Tuesday June 29, 2010...

So, I don't really have any photos to share. But, I'm on plan, eating healthy, exercising, and living life.

Yesterday we rode our bikes to work, taking a longer route rather than going straight there. So all in all, round trip we rode 3 or 4 miles. Then I walked with my sister 5.25 miles after we got home. Can I just tell you how much WILLPOWER it takes for me to get out and walk after a long day at work!!??? But we did it and I'm proud of us...LOL.

OK...off to work. I WILL take photos today! I hate blogging without photos

Sunday June 27, 2010.....

We had a great time on our ride yesterday! No photos of me though because I am always the one taking the photos...but here's one of Vern as we rode out to the jetty on an old access rode. It was a perfect day for riding, overcast and cool. The wind was blowing pretty hard against us as we peddled our way along the bike path, making it a respectable workout! The GPS on my phone wasn't working right yesterday so we had to map our routes when we got home. We found that we rode somewhere between 17 and 20 miles total. We ride old fashioned beach cruisers so that's a pretty good ride!

My sister, Tammy, went along with us. She lasted about 30 minutes and then she had had enough...I think she really thought she was in better shape than me because she has lost over 50 pounds in the past couple of years...but she only recently began to couple it with exercise. Anyway it was sort of funny to watch her realize that she couldn't keep up with me in the exercise department...sibling rivalry you know! HaHa!

Here she is. I gave her my other bike, a very cute Schwinn beach cruiser, when I scored the Electra bike from the pawn shop.



After Tammy finished riding we had our picnic and then she left for home. We headed over to the bike path at Mission Bay Park and followed it out to the access rode to the jetty. We rode all the way to the end of the jetty and then back. My leg muscles were screaming for mercy by the time we were done! Here's thr route we rode. It doesn't include the ride in the morning, just what we did after my sister left us. It takes a few seconds to zoom in to our actual route.




We decided to go to a local BBQ joint for dinner when we got home. I was starving! I decided to throw caution to the wind and have the BBQ Chicken meal...hey, at least I didn't have the pork ribs!..LOL. I had two pieces of chicken, a breast and a thigh, some collard greens..YUMMO!!!...and baked beans....and cornbread with butter. I used my WPA points and I enjoyed every bite. I love Weight Watchers...I love that I have those points available to me to use when I decide to! Plus we eaned a ton of activity points! The tracker said 12 but I reduced it to 8 just to be on the safe side.



OK..off to church...

Happy Saturday!!!

I switched to a different Weight Watcher meeting this week. The Thursday night meeting was cancelled so I switched to the Friday morning 6:30am meeting, It was awesome! So much friendlier and motivating than the Thursday night meeting was.

I lost 2.6 pounds this week...made my 10% of target goal, my 20 pounds down milestone and got a keychain and my 5K walk charm. It was exactly what I needed to be motivated and inspired anew!

Today we are going out for a bike ride and a picnic. It promises to be a beautiful, Southern California day and I am looking forward to our day .



Here's a progress collage. I can't really see a huge difference in the second and third photos but I wanted to add the photo for my 20 pound lost goal. (I don't have a week one pic but I started at 226 pounds)





A sampling of what I've been eating...

Seaworld With Our New Friends...

A few weeks back I began following the blog of another Weight Watcher, Lesia. Her blog is "Here We Go. . . Hold On Tight!"
I don't really remember how I found her blog. I probably followed a comment from another blog or something..but anyway, from the moment I began reading her blog, I loved her spunk and enthusiasm! Within just a few days of when I began reading and commenting on her blog, Lesia mentioned that she and her family were coming to San Diego for a vacation and we agreed that we should meet while they were here. Vern and I have annual passes to Seaworld and we decided that would be the perfect place to meet and spend some time together. So on Monday we slathered on sunscreen, donned our "Seaworld Shirts" and headed off to meet our new friends. We had such a fun day!!!

Lesia is funny and excitable and full of life! Her husband, Clay, is such a nice guy with a friendly, quiet nature. And their daughter Kayla is a sweet, easy to like girl! We felt comfortable with them immediately. There wasn't a single moment where we felt awkward or uncomfortable. It was like we had been friends for a long time!

We met at 9:00am and spent the entire day together.

We posed with Shamu...


We saw the shows...


Vern, Lesia, and Kayla posed with the Cirque de la Mer characters ( funny looking guys in wet tights sort of freak me out so I was happy to hang back and take a photo!)...


We ended the day by going for a late dinner at Appleby's Restaurant, where they have a Weight Watchers menu with the points already figured for you!

We left our new found friends at around 10:00pm or so after agreeing that our next get together should be at Disneyland!

Monday June 21...

Ahem....well....I had a lil' run in with some movie popcorn and a meal at Daphne's Greek Cafe....I can't say that I really fell off plan because I had the weekly points to cover it...but I did use up every single weekly points allowance point I had coming this week! Honestly, I was SHOCKED when I figured the points. I knew it would be high but seeing it in black and white was eye opening. Sort of like when you shop all day long and then sit down and realize how much you spent! So anyway, I would have really been just as satisfied with half of the meal I ate so next time I will put half in a "to-go" box or throw it away before i begin to eat. The way I see it...it's no more of a waste to throw it away than it is to wear it on my body as fat...right? The other thing is this...I KNEW I needed to take my big purse, filled with popcorn and/or other points friendly snacks, into the theatre but I foolishly didn't do it. THAT won't happen again.

Today, Vern and I are meeting a Weight Watcher blog friend, Lesia, and her family for a day at Seaworld. I am so looking forward to meeting them in person and enjoying a beautiful southern California day! I love meeting, in person, the friends who live in my computer!!!

Sunday June 20

So...obviously I haven't been able to keep up my blog on a daily basis!



We've been busy....enjoying the Southern California weather!





We went on a bike ride yesterday...





We ended up at Seaworld.




Our friend Joe, who works at Seaworld, gave us vouchers for lunch. Thanks Joe!!

I stayed on plan with a chicken leg, corn on the cobb, a dinner roll, and a salad.


Vern had this...including a double portion of fries because I put mine on his plate so I wouldn't eat them!



Here's a sampling of some of what I've been eating recently...









I am walking 5 miles a day. I have lost a total of 19.2 pounds. Summer is here...well, it's here tomorrow anyway! Bike rides, walking, fresh summer fruits and vegetables....it's about to get GOOD!

Thursday Night...

Tonight was my weigh in. I lost 2 pounds. So, since starting WW on April 1, I have lost 17.6 pounds.

Here's what I ate today..

Breakfast was oatmeal, Fiber One, PB2, and a banana


Lunch was leftover Ground Turkey Goulash (that I made a while back and froze), roasted Vegetables, and some shredded, reduced fat cheese...and a giant, diet cherry limeade.



Dinner was grilled chicken breast, "creamed" spinach, and potaotes O'Brien.



After Dinner: Frozen FF Yogurt, a banana, and PB2 mixed with water to make a sauce.



I walked 16,238 steps today for 6 activity points
I ate 28 points today.
My points allowance is 24 points.
I used 4 weekly points
I have 31 weekly points remaining and 6 activity points.

This is the e-mail that my Weight Watcher's meeting leader sent out, that I blogged about here. It so spoke to where I am at right now that I asked her for permission to share it here.

Patterns... Patterns are one of the most essential tools that can be taught. Without them, the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic would be difficult to learn. By the same token, examining some patterns in our own personal lives can help us learn, too.

Some patterns are excellent to keep repeating. Others simply lead us down paths that set us up for disappointment. Unless you recognize the difference and CHANGE those negative patterns, chances are history will repeat itself. You'll keep ending up with the same thing you already have. Whether those patterns be in relationships, career moves, or eating behaviors, unless something is altered, nothing will change.

Einstein said that doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results is insanity. I'm not so sure it's insanity, but it's certainly futile to success if what you're trying isn't producing results you want.

So, what behaviors/choices are you making that produce a negative pattern? Buying ice cream and bringing it home? Then sitting with the whole container in your lap and a big spoon? Giving up when life gets busy? Negative self-talk? Saying "I'll start tomorrow" (every day)? Getting TOO hungry because poor food choices were made? Avoiding meetings until you "lose the weight you gained"?

No matter what it is, if you can recognize patterns that hold you back, I challenge you to change them. I know change isn't always easy, but is dealing with the results of poor choices any easier? YOU are the one who suffers/struggles in the end if you persist in things that don't help you.

So, first - SEE your patterns. Second - DECIDE if they're giving you what you want. Lastly - CHANGE those that aren't helping you achieve your goals. There are some things we can't control (illness, 'busy-ness', other people...), but you can ALWAYS control your reaction to them.

Love,
Kim
(who is also seeing patterns needing to be changed - both with food and in life!)

Proud Mom Post...

Hey everyone...my son the independant programmer has created a new iphone game app. It's available HERE
Please consider checking it out. It's a very fun little game, definitely family friendly and your 99 cents will help a wonderful young man who is getting his programing career under way!

I can't believe it's wednesday already!

So, life is returning to normal around my house. I'm still only "sorta" on plan. My WW leader, Kim, sent out an e-mail this week in which she talks about patterns of behavior. One of the things she mentioned in her e-mail was the pattern of allowing life to get so busy that we don't have time to really stay on plan. Or, we find ourselves geting so hungry that we make wrong food choices simply because they are easy. It hit home with me. That is a pattern I see in my life. So one of my goals is to address that pattern.

I want to walk this morning so I'm out of here early.

P.S. I removed my last post from public view. It's here, saved as a draft. But I've decided to make it private for now.

Sunday June 6....

Here I am...What a crazy few days it's been! It started on Thursday when my sister called me at work and said she thought she was having a reaction to some medication she took. I left work and drove her to urgent care. That was the beginning of a VERY LONG NIGHT. Long story short....they ended up sending her by ambulance to another ER and it was 3am before they decided to admit her and I left for home. I still had to be up on Friday morning to open the shop...so Friday was a VERY LONG DAY.

Saturday morning I walked 5 miles with some friends from church and then hubby and I went to the airshow near our home.

Today I walked with a big group of Weight Watchers in a 5K challenge walk. We actually walked 5 miles arund a lake but the official event was 5K. Then I picked my sister up from the hospital and ran around getting her prescriptions filled, etc. I finally have a few minutes to pop in her and update my blog a little.

Sorry, no photos this time...too much crazy busy stuff going on. The past week or ten days has been kinda-sorta on plan most of the time with bursts of off plan nonsense. I missed my weigh in on Thursday because I was at the ER with my sister. So we'll see how it goes this week.

Ok..let's see if I can stay on top of this...

I'm going to see if I can at least stay on top of journaling my meals and activity.

So here we go...

Wednesday June 2...
Points used 25
11,761 pedometer steps = 4 activity points

Breakfast: oatmeal with apples, PB2 powder, Brummel & Brown spread.


Lunch: roasted chicken thigh meat with a plate full of 0 point veggies.


Dinner: Roasted chicken thigh again (I need to use up what's in the freezer before I make a grocery run) 0 point veggies, baked potato and salad.


Snack: Vitatop Chocolate Peanut butter muffin top, FF frozen Yogurt, and lite chocolate syrup.


Not pictured: rice cakes with Brummel & Brown spread...a guilty pleasure.

Tonight is my meeting and my weigh in. I will not be at all surprised if I have gained a little. It's been a week of on and off plan for me.

Ok...the holiday weekend is over...

I am back at work and back fully on plan. I didn't track points or plan menus this weekend. I didn't go wild and eat everything in sight. I just didn't track. By the end of the weekend it was clear to me that I need to track and be accountable. So here I am.....

I'll be back later to post how my day went...