Wow

That's all I have to say right now.

Now that I have signed up for WW online again I had to set a weigh-in day. I decided to go with Saturday since I usually use my weigh-in as my cheat day and most events occur on Saturdays.

So that means I weighted in this morning and I lost...

3.2 LBS

I could not believe it. I am so happy and hopefully I can keep it up. All I have done this week is watch my eating and kept it in my points and I did the first 4 days of Slim in 6. This makes me very happy and gives me a renewed hope and drive.

Unfortunately, I missed the 5K this morning because I overslept. I wasn't surprised since I was lying there still trying to go to sleep at 5AM and had to be up by 7AM. I'm still planning on running a 5K today since that is how long my normal running route is. I just have to get focused again because I have a ten miler coming up on April 15th. I'm not too worried about it since it has a very slow required pace(18 min/mile) but I would like to do well if I can. I'm hoping the training I am doing with Slim in 6 will help my running.

WW Thursday

Well, here we are again. I lost 0.8 this week. It's good because it is a loss but I really wish it was more. At least give me a full freaking pound instead of these tenths of a pound numbers. It is just getting annoying. I know a loss is a loss and any loss is good but I feel like I should be doing better on the scale than I am. I have lost 2 pant sizes but the numbers have barely gone down during that time. I am losing inches but not pounds. It is just becoming a little frustrating.

I've made a few discoveries and I am hoping those will help me get things moving better again. I decided that I was going to be super diligent with my tracking this past week. Some days I had not been writing it down or logging it online but mentally counting. I also wasn't looking up all of the point values on things. Sometimes I was guessing. I found out I was guessing wrong. I'm hoping that watching my points more closely will help. Added to that, my workouts are getting tougher and I am trying to ride my bike more so hopefully those things will help too.

I am really struggling this week emotionally. It is just getting very frustrating. I feel like I am doing everything right and really trying to make a change and not seeing any results. All while others are taking the easy way out or not being as strict as they should and still seeing great results. It just really makes me want to give up. Last night I had a hard time after my run. I completed it but I had this overwhelming feeling that it is all worthless because I'm not going to be able to do it. I feel like I still have way to far to go mileage wise and I am never going to be able to do it. It just feels like everything is sneaking up on me and I am not going to be ready for any of it. I have a 5K this weekend that I am hoping goes better than I am expecting it to, that way maybe I will be a little more confident for the 10K next month. It's all just wearing me down and I am starting to feel like a failure.

Update: I have been tracking my measurements and I took them again today after I posted this.I have lost another almost 10 inches all over and I am down another pant size. While I am super happy these numbers are going down, it frustrates me that much more. I feel like they should translate into bigger scale losses than they are. Oh well, maybe it will all make sense eventually.

Learning to Snack and Save

This week's WW topic was about better snacking. I know this is one area that some days I am great and others, it is my downfall. I have found several healthier and lower point value snacks but so often, they are expensive. Fruit is a great snack(0 pts) but it isn't cheap and good fruit is sometimes hard to find. I am also a salty snacks person so fruit doesn't always hit the spot. I have found great chip and cheese ball alternatives with things like Pop Chips and Snikiddy Cheese balls. Both are all  natural and less points(3 pts) for twice the amount. They are perfect for when I am craving salty and crunchy.  Once again, they are not cheap if you run out to your local grocer and pick them up. Fortunately for us the commissary has started carrying Pop Chips regularly and they are at a better price, however, they only carry the large bags. I like the individual size bags in both because it is easy portion control. You just grab a bag and go, no need to measure, count or weigh. You know how much you are getting and how many points it is.

Every now and then I let the price get in the way and go for easy and cheap. That is when I slip up the most with my eating each day. Fortunately I have found and ally in this fight and its name is Amazon. Most of the healthier snacks that we love but hate the price, are available on amazon. Not only can you buy them in bulk but you can sign up for a subscription to them and save. You can set it so that it ships as little as every 6 months and you get a discount on the item and free shipping. I have used this in the past but I stopped and I don't know why. Soon I will be setting up new subscriptions to great snacks to help me keep my snacking within my daily points.

I have a new fire and I am hoping that it along with some better choices are going to help increase the results I see each week.

WW Thursday

Well today's meeting went a little better than last week. I lost 0.6 so I at least lost something. I would like to lose more but it will come in time. I'm really going to crack down on my food. I haven't really been doing bad but I haven't been tracking as well as I should.

I did something very stupid today. I decided I wanted to get a little bit of a workout today before the meeting so I decided to go ride my bike. I forgot that it was 108 today and I had no water with me and I hadn't had much to drink before I left. I rode about 3.5 miles but the last half was brutal. I rode over to another neighborhood and on the way back I realized how hot I was and that I had nothing to drink. I was determined to get home but I knew that if I really started feeling bad that I could call someone to pick me up. Thankfully the last 1/4 of a mile is all downhill so I was able to just coast home. I got some water in me and cooled off and I was fine. I definitely will not be making that mistake again.

WW Thursday

So today wasn't the best of days for weighing in. I gained 0.4 lbs. I know that isn't much but this has been a trend lately. In reality, I am still doing pretty good because I have not gained a full pound yet if you add up my gains since my last loss. So basically I have been pretty much staying the same. It all really started when we went home and I haven't fully gotten back on track since then. I am doing better with my running again and I am still learning with my food. I have bee pretty consistently having "breakfast" so that at least is a start. I put breakfast in quotes because it is a meal replacement shake not a bowl of cereal or anything like that. I'm starting slow but at least I am getting something in my system instead of waiting until 5pm like I used to. The shakes are also useful because I am doing a cleanse that requires consuming a large dose of saw dust, I mean fiber, and putting it in the shake makes it bearable. I'm hoping that cleaning everything in there out will help me with the weight-loss stuff as well as tummy issues I have been plagued with for years. I am already noticing that I am not having some of the digestive issues that used to be commonplace for me.

Tonight was a hard night at the meeting. Our regular leader is on vacation so Steve takes over while she is gone. I like him. He keeps the meeting short and sweet and is a nice guy. however, tonight he said something that felt a little harsh and really kind of hurt. When he saw that I gained and then noticed the two weigh-ins before, he said that even though .4 isn't a number to be alarmed by he noticed a pattern and wanted to know what was going on. I responded, "Stress." I have been stressed. Driving 18 hours each way to Georgia and back is not a walk in the park. Dealing with my husband going overseas makes me a little crazy and fighting with a weight-loss plateau makes me want to pull my hair out. When I get stressed, I stop losing weight, even if I am watching what I eat and exercising, it just all stops, which stresses me out more. This is what has been going on and why the scale has not been my friend. Steve's response to my one word answer was, "Well, maybe we should find ways other than food to deal with our stress." I HAVEN'T BEEN OVER EATING. Have I had an extra snack or two? Yes, but I have been staying within my weekly points. I know he was trying to be helpful but jumping to that conclusion and making that statement was like a knife in my chest. I felt so defeated and really did not want to be at the meeting anymore. It didn't help that my friend's husband became a lifetime member tonight because he hit his goal and maintained it for 6 weeks. He only had 30 lbs to lose but for me, becoming a lifetime member seems like it is a lifetime away.

I've really been struggling with all of this and really trying to push through it. In the past, every time I have tried to lose weight, this is where I quit. I decided that it really was impossible and I walked away. Every time I have tried to lose weight I have hit this same road block around the same time. I lose 15-25 lbs and then it all stops. I stall out, get discouraged, and quit. This time I am not letting myself stop but that doesn't change the fact that it is hard to move forward. I'm trying to really buckle down and get even more serious so that I can start making better progress. I really want to change, I really want to be a better person, but it is really hard when you feel like you have run face first into a brick wall. I'm going to break through but it is going to take time.

Update: I just recorded my measurements and I have lost a total of 18 inches all over, 8 of those are around my waist and 5 of that have been since I stopped "losing weight." Even though I am not seeing it on the scale, my body is still getting smaller.

Weight Watchers Mondays are Moving

We are no longer doing the link-up on Mondays but I want to continue having a weekly weight watchers related post. Since I don't feel the need to keep it on Monday anymore, I am going to move it to Thursdays now.

It makes more sense to me since I go to meetings on Thursdays and that is when I weigh-in.


So WW Mondays are no more but look forward to WW Thursdays instead.

Better Than Expected

Today was my first WW weigh-in in 3 weeks. Since I didn't really do anything I had planned while I was home, I was scared it was going to be ugly. However, it turned out much better than I expected it to. I gained, but I only gained .2 lbs, not 5 or 6 like I expected.

I'm really cracking down more now. I have been hovering around the same place for just over a month and it is time to move forward. I am considering a different running program or a mash-up of a few. (yes, I know, again) I am thinking of going back to GA for Labor Day and doing a 10k that I found out about to use as a possible qualifying time for the Tinkerbell. My original plan was to use the Army shadow 10 Miler here at Hood in October but since I will be in GA for my 10 year high school reunion that day, my plans have to change. Since it is a different race and a month sooner, I am looking into a 10K program that I could do. I think I found one that I like, I will just have to see if I can do it. It will require me to push myself much harder than I have been, and while that is a good thing, it scares me a little because it has gotten so damn hot here. I am going to try to do all of my workouts in the morning because it is still over 90 here at midnight now. the crack of dawn is the only time it is even slightly cooler anymore. Ugh. I HATE mornings. I am such a night owl.(Notice the time stamp) Getting up has been the biggest issue lately. I'm trying to shift my daily schedule but it is hard.

I've been struggling a little with motivation since we returned from our trip home. I know that I still have a long way to go but NO ONE noticed that I have lost 25 lbs already. I know it still isn't a huge difference but I can tell that my clothes fit better and my jeans are literally starting to fall off when I walk around in them with out a belt. To me the most noticeable place I have seen it is in my face but I go home and NO ONE says anything EXCEPT for my 86 year old 90% blind great-grandmother. She was the only person that noticed anything and said something about it. It just really hurt to feel like I am working so hard and no one notices. I would mention something about WW or trying to lose weight and I would get the question of "how much have you lost?" but I was always the one that had to bring it up. No one said, "Oh you look good." or "I can tell you've lost weight." Not even my mother-in-law who has been obsessed with my weight since Mac and I started dating.(It was one of the reasons she told him he shouldn't marry me.) It was just discouraging.

Anyway, I was actually happy with my weigh-in today because I have not lost as much ground as I thought I did. I'm not as far along as I would like to be but at least I did not go too far in the wrong direction. I've hit this place every time I have tried to lose weight and this is where I have always quit. I lose a decent amount and then I stall out for a while. I convince myself it is impossible and just stop trying. I am determined not to do that this time. I am trying to find a new focus and determination. I know I can do this it just sucks sometimes.

(I really hate mornings.)

WW Monday Link Up : Exercise Tips

So today's link up over at Learning As We Go is about exercise tips. To be honest, I am really new to the exercise game but I am learning a lot. I have never been one to exercise just for the sake of it. Up until my knee injury in college, my exercise was always training for the sports I played. It was working towards a goal of being a better athlete not just moving to move. When I hurt my knee, I couldn't do the same things anymore and now I am in a place where I don't have the necessary teams to play team sports so I have been at a loss for what to do. That was the reason that I signed up for the Princess Half last year but as I said before, my mind wasn't in the right place so it didn't work. Now that things have clicked, I am learning more about what works for me and what doesn't and having that goal is a great motivator.

First of all, don't do too much too soon. Especially, if you are working towards a goal like I am with the half marathons next year. I am keeping my workouts simple. I run with my training plan. That is my main focus. I am also slowly adding in some cross training like swimming first and then I plan on later adding spin classes. Both of these things help you build on your running without the impact on your joints. Other than that, I am doing some strength training for my upper body because it is WEAK. I want to do some higher impact training eventually but I don't want to start it until after the races. If you try too much too soon, you will only end up getting hurt and then you will have to do nothing for a while. I made the mistake of trying out a higher intensity DVD last week and then I could barely run because my legs were burnt out and my joints were killing me. So start with one thing and then add little things that compliment it as you get stronger and have more endurance.

Second, listen to your body. If it doesn't feel right, stop. I'm not talking about soreness or fatigue I'm talking about pain. You should no the difference because one just feels like you are working hard and the other just feels unnatural. You don't want to risk serious injury just because you think it is something you should be doing. There is always something else you can try.

Next, it's ok to not like something. Sometimes certain exercises just aren't for you. If you don't like it, move on to something else until you find something you do. If you really want to run but you hate running on a treadmill, jog a lap around your neighborhood. If you don't like the heat, find an indoor track. If tracks are too small and repetitive, find a running trial in a park or neighborhood nearby. If you try all of that and you still don't like running, try a bike or a pool. Try aerobics classes, free weights, machines, circuit gyms, roller skating, walking, jumping rope, boxing, martial arts, or anything you can think of that gets you moving. You will eventually find something you like and once you do, exercising will be that much easier. hell, you can just go shopping and make sure you park a long way from the mall. Make a few laps around before you go in the first store. Window shop if you don't want to spend money. There have been plenty of times that I have just gone to stores and looked at things that I want in the future just to get myself out of the house and moving. It is a great way to get exercise but not focus on it.

Find a good buddy. My husband has been great(when he's here). He has been running with me or riding his bike since he had a stress fracture and it has made all the difference. It is nice having him there to support me and give me a high five when I finish my workouts. It is great having someone to talk to so I am not quite so bored out there. Running with him has even helped during the times that he is gone. We talk about it after I workout because he always asks how it went. I know that he is going to ask and I don't want to tell him that I just flaked because he is gone so I go out and do my workout so I can honestly tell him how it went. If it sucks, I tell him that and he encourages me to keep going because it will get better later.

Finally don't give up when you have a bad day(week, month, etc.) It will get better. This is the one I am trying to remind myself of right now. For the past 2 months the running has been going really great but two weeks ago it all went south. I got sick and since it is an upper respiratory issue it affects my breathing which seriously puts a strain on my running. It has been very frustrating and has forced me to rework my training plan but that's ok. It is also making me slow down a little and realize I was trying to push a little faster than I should. If you quit every time you have a bad day, by the time you start back you are just going to be more frustrated because you have gone backwards and you have to do all of the same work over again. Just push through and it will all be worth it in the end. If you are sick, see a doc and listen to them. You may need to slow down for a little while or take a break. If it's just a bad day, push through or you will have many more bad days in the future.


I don't know if this is exactly what she had in mind when she gave out this topic but these are my tips. I'm not going to tell you how awesome this and that workout is because that is something you need to figure out for yourself. It is a process to figure out what is right for you. Don't give up, you will figure it out and you will be a better person for it in the end.

WW Monday

Once again linking up over at Learning As We Go for WW Monday.

I did not weigh-in last week thanks to a nasty cold that had me feeling "lovely" and my meeting buddy being out of town. According to my scale at home I was around the same, didn't lose but didn't gain. I didn't get in as many workouts as I would have liked due to the whole not being able to breathe thing but I am working on fixing that this week.

Anyway, this week's topic is lunch ideas. If you refer to my post on the day that it was breakfast ideas, you will see why I'm not a lot of help but I am trying.

Most of the time, if I eat lunch, it is a ham sandwich and pop chips or snikiddy cheese balls. Those are both great because you get a lot of them and they are only 3 pts. They taste like regular potato chips or cheese balls but with a much lower points value. The pop chips are even lower than baked chips and taste WAY better.

I have tried a few of the new lean cuisine steam bags that I like and I picked up a few of the healthy choice pasta bowls at the case lot sale. Hopefully I can force myself to eat them soon.(not because they aren't yummy, they are, I just usually don't eat lunch.) Since I am trying to do meal replacement shakes for breakfast when I can, I am not at all opposed to eating cereal for lunch. My problem is still just making myself actually eat lunch.

I may be about to completely flip flop my daily routine so it should become easier to eat those meals during the day. Texas is getting too damn hot and I am considering getting up early and running with Mac in the mornings(Ugh, I am NOT a morning person) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and possibly doing water aerobics on post Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We'll see if that takes off or if I retreat back into my normal nocturnal state.

I'm trying to be optimistic about this week's weigh-in. Not sure that there is going to be much of a change but hoping there is a change at least.

WW Monday Link-Up

So I am once again linking up on Learning As We Go's Weight Watchers Monday.

Today's topic is Breakfast Ideas.

Honestly, when it comes to this I'm no help. I don't eat breakfast. I haven't ever eaten breakfast on a regular basis. It is one of the biggest struggles that i deal with now. Most days I don't eat anything at all before 5PM. I know I need to change this but it is hard.

Growing up I had a lot of issues with my sinuses and because of too much drainage, I woke up every morning nauseous. I felt too sick to eat and that started a bad trend. While I was in high school, I let the things others said get to me and I started skipping lunch as well. Around my junior year, I started eating only one meal a day. That has pretty much been the trend ever since. I eat dinner and then I snack all night until I go to bed. I have severely slowed down my metabolism and many days my body stays in starvation mode. It's one of the reasons I think my weight loss has been up and down since I started WW.

I'm trying to change this but it is hard. I can't eat much when I do eat breakfast because I'm just not used to it. For now, I am just trying to start out with a Slim Fast shake. That way I can get some protein and other stuff without using too many points. I'm trying to figure it all out but it is hard.

Linking Up

I found a blog that is doing a weight watchers link up on Mondays. I know I am late but I just found it. The link up is over at Learning As We Go. This week's topic is how much we have lost since starting and how far we have to go, as well as what we have learned that we were doing wrong.

As you know if you have been reading, in the past 6 weeks I have lost just over 10 lbs. I still have a LONG way to go. It's a little overwhelming and discouraging when I realize that there aren't many people out there(that I am connected to) that have the same journey ahead of them. Most people have a much shorter road to travel. It just makes me feel very alone.

I know that one of my big problems has been eating when I'm bored and not paying attention to portions. I don't eat for several hours after I get up and then I eat while I am awake all night. I need to start having some version of breakfast and cutting out the snacking at night.

I was planning to start the WW running plan Round 2 tonight but I am starting to get sick so it may have to wait. My plan as I work through the program this time id to increase my pace and lengthen my stride. Since I was taking it slow I was doing more of the jog shuffle than a full run stride. I want to be able to do the runs with my full stride before I start the half marathon training in a few weeks.

If my head doesn't clear up soon, I may not make it to the weigh-in this week. Even if I go to the meeting, I think I'll skip the scale because nothing is going right this week thanks to being sick. I hate having a cold.

Rough Week

I am not looking forward to my weigh-in in the morning. I am pretty sure I have gained or stayed the same. I think my body freaked out when I lost 6lbs last time and started holding on to everything. I know that I have not over done it and I have still been running but it just hasn't been a good week. I pretty much knew this was coming but it still sucks.

WOW! What a day!

So today was kind of a big day. It was my first weigh-in at a WW meeting. Last week was my first meeting so they took my starting weight and said good luck. I tried really hard to stick to my points and make sure I wasn't over eating. You are allowed a49 extra points per week that can be used all at once or a few at a time. I have been trying really hard not to use them at all. You can also track your exercise and that is given a point equivalent that is added to your day and you can use them to indulge a little too. I also refrain from uses those either(I don't even track them so that I am not tempted.) Well apparently it paid off because I lost 6.2 lbs in one week!! I was very excited about that. I know that I will probably have a much lower number next week but I am still very excited to get off to a great start.

I have been using the WW run training as well. As you know I started C25K but I was frustrated with a few things and decided to try the WW plan since it was different and I wanted different. So far, I really love it. It is a 6 week plan rather than 9 like C25K. But I feel like the intervals are increased a little slower. You run 4 times a week and only spend 2 workouts on the same time intervals before they change. I am very hopefully about this plan. I know I could have done C25K but I was looking for something that was a little shorter to help me reach a personal goal that I have set. There is a 5K on post on my 28th birthday, May 21. I want to run it. The entire thing, no walking. I had set a different goal for my birthday at the beginning of the year but I realistically know that it is no longer possible. But running the Blue Bonnet 5K is. So that is what I am working for. Tonight was the first increased interval of the WW plan and it had me running 2 min. intervals. I was a little nervous because I struggled some with the 90 sec intervals of C25K but I had no problem at all. It was tough, but doable. I think the new location is also helping. It is completely flat, slightly cushioned and protected from the wind. As my runs get longer, I am sure I will want to find somewhere else to run but while I am still starting out, I think it is a great place to go.

So there you go, I had a great day. Hopefully, I can keep it up.