Weighty Wednesday -- It's hard, but worth it

If you saw my Monday blog post, you'll realize that I went skiing last week. I had really good intentions of staying on the weight loss track. I . . .

• packed healthy snacks for the car (sliced apples, baby carrots and cheese sticks)
• packed a tortilla roll-up for lunch in the car, instead of a hamburger and fries along the way
• planned all our dinner meals, which included salads
• planned healthy, protein-filled breakfasts
• planned to eat salads for lunch up on the mountain

I did great on the drive and the first night. But things fell apart when I ate salad on the mountain on Monday . . . I had a very, very unpleasant Tuesday. 

I tried to eat well. Really, I did.

But it didn't happen as I envisioned it. 

We got home on Friday night and I weighed myself of Saturday AM. 

I do believe the words, "Holy Moly!" erupted from my mouth . . . or it could have been some other words that aren't PG rated, but who am I to say??

So, I focused. I planned to eat as many unprocessed foods as possible. I did cut most carbs out of my diet. 

*on a side note: Carbs are not evil. In fact, WW stresses the need for whole grains in one's diet. But carbs don't like me--I retain water when I eat them, plus they tend to make me feel dumpy/frumpy and all around blimpy, so I try to stay away from them. 

And I started my two-a-day walks. These double walks don't happen every day, but if I can get three a week, then I'm good.

And on Tuesday, I had weigh-in.

I LOST 1.8 pounds from the previous week's weigh-in, prior to the skiing debacle.

But if you count the weight I was the day AFTER vacation, then I lost 4 pounds.

Look, I hit my goal before, but as I've mentioned, life doesn't stop when you hit your goal weight. It's a constant challenge to maintain the correct weight for you.

And I had let myself go.

It happens. I have a long way to go to get back to my goal weight (16 pounds), but I'm on the right track.

If you've hit a bump, or mountain, on your weight loss road don't give up. Giving up will just make matters worse.

It's time to fight.

It's time to get back to basics.

If I can do it, YOU can do it.

Later, Peeps!

Weighty Wednesday -- How to Lose Weight While Eating Bonbons

Two days ago a writer friend posted a link to J. A. Konrath's blog.  Joe is the creator of Jack Daniels, a female detective, and the stories are suspense. Joe is also a huge advocate to self-publishing. Since he left traditional publishing 1) he's made more money, 2) sets his own deadlines, 3) been far more productive as a writer.

That aside, he posed a challenge to his blog readers: publish a story in eight hours, by doing everything yourself, cover, writing, and editing.

This was the kick in the tookus that I needed. I had been wanting to take my blogs and somehow merge them with my candy recipes. When I started putting the blogs together, I just became overwhelmed by the process.

Until this challenge.

This challenge excited me as a writer. Guess I do thrive on deadlines!

The book would be relatively short, only 10,000 words or so. And some of it has been cut and paste, a couple blogs and my recipes.

On Monday, I designed the cover using Amazon's Cover Creator.

And on Tuesday I started writing, and merging blogs, and writing, and editing, and spell checking, and formatting, and tweaking.

This is my final product.

And here's the link to How to Lose Weight While Eating Bonbons.

The price is currently set at $1.99, BUT will be free this weekend!

But those of you who have enjoyed my insight with my Weighty Wednesday blogs or want a couple of candy recipes, then please take a look and buy this book!

Not very subliminal of me, was it?

And no, it's not under my 'real' name. I wanted something fun and catchy. Yes, I know it sounds like a porn star's name, but, well, there you have it.

Later, Peeps!

Weighty Wednesday--My thoughts

Weight loss as of September 25th-- 28.4 pounds!!

When I was talking to my mom last week . . . yes, my mom is still alive--almost 90 years old and still going strong! Well, she is slowing down a little, but she's doing pretty darn good for her age. Anyhoo, she mentioned how surprised she was when she saw me earlier in the summer in my swimsuit.

And it wasn't a pleasant surprise!

But I talked to her about what triggered my realization that I needed to lose weight. Many things triggered it, but one of them wasn't because I finally realized that I was fat.

Trust me, people, fat people already KNOW they need to lose weight. Telling them won't help matters. They have to be at a place in their life where they realize it's time to take control and do something about it.

If there is one thing y'all expect from me, it's honesty. And I have no problem admitting to my triggers, or my starting weight. And for the record, at the age of 50, the only daily pill that I take is a multi-vitamin, so I consider myself pretty darn healthy.

What triggered my decision:

--my blood pressure was 130/84. Now for over 40 years my BP never was above 120/78, and I didn't like the increase. High BP runs in the family, but if I can lower it without taking medication, then I'm all over that!

--my weight of 177.2 lbs. For a person who is only 5'1" that's a lot of weight. It wasn't the weight that triggered my decision, but the realization that I was heavier than I had been when I was ready to have my baby ten years ago. Not good. My goal weight is 130, which is barely inside my weight range for my height, but I might drop it when I get there. I'll listen to my body and see if it's stable at 130 or if I should lose some more.

--I had been feeling like crap for a long time. This scared me because diabetes runs in our family--juvenile and adult-onset. When I worked in the lab, I would test my blood yearly. After I stopped working, I had six years for things to go haywire.

--my daughter and husband. I'm the main cook of the family. What I cook or don't cook directly reflects back on their health. I must be a good example for them.

--we were going to Disney World in August, and I wasn't about to be huffin' and puffin' on that trip. If you've never been to WDW, then let me tell you there is a lot of walking, A LOT! A few years ago, I wore a pedometer. By 6 PM, we had walked 15 miles. I don't know how much further we walked because the silly thing popped off my belt when I used the restroom at the Japan pavilion in Epcot--it was an auto-flusher, so WHOOSH, it was gone!

This time, I was ready to join Weight Watchers.

Heck, it was my fourth time! I should be a pro at it, right?

Yes and no.

In fact, I've heard a rumor that Dr. Oz--yeah, that Dr. Oz from TV--is seriously excited to promote WW on his show. Think about it. This program offers a well-balanced diet, plus meetings, plus recipes, plus REAL FOOD and it teaches you to deal with REAL EATING.

So many other programs require you to buy their products to succeed. Though WW offers products, you don't have to purchase them.  I don't.

This time around I decided to do things a little differently. Because I realized that if I totally change the way I buy and cook food, I will simply change BACK after I lose the weight. I'm not going to allow that to happen.

Which is why I won't buy WW products since I don't use them now. I refuse to buy reduced fat, reduced sugar cookies or other treats. I didn't buy them pre-weight loss, so why start now? Let me qualify that statement. I don't buy them for myself. I DO buy them for my daughter to take in her lunch.

Now, this doesn't mean that I won't try Fat Free cream cheese--I did and it totally bites. Never again. But I'll also try the 1/3 less fat Cream cheese next time. And if it stinks in this particular recipe, then I'll buy the full fat product and take the WW points plus hit.

Have you ever tried Fat Free Cheddar cheese? It's nasty. The stuff doesn't melt, and it tastes like plastic. Why waste your time and money on it. Just use less cheese.

Weight Watcher has an online program called e-tools. Love it!

I use e-tools to write down my daily tracking. Everything that goes in my mouth gets written down--yes, even the day I had cravings and ended up eating 2 Tbls. of ice cream sprinkles (3 points in case your interested).

There are also good health checks. If you get the minimum daily required amounts of water, dairy, fruits/vegetables, good oil, multi-vitamin, and exercise, you get a smiley face. I like the smiley faces.
But I rarely get one for the healthy oils or dairy. But I'm okay with that.

We are allowed 29 daily points and 49 weekly points, along with building up activity points.
I will NOT plan to use my weekly or activity points routinely.

Why?

Because I KNOW that I will UNDER estimate the true WW points values, which means I will go OVER my allotted points. I want the extra unused points as padding. Besides, if I used them up then I can't eat a piece baklava (10 pts) that had my name on it. OR if I'm feeling the urge, I can have some candy, or chips, or a nice Fat Tire beer (5 points), or a margarita (124 grams=9 pts). Oh, FYI, 124 grams is slightly over 4 ounces. The mongo margarita you get at most restaurants is about 15 ounces. So quadruple your points. Jus' sayin'. I allow myself a daily glass of wine. Sometimes I drink it, sometimes I don't. Red wine (118 grams = 4 points)

I weigh and measure almost everything. Yes, I weigh my wine. Grams are more accurate than ounces.

And there you have it. A little insight into my weight loss journey.

Later, Peeps