I’ve tried out Roni’s new community and it’s really awesome!  So I won’t be posting here anymore.

 You can find my new blog here. 

So I said in my last post that I wanted to post 5 days a week (meaning Mon thru Fri), and I already didn’t post on Friday!  So I’m making up for it now. 

Last night was Outback Night at my kids’ school.  Outback Steakhouse donated food and servers and the kids/parents put on a talent show - it was so much fun!  As I sat there with my plate in front of me I heard that inner voice say, “I have no idea how many points this is… oh well.”  But I quickly realized I can’t keep doing that.  I needed to come up with a point value for what was on my plate, even if it was a guess.  So I guestimated 15 points, which used up a chunk of my flexpoints, but at least I have an idea of where I stand.  If I hadn’t guessed, I would have assumed I had already blown it and given up (and eaten who knows what else!).

Tonight I’m going to my nephew’s wedding, so I’ll face more temptation.  But I’ll make a guess and keep on going.  I may be out of flexpoints by tomorrow, but tomorrow through Thursday will be easier because I won’t be eating out.

I survived the munchies last week, but they came back on Monday, and I’ve had a hard time shaking them.  It’s now Thursday and I’m trying to think what I can do tonight to keep myself busy so I won’t snack!  I gained a pound last Thursday when I weighed in, and today I’m up another.  I said goodbye to the 150’s 6 weeks ago, and I NEVER want to see them again!  But here I am just 2 lbs away…

I need to really get my focus back.  Today I’ve been writing down everything.  I’ve also decided to make Thursday the day my flexpoints refresh instead of Monday.  This way I’m weighing in and refreshing on the same day, and it gives me a few days to recover from the weekend.  We’ll see how this goes.  I also plan to post 5 times per week this month - I haven’t been coming back here much lately and I think it will help my focus to blog more.  That’s why I set this up to begin with, right?

Tonight after dinner I’m going to walk over to the middle school (about half a mile) to watch my neighbor’s daughter play softball.  That will get me out of the house (away from the potato chips) for a while AND get me some exercise - and a nice visit with my neighbor.  She’s doing weight watchers, too.  Maybe she’ll energize me!

Today, instead of hanging out in the kitchen and snacking while I watch “Ellen”, I fixed myself a cup of decaf coffee and headed upstairs to the office to read blogs and type this post.  I need to get back on track.  I haven’t completely fallen off the wagon, but I haven’t been as diligent lately as I should be. 

I’m down to 147, which is 20 lbs below my highest weight last summer when I first started swimming (I’ve definitely been diligent about my swimming!).  I’ve lost an average of about 1 lb/week, but it’s taken me about 6 weeks to lose the last 3 lbs. 

I’ve been trying to get in more activity in addition to my swimming.  I’ve started walking with a friend at work - just a mile, but it gets me moving and allows me less time in the lunch room where the chocolate covered walnuts are.  And it’s a nice break.  I took my puppy to my son’s baseball practice last night.  If I had left her home I would have sat bundled in a blanket the whole time.  But she can’t sit still for that long, so I had to walk her around the school a few times - more activity! 

I’ve also been trying to be more organized and make better use of my time.  I can’t remember where I came across a reference to this book, but “eating my frog” first has really increased my productivity at work and at home.  When I feel like things are piling up I get stressed, and when I get stressed I snack.  So I’m making an effort to be more in control.

Dr. Oz saved me tonight. He was saying at the end of Oprah today that he wants everyone to eat a slice of 100% whole grain bread with a little extra virgin olive oil every night before dinner for the next 2 weeks. 2 weeks ago he asked everyone to give up sugary sodas for 2 weeks, and this is the second thing he wants all of America to do (I don’t drink sugary drinks, so that one didn’t apply to me).

When I heard this I was about to make a serious dent in a bag of potato chips, but his suggestion sounded tasty, and I had some on hand, so I did it. I used just a teaspoon of evoo which is about 1.5 pts, plus 1 pt for the bread, and I sprinkled in just a little grated parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and oregano. It was a tasty, satisfying treat! And I didn’t feel like devouring a bunch of chips after that.

Also, the article in Roni’s latest post is so awesome, I wanted to post the full text here in my blog so I can refer back to it when I’m having a tough time: 

Fitness Guru: Setbacks Are Par for the Weight-Loss Course

By Eugenie Jones
Saturday, March 15, 2008

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/mar/15/fitness-guru-setbacks-are-par-for-the-weight/

Subway’s Jared is celebrating 10 years of keeping his weight off. Jenny Craig’s Kirstie Alley is rumored as putting weight back on, and as we approach month three of the New Year, many weight-loss resolutions are succeeding, but many more have fallen by the wayside.

Some win, but many others lose in this idea of permanent weight loss. It makes you wonder if it is really possible to lose weight and keep it off.

The topic of a CNN news special suggests the answer to that question is “yes.” The report discussed a study, conducted by Drs. James Hill and Rena Wing, of 3,000 members of their National Weight Control Registry.

The study found that people who lost an average of 60 pounds and kept it off for an average of five years hold seven things in common.

They believe failure is to be expected, but that when you keep trying, ultimately you will be successful. They’ve tried and failed and tried and tried again, until they got it right. They know firsthand that setbacks are par for the course.

Weight loss is not an exercise in denial, but rather a lifestyle built on moderation and the inclusion of a wide variety of foods. Those who kept their weight off realize that deprivation leads to binging and binging leads to setbacks. They’ve learned to eat a wide variety of foods — even an occasional treat.

They closely monitor their weight, daily and/or weekly tracking loss or gains. There’s no way ten pounds will sneak up on these weight loss success stories because they check their weight often and modify their eating and activity levels according to what their morning encounter with the bathroom scale reveals.

They plan for and exercise moderately for an hour each day. While many of those successful in their weight loss exercise for one hour, it’s OK to do less. Thirty minutes of daily walking, for instance, can bring tremendous benefit.

Just kept in mind that it’s not exercising for 30 minutes instead of an hour that has made near 50 percent of the U.S. population overweight or obese — it’s the fact that we do not exercise at all that has led to that national trend.

Beyond planned exercise, they add in activity wherever they can. That means taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking to work, parking in the farthest parking space from the store when shopping, and any other thing you can to do to make your day more active.

They eat a diet low in fat and high in carbohydrates. That translates to shopping, cooking and eating low-fat and high-carb food choices. As a permanent way of life, these weight-loss successes choose plenty of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meat and diary products and occasional allowances of sugar and fat.

They eat small frequent meals — often five — spread out over the day. Daily calorie needs are spread out over breakfast, lunch, dinner and a couple of snacks throughout the day. This “grazing” method of eating is believed to more effectively stave off hunger and lessen the chances of overeating and also keep the metabolism more active throughout the day.

As you choose your path to permanent weight loss, consider how your plan aligns to the key principles.

When they do, you’ll know you’re on the start to safe, permanent weight loss and a healthier new lifestyle.

Hooray!  Another goal met!  I’ve been officially weighing in on Thursdays, but I peeked today and I liked what I saw.  :~)

I haven’t posted much lately.  I’ve been reading lots of blogs, and doing okay on my plan, but that hasn’t left me much time to post. 

 I went away for a scrapbookking weekend after my last post, and it was hard to stay on plan.   Friday I met my scrapbookking friend for lunch at PF Chang’s before leaving my car at a park and ride to drive to WV together.  We got won ton soup and lettuce wraps, which didn’t seem like bad choices, but I consumed more than I needed.  Friday night I got a grilled chiken sandwich, and just ate the chicken and a couple of fries with it.  Saturday, we walked a mile from our hotel to a cafe in Shepherdstown for lunch.  It was chilly, but the fresh air and exercise was great.  I wasn’t super hungry for dinner on Saturday night, so I just had a bowl of black bean soup - that was a good choice.  I also had 2 beers with my soup and a Nutty Irishman afterwards - that was maybe not such a good choice.  All weekend there were snacks on our table - chocolate, nuts, etc. - so there was more snacking going on than was necessary.  When I left on Sunday, I went to the gym first (I’m so glad I had my stuff with me), and then went home.  If I had gone home first I never would have made it out of there again.

I did notice this year, that my back did not bother me at all during this “Crop ’til ya drop” extravaganza.  Normally by late Saturday afternoon I feel like I need a massage after all the sitting and sort of leaning over my scrapbook for hours on end.  But this year it was not a problem at all.  I think swimming has really strengthened my back.  :~)

Anyway, I’m gonna work my butt off this week because I really don’t want to have to log back in on Thursday after my official weigh in to “un-strike” my goal of saying goodbye to the 150’s.  I never want to see that number again!!  :~)

I met my first goal!  Today I’m wearing size 10 jeans for the first time in about 2 years.  It’s a great feeling!  I definitely need to go out and buy some new size 10’s since my old size 10’s are pretty faded and a little out of style.  I had been planning to buy some new jeans, but I wanted to wait until I could wear 10’s since I knew I was close.

It occurred to me today that I don’t feel burnt out at all on this new way of eating.  I feel like I could do this forever - which is good, I guess, since that’s kind of the idea.  ;~) 

Tomorrow I’ll weigh in.  Soon I’ll be crossing off another goal - saying goodbye to the 150’s.

I stepped on the scale on Thursday morning (since I’ve decided to try weekly weigh-ins for a while), and there was no change.  I told myself that was better than gaining, but I couldn’t help being a little disappointed.  That made me disappointed in myself for feeling disappointed over a number on the scale.  It’s just a number!!

Anyway, the disappointment stuck with me into Friday.  I normally swim on Friday mornings and, like I said a post or 2 ago, ice and snow don’t seem to stop me lately ’cause I’ve become this crazy swimming nut.  But Friday it just wasn’t happenning. 

I made myself a list down the left side of a page in a spiral notebook of all the things I wanted to get done on Friday, and down the right side I did a time grid for the day and planned out when I was going to work on each thing.  This is something I do alot, because if I don’t have a plan I will putz the whole day away!  But I hardly got anything done.  Some of that was because my boys were home from school because of the snow, and we spent about 2 hours playing Disney Trivia.  But mainly it was the lingering disappointment that had me in a bit of a funk. 

 But I still had a good day, food-wise.  I stayed within my points.  It was good that the game took so long (and we really had fun playing) because it kept me occupied so I didn’t snack.  In the afternoon I called a friend I haven’t talked to in months.  We were on the phone for almost an hour - she’s going through a nasty divorce and has 4 kids to take care of.  It’s a little selfish of me, but talking to her makes me realize how fortunate I am.  I’m in a funk because I didn’t lose a pound this week - what a baby I am!

Then this morning I got on the scale and I was down a pound.  So now the funk of Friday is gone, but I’m still a little mistified as to why I couldn’t just get past it a little quicker.

I can’t believe I haven’t written anything since Wednesday!  I sit down at the computer and I spend so much time reading other people’s blogs that I don’t have much time left to add to my own.  I did update my stats on Thursday to show that I lost another pound (9 gone now!), but I didn’t write a post to mention it in. 

We had a nice Valentine’s Day dinner out.  I did really well points-wise… until Sunday.  Sunday I went to visit my mom, and I didn’t even count my points.  I didn’t go too crazy at dinner, but I knew when I left there that I shouldn’t eat anything but 0 point veggies the rest of the day.  Sadly, that didn’t happen.  When I got home I ate nothing that was good for me.  I polished off my Valentines chocolate, had some Hershey nuggets, ate a few bites of the heart-shaped cheesecake I gave my hubby Valentine’s Day, and I still wanted more!  I knew I had to stop, and the only way was to GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN.   So I went upstairs to the computer to read more blogs.  Once I got going I lost all track of time - and I forgot all about that binge I was in the middle of.  If only I’d gotten out sooner.  *sigh*

Today I started with a clean slate.  My flexpoints start over on Mondays anyway, so I figured that was the sensible thing to do.  There was a time when I would have beaten myself up about a bad day and tried to deduct the points I was over from this week’s flexpoints.  But that never really worked out - I would always end up just starting fresh instead of continuing to punish myself.  So this time I’m just starting fresh and skipping the whole punishing thing.

I really couldn’t believe I was in my driveway at 8:00 a.m. scraping ice off my car to go to the gym. A year ago I would have used an icy car as an excuse to stay home. Today I couldn’t wait to get to the gym. I get this crazy feeling inside like I HAVE to get there today because I know I can’t get there tomorrow and omg if I have to go more than 2 days in a row without a swim life as I know it will cease to exist. I think I’m addicted. But I suppose if I’m going to be addicted to something, swimming is a pretty good thing to be addicted to.

Lately when I swim I feel like it’s gotten a little too easy.  I keep thinking maybe I’m not getting the same level of workout as I was when I first started, maybe I should start swimming faster.  But then I think that swimming is good exercise and just the fact that I’m doing it at all is awesome and I should just leave well enough alone.  Besides, I don’t want to stop at the end of each length to take my pulse.  It’s better to just keep moving. 

Today I decided to try swimming one length of the pool as fast as I can, then do a couple slow laps.  I kinda expected to do one fast length and feel wiped out and never want to do that again.  But once again, I surprised myself.  Swimming fast is super cool!  It felt so good - I felt really strong and going that fast is just really cool (sorry I just don’t know how else to put it). 

So I ended up swimming one length fast, then 3 slow, then one fast, etc.  When I noticed I only had 5 minutes to go I thought I should probably just keep it slow as sort of a cool down.  But I couldn’t resist!  I did one more fast and a few more slow and ended up swimming 3 minutes longer than I had set out to do.

I know it sounds really, really boring to just swim back and forth for 30 minutes, but I just love it. Once I reach my weight loss goal, I really think I’ll keep it off as long as I keep swimming.