Treating Every Day Like Day One

Hi Everyone! I am so excited to let you all in on my weigh in today! I was down 3.4 pounds today for a total of 20 pounds gone! Boy does this feel great!

So how is everyone doing? I am not sure if anyone has been following along over at Blog To Lose…But I FINALLY just did a whole week within my daily points range! For all my friends over here, I know you all know how difficult that has been for me, but I finally did it. I have to be honest, there was one minor mis-hap on Friday, but that is the only one and I had not even touched flex points at all before that, so I am sure it ended up being in range anyway.

I also had a stiff neck for a few days, so I did not exercise during those days, but I was able to exercise again today…so looks like I am really starting to “Play Ball”…yes, I hit my weekly meeting…how about all of you?

I guess the verdict is in! Although I absolutely LOVE the way that my blog LOOKS over here, I really do LOVE the way the new blog WORKS over there…So if anyone is looking for me they can find me at Blog To Lose (same username and little blue flower but no blog name yet). For some reason I can not add the link to my new blog, or else I would!

I will be still updating my weight progress over here and maybe posting from time to time, but I just do not have time to keep up with both.

Hope everyone is doing GREAT!

WOW! I can not even begin to tell you how happy I am that it is FINALLY Friday! It is not very often that I feel like I have been living in the never-ending week…usually I wake up on Friday morning and think, “Is it really Friday all ready? Has another week really gone by?” However, this week was different. In fact, it has been a bit rough. The funny thing is that it really was no different from any other week in our household…school, sports, work…but I did not sleep well Monday or Tuesday and I think that added to my usual tiredness and made the week seem like it was going to go on forever.

In any case, it is FINALLY Friday!

I am really looking forward to a great weekend. I know the weather is going to be yucky, but that is fine by me. I think we could all use a good dose of weather induced relaxing!

WOW! It has only been a few days since my last post and yet I really feel like it has been a million years. I have missed everyone! Is there anyone left out there or has everyone made the move over to Blog To Lose? Or are you doing both?

I really needed to take a few days to re-group and re-focus. Things are so busy at home…both kiddos have entered that “last few weeks of school mode” and they are both overcommitted with field trips, projects, special events, sports, and year end activities. I have to admit, I think that I am actually looking forward to the last day of school more than the kiddos are. I feel like it can not get here fast enough. When it finally does get here I feel like we can all relax a little and especially with almost two months off from cracking the homework whip! This leads me to the point of this post.

Why does it seem like as soon as things get busy in life I always end up being last in line? The needs of everyone else always seem to be more important than my own and before I know it, I have fallen off the WW plan and all my hard work has gone down the drain. This is something that I really need to work on…and I did just that by hitting the grocery store on the way in to work this morning and stocking up with fresh fruit, vegetables and healthy lunch options for today and tomorrow. I also hit my weekly WW meeting (which I skipped last week due to “too hectic” schedule) and really got the perspective that I needed to re-group and re-focus.

So here is to a great day!

A few days ago during all of the celebrating of first kiddo’s birthday a family friend confided in me that she was considering joining WW herself and inquired about my weight loss progress and how I was doing following the plan. I have to admit that I panicked. I really did not know what to say because although I feel like I have made some GREAT changes so far I have yet to truly follow the plan. How on earth was I going to tell her that I think the plan is great (which I do) and that I also think it is easy to follow (which I do, but have not) and still give her enough positive feedback to encourage her to experience it for herself.

As it turns out, second kiddo took care of that uncomfortable situation for me and took us both completely by surprise. In the biggest “speaker box” voice possible…those of you with little ones know what I am talking about…they only use it to repeat something that under no circumstances do you want anyone to hear with the loudest voice possible ensuring that now everyone will hear…the announcement was made:

Actually she is just practicing right now, but thanks a lot for asking.

Although I have to admit that I was a little embarrassed that I now had my little one announcing my excuses for me, the response from the family friend really got me to thinking. She said that she thought that was a great way to look at things and that as far as she was concerned how else would we get better at something if we did not practice it.  Is it just me, or does this kid have some insight that I seem to have missed along the way myself?

Cleansing breathe in….

Anyone who has been reading knows that today is my second official “Day One”. I joined WW on April 1 and I have been going to Thursday morning meetings every week on my way into work. I have not missed one yet. At first I did not think that I would like to go to the meetings, but I was SO wrong. I actually really love going to the meetings and I even participate now. The only thing is that I really got a lot of, um, let me just say “less than supportive behavior” from my family and friends when I announced my new lifestyle change which made it very difficult to stick to the plan. In addition to the family and friends making things difficult, I also had something else going on that made it almost impossible to stick to the plan.

Instead of giving up on my goal and quitting WW I decided to continue to go to the meetings and make some other smaller changes in my life that would be easier to commit to during such a difficult time. I started to exercise some, drink more water, journal everything that I ate (even though it was always WAY over my points allowance), and set up a support system. All of this background work was done so that on May 1…the day after first kiddo turns 14…I would be ready to stick to the plan and lose 100 pounds by the time we celebrate first kiddo’s 15th birthday.

Sounds great, right? What is the problem, you might ask? I will tell you what the problem is…Not one time during this last week have I managed to keep up with my water, write in my journal, exercise, and I am going to miss my meeting this morning. I know what you are thinking…what happened! Well I will tell you what happened…the local steakhouse has invited us to come in for COMPLIMENTARY dinner and dessert tonight in honor of first kiddo turning 14 AND second kiddo has something this morning that I will need to attend which puts me too late for my meeting.

How on earth I am going to make this one work?
Is this just a sign of some sort showing me that it just is not meant to be?

The good news is that we celebrated first kiddo’s birthday a few days early and all of the celebrating (over eating) is now behind me. The bad news is that the proof that I really enjoyed the celebration showed up on the scale this morning. HOLY COW! I racked up five pounds this weekend. Why is it that it takes us so long to lose five pounds, but only two days to put it back on?

Here is to hoping that it comes off by Thursday!

Wow! I can not believe it but May 1 is right around the corner. Does anyone else feel like this year is flying by? In just a few short days first kiddo will be turning 14 years old. The day after the big birthday I will be starting my “100 Pounds In 365 Days” personal challenge and I am actually really excited to get things under way. I have technically lost 11 of those 100 pounds so far, but I guess I am just going to chalk that up as an added bonus. I have been attending WW meetings throughout the entire month of April and I have been making some changes that have obviously been paying off in my favor. I have been exercising more often…well more often than never…and I have been going to the weekly WW meetings, journaling everything that I have been eating, drinking water every day, setting up my support system, and of course I have been blogging very regularly. The only thing left to do is to try and eat only my daily/weekly points allowance. This is something that I have not been successful with so far. When I first started WW I noticed that when I did try to eat only my daily points I would feel very hungry and I would get a headache so I gave up on that part and tried to make other changes first. I think that the time has come and it is time to take on the points part of the plan now! I am really going to try to start my new week tomorrow and eat only my daily allowance. Hopefully things will be better this time around.

I am so excited to report that after being inspired by yesterday’s WW meeting (which I actually participated in for the FIRST time) I have taken my first step towards assertively defining my weight loss plan parameters. Here is what happened…last night ended up being one of those “fend for yourself” dinner nights which basically means that I did not cook one large meal for all of us to eat but instead cooked easy meals that each person wanted.

The reason for the change in dinner plans was that yesterday my boss had hired first kiddo to do some work for my office mate, so all three of us went out to a late lunch at Friendly’s. Yes, I had a burger and a shake and I was all right with that. I had only eaten a banana all day and I have not really started cutting back the points to my daily allowance yet although I do plan on doing so by next Thursday.

Therefore, at dinner time first kiddo and I were all set, which makes it a little silly to cook a huge meal to waste the food. The husband decided he wanted grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and second kiddo wanted waffles. First kiddo was planning on pasta later on and I was all set from the late lunch. HOWEVER, my mother (who we share a home with) decided she did not feel like finding something to eat so she asked me and first kiddo to go in on take out with her…and she even offered up my FAVORITE place. My “I have never said no to it not even once” place. But guess what happened. That is right. I said no. I SAID NO!!! I really was not hungry. I mean I could have eaten, but I just did not feel like I needed a meal.

Then something strange happened. My mother, my husband and first kiddo all started trying to talk me into ordering a meal from this take out place. Why on earth would they not just accept that I had decided I had eaten enough already? I almost caved and ordered my favorite…steak tip dinner with rice and sauce…but I thought back to that morning’s WW meeting and I assertively stated, “I do appreciate the offer, but I have already eaten a large meal a few hours ago and I really do not feel as though I need to eat another one.” I do not know who was more surprised, them or me! So off went my mother with first kid (they ended up having Chinese food) and I had put down my foot for the first time.

Do not get me wrong, it was very difficult not to call them up and ask them to stop at my favorite take out place for the steak tip dinner on the way home, but I did not do it. And guess what? Life still went on like usual! That makes one overeating opportunity down, a lifetime more to go.