WI #23: Moving Along

This week was a small loss week compared to other weeks, but still good all things considered. It's been an emotional week for me and I've slipped up more then a couple times. My body is letting me know it doesn't like it either. It doesn't help that it's Halloween soon so there's candy available (bought for the trick or treaters, of course). Don't worry, I only had 4 or 5 pieces, not all at the same time, and I've had my hubby hide the rest so I'm not tempted anymore.

Seeing 283.8 on the scale seems so unreal. I weighed myself a couple times, move the scale and reset it to be sure. Then I cursed it for not being 283.6 so I can say I lost 31 pounds...haha I can't believe that I'm getting closer to being out of the 280s, over half way there. Getting closer to my 2nd child pre-pregnancy weight. Woohoo! I love hitting milestones :)

So my week in a nutshell: Emotional, made mistakes, lost less then a pound. With Halloween coming up, I'm in trouble.

Starting Weight: 314.6
Current Weight: 283.8
Total Lost: 30.8

WI #22: What's That You See?

That number on the ticker up there? That's right...30 POUNDS GONE! Woohoo!

WI #21: Backslide

I know this post is a few days late. I've never made jam before, so I'm going crazy making healthier versions then store bought for my family. That, and I didn't want to post because I had a gain this week. *sob* It's ok, I guess. I keep telling myself that. I gained 0.8 lbs :( Anyways, back to the kitchen...lol

Starting Weight: 314.6

Current Weight: 287

Total Weight Lost: 27.4

WI #20: Hit Another Milestone

I was a little surprised when I stepped on the scale this morning. It read 286.2, which means I lost 2.4 pounds this week. I lost over 2 pounds two weeks in a row. Wow!

I achieved another milestone this week. I have now lost the weight that I put on due to emotional eating. I weigh what I did after my daughter was born. Actually, I weigh less. I exceeded my goal of 287 pounds for this week. Woohoo!

I can't believe I'm only 1.6 pounds away from 30 pounds lost. It seems so surreal. Fingers crossed that I'll reach it next week. However, seeing as the last 2 weeks have been big weeks, I won't be surprised if it's a small loss next week. I'll be disappointed it if it, but won't be surprised. I'm still keeping my fingers, toes, eyes, whatever crossed. Come on 30 pounds!

Starting Weight: 314.6
Current Weight: 286.2
Total Weight Lost: 28.4

He's Cramping My Style

Ok, not really. I'm always posting about my weight loss, so I thought I'd post about someone else's today...my hubby :)

So hubby is not really cramping my style, but being a man, he makes me jealous sometimes. It's like that Slim Quick commercial (I think that is the one). They make one change and the guy drops a ton of weight while the girl loses only a little. My hubby makes it look so easy...lol

I'm proud of my hubby. He has been supportive of me, albeit a little skeptical at times, about the changes we've made. He'll tell you he cheats a lot, but as of this week he's lost 30 pounds. He'd like to lose another 10 to 15 pounds because his knees didn't bother him when he was that weight before. He said he'd also be happy if it was only a few more pounds too because his belt is at that spot where one hole is too loose and the smaller hole is too tight. Yesterday, he was able to put on his size 32 jeans.

So this is my shout out to my hubby. Thanks for the support babe, I'm excited that you're on this journey with me. Congratulations on losing 30 pounds!

WI #19: Made It To 25 Pounds...And Then Some

I'm such an over achiever. I should be super excited, but I'm a little bummed at the same time. Here it goes:

I made it to 25 pounds! So I posted about it four days ago. I didn't completely jinx myself to much :) Actually I made it to 26 pounds this week. Two days ago I was almost to 27 pounds. So I'm bummed that my weight fluctuated up a little bit. It's perfectly natural, hence why I only count what I weigh on Fridays, but it would have been so awesome, ok...even more awesome, to say I made it to 27 pounds this week. Fingers crossed for next week. Moving on.

I made it past my 25 pound mark this week! Woohoo! Yippie! I'm totally rocking it! I also made it out of the 290s this week. Two milestones in one week! I'm really rocking it :) Moving on to 30 pounds and 270s. I lost 2.8 pounds this week. Made up for last weeks gain :) Woohoo!

I so feel like I'm rambling tonight, so I better end this before it gets worse...lol

Starting Weight: 314.6
Current Weight 288.6
Total Pounds Lost: 26

Thank You!

Today I want to send a BIG Thank You! to all my supporters. It feels good to know I have friends who care about me, especially on my journey to getting healthy. You make me feel better and help me to pick myself up and keep going when I start feeling down. I appreciate the all the kind words and praise you give me. Once again:

THANK YOU!

I Might Be Jinxing Myself

...but I don't care...lol This morning the scale read 289.2. That means...drum roll please...25.4 lbs gone! It's not official official (yes, I just said official twice) until Friday's weigh in. Fingers crossed I don't gain by then. I really want to end September with a milestone :)

Eating Dinner and Getting Excited

I was looking at my dinner plate as my hubby handed it to me. I couldn't help but think, "This is the way dinner plates should look all the time." I had fresh green beans, half an ear of corn, cut up honeydew/cantaloupe melon (soo yummy!), couple slices of tomato and a hamburger patty. I think I may be gluten intolerant, so no hamburger bun. We got the green beans and melon at the local farmers market today. There's nothing like fresh fruit and veggies picked when they are ripe. Soooo good!

After our shopping trip today, I came home and stepped on the scale. I got excited when it said 289.8. I'm hoping this next weigh in is going to be a good one. 298.8 is 0.2 away from 25 lbs lost, and I'd be out of the 290s. Fingers crossed :)

WI #18, Test Results

Well, by the middle of the week, I knew I was going to gain. I've been a bad, bad girl. It started on Saturday. Went shopping at Raley's. The Friday Freebie was Take-N-Bake breadsticks, and I got them and ate 2 or 3 breadsticks. Not a big deal if that is the only day, but no. The next night we were invited to dinner at a friend's house. She made chicken enchiladas. They were so good and pretty healthy too, but there was the flour tortilla. Then there was dessert. Fruit cobbler with ice cream. Ok, I can still recover.

Next day (now Monday) we went out of town. My friend bought us McDonald's hot fudge sundays. Then we were travelling home during dinner time. We wanted something quick and not McDonald's or the like. We ended up getting a Little Caesar's Hot N Ready pizza...with crazy bread. I ate 2 1/2 breadsticks and 2 slices of pizza. This is not going well!

I did pretty good on Tuesday. Wednesday my free dinner at Outback came in the mail, as well as my friend, so we took our families to Outback for dinner. Dave and I shared the dinner, and got a Bloomin' Onion (we shared it with everyone). The side for our dinner was a sweet potato with butter and sugar on it. Then I went out with my friend later to a frozen yogurt shop. I was good on Thursday, except for a couple samples at Costco.

Wow! Typing all that out, I really needed to make some better choices and pull myself together. It's ok to "splurge" one or two times a week. However, I splurged 4 or 5 times. Tsk tsk Corrina! I guess I'm fortunate that 0.4 lbs was all I gained. Geez!

Ok,  I'm done being hard on myself. It's a new week, I'll be keeping my splurging to one day this week, and I better not let it happen until the end of the week.

I had my follow up with my primary care physician this week to go over the results of my blood work. My triglycerides are still really high (normal is 150 or below), but they've dropped from 270 something to 230 something. Yay! Bad news, my blood glucose came back showing I'm pre-diabetic. Boo! Below 100 is normal, mine is 109. Hopefully with the continued weight loss that will get better. I'm still deficient in Vitamin D. Should have been taking Vitamin D supplements, but I stopped months ago. So I'm back on them now. Hopefully my energy will pick up then.

This next week will be better, no out of town plans or free dinners coming in the mail...lol

Starting Weight: 314.6
Current Weight: 291.4
Total Weight Lost: 23.2

Note: Weighed later in the day and showed a loss of 0.4 lbs from last week. My body has a mind of it's own...lol

WI #17 and Foot Update

Let's see, where to start...lol I guess last weekend's dinner out with friends didn't hurt me too bad, I lost 2 pounds this week. Woohoo! I was just telling Dave the other day that I feel like I've been in the 290s for too long and it's time to get out. I'm hoping that I lose 1.4 lbs this next week so that I can do that and hit the 25 lbs mark.

My lovely aircasted foot :)

I had my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon today. He looked at my X-rays and said, "It's not a bone spur, it's tendinitis." I now get the pleasure of wearing an aircast for at least the next 3 weeks. I've never had to wear a cast before. I'm grateful for advances in medicine so that the cast I have to wear can be removed when I sleep and shower. My son is getting a kick out of putting it on and taking it off of me. I'm sure that will fade soon...lol On top of the "boot," I have to take Ibuprofen and do stretches. I follow up in three weeks to check my progress. Fun Fun :)

My cold is finally at the point that it's not zapping all my energy. It's still hanging on by a thread, and I hope I'll be completely over it in the next day or two. I have not been able to exercise in 2 weeks! I'm going to try doing some Pilates tomorrow, wish me luck :)

Starting Weight: 314.6
Current Weight: 291
Total Lost: 23.6 lbs

The End

I joined Weight Watchers at the end of May. I felt I needed something to help me lose weight because I just could not seem to do it on my own. Over the next 2 1/2 months, I tried to make it work for me. I had lost 6.4 lbs the first week (pretty much water weight), and it took me 10 weeks to lose the next 5 lbs. I never went over my points, I made sure to weigh, measure and track everything, and drank plenty of water. However, my weight loss was slow, almost non-existent for my size, and it was frustrating. I decided to try Weight Watchers Simply Filling plan, with a few modifications like eating full fat cheese and using whole milk. I had finally found success! I started looking more into nutrition and found I was no longer using Weight Watchers, so I canceled my membership. Yesterday was my last day, but truthfully I have not used it in over a month.

I am grateful for what I did get from the Weight Watchers program. I was able to see how bad my eating habits were and get it under control. It got me to the point I've known I needed to be for a long time, I had just refused to do it. Stubborn me...lol So now I can officially say I'm no longer on Weight Watchers, and I don't regret it. I'm happy with where I'm going and the results I'm getting.

WI #16 and My Weekend

I've been sick all week. My son brought home a cold from school last week and it kicked my bootie. Despite that, I lost the 0.6 pounds I gained last week plus another 0.6 pounds for a total of 1.2 pounds this week :)

Next week may not be looking good though...lol I went out to dinner last night with some friends from high school. We had a great time catching up. But garlic bread, pasta, and that killer dessert pictured below, oh my!

Buca di Beppo dessert w/friends :)

We went out of town this weekend, so we ate out for almost all our meals. I'm feeling it! My stomach is saying, "What on earth have you been feeding me!?!" lol I came home with a nasty headache and my stomach saying it wanted better food, so I had a protein smoothie (milk, chocolate, gelatin powder). Stomach and head felt much better within a half hour. It's experiences like these that remind me what my life was like before changing the way I eat and why I don't want to go back.

I stepped on the scale when I got home and gasped...2.4 pounds gained, eek! That's not official though. I weigh more at night then I do in the morning, so I'll really know tomorrow morning the damage I did this weekend. Once in a while is ok, so I don't feel guilty about it. I'm hoping I can turn that gain into a lose for the next weigh in :)

Starting Weight: 314.6

WI Weight: 293

Total Lost: 21.6 lbs

Updated Pictures

Here they are, my updated pictures. 20 pounds lost, woohoo! At first, I didn't think I looked different. But looking at the before picture right next to the updated picture, I think there's a little difference :) Here's to the next 20 pounds!

WI #15

Not sure what to say about this week. I was sick and had an emotional week. I caved and ate too much junk food over the weekend. I laugh because the junk food was a couple hand fulls of potato chips and 7 small cookies. What probably did me in was the jello and chocolate pudding I ate because that was all I felt like eating when my stomach was so upset. In the end, I gained 0.6 lbs. I'm glad that was all. Fortunately, I'm still able to say I've lost 20 lbs :)

I was going to take pictures today and post them. Then Dave got called into work. Maybe tomorrow. I'm still not feeling good. Turns out that it's because my body is detoxing, so it wasn't a stomach bug last weekend. I messed up the detox when I ate the things I did over the weekend, so my body pretty much has to start all over again. I hope it ends soon, and when it's all done I'll be feeling the best I have felt in years. So glad it's a three day weekend for Dave...lol

Back In The Saddle Again

I have not exercised in 10 days! Not exercising begets not exercising. Once you stop, it's so easy to make excuses. I did have some good ones until yesterday. I just didn't do it yesterday. Today I pushed myself into Pilates, and realized how much strength you can lose in 10 days. Holy cow! It was tough getting through my 30 minute video. I made it though, and my heel was very thankful :)

The last few days have been emotionally tough for me. I've been letting life get me down. I was naughty and ate some not so good food, which made me feel worse. Sugar is really horrible and not my friend. I was hoping that doing Pilates today would help me get out of my funk, but it didn't. Before dinner, I looked at Dave and said, "I need to get out of here." I told him I wanted to go for a bike ride. He said, "Right now?" I laughed and told him. "No, after dinner." So we loaded up our kids and hit the bike trail by our house.

I've been out on my bike a few times, and it was tough. I've gone maybe a mile at a time. Tonight, I got to the first mile and did not want to go home. We ended up going to Bidwell Park and letting our kids play at the big kids park there for a little bit. I'm surprised with myself. I made it there and did not feel like I was going to die...lol Every time I've thought about riding to the park, I've thought it was too far for me to make it without keeling over...lol I made it, and I made it back home. It felt so good, and my mood greatly improved. Woohoo! I think we'll be making many more bike trips to the park, especially when the weather cools down. Another plus, riding my bike does not put pressure on my heel. Double Woohoo!

So my total biked was 3.8 miles today. Awesome! Plus I feel so much better. What a great way to end my day :)

21 Pounds Gone!

Ok, so I may be cheating a little bit on claiming 21 pounds lost. I normally weigh in officially on Fridays. When I woke up Friday and weighed myself, I weighed the same weight I had the last weigh in. What was weird was I lost no weight during the night, very unusual. The day before I was 0.2 pounds from 20 pounds, what was going on!?! I was blaming my dinner, salted peanuts, anything else I could think of. Still, something just didn't seem right. My stomach bothered me all day, by bedtime I looked at Dave and said, "Something is wrong with my body." TMI alert: I woke up at 1:30am and ran to the bathroom, where I spent most of the next 3 hours. Yep, there was something wrong with my body. I weighed myself during the whole ordeal (I'm addicted to the scale, seriously!) and lost 2 pounds from what I weighed when I went to bed. Like I stated previously, it took three hours for my body to decide I could go back to bed and get some rest. When I woke up in the morning, another 2 pounds was gone. I know some of this is water weight lost due to dehydration, but after the crappy week I had, I'm taking the 21 pounds!

I didn't get to exercise this week. I had a migraine that started last Saturday night and I'm not sure it's gone yet. Migraines drain all my energy, so exercise was not an option. My son and husband were sick on Thursday, and some other things that happened really made this week not a week I want to relive. I'm glad I survived! So now I owe an updated picture. I'm still recovering today, so later this week, I'll get that taken and posted :)

Some improvements I noticed yesterday, while laying in my vegetative state...lol, the stretch marks on my stomach are diminishing in appearance and my stomach is looking less like a deflated balloon. Woohoo! That means my skin is tightening. I like that :) I'm hoping that I'll be up to exercising this week, my hips would really appreciate it. Tomorrow I have my follow up with my doctor about the bone spur in my foot, hope I'll be able to get that taken care of soon. I'm hoping this week is a complete 180 of last week. I feel like I'm being such a downer right now, so I better stop this post before it gets worse...lol

To end this right, I've lost at least 20 pounds! Woohoo! :)

Starting Weight: 314.6
Current Weight: 293.6
Total Lost: 21 lbs

WI #13 and Heel Update

Today was my 13th WI. Good thing I'm not superstitious...lol With not being able to do cardio because of my heel, I was worried that my weight loss would be stifled a bit. Turns out..not really :) I lost 1.2 lbs this week! That brings me up to 18.4 lbs lost. Yay!

I got a call from my doctor's office today. Turns out I have a bone spur in my heel. Not so excited about that. I'll find out more at my follow up appointment in a couple weeks. At least Pilates is not off limits. I've been incorporating more Pilates moves in my workout, and I'm really starting to feel it in my abs. Building muscle = more fat burned, so I'm good :)

I've lost another inch from my waist and (TMI alert) my bra is now on the smallest setting. I'm going to need a new one of those soon :) I'm also getting better at doing modified push ups. Who knows, I might actually complete a real push up in my lifetime...lol Then I might have to move on to pull ups. I may end up being more fit then I was when I was a skinny high school student. That seems so crazy to me.

Ok, so I'm kind of hoping for at least a 1.6 lbs lost next week so I can reach 20 lbs gone. That would be awesome to say I've lost 20 lbs. Maybe I should do an update picture then to show my progress. Hmm...or maybe at 25 lbs lost. What do ya'll think?

Pity Party and Progress

So, I'm throwing myself a tiny pity party. My heel was injured last week. I've been taking it easy, but it's not getting better, so I went to the doctor today. She would say it is tendinitis, except the pain is only in one spot, so she had me get X-rays done. I'm still to ice it and she prescribed me motrin for the pain. Hoping for the best and that I won't be down for too long.

So here's my pity party: Why so many obstacles in my way when I'm trying to get healthy? My body needs to get over it, I'm going to lose this weight. At least I can still do some Pilates :)

Progress. The other day I was measuring my arms to see if I've lost some inches, centimeters, even a millimeter...lol Nope, nothing. However, I did happen to notice something I've never noticed before. I can flex my arms! If you've known me a long time, you know that even in my skinny days my bi-ceps were laughable. In high school PE, people would turn to watch me during push ups. My arms would be shaking, sweat pouring from my face (ok not really sweat, maybe it was tears...lol), and I still could not lift myself off the floor to complete a single push up. When I tried to flex, a muscle would appear, then someone would push on it and show me how not-a-muscle it really was. Yep, my bi-ceps were non-existent. But not anymore! I can flex, you can push on it and it stays! So exciting. I'd take a picture and post it, but you can't see it with all the fat hanging down from my arms...lol But my hubby can see it, so I'm good with that :) Who knows, maybe I'll finally be able to complete my first push up soon. Hey, it could happen :)

Finally, A Breakthrough! WI #12

Before I get into my breakthrough, here's a brief update since my last post:

• Weigh In 7: - 0.6 lbs
• Weigh In 8: -1 lb
• Weigh In 9: -1 lb
• Weigh In 10: +3 lbs
• Weigh In 11: -3.6 lbs

So my total weight loss at 11 weeks was 11.2 lbs. As of the end of July, I was down an additional 3.5 inches in my waist, 2.5 inches in my hips, and 1.5 inches in my bust. No loss of inches in arms and legs.

Now, onto my breakthrough! Last week I decided to switch from the PointsPlus plan to the Simply Filling plan. I had thought about doing it before, but didn't because I felt it was too restricting. With Simply Filling, you don't get daily points. You eat what's on the Power Foods list (mainly fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, nothing processed) and anything not on the list comes out of your weekly and activity points. Well, I decided to finally give it a shot. I felt like I was over-eating most of the time trying to get all my daily points in. I would be half way done with my dinner, feel full, and keep eating because I wouldn't get all my points in if I didn't. I would feel uncomfortably full when I was through. That didn't make sense to me. I thought I was suppose to be developing good eating habits?

Second reason for the switch: I was not feeling like I was getting the success I should have been. My average weekly weight loss was less then a half a pound a week. Headed in the right direction, but that would only equal 26 pounds lost per year and would take me over 6 years to lose the weight that I need to lose. Something is wrong with that. I would see many friends on the Weight Watchers website losing more weight then I was each week. They were rarely losing less then a pound each week. I was happy for them, but wondering what was wrong with me. Then one night, a seasoned veteran having much success mentioned to another person that there is a small percentage of people who join Weight Watchers whose points are too high. That got the wheels turning in my head, was I one of those in the small percentage? Maybe.

Listening to everyone on the WW website talk about their issues with weight loss and what led them to their weight gain made me realize some things. I had no problem staying in my daily allotted points, I didn't have huge binge eating days, and some other things I can't remember at the moment...lol. This helped my realize that the Simply Filling plan may be the way to go. I didn't really need to worry about over-eating if I stopped measuring my food. My problem was eating the junk food at night after my children went to bed, and since starting WW, that has not been a problem either. The Simply Filling plan would still help me keep my junk food junkie habits in check, plus I could stop eating when I was satisfied instead of over-stuffing myself and feeling uncomfortable to get in all my points. Made sense to me!

Last Friday I started on the new plan. I went ahead and measured and tracked what I ate so I could find out how many points I would be using if I was on the PointsPlus plan. Guess what? I was eating less points and not feeling hungry! To top it off, my weight dropped dramatically. I couldn't believe it! Now, I'm not sure if this is just because I had made a big change, and next week I'll go back to losing tiny amounts again, but I have my fingers crossed that I won't :) Want to know how much I lost? 6 pounds! My official weigh in this morning: 297.4! I've now lost over 5% of my starting weight, and I'm out of the 300s! Can you tell I'm excited!?!

So I know that 2 pounds a week is a healthy weight loss, and consistently losing 6 pounds a week is not. But losing 6 pounds in one week every now and then is ok. I'm not trying to kill myself, I'm eating a perfectly healthy diet and exercising. I'm working on using my Walk Away the Pounds dvd 6 days a week. It's 20-30 minutes of walking per day. I'm doing 20 minutes of Pilates 3 days a week. That's it, not killing myself of the exercise either. I'm happy with the change so far. I feel like I'm listening to my body, and my body is responding. It feels good :) It also feels so good to hear "two hundred" instead of "three hundred" when I say my weight :)

Beginning Weight: 314.6
Week 12 Weight: 297.4
Total Weight Lost: 17.2 pounds

Note: It may look like my average weekly loss was 1 pound, but remember I lost 6.2 pounds the first week. It took me 10 weeks to lost the next 5 pounds. That's why my weekly average was less then a half a pound.

6th WI and 1st Vacation

For my 6th weigh in, I went down 0.4 lbs. I was hoping for more since I was able to start exercising, but I loss is a loss. I'm headed in the right direction :)

This weekend I went on my first vacation since joining WW. I was dreading it in a way because I knew I was going to be staying in a hotel. I tried to plan as best I could. I brought yogurt, fruit, hummus, pita chips, bread and peanut butter to eat as snacks. I also packed my measuring cup and spoon...lol The hotel provided a continental breakfast. Thankfully they had Cheerios and milk, my current daily breakfast. I was able to measure and eat my normal amount. I usually have a banana with it, but the hotel didn't have them :( Lunch and breakfast were the problem. 

On Saturday, we went to the Sacramento Zoo. We were there for 3 hours, did lots of walking. APs! I saw the Merlino's Freeze stand and had to have one. I waited until after we went through the zoo to get one. It was so hot that day, I needed it by that point, and it was sooo good. I have no idea what the points are for those, and I split it with my husband, so no clue what exactly I ate. Can't find the nutritional information for it online. The closest thing to it is a snow cone, so I went with that. But it's so much better then that because there's real fruit in it. I did the best I could.

I knew we would be eating out for dinner that night, so I planned on using my weekly points for that. I wanted to eat at Mimi's Cafe. I was going to get what I use to get when I'd go there, but they changed their menu and got rid of it :( I ended up getting a shrimp and asparagus ravioli dish, limited myself to 2 pieces of the carrot raisin bread from the bread basket, had the corn chowder, and split the apple cobbler with my DH. I was looking forward to the corn chowder and bread. I don't know if it was the cooks or I had hyped it up so much to myself, but it wasn't all that great. As for the dessert, I barely made it through my half because it was so sweet to me. Two things I learned that night, I no longer crave Mimi's Cafe and I can't stand very much sugar. Both mean I'm moving in a good direction! I could have made better choices on the main course, but it is what it is and I'm moving on. In the end I used 23 WPs. 3 more then I had planned, but that is ok.

The next day, we had the same breakfast and had dinner at my grandma's. They had tri tip, corn on the cob, and fruit. I passed on the pasta salad. My mom tried to have me taste her pasta salad to see if it was made right, and I passed on that too. Making more improvements :)

Yesterday, we went to my DH parents for 4th of July BBQ.  I swam for a long time, hanging out in the deep end of the pool so I was treading water almost the entire time. More APs! My in-laws made,bboneless, skinless chicken breasts marinated in teriyaki sauce and BBQ'd, grilled squash and lettuce with cherry tomatoes. They had macaroni salad, but I'm not a fan of any macaroni salad, so it was easy to pass. They only had Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, so I limited it 2 tablespoons. Then we came home, were exhausted, needed dinner. I had rice and beans from a local Mexican fast food restaurant. That's all I wanted...lol I did use 5 WPs yesterday. Didn't realize how many points those rice and beans cost! 

So I got in a lot of APs for me while on vacation, did alright with points, but did really bad on healthy checks. Also did really bad at drinking enough water, which I missed doing. I'm glad to be home so I can get completely back on track. I can't believe that I miss not being able to drink so much water, but I do...lol We'll see how WI goes on Friday.

Week 5 Weigh In

Well, I missed posting about week 4's weigh in. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I gained back the 0.6 lbs I lost the week before. I know what the cause was: water retention due to hormones. My hubby was trying to hide under a rock during that time...lol Good thing he loves me, I probably would have bailed if I had to put up with hormonal me :) I knew when I started retaining water, Thursday. I dreaded having to do my weigh in because I knew it was not going to be good. But I survived!

I had a realization this week. I'm being hard on myself because I'm losing weight super slowly. I'm 5 weeks post-op today, which means I get to exercise and pick my kids up and clean again! I'm sure my weight loss will pick up now that I can actually be active. My realization: if I had not started Weight Watchers when I did, being as sedentary as I have been the past 5 weeks, the scale would have been going up, not down. I know I would have gained because I was gaining weight before the surgery. So losing weight post-op is a great accomplishment in and of itself. Most people gain weight post-op, and I lost.

Now, here it is, week 5. I changed my weigh in day from Sunday to Friday because it works better for me. So I got up this morning and weighed myself. So excited, I lost the 0.6 lbs gain plus an additional 0.8 lbs! Woohoo! I also took my measurements today. I've lost 6 inches! 2 inches is from my waist. I thought my tummy was starting to resemble a deflating balloon...lol I also lost 1 daily PointsPlus point. It feels so good :)

I'm all sorts of excited today! I've lost more weight, I got to pick up my daughter and comfort her, then rock her to sleep, and I get to have my life back :)

Beginning weight: 314.6 lbs
Week 5 weight: 307 lbs
Total weight lost: 7.6 lbs!

Week #3 Weigh In

This week was a little tougher for me. Tuesday night I started getting discouraged by the fact I had not lost weight for my Week 2 weigh in. I was feeling bummed and getting depressed. My hormones may have been unbalanced by the biopsy I had earlier that day as well. All of it got to me. I made myself keep to the plan and stayed within my points. I asked for encouragement from fellow Weight Watchers. I had my hubby hide my scale from me so that I would stop weighing myself several times a day. I told him to only bring it out for WI day. Where it had not been causing stress for me the week before, i was finding I was starting to have aniety attacks this week. I made it through and I'm feeling much better now.

As for the goals I set for myself, I did eat a snack or two between lunch and dinner everyday. I ate celery or apple with peanut butter as a snack for all but 2 days of the week. One of the missed days I had peanut butter on toast instead, the other day I was busy running around, so I had a granola bar on the go. I tried to eat more of my weekly points, and did. However, it was only 3 more then the week before. Getting 3 servings of dairy in each day was tougher then I thought. I did manage to do it on three days. Overall, good week.

So I stepped on the scale this morning, 307.8. Yay! I lost 0.6 pounds. I was beginning to think my body wouldn't let go of 308. I'm excited that I lost some weight this week.

So my goals for this week are:

• Eat 15 Weekly Points
• Eat 3 servings of dairy each day
• Drink 9 glasses of water each day
• Continue eating a snack between meals

I'm making progress!

Starting Weight: 314.6
This Week: 307.8
Total Weight Loss: 6.8 pounds!

Week 2 Weigh In

Today was my 2nd weigh in. I didn't lose weight this week, but I didn't gain either. To me, it was a good week. I know what happened. I've been weighing myself several times a day. While many say not to do that, for me it is a good thing. I'm learning how many body works.

After the first weigh in, my weight went up a little. I learned my weight varies by 2-3 pounds during the day. At the beginning of the week, I weighed between 310 and 312 pounds. As the week went on, those numbers dropped. The last 2 days my weight varied between 308 and 310. So, in reality, I lost 2 pounds this week.

What I think happened is my body freaked out about the change and started storing. Now my body knows that I'm not starving it, so it's letting the weight go. I had already figured I wouldn't have a big week this week because I lost so much last week, so I'm not really surprised that I weigh the same as I did last week.

It comes down to I'm not eating enough. I eat all my daily points, but I didn't use my weekly points this week. Part of my problem is I get to the end of the day and have almost half of my daily points left. I don't snack between meals. I've been feeling really tired that last few days, so I think I need to up my protein intake as well. I've set some goals for this next week for myself. They are:

1. Eat a snack between meals
2. Make at least one snack celery or apple with a nut butter
3. Use my weekly points
4. Get 3 servings of dairy/day

So that's my plan. I plan to see some weight loss next week :)

Starting Weight: 314.6 lbs
Last Week: 308.4 lbs
This Week: 308.4 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 6.2 lbs

Week #1 Weigh In

Today was my first weigh in. I'm 4 days into the program and I've behaved...lol I was so excited when I stepped on the scale and saw that I lost 6.2 lbs! I'm pretty sure the first 4 lbs were water weight and swelling from my surgery, but I'll take it =) It's good motivation to keep me going this next week. They say it takes 21 days to make it a habit, and I'm sure I'll need all the help I can get as time goes on. But I will succeed, even if it's 1 oz at a time.

Beginning weight: 314.6
This weeks weight: 308.4
Total Pounds Lost: 6.2

Hello Wake Up Call!

Weight Watchers revamped their Points program into PointsPlus. Now you have daily points plus additional weekly points, and you can earn activity points. The week runs Sunday through Saturday, and since I started on Wednesday, I mentioned to my hubby that I was going to consider my weekly points used up. I know I hadn't been eating the best the past few days, part of it was not feeling well from the surgery and certain foods didn't sit right, the other was me using the surgery as an excuse to eat whatever I felt like. I had stepped on the scale read I weighed 314 lbs, yikes! I had put on over 4 lbs in just a few short days! Part of it could be from swelling, but I'll get realistic and say probably not that much. So I was pretty certain those weekly points were gone.

I was not going to go back and fill in what I ate the prior three days, I didn't think it was too important. I'm moving forward, not looking back. That, and I don't think I can remember exactly everything I ate, and the amount. Finally, I decided I would so that I could make the available weekly points not show they were available anymore. I'm a numbers girl, what can I say. Also, just the number showing it was available made me think about maybe using a little. Surely not ALL of my weekly points could be used up, right?

So I started filling in Tuesday. It didn't look too bad, maybe I might have some weekly points left over. Started filling in Monday, remembered some things for Tuesday, filled those in, still had almost half of my weekly points available. Started filling in Sunday, remembered some more things for Monday and Tuesday, went back and added them, now I've gone over my weekly points allotment by 2 points. Stopped filling in Sunday. I can't remember what I had for dinner that day. I've even remembered more food for Monday and Tuesday that I forgot, but I haven't entered those in. Does it matter anymore? I got my wake up call.

My goodness! I'm worse off then I thought I really was. In less than 2 days, I went through my daily allotment of points AND went over my weekly points allotment. AND I ate like that everyday! In a weeks time, I probably ate 3-4 times my weekly points allotment, if not more. What was I doing to myself? I WAS worse then I thought. It WAS really bad! I WAS eating WAY more then I was suppose to. So I had myself quite the wake up call today. I'm so glad I went back and started filling in the days prior to starting Weight Watchers =)

Oh, and I weighed myself today. I'm already down to 310 lbs! I know weight fluctuates, but I'm still excited.

No More Excuses

I did something early this morning I've been telling myself for years I didn't need to do: I joined Weight Watchers! I've told myself I could do it on my own, I don't need to pay for a program in order to lose weight. I've told myself that my problem with weight is caused by the trauma in my life, and once I fix that, I'll be fine. I've also told myself, "I don't eat unhealthy," or "I don't over eat." I've blamed the trauma, my mother, my pregnancies, my health, hormonal birth control, etc. I've never blamed the real problem, myself.

Well, the time for me to wake up is now. Obviously my eating habits are unhealthy, you can look at me and see that. But on top of it all, my husband is putting on weight. If he's putting on weight (45 lbs to be exact), then we're obviously not on the right track, I'm NOT on the right track. I don't want my children to end up like us, so it's time to change now, while they're still young.

That's what brings me to this point, admitting I cannot do this on my own. I need help. I had hernia repair surgery 5 days ago, and that surgeon tried to talk me into doing weight loss surgery. I truly feel that I'm not at that point. I have not done enough to feel I can justify taking that step. I had to admit to myself that I really haven't tried to lose weight, that my weight problem IS my fault. I've used food as a drug, to try to make myself feel better, to hide from my emotions. I need to change my life around, put it back together, get back on the right path.

So, why did I choose to go with Weight Watchers to help me with my life style change? I've known several people who have been successful using the Weight Watchers program. Weight Watchers doesn't require you to buy their special food, very important when I live on such a limited income. Right now, there's no fee to register, also very important with my limited income. I like the points system too =)

I decided now was the best time for me to start. I'm limited on my activities for the next month due to my surgery. I can spend that time getting use to tracking what I eat. I'm not going to feel overwhelmed trying to do everything at once. In a month, I should have meal planning and the tracking system down and it be like second nature to me. Then I'll be able to add exercise and make that part of my routine too.

I'm going to use this blog to track my progress, and my trials. I would love support from my friends. Please be supportive and not negative, I have a lot to overcome.