Weekly WI: One Year Of Onederland

I have officially completed one full year of being under 200 pounds, also known as Onederland.  It feels amazing!

In addition to being under 200 pounds, my doctor shared my cholesterol numbers which have improved a lot.  It makes me feel energize to keep the momentum going as we start a new year this week. 

Here are the 2021 results from my HealthMate scale:

Total Loss: -8.7 lbs

BMI: -1.4%

Body Fat: -1.8%

Bone Mass: +0.1%

Muscle Mass: +1.7%

 

I’m going to make 2022 the year I finally reclaim goal (doctor’s note).

ICAN, I WILL, WATCH ME

Confessions Part IX

I don’t really like vegetables.

 

As a WW Coach, I get paid to promote new Personal Points Program that includes being rewarded for eating non-starchy veggies.  Don’t think for a moment that I don’t give it my 100% and sell those veggie points with all the enthusiasm of somebody who actually likes vegetables.

Between eating too many vegetables in my early WW days and really loving the Purple Plan, the allure of vegetables has run its course.  The last couple of years with the Purple Plan, I got away from eating vegetables since I had so many other ZeroPoint foods available.  When Personal Points first rolled out, I tried to get back into eating veggies.  I even bought hummus to make them taste better and started eating cauliflower rice again.  In turn, I missed out eating all those Purple Plan foods I really enjoyed such as brown rice and whole wheat pasta.  They are still available to chose as a Personalized ZeroPoint food, but it has to compete with potatoes, corn, popcorn, and oatmeal.  Man, that is a tough decision as I like them all.

Over the last few weeks, I made the decision to take the assessment quiz again.  

This time, instead of potatoes and oatmeal, I selected brown rice and whole wheat pasta.  I eat potatoes daily and have really enjoyed oatmeal again as I’ve been making overnight oats one or twice a week.  Potatoes and oatmeal are less points than brown rice and whole wheat pasta.  In making this decision, I continued to eat oatmeal and potatoes and now track those points as they were not be part of my Personalized ZeroPoint Foods List anymore.  I spent a week and a half eating rice and pasta again and really enjoying it.  Sadly, it dropped my daily points down to 16 so most days, I was going over my daily points with all the other foods I was consuming.

It is a constant balance to find foods that you live and won’t break the Personal Points budget.  When I spent some time with my Guide before our workshop on Monday, she explained that she didn’t want the ZeroPoint complex carbs (corn, potatoes, popcorn, oatmeal, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta) and decided not to pick a selection when re-taking her Personal Points algorithm.  This gave her the flexibility in her daily points budgets to eat those complex carbs she enjoys while weighing and tracking them.  That got me thinking that I might want to take the assessment once more and also not select anything on that last question.  This way, instead of feeling like I needed to pick just one ZeroPoint complex carb, I can have a variety at any time, I simply weight, measure, and track it.  

Genius!  My Personalized ZeroPoints good list consists of... 

Non-Starchy Vegetables:

Fruit:

Yogurt & Cottage Cheese, Eggs, Beans, Peas & Lentils, Turkey & Chicken:

And, the best part is my daily Personalized Plus total is 21 points giving me plenty of points for my daily potatoes and another complex carb, or two, of my choice.  I think this may be the best fit and I am excited to try it out for a while.

Weekly WI: A Maintain As We Approach The Holiday Season

 Good Morning!

I stepped on the scale Monday morning as we were having our dispatch work party that evening and wasn’t 100% sure if I would indulge in the high point food and treats planned.  I was the exact same weight as the week before.

I worked really hard last week to stay on track and committed to my WW program.  I also said no to several treats and alcohol in preparation for the Christmas holiday week ahead.  I was a little bummed the scale did not show the loss I was anticipating.

Monday I had my annual physical appointment.  Over the last year, I’ve been working hard to get the scale below 200 and keep it there, especially when I got to my two annual doctor appointments (thyroid doctor and my NP).  I was elated to see that I was under 200 pounds on the scale a the doctor’s office.  That made me feel really awesome.  I am still working to have that scale show below 200 at the thyroid doctor, which I see in August each year after my summer gain!  I will be extra vigilant in 2022!

I am staying focused this week on making those days around the holiday count the most.  I ended up eating a few bites of cookies on Tuesday and a few bits of pizza.  I found that throwing the rest in the trash can became my friend but I still consumed more than necessary.  I know more treats are coming this week and I will look forward to the holiday splurges when they arrive ON THE DAY.  The days before and after will be business as usual.

Have a wonderful holiday week!

Las Vegas Part 2

Don’t forget to hop over and read Las Vegas Part 1 andread about some new-to-us Vegas experiences.  You’ll find it here ß

 

When we visit Vegas in December, the National Finals Rodeo comes to town.  This means we look forward to taking part in Cowboy Christmas at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  What worked even better this trip is our hotel was on the monorail line which dropped off/picked-up at the convention center.  As it got later in the week, the monorail was packed with cowboys and cowgirls!  Our stop at Cowboy Christmas was on Wednesday night after we had a bit to eat at Mas Por Favor and a drink at The Golden Tiki.  We took a Lyft back to our hotel, boarded the monorail, and walked all around the convention center.  It is crazy how much there is to see at Cowboy Christmas.

We went in search of burgers and after a private event at one possible location and a closed restaurant for remodel at another, we found ourselves at Earl of Sandwich pleasantly surprised by the prices and the taste.  I am really excited to have tried them as we have a location in Meridian.  Yeah!  We were exhausted and so tired from all the walking that we headed back to the room for the night.

 

Thursday after going back to Miracle Mile Shops for a cheap breakfast, we made our way to Bellagio to check out the conservatory.  This was the first time in many years that have really changed up the December display.  It was amazing.

 

We continued to Mandalay Bay to take part in more Cowboy Christmas shopping (we didn’t actually buy anything) we redeemed our free play at Luxor and Excalibur where we had a late lunch at Buca di Beppo.  This is one of our favorite places to visit in Vegas.  Join the email club for great coupons.  I redeemed the free birthday colossus sundae.  The waiter said he would get me a “small one” and boy was this still huge!  And quite delicious.

 

I had reservations at Fights, a restaurant/bar known for their flights of food drink. 

 

You MUST visit and when you do, look at the website ahead of time as the hours vary for which particular type of drink flight is available.  I wanted to try the cocktail flight so we had to visit between 3pm-6pm.  You get a flight of three drinks for $10.  That is a great deal for Vegas.  I tried the mojito and mule flights.  I much preferred the mojito.  It was really hard not to order more so there will be a return visit.

 

Our feet were practically killing us when we arrived back at the hotel so we made it another night in.  Eventually we ordered pizza to-go from one of the restaurants in the hotel food court.

 

Friday we had an afternoon flight out and time left on our monorail passes.  We made our way to Westgate for their buffet.  It was only so-so for the price and a bit underwhelming.  We did a little bit more gambling afterwards, which Kenyon won over $100!  We moved to Sahara, which is the last stop on the northbound monorail line.  They were super struck on mask wearing and after Kenyon had another good win, we loaded back onto the monorail and headed to MGM Grand where we planned to catch a cab to the airport. 

 

And with that…we are back home until our next Vegas Vacation.

Weekly WI: How Is Your December Going?

 How is your December going?  Mine…eh…it could be better.

I love a fresh new month where you get to have a clean slate for accomplishing your goals.  I started the month off with a trip to Vegas which resulted in not earning blue dots and being off-track enjoying food and drinks along with a mental break from life.  (I will get my final. Vegas recap out next).  This put a damper on starting the month out strong and that rolled into my resistance muscle being very low last week.

Tuesday I met up with Mom, Dad, and Emma for a delicious pizza dinner and a trip to look at the Indian Creek Lights in downtown Caldwell.  The pizza was epic and the lights were amazing as always.

While I thought blowing through all my points on Tuesday would be okay, after all, I had a plan in place for my work meals, that was not the case at all.  I had a tough time last week saying no to the treats and popcorn tin popcorn (my favorite) that arrived I the dispatch center along with supposed holiday cheer.  It was a rough week.  I was relieved to get on the scale and see a one pound gain.  The damage could have been a lot worse.

I made a commitment with my Mom to stay on track this week!  We want to enjoy the holidays next week and being accountable this week is the first step.  My week started off with a social outing last night when we met my friend Brenda for dinner and drinks at Lucky Fins in Meridian.  While I did not earn a blue dot, I was mindful and accountable for the food and wine I had last night and other than some bloating, I am feeling in control and ready to tackle this week.  It will be busy between work and social so I’ll have to balance it all accordingly.  I got this!

Las Vegas Part 1

The only downside during our trip to Vegas was losing my gambling money too soon!  Thankfully, Kenyon was able to win often and even brought home some of his winnings…and he shared with me.

 

We flew in on Tuesday afternoon after re-booking our flights for an earlier arrival time.  There was just so much to do that I needed more time.  I booked a suite at Bally’s on comp/reduced rates so we had a steal of a deal for our strip view room.  Overall, I really liked Bally’s and thought the location was great.

 

We boarded the bus and made our way to the South Outlet Mall.  I had to return some online purchases at the Coach store and I wanted to pop into Lazy Dog for happy hour.  I just love their food.

We also found a Cake Boss cake ATM.  An interesting and delicious concept.

 

I managed to get out of the outlet mall without spending a fortune and we headed back to the hotel.  Since we didn’t sleep much the days prior to our vacation, we called it an early night knowing we still had two full days to go.  On Wednesday, we walked to Denny’s for a late breakfast before spending some time gambling at Mirage (i.e. losing my money).  We had free play available to us at several of the MLife properties as part of the MyVegas game we play.  We walked to Bellagio to redeem our free play and then rode the tram to Park MGM.  I had 3pm reservations at a restaurant I wanted to try for happy hour so we grabbed an Uber and headed to Mas Por Favor.

I can’t remember who told me about Mas Por Favor and their “secret hidden walkway” but I have been excited to visit since March when they were booked solid for reservations all week.  I planned ahead and made sure I secured a reservation during happy hour, which had great looking deals on food/drinks.  Sadly, this experience was really underwhelming.  What we found was a basic storefront with a small hallway to a small room.  The highlight was the décor set up for a special theme, The Nightmare Before Christmas.  The decorations were great.   The food was quite expensive and at first, they were not going to honor happy hour pricing.  One really neat thing was they mixed beet juice with the sour cream and it comes out pink under the lighting.

 

The waitress asked us if we had been to the “famous tiki bar” in the same strip mall.  Since we have not and we paid for an Uber, we hopped over a couple doors and visited The Golden Tiki.  What a fun experience that was.  The décor was really interesting and included naked women and male genitalia for door handles in the women’s restroom.  The drinks were $8 for happy hour and otherwise, I’m not sure I would have paid full price.  Again, a neat experience but a place we won’t visit on a future trip.

 

I’ll be back…

Weekly WI: Scale Skip

Good Morning! 

Before we left for Vegas I had made up my mind that I would be skipping the scale this week.  I’ve been back on track (mostly, minus my sugar tooth) for two days and it is just not enough time to make a dent in vacation weight gain.  I am going to continue to stay on the November month-end high and continue to stay the course this week as I get back on track. 

I finished up the November Apple Watch Activity Challenge with one day to spare. 

It was a burst of activity last month that allowed me to get back to to daily exercise.  With the choice of tracking steps or minutes on the WW app, my choice to track minutes gives me that reason to move each day.  Which bring us to December.

I have a lofty goal for December and it is all about the miles.  I find there is only so much treadmill walking I look forward to.  The good news is using the bike/elliptical machine and putting my hand on my knee, I earn steps!  So, this will be how I conquer the final month of 2021 making this three years in a row that I have met my Apple Watch Activity Goal.

Wine Tasting In The Snake River Valley

I will get into my Vegas recaps soon.  Today, I wanted to share with you the wine tasting tour along the Snake River Valley.  The idea started with a Beer Buddy’s beer tasting tour for Stacey's birthday but out of the Boise area about two hours.  Since our weather this time of year can be iffy, Stacey said the would like to visit some local wineries.  I decided to rent a 15-passenger van and told Stacey to invite some friends for a wine tasting tour.  We had a lot of fun yesterday and thankfully we brought our DD Kenyon as our driver.

After picking up some of the crew, and others meeting up along the route we arrived at our fist stop.

Stop 1: Huston Vineyards - we tasted five different wines, two white and three reads.  They were all the least sweet and most of them dry.  

Stop 2: Williamson Vineyards - you had a choice of tastings and I went for a flight of five different wines, two white and three reds.  I loved these the best.  They were delicious!  

Stop 3: Koenig Vineyards - The flight again included five different wines, two white and three reds.  I wasn’t aware the the distillery now had tastings and thankfully I was able to sneak in one more last minute stop.

Stop 4: Koenig Distillery - this was by far the most dangerous!  You get to try three different kinds between vodka, brandy, whiskey, and bourbon.  Danielle and I split two flights which was the turning point for the trip.  Boy was it starting to add up!

Stop 5: SCOIRA Vineyards - we decided to share a flight and then pick one bottle of red to also share. I don’t really remember much about this stop other than nice people.  

Stop 6: Peaceful Belly Cider House & Farm Café - I will have to go back as I didn’t even get to try any of the ciders.  I had already consumed too much alcohol!  We enjoyed a really good chicken pot pie and some bread from a local bakery.  The food was excellent but the service was a bit slow.  We actually never got our ice cream flight.  So, one more reason to return.

It was a fabulous day with friends, food, alcohol, and laughter.

Stress Balloon Ready To Pop

I am sweating this week as I prepare to stop on the scale Tuesday (and I may peak at it on Monday).  I feel into the trap of “this is so hard and exhausting” thus going way over my points on both Tuesday and Thursday.  But it was more than that.  I just felt exhausted this week.  It is like I need a break from counting point, preparing my meals, eating veggies, and doing all the right things only to feel like the scale isn’t showing my hard work.

That isn’t fully true.  Of course the scale is showing my hard work and although I maintained last week, I am down 10 pounds from last year and I am (was…we will see on Tuesday) for the month.  I am working hard on gaining perspective incase the scale is really bad this week.  I hope I am making this all out to be worse that it really is.

I have been working hard on my November Apple Watch Activity Challenge and doing so, I have been exercising a lot.  Since it doesn’t really feel like that is the positive stress outlet I am searching for, I’ve been turning to alcohol and more social situations. 

 

While not the best coping strategy, sometimes it just feels like life is too short to micro-manage my food/drink intake.  However, I wouldn’t be where I am if I didn’t micro-manage just a bit.

I’ll be spending a few days in Vegas this week before the mad rush of evaluation season at work begins.  I really, really, really am so excited for some time off and stress release and most importantly time with my husband.  Oh, and I’m super stoked about all the yummy food and alcohol.  I mean, let’s be real here.  It’s VEGAS!

Until Tuesday, I’ve got to keep myself from going into Vacation Mode.  I have my third WW Workshop on Monday and I’m starting to feel my new groove.  It is also less busy now that I am not working as a Guide on Friday and a Coach on Monday.  I really hope to settle into this new routine.

Weekly WI: Maintain

I weighed the same weight this week as I did last week.

A maintain is always good.  Of course, I had wanted a loss and continue to work the new Personal Points Program making sure I get in some of those non-starchy vegetables.  Since I love potatoes and I love Thanksgiving, I think I’ll give it one more week and then change my ZeroPoint food options to include brown rice and whole wheat pasta again.  At least for a few weeks.  We will be in Vegas next week so that will throw me off a bit and probably result in some weight gain.  I might even skip the scale that first week of December.

This week is the last week for a weigh-in of November and as of right now, I am down four pounds since October.  I am also down about 10 pounds from this time last year.  I’m going to keep working my program and getting in my activity as I also near the end of month goal for my Apple Activity Watch Challenge.  

Last night was the annual pie pick-up put on by my realtor team.  Each year we get a pie before Thanksgiving as a thank you for our continued business and referrals.  I love my realtor and her team so I really enjoy getting to see them.  This was an outdoor event so not as fun as pre-COVID when we could gather at a restaurant/bar and really spend time catching up.  When you are with Christina and Company, you are clients for life and therefore you get #pie4life.

I met Rebecca for pizza, salad, and drinks at the local Albertson’s, which also had a food court and a bar/restaurant.  I enjoyed two slices of pizza, a whole bag of pre-packaged Caesar salad (veggie points baby!) and a spiced chai mule.  The drink was really delicious.

I was still feeing festive and probably relieving stress in the wrong with with alcohol…but I took myself to Matador to try a couple more margaritas from their menu.  This week I tried the Bartender’s and the Chile Mango.  I preferred the Bartender’s Margarita as it was less sweet and you could really taste the margarita.  Both were really good.

I was not hungry and I don’t particularly like their food, just their margaritas (and chips and black bean dip).  I sat at the bar, it was a packed house, and told the bartender I didn’t need chips or a menu that I was just having some drinks.  This worked well in eliminating the mindless chip eating and cutting down on points.  Believe me, the margaritas are enough points all by themselves!  

Tis The Season but I do need to be careful of all my social outings as that is one reason I struggle with my weight.  It is a constant mental battle between, “live life and have fun” and “you now have an employee weigh-in once a month.”  Somewhere, I will live life in-between as that is a huge part of this journey.  When we get to our goal weight, it is easy to think you have to keep going and you have to keep losing.  Eventually, you have to just live!