2Phat

Confession time.  I HATE to track food. It’s a pain in the butt to remember to write everything down and figure out the points.  If I track after the fact without planning meals/snacks I always get frustrated by how many points I’ve used.  I also hate to exercise indoors.  Big surprise I’m overweight eh?

Enough whining!

Note to self: if this were easy, no one would have a weight problem and anything worth doing, is worth doing well!  Get back on the bus already.

Note to self: Do not eat salty food the night before WI!

I was up .8 lb this morning. Since I weigh myself every morning I know this is not entirely correct as I’ve been down all week.  Last night I made mac & cheese (cheapo stuff: powder cheese that you mix up with milk & butter over macaroni) THEN I added a cup of cubed ham. That’s enough sodium to make me blow up like a balloon.  I’m expecting to be back on track next week.

I had an epiphany today. I’m so busy at work that I’ve forgotten how to schedule time. Every day I feel like I’m spinning in circles trying to get everything done and feeling frazzled by the end of the day. Funny how when I was working full time during the day, teaching college classes 2x a week at night and taking graduate classes on the weekend; I was able to get everything done but now that I have more free time, I’ve gotten lazy and let the time management fall by the wayside.  It’s only hurting me in the long run. In spite of my best intentions, I never seem to get around to planning meals, making time for exercise, or frankly making time in my day for me.  By trying to do everything at once, nothing gets done on time or correctly because I’m so distracted with all the other tasks that need to be done.  If I plan them out, I’ll tick them off in a more controlled manner and get more done.

So I’m going to start forcing myself to plan my time a week in advance, Starting TODAY! That way I’m not spinning in circles everyday chasing my tail to get things done. It’s much less stressful when I know what I’ve got planned for the day instead of trying to hold all the details in my head and juggle tasks. Guess I’ve learned my lesson! Good organizational skills make any kind of goals much easier to achieve. Note to self: Truely busy people make time for things that are important. People who say they are busy, are usually poor time managers.

Down 1/2 lb at WI this morning - I’ll take it! It’s been a weird weather week in Michigan and I didn’t get much exercise in. Only 1/2 lb to go to make it back to where I was 4 weeks ago! Hate it when it takes so long to make up lost ground! *Frustrating*

Note to self: PLAN MEALS AHEAD OF TIME! I thought a chicken sandwich from Burger King was a better choice when I was in a hurry for lunch one day this past week. Later in the day I looked up the point value on that sucker - woozer! 16 points! And I was feeling so righteous for not getting fries at the time. *rolls eyes*

As daylight grows shorter, I’m really struggling with getting in enough exercise. So I’m doing something new at work. Each and every time I have to get up for anything (bathroom break, meeting, get paper off the printer, get coffee or water, etc.) I’m deliberately walking down the steps, through the offices downstairs, up the front stairs, and the long way back to my office. It’s giving me at least 3000 more steps each day! I know that doesn’t seem like much; but consider that on a “normal” work day I usually get less than 2500 steps in total unless I push myself to go walking after work.

Anyone else have any easy ways to get more steps into your day? I can’t park any further away from work than I already do as I have an assigned parking spot right outside the door. I frequently work through my lunch hours and rarely take breaks… I’m working on changing that one.

I know I intentionally stepped off the wagon while I was on vacation. Forget falling off (–at least disembarking voluntarily has some dignity to it!). My logic was: “Heck, it will be there to hop back up onto down the dusty trail, right? ” ok, ok, not the best choice but it was a great no stress hiatus!

At any rate, I’m not going to do any personal browbeating about the 3.5 lb gain at WI this morning. Considering how much I indulged my inner child with eating out and snacking in the car while traveling with the Junk Food King, I’m amazed it’s not more of a gain. The WW weekly meetings really do help me refocus and regroup. I’m back on track again and on the wagon. Re-energized and ready to enjoy our beautiful autumn weather.

I’m married to a wonderful guy who unfortunately is the King of all junk food junkies. He is one of those people who can eat anything and not gain weight. He is also one of those aliens that can stop eating snacks out of the bag/box after one small hand full. His latest addiction is pizza flavored Pringles. He does his best to keep them out of my radar but they continue to call my name from the usual hiding spots. I simply can not eat just one, or twenty… it’s the whole can. I don’t buy trigger foods; however, he does and I swear that’s 90% of his diet! This is also the guy who quit smoking cold turkey the 1st time he tried. He has will power down to a science and can’t understand why it’s such a big deal. He is trying to be supportive but draws the line at giving up his junk food addiction.

I know some of you struggle with the same issue (kid & spouse junk-food snacks) - how do you cope? Sheer will power or substitution isn’t always working for me.

I’m looking for a recipe for squash soup - something with a little “bite” to it. I saw one a while back and can’t find it. It was different from Roni’s most excellent recipe in that it had a smooth thick creamy texture with small bits of red bell peppe.

Thanks for all the tips for walking! I have a conversion chart from our wellness committee at work that shows step conversions for most other exercise types. I’ll pass it on to anyone who is interested.

Yes, I am still alive. I have not been kidnapped. I was not abducted by aliens. I did not enter the witness protection program. I have not quit blogging. I have not given up on Weight Watchers. There, that should cover just about everything.

I’m back. Over two weeks of irregular Internet and beautiful vacation distractions like friends, family, scenic drives and food have put this blog firmly in its place, at the bottom of the priority list. I have momentarily deliberately stepped off the wagon for a small break from tracking points. To my surprise I have pretty much stayed the same according to my home scale. But now I’m recommitted to tracking food and points again. I _WILL_ get to a healthier weight!

For the month of October I have challenged one of my more competitive friends to a “step race”. We have identical pedometers and each day record the number of steps on the calendar. At the end of this month the looser has to go without sugar (including sweetened products) for an entire month! So far I’m averaging about 7000 steps a day. (10,000 steps = @ 5 miles) This is a hard challenge as I sit on my ass all day at work and I’m not a morning person, no matter how much I want to be. I’m using “Jedi mind tricks” to get additional steps in and force myself to get up and move more during the day. Wish me luck!