Mid-week weight surprise

So I weighed myself this morning to see how I was doing and the scale reported back to me that I was a mere 123.5 pounds! I know that I can't officially count this as my weight, as it's not weigh-in day, but ... SQUEE! 123.5 pounds!

Just wanted to add: I think that when my mom joined the program it kick-started me into wanting to be a better weight-watcher again. So, thanks mom!

A note on the Parmesan Turkey Meatloaf

Right after eating the Parmesan Turkey Meatloaf (PTM from now on) for dinner two nights ago I wrote a little note in my daily food log about how PTM wasn't like the REAL meatloaf I grew up eating. Well, I have to confess that now, two days and three PTM meals later, I can't even remember what the other, "real" meatloaf tasted like. PTM is GOOD. It's so good I ate the leftovers for lunch AND dinner! And my mom was right — I never ate leftovers growing up. I hated the way they tasted when they were reheated. But, and I can't stress this enough, it was just so GOOD! So I take back what I said about PTM. It DOES deserve to be called meatloaf.

Monday Weigh-In

Last week's weight — 124 pounds
This week's weight — 125 pounds

Urgh! Last week I managed to lose a pound (probably through sheer force of will) and this week that pound is back, probably because we went out to eat twice. And both times involved cheeseburgers and fries. Oh well. Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to lose those last, pesky, five pounds and make my goal but I'm also really and truly fine if I don't. I like where I am. I also like eating cheeseburgers and fries and if doing so means I stay where I am, well then good.

Also, I meant to write this earlier, but my mom finally hopped on the bandwagon and joined Weight Watchers! Congratulations mom! I'm so proud of you!

I'm back, but the weight isn't!

I just wanted to let you know that I'm back, and hopeful about regularly posting my food logs again. We got rid of the internet at home in an attempt to slim-down extraneous costs and because I feel SO GUILTY posting stuff like this from work, I just stopped. But I've been thinking lately about all the extra time I spend at work — much much more than the 40 hours I'm only legally supposed to be there — so I decided screw it! I'll post from work and I'll be fine with it!

In weight news, I'm still holding steady at 125 pounds. I think I've hit one of those fabled plateaus, but I can't say I mind. I LOVE being 125 pounds! I mean, I would love to be 120 pounds too, but I am so fine with this weight. I'm wearing a size 7 junior jeans. I'm back into size small shirts. Someone I didn't know called me 'that skinny girl' at work. I love it. This whole thing has been so worth it, even though I don't get to eat cheeseburgers and fries nearly as often as I would like :P

Monday Weigh-In (Wednesday edition)

Last week's weight — 125.5 pounds
This week's weight — 125.5 pounds

Ugh, well, at least I didn't gain anything this week, the way I've been eating. I know, I know, too much information, but that time of the month started in earnest on Friday and I just lost myself in a downward spiral of ice cream, chocolate and those notorious graham crackers. I seriously couldn't stop myself! But obviously I did manage to exert some semblance of self-control and that's why I held steady this week instead of gaining any more weight.

I did some research on the weight watchers website and discovered that now, at 125.5 pounds, I should only be eating 19 points a day instead of 20 if I want to continue to lose weight. Ack! I've been having so much trouble keeping myself confined to 20 points though! I swear, sometimes I just want to give in and eat the way I used to — without thinking about it. I'm tired of constantly checking the nutritional info and deciding whether eating a snack with 4 grams of fat is really worth it to me, or if I should just go eat some carrot sticks. I'm tired of carrot sticks!

I feel like the hardest part of this healthy eating endeavor should be behind me, that I should have been having these feelings 15 pounds ago. I'm so near to my goal that I feel like I ought to feel energized and ready to give that last ounce of effort to making it. I think though, that it's exactly BECAUSE I'm so near to my goal. After that, all I've got left to look forward to is a lifetime of watching what I eat. Decades of eating carrot sticks. Sigh.

Monday Weigh-In

Last week's weight — 127 pounds
This week's weight — 126 pounds!

I just have to say that I am thoroughly baffled! I don't know HOW I managed to lose a pound this week, other than maybe most of my snacking excess was in my head and in reality I still stayed on point? That's happened to me before. A few weekends ago I felt like I was snacking nonstop and had eaten enough to gain all my weight back. But when I went back over my food log, the things I was snacking on were 0 or 1 point each and actually weren't that bad for me, like rice cakes or pumpkin seeds. I guess Weight Watchers DOES teach you to live healthier, rather than being just another diet (like the TV commercials keep saying).

Anyway, this week I've vowed to be better and actually write down what I'm eating, although I'm going to give myself some leeway in WHAT I eat because I'm going on vacation to visit my parents (and parents-in-law) this week!! I can't wait, I miss them so much! The last time any of my family saw me was when I weighed 148 pounds and my mother-in-law just recently found out that I lost a good deal of weight. I wonder if they'll notice the difference?

Sorry about that ...

Well, this week was definately not my best. In fact, it was my worst. Despite starting out on a strong foot by losing 2.5 pounds for a whopping 127 pound weigh-in ... I lost my motivation. It was that time of the month AND my husband started taking a pottery class twice a week so I was alone and bored most of the night on Tuesday and Thursday. Not to mention work has been a bitch and I have just been feeling generally crappy. I tried to satiate that crappy (and bored) feeling with food. It hasn't really helped.

Well, I gave up this week. That's why I haven't posted at all. But next week I promise to get back to it.

Monday Weigh-In

Last week's weight — 130.5
This week's weight — 129.5

Yay! Finally ... FINALLY back into the 120s. I realize that I only just barely edged my way back into them and following the revelry and plain old drinking that will happen tonight I will quickly be back in 130 land. But I don't care. Officially, I am 129.5 pounds and that is one great way to end 2007!

For 2008, my goal is to, well, make it to my goal and also to follow that up by eating healthy food and maintaining my weight. I also realized during the last few weeks (when my weight almost refused to budge) that I really need to up the ante of my exercise routine. I walk two miles a day, five days a week already during my lunch break at work, but I think I really need to add a second two mile walk to that. Which will be hard initially (because when I get home from work and it's dark and cold the absolute LAST THING I want to do is go outside) but will ultimately become something I look forward to. I'm sure of it. I hope.

At least my dogs will be happy about it.

Happy New Year everyone!

Just some thoughts

I hate to see the holidays get over so quickly, but am eager for the near-constant supply of chocolates and peppermints and other little sugary, fatty holiday items to disappear from the office. At home I'm mostly good and plan out what I eat pretty well. But at work, where I spend most of my time I might add, those little goodies prove too hard to resist. I counted it up one week and I think I was eating at least a chocolate a day — most often two! I want that to end!

•••

I started this whole thing out to lose weight, but more and more lately I've been focusing on being and eating healthy (as well as getting to my goal weight). I want to eat a colorful diet and choose (and enjoy!) foods that are really nutritionally good for me. Of course, I've got those things that I just CAN'T give up — ice cream being one of them, although I've recently started buying low-fat instead of regular (and it tastes exactly the same!). And there are those moments when I eat some pretty bad-for-me stuff. On the whole though, I've been pleasantly surprised at the way and the ease I've taken to the changes in my diet. My parents can attest to the fact that I was a notoriously picky eater. Most vegetables could make me gag. I had a few things I really enjoyed and didn't like to try new things. I'd rather eat out than in, although I didn't do that very much. I just wasn't very much fun at dinner time.
But in the past couple months I have been trying new stuff left and right. Brussels sprouts? Sure! Tofu? Bring it on! Lentils? Sounds great! And even more surprising is that almost everything I've tried has been terrific. Brussels sprouts, not so much. But almost everything else.

•••

I've been hooked lately on a BBC America show called 'You Are What You Eat.' In it, a very formidable nutritionist takes obese people who eat horrendously and puts them on an 11-week detox diet consisting of vegetables, fruits, legumes and beans and usually small portions of oily fish. The people usually go through a host of tests, including a very gross portion of the show where the state of their poo is mulled over, and in the end they are declared lacking in most essential nutrients. To get healthy is as simple as eating those foods full of the things they're lacking and exercising more. The show is full of great information about different foods and what they provide to your body (for example, pumpkin seeds are chock-full of zinc and, among other things, can do wonders to your sex drive!). I've learned so much from watching this show and recommend it to anyone. I never really thought about my body being like a machine I needed to fuel and maintain, even though I grew up hearing that term. To me, eating food was enough. I wasn't actually thinking about whether the food I was eating had any nutritional value or not, or what nutrients I needed or what those nutrients did. Now, I know I'll be thinking about that when I plan my meals or go shopping.

Hoping the gain will be minimal

Well, last week sure didn't end pretty. On Friday I ended up not eating anything for dinner at all, except for a bite of my husband's hamburger (when he rebels against the healthy food, he rebels hard I guess) because we were going to go to the movies and I was planning on having popcorn. BUT, the darn movie was sold out, so we went for a ride in the country instead. We got home around 10 p.m. and I just went to bed (I definitely don't utilize my Friday nights to their full advantage anymore, the way I did in college!).

And then there was the weekend. I guess after my little post about not falling to the call of junk food I was in for a good karmic kick in the butt. We drove up to Eugene to Christmas shop and hang out with old college friends. I had a leftover falafel for lunch (good!) but immediately succumbed to the call of the cheeseburger and fries when we went to Applebees for dinner (bad!). I tried to order something off the WW menu, but it all looked so ... unappetizing. Nothing that would tempt my palate, I tell you. I only ended up eating 1/2 the burger though because apparently Applebees is so hard up for cash that they can't afford to put anything on their $9 'gourmet' cheeseburger. That's right, you heard me — it DIDN'T come with veggies or sauce on the burger and cost MORE to have them put on. It was the driest, blandest burger ever. At least the fries were good.

And yesterday. I'll try to forget the utter goodness that was yesterday. There were, um, countless gingersnaps, lots of potato wedges, two (fat-free!) hot dogs, 1 s'more and 3 additional marshmallows involved though. Yummmm ... I mean ugh!

Needless to say, I haven't done my weigh-In yet. I'm scared. I figured I'd do it after my 2-mile walk. You know, to be on the safe side.

The falafel waffle

It's getting so much easier to say 'no' to things. You know, like those fatty, greasy foods that sometimes I really, desperately want to eat. There are times when I especially crave cheeseburgers and french fries — they were some of my favorite foods my whole life. But I've gone weeks without them and every time I get that hunger (all in my head, I know) I've been able to convince myself to eat something else. Something usually WAY more healthy.

My saving grace in all of this has been my husband. He has his moments where his food weaknesses become my food weaknesses (such as TWO lunches at the local favorite Chinese food restaurant in the last two weeks), but overall he is always game to eat whatever healthy, vegetarian fare I ask him too. Also, he is the cook in the family. He doesn't just EAT what I ask, he COOKS what I ask. Almost every day I come home with a new recipe and every evening he labors in the hot kitchen to make me something good to eat.

Last night he rebelled. I asked for the baked falafel sandwich recipe I'd seen on the WW website and he, obligingly, made them. The husband and I aren't new to falafel. We love falafel. In the past though he always deep-fried the patties, which he made from a mix he found in the natural foods section of the store. The recipe I asked him to cook last night called for making the falafel mix from scratch using chickpeas, onions and all sorts of spices, and then baking them in the oven.

I loved them. No, wait. I LOVED them. I seem to be loving everything I eat lately, but these were especially good. My husband, on the other hand, was less than pleased. In fact, he handed me what was left on his plate (which I gleefully gobbled up) and ordered himself a pizza.

And I? I said 'no thanks' to the slice he offered me, and I meant it too. It didn't look good and it didn't smell good. I would much rather have the falafel.

Monday Weigh-In

Last week's weight — 135 pounds
This week's weight — 132 pounds

...Wow! I hope that's right and my scale isn't malfunctioning or something because losing 3 more pounds would be awesome. ESPECIALLY since last weekend was the never-ending Christmas Party Buffet. You might notice that there are no food logs for Friday - Sunday. That's because I gave up. I did stick to my plan for dinner on Friday evening, but then promptly ate a piece of cherry cheesecake. And there was another party immediately following that party wherein I shared half a bottle of cheap champagne with a friend. So whatever points I hadn't blown on the cheesecake I downed with the bubbly.

I think I did manage to stay on points the rest of the weekend — barely — but I didn't eat very healthily at all. For instance, on Saturday I had a small piece of pizza for lunch (it was free at the local Fred Meyers) and for dinner I had 1/2 a large bag of unbuttered popcorn (we were at the movies). That was pretty much it. All day.

Oh, and on the subject of clothes, I did go ahead and pick up some more shirts. I needed them anyway and am happy to note that I'm back into a size small. I still need pants, but I think I'll wait just a little bit longer to pick those up. I saw a pair of khaki Dockers with a cut that I really liked, but when I showed them to my husband he shook his head.

"You can't get those," he said.

"Why not," I asked. "They're very cute."

"Because those are 'slimming' pants," he said. He pointed to the tag that did, indeed, say they were of a cut meant to slim bigger stomaches and hips. He then explained to me that I didn't need the pants because I was already slim.

Awwww.

Food Log — Thursday, Dec. 6

Morning:
1 Morning Glory muffin (4)
1 banana (1.5)
16 fl oz water (0)

Afternoon:
1 serving Progresso Italian-Vegetable soup (0)
6 saltine crackers (2)
12 fl oz Diet Coke (0)

Evening:
Christmas party buffet
• 6 small meatballs (6)
• 1 deviled egg half (2)
• 2 small sugar cookies (3)
• 2 small creme puffs (5)
12 fl oz Diet Coke (0)

Total:
22.5 points

Activity:
40 minute, 2-mile brisk walk (+2)


The Christmas Party Buffet. This is when bad food happens to good people. I really have no excuse for eating SIX meatballs and FOUR sugary desserts, except that I was starving and my husband just sprung this little party thing on me. Lucky for me, I had those two extra activity points from walking in the afternoon, so I really only went .5 points over.

But really, at least last night's train-wreck of a dinner has taught me what I should not do at the other Christmas Party Buffet I have to go to tonight. Luckily I knew far in advance about tonight's party and was able to plan out what I was going to eat. I will take a fist-sized serving of pasta primavera, salad and one dinner roll. Desserts are pot-lucked and we're making some apple-oatmeal cookies out of the Weight Watcher's cookbook. I WILL stay on point tonight (and hopefully won't have to use those activity points to do so)!

Hello! And an Introduction

I had no idea the difference 11 pounds and a healthier diet could make. Just one month ago I was depressed and tired all of the time. I had headaches every night and occasional bouts of vertigo at work. I was irritable and unhappy with myself. All I wanted to do was sleep.

I thought I ate healthy enough. I mean, I did snack ... a lot. And I did eat from fast food restaurants once or twice a week when my husband didn't want to cook. And then there were the Diet Cokes I had to have with lunch, when I got home from work and again at dinner. But I liked to eat apples for breakfast and we tried to have at least one course of vegetables a day. I really thought that in the grand scheme of things, I was doing pretty good.

I knew that I had gained some weight over the years. In high school the absolute MOST I ever weighed was a whopping 117 pounds, thanks to the slew of sports I participated in and a naturally petite frame. During my four years in college I gained about six or seven pounds, which I attribute to not knowing how to cook anything except variations of macaroni and cheese. I also wasn't nearly as active as I had been in high school, but I still walked or biked almost everywhere I went and went through a phase of lap swimming every afternoon, and that helped keep me to a healthy BMI (Body Mass Index).

It wasn't until I graduated and got a job sitting at a desk for eight hours a day that my weight ballooned. I went from about 125 pounds to ... well, I didn't know. I didn't own a scale. I still felt skinny, even though I could see a little more pudge around my face. And I still fit into most of the hand-me-down clothes that my 135 pound sister gave me. So I figured my weight was around that. Not too bad, really.

Then we got the scale.

At first, I was scared to step onto it. The cold gleam of the metal and the dose of reality it promised was too intimidating for me. I shunned it, ignored it, tried to pretend it didn't exist.

One day, my pants didn't fit. In fact, nothing really fit. And it wasn't just one day. It was every day. My self esteem was plummeting. I felt like the ugliest person in the whole world. I stopped wanting to go out in case someone saw me. While my husband still loved me and told me I was the most beautiful person he'd ever seen, I didn't believe him. I didn't want him to see me. I undressed in the dark. I locked the bathroom door when I took a shower. I hated myself.

One morning I thought, "I'll just do. I'll step on the scale and see how much I really weigh. It will be good to know." And I did it. And I was shocked. Mortified. I have never told anyone what exactly that scale said. I told my husband it said 135 pounds. I told my mother it said 140 pounds. I told myself that something had to change.

The scale said 148 pounds. One hundred and forty-eight. Just two pounds away from 150. How?! How did the petite 117 pound girl gain 31 pounds?? And how, more importantly, could she lose it?

I decided to join Weight Watchers Online a month ago. The membership fee was my 25th birthday present from my mom and even though she has worried that it was a bad gift, so far it has been the best thing to happen to me (besides all that other important stuff, like marrying my husband or graduating from college.) Not only did I decide to lose weight by following the WW Points plan, I decided to eat really healthy. No more fast food, less meat, more skim milk, fat-free condiments, whole wheat breads and flours and lots and lots of veggies. In the heat of the moment, my cupboards overflowing with pumpkin seeds and beans, vegetables and fruits, I also decided to drink less of my beloved Diet Coke. I knew about the negative effects of aspartame (headaches, vertigo, fatigue, irritability ... basically everything I was feeling all of the time) and felt that if I was trying to improve my life then I had to get rid of the soda. For three weeks I've stuck to a limit of one soda a day at lunch. Hopefully one day I'll drink even less than that. I've been drinking my 8 cups of water a day instead (even though it's a real chore, I have to admit. Water just doesn't taste very good after awhile) and I've really noticed a difference. No more headaches, no more vertigo and a whole lot less irritability.

I've lost 11 pounds so far. My old clothes are fitting again and I'm feeling so much better about myself. I've discovered new foods I really like (and that are also very good for me) and I'm getting out and active again. This is a journey though, and I've still got 17 pounds to loose until I reach my goal weight of 120 pounds. I wanted to share what I'm going through both for the accountability it will give me, and hopefully to inspire others (like my mom!) to do the same.