Weekly WI: Small Gain And Staying Focused

It was wonderful to see the members at the Monday night WW meeting at the Meridian location. I've missed them all so much (and I think they missed me, or so they say). Compared to the WW meeting that I went to Monday evening in Nampa, which was a snooze-fest, the Meridian location is hopping. It was a really bit meeting and the energy in the room is positive, encouraging, and overall pretty awesome.

My biggest hang up with that meeting is the time and I wish it started an hour early. Kenyon and I have every other Saturday off together as well as every Sunday and Monday. He is taking Calculus 2 at a near by college that meets on Mondays in the afternoon. I told him last week that he needs to make sure he eats something after class and not to worry about me. I prefer to not each much since I've got my WI later that evening. Well, he didn't have a snack and boy was he hangry! I really love the late meeting so hopefully we can get our eating schedules figured out soon.

After the meeting we went to dinner at Red Robin. I'm trying really hard to limit our eating out not only for money savings but also to help the scale. I don't need to be eating out a large meal and risk extra water weight. The good part is that I'm really energized after my meeting so I don't have the tendency to go overboard. I had a gain of 0.2 pounds, which I know is just temporary since the home scale was down a pound earlier in the morning. That really kept me motivated because temporary weight gain become permanent weight gain if In don't stay on track. I looked up points ahead of time on the WW app since Red Robin is in the restaurant section. We both had the Ensenada Chicken Platter, which was really good and very filling. It came with two chicken breasts and a side salad. I asked for mine without cheese and tomatoes (yucky tomatoes) and dressing on the side. I'm not sure if the points included salad dressing but I added two extra points since I dipped some of my chicken in the ranch to cool it down a bit. It was nice to have something other than my usual at Red Robin. And, we had a Christmas gift card so we didn't have to spend any money.

I came home and finished off my S'mores Halo Top ice cream (seriously a delicious flavor) and had a few spoonfuls of the Sea Salt Carmel flavor too. It is nice to have such a low point option for when my sweet tooth hits.

I've got a food plan in place this week and have a social obligation/open house on Saturday, which will have yummy potluck food. I'm not sure yet what my plan is for Saturday. I had a very successful week with earning my blue dots and I'm also doing well collecting them for the month of January. I remember when the month started seeing people setting goals to earn blue dots 25 days and that seemed so crazy. Well, it isn't as crazy as I thought and with the new Freestyle Program, is doable.

Low Calorie Ice Cream That Won’t Break The Points Budget

Until recently, Arctic Zero was the only low calorie ice cream on the market that you could eat the phone pint and not feel guilty.  Since then, Halo Top came out and now you can find many others.  Whenever I spot a new kind on the shelf, I am tempted to fork out the money for the over priced tag and try it out.  The biggest downside is spending $5 when it isn’t good!

As with everybody, tastes and flavors appeal to each differently.  Some out there love Premier Protein shakes where I prefer the chocolate Muscle Milk.  To each their own.  Last week at Albertson’s I picked up a Halo Top S’mores flavor and I really liked it.  That might be my go-to with the small bits of chocolate chip and the overall flavor of ice cream is tasty.

I almost picked up a Red Velvet tonight at Fred Meyer because I’m pretty sure that is yummy too but decided to try the new Skinny Cow version, which I recently spotted.

If I am comparing texture alone, Skinny Cow is the clear winner.  It is the most ice cream consistency of the four brands I’ve tried.  Just like with any of them, you do have to let them met a bit before eating.  This pint was easy to spoon after the short drive home from the store.

The other two I’ve tried, were my least favorite.  The base part of the ice cream for Breyer’s delights was not good.  I had somebody say the chocolate was good, which I didn’t like the chocolate Halo Top so I’d be willing to try it.  But again, it’s pretty expensive.  

The Low Cow is a Fred Meyer brand ice cream and is comparable to Halo Top but I think unless you want lower cost, Halo Top was better tasting.  

These are just my thoughts of sweet treats that won’t break your points plus budget and don’t overwhelm me with that yucky sugar feeling after.  And, you can’t beat the fact that a whole pint of Ben & Jerry’s is 54 points but a whole pint of one of these is on average 15 points.  Pretty good when the craving strikes to sit down to your favorite movie with your feet up and a pint of ice cream.

The biggest hang up for me is the price but I’m willing to pay $5 to have a controlled points treat.  I hate spending that much money to find out it isn’t tasty.  I never feel like I can return the ice cream I didn’t like just because of taste.  But...one never knows what you can exchange these days.

11 Year Weight Watcher Anniversary

It was around this time 11 years ago that I walked into my local Weight Watchers center and changed my life.  Like any journey, the road has not been paved with smooth travels.  There have been bumps and curves, happiness and devastation, and moments that tested my every being.  I started this journey weighing 304.8 pounds and 11 years later, I am happy to say that I am down almost 80 pounds.  That feels wonderful to stay.

Typical weight loss statistics measure successful weight loss as losing at least 10% of your starting weight and keeping the weight off for one year.  The statics for those with a large amount of weight to lose (100 pounds or more) have an even tougher time keeping the weight off.  I’m proud to report that I’ve kept off at least 10% of my starting weight for over nine years now. 

 

Lindsay today

I’ve blogged many times of all the things I’ve gained along my weight loss journey and I am a very different person now than I was 11 years ago.  I have so many wonderful things going in my life and I cannot be happier.  At the top of my list is my amazing husband and all the support he has provided me.  It is crazy to think we have been married almost 10 years.

I met my doctor’s goal if 175 pounds in March of 2008.  I continued to lose an additional 10 pounds which put me at my all-time low of 165 pounds by October of 2009, when I celebrated my 30^th birthday.

 

30 year old Lindsay

While I am not currently at my goal weight, and I haven’t been since August of 2013, I hung in there pretty well for a few years.  Once it started to slip away, it was hard to get back there.  I’ve got about 1000+ excuses too.  But, I never gave up and I am glad I never re-gained all my weight back (and then some).  I reached my all-time high re-gain weight of 253 in July of 2016 and I’ve been working at getting that number back down.  I’ve managed to shave off 28 of those re-gain pounds and I’m not giving up yet!

Here is my “all time” weight loss graph from the WW app.  My first entry was 09/25/2012 at a weight entered of 177.0 pounds, which is two pounds above my goal weight.  The last entry was this week’s WI of 225.8 pounds. 

The WW app reminds me that I’m 50.8 pounds over my goal weight.  I don’t even know if that will be my goal weight forever.  But, for right now, I’ve got my sights set on re-claiming my 100 pounds lost (203.8 pounds) and getting below 200 pounds again.  Those milestones meant just as much to me as my goal weight did.

With enough hard work and focus, in a few years from now, that “all time” weight loss graph will merely be a tiny hump in the road where I pushed through and succeeded.  Weight Watchers, its program, leaders, and members have been by my side the entire time.  I am so lucky to have so much support and love. 

Cheers to the last 11 years and to another 11 years to come.



Another Day At The Gym

It sure does take a lot of effort to get yourself to the gym, but once I’m done with my workout, I am so glad I made myself go!  The class I took earlier in the night was the Tai Box Cardio class which is the kick boxing class.  I really enjoy it and felt it was a nice workout for my arms since the class I took Wednesday night left my leg muscles sore.  If the weather cooperates, I think I’ll go for a walk tomorrow even if it is just a small walk to shake out my legs.

We are supposed to have beautiful weather and temps in the 50s on Sunday so I’m planning to get outside that day for sure.  When you work graveyard, you aren’t awake during much of the daylight hours so I’m going to try to get myself outside and enjoy the afternoon sunshine.

I’m working on a blogpost for my 11 year WW Anniversary.  I can’t believe it has been that long.  It is crazy how time flies.

Back To The Gym I Go...

Over the last 24 hours, I’ve talked myself both in and out of going to the gym many times. This afternoon when I woke up, I made myself some breakfast, and watched This Is Us. (By the way the show is crazy sad. I swear I cry almost every episode.) At that point I dug myself out of going to the gym. Sitting on the couch watching TV sounded much better than breaking a sweat.

After my show ended, I went upstairs and put my workout clothes on. I had now talked myself into going and there’s no turning back! Traffic was a nightmare getting across town but even though I was late I really do like this gym. You can just jump in anytime even if it’s in the middle of class and nobody yells at you. I tried a cardio weight class and I really enjoyed the 30 minutes. I was tempted to stay for the class afterwards, but I decided not to push my luck. I made it to the gym and I completed the class. The goal is to go again tomorrow. Next Wednesday I want to try the class called Looped In, which is also a new class for me. I think it’s something like a TRX class but I’ll know more next week.

I also bought myself some new workout pants at Lane Bryant. They technically weren’t on the $20 sale but because their sign was confusing be very nice clerk said she would honor the sale price. There is nothing like a nice pair of stretchy workout pants to make you feel good about yourself. Ha!

Before work I swung by an event with my Jamberry consultant for both Jamberry and Yonique.  I bought some of the cream eye shadows with sparkle and some fancy mascara from Younique.  I’m determined to stick to my budget this month so I’m going to cut back somewhere over the next four weeks to even out my purchase.  I do have some overtime $$ coming too.  But, I’d rather try and budget for it.  Sadly, Jamberry has a great sale coming on one of the wraps I adore but you can’t get anymore.  Debating if I should spend a little money on that.  I’m seeing if I can get a friend to go in on it with me so I don’t have to spend all the money myself.

Anyway, the event was at Yogurtz, this place that serves yogurt and burgers.  I debated getting a chicken sandwich as I was hungry but I also had all my food packed up for work.  I looked up the points for yogurt ahead of time but the no-sugar-added flavors didn’t appeal to me.  I decided to just save my points.  I think I’ve packed enough food to get me through the night but if not, I can use some of my daily points for something when I get home from work.

Weekly WI: A GREAT Loss

After working seven days straight, it was nice to have a day off yesterday. I'm back at it for the work week tonight but hoping somebody else covers the OT this next weekend. Shifts need covered since one of our supervisors had her baby boy and both are doing well. Very exciting!

I had a really great WI on Monday night. I was hopeful for a good size loss after getting weighed at Quick Care in my jeans and tennis shoes. Despite waking up super early and having a lot of hours before WI, I still managed to have a loss of three pounds when I got to my meeting. I know it is silly but it is easy to play scale games and not eat before WI so you can be as light as possible. Well, that wasn't an option with seven hours before my meeting! I hate that my meeting is so late on Monday nights. I ended up going to the one in Nampa at 6pm. I'm not a fan of the leader per se. I'll get back to my Monday night Meridian group next week.

My weight loss over the last month has been stellar and I am down 8.6 pounds. I set a goal to lose 5 pounds a month from January to September so I am well on my way to meeting that goal. I know times will come that I won't have a large loss but for now, it sure is nice. I feel so good in my clothes and with my eating. I haven't even resumed activity and I am having great losses. This new Freestyle program is really great.

The meeting top is “What Is Your Why” which is always nice to talk about. Nobody spoke up so I shared my Why of wanting to seatbelt to buckle. That was what brought me into the local WW center almost 11 years ago and it is still my Why today. I desperately want to be lighter when we go to Europe later this year. The leader pointed out your Why could change as you move along the program. I think my Why did change when I was at goal but as I'm dealing with re-gain, that is still my same focus.

I've got 25 pounds to go to be under 200 pounds. It feels overwhelming but I've just got to keep at it and little by little, I'll get there. The leader I met last night is big on visualizing where you want to be and I can see it. I can see the happy celebration to re-claim my 100 pounds lost from so many years ago. I can see the happy celebration of losing 50 pounds of re-gain. And, I can see the happy celebration when that scale shows a number below 200 pounds. So many amazing things to celebrate and those are just the scale victories. Along the away there are so many non-scale victories to celebrate too.

Things can only get better from here on out. I am worth it!

Baby Watch & Ear Wax

One of our supervisors at work is close to having her little bundle of joy, a baby boy. We are all so excited and we are also on “baby watch.” My team split up her shifts during our days of so we had a plan for coverage if she goes into labor. So far, I've not heard otherwise and I'm planning to just work my 4 hour OT shift this evening. It is so exciting the baby is almost here.

If I don't have to say later at work, I have plan to meet up with Danielle for $2 beers and some girl talk. I love my friend time.

I got up early to make a trip to Quick Care to get some ear discomfort checked out. I was hoping it wasn't an ear infection and it wasn't painful as much as just a difference in pressure. Thankfully, no infection! It was some ear wax that needed to come out. I wear an in-the-ear headset at work and seemed to have been pushing some wax deep into my ear. When the medical assistance came to flush it out, she told me she was underwhelmed at the small amount. Okay?? She said you would be surprised as to how much wax they can get out of person's ear. The doctor did question me if I was hearing well enough. I sure haven't noticed anything and perhaps just adapted. I do think I can hear better now though and thankfully there wasn't an infection deep in the ear canal.

It makes me want to tell anybody that can't hear to go get your ears checked. Ha! I'm glad that is all it was and hopefully when I get the bill, it won't cost a fortune. I am mostly just glad the pressure is gone. It has been bugging me pretty badly the last two days and I even had a bit of a headache last night. Easy fix (and a semi-gross story).

Clearly, I've not to much to blog about if I'm tell you all my ear wax story. I think I'm just mentally spent from this last week at work and unless the baby comes, I've got the next two days off to rest/recover.

Tootles.

Stress

When I was training one of our new dispatchers during the Phase 2 training, I noticed I was hitting my daily movement target on my Apple Watch each day without having to exercise. After those four weeks ended, I took note that I wasn't hitting my daily target anymore. Since going back to graveyard, it feels even harder to meet that goal unless I exercise, mostly due to the hours of work and the watch changing over at midnight.

This week I have been training a Phase 4 trainee who happens to be the same trainee I had in Phase 2. I'm not sure if that is related exactly or not, but this week I noticed I've been hitting my daily activity goal once again just during my work hours. Some of that could be that I go into work at 4pm and am waking up at 1pm so I'm moving more before my watch changes over at midnight. But, I'm feeling like some of that has to also do with stress. I know stress is not good for your body and is really not good for weight loss. It is interesting to really see the results through just something as simple as movement. Either I'm moving more because I'm training or I'm elevating my heart rate more because of stressors.

This is really the only time I've taken note so who knows what the real answer is. I also know that when I am training, I am eating less and drinking less water. This last week the end of shift has come upon me and I've not eaten my last planned snack. I need to stay mindful of this as I will be training again after this next week.

Bottom line: it is an important lesson to take care of yourself so you can be the best self possible. I don't like living under the heavy weight of stress. I am thankful to see this week come to an end.   

More Food Ideas Using The #2ingredientdough

I’ve been making some delicious recipes using the two ingredient dough made of fat free yogurt and self-rising flour.  You can find a ton of recipes by using the hashtag #2ingredientdough

If you only make a half recipe of the dough using ½ cup yogurt/flour, it makes a nice size pizza crust.  I bought some pizza toppings so I could make myself one at home.  I love pizza!  And, this dough worked perfectly for making some.  My self-rising flour is 5 SPV for ½ cup but make sure you scan your flour as some are also 6 SPV for ½ cup.  By the time I added some tomato sauce, toppings, and cheese (and maybe a little extra because…well, it is cheese), I had a nice sized pizza for 11 and 12 points.  That is a whole pizza vs. just a slice or two which would easily run that same amount of points or more.

Pepperoni, Italian sausage, and cheese for 12 SPV

Ham and pineapple for 11 SPV

 

I also made some cinnamon/sugar bagels after seeing the idea on Instagram.  I added cinnamon and Stevia to the dough and then made an egg wash where I dipped the spreader into a mix of cinnamon, Stevia, and 1 tsp of brown sugar.  And, you can’t have a bagel without cream cheese.  The bagels were 3 SPV and the cream cheese was 3 SPV. 

 

I’m still struggling with the dough feeling sticky and sometimes it is hard to work with.  But, it is a great alternative to bread when the craving hits.

Extra Money But No WW Meeting This Week

I had to cancel my WW meeting plans as there was an emergency at work and they needed coverage.  OT on a holiday is a good payout and I wasn’t looking at a loss, so I took the OT.

I met Kenyon for Mexican after my shift and blew through my points rather quick.  It was more a matter of eating a high amount of points and then feeling very hungry for the remainder of the night.  I really struggled with if I should go over my points and not get my blue dot or not.

I found this on Instagram:

 

I thought it to be true.  Healthy living comes down to what you do most of the time.  And, if I’m staying within my points and earning those blue dots most of the time, I’m on the right track.  I ended up earning my blue dot after all.  I ate some turkey breast and an apple and also had some non-fat Greek yogurt and strawberries.

I’m training at work this week so my schedule is a bit mixed up.  I hate being out of a routine but I’ll muddle through.  I already miss coming in at 8pm (I’m on swing shift coming in at 4pm this week).  I have to stop at so many red traffic lights and the call volume is so much busier.  I’ll be happy to be back on graves next week.

Weekend Check-In

I had a great weekend and thankfully, I still have tonight off work before I have to be responsible again.

Saturday night was our date nite with a small group of friends to the Liquid Laughs comedy club. I got myself prettied up and drug Kenyon along.

We met at Solid Bar & Grill (yes, Liquid and Solid are connected) and due to the very long wait for a table, we sat in the bar for a drink and some appetizers. Kenyon and I had just woke up (the life of graveyard shift) so we weren't expecting to have to wait so long to eat. I'd made a plan ahead of time and sitting at the bar wasn't part of it. Regardless, it gave us extra time to visit. It was a small group of just six of us for dinner and we joined one more at the club after we ate.

I won't go out of my way to visit Solid again. It was just okay as far as the food goes and while the restaurant is large, there are only a few sparse tables. I also heard a regular at the bar say they have a very small waitstaff. We really enjoyed the comedy club. I've not been to Liquid Laughs but back in the day, there was a different comedy club possibly in the same location. I'm not 100% sure. We saw four different comics for our $15 ticket price so I felt we got a good bang for our buck. And, we had some laughs. 

I want to go again in the future with both Pauly Shore and Jay Mohr come to Boise. Tickets, however, are twice the price! I still think it is worth it to see/meet Pauly Shore.

Four of us continued downtown after the show and popped into Brickyard to see the dueling pianos. The good seating was all taken so we headed in search of late night food and ended up at Old Chicago. It was a great night spent with both Kenyon and my friends. I love when Kenyon comes out with us, which doesn't happen often.

Sunday, Phoenix and Kiki came over for dinner as a raincheck from cancelling on Friday. I made chicken enchilada soup and we had some left over light margarita mixed with Fresca. Since they didn't have school/work today for the holiday, Kiki picked The Sandlot as a movie to watch. It was an enjoyable evening.

I'm continuing to work on organizing/decluttering the house and last night I tackled the kitchen pantry. Later tonight, I plan to organize the linen closet and maybe the spare room closet. We need to reduce our luggage now that we are going to start traveling more with just a carry-on.

I've got my WW meeting and WI tonight. I'll check in on results tomorrow. My home scale has me up half a pound. I'm bummed but still focused. My usual for WI day is to eat as little as possible before my meeting but I've been feeling hungry all day yesterday and decided it wasn't worth starving myself today. I might see the scale up more than half a pound now but oh well. Hoping it is just a small tick upwards and then I can get back to the downward trend.

Happy Monday.

2nd Friday

I ended up having a false alarm to my “Friday” yesterday once I learned a coworker called in sick.  Whomp Whomp.  Normally I’m a pretty understanding person but it is really hard to feel sympathetic when I had to cancel plans with Phoenix.  I hate having to cancel when it involves somebody else.  Thankfully she was understanding and we will try to get together on Sunday.  So, a second Friday it is for Lindsay this week.

 

I decided to take one for the team and cancel my Friday night plans because I don’t want to cancel my Saturday night plans.  I’ve got a date nite with Kenyon I’m really looking forward to.

 

My friend Kelsey is celebrating her birthday at the comedy club.  It isn’t really something that Kenyon would be interested in, but he is agreeable and is going to be my date.  I am looking forward to spending time with him that doesn’t involve each of us watching TV in our respective rooms during the evening.  I’m not sure if there are plan to go out afterwards but Kenyon can be go-with-the-flow sometimes.  So we will see.

I’ve been managing my food this week in preparation for Saturday’s dinner out and drinks.  I’ve actually earned a blue dot for each day since last Saturday.  So, I’m hoping for a successful WI come Monday.  And, I’m looking forward to a night off meal planning and some adult beverages.

Ranch Chickpeas In The Air Fryer

I’ve heard good things about baked chickpeas as a crispy snack alternative to chips or crackers.  And, now that beans are part of the new 0 SPV foods, this snack becomes an even better snack options for your points budget.

I wasn’t sure I was 100% sold on baked chickpeas when I tried them several months ago but after finding a recipe for Air Fryer chickpeas with ranch seasoning, I wanted to give it another try.

I followed this recipe from Glue & Glitter and thought they turned out really good.  I reduced the oil to 2 tsp at the first stop and then another 2 tsp at the second step.  So, each serving (I split mine into 2 servings) is 3 SPV.  Not a bad snack for some crunch and some salt. 

I felt they were crispier straight from than fryer then when I ate them a few hours later from a plastic container.  I might struggle with eating the whole batch if they were fresh.

I tried some deep fried chickpeas at a restaurant in Salt Lake City once.  These aren’t as crispy but they are sure tasty.

Enjoy.

Welcome Back Console Treadmill

We got our treadmill at work plugged back in.  Yeah!!

 

Now that our staffing is improved (Yeah again!!) we have so many people in the dispatch center that we need the extra console where the treadmill sits at most of the time.  I really enjoy having it when I am on graveyard because it is usually slow between the hours of 3am and 5am that is perfect for getting in a light workout.  I walked for 30 minutes last night and hope to do so again tonight.  It all depends on the workload.

For the last few weeks, I’ve not felt like I need to be killing myself at the gym.  I’m happy with the results I’m seeing with the new Freestyle program so maybe that is why activity hasn’t been such a big priority.  I had good plans to make it to the gym today but sleep and meal prepping took priority.  Maybe tomorrow?

I definitely need to make use of my membership from a money standpoint and I don’t want to cancel it since the rates increased after I joined.

Is it Friday yet?

Weekly WI: Down Another 0.6 Pounds

My WI this week went really well and I was down another 0.6 pounds.  Yippie.  They also give us “old timers” a 5 pound and 10 pound charm. 

 

Apparently, WW has decided to do away with 5 pound stars, which makes me sad.  They are still doing Bravo stickers and will continue to celebrate weight loss milestones.  But, no more actual stars.  Each new member will get a 5 pound and 10 pound charm.  The 5 pound charm also has a key ring with it for those new members.  I believe the leader said they are going to do away with 5% and 10% awards.  Always changing…

The meeting topic was really good this week and our meeting even ran a bit late.  I slept in late today so I didn’t do my meal prep and had to make do with some other food ideas for my work shift.  I picked up Jimmy Johns on my way home from the meeting.  I love their whole wheat bread but did you know with the new Freestyle program, the Country Club with lettuce wrap and no cheese or mayo is just 1 SPV?  Wow.  Since I love the bread, I found two slices is 11 points so I merged my two halves together for a 7 SPV sandwich.  I added the mayo packet on the side for 3 SPV and had some salt and vinegar chips for 5 SPV (half bag).  It was a really yummy first meal of the day.  Since I ate pretty low points last week, I’m working to have some meals with higher points this week.

My meals at work include Progresso Light Soup in the Italian Wedding variety, which is 7 SPV for the whole can.

 

I “beefed” it up with some corn, peas, and beans.  I love Italian Wedding soup.

 

And lastly, I have non-fat Greek yogurt with frozen mangos for my snack (0SPV).  I also made an iced coffee with chocolate Muscle Milk and Coconut creamer (3 SPV).  I’ll be ending my day using one weekly point and earning my blue dot.  That makes two days this week of blue dots. 

A Fun And Productive Weekend

It was a fun and productive two days off.  I wasn’t quite ready to get back to work and yet, here I am!

Saturday I had double birthday parties.  The first was my Grandpa’s 88^th Birthday, which my aunt hosted dinner at her house.  She served a Chicken Curry Stew with couscous and flatbread with hummus.  It was all really delicious.  It was a small group with just my parents, aunts, uncle, and my brother.  We had a great time.

From there, I picked up Danielle and we drove 45-minutes to the small town of Homeadale so we could party at Tangos Saloon.  I was hoping we could get my parents to come but they declined.  It was Christine’s birthday, somebody I’ve known from work for several years.  We enjoyed ourselves and it was wonderful to chat with her as I don’t see her often.  I also got to catch up with Rhonda, who used to dispatch at ISP but moved to a different office within the department.  Sadly, there was no music/dancing and I had hoped we could mingle more with guests but everybody sort of grouped up with people they knew.  Oh well.  We had fun!

Sunday I had a few friends over to watch the Golden Globes with me.  Danielle, Julie, and Kelsey came over for dinner ahead of time.  We are all working on better eating so we based our dinner around a soup from the website Daily Dose Of Pepper.  It was her Chicken Pot Pie Soup, which was 3 SPV per cup.  It is a bit time consuming as it is made on the stove.  I would think you could do it in the crockpot/instant pot but with the almond milk, I’m not sure.  Plus, it needs time to thicken.  Either way, it was really good (I left out the turmeric as I didn’t have any.  I hear it changes the color yellow).

 

Danielle brought bread to go along with it and Kelsey brought fruit for dessert.  Julie brought an appetizer of salmon dip and sourdough crackers.  We had a really great time visiting during commercials.  None of us have seen any of the movies up for awards so that is our goal before the Academy Awards air in March.

Once I bit farewell to my guests, Kenyon and I got busy with some organizing.  We rearranged our bonus room last weekend and I’ve not had time to go through boxes.  We organized our DVDs and got rid of many we didn’t want any more or already bought a digital copy of.  I was able to rearrange the drawer space under our bed so I could empty out boxes I’d been holding onto of stuff I want to keep but doesn’t have a place (i.e. my diplomas, year books, word certificates, etc.).  It always feels good to organize.  I’ve got one more box to go through, which is the items from my collectable shelves.  I’m still debating what to do with all of that.  My plan is to pick out items I really want to keep and add wall shelves to the spare room.  From there, I can either offer to give it away to people I know or just donate it.  The hard part with collectable is they have meaning for you, but not others.  So, I’m not sure.

I’ve got four days off this coming week (two of those days I’ve got plans) so I’m hoping to continue to organize and de-cutter.  I need to tackle the linen closet and the pantry.

Happy Monday.  WI will be tomorrow.

Non-Scale Victories (NSV)

Good Evening.  It’s my FRI-YAY today.  I just have to get through the remainder of my shift.  It is going to be a busy weekend with two birthday parties on Saturday and some friends are coming over on Sunday to watch the Golden Globes.  Let’s get his party started eh?

Today is day five of earning my blue dots and it is also five straight days of blue dots.  WhoooHooo!  I really do love staying on track and seeing those dots add up.  I suspect I can get a sixth dot this week with Sunday.  Now, not every week is doing to be a stellar as this week but I’m not complaining.  I wanted to badly to peek at the scale today but I refrained.  I can’t attend my Monday meeting due to work but I’ll be able to pop into a meeting on Tuesday.

I have some non-scale victories (NSV) to share:

Since not all clothing fits the same, I’ve got two pairs of jeans in the same size and one is a bit snugger than the other.  Since I’ve been back on track and down five pounds, my jeans fit so much better straight out of the wash.  It makes me want to continue to stay on track.

My Apple Watch band has been between holes and lately, I am able to put it on the higher hole and not cut off my circulation!  Again, this makes me want to continue to stay on track.

The one thing I’m really ready to be less tight is my wedding ring.  It never had to be re-sized up any sizes after my re-gain but it can get snug when I am retaining water.  I have been ready for a while for my rings to fit better.  I can tell it is getting there.  Just one more reason to stay on track.

I’m thinking about a plan for Saturday with two parties and various food options.  I know the menu for Grandpa’s birthday dinner so I’ll start researching the points.  The rest is really is just what I plan to spend on alcoholic beverages.  I have 52 weekly points available and I’ll have my whole daily points balance as well since I work graveyard and Grandpa’s birthday dinner will be my first meal of the day.  I don’t want to go crazy and mess up my great week so far.  But, I do have weekly points for reasons such as this and I do plan to enjoy my social outings.

Dispatchers Are The First Responders

I watched the new 911 television show on Fox.  While it wasn’t 100% realistic, I did enjoy it.  I’d been following the hype surrounding the media on the show after my coworker brought it to our attention.  What we were most excited about is that the 911 dispatcher finally gets an opportunity to be recognized as part of the team of first responders. 

It is easy to overlook the dispatcher taking the call but we really are the first responders.  We are the ones who gather the information that is relayed to police, fire, and emergency services.  If something happens to that caller before help arrives, we are the last person to talk to them alive.  We are the record keeper of everything the caller says and in some cases, we are the witness to noises in the background and what isn’t said but can be heard.  And, we are the ones who often don’t get closure as the unit responding on scene is who completes the call.

Dispatch plays an important role and I felt Connie Britton prorates a 911 dispatcher really well. 

What I really like about this show is that it goes behind just the surface of the job we and other first responders do and actually takes into considering the mental aspect of our job and the toll it can take on a person.  I look forward to seeing where Ryan Murphy takes the show from here and if the network will continue to keep it around.

Operation "Get Smaller Before Europe"

My blog posts will most likely be on the later side now that I am on graveyard.  If I get enough motivation, I might start publishing early in the morning.  Either way, I’ll keep up with my blog content as best as I can.

It is nice being back on graveyard and I think I got some good sleep tonight so I should be over the hump later this week.  My food has been on track, and even a little light.  I am slightly worried I am eating too little this week.  So, I’m working on that as I go along since I don’t have a real solid meal plan.  I’ve got two events lined up for Saturday so I know I’ll be spending some points then.

Here is my weight chart over the last month:

 

I am really happy seeing a downward trend and while I do have a number goal of five pounds a month, I really just want to see a continuous downward trend.  I am feeling good and energized as the scale goes down.  It is crazy to think about how fast I could lose all this weight if I could just drop it at rapid speed.  But, I am also realistic and it is going to take a while.  Operation “Get Smaller Before Europe” is well under way.

I was going to pop into the gym today for an afternoon class but ended up sleeping a bit too long.  I think I’ll set an alarm tomorrow so I am awake in time.  It sure was nice sleeping in today and sleeping for a solid stretch of hours.  Kenyon is back to work tonight for his first night shift.  Oh boy….here we go!

Weekly WI: Another Great Loss & I'm Back In The 220s

Since Monday was a holiday and WW meetings were closed, I wasn't able to do my WI until Tuesday. It has been killing me this week not to peek at the scale but since I had two incidents where peeking wasn't good for my mental state, I decided to refrain. Finally, I got on the scale at home Monday when I woke up and was happy to see another loss. I plan to work hard to see continuous losses as we start out 2018. At my official WI, I was down 2.4 pounds.  That makes it a total of 5 pounds over the last two weeks.  I know I can't keep up this kind of losses but boy wouldn't it be nice!

My goal last week was to get at least one more day of blue dots than the week prior. Blue dots are earned when you eat within your points range of 10 below or 5 above. I'll tell you, it is nice knowing I can shoot for going over my DSPA by 5 SPV and still earn my blue dot. I successfully earned five blue dots this week!

The journey section of the WW app shows the days you earned your blue dots in the month. I have the app set to start my WW week on Monday. The first week I used the app to track I earned three blue dots. When we returned to Vegas and I got back to tracking, I earned four blue dots. This week I earned five blue dots.

It would be pretty cool to see a whole month of blue dots...however, that isn't realistic. Over these past two weeks I've been able to navigate eating out and staying within my points range. If I have control over my food, that is the best course for success. And not having a party/social outing or alcohol also helps. Meal prep and planning ahead is also key since you need 0 SPV or low point meals to balance out the hight point meals out. An example would be spending 15 SPV for movie popcorn when you and your Mom went to the movie on Saturday. P.S., Bad Mom's Christmas was cute and I got to spend time with my Mom so that was a bonus! But, it sure did a number on my points budget for the day and I didn't earn my blue dot when the day was done.

I have taken two weeks off of exercise and am looking forward to making a plan and getting back into it. My schedule is going to be a little choppy during the month of January and into February due to training new dispatchers. But, my gym membership and my WATP Walk At Home app will both help me stay active.

I'm working hard on the mental aspect of weight loss. I'm attending a birthday party at a bar on Saturday, which is my only social outing this week. Being back on graveyard, I should a decline in social situations and should be able to set myself up for better success.