Just Say No!

So, no 50 yet. Not even close. Reverse actually. I'm at 46 currently. Grr! I need to JUST SAY NO to candy, cookies, etc. and eating when I'm not hungry. This should be so obvious to me, but has become a MAJOR struggle for me lately for some reason! Coupled with that, I haven't been getting up to exercise in the mornings either. I'm going to focus hard on my motivation this week, but any tips for keeping strong against temptation are certainly welcome!!

Whoa!

Where has the time gone? My laptop broke, so I tend to only jump on our giant sized computer for email and facebook, and have neglected blogging--both reading and writing! While I thought I would reach this goal a few months ago, I am about a week away from hitting the big 5-0. Right now I am at 49.2 pounds lost! I really thought I'd reach this by New Year's, but impulsive holiday eating helped me stay stagnant for awhile. And then I began to exercise more, and while I haven't taken off much weight from that, I have lost a whole clothing size! So, I started at 4X tops and 24 bottoms and am now usually in 18 bottoms and 2X tops (depending on who made them!) and even fit into one XL tshirt that I have (not drying it!).

Merry Christmas!

Hoping for 50 by next Friday's weigh in! I'll really have to work at it though. Hopefully the WiiFit+ and Yoga DVD Santa brought will help with this. I didn't weigh this week, for fear that I'd start Christmas off disappointed. I've enjoyed Christmas eats! Here's my number from last week:

45!

I finally made it to 45! It took FOREVER! I should have been at this milestone in October, but that eating binge I had in St. Lou really took it's toll!

I can't wait to post the pics of me when I hit 50! I can't wait to see the difference between my starting pic, the -25 one, and the 50! Here's hoping we'll get there by New Years! If I keep hitting the wiifit like I have been, should be no problem. Although, hubby & I are both participating in cookie exchanges at work this week...

Thanksgiving Week

I lost 1.4 this week--this week that included THANKSGIVING! I was so excited I was running around the house! I didn't figure I'd lose much, if anything! But, I did the WiiFit 3 or 4 times during the week, which I think made all the difference! Woo hoo!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The good: Today I resisted cinnabon muffins, got cupcakes at Coldstone for my husband's birthday (knowing it would help with portion control over getting a whole cake), resisted getting something to eat while running errands on my lunch break (had lunch waiting at work in the fridge), and resisted getting some yummy butterscotch pudding ice cream while getting his cupcakes!

The bad: I had nachos after my unsatisfying lunch. I held out for nearly 2 hours of tempation, but in the end, I lost. Though they were good.

The ugly: We got Mexican for my husband's birthday dinner, and I ate the chips and queso even though I wasn't planning on it. And then I ate a Coldstone cupcake. And then I ate my son's unfinished one.

I have been struggling so much lately! I am still getting a lot of compliments, but weigh the same that I did 6 weeks ago, before I had that crazy vacation binge. I'm resolving to do better. I'm resolving to using my Wii Fit. I think I'll go do that now. It may just be for 10 minutes, but it's a start. Here I go!

And the winner is...the Greedy side!

One of my favorite bloggers, Josie over at Yum Yucky, introduced me to the concept of my Greedy side. And, boy oh boy, did my greedy side win on our recent mini vacation to St. Louis. I knew I wasn't counting points or caring, and we'll see what the scale has to say about that. You may remember I did this when I vacationed in April, and gained 4 pounds, only to lose 5 the next week. I've been home for about 20 hours, and my legs still hurt from all the walking I did, so I'm hoping to have similar success this time round.

I weighed in early on Thursday, since I'd be gone Friday, and lost .2, which was weak, but expected, due to Mother Nature's quarterly gift of an immense chocolate craving (Seasonale=Quarterly, yippee!). That made me at a square 44 pounds lost.

But, dun dun dun. Then the greedy side decided to emerge. Warning, not for the weak...

Thursday
Breakfast: Hardee's Sausage Frisco Breakfast Sandwich, minus eggs, Potatoes, and Coke Zero.
Lunch: Work potluck, including a piece of glorious KFC and a Lofthouse sugar cookie, Water to drink
Dinner: Sonic's Chili Cheese Wrap and Popcorn Chicken, with a Diet Cherry Limeade
Exercise: Zilch-o, unless you count the driving. :)

Friday
Breakfast/Brunch: Crepe from "Crepes in the City" in downtown St. Lou--it had chorizo, cheese, red peppers, and maybe more, and was SOOOOO good! Diet Coke to drink
Dinner: California Pizza Kitchen--shared spin/choke dip with hubby, their new asparagus soup
(yum!) and 4 of 6 pieces (mini sized) of the wild mushroom pizza; Peach Lemonade to drink
Shameful Dessert: Large butterfinger shake from Steak and Shake...my belly hated me by the time I was done with it!!
Exercise: TONS of walking...first at City Museum, then TONS and TONS at the Galleria mall.

Saturday
Breakfast/Brunch: 1/2 brat and 1/2 bbq beef sandwich (shared other 1/2s with hubby) at Day Out with Thomas, as we didn't find breakfast along the way; Diet Coke to drink
Lunch: Max & Erma's: Shared Pretzel Breadsticks & Cheese w/hubby, had a "garbage burger" and fries (with mayo for dipping---total greediness); drank something fizzy and watermelony, but can't remember what it was called
Dinner: Old Spaghetti Factory: OMG total yummy greediness. It started with a salad, that I had full fat dressing on, a pesto-y ranch-y creation of goodness, then I had Chicken Marsala with the attachment of Spaghetti with Brown Butter & Cheese. I skipped the offered Spumoni for dessert, but my drink this evening was an Italian Cherry Cream Soda (real cream), and water
Exercise: TONS of walking...first at Day out With Thomas (which may have burned more calories than walking due to the slurching through mud that took place), had to park and walk for lunch, and then had TONS of walking at the zoo, though we did ride the train from place to place, there was lots of walking in between, and TONS of walking that evening while shopping, oh and we had to park and walk to the Spaghetti Factory

Sunday
Breakfast: Pirate Booty in the hotel room :)
Lunch: Turkey Club Sandwich, some good yummy vinagretty salad, fruit, and potatoes from First Watch, something we don't have around here, but I could eat at every day! Drink: Diet Coke
Late Afternoon Snack: 1/2 blondie with M & M's and a Raspberry Italian Cream Soda from Starbucks, and a Chicken Pita Snacker from Jack in the Box
Late Late Dinner (like 9 pm): Black & Bleu Salad from Quiznos
Exercise: Minimal walking throughout the day, though I did go grocery shopping after arriving home so that I could just stay home most of today (except I do have class tonight...boo).

Oh, and I should't forget to mention that I had lots of candy, unhealthy type chips and chex like snacks throughout the trip. And a coke icee somewhere in there too. Looking back, it's no wonder my stomach hurt most of the time. But, it was yummy, I'm done with it now, and am SO ready to be back on the bandwagon!!

About that shopping, did a pretty good job getting my size 20/2X fall wardrobe lined up. It was fun, but I hate spending money like that! Just need another pair or two of work pants and I'm gold!

Here's my pretty 44 picture, though I'm sure it no longer applies!

43.4 Pounds Gone!

I lost 1.4 pounds this week. I felt like I did really good eating, though I didn't do any exercising. I accounted for every piece of candy, etc. I had, and had very little dining out, so only used about 15 of my weekly points. And, then came today. I started out well, but then after lunch and a couple of candy binges during the day, I was left with just 6 points left. So, I had a 6 point dinner (normally have 10-13). Then an ice cream sandwich (skinny cow), so only used 2 of my weekly points, which is pretty good for a Friday. Here's hoping I have another good week! :) I got a lot of comments today on how "skinny" I was looking. What's funny about that is that I am far from it, but I know what they mean--I'm shrinking before their very eyes. And, the outfit I had on today must have looked slimming. Today I even took a look at some wedding sets. I'm married, and have been for 9 years, but my rings were bought very inexpensively (and it shows), and I'd love to upgrade. Since my fingers are shrinking too, I figure I'll wait till I can't wear these anymore for fear of them falling off, and then reward myself! Sound good? Here's my picture for the week:

Update & Glazed Green Beans

I lost 1.5 pounds this week! I was pretty surprised, as I used every last one of my flex points (again) and did a lot of "estimating" my points with certain foods. But, we also went for family bike rides a couple of times, in which I pull an extra 50 pounds (my son and the trailer he rides in). I guess that helped! I was in a munching mode this week and feel like I ate a ton of candy from passing by the bowl at work. A praise though--for the first time in many many weeks, I didn't dip into my flex points on a Friday--yesterday! I came in exact, and feel like I ate a ton of food. I made a new impromptu recipe at dinner last night, shared below, and ate them all! Good thing they weren't too bad for me! Now we're getting ready to make some of the cookies I shared a recipe for awhile back. Yum!

My total weight loss to date:

Glazed Green Beans
1 tsp. EVOO
1 pkg. fresh steamable green beans
4 pieces bacon, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. balsalmic vinegar
2 T. brown sugar blend

First, cook the green beans according to package directions. In the meantime, sautee the garlic and bacon. Add the green beans and drizzle with the vinegar (I used dressing) and brown sugar. Continue sauteeing until the vinegar starts to get a little syrupy. I estimated 4 points for this and it was so yummy that I ate it ALL! It was a combo of a few recipes I found online. YUM YUM!

You know you're on WW when...

I am a member of a WW group on Facebook, and saw this post..."You know you are a WW member when..." and was cracking up at some of the responses. I had to share some of them. I've either done these, or they made me laugh out loud. :)

You know you are a weight watchers member when:

you shave your body the night before you weigh in.

you stand in the aisles of the grocery store calculating the point value of foods you want to buy.

Your child says there are too many POINTS in something s/he doesn't want to eat!

When you see someone eating a wendys baconator and you yell "DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY POINTS THAT IS?!!!"

When you have a cold and need cough drops, you buy the sugar free cough drops.

When you try to deconstruct and re-invent every fattening recipe you know of by replacing fat and increasing fiber!

When people start asking you "How many points is this?" and they aren't on WW.

When you calculate points to the fraction of an ounce - like cutting up the 6oz block of reduced fat cheese into EIGHT pieces so that each piece is one Point instead of two.

When you actually HEAR your stomach growl.

When your roommate opens the fridge and/or freezer and says "Ahhh!! It's Weight Watcher Land!!!"

When you go for a glucose test at the doc's and ask how many calories are in the overly sugary drink, so you can count the points for it.

When you go to a restaurant and they ask you what kind of salad dressing and you say "none" and then pull some out of your purse.

You see a pair of jeans on sale for $7 in your new size and really think over whether you should get them, because you might not be in that size for long!

***

I hope you got a kick out of those. Share yours in the comments! :) My stats--I lost 2 pounds this week, which put me into the fabulous forties!! It felt great to be over that hump! And, just this morning I got more size 2X and size 20 clothes, which felt great. And, the $7 jeans comment above...that was me today!

I must admit I felt skinny minny at work yesterday wearing my new smaller clothes, just felt like I was taking up less space. And, not having such baggy clothes on really brought on the comments! I know I have a long way to go before I am skinny, but this is feeling GOOD!

I even went to a buffet last night and didn't overdo it too much. Used about 10-15 of my flex points, but that's what they are there for, and I ate a lot less than I would have pre-WW, and was still stuffed!

I LOVE VEGGIES!

I took these pictures with my phone so the res isn't great, but I just wanted to say I LOVE VEGGIES! And, I'm so glad I love veggies, since they're usually 0 points!

I was going high on points today due to a lunch out and poor snacking choices in the afternoon. I was making pigs in a blanket for dinner with ff hot dogs and 1 pt. biscuits, along with some garlic noodles. I had gotten some zucchini today so decided to saute one of those and threw in some red onion and cherry tomatoes. This made up the bulk of my meal, so I only had a 6 point dinner!

I'm going to a family event tomorrow and needed to bring something. I wanted to ensure I'd have something I could graze on without blowing my points, so I made this fab corn and black bean relish (recipe below).

Corn/Black Bean Goodness:
3 cans canned corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 tiny can diced green chilis (don't drain)
Chopped cucumber (I used 1/2 of a large one)
Chopped green pepper (I used 1/2 of one)
Diced tomato (I used 2 smaller ones)
Red onion (I used 1/2 of a small one)
Cilantro (I probably used 1 T. dried)
Cumin (Again, probably used 1 T. dried)
Salt & Pepper (1/2 tsp. each maybe?)
Seasoned Salt (1 tsp. probably)
Dried Minced Garlic (1 1/2 tsp likely)

Combine and stir, let sit for a few hours and enjoy!!!


Oh, by the way, I maintained this week. Weighed in at the exact weight as last week. That's a first, but I was pleased with it since I had used all my weekly flex points + some. Here's hoping I can make that up this week! OH, and I hit our local thrift stores today and got three different things in size 20. I didn't think they'd fit yet, but maybe soon, so got them for later. I tried them on when I got home to see how far I had to go...and they all fit PERFECTLY! Not even tight. I was so excited!!! I started as a 24, so I'm down two sizes. I'm sure people at work won't know what to think this week when we have jeans day and I'm actually wearing some that fit!

Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!

AMAZING 1 point Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Ingredients:
4 T. margarine or spread, softened
4 tsp. veg oil
1 c. brown sugar blend
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
6 oz. chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter, oil, and brown sugar together. Add vanilla, salt, and egg white. Mix thoroughly. Mix flour and baking soda together and then add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Add chocolate chips and stir to distribute evenly. I used the medium pampered chef scoop and made 21 cookies. The whole recipe is 24 points, according to the recipes I found online. They baked for about 10 points. These were SO GOOD! I highly recommend them.

Now, on to other things! I lost .6 last week (yesterday was weigh day). I was kind of suprised that I didn't lose more, since I did good compared to how I had been doing, and kept track of points all the time. I did use EVERY LAST one of my weekly points though, which is probably the reason. But, I was still very satisfied with the loss. I have now lost 38.5 pounds. I got on my Wii Fit this morning, and it said I hadn't in 201 days. That's just after I started WW. It was neat to have it say that I had lost 37.1 pounds since my last visit. But, they still considered me at the top of the "obese" range. I enjoyed my time on it, and hope that it won't be even 10% of the time it had been before I jump on it again.

We're headed to a festival tonight. I've only had 8 points today in prep for this. :) I'm not sure yet what I'm eating, but I'll be sensible (as much as you can be at a fest!). I had an eggless breakfast burrito for breakfast (because I'm not that huge on scrambled eggs), with sauteed mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, a little lunchmeat, and a little bit of fat free cheese in a healthy tortilla with ff sour cream and salsa. It was a yummy and filling 3 points. For lunch I had one of my standby low point meals...a big salad! Isn't it great to be able to eat so much for next to no points?! Some 100 calorie lorna doons were my study partner when I was doing homework and the boys (husband and son) were napping.

It was as good as it looks! Until next time!

Weigh Day!

I lost 3.2 pounds this week!!! Normal good weeks are about 2 pounds at most. So, this was uber exciting. I did really good keeping track of points, and had 10 left of my weekly flex points. I've lost 37.8 total, which is more than my child weighs! Hip hip hooray!

Word to the wise...

Doing WW just four days a week does not work. I've tried it for two weeks now, and have gained 1.2 lb. Since switching my weigh day to Friday, I have pretty much eaten how I wanted Fri, Sat, and Sun (see previous post on mind vs. stomach), and tried to get back on track M-Th. Like I said, this doesn't work. I don't recommend it.

Today I did better. I woke up with a full blown cold, so my appetite today varied from ravenous to none at all. I used 10 of my flex points, which seems like a lot to me, but I bet compared to the last two weeks it wasn't. I have Chinese food to thank for that. I forgot to substitute white rice for the fried (but ate it anyway), and always eat my eggroll, it's the best part. But, at least I didn't get General Tso's, which was calling my name for it's sinus clearing abilities, but I believe comes in at 10 pts. per cup! I did good last night at the State Fair too, and didn't eat any fair food. But I did have a chili cheese wrap and tots from Sonic before I went. :)

Let's hope I can stay on track tomorrow and Sunday! I am already way ahead of the last two Fridays, as I actually kept track of points today!

What's to come...

Well, hello! I previously had a blog with a friend who was doing WW too, but she had many life changes that put that on hold. In the couple of months since that occurred, I have often thought, "I should blog that," when I had a random thought or a particularly good recipe, or needed to share my struggles. But, I didn't feel right being the only one posting on a partner blog. So, voila! I won't be posting anything good here tonight, so just take some time catch up on the old posts (copied from the partner blog) while you're here. Look for my stats, more recipes, more tips, and the ups and downs of my weight loss journey coming soon. I am currently at 35 pounds lost, so am over 1/3 of the way to my goal! See ya soon!

The 25 Milestone--Gone!

Originally from 6/3 on DMT

Remember this picture? It's of me with my men a few months before I started WW.

Do you know who this is? It's me, yesterday!

I don't know if you see a big difference or not, but I sure did, and was pretty suprised! I planned to take an actual picture of me at my 25 milestones, but skipped 25, so had to do a 26 pic!

Jack Bauer

5/26 from DMT

I love the show 24, so even though I was hoping to reach 25 lb. lost this week, I was excited to be able to update my facebook picture with a 24 theme. :) I'm at 24.8, so almost 25 lb! How exciting! Here's something to stare at:

Pizza Pizza!

Originally posted on 5/12 on DMT

So, quick update, I gained a pound. Not so great. But, I saw it coming. Today I still have 7 left, even with eating out for lunch (work provided, but I ate smart) but think I'll only eat 2 of them. I know that I "should" eat my points, but I'm going to a conference and therefore eating out for dinner Thursday, and all three meals on Friday. So, even though you don't stockpile points on WW, I'm going to try! That's the bonus of doing it "off the record." I can make my own rules, and still lose weight. Errr...something like that. *lol*

So, a recipe for you, inspired by the dinner I fixed for my family tonight. The bonus is it doesn't make a lot of dishes!

Pita Pizzas
-Find your favorite kind of Pita bread. My Walmart deli section has some amazing "flax" ones that are "0" points for 1 pita, so I count them as "1" each since I ate 3.
-Top with pizza sauce, bbq sauce, ketchup/mustard, whatever floats your boat for sauce.
-Top with whatever meat or veggies you would like.
-Top with low fat cheese, whichever flavor you like.
-Bake until done, or be cool like me and use your Presto Pizza Pizzazz (I really could NOT live without mine). It took 8 minutes on that.

Here's how I actually made mine:
Pizza #1--Cheeseburger
1 Pita bread, topped with a big squirt of ketchup and a little squirt of mustard, then swirled around like pizza sauce. I then put 1/4 of a leftover hamburger from grilling on Sunday on it (broken up), thinly sliced dill pickles, and onion. I topped it with 1/4 c. ff cheddar cheese. It was 4 points of amazingness for the whole thing.

Pizza #2--Faux Margherita
1 Pita bread, topped with pizza sauce from a jar, swirled over the bread. I then topped it with spinach leaves (instead of basil--thus the "faux"), chopped tomato, and garlic salt. I then cut up one round of Baybel cheese and scattered it on top. This was another 3 points of amazingness...true amazingness, for the whole thing.

Pizza #3--BBQ "Chicken" Pizza
1 Pita bread, topped with BBQ sauce, swirled over the bread. I then topped it with about 1/2 oz. turkey breast (what I had on hand--obviously not chicken), onion, tomato, and 1/4 c. ff cheddar. This was again, true amazingness, for 3 pt.

So, I had 3 personal sized pizzas for 10 points. Can you belive that? The average pizza slice is at least 4 points, so I think I made a WW deal! And, as I said, not too many dishes!

Try your own variation and let me know what it was!

Vacation and a Birthday!

Originally posted 4/28 on DMT

Well hello! I was planning for a much different post today...but my weigh in this morning was minus three pounds! I was so surprised, since it was my birthday this week, and I did indulge a little.

Since I last wrote I went on vacation. My goal for the vacation was just to not gain weight. A day or two into that, I realized that may not happen. It was harder than I thought, for many reasons like the fact that I have to have caffeine in the morning, which I currently fulfill with iced tea. But, I didn't have that on vacation, so soda it was. In addition, I didn't have spray butter, or ff sour cream and mayo, etc. So much eating out was bound to be trouble...and it was! I weighed before leaving for vacation and when I returned...4 pounds gained! But, thankfully it must have been a lot of water weight, because by my real weigh in, I was down a pound from the previous weigh in two weeks prior.

So, now I am at 20.8 lb. lost since I started 2/11. I'm headed to the doctor this morning, and am anxious to see the difference on their scale, since my last visit was prior to WW, but I gave up soda before joining WW. I just wonder what I'll see!

I would like to share some tips or a recipe, but have to go get in the shower! Perhaps a little later! :)

Update!

Originally posted 4/8 on DMT

On Tuesday's weigh in I lost 1 pound even, so I'm now at 16.8! My hubby is at 20.2! Woo Hoo! We're headed to visit my mom in Tennessee Friday-Thursday, so my goal for that time period is TO NOT GAIN! I'm going to weigh in on Friday and Friday (but not count that in my stats) just to see what the week does to me. I may enjoy a treat or two, but overall am going to try to be sensible and use my tools that I've learned. Oh, and did I mention it will be my first "girly" time on WW? We'll see how that goes too! Sorry if that was TMI!

I've been thinking more about blogging daily a list of what I've eaten. Does that interest you?

See you when I get back from Tennessee! Oh, here's a pic from today...do I look 16.8 lb. lighter (ignore my windswept hairdo)? :)