Nice to see you again, McFatty Monday.

So it has been 12 days since my husband left (I promise this will not become a deployment post) and I was really scared that I would come back today with a weight gain.  But I am proud to say that I did not emotionally eat.  I did not sit and pout.  I did not watch too much t.v.  I stayed active chasing Maggie around.  I stayed active organizing and cleaning and unpacking and moving into my parents' house.  And so I am proud to announce that I lost 1.6 pounds in the last week.  I weighed in at 166.4 on March 5 and weighed in at 164.8 on March 12.)  My weigh-in days are Saturday as that is the day that I go to a Weight Watchers Meeting.
So if you are paying attention at all, that means I have lost almost 8.2 pounds since starting Weight Watchers on January 15, 2011.  And it is only going to get better from here.
Why is it going to get better?  Because I went and got my YMCA membership card.  So I now have no excuse not go to the gym and not to stay active and not to loose more weight.  Because I will be at my goal weight when my husband comes home.  So I have about 233 days to lose 20-25 pounds.  I will be perfectly happy at 145, but my ultimate goal is 140.

Now to answer BA's question from over at Heir to Blair.  I do not like the idea of recommitting myself everyday.  While most people are a "I just need to survive this day", I am a deadline person & 24 hours just isn't going to cut it here.  Taking it one day at a time leaves open the opportunity that I can cheat because it is JUST one day and then those "just one days" become weeks and months.  And while I do have months to lose this weight, I do have a hero of a husband coming home to spend two glorious weeks with his wife and daughter.  And I want to look the part.  I want to look like a hero's wife.  I want to look like a million bucks when I walk into Orlando International Airport (or whatever airport it is) and hug my husband for the first time in 8 months.  And that is what drives me to get up at 5am to take a 6am class at the YMCA.  My husband.  He is the only motivation I need right now.  I would just fail miserably using the "recommit everyday thing".

Vacation and illness.

This was a tough week.  But a great week.

It all started on Saturday morning with last weeks weigh in.  It was then spent driving to Raleigh to spend my last weekend away with my husband and daughter.  I ate what I wanted, but made good decisions.  I ate an egg McMuffin, a wrap from Roly Poly, chicken and orzo, cheesecake, coffee, a sandwich on a pretzel, more coffee and Taco Bell.  It was a great weekend.  But I controlled my portions.  I ate healthy options (like no cheese on the wrap).

I then spent Monday and Tuesday working and working out, counting points, drinking water, being good.  And then I was hit, hard with a 24 hour stomach virus from hell.  I spent the better half of 24 hours in my bathroom.  I was so sick I called out of work but still sent my daughter to her babysitter.  In 36 hours I ate and digested about 1/2 cup of macaroni and cheese.  And on Thursday my appetite was not much better.  And Friday it was back in full force.  I did not track on Friday.  But I tried not to give into every temptation.

But after a bad week, I still lost weight.  I am not sure if it is artificial weight loss because of the stomach virus or if I lost weight.  I won't be surprised if I stay the same this next week.  But I am going to work out this week and I am going to track this week.  And I am going to drink water this week.  And I am going to be good this week.  Even with the box of girl scout cookies sitting out on my counter.

I currently weigh 166.8, down 6.2 pounds in these 3 weeks and 1.6 pounds just this week.

But I want to cover some questions that Blair from The Heir to Blair posed to her readers and participators this week in her McFatty Monday post.
Are you afraid of anything with weight loss?  With success?  With shedding old habits?  What do you think causes that fear?
And more importantly, what can we do to rise above it?


I am afraid of people hating me.  I am scared that people who are fighting the same fight with weight loss will hate me if I succeed or do "better" than they are.  I am afraid that if I give in to the unhappiness I feel now and embrace it as motivation, I will always be unhappy with how I look.  I am afraid that if I truly become healthy I will isolate my husband and I's relationship by taking away something we have in common (food).  I am afraid to lose weight and then gain it back.  I am afraid of becoming obsessed.  I am afraid that if I cut out things cold turkey that I will binge at some point or that I will become sensitive to foods I love.  (I am already becoming sensitive to sugar.)
I cause these fears.  I make myself crazy.  I make myself fearful because I put crazy ideas in my head.  There are no other excuses.
I just need to chill out and change my life, not diet.  I need to change my lifestyle and eat healthier.  I need to realize that I can enjoy food and still become healthier.  I need to make a routine and then it won't feel like pulling teeth.  It will feel like my life.  I NEED TO CHANGE MY LIFESTYLE!  And in turn I will change my life.

Even in failure, I will succeed!

Week 2 is always where it gets difficult for me.  I am all fired up for the weight loss the first week, so I never stray from the path.  Where I cannot be talked into lunch at a mexican restaurant.  Where I would never miss a workout.  Where I would never get a third slice of pizza.  Would you like to imagine my failure this week?  I did all three of those things.  But it gets better, I missed a workout to eat lunch at the mexican restaurant.  And I not only had a third slice of pizza, but a cinna-stick as well.

BUT...
I still made good decisions.  While I skipped a workout to eat lunch at a mexican restaurant, I ate only half a burrito and about 10 chips, with water.  (Much better than my usual.)  My pizza was a medium (smaller pieces) and it had fruit on it.  The cinna stick, I have no argument for that.  And because although, I failed- I am learning how to live healthier and I am learning that I can "fail" and still lose weight.  To not let it get me down, but to bounce back and get right back at it.
I failed, but I will still reach my goal in 28 or less weeks.

And without further a-do.
This week I weighed in on Saturday morning 1.4 pounds lighter than I did last week, for a total weight loss of 4.6 pounds in just 2 weeks.  As long as I average 1 pound a week or more, I will reach my goal.  And I am not discouraged.  I am even fired up.  I bought a size 8 skirt this weekend, that fits (a little snuggly) and I can't wait to fit into comfortably and beautifully.

Here is where I stand:
Weight: 168.4
Total Weight Loss To Date: 4.6 pounds
Measurements:  bust: 38.5; waist: 35.5; hips: 41

Goals for this upcoming week:
Drink more water.
Workout more.
Track food correctly.
Have fun!

Week 1 is OVER!!!

So it's time for Week 2, RIGHT???

This week was rough as I was getting into the habit of tracking points and eating better, but I made it. I hope this upcoming week is much easier when it comes to tracking points. Mostly I just need to remember to take my journal with me every where I go so that I can track my points (because I track manually, not online.)

Lets recap this week though.

- I lost 3.2 pounds this week using Weight Watchers.

- I worked out 3 times this week. Workout 1 was Week 1 Day 1 (W1D1) of both 100 push ups and 200 sit ups AND a workout on Ea Sports Active for the Wii. Workout 2 was W1D2 of 100 push ups and 200 sit ups AND 30 minutes on the elliptical. Workout 3 was W1D3 of 100 push ups and 200 sit ups AND 10 minutes on the stairclimber (or 22 flights of stairs) AND 30 minutes on the ellip

tical. (If you remember I was going to star

t C25K, but with it being so cold right now, I can't run with my jogging stroller so I must go to the gym. And at the gym it is always so hard to find a treadmill, that I gave up waiting and just use an elliptical.)

- I ate all my points everyday and used 9 points of my weekly allowance.

Here is where I am at now.

- 169.8 lbs.

- 39.5 bust, 35.5 waist, 43.5 hips

- Here are photos of me, taken Saturday 1/22/11

My goals for next week are:

- Drink more water.

- Do not use any of my allowance points (unlikely since I have another birthday party this afternoon if it doesn't snow).

- Work out 4 days this week.

- Lay off the sweets and snacking at night.

Day 1

So Saturday January 15, 2011, I went to my first weight watchers meeting of the year. (If you remember, I tried this journey last year at this same time and fell off the bandwagon quickly.) I weighed in at 173. The same exact thing I weighed last year when I went to my very first weight watchers meeting. And so I tell you this.

I AM GOING TO LOSE THIS WEIGHT. Come hell or high water, I will lose the weight. I will be 30-40 pounds lighter when my husband comes home sometime in 2012. I will be able to fit into the clothes I wore BEFORE my daughter was born. I WILL. I WILL. I WILL.

So how is it? Well it is going. Saturday I started this journey on the same day that I was to celebrate my BFFs 29th birthday party. That was a fail. But the back story is this. I said way back in December I would start my diet on January 15th because 1) I wasn't going to start dieting January 1 while I was still on vacation and 2) the 15th starts a new budget period and I would be going grocery shopping.

So I started dieting January 15th on her birthday party day and only ate 35 points worth of food, meaning that while I went over my daily allowance of 29, I used some of my weekly allowance of 49. So I am still doing okay on that.

I am going to do sit ups and push ups tonight. I was going to run today, but well we are running around with car insurance and rental car companies trying to get my car fixed from an accident that happened LAST MONTH! And I cleaned for 7 hours yesterday and walked around Target for an hour. Today we are going to go shopping again. Which will no doubt mean we are walking around for at least a few hours. And I will eat well while we are out. I will, I promise.

And while I am participating in McFatty Monday, my weigh in days are Saturdays. Because that is my weight watchers meeting day and because I am only going to weigh myself once a week.

See you guys next week.

A New Year, A New Me

On January 15th, I am going to start my process for getting in shape, back down to 140 pounds and a hopeful, comfortable size 8. I want to do this before my husband returns in 2012 from Afghanistan. So about 13 months to lose 30 pounds and get my butt into shape. I am going to do this by:

1. Joining WeightWatchers (meetings and online)

2. Doing the C25K program (3 days per week)

3. Using the 100 Push-Up app on the iPhone (progressively gets you to be able to do 100 push ups straight.) (5 days per week)

4. Using the 200 Sit-Up app on the iPhone (go ahead and guess what that one is about.) (5 days per week)

5. Using P90X and/or EA Sports Active on the Wii. (3 days per week)

So if you pay attention to my math, I will be working out 6 days a week.

My actual goals (on top of losing weight and getting in shape)

1. To work out no less than 4 days a week EVERY SINGLE WEEK (please know that life happens- like illness and such).

2. To drink at least 75 ounces of water EVERY SINGLE DAY.

3. To run a 5K (3.1 miles) in about 30 minutes.

4. To be able to do 50 push ups and 75 sit ups.

5. To track my points, food intake, and liquid intake everyday.

So I will be keeping you guys updated on my journey. Hopefully once a week on weigh-in days. I hope this goes better than the last time, but I am going to "reward" myself along the way. At each ten pounds weight loss. Then if I lose all the weight and get back in shape, I will wear a very cute 2 piece bathing suit when my husband returns from Afghanistan and we go on a cruise.

So Saturday things are on. And I am not going to start on a good foot, because I am going out to dinner with friends for a friends birthday at a hibachi restaurant. But whatever. I get 49 extra points a week.

Anyone want to join me in the quest to lose weight?