Weekly WI: Operation Scale Decline

Operation Scale Decline was successful last week.  It took a ton of effort and planning on my part and the scaled paid off with a loss of two pounds.

 

It was a busy week and felt like it just kept piling on.  I had to be very strategic as there was several days of planned alcoholic beverages within my week (and one day not planned) that took up so many of my points.  That didn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for actual food, and I had to really plan my food around the social situations so I wouldn’t find myself eating excess points that were not necessary.

 

Let’s rewind:

Tuesday, I met my parents for lunch as we typically do after my WW workshop.  I had not planned them to be in town, so this was the first unplanned meal.  I made the decision on Tuesday that I would adjust the day my points change over to Wednesday.  It has been Tuesday for years but lately, I get really stressed out with starting my shiny new WW week with practically zero weekly points.  As much as I tried to not worry about it, I was.  The goal is not to go crazy on Tuesdays but to not have to start the week with a negative mindset.

 

Wednesday, I received an impromptu invitation to join a new friend at the Western Idaho Fair.  I planned to eat at Café Rio ahead of time and not spent any points at the fair.  My husband threw a wrench into that plan by suggesting we meet for lunch Thursday.  I pivoted and moved Café Rio to Thursday and packed a lunch to eat before I arrived at the fair.  I had not planned to drink; however, my friend is the founder of Boise Beer Buddies, and she was given free fair tickets as a social media partner.  She was also given some “fair bucks” (free money) to spend on beer.  So, two beers were consumed.  I knew there was a home brewing beer competition each year as part of the fair, but I didn’t know Sockeye Brewing brews the beer for the following year and sells it at the fair.  The 2023 winner was Riverbank Blonde Ale.  The 2024 winner will be announced before the end of the fair where their beer will be brewed for next year’s fair.  This is a neat concept.

Despite really wanting to eat out for dinner as I was 100% exhausted, we had steaks marinating so it was easy to throw dinner together and resist temptation and extra points.  I attended a volleyball game after dinner and felt the urge to get ice cream on my way home.  Thank goodness there were not soft service location between the school and my house as this was another successful day under my belt.

 

Thursday, as mentioned above, we had Café Rio for lunch.  It was a busy day with so much running around town as Kenyon’s car was in the shop and I was his Uber.  By evening I attended Music Bingo at The 112 in Nampa where I had just one pre-planned beer.  I also packed chicken and veggies to snack on before I arrived, so I wasn’t ravenous.  I resisted temptation when I picked Kenyon up a burger at Sonic on my way home and stuck to my plan.

 

Friday, I hosted a nacho bar for some of my girlfriend group (and Michael) many of whom I have not seen in a while.  I pre-planned a low point breakfast and lunch, so I was prepared with an abundance of points.  I stuck to my food plan, but I didn’t quite stick to my beer plan of having just one.  To make is easy and not have to be super focused on it, I did a quick add track wiping out the rest of my daily points plus 10 weekly points.  The following day it was business as usual.

 

Saturday rounded out the social events.  Are you tired?  I am.  I again planned my day with a light breakfast and lunch so I could have enough points for a beer when I met Michael and Wanda to see Casio Dreams play at McClearly’s Pub.  We had also planned ahead with a picnic dinner, so we didn’t have to rely on the food truck but when I got there, they made me feel guilty for bring in my food when they had a food truck telling me it “wasn’t really allowed.”  I was able to eat a little to tide me over and then more when I drove home.  The plan to avoid the food truck was successful!  Well, part of that success was because they did not serve fries as Wanda was about to succumb.  The WW Gods were on our side.  Since we were at an Irish pub, I practiced for our upcoming Ireland vacation and ordered a pint of Guinness and a very generous shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey over ice.  The vacation countdown is now less than 30 days.

As you can see, I made a ton of conscious decisions this week which led to my success at the scale.  It was hard and there were times I wanted to cave.  I am relieved to see it paid off on the scale as it could always have backfired.  I know spending so many points on alcohol is not realistic from week-to-week, or good on liver.  I also know I physically need more actual food.  When I spend a lot of points on alcohol, I always feel hungry.  Our bodies need fuel, not alcohol. 

Weekly WI: Is A Downward Trend Is On The Horizon?

It’s Tuesday!  I am planning to head out for a walk before getting ready for my morning WW Workshop.  I will need to catch a nap afterwards as I may need to assist with sick coverage and work until 2am.  It has been minute since I have worked a swing shift but what is that famous song lyric?  “I ain’t as good as I once was but I’m as good once as I ever was.”  Ha!

My Weekly WI was a loss.  WHOOOHOOOO.  I am eager to see the downward trend again.  

I have not been successful in breaking out of the 200s for any lengthily period of time since mid-May.  I am also seven pounds heavier than last year.  That is better than 10 pounds which seems to be consistent lately.  It is going to take take a lot of focus this week to combat and balance my social situations.  I will spend time on Wednesday getting my meal planning/prep in order so I am prepared.  I might even do some pre-tracking.

Last week was really great on the activity side but I let some mindless snacking slip into my food plan.  I will tighten that up this week and also try and keep the activity up there too.  I will admit, while I am proud of my 21 days of a perfect month, it is exhausting and a rest day sounds nice.  I won’t be trying for a perfect month in September.

I also decided to change my points reset day from Tuesday to Monday.  My parents and I get together on Tuesdays for lunch after I coach WW and I don’t love starting my week with little to no weekly points.  Sometimes I am able to not let it seep into my starting week and other times, it is hard.  I love spending time with them so I don’t want to not go to lunch just because it could result in higher points than if I was to come home and eat lunch.  I will see how I feel about this and go from there.  I don’t want this to mean Tuesday becomes a free-for all and Tuesdays could still be a non-blue dot day.  But, if that is the one day within my week, I think that might set me up for better success.  I’ll keep you posted!

Walking & Vacation Prep At The Same Time

Good Morning and Happy Sunday!

I don’t work today until 10am so I went out for a walk this morning while listening to a WW virtual workshop.  I am not one to go out in inclement weather but I had to test out my new shoes and a few layers for our upcoming Ireland trip.

The flag is outside the front of our house and what I use as our wind meter.  Hurricane Hilary is affecting Idaho and we will have cooler temps for a few days along with rain.  I made sure to mow the lawn last night after work.

It is nice to go into work later and have lazy morning.  Sadly, I got up too early but after some coffee and breakfast, I got myself out and about.  While this week has not been as great with intentional eating/tracking, my activity has been 100% on point for my intentions.  I feel like a new pair of lounge pants are fitting better.  

It is pumpkin season so I have already started indulging to coffee creamer and beer.  I love Fall and I am so excited for cooler temps.  Sadly, they won’t be sticking around.

I had local gal design a new reusable water bottle for our future vacations.  It arrived last week and I love it.  It makes drinking water lots more fun.

Weekly WI: Up Again & Perfect Activity

I am a few days late but wanted to check in on my Weekly Weight In.  As suspected, I had a gain.

I’ve been working on balancing my social situations this week and while it did not start off the best and I pretty much blew through my weekly points on Tuesday, I navigated Wednesday well and I have a plan for Friday.  

I also have a 16-day streak (soon to be 17) of perfect movement, exercise, and stand goals complete and I’ve completed my August Apple Watch Activity Challenge.

I thought I had to complete 20 days of at last 5 minutes of exercise but it was actually 20 workouts.  So, I had some “double” workouts and even though that felt like cheating, I got my award early than expected.  I set a goal at the start of the month to have a perfect month and so I’ll keep at it.

Weekly WI: Skipped The Scale...Sorta

I decided to skip the scale for my Weekly Weigh-In on Tuesday.  Now, I knew I would be checking in on the scale at the thyroid doctor’s office Thursday, so I would somewhat have an idea of the number.  The decision behind not getting on the scale was due to a pre-planned out of town event coming off the heels of a successful week were I finally saw a loss.  I made the decision ahead of time to not get on the scale and just get back on track ASAP, which since Monday I have tracked each day and I have renewed my intentions for the week ahead.

 

I had one planned social engagement and one unplanned so far.  It has been slightly more difficult but not impossible.  My goal for my next weigh-in is to be at least a maintain from the last time I stepped on the scale.  Of course, the best-case scenario is seeing a loss.  One thing is for sure, I felt great when we headed out of town and crappy on Sunday after all the snacking and alcohol consumed over the weekend.  Instead of dwelling on it, I am spending this week focused on the mantra that it takes one day to feel yucky…it takes one day to feel great!  I want to continue to feel great and I want to continue to see the scale go back down.  A commitment to my WW program is how we make that happen.

So, about that doctor’s visit.  I didn’t get my confirmation and while I did think that was weird, as it turned out, they cancelled my appointment in April.  It was partially my fault in that when I got the text and voicemail, I was in a staff meeting and forgot to call them back.  However, I am a bit bummer the office was more proactive on at least reaching out once more.  I had previously asked for a prescription refill and went in for bloodwork the week prior so again, how did this get missed.  I am mostly frustrated because I need a refill of my prescriptions.  Thankfully, I have an appointment on Wednesday.

 

I have one more social situation on the agenda but I do plan to step on the scale as I am committed to brining the number down and making intentional decisions to be successful.

Ireland Cruise Update

We are now under the 60 day counter for our upcoming Ireland Cruise aboard NCL Star.

I have researched the ports and we have booked some excursions.  Other than booking the hop-on-hop-off bus tickets, planning is shaking out nicely.  I has also been enjoyable to interact with the members of our Facebook group.  If you have booked a cruise, I highly recommend searching Facebook groups and connecting with others.  It not only builds excitement but you can get some really great tips and advise.  Here are the excursions we have booked through NCL (details and stock photos from their website).

Historic Dingle Drive - Dingle

Settle in for a leisurely drive along Slea Head, a circular route around the Dingle Peninsula that passes through traditional villages and presents one absolutely stunning view after another. Of the thousands of archaeological sites on the peninsula, the beehive huts may be the most remarkable. These cone-shaped stone dwellings were built without mortar and are estimated to date between the 8th and 12th centuries. Other medieval remains include standing stones with inscriptions, sculptured crosses and earthen ringforts – also known as fairy forts – which were used as family dwellings and to house livestock at night to protect them from wolves. You will eventually stop at the Gallarus Oratory, an even older dry masonry stone structure that may have been a Christian chapel. The building is still famously watertight. While passing Blasket Sound, you will hear about a Spanish Armada ship that took shelter there in 1588, but still sank leaving only one survivor.

Quiet Man Country & Cong - Galway

Explore key locations featured in the classic film The Quiet Man, which was shot in and around the village of Cong. Despite its intriguing, centuries-old past, Cong is perhaps best known as the primary location for the 1952 film that Academy Award-winner John Ford directed. The romantic comedy starred John Wayne and Irish-born Maureen O’Hara, who shot several memorable scenes in a Cong cottage that is now in ruins. To commemorate the film, the Quiet Man Cong Cottage was constructed as an exact replica of the original and filled with memorabilia from the movie. It makes for a wonderful stop during free time in Cong, as do other film locations such as the Danaher farmhouse, Reverend Playfair’s home and Pat Cohan’s Bar. Film buffs will also enjoy seeing the Ashford Castle Hotel, another backdrop for the movie. Although a hotel since 1939, the castle dates to the 13th century.

Have you seen the John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara movie The Quiet Man?  It was recommend to me by a gentleman I met at the Nampa Elks (oh right…l owe you a post on that update too).  Kenyon owned the movie so we watched it and thought the countryside was really beautiful and booked the subsequent excursion.  That movie was filmed 71 years ago.  Crazy eh?  If you have not seen it, it is worth a watch but is a bit long.  I also find the cinematography quite interesting when you realize how long ago it was filmed.

For our visit in Killybegs, I made contact with a tour group that provides a Walk & Talk tour of the town.  

About a dozen on our Facebook group are interested so we will be doing a walking tour in the morning.  The tour highlights the fishing industry as Killybegs is Ireland’s premier fishing port and home of the Irish pelagic fleet.  We will visit St. Mary’s Catholic church, built in 1843 and the tour ends in town with a brief history and some pubs and restaurants highlighted for a visit. 

We are considering another tour through NCL as w are in port for 12 hours each day.

Traditional Ireland - Killybegs

Observe the art of weaving, bread-making and a celebration of life in Ardara, a small town where traditions are still held in high esteem. Upon arriving, you will visit the John Molloy Woollen Mills, a family-run operation that produces exquisite knitwear. You will observe the artisans masterfully weaving wool and tweed goods using techniques that have been handed down through the generations. Following the demonstration, you may shop for merchandise such as Aran fisherman sweaters, scarves and Donegal tweed jackets. While snacking on scones at the Corner House, you will watch traditional Irish soda bread being made from scratch. Still, few traditions are as well-known as the Irish wake, a glorious send-off for the deceased. You will have the opportunity to take part in a re-enactment of a wake, complete with music, snuff taking and a tasting of poitin, a uniquely Irish spirit much like moonshine.

I am still not sure if I’ll book either a Jameson Whiskey Distillery tour for a guided tour and tasting or visit with Guinness Storefront where we can take a self guided tour and I can enjoy a pint from the observatory afterwards.  I may not book them ahead of time and just see how the day in Dublin shakes out.  We have to take a train from Dun Laoghaire to Dublin and it is a tender port.  I want to make sure we have enough time once we actually arrive in Dublin and also not miss out on the city sights as there is so much to see. 

The excitement continues to build…

Weekly WI: Intentions Leads To Success

Good Morning!  Happy Thursday.  We are about to get this week wrapped up.  I actually get the weekend off like the rest of the regular public.  Of course I still have two 10-hour shifts to go until I can officially relax.

I ended my week of intention with a nice sized loss.

I have rolled the intention from last week into this week and will continue to stay the course until we go out of town this weekend.  I am consistently remind myself that I can relax a little this weekend but there is no need to relax ahead of that.  I powered through our National Night Out event on Tuesday, which was a huge success.  

We had a bigger group the last year and ran out of hamburger and hot dogs.  That shifted my plan a bit because I ended up eating on sides vs. the pre-tracking I did ahead of time.  I did not indulge in any deserts and drank on my non-alcoholic beer (which I found two new varieties).  It was a success!

I rented party games from Boise Party Rental, which people enjoyed.  I didn’t love the stress of being responsible for getting all pieces back since it was a large community event so I’m not sure I’d do that again.  But it all worked out well and added to the fun.

My week also wrapped up with a 7-day workout stretch and earning my Apple Watch Activity Award.

This month by goal is log a workout of at least 5 pounds for 20 days.  I think I’ll strive for a perfect month.