Bad news, and some not-so-terrible news

Well, the weigh in today... not so great. I didn't lose any weight, though I didn't gain any weight. BUT, some good news was that my body fat percentage went down 1.5%. So that is definitely something -- a measurement of progress, even if not the particular measurement I'm paying attention to. I'm okay with the answer. Last week was SO good, that I probably got 2 weeks worth in the first week. But the body fat percentage movement is good -- I'll take it.

Today I was under the weather, and ended up not doing much of anything, let alone go to the gym today. Now THAT feels like a failure, given that I had the best of intentions when I went to bed last night about how today would go.

I wanted to share a story about something I experienced yesterday. Robert was up in Burlington, and I was going to pick him up. I thought maybe it might be nice if we went out to dinner, and I knew I had a bunch of points I could spend on my dinner -- plenty, really. So I thought about going to "Not Your Average Joe's", which is a fun restaurant that we'll eat at maybe once a year or so. So, before I left the house, I took some time to review the menu. They had nutrition information on the site, so I thought for sure I could find something that would be healthy enough to have for dinner, even if it meant a good chunk of my points.

Some examples of "healthy" meals I found:

• Cedar Salmon (without any toppings or sides): 795 calories, and 63 grams of fat.
• Veggie Burger: 694 calories, 29 grams of fat
• Baked Haddock (without the sides or sauce): 539 calories, and 21 grams of fat. (with the sauce and sides, fat content goes up to 90 grams).

These are just some examples, and not meant to be exhaustive. But reviewing the menu was exhausting. And discouraging. By the time I was done, I'd decided all I could feel good about was a small house salad and an appetizer salad of seared ahi.

This was really frustrating and scary, because I don't want to feel paralyzed going to a restaurant. Truth is, I had plenty of points for the day, and the extra points for the week, and it wouldn't have been a problem. I'm just feeling a bit afraid to eat indulgent things like that, and it's making me fear eating out more than I should fear it. Especially on a weekend, where I've been good during the week.

This weekend is a holiday weekend, and I'm sure there will be one night of eating out, maybe even something traditionally not so good for me... like barbecue pork and onion rings or something. With a beer. But I need to shake it out of my head that there is going to be serious damage done if I do that.

Oh, we didn't go out to dinner, by the way. I never even mentioned it to Robert.

Eating so much... and yet, not enough. Still.

Sitting here at the end of a nice weekend, with not-great-weather, but some relaxing time and fun with friends. But it's been a few days since a decent update on the blog, and I've got a lot of to catch up on for eating summaries... here goes:

Thursday:

Breakfast: cottage cheese and no-sugar-added granny smith applesauce
Lunch: Turkey/cheese/sandwich thins, 2 hard boiled egg whites, fiber one yogurt
Dinner: brown rice, reduced-fat Mexican cheese, hot dog (at cirque du soleil)
Snacks/Dessert: fiber one bar

Total Points: 22.5 (2.5 come from weekly extra 35 points and my activity points)

Friday:

Breakfast: cottage cheese and pineapple tidbits, coffee with skim milk
Lunch: fiber one yogurt, chicken tenders (3 oz), turkey/cheese/sandwich thin
Dinner: 1 cup cheese ravioli (no sauce)
Snacks/Dessert: nectarine, Quaker Oats mini delights chocolate drizzle, 2 glasses red wine

Total Points: 19

Saturday:

Breakfast: sandwich thin toasted with 1 Tbsp of peanut butter, 1 Tbsp strawberry preserves, fat-free black cherry yogurt
Lunch: turkey/cheese/sandwich thin
Dinner: baked pork chop with breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup cooked carrots, 1/2 cup brown rice
Snacks/Dessert: 2 cups popcorn from machine (has oil or whatever makes it so yummy, but no extra butter), 1 pint beer, fiber one bar, Special K crackers

Total Points: 17.5 points

So, I think there are a few observations:

1) On Thursday, I had 5 points left to eat before going to Cirque du Soleil. I had a hot dog (no bun) and was surprised it 7 points just like that!

2) If I look at what I ate Saturday, I feel like I was eating ALL DAY and yet still didn't get all the points I needed (Sunday's story will be similar). I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I keep making these "these are low points, so it's good for me" choices, but I feel like I have to eat much more in terms of volume than just eating smaller amounts of, um, super crappy food. I still haven't figured out the balance.

3) I did well on Friday night -- I didn't snack much on the trip up to NH (just a nectarine in the car) and spread my lunch out into an early serving and a later serving so that I was stretching some food a bit closer to getting on the road. And within 2 minutes of arriving in NH, there was water on the stove ready to boil to make ravioli.

Here's the bad news. Bad weather in NH made going outside and going for a walk impossible. And when our friends offered to have us join them at a fitness center they were going to try out, I realized I didn't have the kinds of clothes I'd need for a trip to the gym, so we passed. So, a weekend went by without any real exercise. I felt lazy today, and I am certain that, tomorrow, weigh-in day, if I even have lost one pound, it will be a surprise. I'm already bummed about about the results I won't even have until tomorrow.

I do have 2 planned gym days for this week, at least -- Monday and Wednesday. And I'll definitely make sure that Labor Day weekend, I'm a bit more prepared for good or bad weather exercising. No excuses next weekend!

Thanks for reading!

Better points, but challenges ahead.

Today was a good day of eating.. or so it's going so far. I'm saving a few more points for any snacks I get tonight -- Robert and I are headed to see Cirque du Soleil! But I have to start planning for my day tomorrow.

I did try one of those Fiber One bars today. It was good - much better than I thought it would be. I had the chocolate mocha flavor. I can see that being a good go-to hunger killer for me, especially late afternoon.

Let's revisit yesterday's eating:

Breakfast: Trader Joe's Steel Cut Oatmeal, dunks coffee with skim milk
Lunch: Turkey and Cheese on Sandwich thins, yogurt, 3 ounces baked chicken tenders
Dinner: Smart Ones potato, cheddar and broccoli entree
Snacks/Dessert: 100 cal pack of cocoa almonds, Special K crackers, Skinny Cow low fat fudge bar

Total points: 20.5

My next challenge: Tomorrow, we head up to NH after work, and dealing with food on the way is always a struggle.

We normally either (a) pack a few snack size bags of chips, pretzels, smartfood, etc. in order to tide us over to dinner, which we wouldn't eat until 8:30 or later... and who knows what kind of a dinner we'd be eating or (b) buy a sandwich at a shop downtown before heading out of town to eat along the way (c) stop half way there and I get my only fast-food meal indulgence: Whopper Junior, no pickles, no ketchup, no cheese and a medium french fry. We probably do that stop once a month. It's a guilty pleasure for me to indulge in that meal.

That Burger King meal right there -- Whopper Junior, Medium Fry -- is 20 Weight Watchers Points. MY WHOLE DAY'S POINTS. Yeah, so, um, that's not happening.

So, I need to plan for that differently going forward. I don't know if it's going to be packing meals before hand, or working on buying a good sandwich or something downtown before we head up. I'm thinking we'll have dinner up in NH when we get there, but I need a decent and smart snacking for the trip. I'm certain I'll figure it out, if not this trip, then a future one. I'll let you know how it goes... probably won't post again until this weekend.

Thanks for reading!

Day 10! Do I get a prize?

Yesterday, all in all, was pretty good. I did go to the gym, and that was fine. I did 30 minutes, and am happier with my mix, though it could use some shifting. I was right about the "Glee" cast version of "Don't Stop Believin'" was a perfect add to the mix. Yay, me.

Food wise, the only challenge was that I didn't get enough points. I'm still struggling with that a bit. Here's the run down:

Breakfast: Trader Joe's Steel Cut Oatmeal (Heat and Eat)
Lunch: Turkey/Cheese/Sandwich Thin sandwich, 2 hardboiled egg whites, Stonyfield strawberry fat-free yogurt
Dinner: Healthy Choice Fire Tomato and Chicken meal
Snacks/Dessert: Emerald Cocoa Almonds 100-cal pack, 1 point of jelly bellies

Total Points: 17.5

I feel like I eat ALL DAY now at work, and by the time dinner comes around, I still have to make up 9 or 10 points! It's a lot of pressure to do that, but to do it smartly. So, in a hedge, I go smaller. I did better today (post tomorrow), but mainly because I was a lot more focused on it.

A new thing for my arsenal next week is going to having the "go to" items when I have points left over, that don't necessarily feel like I'm eating crap. I mean, I feel lik I'm getting away with a great treat if I eat a Skinny Cow fudge bar, but I don't really need to be doing that every night, do I? (No comment from the ice-cream-every-day girls!) So, next week, that might be my "tweak" opportunity.

Speaking of tweak opportunity, thanks to my friends who posted some suggestions about fiber the last couple of days. I bought some Fiber One bars and yogurt, baby carrots and the oatmeal should help, too. I'll post my progress as I experiment with those products.

Robert and I are going to Cirque du Soleil tomorrow night, but not going out to dinner before hand, so I'll have one more solid day to focus on 3 meals I can fully control before heading up to NH this weekend, where it will be a new place and new things to plan around, new challenges to face. I definitely am planning on some nice walks around the neighborhood loop!

Thanks for reading!

Time to start tweaking.

I've mentioned before (I think) that the first month, I'm really only focusing on food. I'll do the gym, but that's just about getting in there and doing some cardio -- nothing too fancy just yet.

First, yesterday's food:

Breakfast: cottage cheese/pineapple tidbits/dunks with skim milk
Lunch: turkey and cheese on sandwich thin, 2 hard-boiled egg whites, Stonyfield lemon fat-free yogurt
Dinner: CHINESE RESTAURANT - steamed chicken and vegetables (ate about 3 ounces of the chicken), 1 cup of brown rice
Snacks/Dessert: fortune cookie

Total Points: 19

So, the first week was just about getting used to Weight Watchers, understanding different points, trying to eat the right amount. This week, I'd like to start focusing on a little bit of balance in the diet. I'm trying to target a good chunk of protein (60 g if I can, with 40-50 during the day before dinner), lower fat contents, and, if possible, the other key factor in the WW plan -- getting good sources of fiber.

I did an excel spreadsheet yesterday (I'll spare you the details) to try and track the breakfast/lunch daytime eating I was doing on week days. Turns out, I'm certainly in the 50g of protein range. Between the cottage cheese, the turkey and cheese sandwich, the yogurt, and the hard boiled eggs or the baked chicken tenders, I'm doing very well. The fat is pretty low, too. Under 10 grams. The problem? My fiber is kind of like Fiber One, only for me, that means I get about One gram of Fiber. Okay, maybe 8. And most of that is from my Arnold's whole wheat sandwich thin. And I think I'm supposed to be looking at closer to about 3 times that or something. Don't even get me started on soluble v. insoluble. That's a lost cause.

So, for this week, I'm trying to figure out where I can ADD additional fiber food, and where I can SUBSTITUTE fiber. For instance - can I substitute my 2 or 3 point Stonyfield Fat-Free Yogurt for FiberOne yogurt? Sure I can! Can I substitute Trader Joe's Heat and Eat Steel Cut Oatmeal for my cottage cheese and fruit ? Well, sure, I can do that, too... but what about the dip in protein? Maybe stir in some peanut butter? We're back on track! How about one of those FiberOne bars? Sure! So, that's my tweak for this week. The Quest For Fiber.

Oh. Also, I'm not a strong hard-boiled-egg-peeler. I'm going to have to get much better at this if I think that hard boiled egg whites are going to be a regular part of this shindig.

One other piece of good news -- I did find out that Tuckerman's Ale has about 160 calories in a pint... only 3 WW points! At that rate, I'll have TWO!

Thanks for reading!

First Weekly Weigh-in Results...

What we've all been waiting for -- the first weigh-in. Drum roll, pleeeeeease....

4.1 pounds down!

Not sure what I was expecting, but I can say I was very happy when I saw the number! It definitely reinforced my hard work last week. I know it's just water and stuff, and working through all that early detox kind of stuff, but it was still a great first week's result. You know when you watch the Biggest Loser and they lose 20 pounds the first week? That was my 4.1.

Yesterday's food:

Breakfast: eggo waffle with peanut butter
Lunch:
Fat free yogurt, a salad with chicken, fruit and walnuts (from Sunset cantina) (ate half for lunch, half for dinner)
Snacks/Dessert: 2 cups of grapes, 2 servings of the special K crackers, and a 100 cal pack of the mini cakesters.

Total points: 19.5

All in all for the week, ate 6 of my extra 35 points, and none of my 8 activity points.

I have more to post about, like my quest for more fiber, and my inability to effectively peel a hardboiled egg, but this post should really be all about the weigh-in. I'll hit the other stuff later.

Thanks for reading!

Weekends are as hard as I thought they might be.

I've never been good at having stable, predictable eating on weekends. Probably a big dinner on Friday night (either big or bad), then general grazing the next 2 days. This weekend, I knew I was in for a challenge to even keep track of everything I would eat, let alone make good choices.

Let's first start with Friday.

Breakfast: cottage cheese and pineapple I've been eating each day
Lunch: turkey, cheese, thins sandwich I've been eating each day, 3 ounces of baked chicken tenders
Dinner: grilled salmon fillet (about 6 oz) and a half cup or so of jasmine rice, unsweetened iced tea
Snacks/Dessert: Movie popcorn (no butter), some candy (2 servings worth), fat free yogurt

Total points: 26

As you can see, i finally both hit my daily points, but ate some of my 35 weekly points, too.

Saturday eating:
Breakfast: Kashi go lean crunch peanut/chocolate bar
Lunch: peanut butter and strawberry preserves (1 Tbsp each) on a whole wheat sandwich thing, 2 quaker white cheddar corn grain cakes
Dinner: swordfish taco from Dorado's (about a 5" corn tortilla, 2 oz of swordfish, and a little sauce), and spicy fruit salad - about 1 cup of pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon and jicama, sprinkled with chili powder), agua fresca - watermelon water.
Snacks/Dessert: special K italian herb crackers (i love these!) and a skinny cow low fat fudge bar

Total points: 20

It was a challenge fitting the right food around our weekend plans. We went to an early movie on Friday night, and I knew I had enough weekly points that I could eat some popcorn and have some candy. Had a sensible-ish dinner afterwards, but quite frankly, I was probably able to leave most of the superyummy jasmine rice (which is probably about 6 points a half cup or something, likely 12 - 18 points on my plate of rice alone), if i hadn't had the snacks at the movie, probably about 6 points in total.

Saturday, we did 10 miles on the bicycle path (on bicycles, obviously) and that really felt good, and I did well on that. I don't always. Then, we usually stop at a coffee/baked goods place at the end of the ride, where I'd normally have an iced mocha, maybe some of whatever Robert gets as a snack. This time, I just got unsweetened iced tea, and I didn't really feel like I was missing anything.

Sunday was a similarly unstructured day. Had breakfast, but I knew that Robert and a friend and I would be having a late lunch out, maybe at 3 or so, so i had to pace my snacks just to stay out of hunger's way, but save the points for later in the day. I did okay (points tomorrow), but even as I type this, I know I have 4 more hours of awake time, and 5.5 points for the day left. I think I'll be fine!

All in all, though, it wasn't so terrible a weekend to start this whole thing. My weekends up north in our weekend place (which we go to 2 or 3 weekends a month) have a lot more structure, so I actually think I'll do better next week... though I do need to find out how many points a pint of Tuckerman's Ale is before I go. :-)

Most importantly, tomorrow is weigh-in day! I have a sense that I must have lost SOMETHING, but I don't have grand expectations. Even -1 is better than 0 or +anything... Wish me luck, and stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

Fixing something broken: the gym soundtrack.

I mentioned earlier in the week I needed a new gym mix. I worked on that tonight. I was inspired after hearing a cool tune in the movie I saw tonight (500 days of summer) and thought it would be great for my mix, and then the rest fell into place. It's all rather eclectic, but I hope it will be energizing. I made a 45 minute mix... aspirational that my 30 minutes will grow soon enough:

1. Forever, by Chris Brown (yep - the soundtrack from the great wedding party dance video sweeping the interwebs. I know he's a yukky guy. I can't help that I like the song).
2. Don't Stop Believin', from the Glee cast soundtrack. Maybe sacrilege to veer from the classic, but I'm diggin' the show since the pilot, and I have high hopes.
3. Boom Boom Pow, by Black Eyed Peas. Fun and funky.
4. Any Little Town, by the Push Stars. I love anything they do, and I find this one fun and energizing.
5. Us, by Regina Spektor, from the 500 days soundtrack. She's a funky bird, and I'm not normally into her, but this one did it for me.
6. Bizarre Love Triangle, by New Order. A staple, but we'll see if it has staying power, or if it's just to reminiscent of college for me.
7. So Lonely, by the Police. I'm hopeful this one isn't too slow (speeds up a bit). Maybe it stays on, but goes to a slow-down section. We'll see.
8. Jump, by Van Halen, Live version. VH always kicks it.
9. Paper Planes, by M.I.A., from the Slumdog soundtrack. Cuz I got swagger.
10. Single Ladies, by Beyonce. I know everyone's over it, but I'm going to give it a shot in the rotation for a bit.
11. Child of the Wild Blue Yonder, by John Hiatt. A staple since mix tapes in the early 90's.

I'm very hopeful this ends up being just what I need to stay energized and focused while doing cardio at the gym.

On to my eating from yesterday. I did better with the points (almost got to 20).

Breakfast: cottage cheese and pineapple, medium dunks with skim milk
Lunch: sandwich thins, honey roasted ultra thin turkey, reduced fat colby jack, stonyfield fat-free blueberry yogurt
Dinner: Healthy Choice Fire Tomato and Chicken meal. This was fantastic! The best of the frozen meals yet.
Snacks/Dessert: 24 Special K tomato and herb crackers, 2 cups cut watermelon, 100 cal pack of mini cakesters,

Total points: 19.5

I'll give a highlight to the weekend post: I definitely went over my daily points Friday and used some of my weekly points, with a decent day plan, and some splurges at the movies (popcorn and some candy). Finished off with a very sensible meal at a restaurant, and all in all, happy with it. But more on that when I post over the weekend.

Thanks for reading!

Better points yesterday AND the gym today! Getting the hang of this...maybe.

Well, I've finished a full half week in this thing. That must be worth something. I had an inkling to weigh myself today ("I wonder if any thing is working?") but I'm really going to try to stick to the once-a-week weigh in. It's too easy to go up or down one day to the next, and that's not a great way to measure progress.

Let's start with yesterday's ww points:

Breakfast: 2% cottage cheese and pineapple tidbits
Lunch: sandwich thins, deli select honey roasted turkey, sargento reduced fat colby-jack (1 slice), stonyfield fat-free black cherry yogurt
Dinner: Healthy Choice Pumpkin Ravioli meal (i enjoyed it)
Snacks/Desserts: 100 cal pack Emeralds Cocoa Roast Almonds, 1 cup cut watermelon, 24 Special K Crackers (Italian Herb and Tomato), Skinny Cow low fat fudge bar

Total Points: 19 (better, but still not 20)

Today all in all was pretty good. I brought my own breakfast in, even though I had a meeting this morning with breakfast provided. Decided I didn't want to tempt myself with a chocolate filled croissant (always available in this twice-a-month meeting).

I had a good e-mail chat with a friend also on WW, and we were lamenting about the challenge of trying to get protein into our diets. I figured that, without a real meat-based (chicken) entree, I was probably getting a max or 25 or so grams of protein a day. I know this is not enough. I decided to get a little better prepared to face that. Tonight, despite it being a thousand degrees, I decided to bake chicken tenders (that's paprika you see), and separate out into 3 ounce serving bags, so I have them to grab and either eat as is or throw in with something else. I was able to make 9 of those bags. I also made a dozen hard boiled eggs. So, that should help me out the next few weeks.

In other news, I went back to the gym again tonight, another 30 minutes of cardio. This time, did the regular (not recumbent) bike, and the elliptical. I don't like the elliptical. I feel a little bit out of control on it. I probably am either doing it wrong, or have it on the wrong setting or something. I suppose there's an opportunity for improvement for me.

My next planned exercise is Saturday. Robert and I will take the bicycles out and go for a ride on the Minuteman bike path. I'll shoot for 10 miles. We'll see how it goes! If the weather turns bad, I'll end up at the gym, but I'm really hoping to get out and enjoy the bike!

Thanks for reading!

The Gym was right where I left it: Behind the big pile of guilt.

First things first. My eating yesterday. It was fine, but I'm realizing that my first reaction when I joined Weight Watchers of "Oh my god - only 20 points??? How will I survive??" Is rapidly becoming, "It's 8pm and I need to eat 4 more points. What the hell?" I know that part of the key here is to eat all my points. I just have to figure out how to build that into a balanced day. I know the keys are protein and fiber. I think i can probably be good at one or another in a given day, but not sure about how to be good at both. It's a learning game, I know.

Here's the summary from Tuesday:

Breakfast: cottage cheese and pineapple (you're going to see that a lot here. I eat it mon - fri already), dunks medium with skim milk
Lunch: salad with oven roasted salmon, some parmesan cheese
Dinner: WW frozen entree - mango barbecue chicken with orzo. It was pretty good.
Snacks: Special K strawberry bar, 100 - cal oreo minicakesters. (YUM).

Total Points: 16

The big thing on Tuesday was going to the gym. I decided I'd do 30 minutes of cardio. That's actually quite a bit for me, and normally I'd get to about 26 minutes and say "close enough", but I really made myself stay with it. I did 15 minutes on the treadmill (2 minutes walking, 1 minute running, rinse, repeat) and then 15 minutes recumbent bicycle and a fat burning mode, A few points of note:

1) I need to get a better gym mix for my iPod. It was okay, but not going to help me get through it long term.
2) Cardio is completely boring boring boring boring boring boring boring
3) I don't know that I'm supposed to be seeing a heart rate of 170 on these machines. There are helpful "target heart rate" guides pasted on the machines, and they don't mention 170. I told Robert I thought it meant I might explode. Obviously, if i get better, one of the side benefits (as well as measures) is just a lower heart rate when working that hard.

Meanwhile, my measure for success is "went, set a time limit, didn't stop early, sweat a ton". Check!

Oh, and I saw the personal trainer that I worked with when getting ready for the wedding. He did a double take when he saw me on the bike. He said, "Hey! Haven't seen you in a while! " Yup... haven't been here in a while. He offered to get my old training plans if I wanted them, or if I wanted a refresher with him, just to ask. He was a great person to work with, and when I worked with him last, the day before my wedding, I knew he was really proud of me.

I felt like facing him this time was going to be a personal barrier -- knowing I was much worse off than where he left me, and some guilt about feeling like I failed him. I'm hopeful that I can get back to feeling good about all this, and he's one of those people I hope end up proud of me again.

But I got that over with, and I'm glad I went. Now it's on to bigger (or smaller!) and better things! I'll try it again tomorrow maybe.

Well, I need to go figure out how to spend 9 points at dinner. Wish me luck.

Thanks for reading!

Grocery Shopping. An hour longer and a hundred dollars more than it should be.

I kind of had a plan. I'd outlined some potential eating options for breakfast and lunch (the most challenging) and some dinners. I even earmarked some dessert/snack options.

We don't grocery shop more than once a month anyway (aside from immediate depleted items like milk, bread and bananas), and it probably costs around the same amount. It just, um, took about 4 bags less than it usually does. Losing weight costs more money, apparently.

(Yes, I realize there are about eleventy thousand studies out there tying the poor to the obese. This isn't new news for me. Just smarts, is all).

I think I did okay. I held back some of my enthusiasm: "I can have yogurt!" "I can make smoothies!" "I can get frozen entrees!" "I can cut up veggies and have them on the go!" "What about a fruit salad?!" I decided to take on a few "projects" (bake some chicken, cut some red peppers) and leave the rest to to prepared or easy prep food.

I did get a few frozen dinner thingies. Had one tonight. It was yummy. I try to stay away from foods with more than 500 mg of sodium, but this might be an area where there needs to be occasional compromise.

I got some snacks and desserts, including some Skinny Cow fudge pops, some 100 calorie something or others. I got Special K bars (which I eat any way) and some Laughing Cow cheese (which I get from time to time). Picked up some fixin's for turkey and cheese sandwiches, and then thought I'd try the Arnold's Sandwich Thins, which look like skimmed off burger buns, after a recommendation from a friend.

I've basically decided I'm just going to have to try stuff. When they run out, if I like them, I'll get more, but if not, just keep trying other versions of the same product type. It's not going to be magic. I'm going to have to work on the points (I think today will be another "below threshold" day) and keep some good variety in there, but at least I have some better tools around here now to get through the rest of the week, especially for lunches.

I'll post my points on Weds, and I'll include notes about my first trip to the gym since, um... (mentally checking to decide if Obama was in office the last time I went... Yes!!) maybe this spring. I'm sure you are on the edge of your seat!

Thanks for reading!

This is going to take a bit more planning, even for a planner.

Yesterday was day one. I guess I ate okay, if the measurement of "okay" is "did not go over my points". It's kind of weird to me that, essentially, I could eat iceberg lettuce and about 50 Tostios with a Hint of Lime (tm) and nothing else in the day and I'd still be considered "okay" by that measure. (Note to self... seriously, stop byying Tostitos a Hint of Lime (tm) ).

I get 20 points a day and 35 extra for the week. I don't hitnk i get Rollover Points (isn't this like a cell phone plan?), since I went under by 3 yesterday, and it doesn't seem to impact my overall total. On this blog, I will list what I ate and my total points, and I'll list any exercise (more than just the average walking around in my normal life).

I won't itemize points on the blog, (because you seriously don't care) but I'll give a daily total.

Breakfast: Medium Coffee with skim milk (not givin' up the Dunks)
Lunch: 2 hard boiled egg whites, 1 cup steamed zucchini, 1 fat free yogurt
Dinner: hamburger patty, 1/2 cup potato salad, 1/2 cup tortellini with a little olive oil
Dessert: 1 cup cut watermelon

Total points: 17

In terms of lunch today, I was a little stumped. There weren't any great looking side vegetables downstairs at Sebastians (they had the steamed squash yesterday). I hate that Sebastians doesn't put nutrition information on their menu or website. Other than some basics, I'm not sure eating at the most convenient place for lunch is going to be part of my new plan.

I ended up getting a salad with some grilled salmon. Truth be told, I probably don't eat enough fish as it is, and this diet might be a good opportunity for some more critical thinking in food choices, not just around points. Sadly, the salad is way too big, and too expensive when you only finish half of it, that, in the end, it probably ends up being up the last of these salads I try.

Clearly, this whole thing is going to need more planning. I don't think I'm going to be able to do much more than I did today without grocery shopping. That will be my next entry, since I am going tonight...

Drawing the Line in the Sand

I told some ladies this morning... it is time.

Not sure why today is the day.

Maybe it is because I read that a woman I know had a goal of losing 100 pounds by her 40th, and she's 3 weeks and ONE POUND away from her goal.

Maybe it is because I tried on ski pants this weekend and had a real problem finding a pair that worked for me.

Maybe it is because I stepped on the scale this morning (which i hadn't done in weeks) and saw a number that is 2 pounds less than my all-time-highest weight ever.

Do I need more reasons?

Whatever the reason, today is the day.

In 60 weeks, I turn 40. When I think of everything I could imagine having in my life, the only thing missing is truly health and fitness. And it impacts my life today, I'm sure, and I don't want it to.

I've tried (and had success) with different things before. Almost 4 years ago, when I was at my heaviest, my sister-in-law gave me an eating plan, and I was able to lose 15 pounds. Gained a few back, for sure. Then, getting ready for my wedding last October, I wanted to look good in the dress, regardless of the number, and had a personal trainer to help - about 20 sessions to help get a bit more fit for the day. I was happy with how I looked. And that was about 10 pounds ago. Again.

So, here are the aspects to my plan, more comprehensive than any attempt in the past:

1) Join Weight Watchers Online. (Done, including taking advantage of the offer that showed up in my inbox this morning to save $25 if I sign up - The Universe Sent Me A Sign)

1a) Set up mobile.weightwatchers.com on iPhone. Done.

2) Take "Before" Pictures. Done. Not posting yet... May do some day, but for now, they are just for me. Robert is all about "how can I help?" and this was his first task. He's the official photographer of "Kathy 30 60"

3) Start a blog. Done. Got a great suggestion this morning to start a blog -- helps me be more accountable to the outside world for my progress, a great way to record small steps (and step backs) and just use as an outlet, and ultimately (hopefully??) help to connect with other people facing the same challenges. On my blog I hope to share:

• what i'm eating
• if i'm exercising
• how i'm doing with WW
• how i'm doing with overall goals
• overall feelings/observations about the whole thing

4) Commit/Launch excercise plan. In Progress. My goal right now (from zero) is to weekly either go to the gym once and do something outside once, or go to the gym twice. I obviously expect this to grow over time, but for the first month, committing to 2 sessions of exercise is going to be a change from my current sedentary life.


That's the plan right now. Thanks to all of you who support me in my goals, and help to celebrate accomplishments and encourage after setbacks...