Ah, Week One!

I love week one.  I always have a big loss once I've gone back to WW after taking time off. I get back on plan and boom, down 5.0 pounds!  Yeah baby!!!  I need to get back to Onederland seeing as how I only spent 5 minutes there the last time :(  I've been trying to be very consistent this week by working on habits that make WW work for me.  Some of those, setting the coffee maker the night before, having a few frozen  dinners in the freezer just in case I don't have something to take for lunch, and always having some fresh fruit & veggies on hand for snacks.  I'm trying new things and using ideas shared from other bloggers.  One of which is this salad: romaine (I used spinach & romaine), strawberries, feta pecans, raspberry vinaigrette.  So delicious and so very pretty to look at (as you can see here).

I"m also a sucker for pudding. I always have been.  Since I was a kid fighting my siblings for a beater or the bowl!!  I have a cupboard full of sugar-free fat-free pudding that I bought in the States on my last cross-border shopping trip.  What can I say, they have some flavors we don't have here and the Canadians are ripped off!!  Below was my fave of the week, white chocolate pudding with strawberries and half a banana.  Yum. Yum. Yum.

I have to get working on the activity side of things.  I'm not putting a lot of pressure on myself at the moment though.  I really just want some good, solid habits as far as my eating and meal-planning goes.  Today marks the end of day 8 of tracking all my food.  I think that's the highest I've gotten since I tracked my record of 37 days.  

Victory Moment:  Today at work was someone's 40th birthday at work and they brought in a delicious cake.  I bolted as soon as we finished singing and went outside for a few minutes. By the time I came back in, cake was gone and empty plates were in the garbage.  

And a shout out to these two:  George Catstanza on the left and Sophie on the right.  This pretty much sums them up.   Georgie is a two and a half year-old goofball and Sophie is a serious 13 year-old who always has to have a paw on me even if she's sitting behind me on the couch and has to stretch.  They are such mood boosters, I should have named them Paxil and Zoloft.  Seriously, someone should do that, that's hilarious!!

So I will leave it at that.  With one question!  Have any of you tried those "green" bags or "green" containers?  Typical "as seen on tv" fare that is supposed to keep produce fresher for longer.  So if you've tried them . . . do they work, not work?  Thanks!!

So Far So Good!

I'm really happy I went back to the WW meetings and bought a 10-week pass.  These first 4 days back at tracking everything have been really good and I'm paying attention to what I"m preparing and making my own morning coffee and packing lunches.  I find that making my own coffee and packing my lunch really sets me up for success for the day.  I'm NOT NOT NOT a morning person so if the coffee isn't set and the lunch packed the night before, it doesn't happen.  I buy a coffee which generally turns into something much higher in points and lunch is usually something terrible, delicious but terrible.  I also try to eat at home more when I'm paying for a WW pass in order to offset the added pressure to the budget.

Today, a friend and I were exchanging emails and she said she was making fajitas for dinner.  From that moment on, it was all I could think about.  I got off the bus and walked across the lot to Safeway and bought the fixings for fajitas!  They were so delicious.  I weighed and measured everything and assembled my two fajitas and then put all the leftovers in the fridge right away.  I would surely have gone back for third (at least) if I'd left the stuff out.  Now I know I've got a tasty supper in the fridge for tomorrow night :)  My pictures aren't quite up to other blogs but I had to take them because they looked so good.

Funny thing happened at the office today!  With my job I regularly talk to the majority of the real estate legal assistants and paralegals in the city.  One of the regular girls calls me today and right away we start talking about how hot it is.  It's been in the 40's here with the humidity.  INSANE!!  We are not accustomed to this.  It's also been like that for two and a half weeks.  I'm miserable.  Looks like another week of it is in store.  Anyhow, she then says "I don't like the heat anyway but I'm also a bigger girl and that makes me even more uncomfortable".  I say that I can relate.  Then she says "I'm working on it though, going to Weight Watchers".  I started laughing and said "ME TOO!".  As it turns out, we've both lost a lot of weight on WW in the past.  She's lost 100 so far!!  I lost all mine and gained it back.  I said that I just went back to meetings this past Monday and bought a ten-week pass.  She just went back Tuesday and bought a ten-week pass.  And it gets better . . . she lives five minutes from me.  So after talking to each other on the phone a few times a week for the last three years, we've just discovered all this.  The meeting she goes to is the one I used to go to so we've likely seen each other!  We're going to try to hook up for some meetings.  So funny because we've never actually met, haha.  I think if my friend isn't going to make it on a Monday night, I'll tag along with my new buddy on the Tuesday night.  It's the same leader so that's wonderful because she's fabulous.  

So after catching up some blogs, I've got some new meal ideas to inject some variety and I'm excited!  Off to set my coffee maker and pack my lunch :)

The F Word.

The other F word.  I had such high hopes for last week.  I lasted two days before I started to self-destruct.  The exercise disappeared, the tracking took a swan dive and the pounds started coming on.  Who decides to exercise for 15 minutes per day and track all their food and manages to gain 3.2 pounds in a week?????  I do.  FAIL.  I stepped on the scale this morning and saw 216.0 staring back at me hated myself in that moment.  FAIL.  FAIL.  FAIL.

I'm not quite sure what happened this week.  I am but I'm not.  To say that I'm an emotional eater is the understatement of the new millennium.  I also don't ever really feel physically full.  My standard answer when someone says "are you hungry?" is "i could eat".  Really??  I could eat??  Do I even consider whether or not I'm physically hungry.  Nope.  I'm going to eliminate "I could eat" from my vocabulary.  The other problem this week was the heat.  The heat here has been incredible and for people that like hot & humid, it's a dream.  For me and my fair-skinned, fair-haired self, it feels like hell.  I need for it to be about 5 - 10 degrees cooler than it is to be even remotely comfortable so I've spent most of my time inside.  I did watch the first season of True Blood though :)  And a bunch of movies.  Although . . . I could be exercising inside.  It's not like I don't have a window unit air conditioner and a fan.  But I chose to be miserable and eat to make myself feel better for a very short time.  Excuses excuses excuses.

I'm starting my war on Failure.  Tonight, I went to my WW meeting for the first time since April.  I also bought a ten-week pass.  It was so hard walking in there and weighing in knowing that I was going to be heavier than the last time I was there.  And because I'm a lifetime member.  I got to my goal weight and maintained it for three months and became a lifetime member.  Then I gained it ALL back and then some.  For right now, I need the support and accountability of being weighed in by someone and there's nothing like throwing some money at the situation to motivate!  I could also use the weekly pep talk.  Initially, I was just going to weigh in and say hello to my regular leader and then leave but I sat down and stayed for the meeting and it was really motivating and encouraging.

If you watch Bachelorette, you'll
understand the pic :)

So now, I'm watching the Bachelorette (this is for another post called The S Word - Shame).  Once that's over, I'm packing my big-assed salad and fruits and veggies for work tomorrow.  WAR ON FAILURE!!!

Recipe!!  So this recipe was on the weekly handout this week and apparently it went out in a Weight Watchers email a couple weeks ago.  I haven't had it but several people were raving about it at the meeting so thought I'd share it.  I found the link for the Blueberry Squares.  Just 2 Points+ per square!  Let me know if you try it and like it.  I'd make it but then I'd eat the whole pan so I'll have to wait till I have an occasion or party.


Final Bachelorette Thought:  She is going to regret who she let go.  Mark my words.

Back on Track!!

my back on track (pun intended) picture with my lovely sister

Okay, I'm back on track.  Literally.  I've tracked my points for two days now.  I actually only gained one pound while on vacation and then gained 11 pounds when I got home.  I don't know what the problem was.  I was just swimming in all these thoughts about how I could get back to Vancouver.  (Still happening by the way, my mind has not been changed).   I think I was just distracted and unhappy here.  There's some family drama happening revolving around my little sister (not the one in the pic) and my mom that just won't die down or go away.  But I've decided to move on from that because I can't change it, it's not my drama, it's not my fault, and it's not my problem.  I'm not taking it on anymore.  Case closed.

My plan of attack now is to keep the tally going on my "consecutive days tracked".  I found out last Thursday that a friend of mine in the same area has gone back to going to WW meetings so starting next Monday, I'm going to go with her for the rest of the summer.  I've also roped in a neighbour for some exercise accountability.  Over BBQ on Saturday night we made a pact to do AT LEAST 15 minutes of activity daily starting today.  I did Zumba for Wii after work.  I really love it, I don't know why I don't do this every day other than that I'm lazy!!!!  I'd rather watch tv.  But I popped it in and I did the 20 minute Beginner workout and I was a PUDDLE by the end!!!  The 20 minutes flew by because I like it!  Tomorrow I'm giving Bob Harper's Pure Burn Super Strenth video a whirl.  Here's a trailer if you want to be scared!  Then I'll do the Zumba again the following day.  I also tried the yoga on the Wii Fit a couple weeks ago and I liked that too so I will have to work that into the rotation.  (haha - if I'm going to move to Vancouver I'd better practice my yoga, I hear they are a bunch of yogis out West :)  So there's my plan!  Alternate lots of workouts to keep it fresh and actually use all these games & videos I own and count my points like a good little Weight Watcher!

Finally, someone had commented a little while back asking what I thought of the Zumba for Wii so here's my brief review.  I'm uncoordinated and I find it to be lots of fun.  Even if you're terrible but trying, you sweat!  I love the latin music!  A negative is the tutorials.  I found the tutorials to go too fast.  Your best bet with the tutorials is to not put the wii remote in the belt.  It automatically thinks you're doing well even when you're not and bumps up to the next level.  My suggestion for the tutorial is to do it without the remote, then when you think you have the steps, give the remote a couple of shakes and it will move to the next level.  I just gave up on the tutorials and found it easier to just jump right in to the beginner workouts.  You pick it up pretty quick and with practice, you get better & better!

And p.s.  I had to do a quick post today because a friend of mine said, and I quote, "update your blog or I'm telling your mom about it".  Good friend.  :)

PUBLISH POST!