It's Been a While...

I haven't been a good Weight Watcher this year. It's taken me 8 months to lose and keep off roughly 25 pounds when the first 50 came off in 6. Looking back, I can see the mistakes I made--getting careless with 'splurge days' that turned into 'splurge weeks', not tracking, sitting on my butt and not exercising, not weighing and measuring, skipping meetings.

But let's be realistic, this has not been an average year. I've become a mother. I nearly lost my father. I spent 4 weeks on the road this summer. (Did you know that Leah is four months old and has already set foot in 11 states? I don't know anyone else who is nuts enough to attempt that kind of schedule.)

So the past is past. Tomorrow I return to my meetings, I weigh in, and I kick it off again. Nothing is to be gained by beating myself up except extra pounds, pounds which I do not want back. I never, ever, ever want to step on a scale again and see that scary number I saw week one. And I think I'm about halfway to my goal. There's no reason I can't step it up and get to it. I have so many friends on WW now, some here in town, some out of state, some who I see as inspirations, some who view me that way (God help them). I know I can do it.

The time has come to put away the excuses and get to it. My dad's heart attack scared the living hell out of me. I don't want to have one as my own personal wake up call, and I think it would have been a possibility a year and a half ago. I want to keep losing and keep removing that possibility from my life!

Weigh In 6/18

I weighed in on Thursday for my first post-Wii-Active weigh in. I was hopeful, but at the same time, I knew I hadn't been "good" all week either, so I wasn't entirely sure.

I posted good numbers! I was down 1.4 for a total of 76.4 pounds gone. I was very happy with that and will take it and run!

The meeting was about eating breakfast. I hate eating breakfast. Of all the changes I've made on WW, eating breakfast has been the hardest, harder even than exercising. There aren't a whole lot of breakfast foods I like, for starters. Here's a short laundry list of what I do not like: English muffins, eggs, cheese, most dairy products, French toast, melon, coffee, orange juice. See the problem?

I've been sticking to 3 basic things: Nutrigrain waffles (4 pts with a little butter flavored light syrup), WW bagels and LF cream cheese (4 pts), and instant oatmeal (2 pts). It gets mighty boring. But I'm persevering with it. Lately, it's been 10:00 or later before I eat breakfast, but I'm really still making the effort to get it done. I've noticed that when I eat it, it does seem to keep me more on track for the rest of the day and those weeks I eat breakfast, I do better at weigh in.

I still like my Thursdays. The leader is a little sticker happy, she needs no incentive to hand out bravos--this week she gave one to a woman who gained 2 pounds just for having the courage to admit she made banana muffins :-) And she gives them out with a little "Woo hoo!" after each one. It's kind of funny. I kept my mouth shut so I didn't get one this week. But I bet I almost did!

A Preliminary Report on Wii Active

So I've been hearing a lot of buzz about Wii Active by EA Sports. I was getting rather tired of Wii Fit--as much as I enjoyed the 'game' aspect of it, how many times can you do Free Step without going totally crazy? Stepping up and down off the platform for 30 minutes is maddening, but it really was the only way to get a decent work out.

When I hit 75 pounds, I decided I should reward myself and Wii Active immediately sprang to mind. Unlike Wii Fit, Wii Active is relatively easy to find and at my first stop, I was able to get a copy. I bought it Saturday and didn't get a chance to crack it open till Monday. I really didn't know what it was all about, but a friend on Facebook kept posting that she was getting quite a work out using it.

Active comes with a leg band for the nunchuck and a resistance band for arm exercises. When you log on, you create a fitness profile where you put in your height and weight, customize your avatar to look like you, and choose a personal trainer. That's right, I said choose a personal trainer. You can have either a male or female trainer (I chose the female for now), although I'm not really sure why other than the dude looks like a drill instructor and I thought the female would be a little more easy going. Ha ha, I laugh!

Then you can start. There is a 30 day challenge you can do, which exposes you to a variety of different exercises and customizes a workout for you. In addition, you can take daily quizzes and determine if what you're doing away from Active will be affecting your results (for instance, in the lifestyle quiz, it asks you how many sodas you've had to drink versus how many vegetables you've eaten). You can also add in any additional exercise you get away from Active, such as housework, gardening, walking, etc. If you fill out the entire diary each day AND do the corresponding work out, you get a series of trophies in your trophy case. It's funny, but it really does motivate you to do it!

The work outs themselves are strenuous. I have selected a low level of strenuousness not really knowing what I was getting into and am I ever glad I did! These first two days have kicked my butt! The activities include walking, running, lunges, squats, tennis, presses, curls, and more. Yesterday, my arms and knees felt like jelly. Today, my thighs are KILLING me.

The program almost shames you into working hard. It congratulates you when you're doing well, but when you are having trouble keeping a steady pace, it says things like, "Oh well, everyone has hiccups along the way"... I wanted to smash the TV in, as I was running when she said that, and I am not a runner, have never been a runner, and can't remember the last time I ran for any reason.

It gives you a SERIOUS work out--sweat pouring, heart pounding, muscles pushing, serious. I am very, very excited to see where the 30 days puts me out at when I've completed them. Some people are reporting losses of as much as 20 pounds. I'd take half that amount. As you are working, it keeps a running tally in the top corner of the screen of how many calories you've burned during the workout. Today I broke 200. Yesterday I did more than 175. Fantastic!

I'll continue to update as I learn more about this program. I admit, it's fun and it's nice to have instructional videos to show you what to do for each exercise so you do it properly. The only trouble I've had is the squats--my knees just really won't allow it. But you are able to skip any exercises you can't do, so that's nice.

Happy 75!

So this morning I was sitting around and I decided to get on Wii Fit and see what the numbers were looking like. I wasn't too hopeful, but I wanted to see, since I knew this weekend is going to be a minefield of food related issues. Notably lunch today with a friend, dinner out with my sister for a book signing, lunch out tomorrow with a friend, and dinner at Elizabeth's house tomorrow night. But also, we are shuffling Leah off for an overnight with her cousin Friday night, and I just knew how much I would like to sleep in a little bit. (although I probably won't sleep a wink wondering what's going on!)

So I hopped on Wii Fit and the numbers showed a decline of 1.1 pounds. It showed an overall drop of a couple pounds since my last weigh in on 5/30, when I went up 1.4 pounds and decided "SCREW WEIGHT WATCHERS!" (to be fair, we weren't in town last week for my weigh in, since we went to Rhode Island)

So I thought I'd go today. I thought I'd at least get back to 74 pounds and then on the following Saturday I could go again and hopefully hit 75.

So I packed Leah up real quick and we headed over to the center and barely made it in time for the meeting. I stepped on the scale and it showed a 3.8 pound loss for a total of exactly 75 pounds. I was like, "No way!" I mean, seriously, I was SHOCKED.

So I decided to stay and celebrate and get my 75 pound award. This time last year, I attended a Thursday morning meeting and HATED it--it was a huge group and a lot of real chatterboxes taking over the meeting. So I was stunned when I walked in and the room was almost empty. Of the 15 or so people who were there, there were 2 new moms and everyone else was in the 55+ crowd. A woman sat next to me and we got chattering about Leah and stuff and it turned out that her motivation has been flagging. She lives near us on this side of town and we got talking about how we could be motivation buddies for each other, and it just felt so nice to have support bang! right off the bat like that. I've been attending on Saturdays for a year and never once has anyone ever said hello to me.

So the meeting started and it started off with celebrations. When I got my 75 pound award, the place went crazy. It was awesome! The leader, Bobbie, said "This girl has gotten rid of Nicole Richie off her body!" Hilarious! :-)

The meeting was great--everyone, including me, participated in the discussion about getting exercise for free. I really liked Bobbie's style of leadership. When it was over, another lady came over to chat about Leah and Bobbie came over too and we all started gabbing about a million things while Leah contentedly slurped at a bottle and was adored.

Long story short, I'm switching to the Thursday 10:30AM meeting. For one thing, Saturdays at 6:30 just really aren't an option for me any more. It's too early and I'm too tired. I've also been using Saturdays as an excuse not to track or do anything over the weekends, and then the weekends slowly extend themselves into the weekdays, and then it's Wednesday and I'm all "Crap! I have to weigh in in 3 days" and panicking. I think going on Thursday will keep me on track for longer. And now that I have people at the meetings that I am accountable to as well as all of you on line, I feel like it'll be better to go then. So I am really excited about this change! We'll see how it goes.

For now, I'm shooting for my next goal of 80 pounds. I'm going to go looking for Wii Active this weekend, the new add on to Wii Fit. I enjoy Wii Fit, but apparently Wii Active gives you a hell of a work out. I'm also going to dust off Mr. Simmons this weekend and get back into the swing of things. All easier without Leah around. I've got to start exercising when she's napping.

So that's it! I figure I'm at the halfway point to my goal--I wanted to lose about 150-160 pounds. I have my next physical scheduled with Dr. Leonard for September 25th and I'll consult with him about what he thinks I should be shooting for. Hope to see less of myself next week! :-)

It's Been One Year

Today was the last meeting of my first year of Weight Watchers. I ended with a small loss of 0.2 pounds, for a total of 72.6 pounds my first year. Considering my last weigh in and my last time even remotely trying to do anything WW related was on May 2, I'm happy with anything with a minus sign. In case you hadn't noticed, my life got turned upside down a few weeks ago.

So now I start year two. The changes have been many in year one. My mental outlook on life, the way I look, the way my clothes fit, the way I feel physically and emotionally, it's all changed for the better.

I've made many changes, but the two biggest have been:

1. Being conscious of what and how much I eat

2. Giving up high test soda.

It's been a challenge. I just re-read this blog for the past year's entries and a common theme is, "I need to get back to tracking". Guess what? I still need to get back to tracking.

But my view on it is this: A year ago I started. Today, I start over. Forget the 72 pounds in an abstract way--I'm proud that they're gone, but I want to see the number of pounds that'll disappear in year two. I'm curious. I never thought I'd stick with this for this long. I didn't know I had it in me. But I did and I do and I will.

So we'll see what's next on the ole scale! I want my daughter to know that anything is possible--even that which you think is impossible. That she was with me today made it that much sweeter. And I've been banned from returning without her. The ladies love her there. :-) It'll keep me coming at least... And she'll keep me going too.

Weighing In

So I went back to WW this week after another week that I skipped. I honestly don't know how I'm going to get through all this. Exercise? What's that? Ok, not entirely true, I take the Cupcake for a walk every night or else she doesn't sleep. But it's not 30 minutes of brisk aerobic activity or even 30 minutes of steps. This Saturday I am doing the 5K for the momentum challenge--our local foodbank is hosting a 5K and the only registration requirement is a non-perishable food item.

Anway, I had a gain this week, totally expected, of 1.8 pounds. I'm still doown more than 72, so that's good. I'm trying to recommit myself in terms of WW being what I do for me, but the tired mommy me wants quick and easy fixes, healthy be damned.

Still, I'm not giving up, not withh 100 in my sights. So we'll see what happens!

Wow!

Having spent 2 weeks in Maryland, eating out 3 meals a day and making questionable choices often, I am stunned and pleased to announce today's weigh in results as -4.4 for a total loss of 74.2 pounds! HUH!?!?

Seriously, I cannot believe it. Just like that!? It really seems like it was just that easy. So. Freakin'. Crazy!

I wasn't going to go today. I had thought that with so much dining out there was no way I could lose anything, much less the 0.2 I needed to hit 70 pounds. Two things changed my mind.

1. Yesterday, I was packing up and cleaning Tom's place in preparation for our departure. As usual, I was running around in my bare feet, and when I went to his garage, I stepped on something and it embedded itself into my foot. Well, I didn't want to walk on it and force it deeper into my foot, so I started hopping around trying to get to the stairs so I could sit and pull. As I was doing so (and I'm sure looking every bit as foolish as I felt!), my pants fell off. They fell right off! So I thought, "Hmmm, maybe I've done ok after all!"

2. This morning I woke up and put on my weigh in outfit just in case. It felt a little looser than usual, so I decided to get on Wii Fit and see what Wii Fit was saying I'd lost. If the report was good, I'd go to WW. If not, I'd have a week to work on it. Well, Wii Fit reported me as 4.2 pounds less! So I was like, "Hell yeah, I'm going!" Kissed the General good bye and off I went.

Well, when I got there, I didn't think it would be as good as Wii Fit said--after all, Wii Fit allows me to deduct the weight of my clothing. But I was counting on a couple of pounds which would easily put me into the 70's. And did I ever get it!!! I was thrilled, thrilled, thrilled! I got my 5 pound star for crossing 70 and our leader gave me a bravo for doing it under such circumstances!

This is doubly impressive because Easter is my favorite candy holiday (I love me some cream eggs and mini eggs and peanut butter eggs!) and because last night I went whole hog at the Chinese buffet before we came home. I was HUNGRY and I'd been dying for Chinese for almost a week. I even ate those horrible little sugar covered donuts.

So there you have it. I wanted to hit 75 by our anniversary on Monday, and I suspect I might do it, although WW won't see the proof of it till next Saturday. But wow! :-) 74 is an impressive number. I'm proud of myself. Thanks to all who have helped along the way!