Where am I?

I’ve been asked a lot lately how I’m doing on Weight Watchers and the whole “losing weight” thing. My response lately is a grunt & a mumbled “I don’t want to talk about it”. So, as much as it pains me to write this… here goes:

I came to the conclusion that maybe WW isn't what I need to be doing right now. I mean, I need to be doing *something*, but maybe WW isn't it. It only took me like 6 weeks to fall off the wagon this time and I just wasn't motivated. I will admit, there are times that I feel like a failure, but I’m trying to put those thoughts behind me.

I still need to do something, I'm just not 100% sure what yet. We bought some Healthe Trim, and I've taken it twice, but I don't really know if it's going to be right either. The second day I took it, I felt jittery all day & was up until almost 3am. Also, you can't eat breakfast with it. I'm supposed to be taking Metformin (which I haven't been, 'cause I have the worst memory ever), and when I take that I'm supposed to eat with it.

Anyhoo. ;D I've been doing some thinking lately & trying to figure out what I want to do.

Ask just about any overweight person how to lose weight, and we can tell you: Eat Less, Move More. But knowing what to do, and actually doing it are two very different things. It’s really very simple, but putting it into practice is easier said than done.

I’m trying to think of ways to use some of my idiosyncrasies to my benefit. One big one is my “OCD” for needing to know “real” numbers & info. I don’t really know how to describe it other than I need to be able to say, “If I do A, B & C, then D will happen”. Does that make sense?

Something that I think would help in that regard is the Body Bugg. If you’ve ever watched The Biggest Loser on NBC, you’ve probably seen it. It’s a device you wear on your arm that reads how many calories you burn. I like that it’s reading actual information, and not just estimating based on movement or you telling what activity you’ve done. There are other devices out there that will calculate calories burned, but they don’t read the information through your skin. It seems to me that the Body Bugg would be much more accurate. The cost is pretty high…. but I have a birthday coming up, so I may mention it as a gift idea. {hint, hint}

I’m also considering joining a gym. Probably Bodyplex. I like that they have group classes, not just equipment.  Exercise is such an important part of the equation, and something I haven’t really done. At all. Right now I’m not one of those people who enjoys exercising, but I’m hoping to change that. I’m going to fake it ‘til I make it.

I know I didn’t mention the food aspect, but obviously I plan on making changes there too. I don’t plan on counting “points”, but I will watch my portions, and drink more water.

So, basically, I’m thinking about going old school. Eat Less, Move More. You can’t argue with science; burn more calories than you take in and you’ll lose weight.

Easy peasy, right? Right?

so, yeah

Um, it’s been a rough few weeks. Apparently that .4 gain has completely screwed with my mind. Not good. I don’t remember the last day that I was actually on the plan.

Sometimes having an “all-or-nothing” type personality can be a good thing. Well, if it’s both “all” and something productive. However, it’s not good when you let one rough day {or week} get you completely off track from whatever you’re trying to accomplish.

I didn’t weigh in last week. Heck, I didn’t even go to the meeting. The topic was something I probably really needed to hear, too: Staying on plan on the weekends.

Knowing how bad I’ve been these past couple of weeks is really making me not want to go this week either. Oy vey.

I feel it necessary to “confess” a few of my indiscretions:

* I’ve been drinking soda like crazy. I really just shouldn’t buy it. Especially Coke. Seriously. My name is Misti, and I’m a Coke addict.

* I bought chips & cheese dip at the store the other day. Another major weakness. I thought about calling or texting one of my friends to talk me down {ha!}, but didn’t {obviously, or I wouldn’t be writing about it}.

* I have been to Dunkin Donuts {twice} this week. Sob.

I’m sure there are {a lot} more, but I’ll leave you with that little snapshot.

This week I HAVE to go to the meeting. And, as much as I REALLY don’t want to, I need to weigh in. I need to see the number, deal with it and move on.

Week 6: Recap

I weighed in yesterday, expecting a good number. I was only 1.4 away from hitting my first WW goal of 5% lost. Well, I gained .4. I don’t really know what the deal was. Maybe I was just retaining water {I did feel a little bloated. Sorry, TMI}, or it could have been my body playing catch-up from not being good a couple of weeks before. Who knows.

I will admit that I’ve been a bit discouraged and, in all honesty, have had trouble staying on plan this weekend. It’s pretty normal for me to use Saturday as my “free” day, but today hasn’t been too great either.

Tomorrow is a new day. I will wake up in the morning, and start the day on the right foot.

Moving on up…

As I said in my last post, I started training for Walk-It Day on June 6th. So far I’ve done two 10 minute walks & one 12 minute walk. I’ve been enjoying it so far. My {brand new} shoes seem to be giving me some problems, but when I go to the store tomorrow I’m going to check into getting some inserts. Hopefully that will help. My friend Mae essentially bought these shoes for me {she let me use her store credit at Lady Foot Locker} and they weren’t cheap. I don’t know if it’s my feet that are the problem, or maybe the way I walk. Who knows. But I need to get it figured out soon.

I’ve put together a playlist to listen to as I walk. Right now I just put it on shuffle & let it go. Eventually I may get all organized & try to put it in order of length of song or something so I can use that to time my walk. Here’s what I have so far:

For Your Entertainment – Adam Lambert
Whataya Want From Me – Adam Lambert
Livin’ on a Prayer – Bon Jovi
Cowboy Cassanova – Carrie Underwood
Before He Cheats – Carrie Underwood
The Way You Make Me Feel – Michael Jackson
Don’t Stop Believin’ – Glee Soundtrack
Somebody to Love – Glee Soundtrack
My Life Would Suck Without You – Kelly Clarkson
I Do Not Hook Up – Kelly Clarkson
Since U Been Gone – Kelly Clarkson
Miss Independent – Kelly Clarkson
Footloose – Kenny Loggins
Live Like We’re Dying – Kris Allen
Paparazzi – Lady Gaga
Lovegame – Lady Gaga
Just Dance – Lady Gaga
Poker Face – Lady Gaga
Vogue – Madonna
Kiss – Prince
Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
Tom Sawyer – Rush
Fifteen – Taylor Swift
Love Story – Taylor Swift
White Horse – Taylor Swift
You Belong With Me – Taylor Swift
That’s Not My Name – The Ting Tings
Decode – Paramore
I Caught Myself – Paramore
Supermassive Black Hole – Muse

Wow, that’s a lot of music! I’m still on the lookout for more, so keep the suggestions coming.

Week 5: Recap

Well, staying on plan works. Duh. ;D I lost 1.6 pounds this week, bringing my total lost to 11.2!

I’m only 1.4 pounds away from my first “official” WW goal of 5% of my weight lost. Hopefully I can reach that goal in the next couple of weeks.

Yesterday was a scrapbooking day with the girls. I had intended to go to the 8:30 meeting & just be a little late to Jenni’s house. Apparently I should’ve checked the schedule before I left the house… the meeting started at 8:00! Oops. Unfortunately I missed the meeting & therefore didn’t get to celebrate hitting my 10 pounds lost. I’ll have to pay more attention next time.

This week WW kicked off their Walk-It Challenge. In an effort to get people moving, they’ll be holding a 5K walk on June 6. From what I gathered talking to Trudie (my WW leader) each meeting location will walk together. We received a booklet with a training schedule that will help us get ready for a 5K in 6 weeks. Thankfully it’s geared toward those of us who don’t exercise on a regular basis. As an example, here’s the week one schedule:

Day 1: 10 minutes
Day 2: 10 minutes
Day 3: rest
Day 4: 12 minutes
Day 5: 12 minutes
Day 6: rest
Day 7: 15 minutes

I’m going to do it! I started today with my first 10 minute walk. I brought our kitchen timer, set it for 5 minutes and started walking. When it beeped, I turned around & went back. I have to admit it was pretty easy, but I think I’ll stick with their schedule.

One thing I’d like to do is put together a good playlist for when I’m walking. I know a few songs I’ll put on it:

Footloose – Kenny Loggins
You Can’t Stop the Beat – Hairspray Soundtrack
Don’t Stop Believing – Journey (and Glee Soundtrack)
Eye of the Tiger – I can’t remember who sings it

Do you have any suggestions of songs that will get {and keep} me going?

This is turning out to be quite long, but I want to share a new dessert I found this week; individual serving sizes of Skinny Cow Ice Cream.
 
I had the first one this evening and Yum-O! This flavor is only 3 points for the container.

Until next time…

some yumminess

This week has been good so far. Hopefully I can counteract my “misdeeds” of last week. ;o)

One of my favorite tools on the Weight Watchers site is the Recipe Builder. You can input any recipe, and it will calculate the points for you. It has been such a help!

I wanted to share a couple of recipes I’ve prepared this week.

Meatloaf Muffins

Photo courtesy of Kraft Recipes

1lb extra lean ground beef (I used 96/4)

1 pkg (6oz) STOVE TOP stuffing mix (I used Savory Herb)

1 c. water 1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 c. BBQ Sauce (their recipe calls for 3/4 c.)

1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese (their recipe calls for 3/4 c.)

Preheat oven to 375. Mix ground beef, stuffing mix, water & garlic powder. Press into muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray. Spread BBQ sauce over tops.

Bake for 30 minutes. Top with cheese & bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Makes 12 muffins. 2 muffins per serving. 5 points per serving.

Mexican Chicken

Photo courtesy of Kelly’s Korner Recipes

3-4 chicken breasts, boiled and cut into bite size pieces
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can rotel
56g shredded cheddar cheese (recipe calls for 2-3 cups)
5 flour tortillas (recipe calls for corn tortilllas, but Chris doesn’t like them)

Tear the tortillas into small pieces and line the bottom of a pan. Mix together the soups, rotel and chicken and pour on top. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

If separated into 6 servings, 6 points per serving.

Cake for One

No picture because.... well, I ate it before I could take a picture. ;o)

This one is ridiculously easy & ridiculously yummy!

Yummy Cake for One

• One box Angel Food cake mix
• One box any other cake mix

Mix these two boxes of cake mix together and store in a container in your cupboard. When you need a quick snack, take a coffee mug and mix together 1/4 Cup mix with 2 TB water. Microwave on high for one minute = 2 points

Or if using 1/3 cup mix and 3 tbsp water = 3 points.

I used Devil’s Food as my “other cake mix” and let me tell you… DELICIOUS! If only I’d had some low point ice cream to go with it.

Do you have any yummy recipes to share?

Week 4: Recap

So… it’s been a rough week. I suppose I could blame it on a certain “friend” who came to visit yesterday. The week before her visit is always a little rough in the food department; I go back and forth between sweet & salty and don’t have much by way of willpower.

I haven’t weighed in this week; and don’t plan to. I’m still going to attend the meeting, in fact, I need to be getting ready right about now. Between my “friend” and how I’ve eaten this week, I just don’t want to face the number on the scale. I still need to go and participate in the meeting though.

I will absolutely do better this week. It would be pretty hard not to!