Big Red X- Weigh In #2

Tracking honestly is hard work. Especially when you know that you shouldn't be going over your points or that you really shouldn't be eating pizza... you know how it is. I just sort of feel like if I don't track it, it didn't happen. Of course that is the exact opposite of the truth. It did happen. Let's not be delusional. That being said, it's not been the greatest week food wise. I ate a LOT of extra points that I just did not have.

But still, I tracked. Because that is the whole point. I didn't feel like I had gone hog wild or that it was a free for all, but ate normally... Pretty sad when eating normally means I was super overeating my allowance. But that is the whole point of tracking, to identify behaviors and see what is going on and to be aware of just how much is much too much.

It is really easy to over eat. A slice or two extra of pizza. A bit of Chinese food. A peanut butter shake. You know these things add up and really quickly. But the important thing is acknowledging honestly that you ate them and being aware of how many points it does cost. It's a hard thing to face when you realize that regular shake just cost you 29 of your 37 daily points.

Anyway, all that said, I managed to lose another pound this week. I am down to 235 for a total of 6 lost in two weeks. Pretty good I say!

This week is all about portion control and trying to stay within reasonable limits. Not eating an extra 141 points.  But hey- Sunday is a new week for me.

A new week to start over. A new week to try and rein in some of these crazy eating. Although to be honest- this was a normal week for me :( But each day I become more aware and that is what is the important thing.

Also, I am 14/14 days of tracking 100% honestly, accurately, and successfully. Only 76 more days to go! I am proud of that.

Big Red X- Weigh In #1

Okay, I've done 7 complete days of tracking and today was my first weigh in! I am down 5 pounds! I was at 241 now at 236, which leaves me just 6 lbs shy of my first real goal- to hit 230 lbs.

Pretty awesome!

My 90 days is up on July 13th (which is my brother in law's birthday, ironically)

Today I'm headed over to my mom's house while Brian works. So it should be a good day.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend- I know I am. Also, I'm selling my iPad 2 on eBay, so if you are interested or know anyone who is, here's the link: http://bit.ly/ipad264gbebay

Tracking Tuesday

Allow me another blog to brag. I told you I had diarrhea of the keyboard!

I finally said to myself "Self," I says, "self, you need to get back on tracking!" And that is what I did with my Self today. I put her on a strict plan of "you bite it, you write it" just to see where I am at. And the numbers aren't fantastic, but they are definitely better than they were last week.

Breakfast: Weight Watchers French Toast and Turkey Sausage - 7 Points+. I could seriously eat these all day.
Lunch: Wendy's Jr Bacon Cheeseburger- 8 Points+
Weight Watchers Chicken Fettucine 7 Points+ (This was eaten an hour later when I realized that - duh!- the cheeseburger left me hungry!)
Dinner: Stouffer's Meatloaf and Gravy, 2 loaves (5P+ each) with 2/3 cup instant mashed potatoes (4P+) 14 Points+
Snacks: Quaker True Delights Pomegranate Blackberry 13 crisps- 3 Points+
Weight Watchers Chocolate Brownie ice cream 6 oz cup ($1!) 4 Points+

Now if you add that up you will see I went over my points. I get 35 a day, and I ate 43, so I had 8 points more than I should have... what was 8 Points on my meal log... the Wendy's! UHM COINCIDENCE? Not!

I'm proud of myself.... because I ate mostly at home today .....because I drank a lot of water .....because I did not have 4 cups of coffee creamer with a smidgen of coffee (lulz) .....because I tracked! ....because I made smarter choices. I could beat myself up saying what a horrible failure I was... but I am not. It's my first day back on tracking. And no one is perfect their first day. Least of all me.

I'm also impressed with Wal-Mart lately. This is where I made my ice cream run at midnight. I normally shop at Meijer, and while Weight Watchers are on sale this week at my usual store... I made a startling discovery. They are cheaper at Wal-Mart!!! What?!?! Also, more variety?! That 6 ounce ice cream was not at Meijer. Also my favorite tortillas- you know the Mission Low Carb tortillas that are only 2 points??- they are almost $2 dollars cheaper at the Wal-Marts versus Meijer. Meijer- $4.50 for 10 soft taco sized tortillas. Wal-Mart- $2.68 for the same package. I'll be shopping there from now on! POM juice was cheaper too. So I bought a small bottle to supplement my iced tea and to use in my smoothies.

I'd also like to point out that my ice cream wasn't necessarily a bad choice. Sure, 4 Points+ seems like a lot for 6 ounces of ice cream, but Brian got Haagan Daz, and his was way more points!

Haagan Daz Rocky Road:

Serving size 1/2 cup (4 ounces)
Calories: 290
Total fat: 17 g
Carbs: 29 g
Protein: 5 g
Fiber: 1g

Points+ Value: 8!!

Weight Watchers Chocolate Fudge Brownie:

Serving size 6 ounces
Calories: 150
Total Fat: 1.5 g
Carbs: 33 g
Protein: 4 g
Fiber: 5 g

Points+ Value: 4


Also to my new friends, thanks for dropping by! Make sure to leave a comment so I can find and stalk you back :)

Coming up in March

Here's a list of things coming up in March.

~My move! Obviously! This is happening the 5th.
~Dentist appointment (my first in nearly 4 years) on the 3rd
~Disney on Ice with my friend Carissa on the 10th
~Bridesmaid dress shopping with Kayla on the 11th
~Spring! This means long walks with Maxwell.
~Day trips to Valpo! Brian's childhood friend is leaving for the Air Force in April so we promised we would come up and visit a few times this month.
~And a doctor's appointment. For the hell of it.


I want to accomplish a few things this month too.

*First and foremost, I want to focus on tracking. I have been doing really awesome with it this week, having tracked 6 days in a row and now I am on my last one. I love that I have been so dedicated to it, and the scale has definitely reflected that.

*Secondly, I have decided to hold off on the 30 Day Shred and also to not join meetings. I know that I would not be dedicated enough to go to meetings, since I don't really enjoy people. 30 Day Shred was fantastic for losing inches, but I was so ravenous after working out that I gained weight. Couple that with not tracking, and well... you saw what happened. I need to focus on food first.

*Which is a nice segue into my third goal- not to eat out at all this month. This means no Pizza Hut, no Taco Bell, no Wendy's, no Applebee's. I am going to cook at home all month long. I'd say 'think of the money we will save!' but I am sure we won't save any of it. I'll either spend it all on WW meals or I will find some other use for it. (video games?)

I think not eating out combined with my goal of tracking every day will result in a major loss. I think I can do it, though it will be a challenge. I was thinking of setting up some sort of reward system. For every day that I tracked, I'd put $1 away. For every day not eating out, I'd put $1 away. If I did both, I'd have $60 at the end of the month that I could use to buy new clothes. Which I desperately need. I pretty much gave away all the clothes that were too small or too big. So that leaves me with the clothes I have currently, and that is not a lot to go on.

I have a very busy month ahead of me! I have to say that I am really excited to be so active. Working at home is fantastic, but you know... it's kind of hard to get out there and socialize. One can become a hermit, if not careful.

Weigh in- A Loss!!

YES!! A small loss but I will take it!! I have my greedy little hands all over this loss.

Starting weight: 237.5
Last week: 218.4
This week: 218.0
Loss: .4 lbs
Total on WW: 12
Total to date: 19.5!!

Closely approaching that 20 lb mark again. Hello again old friend!!

While I didn't track every day, I tracked most days.

Plateau? 

So, it seems this whole "track it fool!" thing is working.

Gonna do it again this week and this time really keep control of my eating. It's hard since I have been eating so much more than I was, now it seems like I am depriving myself when I am really not.

We had a blizzard yesterday! 15 inches of snow and ice. Thankfully though, we didn't lose power. We lost internet for a few hours, which was annoying, but I just went back to bed. We had a level 1 snow emergency- for those of you who don't have snow or don't know, a level 1 means unless you are an emergency vehicle, you are forbidden to be on the road. If you're caught out (god only knows why you would want to be out!) you can get a ticket and your car impounded. A friend of ours who lives in another county is under a level Code Black which is the absolute worst road conditions.

73 Points+ and Mail

I was feeling all blah and boohooey and pretty much fed up with life yesterday. :( So I asked Brian if we would be able to do something fun and different tonight and he suggested we go out to eat. Okay, I'm lying; he suggested a movie, I suggested we go out to eat. Who am I kidding, right?

Anyway we went out to Applebee's (because they were the only ones open after 10 pm and Brian got off work at 9:30) and I spent a few hours looking up what I was going to have online before we got to the restaurant, so I could eat guilt free.

We got a plate of spinach dip to share. I had half. An entire portion is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1600 calories or 43 Points+. It was 22 P+ for a half portion.

That's HALF?! I mean, it's half :)

I also got a pomegranate margarita! Except it was more a martini. Maybe it was a martini? I dont know! But it was. De. Lish. Us! And there were enough for 2! Which I drank! (Brian wasn't fond of it) And they were 9 P+ each.... we aren't even to dinner yet, and I've already used 31 P+!

Mmmm...

Yes, I am enjoying my drink!

[Okay, now that I am looking at my Weight Watchers mobile app cocktail cheat sheet, I have decided that this is, in fact, a martini! Obviously I don't drink much! so that saves me 4 P+ per! YAY!]

Dinner was the riblet basket with sweet and spicy sauce. No pic of this, because my phone died. I think it may have died in shame? I can't be sure.  Anyway, it was good but a little too spicy (Uhm hello? It was sweet & SPICY? Duh!) so I only ate 3/4 of it, but it was still a whopping 24 Points+. (32 for the full thing, I believe.)

All in all my dinner was 64 Points+ (yikes!) and my grand total for the day: 73.

And this is why you can't eat out all the time and still lose weight! This meal was nearly double what I am allotted in a day! Granted, I didn't really *need* the drinks... that would have saved me 10 P+, but I wanted them. Now I only have 10 weekly left! But it. was. worth. it.

Hey, I tracked. Good thing I earned that AP!

I am glad I went (the food was great!) because now I can see how much food is way too much! I am glad I tracked too, even though it was a lot of food. I know that if I hadn't, then I would have ate more. This is what we call planning, kiddos.

I got something exciting in the mail today. What you may ask? I will give you a hint!

It's a card!

The very lovely Alexia over at Dimple Snatcher decided to do a giveaway one day. What was she giving away? Lovely handmade cards! She sent me one and we are now, officially, pen pals. Yay!!

Inside she wrote in pen, it was so marvelous. I love how it wasn't perfect! There were little scribbles, it was written in pen, there was a doodle of a cat on there! It was so retro and so well made. I love it!! I am keeping it forever.  In her letter she said two things that really struck a cord with me and almost made me cry. She said

"Thank you for all the kindness you've sent my way. I really, really appreciate your support....you have no idea...."

and the second bit is even better:

"You are so genuine. And I can relate to your struggles. I'm going to love watching you get to goal. Thanks for inspiring me, I'll never forget"

Aww, Alexia!! Sniffles! Thank you so much for your kind words. And your faith and support. You have made me smile more today than I have all week!

Now, I have to go! I need to get to the store and buy some crafty supplies so I can make a handmade card or two. Someone is waiting on their return card! ;) And family members need to see pics of Max, so I will have to hop to it!

Staying Motivated

On Twitter I saw from Biggest Loser

This week, Joe stayed motivated with a reminder on his arm. How do you stay focused on your goals? #BiggestLoser

So I decided (aside from keeping that formatting from Twitter) that I was going to write a reminder on my arm as well. And I thought of something pretty catchy.

If you track it, they will come... (off)

My mother would be so disappointed. She used to HATE that I did this sort of thing. Not only to my skin but to my clothes. Personally, I like it. Marker washes off. Unless its on jeans. Then not so much.

The point being- I see this little reminder all day long. And it is helping me keep accountable. Now I am not going to run out and get a tattoo of that or anything but it is serving its purpose today.

Notice the #1 near my wrist. I thought of a few others I would put down too, and they will be written at some point.

I have a confession and an announcement to make. My confession first. I had 3 blocks of vanilla almond bark so I melted that in the microwave with 1/4 cup of crunchy peanut butter and mixed it up and laid it on wax paper and let it harden. OMG it was delicious. I ate it all! for 17 points! What?? I tracked it...

And now my announcement. I mentioned on Wednesday that I was going to earn 14 Activity Points this week and I have officially earned 16 APs!! Yay Zumba!! It's nice actually achieving a goal. I think I am going to have to start going back to my daily goals and trying to accomplish those. I  like the sense of accomplishment! It feels great!!

I have also tracked and pretracked every day since Wednesday! YAY!! I am so proud of myself.

I wanted to start C25K this week, but... I didn't. Oh well. Maybe next week. I am just proud of myself for doing Zumba three days in a row. I also download the Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout demo for the Kinect and tried that and it was fun. I really enjoyed it. It's on my Gamefly list. But first I have to get through Mass Effect 1 and Kinect Sports. Siggghhhh my life is so touuuugh lol :)

Tuckered Out

Like my sweet puppy, I am tired!

We had a busy day today. It started off with not a lot of sleep last night. I was so excited for Max to come home today that I spent a lot of time day dreaming about him and not getting any actual sleep.

We went on lots of walks today. Like 4. Between 5-20 minutes each. We peed each time (well, he did. I wasn't about to put my bare ass out! It's cold!) No poopies. But he didn't eat much today. I tracked everything I ate today though. Including Wendy's, I had 36 points today. I poopied, in case you were wondering.

Now we are being lazy bums and laying on the couch. It's so nice to have such a calm dog. We will see how he feels in a few days.


I guess I can count my walks as exercise, right? Hm...

Popcorn?

Yesterday was a fantastic eating day for me- until I got off work.

I had yogurt with crushed granola for breakfast for 8 points
I had 2 oz of chicken breast with fat free swiss and half a cup of cottage cheese for 6 points
I had another granola bar "two-fer" for 4 points and an apple (0) for a snack
I had 3 oz of shredded bbq pork for 6 points

That's 24 points.

Then I proceeded to gorge on popcorn. I have no idea how much I had! the label on the canister (Yes, *canister*) said that it was 3 points per serving, however, the serving size is scratched off the label!! Go figure! I know there are 24 servings per container however. It was a 3-type canister filled with regular, cheddar cheese, and caramel corn. I am not fond of caramel corn so no extra damage there! The strange thing is, it doesn't say what the nutritional info is per type of popcorn, just what it is overall. Perhaps they assume that you will eat a serving and it will equally be divided into the three types?

Anyway to be safe, I said that I had 4 servings (theres a looooot left) for 12 points


For some reason, I am unable to access WW.com and also on my app on my iPhone. I cannot even add items to the "untracked" folder. I've been having issues with the app since they switched it over to PointsPlus and even downloading the updates, deleting the app and reinstalling it still gives me issues. Grumbleee!

Strange websites aside, I also Zumba'd today using my Kinect game. And while it's not the same as going to a class (for one, the instructors big ass isn't in my face and I am not tripping over gym equipment) it is still a lot of fun and verrrry hard. There are beginner and intermediate classes as well as some others I think? But I've only done one of the two beginner's classes. It breaks it down into 5 minute sections and its 25 minutes long. By the time its over, I'm sweating hard, I can barely think as I try to count the beats to keep in sync, and I am out of breath. Worth it though, when I see how sore I am only a few hours later.

Points consumed: 36
Activity earned: 6
Mood: GREAT!
Hunger: nil
Thoughts?: Feeling a little nauseous but that could be combined stress and the effects of taking my birth control pills. I always get nauseated the first few days taking them after I've had my lady time. Over all a fantastic day! Yay! I can do this :)

I switched my schedule around so I could have a longer weekend, and I am so looking forward to it. I cannot wait to be done with this week. I am getting so stressed due to work being insane (to the point where I think this is not worth anything they pay me- and the money is *fantastic*- but I keep pushing through. It's because of the holidays. I will see if its any better by February, and if it's not for me, oh well, its not for me. At least I tried and tried.) I take a Xanax daily. I am going to run out soon and have to go to the doctor to get another fill lol :)

Between tech issues on my end and their end, and the never ending calls, its been a nightmare...In fact, thats all I dream about. :(
But while I am on the calls with the customer I am having a great time, laughing, and keeping them entertained, so it has its good points too. I now definitely have no problem talking to people, whether in person or on the phone.

Correction: 48 pts

I'd like to note what a buffoon I was: 4 Bob Evans sausage links are not 28 points. They are 5. With that being said, I was at 23.5 points for the day and I have 20 weekly remaining. Good thing I did my research!

Tonight's dinner was sloppy joes (6 pts with bun, or 3 without) and mac and cheese (5 pts)  I had two glasses of Arnold Palmer "teamonade" for 3 points, and two glasses of water today. Also had a turkey sandwich for 6 pts (damn you tasty cheese!) and a small "order" of homemade cheese fries (3 oz fries with 2 Tbl cheese sauce) for 4 pts.

All in all, a good day for food eating. Brian had some of my cheese fries and decided they were delicious and proceeded to make his own, which used up all of the fries, and half of the sauce LOL I think I converted him!

So, yeah, aside from the dumb blonde moment, everything is back to normal. Except for the fact I'm out of fries, dangit!

A Gold Star and Goals

Lately, I've been pretty obsessed with finances, and I am tired of living paycheck to paycheck. With no food. A grumbly tummy will do that to you.

I even made out a huge grocery list last week, adding everything I could think of to it. My bill would have been astronomical! I've since pared it down.

Anyway, I was talking to dearest hubby about how much extra money we spend and he asked how do we spend so much, if we don't really do anything? I told him it was all food, and soda, and video games. The only things we do do. He seemed a little skeptical- because really, who spends all their money on food?

We do. I printed out last month's bank statement (Aug 15-Sep 15) and took a marker to everything that wasn't a monthly bill or gas. The numbers were shocking. We spent very nearly $700 on food/extras
I don't know how we spent that much, or why, or even where we got all that money! We certainly don't have that much money free after all the bills are paid.
Truthfully though, I don't pay all the bills on time, or sometimes at all. It depends. I'm never more than a month late though. I try really hard to pay them but sometimes it just doesn't work out.

I've adopted a new system and a new view on life. Keep it simple, stupid. Since I am too stupid or lazy (depends on the day) to manage my finances extensively, I've decided to do this:

1. Make a calendar in Google Calendars of all our bills, how much they are, on the day they are due.
2. Also on calendar, put dates that we get paid
3. I took all our expenses and divided them by 4, to find out what we owe weekly in bills. I took the yearly ones (like car ins) and divided that by 52 (weeks per year) and noted the total at the beginning of each week.
4. As we get paid, I will pay the bills right away.
5. As I pay the bills, I will physically write on the calendar how much money is left in our account. That way, if the company doesnt take the money out right away, I won't be fooled into thinking I've got more.
6. After the bills are paid- a GOLD STAR on the calendar!

I figure seeing a month filled of gold stars will fuel my sense of accomplishment and likely keep me on track. I'm tracking what goes in my mouth, so I should track what comes out of my pocket with such vigilance too!

I also made short-, mid-, and long-term financial goals with my husband yesterday. We talked about things we wanted (new XBOX slim, new drawing tablet, a puppy) and things that would be helpful (vacation fund, emergency fund, savings) and appropriate dollar amounts for each.


This is hanging on the fridge. Why? Most of our money goes to food. It's like hanging a picture of you in your skinny jeans on the fridge to help you remember what you're working for and not to eat that extra helping of left over spaghetti.

We also get a weekly allowance! YAY! My husband is really excited about this one, for whatever reason! Depending on what we can afford, it will be approximately $10-15 each, per week. If he wants a new game, he can save for it. Like he was a little kid again! If I want to go to Zumba for a month, I have to save for it. Same thing with clothes. Also having a limited amount each week will help me be thrifty, at least I hope. I'll be scouring the clearance racks!

Having goals that are easy to reach yet challenging enough is very important. I want to see success immediately, that way I don't feel like it's overwhelming, or that I am drowning in despair. I've been failing so many months at weight loss and finances because I've been setting unrealistic goals and not following through. It's time to buckle down and do some good for myself.