Ok, so I saw a post on someone else’s blog about this site and I am bugged too. They are  posting a bunch of my blog entries on their site. It would be one thing to link to my blog, but there are all these posts with my entires. Nobody contacted me for permission to do this.

So if TheWeighWeWere.com is reading this - please stop copying my stuff and posting it at your site. If people want to read my posts, I want them to read them here on MY site.

Boring title. Boring post.

Today didn’t go exactly as planned. I was too slow for cereal in the morning so I had a Special K bar. I did end up at Souper Salad with my friend for lunch where I ate everything on my plan, but splurged on an extra breadstick and a tiny bit of soft serve ice cream. No dinner tonight… just hot chocolate and a cookie at the Youth activity. (I’m not advocating skipping meals to have dessert, BTW - I was still satisfied from my big lunch. )

Plan for tomorrow is:
Breakfast: cereal + banana (4pts)
lunch: Soup with crakers (7 pts)
Dinner: chicken cordon blue, veg & rice (12 pts)
… and probably one bag of snack size peanut M&Ms meant for Trick -or-Treaters. (I’d say NO candy, but I’m trying to be realistic here.)

I had an influx of comments on my blog - probably thanks to Roni linking to mine from her site. I just wanted to say thanks. I didn’t realize how many comments I had, until I logged in and saw 14 in moderation. If I haven’t been able to visit your blog yet, I will. I know the comments from you really help motivate me. It helps me to know that someone is reading and holding me accountable. Today went sortof as planned. I did have the oatmeal and banana in the morning. It was husband’s birthday though so instead of Subway, we met for lunch at a favorite mexican place where I had a “burrito” salad. Unfortunately I don’t know the exact points, but I have estimated it at 25 points with all the dressing. I ate half for lunch and the other half for dinner with only 2/3 of the dressing - so probably, around 22-23 points. Plus my banana and oatmeal, I’m still a little over points, but feeling better about being in control.

So here’s the plan for tomorrow:

breakfast: cereal and banana
lunch:  eating out  -  a friend and I have a standing lunch date on Tuesdays. We usually go to Super Salad where I will have a huge green salad, baked potato and ONE breadstick. (the old me would have eaten 3+!)
dinner: WW meal or can of soup. Usually with a big lunch like that and husband gone to school at night, I don’t eat much for dinner on Tuesdays. It is youth night at church where I’ll be helping with an activity, so I know there will be treats afterward. I may save a point or two for a cookie.

Tomorrow is normally Irish Dance night (where I can earn several extra points) but it’s cancelled :(  Maybe I’ll have to do some practicing on my own in the basement.

Why is this happening!? I’m only halfway to my goal and it’s like I have hit this brick wall. I have not been planning meals, counting points has been haphazard and half hearted, portion sizes are creeping up and I’m snacking like crazy. Last week I packed healthy 4 pt soup for lunch then left it in the fridge and got chinese at the cafeteria instead. Friday night at IHOP I ordered a huge omlette and a stack of pancakes. I’m not at goal and I want to keep going, but this is NOT the way to do it! I’m proud of the progress I’ve made and so happy I can pull on a pair of size 12 slacks. I’ve done well, but I’m not there yet! I was so gung-ho those first few months but I’ve lost it and don’t know how to get it back. I’m going to start by planning tomorrow’s meals in advance:

• breakfast: oatmeal & milk 3pts
• snack: banana 2pts
• lunch: Subway turkey sandwich & chips 10pts
• dinner:  Progresso soup and Crackers 7pts

Does anyone have success with planning meals a week at a time? With my crazy stressed out school schedule this semester, maybe that is what i need to do to get back on track. I know the key for me has been planning. You know the saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”  That is me to a “T”. I’m going to plan each of my day’s in advance this week and try to counteract some of the last few days of insanity.

I had never really thought of myself as a stress eater before, but I’m starting to think that I am. I started gaining weight right after I got married and began my career as a teacher (a stressful time.) Then I continued to gain during the next 4 years as I struggled in my career as a teacher, worked a 2nd job, and we moved homes 4 times (more stress.) The weight plateaued when I quit teaching for a year and “reevaluated my life”. Then I gained again when I went back to school and was working again full time. Last year my weight got as high as it had ever been during my first year of graduate school.

I began losing last Spring, and really started having success over the summer, when my work schedule was light (I work for a college now) and my grad classes manageable. Now that I am working 50 hour weeks and teaching 4 new classes I wasn’t prepared for plus taking 2 time-intensive graduate classes I find myself slipping back into old habits. I come home at night and go straight to the fridge. I have been eating until I’m stuffed, instead of satisfied.

I think I handle stress well in terms of maintaining appearances with other people. People say, “Really, you’re stressed out, I couldn’t tell…” Well, my body can tell I’m stressed because of all the abuse it’s taking. 5 pieces of banana bread today. FIVE! What am I thinking?! Grrr… I get so annoyed with myself!

OK. Deep breath. I’m off to dance class where I hope to do some de-stressing, and when I come back, I’m going to continue my de-stress in a hot bubble bath. Thanks for listening.

We won’t talk about this past week. It was a disaster.

This week will be different. I’m going to make it different:

I will JOURNAL everything I eat

I will JOURNAL before I eat

I will JOURNAL all the day’s points in the morning. This will force me to plan ahead and avoid the mindless eating because I am starving and haven’t thought ahead to dinner.

(Can you tell I’ve had some issues with journaling this week?) Hope your week was better than mine.

I have shrunk out of my size 16’s. I can still wear them with a belt, but they are not as flattering. I received tons of compliments in my new pair of size 12 slacks today. My body hasn’t changed much in a month (stupid plateau), but apparently wearing smaller clothes makes me look smaller. How about that? I am tempted to buy more clothes that fit better, but I am trying to not to spend so much.  Plus I’d rather buy stuff in my goal size (8-10) and be able to wear it for a long time rather than just a few months while I’m still losing. So, I keep wearing baggy stuff with belts.  I need to hit the thrift stores!

I am also saddened about my Irish Dance Costume. I had it custom sewn when I was about 14 pounds heavier, but now I am wishing it was more form fitting. To have it taken in might be a big project and seamstresses are not cheap. It is so great to be a new size, but dealing with replacing a wardrobe was something I didn’t plan ahead for! :p

The scale mocks me. I guess -0.1 is still technically a loss, but it just keeps me one more week in this stupid plateau. I know it’s all me. I probably need to take a point off my daily target and get back in the groove of planning meals in advance and packing lunches and dinners to work. Exercise once a week is not enough. Hope everyone else has more exciting Weigh-Ins this week.

That’s right.. I’m slipping. My journaling is going downhill, exercise is inconsistent, food choices aren’t what they should be, and the scale is showing it. I’ve been at a plateau for about a month now.

I am so exhausted from work and graduate school that making weight loss a priority has been hard. I want to, but at the end of a 12 hour day at work and facing an evening of homework, sometimes the peanut butter jar just calls my name. :p

This week is mid-terms which means I have a million things to grade and of all the stuff for my own classes are due, too. That means no ME-time whatsover. I’ve gotta figure out a plan for getting on track, but right now, all I can think of is crawling into my warm bed a  and  wishing it all would go away.

I posted the other day about getting in 4 out of 5 Fruits & Veg. Well, today, I got all 5! (A rare accomplishment for me) I had a clementine for breakfast, 2 servings of vegetable soup at lunch, and steamed potatoes, carrots and onions for dinner.

Oh .. and a raspberry shake for dessert (I splurged with some flex points). I do like most fruits and many vegetables, I just have to plan ahead to get them in..