I'm So Durned Proud of Myself!

Happy Halloween!!!

I was worried about today, I kept thinking about how hard today was going to be.  Not only is it Halloween and the treats are EVERYWHERE but also at work it was our annual Cake Auction fundraiser.  So not only were candies easily available but there was cake! Cake! Cake!  Oh do I like cake!  Its one of my "gonna have it" foods, which means I will allow myself to have some if its up for offer.

I'm very proud because today I had one little two-bite cupcake and only two mini chocolate bars.  My focus was THERE today and I was able to walk away from quite a few treats today.  Something I haven't been able to do recently.  By the afternoon I was pretty tired and didn't feel up to going to the gym.  Since the weather is getting colder and there's nothing worse than putting on a cold sports bra (try it at -20c... I dare you!) I've started bringing my gym bag into work.  So I changed into my gym clothes BEFORE I left the building, this way I was committed to going to the gym.  I had a great workout and came home feeling great.

Instead of weighing in on Saturday this upcoming week, I'll be weighing in on Wednesday because I can't make it to my Saturday meeting.  I'm already feeling positive about this upcoming weigh in... I'm being good I haven't peeked at my scale.

My friend Tracey and I in matching pumpkin t-shirts!

Starting Over

I won't share with you pictures of me in my skinny jeans this week because really there is no difference in my weight from last week's to this.

On Saturday when I went to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting (see yesterday's post for this past week's meeting topic), for the second week in a row!  Yay me!  Last week I just went, I sat through the meeting and had a bit of a chat with my meeting leader.  We agreed that this Saturday I would come to the meeting and buy 8 weeks worth of coupons.  So instead of weighing in once a month and not necessarily being committed to going weekly, for the next two months I'll be going in once a week, weighing in and staying for the meeting.  Like I used to do for years!


When I went to the scale my leader pulled out a new weight tracker for me (mine was full anyhow) and she wrote "New Start" right next to my weight.  So we treated today as my first day so my (new) starting weight is 156 lbs, which as you can see my home scale agreed.  I have 11 pounds to loose to get to goal.


I've decided I want to treat this like the new start my leader calls it, and she's right.  For months now I've been really not trying that hard.  So I'm doing this right, going to meetings, I'm taking progress pictures, and I've taken my measurements.  All things I wish I had done when I first started Weight Watchers.

So here I am in my weigh-in clothes at 156 lbs.  Many of you may think boy she still looks great, I wish I was 156 lbs and so on.  On my short 5ft 2in frame 156 lbs is overweight, and I can see where those 11 lbs are sitting on my body.  I can feel that extra weight, see where its sitting, its affecting how I feel about myself.  There are days I feel like a failure because I can't get my head around taking off this extra weight and the fact that I've been up since April and not "done" anything about it.

Here are my starting measurements :

Hips - 43 in
Bust - 37 1/2 in
Arms  - 12 in
Waist - 34 in
Thighs - 26 in

The one thing I did learn from this is that my waist is up 4 inches from March when I had to send in my waist measurement for my kilt for the Perth Kilt Run back in July.

This upcoming week I will continue to focus  on getting back into routine in terms of going to the gym and Taekwon-Do.  I will also focus on eating a proper dinner before 7:30 PM.

Week 43 - Tricks Not Treats

For the second week in a row I went back to my Weight Watchers meeting.  I'm going to give you more about my week and what I'm doing in my next post, tomorrow.

This week's topic was "Tricks Not Treats" aka Halloween!  Its almost here!

Like many holidays Halloween has been commercialized, it has now become a vehicle to make money, to sell costumes and candy.  Once upon a time there were pagan and religious meaning to the day, not anymore.  Its a tough day for those of us watching our weight, for those of us are easily tempted by tasty treats that laden store shelves, perhaps your children's treat bags after the day itself, or the little candy bars on a co-worker's desk.  Candy pops up everywhere!

Fact of the matter is, candy is full of SUGAR and FAT.  I know I didn't get overweight eating fruits and vegetables it was eating crap!  When you eat sugar your brain releases serotonin, this makes us happy and in turn your body starts to physically crave sugar!  I know that this affects me very strongly and I need to cut out the sugar I keep craving and eating!

It is okay to have 1 or 2 treat sized candies on Halloween but you have to know when to stop and if you're like me its hard to stop at 1 or 2.  Also, we're taught at Weight Watchers that no food is off limits and this can work against us when you're an old pro like me and you know how to "work the plan" (aka cheat the plan) so my leader gave us ideas on how to cope with the day and the abundance of candy.

Get Rid Of It! - Pick a time when you're going to give out candy to the last trick-or-treater, when that last kid shows up empty the bowl into their bag!  Or take the leftovers into work, worry about your weight not your co-worker's weight!

Freeze It! - Put the leftover chocolates in the freezer it'll take you awhile to eat just one treat and you might have second thoughts about having a second when you took awhile to eat the first.

Go Help Someone Else - If you enjoy seeking the kids and handing out candy, go to a friends and help them give out candies... then you're not tempted by leftovers at home because you just don't have any.

Go Out on a Full Stomach - When you go out with your wee ones to collect treats make sure you're full so you're not tempted to snack on the yummy goodies the kids collect.  While you're out there chew some gum or take a nice big coffee or tea in a travel mug and sip on that as you wait for the kids.  If you've already go something in your mouth it'll be a challenge to eat.

Ditch the Sense of Occasion - Did you know you can buy chocolate and cadies any time of the year?  Yes you really can and snack sized ones are readily available year round now.

Slimming Treats For You - Pick out a few low point tricks for you to enjoy!

I Don't Like It! - Buy candies you don't like to eat

Have a Game Plan - Give out the candies that would tempt you the most first.  Don't open the candy packages until the first kid rings the doorbell.  Buy your candy at the last minute.  Decide how you're going to cope ahead of time so you're not thrown off plan.

Happy Halloween!

Call To Battle!

Its been awhile since I've felt like blogging about my weight loss... well my lack thereof.  Actually its more of a weight gain, to the point that I am now TEN pounds over my goal weight.  Sigh, yes I let it get this far, I let it happen, its all me, myself and I.

I took my first steps to getting back to goal this past Friday when I stepped on the scale and I saw that gawd awful 155 on the scale.  Some time ago I swore to myself I would never allow myself to get over 150 lbs.  That was one big, fat lie because I've been sitting over 150 for far too many months now.  I've also been paying Weight Watchers since April, when I gained 7lbs over two weeks and I've just not managed to get it back off again.  More like I haven't tried hard enough to get it back off.

Somewhere along the way I lost my motivation, lost my self restraint, my ability to say no to myself.  Its often been 4 cookies instead of the 1 I know I should have.  I've been inconsistent with exercise, with diet, with tracking, with routine, with keeping my house clean, with putting away my laundry.  All of these things are just symptoms of a scattered  and unfocused mind, a sign of my mental state which has been just as scattered as my life has felt.

So step one was stepping on the scale and facing the truth that I am 10 lbs overweight which is unacceptable.  Step two was getting my butt back into the gym, at Taekwon-Do or tie on my runners (all three I have done since Friday), Step three was getting back to Weight Watchers.  I went back to my meetings this Saturday and stayed behind to have a chat with my leader.  We've agreed it was a good idea for me to go back to weekly weigh-ins to pay weekly until I'm back to goal, instead of weighing in once a month and only paying there.  Hopefully the support and motivation I need to get these unwanted pounds off.  Step four has been to track properly, eat properly, and eat proper meals at a consistent time (like not at 8 PM!).  So all of these things I have been doing since Friday.  I'm hoping for positive results when I weigh in on Saturday morning.

As a motivator to help me get there I put on my one pair of jeans that I know I only fit beautifully when I'm at 145 or less.  These are the jeans that are 100% denim there's not one iota of spandex to help hide things.  So here is the start of Operation Fit My Jeans!  Right now its not a pretty sight, there's definitely an unsightly muffin here!

Not a pretty sight is it?

You're Always On My Mind...

I know it can't just be me, I'm sure this is a problem every person who has or is loosing weight... I think a bout food a lot, I mean I think about food all the time.  I'm either thinking about when can I eat next, what am I going to eat next, how many points do I have left, how many points would that treat be, can I afford a treat, what do I want for a treat, no you shouldn't eat that, or I'm thinking about eating right.  I just find I think about food ALL THE TIME!

Last week all I could think about was baking cookies!  When I was overweight I baked quite a bit, and cookies was one of my specialties.  I would also make brownies, banana bread, and cakes.  Nothing makes the day better than a nice piece of cake.

Back to cookies now.  Like I said I was dying to bake cookies!  I hadn't made a single cookie in over three years, since I started my journey.  I love a nice soft, chewy cookie the only hard cookie that's a good cookie is a ginger snap or an Oreo in my opinion.  I was thinking about going to a stitching get together with friends last Saturday so that's what I did Friday night, I gave into my urge.  Boy I made cookies!

I made a batch of my favourite Big, Chewy Ginger Cookies... they turned out perfect!  I hadn't lost my touch.  I also made a batch of the classic Chocolate Chip Cookies, not so much of a success but probably because I was baking these after midnight!  They tasted great but a wee bit flat, even after adding a little more flour they were still flat.

So I packed up half of each batch of cookies and took them stitching, cookies are best shared with friends!  The other half I left here with Todd, he's great for finishing things up so I'm not tempted by yummy, I will splurge until my belly busts foods.

This weekend is a huge one for food as well!  It's Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend despite the fact that this should be a holiday to give thanks for the things in our lives, for our family and friends.  I can assure you after the last month I am definitely thankful for my family!  My Mum doesn't have the energy yet to put on the full spread so I offered to do it this year.  Oh boy I started to regret it as soon as I thought about it!  I've never been a big one for entertaining or cooking on a "Sunday Dinner" scale.  I have actually never even done a roast or a whole chicken before.

Our family dinner is going to be on Saturday and its a pretty healthy one of roast chicken, we're not huge turkey or ham people in this family so I'm going to cook three roast chickens.  I cooked the first of three tonight, so that tomorrow I can cook the last two together.  Doesn't it just look perfect?  Besides the chicken there's going to be green beans, carrots, mashed potatoes, gravy.  For dessert there's either the healthy option of fruit salad and/or vanilla frozen yogurt and/or an apple blossom (like a mini apple pastry).  So there's a lot of healthy and a wee bit of sinful.

I spent the day today cleaning my house and prepping some of the food in advance for tomorrow.  I earned a million activity points today with four hours of housework!  Yes I cleaned the house from top to bottom.  Luckily I'll get up early enough tomorrow for a descent run before it gets too warm or late in the day, dinner is early around 4 PM!

If you're Canadian have fantastic Thanksgiving and if you have seconds, make sure its worth it!

Run For The Cure 2011

Yesterday was my 4th year participating in the CIBC Run For the Cure and as you all know because I've been begging and pleading I annually fund raise for this event.  Not only did I participate and fund raise this year but I started a team as well at my Taekwon-Do School!

 The Almonte Taekwon-Do Run For The Cure Team 2011

For our first Almonte Taekwon-Do team we were 16 strong made up of family, friends, and students!  As a team we fund raised $2,845.00!  I am so proud of my team and how my friends and classmates supported me this year!

Me & Tracey waiting to start the race

Personally this year I raised $1,600.00 for Breast Cancer Research!  I have many of you to thank for surpassing my goal this year!

Some of the 9,000 participants crossing the finish line

On Sunday we ran with 9,000 other people and helped raise 1.64 million in Ottawa alone!  Last year nation wide 33 million was raised for Breast Cancer Research through this event.  This year I crossed the finish line of the 5K course in 31 minutes, and it was just wonderful running with my teammates!

Not only is this event run across Canada simultaneously, this year a run also took place on the Canadian Forces base in Kandahar, Afghanistan.  Is that not just the coolest thing ever?

 Greeted by the Ottawa 67 Cheerleaders after crossing the finish line

 Keeping warm, waiting to start the race!

 Father & son running together

 Mother & Son running as well!  A great event for 

families.

Lots of fun outfits!

We ended off the morning with hot beverages and breakfast!

One Last Run For the Cure Plug

Hey everyone!  I sat down and added up my online donations (which you can see on the right there) and my "old fashioned on paper donations" and you know what?  I am only $139 shy of raising $1,500!!!!

That's only 14 donations of $10 each!

Last year I raised just over $1,400 so please if you have the means, help me blow last year's total out of the water by hitting that $1,500 mark!

To donate online at anytime, from anywhere in the world, simply click on "donate now" on the right or click HERE