Posts Tagged 'Weight Watchers'

Week two – WW

This week, I track every single piece of food that went into my mouth, weighed and measured most but not all. My favorite advice from this week that I learned? Weighing your avocado gives you a lot more for your points than simply recording it as half, quarter etc.

Also new this week – no alcohol Sunday through Friday. Last night was a little tough as I really wanted a glass of wine but I also am planning to take a yoga class early this morning and then to a spin class before heading to a facial and then out for dinner with friends later this afternoon, so in lieu of all that I needed to feel refreshed in the morning. Glad I did.

Lastly, I also did not use all my extra weekly points. Ended up with six left over, which I felt pretty good about. So the reveal after all that is: down 1.5 pounds.

SW: 198

CW: 194.6

GW: 146.

5’5″

Summertime = living large 

Trying again. After losing 12 pounds and then eschewing the ww program from mid-May to now (end of lax year festivities and then right into grad party season) I am up 7lbs. It’s been fun – fast food eaten with abandon, drinking wine every night. Drinking wine every night! 

Even with all that, I felt like it was sustainable. Especially because I was training to walk/run half marathon. Well as the seven pounds shows, maybe not so sustainable.

So I’m thinking that I will do another whole 30. I put my weight watchers meeting membership on hold (at least converted it online only) and I am wrapping up. I first I thought I would start it on July 15, because the thought of doing something on the first or 15th or 30th appeals to the anal-retentive side of me. But in looking at activities, prep time, my plan is/was to do it on the 18th. However, I’m now tentatively planning to drive to Memphis for a funeral , so not sure if I should wait till I get back, or try to adhere to it while I am there and eating out. Even after saying it out loud, I realize it will be very difficult to begin when I am traveling.

As an a side, I did continue my CT5K training again today. Felt pretty damn good!

 

 

Taking care of medical business

So, I finally reached my limit a few weeks ago. Tired of dieting and not losing weight. Tried of having to take Ambien every night to fall asleep. Tired or being tired and in a mental fog all day. Tired of taking naps when I get home from work. Tired of experiencing all of the systems of menopause (except hot flashes) but still getting my period every 29 days (I’m 53-1/2 for gosh sakes). So now that I’m working and have great medical benefits, I decided to do something about it.

First, I made an appointment with a Bariatric MD. She and I met and talked about what I’m doing right (lots) and what I’m doing wrong (some). She was quite concerned about my sleeping habits, so I am now scheduled for a sleep study for next Wednesday. It’s her guess that I have sleep apnea, which would explain the fatigue, weight gain, and a handful of other symptoms. But I’ll know more in a few weeks. I’m also going in to have blood work done (4th time in a year) and will hopefully get a prescription for Qysemia. I also met with a dietician (second time in a year) to talk about my eating habits. The one thing she said that resonated with me is to be more mindful when I eat. She suggested I check out the Center for Mindful Eating (http://www.tcme.org). I plan on doing that this weekend.

Then on Friday I went to see a menopause specialist. He took blood to check my FSH level before figuring a plan of action. He also helped by validating my frustration that I am still getting a period long after most friends my age have stopped. (“You’re way on the far end of the bell curve.” was his response.) A glutton for punishment, I asked what the age was of the oldest patent had had who was still menstruating. His response was 57. Shoot. Me, Now.

I’m contemplating a 30 day yoga challenge. I enjoy yoga but also find it frustrating when teachers don’t offer alternate poses for larger gals. But I am inspired by this video

Today’s weight (at home) 211.2

Goal: 140

Try, try again

So, in the 12 months or so since I’ve last posted, I have gained … 7 pounds. Yep. I suppose it could have been worse, but it’s still pretty bad.

I’ve decided to try … again. A few things have changed since last year.

1) I am now 52 – to be 53 in two months

2) I have a FT job, which means I am no longer working at home)

I also started working out with a personal trainer a few months ago. I’m feeling a bit firmer – just not thinner 🙂 I’m also using a FitBit but keep forgetting it at home.

I’m going to try and blog daily. My inspiration is the fact that I have thousands of dollars worth of designer clothes (yes, you read that right), and that I’m just plain tired of being fat.

So, here’s my day yesterday:

Up at 6:30 am

WW: Went to meeting and weighed in at 217 (I’m 5’5″)

Exercise: 75 minutes of Hot Yoga before my ww meeting (went with my friend Sandy, also on ww)

Then to Caribou for breakfast (Apple Sausage Chicken Daybreaker plus a Skim Snickerdoodle latte total 12 points), then a relaxing pedicure.

Home mostly to nap, catch up on reading a half dozen magazines and relax. DH (darling husband) and I were going to go for a walk last night but it was too hot (95 degrees), so we blew it off. Diet meal for lunch w/diet bread and DH made burgers, homemade coleslaw and beans for dinner (I counted as 15 pts as we used 93/7 and diet buns and I had 1/2 c of beans and coleslaw). We then went to see the new Spiderman movie in 3D with sons 2 and 3. It was pretty good! Afterwards, I came home and enjoyed a Mike’s Hard Lemonade (4 pts). Don;t remember my snacks, but the day ended at 40.

Easter Sunday

Day started off early with a 5:30 a.m. wake up call so I could usher at 6:30 a.m. sunrise service. Brought my 13-year-old and husband with me, so it was a nice family event.

We got home and John got busy making the WW Asparagus, Bacon and Cheese Strata I had requested, plus a WW fresh strawberry pie for later that evening. The strada was so good,  I had a piece for lunch, too.

Unfortunately, all my resolve for the week went out the door at dinner (which we ate super early to accommodate that night’s plans). Too much ham (something we rarely eat), cheesy potatoes and rolls. To make it even worse, we went to see Jersey Boys that evening and I had a glass of wine at the theater. Not too bad – I know – but when we got home at 10 I was famished (we ate at 5). So, rather that sit and make a good choice, I popped a small plate of chips and cheese in the microwave and poured myself another glass of wine. At least I did pass on the WW pie (which John and the boys said was very good).

Total points for the day: 52!! Exercise: none

Good thing I have a full week to redeem myself.

Saturday’s weigh in

Today was a total train wreck in a funny kind of way. Got up early to go to my Pilates reformer class. I sat down to drink my glass of warm lemon water (I really like this habit and thinks it puts me in the right mind set) and scan the paper before getting dressed to go. My dog got up with me, so I fed him and let him out to do his morning business and sat back down. After 5 minutes or so, I got up to dress and brush my teeth and it didn’t really register that dog wasn’t in bed sleeping with my husband. (We have a dog door so I assumed he had come back in and went back to sleep.) After a few minutes I was ready to go and walked back out into our family room – to find the dog tearing at the carcass of some dead animal that he had apparently dragged through the dog door and up the stairs. I called the dog, dragged him back into the bedroom and promptly woke up my husband to let him deal with it. (Did I mention it was pouring rain and the dog was soaking wet and rolling around on the carpet trying to dry off?)

Anyway, off to a great Pilates class and then onto WW for my Saturday weigh in. Here I am thinking that this would be a great week (prior week’s weigh in was a wash: nothing gained and nothing lost). I get there between meetings and hop on the scale to see … a -.4 lb loss. I was disappointed, especially since I’ve been cranking up the exercise. So, I went to a local Caribou for a latte and ended up buying a breakfast sandwich as well (total 12 points). Since I still has 40 minutes to kill before the meeting, I decided to just go home.

But once I got home, my dh (darling husband) suggested a walk, so I grabbed my Nordic poles – he grabbed the dog – and we went on a great 4-mile walk (he had also cleaned up the mess – which apparently was the back half of a bunny. Since our dog is a rather loud clodhopper kind of dog – I assume another animal killed it and left it in our yard (a coyote perhaps, as there have been sightings nearby).

After the walk, we spent the day around the house until our 13-year-old son’s double-header lacrosse game.. But the day was yet to be drama free: same son accidentally broke a window with a lacrosse ball and our garage door broke.

Here’s the day’s recap:

Breakfast: latte and breakfast sandwich from Caribou: 12

Lunch:  2 ff hot dogs on reduced calorie buns with sauerkraut: 6

Dinner: Salad with chickpeas: 4

Snacks: Vita muffins (2 @ 3 pts), latte (1 at 3 pts), banana, tangerine

Exercise: 55 minutes on Pilates Reformer and a 60 minute walk with Nordic poles

Takeaway: I need to cope my with emotional eating.

The offender

Back to Weight Watchers

Counting carbs is hard. I like programs that are easy to monitor and calculate. When I tried that with carb counting, I got frustrated trying to figure out what the count was for my husband’s homemade turkey wildrice soup. So, I figured I go back to what comfortable – Weight Watchers. I also know WW works if I stick to it. So, I go back to WW online (I don’t go to meetings) and what do I find? A totally new ww program that takes carbs into consideration. Not sure of this is a good thing or not, but have been tracking diligently for two days. We’ll see how it shakes put on the weekend. I’ll post more about the new WW program later.