The "doing" so far

I wrote a post last night only to have my browser go all wonky on me and, well, no more post. Hate it when that happens.

My hub brought me a surprise late Christmas present yesterday... Wii Just Dance 2! I am loving it! That is my first item of "doing" for this year. I am doing the Just Sweat program, 3 or 4 songs a day. What can I say, I like to dance! And it's better than sitting on my butt, right? I'm counting it as low-impact aerobics and it seems about right. I mean, I like to think of myself as a hardcore gymrat, but seriously, it's been years since I could honestly claim that title. Last time I tried to squat on the smith machine, I threw my back out. *sigh* So, I'm working on being more, shall we say, organic with exercise. Remember, less thinking, more doing. That means less agonizing over what I should be doing at the gym, and more just letting go and having fun a la Wii Fit and Just Dance and whatever else.

I also started food logging again today... recommitted to WW for now. I got the new WW cookbook for Christmas, and we've made a few things already. The turkey meatloaf was delish; Spicy Chickpea Patties... not so much.

12/17/10 - WW and the band

First up... remember the S.O.B. blog? Well, it's time we crowned some new Superstars! If you know someone who is S.O.B. - worthy (even yourself), send me an email at leavingfatland at gmail.com.
 

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Island Bandit left me a comment the other day asking why and how I was doing Weight Watchers with my band. It got me thinking...

First, why: I started doing WW about two weeks ago when I was in bandster hell with no restriction and gaining like a runaway train. I needed something to get me through to my fill appointment. Why continue? Because it’s making me think about WHAT I’m eating. My fill does seem to be working, so the hunger isn’t really there, but that doesn’t mean I can just let go. For instance, last spring, I was losing about 10lbs a month, and do you know what I had for breakfast many mornings? A giant slush or cranberry lime-ade from Sonic. Not exactly the picture of health. I would also rely on granola bars a lot. I really want to change this and teach myself to go for more natural and nutritious food. This week, with restriction in place, I’ve had small protein shakes, fruit, and/or yogurt for breakfast. Much better. Bottom line? There is room for improvement in my food choices. I don’t want to lose weight eating “less” garbage.

I signed up for three months online, and I’m not sure if I’ll continue after that time period. It is plenty of time to build new habits though, and it’s worth it to me.

Next how: Yes, there are days when I’m not using all my points. I’m not worried about this because of my band and knowing that my band is doing the job it is there to do. There are also days, especially with the holidays looming, where I may just go over my points because of the odd dessert of splurge meal. I’m focusing more on the habit of tracking and the quality of food I’m eating. Yes, I am absolutely hoping that in a month or two, I’ll be losing regularly again and will feel less of a need to track constantly. I didn’t really track at all last spring.

Anyways, that is my take on that!

By the way, anyone out there do abdominal ultrasounds? I have a question!

WW Trial Round Up and a Hard Look at Myself

Official weigh in? I gained a pound this week. I’m disappointed (of course), but I’ve learned a few things this week. First, I’m not drinking enough water. I’m averaging about 40 oz per day, when I really need to be more at 90-100, especially with my kidney stone lurking in there. I’m also starting to wonder if I drink too much Crystal Light. Could it be that those chemicals have something to do with my kidney stone issues? Also, I’ve sworn off all diet food since being pregnant, yet I still down Crystal Light like it’s going out of style. I wonder if cutting out that last bastion of fake sugar will help with my cravings. Because, you know, I am a the owner of a very determined sweet tooth. It doesn’t need any help, that is for sure.

Second, I eat like shit. Seriously. I eat a lot of crap from boxes, bars, mixes, etc. Even if it’s not necessarily high calorie or high fat, there’s still not much nutritional value happening there. I really should cook more, for me, for my hubs, and to set an example for my kiddos, even though they’re still little. I should probably count myself lucky that the tater tot likes her veggies and fruits so much!

Next, I treat myself alot. A LOT. And sometimes it’s not just for treat’s sake, sometimes I’m using food to comfort myself. I’ll be honest: This morning I was so pissed off about gaining a pound that I had Zingers for breakfast. And hot cocoa. I know! It’s ridic! I was really mulling the whole thing over while doing my first few tests this morning, and I just decided it was time to be honest with myself about my behavior. Some really bad habits have been creeping their way back into my daily routine, and sure, a good fill would help, but I can’t expect it to do everything. I also have to consider my horrendous family history of heart disease, and I need to start taking care of myself NOW, before there is a real problem. I already have high blood pressure and borderline high cholesterol. I’ve seen too many people in their 30s and 40s have real cardiac issues in my line of work, that there is really no excuse for letting it happen to me. Or at least, I can’t let it be that I go down without a fight. Yes, some things are genetic and can’t be helped, but there are so many lifestyle changes that have real, measurable effects.

So, what am I going to do about this? For starters, I’m going to stick with Weight Watchers for a little while. I like that it’s making me think about what I’m eating, not just how much. Hopefully, with my fill this Monday, the “how much” won’t be an issue for awhile. I’m also going to cut out Crystal Light. I’ll replace it with watered down juice or unsweetened iced tea. While I’m at it, I’ll work on upping my water intake. And I’m going to plan my dinners and actually find some things to cook or put together at night.

Bullet style:

• WW
• more water, less Crystal Light
• real dinners and real lunches

Here’s to a better week, or a least more effort and shaking off the funk!

12/6/10 WW Trial Day 6

Hello people! Well, the WW trial is still going well. The scale is not cooperating, however. I'm starting to think my extreme sleep deprivation is becoming an issue. We are in the middle of a bad patch of sleep with both kids. The tater tot has been waking up between 3 and 4 am almost every night. She'll go back to sleep on the living room floor, but it still means I've woken up. The little guy is having a hard time breathing with all this dry air -- no amount of humidifying seems to help. So he usually wakes up around midnight. Put them both together and you have me not getting more than 3 hours of sleep at a time. This has been going on for two weeks now. Enough about that though...

Last Friday, I had dinner with the fabulous Grace of Grace's Fat Chance. We haven't seen each other since Chicago, and it was so great to reconnect. I forgot my camera, so you will have to wait for Grace to post pics.

That's all I have for now... Honestly? I'm having a hard time concentrating with screaming baby in the background.

12/2/10 Day 2 of WW Trial

How pissed was I this morning when I stepped on the scale and saw... 222?!@ #%@&#@!!!!

But all became clear about five hours later when I started my period.

Back to WW. Today went pretty well. I am actually under my points a bit, but that is mostly because I didn't eat much dinner. I have some wicked bad cramps right now and they make me a little nauseous. For the first time in a long time I had a big salad for lunch. Lettuce, tomato, onion, pepper -- all free. Greek dressing -- not so free. I need to get back in the habit of dipping my fork in the dressing instead of dumping it on my salad. It would've been better to spend some points on some chicken or beans instead of all that dressing.

So, yes, the cramps. I started to think something was seriously wrong with me today. Aunt Flo started this morning around ten. At lunch, I did eleven flights of stairs. About two hours later, my back started killing me, and I noticed some cramping start up too. By the time I left work, I was crying on the phone to my mom. It was so so bad. It was all I could do to hold it together at work and get through the last few tests. I was so close to either barfing or passing out at one point. I got hubs to pick up the kids, and I went home and slept on the heating pad for an hour and half. Luckily, my little rest helped. My back still hurts, but I took some Aleve (bad, I know) so the cramps are gone. Hey, it's not like I can pop a Vicodin when I have to go to work in the morning.

Besides having a crappy afternoon, I'm pretty happy with my food and exercise today. I finally acted on lunch time exercise. I usually have an hour, so there is plenty of time. Now I need this back issue to go away!

On to Day 3!

11/30/10 Impulsive much?

I don't know why I'm feeling embarrassed about this. Maybe it's my long history of being a bit flighty and impulsive, head in the clouds. In any case, I feel the need to confess my latest impulsive action.

I just mouse-clicked myself into a seven day free trial of weight watchers. I know I've been crabbing about my "diet mentality" lately, but I'm looking at this as more of a way to relearn how to eat properly. My food log has been empty for the past week, and part of that is because I just couldn't bring myself to look at the garbage on the screen. It's bad, my friends. Take today, for instance. Leftover apple crisp for breakfast, Hormel tamales for lunch, Betty Crocker Warm Delights brownie for a snack, and dinner, well dinner wasn't so bad, one chicken thigh (no skin) and about a half cup of risotto with asparagus, and the only thing I had to drink was a half glass of Cream Soda. Now that is seriously FUBAR. I must change my ways, restriction or not, band or not. I can tell if I don't correct my course of action, I'm headed for a significant derailment this month. I'd rather not start off a new year on a sour note. The positive momentum of my earlier inches lost discovery cannot be wasted. I won't let it!

Part of what led me to this is a fellow blogger. I've been reading a lot of Bitch Cakes lately, and that girl is positively inspiring for a million reasons. She posted recently about the new WW program being rolled out, so I checked out the new point system, and I feel like it's worth a try for a week. I can commit to that much. Having my band and losing weight while still eating a bunch of crap does not make me a healthier person. It does not set a good example for my kids. I want more for myself than just losing weight.

I don't know where this will lead, or if I will even continue after the free trial period. I'm done making big sweeping promises, done. I will promise to make an effort and to be persistent, if nothing else.

Let's see if I'm still this fired up in the morning...