Back On The Wagon

This blog has been ignored for awhile simply because I fell off the wagon.  It was a busy couple weeks, okay month, and we ate out often.  I skipped Weight Watcher meetings.  I skipped tracking.  I skipped losing altogether.

I'm back on the wagon now for the last week.  It's amazing how quickly your body adjusts to eating healthy.  The first couple days were rough, but now I'm totally back in.  All in as a matter of fact.

I had one of the biggest losses of my journey this week:  3.8 pounds.

I'm about 13 pounds from goal, which isn't a place I thought I would be so quickly.  My husband told me I could go shopping once I hit my goal.  He totally knows how to motivate me!

Shredded Chicken

I'm always looking for creative ways to make meals that I can portion out and take with me to work.  Last week my husband asked that I make some chicken for him to make chicken/bacon/ranch wraps.  I threw some chicken in the crock pot and shredded it.

I didn't think about it again until this week.  I've been having a blast with it!  1/3 cup of shredded chicken fits on a bagel thin like a glove.  It's also only 3 points for the chicken and the bagel thin. 

In an effort to keep it fresh, I like to mix up my chicken.  This week I've discovered a little Frank's Hot Sauce and some Johnny's Lite Ranch mixed with the chicken gives me a buffalo chicken sandwich.  If you add 1/2 slice of provolone, some lettuce and a tomato (if you like that sort of thing), you've got a hot sammich for 5 points. 

I love buffalo anything.  This is an answer to prayer.  I've eaten at least three this week already.

I think next week I'll try mixing the chicken with some BBQ sauce and adding shredded cabbage for a backyard BBQ-ish sammich.  YUM!

Results Not Typical

This week, after a week of battling a sinus infection, I reached another milestone.  I hit the 25 pounds lost mark.  When we reach goals, our leader always asks us what's working, what's different, etc.  This time she asked how long it has taken me. 

It's only been 12 weeks. 

If you ask me what 12 weeks feels like normally, I'll tell you it feels like a long time.  On this journey, it feels like it was just yesterday that I joined.  There are days when I can't believe the number that's on the scale.  I never thought I would see it again. 

My leader was quick to mention that "my results weren't typical."  I guess I never realized how well this whole thing was working until she said that.  If I'm being honest, nothing has worked this well.

Then again, I've never wanted something more than I do this change.  I want to be healthy, eat healthy and be an example for my girls.  If I have to buy smaller clothes in the process, I'm okay with that too.

Tortilla Soup

A blog I read every day is Big Mama.  She's witty and funny.  She's also got some great recipes on her page every so often.  One of them is The Mansion Tortilla Soup.  Apparently The Mansion is a place in Dallas, Texas.  When I eat this soup I think of being on the show Dallas, enjoying this gourmet meal, pondering who shot J.R. 

I know, it's a life to envy.

This soup is that good.  It's easy and makes enough to feed all the cowboys in your life. 

Tortilla Soup from The Mansion



3 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 corn tortillas, diced
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
4-5 tablespoons of chopped cilantro (I don't include this because I'm not a fan)
1 tablespoon of cumin
2 tablespoons of chili powder


Saute all of the above until tortillas begin to crisp.


Add the following to the above and simmer.


1 cup onion puree (I diced a small onion and pureed it in the food processor)
1 large can (29 oz) of tomato puree
2 quarts of chicken stock
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cayenne Pepper to taste
To serve: top with any or all of the following: diced grilled or baked chicken, avocado, shredded cheese, crisp fried strips of corn tortilla.

I add diced chicken to the soup.  I buy an already cooked one at the store and cut it up.  I also include a can of black beans (drained) and some frozen corn.  You can add cheese and avocado to yours if you like, but that's not my scene.

I did a little points calculation for this soup, for 2 cups, it's 5.5 points with chicken, corn and beans added to it.  That's quite a bit of soup and it's filling. 

It also freezes nicely.  If you don't have too many cowboys coming over to your house, you can enjoy this for a LONG time.  It's figure friendly.  I guess it is as glamorous as being on Dallas. 

Why You Shouldn't Skip A Meeting

Recently I switched my weigh-in days.  It's easier both for childcare and for my buddy to attend.  It's also WAY later in the day.  I'm fairly starving by the time the weigh-in happens.  If I want to play the glad game, I can eat at freakin' huge dinner.  I usually do.

This week the meeting numbers were down.  It's usually a smaller meeting, but there were only 14 or 15 people there.  Normally we have about 20.  It's nothing to be too upset about. 

Unless your leader does a traveling journal.  WW has journals that last for 3 months and are intended for you to track your points, your activities and to set weekly goals for yourself.  They're like a food journal/diary all in one.  Our meeting does a traveling one.  A person from our meeting takes the journal for a week, documents what they do and then brings it back to the next meeting for someone else to take.

With no volunteers, I got the traveling journal.  I feel immense pressure to eat more veggies and fruit than I ever have in my life.  Apparently if people are going to look at what I eat, I want to eat healthy.  Which I'm sure is the whole point of the book!

A Great Find

I am surrounded by people doing WW.  I'm not sure if that's God's way of giving me support or if I'm more tuned into it.  Like when you buy a new car and then you start seeing that car everywhere.

Awhile ago a friend told me about a ranch dressing that she found that was worth 1 point.  Ranch is my absolute favorite.  Then she told me it was Johnny's and I knew I had to try it.  She warned that it was a bit peppery, but she liked it.

I tried it last night for the first time and it's actually really good.  It does have quite a bit of pepper to it that really hits after you swallow.  It doesn't taste like 1 point salad dressing. 

Thank you Johnny for making my salads taste great and low points.  You are my new food hero.

10%

I've made it to another milestone.  I've lost 10% of my starting weight.  In all actuality, I've lost a bit more.  Yesterday at my WW meeting, I got my 10% keychain.

As I got on the scale and realized I reached this goal in such a short time, they are a little concerned that I'm losing weight too fast.  In all honesty, I'm just following the program.  I'm not deviating.  That's just how quickly I'm losing it. 

Apparently all the steak fries dipped in ranch was really bad for me.  Now that I haven't had one for 2 months, my body is finally shedding years of steak fries dripping with ranch.  If the speed of loss is any indication, I used to eat quite a few of them.

Bloomsday

This weekend was our annual Bloomsday Run.  It's a 12k or 7.46 mile race.  I've been doing it since I was 7.  I missed a few years, but I've done more of them than I've missed.

The course has changed over the years based upon changes in our city or to make it easier for the runners.  This year I wore a pedometer to see exactly how many steps I took.  From my car, through the race and back to my car was 20,236 steps.  That's just over 10 miles.

My official time was 1:44:10.  That's about a 14 minute mile.  For someone who is carrying extra weight and did no training, I'm glad with this time.  I just wanted to do it in under 2 hours and to shave over 15 minutes off that, is more than I hoped.

Next year maybe I can shave another 15 minutes off my time!

Kate Moss May Have Been Right

I was getting ready for work today.  For almost May, it's chilly here.  I'm still wearing sweaters.  I put a sweater on and it fits better than it has in years. 

If that's not motivation to lose weight, I honestly don't know what is.

Weight Ain't Nothin' But A Number

I've been going to WW for 7 weeks now.  I've averaged over 2 pounds a week loss.  My clothes are fitting better, I feel like I have a little extra energy, I'm eating more veggies.  All good things.

I'm close to a big milestone, which is exciting.  When you hit milestones, the leader always asks what you've learned or what's worked.

On Monday night a lady achieved her lifetime status.  She's reached her goal, continued to come to WW for 6 weeks after achieving the goal and has maintained.  You can remain a lifetime member as long as you maintain within 2 points of your goal.  What an accomplishment. 

In all honesty, that's my goal.  I don't want to have to do this again.  I don't want to go back to the way I ate that helped put on 10 pounds a year.  I don't want to buy bigger jeans.  I want to be healthy.  I want to make good choices.

As I think about reaching my next milestone, I realize that one major thing has changed.  I don't make excuses for my added pounds anymore.  I'm ready to just be healthy.  I want to be a good example to all three of my girls.  I don't want them to have to join WW because I didn't lead by example. 

I'm ready for a new lifestyle.  It's been almost 33 years in the making.  I think for the first time in my life, my head is in it as much as my heart.

Tracking

One of the biggest tenets of the Weight Watcher system is to write down everything you eat.  Granted you need to do that to track your points, but I thought I would get tired of writing all my food.  I thought by now I would be taking a mental note of my points and guestimating. 

I'm not.  I'm writing everythink I bite down.  Somethings have been totally surprising.

I eat quite a bit.  I actually track my hunger based upon how many points I have rather than how I'm feeling.  What's more amazing is most days I don't eat all my points.  Simply because I'm full and forget they're there.

I thought all this writing stuff down wasn't going to be useful.  What I'm finding is that it's the most useful part.

I got to wear some skinnier jeans to church on Sunday.  What's more amazing, I could breathe in them.

The Right Motivation

It seems like when I was younger I was self-motivated.  If I wanted to do 1,000 sit-ups I would.  If I wanted to run, I would.  Now that I'm older and have more responsibilities, I'm just tired. 

Which is an excuse.

Last week on this Weight Watcher journey, I was having a hard time.  I was hungry 30 minutes after I ate.  So I ate.  And ate.  And ate.  It was the hardest week I've encountered yet.  I calculated my points and knew what I was shoveling into my mouth, so I count that a small victory. 

I actually maintained this week, so that's a good thing.

Neither of those things really motivated me to get back on track.  In all honesty, it was two hurtful comments by two people who are "friends."  In less than 24 hours, both, in their own way, told me how large I was compared to them.  I know I'm bigger than they are.  I have a feeling I always will be.

I realized something.  This journey isn't just about losing weight and fitting into that desired size of pants.  It's about being the best me I can be.  Not just physically, although this journey will shape that.  It's about being the best me relationally too.  I had snide comments to make to both of those people.  I'd be lying if I didn't say that I went home and cried a bit after they said it. 

I never want to be someone without compassion.  I never want to be someone who sees people in this world as fat or thin.  I want to be someone, no matter what size I am, to be accepting of everyone around me.  As I sit in these meetings every Monday, I'm surrounded by people just starting their journey or close to their goal or someone in between.  I don't see size, I see motivation.  These people have taken the step to come to meetings, to lose weight, to get healthy.  It's hard to admit you have extra pounds. 

Those people should be my motivation.  Not the ones who only see me as fat.

I'm starting to realize that Weight Watchers isn't about a diet, it's a community who is going through this journey with me.  Whether they know it or not, they've spoken volumes to my soul.

I'll Give That Copperfield Guy a Good Run For His Money

I’ve decided to start a weight loss blog. I’m someone who skims the line between “overweight” and “obese.” Neither of those words are descriptors I want associated with me.


For years I’ve put a guard up that it wasn’t the steak fries smothered in ranch dressing that made the pounds come on. No, it was my metabolism or my hormones or some, yet undiscovered, medical issue. All that changed this year when my mom started to go to Weight Watchers. She lost 20 pounds. She looked great and felt better. I was complaining to her that my clothes were shrinking again and that I had to do something. She encouraged me to try WW. “Give it until June. If it doesn’t work, make a doctor appointment.”

I gave it a try. I lost over 5 pounds the first week and wasn’t that hungry. I still ate pizza!

As I’ve been going to meetings and learning more about food, I realize that the guard I had up wasn’t a guard, but a great illusion. I because the best magician I know. I could convince myself that it was a health issue, not a food issue. It was a health issue, not a sedentary issue. I really believed myself.

I’m learning that the illusion doesn’t help me. It doesn’t help my daughters learn good habits. It just distracts me from truth.

The truth is I’m overweight. I’m unhealthy. I make poor food choices. I love bacon.

Now that I can say those things out loud, I can deal with them. I can make changes to what I can control. Except maybe the bacon thing. Bacon is good. It’s not necessarily the healthiest choice, but I can still eat it in moderation.

I think that’s why WW is so beneficial for me. It’s not telling me I can’t have something, it’s telling me to make better choices the rest of the time so I can have that something. Like bacon!