Just when I think I know what I'm doing...

WW goes and changes everything on me!!!!  Ugh!  I've been on WW for the last 6 months and Weight Watchers has changed things from the Momentum Plan to Points Plus. 

Yes, I truly believe that the Point Plus plan is healthier for me, but I have to relearn everything!  None of my favorite foods calculate out the same!  My daily oatmeal at work went from 2 points to 3 Points Plus.  The 1 point wraps I use for lunch are now 3 Points Plus. 

I like that fruits and most veggies are now Point Plus FREE foods. 

It will take me time to work out the details of the new plan and make it work for me, but in the meantime, I'll do my best and enjoy the changes of the new plan.  Off to figure out how many Points Plus tonight's pizza was!

I'm thankful

This Thanksgiving, I have so many things in life to be thankful for.  I decided to copy my friend Jules and compile a list of what I am truly thankful for.

1.  My spouse--Truly Martin is the best husband I could ask for.
2.  My beautiful daughter--she brings such joy to my life.  I love watching her interactions and  thought processes.
3.  My pets--Mage has been a blessing to us for the last 7 years.  Our cats, Midnight and Stripey, also bring us joy.
4.  A job I enjoy that I get paid well to do.
5.  Our perfect home.  We are very blessed to have found this house!
6.  A craft that I enjoy--Scrapbooking
7.  Friends from afar that I've made because of scrapping!
8.  Weight Watchers--I've managed to take off over 50 lbs and learn to make myself healthier
9.  Exercise--I have a love hate relationship with exercise, but I'm able to move and make myself healthier.
10.  My best friend--Heidi, I love you!  I'm so thankful that we've become friends.
11.  My new van!  I love it!  We'll have a lot of adventures in it.  :-)
12.  Friends--new and old alike.  Having lived in 3 different areas in the last 8 years, I've made some great friends. 
13.  My health--for needing to lose over 100 lbs, my health hasn't been too bad.
14.  My allergist--Dr. Lazar has been a miracle worker getting my allergies under control.  I no longer have asthma attacks.
15.  Having my parents nearby--they are a great help and I enjoy spending time with them.
16.  My sister--she's not only a sister, but also a friend
17.  Coupons--Okay, so I'm addicted to saving money
18.  Money saving blogs--They really help me stretch a dollar.
19.  The internet--I've learned so much and made such great friends because of the internet.
20.  Grandparents--I'm thankful that I have 2 grandmas still living and had 2 grandpas until I was an adult.

I'm very blessed!

6 pics card

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A Great Way to Show off my Weight Loss!

Shutterfly has made it really easy to show off my weight loss to friends and family that we don't see often!  I can only imagine what people will think when they open the mail and see our family photo.  Kaylee has really grown up in the last year and I've really shrunk!  55 lbs down is something to show off and I'm sure to find the perfect design through Shutterfly.   I really love the designs available in the pre-designed Christmas cards available through Shutterfly!  They have everything from simple and classic to whimsical.  Designing our card was a lot of fun.  Agreeing with my spouse on a card, not so much!

You can choose a card with multiple photos or go with a singe photo layout.  They have folding cards, stationary cards, as well as traditional photo cards!  The possibilities are endless!  Here are a few of my creations:








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Where did October go??

I can't believe it's already November.  I didn't blog for an entire month, but then again that might show my lack of weight loss and motivation.

I didn't make it to Weight Watchers meeting for 2 weeks in a row.  The first week, Kaylee had strep throat and I had no one to watch her.  The second week, I was in Grand Rapids buying a new (to me) mini-van. 

I haven't done well meeting my goals lately.  I have to refresh myself.  Here's my goal check-in:

1-I have a goal of by Thanksgiving having lost 60 lbs total. 
      Um, Not gonna happen... I'd have to lose almost 10 lbs in 3 weeks.  Maybe I should aim for 55 lbs total!
2-I have a goal to exercise 3-4 days a week for at least 45 minutes each
      Getting dark earlier has prevented me from taking nightly walks.  I don't feel right walking alone in the dark.   I do enjoy taking walks alone.  I find that I work myself harder using the treadmill or the exercise bike and I can't go as long.  I'm going to amend this goal to 25-30 minutes a day for 3-4 days a week.
3-I have a goal to try at least one new WW recipe a week.
     I've tried a few new recipes, not once a week, but once every other week.  The WW Enchilada Meatloaf recipe was a total hit and will be in our regular rotation.
4-I have a goal to learn to look at myself as someone other than the fat girl I see in the mirror.
     I'm still working on this one.  I'm starting to see the changes in my body.  I have a waist??  A new outfit goes a long ways towards bringing on the confidence.

Goals--September 24th Version

I realized today that I need to set some goals for myself.  I've been kind of lost since I met my 10% goal a month and a half ago.  I have no goals.  I have no goals set, nothing to look forward to...

So here I go.

1-I have a goal of by Thanksgiving having lost 60 lbs total.
2-I have a goal to exercise 3-4 days a week for at least 45 minutes each
3-I have a goal to try at least one new WW recipe a week.
4-I have a goal to learn to look t myself as someone other than the fat girl I see in the mirror.

Goal#1 involves losing another 15 lb in a little over 2 months.  Totally doable if I get back on plan.
Goal#2 will help me meet goal #1. 
Goal #3--I'm getting bored with the same old, same old.
Goal #4--I had a work friend tell me that I'm too hard on myself.  People tell me I'm looking good but all I can see is the chunky girl with flabby thighs.  I think this will be the hardest goal to meet!   Wish me luck!

Disappointed in myself

A 1 lb loss this week??  You've got to be kidding me!!!  That was my first thought after the nice lady (Terri) at Weight Watchers said "great job, down 1 lb"  Seriously, great job?  It's my lowest loss yet.  I was really thinking that the scale was wrong  Then I got thinking...

Sure, I exercised Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but then I didn't the rest of the week.   My eating wasn't so great.  We went out for dinner and I didn't take my WW book.  The things I ate at the restaurants weren't as healthy of choices as I could have picked.  My Applebees soup and sandwich were 14 points total!  Eek!  And that was lunch.

This week, I vow to eat better, exercise more and be real with myself.  There is no reason to cheat myself.

I took a 2.5 mile walk tonight and it felt great!   The nights are getting cooler and darker earlier.  I'm loving my new town for taking walks.  The streets are safe for walking and the park is a great work out!

Weekend Ramblings

Weekends are hard for me on WW!  I want to cook yummy foods and munch on snacky foods.  I want to get a lemon icecream from Harold's Dairy Delight (only available on weekends).  I don't want to track points (and end up not tracking, just watching).  Why do my WW meetings have to be on a Monday?

People keep telling me that I'm looking good, but I still see the Fat Girl in the mirror.  In my brain, I know I'm losing weight and look a lot better, but in the mirror I don't see that.  I still see the Fat Girl with the flabby thighs and arms that need toning.  I see the pouch of stomach fat that hasn't budged and all of the excess stomach skin from carrying Kaylee.  I sure wish that Fat Girl would go away.

Learning Curve

Now that fall weather is here, I'm having to learn to cook and stay on plan all over again.  I've been on WW for 17 weeks now, but all of those weeks have been summer months, cooking summer foods.   It sounds weird, even to me, that there is such a thing as summer foods, fall foods, etc.  As the days get cooler and the evenings get darker I don't want to grill dinner.  I long to use the crock pot to make something hardy and yummy.  I want to feel the heat of the oven as I smell something great cooking in it.  The problem is, I don't know what to cook.  I find myself surfing websites, checking out blogs and doing a lot of thinking.

Last night, I baked pork chops with shake and bake Parmesan with Winter squash and mashed potatoes.  Too bad I didn't take the time to eat it before taking off for Zumba!

Martin requested meat loaf... turkey meat loaf to be exact.  Like any committed WW follower with E-tools, I searched the WW website for a great recipe.  It had good reviews, incorporated veggies and better yet, I had the stuff in my house!  I thought it was really good, better than I expected, honestly.  The WW recipe was a lot more complicated than a traditional meatloaf, but I enjoyed the sauteed onions, garlic and colored peppers...  I WILL make it again, but next time it will have more spices in it. 

I took a night off of exercise tonight.  Zumba really kicked my rear last night.  I did manage to run up and down the stairs at work about a dozen times today, carrying files and mail.

What's for dinner???

That's a question that pops up at our house a lot.  Keeping on track with healthy food isn't always easy.  Tonight, we're having baked squash, Parmesan Shake & Bake pork chops and some sort of potato. 

Lunch wasn't so easy to keep on track.  My boss took me out to lunch at a restaurant that isn't the easiest to stay on track.  I did only eat a big salad, 1 cup of cream of broccoli soup and ONE chicken wing.  I just calculated and OUCH 11 points for lunch!!

I'm going to torture myself again.  Zumba from 7-8 pm.  :-)  My body is just feeling better from the last time!

Why do I do this?

I don't want to make my 4 year old daughter body obsessed with weight, but I do want her to realize how the choices she makes effect things.   We talk about healthier choices and exercise.  I've always been a couch potato, but in order to make her see the benefits of exercise I have to practice what I preach.

I want to be around for a long time, to see my baby grow up, become a mom...    Kaylee tells people "My mom goes to Weight Watchers to be healthy".  She'll tell me "Mom that's too many points" or "Mom, you get lots of points for that." 

Martin totally supports me in my journey.  My cheering section makes me continue on this journey.

Going from a 26 pant to a 22 was also a great feeling!  I can't believe I now wear a XL shirt!!!

Beginning my journey to a healthier ME

I FINALLY got fed up with being fat.  I weighed in for a Biggest Loser contest at work and tipped the scales at 303 lbs!  That was a really big shock to me.  I had teetered at the 300 lb mark for quite a while, but somehow I fell to the OVER 300 lb mark.  That scared me!

At my annual gyno physical, the Nurse Practioner suggested I look into bariatric surgery.  Really???  I hadn't tried that hard to lose weight.  I just didn't know how.  After weeks of thinking about it, I scheduled an appointment to research bariatric surgery.  After attending the seminar, I was recharged.  I could do this.  Did I want the Sleeve?  or did I want Lap Band?  Big decisions, but first I needed the support of my family doctor.

My family Nurse Practioner was less than excited to encourage me to have bariatric surgery.  She gave me info on a 1500 calorie diet, but promised to submit a pre-auth to my HMO.  A month later, my HMO denied bariatric surgery.  I was deflated!  What was I supposed to do now?

An appointment to my family FNP brought about the suggestion to join Weight Watchers.  I can't diet!?!  Why would this work? Maybe this would convince the HMO to pay for the surgery?  I saw a commercial for WW and it talked about joining for free.  Well, what did I have to lose?

I attended my first WW meeting on May 24, 2010.  I still wasn't convinced, but decided to follow the plan religiously.  Fast forward 16 weeks.  As of today, I have lost 43 lbs!  I now weigh in at 259 lbs!

What have I got to lose?  Being the fat girl.  I have a long way to go, but I'll get there.  I'm worth the journey!