It's That Time of The End of The Year

Today's Weight: 181.4 Pounds
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This Week's Weight Loss: 1 Pound

Well, I'm almost through the holiday season which I seem to have gottten through fairly successfully. As you can see above, I've lost another pound. So, not only did I lose the weight I put on (though, really .2 pounds isn't really gain...it's more of a "refused to leave"), I continue to make the scale indicator move more and more to the left!

Because of the holidays this week, I couldn't attend my regular WW meeting, instead I went a day later, and the topic du jour was "Resolutions That Work"...a very timely topic given that we're less than a week away from a new year, and tis the season to make resolutions. I'm the type of person, though, who refuses to make resolutions, because I always, always break them. I prefer to think of ways to go through the year and come out even the slightest bit better for it. The leader had some great concrete ways to make these "resolutions", which to me, made sense:

• Set your goal with a positive, winning outcome;
• Set a specific goal;
• Set a goal that's within your control;
• Set a goal that fits your life;
• The goal should be a habit - not a resolution;

With these tips in mind, here's my goal for 2010:

• Work towards healthier numbers for my annual physical in June;
• Get off my blood pressure medication;
• Continue to exercise and continue to make better food choices;

I'm not going to set a number goal for my weight this year, as I don't want to set myself up for failure. If I reach my target weight this year that will be fantastic and I'll be thrilled though. Also, I believe that the goals I've set for myself are attainable and achievable. The rest will come one day at a time.

On Thursday, as hubby and I do every year, we will go to his brother's place to bring in the new year with his wife. We will be ordering Chinese food (as we do every year). This year, though I think I'll change things up a bit, and instead of ordering the foods that will sabotage my hard work, I'll order a bunch of veggie dishes that will fill me up. I've already sat down with my WW Food Companion and have worked out what I could have that, while they're not the greatest choices during the year, they will do for this occasion. I also made the conscious decision to save my points allowance for this time. I'll let you know if it was a decision I do or don't regret in my next entry.

Until next time, Happy New Year everyone!

I Shall Persevere!

Today's Weight: 182.4 Pounds
(December 19, 2009)

Weight Lost: .2 Pounds


Well, another week gone by and I've lost the .2 pounds I put on last week. Not the best news, but certainly not the worst (a loss is a loss...right????)

Because of the frigid weather outside, it was impossible for me to get the walking in that I wanted to. On the positive, I did go to my exercise class both days, and worked my tushy off.

Also, this week, I had another holiday function to attend - the departmental lunch at an Italian cafe with a very limited selection of healthy choices (either a salad, sandwich or pasta!). There was five of us, and we decided to order 2 large (different) salads, and share them. Each of us then ordered a chicken, mozza, mushroom sandwich, on a panini bread - it was delicious but I bet it cost me a fortune in WW points - again, I had to guestimate.

One of the things that seems to be waivering a bit now is my perseverance. Again, since the pounds aren't flying off me like they used to, I'm starting to get a bit depressed about it. Today, there was a WW member at the meeting who hit the 100 pounds lost mark (she's been at it since March), and while I'm absolutely thrilled for her, I'm wondering why the pounds aren't flying off me too. I really would have liked to be farther along in my journey than I am - though I shouldn't sneeze at having lost 25 pounds. I like to think of it in terms of 50 1/2 pound tubs of margarine (just picture Oprah and her wagon of fat when she lost all of her weight!). Yet, I wonder if I'm hitting a plateau (again). Only way to know for sure is to go back and read the material that was given to me in the early days of my WW membership.

I plan to make the best of the coming week. I will be only working on Monday and Tuesday, and then be off until January 4th. On Tuesday, I'll go to exercise class as planned, then while I'm off, my plan is to get some major power walking in - preferably every day that I'm home. In short, my plan is to persevere and continue on in my journey to a healthier, fitter me.

That Cost Me How Many Points????

Note (December 19, 2009): I started to write this entry last week but never finished, so I'll do that and immediately following, I'll do the entry for this week...

Today's Weight: 182.6
(Sunday, December 13, 2009)

Total Weight Gain: .2 Pounds

Here I am a week later and .2 pounds heavier, which to my estimation is nothing and I could lose it simply by going to the bathroom and giving it the old college try. The problem with that, is I would like do some serious damage to my insides - not a very good idea since that hurts and if there's anything I hate more than a very minor weight gain is major pain!

This past week was not without major challenges. First, the weather did not cooperate in the slightest. It was freezing cold, windy, snowy and/or raining, making going out for a major walk, impossible. Then, despite my best efforts (packing my sweats, and t-shirt), I forgot to pack my running shoes for my Thursday exercise class. This was disastrous for me since I had a holiday lunch at my boss's home the following day.

The holiday lunch was a huge challenge for me since the planned menu was only finger foods. When I found out that it was going to be finger foods this sent me into huge panic mode. It made me wish that my boss had repeated her menu from several years ago, where she served a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings. That's far more manageable than unknown finger food. At least I can calculate the value of turkey, stuffing, etc. Not something I could do with mushroom in a puff pastry cup!

Anyway, I made mental notes on what I ate and then went home and wrote it all down...what an eye-opening exercise that was!!!! And because I really had no idea what the point values were I had to guestimate. Here's what I ate and the point totals I assigned:

4 Triscuit triangles - 1 Point
Melted Brie Cheese on 2 very small slices of french bread - 3 Points
3 Grilled Shrimp - 2 Points
1 Piece of Salmon on a Skewer - 2 Points
3 Gingered Slivered Carrots in Rice Paper - 3 Points
2 Stuffed Mushroom Appetizers - 4 Points
1 Mini Roast Beef Sandwich - 4 Points
1 Cheesecake Lolipop - 2 Points

For a total consumption of 20 points!!! Unbelievable, considering that my daily allowance is 22 points! What's worse is that in a matter of 2 hours, I blew through my daily allotment (save 2 points)! I was completely dumbfounded after the fact, but I learned a very valuable lesson - be very, very careful about what goes into your mouth and think about what it may cost you in the end.

The sad thing was that in the end, in spite of my vigilance, I ended up putting on the .2 pounds mentioned above. On the up-side, the topic for discussion at my WW meeting for the week was "Stress". When the leader introduced the topic, I was the first to pipe up that I had a very stressful week, and went on to tell my story. She commended me for my vigilance and said that it was great that I was mindful of everything that went into my mouth and that I documented it. I imagine that had I not written it down, I could've gone down an extremely slippery slope and who knows what further damage I could've done to myself.

Challenge for the Coming Week:

Departmental Lunch at an Italian cafe with few selections;
Hospital Doctor Holiday Party;

Am I in a Rut?

Today's Weight (Saturday, December 5, 2009): 182.4 Pounds

This Week's Weight Loss: 1.2 Pounds

Well, this is now my third entry in my blog, and it appears that I seem to be having a degree of success in my quest for a leaner, healthier me.

While I'm thrilled that the number on my bathroom scale is going down, I wonder if I'm doing enough to maximize my efforts. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that the number is going down, but somehow, I can't help but think I could be doing more or something different to increase my weekly weight loss to somewhere in the recommended 2 pounds per week weight loss. Today, I went to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting and the topic for discussion was "Are you in a rut?"

This got me thinking...am I in a rut? Well, I eat the same breakfast 5 days per week (light cream cheese on a1/2 a whole wheat bagel). For lunch, Mr. Cutey makes that and doesn't change things up much...10 baby carrots, a cold cut sandwich on whole wheat bread, a zero fat yogourt, a apple (or orange), and a granola bar. These are all quite healthy choices, but somehow I feel like I could use some more variety to avoid the "lunchbag letdown" I seem to be experiencing. I may have to teach Mr. Cutey about keeping lunch interesting (that my readers, is a huge challenge, and a whole other topic for another day.) On the positive, at least I have control over the dinner menu and I try to vary that on a nightly basis. I typically have a green salad with carefully measured salad dressing, a protein (chicken, veal, fish, pork, and on occasion, beef), a carb (usually rice with a veggie thrown in), and a steamed vegetable. Even with the control I have with the dinner menu, I still feel like I want to try different things to keep me interested and motivated to keep going. So, to that end, I'll be checking out a whole bunch of other websites geared towards healthy eating choices to see how I can get out of my eating rut. I think I'll start with the Weight Watchers website, and even check out Hungrygirl.com or Rachael Ray's website. I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to find something to add to my dining repertoire. When I do, I promise to share my findings here.

The other thing that I'm feeling that I'm in a rut with is part of my exercise routine. When I started out, I was only doing my 1 mile walk every evening from the subway. Well, now that winter weather is really only days away (or so the meterologist says!), that will severely limit the days I'll be able to do this walk. Also, I'm starting to get bored with walking the same route. Perhaps I should change that a bit, and maybe try using some side streets to change things up a bit. Also, I do have my twice weekly exercise class, which I must say is truly amazing - the instructor really works all of us. I don't recall the last time I sweated so much! But again, that only takes care of 2 days. For the other five days, I'll need to find something else. I know that my parents have a stationary bicycle at their place, which they never use (right now, it's in their den acting as a laundry depository!). I've been told that I could have it anytime I want to come over and pick it up. Very soon, I think I'll be taking them up on the offerand make good use of a great peice of equipment.

This Week's Challenge:

I don't have many challenges this week, except that my boss is hosting the annual departmental holiday luch get together this coming Friday. I'm really worried about what will be served. When I spoke with her assistant and asked her what was being planned, she told me that the plan was to go with all hors d'oevres. Anyone who's been on a weight loss plan knows that hors d'oevres are the proverbial kiss of death and can quickly undo a week's hard work in a few nibbles of piggies in a blanket or mini quiches. I desperately don't want that to happen, as the next day I have to get on the scale and don't want to face disaster. I brought up my concerns about this gathering at last week's Weight Watchers meeting, and the group had some suggestions on how to handle this. Some ideas were okay but others were simply not practical. One woman suggested that I bring something I can eat. That's a great idea, except, when your boss is having the gathering catered, the last thing I want to do is bring my own food - it's different if it were pot luck - then that would be a great idea. Another woman suggested that I keep something in both hands thereby making it impossible to eat anything. Again, an interesting idea, but this is a lunch thing, and I don't want to pass out from hunger into the veggie dip (that is, if there will be any). So, the way it was left was "try to plan for the worst, and hope for the best". Next Saturday, I'm supposed to report back to the meeting how I made out. So, my fingers (on both hands) are crossed, and let's hope for the best. I'll let you know what happened next week.

Me - A Week Later

Today's Weight (November 28, 2009): 183.6 Pounds

Weight Loss for the Week: 1 Pound

Well, another week has come and gone in my journey to a better, fitter me. I'm pretty satisfied with my weight loss this week, since last week, I only lost .2 pounds.

My work routine was it's usual hectic pace. However, there was one thing which was different. That being that the weather this past week was considerably colder, though I did tough it out everyday, and did my 1 mile walk from the subway every evening. It really helped to have The Who, Bruce Springsteen and the Beatles on my MP3 player - those guys all get me moving so I don't really feel exactly how cold it really is until I get home and feel that my cheeks are ice cold.

Also, this week is the second week that I went to exercise class over my lunch hour. The leader (Jane) really makes everyone work really hard, and by the time I get to the end of the class, I really feel exhausted but also I feel like I've done something wonderful to help me along the road to a healthier me. She not only uses aerobics but she also incorporates weights and the stability ball into the routine. The stability ball is quite new for me, and it's helped me discover that I have absolutely no balance on the left side of my body. I told my hubby about this and he recommended that the next time I see my GP in January that I mention this to him, and find out if this is something I should be concerned about.

On the food front, I believe I made some really good choices this week. I had chicken a couple of nights, I made a fresh pasta dish loaded with mushrooms and onions, and I stayed away from red meat totally. The other tool I use (thank you, thank you to Weight Watchers) is the weekly tracker. While I'm not always perfect, writing everything (or at least 99%) of what I eat, helps keep me honest and makes me think twice about anything that goes into my mouth.

Yesterday, I took the day off along with my hubby so we could spend our 26th wedding anniversary together. He surprised me by taking me for lunch to a restaurant I had been talking about since I started going to Weight Watchers. This restaurant is called Fire and Ice and it's a unique place in that the server gives you the menu, and goes on to explain how things "work" there. You tell her which protein (beef, chicken, pork, fish) you want and she writes it on a ticket, which you hand to the chef at the buffet. After the server takes your order, you go to the buffet and you choose your veggies and noodle - you can pile your plate as high as it will hold. You then take your heaping plate to the chef, where he takes your ticket and your plate, and he prepares your meal (a stirfry), which is then brought back to your table for you to enjoy. I chose a ton of veggies and decided on talapia and shrimp with light teriyaki sauce. It was so delish I wished I had heaped my plate higher than I did. But, I'm also mindful that I had to get on the scale the next morning for weigh-in. So, as good as the food was, I restained myself and felt great that I ate a completely healthy and guilt free meal.

Today, I got on the scale and found that my good behaviour has been rewarded with a 1 pound loss. Not a huge loss, but a loss nonetheless, and I'll take whatever loss I can get at this point.

Challenges for the Coming Week:

1. Even colder weather expected, so this may result in fewer evening walks home.

2. No food related challenges this week - however holiday parties are just around the corner!

48 Years Late is Better Than Never

Today's Weight (November 21, 2009): 184.6 Pounds

Hi Everyone,

I'm Cutey and I live somewhere in North America. This is my inaugural blog which I decided to create so I could document my journey to better health. My story really started a little over 48 years ago on June 17, 1961,the date of my birth.

The birth itself was completely uneventful and I was born a healthy 8 pounds, but what followed was anything but uneventful...

See, when my mother took me to my first pediatrician appointment, she was informed sadly that I did not appear to be thriving, and that rather than triple my weight, I had only doubled it. Mom was pretty upset by this news and embarked on rectifying the situation. She not only plied me with whole milk as a toddler, but my grandfather insisted that I be fed chocolate and that my pacifier be dipped in sugar! Well, in very, very short order not only was I thriving, but I became a very chubby 5 year old!

So, again, the pediatrician instructed my mother to go easy on the milk...so she scaled back to giving me skim milk. This strategy seemed to work for a little while...then puberty hit...and at the age of 16, I had a 10 pound weight "problem". My aunt, who happened to be going to Weight Watchers at the time, suggested that I join too and start going to meetings with her. I joined and started losing weight on their teen program. Looking back, the program was ridiculously restrictive (all I was allowed to eat was salad, tuna, pea, potatoes and eggs). I don't recall ever reaching goal - meaning that I don't think I got rid of my 10 pound "problem".

Well, the next thing I know, my family moved cities and I was 18 years old, having to start life over - new town, new school, new friends. My weight seemed to hold steady, then I finished school and started to work full-time. This meant 8 hours at a desk job and little to no physical activity, except during the weekends when I went out with friends and out on dates. By the time I met the guy who would eventually become my husband, my 10 pound "problem" had ballooned to a 20 pound "problem". I didn't try to do anything about it until we were engaged and the wedding was scheduled to take place in November 1983. I watched what I ate and I did lose some weight, but again, not the entire 20 pounds.

In the 1980's, as a married woman with a steady job and a great husband, I really let myself slide...no longer did I have a 20 pound "problem" - it became a 50 pound "embarrassment". Again, I joined Weight Watchers, and I had a bit of success, but I again, failed to reach my goal. During this time, my husband and I tried to conceive but that was a dismal failure. The doctor was extremely concerned about the fact that I was carrying all that excess weight and that it was making conception and administration of fertility drugs very dangerous. Sadly, we never had any children.

In the 1990's, my weight continued to creep upwards. I was now carrying 211 pounds on my 5'3" frame. Mercifully, I was able to sign up for Weight Watchers' "At Work" program. It would have been great except that not everyone shared my motivation to lose weight...the group had to have 20 participants for 12 weeks...by Week 3, the group dwindled to a handful of faithful (myself included). I had some success and then the 12 weeks was up and less than 20 of my co-workers wanted to re-join. This happened a couple of times. I think I somehow managed to get down to a weight of 179 at one point.

Again, time marched on, and the weight continued to creep up on me. In 2002, my husband and I bought a home a fair distance from both family and work. We were thrilled with our purchase, however it was stressful not being close to family and maintaining the property. Also, with the tanking economy, my husband's work prospects in film and television fizzled out. The stress really took it's toll...by 2005, I had ballooned to an unbelievable 215 pounds. I joined Curves and enjoyed that very much, but it didn't seem to do much for me, so I stopped going.

In 2008, things became really bad financially for my husband and I, to the point where we were constantly fighting with each other. We made the difficult decision to sell our home and move back to the city. During this time, I really started to feel physically and mentally ill and thought there was something very seriously wrong with me. I was moody and always crying. I made a promise to my husband that once we moved back to the city, that I would go to his GP and have a full physical.

We moved in May 2009 and in June, I went to visit the doctor...the news wasn't great. I weighed in at 207 pounds, and my blood pressure was up to 164/100. The doctor also told me that my blood sugar was borderline and I was heading for diabetes. He told me if I didn't lose the weight, I would become extremely ill and could suffer a heart attack and/or stroke before I turned 50. Right away, he put me on blood pressure medication to stabilize that. I assured him that I would join Weight Watchers at the local mall that weekend.

Again, that was in June. I've been going to my meetings faithfully, following program, and have so far lost nearly 23 pounds. I know it's not much, but the scale is going down and I know that eventually, I'll reach my goal of 135 pounds. I now walk home every evening from the subway which is a mile away from home. I even started going to exercise class at work twice a week. This time, I'm going to be successful in my journey. My plan is to document that journey through this blog. I'm hoping that by sharing my journey with everyone, that I could help someone out there who's struggling just like me. Also, there may be times, where I may need help, encouragement and inspiration from people out there who know what it's like to struggle to get and stay healthy.

I'm just starting out and this is my first entry. Over time, I'm hoping to add much, much more content to this blog. At least I'm starting now...48 yers late is better than not starting at all. Until my next entry...so long.