17.4 May 19, 2010

I’m down 17.4!

Ugh, I just want to hit that 20 lb mark!

I lost 3 lbs this past week, but it wasn’t because I tracked or ate right or worked out at all. I was actually supposed to be on Week 4 of p90x last week. On Tuesday, I came down with a stomach bug. Sorry for the TMI, but I was spending hours on the john every day for almost 8 days. I was exhausted and my body was achy. I ate anything I could and drank Power.ade like it was going out of style so I didn’t dehydrate. The night before my weigh in, I actually went out to all-you-can-eat-buffet. I wonder how much weight I would have lost if it wasn’t for that.

So, now I’m behind on p90x so I was thinking about going back and doing week 3 again to start fresh.

Then, a conversation with some high school friends on face.book changed my mind.

P90X has been tough because it’s an hour or 1.5 hours per workout. With us moving, the boys both having sleep issues, me being sick, etc., it’s totally been hard to stick with it.

At the same time, a friend at work is trying to convince me to do a sprint triathlon in my town in September.

So….

I’m come up with a plan.

I’ve ordered the Jillian.Michaels 30.day.Shred from amaz.on and will do that hard core for 30 days. Then, I will be about 13 weeks away from the triathlon, so I start the 12 week beginner’s triathlon training.

If I get through all that, I will go back to p90x after the triathlon or incorporate some of it into my “strength training” part of the tri-training.

All that while sticking with WW.

This week has already gotten off to a horrific start. Dylan’s Baptism is this upcoming Sunday. And it’s almost like since I know I won’t go to my weigh-in on Sunday morning, I’m not being good.

But I’m not going to let a few bad days sink my entire week. I’m back on track today and will hopefully get the Shred dvd in the mail today so I can start it tomorrow!

Then, my brother’s wedding is on Sat., so that will probably be another points-fest.

Oh well. I’m sticking with what I can at this point.

I’m not happy that I’m not more than 17.4 pounds down after 10 weeks but I need to stay positive and remind myself that I’m down 17.4 lbs! Dammit!!

I also won this week of the Biggest.Loser at work! I’m going to spend my $5 on lotto tickets! LOL

below pre-pregnancy weight May 6, 2010

I’m pretty sure I started off my pregnancy at 185 or so. I can’t remember now.

But I lost another 3 lbs this week and weighed in at 184.2!

I’m down 14.8 lbs since March 1.

On the down side, I just had a piece of Bridgewater chocolate with peanut butter. I’m going to give myself 5 points for that. And I’ve probably used all my extra points for the week on Monday and Tuesday. But I’m looking forward.

I’ve not been aggressive with the workouts this week due to some sleep issues in our house. (It’s flippin’ hard to get up at 5:30 am to work out when you’re getting to sleep after 11 or so).

I’m continuing on though. I have a goal to look good for our big golf tournament on June 26th.

I want to be as close to 170 as possible by then!

Plus, I started the Biggest.Loser competition here at work again. This week is Week 1. I’m letting my competitive spirit drive me on this one for the next 8 weeks! I want to win the pot so I can go out and buy myself a suit!

11.8 April 28, 2010

I’ve been a blog slacker yet again.

Mamamia! I can’t believe how awesome you’ve done. Congratulations? Have we talked before about how you are doing it?

I’m down another 1.2 lbs this week for a total of 11.8 in 7 weeks.

I’m a little disappointed that it was only 1.2 considering that I did p90x all week. BUT, let’s be honest, the p90x was a lazy version. I only did it for 5 days and I took it pretty easy on my knee. But I’m continuing on with the working out.

This week, I’m stepping up the p90x in terms of trying to make it through the entire workouts but I’m still going easy with any squats or jumping on my left knee.

At the WW meeting last week, a guy who’s lost 60 lbs since September said that he does 3 things that I liked: (1) takes Sundays “off” from tracking but doesn’t go overboard; (2) tries not to use any of his 35 extra points; and (3) doesn’t put down his activity points.

I might try this but I must admit that I already realized that I need a decent breakfast after a workout. So, I may keep tabs on my activity points just so I can justify having a WW breakfast sandwich or some eggs in the morning.

My next goal is the 20 lb mark.

That’s only 8.2 lbs away!!

Week 6 April 15, 2010

I’m in the 180s!

It hasn’t been the fastest weight loss so far. I am down 9.6 since I started WW but there were 2 weeks before and after Easter where I let some things go. Plus, our anniversary weekend, I really enjoyed myself (complete with nachos and this amazing flatbread pizza with steak, cheese, spinach fried onions and some horseradish drizzle, oh my god it was worth it!)

Now I’m really back in the saddle. I’m more back in the saddle than I’ve been in 10 years!!

I am dragging friends along with me to my WW meetings and we’ve started a FB group of our crazy meeting friends.

So I better be blogging on here more!

I’m at 189.4 – only .4 away from my first 10 lbs!

I also started working out. Last week, I found my old Power.90 DVD. I only have the starting one, but I figured I would try it out. I’ve successfully gotten my butt out of bed almost every morning for 10 days now (with 2 days off in there) and done the workouts while everyone else in the house is sleeping.

Tomorrow morning, I will talk to my physical therapist about my knee and see if she’ll give me the go-ahead to start p90x! I know it’s going to kick my ass, but I’m totally ready to have my ass kicked. I have a feeling my knee has taken a step or two backwards since it’s been bothering me a lot this week. It was fine the first week of Power.90 but it’s having some issues lately. I hope it’s just part of the recovery process and I can move on with things!

I also bought a bike.

I was thinking about starting to run and maybe consider doing a 5k this summer. The PT that I see on the weekends has been trying to talk me out of running. He is pushing me towards cycling. I do realize that with my knee issues, cycling would be much better for me.

I am trying not to spend $ right now, unless I end up being really committed to this. So I found a mountain bike at the good.will store for $20. It looks well worn, but it works!

Our area is not great for biking (I live pretty much in the ghetto at the top of a huge hill), so I’m not sure when I’m going to start biking regularly, but I also think I need to not overdo the workout thing just yet.

Other than that, food choices have been getting easier.

Recent finds:

– Sugar-free Arizona Pomegranate Green Tea
– Weight Watchers breakfast quesadillas/breakfast stuffed sandwich/breakfast sandwiches
– WW artisan bread sandwiches
– I’ve rediscovered my love for grapefruit
– Snowpeas!!!

Hope you all are still out there following along!

Mamamia – you are my inspiration! You are doing AWE.SOME!! Keep it up (I also need to know where you got those t-shirts for the kids on your blog!)

Week 2 Weigh in March 14, 2010

My second successful week in a row! Down 3.6 this week – for a total of 7.8 lbs in 2 weeks!

Week 1 Weigh In March 9, 2010

Success on Week 1!
Down 4.2 lbs

I think it would have probably been about 3 lbs more if I didn’t go to a dinner party the night before and have homemade manicotti (how can one turn that down?) and some monkey balls (aka monkey bread).

I am excited and trying to celebrate the small successes but I keep looking at the big picture. I don’t think it will actually sink in that this weight loss is a result of my own doing until I lose more weight. I keep thinking that maybe I was wearing something heavy on my initial weigh in, I was getting my period and that can account for a few pounds, etc.

But I am happy that I’ve lost some weight. Only 45.8 more lbs to go!

After our WW meeting, we hit Big Y and did some shopping!

Here are some of my great finds for snackies so far:

• Quaker Crunchy Corn Bran cereal: 1 point for ¾ cup (and it’s really good dry)
• Lipton White Tea To Go – 0 points
• Grapefruit or Peach flavored Polar Seltzer – 0 points (who knew I would like seltzer. I do miss Dr. Pepper, but this will do for now)
• Special K Bar (Chocolatey Pretzel) – 2 points and so worth it!
• Pop Secret 94% Fat Free microwave popcorn (with butter) – 2 points for ½ bag
• Kashi TLC Baked Apple Spice bars – 2 points
• Chocolate Vitamuffins (or Vitatops) – 1 point (and perfect with a small glass of skim milk

I’m trying to be more prepared. It’s so easy to run out and grab something when you don’t have the right foods available.

At work, I will always have a frozen dinner (WW or Lean Cuisine) in the freezer and some emergency snacks in my drawer to prevent me from craving something from the dreaded snack machine that sits just a few steps from my office!

On the physical fitness note, it will be some time before I’m doing the Wii Fit or even the elliptical. The only thing I can probably do for a little while is biking. I’m not heartbroken over this because secretly, I did want to try to do a triathlon in the next 12 months.

If only I had a bike! 😉

Week One: Eating March 2, 2010

I think I’ve been doing pretty well so far with getting back into the WW points groove with the food.

Yesterday, I had some leftover extra spicy chipotle chili for lunch that I had made the night before. Put some fat free sour cream in it and some real fat cheese (I factored in the points for that). And last night, I had a burger for dinner with lean ground beef and one of those deli flat breads for a roll (only 1 point for the bread!).

I found some frozen veggie medley in the freezer that I have no idea where it came from. It was Green Giant Healthy Weight medley: Sliced Carrots, Sugar Snap Peas, Black Beans and Edamame. I thought it was pretty good for taste and convenience purposes, but it did have a light butter sauce on it, so I had to absorb some points. But it was still worth the points for how filling it was with the dinner.

I also found a package of grasshopper cookies (100 calorie) packs in my drawer at work and ate those as a little treat in the afternoon.

I’m also hitting the grapefruit. I’ve had about 1-2 grapefruit per day in the past few days. It’s really good and inexpensive lately! Also perfect for an afternoon snack if you have a grapefruit knife or an easy and non-messy way to eat one in the office!

Today, I had a bowl of the Jumbo Krispies (rice krispie cereal with a touch of honey). It’s high in fiber and actually one of the lowest point cereals I’ve found so far (other than FiberOne – which gets boring and gross after a while).

For lunch, I took some rotisserie chicken (sans skin) from the fridge at home and melted a small amount of Cabot’s 75% low fat cheese over it, adding some fresh garden salsa (thanks to Costco!) over top. I figure that to be 3-4 points tops.

I also made a kick ass salad this morning with everything I could find in the fridge: romaine, mushrooms, green peppers, carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes, scallions and broccoli. Only problem is that I am lacking dressing options. So, today I am basically overdoing the points in the dressing department by putting full fat dressing on my salad, but using it very, very sparingly. (Looking at the points and actual serving size of salad dressing is depressing). I am doing to give myself 4 points for the small salad just based mostly on the dressing.

Anyone have any good suggestions for salad dressings?? I usually like Ken’s parmesan peppercorn, Hidden Valley Ranch, Marie’s blue cheese vinaigrette. Any low-fat, low-point dressings that might go well with my tastes??

Weight Watchers full speed ahead March 1, 2010

I went to my first WW meeting yesterday and am newly motivated!

I joined a Sunday morning group that my fun neighbor is in and this group is raucous! It’s too funny!

Also, I discovered that the Weight.Watchers application for the iPhone may just be the coolest thing ever!

My allowed points are 30 (It could be 35 if I consider myself to be solely breastfeeding) and the last time I did this, I was allowed 24 per day. I have a feeling it’s going to be easy for me to slide back into the routine of points. Especially now that the iPhone app makes everything so stinkin’ easy!

Lo already went to the grocery store to get some items to get me started. I also made a pot of turkey chili last night from a WW recipe. Although, I improvised and ended up with way too much chipotle peppers and it was quite spicy. I ate it, but I’m hoping Dylan isn’t in abdominal pain when it ends up in my breastmilk.

As for now, I’m exploring some recipes that Lo would also eat. My goal on this is 40 lbs, I think. I would love 50 but I’m going to take things one step at a time.

For now, let’s just look at the first 5% – 10 lbs.

uphill climb February 25, 2010

I think that I’m nearing the end of my immobile, inactivity funk. I am back to work and having to wear real clothes instead of baggy sweatpants every day has brought me back to reality.

I do weigh pretty much the same as my pre-pregnant self but that was not a good place to be either. Just now, the weight is in different places.

We fell into this comfortable unscheduled laziness when I was home. For 3 months, our lives revolved around the home and our 2 boys. I didn’t shower on most days until close to noon. I spent all day nursing, sitting around, changing a diaper or two, watching a movie with the Shmoo and nursing again. The days went by quick.

We didn’t go crazy trying to have nice healthy things around the house because we just didn’t feel like it. Even worse, now that the Shmoo is in his “helpful”  stage, he wants to make cakes, cupcakes and cookies all the time. ugh.

So, I’ve looked into the various plans for weight loss, including those that supply the food. I thought a food plan might be a good way to go, but  I don’t want  to spend $300 per month on Nutrisystem and still  need to buy all of my fruits and veggies at the store.

I think I’ve decided on Weight Watchers. It worked so well for me in the past and really seems like the only plan that really works with my lifestyle – the “I might have to go to a house party or work meeting and cannot bring my own food” lifestyle.

My neighbor buddy is back on track with WW and she goes on Sunday mornings. She also started walking.

I think that having someone here to physically drive with me to WW meetings might be a good thing too.

So, this Sunday may be my all new Day One of this journey. Wish me luck!

How’s everyone doing out there?

Plans February 18, 2010

Just a quick note to say that I’m still here. Due to the injury and some chaos in the past 2 weeks, my progress has been thwarted.
I feel sluggish and think that since my maternity leave ends as of Monday, that I have a good reason to get back on the wagon.
As I said before, I was thinking about not doing weight watchers this time around, but I’m curious about other programs.
Had anyone out there had success with Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem or any other program? What about feedback on programs that you buy the food from?
I’m also curious about cost. Any input on a reasonable and effective program?