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.