Ok. I confess. I’ve forgotten all about points, weight loss, and “dieting” for the past few weeks. I feel gross, fat, tired, and sick. And it stops now. I’m getting back on!!! I’ve bought healthy food, planned a few menus, and I even picked up the May/June WW magazine to read for inspiration tonight. I’m not going to weigh myself (since we’ve seen how far off my scale is!) until mid-May when the husband and I get our Wii Fit in It has a built-in BMI tracker, so I’ll use that since it will likely be most accurate. I need some encouragement and motivation though, so feel free to send those comments my way! Clearly something went wrong over the past few weeks (likely linked to a super busy schedule with 20 hours of work a day on NIGHTS ewww) but it needs to stop! And I say enough is enough!

I’ve been working 14+ hours a day for the past two weeks! It’s killing me, but there’s only a little more to go. Eating has gone out the door mostly, and forget exercising, but I’m making pretty decent choices despite it all. Here is the exciting information though….

So as most of you know, I’ve been SUPER frustrated with having only lost 5 pounds in about 11-12 weeks of self-WWing. I’d lost from 176.6 to about 171 +/- a fwe ounces. I’d tried Wendi, varying my points, eating only 22 points a day, etc. etc. Well, this Tuesday I had a regular doctor’s appt for an annual Pap. I hop on the scale after a wedding weekend with lots of delicious eating, fully expecting to see 174 or so… and what do I see? You’ll never guess….

161.5

I am not even kidding you.

MY STUPID SCALES HAVE BEEN WRONG THIS WHOLE TIME! I’ve lost bucket-fulls of weight! That’s at least 10 pounds less than I thought I weighed!!!! I don’t even know what to do at this point, but I have GOT to buy some new scales. Any suggestions?

I don’t know whether to be angry, or ecstatic or what…. but I’ve been pretty much spastically excited about it I just KNEW something was working! I now have an incentive to keep with it, and I am going to spend some time this weekend thinking about just what that might look like right now. Back to sleep before work… but I really needed to update y’all!!!

Ok… life is definitely crazy and in HIGH GEAR. My first day of OBGYN was quite hectic, and today was even worse. Yesterday (Mon), I got to spend much of my day working in the infertility clinic, which was really neat. It involved mostly counseling women who were trying to get pregnant but unable to about their options and checking all sorts of levels to see what was causing their problem. I really enjoyed it Today, however, was a different story! I was in the OR (operating room = think Grey’s Anatomy) from 5am until 7pm…. YUCK O… doing gynecologic oncology (cancer in ovaries, uterus, etc.) It’s messy, and quite sad for the patients, and a very difficult schedule! I absolutely did NOT get to eat today (good? bad?)… I had a bar for breakfast and a half of sandwich some some salad at “lunch.” I just go thome (7:30pm) so I’m going to eat before doing some more work, going to bed, and waking up for a repeat at 4am!

Today’s Weight: Scale is in the closet until Monday, April 14th!

FOOD:
B: Oatmeal To Go Square, 4
B: Big, big coffee, 0
L: Half turkey wrap, 5
L: Side salad with strawberries and a vinagaerette, 2
S: Apple, 1
D: Pasta, beans, tomato soup, 6
D: Two slices of bread toasted with light butter, 2
S: Skim milk with SF chocolate sauce, 2
TOTAL: 22

Ok… I’ve been off the wagon here for about a week. My routine was disrupted with my husband sporadically home, the end of one clerkship, and a birthday! Now, no joke… it’s back to it. (See posts below from Sunday)

Today’s Weight: 171.0 (ugh… same)
Next Weigh-In: Monday, April 14th (I will NOT weigh myself until then! I’m packing up the scale!)

Food:
B: Oatmeal-To-Go Square, 4
B: Half of a small skim cafe au lait, 1 (only half because I had to run to clinic!)
S: 90 calorie granola bar, 2
L: Ham and RF cheese on LP bread, 3
L: Apple, 1
L: Orange, 1
S: Kashi Bar, 2.5
D: Stir-fried veggies, 1 (just because of the bulk)
D: Pasta, tomato, canellini bean soup (BIG portion), 6
TOTAL: 21.5

AND… I went on a very, very brisk 33 minute walk in a hilly nieghborhood

I need some new ideas. I love Oatmeal-To-Go squares. I like oatmeal with blueberries. I like Trader Joe’s frozen blueberry waffles with a hint of powdered sugar. I LOVE healthy muffins. But I need some fresh ideas for this month for breakfast food between 4 and 6 points that is portable, filling, and QUICK QUICK QUICK! Anyone have ideas for me?

Italian Sausage Soup
Cooking Light mag., 2004

This soup has that simmered-all-day flavor but takes just minutes to prepare. Serve it with hot crusty bread.

8 oz. hot or sweet turkey Italian sausage
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes w/basil, garlic and oregano
1/2 cup uncooked small shell pasta
2 cups bagged baby spinach leaves
2 T. fresh grated Parm. or Romano cheese
2 T. chopped fresh basil

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan, and cook for about 5 minutes or until brown, stirring to crumble. Drain, return to pan.
2. Add broth, tomatoes and pasta to the pan, and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until pasta is done. Remove from heat, stir in spinach until wilted. Sprinkle each serving with cheese and basil.

Serves 4. Serving size, 1 1/3 cups soup, 1 1/2 t. cheese and 1 1/2 t. basil

5 WW pts
Calories: 216 (30% from fat); Fat 7.1 g; Protein 17.4 g; Carb. 20 g; Fiber 1.6 g; Chol 52 mg; Iron 3.2 mg; Sodium, 1,020 mg; Calc 153 mg.

Man, I have been eating just whatever floats my boat these past few days! With my birthday this weekend, I had cake, pizza, steak dinner, etc. etc. etc. It’s just been crazy! But that needs to stop, and it stops RIGHT NOW. I had lost a little weight this week with the couple of walks in between the VERY rainy days we’ve had, but I think that’s all a distant memory to my butt and thighs and waist now!

On another fun side note, I have a wedding that I’m in next weekend for my former maid of honor! The bridesmaid dress isn’t my cup of tea, but it was custom made, so it theoretically fits me perfectly (aka after 4 dress fittings and a re-make by my mom this weekend, but that’s another story… haha). I think I’ll take a picture in it next weekend, and then follow my progress photos along wearing it! It’ll be funny, and actually put that dress to use! How’s that for “re-wearing a bridesmaid dress”?!

My husband is once again out of town (but this is the last time for as long as the horizon stretches), so it’s my chance to do well or to do poorly. It’s up to me! And I choose to do well. Additionally, it’s a brand new start for me. I just finished my rotation on Family Medicine, and I am starting OB-GYN for the next month. That means a new place, new responsibilities, and a new schedule… the new place is great (back home at the big state hospital which I love), the responsibilities will be fun (Delivering babies!!! What could be more fun that being the first person to touch a brand new baby?!), but the schedule… the schedule will be horrendous. My hours will be about 4:30am until 9:00pm from what I’ve heard in addition to overnight call in the hospital (aka: no sleep for 36+ hours) and a week of nights (aka: 6pm til 9am… yuck!). Nevertheless, sometimes all that time in the hospital can do wonders for my waistline I have a strategy that is in the works:

1) A good breakfast with about 6 points rather than my usual 3-4 points.
– Will fuel me for a long day
– Will keep me from overeating at night to use up my “extra points allotment for the day”
– Will mean more fruits/veggies since that’s an easy way to get more points in me in the morning

2) Exercise
– Being back at the main hospital means being on campus which means having access to the student gyms which are REALLY nice. I can either do classes (if I get out in time) or head over for some time on the treadmill.
– I also do not have the excuse of having 3 hours in the car a day like I did last month to cause me to blow of 30 min - 1 hr of exercise time.
– I will be on my feet, running around, ALL DAY LONG… that in and of itself is exercise. I’ll take the long way to and from my locker, patient’s rooms, the OR, the ER, etc. in order to use some extra calories up as long as my pager isn’t calling me!

3) Better planned meals.
– I rediscovered the beauty and the joy of that which is called… THE CROCK POT. This is such a wonderful invention! I don’t have a huge repertoire of recipes for it yet, but there are a few… and I have a Crock Pot cookbook! It’s so nice to pop some food in in the morning and the come home to a delicious meal later in the day
– This will also be very loving toward my husband if I can make meals ahead of time… it’s a way of us connecting when I’m gone so much (which I hate )
– If I plan ahead, I can take the meals with me to work for that night or the next day’s lunch.
– No more temptations of drug rep meals since I’ll be in the hospital… yay! No extra calorie treats!

4) Water, water, water
– Now this really is a silly one. I am SO able to drink water at the hospital because there are these FABULOUS ice/water machines at every nurses station with “pellet ice” and cold water. Do you know what pellet ice is? It’s the kind of ice that comes in little pill shapes that is almost soft, and when you crunch it, it turns into water instantly… like the kind you get with a really good fountain drink I love it. It helps me drink water
– However, more water + more responsibility/busy-ness = no time for bathroom breaks. This will be a challenge.

Just a few thoughts on how I will WW-survive this month… of course there are loads of other things that will come up: sleep, Bible study time, time with my husband, time with friends, cleaning the house when so busy, etc. etc. I’m looking forward to strategizing today on what my days should look like for this month (and the two to come after it since I’ll be on my surgery rotations then with much the same horrible hours!)

Anyone else have ideas of how to stay OP when life is so hectic around you? As far as eating or fitting in exercie?

Today’s a study day for me! I woke up hungry since I didn’t eat dinner last night 2/2 (secondary to) feeling nauseated from all that PF Changs! It’s raining and I’m cooped up inside studying for a test tomorrow, so my food choices haven’t been the best, but I haven’t been snacking, and I’m stuffed! So that’s a plus! If it stops raining, I hope to get a walk in again tonight. We went last night, too I’ll also be posting some longer posts/updates tomorrow and over the weekend. I’m just frazzled right now

PS: Scale read 170.4 today… is that a 0.6 lb weight loss? Or is that the fact that I didn’t have dinner? I hope it’s a loss!!!!

FOOD:
B: Bagel with cream cheese, 10
B: Coffee with 2% milk, 0.5
L: Broccoli Cheddar Soup, 5.5
L: Chips, 3
(notice how there are no fruits, veggies on here…. hmm… yikes hehe!)

RUNNING TOTAL: 19

I live in the South… we love our BBQ. I in particular LOVE BBQ! We go out a couple times a month for barbeque, but I never know just how many points to count since I can’t tell always just how lean the meat is, what is in the sauce, etc. And when we go out… we tend to get hushpuppies, sweet tea, sweet potato fries, etc. Yikes! (but delicious!) So I came up with what has turned out to be “the best” BBQ I’ve ever eaten… and my husband agrees! We live in North Carolina, so the sauce tastes like good ol’ NC BBQ sauce — vinegar-based, sweet and spicy. Yum! But you could always make this and add on a thicker, ketchup-based sauce if that’s what you like after it’s done when you serve it up. I’ve made this twice now, and the recipe is “ad lib” since it’s our family’s BBQ sauce that we’ve never written down…. until now I guess It’s also for Crock Pot which I think is fabulous since you can put it together in 5 minutes and have dinner ready when you get home from work. I totally recommend trying this ASAP! It’s so good and can usually be made from what you have on hand. We eat it with or without a bun with some baked sweet potato fries and something green. Yum-O!

BBQ Pork Tenderloin:

Place defrosted, lean pork tenderloin, devoid of any fat or shiny skin, into a Crock Pot. I typically cook 1-2 pound tenderloins at a time.

Sauce (may double, triple, etc. based on how much meat you have… I usually double it and have leftover):
3/4 c apple cider vinegar
4-5 Tbsp white sugar
4-5 generous Tbsp ketchup
2 squirts yellow mustard
2 shakes worcestershire sauce
Fresh ground black pepper to taste

* Wisk ingredients together in a bowl.
* Pour on top of pork.
* Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 6 hours. (Really, you can cook it as long as you want… I’ve cooked mine as long as 12 hours on low when I had a long day at work, and it still tasted great!)
* When done, use two forks to pull apart meat to have shredded BBQ… it falls apart! Serve with or without buns.

This is just so good! Try it and let me know what you think! I usually count points for this just for the meat + 1 point for the sauce (given the sugar, ketchup), but since the sauce is vinegar based and is so thin, it’s really not too many points at all! The pork tenderloin is 1 pt per 1 oz…. that’s awesome!

I’m having a great day today… for one, it’s sunny and warm when it was supposed to be cloudy and cold! And for another… I am DONE with my rotation in Family Medicine which means I am DONE with driving 1.5 hrs to work and 1.5 hrs home from work every day!!! Yes! On the down side, we had PF Chang’s for lunch, and while I didn’t get “much,” what I ate had WAY too many points! Yikes! Oh well… I hope to get in a walk tonight before Bible Study to counter some of it!

*** I’m about to post a recipe for BBQ so look out for it!!! ***

Food:
B: Oatmeal To Go Square, 4
B: Starbucks FF, SF Vanilla Latte, 2
Water x4
L: PF Chang’s Spring Roll, 3
L: 1/2 c brown rice, 2
L: Chicken and Beef, 8
L: I’m ashamed to admit…. brownie :(, 7
L: Stawberries and blackberries, 0

RUNNING TOTAL: 26 (and I’m STUFFED and feel icky)