WW Wednesday

Hi there!
I was trying to do work for my classes but Blackboard suddenly crapped-out (yes, that is the technical term for what happened) so I decided to mosey over to my blaaaahg for a bit.  Well don't you feel special?  :)

Today I was a bit disappointed at my WW meeting, to be honest.  I got a lot of extra exercise last week and did not see the results at the scale I was hoping for.  I had a loss, but not a loss like I was expecting.
I am still proud of my tracking all week and increase in activity, though,  I think/hope the scale will be a little more accommodating next week.

My goal for this week is to continue tracking everything and keep the increased activity.  Rainy days like this don't exactly inspire me to hit the gym, but some times you have to create your own inspiration.

That is the magnet BigBoy made in Art class.  I think it is beauuutiful and I will possible copy it, enlarge it, and hang it in a frame on my wall.

Ok now, anyone? Motivational anything you would like to share???

WW Wednesday

Yes, it's that time again.  Good ole Wednesday, the day of the week I check-in at WW and then start over in my weight loss jooourney.

Was I perfect all last week? No.
Did I make healthy choices choices that I would not be embarrassed by? No.

But did I start "tracking" again and get back on plan? Yes.
Did I get a lot of activity in?  Yes.
Do my clothes fit better now? Yes.
Did I salvage my week and have a loss at the scale after all?  YES.

Lesson learned: Unlike Vegas, what you eat on vacation does not STAY on vacation.  I know I had a loss this week, but I think I'm finally breaking through to the woman tween inside me that wants to say "Woohoo!  We're at the beach!  Let's have ice cream and eat 'fun' food all weekend!"

YOU ARE TOO OLD FOR THAT, CAYCE!  You have the (minimal) gray hair and babysitter-who-doesn't-know-who-Weezer-is to prove it!

Moving forward: This should be an interesting two weeks.  My regular Wednesday meeting is cancelled for the 4th next week, so I can either attend a different meeting or skip it altogether.
On top of that,  I snatched up the "Magic Tracker"at WW today.  What's that?  I'll tell you.
See, I "track" online but a lot of people do it old-school on paper.  They use a little spiral notebook that you write your food choices and point values, activities and points, and some other stuff.  ( I don't want to get in trouble here for sharing proprietary WW info.)
We have a notebook, or "tracker" as we call it, that our group passes around and shares.  You have it for a week, it helps hold you accountable that week, and then you pass it along.  Almost everyone has a nice loss at the end of that week, obviously because they know other people will see their choices.
It's voluntary and we don't even write our names on our pages, but it is nice to see what is working/not working for other people.  (Who knows, if I get gutsy I might do it on here some time.)

I'm always scared of the thing, folks.  FOR. REAL.

But I knew I wanted to jump start my tracking again, so when they asked who wanted the "Magic Tracker" this week, I shot my arm in the air so fast you would think they were offering up free chocolate for life.

I got it -- and an extra week I hadn't bargained for because of the upcoming holiday!

Oh yeah.  This is going to be interesting good.  I'm feeling hopeful.  This is going to be good!

P.S.  Wow, I marked through a lot of words this week.  Sorry if you found it annoying.

WW Wednesday

This week in my weight loss journey (sorry, never going to stop cringing at that word) proved to be a calm one.
There weren't many ups and downs.  I tracked my foods and planned for bigger meals like date night on Friday.
I drank more water but still didn't completely give up the diet drinks.
Overall I am proud of the steady-as-she-goes feel of the week.
My weigh-in was nice -- I got my next +5 sticker at WW -- and I feel very secure that I will reach my goal one day.  That day might not be in 2011, but I'm just fine with that.  Honest.

Lesson learned this week:
I remembered how good it feels to be in control of my food choices.  Just because I have an urge or craving, it doesn't mean I have to give into it.  It can be a passing thought with no power over me.

When I try to feed boredom or emotions, I will always be left feeling hungry of spirit and sick of stomach.

Goal for the week: Add more fruits and vegetables to my day and continue tracking.

P.S.  I wanted to add that I've lost 36 pounds since I first enlisted your support through my blaaaahg eight and a half months ago.
Thank you for allowing me to share my journey and supporting me along the way.  Every word and action means more to me than you can know.
Also, I know many of you following my journey may be wanting to lose a few lb's of your own.  Please feel free to post a comment and join in the slow-and-lasting-weight-loss fun.  Or maybe you just made a healthier change or have a tip to share.  My ears eyes are wide open to suggestions!

~Cayce

WW Wednesday

Yes, I'm checking back in about my weight loss jooooourney.
Nope, it's not over yet.

I neglected this part of my blaaaahg some over the summer because I became more active with my WW group.
Besides, I don't want to bore y'all with one ordinary woman's battle with the pantry door!
But blogging about it worked for me.  It was a crucial part of my initial success so I'm bringing it back.

Today I am roughly the same weight as I was a year ago.  Yep, a year ago.  That doesn't mean i haven't lost weight! I've just lost the same 10 pounds over and over again.  The lesson here was that I have to find a way to go out of town and eat out while making healthy choices.  Indulging occasionally is fine, but if you have a summer full of trips and weekends and date nights, it's going to be a cycle of indulge - gain -  lose - repeat if you don't make good choices on those fun days.  Believe me, that's what I did!

So, a year later at the same weight (but a slightly smaller size thanks to some toning) I can either beat myself up for "wasting" time or I can look at it as proof that I can maintain this size and be proud of my perseverance.
I requested a new weight tracker last week as I mentally let go of the 60 pounds I had already lost.  I don't think about those pounds anymore.  I've lived a year without them -- they are gone.
Now I have new small goals (5 pounds, 5%, and 10%) and I can honestly say that today when I saw my weight (after a loss :) )I thought of it only in relation to last week.

So, this past week I learned how good it feels to eat a balanced diet again! Duh -- fruits and vegetables make your body feel good! Why is it so easy to forget that?

Goal for this week: Continue tracking and plan my meals better, especially family meals.

WW Wednesday

This morning was my weekly WW meeting and weigh-in. 
I was the exact same weight today as I was last week. 

For a week that involved LOTS of feeling crappy with headaches and migraines, zero trips to the gym, and more than a couple klondike bars, I know I got a free pass.  

Just like always, I started the week off tracking and then just fizzled out.  I'm not surprised by my results.  If you don't track much you don't lose much!
I'm not eating terribly; I'm just not making "healthy eating for weight loss" a priority.

Know what though?  Enough is freakin enough.  I'm so OVER this phase of my joooourney.   I'm going to *gasp* actually TRY again! 


 ...


Oh It's ON, baby.  On like donkey kong!

WW Wednesday

Today was my WW meeting. I knew a lot of people would be joining today as part of their resolutions to lose weight, but MAN! There were a LOT of people. More power to 'em! err, us. :)

As I have said recently, J was off for a nice long stretch over Christmas and New Year's and we might have gone to IHOP once or twice three four times in that period. (Four? I think it was four.) Before you judge, just know that the only time we eat out as a family is at breakfast because that is the time we can depend on both of our children being awake, agreeing to eat what's in front of them (even if that is a chocolate pancake, bacon, and chocolate milk), and happy/sane.

We decided to really enjoy our time with Daddy home and at least I had coupons. :)

(The above bacon was cooked by Pa, and yes, it is that good. His bacon is photo-worthy.)

Anyway, even with all the IHOPping, I managed to work it into my day well. If we had a big breakfast, we ate light the rest of the day.

It paid off because I had a nice loss today during my weigh-in.

Lesson learned this week: If I'm honest with myself about exactly what and how much I'm eating, then it's easier to work in all the "fun" foods. In WW terms, "tracking" works.

Goal for the upcoming week: Plan what we are having for dinner by 10:00 am that day. I could say, "Plan the whole week" but that's not something I can commit to. I need flexibility. So let's be real and say that by 10:00 I am going to have dinner planned -- even if dinner means leftovers. I am being real here. :)

WW Wednesday: The Reboot

Better late than never, right?

First of all, sorry I've been MIA lately.  We had family in over the weekend and BigBoy is tracked-out of school so things have been a little off.  I'm back now, though.  :)

For the last several weeks I've been riding the weight-loss yo-yo up and down, up and down.
I was practicing weight maintenance instead of weight loss.  That would be good except I'm still not at a truly heathy body weight.

So, since quitting is not an option, I decided to skip it and go straight to the "restart" portion of the joooourney.
Yesterday I ate breakfast, wore jeans and a shirt (instead of running shorts and a tank), and weighed in as a healthy me.  Not a skipped-breakfast me.  Not an oh-no-I-hope-the number-isn't-up-2-tenths-of-a-pound me, but a healthy me.

I asked the lady at the desk to write my weight on a new weight-tracker and not write down the difference gained or lost from last week.  I then filled in my five and ten percent goals and saw my weight as a starting point in this phase of the journey.  I will celebrate my first 5 pounds lost just like I did a year ago.

I might as well tell you right now: I have 25 pounds to lose.  Yep, 25.  Somehow seeing it as a new undertaking instead of the last stretch of a long run makes it feel easier.
(And for those of you who may be worrying that that is too much weight, don't! I won't be super-skinny or model thin, but rather at the top end of the healthy weight-range for my height -- a place I feel mighty comfortable and proud to have a strong, curvy body.)

So, that's where I am today.  I'm tracking my food and activity via WW again.
I'm no longer complacent yet I am happy with how I feel and look right now -- healthy!

It is Week 17 of my Challenge.  How are y'all doing?

WW Wednesday

Well look at that -- I'm actually writing a WW post on Wednesday! (But only because Melissa told me to. ;))

This past week I haven't felt great.  I've felt like I was hit by a truck, actually.  Apparently ignoring pneumonia doesn't make it go away, so J has been extra concerned with me resting up and recuperating.
We've had a lot of convenience foods and my tracking was blurry, you could say.
All the same, I was surprised when I had a gain today at the scale.  It wasn't a big one, but I was surprised all the same.
Then I remembered how much less activity I've had lately.  Because I don't go into a job every day, if I'm sick and being told to take it easy, I do that (for the most part).
I think my small gain today was partly a result of my tortoise-like lifestyle lately.

So, my lesson learned this past week was that if for some reason my activity level takes a big hit, I should (duh) adjust my food intake accordingly.    If I'm not going to the gym or even running around my house and community like I usually do, my body doesn't need the same fuel as usual!
Also, comfort foods might be comforting in the moment, but they are an annoyance on Wednesdays!

Goal for the week: track my foods and practice more control over what I bring into the house.  If nap time is my hardest time of the day (and it is), then don't have the foods that tempt me the most!

WW Wednesday: Monday Edition

In the name of anti-procrastination, I'm going to do a WW post (for last week) now on Monday.

...


Aaaand I can't remember how my meeting went.


...


(crickets)


Or my week, really.
(That's why it's best to do it ON WEDNESDAY, Cayce!)

Oh! I got it! (Oh and I had a loss, by the way! :)  )
I was reminded that it's not always comfortable to change how you're eating.  (duh)
If I'm super-comfortable, that usually means I'm not going anywhere.
There needs to be a period of adjustment before comfort sets back in.
So right now I am uncomfortable -- and it's a good thing.  It reminds me of my priorities. It pushes me.  It annoys me.  It's the eating equivalent of a tight, unforgiving waistband.  Once I get used to the changes I must maintain to take this to the next level, I will be able to ease into it and relax in my new routine.

---Ok, truth be told, over the last couple days while recuperating from sickness, I may have indulged my sweet tooth a bit too much.  Come on, I found out the Snickers pumpkins taste just like the Snickers Nutcrackers!  I also may or may not have hidden the two I bought in my purse so I wouldn't have to share with my kids.  I have a problem.  I'm aware of that. ---

Moving on, lesson learned: stay the frick away from the Halloween candy. It does not bring out the best in me.

Goal for the week: Continue tracking and adjusting what I see as my new normal... without the freakin chocolate!

Hello out there!

I hope everyone is enjoying the start of their summer.  We got home from vacation on Sunday and the resulting laundry is almost done.

I plan to do some blaaaahgging again soon to catch you up on things, but for now I just wanted to let you know I haven't tripped and fallen offline or anything. ;)

I'll be back tomorrow for WW Wednesday (I'm not expecting a loss tomorrow after lots of "vacation food" and zero tracking) and an update on how my classes turned out for the semester.

WW Wednesday

I know that it has been a whole week around here without blog posts, but I am naturally back today for WW Wednesday.
Last week I said my goal was to eat breakfast and track every day. Simple as that.
Well I did what I said I would do and it paid off with a nice loss at the scale today.
I'm still clawing my way back from a couple gains I had in previous weeks, but I'm actually trying again and it is paying off.

(Gramps insists on grandchildren pics so here's one of BigBoy with his First Birthday strawberry cupcake. His 5th is rapidly approaching and I have three Transformers pinatas to prove it!)

In the spirit of healthier eating, I'm going to tweak my spaghetti recipe tonight by adding pureed carrots to the sauce.
Of course, BigBoy still won't eat sauce but because I myself am such a child when it comes to eating healthy vegetables (who can hate a potato?), I'm going to try to trick myself.
Whole wheat spaghetti, jarred sauce, ground turkey, mushrooms in J's (yucky... I told you I'm a child about food) and pureed carrots. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh and Neighbor Stacy passed along this "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld for me to try. (Gotta love a gal with a ponytail and a sense of humor! She's married to Jerry Seinfeld.)
Stacy's an old pro at hiding veggies in food. She even puts kale in brownies!

Lesson learned this week: I really do feel better all day and make better food choices all day when I eat breakfast.

Goal for the week: Maintain tracking and breakfast-eating, and sneak in veggies to at least 3 meals extra.

WW Wednesday

(Warning: This post is longer than normal on Wednesdays because it spans 2 weeks and actually includes pictures!)

In case you didn't notice, there was no "WW Wednesday" post last week. I was out of town and while I DID look for a meeting to attend, none of them were at convenient times. Truth be told, I could have made one of them work, but I had no fear of falling off the wagon from just one missed meeting so I opted to skip it.

I didn't make the healthiest food choices while we were gone. There may have been one or two at least a dozen chocolate oatmeal cookies involved, too. :)
Spread out over several days, though! Come on now! I NEVER get to eat these unless Alesia makes them for me while I'm in!
I was going to take a picture of them but that would have involved two hands and one hand almost always had a cookie in it.
Alright haters, judge all you want.

So, obviously I was NOT expecting a good weigh-in. In fact, I told Melissa before we walked in that was hoping to keep it to an under-3-pound gain for the 2 weeks, just for sanity's sake.
I didn't track any points while I was gone so I really had no clue but I KNEW it would be ugly.

Turns out I was wrong. :) I had a nice loss, in fact! Crazy, but true.
I even broke into the next "decade" of numbers. (See what I mean by that here.) Melissa, my weight-loss buddy, did too! It was a good weigh-in indeed!

So, lesson learned this past week (actually 2 weeks): I didn't miss the fries with my on-the-road burgers. Two weeks ago I told you my goal was to skip them while we were traveling. It really wasn't even that hard. Half the time they disappoint me, anyway.
I think the biggest thing I learned was to just be thankful for the good luck you get thrown every now and then. I didn't deserve a loss today but I got one anyway. I'm just going to take it and run!

Goal for this week: Start tracking again, dang it! I'm ready to roll through the next 10 pounds!

Now, because I promised my sister Sally I would, here are the photos of me that have been requested by several of you.
America's Next Top Model-style, baby!



You even get a peek at my flesh-colored lunch-lady bra. Saucy!



Haha. Right. That's SO me.
This is more like it. Mid-sentence, eyebrows like the lost sister of Bert & Ernie, and holding a wiggly child.



We're keepin it real here, folks.

WW Wednesday

Two posts in one day -- I'm on fire lately! :)

This last week involved one indulgent date night, one cookout with friends, and also some delivery pizza for lunch and dinner and breakfast the next morning. I was good to compensate with healthier choices in my other meals, though.

Today walking in to WW I was uncertain as to my fate. Last week I thought I had done so well and I got a little slapped around. It's always exciting to step on that scale and this week I had a smile-worthy loss.

I think the key to all of this for me is to not be a perfectionist about it.
I absolutely do not want my weight loss efforts to include strategies that I cannot maintain. I do not want to wake up one morning and think "I haven't had chocolate in 9 months. I think I'll eat a whole bag of Hershey Kisses now."

FINALLY I've accepted that in order to have the large amount of success I want (in my weight-loss of course), it is going to take a lot of failing.

It's simple as that: Get back up every. time. you. fall. down. (Also known as a life of moderation, I suppose.)



To me "falling down" could be having 2 3 Krispy Kremes for breakfast, going all week without exercising, or even having a gain on the scale that day.

Lesson learned this week: If I want to continue to lose and become a healthier person, I have to reshape what I consider is a normal amount of food for me. After losing 40 pounds, I need fewer calories to maintain my weight. So duh, I have to adjust my diet to reflect that. ("Tracking" in WW --something I still didn't do last week. I WAS very aware of what I was eating, though, and kept a loose mental tally).

Goal for this week: Track every single day. Try to reevaluate some of my old stand-by's to see if they are really still working for me. Also, eat more fruit.

P.S. When my WW buddy Melissa and I walked in today, this angel on earth standing to the side said "Here's the skinny girls!"
HA! Only in a WW meeting... :)