Day 3

Breakfast
2 soy sausage patties
coffee with NF milk

Snack
2 cups air popped popcorn
5 grapes
1 small brownie square
coffee with 2 creamers

Lunch
Whole Grain Lean Pocket

Snack
2 Lemongrass Chicken Stix

Dinner
5 potato chips
1/3 smoked turkey leg
1/2 c. fried onion with ranch
1 pickle
1 Boddington's

Fair food is definitely a challenge. I tried really hard to keep myself in check there, but I ended up coming home hungry. I may have to have a snack before too long.

As a rule, the evening hours seem to be a challenge for me. It's something I will have to continue to work on. On a positive note, at least some of my fair calories should be negated thanks to the 2+ hours we walked around while consuming them.

Day 2

Breakfast
Large coffee (2 creamers)

Snack
2 string cheese
1 c. cantaloupe
1 c. grapes

Lunch
Santa Fe Style Caesar Salad

Snack
Chocolate Malt Muscle Milk

Snack
1/2 Venti Coffee with NF Milk

Dinner
Burrito Supreme

I ended up having a second snack this day because I was getting my hair done and it went WAY late. I really need to plan better for days like this so that I don't get caught starving with bad choices.

Day One

Breakfast
Coffee with Splenda
1/2 c. oatmeal
3 egg whites

Snack
16 oz. coffee with FF milk
1 reduced fat string cheese

Lunch
Grilled Mahi Mahi Tacos (minus 1 tortilla per taco)

Snack
High Protein/Low Carb Drink

Dinner
Roasted pork
1/2 c. rice
1 slice fried banana
2 bites tamale

Visit with the Dietician

There weren't really any surprises when I met with the dietician yesterday other than the fact that none of the goals she set for me have to do with numbers on the scale. They were:

1. Read food labels for total carbohydrates - meals should have no more than 30-45 grams, snacks should be about 15 grams

2. Include protein with every meal/snack - 2 oz at breakfast, 4-5 ounces at lunch and dinner

3. Eat about 5 servings a day of fruits and veggies

4. Avoid long periods of time with no eating - pack a snack in diaper bag, purse, and car for emergencies

That was it. And I see her again in a month. I was also given the book shown above as a quick reference on portion sizes for various foods.

We talked A LOT about how important it is to get my own eating under control as Joey is transitioning to table food. We touched on planning and talked a little about my hypoglycemic tendencies. She asked that I keep a food journal that I email her at the end of each week just so I can have some accountability and she can give me tips if there are places where I seem off track.

Sounds easy enough, right? I start today.

Well hello, blog!

It's been a while. I have been kind of spotty about my blogging, but I am working on a plan to get back on track. It just means that I need to be ahead of the game for once in my life since I can no longer blog whenever a thought strikes me.

Anyway, I have sort of set Weight Watchers aside for the moment. Not because I don't love it and completely believe in the power of it, but because I am feeling like I need a bit more structure. My mom shared the plan she is currently working with me, so I am giving that a spin.

It's also calorie and fat controlled, there are just some specifics regarding how many carbs and proteins you should eat every day. Just like Weight Watchers, I can eat anything as long as I account for it, it's just a slightly different format. And I did the math - it works out to be right around the same number of points I am allotted.

So, that's where I'm at. I started Monday and did really good the first few days. Yesterday and today were sort of challenging, but I think I did okay. The scale says I did anyway. I'll check back in tomorrow after I jump on the scale.

Busy, Busy

It was kind of a crazy week, so I totally neglected my blogging. I will try to give you a quick re-cap and start again tomorrow. Warning - it's not pretty.

Day 5 - 46 points eaten (had a Tommy's breakdown); walked 1 hour

Day 6 - 47 points eaten (wedding); does housecleaning count as exercise?

Day 7 - 51 points eaten (total guess); walked 45 minutes

Day 8 - 38 points eaten (retirement lunch for coworker); walked 1.5 hours

I was down 2 pounds when I weighed in this week. At this point, I am just hoping that I can maintain that given the kind of eating I did the last few days. Tomorrow will be better. I did tons of prep work Sunday so that I would have things to eat for the week. I haven't shredded in days - must get on that.

Day 4

Breakfast

Egg white/oatmeal pancake (3)

Morning Snack

Fruit and coffee with creamer (5)

Late Morning Snack

Reduced fat string cheese (2)

Lunch

Shepherd's Pie (5)

Afternoon Snack

Protein shake (2)

1/4 chocolate dipped strawberry (1)

Dinner

Turkey meatloaf (8)

Evening Snack

Ginger snaps and milk (4)

Total Points = 29

Exercise - Walk, 1 hour

The turkey meatloaf was good. So good that I ate more of it than I should have. Oh well, at least it was only two points per piece. I adapted the recipe I found here for turkey burgers. I added an egg to the mixture, made them into muffin-sized meatloafs and baked them at 350 for about 25 minutes. Did I mention they were yummy?

Day 3

We had a potluck at work today. Potlucks such for dieting, but I was reasonably good. I put tiny portions of the yummy stuff on my plate, left off the stuff I wasn't overly impressive and took bigger servings of stuff that looked healthy. Oh, and then I capped it all off with a s'more. So good.

So, here's my day:

Breakfast - Cream of Wheat Custard (3)

Morning Snack - Reduced fat string cheese, fruit leather, and coffee with two creamers (5)

Lunch - Potluck (15ish)

Afternoon Snack - None

Dinner - WW Shepherd's Pie (5)

Evening Snack - WW ginger snaps (2)

Total Points - 31

Exercise - 15 minutes Biggest Loser Bootcamp, 20 minutes Shred, Level 1

Day 2

We went with my parents and nephew to Disneyland yesterday. It was a loooooooong day, but nice. Looking outside, I am little bitter now that it's pretty overcast - yesterday was blazing hot and I have a sunburn. Anyway, as eating days go, it wasn't a bad one. I had to kind of estimate points on a few things (as you always do when eating out), but I think I can get pretty close.

Points Eaten: 33 (27 are my daily allotment, 6 from my weekly allowance of 35)
Activity Points: 13
Fruits/Veggies: 1 serving (bad!)
Water: 3 cups (also bad!)

I have a very complex method for figuring activity points on days where I do something like walk around Disneyland for 9 hours. I doubt it would be WW approved, but it works for me. What I did was count up the total number of hours we were there and divided it in half. That gave me 270 minutes. I put that in the calculator and selected "Walking, Leisure". I figure I need to get some credit for all that walking, right? Besides, I am still pretty sure that it on the conservative side of calories burned for the day if you consider that I was also pushing a stoller or carrying a kid around a lot of that time.

Day 1

I have been following Weight Watchers on and off for years now. I am going to start with that because it's a system I know works for me. I am, however, going to attempt to keep my sugar intake as low as possible (loosely following South Beach) because that seems to help me keep my hunger and cravings in check.

My plan is to post the following numbers every day. I am also working on a spreadsheet of my weight and measurements. I will post that over on the side when I get it all worked out and possibly some progress photos, if I can get myself to take any.

Points: 26.5 (of 27)
Activity Points: 3 (Shred, Level 1)
Fruits and Veggies: Check!
Water: Check!

Today got off to a great start thanks to a quick breakfast suggested by my WW leader on Saturday. It was 3 egg whites beat until frothy, mix in a half cup of oatmeal, and cook up in a non-stick pan like a pancake. It was HUGE and so good!

Also, I made this Shepherd's Pie from the WW comfort food cookbook. I changed it up a bit by switching out the ground beef for turkey and adding mushrooms. Also, I had frozen peas and corn on hand, not peas and carrots, but I think that almost worked better. Oh, and I left the skin on the potatoes - mostly because I was too lazy to peel them.

So yeah, I'd say that was a pretty successful day one. We go to Disneyland tomorrow, so that will be interesting. I am planning to pack a few snacks and I figure all the walking we do will offset some of the bad food choices I make (if any). We'll see.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

[image source]

I have seen bazillions of weight loss-related blogs lately. Honestly, I think it's a great idea, especially if you are like me and have a hard time committing to these things. I have written a little about my weight loss struggles on my other blog, but I don't feel like that's exactly the right forum for that. I have also tried traditional journaling, but I suck at that. So here it is (the good, the bad and the ugly) if anyone wants to read it.

I get overwhelmed every time I think about the journey I will have to take to drop the baggage I have been carrying around all these years - both physical and emotional. There's just so much there and doing something about it means admitting that these are real issues which is not something anyone likes to do.

Feel free to join me on my journey. I'm hoping it's going to end up somewhere I really want to be.