So close...

I lost 3.8 pounds this week, so I have now lost a total of 29.6 pounds. Woo hoo! This means that, as long as I REASONABLY control myself at Disney, I may have a good chance of hitting 30 pounds next week. We plan on going for long walks every morning at the parks, plus we'll be doing a lot of walking all day anyway. AND we're bringing granola bars and fiber one pastries for breakfast and for snacks to eat throughout the day. So as long as I don't choose the super fried gooey entrees for lunch and dinner, I'm hoping to do pretty well. Either way, lose or gain, I'll still be at my 16 week celebration next week! And I'm going to be in Disney for FIVE WHOLE DAYS! FIVE DAYS AWAY FROM WORK! OH MY GOD, WE LEAVE TOMORROW!

I work from 3-5pm today and then tomorrow from 9-1pm and then BAM! Dan and I will be on our way to Disney World.

Here is our Disney Magic plan...

Friday morning we are going to start at Epcot, so we can make dinner reservations. We're going to spend either the whole day there, or split our day in half and spend the afternoon at MGM. But either way we want to be back at Epcot for dinner on Friday night.

Saturday morning we're going to the Animal Kingdom. Saturday afternoon we'll head over to Downtown Disney to do Disney Quest, Cirque Du Soleil, and then we're going clubbing at Pleasure Island (dancing and drinking all night long)!!!

Sunday morning we're going to start at MGM, so we can make dinner reservations. Then we'll either spend the whole day at MGM or again split our day between MGM and Epcot. Then back to MGM for dinner!

Finally we're going to spend all day Monday at the Magic Kingdom! YAYY!

I hate my Period, I eat Pizza

So I felt like I had almost a perfect week. I ate fruits and veggies every day, I made smart choices, and I only used 12 of my 35 anytime points. I also got in a pretty decent amount of exercise on 4 days. AND I was really able to start feeling where I had lost weight this weekend. There was a point on Saturday when I looked in the mirror and could see all these tiny changes that are starting to have an effect.

But Tuesday night I ate sea salt soaked edamame, which I've done the day before a weigh in and been perfectly fine! But I guess it's not smart to suck down a lot of sodium the day before your PERIOD and then jump on a scale and expect to see happiness.

I only gained .6, which is NOT BAD. But I had SUCH a good week. And I felt really bloated in the morning when I woke up, which is the worst feeling ever on a weigh in day. Sigh. Maggie said that weight gain during your period is not a myth and that if affects everyone differently, even a guy at the meeting chimed in and said his wife always gains the week of her period (his wife would have been THRILLED if she'd been in the room). So I'm not going to beat myself up about it. But I was already having a super bad day at work and I was crabby and tired, so it didn't help matters.

To top it off, Dan had a horrible day at work and was also in a bad mood when he got home. It was no good. We've both been craving Dominoes pizza for weeks, so we decided to pull out the old Dining Out Companion to see what kind of damage it'd do. It turns out that 1 slice of pepperoni pizza is 6 points, and I had 19 points left, so we ordered a medium pizza immediately. And I think it genuinely did make us both feel better, which is a little ridiculous. I also gave Dan a really long back rub, which I think much have helped him too. Anyway, I was still hungry after the pizza, so I used 10 of this week's anytime points. The depressing thing is that even after I ate the 10 I was still hungry (and not in the, "I'm stuffed but I still want to eat way. My stomach still had room in it). But I stopped at 10 and I feel good about that.

But this morning I had a grease stomach ache, which I haven't had in almost three months now. So that was a little depressing. I don't regret eating the pizza though, I had the points for it and I didn't go overboard (and I certainly could have). Plus I am of the mindset that you shouldn't deprive yourself when you have been craving something and pizza has been on the brain for the longest time.

So I had a Jamba Juice this morning so that I could fill up on some good fiber and I have both a reasonable lunch and dinner packed for myself, along with some snacks (I'm staying late to see Edward for the second time). I'm also going to take a 30 minute walk on the pier after work today, since I wasn't in the mood this morning. Cold weather totally sucks.

I think my goal for this week will be to exercise every day since I have Disney coming in 1 week! The goal will also be to try hard to not use the rest of my anytime points (I still have 25, but I want to try and ignore them). And just in general to really try and get in at least 4 servings of fruits or veggies every day this week. I want to have a good week before Disney, so I can try to use that motivation towards not blowing the whole week while I'm dancing with Minnie Mouse.

The cool thing is that the week I get back from Disney will be my "16 week" celebration! 16 weeks from the week you sign up they give you a little gift to remind you that you've made a big commitment to yourself. I think it's good that the week I receive mine will be the day after the trip. If I can keep in mind that I'm getting a reward for being awesome when I get home, maybe that will help me choose lite drinks and pasta with tomato sauce instead of all the unhealthy "Goofy" side dishes. Man. I wish they really called them Goofy Side Dishes. That would make everything taste better.

Champion

So here is my exercise "progress" in September:

I went for five 45 minute walks.
I went for three 40 minute walks.
I went for eight 30 minute walks.
I lifted weights seven times.

In other words, I exercised 23 times in September! Granted, sometimes it was twice a day, but I still feel really good about that number. I'd like to see if go up in October, though. Hopefully it will.

I also have lost 6.6 pounds in September, however I still technically have one more September weigh in. I originally thought I had lost 7 pounds so far this month, but apparently I am REALLY bad at math. Oh well. At least someone else is doing the actual counting that matters (the lady at the scale each week). So a .4 loss would put me at my goal of 7 pounds. And I know that my weigh in will be Oct. 1st this week, but the progress will have been from last week. At least, that's how I measure things.

26.4 feels even better!

I hit 26.4 pounds today! Woo hoo! I have lost a total of 7.4 pounds this month and my goal was 7,  so I am awesome (plus, there is still a week left in the month, ha ha)!!

Another friend joined tonight, which is exciting! I'm really proud of her already and now we have a group of three at the meetings. It helps when you have friends to support, in my opinion. Now we can all gossip about what we eat all day (wow, it makes us sound so exciting).

8.6 until I hit my first "big" goal, aka 35 pounds. I haven't quite decided what I'm even going to do for my 25 pound reward, but I suspect an Old Navy sweater may be in the cards.

In other exciting clothes news, Holly and I are going shopping for the skirt fabric for my wedding this weekend. She isn't going to build the actual skirt until we get closer to the wedding, because I will have probably dropped a couple of sizes by then. But the fabric is the first step, so we're going out to the burbs this weekend to visit quilt stores. Hooray!

I didn't exercise today...but I'm feeling okay about that. I will be lifting weights and walking tomorrow and Dan and I always take long walks over the weekend. Aileen is brilliant in saying that any progress is GOOD progress, so I am trying to live more by that motto and less by the challenge oriented weight loss. 

Man. I feel good.

Maintain is the word.

I stayed in the exact same place at WI this week, which actually made me happy. I have felt paranoid that I was going to gain all week. 

The plan for this upcoming week is to do just continue on the yellow brick road. I didn't use any of my anytime points last night, which I normally do after a WI. I would like to get in 5 days of exercise this week. I still feel very motivated, but things have been going relatively well and so far there isn't much that I need to change. I do think I learned a lesson about fat content and that even if the points are the same for a piece of cheese and a piece of fruit, I should TRY and pick the fruit. And, I mean I knew that already but I think last week I gave in to small temptations (all within my points for the day, but all with a higher fat content than I've been eating). We also discussed trying not to set ultimatums last night, so clearly if I want the cheese I am not going to deprive myself. Cheese is good, man. If there is one thing I've learned from my best friend Annie, it's that cheese is good. Annie, I hope you're reading this right now.

Drunken Glory!

I lost 3.2 pounds this week, bringing my weight loss total to 23.2 pounds! Hooray!

Also, I have 3.8 pounds until I reach my goal for September. Very exciting!

Dan picked me up a spinach, sweet potato and black bean taco from the Chicago Diner for dinner. He also got me a vegan chocolate chip cookie. Nom nom nom, it was delicious and nutritious!

I picked up some Mikes Hard Lite to celebrate. I haven't had a lot of alcohol lately, so I'm definitely feeling buzzed after only 2 Mikes.

My goal for this week is to simply stay on point and work out for 30 minutes every day.

smack down!

Last night after laundry I started my weight training regiment. I focused primarily on my arms, abs, thighs, and butt. I also did a lot of stretching, as I've been feeling a little tense lately. I've found that I enjoy doing this type of exercise while watching tv and since we have a lot of space it works out pretty well.

Dan and I are going for a 30 minute walk tonight after my Weight Watchers meeting, as has become a customary part of my weight loss journey. Tomorrow morning I will be going back to my 6am walk with the dogs, as I am finally feeling clear headed, well rested, and not sick. Back to 30 minutes, I say! Huzzah!

The dust has settled...

Dan dusted our bedroom yesterday and as a result I slept through the night for the first time in three weeks and woke up with clear sinuses. It is utterly ridiculous that we didn't think of this after the second week of my complaints of a stuffy nose. Last summer when we moved in I could barely breathe in our apartment until we had dusted, swept, and mopped several times. And even though I often dust the dressers, the bookshelves, the desk and the window sills, we haven't actually done the blinds or the ceiling fan for a few months. So. Never again.

I lost .2 pounds this week, which put me exactly at a 20 pounds! Woo hoo! I started laughing when I saw the book. I am really happy that I lost at all, with only three days of exercise last week and TOM in town. Awesome! On a side note, I had set a goal to lose 5 pounds in August and I not only met it but surpassed it. I feel pretty good about that.

My goal for September is to lose 7 pounds. I'm setting the bar higher than I did last time, but I still don't want to shoot for 10, because it is a much harder goal to meet.

Also, for all you dieters out there, here are my products of the week that I can't live without:

1. Jello brand Dulche de Leche pudding cups. They are 60 calories per cup and they are a very satisfying snack. The top layer is caramel and the bottom layer is a sort of butterscotch/vanilla flavored pudding. It tastes very decadent.

2. Chex Mix Turtle Trail Bars (thanks Yolanda). They come in around 2 points and are probably the best tasting granola bar I've ever had. The chex mix is covered in caramel and there are pieces of pretzel and chocolate too. It tastes a lot like a candy bar, so I keep one in my purse now in case I get a sweet craving. They are also pretty big and usually fill me up for a couple hours.

3. Weight Watchers Peanut Butter Bars. Oh my God. These bars are SERIOUSLY delicious. They are one point per serving and on the smaller side, but I would compare them to eating a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. The peanut butter is incredibly creamy and the chocolate is very chewy, just like the real thing. It's probably half the size of a 3 musketeers bar, but SO worth it.

That's all I've got for the day. Now that my sinuses are clear the headache is gone along with the feeling of drowsiness I'd been dealing with for so long. Back to exercise, I say! Hoorah! If it is raining tonight, my plan is to do yoga, weight training, and perhaps some Wii boxing. Very exciting stuff.

TOM

Weigh in tonight. TOM started today, which isn't a good sign. It can add up to 3 pounds in water weight, which sucks. Even if you actually maintained your weight for the week, you would show up as 3 pounds heavier. Blah. Everyone from WW says that TOM weight goes away the following week and not to worry, and that it is difficult to show your true weight loss during TOM. So I'm not going to be upset if I have a gain tonight. I'm just stating it in advance.

I'll wipe my nose on you!

So here is the deal. For the past three weeks I've been dealing with runny noses, sneezing, and just general misery in the face. I am at a point where I think it HAS to be allergies, but I still don't know quite what to do about it.

I didn't walk yesterday morning because I could barely breath through my nose. I was going to walk last night, but by the time we made decisions about casting and called everyone it was after 8pm and we still hadn't had dinner. So it sucked, but I was okay with it.

This morning my nose woke me up at 4am. I couldn't get it to calm down. Ridiculous! And now I am trying to weigh out whether I suffer the nose and the breathing and just walk, or try to wait again until tonight! It's always the worst in the morning and it usually clears up by mid afternoon. Actually, I just checked with Dan and he said that he would go on a walk with me before Weight Watchers and before dinner. So that's good at least.

We're also going to dust the hell out of our bedroom, just in case that's what the problem is. The last time we dusted may have been during Margaret Fleming...

In general though, I hope this nose/allergy crap goes away. I HATE feeling sick in the morning. I hate waking up early because my nose is stuffed up. Yuck!

There is a weigh in tonight! I'm nervous, as always and thinking about everything I potentially did wrong this week. Oh well, for better or for worse it is always better to weigh in than to skip it.

Week 7

To start: I have a very normal, very private and very boring blog. This shall be blog number 2. Hopefully it will not be as boring as blog number 1, but so far I'd say I'm not off to a very good start.

Why a second blog? Because I want to have a place to track the progress (for better or for worse) of my goal to live healthy. I started Weight Watchers 7 weeks ago and it's time to blog about it, baby! Or at least it's time to make very lame/slightly strange comments that amuse and delight.

In the past 7 weeks I have lost 15.6 pounds. I feel pretty good about that number, as I am very close to my goal of losing 8 pounds a month. The last month was hard, as I was in tech week, it was Dan's birthday, my own birthday, Dan's parent's came to town, my parent's came to town, Dan's brother came to town and my good friend Cassie came to town. Somehow I survived it without having a huge train wreck. So now I'm hoping that as life eases up on me (and inevitably gets extremely busy again) that I'll be able to cope.

I've joined Weight Watchers several times in my past, the very first time being in 9th grade. The first time I lost any amount of weight I was too young and too full of drama to keep it off. The second time I lost weight I actually made it to my goal and held there for a year. There were several factors to my gaining it all back. My mom passed away at the end of that year and my coping mechanism became food. She was also my weight loss partner, so joining without her was extremely hard. I also had some not so nice run ins with various aunts and uncles who managed to make me feel extremely guilty over her death while also making it quite clear that the weight I'd lost made me look so much like her. There were various other reasons (a mean boyfriend, college, being in theatre, etc), but I want to stop with the excuses now and just say this. It was a hard time mentally and physically. I'm trying to get over it.

So what is different in my life now? For the first time in a very long time, I feel very put together. I am dating a man who supports my decisions, who doesn't care that I am heavy, but is 100% supportive in my weight loss goals. He has literally changed his eating and exercise habits to accomodate mine (or at least to support mine). Having a continuously supportive friend who sees how important this goal is to me has been really helpful thus far. He never makes me feel ridiculous when I stop to write in my weekly tracker or feel the need to discuss the grocery list with him 500 times a week. He is awesome.

I also have a very dear friend who is going to Weight Watchers with me! She is the first real partner I've had at Weight Watchers in the city and her own success and support has been so motivational for me! I love that I can call her up to discuss where I've eaten out, how much I've exercised, and that we have a weekly check in at the meetings. I also feel really good that I am supporting someone else. There is a lot of motivation in accountability, whether it is to the scale or another person.

Finally, it has been really helpful to me that my Dad has also started Weight Watchers. My dad is buff, tough and takes weight loss very seriously. It's fun to check in with each other over the phone and know that I have support even out of the state. It's also helpful to keep in mind that there will be another calorie obsessed person at our Thanksgiving and that each time I get to see him, he will hopefully be seeing a "thinner" me.

I have weigh in number 9 tomorrow night and I am slightly dreading the scale. I was able to follow my exercise plan (30 minutes 30 days a month) on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday and I went swimming on Sunday afternoon. Since it was the first weekend where I actually had some down time, I think I snacked a little more than normal. I stayed within my points and didn't go over my weekly points allowance, but I still feel a little nervous (for whatever reason).

Also, if anyone is interested, here are the goals I am currently tracking:

30 minutes 30 days a month - August
45 minutes 30 days a month - September
60 minutes 30 days a month - October

30 pounds by Disney World (October 8th)
50 pounds by Christmas (December 25th)