-07:00

Weigh-in today went well. I was down 1.2 pounds.

Week #25

2006-01-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today was the first weigh-in after being back on program for a week. I almost did not even go to the meeting as I was forced to drive the crappy car with no heat and since it was cold I wore jeans and a sweater. I did NOT want to weigh-in with jeans. Well I decided to go and even with wearing jeans I was down .4 pounds. So I must have lost a good amount to wear such heavy clothing and still be down a 1/2 pound. Good thing is, now I can wear jeans whenever I weigh-in so no more dressing up just to weigh-in.

Week #24

2006-01-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today was the day for W/W to start again at work. Brand new sessions and brand new attitude. Well I hope the attitude is brand new. I really do need to work at it.

I almost thought I would have to start going to regular meetings. Last week I get an email stating that we need 5 more people or else the meetings would be cancelled. Well the next day I get a new email stating that we have so many people that we will again go back to having 2 meetings. I like that I can go back to the early meeting. I hated having the meeting at noon because I would not eat until afterwards. Now I can have my meeting at 11am and then eat right after.

It has been 4 weeks since my last weigh-in. I did not follow program so was not expecting a good weigh-in. I only gained 1.6 pounds. This is not bad, not bad AT ALL as I usually gain that in one week. What gets me is that I have been gaining and losing this same 1.6 pounds since the beginning of the last session (10 weeks ago). I did mention this to the instructor and we are going to do something about it this time. I really need to get this weight-loss jump started again. Hopefully I will get to go grocery shopping a bit tonight after work and will post any new low point goodies I come across.

Week #22 & Week #23

2006-01-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday.

Sorry to not have any weigh-in info. There have been no meetings and so no weigh-ins. I have not been on program either so I guess it is a good thing there have been no weigh-ins. The new At-work schedule is supposed to start next week sometime but I received an email on Friday stating that if we do not get 5 more people to join, that Weight Watchers will be cancelled. That really bums me out. I really like having it at work but it really has not been as convinient for me as it used to be as the meetings are held in a different building and I have to drive to them. I think I need to make a decision if I need to go to a regular meeting. However I really don't want to pay extra fees to go to a regular meeting. Argh! I really hate making decsions! Maybe that is why I don't make any New Years goals. Have you made any goals for the New Year? If so....what are they?

Week #21

2005-12-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

It is weird not to weigh-in on a Tuesday.

It looks like the new series of W/W will start sooner than we had originally been told. I am happy that they will continue especially after all the holiday junk I will be eating. Today is our Cookie exchange and Secret Santa swap (read about it here). Lots and lots of goodies are in close proximity. I don’t really eat cookies so I thought I was safe. Well there is cake and other items. I am sick though and since it hurts to eat I hope that it will keep me from enjoying myself too much. Maybe this not having an appetite will be good for the waistline. :-)

Week #20

2005-12-19T13:26:00.000-07:00

This weigh-in was the last weigh-in of the At-Work series ~ my last weigh-in for the year. This week I was up 1.6. I have been losing and gaining this same 1.6 for awhile now and I really need to do something about it. The holidays sure do not help.

There will be no more weigh-ins until sometime in January (maybe even February) and I sure hope I don’t gain back all that I have lost. My total lost for this year (well for the 20 weeks I have been on program) is 16.4 pounds. I am proud of those pounds and hope to lose a lot more next year.

Although I don't think you can see a difference I decided to upload a comparison picture. It probably would have been better to have 2 close up face shots but this is all I have to work with at the moment. The picture on the left was taken this past weekend at my company's holiday party. The picture of me in the white shirt was taken in March before I joined Weight Watchers.

We also have some new members to the Losing it! webring. That brings the total number of sites to 5. Please click on the Losing It! links on the left hand side there to read about others and their weightloss journey. To join the webring please click here.

Week #19

2005-12-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

This week was very stressful at work and it makes it harder to be on plan when there is no food in the house and all you have is a candy bowl at work.

The good thing about this past week is that I got to meet 3 local ladies that I met off of the Weight Watcher message boards. It was great to meet these ladies that I have chatted with. We had a very nice lunch and I hope to be able to get together with them again soon.

Weigh-in this week was a nice surprise. I did not loose anything but I also did not gain. I maintained (hey that rhymes!). I am very glad with this week's weigh-in.

Week #18

2005-11-30T00:45:00.000-07:00

This was another week of not journaling and really not being on Program. Well it was also Thanksgiving week so that should tell you something. It really is hard for me to stay focused when it is the holiday season. I have not been tempted by seasonal goodies but this is also the time of year that we get super busy at work and our 'season' will start soon. When work gets busy, food planning goes out the window. I have not been as diligent at buying all my lunches etc at the store and planning ahead of time. I did though buy some sugar-free Jello pudding and Jello. I hope that the low-points of these snacks will do me good. Tonight I also bought some sugar free non-dairy creamer for coffee (50 calories per tablespoon). I usually only have one cup a day and put 4 tiny creamers in it. I count it as 2 points. I want more flavor and I think the sugar-free creamer will help. Plus it should keep me away from buying the good flavored coffees at Circle K.

Today was weigh-in. Since I now work at a different building I am not able to stay for the meetings. I did go to weigh-in though and I was down 1.6 pounds again this week! For a total of 18 pounds lost - so I am losing ONE pound per week (I really do need to bump this up a bit). I hope to do very well next week and get back to where I was a few weeks ago. Wish me luck!

Week #17

2005-11-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

I realized today that I only have 4 more weigh-ins until this At-work session is over. Then there will be no more meetings until after the holidays. Boy that sure will be hard. I have not done very well this entire new session. I just want to make it to 20 pounds lost darn it!

Today was a good weigh-in. I am down 1.6 pounds. I don’t know how I accomplished that as I did not follow program the entire week as I had planned. The loss does put me in a good mood though and it makes me want to do better. Of course that did not stop me from eating these darn brownies that were brought in for our potluck.

Since I am now working in a different building than where the meetings are being held I was not able to stay for the meeting. In fact I think only about 4 people ended up staying for the meeting today. At least being in a building away from everyone and the cafeteria does help curb my eating.

Week #16

2005-11-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well after my frustrations last week I sort of said to heck with it and did not really follow plan that much this week. It showed too as I was up 1.2 pounds (I do not like this trend). I noticed at the weigh-in today that if someone lost weight the leader would be nice and make comments. When the person gained weight she frowned and would look up and say 'okay, next'. I did not stay for today's meeting. I am swamped at work and also in the process of moving to a new building. It will be hard being in the new building because I will now have to drive to the main building to weigh-in. So now these At-work meetings are no longer convenient to me and will be just like a regular meeting. I really do want to keep at it though so I will drive over each Tuesday to weigh-in and then drive back. I will miss staying for the meetings though.

My total weight loss is now at 14.8 pounds.

Week #15

2005-11-08T18:12:00.000-07:00

I do not like weighing in on Tuesday I think. I also do not really like the new leader they got for us. Since there were not enough for 2 meetings we now only have one meeting but for the first 1/2 hour everyone is weighing in and then by the time the leader gets to talk to us she is busy with new people and has been talking about the same thing each week. She is also very pro-core and does not help with any low-point ideas or anything that would help someone on the points plan. When asked she just says 'oh I am on core and don't have to count it'. She has mentioned a few times that if people are not losing as fast as they should they are not following the plan correctly. I don't agree with this as some people lose very slowly, I am one of them. I don't know what it is but I am not doing well at all on my weight loss since the new sessions (and new leader) started. I was up 1.6 pounds this week. When trying to speak to my leader about it she told me I was doing the plan wrong. I told her that I think being on this plan (no matter how much it has changed) since I was 12, I would know what I am supposed to do. I think after what she told me after this weigh-in, I do not like her very much. Have I mentioned I do not like my new leader all that much?

Week #14

2005-11-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

I thought I would try something different this week for posting. I hope posting each day will help me stay on track. It is not hard to do but sometimes I forget. :-)

So although this post may seem to be the same, keeping checking back as I will add to it each day.

Day #1 (Wed)

Well I started my day with a NSV (non-scale victory). All the candy that I snagged yesterday (except for a couple of Crystal Lite candies) went back in the huge candy bowl that has magically appeared in this office. This bowl is huge!!! See???? It does not stay full for very long. It does not matter that all the good candy is gone, the bowl is still there and can be a temptation.

To help with any munchies, I made sure to bring my teapot to work with me. Today’s tea was Candy Apple (first time trying this one and I think it is a keeper). I usually have a different flavor each time but I pretty much stuck with this one today. It is a black tea and now I think I have had a bit too much caffeine today because I am more tired now than this morning when I woke up.

Today's lunch was a Lean Cuisine Pepperoni pizza - I love these! (8pts) and although I cooked it the same amount of time I always do this particular microwave burned it!! Of course that did not stop me from eating it.

I bought one of the new flavors of 100 Calorie Packs. I got the peanut butter cookie crisps (2pts). I am not a cookie person but these are good. I ate a pack today and it was just what I needed when the urge to eat something sweet kicked in.

I did not know what I was going to do for dinner and was not in the mood to cook so I stopped off for some fast food. I got myself an Arby's Salad (Martha's Vineyard) and although this particular salad has the least amount of points it was still a 12 point dinner. It filled me up but I was hungry later in the evening and kept debating on what sweet thing I could snack on. I really did not want to use any Flex my first day back to journaling. I actually made it thru the night without eating anything else and my total points for day #1 of being back on track came to 28 ~ perfect!

Day #2 (Thurs)

Today was a good day. Even after eating chicken, rice and veggies for dinner I still had 6 pts left. I had bought some Healthy Choice ice cream (3pts per 1/2 cup) and so since I had the points I had 1 cup. That is where it fell apart. I had 1 pt left over for the day and Yep. You guessed it. I had another cup. Ice cream has always been a problem for me. I will not be buying it again anytime soon.

Day #3 (Fri)

I brought everything with me to work that was good to eat. Unfortunately I did not get to eat my good stuff. Although I brought my lunch (soup) I went with a co-worker to the work cafe and bought some grilled chicken (very small amount .16oz) that I made a sandwich with a piece of bread I brought with me. I am glad that I did. No sooner did I put that sandwich together than my manager came to my desk and told me to follow him and bring along my food. I found myself training 3 reps and since I had to wait until they were off the phone I never got to take a lunch. There seemed to be potlucks everywhere today and I finally had to break down and eat a small wing of fried chicken (the only piece left) and then I ate a couple of pieces of peanut butter fudge (at least I think that is what is was). I got back to my desk just as the bake sale my department was having was over. Yep. I had a caramel apple. Friday was NOT a good day when it came to eating. I did not write anything in my journal after the grilled chicken I ate.

Day #4 (Sat)

Weekends are always hard for me. I usually just eat whatever but that was when my weigh in day was on Thursdays and not Tuesdays. I think I may have to re-think my weekends off approach. I do find that although I don't watch what I eat - I do end up eating very little. I just don't seem very hungry when I spend the day alone.

Day #5 (Sun)

Today was definitely NOT an on program day. DH decided that he was hungry and wanted to go buy something for us to eat. He was going to pick up Mexican but the place was closed and instead brought back Lucky Wishbone. For those of you that don't have a Lucky Wishbone....everything they sell is fried. He picked me up some fried shrimp which comes with fries and garlic toast. Then he bought us each onion rings. I don't know why as I would never be able to eat all that. DH left for a few hours to visit some friends and picked up dinner on the way home. I was still a bit full from my one meal of the day but I had him pick me up a salad. I don't know why he then picked me up some fried potato cakes. I really don't understand him as he wants me to lose weight but when I then only eat a salad he worries I don't have enough to eat. I then had a cup of his ice cream (shhhh don't tell him).

I really do need to get back on track. Usually I forget I am on a diet after about a week or so but I did so well those first 10 weeks. I don't know why I am not that way anymore.

Day #6 (Mon)

One word. Halloween. 'nuff said.

Day #7 (Tues aka weigh-in day)

I had my weigh-in today and I am down .6.

I will take that.

I am happy and surprised that I lost anything this week but it sure has motivated me to be back on track for the upcoming weeks.

I stopped by Trader Joe's on the way home from work and I stocked up on the goodies I know I can eat and post about. My short-time goal for the end of this year is to wear something different to the company holiday party. I always wear the same black skirt (except the first 2 years where I wore a fancy shamcy dress). My goal is to wear something AWESOME!

Week #13

2005-10-25T14:32:00.000-07:00

Well I have been bitten in the butt! My weigh-in after not journaling for weeks has me gaining 2.6 pounds this week. I find it kind of strange as I ate the same if not better this week than last but I knew it was bound to happen. However, everyone gained about 2-3 pounds this week and the leader says the scale was a different one for her so she is thinking it may be the scale. I will know for sure next week. Of course it does not help that in my new office there is a huge bowl of candy that appear just a couple of days ago and even though I have not had any candy for over 10 weeks I find myself dipping into the bowl. In fact I have been eating candy as I write this and have some hidden at my desk. After today though, I am back on track! I went grocery shopping last night and bought a few things. I am thinking that now that my carpooler is history I will be able to run all my errands (including buying food and exercising) as I did before he started riding with me. Plus I can listen to my ‘violent and angry’ music (as he calls it). Whoo hoo!

Well since I have been such a weight-loss slacker I don’t really have any good tips but I did try my first Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry soda and I am happy to say it is Yum! I am also stuck on Diet Coke with Lime. If you have not tried those you should. I also like the Hansen’s Natural sodas. What diet soda or drink do you like? Any suggestions?

Week #12

2005-10-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

My weigh-in for this week was another 3.8 pounds gone!!! I am only .4 away from 20 pounds and I am so excited!

I am worried though as I have not been watching what I eat or journaling and I just know it will come back to bite me very soon!!!! I am in a new department at work now and so far in the 2 weeks I have been here there have been 2 potlucks and today a huge bowl of candy appeared. I have been really good at not eating any candy at all this past 12 weeks but this last week I have not been so good. I guess homemade Almond Roca will do that to a gal!

Week #11

2005-10-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

My At-work meetings started up again today. I have not been following the program or writing anything down for the past two weeks. I really expected to be surprised and I was but it was a good surprise! Something must be sticking with me as I was down 3.8 pounds since my last weigh-in!!! That brings my overall loss to 15.8 pounds!!! I guess I better take a picture and see if I can see a difference. I am excited to start the meetings again and really look forward to being smaller by the holidays. I am excited to be able to knit something for me and not have to worry if it will fit. In fact I started on a new project (yet another one) last night. I am really liking the way that that graph is heading. Now I just need to spend some time and make one that looks prettier. :-)

Week #10

2005-10-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

Well it is another week of not weighing-in and not following the program. I am happy that the At-work program here at my work will continue and even though weigh-in will now be on Tuesday I will continue. I don't know why I was so stuck on keeping Thursday as my weigh-in but I think that I will be more apt to go weigh-in if I do it at work. Mainly because they take the meeting fees out of my paycheck and I don't have to see the money going out. I think if I went to a regular meeting I would be reluctant - heck! I know I would be reluctant to pay when money is tight. So I will be posting my next update sooner than usual on Tuesday. See ya then!

Week #9

2005-09-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

This week I have been on vacation, in more ways than one. It is nice having a week off from work but I also seemed to have a week off of journaling and watching what I ate. Since weigh-ins are at work, I did not go in this week to see what the damage is. This week was the last week for the At-Work program. I am hoping that my company decides to continue with the At-Work program and that there are no lapses in between. If they do continue, my weigh-in day will move to Tuesday instead of Thursday. If there is a lapse, I am prepared with tons of empty journals that I saved up. If it is too much of a lapse, I will have to join a regular meeting and go after work on Thursday nights. I am almost tempted to just do that but the At-work meetings are so convenient to me. I will gladly give up my lunch hour one day a week if it means I get my meetings and weigh-ins out of the way.

So sorry to not have any losses or gains to report. I have no healthy food ideas to share (as I ate a lot of stuff this week). I can say that DH and I went shopping today and I am now all stocked up on foods I can eat and I started journaling again today. Of course leave it to DH to want to have pizza. So while his pizza is cooking I need to decide what I want to eat for dinner. Any suggestions? :-)

Week #8

2005-09-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

This week has been sort of ho-hum. I don’t know if I am just bored or really tired but each day seems to meld into the next. This week is going by extremely fast – well Weight-Watcher journal-wise.

I actually got some exercise this past week. It was not planned but hopefully it will give me good results at the scale. DH called me from work on Saturday and asked if I wanted to go to the University Football game because he had tickets. I had planned to cook something new for dinner that night but told him I could do both. While walking thru Trader Joe’s this week, they had a meal sample w/recipe. I usually don’t take samples but this one smelled so good. It was Thai Curry Chicken on Coconut rice. I made it and it turned out really good. However it was hard to figure out the points. Dinner was finished right before we had to leave for the game so I served myself a small portion. I had 23 points remaining for the day when I ate dinner. When we left for the game we drove to the park to catch the shuttle. Parking was terrible and we found a spot on the opposite side of the baseball stadium (busses were at the front). About 15 minutes of walking (we ended up going around the long way) we grabbed the last shuttle and headed towards the game. Once there we had to walk to the opposite side of the field to enter at the correct gate. Then UP the ramp. UP the stairs and then DOWN the stairs one the other side to find out someone was in our seats. So back UP the stairs we went. We stood for a bit until security made us go to our seats. So DOWN the stairs we went. Miraculously the seats were empty. After the game we went DOWN the stairs, walked the length of the football field and then about a block to get to the end of the shuttle line. After a short shuttle ride we walked around the baseball stadium to get to our car (which was the only one left in that particular lot). So there you have it. My exercise for the week. I sure wish I had a count of all my steps. I don’t think I need to worry too much about eating some of that chicken. I counted it as 3 AP. I have a feeling my total points eaten for Saturday was very low.

Sunday night I broke down and told DH to pick me up some fast food on his way home. He brought home Wendy’s and I ate every single bite of what he ordered (single cheeseburger no mayo, fries and regular soda). It was just what I needed. I think not eating fast food all the time makes the times that I do eat it better as I enjoy it more. So needless to say by the end of that day I was at -17.5 points and they all went to Flex.

Tuesday was another fast food dinner night. I don't know why all of a sudden I have been eating out when I have not in so long.

Last night DH cooked dinner. Yep! Again with the gourmet meals the night before weigh-in. What he made 'smelled' good but it was not one of my favorites so I did not have to worry about eating too much. However I did kind of scarf down a lot of bread. Oops.

I just knew that I would gain this week. I just had this feeling. That is why I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was down .6 of a pound. So this brings my overall total to a nice, even 12 pounds! I will take it even though I am not sure I earned it as my journaling was not too good this past week.

Oh and remember the Fruit Floes I mentioned in a previous post? Well I found out that the Lime Flavor is only one point per bar. Sweet!

Week #7

2005-09-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

For some reason this past week has been easier for me. I guess I was just not that hungry. I would end the day and still have points left over.

On Tuesday my mom had us over for tacos and I just put stuff on my plate. When counting it later I ended up using the rest of Tuesday's points, the left over points from the previous 2 days and only 1.5 flex points! Go me!

Wednesday we had KFC. I basically knew what the points would be and did not worry as I had tons of flex. Of course I then had to have some homemade ice cream.

I really need to go shopping. I am running out of stuff that I can eat.Maybe that is why I did so well this week. Weigh-in this week had me down 3.2 pounds. Whoo hoo! That brings my total loss to 11.4 pounds! I am starting to feel that this is actually do-able this time around. It felt good to get that 10 pound ribbon. That is it over there on the left. It turned out kind of dark though but it is my ribbon. All mine! If it wasn't tacky I would wear it all day on my shirt. LOL!

Week #6

2005-09-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

Since I am only .4 away from eating 2 less points, I again went with eating one point less this week with the hopes it would not backfire on me since I have so many get togethers this week.

Since my Dad went out with friends on his birthday night (Friday is date night for my parents) I did not have to worry about eating with them. However, I did scrap on Friday and stopped by Sonic on the way to the scrapbook store. I bought a Grilled Chicken sandwich which is only 7.5 points so that was not too bad. I had already planned to treat myself so I bought a 44oz of Vanilla Coke (regular not diet). That soda lasted me the entire night! One bad thing about Friday is that by the time I left for work I only had 3.5 points left for dinner - so everything I ate that night used up my Flex points.

Saturday, I was at home and was better able to watch what I ate. I did not over do it at all and had some points left over. It may have helped that I drank tons of tea that day. I got my ingenueTEA from Adagio teas and I am having a blast with it. If you have never had their tea you should check it out. You can get a free $5 gift certificate by filling out the form on my sidebar.

On Sunday evening we went to my in-laws. We ate dinner at a small steakhouse. It was not hard to count the points as I only ate salad, 10oz steak and about a 1/2 cup of plain beans. I drank water. I was feeling pretty good about my choices until we went back to my in-laws. While watching a movie, my mother-in-law cut up a cheesecake and just brought us the pieces. She did not even ask if we wanted any. Usually DH and I will take home our dessert and he will eat it all. He was a bit bothered that she did not ask us if we wanted some first. We were not really eating it until she made a comment about us not eating it. But, I cannot put all the blame on her as I could have said no and she does not know I am doing weight watchers.

On Labor Day I was supposed to have a BBQ with my parents but we ended up not doing anything as most of the people invited had to work. This was a good thing food wise but that did not explain the tons of food I ate the rest of the week.

This week we had takeout (not bad as it was grilled chicken) and DH even made homemade ice cream. I just ate a lot of the chicken and tortillas. It was really a hard week for me to stay on program as I had a lapse in my journal writing. I knew that my weigh-in would not be good when I had problems taking off my wedding ring last night. Since I also had problems putting that same ring on my finger this morning I knew not to expect a loss. Stepping on the scale today showed a gain of 1.4 pounds. I guess I will not be getting my 10 pound ribbon anytime soon. I think this week I will go back to eating that one extra point! At least I know what I did wrong this past week and can work at making it better this next week.

Week #5

2005-09-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

Since I am so close to dropping 2 points a day my W/W leader suggested eating one less point a day so it would not be such a shock. So this week, I did my best to eat one less point a week. I really need to re-think what I eat during the day. Who would have thought dropping 1 point would be so hard?

The weekend was not that bad this time around but we did have take out on Sunday night. We had Outback. It was hard to count as I used Dotti’s site and she has items posted only with substitutions or without stuff like cheese and croutons. I had cheese and croutons on my salad so I had to figure out additional points. I had the Shrimp Griller but did not ask them to do anything different when they prepared it. So I didn’t know how to count it as Dotti’s site does not have the items as is. Well not for what I ordered anyways. So I went to The Outback’s site. They have the same info that is on Dotti’s site. Grrr. They do not have info without the substitutions. So I decided that since I ordered my Shrimp Griller as is – I will count it as much as the Chicken Griller (16pts) even though I did not eat all the rice and shrimp has less calories (well I think it does – doesn’t it?) – Total dinner points = 30pts. Needless to say I was WAY over my Flex points this week.

I was so worried with all that I ate this week that I would not have a good weigh-in. So I was surprised to step on the scale today and find out that I lost 1 pound. I will take it! Now I only need to lose .4 to make my 10 pounds. Hopefully with all that I have coming up this next week (Dad’s b-day, Labor day at both my in-law and then again at my parents) I will not over do it.

Week #4

2005-08-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

I actually made it thru a weekend without going crazy with my points (YAY! ME!). Friday was perfect and so was Saturday. Sunday, I did okay until DH made steak. But even then, even after eating ½ the steak, beans and baked potato with sour cream I still had points. That is where I ran into problems. LOL! Even though I was satisfied, I ate the other half of the steak. That did put my points over for the day but I had not had any Flex points yet for the week so I did not worry. After eating the rest of the steak though…..I kind of munched on stuff for the rest of the night (shhh don’t tell anyone. Don't worry, the journal knows). I am not too worried about it though as both Friday and Saturday, I had 2 points left over each day. I am very happy that I did not use any Flex points until Sunday night. Usually they are all gone before them – or at least very close to being gone. That is sad as I start a new week each Friday. LOL!

Now onto some yummy snack ideas. I just love the Trader Joe’s Fruit Floes. I usually get Strawberry. THEY-ARE-SO-GOOD! They are only 2 pts each. Problem is….it is really hard for me to eat just one. I do like that they don’t have the artificial stuff that the other low-fat/low-calorie items do. I don’t have to worry about how my tummy will be affected.

Another snack idea that I eat daily ~ Luna Bars.

Is it just me or are these bars fantastic?!?!?!?!? I love that they are only 3 pts each (I have found a few that are 4pts).

I love that they have the vitamins I need for the day (so do I still need to take my multi-vitamin?)

I love that they are yummy! :-) I have not tried all the flavors yet but so far my favorite is Chocolate Peppermint Stick! I am a sucker for anything mint and chocolate.

How about you? Have you tried them? Do you like them?

This is yet another week where I ended up eating out the night before weigh-in. This has happened each week. As long as I keep showing losses I will not stress too much. First & second week we had Applebee’s take-out, third week we had take-out Mexican and this week was dinner with friends at Sweet Tomatoes. All the previous weeks I ate just a bit. However last night at Sweet Tomatoes I came home stuffed. I am happy to say though that it did not hinder my weigh-in this week as I am down another 2 pounds! YAY! That now brings my total to 8.6 pounds lost! If I lose next week (NOT if, but when) I will have dropped a range and will have to eat 2 points less a day. My leader suggested I start out this week by eating 1 point less a day so that next week it will not be such a shock to drop 2 points.

I want to thanks those of you that have commented on this new blog of mine. I really appreciate the comments and they are very motivating for me. I do answer my comments (as additional comments) so be sure to check back and see what I have to say. Thank you to those that also stop to check out my regular blog.

I have been asked how to join the ‘Losing It!’ webring. If you want to join, please click the link that says join. It will take you to the sign up form.

Week #3

2005-08-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

Weekends are not good for me. I can never seem to stay on track. This past Saturday, I ate just because I was bored. That happens a lot.

I am just hoping that my will-power/motivation is not puttering out. I usually do well for about 2 weeks at the most and then I always just stop and eat whatever I want. I want to end this cycle!

I hope that my slight gain last week may have been in part to having my weigh-in a day early. My weigh-in day is normally Thursday but since I am doing the At Work program and the meeting rooms were full it was changed to Friday. Last week it was back on Thursday.

I did find something really yummy at Trader Joe’s this week. It is Spega yogurt. This yogurt is so good I had it as dessert and needed nothing else. The yogurt is imported from Italy and comes packaged in cute little glass jars. There are 2 jars per package. For $2.59 they are more expensive than regular non-imported yogurt but since they are so good and don’t really taste like yogurt to me, it is worth that price. I had the mixed berries flavor. And get this!!!! Each jar is just 2 points!!! Now if I can just keep DH from eating them all will be perfect!

Now if I can only find some great ideas for using bread. I need ideas other than sandwiches. I bought a loaf of lite bread and only got 2 sandwiches out of it before it went bad. I wanted to make a sandwich for lunch and when I went to get the bread all of it was green. Maybe storing it in the fridge would have made it last longer but I really don’t like bread that has been in the fridge. I only had the bread for one week. Is lite bread made different that it does not last as long?

It seems like my entire post is based on food. LOL! So along that line, I will share another snack idea. I have discovered Wisecrackers crackers (garlic flavored). A serving is 10 crackers and is just 2 pts. I like to eat them with a wedge of Light Laughing Cow cheese (1pt). I have used other crackers but I think I will stick with the Wisecrackers for now. I have found them in my grocery store and Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe’s has them for less money.

Weigh-in went well this week. I lost 1.8 pounds! So as of the end of week 3 that brings my total pounds lost to 6.6! I am very happy that the take-out DH brought home last night (and that I ate) did not affect me at the scale. Or if it did affect me - it did not make me gain weight. This is the 2nd week in a row that we had take out on a night before my weigh-in day. It is DH's day off and either he will make dinner or pick it up. The sad thing is.....next week I will be meeting for dinner with some friends. The day? The night before weigh-in of course!

Week #2

2005-08-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

I was so proud of myself that I went grocery shopping and bought ‘good’ stuff. I actually bought a cantaloupe, cut it up and ate it thru out the week. I am not a big lover of cantaloupe but that was the best melon I ever had! LOL! I was ticked to find out that Trader Joe’s has sneaky labeling. They advertise and item, such as a loaf of bread as being low-fat and when I check the points it is low points, but then I read the serving size and one serving is ½ slice. Who eats only ½ a slice of bread? I did fall in love with Trader Joe’s Shrimp Fried Rice bowl – even if it is 8 points!

This week’s weigh-in was not as good as last week. In fact I gained .6 pounds. I am hoping that I get rid of that and then some by my next weigh-in.

Week #1

2005-08-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

My first week back on program went great! I could not believe how well I did. I usually forget by the end of the day that I am trying to eat healthy. My first weigh-in was a loss of 5.4 pounds! What a fantastic start. In the past, I have only lost that amount of weight after being on the program for weeks! Go Me!

This is me

2005-08-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

I guess if I am really going to post about my weight-loss journey then I need to post some pictures. Since I am just starting out, I only have my beginning photos. I have nothing to compare with yet. Here are some before pictures (I do have others on my main blog). I don’t have any more recent pictures (well not on this computer anyways). This first one of me with the white shirt was taken on Easter (March) of this year (2005). The rest of the photos were taken in April 2005.

My weight has always been pretty much consistent and the course of a few months would not really make a difference in the way I look. Front facing pictures are enough of a shock but to see myself from the side (as in the last photo)…..that was a shocker to see how big I really am. And just what am I doing in this photo? Eating of course. Now what else do you do at a funeral?

I am always surprised on how large I really am. You don’t want to know what I look like from the rear! I went on a trip once with a bunch of scrappers. Photos were taken at every opportunity. Needless to say, the first year I attended the scrapping retreat only resulted in photos of my rear. Talk about a wake-up call! When I took the trip I weighed much less but my rear was still big. The last time I lost my weight, I lost it from my rear so I never really could notice a difference until I almost got to goal. I am hoping that the rear is the first thing to go! LOL!

I am on my way!

2005-08-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

I thought a separate blog where I can track the progress of my weight-loss journey was in order. I have lost the weight before and I know I can do it again! Of course I have lots more to lose this time around.

I don’t have any comparison photos to post but I will soon!

I have also started a Weight Watcher webring. If you would like to join please click the JOIN link over there on the left.