OmgOmgOmgOmgOmg... It's Friday!

Can you tell I'm excited?!? I feel like this week has dragged on for a month! It is driving my bananas! Only 3.75 hours to go! And then I'm on vacation where I can relax with Jeff and watch movies and tv and read a book, and go swimming, and enjoy the ocean. I still have to wait until Sunday though.

Last night, I was incredibly unmotivated to workout. I didn't want to. I so didn't want to. The day yesterday kinda stunk and I didn't want to do anything resembling moving around intentionally. However, I decided that if I have to work out, at least I could make it fun. Usually I walk and read a book or watch TV, but in order for it to be fun, I have to enjoy it. So... I got out the Wii. I played the balance and aerobic games for 45 minutes, which means I got a red star and more color on my workout calendar! I'm totally stoked! LOL.

I think I'm going to spend most of Saturday cooking food for us to bring next week. I want to be able to track my points, even though I'm going to be on vacation, and the easiest way for that is if I cook things I already have the point values worked out to. I found a fabulous recipe for low-fat eggplant parmesan, and I think I'm going to make spaghetti. And maybe some lean pockets and fruit for lunches. I AM SO EXCITED! I think it's been too long since I've been away.

And I'm feeling like I need a baby fix before I go, so I'll have to get my sisters baby girl for a little while. Maybe I'll go spend some time with her tomorrow. I have to say, that helps a little bit in this whole not getting pregnant thing. Kind of like I'm meant to have babies, and my arms just want one to hold, so hers will do, for now.

A great decision!

Yesterday at work, Jeff sent me a text asking what we're doing for dinner. Usually, I don't think about it until I'm driving home, but when he prompts me like this, it means he wants to get something more fun and delicious than what I'd make... AKA fast food.

So I asked what he wanted, and he said he felt like chinese. I could've felt like chinese as well, but I would've had to pick it up from panda express because it's on my way home, and I didn't like that at all! I've gone in there 1 time successfully; as in preplanning exactly what I'm going to get and then sticking with it. The rest of the times, I end up swapping an entree for orange chicken, which is 10 whole points or getting the delicious rangoons and upping my points!!! It's delicious, but what a waste. I usually just have a bite of Jeff's and I'm happy. I stick with mushroom chicken which is much more reasonable.

Well yesterday, I didn't feel like going through the struggle that it would be, so I told Jeff that he can get what he wants; I'm goin' to subway! And at subway, I got a sandwich on 9-grain wheat bread, with lite mayo and mustard, and stacks of spinach. Well, they would've been stacks of spinach if the worker there would have listened to me. I said "a tiny bit of lettuce and a 'handful' of spinach".

So she puts 4 leaves on it. So I said again "can you put more spinach?" and she puts 4 more leaves on it. So I threw my hands in the air on it. After she put on the olives, I decided I'm not giving up! I want my spinach on the sandwich! I'm not getting a ton of other vegetables, so they can accomodate me. So when she asked if there's any other vegetables I want on it, I said "more spinach please!", and she puts, get this!!! 4 more leaves on it.

Seriously, she didn't get the concept of a handful. A handful is not 4 leaves. It's acutally a HAND FULL! So I didn't get the salad I wanted, because that's how I make my sandwich more healthy. But it was good enough. And I'm giving myself credit because I made the 'better' decision to eat at subway instead of panda express.

I'm really looking forward to next week. It's Jeff's spring break, so I took the whole week off as well (I love PTO!!)! We're going to the beach Sunday and Monday nights, then Tuesday through Thursday nights we're going up to Welches to a resort my FIL has a timeshare at. It's going to be so great to spend so much time with him! I can't wait!!! In the meantime, this week is dragging on like crazy! I feel like it's been a month and I'm only in Thursday. :(

New official weight!

Last night, I had my weekly meeting at weight watchers. I decided to go to an earlier meeting so that I could grab dinner for Jeff and I on my way home. It was interesting how the group dynamics are so different at the 5:30 meeting than the 7pm meeting that I usually attend. The group was soo oppotsite of what I was used to. And they kept looking at me funny when I volunteered information that the group leader was asking for. Apparently, they normally all just sit there listen.

As of last night, my weight is officially 289 pounds! I lost 4 pounds during the last week, which could be attributed to the exercise I've been doing. So awesome! I haven't had a loss like this since I started losing weight, about 6 months ago. So I am now officially at 26 pounds gone! I 've lost 11.4 pounds with weight watchers. This is so awesome!

Random thought for the day; My husband goes to school at a large mall, and just called me on the phone to chat. As we were talking, he says "there goes the herd". When I asked him what he was talking about, he said it's the "herd of mothers". About 12 of them jog around the mall pushing their strollers in front of them, and when they get to certain places, they stop and get their kiddos out of the strollers and lift them up for their strength training. LOL, wish I could see that!

New recipe

I tried a new recipe this morning. I found it on a website called "healthyapron" or something like that. It's a breakfast recipe that has most of the components of a healthy breakfast while at the same time, not being too high in fat. It is higher in calories because it has walnuts in it, but I adjusted it so it will work within my day. According to what she said on the website, it fills her up all morning. So the 8 ww points that it is should work for breakfast and morning snack, and hopefully [crossing fingers] I won't be hungry again until lunch.

Yogurt Granola (for lack of a better name) serves 1
½ C. Old Fashioned Oats 1 large banana
1 T. craisins 3.5 halves walnuts
¼ C. low-fat yogurt (I used strawberry)
Crush walnuts with bottom of a glass or something flat. Mash the banana. Mix all together. Serve. Makes 1 serving.

(It looks pretty gloopy, and possibly not appetizing, but it's delicious!) I put everything together last night, except the oatmeal, then this morning I added it and drove to work before eating it. It had softened a little, but it still had the firmness that I like in oatmeal. we'll see how it does in keeping me full!

Nutritional work-up according to Sparkpeople's recipe builder.
414 calories
8.8 g. fat
79.8g. carbohydrates
8.8g. fiber
10.7g. protein
8 weight watchers points

Let me just say again that this is really delicious!


Also, I walked 3 miles last night, so I am successful so far 5 of 7 days, but it'll be 6 of 7 because I plan to exercise again tonight. I haven't been using any weights because my body starts building muscle faster than the average joe and my weight rises a bit instead of going down. So I'm only working on aerobic exercises right now so I can get my weight way down before trying to shape my body.

This is great!

I found this on a blog, and had to post it.

Your weight loss =
1 pound = a Guinea Pig
1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts
2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs
3 pounds = an average human brain
4 pounds = an ostrich egg or a sack of sugar
5 pounds = a Chihuahua
6 pounds = a human skin
7.5 pounds = an average newborn
8 pounds = a human head
10 pounds= chemical additives an American consumes each year
11 pounds = an average housecat
12 pounds = a Bald Eagle
15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs
16 pounds = a sperm whale's brain or 4 sacks of sugar
20 pounds = an automobile tire or a large sack of potatoes
23 pounds = amount of pizza an average American eats in a year
24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream
25 pounds = an average 2 year old
30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats in a year
33 pounds = a cinder block
36 pounds = a mid-size microwave
40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or an average human leg
44 pounds = an elephant's heart
50 pounds = a small bale of hay or 200 sticks of butter
55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner
60 pounds = an elephant's penis
66 pounds = fats and oils an average American eats in a year
70 pounds = an Irish Setter
77 pounds = a gold brick
80 pounds = the World's Largest Ball of Tape
90 pounds = a newborn calf
100 pounds = a 2 month old horse
111 pounds = red meat an average American eats in a year
117 pounds = an average fashion model (and she's 5'11")
118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica
120 pounds = amount of trash you throw away in a month
130 pounds = a newborn giraffe
138 pounds = potatoes an average American eats in a year
140 pounds = refined sugar an average American eats in a year
144 pounds = an average adult woman (and she's 5'4")
150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary
187 pounds = an average adult man
200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds
235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger
300 pounds = an average football lineman
400 pounds = a Welsh pony

Wanna know what I've lost?

2 Chihuahuas and 10 dozen large eggs;
OR
A human head, an average newborn, a dozen krispy kreme glazed donuts, a sack of sugar and an ostrich egg
OR
An average two year old.

Holy cow, my nephew is an average two year old, and probably weighs around 25 pounds, and he is heavy! Carrying him around only works for about 10 minutes before he’s too much. Crazy to think that I’ve been carrying that much weight around, and I still have about 4+ two year olds to lose. LOL!

What a great weekend!

Yesterday, I went shopping to Goodwill with my sister, where I found 6 shirts, 1 skirt, and a cute pair of sandals for less than $30. I was really surprised because I have only ever found 1 shirt at Goodwill, and that was a mistake because it looked like something my mom would wear, not me at age 22.

Anyways, I looked for shirts 1x, 2x and 3x and found a bunch of both. I started with about 18 shirts and had to take them to the fitting rooms 6 at a time and whittled the amount down to 6. AND... they're all size 1x and 2x. No 3x's for me!!! This is the first time I've gone clothes shopping since I started losing weight and that's the first time in my life that I've been able to buy clothing in a size smaller, not bigger! Such a high!

And for my goal for Lent- 30 days of exercise in 40 days, I have exercised 4 of the last 6 days, but I'll exercise tonight to make it 5 of 6 days. My calendar is looking pretty cool! I have different colored stars for different amounts of time that I intentionally spent exercising, and it's starting to get colorful. I'll have to do an hour one of these nights so I can put a blue one up! LOL, it's very motivational.

This weekend, food-wise, I didn't do so hot. I just wasn't on. I'm doing the Beck Diet Solution, which really is effective in changing the way I think about food, and it definitely worked that one time I went to the restaurant with my cards in hand, and they were what kept me on track. But I'm still struggling with remembering to bring the cards with me, so I can have that reminder. I wonder if I should start writing on my hand. I'm considering putting sticky notes around the house and car to remind me to bring my cards. Not a bad solution, actually.

30 in 40

My new short-term goal is to exercise for 30 of the 40 days of Lent. That'll be 5 days each week, so not a huge deal, thought it'll definitely help. During Lent, growing up, we always gave something up, as a sacrifice. As a kid, my family gave up TV, and we each got to choose something else, like candy, etc.

This Lent I gave up candy, sweets and desserts (which I failed at this morning, but picking myself up to continue, LOL). And I've decided to take up something that I do not really enjoy, so I chose exercise. Besides that it'll be good for me, it will be a push to get myself to do it 5 days a week, so I think that'll be a reasonable thing to do.

Speaking of exercise, after church last night, we got home and I did steps for 30 minutes while watching The Holiday on our wii. I really love that I can do that, so I don't have to sit there watching my fat little character take steps. I can watch TV or a movie! It makes the 30 minutes go by so fast! So I put a silver star on my newly printed out calendar. It'll help me see my progress. So fun!

Why I had a Shi**y day yesterday

Yesterday, I was so determined to do well, that on my way home from work, I planned what I'd have for dinner before my weight watchers meeting. I didn't want to have something heavy since I was going to be weighed, so I settled on a spinach (and a little lettuce) salad, with baby shrimps, ligh thousand island and 2 hardboiled eggs.

So when I got home, I put the eggs on to boil, while I chopped up the other stuff. When the eggs were done boiling, etc., I put them in the sink and started to peel them, and came across the yolky not solid center. Obviously they weren't completely cooked. So I threw that one away. As my time was becoming less, got the other one and a brand new one and put them in water in the microwave. Then I went to put my shoes on. About a minute later, I hear a loud explosion, and in looking into the microwave, there my two eggs, splattered all over it, and the two yolks sitting happily off by them selves. How they survived fully intact, I'll never know.

Now I really was out of time, so I put 2 new eggs onto the stovetop, and cleaned up the disgusting mess in the microwave. Ten minutes later, the eggs were boiling so I turned them off and left for my meeting. And found out there I gained 1.2 pounds. While I know it was probably mostly due to my TOM, I was still frustrated, and nearly cried. it wasn't my weight on the scale so much as I was in pain, the eggs, work, weight; everything compounding and turning it into a crappy day.

But that's over, so I'm going to try to feel better. I'm really looking forward to the first week of March. That's Jeff's spring break, and I took the whole week off, so we're going up to a resort in Welches for a couple of days, and to the beach. It'll be so nice to be away from it all with him.

Here's to me

For the last 19 months, Jeff and I have been trying to conceive a baby, without success. We talked last night and decided to take a 3-6 month break, and focus on both of us getting healthy and losing weight.

I know weight can affect a mans' fertility, and we want to give that time to see if it makes any difference. For me, I'm very aware of my cycles, and know exactly where I am at during any given time, but have been finding myself heartbroken once a month for 19 months. That's 19 heartbreaks. Ugh, definitely too much.

I think part of this for us is that a friend of Jeff's from school just told him she's pregnant after trying... get this, 3 weeks. Sounds like my sisters actually. All their husbands have to do is look at them and they get pregnant. But it's obviously not going to work that way for us, so we have to go about this differently.

We will not be actively trying, but we will not be doing anything to avoid it either. By my birthday in August (6 months from now), we will hopefully be able to re-prioritize our goals and start trying again. Jeff will be nearly finished with school and things will hopefully even out a bit. So, here's to focusing on us.

A REAL success!

It's totally awesome! Last night, we got dinner from Panda Express. I have written out how many points my favorite foods are on a card, so I looked at it and wrote down what I was going to order when I got there.

Normally, I end up feeling restricted and order a meal entirely different than I had planned, and of course, go waay over on calories and points. The success part is that this time, I went in prepared. I had two of my cards (Beck Diet Solution) with me. One said "No Choice", which means that once I have decided on my plan for the day, I have no choice but to continue with it. Whether it's a meal out, etc. The second card said something that I regularly deal with.

Sabotaging thought: "But it looks and smells so good. If I let myself get it this time, I'll say no next time". Response: Look and smell it all you want. If I let myself get it this time, I'm not stretching my resistance muscle and will probably give in next time too. Being thin is worth passing up the extra calories and points".

I had the cards set out before I even left work, and when I got in line to order, I read them each twice. And I did it! I actually stuck with what I had planned to order, and had point counts for. I know this book has already helped me out, but with the success I felt after last night, I know it can really help me change my mindset about food. I'm so proud that I brought the cards with me, and didn't allow myself to give in. :) Whoo hoo!!!!!

Also, after I got home and enjoyed my dinner, I did day 2 of my c25k again. It was less tough than on Tuesday, but I did make it all the way through again! I always think it's funny; for example, in one of Leslie Sansone's videos, she says you may not enjoy the working out, but doesn't it feel good?!?!? I have to say... NO. I really dislike working out and getting sweaty and smelly. Just not my cup of tea. The only thing that feels even remotely good about working out is knowing that I did work out. Because that's for me. Physically, there is no high for me, or "hey, my body actually feels good". Nope. I just don't wanna do it, so I always laugh when someone says it to me. "Don't you feel great now?!?!?"

"No, I don't. But I get a whole day off before I have to do it again!!" LOL!

I actually like my scale

I actually like my scale. Not that it tells me something positive every time I get on it (ie you lost weight) but it helps me to see when I'm doing well, and when I need to buckle down a little more. I've never obsessed over it, and am not aiming for perfection so much I need my scale to tell me I've lost weight every week.

It does keep me on my toes though, and I can definitely appreciate that. Even so, I only weigh myself 2 or 3 times a week (and that includes weight watchers meetings). I have reached several landmarks this week. At weight watchers last night, I got rid of another 2.4 pounds for a total weight loss of 8.6 pounds in January. :) Whoo hoo! Another 1.4 pounds and I'll be in the 280's! Very cool!

Also, I have officially destroyed 25 pounds since I started my lifestyle change about 7 months ago! I am feeling so positive about my journey. I've worked hard, but not that hard. Last week, I only exercised 1 time. So this week, my goal is to exercise 2 times. I did the Couch to 5k last night, so one down!

For the last week, I packed lunch for myself and Jeff every single day, I tracked every single day, and I did my Beck diet solution daily. I'm really to the point where it's all become habit now (except on weekends, so something else to work on there, still) and the consistency is working really well for me. If I continue to get rid of weight at the speed I am (slow, but healthy), I'll be at my goal in April of next year, hopefully without so much extra skin. So awesome! As fast as the last years have gone, it doesn't seem so far away at all!

Weekends are still the toughest

I'm really looking forward to my weigh-in tomorrow. Over the past week, I did pretty good tracking. I packed lunches (and breakfast) for myself and Jeff everyday, I walked 3 miles both Saturday and Sunday. And the only time I didn't do as well was this weekend, when we went out to eat. However, I only had water to drink, and I tracked what I ate immediately at home, and I actually didn't even go over on my points.

I'm sure this is a little aggressive, but I'm hoping for a loss of 3.4 pounds tomorrow. I'm not crossing my fingers, as it could likely just be a little too much, but the last two weeks losses have been a little over 3 pounds each, so maybe it's not too much. The reason for the 3.4 pounds is that I will have lost my 10 pounds in January, my first 10 pounds with weight watchers, and I'll be down 23 pounds since I started in September of last year.

My short-term goal (weight-wise) right now is to lose 10 pounds each month. It sounds like alot, but when you realize there are 4 weeks in a month, that only averages to 2.5 pounds (ish) each week. So it's definitely not so bad, and it's actually a reasonable goal. One of the positives to this is that if I keep my weight progress going like that, I'll be at my goal by February of next year. It actually doesn't sound that far away. Heck, it's only a year. I'm not gonna bi*ch about a year when it took me how many years to gain all the weight I gained.