Week # 16 / 210.2 lbs

Got up bright and early again today to go to my WW meeting.  Half way there I realized that I'd forgotten the stupid Biggest Loser Trophy and had to go all the way back home to get it.  I was only down 1 lb.  That's okay.  At least it's a loss and not a gain.  I kind of expected it.  I gained 6 lbs last weekend (my birthday weekend), so really this week I lost 7 lbs, though 6 of it was lbs I'd already lost.  I wont do that again.  Just think if I hadn't overindulged last weekend, would I have been down an additional 7 lbs instead of just 1.  I am relieved that the holidays and my birthday are over.  Nothing else coming up for quite a while, so no more excuses.  I should be able to stick to the plan pretty well.  Especially with my sis-in-law texting me non-stop keeping me on track.  Gotta love accountability!

Today at the meeting we talked about the NEGATIVE RESULTS OF HUNGER.  

What happens when we let ourselves get too hungry?  

~we are so hungry that we start to pig out on everything and anything in sight.

~we eat so fast that it takes a while for our brain to register that we're full and then we're uncomfortably stuffed.

~we realize what we've done and get depressed about it.

~the depression causes us to eat even more and just throw in the towel on the whole day.

~can potentially ruin any sort of loss for the entire week.

This is why it's important to keep ourselves satisfied throughout the day with many small/low point meals.  

And that's that!  

Seven Steps to Success ~

At our meeting Saturday we talked about the seven steps to success and how to stick to the plan to reach our goal.  

1. Look up points values before you eat them.
2. Chose filling foods first.
3. Follow the good health guidelines
4. Use your weekly points allowance.
5. Keep track of everything you put into your mouth.
6. Pay attention to portion sizes.
7. Be aware of your body's signals.  

I am guilty of not following every single one of these steps.  How often do I eat something and then say I'll look up how much it is later.  Or snack on something that will satisfy my sweet tooth, but wont satisfy my hunger.  The good health guidelines are hard to follow sometimes.  I'd much rather eat a 100 calorie snack of chocolate covered pretzels for 2 points than drink a cup of skim milk for 2 points, but which one will really satisfy me and help me toward reaching my goal?!  Sometimes I think that if I eat less points than I'm allowed I will lose weight faster.  But that's not teaching me how to eat right and even if I do lose an extra pound or two, I will just gain it back when I do eat again.  When I'm cooking, it's easy to take bites of things to taste it, but every bite, lick and taste (BLT's) has points and I need to remember to count them.  I was reading about a woman who didn't change anything she ate, she just changed how she ate it and lost 32 lbs.  She chewed every single bite twenty to thirty times and that made her eat slower, which gave her brain more time to register when she was full, thus eating less.  I've tried to do that and when I do, it does cause me to eat less (maybe just because I'm tired of chewing).  Most of the time I forget though. 

Goal for the week:  Exercise at least 4 times and try to remember to chew slowly.  

Week #15 / 211.2 lbs

Went to the meeting again today.  I was down 6.4 lbs which got me the biggest loser trophy again.  How fun.  It's such an ugly trophy.  I feel good.  Back on track.  Jacque and I text message each other all day long.  It's great to have someone to be accountable to, since just being accountable to myself doesn't seem to work.  

I ate pretty well this week.  The only time I blew it was right after last weeks meeting when we went out to breakfast at a local bar.  They have the best sausage gravy and I had a sausage and cheese omelette smothered with gravy.  But I kept on eating right the rest of the day and didn't give myself a "free day" like I used to.  

Tomorrow is my birthday and we are going to my Mom's house for lunch today, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to make wise choices.  I requested Angel Food Cake with fat free whipped cream and fresh strawberries as my cake, so if that's my only downfall, I should be fine.  We'll see :)

What Do I Want In 2009?

2008 In Review~

• I'm feeing most proud that...  I lost my baby weight already.  When I had Tyler, he was 7 months before I got back down to my pre-pregnancy weight.  It only took 2 months with Bodhi.
• A great way I found to manage my emotions is...  talking to a friend instead of eating.
• I'm proud I handled setbacks by remembering...  to get back on the wagon.  Just because I blew one meal didn't mean the whole day was ruined.
• The most important thing I learned was...  doing it for myself.  In the past, I've made deals with people like "if you do this, I'll lose weight", or "as long as your doing this, I'll keep eating right".  I'm the one who needs to lose weight to make ME happy.  Who cares what everyone else is doing.
• I'm really glad I discovered...  water!  I knew that I needed to drink 8 glasses of water a day, so at the end of the day I would be gulping down 4 16oz bottles.  I've now substituted all drinks (except coffee) with water.  No more pop, no more juice, just water (sometimes with little calorie free flavor packets).
• My best strategy for successful dining out was...  looking up the restaurant's menu online and planning my meal in advance.  
• The helpful habit that I improved the most is...  planning out everything I will eat for the whole day ahead of time.  Then I would just check off things as I ate them.  

What do I want in 2009?

• What do I want to build on?  Pretty much everything.  I know how to eat good and I know what foods are good and which ones are bad.  But I need to just do it and quit saying "just this one time".  
• What would I like to change?  I want to cook more.  When I'm so busy with three little kids, it's very easy to just pop frozen meals in the microwave.  But those meals are so fattening and full of salt that if I feed them to my kids, they will fallow down the same overweight path that I've gone down.  I want to take the time to cook healthy meals and stop stopping at McDonald's for chicken nuggets and french fries for lunch on the way to take Reilly to school.  That has become a BAD BAD habit.
• What would I like more of?  I would like more free time without the kids.  I don't have any time to exercise during the day because the kids wont leave me alone.  And then by the time they go to bed, I'm already so tired, the last thing I want to do is exercise.  Maybe during nap time I could do some sort of exercise.  That can be my time to do whatever I want.  
• What helpful habits to I want to improve?  I need to drink a glass of water before I eat.  Sometimes when I do that, it satisfies me and I don't feel like I still need to eat. 
• What needs to happen for these things to become a reality in 2009?  I need to WANT it.  I need to SEE it.  I need to post a picture of myself on the fridge where I'm looking good so when I start to graze, I will see it.  Maybe that will motivate me.  

Week #14 / 217.6 lbs

So, I gained a bit over the holidays.  Oops!  At least it wasn't too much.  I didn't go to any meetings for 3 weeks either.  I kept thinking that I wanted to be down to where I was before I went back, but then I wasn't losing any, just kept gaining.  So I went back.  I talked my sister-in-law Jacque into going with me, so that was motivation.  But gaining 4.6 lbs in 3 weeks really isn't that bad considering everything I pigged out on.  

Weight Watchers has changed it's program.  There is no longer the Flex Plan and the Core Plan.  It's all one now called Momentum.  It's basically about choosing filling foods with lower points to feel satisfied longer.  Looking back on previous posts, you can see that I've already kinda been doing that.  I've always said, it's all about quantity to me.  I'm glad WW has finally seen it my way.