A Little, But Not Enough

Today's weigh-in was more positive than last week, but still depressing. Over the past 5 days, I've been hosting my parents for a visit to DC. We walked A LOT but it meant we also ate at an average of 2 restaurants a day - big meals with sometimes appetizers and desserts. So, the scale tells me I lost .7 pounds this week. That's good. But, last week was my highest weight ever, so that's not good.

I'm going to try keeping up some of the pace of more walking from the last few days, but go back to being much better disciplined in my meals. The good news is that I have a very low-key Thanksgiving planned, so I won't be gorging on a multi-course meal. In fact, my long weekend plans include several visits to the gym. So let's hope next week's weigh-in shows even more progress.

Day 3....

Still going strong. But on day 3, there's been an underlying theme... I'M HUNGRY!

I haven't been able to cut out Starbucks yet, but I did downgrade from grande to tall (it's so small!) and I'm counting the points. Today, to try and battle some of the hunger, I ate more protein than I'd been having. Let's hope that works, along with my very tall glasses of Crystal Light.

From past rounds of doing WW, I know this first-week hunger usually subsides after the first week, so this is the hard part. I've got to power through!

Day 1

I've done pretty well today, woohoo! It was tough going at a few points, but I've made it.

The biggest challenge? The saboteurs at work decided that it wasn't enough to bring in 3 different kinds of fudge, oh no. They also decided we needed a whole platter of bagels and cream cheese!!! Ack!

I resisted the fudge - even though there was peanut butter, my 2nd favorite kind (pumpkin being the 1st) - and I allowed myself 1/2 a bagel with honey walnut cream cheese. And I counted the points!

I was super-hungry by the end of the day and made my way to the grocery store. I got all good stuff, but about twice as much as normal! Note to self: next time, don't go hungry.

The important lesson I re-learned today? ***Don't waste your points on beverages.*** I used up SIX of my allowed points today on beverages - both orange juice and Starbucks. That's probably why I was so light-headed and hungry by late afternoon, I need to eat more solid food during the day and not waste it on liquids.

Okay, tomorrow's another day...!

WW as RPG?

This is a great article that Onyah found -- so true!!!

Fun Way to Lose Weight: Turn Dieting Into an RPG
wired.com — A friend of mine recently slimmed down on Weight Watchers. She joined two months ago, and in just a couple of weeks, she'd shed 10 pounds. She'd been trying for a year to lose weight, but nothing worked -- until now.

Another Week

Well, I had really good intentions this week. I started out very disciplined, tracking points online for the first 3 days. But, like always, then life (and mostly work) got incredibly busy. And that's always part of my problem, when I barely have 2 seconds to breathe, let alone respond to emails and phone calls, I always drop off doing the point-tracking. But all is not lost... I still proceeded with my normal week but just focused on trying to make better choices. I brought my lunch a few times, and got a few side salads instead of fries (though I did get fries on Friday!). We'll see how it turns out on the scale. Again, I think the point of it all always has to be that it's about making better choices and thinking about things ahead of time, rather than having to be rigidly sticking to a diet. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it...

Ups & Downs

It's been a tough week... with a trip in the middle, my schedule and my eating habits got a little turned around. I've still been eating mostly good things, just more of them and at strange times. I didn't track my points for a few days, and that's probably why I'm up a pound on the scale this morning. :-( Plus, yesterday was one of those days where I stayed home and ate everything in sight. Luckily, with the exception of some fancy European chocolates I got as a gift (which I did attack late in the evening), everything I have in my apartment is pretty good for me. I just ate a lot of it!

So, this week I'm going to focus on tracking what I eat again and trying to work in a little more exercise. Let's see if that helps nudge the scale back down a bit...

2007 Results

It's the last weigh-in of the year! And, phew, I still managed to lose .3 pounds this week - even with Christmas and a very meaty pizza-and-burgers outing. Hooray! I must be doing something kinda right.

And since this is the last weigh-in of the year, a look back....

I have now been tracking my weight loss progress officially since June 3, when I was at my heaviest weight. Blech. That means I've been doing this for 30 weeks. That's a long time, and it includes the always difficult fall season with our Gala and the holidaze.

How did I do?

I have lost 13.7 pounds, or 5.8% of my total body weight, and I've brought my BMI (body mass index) down by 3 points. That's an average of just under a 1/2 pound a week, which isn't bad considering there were some really tough weeks in there.

I feel good about all this, and even better knowing that this really didn't take all that much effort... meaning that I can follow my New Year's resolution to step it up just a bit both in terms of diet and regular exercise, not in a fanatical way, but just improvements - and that should make my results even stronger in 2008.

Thanks for coming along for the ride, and here's to an even better year in '08!

You Are What You Eat

And I can't figure out what that is yet... I'm leaning lots of good stuff about what to eat both for my own health and for basic environmental sustainability, but my discipline level has had its ups and downs this week.

I had a good doctor's appointent. Of the two sets of bad numbers I had over the summer, one is now firmly in control thanks to some medication and some improvement in lifestyle choices. Hooray!

So now it's really time for me to focus on the other set of numbers... and those will be the much harder ones to fix, since it will all come down to my self-discipline. Yep, we're talking about cholesterol, so I *really* have to spend the next 2 months -- the time until my next blood work appt -- getting those numbers in line. And, of course, I just had a real whopper of a 24-hour-period for consuming bad stuff. I was bored this afternoon and, truly against my better judgment AND my inner voice, found myself downing kettle chips and onion dip. Egad. Thus the cycle of guilt and shame begins again.

So... I'm considering that snack blowout to be Cholesterol's Last Stand, the last splurge before I really get serious. And so what am I having for dinner? A plate of green beans, flavored with a little light Smart Balance spread and some seasoned rice wine vinegar. It's actually pretty tasty.

Progress.... The Kind That Hurts

Well, I just got a really good sign of the progress I'm making..... I've passed a certain milestone on the scale (yippee!) which means that WW has now reduced my daily points target (boo!). I knew it was coming, and this particular benchmark only means 1 less point (about 50 calories) per day. But still!

It's nice validation, though, cuz in the whole year-and-a-half plus that I've had this blog, this is the first time I've made enough headway in order to get to this next level of WW play. Finally!

WW Works

I'm still on hiatus, for now, so consider this just a brief update. In the last month, I have been sticking to WW online: tracking everything I eat, calculating my points, even counting my "oops" splurges. And guess what? The diet works. I've been steadily losing about a pound or so a week. I've been hungry, and I've made some mistakes, and I've had to resist a lot of temptation -- catered spreads, meeting donuts, boxes of cookies -- but I'm doing well. My Dad's recent health scare has been a real motivator for me. So, that's the update. I may not post very often, but I am updating my little hula girl ticker every week, if you want to follow along at home. :-)

I Met My Challenge!

I stuck to my lunchtime challenge for the rest of the week - hooray!

Wednesday: Another day of soup and a bagel at Au Bon Pain, with yogurt this time.

Thursday: Chicken bento box (though I did have a salty oat cookie)

Friday: A steak salad

So, I know these still aren't super low-cal lunches, by far, but I'm glad that I was able to go a whole week without getting into the cycle of killer deli sandwiches yet again. And I enjoyed every meal that I had at lunch... so let's see if I can make this a habit.

Now, to work on dinners, too....

Lunchtime Challenge

Lately I've been getting really lax on trying to have good lunches during the week.

My days are really busy, so when noon rolls around I'm usually facing one of two scenarios:

1. I need to give myself a break and get out of the building for a while, so I'll go out with a friend for a restaurant meal, most likely Austin Grill. (Mmmmm, gooey cheese and meat.)

2. I'm on the run and have a lot of meetings, so I just run out to grab something quick, usually at a deli or Potbelly's. My favorite so-bad-they're-good (but really, ultimately, very bad) options? The Italian sandwich at Potbelly's or a turkey & swiss & avocado sandwich on a greasy, buttery croissaint from the deli. Yikes.

I realize that this is the time of day where I'm most likely to make bad choices, with little forethought.

So, this week, I'm challenging myself to break that cycle. I want to eat healthier stuff at lunch - meals that are still satisfying, but are lower in fat and have better ingredients. My goal is to spend this whole week going back to some of the good options I have been successful with in the past: soups, salads, fruit, and bento boxes.

That's my plan for the week -- spend 5 days avoiding killer sandwiches and cheesy entrees. I'll report soon on how I do!

Shiny and New

I got my new bathroom scale today. Isn't it all sleek and fancy-looking?

I am worried that I'll have a bit of a shock when I step on the scale Monday morning. My suspicion is that my old dial-a-number scale probably lost its precision quite some time ago. So, scary, this digital readout may give me a number that is higher than I want to see... yikes!

But, I've decided that I'm going to just go with it. It's not that I will have suddenly gained 10 pounds or something, it's that I'll finally know what I actually weigh and can use that info as a starting point. And there's no way I want to mess with doing some algebra program to translate my stats from the old scale to the new one. Who can handle doing that on a Monday morning???

So... wish me luck. I will report in on the scary new number on Monday!

For Better or...Hopefully, For Better

So after the lack of resounding success of my 2007 diet strategy.... I have now reupped my Weight Watchers Online membership. I hope this helps me be a little more disciplined and more focused, and at least more accountable to myself. Here's to a(nother) new start!

Revisiting My Own Strategy

Even though I'm still sore with that knotted shoulder I discussed in a previous post, I think the whole DC winter cold thing is *finally* behind me. That was about 2 weeks of feeling like crap and just being exhausted overall. This weekend, I finally was able to go out and do social things without it totally wiping me out, whereas I'd cancelled everything the 2 weeks before. Thank goodness, I was ready to rejoin the world!

Which means I need to get back on track for my whole plan for this year. The plan for 2007 is to make better food choices overall, but really to work to introduce exercise into the program. (Or programme, for my metric friends.) I've really let that latter part slide over the last few weeks. Bah.

But, today I was just inspired and did a whole SELF Magazine abs workout that is also pretty good for cardio. Woohoo for heavy breathing! ;-) And my goal for this week is to keep working on introducing just more activity in general, even if it's going for a short walk at lunchtime or taking a little longer walk as part of my commute. Wish me luck!

Another Challenge

I need more sleep. I don't get the full 8 hours that I should every night, and waking up in the morning can be so painful! So another one of the things I want to try to do this year is cut down on my caffeine intake. I don't drink coffee, but I *love* chai lattes and Coke Zero, and I drink a chai or a diet cola probably 5 days a week. The caffeine definitely makes me jittery, and after a month of drinking a lot of Coke Zero (when I had a case at home) I could see a real, yucky difference in the color of my teeth. :-(

So, for lots of reasons, I'm going to try to cut back on the cola and the caffeine in general. I've switched back to my old standard, diet Sprite, to have at home. I do still appreciate carbonation every once in a while, so I'm not giving up on soda itself, just the caffeinated colas. And it's going to be hard to resist those Starbucks runs every morning at work!

New Strategies for the New Year

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about my weight loss goals and my own lifestyle and habits. My goal, of course, is to lose weight - but for me, the health reasons are the biggest motivators. It would be great to fit into cute new outfits, of course, but I'm most concerned about making sure I stay happy and healthy for a very long time.

I have actually decided I'm going to hold off on the specific WW strategy for a while. I cancelled my online subscription, cuz I didn't want to keep spending $17 a month when I'm not using the online tools. I'll keep the name of this blog the same - cuz there's always the chance I may sign up again (they give you a 6 month window where they keep your account dormant) and there's no doubt that I've learned a lot from Weight Watchers over the years. The biggest and most important lesson I've learned from WW is that all of this is about choosing a lifestyle, not just following a diet.

But, instead, I'm focusing on trying to change my habits and learning more about nutrition in general.

I'm reading that You: On a Diet book, which is really interesting and appeals to my more intellectual side about what weight loss really is. It's all about the biological and nutritional elements of what you eat and how you exercise, and it's all about the big belly fat problem. Which is absolutely my biggest challenge! Trust me, some of the stuff in the book is kinda gross to learn - but it's been very motivating to learn the *why* of the body's reactions and changes and learning how to take control of these very natural systems.

This book echoes all the same good science stuff I've been reading for years - which is all about moderation and smart choices, not starving yourself by counting points or eliminating carbs or only eating one kind of thing, etc. So with what I've learned from WW, and what I've read about here and in other places, here's my plan:

• I will work on reducing my overall food intake through portion control.
• I will work to introduce more fruits and veggies into my diet in new and easy ways.
• I will stick to whole wheat or multigrain starches when I eat them.
• I will stick to lean meats at home, but still allow myself some beef or lamb when I'm eating out.
• I will cook more of my own meals at home, experimenting with new ingredients and looking for new healthy recipes.
• I will exercise! I will aspire to hitting the gym, walking outdoors, or doing a variety of exercises in my own apartment several days a week, for real. I know this is the big, make-or-break element of the whole plan.

I have a bunch of new tools that I've been gathering lately to help me follow this plan. The iPod, of course, makes exercise so much more fun and I find myself looking forward to a reason to hear my tunes. Plus I really dorked out and made myself an Excel spreadsheet to track my exercise routines. Hey, I had to pass MIS in grad school! I might as well use that analytical side of me for something useful! And the at-home grocery delivery is really changing my life. Suddenly I now have more fresh produce and healthy choices in my kitchen than ever before. And I've finally talked myself out of being cheap and have started spending money on real tools for my kitchen, so I now have really nice new pans, knives, and utensils that are making cooking easier and more fun! Woohoo!

...and that's how I'm moving forward. Wish me luck!

Referral....

This is an awesome post from a woman who's accomplished something amazing, and is very philosophical yet realistic about it. Enjoy.

Here's What I'm Doing

So I'm trying a new approach here.... Weight Watchers always promotes itself as "it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle..." And over the years of being off and on and off and on of WW, I've learned a lot about what that healthy lifestyle should be. I've also learned a lot about myself and the way I behave naturally.

Putting all this together, what I'm trying now is to use that "lifestyle" approach. I know I'm not good about the discipline of tracking all my points every day. I'll be really good on recording things for like 2 days, then life gets busy and suddenly 2 more days have gone by and I haven't recorded things. But, that should not mean that I'm suddenly "not dieting" just because I'm not tracking the points. Instead, I'm focusing on making actual healthy choices every day - picking healthier, more nutritious food options and learning to incorporate more exercise into my life.

This way, I'm not setting up myself up for being a "bad dieter" just because I'm not tracking the points. Nope, I'm still making the good choices based on all that I've learned. And I'm still focusing on things like fat and sodium intake, as well as the need for fiber and balances meals. And so far it seems to be working... I did a little "sneak peek" step on the scale this morning and it still looks good. :-)

My Theory

So, I have this theory that may be somewhat cockamamie, but it's what I've been going by.

Sometimes, even when I know I'm going to be eating a big, non-point-friendly indulgent meal, I will decide to start off with a small salad and then still eat the full big meal. Why? Because sometimes that's what it takes to ensure that I'm eating fresh, leafy green veggies. With as often as I eat restaurant or deli food, that house salad is often the best way to get in some fiber-rific veggie goodness.

I do this knowing full well that it means I'm eating MORE food instead of less, and that it adds to my calorie and point intake, and that I'd be better off just eating the salad and not ordering the big meal. But, like I said, this is my theory and every once in a while - like this week, when I had a delicious but non-diet margherita pizza for lunch - I feel better knowing that I've started off with a plate full of nice mixed greens.