Struggling

At some point last week, I think I fell off the wagon.  Hard.  So much so that I am already dreading my WW meeting this week.  I have got to find the motivation to get back on track.  I haven't been drinking my water, counting my points or exercising.  Ugh, it's bad.

In the past, I have always allowed myself to wait until the new WW week to start over.  I think I can't do that this time around.  I just need to stop eating everything in sight and start fresh tomorrow (I'm done eating for today).  I had set myself a pretty lofty goal for next week, but I'm going to let that go effective immediately.  There's no point in messing up my motivation again when I don't achieve said goal.

This past week is living proof that I am a chronic emotional eater.  My week went downhill rapidly last Wednesday when I came home to a flood.  I really need to find healthier ways to deal with my feelings.  Suggestions?

McFatty Monday: Measuring Success

Whenever I attempt to lose weight, I struggle with knowing what my actual goal weight is.  According to Weight Watchers, I have about 70 pounds to lose.  To get to where I was at my most in shape EVER (sophomore year in high school), I would need to lose 50.  To get to where I was when I started dating my husband, I'd need to lose about 30.  And to get to where my doctor says I should be, I'd need to lose about 20.

The problem is that I have been overweight for a long time.  That combined with the fact that I am built pretty solidly (so I weigh a lot more than people realize) makes it hard to settle on an "ideal weight".  I want to be comfortable in my clothes.  I would prefer than those clothes be a smaller size.  I want to feel better naked.  I want my engagement ring to fit like it did the day my husband proposed.  I want to wear sleeveless shirts.

So whatever I have to lose to make all that happen would be great.  For now, I am going to focus on one weigh in at a time.  Weeks that I lose weight I will consider successful and weeks that I don't I will consider less than successful.  For now, my tangible goal will be to drop from a 16 to a 14 in pants (which would mean buying new pants!).  I'll wait and see how that feels before deciding what goal to set next.

Baby steps, right?

Friday Weigh In

I was a little worried about my weigh in this week because Wednesday and Thursday had not been good eating days.  Or exercise days, for that matter.  It was fine, though.  I was down 1.4 pounds from two weeks before.  2.6 pounds total in 4 weeks.

I was a little bummed about that until I remembered (actually, Sal reminded me) that I had lost 5 pounds before I even started to WW.  So that's over 7 pounds in a little less than 6 weeks.  Not too shabby.

I've gotten out of the habit of regular exercise in the last few days, but I will get back on track with that.  My mom and I walked the kid to the park this afternoon and I'm walking with a friend tomorrow morning.  After that, the weather should be all stabilized and I will be out of excuses.

Goals for this week:
Water, water, water
Track points every day
Get more sleep

WW Hearty Shepherd's Pie

This is another comfort food swap out that I tend to make A LOT.  It just so happens that it also fits in with this month's Flavor of the Month theme - BOOZY!  Normally, I don't think you can taste the alcohol in recipes, but this one you definitely can taste the red wine and I love it.

Ingredients
1 3/4 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
2/3 cup fat free milk
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb lean ground beef (4%)
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 c dry red wine
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 pkg frozen peas and carrots
1 pkg sliced mushrooms
1 cup beef broth

• Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray a 2-quart baking dish with nonstick spray.

2.  To make topping, place the potatoes in a large pot with enough cold water to cover by 3 inches; bring to a boil.  Cook until the potatoes are fork-tender, 10-12 minutes.  Drain; return the potatoes to the pot.  Add the milk, butter, 1/2 tsp of the salt, 1/8 tsp of the pepper; mash with a potato masher and set aside.

3.  Meanwhile, to make the filling, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the beef and cook until browned, about 5 minutes, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon.  Transfer to a bowl.  Return the skillet to the heat.  Add the onion, mushrooms, garlic, and oregano; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is lightly browned and mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the wine and tomato paste; stirring occasionally, until the mixture is slightly thickened, 1-2 weeks.  Add peas and carrots; stirring occasionally, until the vegetables thaw, 1-2 minutes.  Stir in the broth and cook until the mixture is slightly thickened, 3-4 minutes.  Stir in the beef and the remaining 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.

4.  Transfer the filling to the baking dish.  Spread the topping over the filling and bake until the filling is bubbly around the edges, about 20 minutes.  Remove the pie from the oven.  Increase the oven temperature to broil and broil the pie, 5 inches from the heat, until the topping is lightly browned, 1-2 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings, 5 WW points per serving.

Notes:  Recipe adapted from Weight Watcher's Best Eats cookbook.  The only thing I changed was adding mushrooms.  I just happen to like them.  Leave them out if you don't (Erin).  Also, if you don't eat beef (Dani), this is equally yummy with ground turkey or ground pork.

McFatty Monday: Cheating

My uncle's funeral was Friday.  That was a problem for a couple of reasons.

1.  It was at the same time as my Weight Watchers meeting.
2.  There was food after.  Lots of food.

I have no idea what the last week looked like in terms of weight loss because I am weird and refuse to attend a meeting that's not "my" meeting.  According to my BFF the Wii Fit, I am down a little over a pound but I have no idea what the difference is between that and the scale at my WW meeting.

And as far as the food on Friday?  Well, it was bad.  I had a sandwich, several kinds of fried chicken, macaroni salad, chips and guacamole, and MANY margaritas.  After all that was done, I went with my hubs and sister to try out a new restaurant we had heard about.  Believe it or not, the best option (calorie-wise) on the menu was a burger.  I split one with Sal and a Guinness Milkshake with my sister.  Both were heavenly, but who knows how many points I consumed by the time that day was over.

 I'm blaming it on Uncle Frank.  This week will be better.

Getting Active

The focus at last week's Weight Watchers meeting was exercise.  The challenge presented was to do a minimum of 10 minutes of activity each day.  Ten minutes hardly seemed worth the effort to me so I bumped it up to 30 with the realization that might not happen EVERY day.  Well, with the help of my new BFF, the Wii Fit, it is happening every day.

I forgot how much fun it can be to jump on every morning and do balance tests and wait in suspense for my Wii Fit age that day.  And honestly, I break a sweat doing most of the activities on there - sometimes it just takes a while.  I'm pretty sure it's not the key to becoming ripped, but at this point anything that motivates me to move is a good thing, right?

The Beck Diet Solution tells me I need to give myself credit, so I will just mention here that I spent 70 minutes working out today on the Wii Fit and also took a 50 minute walk on my lunch break.  Take that, 10 minute challenge!

We Need a Schedule

In case anyone was wondering, I have not abandoned The Beck Diet Solution, I just haven't had the time or energy to blog about every step. I did get a little behind, but I am catching up now. 

I wanted to talk about one topic that really made me stop and think, though. Day 8 has to do with accepting that dieting takes time and energy and committing to devoting a little of both eat day. To that end, I made myself a couple of skeleton schedules (one for work day and one for non-work days) to use as jumping off points. By no means do I think I will stick to these exact plans (ever), but it is kind of nice to see how you can fit things into your day with a little bit of foresight.

Work Days 
0600 - Up/Indoor exercise
0700 - Get ready for work
0730 - Breakfast/leave for work
0800 - Work
1000 - Morning snack
1200 - Walk
1300 - Lunch at my desk
1500 - Afternoon snack
1630 - Leave work
1800 - Dinner
1830 - Bedtime Routine for Joey
1900 - Cleanup and prep for next day
1930 - Free time
2100 - Bed

Non-work Days
0600 - Up/Indoor Exercise
0800 - Breakfast
1000 - Walk/Cooking/Nap
1200 - Lunch
1400 - Walk/Cooking/Nap
1800 - Dinner
1830 - Bedtime Routine for Joey
1900 - Cleanup and prep for next day
1930 - Free time
2100 - Bed

You can see that both schedules follow roughly the same pattern which is because I have found that I struggle a lot less with my eating when I stick to a schedule that includes regular snacks. Also, Joey tends to be a lot more cooperative when I can keep his schedule pretty consistent.  I'll let you know how it goes.