Sometimes, finding the ‘why’ isn’t the important part.  Thinking too much about the why can spiral one into a internal debate and can be seriously DEmotivating.  Each day is not always going to be a bouquet of flowers.  Hopefully more days will than not.  Today, was another day where I just felt ‘fat’, bloated and pregnant…Not pregs, just when I get so bloated it looks like I swallowed a balloon.  What’s interesting is when I am feeling this way for some reason I feel like I need to eat heavy, large meals.  Maybe to fill the space with something real instead of air? I dunno.  Of course I am trying to figure out ‘why’ I am feeling this way today. Was it the fiber one bar this morning? Did I eat something that my system can’t process? Why, Why, Why?  While sitting on the couch after work watching an always entertaining episode of Real Housewives of Atlanta, I decided to browse Facebook.  My lovely trainers Tone it Up popped up on my feed and they were featuring before and after pictures of one of the member’s Brianna Sky.  Now, if this doesn’t motivate you to get off your butt, your helpless.  I couldn’t just continue to sit there in my bloated body listening to Nene Leakes run her gawd awful mouth. I had to get up.  Got into some comfy clothes, jumped into my sneakers and I was almost ready to go.  I opened up my Youtube channel and went right to my favorites and chose two of my favorite videos by Tone It Up.  Both, from the 2011 Bikini Series.  First up I chose the Sandcastle workout followed by the Bikini Strap workout. Let me tell you, by the time I completed the Sandcastle workout (15 mins) I was sweating!!! NO JOKE. These girls get you working quickly!

You don’t need a lot of space to work out.  And, you don’t need a lot of time. So, you see there are no real reasons why you cannot fit in a workout.  Only self sabotaging excuses.   Below are a couple quick pics I took to show you how I quickly and easily rigged up my laptop on the coffee table so I could workout to the video.

Here’s to getting off the couch..cheers.

Carpe Diem…..Stephanie

Last week our son’s college was out for Spring break and he came home.  He and his girlfriend and his friend.  The house was full with three 19 year olds.  As the week progressed four of their other friends drove down from Washington.  We then had another body in our living room a few nights.   These kids are serious night owls and most nights they went to bed at 3 and 4am.  The living room looked like a sea of dead bodies when I left for work each day.

It was nice to have my child close by and under the same roof.  Having an ‘adult’ child is such a different dynamic as a parent.  I have such respect for my son and hold him in a high regard.  Over the past two years I have learned to ‘let go’ of things I cannot control while he is away at college.  You know, all the silly mom worries…is he safe, is he getting enough sleep, is staying warm when it snows..on and on.  But, running that tape through my head does not produce anything good. Being that I am no longer a crazy person riddled with worry, it has allowed me to interact differently with my son when we talk on the phone, and face to face.  The ‘kids’ as I will often refer to them had a fun spring break. Two of their friends had never been to L.A. so that in itself was fun for them.  They all went to their first ‘nightclub’ in Hollywood.  In fact, they went twice.  I’m actually glad we had a house full, it kept my son busy and out of the house instead of succumbing to video games 24/7 (he did manage to squeeze in some quality gaming time too). Movies, nightclubs, Disneyland and about a 1000 restaurants…. it was a week of fun & silliness for the teens. So, back to the empty quietness of a ‘no kid’ household. Oh wait, it’s not that quiet… the bass has turned up and the walls are vibrating again..at least I have Madonna’s new album to fill the silence.

They are at it again, it’s Girl Scout cookie season.  I would be a complete fool to say that I am not eating any this year.  I have already sampled Thin Mints and Savannah Smiles and they were every bite delicious.  I ate way too many BUT – I COUNTED & TRACKED all the points.  That’s what it’s all about folks. Whether you splurge or completely fall off the wagon, you must be accountable so you can visually see how many points are being consumed. I will not bore you with the details of my points consumption from yesterday (the day we brought home these gems). Needless to say, I am very happy with myself for counting the points.  I’ve said before that ignorance is not bliss with Weight Watchers.

I will be earning some serious activity points this week to allow myself some more of these annual goodies!

happy counting!!!

xoxox

Oh boy, where do I start…? Since my last post on 2/12/12 I have fallen off the Weight Watcher’s wagon.  Help me JHUD (Jennifer Hudson)!  My funny little food experiment I blogged about sure wasn’t that funny.  Since that time two weeks ago I have been the worst Weight Watcher member ever. Yes, I know shame shame.  Even Life Coaches aren’t perfect.  Hahah! That day literally through me in a downward spiral.  I have not really counted my points, some days I counted some points and others not at all. Not only that, but I committed the cardinal sin of WW (my opinion only here) I have NOT GONE TO A MEETING OR WEIGHED IN…so not only have I totally eaten my stomach to look pregnant AGAIN. Oh goodness. I confess to you all, my muffin top has returned.  And it feels like CRAP. Having rolls underneath your bra feels the worse. This I know, does not look or feel good.

I also vowed to vlog/blog my journey everyday and I have seriously failed at that.  Maybe if I do, it will keep me more accountable….something to ponder.

The second WW meeting I went to a girl was talking about how she hates to track points because it is so much work.  At the time I was thinking, it’s work but not that big of a deal; you want to lose weight right?  But now, I TOTALLY get it. It seems like a chore, like I don’t get enough daily points…

What does that mean?  Am I trying too hard to get to an unrealistic goal?  Am I totally obsessed with being model skinny? Maybe my body is comfortable exactly at the weight it’s at and that is why I am struggling?  All good questions for me to dive into.

Sending love and encouragement to all who are on a healthy journey.  Until next time….

A typical weekend day before Weight Watchers.  I did an experiment on Saturday. A rather risky and expensive one at that. Expensive in Weight Watchers points that is.  I did not count any thing I ate and ate like I used to before WW.  I went the whole day as if I were not on the program. I woke up on Sunday and tracked EVERYTHING I put into my mouth yesterday. Shocking and telling! No wonder there are so many overweight people.  Some foods seem harmless but really pack in the fat, carbs, and calories.  Of course, most of my choices were terrible; but it’s all putting it into perspective.  A reminder of where I came from.

The day started off great with a banana and coffee at my Weight Watchers meeting, where I went down again. 0.8 this week.  A little less than a pound but I will take it. No complaints here.

Breakfast: banana, 0 points + creamer in my coffee 1 point + 1/4 cup of Pistachio nut meats (no shells), 5 points.

Went to lunch at Chic-fil-A.  You can probably guess this is where the shit hit the fan. Here’s what I ordered.

Side Salad (w/sunflower seeds) & fat free honey mustard dressing, 3 points + Large waffle cut fries, 14 points + Large Strawberry Milkshake = 18 points. 

Well that was an interesting lunch.  My daily points range/allowance is 26.  By the end of the lunch I had already eaten 30 points…holy hell.

In the evening we went to the movies to see Safe House.  I LOVE me some movie popcorn so in good old fat days fashion, I ordered a small sans butter.  There are about 8 cups in the small popcorn. Side note – this theater does not have ‘kids’ sizes or kids packs.  So the popcorn was about 11 points + diet coke, 0 points.

After the movies, it was dinner time.  Why start counting now right?  We went to this great new little pizza joint called 800 Degrees and they have thin-ish style pizza.  They are all personal size pizza’s (roughly 12) inches. I got the Pizza Bianca which was olive oil, garlic, mozzarella cheese, oregano and sea salt.  I am guesstimating this to be about 20 points. After all, I did eat the whole thing.  There was no way I was going to take some to go and allow a very naughty day carry over into Sunday.

Add all that gluttony up and there were 73 total WW points plus points consumed.

Now, here is a photo of a lady sitting next to me in the theater. I had to take this picture. This is exactly what I am trying to avoid by exercising like a maniac and being on Weight Watchers.

What I re-learned during my first week back to the program…

• If you bite it you write it
• Do not eat if your physically not hungry
• Do not give into temptation before really thinking about it
• Know the points value of the food BEFORE you eat it
• Track everything…see #2 above
• Vegetables make great snacks
• Peanut Butter has TONS of fat
• Some foods are just not worth the points

Saturday is my meeting day and my first weigh in was a success. I lost 2.6lbs and could not be happier.  Planning and counting are the keys to it all. And, maybe a bit of exercise!!! Looking forward to another week of planning and tracking.!!! Thankfully, I did not go to a super bowl party today…that would have been very challenging.  Happy Blogiversary to me.  3 years ago today – Superbowl Sunday I started blogging!!

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but through persistence.  Buddha

I totally forgot to blog yesterday (Thursday Day 5)..then at bedtime it hit me. Oh crap…I just had to let it go.  So, today is a twofer.  I want to know if you are aware of what triggers you into your ‘old’ ways or behaviors. I find it interesting that at any moment we can lose ourselves in the moment and start self destructing with food.  Day 5 went very well, I even left 1 point on the table. I can bet that probably won’t happen to often. Now, Day 6 was a bit of a challenge. The whole day was not, but two specific times. One being lunch time, I was super super super busy and needed some ‘comfort’ food.  My go to has been this tasty little Mexican place.. so good.  So fattening, fried and greasy. I think that eating there multiple times a week has brought me to my current situation

When that moment hit I stopped to really think about it and analyze what was going on…smart I know!  I allowed myself to feel the need to be ‘comforted by warm beans’ and welcomed it. I did not push the feelings away or ignore them.  I then thought about how exactly I would feel if I did eat that.  Full. Bloated. And PISSED that I ate something I cannot track (they do not have nutritional info posted). If I were to let myself off the hook today, then that would just open the flood gates and I would soon find myself finding excuses why it would be okay to eat non trackable meals.  That is DANGEROUS. Especially in my first week, um no thanks.  It’s funny that I just talked about this on day 4.  Needless to say, I knew I needed to eat foods that would fuel my energy so I could power through the work day to finish my work (or rather put a dent in it).  And so I did…ahhhh feels good.  Tomorrow is the moment of truth. I feel pretty good about this week between WW and starting a new work out at the gym with weights.

Have you noticed when you begin your weight loss efforts/diet, etc. you feel lighter?  Such a great feeling.  Eating light = feeling light. And, on the other side of the coin, eat a heavy meal, say fettuccine alfredo or a calzone you feel heavy and like a log.  Yukkk….I do not miss that feeling and will remember how good I DO feel now for when I find myself in a moment of weakness I can draw on those feelings to pull me through. Today’s gym session was day 2 of weight lifting.  Reality sets in when you pick up some weights and realize just how much you need to build that upper body strength.  I love working the lower body and feel it’s my stronger area, as I imagine most people do considering we use our legs constantly.  The body is a powerful thing.  Watching the transformation in progress is what is really inspiring to me.

Off to visit the Sandman and let me poor muscles do their best at recovery.  Until next time, laugh more & hug a friend!

I’m backkkk…. another slam dunk of a day. Boy does being prepared really make a difference.  I grocery shopped on Sunday for the week so I can just grab stuff as I am running out the door in the morning.  If you’ve ever tried to lose weight you know exactly what I’m talking about.  I was very busy at work today so my mind wasn’t able to obsess over what I am going to eat next.  I logged all my food. I heard a great little saying at the WW on Saturday.  If you bite it you write it.  Talk about an accountability smack in the face!! That means one bite of ANYTHING..it better be on that food journal.  I think some people are afraid to log their ‘guilty pleasures’. I don’t really like to but I know how important it is.  It becomes ‘real’ when you see you had a piece of cheesecake for 65points…now that it’s on paper doesn’t really sound appealing does it? Not to me.

Have a great Wednesday and I will report in tomorrow!!

I am sipping some lovely Chamomile tea w/cinnamon reflecting on this day.  Today was an extremely busy day. In the weight loss world to me that means I don’t overeat. I’m too busy. I usually find myself over eating or eating when it’s not necessary when I am bored, anxious or unsettled. It’s 9:15pm and by golly I still have 4 points remaining.  Granted, I did lift weights today which awarded me 6 activity points. Not bad eh?  Today began my weight lifting mission. My husband and I went to the gym and he showed me an all over body routine so I know how to work the machines and how many reps to do, how many sets etc.  I’m fired up, adios softness, there is muscle moving in!!!

Here’s to tomorrow a day of soreness…. .

Stephanie