25 Pounds

I didn't want to go again to weigh in - what is up with that? Seems like every week I feel lousy about weighing in on the scale. I decided to weigh myself at home around 2pm....the number looked good. Last week I did that and it was off about 2 pounds. Anyway, I lost 1.1, total now of 25.5...I got my 25 lb star!!!!

I have been cooking up a storm of fun WW recipes this week. Last night I made Tandori Pork (not great)...and WW Mashed Potato's...again not a ton of flavor....

will post again in 2 weeks!

A small success

Well, here we are the week after Thanksgiving....we have all been sick this week..even me...and, I haven't weighed in for 3 weeks...one week I was visiting Mom & Dad, the next week, dinner was in the oven and Todd had to work late, and last week, we left for Thanksgiving...needless to say - I was expecting to gain 1 or 2 pounds......but I actually lost .3

It isn't a whole lot, but at least I lost / maintained through the holiday and I haven't been journaling. Goal for this week will be to Journal, Journal, Journal. I also intend to plan our eating for next week, that always seems to keep me on track and it is easier to grocery shop too.

Total Loss to date this time: 24.4

a good week again.

Went to WW last night just for a quick weigh in and then home before the Trick or Treaters come...I lost another 2.9 pounds, making my total loss 24.1 Not sure how I am doing this, as I am not a good tracker...I guess my cooking healthy is helping, and not having tempting stuff around too.

There is some candy left from last night. We bought some candy that I like, but lower calorie and not chocolate. Even at that, the candy goes out the door to the shop today! I did indulge on about 5 pieces last night...

Another good week

I just got back from a Weight Watcher meeting and to my surprise, I lost another 1.2 pounds, for a new total of 21.2

I recently have pulled out all my WW cookbooks and have been picking out recipes to try out each night of the week. So far, we have had this great Asian Chicken Salad over Jasmine Rice, Meatloaf with Broccoli, and a Chicken Casserole...also did a few others before my last trip to see Mom and Dad, and I can say all have been great.....I didn't know cooking could really be that easy. I have figured out it is really all in the planning. If I sit down before we go grocery shopping and get a list going, then I will have all the ingredients for when I want to cook a WW appropriate meal. And, the flavors are so good, you really would never know it was WW. I do think that Todd is loving this new inspired me...he gets dinner made about 5 or 6 nights a week for him..a big change from him cooking almost nightly! I have just never been inspired before.....

Today, I went to my old job and they threw me a going away party/birthday party for October people. I did have a piece of cake, but about half way through eating it, I just didn't really want it anymore, so I didn't eat the whole thing. I had forgotten how good it feels to make good choices. I was able to have some, but not over-indulge! And, I still was able to have a little bit of everything there, since everyone made pretty healthy stuff, salad, beans, couscous, rice, eggs, etc...

I hit my 20 pound mark!!!

I was so reluctant to go to WW last night. I was sure that I had gained weight. Having spent a week at Mom & Dad's (not counting points at all)...having no control and eating a few cookies...I was sure for a gain, but I somehow managed to loose another 1.5 pounds, making my total loss to exactly 20 pounds.

I may start working again for WW as son as January hits...we will see if they really need me or not. I am pretty content on just going to the meeting and being a "student" for the time, but wouldn't mind a little extra cash either. (mind you, it is "little").

I have been going crazy trying out new WW recipes. I have been cooking out of the Meals in Minutes book and the Pure Comfort. Cooking is actually easier than I thought it would be. Todd is the real cook in our house, but since I have been home, and if we are having a "good" day, then I do attempt to get dinner going.

Another Successful weigh in

Well, here we are....October 3rd...my third weigh in since having a "vacation" from WW...and I lost another 1.7 pounds....

My total since March is now 18.5 pounds gone...I am so excited that it is working....I feel so good about it too..this last week I went shopping in my closet and am starting to fit into some clothes I was in pre-pregnancy.

Week 1 - Back on Track

I went to WW last night and had a loss of .9 I will take it. That puts me at 16.8 total loss since March 07. Slow and steady wins the race...I have to remember that on this journey. It took me 2 years to loose the 116 pounds I lost last time. I don't have even 1/2 as much to loose this time...

I did try on some clothes that were smaller this past weekend and they are starting to fit. I have 3 skirts that now fit...a little tight, but they fit. a few more pounds and they will be perfect!

I haven't set any real good goals yet, except I want to loose another ~ 16 pounds to get back to my pre-prego weight and clothes!!!

Getting off the pregnancy Pounds....

Hi all,

Well, Justin is now 7 1/2 months old. I have lost a total of 15.9 pounds since March 07. I am feeling pretty good about it, but now am on a mission to get off this next 20 to take me back to my pre-pregnancy weight....will check in weekly (i hope) on my status...
Alicia

How is everyone doing?

This blog has come to a standstill! I know a lot of you have small children, and other blogs to maintain, so I certainly understand. I have been extremely busy myself with my new position at work. We are currently in the midst of planning our fundraiser, Taste of the Foothills 2007, which is happening this Saturday!

I have had to drop out of going to WW meetings officially, because we bought a new truck and have to cut expenses to accommodate the new payment. We are moving to a cheaper place soon and will be saving quite a bit of money, so I may re-join this summer.

I am down 13 lbs. from when I started WW. I haven't been following the program too closely these last few weeks, and I keep gaining and losing the same pound. Frustrating!!

I will try to follow the program without formally going to meetings, although I have to admit I am not too motivated. I just wish the weight would fall off without having to actually diet!! Yeah I know -- dream on! I did read a magazine article that talked about the importance of STOPPING when you're full, and that there is a very quiet voice inside you that tells you when you're full, and it is very easy to drown out that voice by eating while reading, watching TV, etc. I have tried both, and realized that voice telling me I'm full is indeed VERY quiet, and when I came home for lunch one day and fixed a sandwich and some chips, and sat down to watch TV while I ate (forgetting about listening to the voice!). I got engrossed in my program, and the food was so tasty (PB&H, my fave! H=Honey) that I just shoveled it into my mouth until I polished off every bite. That's when I realized I was REALLY stuffed and way too full, and I realized that I had forgotten to listen to the voice.

How is everyone else doing?

WW Struggles and Cooking tips

I know that I have been really struggling these past few weeks, and others of you have, too. I just HATE doing without my treats on the weekends and it has been really hard. I could really identify with Alicia as she struggled to avoid getting a blizzard at McDonald's (actually, they're called McFlurry -- apparently blizzards are at dairy queen!). I LOVE those things too, and with the warmer weather, they just sounded SOOOO good! I managed to avoid getting one, too, but on Friday, I couldn't resist going by McDonald's on the way to work on Friday morning and getting some of their cinnamon minis for breakfast. I went to the McDonald's website for nutrition information and OMG they are 10 points!!!! But they were SOOO good! I had a diet coke with them (now there's an irony, eh?!?) and so by mid-morning I had a raging headache from the sugar and the caffeine, which I had managed to wean myself off of in the mornings (still have to have it at noon). And now I've woken up the craving for real sugar again, so I sort of feel like I'm back to square one again. Oh well, today is another day...

Oh, and by the way? A 12-oz. Oreo McFlurry is 13 points -- OUCH!! The good news is, that you could have one every once in awhile using your FlexPoints! I love it that you can go online and get nutrition information for a lot of the chain restaurants. Papa Murphy's has a brochure with their nutrition information on it in their stores.

Speaking of treats, one of the hardest things for me to give up has been my Dutch Bros. Freeze. I LOVE those things!!! I called the corporate offices and figured the POINTS value for a small freeze, and it is six points. That's A LOT but at least I can have a small one for breakfast once in awhile. YUMMMM!!!

I don't know how many of you have access to the WW website, but I got these tips off the site and thought I'd post them here. Perhaps one or two (or all 11) tips will be helpful to us in our weight loss journey. Hope you find them helpful!

1. Sauté your vegetables in a little chicken or vegetable broth instead of butter or oil. That's a POINTS value of zero for the broth versus a POINTS value of 1 (per teaspoon) for butter or oil.

2. Thicken soups with prepared instant mashed potatoes instead of heavy cream. The instant spuds have just a POINTS value of 3 for 1/2 cup, versus a POINTS value of 12 per 1/2 cup of cream.

3. Opt for a strong-flavored cheese. You'll get much more flavor from crumbled blue cheese, for instance, than from shredded cheddar, so you can maximize taste with a lesser amount.

4. Chop and toast nuts to cut back on the total amount of nuts needed in a recipe. Toasting maximizes their flavor, and chopping them allows you to cover more "ground." Also, experiment with using toasted rolled oats in lieu of nuts in some baked goods.

5. Make your own whole milk substitute. Swap it for fat-free milk and add a little fat-free yogurt, pureed tofu or powdered skim milk to thicken it up.

6. Swap applesauce for 1/3 of the total butter or oil in a cookie or cake recipe (light-colored batters) — or substitute pureed prunes for that same amount if you're making a chocolaty dessert. You'll add moisture while subtracting calories.

7. Many people know that you can use fat-free egg substitute in place of whole eggs. But did you know that you can substitute 2 egg whites for 1 whole egg in most recipes? Then, to make egg-based dishes like frittatas and casseroles look more authentic, try adding a little turmeric to the whites for a more natural appearance.

8. Use pureed silken or soft tofu in place of cream in dressings and pasta dishes.

9. Replace the mayonnaise in tuna, egg, pasta and chicken salads with pureed, seasoned silken tofu or plain low-fat yogurt, dressed up with your favorite diced vegetables and seasonings.

10. Make your own taco shells by hanging soft fat-free tortillas directly over an oven rack and baking at 400°F until crisp.

11. Chop, grate, shred. You can top a casserole with much less shredded cheese than cheese cubes or slices. The same goes for shaved chocolate, shredded coconut, chopped nuts and other foods with high POINTS values.

a slacker....

okay, so I am a slacker....I have to report that I didn't attend the last two weeks! The first week I was going to go, but then had an unexpected visitor...and this week, I had a hair appt....I haven't attempted to step on our scale at home, I hadn't been so good at tracking, and I know when I don't do that, I don't do well. Today, I was so tempted today to get some ice cream (like the ice cream at McDonalds like a blizzard, but I overcame it..Just kept thinking how many points it is and that I don't need it). I treated myself to a 2 pt ice cream sandwich (skinny cow). When I do count my points, I do great at staying on target. Right now my difficulty is getting in any sort of activity. With Justin being so little still it is hard to get any time for me! Last night Todd and I (and Justin) went to the part and walked a few laps.....I just need to get that dedicated part of me out and schedule the time in when Todd is at home to work out. I really need to get in at least 5 hours a week, but that is almost impossible for me at this point......Well, hoping for a better week this next week...maybe we will do more walks in the park....

A small gain . . .

Well, I was right -- last week's excesses took its toll on me this week. I gained .6 lbs. -- bummer!! I guess it could have been more, but I'm just glad it was only a little more than half a pound. Oh well, on to better things this week.

Things have been stressful at work with lots of changes happening, and planning our annual staff development day, so I'm sure this contributed to my not being able to stick to program.

How is everyone else doing?

Wow!

Well, today is my WW meeting day and I had been dreading it, since I had been SO bad this week. But amazingly enough, I posted a 3.2 lb. weight loss!!! I was absolutely amazed. I couldn't believe it. No doubt next week will be not so good, because for me, it seems to take a week before culinary excess takes it's toll on my weight! I'll have to try to be extra careful this week.

So my total weight loss to date is 12.4 lbs. Wooohoo!!! I am very excited. Got my 10 lb. sticker today. Kinda sounds like kindergarten LOL. I am thinking that the reason for cheating so much this week is that things are stressful at work. I need to find a way to comfort myself without food, but that is a lifetime habit. I've tried other things, and they just don't seem to work. Anyone with ideas?

How is everyone else doing? What's tough for me this time of year is Easter and all the chocolate in the stores. YIKES!!! This weekend, the weather in Chico is supposed to be gorgous -- low to mid-80s they say. Good time to get outside and take a long walk in the park or a bike ride. Also a good way to burn calories for extra points!! :-)

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

My journey...

I signed up to be an author a little while ago and then our computer went caput and I have just been trying to keep afloat since then. Anyway, this site is so much support as it is always hard to stay away from the sweets or overeating or whatever the excuse would be. My husband helps too but it is just great to be on the weight loss journey with others. I am so encouraged by you all and Alicia it is soo hard to face that real weigh in. I should know because I have not taken that plunge yet. I am still doing this unofficially partly because I do not want to see their scale, mine works just fine (I think), but also because since having a baby I would like to return without having to pay every week. I am already a lifetime member - prior to getting married I lost 30 lbs and became a lifetime member of WW's. I do have a goal of 150 and have lost 15 of the 20 lbs I need but now it is pedal to the metal, nose to the grindstone, etc... This is always my hardest time, losing those last five pounds. May 9th is Abigails one year birthday and I want my pre-baby body back... Getting closer all the time.

I just want to say thanks for letting me join in this journey with all of you...

Food Journal: Karen

Thanks, Rae Ann, for your post! We certainly all struggle with things, as you mentioned, the cookies, etc. Especially problematic is the weekend away, where you feel really deprived if you can't eat with abandon!!

You had asked if we could publish our journals. I track my points online with e-tools, but I will try copying and pasting it here, so here goes . . .

This is a typical weekend day for me. Mind you, at my weight and height, I get 33 points (well, 32 points after this weigh-in):

POINTS® Tracker entries

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Morning
3 slices cooked bacon 4
1/4 cup Egg Beaters 1
2 slices whole-wheat bread 2
2 tsp reduced-calorie margarine 1
Subtotal 8

Midday
1 item fat-free turkey hot dog 1
1 item hot dog bun(s) 3
2 tsp reduced-calorie mayonnaise 1
Skinny Cow - Quick-added food 2
1 item Chocolate Cake 1
1 items Rasberry Newtons 1
Subtotal 9

Evening
1 patty cooked ground beef 5
1 item hamburger bun(s) 3
2 tsp reduced-calorie mayonnaise 1
11 items Baked Original Potato Chips 2
Subtotal 11

Snacks
Skinny Cow - Quick-added food 2
1 item WW Chocolate Cake bar 1
1 serving Baked Lays (11 chips) 2
Subtotal 5

Food POINTS values total used 33
Food POINTS values remaining 0

Here's a typical work day:

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Morning
2 packet Instant Oatmeal with Apples & Cinnamon 4.5
1 WW Mini bar Chocolate caramel 1
Subtotal 5.5

Midday

Subway Lunch (Turkey Sandwich w/1 bag baked lays & diet soda) 6
1 bar WW Chocolate caramel 1
Subtotal 7

Evening
3 slices Thin Crust Veggie Pizza from Papa Murphy's, 14
Trader Joe's Meringuie Cookies - Quick-added food 2
Sugar Free jello and cool whip free - Quick-added 0
Skinny Cow - Quick-added food 2
Subtotal 18

Snacks
100 Calorie Bag of Ritz Thins 2
Subtotal 2

Food POINTS values total used 32.5
Food POINTS values remaining 0

I hope you find this helpful!! :-)

darn cookies

wow! karen and al, you guys are doing great!

al, i totally wondered about the extra "nursing points." i had a really hard time with those when we were on WW after we had the bean. it seemed like a lot and i rarely could eat them all. i had more points to consume than tom did at the time! that's great that your leader is open to letting you reduce the number- mine told me to eat an ice cream sandwich before i went to bed if i still had points left! that didn't make any sense to me at all.

karen... i love, love the TJ's list! we have a couple very close to us and ours have pretty reasonable prices. often they're better priced that the grocery stores that are close to us. i told tom i need him to print out a copy so that i can keep it with our WW resources and also tape one to the inside of the "snack cupboard." hopefully then it will be an easy reference for quantity and points.

i've been putting my sharpie pen to good use this week. i've managed to mark most of our snacky stuff and food that's in the fridge with it's point value. this has really helped us in the past so i'm counting on the method again.

i can't remember if i mentioned this, but tom was able to find our resources last week. we also found a stack of our old journals. that was really helpful. it's nice to go back and see what our meal plans were because it makes it so easy to have something to repeat when you just don't feel like taking the time to calculate everything.

i totally bombed this weekend. a girlfriend and i were at the beach and i just threw it all out the window. i don't think i did too bad, but i definitely could have eaten more homemade hummus and less banoffi. oh well.

this week was going really well until wednesday. we have our home church group here that evening every week and i realized it was our week to provide some kind of munchy. disaster ensued. the only thing i could think to whip together that i already had all of the ingredients for was chocolate chip oatmeal cookies (i think tom and i've figured these cookies to be about 5 points each). in the past, i would send all of the extra cookies home with people, but this time tom told me to keep some because he knew he could control himself. i should have sent those cookies off... apparently i have no self control. i've been eating 2-3 a day since wednesday. i'm throwing them out today.

for those of you who are using e-tools, are you happy with your membership? sometimes i think this would be easier- i could plug in recipes and such, right? and jim, are you still using this to calculate your daily points?

also, i was wondering if any of you wouldn't mind posting a days worth of journaling. it might be good to get some ideas.

Down another .6 lbs . . . and adjusting points!

Well, last night was my WW meeting, and amazingly enough, I lost .6! I couldn't believe it, since I was SUCH a pig over the weekend. Yikes! I was so bad all weekend and I just didn't care what I ate and I didn't count points. And we went out to dinner at Outback on Friday night and had a big ol' ribeye steak, but I did substitute the baked potatoes for veggies (cooked with butter, no doubt!!). And I had the croutons, egg and cheese removed from the salad. *sigh*. Oh well. I ate and ate and ate. But the good news is, that there is no "bad" stuff to eat in my house, so when I pigged out, I pigged out on relatively low-cal stuff. The only thing that was higher in points was the peanut butter, but even it was reduced calorie. It's still a lot of points, though. I had a peanut butter and honey sandwich. I didn't count the points. I was SO sick of counting points!!

Oh well, this is a new week and a new attitude! I'm back on track, and this will be a good week! We're going to a movie and dinner tonight, but I don't plan to have popcorn. But I do plan to spend some of my flex points on dinner tonight. Yum!

Just a reminder -- as you lose weight, you have to adjust the number of points you are allowed. I use the e-tools on the WW website, and when I posted my loss, it reminded me that I needed to take the points quiz. My total weight loss is nearly 10 lbs. now (9.2 lbs. to be exact!) and when I re-took the quiz, I had to drop one point off my previous amount. Its important to remember to adjust the points every 10 lbs. or so, to make sure you continue to lose!

LOW-POINTS FOOD INFO: I've discovered several goodies at Trader Joe's that are low points and very filling! One is the Pretzel Slims. They are kinda cracker, kinda pretzel. You can eat 23 of 'em for 2 points!! There is also a frozen apple tart (shaped like a small pizza). Apparently 1/4 of it is only 2 points!!! Also, there are chocolate cat cookies for people, 15 of 'em for 2 points! No Pudge Brownie Mix, 1 brownie is 2 points. Meringue Cookies -- 2 for 1 point and they are VERY rich and sweet. A serving is 4 cookies for 2 points, but I couldn't get more than 2 at a time eaten and it was plenty. Frozen Chicken Egg Rolls, 1 egg roll is 2 points (and they're big egg rolls). Santa Rosa Honey Whole Wheat bread, 1 slice is 1 point. And there is a delicious cinnamon raisin bread that is 1 point per slice, and the brand is Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 which is delicious, and organic for those that care about such things. There's a great website that lists WW-friendly foods at Trader Joe's: http://www.oduamy.com/tj_points.html. (Sorry I couldn't get the html code for the link to work -- I don't know why, but even if I click on the link button and enter it, it won't show on the blog for some reason -- ARGGGG!!!)Hey, I know -- I'll add it as a link to the blog, on the right hand side! Trader Joe's is kinda pricey, but its a fun place to shop, and they have some items that aren't found anywhere else.

How is everyone else doing?? There's a post from Alicia -- I'd love to hear from the rest of you!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Staying the same - Alicia

I weighed in really quickly last night at the WW meeting here in town. I was exactly the same as the previous week, so the leader instructed me to take away 5 points from the day. She said that many nursing moms have discovered it was too many points for them, so we will see how next week goes....how is everyone else doing this week?

Alicia - First Weight In

Well, I did it. I so did not want to brave the scale at WW. What is it about getting on the scale that is so terrifying. I knew what it would be, as I weighed myself here at home. Just something about weighing in that makes it somehow "official".

Well, I need to loose 30 pounds to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and need to loose an additional 20 to be where I really want to be. I could loose more to get to my "goal" weight, but I really want to be realistic. So, I am looking at 50 pounds.

I asked the leader last night if I really have to eat all the points, and I knew the answer, but when you are breastfeeding, it adds a ton of points and it is truly hard to eat that much food - even with my late night snacks. So, this week, I am vowing to eat all the points and drink the water.

Last night I walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes and it felt pretty good. Was thinking I could do this when Todd comes home for lunch, but I may end up doing it in the evenings and that might just work better for me. I think the weather is pretty good today, so Justin and I may just take a walk.

Here's to everyone having a good week this week!!!!!

not good, not good at all

so how do you know that this time, you're serious. this time, you mean it. this time, you're going to kick cellulite's ass.

i thought this was going to be it.

then i realized, there is no "thought" about it. you have to make it so. i keep thinking that i need to feel really amped up about my weight loss. that i have to feel really motivated. the truth is, it's got nothing to do with how i feel.

i know this might be a weird comparison, but i was thinking about tom and comparing the two situations. i love tom with all of my heart- nothing can change that. however, when we're not at our best and we're pushing eachother's buttons, i don't always like him. it's the commitment we have to eachother though that gets us through those slumps.

((i know, i told you this was weird...))

same thing with WW. i shouldn't have to feel all high and emotional about it. i just need to be committed to it no matter how motivated i do (or don't) feel at the moment.

anyways, soap box speech. i'm in a slump. this is where i would give up and i've only just begun. we can't seem to find our old WW materials (moving every year will have repercussions like this) and i know that's not helping. i don't feel equipped to be embarking on this right now. however, i know that there are plenty of resources out there and if i would just take advantage of them, i would be on a good path.

keep it up everyone! i really enjoy reading everyone's stories and hearing about how their week is going. it's motivating and encouraging.

Just a small loss . . . but still a loss!

Well, I had my weigh-in tonight at WW, but I only lost .8 lbs, bringing my total loss to 8.6 lbs. I was disappointed, as I felt I did really well this week! :-( But I guess the good news is that, even thought it was a small loss, at least I lost! I was hoping to get closer to 10 lbs. down, but oh well. Maybe next week. We've been eating out a lot lately, since our oven has been broken. Oh well, the good news is the new stove is being installed tomorrow, so we will be able to bake again!

Also, I got to see Alicia at the WW meeting tonight! I was really excited to see her, and I got to see Justin too, and hold him. He is SO adorable! I love babies. Unfortunately, I had to run off to a work dinner tonight, so I couldn't stay very long. But at least I got to see them and hold Justin! Fun stuff! Alicia, I'm so proud of you for re-starting your WW after having Justin!

How is everyone else doing?

Dotti's Weight Loss Zone

Most of you probably are familiar with this sight. It has been a great help over the years. Lots of restaurant points, recipes and more. www.dwlz.com

My WW History

I am excited about this new blog as a place to come get some encouragement in my continued battle of the bulge. As an author on this sight I figure I should introduce myself with my WW story.

I joined WW originally in January of 2000, after my beloved mother in law (I do love her-- she is the greatest MIL a fellow could have….that could be a blog post all on it’s own) got started and encouraged me. I had let my weight get up to 226 lbs. and I am only 5-10 and the top of my weight range is 174 lbs. Over the course of the next few months I lost all the weight I wanted to and got down to about 160 lbs. On May 1, 2000 I became a Lifetime WW Member.

I started running during my weight loss, which helped shed the lbs quicker than my WW leader wanted, too bad I thought. I got more and more addicted to running. We had no children and my wife was a teacher and had evening work so I had time for long runs. I did a couple half marathons and signed up for a full marathon. This was a goal I had had for years. I completed the Great Potato Marathon in Boise, ID in 3 hours 52 minutes, my goal was under four hours.

At this point in my life I had no need to count points anymore, logging 40-80 miles a week burned enough calories to afford me to eat as I liked. I feel it is important to note that I did not exist on ho ho’s, Twinkies, Slurpies and Cinnabon, but consistent exercise seems to breed healthier eating habits. It is very cyclical (I like that word) exercising, makes me want to eat healthy, eating healthy gives me what I need to exercise, etc.

I was for the first time in my memory satisfied with my body. I was wearing a size 32 waist (first time since 2^nd grade I think), shirts were a medium and larges were too big and most importantly to my moobs (man boobs) were gone.

I will also mention that I taught Weight Watchers at Work for 2 years. I used my wife’s classroom and taught a number of teachers from her school and co-workers of mine.

Five years and two kids later I am back to struggling with my weight. I have gained back about 30 lbs and that is enough thank you very much. I often tease that I gained the weight back during my wife’s two pregnancies, as I could not have her eat cookies all by herself at 9 at night or maybe it was just that there is not time with two kids. I know that the two main contributors are that I quit counting points or even paying attention to the foods I put in my mouth and I struggle to make time for exercise.

A quick note on the not enough time thing… I know that if I am going to exercise regularly I have to make time, I have to make it happen. This for me means I have to get myself out of bed in the morning. I used to be in my office by 5am meaning getting up by 4, I now struggle to get to my office by 7. I used to get up early so I know I can do it I just have to want it bad enough.

So I am I back on WW as of four weeks ago and down 7 lbs. I need to get more on the ball as I should be down about 14 lbs, but I will gladly take the 7.

My weight loss challenge

I started weight watchers years ago when my brother Jim had lost his weight with WW. I was truly inspired. I lost 116 pounds - took me 2.5 years, but I did it! I was at my best when I met Todd, but after remodeling a house, getting married, and getting used to a new lifestyle, I had put on a few extra pounds. My weight wasn't at a point where I was totally worried about it, cause I still felt pretty good about myself.

Then, we got pregnant. I can say that I wasn't my best while I was pregnant and ate pretty much whatever I wanted....this being why I am not back to where I want to be. It has only been 2.5 weeks since Justin arrived, but I was hoping to fit into at least my 20 week clothes...I am not. I have lost about 30 pounds since I gave birth, and I am sure I gained some pounds for feeding Justin, but this is not an excuse!

I am vowing to get back on track! I am going to pull out all my old stuff and read through it all to get better aquinted with a healthier lifestyle....Todd is a good support system, and I need to do this for me. I just got back the OK to drive, so I will need to decide what meeting I want to attend. I used to always to go the Tuesday night class and afterward we had "girls night out" which meant dinner with the girls..might be nice to put this back into practice at least once a month with my friends.

I am amazed at how much extra points you have to eat because you are breastfeeding. I have yet to be able to eat all my points for the day. I started tracking a few days just too work at getting back on track. I miss a day or two here and there, but today is my first day at really tracking my points.

Here is to all of us and a good start or re-start to our challenge.

warming up

well, we're here and we're climbing on the bandwagon. tom's been considering surgery to help him with his struggle with weight and i keep thinking that when he starts his diet, i'll start mine. we're a dangerous combo sometimes.

i've done WW several times in the past and always with success. the first time, tom and i had just started dating and i actually lost 20 pounds relatively easily. i did it with a girl friend and she was an amazing source of support. we went walking together every morning and we cooked together every night. it made it seem easy to lose weight.

fast forward to my post-baby body after we had stella (who's now 2, for anyone out there who doesn't read our blog). tom and i decided to go back to WW. i was probably a good 30 pounds heavier than i was when i went the first time. i chalked it up to baby weight. we lost weight- slowly but surely. i felt motivated, but tom was struggling. he was losing weight, but not nearly as quickly as he thought he should be. due to the discouragement he was feeling (and probably finances) we quit going and the "lifestyle change" was abandoned.

after i had our youngest in may, my body had shrunk. i actually lost weight during pregnancy that time! i was 17 pounds lighter post partum than i was when i first found out i was prego! alas, it didn't last. i have no idea what my current weight is but i'd be willing to guess that i've put those 20+ pounds back on my body.

i used to be super athletic. i ran track in high school. i loved to run. i was one of those people who would wake up and run 4 miles as a warm up. when i got home from school/ work, i would go run 7 more miles. i loved how my body felt and i loved how i looked. now i'm no dummy. i know i'll never have that body back. it's suffered it's fair share of abuse over the years, but i do know that i long to run again. i have this strange dream stuck in my head to run the new york marathon someday. my family and close friends have even said they'd fly out to watch me do it.

i want to participate more in my kid's lives. i want to be able to keep up and chase them while they learn to ride their two wheelers someday.

i would love to wear a bathing suit with confidence again. pre-kids, i was much more secure with myself than i am now. i miss that and i definitely want to pass a healthy body image and good confidence on to my girls.

these are my goals. summed up, i long to be healthy.

so the plan is to jump in with both feet starting on monday. i have no idea if we'll go to meetings, but we're certainly planning on following the WW plan. and the only reason that i say that we're starting monday and not tomorrow is because we need to go grocery shopping. :)

so... here's to better decisions!

Weigh-In Day . . .

Well, last night (Thurs.) was my weigh in, and I was really feelin' pretty nervous, since I had gone over points a couple of nights (yes I had already gone through all my flex points!)and I was really afraid that not only had I not lost, that I may have gained . . . but I am excited to report that I lost 3 lbs!!! Yahoo!! I am now down 7.8 lbs. and I actually got into a pair of jeans that I could not get into a couple of weeks ago. In fact, the new jeans I bought because the old ones didn't fit, are now too loose!!! I really am liking that. It is so motivating to have lost a relatively small amount of weight but it made a difference in the fit of my clothes. Whew!

Well, how did everyone do on Valentine's Day? I have to admit I had a couple (or three or four) pieces of chocolate that were hanging around the office and were calling to me. They were relatively small pieces (and they were Dove chocolates -- YUMMMMMM!!). Then Bill and I went out to dinner (I had already gone through all my flex points!!!) so I was a bit concerned. I always feel SO deprived when I go to a restaurant and can't order steak. In our WW meetings, they talk about how it is so easy to still eat out on program, by ordering grilled chicken, no potatoes, no sauce . . . all I can think is WHAT'S THE POINT?!? Why go out?!? To me, half to fun of going out (besides not having to cook or do dishes!) is eating a big ol' thick steak, baked potatoes loaded, rolls and salad. Of course, that is what the flex points are for. I was REALLY hungry last week!! Anyway . . . my point is that since I'd already used my flex points, last night we went to Marie Callender's and had salad bar and steak dinner. I had steak and cocoanut shrimp, but I did substitute the baked potato for more veggies. I loaded up on salad bar and low-fat dressing, had a small amount of soup, so I wasn't that hungry when the entree came. I was very proud of myself, and I only ate until I was full. I only had a few bites of steak and one shrimp. The rest went home in a doggie bag.

Speaking of salad bar, that can be a dangerous place! There are lots of yummy things for salad that can pack on the points if you're not careful. Things like hard boiled eggs, cheese, sunflower seeds and raisins. If you don't think you can resist, one idea is to order a side salad instead of salad bar, and have them hold any items that are high in points, so you don't see them and aren't tempted to eat them. If you do eat them, don't forget to count the points!! It's way too easy to just lump it all in as salad and figured the greens cancelled out the bad stuff . . . sad to say, that doesn't work!!!

If you have a sweet tooth like I do, then you probably know about the Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. They are two points, and are very good! The hard thing is to only eat just one . . . . I wanted to let you know that Costco has been carrying Skinny Cows in bulk -- 20 ice cream sandwiches to a box for only $9.99!! This is a huge savings, as the ones in the grocery store come in a 6-pack for $4.99. Wow!! Also, I found sugar-free jello cups at Costco in bulk for an excellent price, too. The specialty items such as these can be pricey and makes it difficult sometimes to follow the program.

So we have several authors signed up, and several invitations still out there. If you are having trouble accessing the link for the invitation, let me know and I will re-send it. Make sure the email didn't go to your bulk folder, too.

Please feel free to post! I'd love to hear from our authors, about where you are, where you want to be, or anything else you'd like to post!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

In order to be an author . . .

If you'd like to be added as an author to the blog, I need to have your email address so I can send an invitation. My email can be found by clicking on the link to the right that says "Email Karen!".

I received a request from Sara to become an author, which I am more than happy to do, But Sara, I need your email address to add you! :-)

Hope everyone is having a good week so far.

Here's my tip for the day: Did you know that one of the snack size cups of sugar-free jello, topped with Cool Whip Free, is ZERO POINTS?!? This is a fantastic snack to have when you're out of points (or when you want to eat something sweet, but don't want to waste points)!!

Valentine's Day is Wednesday. Maybe you can use flex points for that special dinner and/or chocolates!! :-)

Welcome New Authors!

I'm happy to welcome Alicia W., Jim H., and Tom and Rae Ann P. as authors to the blog! We are all in this journey together and having this support as we all struggle to lose weight is so important. I'm excited to hear everyone's stories and share in the joys and struggles. I'm looking forward to sharing tips and recipes, too!

Let me begin by telling you my story. I'm 48 years old, married for 2-1/2 years to a wonderful man. Between the two of us, we have four kids -- my boys ages 24 and 19, and his girls ages 22 and 19. My boys live with us; Bill's girls live in southern CA and Kentucky, respectively. As often happens, I never had problems with my weight until I had children. Since then, I've slowly gained weight over the years to my highest weight of 287 (gulp -- its really hard to look at that number!). I'm 5'11" so it is really easy to put on weight before it starts to show. I have been a WW member previously (must have been 3 or 4 years ago) and lost about 35 lbs. Since then, I've gained back the 35 lbs. plus! This time, I joined WW on Feb. 1st and last Thurs. was my first weigh-in after my first week on WW and I lost 4.8 lbs! My goal weight is 170 so I have 112lbs. to lose. I'm determined this time. I'd like to have most of it lost by my 50th birthday -- Aug. 21, 2008. At my age, heart disease and diabetes loom as scary monsters in my future if I don't do something about my weight. I'm also on medication because my bad cholesterol is too high and my good cholesterol is too low. I'd like to get off of those meds, if possible. Also, once I hit menopause, then losing the weight will be even more difficult. My husband loves me just the way I am, but is very supportive of my weight loss. I am very lucky to have him in my life.

So that is my story! Feel free to share yours, if you'd like to. We can do this together!!!!

Welcome!

This blog is dedicated to all of us out there who are fighting the good fight of weight loss through the Weight Watchers system. The idea for this blog was born when several of us who are on WW and who are also bloggers were talking about it, and my friend Alicia came up with the idea of starting a support blog for those of us who are on this journey.

Please feel free to join in, post recipes, suggestions, ideas, support for each other, and offer encouragement along the way. Feel free to vent, celebrate, commisserate, and cheer as we all struggle with meeting our weight loss goals. If you'd like to be added as an author, just email me or drop a comment on this post and I will give you permission!

I look forward to learning from everyone! I am very excited to be in this with all of you.