Snow day for WI

My meeting was cancelled today because of the crazy snow we have had. Unfortunately this means no meeting for three weeks because of Christmas and New Years. Plus DH and I have planned a last minute trip to Arizona leaving Jan 4th so I will miss another WI... Good thing I am armed with 10 months worth of WW knowledge to see me through the holidays and a vacation.

I weighed in at home this morning and was 208.6 - which means I have reached 60 pounds lost!
I did not make my Onederland by Christmas goal... I missed it by 8 pounds. With all that the next month has in store - my new goal is to be at 199 by my 1 year WW anniversary (Feb 10) I am hoping this goal will help keep me on track through Christmas dinner, New Years eve champagne, a 10 day road trip and all the other things life is constantly throwing at me.

I have been doing a lot of reflecting on how far I have come this year. What losing 60 pounds had meant for my life. These are at the top of my list:

Physical Changes:
- I can wear clothes from regular stores - no more plus size for me!
- I can run 10 minutes straight and can run intervals for 45 minutes
- I can swim 2km without stopping
- I can see my collarbones again!!!!
- I can see my bellybutton again!!!!
- I am not concerned about fitting in restaurant booths, airplane seats, or amusement park rides

Emotional Changes:
- I am proud of myself
- I am a much happier person
- I feel like I deserve this happiness
- My marriage is stronger
- I am a better wife, aunt, sister and daughter because I love myself more
- I know I can do anything I set my mind to

Things I can do now that I could not/would not do last Christmas:
- Cross my legs at the knee
- Happily pose for family photos
- Go sledding with my nieces
- Shovel my driveway and sidewalk
- Say no thank you to chocolates, egg nog, apple pie and other goodies
- Eat slowly and enjoy my food until I am full - and then stop eating!!!

These are just a few of the wonderful things I have been thinking about. I am also formulating a "Life To Do List" for the next year and will post it at New Years.

If I don't get back here before Christmas Day I hope that all of my new Blog Friends have happy holidays filled with family and fun (that is what it is about - not the food!!!)

WI#37 +1.6 (boooooo)

I deserved every ounce of that 1.6lb gain. I am just glad that I managed to shed 5.4 of the pounds I gained during the birthday celebration (thank you water retention!) They introduced the new WW momentum program at my meeting tonight and although there are not many changes I am using this as motivation to step back and start from scratch again - using the new tracker, weighing all my food etc.... the one change i am excited about is the ability to save up your AP and use them any time during the week.

Speaking of exercise, I went to a Bikram Yoga class last night. It was the hardest 90 minutes of my entire life!! If you have never heard of it I will give you a quick rundown (or click on the link for more details) The class is held in a room heated to 40 degrees. I went early so that I could get used to the heat before we got started. Just laying on my mat for 10 minutes made me start sweating. The movements in the class were very slow and controlled and within 15 minutes the sweat started pouring down my face, arms, and legs. About 30 minutes into the class we did a pose that required us to bend down and touch our toes - as we slowly came back up I thought I was going to faint - I laid on my mat for about 2 minutes (as many others did at various times during the class) and tried to compose myself.

My heart rate has never been so high for so long before! The heat really loosens your muscles and I was amazed at how far I could stretch my body (should have heard warning bells here - but the heat made me delirious). I finished the class and was very proud of myself as I left - legs shaky and head pounding. I got home and crawled into the shower, then crawled into bed and promptly fell asleep... and stayed asleep until this morning (an amazing feat for an insomniac like me). This morning I felt great.. as the day went on I began to stiffen up. By 5pm I felt like I was wearing a full body corset. Now (8pm) I am so sore!!! I need to go to the bathroom but the idea of bending to sit on the toilet makes me want to cry... the crazy stretching my body seemed to do easily in the class has definitely caught up with me!

In summary, I think I will go to another yoga class soon.. but I think Bikram (hot sweaty torture) Yoga will not be in my near future!

Thanks for reading!

Confession (and how to gain 7 pounds in 2 days)

Saturday was my birthday... and I celebrated!

I started the week doing so well. I ate on plan, got in some exercise and by Saturday morning my scale kindly told me I was 208.0lbs - Happy Birthday to Me! Some girlfriends came to see me for the weekend. We spent the day at the spa, had lunch at the spa, went shopping, had appetizers and wine at my house, and then went to my favourite restaurant for dinner, finally we finished off the night with Karaoke and wine into the wee hours of the morning.

It is a tradition that my husband makes me an elaborate birthday cake every year (he is a great baker) and this year he did this while the girls and I were at the spa. He left this 3 layer from scratch, covered in chocolate ganache, filled with white chocolate blackberry mousse and topped with chocolate covered strawberries) chocolate cake for us to find upon returning from the restaurant. He took off to his moms to avoid the night for karaoke madness. This cake was unbelievably good - but I'm guessing about 1000 calories a slice!!!



In no particular order my birthday weekend also included - movie popcorn, a hot dog, baked Camembert covered in walnuts, a martini and chocolate covered raisins. SIGH...

I really did try to eat everything in moderation (except the evil delicious cake) but getting in my water was a big problem. I stepped on the scale last night and it screamed at me 215!!!!!!!!! Seven pounds in three days.... yikes! Today was better - so far I have eaten 19 points and have drunk 2 litres of water. I just weighed myself at 212 so three of those birthday pounds are gone already.

I am so tempted to avoid WI tomorrow night but they are launching the new WW program at the meeting so I can't miss - I guess I need to face the consequences anyway! After WI I am trying a Bikrham Yoga class. If you have never heard of this you are doing yoga positions in a room heated to 40 degrees. Of course you sweat like mad, I am trying this as people tell me that the heat allows for a really deep stretch and I am looking to relieve some of the tension in my chronically sore lower back. I will post tomorrow about how it goes.

Thanks for hearing my confession.. hope it is the last one for awhile!

As promised..

Good OP day today:

Flax plus cereal and yogurt (3)
Edemame beans (3)
Cheese strings (3)
Yogurt (1)
Baked cheezies (2)
Baked ritz (2)
Chicken quesidilla (8)
Yogurt (1)
Baked ritz (1)
Apple (1)
Hot chocolate (3)

29 points for the day
4 Litres of water
No real exercise but 9 hours run off my feet at work!

Feeling optimistic about my WI tomorrow night.

A 24 day plan...

The holidays are fast approaching and I need to kick things into high gear. I have been eating OP all week but too many 100cal snack packs and processed foods are making me feel blah.. It is time to recommit to the things that I know will bring me success.

#1 I need to blog more often.. boring all of you with my daily menus and exercise

#2 I need to exercise!!!!!!!!!!!!

#3 Pack my lunch everyday - no eating out (even the healthier choices)

#4 Drink 3 litres of water everyday (I have struggled this week)

I have no out of town trips planned for December so no more excuses.

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Ok now that I have a plan, let me tell you about the dinner DH and I had on Friday night. We went to a Seafood Buffet at a local resort (you need to click on the link to fully appreciate the menu!!) I had saved 23 points for this dinner and was excited for all the fresh seafood. It was AMAZING. I started with a big plate of salad and veggies and then I avoided all starches and stuck to salmon, crab legs, mussels, oysters, clams, and other fabulous ocean delicacies.

I was feeling very proud and a bit smug as I realized I was full and stopped eating (yay me!) I watched DH go back for another big plate full - and just sipped my water while he ate. I planned to have the sugar free blackberry mousse for dessert (because ugly planned ahead) So we headed to the dessert buffet....... and then I fell apart. Lets just say I had a chocolate truffle, Bavarian cream cake, chocolate mocha cake, blood orange mousse, deep dish apple pie and half of a sugar free black berry mousse. Now, I only had a sliver of all of these but they did fill an entire dessert plate. These were the most delicious desserts I have ever had. When I was done I was STUFFED - to the point of being in pain as we drove home.

This is the actual picture we took in the parking lot of the restaurant after the massive dinner. The expression on my face perfectly relays the feeling in my tummy!

Could have been a lot worse, but could have been a lot better. The next day it was so hard to get back on track. Some baked chips, diet coke, baked cheezies and other 'healthy crap' kept finding its way into my mouth.. I am still craving it today. I can feel myself on the edge of giving into a complete binge.. I keep telling myself that this is how people who have lost a lot of weight can gain it back quickly. I WILL BE STRONG!! I WILL BE STRONG!! I have worked too hard to let this sugar coma take over.....

My one shining OP meal of the weekend was when DH made ESBM Feast From the East again. This is so delicious, definitely a new favourite in our house.

So that is my confession, plan and pledge for the next month. I will be back tomorrow with a recap of my OP day and exercise!