Sunday, March 31, 2013

Hungry for Change

I just finished watching "Hungry for Change." Definitely worth watching. It's available on Netflix. Up next in my instant cue, "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead."

I feel like I am moving in the right direction, with eating unprocessed, fruits, veggies, lean meats, legumes, and eggs. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll go as far as juicing and buying organic....but right now fresh fruits and veggies from Costco are a huge improvement over processed crap...lol.

Yesterday I ate:
Breakfast:
Coffee with Half and Half
2 eggs cooked in olive oil
Pinto beans
Corn

This meal lasted me all day until I ate again at 6:00pm
Apple
Extra lean ground beef patties
Bean soup

That's it...no cravings....none!! No desire to eat crap.

I walked/jogged 5 miles in the morning. Still felt "blah"... But that is passing and my energy is returning.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Let's Do Lunch

I tend to isolate and stop talking about my efforts to live a healthy lifestyle when I'm struggling. Anyone who's followed my journal for a while has probably figured this out :) And that explains my lack of updates recently.

Like anyone who is struggling with overeating, binge eating behaviors, or any unhealthy relationship to food, I have periods of time when I just want to quit, to throw in the towel and give up. I dream of a time when I can just eat whatever I want, whenever I want to...lol. The reality is.....that will never happen. Just like an alcoholic....this will be a lifelong journey for me. So, ultimately, quitting is not an option. I'm not willing to go back to the person I used to be...so the only option is to keep going forward. That's where I'm at.

So, I had my Weight Watcher meeting yesterday. I gained another 1.6 pounds. I was expecting it and it is what it is.

I made the decision a few days before my meeting that it's time for a change. Time to switch things up a bit to get going in the right direction.

I've decided to switch from tracking points to tracking the "Simply Filling" way. Along with that, I'm following the "Let's Do Lunch" (LDL) plan guidelines. Sort of the way some people combine low carb and Weight Watchers.

What it looks like is this, I'm eating the foods outlined in LDL, which coincidentally are also the foods listed as "power foods" with WW. Except, I'm avoiding potatoes, pasta, breads, etc. I'm eating my lean meat protein at lunch time, thus the name "Let's Do Lunch." I'm eating eggs, legumes, fruit, and vegetables for breakfast. And fruits, vegetables, and legumes for dinner. I am eating from these food choices until I'm satisfied. That's it.

I've been doing this for three days now. My body is in shock and apparently going through withdrawal from the processed carbs, because I have felt really blah. This morning I feel more normal. Last night I didn't have the urge to eat everything in the house for the first time in a long time.

So anyway, I don't know how long I'll be following this plan but for now it feels right. I'm continuing to go to my Weight Watchers meetings and I do still consider myself to be a Weight Watcher....that's the beauty of Weight Watchers...you can choose how you personally want to live within the guidelines of the plan.

I'm still doing well with my exercise. This week I only got one run in. But I did my PointsPlus workouts in the mornings. Thursday morning I wasn't able to complete the workout because I was too sore...so I gave myself a break...lol. It's Saturday morning now and I'm getting ready to go for a run.

I'm going to try and do better about journaling :)

Have a super great day!!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Just a lil update

I haven't updated here in over a week....time flies when you're having fun! So, here's the scoop. I'm doing really well with the exercise part of my healthy lifestyle. I am trying to learn to enjoy running in the late afternoon because of the time change. It's just too dark in the mornings now for me to feel safe running. So late afternoons it is. One benefit to running in the evening is that I have time to do a PointsPlus workout DVD in the morning. So yeah, the exercise part is good.

As for tracking my points....not so much. I know I need to get my head back in the game but I just am not there. I will get there.

So, that's it. That's where I'm at in this quest for a healthy lifestyle.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

"Friday Eve"

Happy Thursday!!! It's "Friday Eve!" Weight Watcher meeting tomorrow. Looking forward to a fresh week. We've been battling colds here at our house. So far I've been able to fight it off with a regimen of Zicam, Emergen-C, and Airborne...plus running. I really believe that running helps me to fight off sickness. I've felt a little under the weather all week but nothing like the coughing, sneezing, achy, stuffy head thing that Vern has had going on.

I have kept up with my running and workouts, even increasing my running intervals and working on my pace. I haven't kept up as well with my tracking and counting points.

Tomorrow is the beginning of a fresh week. I know I say that a lot...lol. But it's true and it beats the heck out of giving up...which, quite honestly, has crossed my mind a couple of times this week. So anyway...onward!

Sunday, March 3, 2013

I'm trading excuses for progress...

A little catching up is in order...

So, Friday morning weigh in...up 1.6 pounds. I could go into all of the feelings that come with that and how frustrated I am at playing this stupid game with myself week after week, month after month....I mean, really, I've been stuck here or within a few pounds of here for at least two years.

Don't get me wrong. The problem is not with Weight Watchers. I know from experience that Weight Watchers works when I choose to follow the plan. I also don't feel the the two years I've spent spinning my wheels has been time wasted. I have learned a ton about myself and my behaviors and I really have changed my life.

But I'm ready to make progress with the weight loss part of this journey. On Friday morning this phrase popped into my head..."It's time to stop making excuses and start making progress."

So here I am. Resolved to keep working at this.

Friday was a great day. I stayed on plan and ate within my points allowance. (Imagine that)

Saturday was a big test of my resolve. We went to Disneyland for the day. This time, rather than sort of secretly deciding to throw caution to the wind and indulge in several treats....I made a plan.

Before we got in the car to drive up to Anaheim, I planned my food. I looked up and calculated the points for the food I planned to eat. I MADE CHOICES AS TO HOW TO SPEND MY POINTS. I asked myself what I REALLY wanted to have while we were there. I mean, come on, it's Disneyland! So o e thing I knew I really wanted was a Venti sized cinnamon dolce latte from the Starbucks in Disney's California Adventure. I chose to have breakfast there. So even though I have given up artificial sweeteners, I made an exception and had the Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte...Venti sized for 4 PointsPlus. I paired it with a spinach and egg white wrap for 7 PointsPlus. And orange slices, 0 PointsPlus. I forgot to mention that I packed a small cooler full of fruit to snack on throughout the day.

We decided to have a late lunch/early dinner at the Plaza Inn and to have their wonderful fried chicken. I had told Vern, in advance that we could either split the meal or I was going to pay the full price for the second meal and ask them to only put the chicken breast and green beans on my plate. We ended up splitting the meal and getting an extra side of green beans. I had decided before we ever got there that I was going to allow the points so that I could have the breast and eat the crunchy skin. I simply knew that I would "cave" and eat it so why not just plan for it?

Oh, but I got ahead if myself. Our late lunch got later and later. We were not close to the locker with the cooler in it. I went to one of the fruit places on DCA but the fruit looked old and was ridiculously expensive. Then it dawned on me that they have corn on the cob at the turkey leg cart. So we both had corn on the cob! I allowed for a tablespoon of butter but I doubt that it was that much. It was the best corn ever!

When we finally had dinner, I had the breast and a big pile of green beans. I ended up giving Vern some of the chicken.

At different times during the day I snacked on an apple, an orange, some grapes and strawberries.

The final challenge was when Vern decided he needed ice cream from Ghirardelli's. I will admit, I have an inner struggle with this. On one hand, he is not responsible for my food issues but on the other hand it's a lot to ask someone to sit and watch you eat a decadent hot fudge sundae. So anyway...I am working on my feelings about his need to have decadent treats in front if me when I'm struggling to stay on plan...but anyway...I had a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Oh, I WANTED one of those gooey sundaes!! So 8 PointsPlus for a scoop of vanilla seemed like a pretty good trade off.

So all of that VERY LONG story is to say that I feel like I navigated this trip to the Magic Kingdom successfully.

I used 35 PointsPlus. My target is 26. I used 9 of my weekly points allowance. We walked over 21,000 steps so I earned 8 activity points...so in my mind the ice cream is a wash...lol.

Yep....making progress instead of excuses...