I decided to rejoin Weight Watchers and adjust my attitude. I had been counting calories at home on my own but cheated more often than not. With the program I don't have to feel guilty about eating ice cream.That doesn't mean that I can eat junk food all day in my points range. Well, I guess I could but I would just be shooting myself in the foot.
Anyway, during my first week I lost 3.6 lbs. I am quite surprised considering how my last try went. But I am happy. I'm going to continue working out and counting my points. I've decided to change the way I think about losing weight too. Instead of only focusing on the number on the scale I am going to focus on how my body feels.
It's only a beginning but I can say I pushed myself more this week than I have in quite a while. My body is sore and tired but I feel so good. I ate less but I didn't deprive myself. When I wanted a piece of candy I had a piece and tracked the points. I limited myself to a piece and didn't waste anytime feeling guilty. As a result of knowing I could have what I wanted I found I wanted less. And that felt good.
I still have 31.4 lbs to go and I am not going to quit working the program until I am at my goal. So maybe Weight Watchers is clicking for me after all.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
If You Are What You Eat...
I guess I am a chocolate filled pastry and coffee. I know, I know junk food is bad for the waistline. But I really do try. I try until I get bored, and then I eat, and then I get discouraged. The cycle is recycled. These past few weeks haven't been stressful. Not because I am busy. Far from it. There just has been a lot of changes in my life.
I've closed the door on graduate school as my thesis did not seem to have an end. And I started a new job. It's not that demanding but it has its pressures. Food is how I deal. I need a better way to deal. I was thinking about that today as I walked my dog. My husband is notorious for running off the stress. I think the endorphin high is a perk. I enjoy walking the dog. But I am not sure that trying to get my dog to stop chasing squirrels as we walk is going to make me enjoy it enough to get an endorphin high.
I try lunges, crunches, and rows but that just feels like work. To get through it I sometimes swear at my husband. He thinks the idea of my prim and proper self cursing through crunches is the best way to get a little comic relief. I asked my husband why he works so hard at exercising. Aside from the physical results, it gives him time to just be himself without pressure, and it makes him feel good. So it seems I am on a search to find an exercise routine that I can love. A routine that helps the endorphins rise and gets me to want to keep doing it. I have always wanted to try rock climbing, just a thought.
I've closed the door on graduate school as my thesis did not seem to have an end. And I started a new job. It's not that demanding but it has its pressures. Food is how I deal. I need a better way to deal. I was thinking about that today as I walked my dog. My husband is notorious for running off the stress. I think the endorphin high is a perk. I enjoy walking the dog. But I am not sure that trying to get my dog to stop chasing squirrels as we walk is going to make me enjoy it enough to get an endorphin high.
I try lunges, crunches, and rows but that just feels like work. To get through it I sometimes swear at my husband. He thinks the idea of my prim and proper self cursing through crunches is the best way to get a little comic relief. I asked my husband why he works so hard at exercising. Aside from the physical results, it gives him time to just be himself without pressure, and it makes him feel good. So it seems I am on a search to find an exercise routine that I can love. A routine that helps the endorphins rise and gets me to want to keep doing it. I have always wanted to try rock climbing, just a thought.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
When you're hungry
When you've gotten into the habit of indulging it's hard to cut back. Just eating responsibly can be torture. Or at least it feels that way for me. The last few days I've returned to counting calories. It's helped a bit. I've actually lost a couple of pounds in spite of my forays into candy land. The hard part is not getting ahead of myself.
Yesterday I ate oatmeal for breakfast with almonds and cranberries. I logged that at 300 calories. Lunch was simple at another 300 calories. I snacked on fruit and managed to be full. Then I headed home and the wait in traffic fueled my hunger. I decided to make tacos and added lots of veggies for extra crunch. In all the time it took to prepare it I grew hungrier.
As I sat down to dinner I forgot all about pacing myself and ate, and ate, and ate. I overdid it and I blew my calorie limit. I could kick myself and feel guilty but I decided to pace myself today. It seems that I had to as I ate so much that I was still full this morning. Being ill from food gave me time to think and relax when I had dinner tonight. Maybe I went about it the wrong way but it seems I taught myself a little something. It's important to pace yourself; even when you're hungry.
Yesterday I ate oatmeal for breakfast with almonds and cranberries. I logged that at 300 calories. Lunch was simple at another 300 calories. I snacked on fruit and managed to be full. Then I headed home and the wait in traffic fueled my hunger. I decided to make tacos and added lots of veggies for extra crunch. In all the time it took to prepare it I grew hungrier.
As I sat down to dinner I forgot all about pacing myself and ate, and ate, and ate. I overdid it and I blew my calorie limit. I could kick myself and feel guilty but I decided to pace myself today. It seems that I had to as I ate so much that I was still full this morning. Being ill from food gave me time to think and relax when I had dinner tonight. Maybe I went about it the wrong way but it seems I taught myself a little something. It's important to pace yourself; even when you're hungry.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Diet? What diet?
Sorry I have been gone the last two weeks. I wish I could say it was a need to reflect on life that kept me but really it was a job. I started a new job roughly two weeks ago. So far so good. But it's kind of undone my schedule and my diet.
I realize most people would kill for a job right now but I hate anything that disrupts my routine. For example, up until two weeks ago I walked my dog every morning for two miles. We often went to a trail because the trail changes just a bit day to day and it offers a challenge. I also stuck to counting calories and often ate similar meals day to day. I also moved a lot more. Even after exercise I found myself heading outside just to enjoy the outdoors.
Then I accepted a position with a sales group in Dallas. It's not a bad job. Just different from everything I had been doing for months. In just the past two weeks my routine has been falling apart. I can't walk the dog in the morning. I have to be at the office at 8 and that means I have to leave early to sit in traffic and then sit at a desk. I try to walk him when I get home but after being in traffic on my way home sometimes I end up asleep.
Sleep. That's another thing I miss. I will admit it, I am a bit lazy. I love to sleep and without a good 10 hours, yes, 10, I drag. This leads me to my diet. When I'm tired, and zapped of the energy I get during my morning walk I turn to food. Mainly sugar. I have a candy jar at my desk. At first I wasn't that interested in the candy. I even put the candy in a dark dish so I couldn't see it. After a while when my head would droop at my desk I would shovel some candy in my mouth. That worked for a little while. Until lunch anyway.
The building I work in conveniently has a deli downstairs stocked with all types of treats. I started heading down to the deli around lunch to grab a soft drink. Then after a few days I added chips. After the end of my first week I had eaten so much junk food that my stomach ached everyday and yet I continued to eat.
After a tough weekend I decided to be honest. I am working on changing my diet as much to get into smaller clothes as to have a healthier body. I'm not going to get very far on a diet made of junk. Today I did better. I drank water, ate fruit and veggies and have decided to turn in early tonight. I did eat a bit more but it is my first day back after all. It's all about the baby steps. Take enough baby steps and that will add up to a big step. At least I hope.
I realize most people would kill for a job right now but I hate anything that disrupts my routine. For example, up until two weeks ago I walked my dog every morning for two miles. We often went to a trail because the trail changes just a bit day to day and it offers a challenge. I also stuck to counting calories and often ate similar meals day to day. I also moved a lot more. Even after exercise I found myself heading outside just to enjoy the outdoors.
Then I accepted a position with a sales group in Dallas. It's not a bad job. Just different from everything I had been doing for months. In just the past two weeks my routine has been falling apart. I can't walk the dog in the morning. I have to be at the office at 8 and that means I have to leave early to sit in traffic and then sit at a desk. I try to walk him when I get home but after being in traffic on my way home sometimes I end up asleep.
Sleep. That's another thing I miss. I will admit it, I am a bit lazy. I love to sleep and without a good 10 hours, yes, 10, I drag. This leads me to my diet. When I'm tired, and zapped of the energy I get during my morning walk I turn to food. Mainly sugar. I have a candy jar at my desk. At first I wasn't that interested in the candy. I even put the candy in a dark dish so I couldn't see it. After a while when my head would droop at my desk I would shovel some candy in my mouth. That worked for a little while. Until lunch anyway.
The building I work in conveniently has a deli downstairs stocked with all types of treats. I started heading down to the deli around lunch to grab a soft drink. Then after a few days I added chips. After the end of my first week I had eaten so much junk food that my stomach ached everyday and yet I continued to eat.
After a tough weekend I decided to be honest. I am working on changing my diet as much to get into smaller clothes as to have a healthier body. I'm not going to get very far on a diet made of junk. Today I did better. I drank water, ate fruit and veggies and have decided to turn in early tonight. I did eat a bit more but it is my first day back after all. It's all about the baby steps. Take enough baby steps and that will add up to a big step. At least I hope.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
1300
After much thought I've decided to really watch my calories. OK, so it was my husband's idea. He even made me a spreadsheet. Even so, I found my numbers getting pretty high. Then I had a blood test done a couple of weeks ago. My triglycerides are high. This is worrisome as issues with high cholesterol and heart problems are in my family's medical history.
At first, I got proactive and said I needed to change my diet. Or at least I pretended to when people were around. Whenever the idea of a cookie or fries popped into my head. I ate it. After a week or two of saying I couldn't eat better I gave in. I took a look at how much I ate and tried to figure out what I really needed to eat. I realized I could easily shave off 300 calories and be OK.
For me the 1300 is the lowest number of calories I can eat. 1400 is the max for what I am trying to achieve.Today was my day to eat 1300 calories. I did fairly well. I checked into Livestrong.com and got an idea of how I should proportion my meals by calories.
Basically it's 300 for breakfast and 300 for lunch with 500 for dinner. Snacks can be 100 calories. Breakfast was easy as I usually eat bran flakes and soy milk with a cup of coffee. I forgot to add some fruit in there so I may have to make my cereal portion smaller next time. Roughly 300 calories.
Lunch was difficult because I wasn't sure what to do. My go to lunch is turkey and cheese on whole wheat. But, a slice of bread, even whole wheat is 150 calories. Hm, tricky. I finally settled on a tortilla with a quarter cup of reduced fat cheese and an apple. All for 290 calories. I then ate a banana, 110 calories as a snack before dinner.
Dinner required a little more help because it was homemade chicken noodle soup with whole grain noodles, squash, zucchini, carrots, onion and celery. After putting the recipe through Calorie-Count.com I figured that a serving of my soup was 316 calories. I had two servings. This made my total for the day 1340 calories. I am impressed and surprisingly not hungry. Hopefully I can keep this up. I plan to focus on my cholesterol and heart this time around. We'll see if that works because so far trying to trick the scale isn't working.
At first, I got proactive and said I needed to change my diet. Or at least I pretended to when people were around. Whenever the idea of a cookie or fries popped into my head. I ate it. After a week or two of saying I couldn't eat better I gave in. I took a look at how much I ate and tried to figure out what I really needed to eat. I realized I could easily shave off 300 calories and be OK.
For me the 1300 is the lowest number of calories I can eat. 1400 is the max for what I am trying to achieve.Today was my day to eat 1300 calories. I did fairly well. I checked into Livestrong.com and got an idea of how I should proportion my meals by calories.
Basically it's 300 for breakfast and 300 for lunch with 500 for dinner. Snacks can be 100 calories. Breakfast was easy as I usually eat bran flakes and soy milk with a cup of coffee. I forgot to add some fruit in there so I may have to make my cereal portion smaller next time. Roughly 300 calories.
Lunch was difficult because I wasn't sure what to do. My go to lunch is turkey and cheese on whole wheat. But, a slice of bread, even whole wheat is 150 calories. Hm, tricky. I finally settled on a tortilla with a quarter cup of reduced fat cheese and an apple. All for 290 calories. I then ate a banana, 110 calories as a snack before dinner.
Dinner required a little more help because it was homemade chicken noodle soup with whole grain noodles, squash, zucchini, carrots, onion and celery. After putting the recipe through Calorie-Count.com I figured that a serving of my soup was 316 calories. I had two servings. This made my total for the day 1340 calories. I am impressed and surprisingly not hungry. Hopefully I can keep this up. I plan to focus on my cholesterol and heart this time around. We'll see if that works because so far trying to trick the scale isn't working.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Scale: Friend or Foe?
How many women step on their scale only to be disappointed by the number? Hundreds, thousands, every woman? First we feel sad. Then we play games with it. "I'm wearing really heavy (shoes, belt, jewelry) if I take them off than I'll get the number I want. Nope, that didn't work. Crap!" Then we either fight it or give up.
On a daily basis I am annoyed by my scale. I am convinced it doesn't work as the number never budges below 150 as far as I am concerned. So I run through my own games. "Maybe it's not centered. Maybe if I stand on one foot." When none of that works I kick the thing and stomp off losing the battle again.
So far the only thing I have learned in my battle of weight loss is that I need to learn to say when. Every time I think I've learned it I get PMS'd out and crave a cookie, or two , or three. But still, I continue to work at it and it frustrates me that my work never shows on the scale. I can now walk two miles in 30 minutes. Before I would get winded and could walk 2 miles in 45 minutes.
I have days where I am so diligent about my calories that I actually feel hungry. The hunger is not something I can deal with for very long and before I know it I have ruined my diet. But still, there are more days that I have more resolve and that does not show up on the scale either. I know the scale is not my friend. But without it how do you measure your success?
On a daily basis I am annoyed by my scale. I am convinced it doesn't work as the number never budges below 150 as far as I am concerned. So I run through my own games. "Maybe it's not centered. Maybe if I stand on one foot." When none of that works I kick the thing and stomp off losing the battle again.
So far the only thing I have learned in my battle of weight loss is that I need to learn to say when. Every time I think I've learned it I get PMS'd out and crave a cookie, or two , or three. But still, I continue to work at it and it frustrates me that my work never shows on the scale. I can now walk two miles in 30 minutes. Before I would get winded and could walk 2 miles in 45 minutes.
I have days where I am so diligent about my calories that I actually feel hungry. The hunger is not something I can deal with for very long and before I know it I have ruined my diet. But still, there are more days that I have more resolve and that does not show up on the scale either. I know the scale is not my friend. But without it how do you measure your success?
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Saying when
Sorry to be away so long readers, but it's been a busy week. I've been doing very well on the exercise front and have been managing to keep my calories low. It's been hard and rewarding work. Trust a family get together to cause some trouble. I went to a family BBQ with the best of intentions but I didn't plan well enough. I decided to eat light before I hit the BBQ and stuck to bran cereal and fruit before I left. I was under the impression the festivities would start at three which meant it was a late lunch or early dinner. I tried to avoid being hungry by nibbling on cantaloupe before we left.
My husband and I get to our destination to find that there is no food at this get together. Well, at least nothing aside from the potato salad I made and the basic sandwich fixings. I was confused to say the least. It turned out my family caterer and planner; my grandmother had forgotten to tell everyone just how behind she was on the food. It's a family joke how late she runs behind. But this time I was paying it for it with my stomach.
Three hours later and I was starving. Or at least tired of waiting for the BBQ so I took up an offer of fried chicken. An hour later the rest of the food and guests arrived. At this point I was no longer hungry but still attracted to the prospect of BBQ. So I had a plate with the intentions of stopping after that. But waiting for food for a long period of time triggered something in me and I kept going until I had overdone it.
The next day had proved no better as the previous day had set a pattern in motion. I've gorged on chicken Alfredo this evening. Later my husband broached the subject of dessert and I strongly considered it but said no. I am incredibly jealous as my husband indulges in a candy bar. I had to leave the room or else I would've grabbed the candy bar. It looks like it's back to the beginning for me. Just when I thought I had learned when to say when.
My husband and I get to our destination to find that there is no food at this get together. Well, at least nothing aside from the potato salad I made and the basic sandwich fixings. I was confused to say the least. It turned out my family caterer and planner; my grandmother had forgotten to tell everyone just how behind she was on the food. It's a family joke how late she runs behind. But this time I was paying it for it with my stomach.
Three hours later and I was starving. Or at least tired of waiting for the BBQ so I took up an offer of fried chicken. An hour later the rest of the food and guests arrived. At this point I was no longer hungry but still attracted to the prospect of BBQ. So I had a plate with the intentions of stopping after that. But waiting for food for a long period of time triggered something in me and I kept going until I had overdone it.
The next day had proved no better as the previous day had set a pattern in motion. I've gorged on chicken Alfredo this evening. Later my husband broached the subject of dessert and I strongly considered it but said no. I am incredibly jealous as my husband indulges in a candy bar. I had to leave the room or else I would've grabbed the candy bar. It looks like it's back to the beginning for me. Just when I thought I had learned when to say when.
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