Goals...

It's Monday morning after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. I just got home from a 4 mile interval run. I have new running shoes. I'm ready to set some goals and get through this holiday season without losing my mind from all the food temptations!

So, here are three goals that I'm ready to commit to.

1. I am committed to staying at 30-33 PointsPlus per day. That's my 26 Point target plus some activity points each day.

2. I am committed to eliminating diet soda with aspartame or sucralose from my diet.

3. I am committed to achieving 2-4 ActiveLink points per day.

There, that's it. Such simple goals and yet I think it's a great strategy for success.

Weekend Update...

Weekend update...

So, I started my Thanksgiving Day with a 5K "Turkey Trot" I was glad that I committed to participating in Alissa's, Thankful Healthy Blogger 5k, at "A Journey To Thin" because it motivated me to get myself out of bed!
I wanted to finish in under 40 minutes and I almost made it. My time was 40:36. Next time!

Thanksgiving was at my Mom's house. My sister, Joyce, did all the work. I just showed up with some yams and green salads....sweet!

I didn't count points. I simply enjoyed the time with my family.

My Weight Watcher meeting was Friday morning. I was delighted to have lost 2.2 pounds at weigh in!

After the meeting we picked up my mother in law and took her to Disneyland for the day. Again, no counting points.

Saturday I did a 5.3 mile "mostly walk." It was hot and I was tired, so I ended up walking most of the way. Then it was a day of running errands, shopping for new running shoes, and stopping by my mom's house again to visit. Again no counting.

Now it's Sunday morning. I am back to counting points. It's hard to believe that the Holiday Season is upon us already!

The Healthy Blogger 5K

So I am going to participate in this challenge this year. It should be a fun way to be motivated to start the day with a run. Here is a link to the "A Journey to Thin" the blogger who has organized this challenge. I'm kind of excited to be participating!!

I've chosen a 5K near my house...how convenient is that? There just happens to be a 5K, organized by a church in my community to raise money for a couple of worthy causes!

So...I'll report back on how it goes!!

Sunday November 18, 2012

Sunday November 18, 2012

This was an interesting day. I'm happy with my choices.

We decided to make an impromptu trip to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure after church. We hadn't seen the Christmas decorations yet and were itching to see them.

To our surprise, it was really crowded. We hadn't thought about it being the beginning of a vacation week for many people. So yeah. It was crowded and chaotic. But we got to see the decorations and walk around a bit.

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with banana & pineapple
Coffee with SF creamer
(Yes, I am working on eliminating artificial sweeteners but I want to use up the stuff I have and then replace it with natural stuff(
5 PointsPlus

Lunch:
Plaza Inn Fried Chicken Dinner
There were 3 pieces of crispy, fried chicken. I ate the breast.
Mashed potatoes & gravy
Green beans
I estimated this at 22 PointsPlus

It frustrates me that Disneyland will not provide nutritional information for its restaurants. So I just counted the points based on similar foods from other places. I might add that I am REALLY proud of myself for not eating everything on that plate! I didn't eat the other two pieces of chicken or the biscuit. I am making progress!!

We didn't stay late and we were on the road heading home by 7:30.

I was hungry when we arrived home so I made a grilled cheese sandwich. I used two slices of Roman Meal bread, 3 PointsPlus, and two slices of Kraft Fat Free Sharp Cheddar Singles, 1 PointsPlus. Spray lightly with nonstick spray and grill until the bread is browned and the cheese is melted. This is quite the treat for 4 PointsPlus!! I had grapes with it.

Snacks:
Peanuts 8 PointsPlus. YIKES!!!
My guilty pleasure!
Banana

39 PointsPlus Total
Weekly Points Allowance used 13
Weekly remaining 33
ActiveLink Points Earned 2
ActiveLink remaining 18

Saturday November 17, 2012

Saturday November 17, 2012

I started my day with a long training run. I'm behind on my training for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in January. So anyway, today was the day to get that long interval run in.

On the mornings when I do my long runs I have a banana and some Greek yogurt before I run. Of course I have coffee as well....I ALWAYS have coffee!

So, I had my coffee and my pre-run breakfast, used my inhaler to ward off my exercise induced asthma, mixed my Performance drink in my water bottles, strapped on my running belt and headed out.

It was hard getting started. I spent most of the first two miles feeling like I was gasping for air. My feet felt heavy and awkward, like I was running in mud or sand. Eventually though, I found my stride. My muscles warmed up....and I began to enjoy the run. When I run, I run intervals. I run for 45 seconds and walk for 30 seconds....over and over and over again. This run was 10.8 miles. I ended up with a 13 min/mile pace. I walked the last miles and a half. This was a hard one. It's been too long since I did a long training run. By mile 7 I was feeling it. It's Sunday morning as I type this update and my legs are sore. But I feel good that I did it!

My menu for Saturday was odd. And I didn't do a good job of photographing my day. But anyway... I had my pre-run breakfast, my performance drink while I ran, and another banana when I was done.
7 PointsPlus

Lunch and Dinner were combined into one meal. I had to go to work for a few hours after my run and I wasn't hungry at lunch time. So when I got home I fixed shredded beef, the one from Costco. It's in a sealed foil pouch in the aisle where the canned tuna is. The brand is Sampco. It's extra lean and it's 1 PointsPlus per ounce. I made rice and black beans. I had a big bowl with rice, black beans, salsa, FF cheese, and shredded beef.
15 PointsPlus

Snacks:
Yogurt with PB2, WW smoothie mix, and banana.
Grapes
7 PointsPlus

Total 29 PointsPlus
Weekly Points Allowance used 3
Weekly remaining 46
ActiveLink Points earned 15
ActiveLink remaining 16

Friday November 16, 2012

Friday November 16, 2012

My WW meeting was a good turning point for me. Stepping on that scale and seeing my weight above 180 again was quite the reality check. I love my meetings!

So I am back at it.....reminding myself that it's not magical or mystical. It's choices.

Breakfast:
Oatmeal Pumpkin Breakfast Cookie
1/2 sliced apple
Coffee with SF creamer
7 PointsPlus

Lunch:
1/2 cup Quinoa
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
GardenBurger Portabella Patty
5 PointsPlus

Dinner:
Lean Cuisine Chicken Fettucini
Shirataki Noodles
Kale salad mix
FF Cheese slices
8 PointsPlus

Snacks:
Banana
Pineapple
Deep Chocolate VitaTop
Coffee with SF creamer

24 PointsPlus Total
Weekly Points Allowance used 0
Weekly remaining 49
ActiveLink Points Earned 1
ActiveLink remaining 1

I am working towards eliminating most, if not all, artificial sweeteners from my diet. I have given up diet soda and I think I'm going to go back to using half and half in my coffee. That's not to say that I won't use artificially sweetened products occasionally, but I'd like for them to not be such a big part of my regular diet. So there we go...

Friday Morning Weigh-In

Up a pound this morning. I think I'm done screwing around. Let's do this!

Wednesday November 14, 2012 Update

Wednesday November 14, 2012

This was a better day. Immediately after I posted yesterday, I went in the kitchen, cleaned out the refrigerator, and roasted some vegetables. It felt like a good, solid step back to healthy eating to prepare those veggies and throw away the crap food while taking stock of what I needed to buy.

Last night on the way home from work we stopped at Costco and my fridge is now stocked with lots of fruits and vegetables. We grabbed a rotisserie chicken while we were there for a quick, easy dinner.

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with canned pumpkin and cinnamon.
Coffee with SF creamer.
5 PointsPlus

Lunch:
Smart Ones Entree
Roasted Mixed Vegetables
10 PointsPlus

Dinner:
Rotisserie Chicken Breast
Rice
Roasted Kale Salad
10 PointsPlus

Snack:
Banana
Pineapple
SF Vanilla Creamer
1 PointsPlus

Total 26 PointsPlus

November 14, 2012

I wish I could come here with an glowing report of how well I'm doing this week. I wish I could say that I'm tracking in the "Magic Tracker" I brought home from my Weight Watchers meeting and that I'm staying within my points allowance and eating healthy foods. I wish I could say all of that but I can't....because none of that is true.

The truth is, I am struggling. This week feels like an epic fail at this point. Today I am going to do my best to pull out of this tail spin and get back on track.

Saturday November 10, 2012

Saturday November 10, 2012

Road trip !! We're in Arizona for the Nascar race this afternoon (Sunday). We drove in on Saturday morning. We had breakfast at Starbucks in El Centro....well technically we had breakfast in the car after buying it at Starbucks. I had the egg white/spinach wrap and coffee with a banana. (8 PointsPlus)
We didn't eat again until dinner. My sister and her boyfriend took us out for a lovely steak dinner. I had the ribeye with mixed vegetables and a green salad. It was so good!! I counted it as 21 PointsPlus.

I had very little exercise so I'm guessing no activity points. But, it was a very fun day!!

Total PointsPlus 29
Weekly Points used 3

Out of the Mouths of Babes

So, yesterday was my Weight Watchers meeting. I always go to my meeting, even after weeks like this last one when I didn't even DO Weight Watchers.

The fact that I didn't do Weight Watchers explains why my blog has been blank. I didn't do Weight Watchers. I didn't track. I didn't blog. Way to hide from reality Vickie!!

So anyway, I went to my meeting. I gained 2.8 pounds. Meh....

So, once again, I am getting myself back on track. I am tracking my menus. I am counting my points. The reality is that this is my life. I will always need to track and count points or I will gain the weight back...it just is what it is.

We have "Magic Trackers" at my meeting. One person takes the tracker home each week and tracks in it for the week. Then it's brought back and passed on to a different member for the next week. It's grown to 5 trackers full of different menus, notes, and comments. I have the "Magic Trackers" this week. It will help me to be motivated to track.

I shared this story at my meeting. It's a cute story but its also an "out of the mouths of babes" story. Each week at our meeting there is a handout booklet. We call them our "weeklies." They contain tidbits of information, recipes, tips for working the plan and changing our way of thinking about food. They also contain a simple action point or "homework." Honestly, each week I toss it in the back seat of the car and forget about it. Last week Vern told me that our 7 year old, very precocious granddaughter reads them to him, and quizzes him on the information, when he picks her up from school. Last week she said to me, "Grandma, I noticed that there is homework in your Weight Watcher books. I noticed you aren't doing the homework. Weight Watchers is like weight loss school and you should do the homework. Remember, you've gained weight some weeks? You might do better if you do the homework. Okay, are you going to start doing the homework?" Out of the mouths of babes!

So, I'm going to start doing the homework. I might do better :)

Happy Monday!!

Monday November 5, 2012

Catching up from the weekend.

I haven't tracked this weekend. There's a great way to start a new week! So anyway, here's what I've done. I adjusted my tracker to show that I used my weekly points over the weekend and I'll start tracking fresh today. I doubt that I really used all my weekly points but it helps me to track if I have a solid start point. It's just this weird relationship I have with numbers.

On Saturday I participated in the Color Run here in San Diego. With my granddaughter, my nephew, and some friends. I walked it because I had my granddaughter, and it was hot. But it was a ton of fun!!

Yesterday I interval ran a little over 4 miles. I earned 12 ActiveLink points over the weekend.

Okay ...Happy, Healthy, Monday!!

P.S. I got a blog award from my friend over at "700Pounds is as Bad as it Sounds"... I'm excited to complete the challenge...as soon as I have time!!

November 2, 2012

Friday morning weigh in. Down 1 pound this week. I am determined to do a better job of updating daily this week :)