Thursday, August 31, 2006

Scraped By

Somehow I managed to lost 0.5 lbs. this week despite the fact I was following the cookie, brownie & pizza diet instead of WW. I think that 's a cruel joke personally. Last week, I was much better foodwise, plus I went to the gym at least two time, but I gained 2 lbs. And this week I was horrible and I lost 0.5 lbs. I think it was because I wasn't wearing jeans when I weighed in this week, I was wearing gray trousers. Jeans are very heavy. In any case, I will get back on track this week. I have exactly 28 days (4 weeks) to meet my goal of a 50 lbs. star and 7.5 lbs. to lose. I can do it.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Grocery Shopping

So I was reading the Opinion section of a newspaper today and I came across an observation that had never, and I mean never, occurred to me while grocery shopping. I thought I would share it:

Babies in grocery carts
How about a child sitting in a grocery cart seat in a diaper that has sprung a leak? Never put your vegetables on the child's seat.

I'm one of those people that puts their vegetables on the child's seat - but no more. I'm totally grossed out by this. I guess on the upside, I always put my fruit and vegetables in the plastic bags provided and I always wash everything before I eat it. But never will I put fresh produce on the child's seat of a grocery cart again.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Sample Menus

My friend J asked me to post what I eat during a typical day on the Core program. She thought it would be helpful for anyone who was thinking about switching to Core or who was already on Core but stuck in a rut. And maybe it will help me get back on track because I have fallen off the wagon BIG time. So here are some sample menus taken directly from my journal:
(Note: Any foods that aren't Core will have the points in parentheses next to them.)

Day 1

Breakfast:
1 Thomas' Light English Muffin (1)
2 tbsp. fat free, sugar free strawberry jam (1)
1 bowl fruit salad (watermelon, strawberries, blueberries)
coffee with fat free milk
Lunch:
1/2 c. fat free cottage cheese
1 tomato with salt & pepper
1 bowl fruit salad
Snack:
1 banana
Dinner:
1 c. whole wheat pasta with 2 tsp. olive oil & oregano, basil, garlic
1 c. broccoli (mixed in with pasta)
1/2 c. fat free, sugar free chocolate pudding

Day 2

Breakfast:
Instant grits with fat free milk
1 bowl fruit salad
coffee with fat free milk
Lunch:
1 Garlic Rosemary chicken breast
1 tomato with salt & pepper
cucumber slices & carrot sticks
1/2 c. fat free, sugar free chocolate pudding
Dinner:
3 slices London Broil (marinated in fat free Italian dressing)
Roasted red potatoes (baked in olive oil and oregano)
green beans
1 bowl watermelon

Day 3

Breakfast:
1 Dannon Light 'n Fit yogurt (1)
1 peach
coffee with fat free milk
Lunch:
Tuna fish salad (made with 1 tbsp. fat free miracle whip & 1 tbsp. sweet pickle relish (0))
1 tomato
carrot sticks
Dinner:
1 Garlic Soy chicken breast
1 c. brown rice
green beans
1 bowl cantalope
Snack:
1 WW fudgesicle bar (1)

Curses...

So weigh-in didn't go quite as planned yesterday. I was up 2 lbs. which I didn't expect and it definitely sucks. I didn't actually expect to have a loss this week because I inexplicably had a big loss last week (3.7 lbs.), but I did think I had maintained. I thought I had a pretty good week food-wise, but then I went over my journal for the past week and I realized I didn't do as well as I had thought. There wasn't anything big on any particular day that I did wrong, though the 4 homemade chocolate chip cookies (made by mom for my little bro's first day at a new high school) on Wed. probably didn't help. It was just a series of places here and there where I could've made better choices. I also could have gone to the gym a little more. My goal for the gym is to go 4-5 times per week. I have only been twice this week.

In any case, I'm bummed because now I'm 8 lbs. from my 50 lb. star, instead of 6 lbs. like I had thought. I'm going to have to change the "6 lbs. to go" post-it note I have stuck to my bathroom mirror to keep me motivated...doh. However, I'm not discouraged because I still have plenty of time to meet my goal by 9/28 and I know where I got off track, so I know what work on for this coming week.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Goals

Here are my weight loss goals through the end of the year:

Sept. 28 - 50lb. Star
Nov. 2 - 60lb. Star
Jan. 4 - 70lb. Star

Basically, I want to lose about 30 lbs. by the end of year. I need to lose 6 lbs. to get my 50 lb. star. Hopefully, I'll work harder to achieve my goals by posting them for everyone to see. By the way, WW gives out stars for every 10 lbs. you lose, just like you used to get in kindergarten for being good or completing assignments, etc. It never fails to amaze me how hard I'm willing to work for one of those 10 lb. stars. Who knew the same reward system that worked at age 5 still works at age 26 :-).

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

And So It Begins...

After spending the past few months reading the blogs of my friends, I've decided to start one of my own. For the most part, I think it's going to be an attempt to chronicle my seemingly neverending journey to lose weight. Basically, I'm trying to keep myself motivated by being publicly accountable. I'll probably touch on some other subjects as well, such as my ongoing job search, rants about things I can't control, books I've read recently, etc. The plan right now is to post at least once a week (Thurs. or Fri.), but I'll try to post more often than that once I get the hang of this.

Here's some background info on me for those who don't already know it. I first joined Weight Watchers ("WW") in October 2001 - almost 5 years ago. To date, I'm pleased to say that I've lost about 45 lbs. However, I still need to lose another 60 lbs., at the very least, and maybe a little more than that. By the way, I probably won't post my actual weight ever, only how much I've lost. Maybe I will post it when I hit my goal, but don't hold your breath.

I'm currently doing the WW Core program, which has been really working out for me. I started this past June at the persuasion of my friend Broccoflower and since I started Core, I've lost a total of 12 lbs. So I highly recommend the Core program to everyone, especially to anyone who has been counting points and has hit a plateau. That's why I made the switch. Alright, that's all for now, but stay tuned.