Biggest Loser 2009…I am IN!

I stumbled on an online weight loss challenge today that looks like lots of fun and motivation.

This four-month challenge starts TOMORROW and I have all sorts of things to figure out….like how to comment on other blogs…and taking pictures of my scale (UGGH!) and sending it over.

I have been all alone in my efforts so far…..I am nervous about going public but excited too!

Looking forward to gaining some new friends while losing some pounds.

A Hungry Day

After my delicious and energizing Green Monster this morning, and a walk (in 90+ degree heat and 60% humidity…YUCK) I was pretty good until around 10:30 a.m.  I held myself off until about 11:30 when I finally had a package of dried pear crisps….0 points but I never believe it when something is 0 points.  It has to count something. 

I was hoping the pear crisps would hold me off until at least 12:30 but no such luck.  The hunger monster was driving me nuts!  So I fixed a veggie burger (4 points) on one of the 1 point Arnold Sandwich thins.

YUMMY….but I was still hungry.  What is going on here????

I waited about an hour hoping to feel satisfied at some point but that didn’t happen.  Finally around 1:30 I fixed another Amazing Grass smoothie.

This time I used the berry Green SuperFood packet and instead of a banana I used half a nectarine that I had salvaged by tossing it in the freezer a couple of weeks ago when it was on the verge of going bad.   I added my yummy almond milk, a TBS of the flaxseed meal, and two more big handfuls of spinach. 

It was good….not as good as the ones with the bananas in them.  The bananas sure do add some sweetness.  Also, I don’t think I will get the berry flavor.  It just doesn’t sing to me!

Still trying to figure out whether to get the Amazing Meal or the Green Superfood.  I called the Amazing Grass people and left a message but haven’t heard back from them yet.

And while I was supposed to be working I downloaded Windows Live Writer which I had read about on another blog as being something to make it real easy to blog.  I had never heard of it before.

The download took forever and sure ate into my work time…but she was right!  This post sure is much easier to edit!  I can already see just by looking at the tools available how much easier it will be to insert links, fonts, and more.  And maybe if pix are not such a pain with this I will start adding some.  I just may be a blogger yet!

Week Seven Begins....BAH HUMBUG!

THE WEIGH-IN

OH this is so frustrating! I THOUGHT I had a really good week!

I walked three days and earned myself 7 activity points

I didn't eat my activity points by the end of the week...and I even had weekly points leftover. While I usually do try to eat all my weekly points, I didn't want to eat just to eat them up.

I finished my TOM early in the week. I even had a smoothie for breakfast yesterday morning...a healthy one! And ate really healthy all day...well except for the Tiramisu I had for #1 son's birthday...but I had plenty of points for that.

AND.........on WI this morning I was UP ONE POUND FROM LAST WEEK!!!

HELLLOOOOO????? How did that happen? Because I didn't eat enough maybe? I am still motivated but this sure is frustrating! Six weeks completed on plan and I have had two with 1 pound gains. Not fair!!!

THE BREAKFAST

So with all my Amazing Grass samples my plan is to try one every day and see what I like the best before I order. Maybe. After two days, I am loving this stuff! And I don't want to run out so I may be ordering today.

This weekend I tried two flavors of the Green Superfood in almond milk with some banana and they were both delish.

This morning I jumped onto the Green Monster bandwagon. I threw some fresh baby spinach in with a packet of Amazing Grass, just the wheat grass packet this time, not SuperFood or Amazing Meal. I also put in the almond milk, a TBS of flaxseed meal, and some frozen banana. It was good...not as good as yesterday's Green Superfood smoothie, but still good.....BUT...

THE WALK

Was it because I rested my muscles for four days?

Was it because I had a good sleep?

Was it the flaxseed meal?

Was it the fresh spinach?

Was it the wheat grass powder?

I don't know what it was but let me tell you...as I started to walk I could feel some incredible energy that I have not had in a long time! I was amazed! I felt so good! I am going to keep taking the Amazing Grass products and see if this keeps up.

I personally have never been so in tune with my body so as to be able to follow the nuances in energy I have throughout the day that other people seem to be aware of. For me I am hungry, I am not. I am tired...I am...well I can't say I am not here because for the past couple of years it seems I am always tired.

I have been so fatigued, sluggish, and lethargic for a long time....it had gotten to the point where I was kind of frightened for my future, I could barely move. This is why I have started Weight Watchers and am pushing myself to walk.

But today's walk was something else. It was the best I have had in years. I was so energized, I could move, and I felt powerful. Powerful for me anyway.

Right now I am sold. I will order some Amazing Grass today and keep track of what I eat and how I feel over the next 30 days. I sure hope this wasn't a fluke...but I am thinking not.

Amazing Grass

I recently was looking at wheat grass juice and I stumbled upon this product called Amazing Grass. I started to research it a little bit more and apparently I am the last to know about it...it is all over the healthy blogging world!

It looked good...and I am looking to revamp our diets now and take it to another level while still following Weight Watchers of course, so I decided to order their sample packets.

This morning I made myself a "smoothie" and I am going to try to keep track of the different flavors so I can decide which I want to order. Too bad they don't have a combo pack as I sure wouldn't mind a variety and they are a little pricy.

First up this morning was the original flavor Green SuperFood. Into the blender went a chunk of frozen banana, the packet of SuperFood, and a cup of sweetened vanilla almond breeze. Later on I will try it with unsweetened...but I was not that brave yet!

This was really good! It went down with no problem at all and I could definitely have this often.

DH, shockingly enough, was disappointed I didn't split it with him....and it was gone already, so I made him one as well, only I used the chocolate flavor Green SuperFood. Right now I only have one packed of each kind!

I sipped it and it was YUM-O! He liked it as well and said he could drink this daily too. I am kind of surprised he is showing an interest...after he drank it he started asking questions about growing wheat grass and juicing it. For now though I think I will make us these as I have had wheat grass juice and it is YUCK-O!

So...thumbs up on both the original and chocolate Green Superfood flavors.

Later this week I want to add spinach and starting making some Green Monsters for breakfast, but today (A) I didn't have any spinach, and (B) I want to try the flavors on their own first to see what I like.

Now if only I can get the PreTeen to drink the kids version we are in business.

Great nutrition here we come!!

The Nerve Of Him

Speaking of husband....mine happens to be a very muscular, fit kind of guy, a little on the skinny side even. Who comes by it without having to work at it. (UGGH...not fair!).

So, skinny fit husband had the nerve to complain the other day that now that I am on Weight Watchers and doing more of the cooking (and working hard for my 1 pound loss a week) HE is having trouble keeping weight on...even with double and triple servings. DOUBLE UGGH...REALLY NOT FAIR!

It's Weigh-In Monday!

Week Four begins and I am another pound down for a total of 10 pounds! YAY ME!!!!

Yes it is going very slowly....but I am happy with my progress and will happily take a pound less a week. Sure is better than the other direction.

While starting on a Monday seemed like a sensible idea when I first signed up, weighing in on Monday after the weekend doesn't seem too smart.

Because of DH's high caloric (high point) meals (12.5 points for brunch yesterday and that is low 'cuz I don't want him to make his 9 point biscuits anymore!) I save all of my WP's for the weekend. It is easy for me not to use them during the week but really hard to stay within my dailies on the weekends...so I hoard my WP's for the weekend.

Of course after using all my points by Sunday night I always wonder if this affects WI Monday morning. So far, except for that one miserable week two, I have been down, but always one point at a time.

But I am watching and deciding whether or not to swap my WI date to Thursday instead.

A Mystery Solved

Once upon a time I was a skinny. Really I was! Then I got married to a cook. Not a professional cook...but someone who loves to cook. Only problem is he loves to cook fattening fried, yummy Southern food. And over the course of seven years with him my weight has ballooned up about 60 pounds. YES! 60 pounds!

I have sort of half-heartedly blamed my weight gain on him...but now that I have seriously undertaken the counting of points...I have started to enter his recipes into the recipe builder and...HORRORS!!! Most of his recipes, especially those smorgasboard weekend breakfasts, have pretty much as many points as I am allowed in a day.

I take back the half-heartedly and launch a full-heartedly blame at him!!!

Yes, the mystery has been solved.

Where Does The Time Go?????

Yes, one minute I was going to post my menu for the day....and before you know it, two weeks have passed without a word from me!

With kids at home, me trying to work, sometimes this can be a challenge but I am not giving up the "documentary" of my success.

Good news is I am hanging in there and now am down 9 pounds from starting day. I am frustrated with my WW online tracker....I signed up almost two months before I really started (a girl has to prepare you know!) and my weight changed (umm...went up) a few LBs before I committed. And I didn't realize I had to change it in WW! Now when I go to do that it wants to wipe out my whole history and I am just not up for that this far into it. So while today I got my first 5 pound star from WW online....I am actually 9 pounds down!

Today was WI day and the kickoff for Week 4.

I am thrilled I am finding foods I love that make it easy to stay on track and thrilled I am finding willpower to say NO when I need to. The 35 weekly points have been a Godsend for staying on track. I am proud to say last week I went out for an unexpected dinner and had Chicken Marsala, which came with pasta, soup and salad and garlic rolls. I ate half my garlic roll, most of my soup (which did seem a little pointy), most of my salad, and half my entree. I boxed up the rest of the Chicken Marsala (which was sooooooooooooo good!) and made my son eat it for lunch the next day! My WP sure came in handy there....as did the 10 Activity Points I earned last week working with our Girl Scouts weeding a park.


So, back to the present, let me sum up today's menu, which as of this posting leaves me with 1 point leftover....probably to be eaten later though!


Breakfast: 3.5 points
1 cup Kashi GoLean (2)
1/2 cup FF milk (1)
1/2 cup fresh raspberries (1)
Espresso with 1.5 tsp sugar (0.5)

Lunch: 3.5 points
Flatout wrap (1)
Eggplant slice grilled on George Foreman spritzed with some olive oil spray and sprinkles with Adobo seasoning (0) (Love that!)
1/2 cup spring lettuce mix (0)
Roasted Red Pepper (0.5)
1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles (2)
2 cups tomato juice (1.5)

This is my absolute favorite sandwich right now...it tastes so decadent. I am in a phase where I can eat it every day and be satisfied.....and love that it is also low points. I sure hope I never get tired of it!

Dinner: 8
Veggie Burger (4) (I bought these at Costco and they are higher than I thought...but better than a burger and soooooo huge and YUM!)
Arnold Sandwich Thins (1)
Onion/Lettuce/Tomato (0)
Oven Fries (3)

Okay...at this point I still had 6 points leftover and it was dessert time.....I try to keep several options in stock. I have some low-point WW desserts in case I am low on points and the rest of the family is having ice cream (their favorite). But when I have a few extra to spare I will splurge and have some of the "good stuff" with the rest of them.

We have this Publix Chocolate Trinity ice cream that is to die for! But at 5 points for half a cup I usually have to choose between that and my two glasses of Merlot. I didn't have wine tonight so I had some creamy, delicious, full of chocolate things, heavenly Chocolate Trinity. And I still had one whole point leftover!

HA! I love that!!! Eating deliciously all day, feeling satisfied, and still losing weight.

WHAT!!!!!!!

Remember yesterday I told you about my sneek peek weigh-in...and that I was down 2 pounds and excited about today's official weigh-in? I thought for sure I would be down another pound. FOR SURE! No doubts at all!

So with GREAT EXCITEMENT I hopped on that scale this morning and WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT! I am UP 1 pound from last week's WI.

UP 1 POUND! How did that happen??????

Since I had lots of activity and stayed within points, I am sure it is some fluke of lots of sodium or water weight or something or other. Motivation is still strong and I am sure that these pounds will melt off next week.

So today I will stick to program, take pictures, and log my measurements.

I will also do our menu plan for the week and shop....very important!

And maybe even post my menu for the day!

Week Two Finishes...and All Is Well

So far so very good...and I feel great! I was worried, stressed, nervous, and concerned that I would be hungry and not be able to stick to this...especially with my fabulous cook of a husband and his traditional weekend breakfasts!

But so far I have managed to stay within my points and enjoy some great meals!

Today is the last day of Week Two and I have 3.5 of my weekly allowance left over, and I didn't touch the 4 APs I managed to earn this week!

YAY Me!!!!

Week One, which I didn't report, I was down 6 lbs. Weigh-In for Week Two will be tomorrow. I am kind of excited. I don't FEEL down in weight...but I cheated on weighing in during the week (mostly because I have been eating so well I didn't feel like I was losing and had to peek!) and I know I am down at least 2 pounds.

Two weeks into this I realize a few things:

I never took "starting" photos. I do have photos of me...but it would have been nice to get some posed photos for comparison as I lose weight. I will try to do a monthly photo comparison.

I never took measurements. I bought the measuring tape...even went so far one night as to bring my WW journal and the tape measure into the bedroom so I could take the measurements in the morning...but in the morning I forgot all about it!!!!! Another thing I want to do ASAP.

Also....as blogs go, so far this is a BLAHG! I need to start adding more photos. My intentions starting out were to make this a meal journal, mainly a photo journal of my meals, but I have been quite remiss on this. Maybe I can step that up!

Planning is crucial for me! If I plan my meals, snacks, desserts...then I seem to have less trouble staying in points. Also, I do have a few low-point meals that are delicious and filling...that I LOVE. Having these have helped me on days when I want to be conservative in my points and not go over my dailies.

I do find that there are many changes in the plan since I was on it years ago that have made it much easier for me to eat the same meals as my family, feel full and satisfied, and mostly not feel deprived at all. Today I ate bacon and eggs with the family...tacos for dinner with sour cream (reduced fat of course), and yes...I even got to eat a half-cup of Publix Chocolate Trinity ice cream with the rest of the family tonight....it was heaven!

So all that being said, I am ready to wrap up Week One and excited about my weigh-in tomorrow. Hopefully I will be disciplined enough to take photos of meals and actually post them...and blog a little more faithfully, but overall I am mostly happy to be staying on plan so easily.