Saturday September 29, 2012

Saturday September 29, 2012

I am on retreat with the women of my church and I can honestly say this had been one of the most difficult weekends, foodwise, that I have experienced in a while.

The problem hasn't been temptation this time. It has been the absence of food choices. I'm sure that whoever planned the menus for this retreat must have tried but there was absolutely no consideration for personal food preferences, dietary restrictions, or requirements. The food available has been mostly carb and/or fat laden junk.

The other challenge has been exercise. There is no exercise room here at the "resort" in Desert Hot Springs, and the city outside of the "resort" property is an armpit of a place and I would NEVER run alone on the streets here. So, yeah, getting exercise in has been pretty much impossible.

So anyway, here's what I ate...

Breakfast:
Yoplait light yogurt, a banana, an apple and coffee with half and half
4 PointsPlus

Lunch:
About 1/3 of a cup of pulled pork the choices were pulled pork or sloppy joe with white hamburger buns. The only vegetables available were onions and pickles. I had 2 slices of watermelon and 4 chips from a bag of Sun Chips, and a spoonful of the pork mixture. I was hungry and disappointed at the end of the meal.
5 PointsPlus

In the afternoon I had some popcorn chips and an orange
3 PointsPlus

Dinner was to be served by the "resort" staff and I held out hope that it would be quality food and worth the points even if it was food I wouldn't normally choose. By dinner time I was hungry and frustrated and a little grumpy.
The meal began with a spinach salad which, apart from the liberal sprinkling of fake bacon bits, was good. Then the main course was served and what was placed before me was a plate with chopped, pressed chicken, wrapped around a slice of lunch meat, breaded, microwaved and covered with some sort of cheese whiz stuff. There was a soggy rice pilaf mixture and asparagus as well. I began trying to peel some if the breading away to find the "chicken" when it just hit me...I was not eating this crap...period. So my sister and I left and drove to Carl's Junior for a Low carb six dollar burger.
10 PointsPlus

Snacks:
Pretzels
Caramel Corn
7 PointsPlus

Total 29
weekly used 3
Weekly remaining 43

So there it is....

Friday September 28, 2012

Friday September 28, 2012

Friday morning Weight Watcher meeting. Weigh in: down .8, total 49.2 pounds lost. Getting closer to that 50 pound milestone!!

After the meeting I packed a bag, picked up my sister and headed off for retreat weekend.

We stopped in the old part of Temecula for brunch a a cute little coffee house. I had a Breakfast Crepe with scrambled egg, a thin slice of ham and cheese...and a cup of coffee. I estimated the points at 15 PointsPlus

We spent the day driving to the resort location in Desert Hot Springs and then just shopping and wandering around until it was time to check in.

We found a Kmart with rows and rows of clearance racks with summer clothes for $2.99 each. We had a ball picking out items to buy!

After we checked in to the resort we had dinner in the hotel restaurant. It was an Italian restaurant and I had pasta primavera. It was angel hair pasta with sautéed broccoli, cauliflower, and summer squash, in a buttery, garlic sauce. It was served with a green salad with dressing on the side. I ate a portion of the meal and then had the waitress take it away so I wouldn't keep picking at it. I estimated that I ate about a cup of the pasta and half the vegetables. The sauce didn't seem oily but I counted a tablespoon of butter to be safe. I ate all of the salad. I dipped my fork a couple of times but it didn't really need dressing because there were beets on it, which added flavor and moisture to it. I counted dinner as 10 PointsPlus

We has the first session with the speaker after dinner and then came back to the room. I ate some caramel popcorn which I portioned out into a paper coffee cup so I would know when to stop.
4PointsPlus

Total 29 PointsPlus
Weekly used 3
Weekly remaining 46
ActiveLink unknown: no computer

I'm happy with how I did :)

Thursday September 27, 2012

Thursday September 27, 2012

Busy day getting ready to go on retreat this weekend. My sister and I are leaving Friday morning for a retreat in Palm Springs with my church's women's ministry. I am looking forward to it so much! Of course the challenge will be to stay on plan when the food choices are out of my control. But that's part of real life so I will do the best I can and call it good.

I started the day with a 4.1 mile interval run. I'm working on increasing the run intervals during these weekday runs.

There was a moment when I was running that was so amazing! It probably won't sound as amazing in the retelling but it was awesome. I started out before the sun was up and I was just running along in the dark, putting one foot in front of the other, listening to my music and the voice commands from my JogLog app, when I realized, all at once, that it was light outside and I was awake and feeling alive and vibrant. I think I may have even giggled a little bit! Honestly, the fact that I run and that I enjoy it is just delightful to me! I remember a time, not so long ago when my Facebook status often said something like "Have I mentioned how much I hate running?" I don't hate it anymore.

Okay, my menu:

Breakfast:
Coffee with SF Creamer
Microwave omelet made with Eggbeaters, onion, peppers, spinach, & FF cheese.
Mixed Fruits
3 PointsPlus

Lunch:
Wraps made with one Alternative Pita split in half and filled with Laughing Cow Cheese, 98% FF Ham slices, tomato, spinach, and mustard.
Green Beans
Grapes
6 PointsPlus

Dinner: (comfort food)
Turkey Burger Patty cooked in 98% FF mushroom soup,
Garlic mashed potatoes,
Asparagus
13 PointsPlus

Snack:
Greek yogurt mixed with chocolate Weight Watchers smoothie mix and sliced bananas. Yes, I eat some variation of this every day :)
4 PointsPlus

Total 26
Weekly Used 0
Weekly Remaining 0
ActiveLink Points Used 0
ActiveLink Points Earned 9
ActiveLink Points Remaining 28

Wednesday September 26, 2012

Wednesday September 26, 2012

This was a long day! I'm trying to get everything done at work so I can take Friday off to go on retreat. So I worked from 7 :00am until about 7:30pm. Long day.

Typically these type of long, exhausting days lead to binge snacking behavior when I get home. That didn't happen this time. Or shall I say, I didn't give in to the temptation this time.

We talk in my Weight Watcher meeting about identifying the feeling or what the reward is that we're looking for when we reach for food for reasons other than hunger. After almost three years of hearing these concepts in the meeting room I am finally beginning to actively do the mental exercises of thinking about why I'm reaching for food when I'm not truly hungry. So I had the brilliant realization that after working for twelve hours I wasn't hungry, I was tired!! So I went to bed :) yay me!! Such a simple concept...if I'm tired I need rest, not food...lol.
(Yes, I am typing this on Thursday morning)

I have no idea when or how the switch in my brain flipped and the concepts we talk about week after week in the meeting room began to be incorporated into my reality. I'm just glad to be making progress. I'm glad I didn't get frustrated and quit when I was struggling and seemingly going nowhere in my weight loss journey. Month after month of going to Friday morning meetings, promising myself that THIS WEEK I was really going to work the program only to falter part way through the week. Months of "starting over" again and again and again.....but I didn't quit. I know in my heart if I would have quit when it felt like I was never going to "get it" I would have gained back all the weight I had lost and then some.

So I guess all of that is to say, if you're reading this and you're tempted to give up DON'T QUIT!!! It's only failure if you quit.

Okay so my menu for Wednesday:

Breakfast:
Coffee with SF creamer
Oatmeal with chopped fruit
6 PointsPlus

Lunch:
Sandwich Thin with low fat sliced ham, FF cheese slice, spinach, tomato, mustard and pickles.
Snap peas & grapes
6 PointsPlus

Dinner:
Frozen entree...something Asian
With added Shiritaki noodles, Brummel & Brown spread, and laughing cow cheese.
12 PointsPlus

Snacks:
Sliced apple (afternoon )
Greek yogurt with PB2 peanut butter powder, sliced banana, and a chocolate mini vitacake
5 PointsPlus

Total 30 PointsPlus
Activity Points used 4
Activity Points earned 1
Activity Points remaining 18
Weekly Points remaining 0

Wednesday is a non run day for me and I am supposed to be doing some other form of exercise, like yoga. I've been slacking on that. There's another behavior I'm working on!

Tuesday September 25, 2012

Tuesday September 25, 2012

For someone who wants to reach 50 pounds lost this week, I sure am eating a lot of points....

Busy, stressed, insert favorite excuse here....I don't want to talk about it. There's a challenge. How to continue journaling, blogging, whatever...when I just don't want to talk about it right now.

So, here are the facts. Just the facts.

I started the day with a 3.55 mile jog. Yay me!!

Breakfast:
Breakfast sandwich made with egg substitute, a sandwich thin, FF cheese, tomato & spinach.
Orange segments
Coffee with SF creamer
6 PointsPlus

Lunch:
Spinach salad with roast beef, Swiss cheese, strawberries, and a light spray of raspberry balsamic salad spray.
Diet iced tea
5 PointsPlus

Dinner:
(in the car on my way to my Bible study group)
Carl's Junior Turkey Burger
13 PointsPlus

And finally...Snacks...ugh!! The snacks!!
Fage total 0 Greek yogurt with PB2 peanut butter, sliced banana, and a mini vitacake.
6 PointsPlus

100 calorie tortilla with FF cheese, laughing cow light wedge and Brummel & Brown spread.
7 PointsPlus

Total 37
Weekly Points used 11
Weekly remaining 0
ActiveLink Points earned 7
ActiveLink Points remaining 20

Things to celebrate:
I ran 3.55 miles
I tracked every bite
I have 20 activity points left

Monday September 24, 2012

Monday September 24, 2012

Today was a much better day for me. Something about the structure of the work week is helpful to me.

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with fruit
Coffee with SF creamer
5 PointsPlus

Lunch:
GardenBurger Portabello Patty on a
Sandwich Thin with
Spinach and tomato
Sliced carrots
Diet iced tea
5 PointsPlus

Dinner:
Smart Ones Three Cheese Ziti Entree with added Shiritaki noodles and spinach.
Green beans
Butternut Squash with Brummel & Brown spread, Cinnamon, and stevia.
10 PointsPlus

Snack:
Orange

Total 20 PointsPlus
Weekly used 0 / remaining 11
ActiveLink earned 2
Remaining 13

Sunday September 23, 2012

Sunday September 23, 2012

Some days it's difficult to be completely honest in journaling this weight loss journey! But honestly looking at our behavior is part of the process and its so necessary if we hope to effect lasting change. So here we go...

It's becoming a tradition for us to have lunch at the Chicken Pie Shop after church on Sunday. I am learning how to make that work in this effort to lose weight and be healthier.

I don't really know how to describe the experience of San Diego's Chicken Pie Shop to someone who hasn't been there. It's not that the food is extraordinary. It's not. It's just good, old fashioned, comfort food served in a casual atmosphere by middle aged waitresses. The classic "Pie Dinner" consists of a chicken pie, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, coleslaw, a roll, and pie for dessert. All for $7.50.

The nutritional information isn't available but I have looked up comparable foods and come up with a PointsPlus value of 30 for the meal if I eat half of the roll and the pumpkin part only of the pumpkin pie.

We went yesterday and I did exactly that. But, really I could have eaten half of the meal and been satisfied. There was a point during the meal when I knew I was full. I knew it was time to stop...but I kept eating. I ate the entire meal with the exception of half of the roll and the crust of the pumpkin pie. I foolishly told myself I just wouldn't eat anything else but fruit for the rest of the day....yeah right.

Then in the evening I started grazing...ugh!!

Here it is...

Breakfast:
Mixed fruits
Coffee with SF creamer
1 PointsPlus

Lunch:
Pie Dinner
30 PointsPlus

Evening:
Fage Total 0
Banana
VitaCake Mini
Chocolate Chip Cookie
100Calorie Tortilla
FatFree Cheddar Cheese
Laughing Cow Wedges (2)
Brummel & Brown Yogurt Spread
16 PointsPlus

Total 47
Weekly Used 21 / Remaining 11
ActiveLink Earned 1 / Remaining 11

So here is the strategy for next time...because there will be a next time and making this a lifestyle change means learning to enjoy the Chicken Pie Shop Classic Pie Dinner...not avoiding it because of the temptation to over eat. So next week I will have the waitress bring the "to-go" container when she brings the food. I will IMMEDIATELY put half in the container...REMINDING MYSELF THAT I AM NOT BEING DEPRIVED OF HALF THE MEAL!! It will still be mine to eat if I choose to. I just have to eat it on a different day. This is such a simple strategy and we talk about it all the time in my Weight Watcher meetings. But these strategies can do nothing to change my behavior and my relationship to food until I begin to really practice them.

The nighttime grazing...yeah, not so clear on that one. I think if I had used my points more wisely and allowed for a healthy dinner of filling foods. I wouldn't have been so inclined to graze. I think the subtle feeling of having "blown it" at lunch contributed to the grazing in the evening. I'm just calling that one a slip up and focusing on all the evenings I've avoided snacking...and moving on.

When it's all said and done. I am still within my allotted PointsPlus for the week and its okay to use the points to learn. AND I TRACKED EVERY SINGLE BITE...the good, the bad, and the embarrassing!