Success!

I attended my WW meeting on Wednesday and was shocked to find I'd lost 1.8 lbs.  This was just the motivation I needed to keep me going.  I've done very well these past two and a half days and feel positive I will see another loss on next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, I'm pretty much keeping to myself.  I think I've had enough relationship drama for one week (or month, or lifetime...).  I've renewed my commitment to being single for a good while to come.  If someone spectacular falls into my lap, great.  Otherwise, there will be no pursuing of relationships from me for at least the next year.  That should give me plenty of time to focus on me, my health, my weight loss, my upcoming move, and the potential of looking into getting preggers later next year (more on that at a later date).

Day 14: I'm Still Here

Okay, so first of all, I should say that Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were all...not very good.

In fact, Saturday, after all was said and done, I'd consumed in excess of 130 Points Plus and needless to say, had completely devoured (pun intended) any weekly points I would have had for the week.

My weigh-in on Saturday was less than stellar.  Down one pound to 343.4.  However, I will take that one pound.  If I only lose a pound again this week, I'll be thrilled.

Saturday I went to Weight Watchers at the crack of dawn.  I had coffee and a sausage McGriddle from McDonalds (a habit I need desperately to break).  Then it was back home to get ready for my niece's 3rd birthday party at which Subway sandwiches (not too bad) and cake (bad) would be served.  That was fine, it was the leftovers at home that were unhelpful.

Even so, that wouldn't have been a big deal, but then there was my sister's and my joint birthday party (celebrating hers a few weeks late and mine a few weeks early) to contend with.  I only had a few beers and a big ass shot one of my friends bought for me, but we also had dinner.

So...anyway, if my day had consisted of only one, maybe even two, of these little blips, it would have been fine.  It was a combination of all the factors that really messed me up.

Yesterday, I slept the day away.  I don't know why.  I certainly wasn't hungover and I felt okay, I just could not stay awake.  My mom and sister felt the same way so we chalked up to the rainy weather we're having.  I also had a really hard time caring about what I ate.  I got up so late that I only had coffee for breakfast, ate leftover subway for lunch, had a real Dr. Pepper later in the day along with a little bag of chips, and some mandarin orange chicken and jasmine rice from Trader Joe's for dinner.  I put my points in today and it says I'm 6 points under my total for the day, so that was a relief.  I ate the chicken leftovers for lunch today and had cereal this morning.  No idea what's for dinner.

I feel so beaten down today.  Not by the weight loss thing, but just by life.  Mostly, maybe because my birthday party made me sad.  I invited about 30 of my co-workers and not one of them could be bothered to show up.  In fact, one of my closest work friends texted me to tell me that she and her husband got tickets to a show instead.  Why even bother telling me at all?  It just really made me feel like crap.  Granted, all my closest friends were there, even one I hadn't seen in about a year, so that was nice.  But these are people I work with and I always feel completely on the outskirts of the "group" at work.  Like people tolerate me, but mostly find me annoying.  And that just kind of reaffirmed that feeling for me.  Whether it's true or not.

And tomorrow night is a send off for my outgoing principal and a welcome for the new principal.  I'm not going.  I can't face those people.  I can't even begin to describe how being around them makes me feel.  Like I'm not a real person, like I don't measure up, like no one really gives a shit about me.  And certainly like none of them know me at all.  Which, to be honest, they really don't, despite having worked there for 8 years.

I desperately care what people think of me.  I really wish I didn't.  My ex used to get so pissed off at me about that.  But I can't just turn it off.

Weigh In Week One

I got my butt out of bed at 5 AM this morning and drove it an hour to go to the nearest 6:30 AM Weight Watchers meeting.  I chose this meeting specifically because I had a sneaking suspicion it was the same leader as a meeting I attended last year.  She'd only been the leader for my first two meetings, so I don't know if she was just filling in or what, but she was a big motivating factor for me, as she's close to my age, appears to be single and without kids, so I can relate.  Most leaders are married with grown children...I don't have any children yet, so....  Plus this leader lost 130 lbs and looks great.  Big motivator.  

So I get there and lo and behold, it is her!  I was very excited.  I also quickly realized I was the youngest person in the meeting.  Impressive, since I'm only a couple of years away from 40!

I got all signed up and weighed in and was relieved to see that my 3 days of focus have paid off to the tune of almost 6 pounds.  I was at 344.4.  

I'm probably going to head to the movies soon and see World War Z.  I may even get a small popcorn.  Though right now I'm not feeling the popcorn, as I ate lunch early (due to that 5 AM wake up time) and am pretty full!

As promised, pictures of some of my food from yesterday:

My crazy potato, bread & butter pickle, and sun-dried tomato vinagrette green salad that I enjoyed for lunch yesterday.

A pretty blurry picture of the squash and orange bell pepper I chopped up prior to sauteeing them up with some onions and garlic to be used in my barbeque chicken & veg quesadillas that we dined on for dinner last night.

I'm so, so bad at remembering to take food photos, that I took this one halfway through eating my dinner last night.  I apologize for the lack of photo gloriousness.  These quesadillas were delish, though!

I just used the leftover chicken and vegetables from last night on top of another salad today.  It was an interesting combo...tonight will be a pretty boring dinner...some sausage, baked (or mashed) potatoes and some kind of veg....tbd.

Weigh In

Hi everyone!  While I wasn't super successful stuffing my face with veggies and making sure that I didn't weigh myself 10,000 times a day, I did get my water in everyday since I set that goal.

And I'm down exactly 1 pound this week!  Last week I was 334.8, yesterday I was at 333.8.  I'm thrilled.  My goal is to lose 1 pound a week and I accomplished that.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I downloaded a free weight tracker from Half-Size Me a few weeks ago and having that visual reminder has been very helpful.  If you go to the website and sign up for her email updates, she sends you the tracker for free, so something to keep in mind.

Today, I've been busy meal planning for the upcoming week.  Payday is monthly for me and it is this upcoming Friday, so I'm going to have to make due with pretty much whatever is in the pantry for the time being.

Tonight, I'm making veggie pizza and cauliflower poppers.  I found the cauliflower popper recipe here:  Baked Cauliflower Poppers.  She claims they taste like french fries, so I'm going to give them a whirl.  We'll also have a green salad to round things out.

Pinterest has revolutionized the way I plan meals.  I have things categorized by cuisine and decided today to assign a meal-type to every day of the week.  This is what I'm trying:

Monday - Veggie Night
Tuesday - Crockpot Night
Wednesday - Chicken Night
Thursday - Salad Night
Friday - Sandwich Night
Saturday - Pasta Night
Sunday - Sunday Dinner with dessert.  Ooooooo!

I get very overwhelmed with all the amazing dessert choices out there, so I figure this will be a great way to have my cake and eat it too.  I have a month's worth of menus planned out, so on Sundays, I'll go through and put any recipes into my Weight Watchers tracker so I can plan out my lunches, breakfasts, and snacks accordingly for the upcoming week. 

Additionally, I plan out my grocery lists this way:

1 big master list for all non-perishables and freezer items for the month.
Weekly lists for produce and any other perishables pertaining to that week's menu.

Here's a peek at this week (and links to any recipes I'll be using).  Keep in mind, that I have a total of 51 daily points, so a lot of these recipes aren't particularly "Weight Watchers-minded".  Also, since I'm using up what we have on hand through Friday, I'm not sticking exactly to the afore-mentioned schedule. 

Monday - Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken with brown rice; asparagus
Tuesday - Crockpot Chicken Ranch Tacos (see recipe below) with all the fixin's; carrots
Wednesday - Hot dogs; green beans; garlic oven fries
Thursday - turkey sausage; mashed potatoes; salad
Friday - turkey burgers; roasted zucchini sticks
Saturday - meatloaf; Garlic Grilled Tomatoes; Fresno Potatoes
Sunday - Beef Stroganoff; salad; Incredible Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

SUPER EASY Crockpot Chicken Ranch Tacos
Serves 4
4 Points Plus per serving - chicken only

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes (or you can use fresh if you are feeling really productive)
1 packet dry ranch dressing mix
1 packet reduced sodium taco mix

Mix all ingredients in crockpot.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours.  Shred chicken using a fork.  Fill up taco shells and top with whatever you like.  We used shredded iceberg lettuce, shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream, tomatoes, and olives.  If you have leftovers, they make a great salad topping for lunch the next day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Today's Weigh In

So, I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but I'd been feeling very discouraged this past week because my weight was up over my first week weight loss and I just didn't feel like anything was ever going to come off.

But I actually lost .6 and am down to 334.8.  I'm very happy with that considering I didn't think I was going to lose anything!  It's not quite the 1 lb I was hoping for, but that happens.

I did exceptionally well all week, staying in my points and exercising for at least 11 minutes a day...

Yes, 11 minutes. 

The first week, I promised myself I would do 10 minutes a day and this past week, I added a minute.  Guess what?  This week, I'm adding another minute, bringing it to a total of 12 minutes a day.  And I'll keep doing that everyday until I'm up to 30 minutes.  That's my goal for now (and I should reach that sometime this fall, I do believe).  After I hit 30, I'll adjust my goal accordingly.  I think my aim will be anywhere from 30-45 minutes daily.

Lastly, I have a quick and easy salad recipe to share.

I've been doing a lot of indoor grilling lately and marinating boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a homemade southwest marinade.  After marinating for a few hours (or overnight), I throw those puppies on the stove top grill.

Chop the chicken up, throw it on a bed of lettuce with some tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, and a little light sour cream and you've got dinner.  You could also add some cheese in there too, but I chose to forego it.

 

Southwest Marinated Chicken

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cloves crushed garlic
2 tbsp lime juice (lemon would work as well)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried minced onion
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp corriander
salt & pepper to taste

I throw this marinade together with the chicken in a big zip lock bag.  The last time I made it, in fact, I used frozen chicken and just allowed it to thaw in the marinade on the counter during the day and it was perfect.

Thanks for stopping by!