Friday, January 30, 2009

Friday night and the Weekend...

It's Friday Night and I saved enough points today that I splurged and we all went to Dairy Queen for ice cream! OK, so I split a banana split with DH I had plenty and even felt good leaving the last bite for him. DD had a pineapple Sunday, She likes Sonic's pineapple Sundays better. No one went over on points today either! It really felt good to have a treat and not feel guilty about it.

I didn't even use any of my "extra" points. I'm saving them for Monday which is my 49th birthday. I'm hoping to have lost at least 60 lbs by my 50th Birthday. That would be staying on track for 13 months without getting stuck on any major plateaus.

I saw the Dr today about my back. She says it's "just" muscle spasms and gave me pain medication and different muscle relaxers. We will see how that goes. Honestly I hope she's right but am not looking forward to spending too much time unable to exercise a lot. I need to get started with exercise if I'm going to keep up the good losses. And I really want to keep up the good losses.

This weekend we are going on a bit of a family retreat to a cabin in a very nice state park near by. We will be talking about major family goals and values, and setting some goals and making plans. We are also taking some fun games and just spending time together as a family. No TV, books or other solitary pastimes allowed. I think we are planning to stay up a bit late if the weather cooperates and do some stargazing.It will be nice especially as DH will be leaving next weekend for Italy on business. We also get to use the giant sleeping bag DH got me for Christmas.

It's very different having to plan a camping trip while thinking about points ans such. Good thing I have a great recipe for Veggie Chili that is only 2 points per 1 cup serving. We are taking Instant flavored Oatmeal for breakfast and bread and lunch meat for lunches. All are very good Point wise. I have some good low point snacks and fruits and veggies to munch on between meals and while game playing. I think this will be fun. I guess I will need to work out some more low point recipes that are camping friendly as we all enjoy camping.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

5 things I like about WW, 2 things I don't like about WW

Do's

1. I do like how the points system tends to keep me looking for low fat High fiber foods.

2. The meetings keep me motivated. Though some days the high energy leader makes me want to scream. But then some days rather resent that I'm not so high energy. Of course If I was my family might lock me in the closet until I was too weak to bounce so much!

3. It's easy to figure points out on packaged foods. The plan was made to be easy for packaged foods. Face it many people eat prepackaged everything with maybe some kind of salad.

4. The check boxes on the journal make keeping track of water and fruits and veggies easier. I don't think I would drink nearly enough water if I didn't have those little boxes staring at me. and it's easy to eat all your points in meat and starches if you are not paying attention.

5. I feel much better when I drink the water the recommend.

Don'ts

1. I don't like how much time I spend converting info to points for recipes I've used for ever. It's way easier when you don't use a lot of packaged foods to just count calories. I just don't use packaged foods often.


2. They also annoy me because their web-site (and meetings to some extent)tends to give me a sense that all they want is my money. they are always hyping their products. I've tried their products and honestly I can find equivalent or better tasting, better for you, products for better prices in the regular grocery store. Sure I have to look harder and have to read the labels but shouldn't that be what they are teaching you? Their website doesn't list points in for products that compete with their products.

Over all I do like their system but I also think that because it's easier to eat packaged foods rather than fresh foods some people end up not eating the quality of foods they should. It is annoying that I have to work harder on their system than someone that eats more prepackaged junk food.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Count Down 100...The Begining

I needed to lose the weight. I had been thinking about it for a while. Weight Watchers was the only thing that had ever worked for me. When I told DH I wanted to join WW again, My DH asked me "Why? Why now? What's different?" I couldn't answer him. I just cried. I don't remember exactly what I told him but he felt bad because I cried.

I started Weight Watchers 1/13/09 I was nearly 49 years old and 5'3" tall weighing in at a whopping 238.2 lbs. I decided that unlike times before what was different was that I would set a goal and I would NOT say "but I'd be happy with". My real goal is 135. WW insists you start with a 10% goal. OK but that's NOT my real goal. It can be a celebration point on my way to my real goal but it is NOT my goal.

After starting WW I finally could talk to my family about why I needed to do this. I told them about all the pictures I've taken of our family on vacation. Mostly of their butts as they raced on ahead and I dragged on behind. I didn't even talk about the pictures I wasn't in because I really didn't want anyone to remember me as I am. I realized that if I died tomorrow my girls would forget what I looked like because there would be few if any recent pictures of me. I want to be a part of my family not just someone that tags along and can't quite keep up.

My first weigh in (1/20/09) was great. 233.6 lbs that was 4.6 lbs down. Then nice lost was great. The meeting was good too. No one there looked at me as a fat person. Just a person with the same struggles as they had. There were some lifetime members there that had lost over 100 lbs. That really gave me hope.

My second weigh in (1/27/09) was even better. 227.8 lbs that was down 5.8 more lbs. I still have a long way to go. and I expect my losses to slow down soon. The first weeks of any diet usually go faster, Trust me on this I've years of dieting experience behind me to prove it. But I'm going to try to keep the losses big for as long as I can.

I'm down a total of 10.4 lbs, only 92.6 to go. I'm guessing it will take about 2 years to get there.

Our family is planning something special for summer 2010. A celebration. Since I was a teenager I've always thought that doing some bicycle touring would be a lot of fun. I can ride about 30 miles now but not without a great effort and a lot of pain afterward. I'll need to be able to ride about 50 miles a day. So the goal is lose the weight and get in shape to do a lovely bicycle tour the summer of 2010. I've not decided where to go yet but DH says I get to pick. I know I may not be at goal weight by then though I will certainly try for that, but more importantly I need to be in much better physical shape to do it. DH has pledged to provide all the gear we need and help with training for it. DD#2 has pledged to learn to ride a bike so she can come too! I Love that my family is being very supportive. I really don't want to disappoint them or me.