Another 5 lb Star!

Where have I been?

Seems like all of my posts start with I'm back, or MIA, or starting over.  I'm sure this one is no exception.  I realize it's been close to 6 months since I've last posted or did anything with this blog.  I need to make a habit of posting more often so that it will be a constant reminder of the weight loss journey that I am.

I'm still trying to lose weight, and I am losing, but it's just taking a long time.  I was a paying member of WW, although I couldn't tell you the last time I actually tracked anything.  At the beginning of the year, our church started a weight loss program similar to WW, so my husband and I are participating in that.  The only thing I dislike about that is it's a new scale and weighs more than the WW does so when I start recording weight, it won't be accurate with the WW scale.  Then at the beginning of February, our church started the Daniel Fast again, which is basically like a weight loss program.  I also enjoy doing the Daniel Fast, and one of the reasons is because I usually lose around 20 pounds doing, so that will be a HUGE motivator and jumpstart at getting back on track and losing weight.

I lost, I lost, I *finally* lost!

I finally *lost* weight at this week's weigh-in.  I feel like the last few weeks, I've been going in the wrong direction - up instead of down.  I lost .8 lb.  I was hoping for more, especially since Mandy and I have walked on our lunch three days this past week, however I haven't eaten the greatest, so I'm sure that's why.  With us starting to walk, and me losing weight this week, it's given me new motivation to get back on track. 

I'm Back!

WOW!!  I've been MIA for quite some time haven't I?  Well I'm back, and determined this time to make it work.  I didn't fall of the wagon completely, but I was holding on to the end of the rope and being drug down the road.  I kind of gave up on measuring and tracking, thinking I could do it on my own without that.  And then they stopped the at-work program because not enough people signed up.  I started going back to the meetings at the church in Newburgh, when I knew I had lost weight; when I knew I had gained, I didn't go.  Who wants to pay $12 a week just to get on the scale and them tell me what I already knew!  But I've realized that I HAVE to track and measure, and go to meetings, along with exercise, to make the program work!  I've got a new WW buddy.  While she really isn't new, she's my coworker and really good friend Mandy (her cute picture is below), she is new to being my WW buddy.  She is going to the meetings with me; we have both signed up for the monthly pass, which means we pay in advance so there is no excuse for not going.  We have also started walking on our lunches.  We were going to walk after work on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (she's off on Monday and Friday), but that never worked out.  So we decided to walk on our lunch.  Yesterday was our first day.  We walked, ate lunch, and then walked some more.  It felt great!  Once I got back to work, I was excited about walking and excited to walk again!  Today we walked for 30 minutes; I tracked our route on Google maps and we walked one and a half miles today.  I was uber excited!, and can't wait for tomorrow's walk.  So this IS going to work!!  Measure, track, exercise, repeat! 


My Sweet Mandy :)



It's about time

At today's WW meeting, I got a great surprise on the scale - I had lost 6.4 lbs.  I was SO UBER EXCITED!  I haven't had a loss in a few weeks so this was such a blessing and such inspiration for me to keep going.  I was pretty strict with myself all week - no sodas, no tea, no buffets, and no bad meals.  I didn't get to do any water aerobics, but Saturday night we did get jiggy with it at Cassie's wedding, and then Sunday evening I started digging a new area for my landscaping project and that was definitely a workout!

NSV: Smaller undergarments

I was stoked when I went to Lane Bryant the other day to buy new underwear.  I was able to get them in a smaller size and they actually fit!  That makes me happy.  I also believe that the next time I need to buy new bras, that I am going to try to get them a size smaller! 

Tracking + Measuring + Exercise = SUCCESS!

This past week I have been very diligent in tracking and measuring my food and have taken water aerobics classes at the Y on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday night, two classes each night.  The result:  minus 3.6 pounds for a total loss of 21.8 pounds.  BLESSING!

Time to get back on track

Wow....it's been over 3 months since I last posted.  I know I need to post more often to help keep me on track with WW.  I feel like I have gotten off track and am right now slowly getting back on track.  I've been having a hard time tracking my food and measuring my food.  When I do these two things, I have seen success.  And when I haven't, I have seen failure on the scale.  Angie and I have also started taking water aerobics at the Y and are loving them!  (I'll create another post about them.)  I know that exercise coupled with diet is nothing but a great thing!  We have another weigh-in tomorrow and I'm kind of iffie about it.  Earlier in the week I felt confident that I had lost weight, but right now I'm not so sure.  I just pray for a blessing from the Lord on the scale tomorrow.

New Program

Yesterday was a great day for me at WW.  At the weigh-in I had a loss of 2.8 pounds.  I was UBER excited!  I haven't had a loss in a while, so it was definitely what I needed to get me back on track.  Then in the meeting, we were introduced to the new WW program.  There was alot of material given out and that I bought and I haven't had a chance to really sit down and go through everything, but they have a new way of figuring points and everything had a new point value, including the number of points I am allowed per day and the number of weekly allowance points WW gives you.  I was getting 36 points per day and now I get 46 points.  And everyone was allowed 35 weekly allowance points and now that number is up to 49.  Alot of one and two point fruits and veggies are now zero points, so that's an incentive to try to get more fruits and veggies in the diet.  And instead of using the slider scale to figure your points based on calories, fat, and fiber, we have a calculator to figure points based on fat, fiber, protein, and carbs.  I love change, so I definitely believe this is going to be a good thing; it just may take me a while to get it all figured out.

I've been MIA!

I've been struggling the last few weeks with WW.  My plan every day is to stick with it, measure my food, eat what I brought, track my points.  However I'm struggling with this.  It may be that I forget to track, or eat more than I measured, or give into temptations and go out to eat a bad meal, or buy an unfriendly snack at the store.  Whatever it is, I need to give it to God and get focused again.  I'm upset with myself, and that's not good.  So starting this morning, I am getting back on track. 

I got up this morning before my alarm went off and went into the bonus room and found some old workout tapes.  I popped ol' Billy Blanks Tae Bo in the VCR and did a little bit of the workout.  No, I didn't finish the tape, but what I did do, well that's better than just thinking about doing it.  I have also measured out and tracked all of my food today.  This is something that I need to get back into the habit of doing.

At the meeting today, I was up 2.6 pounds.  I knew I had gained weight, but didn't realize it was that much.  I also got my 16 week SAS charm.  SAS stands for Stay and Succeed.  It's a little gold looking charm of two hands clapping and has 16 engraved in it.  That means I have been attending meetings for 16 weeks.

Victory in Jesus...and the scale!

At our WW meeting yesterday afternoon I got on the dreaded scale.  I lost another 2.4 pounds for a total loss of 20 pounds!  WOOHOO!  That also means that since November of last year, I have lost 40 pounds total!  I feel great!  I know I have a LONG ways to go, but each little victory is motivation to keep going!

Another Scale Victory

Thank you Jesus for another scale victory yesterday.  At the weigh-in, I knew I had lost some weight, I thought maybe a pound or two.  I got on the scale and was 3.8 pounds for a new record of minus 18.8 pounds.  WOOHOO!! 

And it was great this morning trying on shirts and having to change them because they were like moo-moo's on me!  I think this weekend I'll be cleaning my closet out!

I've been MIA!

Wow.....I can't believe it's been over a month since I last blogged about WW.  It probably hasn't been going to swift then!  At my September 2nd weigh-in, I gained 3.6 pounds.  I know I wasn't tracking and using portion control as much as I should of been, but I was also having some stomach/abdominal issues.  I went to the MEC center and they told me that I had a very large gas bubble in my abdomen and that's what was causing my bloating/discomfort.  Then we left for vacation and I did nothing to help with my weight loss.  Yes, I did take my WW books with me, but they never made it out of the car nor were they opened at all the entire week we were gone.  I ate horribly!  I had planned on going to a WW meeting in Florida while we were gone, but because I was doing so bad, I decided not to go.  Then the week we came back, I joined the WW at-work program at the bank and they didn't have a meeting that day so I didn't get to weigh-in.  Last Thursday was my first weigh-in in about 3 weeks.  I didn't lose anything, but I didn't gain anything either from my last official weigh-in.  So from September 2 to September 23, I evened myself back out.  I know I had put on about 10 pounds from my stomach issues and vacation cause when we got home from vacation I got on the scale and it was NOT good!  I'm praying for a loss on the scale today even if it's a small one.  And I'm getting focused and back on track to losing weight.  I loved how I felt when my numbers were dropping and when I could tell it in my clothes.  So Lord, I need your help in this journey!!

WOOHOOO!!

Another victory last night at the WW meeting.  I stepped on the scale, which had missed me since I had missed the last two meetings, and was down 6.8 pounds!  So far I've lost 19.4 pounds and reached my 5% target.  YEAH!!  I received another 5 pound loss star sticker and a 5% star sticker.  Thank you Jesus for helping me on this journey that I am on.  Without you, I couldn't do it!  Now if I could just get myself motived to start exercising, I would be rockin' that ol' scale!

Another Victory on the Scale

Last night was my 5th week of WW and I had another victory on the scale.  I lost 2 pounds for a total loss of minus 12.6 pounds, weighing in at 315.6.  I can't even being to tell you the last time I weighed that.  Not that it's a good weight or anything, but I'm going down and that's the direction I want to be headed in.  I also forgot to mention last week that I got another 5 pound WL star.  I need to take a picture of my bookmark again and post it with the 2 five stars on it. 

I ♥ U Scale!

Yesterday was another weigh-in and another victory of overcoming the scale!  I knew I had lost some weight, I felt it, but I only thought it would be a pound or two.  Much to my surprise it was minus 3.6 pounds, so I'm down to 317.6.  WOOHOO!  Thank you Jesus!  When I got on the scale I didn't think I was standing on it right.  I didn't think my weight loss was accurate.  And once I got in the car, I wished I would of had her re-weigh me.  But when I got home and got on my scale at home and I actually weighed less at home so I'm positive that the scale was right.  I'm so excited about my victory tonight. For a few years I maintained a weight of about 318 pounds, I wasn't thrilled with it, but it was a weight I was content with and maintained it.  Then I think it was around the time that I went off the pill, was when I started gaining weight.  It was in September 2007.  From that point up until the beginning of this year, 2010, I had put on around 30 pounds and got up to my heaviest weight ever - 348 pounds.  So far this year, I've lost a little more than 30 pounds - through doing the Daniel Fast at my church, through taking an appetite suppressant (that was REALLY pricey!), and through Weight Watchers.  I believe I like the WW way the best and I'm so excited that I am doing it and sticking with it.  Now if I could just incorporate a little exercise into it.  In time I'm sure I will, but for now I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing and praying that the weight will continue to come off!

Woohooo!!! Minus 3 pounds!

THANK.YOU.JESUS!!!  Tonight was my 4th WW weigh-in and meeting and the scale was good to me!  I knew I had lost some weight, I felt it, I just wasn't sure how much, and then I started my period last night so I knew that would probably effect the scale some.  But I got on and I had lost THREE.POUNDS!  YES!  That's a total of 7 pounds.  I also got my first 5-pound sticker.  For every 5 pounds you lose, you get a sticker to put on your bookmark that you got on your second week at the meeting. I celebrated by enjoying some delicious pizza from Papa Murphy's.  I get my pizza from there now on the de-lite crust.  It's 30% fewer calories than the regular crust and most pizzas that I get on it are only 4 points a slice compared to 8 points a slice.  In the meeting we talked about NSV's (non-scale victories).  One of  my NSV's is the fact that I can tell that my chub roll isn't as close to the steering wheel as it has been in the past!

(Not the greatest picture, I know!)

Chicken Pot Pockets

I found this website called http://www.hungry-girl.com/ and she has some yummy looking recipes on her website that are WW point-friendly.  I tried a new one Monday night called Chicken Pot Pockets.  It's basically a chicken pot pie but the crust is egg roll wrappers.  They were good, however when using the egg roll wrappers, make sure you are only working with one wrapper and not two, they are very, very thin.  Those little boogers tricked me until the very end.  LOL!!  They were very simple to make and I think you could do a variety of things with those wrappers too - fruit pies come to mind!  Here is a picture of them and the recipe that I copied from her website.

Chicken Pot Pockets

PER SERVING (1 pocket): 88 calories, 1g fat, 242mg sodium, 16g carbs, 1g fiber, 1.5g sugars, 4g protein -- POINTS® value 2*

Ingredients:
12 large square egg roll wrappers (found in the refrigerated section of the supermarket with the other Asian items)
One 10.75-oz. can 98% fat-free cream of celery condensed soup
2 cups frozen bite-sized mixed veggies (like diced carrots, peas, corn, etc.)
2 oz. cooked skinless lean chicken breast, finely chopped
1 tsp. cornstarch
Optional: salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small dish, mix cornstarch thoroughly with 1 tsp. cold water. In a large bowl, combine cornstarch mixture with soup, and mix thoroughly. Add veggies and chicken, mix well, and then season to taste with salt and pepper, if you like. This is your filling. Set aside.
On a large dry surface, lay out three egg roll wrappers. Set out a small dish of water, dip your finger into it, and then run your finger along all of the wrapper edges -- repeat this as needed while preparing your pockets, as it will help keep them sealed.

Starting about 1/2 inch from the bottom, place 2 - 3 tbsp. of filling along the bottom half of each wrapper, leaving a 1/2-inch border on both sides. Fold the top half of each wrapper over, so that the top edge meets the bottom -- the mixture should be completely encased with a 1/2-inch border on three sides. Dab each border with water, and fold each inward about 1/4 inch to lightly seal all sides. Press firmly along the borders with the prongs of a fork to seal completely.

Line a large baking pan with foil and/or spray with nonstick spray. Using a large spatula, carefully transfer the pockets to the baking pan. Repeat the entire process 3 more times, so that you have 12 pockets on the baking sheet. If needed, prepare and use an additional baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Then dig in!

MAKES 12 SERVINGS

Thank you Mr. Scale!

Last night was another weigh-in.  The scale was kind to me.  I lost .6 pounds, more than half a pound so I say round-it-up!  LOL!!  I was just happy I lost considering I didn't make the greatest food choices for more than half the week last week.  This week and going forward I AM going to do better.  Tonight I'm going to stop at a local produce stand and see what kind of fresh fruits and veggies they have.  Then I'm going to the grocery store to do some shopping.  I'm also going to meal plan our meals for next week so I know exactly what I'm cooking and when.  When we were on the Daniel Fast at church, we ate nothing but fruits and veggies and I had to meal plan and it was really enjoyable coming home and know what you were going to fix for supper and that you were using healthier ingredients. 

I got a few new ideas of how to incorporate fruits and veggies in the day from the meeting and the handouts we get.  A few ideas I'm going to try is layering a peanut butter sandwich with fresh sliced strawberries instead of jelly; pureeing fresh or frozen blueberries and mixing in with ground beef for a super-juicy burger; mashing steamed cauliflowers with nonfat milk as an alternative to mashed potatoes.  There was lots more, but those are some of the ones that seemed really interesting to me. 

I'm also going to keep track of what filling foods I eat and try to track when I'm really hungry or just bored.  

I also found a website yesterday called Hungry-Girl and she is following the WW plan.  She has lots of yummy-looking recipes I have printed out and want to try and lots of great information. 

The Start of a New Journey

Earlier in the week I decided I wanted to join Weight Watchers. I found a church in Newburgh that has meetings on Thursday evenings at 5:30. That is perfect. The church is on my way and I could get there right after work. I was going to join by myself, however I was on the phone with a friend one evening and I knew that she used to do WW. I asked her if she still did it, and she said no, but she was wanting to start again and asked if I wanted too. Thank you Jesus for sending me a help mate! I told her I wanted too and that there was a place in town and when they were. Last night was the first meeting and now my friend and I are members. In that meeting, we got signed up, weighed in, got our materials and then enjoyed an informational meeting. After that meeting, there was a brief meeting for new members. I've done WW before, back in 2006 at work, so I already know a little bit about the program. I'm excited for what I am doing. I know that this is going to be a lifestyle change for me and not just a diet. And I know through my faith in this program, by prayer and fasting, and believing in myself and God, THIS WILL WORK!

My points I am allowed per day is 38. As I lose weight, those points will go down. I purchased a kit that contains a 3-month food journal, a Dining Out Companion book, a Food Companion book, and a quick meal idea and coupon book. The two companion books list the point values for thousands of food items and restaurants and will come in very handy!