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January 31, 2005

Quiet Monday...

It's a quiet Monday in school today. Which is just fine...I'm still recovering from my latest upper respitory infection and don't feel like doing a ton of work anyways. I'm going through the decision in my head right now whether or not to go to the gym. I had given myself permission not to go, but then I thought I'd try it, but now that school is almost over I don't feel like it anymore. Motivation is such a difficult thing to hold on to, especially after you've been at it for awhile, as I have. I took a class once on motivation, you know, internal and external and all that stuff. Pretty interesting. Basically some people are motivated internally...do it for yourself kind of thing, and other people are externally motivated--they are the people that need tangible rewards. Neither is really good or bad, but I think you need a little internal motivation to keep eating healthy. There's just so many temptations out there you need to be strong-willed, determined, and, motivated.

So having said all that, I don't think I'm going to the gym today. I'll be motivated when I feel just a little bit better. :)

Posted by Mary Elizabeth at 10:56 AM | Comments (2)

January 28, 2005

Friday! and a Weigh-in

I weighed in late this week because I have a cold and didn't feel like moving for a couple days. But I went to a meeting last night and lost three pounds! Yay! I actually thought it would be more, but I'm happy anyway. It's just when I'm good, I feel like the loss should be HUGE! Silly I know.

So since I've been sick the only foods that have appealed to me at all are, well...not core foods. So I'm going to switch to flex for the rest of this week until my Tuesday night meeting, because I didn't eat over my points, I just felt like eating healthy choice ice cream instead of 94% fat free popcorn. You can do that on WW, switch between plans, but you have to do it for the full time between meetings. So as I plan my outings this weekend, including my mother-in-law's birthday, I think flex might be a bit easier to handle. Plus, I wanna order a sandwich at dinner tonight!!! mmmm We're going to Ruby Tuesday's I hope and I am thinking turkey club! Bread and cheese! Within my points of course...I love Ruby's with their new menu with nutritional info! Restarants are finally getting it that we want more information and we will still eat out.

Today's goal: No dessert.

Posted by Mary Elizabeth at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2005

Victory this weekend!!!

I have found that the way to stick to eating right is just to plan as much as possible and hope things fall into place. This was a challenging weekend, as I had mentioned, but I made it without too many scratches.

At Applebees I got a chicken tango sandwich, I think it was called, and boy was it good! Seven points, and worth it, especially for the bun. On Core you don't eat bread unless you're willing to spend your WPA's for it, and it's funny how good something tastes when you haven't had it for awhile. I also had a grilled shrimp salad, four points on flex, but pretty much free on Core, although I counted a couple points b/c I wasn't sure how reduced fat the dressing was.

Which brings us to Saturday. We had a good lunch, then went to a basketball game (in a blizzard, but hey, those tickets were expensive!) I didn't eat anything at the game, and we went directly to the steakhouse after. When the group ordered the Bella Napoli (Italian Nachos) I made sure I moved the dish to the other end of the table. When people at our end wanted some, I passed their dish down and had them fill it up. You gotta do whatever it takes!!! :) I've started a daily goal, and Saturday's goal was NO NACHOS. I did have too much bread and butter, but it's hard to be perfect when you're out.

Yesterday's goal was NO ICE CREAM over at my father's. To his credit, he did make a good Core meal, salmon and brown rice. But, he tried to push ice cream on me and I wanted no part of it. Well, ok, I did, but I was determined. God I love when I'm determined. I wish it happened more often.

Today's Goal: NO EATING at today's faculty meeting if any teachers bring snacks. I can wait until dinner!

Posted by Mary Elizabeth at 08:45 AM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2005

Going out this weekend...

I am SO determined to not bust my WPA's this weekend! Tonight my husband and I are using our gift card for Applebee's, so I've been on their website trying to figure out what I can eat there and not spend points. I like Applebees...they have an entire WW menu and the food is pretty good.

Tomorrow is my good friend's birthday and he wants to go to a steak house. Again, this should not be a problem because on core, I can eat lean steak like filet mignon. It's the little points that add up, like butter and salad dressing....or appetizers that the rest of the group wants! Oh please let me stay away from the Italian Nachos! There will be 12 of us there so hopefully I can keep the plate away from me!

Last night I made a wheat pasta cheese and tomato recipe and I don't think I liked it. F/F cheese doesn't bother me but it doesn't melt as good as the regular. Of course, I didn't figure out that I didn't like it until I ate two bowls. Gotta be sure, you know.

Posted by Mary Elizabeth at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2005

Not too shabby...

So, after my pretty good week with just a couple mishaps, I lost two pounds at the scale. We had a substitute leader who was pretty good. We discussed what's in our refrigerators and cupboards and whether or not they needed some "cleaning". I know my biggest weakness are my husband's snacks for work. I have a hard time keeping out of them at the end of the week, when I know he doesn't need them anymore. Just one more thing to work on, I suppose....

Posted by Mary Elizabeth at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2005

Weekend Report

Another weekend down the drain. I always save up all my bonus points (or Weekly Points Allowance) for the weekends, and still it never seems like enough points. I know if I could make it through the week without busting my WPA's it would make a huge difference in my weight loss. I know this...and yet I always struggle on the weekends. Those extra points add up quick....even on good meals like the grilled chicken BBQ I had at Ruby Tuesday's Friday night. Salad dressing, real butter, shredded cheese on my salad, suddenly I've burned 8 points. But the real damage happened Saturday while watching basketball at my fathers. He knows I'm on Core, and so we were having turkey, but then he thought making garlic bread with it would be a good idea. It was not. Garlic bread is 5 points a slice (!) but Oh-so-hard to resist. Dad is what they call a WW enabler. In some ways he wants to help, but yet he can't stop buying foods that I have trouble with, even though I have begged. (Weight Watchers calls these "red-light foods"). I know if I would just stay firm and not eat the foods he wouldn't do it again, but then it starts a fight. (I know, a newly married woman over 25 still arguing with her father?) Maybe he doesn't really want me to suceed???

Posted by Mary Elizabeth at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2005

About Core

So there are two plans you can do now on Weight Watchers, flex and core. Flex is counting points, core is eating..., well, CORE foods. If you want details into the plan, you'll have to go to their website www.weightwatchers.com. I lost all my weight on flex, but I got tired of counting points and journaling. Sometimes it just got old. So I was happy to have the new plan to try out. I eat a lot of meats..chicken, lean beef, pork...and other foods I had never ventured into before like brown rice and wheat pasta. My latest food adventure is couscous, which I bought but haven't actually made yet. Another good thing about core is that I have focused more on fruits and veggies, something I always had a tough time with. I always need advice about what fruits to eat! I tried some peaches in fruit juice today, which I liked, hooray!

Every day I succeed is a victory. The trick is to take it one day at a time, and not let them all attack you at once! :)

Posted by Mary Elizabeth at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2005

One mistake can count so much...

Here's my first weigh-in on the journal...too bad it wasn't a loss. This was not the fault of the plan though; I had a chocolate binge on Sunday. Ironically, I think it was stress-related about food...my husband and I were going to his friend's house to watch the football games, and I found out his wife was making lasagna...definitely NOT a food I wanted to eat. But I was worried about how to get out of eating it. Eating chocolate beforehand certainly didn't help! I'd love to know why after five years I do such stupid things still! (By the way, i brought a nice veggie tray and didn't eat the lasagna and noone cared). Oh well. A one pound gain, I'll get it next week.

Posted by Mary Elizabeth at 08:39 AM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2005

And so it begins....

Nothing like the month of January to start thinking about dieting again...well, I think about it all year, but January is great for really re-dedicating yourself and kicking your motivation back into gear.

This is my fifth January on weight watchers. Hard to believe. I've lost, I've gained, I've maintained, but I'll say right from the start, the plan works. And it works well. If you follow it. And therein lies my problem...so January is a good month for me.
Right this minute I am down 61.5 pounds from my original weight of 286.5. Just before I met my husband, I was down 100.5 pounds, so I've gained back almost 40 pounds in about two years. Not bad though, statistics say that most people on a diet gain back everything and then some. I haven't done that.

So, I feel I can write about WW...the plan and how it really works, both short and long term, and how I'm doing on it....I really want to be in some nice shorts this summer, so I'll be working hard!

Posted by Mary Elizabeth at 09:23 AM | Comments (2)