In the Interest of Honesty

My friend Amanda did a very awesome thing today and was honest on her blog (which she usually is) but it made me realized that I'd left you all thinking that I was some sort of superhero over here eating well the week between christmas and new years, and so in the interest of honesty - I'm just here to tell you that I have, indeed, still been eating some very yummy stuff. Lots of it. But I've also been trying to exercise a wee bit. I weighed myself yesterday, and I did not lose weight, but I didn't gain 7 pounds like I thought I had - in fact I think I only gained one.
So, there's me being honest too....
:o)
Happy New Year Friends!

Christmas

Oh it was delicious, my friends!! :o)
I think my mom totally out-did herself on Christmas Eve. Seriously, i can recall at least 6 different items which were cream cheese based, plus the meatballs, shrimp ring, veggies, fruit, chips, cookies, brownies, nanaimo bars, fudge, squares, punch, apple cider, and so so much more. ack. Then Christmas day was also amazing.

But, I'm happy to say that I've been counting my points today, and in fact, I just got off the treadmill - it was my first time on there in a very very long time - over a month, I think. But I did a mile and a half in 25 minutes - of jogging and walking, and I feel SO much better at this exact point in time than I did with my belly stuffed full of yummy food. Interesting, eh?

Again, I find it quite unfortunate that I don't realize how good it feels to be OP and having done some exercise in the times when I'm not being a good girl.
Oh well.

It was delicious!
And one week from today, we'll be doing it all over again (Christmas celebration, that is...) with Trevor's family! I'm looking forward to it, but I'm planning to "be good" between now an then.

Merry Christmas!

Last Week's Weigh In

I don't remember for surely exactly, but I think I was 162.4 at last week's weigh in. Happily, that means that I got to get my stars for losing 35 pounds! :o) yay.

And then I ate a ton last weekend, but that's just part of Christmas I think. Today I'm doing somewhat better, and tomorrow, I'm gonna be good too. Then I'll enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We're not shooting for weight LOSS per say this week - just hopefully not much weight gain!

Anyway, that is what's up with me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! :o)

A Little Bit of Good News

Okay, I got a star yesterday. I don't know if I will today. I hope to - I've still got something crazy like 19 points left for the day, but I'm going to a Girls Night Out tonight that is probably going to be all about the yummy Christmas food. You know, I'm pretty sure I'll make it though, cuz I've been rationing them pretty well.
Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that I got that star.

Only Me

Last weekend, I was doing really well with WW. I even got 2 stars on my calendar last Friday and Saturday. Then on Sunday, I got sick with the flu. It wasn't a really bad one, but I was queasy from last Saturday evening until just yesterday (6 days!). "Oh that's great!," you might think, "a chance to lose some weight quickly without really having to try!" But, OH NO.... not me.

This is what MY brain does... "OH! I have the flu! I'll probably lose weight this week cuz I won't feel like eating as much!... THIS IS MY CHANCE! This is my chance to eat fatty things!! Because I won't be eating as much, now I can eat cheese!!!! and other yummy goodies, like cookies, and tons and tons of cookie dough!!!! WEEHOO!!!"

Yep.

Sick, isn't it? (Pardon the pun).

Only me - Only I could use the flu as a chance to binge and end up gaining weight. I know that you will probably disagree with me and say I'm not alone, but I'm sure beating myself up over here.

Every day I swear that TOMORROW I'll be back on the bandwagon. My sister is coming to visit on Monday for a week, and she's good for me, WW speaking, ... well, really, she's good for me in EVERY way! ... so hopefully, this time next week, I'll have something good to report...

Toobeez Giveaway

Okay, I'm really excited about this giveaway that Tara is doing. When I was little I absolutely LOVED Tinkertoys... remember them?? But you can't get them anymore, because they're terrible choking hazards and stuff, I think. But Tara has a giveaway for something called Toobeez on her site here. And you can go to Toobeez's actual site here. Very cool. And now by sharing about it with you, I now have another entry in the giveaway for William! Yay!

The Dream is Alive

I just had to share that I have, in fact, still had one egg nog "latte" per day since my last post - I realized after I posted it, that I don't actually need one whole cup of egg nog to make it taste good - so I reduced it to a 2 point drink by using only 1/2 cup of egg nog and then sweetening it with splenda.
THEN, I even tried just 1/4 cup (for only 1 point), and it was still quite tasty... not a latte, but eggnog flavoured coffee... YUM!
So, I just thought I'd share that with you.
And now I'm off to bed. Tomorrow I WILL write down my points.
I will. I will. I will.

The Death of My Daily Eggnog Latte

Oh its been a terrible 2 days of gluttony! Ack. First the Christmas kickoff party - and then a day of reliving the Christmas kickoff party! And then this morning, I sadly realized that 1 cup of my LIGHT eggnog, is a whopping FIVE points. Oh it was a sad realization - one I'd rather not have figured out... ignorance is bliss, my friends. So, farewell eggnog and dreams of daily (home made) eggnog lattes.... I will miss you.

Just a Little Comparison...

A friend of mine who weighs in with me weekly brought an old picture of me along with her last time... just to remind me of where I've been. Well, instead of posting that picture here, I actually went and found one that had been taken a year before it, when I was at my heaviest ever (when not pregnant) And I just thought I'd share that with you - taken May, 1997:

Then that got me wanting to see the old me compared with the other "old" me - at my thinnest before I had Elan. So, this is me at my lightest ever - taken summer, 2007 (pretty much 10 years after the last one):

And then one of me recently:

Most of that weight was originally lost on the Weigh Down Diet - and then I got pregnant with William. After that I went with Weight Watchers. I find it interesting how the weight has distributed itself differently over my body over the years. It used to be in my face a lot, and now it is choosing my middle more (since I've had 2 babies). I think I prefer this new way ... :o)

Anyway, this comparison has encouraged me to keep at it... encouragement which I need because of the Christmas season looming. We're having our annual family Christmas decoration party/Christmas season kickoff party this Friday evening - and of course, it comes complete with tons of very anti-weight watcher food. But very yummy food! I'm looking forward to it - gonna try to save all of my bonus points this week for that night.... cheezies, egg nog, ferrero rochers, suprise dip, and appetizers. YUM!

One Problem With Being a Food Addict

Okay, I finally managed to get a star yesterday. Woohoo! I relaxed the rules a bit, but just the act of getting a star boosted me enough to make me wanna be back on the bandwagon. I went to the Weight Watchers meeting today and it showed a loss of 2.4 over the past 4 weeks, so that's okay. It would have been more if not for William's birthday parties, but at least its not a gain or a plateau, so I'm gonna be satisfied with that.

I'm making brownies this evening for a treat (Tuesday evenings are "treat evening" - after the WW meeting ends and before the new week officially begins Weds mornings). I know I can't be trusted with the leftover brownies in the house, though, so I'm just making them for us to have a brownie sundae tonight, and then Trev is gonna take the rest to work with him tomorrow. I can't be trusted with anything yummy around. I was thinking that I wish that I could bake a bunch of stuff and have my freezer full and ready for the Christmas season, but thats just not gonna happen for me. Oh well. I guess thats the price I pay for being a food-a-holic.

Long Time, No Post

Hello to anyone who might actually be reading this! I just thought I'd pop in and tell you that I am still alive! :o) I can't believe its been like 3 weeks since I posted anything here! Oh well.

As far as weight watchers goes, I did really very well for the first couple weeks of this month. Then I did okay for about a week, and then I did really quite poorly for about a week, and today is the END of that week. (I hope). William has had 2 birthday parties in the past week. And i've made 3 birthday cakes this month. And I dont' know if I've mentioned it before, but birthday cake and icing are my most favorite foods. And so I've been having quite a few treats lately. And they've been yummy, but now its time to stop.

So, I just thought I'd come tell you all that.
Tomorrow, all I have to do to get a star on my calendar is stay within my points - I'm not even gonna worry about the exercise for this week. Just staying within points. So far this month, I've only gotten like 3 or 4 stars - pretty poor. I really would love to be in the 150's by Christmas. That would be great. I think I'm around 164 right now - like I said, I was doing well earlier this month - so I just need to get back on track. Here's hoping.

Bony

I think I have recently re-entered the stage of weight loss where I have started to experience the unpleasant side of it... that is, I'm starting to feel uncomfortable every now and then because my fat is no longer cushioning me as much as it used to. The main places I've noticed already are in my butt when I'm sitting on the floor or on a wooden chair, and my hips, when I'm lying on my side at night. And I have to say - I miss that fat. It's quite a bit less comfortable to be thin! Its hard to get comfy when I lie down at night lately and I know its only gonna get worse - so I've got to try to find some new positions to sleep in, I guess.

Anyway, just wanted to throw that "complaint" out there. Really, I'm happy to lose weight, but I just have to say "boo" to my bones.

Some Encouraging News for Me

Yesterday I measured myself for the first time since April 11th. Now, keeping in mind that on April 11th, Elan was only 3 and a half weeks old... so I was still pretty fresh from having had a baby... but still. I'm very excited to report that there is a significant difference between the me now and the me then!! My arm measurement is the only thing that didn't turn out well - it showed no change at all - but I think that probably I made a mistake in how I did the measurement in April... not sure.

So, it showed that I have lost (drum roll please....) a total of TWELVE inches - yes that's one whole foot! - off of my waist measurement. WEEHOO! :o) A loss of SIX inches off of my hips, and a loss of 3 and a half inches off of my thigh.
yay. yay. yay.

So, its working. And its taken me longer than its taken some others I know, but really, when its all said and done - who cares how long it took, as long as the weight loss actually happened, right? Right. So, I'm plugging away at it. I'm not going to weight watchers to weigh in today - but I weighed myself at home, and its a loss, so I'm on the right track.

Hooray.

p.s. these 2 pictures I posted weren't chosen to show off anything in particular - they just happened to me the shots I had of myself taken as close as possible to the dates of measuring. Hopefully, in a few months' time, I'll measure again and have another "new me" shot to show off...

Spicy Beef & Lentil Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups dry lentils, rinsed thoroughly
1 1/2 C chopped carrots
1 C chopped onion
1 C chopped celery
1 1/2 C water
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
2 packets beef bouillon
1 Bottle Spicy Tomato Juice -- 64 oz of Spicy V8 (U.S.) or 1.89 L of V-GO (Canada)
2 or 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Many dashes of Louisiana Hot Sauce (to taste)

Directions:
Brown beef; break into small pieces while cooking. Drain.
Place meat into slow cooker (crockpot). Add lentils, vegetables, water, salt, pepper, bouillon, spicy tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, and Hot Sauce. Cook on high until it boils. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 6 hours, or until lentils are tender. Stir occasionally. Serve with extra hot sauce as desired.

My husband doesn't really love soup for a meal, but thinks this one is good - since it has the hot sauce. It tastes great served with biscuits, fresh bread, or even garlic toast. OH, and I count it as 3 points per bowl (I guess thats about a cup of soup?) The ground beef is really the thing with the most points in it - the V-GO is only 1 point per 1 Cup, so you just have to add the points for the ground beef and lentils on top of that... Anyway, ENJOY!

Check this out for tons of great recipes...

I'll be posting a recipe of my own there later today (and here too). Just click on this big box and you'll be taken to BooMama's recipe event! :o) Enjoy!

WeeHoo

I just want to share that I weighed in today (for the first time in 3 weeks), and I'm down 2.8. And that is exciting to me because I'm pretty sure I gained the first of those 3 weeks, maintained the second, and then lost this last week. So, I'm glad that I did lose.

It's so funny how once every couple of months, I realize that the thing about Weight Watchers is that if you do it the way they tell you to, you will lose weight. Then, I spend a while doing it right and losing weight, and then I gradually peter out to just kinda doing it and kinda losing weight. A lady at weight watchers today said that is like cooking with a recipe... if you follow the recipe properly, it will almost always turn out - but if you stray and get lazy, it probably won't.*

And I also just want to share that this week, I did more Activity Points (APs) than I think I've ever done in one week (well, this time around in my weight loss anyway). I did 14. Wow. I'm loving my treadmill, and loving my kids for napping at proper times so I can use my treadmill.

So, that's my update here. Now, the trick is to stay strong even after a little success. Sometimes I tend to think, WOO - I did it! And then reward myself with food or something silly like that. Well, no sir - not this week. My stickers on the calendar (see the last post I wrote) are working really well to motivate me - I must finish one whole week to see what a completed rainbow will look like! If I do that, then I'll take a picture and share it with you all. Oh, the joys of having a somewhat anal (whats a nicer way to say that?) personality... Sometimes you can use it to your advantage.

Oh, and the WW quote for the day:

If hunger is not the problem, then food is not the answer.

Have a good week everyone! Especially you Amanda (she's going on a tropical vacation!) Heck, just for fun, I'll include a picture of me and Trevor on a tropical vacation (((SIGH))) ... one day it'll happen again... (((SIGH))). oh, and please note that the reason I am wearing a shirt is that I got so stinking sunburned the day before that I thought I was going to spontaneously combust at any point... so the t-shirt was the answer for this day. But I still love this picture cuz of the water.

(((SIGH SIGH SIGH)))

Okay, I'm done now.

*This analogy applies only to people like me, who cook the best with a recipe and who have little imagination when it comes to making variations on the recipes. (And I must admit, I am blatantly copying Amanda with this asterisk. I owe her all of my asterisk credit.)

Stickers

Just thought I'd share my latest motivational strategy... stickers. As I've shared before, I am highly motivated by stickers. Well, my good friend Shayne bought me these beautiful star stickers for my birthday last month, and it occurred to me this week that I should put them to use! So, I thought that if I am good all day (like writing my points down the whole day, and staying within them, or within them using some extra points, and if I exercise that day), then I'll get to put a sticker on yesterday's day the next morning. So far, its working beautifully... thanks Shayne for the rainbow stickers!

Blasted Halloween Candy!!!

Well, okay maybe its not the Halloween candy's fault, per se - I guess perhaps it is more MY fault - but I'd prefer to try to place the blame elsewhere.

It's been quite a week - or 3 weeks around here. In fact, I think its been pretty much since my 30th birthday and my big celebration of having lost 30 pounds... I've just been a bad girl. I have my list of excuses (some of which I think are pretty darn good ones!) but really, I know that there should be no excuse.

Whatever.

In any case, I've started to make an actual effort to lose weight again - as of yesterday. And it feels a lot better.

Its not that I was so so bad this past month - I think in fact that I've done pretty well with the exercise over the past week (I think I've been on the treadmill 5 out of the past 7 days). Unfortunately, I also ate way too many mini chocolate bars on 5 out of the last 7 days as well!

Oh well.

So, my new plan is that I am not going to have even one more Halloween candy this season. Not even one. And since I made that rule yesterday morning, I've done much much better. Its funny - I have to be all or nothing at all. Eating treats in moderation is just waaay too hard.

I blame the mini Coffee Crisps. They are up to no good.

The Plan

Okay, so I weighed in yesterday at 169.0, which is officially a 0.8 pound gain (but technically is really only 0.6 gain, if you'll recall...) Anyway, it is what it is. I was pretty much expecting that for a variety of reasons. And so that's fine. But, I'm not gonna stay there.

So, my goal for October 28th (3 weeks from yesterday) was going to be 163.2 (which will put me at a 35 pound loss). That would mean losing 5.8 pounds in 3 weeks - which is possible, but might be a little excessively crazy to put as a goal. Actually, they teach you in WW not to place numbers as your goals, but rather to place behaviours as your goals - since you can control your behaviours, but not the actual numbers on the scale. And, so my behaviour goals are:
1. I have lowered my daily points limit to 29. Its tricky for me since I'm still breastfeeding to know what the best number of points is each day. I'm technically supposed to have like 33 or 34 points per day, but I don't really lose weight when I do that. So, I'm lowering it to 29 and if I find that I'm really hungry, I'll raise them again.
2. I've been totally sick with a cold for the past week, and if I even try to get on the treadmill, I burst into fits of coughing. But as soon as that has passed, I will get on that treadmill for either a 2 or 3 point jog/walk every day.
3. I will drink 48 oz. of water per day.
4. I will try as much as possible to chose fruits and veggies instead of the yummy yummy brownies that I've been munching on for the past 2 days.
5. AND my last goal is to be good through the seasons of Thanksgiving and Halloween.

One of the other things they teach us at WW is the tool of ... Oh, I can't remember what the proper name for it is right now and I can't find my book either... so I'll just call it "pre-visualization". I think I might even be combining 2 of the Tools for Living here... but either way! What I'm trying to say is: that I need to deal with Thanksgiving this weekend by thinking about it ahead of time and planning what I'm going to eat and to imagine myself in the situation where everyone else is eating tons of yummy stuff and PLAN what I'm gonna do to deal with it. I mean, I do have 35 bonus points in the week, and so I'll use some of those... but I also just want to be sure not to go overboard with yummy whipped cream and pie and all the goodness that is thanksgiving dinner. :o)

(and Momma, if you're reading this, don't worry one bit about what you prepare or what you have in the house - I can totally deal with it!!!!!!) ... (AND I'm looking forward to it!!!!!!!!!!)

So, that is my plan! I hope you all have a great week too.

The Importance of Goals

Okay, I just read a greatly inspiring post on my friend Amanda's website (I do have other friends with cool websites... like this one, and this one...and many more... just I've been really identifying with Amanda's weight loss lately and so I keep talking about her.) :o) Anyway, I realized that I didn't currently have a GOAL in mind for my weight loss. And, as a result, I wasn't going as all-out as I should've been with my WW. And so, Amanda and I have talked and decided to lose weight together this month - we're very similar in weight right now (although she's worked SO HARD and has already lost almost 3 times as much as me!!!) and we both want to lose similar amounts by the end of the month - My goal is to be 163.2 by October 28th (only 3 weeks away!!). I know this is very possible - although Thanksgiving will be a bit of a hiccup, but I can totally do it, and I WILL.
I'm glad I've had this re-focussing this morning - I needed it!

Hilarious

Please go see this post by my friend Amanda. It's way too funny not to.
:o)

(p.s. if you are technologically challenged - i won't name names - in order to see the post click on the words "this post" above... ) heehee

Andrew Update

Hi again,

Okay so this is what I know now...

Andrew broke his pelvic bone in 3 places, he did have the tip of one toe amputated, he's on quite a bit of morphene, and he will have to be off his feet for at least 8 weeks. He's currently going to the U of M, so that might be tricky...

Anyway, all things considered, he's doing okay. Just wanted to let you all know.

Thanks.

Andrew

Hey there everyone,
Just wanted to ask you all to keep my brother-in-law Andrew in mind today. He was in a pretty serious accident yesterday on his motorbike. No other cars were involved, he just lost control of the bike. He flew 30 feet and landed in a ditch (thankfully) - he was just about to merge onto a very busy road, where the cars all travel at about 100 kph, so he was very lucky to land in the ditch. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital where they started to assess his injuries, but decided to transfer him to a different hospital with a trauma unit that would be better able to help him out.
As far as I know right now it looks like he has a cracked pelvis in 3 places, one broken toe, and one crushed toe, that might possibly need to be partially amputated. I'm waiting to hear more from Leanne about if he'll need surgery or what is going on. But I just wanted to share that with you and ask those of you who are praying types to please pray for him today. I'll definitely keep you posted as I know more.
Thanks,
Colleen

Birthday Present

Look what I bought with my birthday money.... a treadmill!! YAY! I love it already... I can now exercise without have to take both kids out of the house. And when we DO go out of the house, it can be for exercise for them too - not just sitting in a stroller while Mommy gets the exercise! AND, I can watch Ellen while I walk/jog! YAY! :o)

I DID IT (almost)...

Well, on the official record, I have lost my thirty pounds by my thirtieth birthday!!! :o) The truth is that I actually lost only 29.8, but the nice lady at the scale fudged the numbers for me so that I could put up my hand at the meeting for my 30 pound loss. I'm pretty glad she did that. AND, I don't feel like I failed, because I tried super super hard this week to lose that 1.8. Or 2.0. Or whatever.

This week, I'm gonna relax a bit (being that I will be going to 2 of my own birthday parties and eating my favorite thing in the whole world... birthday cake). I plan to go back to WW 2 weeks from today and hopefully by then, I will have lost another pound or so.

Not Easy

Okay, this losing 2 pounds in one week thing is HARD. I keep wanting to go have a snack and then realizing that no, my tummy isn't even actually hungry for a snack, and so I'm better to wait till my body is asking for it . I didn't realize how often I was eating just cuz I had points available - which is okay - but when trying to lose 2 pounds in one week, I have to be as careful as possible. Oh, I really really really want a cookie right now.
But, maybe if I stay on the computer here long enough I'll be able to convince myself not to.
In Japanese, there's a word - "gambatte" (have I told this story already?) - it means keep going, don't give up, fight fight fight, stick to it, plug along, etc. Its really a great word that we don't have in english. But when someone is tired or sick or down or whatever you can tell them to Gambatte and its a great encouragement.
So, that's what I'm saying to myself right now and to the rest of you out there -
GAMBATTE!
We can do it.
(phew) I think I managed to talk myself out of that cookie.

Weigh In

Well, I have been going at it really hard for about a week and a half here, and it seems to have paid off. I lost 3.4 pounds from my last weigh in until yesterday. So, that's good news. The thing is that I wanted (WANT) to lose 30 pounds by my 30th birthday - next Friday, which means I have to lose 2 whole pounds this week alone. Now, I know its possible, but its gonna take my full full amount of effort.

I have a good friend who joined weight watchers here this summer as well - after having a baby in May. She's lost 28.4 as of this week, and so we decided that if we both hit 30 pounds by next week's meeting, we'll go out for supper together after. How fun would that be? No kids! (or at least no older kids... we might have the babies...) So, there's my double motivation. Now, to make it happen.

For starters, I'm going to choose fruits for snacks instead of baking. Second, I'm going to drink my 6 cups of water every day. And third, I'm going to try my darndest to get moving this week.

So far, so good today.

p.s.

I've been on track with WW since Monday of this week, using only 5 extra points ((until today when we had an awesome asian supper with my family, and I probably used a good 10 more bonus points)) and my strictness has been showing on the scale already. HOW BIZARRE that when you stick to the program strictly, you lose weight!!! WHY CAN I NOT GET IT THROUGH MY THICK SKULL that I should be staying on track EVERY DAY???????? MAN, I can sure be dumb sometimes.

A Start

Well, to start off, I just wanted to direct any of you who are interested to my husband's blog - his most recent post has sparked an interesting conversation between Trevor and an old friend of ours in the comments section of the post. I've been very much enjoying what they have to say about faith and the Bible and post-modern Christianity. I find it very relieving that there are others out there who believe along the same lines that we do.

So, this post is a bit of a cop-out, in that I'm not actually posting any opinions or really deep thoughts. I'm just directing you to what I've been reading lately. I'm curious what you, my friends, feel about all of this post-modern Christianity stuff and what Colin and Trevor are discussing about faith and the interpretation of the Bible. Anyone else out there in the same boat as we are?

An Expansion of Sorts

I've been thinking alot lately about how Trevor has a place to share what he's thinking about (like REALLY thinking about, not just what's going on in his life) and I've been wishing for a blog like that too. I have my family blog, but there are enough people who read that one that I don't want to share too too deeply on it. This one here, however, is a little less popular, I think. And so, I'm thinking I'd like to make a bit of an expansion to include my personal thoughts on this blog too. Since its called "A Lifelong Journey", I think it'll be appropriate still - it started with my WW journey, and I'm just gonna add my spiritual and emotional journey to it too, I think.
You probably won't notice that much of a change (depending on how brave I decide to be), but just thought I'd share what I'm planning to try to do. I have some stuff I wanna talk about here soon, but don't have the time to type it now... so that'll have to be later.

No Weigh In This Week

Well, after my last post, the wheels fell off the wagon a little bit. I'd like to blame the nasty weather we've been having and therefore, my lack of exercise. BUT, I'm the only one responsible. Oh well.
But, I pulled it together again Sunday evening and have had 2 good days since then. I couldn't make it to the meeting today, but I intend to have 7 more good days until next week's weigh in. Here's hoping.
I'm also experimenting with my points now too, because I've now introduced cereal to Elan, and as a result she's nursing less, and so logically, I shouldn't be needing as many points as I was. So, I've cut back 2 point this week. I hope that's enough to keep up with her changes.
Anyway, just thought I'd share that.
:o)

Yay

I'm just having a happy morning and wanted to share it with you all. I was noticing that my jeans were feeling big earlier this week, and so yesterday, I went and dug out my next size down, thinking there was no way they'd fit, but they DO! And I'm wearing them today, and it makes me feel very happy.
:o)
That's all.
((oh, and I'm still doing my exercise, writing my points down, and drinking my water...))

It Always Amazes Me

I have been exercising more lately than I had been before - I got that new stroller on Saturday and have gone for a 2 point walk every single day since. For me, thats a step up from before. And I just have to say how it amazes me every time I start to exercise more in life how much better it makes me feel. And how much it makes me WANT to exercise more. AND how it makes me want to be a better eater.
I just came home from a nice walk and it was time for lunch, and I was feeling so good I just wanted healthy food! And thankfully I'd been to the store yesterday and so there was healthy food available.
Its just so crazy how the good behaviour promotes more good behaviour. I'm glad it does. Hopefully it'll stick for a while.

Wow

Long time, no post! Sorry about that.

I did update my weigh-in last week, but forgot to write a post to go with it. Last week, after 3 weeks away from meetings, I had lost 3 pounds!! I was really happy about that, because I had been trying to do well, but somehow had gotten it into my head that really I was doing terribly. Its such a mind-game, the whole weight-loss thing. grr.

Then, yesterday, I showed a gain of 0.8 pounds, but I'm not too upset about that, because there are a variety of factors leading me to believe that I actually stayed about the same this week - just the weigh-in was at a heavier point in the day than usual for me.

But it does frusterate me when I look at my loss/gain for the week and see how directly it is related to my behaviour the week before. When I try really hard, then I do really well - when I don't really try, I don't really lose or gain, and I when I throw things out the window, then I gain. Its so straight-forward, and yet, I just don't get it right. Oh well.

SO, this week, I have 3 goals - to write down my points every day, to drink more water than before, and to get in 10 APs. I got a new double stroller which is a lot easier to manouver than the old one. Its also TONS lighter, and so I am able to use it alot more. We live on the South Side of town, and in order to get to the down town - or anywhere really - you have to walk up and over a huge overpass to get over the train tracks, and until this week, I'd never done it cuz my old double stroller was too heavy. But this new one is so much better that I was able to walk downtown on Monday to pay bills and stuff ON FOOT!! It was super exciting. :o)

Anyway - all that to say that getting my APs in should be easier this week (provided that the rain stays away somewhat) but even yesterday I was able to walk with this new one in some colder yucky weather because it has a cover to keep the kids toasty warm and dry. YEAY!

OH, and I should have said also that as of last week (prior to this little gain), I reached my 25 pound mark of weight loss!! So, I got a little gift token thingy that goes on my keychain at WW, which was nice. My next goal is to be at the 30 pounds weight loss mark by my 30th birthday at the end of September...

Holidays Update

Hey there - just wanted to let you all know that I'm not dead! :o) And I'm still working away at the WW. Just haven't been to a meeting in a few weeks, so no weigh-ins for me. But, I think I'm doing at least okay (for having been away and stuff). I'm starting to get really close to being able to fit into some of my old clothes, so that's exciting - I know I just need to stick to it and I'll slowly but surely get there.
My favorite treat this week has been angel food cake with fat free cool whip and blueberries - its surprisingly low in points and really yummy.
Anyway, not much to say - I hate having to stick to the program when I'm away and visiting with family, but find it much easier at home here, so I'm glad to be home again. And glad to finally get to WW next Tuesday - hoping I will have at least lost a bit.

Wow.

Coffee and Tea and their Caffeine Amounts:
Decaffeinated coffee or tea, 8 oz. =2 mgs
Black tea, brewed, 8 oz. =47
Green tea, brewed, 8 oz. =30 to 50
Plain coffee, brewed, 8 oz. =95
Starbucks Coffee Grande, 16 oz. =330

Soft drinks and energy drinks
Coca-Cola Classic, 12 oz. =35
Diet Coke, 12 oz. =47
Mountain Dew, 12 oz. =54
Red Bull, 8.3 oz. =76
Monster Energy, 16 oz. =160
SoBe No Fear, 16 oz. =174

Foods and other products
Hershey’s chocolate milk, 8 oz. =5
Hershey’s milk chocolate, 1.5 oz. =10
Dannon coffee yogurt, 6 oz. =30
NoDoz Maximum Strength, 1 tablet =200

Sorry

Hey Y'all... sorry I didn't update you on my weigh in this week - I stayed the same as last week exactly - no gain, no loss. So, that's not totally bad, but not totally good either.

This week my new philosophy is to think of weight loss as a daily thing as opposed to a weekly thing. Instead of thinking "I want to lose 1 pound this week", I'm thinking "I want to lose 0.2 pounds today". It helps me to think more before I eat, which is a good thing.
:o)
I'm not gonna have a weigh in next week cuz I'm gonna be in Saskatoon for a week (yikes). But my goal is to be down 2.0 pounds by the following Tuesday.
Thanks for your concern! :o)

Weigh In

Well. my sticking to it seems to be working - I was down 2.6 lbs over thw past 2 weeks. YAY!! :o) I attribute that mostly to eating my fruits and veggies and getting in a point of exercise each day... its good to know that putting in the extra effort actually helps! :o) So, I will carry on. This week we're going away for 3 days, so thats a little scary, but with some proper planning, it will be okay. My goal is 7 aps and to stick to fruits and veggies... maybe I'll add the water goal too.

What Your Weight Loss Equals

I got this today and thought it was interesting...

Your weight loss =

1 pound = a Guinea Pig

1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts

2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs

3 pounds = an average human brain

4 pounds = an ostrich egg

5 pounds = a Chihuahua

6 pounds = a human's skin

7.5 pounds = an average newborn

8 pounds = a human head

10 pounds= chemical additives an American consumes each year

11 pounds = an average housecat

12 pounds = a Bald Eagle

15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs

16 pounds = a small whale's brain

20 pounds = an automobile tire

23 pounds = amount of pizza an average American eats in a year

24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream

25 pounds = an average 2 year old

30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats in a year

33 pounds = a cinder block

36 pounds = a mid-size microwave

40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or an average human leg

44 pounds = an elephant's heart

50 pounds = a small bale of hay

55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner

66 pounds = fats and oils an average American eats in a year

70 pounds = an Irish Setter

77 pounds = a gold brick

80 pounds = the World's Largest Ball of Tape

90 pounds = a newborn calf

100 pounds = a 2 month old horse

111 pounds = red meat an average American eats in a year

117 pounds = an average fashion model (and she's 5'11")

118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica

120 pounds = amount of trash you throw away in a month

130 pounds = a newborn giraffe

138 pounds = potatoes an average American eats in a year

140 pounds = refined sugar an average American eats in a year

144 pounds = an average adult woman (and she's 5'4")

150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary

187 pounds = an average adult man

200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds

235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger

300 pounds = an average football lineman

400 pounds = a Welsh pony

One More Week

So, I didn't go to WW on Tuesday. I am back to having to pay to go now, and I only have budgeted to go 3 times this month. I told myself that I would skip the meeting on a week where I knew I'd done well, and where I could tell on my scale at home that I had lost weight that week (so I know I'd be motivated enough to make a 2 week stretch with no weigh in). So, I think that I did pretty well last week - I've been trying to stick to eating my 5 servings of fruits and veggies and doing my exercise. I'm pretty sure I reached my goal of 177 and I did reach my goal of 7 aps (actually I did 8!) and so I skipped this weeks meeting.

So, I have one more week to go (well 5 days now) till I can weigh-in again and see what's really going on. So, this week, my goal is to be 175.5 by the meeting next week and to get in 7 aps again and to eat my 5 servings of fruits and veggies and to use no more than 28 extra points.

Just thought I'd let you know what's going on... :o)

Walk

Oh I had a great walk with my mom tonight for 2 APs, and so I'm now at 6 APs week already (yeay) and my goal was 7. Hopefully I will go above that, for a nice change!!
:o)

I'm OKAY!

I haven't been here to update this week yet, but just wanted you to know that my week is going well like I had wanted it to. On Weds, Trevor and the kids and I went for 2 super crazy fast walks that actually got me 4 points of APs so that was sweet. I've been trying really hard, and I think I've eaten my 5 servings of fruits/veggies each day so far too. And actually, I've been trying to drink my water too and succeeding. So, just wanted to let you know... I'm not ignoring my blog out of embarrassment at my failure... just busy. :o)

212 Degrees

This week's WW meeting was AWESOME. I went feeling really discouraged and fat and just yucky and frusterated with how slowly I've been losing weight. Then the meeting just really picked me up and helped me to re-focus.

The leader gave a little example of how a tiny bit of effort can make a big difference. She said:
At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive. One extra degree makes all the difference." You can view this quote in its entirety here (and I really recommend you check it out). She then talked about how that is like weight loss and asked us if we were putting in the extra degree of effort or if we were cooling off. And MAN, I realized I had been cooling off. I was trying pretty hard, but not that one extra little bit hard. And thats the part that will make a big difference.

We also talked a bit about remembering to set reachable goals with rewards as well for yourself. So, my goal is to be 177 at next week's meeting. If I do it, I will actually allow myself to have a DQ treat that evening (I know this is not really a proper WW reward, but it works.)

This week, I will have 25 extra points and I will shoot for 7 APs (one per day). In addition, I'd like to try to reach the goal of 5 servings of fruits or veggies daily.

This week, its time to turn up the heat.

Back to Our Regularily Scheduled Programming

Sorry Everyone for the boring-ness of this blog over the past week. I just wanted to spend one whole week being super super strict with my points. But, I'm tired of that being what's posted here everyday. So, I think I'll post them here in a different way. Maybe on a side bar? Maybe with a tracker? Not sure.

There was no WW meeting yesterday because it was Canada Day, and so I don't know for sure what happened with my weight. My scale is pretty sketchy and so I'm not sure exactly what its telling me. I THINK that maybe I lost about a pound, but I'll have to wait till next week's meeting to find out for sure.

This week was my first time in a while - maybe ever- where I wrote down my bonus points and actually counted them too. I ended up with 4 left. I've usually tried to avoid using them at all, but if I'm honest I have to say that I usually snitch and tell myself I'm using the bonus points. SO, I'm going to continue to count them, but I think I'll cut it back from 35 to only 28 bonus points this week. That will help with the weight loss I think.

So, This week, I'm cutting down to 33 points a day, and 28 bonus points for the week. I'm going to shoot for 5 APs again, although last week I only really did 2.

And those are my thoughts about last week and this week's game plan!

Canada Day

Snack -2
Eggos, fruit, syrup and milke -6
chocolate -1
snack -1
sandwich, fruit, and "chips" -6
fudgesicle -1
mini cream puffs -6
salmon skewers -3
tst -3
corn on the cob -3
popcorn -1
cereal -6
5 Bonus Points Used

Whoops... Monday (as best I can remember!)

Snack -2
cereal -6
snack-1
kd -6
carrots -0
fudgesicle -1
chocolate -4
supper -12
snack -2
NONE LEFT
little snack -1 -so that's one bonus point used

Safeway Eating Right Brand

I just want to say that my new most favoritest thing is the Safeway Eating Right brand of well, everything, but especially CHIPS. You can see the nutritional info for them here. I used to be totally into the crispy mini chips, but they're 1 point for 8 of them and they're quite expensive cuz they only come in small bags AND they taste like mini flavored rice cakes, which is ok if you like that sort of thing.

BUT THESE taste more like real chips, because they're made of potatoes, not rice, and they're cheaper cuz they come in a much bigger bag AND they're 24 chips for only 2 points, which just seems to be a lot lot better.

YUM. My friend Carol who just joined WW found them and shared them with me and so I just wanted to share that with you too, in case you didn't know.

Sunday

nite -2
cereal -3
toast -3
snack -2
gardening +1
apple -1
peas 0
sandwich -4
fruit -1
"chips" -1
fudgesicle -1
slurpee -2
"chips" -1
chocolate -1
1/2 burger, fruit and carrots -6
fudgesicle -1
"chips" -1
ice cream -4
1 LEFT never used

Saturday and Rest of Friday

Well, it turns out we had our date on Friday instead, so my rest of my day yesterday was a bit hard to count. We went to our favorite restaurant - Miso House, which is a Japanese/Korean place. It SOOOO yummy. We just love it. So, I really have no idea how many points I ate there. Probably... hmm... 6+3+4+4+5?? (so, 22??) Then later that evening, we really really wanted blizzards from DQ but decided to be cheap, so we just came home and let me tell you what I discovered. I went to the freezer to get some ice cream and found some grapes that one of us had accidently put in the freezer instead of the fridge (oops!) But, I thought, hmmm... wonder what that tastes like? So, I tried one and WOWEE it was actually really good and cold and sweet and a great substitute when you're craving something like that. SO, I enjoyed some frozen grapes for 1/2 a point instead of a blizzard for a billion. :o) Then at midnight I had some cereal for probably another 4 points. SO, my total for yesterday would have been -11, which isn't bad considering how much delicious miso I had! :o) YUM.

Okay and TODAY, well,
snack: -2
breakfast: -6
chocolate: -2
burger, chips, greeksalad, diet coke, veggies: -11
snack: -2
pizza, blueberries: -8
chocolate: -2
snack: -8
Over by: 7 but the good news is that we're NOT going to the fair tomorrow anymore, so I don't have to save points for that... (phew)

Friday

34 points:
nite snack: -2
breakfast: -5
morning snack and coffee:-3
chicken wrap:-7
pudding:-2
=15 points left

Thursday's Points Count

Start with 34 points.
Nite Snack: -2
Cereal & Milk: -5
Strawberries & Coffee: -1
Reeces Snacks: -1
Cheerios & Raisins Snack: -1
Apple: -1
Greek Salad: -1
Macaroni and Sauce: -4
Pudding: -2
Carrots:-0
Popcorn: -1
Reeces Snackster: -2
Crispy Minis: -1
BBQ Chicken: -5
Peas: 0
BBQ Veggies: 0
Part of a Bagel with pb&honey:-4
Milk:-2
Nachos:-2
Cereal:-4
Points done and 5 bonus points used...
p.s. I'm gonna try not to use any bonus points tomorrow. They weren't even used on anything good today. boo. I've gotta save 'em for our date on Saturday and the fair on Sunday... so NONE TOMORROW!

Accountability to the MAX

Okay, I can tell that I'm pretty much off the point-writing-down bandwagon. And I really want to get back to losing weight. And so, in order to seriously make myself do this, I'm gonna step up the accountablility that I know I need. I'm gonna write down all my points here on my blog - not sure for how long - but at least for today and probably for a few days till I'm back on track.

So, I'll start and I'll just come and update this post throughout the day as I eat more stuff.
I'm starting with 34 points.
Nighttime snack (when I'm up with Elan, I always have a 2 point snack):-2
Breakfast was english muffin with marg, honey, some milk, and a bit of William's leftover eggos:-6
Granola Crunchers: -2
Snitches while making lunch: -1/2
1/2 C Blueberries: -1/2
Tuna Wrap (with spinach and cukes): -4
KD:-2
Popscicle: -1
Spaghetti (3/4 C Whole Wheat) & Meat Sauce (1/2 C):-7
Greek Salad: -1
Garlic Toast: -3
Froot Loops: -3
Reece Crunchy 100 calorie pack thinger: -2
POINTS FINISHED
Bonus Points - shared a few of Trev's nachos and cheese for probably 2 or 3 points, I'll call it 3 points.
Woohoo, one day done right...

Good News and Bad News

The bad news is that I gained 0.2 this week. And truthfully, I knew I would because I really didn't count my points properly for most of the week. But I did do a good job of trying to get my APs in.

The good news is this:
One of my downfalls has always been that I pick food off of William's plate as he's eating and I often forget to count those bites of food. He's never noticed or complained as I've been "sharing" with him. Until this morning. This morning, I took a sip of his apple juice as I was walking by the table, and he looked at me and said "HEY! That's MY apple juice!!!" :o) It was so out of the blue - he's never cared before - that it just made me laugh. But it happened again later in the day, and so I think he's on his way to defending his food on a regular basis from now on... which is great. I needed that. And him defending his food points out to me how often I do it. I don't think I notice half the times that I do it. So, thank you William. Please continue to stick up for yourself against your grazing mother.

Oh, and as for APs this week...I'm thinking a goal of 6. I'll just increase by a point a week. That's better than setting some crazy goal I'll never achieve. :o)

APs

Just here to report on my APs. I went for a great walk with my walking buddy Shayne on Friday. We managed it by me going out to visit her in Gull Lake and taking along my double stroller. It was a very hot day and man, that stroller is not light, so I really worked up a sweat! It was great to walk with her again too. :o) So, that walk was 2 APs. Then, yesterday I did some major weed pulling and gardening which was 2 APs as well. And tonight I did another 1 AP of weed pulling. And I still have more gardening to do tomorrow, hopefully during the kids' nap time.

So, I've reached 5 APs! Yay. My eating hasn't been as great this week, but hopefully the little wee bit of exercise will help make up for that. And tomorrow is a new day...

Not Rocket Science, I Guess

Well, I weighed in at 179.4 today, which is a 3.2 pound loss from last week. I'm pretty sure some of that should actually have shown last week because aside from that one binge, I had been trying pretty hard the 2 weeks previously. Also, I have done quite well for most of this week at staying within my points. And so, I guess it should just be logical that I showed a good loss. You follow the program, you lose weight. That's really the way it goes. There are just so many times where I kind of bend the rules here and there and it causes the weight loss to slow down.

Anyway, here's hoping that I stay on track this week again and keep it up. I only have to lose 0.4 pounds this week in order to reach my 10% goal - which means that I'll get a special key chain at the next meeting. If I lose 1.4 pounds this week, I'll get to my 20 pound loss and therefore, get more gold stars at the next meeting. :o) So, I think my goal is to lose 1.4 pounds this week. And also to do some exercise again - I've kinda been off that bandwagon for various reasons over the past 2 weeks. So, I'm gonna shoot for 5 APs this week.

Byebye 180's!! May I never see you on the scale again! :o)

I'm alive

Sorry everyone, I've been neglecting my blogs over the past several days.

Just thought I'd share that all in all this week is going fairly well. I had a rough day wednesday, but knew I needed a kick start again, so Trevor told me that if I wrote down all my points on Thursday, I'd get a 5 minute back rub that evening, and if I wrote down all my points AND stayed within my limit, I'd get a 20 minute backrub! :o) So, of course I did it. And the back rub and the staying with my points both felt great. He did the same offer on Friday, and since then it seems to be a lot easier to stay on track. Wish he'd offer that every day of my life! :o)

Weigh In

I had my weigh in yesterday and despite the binging on Sunday, actually lost 1.2 pounds over the past 2 weeks. I wonder what it would've been without the binging!!! Oh well. This put me at a loss of 15.6, which means I got to get my stickers. ((Every 5 pound loss you achieve means you get acknowledged at the meeting and you get a gold star with a "5" on it for every 5 pounds you've lost... so yesterday I got 3 stars.)) ((I remember when I got 9 of them one time, that was sweet)) ((Imagine if you went to meetings Amanda, you'd have gotten like 16 of them last time!!)) :o) Okay, thats enough parentheses for one post.

Start Over...

Okay, well since I've had a wee bit of stress in my life this week (see this post for more info...) I have been, well, definitely overeating and its been definitely emotional eating. Today when I was leaving the hospital, I was so stressed and upset, I seriously and CONSCIOUSLY stopped at the kiosk on the way out and bought myself a turtles chocolate brownie and ate the whole thing just to try to make myself feel better. Didn't work. So, at the gas station on the way out of town, I bought a small pack of those 2 bite chocolate chip cookies and a small pack of 2 bite cinnamon buns and ate BOTH of those too on the way home from Regina.
Yeah, that's my confession to y'all. And it didn't really make me feel much better, but I have to say it did make me feel a wee little bit better. That's just being brutally honest there.
But of course, when I find out that I've gained weight this week instead of losing, I will not feel better at all. Especially since I'm only 0.6 pounds away from getting to a loss of 15 pounds, at which point, I'll get some fun shiny stickers at my WW meeting.
Oh well.
All is not lost. I can start over. And really I don't have to wait till tomorrow to start over. I could really start over right now cuz there are still 3 hours left in this here day. Hmmm.... Maybe.

APs

Well, we're in Saskatoon for a few days here. And this morning Trevor's mom and I went for an awesome walk with William and Elan. (at least I thought it was awesome). I rarely get to really SPEED walk, but we did today. I had Elan in the snugli and Nana pushed William in the stroller and we walked to the mall, where I got a frappucino (lite!) and bought some popcorn for William at Kernels (he loves popcorn these days). And then walked to the playground and then back. I think it probably was a 3 point walk, but just to be safe I'm gonna call it 2. So that means I've done 4 points this week and have until the end of the day tomorrow to do one more point. Totally do-able now that we're here in Saskatoon and that there's beautiful weather this week.

I loved having Elan in the snugli for the hour and 45 minutes that we were out. It was so nice - she slept the entire time and my back didn't even hurt at all until maybe the last 2 minutes. We have a great snugli (thanks to our friend Lin's gift card from when William was born!) that I love alot. :o)

Anyway, just thought I'd put that out there. One more to go. Next week, I'm upping my goal...

This Weight in History...

Well, I lost 2.6 lbs over the past 2 weeks, which means I'm now 183.8 - and that just happens to be how much I weighed when we got married. That was 9 years and 2 babies ago, of course. I find it interesting how differently the weight is distributed after the babies - I'm much plumper in the middle now than I was then, but I'm thinner in the face than I was then. Interesting.

I also happened to weigh exactly 183 when I got pregnant with William - so just thought I'd show a pic of that too - this is me like 1 month pregnant.

Just thought I'd give you all a little history lesson there. :o)

APs - 3 down, 2 to go

I did pilates again this evening for 1 AP and I'm gonna call my weeding the flowerbeds yesterday another 1 AP. I know it seems like a stretch, but it was physical activity and for me it was something. It's been tough this week to get out at all cuz the weather here has been NASTY. So, this week, I will try to get my 5 APs, in whatever pathetic way I can. And next week, I'll try for 5 solid APs as my goal. :o)

How Stupid Am I??

Okay, I know we're not supposed to talk about ourselves like that. Sorry. But, I just wanted to share a wee little story. Earlier this week I had to miss my WW meeting and my weigh-in for the week. I somehow had gotten it in my head that I probably hadn't lost weight last week and so I was a little bit down. I got on my scale at home, which is not digital - its one of those spinny dial kind. The numbers are only labeled at every 20 pounds. So, when I weighed myself, I thought it said just below 190 - like maybe 189 pounds. And I was so sad that I had gained a few pounds, cuz I'd really been trying last week.

SO, what did I do? I got all depressed and fell a bit off the bandwagon this week - overate in the evenings and stuff. WHY?? Why, when I think I'm failing do I have to make it worse by failing some more??

THEN, yesterday I got on the scale again, and at first thought it said the same thing. BUT then I realized - it was actually saying just below 185 - not 190. So, I was actually 184ish pounds - which would be a loss of 2 pounds for me!!

And so WHAT DO I DO?? I think to myself - "wow, if I've lost 2 pounds, that means I can really do this! I'd better keep up the good work!!" And I get back on the bandwagon.

How's that for backwards thinking?? Oh, I am just so silly. Silly, silly, silly!

Pilates

I just wanted to tell you that I just did my pilates work out for the first time since Elan was born. Its only 20 minutes long, and I'm so glad I did it again, because now I'll do it regularily - its so not that hard and feels good to have it done.

So, thats one AP for me. Four to go...

WW Lesson for the Week

So, I thought after Shayne asked me to tell more about WW, that I could actually tell you MORE about it. Some people would say I'm "giving away" the secrets, but I think the main reason that people pay to go to the meetings isn't for the info, so much as for the support, the motivation, accountability and for the STICKERS!! :o) At least that's why I go anyway... for the stickers.

So, this week's little lesson is going to be how to know how many points you have to eat each day. Here is the formula:

1. If you're female, 2 points. If you're male, 8 points. If you're a nursing mom, 12 points. (I LOVE the nursing mom bit - eating 10 more points a day than usual, and still loosing weight!) weehoo.

2. Your age: if you're 17-26 its 4 points, 27-37 is 3 points, 38-47 is 2 points, 48-58 is 1 point, over 58 is 0 points.

3. What you weigh: Take the first 2 digits of your weight in pounds, and add that to your points. So, for example, if you're 178, its 17 points; if you're 250 its 25 points.

4. Your height: Under 5'1" is 0 points, between 5'1" and 5'10" is 1 point, and over 5'10" is 2 points.

5. Your activity level: If you spend most of your day sitting down, its 0 points. If you are occasionally sitting, but usually standing, 2 points. If you are walking most of the time, its 4 points. If you're doing physically hard work most of the time, its 6 points.

Add them all up and see what you get. Note that if your total is less than 18, you stick with 18 - its the bottom end. If you're above 44, then you stick with 44 - its the top end.

This amount of points will help you to lose weight. If you're just trying to maintain or if you're trying to gain - you would add points until you find the amount that's right for you. Generally to maintain, you'll need 2 to 4 more points than if you were trying to lose.

AND you also get 35 bonus points per week to use as you please - either all in one sitting on one mamba-jamba awesome peice of cheesecake... or spread out over the days for just 5 extra a day. Its up to you. :o)

And that's my WW lesson for this week. Tune in next week for more info.
:o)

Update

Hi guys,
Thanks for the encouragement. I did it - I found the gum and didn't eat any pizza. I was actually really very good in Saskatoon. On Sunday evening, when everyone else was having homemade Vanilla milkshakes (MY FAVORITE!) made with breyers super fatty double churned deluxe ice cream and popcorn with real butter (YUM)... I just decided to get out of the house. I went to Starbucks (took me 3 trys to find one that was open!) and got a frappucino lite which turned out to be one of the best frappucinos I'd ever had because I remembered to get it "double blended" so its smoother and creamier. ANYWAY, then I went back home and had that with one of those individual sized bags of popcorn for one point.

So, all in all it went pretty well. Really the wheels only fell off the wagon on Monday evening after we were already home. oops.

And, I didn't have a weigh-in this week because I didn't make it to WW yesterday. William was sick and so we just stayed home. So, we'll have to try for next week. I didn't make my goal of APs for last week. But I'm going to try again this week - for 5 points of activity points.

Focus...

Okay, I came here to blog to you all instead of snitching pizza while everyone else is outside...
I WILL NOT OVEREAT, I WILL NOT OVEREAT, I WILL NOT OVEREAT....

ok.

I think maybe I can do this. Maybe I'll go put some gum in my mouth to stop the compulsive eating, and maybe we'll head out to the mall...

I've been doing pretty well here in S'toon this weekend - pretty well. Until this moment.
OK.

I've gotta go find the gum...

One Way Not to Overeat... Thank You Elan!

Well, we're in Saskatoon and I'm trying to stick to the plan. We had pizza for supper and delicious cupcakes for dessert. I was probably going to eat too much pizza, but luckily right in the middle of supper Elan decided that she was hungry and needed to eat NOW! And so, I had to leave the table right in the middle of the meal. That sure helped me to take a little break and re-think things!! So, when I came back it was time for dessert and I shared a cupcake with Trevor's Auntie Sheila. :o) Now, I'm pretty sure my points are gone for the day - maybe one or two left. So, its all done eating for me - maybe just a small snack before bed (I packed some healthy things along...)

Having this blog to come and report back to is actually really helping me to be good. So, thank you to all 3 of you who read this for keeping me accountable. Maybe I'll come and report to you before bed again... Probably should.

See you later!

A Weight Watchers Lingo Lesson

:o)
Thanks Shayne, you are so right. Yeah, just to explain Weight Watchers (WW) a bit more - the way it works is that every day we have a certain number of points worth of food that we can eat. Each point represents a certain number of calories. Every food has a points value. SO, for example, someone might have 25 points worth of food that they can eat in a day. So, they'll write down everything they eat and keep track of their points. For example, an apple is worth 1 point, a peice of bread is worth 2 points, a teaspoon of butter is worth 2 points, a bag of chips is like a zillion points :o) and so on. Vegetables are FREE, by the way - zero points for as many carrots or cucumbers or whatever that you can eat (as long as they're not covered in butter or dipped in dressing!!)

Activity points (APs) are when you exercise to get some points back. How this works really depends on what your current weight is. The heavier you are, the easier it is to get APs. The lighter you are, the longer or harder you have to exercise to gain a point back. SO, an example of this is if I go for a 20 minute walk, I will gain back 1 point. Or, if I run for 10 minutes, I'll probably get 2 points. The way we figure this out is with a points "slider" that helps us to calculate the number of points a certain amount of exercise will be for our weight. We also have a points slider that can calculate how many points food is based on the number of calories in it, and the amount of fat and fibre in it. For example, if a food had 60 calories, 2 grams of fat, and 1 gram of fibre it would be worth one point.

I was gonna type more but William is freaking out needing me and we're just about to go to Saskatoon for the weekend, so I'm gonna have to leave this at that. Hope that helps you a bit! I know that you knew most of that Shayne, but just thought I'd type it all in case there is someone that didn't know!
:o)

Goals

Okay, my friend Amanda just posted some WW goals on her blog and made me realize that I don't currently have any goals set for myself. And I know that goals are a good thing and they help to keep me motivated (that and STICKERS)... (I live for stickers) heehee.

And so, I think that I will do like Amanda did and set 2 goals - one exercise related and one weight related. I think I will try to get 5 activity points this week (thats alot for me - I can't believe Amanda is doing 4 per day...WOW).

Okay, and as for the weight goal - I am currently still going to WW for free because I was a lifetime member who had a baby. But I am only free until June 3oth. SO, my goal is to have lost 25 pounds TOTAL by July 1st's WW meeting. That means that I want to lose 13.6 pounds in the next 7 weeks, which is just about 2 pounds a week, which is pretty darn steep, BUT I want to try. If I actually TRY, then I am capable of doing it.

HMMM...I wonder if this is do-able or if I should choose something a little more achievable? Maybe I should rather say that I want to be 175 by July 1st - that would be a loss of 11.4 pounds in 7 weeks...a little more realistic.

Okay, that was a lot of babbling and thinking "out loud" - but at least I've thought about it. SO, to review - my SUPER goal is to have lost 25 pounds by July 1st. My REALISTIC goal is to be 175 by July 1st. Good luck to me.
:o)
Thanks Amanda for making me think this through.
And sorry to the rest of you who tried to read this and make sense of it. It's more for ME than anything.

OH, AND third goal - is to lose weight this week even though I'm going to Saskatoon to visit Trevor's parents for the long weekend. I want to try to eat properly and count my points every day I'm there, even though I'm there. Its so easy for me to take a break from WW when I'm away for the weekend. But, I don't want to this week! So, THAT is the most important goal I've set here today.

A Loss

Well, I lost 2.2 pounds this week, which is good. I actually ate less food and exercised some this week, and so it makes sense to lose weight. I wish that I would actually BELIEVE EVERYDAY that eating less food and exercising more will actually make me lose weight. I think that if more overweight people actually believed that, then - well, there wouldn't be more overweight people!! Anyway, that's my update.

OH, but P.S. Another bonus is that I am now officially wearing my next size smaller jeans!! YEAY!! :o)

Happy Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year, I got to buy myself this double stroller (that I talked about earlier). I'm loving having it. This morning I packed the kids in and went for a nice walk, ending up at the South Side Park playground. There's a great walking path really close to us here, and so we use that for our walks. Luckily, William loves stroller rides still, so its fun for us all.

Yesterday was not too good for me in terms of sticking to the program, but today I'm back on track. Even having some treats - but within my points, so I'm happy about that. It feels so good to be doing it right. Why can't I remember that when I'm doing it wrong???

Elinor Dashwood

I think I always knew this, but now it is official...

Take the Quiz here!

Ice Cream and Double Stroller

Well, this week I showed a gain of 0.2 pounds. Which, really isn't bad considering that this week, I ate ice cream cake twice, and went to dairy queen for supper on Sunday, where I had 1/2 a cheese burger and a whole small blizzard plus some french fries. Now, I know its possible to still lose weight while enjoying these foods, but well, I just kinda enjoyed them a little too much. :o) But that's okay with me. Really, staying at about the same weight this week isn't the end of the world to me.

I also wanted to say that I have officially purchased a double stroller and am enjoying using it to get some exercise. It was pretty much impossible to go for a speed walk with both kids in tow, until now. So, I'm pretty excited about the double stroller. It's heavy with both kids in it, but that adds to my exercise, so that's okay with me. Our house is only 2 blocks away from the bike path in Swift Current, and so I'm loving having the chance to walk along the path beside the creek with the sun shining and the birds chirping. It's been WAAAY too long since I've been able to get out and walk. ((But I do miss my walking friend Shayne now that we're no longer in Gull Lake)).

Okay, those are my ramblings about this week...must go to bed, since both kids are sound asleep already. Why on earth am I still up? :o)

Something to Work Towards...

Just a few pics of how I looked at my goal last summer. I did it once before on WW and I can do it again! Just needed to put these up to remind myself...

My Weight Watchers Journey

I've started this here blog as a separate place from our family blog in order to be able to talk in depth about my weight watcher's journey as I'm working on it again. Really, I know that its going to be a lifelong thing for me - and so that's why I chose this name for it.

Anyway, more will come, but this is my first post - just to get things going.