Track It Tuesday

I recently started back to Weight Watchers. (You can read about that journey here). I decided that I would start a feature called Track it Tuesdays to hold myself accountable and share my journey with you. I picked Tuesday only because this is the day of my weekly meeting so it works for me.

This week’s  stats…

Weigh-in: -0 lbs.

Total lost: 5.4

Pounds til goal weight: 38.6

The Big Nada! No gain or loss. I will gladly take it! I was less than diligent with my tracking and healthy eating this week. I feel a bit like the scale let me off the hook.

When I am not sure our 8-year-old, CB, is trying her best I will ask her, “did you do your best work?”

For example, I will tell CB to make up her bed and when I go to check on her I often see a made up although very disheveled bed.

She sees me and says, ” I made up my bed.”

I answer, “Yes, but did you do your best work?”

If someone asked me, “did you do your best work?” about my efforts this week. I would have to say “No, I did not.” Half effort gets 0’s on the scale. I can do better.

It is time to take my own advice… It is time for me to do my best work.

Morning Run:

Two miles= done.

I have had two people this week tell me I look like I am loosing weight. After I got over the urge to kiss them I stored those compliments away to pull out later and dwell on them when I needed them. I am loosing my weight very slowly and people usually don’t really notice.  Even more motivation to do my best work.

Breakfast:

Tip: I make sure I measure my peanut butter because it can add up in a hurry– this is one thing I don’t eyeball. (There is a big difference between a TB and a heaping TB-like 2 points difference) I spray a tablespoon with cooking spray so it is easy to get the PB out once I have measured it. (aka I want every drop of that TB)Two Van’s Light waffles and 1TB of Nutrition Energy Mix PB~7  points plus. 

I stacked the waffles together into a Peanut Butter Waffle Sandwich. The Planter Nutrition Energy Mix PB was good. I bought the banana and granola mix. It tasted like I was eating a PB and banana sandwich. I don’t think it will become by go to nut butter but it is nice to have a little different taste from time to time.

This is me and my circus at my Tuesday morning meeting. I had my breakfast, my post run water, my coffee, and my Weight Watcher’s kit. If my meeting wasn’t so full I would use two chairs!

My one small thing….

I have been slacking on my DVD workouts. I think for a few reasons…

1. I don’t really like Jillian. She kinda drives me crazy. Some people are really motivated by her. I am not.
2. My hip hurts a good bit even when I am not running. I need to go get it checked out but frankly I am scared to go to the orthopedist  Every time I see one I leave needing surgery (I have had 7 knee surgeries). I know they will say you are crazy for running…really, I think running is the only thing that is keeping my slightly sane.
3. Finding some private time to use the TV. When I do my DVD in front of my girls they point out that I don’t look like the girls on the video, that my legs aren’t high enough, that the people on TV haven’t stopped, and that weights aren’t as big. Tough crowd. I don’t think my marriage can handle Kevin watching me try to follow along to a workout DVD. There are things that you just can’t unsee.

So, my goal is to finish a full cycle of 30 day Shred and then find something else. Maybe a yoga DVD ( I can only imagine my kiddos commentary on  watching me do that one) or something less pounding for my joints.

How did you do this week? Success or struggles you would like to share? What is your one small thing you are going to focus on?

Track It Tuesday

I recently started back to Weight Watchers. (You can read about that journey here). I decided that I would start a feature called Track it Tuesdays to hold myself accountable and share my journey with you. I picked Tuesday only because this is the day of my weekly meeting so it works for me.

This week’s  stats…

Weigh-in: -1.2 lbs.

Total lost: 5.2

Pounds til goal weight: 39.2

Booyah! And just like that I feel like I can do this again. Isn’t it amazing what one pound will do. Last week I only lost .2 pounds and felt like I was never going to be able to succeed at my goal. This week I lost 1.2 pounds and I feel like I got this. Amazing!

I confess I didn’t stay for my meeting today. Not because I didn’t want to be there I just have so much on my plate (ha, no pun intended) that I needed this morning to get myself organized.  I really like my leader, Toni. I have had several leaders in this WW journey through the years. Some I have clicked with and others I haven’t. That being said, I like my meeting and my leader which is a very important in keeping me motivated.

Breakfast:

I call this my better than McDonald’s McMuffin…

Two hard-boiled eggs, lite English muffin, fat-free cheese~8 points plus. Berries and spinach ~ 0 points plus.

Pile the eggs and spinach on the toasted English muffin. The heat from the muffin will melt the cheese. I add salt and pepper to taste.

Fresh blueberries on the side. Two minutes to prep (toasting the English muffin) which is a lot less time than it takes to hit a drive through….yummy! It is a hardy breakfast for those days you feel like you need a little more fuel.

Ready, set, go!

How about you?    Have any Track it Tuesday success or struggles to share? Do you have a homemade version of a popular fast food breakfast?

Track It Tuesday ~ Better Late Than Never

It has taken me a bit of time to muster up the courage for this post…

I recently started back to Weight Watchers. (You can read about that journey here). I decided that I would start a feature called Track it Tuesdays to hold myself accountable and share my journey with you. I picked Tuesday only because this is the day of my weekly meeting so it works for me.

This week’s  stats…

Weigh-in: -.2 lbs.

Total lost: 4.0

Pounds til goal weight: 40.4

This was a particularly difficult weigh-in experience for me. I mean one of the toughest of my entire weight-loss career which is basically my entire life. I went into the meeting on Tuesday feeling confident. I had a small loss last week so I felt that my hard work was going to show up on the scale this week. This was my week.

I exercised. I tracked. I did all the right things. I ate out a lot and made good choices. I said no to desserts. I didn’t eat the pie that was in my frig all week. I really tried.

I lost .2 pounds. Not two pounds but two tenths of a pound which is as close to zero as you can get on a Weight Watchers scale.

I really almost cried. Like break down into big ol’ loud sobs right there at the check-in table (I go to a WW meeting in our church’s community center). It took a lot to hold back the tears. I wanted to walk out the door. I wanted to get into my car and drive away to Ihop and eat pancakes. Instead I walked into the meeting. I felt sad and raw but I went in.

I won’t lie and say things got better once I was in there. It was difficult to hear other people’s success stories. Usually, listening to other people’s big losses or stories of good choices inspires me. On that day, they made me feel jealous. Sad. Hopeless. Someone in my meeting lost 8 lbs that week (no it wasn’t their first week). My mind started racing. “How long would it take me to lose 8 lbs.“ It feels like it will take months. Why does my body not want to cooperate? Another said she finally started eating fruit and she lost over 5 pounds that week. I eat fruit all the time! I started to feel nauseated. I cried as I drove home.

I admit after that meeting I kind of fell off the wagon for two days. I didn’t track. I didn’t care what I ate. I didn’t blog. I kept telling myself it didn’t matter if I did those things or not because I didn’t lose weight either way. I had myself a full-fledged pity party fueled by chocolate chip cookies.

I could have stayed on that path down into the pit of self loathing but I have walked that road before and it didn’t take me where I wanted to go. So this morning I took a depth breath and started again. I might have to start again and again and again before I reach my goal.

Do I wish I lost 8 pounds last week? Yes.

Am I having a hard time staying motivated when I am having so little success? Yes

Some days blogging about it is the only thing that makes me keep trying.

How about you?  How do you handle being surrounded by success when you are struggling?  Have any Track it Tuesday success or struggles to share?

Track It Tuesday

I recently started back to Weight Watchers. (You can read about that journey here). I decided that I would start a feature called Track it Tuesdays to hold myself accountable and share my journey with you. I picked Tuesday only because this is the day of my weekly meeting so it works for me.

This week’s  stats…

Weigh-in: =-.6 lbs.

Total lost: 3.8

Pounds til goal weight: 40.6

One Small Thing for this week:

from this week’s handout at the meeting

• Meet my daily healthy guideline checks (water, exercise, vitamin, and essential oils). I got this idea from another lady at the meeting= This is why I go to a meeting. If I already had all the answers I would not be where I am.
• Count all my BLT’s (bites, licks, and tastes)- these add up. Especially if you are the one who prepares the food in your household. ZB, my three-year old, says “Mama you are our cooker”.  Out of the mouth of babes.
• Eat within my daily points value at least 5 days this week relying on the weekly points allowance only for this Sunday(when I expect to eat out every meal that day 😉 )

I wish I had dropped off all the 1.8 pounds I had gained over the Holidays. I made a dent in it today. Some day any loss feels great. Some days I hope for more.

I never eat before my Weight Watcher (WW) meetings because frankly who wants to eat right before they get on a scale. Right? So I try to fix something portable for breakfast-something that I can carry with me and eat after I weigh in.

I fixed my usual hard-boiled egg and Arnold thin sandwich with a little added low-fat cheese~6 points plus. 

I wrapped it up and stuck it in my purse for after my weigh-in.

The meeting room

I look like I am setting up house when I go to my meetings. I have my materials, my coffee, my breakfast, my fruit, and my water bottle all for a 30 minute meeting. Is it a little too much? Not really, I pretty much do my whole morning routine while am there. I make myself at home. The WW community is a forgiving bunch.

We talked about our refrigerators today and how they help or hinder our weight loss choices.  All I could think about during the meeting what how badly my frig needs to be cleaned. Not cleaned out just cleaned.

So if I cleaned my refrigerator would that make me lose weight faster? 

How about you?  Have any Track it Tuesday success or struggles to share? Does your frig need some work?

Track It Tuesday- First Weigh-In After Christmas

I recently started back to Weight Watchers. (You can read about that journey here). I decided that I would start a feature called Track it Tuesdays to hold myself accountable and share my journey with you. I picked Tuesday only because this is the day of my weekly meeting so it works for me.

This week’s  stats…

Weigh-in: =1.8 lbs.

Total lost: 3.2

Pounds til goal weight: 40.8

One Small Thing for this week:

• track everyday everything!
• meet my Activity goal each day!

I will not lie to you it was disappointing to be up almost two pounds this week. I knew it was coming. This is the first time I have weighed-in since Christmas (my meeting was closed because Christmas and New Year’s was one Tuesday this year).  Yes, I know I could have sought out another meeting.   Frankly, I did well to just keep breathing through this Christmas season.  It was not my best.  It was far from my worst but it had it challenges and I felt overwhelmed.  I ate those feelings. I ate like I was Mary and Joseph and I had just walked the roughly 100 miles to Bethlehem. I ate like a champion.

I can’t even imagine what that number would have been if I had not already started reigning in the crazy by blogging and tracking more faithfully.

+1.8 is not +10.  I got this.

How about you?  Have any Track it Tuesday success or struggles to share?

Track It Tuesday

I recently started back to Weight Watchers. (You can read about that journey here). I decided that I would start a feature called Track it Tuesdays to hold myself accountable and share my journey with you. I picked Tuesday only because this is the day of my weekly meeting so it works for me.

This week’s  stats…

Weigh-in: –1.9 lbs.

Total lost: 5

Pounds til goal weight: 39 more to go

One Small Thing:

• eat a serving of fruit with every meal

5 lbs lighter!

 

 This is me 5 lbs lighter…can’t really tell any difference physically yet. However, five is more than zero and five is a big step toward almost 45.  39 more pounds feels a lot different from having 44 pounds to lose.  Right? Right.  If I have a vote I would like to lose the next five completely in the tummy region.  Wouldn’t that be nice if it worked that way!

By the way,  I will be posting an update to about my half marathon very soon!

How about you?  Have any Track it Tuesday success or struggles to share?

Track It Tuesday (on Wednesday)

I recently started back to Weight Watchers. (You can read about that journey here). I decided that I would start a feature called Track it Tuesdays to hold myself accountable and share my journey with you. I picked Tuesday only because this is the day of my weekly meeting so it works for me.

This week’s  stats…

Weigh-in: -1 lbs.

Total lost: 4.6

Pounds til goal weight: 39.8

One Small Thing:

• drink 64-80 oz water a day (this will help with my hydration during running–something I am still struggling with)
• move more on non running days

 

The Holiday Hustle has begun in full at our house!

This week has been a little more chaotic than I had hoped for.  In the past few days each of us have fought off or succumbed to a cold. Kevin and our youngest got it first and bounced back fasted. CB and I have had a low grade fever for a few days and just feel lousy. Mine came on full force after my long run on Saturday (11.5 miles baby!).

 

I know I am pushing myself hard to be ready by Kiawah and I am building my mileage faster than I should ( why? read here). I think I have compromised my immune system somewhat but I am still pressing on.  I was supposed to run four miles yesterday, instead I walked it. I am taking today off and will try to run on Thursday.  We will see.

 

How about you?  Have any Track it Tuesday success or struggles to share?

Track It Tuesday

Last week I started back to Weight Watchers. (You can read about that journey here). I decided that I would start a feature called Track it Tuesdays to hold myself accountable and share my journey with you. I picked Tuesday only because this is the day of my weekly meeting so it works for me.

 

 

This week’s  stats…

Weigh-in: -3.6 lbs.

Total lost: 3.6

Pounds til goal weight: 40.8

One Small Thing:

• drink 64-80 oz water a day (this will help with my hydration during running–something I am still struggling with)

 

Did you know that for each pound of weight loss you reduce the pressure on your knees by four pounds? 

Messeier’s study [2005] concluded that for every 1 lb. of weight loss that occurred, there was a resulting 4-lb. reduction in knee joint load or knee pressure.  Furthermore, it was suggested that individual who lost 10 lbs. would be subject to a total of 48,000 less pounds of pressure for every mile they walked.

As a person who has multiple knee surgeries this factoid  is mind-blowing to me. Can you imagine the decrease in pounding my knees could take on runs?

So I have already reduced my pressure on my knees by 14.4 lbs! Talk about motivation!

I am not worried about losing weight to get faster mile times; I want a lighter joint load mile! (and maybe a little faster too!)

How about you? Any motivation to work a little harder this week at meeting your goals? Have any Track it Tuesday success or struggles to share?