Week #9 / DID NOT WEIGH IN AGAIN

Bad Bad Heather!  This time I have a good excuse though.  We are moving today and I was up late late late the night before, packing up the old house & unpacking at the new house.  I didn't gain any weight last week, but I didn't lose any either.  I think we'll place the blame on Thanksgiving this time.

Week #8 / DID NOT WEIGH IN

I had every intention of going to weigh in this morning, but my little 8 week old alarm clock didn't wake me up at 5 o'clock like he usually does.  I welcomed the extra sleep though.  I missed the big "thanksgiving meeting" though and that annoys me, so maybe I'll go tomorrow morning.  I was really dreading weighing in and if I go tomorrow, I may use my "no weigh in pass".  On my scale this morning I was up .6 lbs from last week.  

For some reason, I've lost my motivation.  The first time I joined WW (2 years ago), I lost my motivation shortly after reaching my 10% goal.  I don't know why.  Maybe I'm bored with it?  Maybe I need to change it up a little and try some new recipes.  I don't know.  Yesterday I was at my brother's house and my sister-in-law baked some very yummy pumpkin spice cookies.  I'm sure you all know by now how addicted to pumpkin I am.  Well, she sent me home with 2 dozen cookies and by 8 o'clock last night, they were gone.  I'd like to say that my family really enjoyed them, but my family can only account for 2 of them.  Yes, I ate 22 cookies yesterday and that's not counting the 2 or 3 I ate at her house.  And since I did that and was already feeling down on myself, I thought I'd eat some other things I was craving.  Maybe I'll just make a list of everything I ate yesterday.

• pumpkin spice cookies (25)
• peanut butter cookies (2)
• corn dogs (2)
• spoonfuls of peanut butter (3)

I don't see anything healthy on that list.  Oh, and to top it off, since I was having a eat anything I want evening, at 9:15 I hopped in the car and headed for the Starbucks drive-thru.  I ordered a Venti Eggnogg Latte...  640 calories (14 points).  WOW!

But it's not like yesterday was my only downfall.  I pretty much cheated every day.  Thursday I ordered pizza "for the family", but ate two pieces myself.  Oh, and Three Musketeer Bars have 45% less fat than regular candy bars, so I've been treating myself to a king-size one of those every night.  Like 45% really matters.  It's just been a really bad bad week.  

I am happy to say though that I am getting back on track today (at least so far).  I made the family french toast with eggs and bacon for breakfast.  And I made myself french toast too only with egg beaters, Sara Lee 45 calorie bread and sugar free calorie free syrup.  The kids seemed to enjoy theirs, but mine tasted like cardboard.  Seriously.  I'll have to play around with that and see if I can make it taste any better.  So, hopefully, after having a week of not doing so well, I will be able to stick with it for a while longer.  Keeping my fingers crossed.  

Winter Squash Soup

Since we are moving in two weeks, Jeff decided to move everything we don't use in the garage over to the new house this weekend.  I had a box of weird squashes that he and the kids picked out when we went to the pumpkin patch last month.  He was going to throw them away, but for some reason, I couldn't part with them.  What if I wanted to make something with them?  Well he called my bluff, so today while the kids were napping, I decided to figure out something.  

I grabbed two squashes and looked them up online to see what kind they were.  One was a Turban Squash and one was a Carnival Squash.  The Turban Squash was the hardest squash I've ever tried to peel.  Even softening it in the microwave first didn't help.  So after peeling half of it, I decided half was enough and moved on to the Carnival Squash (which wasn't a fun chore either).  I think I spent over an hour peeling squash.  I pretty much followed the Butternut Squash Recipe that I previously posted except used these squashes instead.  And to tell you the truth, it tasted pretty much the same, except maybe a little nuttier.  

Carnival Squash

Turban Squash

So, I'm enjoying a delicious cup right now and it tastes even better knowing that it's good for me and is only costing one point.  Maybe I'll cook more squash tomorrow and do something with them other than soup.  

Week #7 / 212.4 lbs

I was down 2.2 lbs this week which I'm pretty impressed with considering how bad my week was.  I did not win the trophy this week, but I did get a 25 lb medallion for my ugly gold 10% key chain.  So that's something to be proud of.  That's a total weight loss of 26.8 lbs so far.  Not too shabby.

What did we discuss at this weeks meeting?  It was a subject for the guys (we have about 6 of them).  

Lessons From the Gridiron  (The Football Connection)

• Success starts in the huddle ~ Pick your strategy:  good health guidelines, track, follow plan
• Keep your eye on the goal ~ weight-loss
• We all fumble ~ make mistakes, but get back on track
• There is no I in team ~ enlist the help of others to help motivate you

As a Saturday's at 6:15 ww team, our goal this week is to lose a total of 50 lbs (or more).  Maybe that's the motivation I need to get back on track.  I am going to stop the Wendie Plan like I said last night.  We'll see if that makes a difference.  

Blood Pressure

I forgot to mention, but I had my 6 week postpartum check up yesterday.  My blood pressure was 90/60.  That is the lowest my blood pressure has ever been.  Even when I was pregnant (when your blood pressure is typically low anyway) it was never that low.  YAY, I'm not going to die!!! 

Really Struggling

I cannot believe what a struggle this week has been.  I did not accomplish any of the yes's and no's I set for myself last night.  And today, I've been snacking all day and nothing is satisfying me.  As I'm sitting here the phrase "out of control" comes to mind.  I don't feel in control of my eating at all.  I just stood in the kitchen and ate three spoonfuls of peanut butter.  What is going on with me???  All I can think about is how I can't wait to get the meeting over with tomorrow morning so I can have a day of pigging out.  And why would I want to sabotage my whole week again...  I pigged out last weekend and it's taken all of this week just to get those pounds to go away.  I have no motivation to do anything either.  We are moving in two weeks and I should be packing, organizing, taking loads to the goodwill.  Instead, I sit around and think about what I should be doing....  INSTEAD OF ACTUALLY DOING IT!  I really hope that tomorrow's meeting is a good one.  I need something to set me straight.  

Here's my list of possible explanations for why this is happening to me:

1. I've been doing the Wendie Plan ~  Saturday is my highest point day (since the points per day rotate) so in my head I think I can over eat?  WRONG WAY OF THINKING!
   
2. Since my points are rotating and I get to eat more every other day, on the days where my points are really low (like today), I'm really hungry because I'm used to eating more?
3. I've been drinking more coffee and maybe it's making me hungry?  I've never heard of that, but I've definitely been drinking a lot more this week.  
4. Maybe 'that time of the month' is right around the corner?

Some things to think about.  Maybe I'll quit the Wendie Plan and go back to the same amount of points every day.  We'll see.  

Thanks for letting me vent.

Banana Cream Pie Wannabe

So this isn't really banana cream pie, but I'm excited about it anyway and thought write it down so I don't forget.  I got a box of instant fat free sugar free banana pudding and made it.  Then I put that yummy fat free Reddi Whip on it and wow, it was so good.  To me, it tasted like the banana cream pie we had last weekend at my moms house.  Jeff tasted it and said I was way off.  But hey, it's good anyway.  And, it's only 2 points for one 1/2 cup of pudding with the whip, and who could ask for more than that.  I think next time I'll add some chopped up banana to the pudding before it sets.  Give it a little more bulk and nutrition.  

Yes's & No's

I was cleaning off my desk today and came across my paper from the activity we did at my meeting last Saturday, so I thought I'd share.  We took a 3x5 card and made two columns.  In one column, we wrote 'YES' and in the other we wrote 'NO'.  We were suppose to put it on the fridge (or somewhere else we look often) to be a constant reminder to stay on track.  

I will say YES to:

• following the good health guidelines
• exercise
• writing everything I eat down
• water, water, water, water, water
• sleep
• time to myself
• ww meetings
• smaller servings

I will say NO to:

• food pushers (people who tell you it's okay to cheat "just this once")
• eating in front of the tv or computer
• eating after 7:30 pm (night time noshing)
• doing things that stress me out

After reviewing this little list of yes's and no's, I realize that I haven't followed a single goal this week.  All week long I've been eating in front of the tv & computer and I'm always snacking right up until bed time (10:00 ish).  I haven't been following the good health guidelines, in fact, I haven't been drinking any milk or eating any veggies.  I've been saving up my points to eat sweets at night.  And water just hasn't tasted good lately (even with the crystal light packets), so I've been a Coke Zero junkie.  I have been writing everything down, but I haven't exercised AT ALL.  I did pilates one night about three weeks ago, (the night I made my Winning Outcomes goal of exercising at least 5 times a week), but I haven't done them again since.  I do get plenty of sleep, but I really don't have any time to myself.  Well actually, I dropped the two older kids (5 & 2) off at the Fred Meyer play place yesterday for an hour and sat at the in-store Starbucks and just had some nice quiet time.  That was nice.  I need to find more places that have daycares.  

So, now I know what I need to work on.  And, as of today, I weigh the same as I did at last Saturday's meeting (because of all my night time snacking and lack of water I think), so I will be shocked if I'm down anything at this weeks meeting.  Oh well, I'm sure everyone has a bad week every once in a while and it's never too late to get back on track.  

Tonight I WILL:

• Eat my 1 point snack before 7:30 pm
• Do my 20 minute pilates routine
• Drink at least 2 bottles of water
• Go to sleep at a decent time

Tonight I WILL NOT:

• Eat in front of the TV (I still have a one point snack coming after I put the kids to bed at 7 o'clock)
• Eat after 7:30 pm

New Found Treats

I'm always looking for new things to dress up my coffee with.  Lately, I've just been drinking regular coffee but adding sugar free De Vinci syrups to flavor it.  They give great flavor with no calories.  

I love whip cream too and I recently found at the store a fat free Reddi Whip.  I can have 2 tablespoons on the top of my coffee for zero points (only 5 calories).  

Coffee just keeps getting better and better.  

Another thing I found recently is Old Wisconsin Snack Bites made with turkey.  I've always bought this brand's beef bites to cut up and put in pasta salad for my husbands lunches.  But the other day when I found the turkey kind, I thought I'd help him be just a little healthier without him actually knowing.  Unfortunately for him, when I was standing there with the fridge door open with my ww points calculator in hand, I thought I'd check the points on these babies.  Turns out I can eat 6 little bites for only 1 point.  There wont be any left for Jeff's lunch now.  

Week #6 / 214.6 lbs

Well it's official.  I have now reached my first official WW goal...  10% of my body weight gone!  They gave me a neat keychain as a reward.  I reached the 10% goal the first time I joined WW, but stopped going shortly after.  The keychain was silver colored before, and now it's gold colored.  I don't think I will actually put it on my keys because I'm not really a gold person.  

I was down 3.8 lbs this morning which I think is a pretty big accomplishment since I "fell off the wagon" a couple times this week.  I did not write about it earlier because I was ashamed and really thought that I screwed my whole week.  Guess I was wrong.  But, after overeating last Saturday, I decided to do the Wendie Plan (you can find the link in a previous post) which I guess made up for the over indulging.  And, to top it off, I felt so sick Saturday night and almost threw up twice.  I ate way to much cookie dough and cookies.  After feeling so sick, I did very good the rest of the week until last night when we were at my Mom's house.  My Grammy was visiting from California and cooked a feast.  I hadn't had many of the foods since I was little and while I only sampled most things, I went a little crazy on the banana cream pie.  Oops :)  

But, today is a new day and the start of a new week and a great time to get back on track.  

Oh, and one more thing...  I got the trophy again.

Biggest Loser Trophy

Everyone has been asking to see the trophy so here it is.  Not the best shots, but it's all you get.  And it's not really a weight loss trophy at all, it's probably just some silly trophy that someone donated.  I was looking online and there isn't anything better out there anyway.  Oh well.  So there you have it.

Chocolate Fix

I found something better to satisfy my chocolate cravings..  Even better than the diet coke brownies (which I threw away because they were nasty gross).  

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes!!!

I mixed 1 cup of canned pumpkin with a small box (12 muffin size) of devils food cake mix.  The batter was really thick, but produced the most delicious fudgy brownie like cupcakes after being cooked (according to the cake box instructions).  I couldn't even taste the pumpkin, but adding the pumpkin gave it a little extra fiber (gotta at least try to be healthy).  And the cake mix had just 90 calories per muffin making one muffin only 2 points.  

YAY for chocolate :)

Free Coffee!!!!!

It's a calorie free, free sample, YAY!!!

I've actually never had Dunkin' Donut's coffee, but I hear it's great. We don't have any Dunkin' Donut's around here, but I see it at Safeway, so maybe if I like it, I will switch.

Week #5 / 218.4 lbs

I just completed my fourth week following the WW plan.  Got up early (again) and made it to my meeting.  I was down 2.8 lbs this week.  Amazingly enough, even with only losing 2.8 lbs I was still the biggest loser and came home with the trophy.  I guess that feels kinda good.  2.8 doesn't seem like that much, but if I lost 2.8 lbs each week until the new year that would be another 22 lbs and that does seem like a lot.  I guess it all adds up.  

What did we talk about in the meeting today?  Eating foods that are both visually and physically satisfying.  Which pretty much means to me, the more food the merrier.  It's all about quantity and not quality.  I would rather eat 3 cups of nonfat plain yogurt for 3 points than 1 cup of regular flavored yogurt for 3 points, even though the latter would taste so much better.  But enough about that.  

I seem to be on a funky weight loss pattern.  10 lbs, 2 lbs, 4 lbs, 2 lbs...  will I lose more than 2 lbs this coming week to continue the pattern?  They say (they being Jillian from The Biggest Loser), that for women, 1/2 lb per day is healthy to lose when eating good and exercising.  So even though I feel like my weight loss is slowing down, it may not be.  The first time I did WW, I hit a plateau and stopped losing.  I wasn't gaining, but I wasn't losing either.  I read some of the message boards on ww.com and was introduced to The Wendie Plan.  The point is to trick your metabolism into never knowing how much you're going to eat, so it constantly has to work hard.  I tried it and it worked.  It really makes sense too.  So, if I hit another plateau, I guess I know what to try.  It makes me wonder though if it wouldn't be such a bad idea to try now.  Maybe I'd have another awesome week (like week #1).  Something to think about. 

By the way, I love the show The Biggest Loser.  It's a good mid-week motivational.