WI#18 -2.4

Lost 2.4 this week. I used up my 20 left over core points tonight on some treats.. I planned it, counted it and don't even feel guilty! I am continuing with core next week and I am really hoping to say goodbye to the 230's for good. The last 10 pounds have been harder than the first 30! But summer is here and I am determined to make the most of it! DH and I dusted off our bikes the other day and went for a long ride around the neighbourhood.. we only went a few times last summer.. 35 lbs makes a big difference when you are riding a bike.

We are going camping for the long weekend, should be pretty easy to stay OP as we can only eat what I pack and I vow to leave the wine and coolers behind!

Rounding out week one on Core

I am excited to report that my first week of core ends at midnight and I stayed 100% on plan. I used my AP and only 12 of the 35 flex available to me. I used those points for pita bread, a hamburger bun, some brown sugar splenda on my oatmeal, Parmesan cheese and a Popsicle. Core is not as scary as I thought it would be and I think I will show a good loss at WI tomorrow. I am committed to at least another 2 weeks on this program. We are going camping for the long weekend so I need to start thinking about some outdoor cooking core recipes.

Here are a few photos of some of this weekend's feasts...

The first is Core Pancakes (no flour or oil!!) with homemade apple compote. The second is a seared scallop salad with warm pear shallot dressing served in a 'bowl' made from 1oz or grated Parmesan cheese.

Core - Day 3

Fist Core weekend has begun and today went pretty well. I made some roasted chickpeas that someone posted on the WW forum. I am not a bean lover but these were a great crunchy snack.

1 can of chick peas (rinsed to take of the outer shell) pat dry
heat 2 tsp olive oil with spices (I used onion powder, garlic powder, salt and chili)
toss chick peas in oil and spread onto cookie sheet
bake at 425 for 30 min - keep an eye on them they should darken but be careful not to burn

We went to a movie last night and I managed to avoid the popcorn (I LOVE movie popcorn) by having a smal frozen yogurt for 3 points. So day 3 is done and I still have 28 of my flex points left to last until Wednesday. Tomorrow I will do a mid week weigh-in to see if my core change is showing on the scale.

Core - Day 2

My second day on core went well. It is very clear though that this is going to require a lot of preplanning. I am eating so much fruit and veg that I will have to go shopping again tomorrow. The good thing is that I actually have a Saturday off tomorrow (a very rare thing in the world of a retail manager) so I cn go to the fabulous local farmers market tomorrow morning. My DH gets home from his 4 days awa at work at about 9:00am tomorrow. He will sleep until about 3pm so I will spend the day making both our lunches for the week and freezing them. I think I will try some of the great core soup recipes I have found.

Here is the menu from today:

B: oatmeal, skim milk, splenda
S: nectarine
L: lettuce wraps with chicken, cous cous, asperagus, hoisin (delicious!!)
S: plum, pear
D: cous cous, asperagus, salad

Now that I look back on the day there was not much protein.. I think I will have a hard boiled egg as my snack this evening.

First Day on Core

My first day on core was really good. It is freeing not to have to calculate the points for everythig I eat. I have been looking up different core recipes and it is amazing what a variety of desserts, entrees etc.... can be made using core ingredients.

Here is the re-cap of what I ate today.

Breakfast:
steel cut oats with skim milk, slices strawberries and splenda
Snack:
nectarine
Lunch:
spicy cous cous, chicken breast, peas
Snack:
plum, apple
Dinner:
egg salad on weight watchers toast (1pt) with tomato and lettuce
strawberries and pineapple
Snack:
skim milk, popcorn

WI#17 +.8 lbs

Tonight I showed my first gain since beginning WW 17 weeks ago. I know all the reasons why... and I know it is such a minor blip my progress.. but it still SUCKS! My WW leader said 'dont let .8 of a pound take away from the 35 you have already lost.. and I woln't but it still SUCKS!

Ok, that feels better. Tomorrow morning I start on the core program, I have filled my fridge with fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats and have WW pasta, brown rice and steel cut oats in my pantry. The three things I am most excited about are that I dont have to count skim milk, avacados or salmon. Wish me luck!

HYC - check in

I have decided that I am going to switch from the WW Flex plan to the Core plan starting after my WI tomorrow. The scale has been moving slowly and I feel like I am not always making the healthiest choices. I snack on 100cal cookies or FF frozen yogurt etc... these things just make me crave more sweets and the high sodium in these processed foods is causing me to retain water. I am also getting weary of counting points all the time. The idea of filling my fridge with things I don't have to count is very apealling right now. I have been doing a lot of reading on 'eating clean' and basically that is what the core plan is. So I am making a list and heading out to the grocery store. I am committing to at least three weeks on this program. Are any of you doing Core or Eating Clean?

The other red meat???

Today DH and I went to the 'Shellfish Festival' at the marina near where we live. The best part of moving 2 minutes from the ocean is all the fresh seafood. We sampled, clam chowder, oyster burger and BBQ oysters. We shared a tasting plate of each food and because seafood is so good for you i estimated I only used 5 points for the entire event. For dinner tonight we were feeling adventurous so I made Bison Burgers. DH has eaten bison a few times, but this was my fist time. They were pretty good - next time I will buy the ground bison and make the patties myself to add some more flavour.

I got a bit sunburned today and I'm feeling dehydrated tonight so I'm off to bed with a delicious glass of ice water. I hope you all had a great weekend!

All's Quiet on the Weightloss Front..

Last couple days have been good. DH is home (his job has him away working for 4 days and then home for 4 days) and I have three days off work so we are just hanging out and today we visited some family nearby. Between us we have lost 70 lbs in the last 4 months. The increased energy combined with the stress of our move being gone has been so good for our marriage. The past 5 years have been really tough with job stress, three miscarriages, family issues etc... I am so happy that right now (after 13 years together) we are closer than we have ever been!



Enough of the sappy... onto the food. We have been eating really well for the past few days (although I sit here trying to down another 500ml of water while DH snores beside me). The most picture worthy dinner was this WW-ized version of natchos that he made last night. So good that I would have bet money it was bad for me! Whole grain baked chips, turkey chili, LF mozzarella, tomatoes, lettuce, salsa and ff sour cream.. delicious!

So hungry and nothing to eat....

Last night I went to a late aqua jog class (8-9pm) so I had dinner at 5pm so I would not feel sick for my class. The class was a killer ab workout and I stayed for another 30min swim. When I got home I was ravenous!! I only had 4 points left but none of my low point snacks seemed to do the trick. I was craving protein.. like a big juicy steak.. or a greasy burger. Of course my kitchen is clear of all temptations so instead I kept grazing on fruits and veggies and drank a ton of water. I went to bed feeling deprived. I don't get that hungry feeling very often anymore but memories of a late night trip through the drive through were pretty clear last night. I told myself that if I still felt that way in the morning I would use some flex and eat what I was craving. Guess what? When I woke up the craving was gone and I had my usual oatmeal and applesauce. I have had a great OP day today. I think what I have learned is that I need to eat some more protein before an high intensity workout and plan for something more when I am done.

So far I have earned 7 out of my 28 ap goal for this week. Tomorrows plan is for a 60 min walk and 30 min DDR

WI#16 -1.4 lbs

Thanks to the miracle of water consumption I showed a decent weight loss at my official WI this morning. This 1.4lbs brings me to a total of 35lbs lost in the past 4 months (notice my shiny new button to your right). I only journalled about half of my week and that makes me feel a bit out of control. So my goal for this week is to journal everything I put into my mouth. I signed up for a free trial of WW etools so I will try the online journalling this week.

My activity goal this week is for 28 points - 4 points each day!

Im a dance dance dance dance dancin' machine!

Or so I would like to think. I have been having a lot of fun with my new Dance Dance Revolution game, what a workout! Im sure I look hilarious doing it but in my mind I am ready for 'So you think you can dance' auditions. After the temptation party last night I am proud to say I stayed on plan today and so far have had 1.5L of water and plan on another litre by the end of the night. I am going to my WW meeting tomorrow morning and I am pretty sure I will see a gain, part of me wants to skip the weigh in but I know I need to have that number written down to keep me accountable.

Tonights dinner was a new creation for me.. turkey meatloaf (with onion, garlic, granny smith apple, weight watchers bread made into bread crumbs, and an egg) with sauteed zucchini and mushrooms. I made a dijon balsamic glaze for the meatloaf - it was delicious!

Party Night

So, tonight I hosted a party for the girls at work.. let me give you the food run down

White chocolate fondue
Nachos
Crab Dip
Trifle
Veggie Plate
Antijitos
Margaritas
Milk Chocolate Fondue
Pina Coladas

Some healthy options.. some not so healthy options.. problem with hosting is that when the smoke cleared and everyone went home, the leftovers did not go with them and were sitting on my kitchen counter. I was good during the party as I was bust getting drinks etc... but when I was cleaning up the kitchen I dont know how many points I consumed picking at the leftovers. The good news was that I put them all in a garbage bag and they are now waiting for pick up at the end of my driveway. It could have been so much worse, but I am not proud of what I consumed!

This has been a tough week.. I have not really been off plan but I have not been journalling faithfully, jut kind of guessing at my point. Plus my digital scale broke so I am estimating portion sizes as well. The scale is showing a small gain so far this week, as of tomorrow morning I am back on plan. I will do day1 week2 of the C25K tomorrow and I will drink at least 2L of water to try and flush out what I ate tonight. A few bad days will not take away from the 33lbs I have lost so far!!!!!!

A So-So Weekend

Yesterday my DH and I wet to visit our parents about 90 min away. We had planned to go out for dinner with my sister and BIL to a seafood restaurant, but at the last minute they had changed the plans to a new buffet in town. I had eaten very light all day so had 20 points for dinner and all my flex left. I had prime rib, mashed potatoes, gravy and ceaser salad. Everything in moderation but with the martini I am sure I was over the 20 points at least. I did skip the dessert buffet though (small victory for me). At around 11pm we decided to head home but found that the one road out of town was closed after a bad accident around a nearby lake, the police said it would be another 4 hours until they could open it so we headed back to my in-laws and spent the night.



I hate having to stay overnight unprepared. We woke up and had to shower and put on the same clothes as the night before. We skipped breakfast and headed out of town this morning. We decided to take a detour to a town nearby to hit up Costco before making it home. My DH has been talking about a Costco hot dog for a week now (Turkey dog dont seem to give him the same satisfaction!) I had one as well since we skipped breakfast... When I looked up the NI when I got home I found out it was 8points!!! I dont even really like hot dogs so that will be the last one for me for awhile.



The big excitement of my day was a new Wii purchase..... Dance Dance Revolution!!! It is so hard and really makes you work up a sweat, I think this will be a great rainy day workout.



Tonights dinner was homemade calzones and salad. The calzone was stuffed with mushrooms, pineapple, turkey pepperoni, skim mozzarella and tomato sauce. They were really filling and delicious!

So today's dinner was turkey and sweet potato shepards pie. I thought it was really good. DH said it was just ok.. and then had seconds and thirds. Afterwards he said he had really been craving a cheeseburger so that was tainting his opinion. Only 7 points for a large portion and 2 servings of veggies. For an evening treat I made an Angel Food Cake with strawberries and LF Cool Whip - for 4 points a great sweet dessert.

Today was the first day since Christmas that DH and I were both off work and had nowhere we HAD to be. We slept in, went grocery shopping, watched a movie, played the Wii, made dinner, went for my third C25K jog/walk and just had a lovely time reconnecting with one another. His new job will take him out of town for 4 days and then off for 4 days, since I make my own schedule I should be able to work around his. After a few years of little time together I am looking forward to many more days like today.

WI#15 -2.8

I went to my WW meeting tonight and saw a satisfying 2.8 loss on the scales. I have been sitting here thinking about what not hauling an extra 34 lbs around all day means to me. I went to the grocery store and picked up 3 10lb bags of potatoes to see how much weight that really is... IT IS FREAKING HEAVY!!!! I can't wait to know what it will feel like to be 50, 80, 100 lbs lighter...

I am taking the night off from Cardio - day 3 of the C2K5 is tomorrow and I am still a bit achy from last nights run. I will do some Wii Fit yoga and balance exercises tonight (DH comes home from work tonight and the Wii competition resumes tomorrow - I need to practice)

For this week instead of posting my entire menu I am committing to making my dinners more interesting and I will post a picture of my creations each day. I don't want to get into a food rut. i I love to cook but have found that lately I stick with what I know so I don't have to calculate everything. I need some variety so tomorrow starts a healthy week of culinary adventures.

C25K Week1 day #2

Tonight I did second workout of week one of the Couch to 5 K. I worked late so did not get out until 8:30pm. I left the pup behind this time so I could concentrate on keeping a consistant pace. My legs were tired after a late aqua jog class last night and working on my feet all day but I made it through the 30 min walk/jog intrevals and then took my dog for a 20 min walk to cool down.

Looking at my menus for this week, I think it is time to pull out the cookbooks, do some web searches and come up with some new ideas to spice things up for next week!

Breakfast:
oatmeal/skim/applesauce (5)
Lunch:
Chicken (4)
Fibre One (2)
Apple (1)
Snack:
Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Frozen Yogurt (4)
Dinner:
Turkey Burger (8)
Salad (1)

6 points to play with for the rest of the evening

Veggies 4/6 so far
Dairy 4/2 (darn frozen yogurt again)
H2O 1L (another 500ml to go)
Activity: 30 min walk/jog and 30min WiiFit (5ap)

HYC - check in

This has been a great week! I began the Couch 2 5K program and am very excited to become a jogger again. I stayed within my points all week and blogged my menu each day. I feel like this summer is going to be a big turning point for me; a new province, a new city, a new job, new friends, and a new body. People are beginning to notice the change in me, both physically and emotionally. I have so much more energy and my mood is positive. it is amazing how much eating healthy can affect your mental health! In the past 3.5 months I have learned that I am not defined by food, I now eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full, I can't remember the last time I stuffed myself until it hurt (used to be a regular occurance). I have such a long way to go but with my ne found knowledge and outlook it is a matter of WHEN I get to goal not IF!!

WI Preview

My WW WI is not until Wednesday but I could not resist taking a picture of what the scale said this afternoon. Looks like my strategy of kick starting my week with a higher point day worked. Everything else I did this week was just like always. Stayed within points, followed the healthy guidelines and got a good amout of AP. I hope to see the same number on Wednedsay.

Monday Menu:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with skim milk and applesauce (5)

Snacks:
Fibre One (2)
Apple (1)

Lunch:
Turkey Burger with veggies (8)

Snack:
Frozen yogurt (2)

Dinner:
Giant salad with BBQ chicken (5)

Snack:
Frozen yourt (4)

4 points left for an evening snack.

Fruits&Veggies 6/6
Dairy 5/2 (maybe too much frozen yogurt:)
Water 1.5L (working on another 500ml)
missed the healthy oils today

activity 60min aqua jog class (3pts)

I feel STRONG!!!

Today is the day I started the Couch to 5K running program. Week one is walk 90sec jog 60sec (repeat for a total of 30min) The pup and I set out this evening to give it a try. A brisk 5 minute walk for a warmup and then...... I JOGGED!!! The thirty minutes went by pretty quickly and after the first three repetitions the minute of jogging went smoothly. I tried to keep an even pace the whole time and when I was done I was breathing heavy but I was not completely exhausted (like previous attempts). I actually really enjoyed myself, I am still stunned what a difference not lugging those 30 lbs around is making to my energy level. Day 2 will be Wednesday and I am looking forward to it.

Have any of you done this program? Any tips would be welcome!

Sunday Menu:

Breakfast:
Fibre One Bar (2)
Apple (1)

Lunch:
Turkey Burger (7)
Baked Doritos (4)

Snack:
Frozen yogurt (4)

Dinner:
Turkey Burger (7)
Carrot Sticks (0)
Dip (2)

Snack:
Frozen Yogurt (4)

Points 31/31
Fruit & Veg 6/6
Dairy 4/2
H2O 2L
Activity 30min walk/jog (3ap)