Weekly WI: The Losses Keep Coming

I had a great WI today, down 1.2 pounds.  I lost a total of 4 pounds this month.  I’ve definitely seen better success since my days off changed and my “weekend” no longer falls right before my WI.  I’m happy with my progress. 

My home scale also registered a new low weight record.

 

And I appeared to have lost one of my daily point allowance.  As you get smaller (or older) you should expect to see your daily points decrease.

Our meeting topic today was fruit and veggies.  Our new leader Tammy made it so much fun!  She had a big basket of fruit and veggies, some she bought and some she grew in her garden, and passed them out as our usual Bravo stars.  If you shared, you got to pick a fruit or a veggie.  Then, she would ask about recipie ideas and/or how we liked to eat said item.  It was awesome.  After, she said we could take something as we left.  I already had cherries from home and I was eyeing the grapes since I like fruit more than veggies.  But, then I spotted the sugar snap peas and thought they would go well with my planned Jimmy John’s sandwich that I picked up on my way to work. 

 

It was a tasty meal.

Now I am counting down the hours until quitting time and I can start my three-day stay-cation.  Also, 37 days until vacation.

Waiting For The Weekend

I am counting down to my weekend!  I’ve got one 12-hour shift today and one 10-hour shift tomorrow to go.  Come on weekend, I’m waiting for you…

 

I am anxiously awaiting my three-day weekend coming up.  I wished I had been able to add a few more days to that stretch but other coworkers beat me to it.  So, I’ve at least got three days off with Kenyon.  We are planning some low key things and hopefully a date nite or two.

I am also anxiously awaiting my WI tomorrow.  I think I’m on track for a nice size loss and I feel like I’ve worked hard for it.  I do find my motivation starts to dwindle later in the week.  I decided to humor Kenyon and get on the scale when I got home from work this morning.  Kenyon always tells me when you weigh yourself first thing upon waking up that it is your “dehydrated weight” and not your actual true weight.  Well, that is my favorite time to do my WI at home because I’ve not consumed any food or drink so it is typically my lowest weight (of course the scale does lie so you never know).

Anyway, we have a scale that also shows your body fat percentage and mine is always in the 49%-50% range and doesn’t really ever change.  Kenyon keeps telling me it is because I’m dehydrated.  So, while the scale might go up as you drink more, the body fat percentage will go down.  I wanted to prove him wrong but instead, he is right.  Fine…I’ll allow it this time!

My weight was up 1.3 pounds from last Monday but my body fat percentage dropped 2%.  I’ve never been in the 47% for my body fat since we got this scale.  It was interesting to see for sure.  This morning, my weight was down over 2 pounds and my body fat percentage was back up 2%.  Hydration does make a difference for sure.  Kenyon care more about body fat percentage and I care more about weight.  But that is because I live in the WW World and that is just how we gauge success.  It is always a good reminder that the scale isn’t the end-all-be-all either.

I’ll report in on my weekly WI tomorrow evening and then I think I’ll take my three day weekend off from blogging.

New Food Finds: Lavish Bread & A New-To-Me Tortilla

I’ve tried some new products lately that have been making the rounds in the WW-circuit. 

First up, Joseph’s Lavish Bread.  I’ve been following a few women on Instagram whom are WW members.  It has been interesting to see what they eat and/or get some idea of low point meals.  One of those gals is @myfitfoodsmama.  She has such great ideas and is really good at putting together low point snacks and meals.  She was the first one to introduce me to Joseph’s Lavish Bread, which I found at Walmart.  This is a 2 point flatbed that is really versatile and the square is HUGE so you can do so much with it.  You get four in a pack and I found them for under $3.00.  I really like the taste of the lavish bread and I think it takes better than Flatout bread.  My first taste was when I made hot dog rolls, a recipe from @myfitfoodsmama.

• Two Hebrew 99% Fat Free hot dogs – cut lengthwise in half
• One light string cheese – cut lengthwise into quarters
• Joseph’s Lavish Bread – cut in quarters
• Roll a piece of hot dog and string cheese into each quarter of lavish bread
• Spray cooking sheet and place them seam side down (with a bit of force to get them to stay)
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is melted, the hot dog looks cooked, and the edges are a little crisp.
• 4 SPV

These were really good.  She has some great recipes using the lavish bread that I plan to make as well.  And, tonight for my meal at work later, I’ve got all the fixings to do pizza.  Yummmm….I will be buying this again.

Next up, Ole Xtreme Wellness Spinach & Herbs tortilla.  My WW meeting has been talking about these tortilla for months and they are difficult to find.  They just happened on the shelf below the lavish bread so I decided to get both.  You get eight tortillas for under $3.00.

I have only tired these once and I’m not 100% sold on the taste.  But, I still have more to try.  I made a recipe I found online for ham and egg cheese pockets.  I’d been looking for tortilla meal ideas since Kenyon has a low carb tortilla he eats all the time.  This recipe appealed to me because it was a breakfast idea where I could just pop it the oven while I was getting ready and then be able to head out the door.  Since we now have a gas range, I don’t leave the burners on unattended.  The original recipe can be found here: _{http://www.recipetineats.com/no-washing-up-ham-egg-cheese-pockets/}

• One Ole Xtreme Wellness Tortilla
• 1 oz deli ham
• 1 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 egg
• Follow the instructions in the recipe for assembling your pocket (DON’T TURN IT OVER). 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes
• 7 SPV

Next time, I’ll remember to add salt and pepper.  I’m not a huge fan of hard boiled eggs, with the exception of as egg salad.  She gives a suggestion in her make ahead/freeze option to scramble the egg first.  I might do that next.  Also, the ham gave off some moisture so after 20 minutes, I changed out the foil on my baking sheet and put it back in the oven.  As far as a portable breakfast that you can make while you get ready and then take on the go, this was really good.  For 7 SPV, that is the same for my Jimmy Dean DeLite Egg Sandwiches that only take two minutes in the microwave vs. the 25 minutes for this egg pocket.  I would make these again though and I plan to soon.  I want to try bacon in place of ham.

 

Playing Catch-Up After My Weekend

I had split days off this last week but none-the-less, they were good.  Both Tuesday and Thursday were pretty low key.  On Tuesday, Kenyon had back-to-back meetings at Micron so I went out to visit with my parents and wish them a happy belated anniversary.  We met back up at home and went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse using a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket.  We were pretty laid back that evening and into the wee hours on Wednesday morning.  We were able to get our trip planning done and on Wednesday afternoon, I got our excursions booked.  So that was exciting and fun.

Thursday I had to be at work for the director’s meeting (we have just had a recent change in command staff) and then I worked on the RCC Recruitment Video afterwards.  I went to the mall to spend my $10 coupon at JC Penny and then walk the mall before going to see the movie Gifted at the cheap theater.  It is $5 for a movie and snacks at Overland Park cinema and they have the best caramel corn.  I ended up double fisting it with both regular and caramel corn.  And, I had the whole theater to myself.

 

The movie was excellent.  If you have not seen Gifted, I highly recommend it and make sure you have some tissues.  It gets pretty heartfelt near the end.

I met Kenyon for dinner at Shari’s after the movie and then hit up Winco on my way home.  My Starbucks unsweetened coffee bottles were on sale for $1.18.  Sweet!  I need to exchange some Muscle Milk I didn’t like for the kind I do, and then I am back in business for my new yummy ice coffee flavor.

I started out tracking my day yesterday but it sort of dropped off after I had my popcorn.  I decided I wanted to enjoy a yummy burger and fries at Shari’s and not freight the points.  Of course, that turned into also picking up a pint of Ben & Jerry’s at the store.  Have you tried the new Urban Bourbon?  I am addicted!

 

I took a photo of my tractor to share on the WW FB group page.  We are working on tracking/points accountability this week.  I ended up just adding a smiley face in lieu of points values on the remainder of my day.  I enjoyed all I ate, despite it being high in points.

 

Onward I go and today I am back on track!

On The Fence

I’m on the fence about keeping my personal training sessions (for at least the short term).  I was feeling confident in my decision to suspend that expense right now.  Then today, I have a great workout and that makes me re-think if suspending it is the right decision.

 

Last week, I started looking at our finances with our upcoming travel on the near horizon.  I started to get nervous and anxious that we didn’t have enough saved.  Despite my best efforts to keep my spending in check this last month (which I did GREAT), I didn’t do so good with my spending in the months prior.  So, I’ve been looking over my personal budget on where I can help save some money.

Obviously, there are items I can cut out (Starbucks…please don’t leave me) but when I think more on what I want to cut out, eliminating all those little expenses make me sad and I just don’t want to.  So that leaves the easiest expense to cut, my training sessions.  If I forgo the next two rounds (about 12 weeks of training) plus some extra money I have allocated elsewhere, I can save $1005.  And, I could really use that money for our vacation.

Today, despite not really feeling the workout vibe, I did 30 assisted pull ups on the machine (three sets of 10) and I felt like a rock start.  That is why I’m once again conflicted.  The workouts are good for me. 

I’m not saying I'm going to give up personal sessions will forever, at least I don’t anticipate it.  If I do quit all together, I think I’ll have to re-start at a higher fee, thus, another conflict with suspended the sessions now.  I’ve got one more week of paid sessions so I've got a little more time to think it over.  I know these training sessions have been part of the equation for my weight loss but it isn’t the whole picture.  I’ll have to really keep myself accountable (which is why I pay somebody else to do that job) and continue with my healthy living goals. 

I know I can do it on my own, so it is time to DO IT!

Side note: My Apple Watch showed me I earned an award yesterday.  I have met my daily movement activity goal a total of 500 times.  I went back to see what I actually got my Apple Watch and it appears it has almost been two years. 

Weekly WI: A Smidgen Of A Loss

Happy Tuesday (or in my case, Happy Weekend)!

You know how when you feel like you have had a great week that you should have a HUGE loss?  Yeah, well I didn’t but boy did I want to!  In hindsight, I think I ate out too much (at least one meal per day for four days straight).  I showed a smidgen of a loss, which I’ll surely take, and am working this week to eat less meals out.  I know that 2+ pound loss is waiting to get out so I’m doing to do all I can to assist it.  Come on body…cooperate!

My goal last week was better activity accountability.  I’m working on that again this week.  My weekly totals on my Apple watch show I met my 450 movement calories five of seven days last week.  Yippie! 

The only days I didn’t actually get in any activity was Saturday and Sunday (Wednesday I counted my walking downtown 12 blocks as my “activity” even though my Apple Watch didn’t register meeting my gals).  I had some left hip pain on Friday late at work so I took Saturday and Sunday “off” from activity.  However, I did try to stand more at work and keep myself accountable there. 

I have some meal ideas for this week as well.  I’ll get the groceries bought in so I am all prepared.  I really want to make this week a very successful week.

To The Bone: A Netflix Movie

I stumbled across a Netflix movie called To The Bone.  It stars Lily Collins who plays a young woman struggling with anorexia.  After trying numerous in-patient treatment programs, her step mother finds a new radical doctor, played by Keanu Reeves.  Lily’s character, Ellen, begins this new in-patient program lead by the radical doctor which takes place in a house with five other woman and one man all struggling with eating disorders of some kind. 

If you have Netflix, I highly recommend this movie.  It is very raw and emotional at times.  It really hit home with me on many levels.  Ellen is fixated on counting calories and exercising.  As are the other patients in the house.  Food can be an addiction but unlike drugs or alcohol, you can’t just stop eating.  If you do, you will die.  And this movie really brings to light the seriousness of anorexia and the impact it has on not only Ellen but her family and even the other patients in the house. 

I read an article on the actress Lily Collins.  She struggled with an eating disorder years ago.  She shared that she had fears she could digress if she chose to play this role.  She had to keep reminding herself daily that they were paying her to play a role and not to look skinny.  She said as it turned out, it was very therapeutic to play this character and she was glad she took on the role.

Food is on one side of the addition spectrum.  Weight loss can also be an addiction.  In the thick of my early years with Weight Watchers, I traded food for activity.  I couldn’t eat and I didn’t know what I should do with myself, so I exercised a lot.  When Kenyon worked the night shift, I would be at the gym exercising for hours.  I just didn’t know what else to do.  Weight loss consumed me.  Counting calories (points) and thinking about food was a constant.  I would often have my meals planned out and pre-tracked for several days in advance.  Kenyon tells me now it used to drive him crazy how I was always thinking about what we were having for dinner the next day when we hadn’t even had breakfast today.   

Addiction can take on many forms and sometimes you don’t know how to reach out for help.  This image of what you should look like or what weight people tell you that you should be starts to take over.  It is exhausting trying to please everybody else.  Eating disorders are no joke.  If you think you need help, please reach out to somebody.  Even if it is finding a counselor you can talk to.  Learning to love yourself takes time.  Be patient and please treat yourself with love.

xoxoxo

Countdown To Vacation

44 days until vacation!!

I am so excited for our upcoming New York City & New England Cruise vacation (and slightly stressed about the money since I’ve not saved as well as I had planned many months ago).  I am so burnt out on work that you will most likely see a countdown periodically.  This will be the longest vacation Kenyon I have had in over a year.  We were supposed to be going on this vacation last September but had to delay due to building/closing on our new home.  So, I am well over do!

We will spend a few days in New York City before we board the Norwegian Gem for a seven day cruise.

 

Ports of call include:

Halfax, Nova Scotia – Canada

 

St. John’s Bay of Funday, New Brunswick – Canada

 

Bar Harbor, Maine – USA

 

Portland, Maine – USA

 

We will also have two at-sea days, day one of our cruise and day seven of our cruise.  Normally, I am not a fan of at-sea days and can often get bored feeling stuck on a cruise ship.  However, in this case, I am looking forward to downtime and time away from electronics, WiFi, and cell data.  Some of our best vacations have been when we are in the middle of nowhere with no cell service. 

I’ve been doing some trip research and Kenyon and I still need to decide if we want to do any formal excursions.  I’d love to hear any advice you have for New York City and/or cruising.  Or, if you write a blog and have some posts I can read.  I love reading about other people’s vacations and travel tips.

Let the countdown begin!

Muscle Milk Vs. Premier Protein

At my last WW meeting, the topic of Muscle Milk and Premier Protein drinks came up.  One of the members drinks a Muscle Milk to help curb her Ben & Jerry’s habit (remind you of anybody you know??) in the evenings when she is craving a sweet treat.  I have tried Premier Protein once and didn’t like it as well as it sort of made my stomach ache after.  I thought I might give it another go since I know they are chalked full of protein.

When Kenyon and I went to Walmart to pick up some groceries earlier in the week, I thought I’d try out the Muscle Milk.  Then, I came up with the idea to do a taste test so I also got the Premier Protein, both in the chocolate variety.

 

I really liked the Muscle Milk.  It was a little bit grainy but tasted super chocolatey.  It almost reminded me of pudding that hasn’t set up yet, sort of like when you lick the spoon.  The Premier Protein just isn’t that good taste-wise to me.  I don’t know what it is, but I feel like there is an odd after taste.  I don’t really like the Premier Protein bars either so perhaps it is the type of protein that is in them?  That is actually what prompted the taste test.  Kenyon suggested looking at the ingredients and since they seem to have different protein (whey in the Premier Protein and some sort of milk protein in the Muscle Milk) made me want to try them side-by-side and see if I had any stomach issues too.

So far, so good.  I like drinking the Muscle Milk alone, however, I really like it in my coffee!  I made myself an almond joy iced coffee with the chocolate Muscle Milk and coconut creamer.

 

I stopped by the store to return the Premier Protein and bought some vanilla and strawberry in the Muscle Milk.  I really like the vanilla.  I also got some caramel coffee creamer and used a vanilla Muscle Milk in my iced coffee today.

I don’t care for the caramel creamer I got but the Muscle Milk is yummy.  Walmart has a 4-pack for a little over $5.00.  I’m not sure how much of a regular I’ll be with buying the Muscle Milk but for now, I really do like the sweetness of the drink.  I’m going to check Costco to see if they sell any at a better price.  I’m using half of the drink in one ice coffee so that stretches the cost as well.

I’ve gotten a lot of comments on people that like one or the other (or none!). 

 

Weekly WI: Downward Trend

I had a great WI on Tuesday.  Prior to going to my meeting, I was quite nervous since I felt like I was retaining water pretty badly.  Despite showing a loss when I woke up that afternoon, I was sure I would have a gain.  I ended up losing exactly 1 pound and continuing with my downward trend this month.  After having quite the up and down scale movement during May and June, it is nice to feel like I am back on track. 

 

Despite losing 25 pounds over the last almost seven months, I still have more to lose.  So, I’m going to keep working at it.  I have been doing well with my goal of better activity accountability this week.  My “week” is just really beginning through now that I am back at work.  So keeping myself motivated to reach my goal will be key.  I have no plans before work each day this week so that means I have no excuses!

Cheers to a great week.

Summer Fun

I had two very enjoyable days off and I’m hoping maybe I can sneak out of here early if staffing permits.  If not, I’m on a 10-hour OT shift.

On Tuesday, Pheoenix, her new boyfriend Stacey, her daughter Kiki, and Kenyon and I had a date nite at Flying Pie Pizza.  Each year in August (however they started it a few weeks early) they offer their super-hot/spicy habanero pepper pizza for all those enthusiasts that are crazy about burning off their taste buds.  I am not one of them so Kenyon and I had the Tuesday night gourmet pizza buffet.  It did not disappoint.  I had three slices of pizza and two trips through the salad bar along with one beer.  It was highly satisfying.

Yesterday, I proposed a meet-up with a few of my girlfriends downtown.  We started at the Sandbar in Garden City for a beer and some hummus and pita.  The location was right on the greenbelt/river and so pretty.  It was a bit hard to get to due to construction at the hotel (or so I am told) so I’m not sure we will go back but it was enjoyable.

 

Our second stop was the rooftop of The Oywhee for a drink, margarita for me.  The old hotel has been converted into private condos but I actually worked at the hotel in the banquets section back in college.  The rooftop had amazing views.  The actual rooftop bar atmosphere was underwhelming.

 

The final stop was at The Reef for some food.  I was starving!  My cousin Brian is a bartender at The Reef and he happened to be working.  It was good to see him.  I had the best tempura sweet and sour chicken.  I’m not sure if it was really that good or I was just that hungry.  But, it was good!  I actually thought I would only eat half but that though went out the window as soon as I started in on my entrée.  It was served with ride and gorgonzola slaw.  I would love to go back for dinner again sometime.  The Reef has a rooftop as well (shaded so that was a plus) and also had live music.

It was a super fun evening out and it makes me sad summer is fleeting.  I normally love Fall but I find myself not ready to let go of the summer months, patio seating, and beer with friends.  Ahhhhh….summer.

Goal This Week: Focus On Better Activity Accountability

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.

                                                                         ~Oprah Winfrey

While I still have a lot on my mind, I feel a bit better today.  I like having a new fresh week to re-focus.  I wish I was better at re-focusing mid-week but I’m not.  For some reason, a new week just feels so promising!

I’ve made a goal this week to work on my activity.  I commented every day in my WW journal to focus on better activity accountability.  I am also trying to think of ideas outside the box for getting in my activity.  For example, I wake up most days at 2pm and don’t work until 8pm.  Yet, I don’t do any activity.  So, maybe I need to get in a quick walk in the early morning hours before I go to bed and sleep in later.  That is just one idea.  Another idea is that I’ve downloaded some workout Amazon Prime videos so my partner and I can perhaps do a light workout on the dispatch floor once the troopers go out of service for the night. 

I’m going to work harder to keep myself accountable.  I have to lose another 25-30 pounds to drop below 200.  I am happy that the scale is doing down each week and not up (my scale check-in this morning showed a loss of about half a pound) and down like it has in the months prior.  I like the strict downward trend for sure.  I’ll see what my official WI shows on Tuesday and check back.

I’m also looking forward to the pizza buffet tomorrow on our date night.  I’m already having to pep talk myself into staying on control.  mmMMMmm…pizzzzzaaaa….

Lots On My Mind...Not Much To Say

Happy Sunday. 

I’m almost to my weekend.  I just have to get through today and my 12-hour shift tomorrow.  I have two days off in a row, so I’m looking forward to some downtime.

I feel like I’ve been thinking about food ALL THE TIME lately. 

 

I get easily frustrated feeling like I’m trying to be conscious of the food I’m eating and yet, I worry I’m not doing enough to lose weight.  Plus, I always know that I could be doing “better.”  I was feeling less confident yesterday but today is better.  I am trying to keep my indulgences to the middle of my WW week and then keeping it in check and on track the days round my WI.  I am still feeling nervous about WI though.  I can’t attend my Monday meeting due to my work schedule so I’ll be attending the Tuesday evening meeting this week.  I really like the leader Susan.  I learned my Monday night leader, Gretchen, had to step down from that meeting so she could spend more time with her family.  I’m sad to see her go as she has tons of energy and was super fun.  I think I’ll still see her around at other meetings and as a substitute.  Our new leader on Monday night will be Tammy, whom I met a few weeks ago.  She too is really great.

I feel like I’ve got a lot on my mind yet not much to write about.

 

Book Review: The Other Wives Club by Shari Low

I just got done reading “The Other Wives Club” by Shari Low.  I think I selected this book a while ago because it came up in an Amazon email and was cheap.  I was looking for a fun read and this was right on point!

The book is about this man named Drew, who is turning 50 and books a cruise to the Mediterranean with his current wife, his two ex-wives, and his family.  Add to that one of his ex-wives new husband and his adult son and you have one dysfunctional family setting. 

I love the way the author set the book up into three pieces per chapter, the viewpoint of Tess, the current wife, Sarah, the first wife, and Mona, the second wife (who stole Drew from the Sarah).  What also makes this book interesting is that all three women are about ten years apart in age difference.  The author writes about once incident but you get to read how each of the three women react and what each other think about the other.  At times, it is quite funny!

The setting on the cruise ship makes me long for our next vacation.  The author is from Gasgow. Scottland so the writing is very Scottish with words like mum, cow, and favourite.  It just adds to the uniqueness of this book.

I’ve downloaded another of her books “A Life Without You”, which I am sure will be more emotional than this light hearted fun summer read I just finished.

Whirlwind Of A Day On Wednesday

It was a whirlwind of a day yesterday but we made the trip to our north dispatch center and all went well.  We got a lot of great video/audio.

The day started very early since I had trouble sleeping and I woke up at 2:30am after only going to bed at 11pm the day before.  I was already exhausted and hadn’t even started our day.  We flew into Spokane, drove a car to Coeur d’ Alene, and spent most of the day at the dispatch center.  Ryan and I went to lunch at Meltz XtremeGrilled Cheese.  I’ve been there once before and it did not disappoint.  I got ½ of a Cubano with a Caesar side salad and some chips on the side.  It was really delicious.

 

We spent the remainder of the afternoon back at dispatch and then rushed to the Spokane airport to see our flight was delayed over an hour.  Doh!  We ended up chatting with some of the other delayed passengers to pass the time.  We arrived home close to 11pm and I promptly feel asleep on the couch then moved to bed at 1am. I ended up sleeping until 2pm when I came to work today.  I was exhausted.

I only worked a 4-hour OT shift today so I’m looking forward to relaxing tonight.  I’ve also got a pile of laundry and some meal planning to do.  I didn’t eat the best yesterday but working on cleaning it up the remainder of this week.

Weekly WI: Down A Small Amount

It's 3am and I should be sleeping...

I'm headed to Coeur d' Alene for our dispatch recruitment video filming. I ended up staying up all day yesterday (slight snooze on the couch around 7pm) and going to bed around 11am. I am sort of switchign to a psudo dayshift just for today. Then, it is back to the nightshift. My body isn't sure what day of the week it is or really what time it is. Ah...the joys of shift work.

I attended my Tueday AM meeting yestarday and had a small loss at the scale. My home scale had me down a pound but the WW scale had me down 0.2 pounds. It was good week of tracking, despite splurges on beer, so I'll take the win. 

I had a tough workout with my trainer yesterday as he surprised me with the “card game”. I ended up completing the deck of cards in 31 minutes. My last time was completed in 24 minutes. I'm a bit out of shape.

I'm working on trying to re-focus my activity this week along with keeping the food in check.

I'll check in as soon as I can. Happy Wedneday.