2 months, plus a 10 day vacation = Oh No!

So it's been two months since I've been eating well or following much of a food plan. I'm still trying to make good choices much of the time, but there have been way too many treats sneaking in. We also just got back from a 10 day vacation where we ate a lot of delicious food, many out at restaurants and loaded with meat. I did eat a fair bit of fish/seafood and chose salads a couple of times too. And I'm giving myself points for getting in two 3o minute runs and a nice walk. So the end result, my clothes are tight this morning, there are rolls showing up in photos where there weren't rolls a couple of months ago and I'm barely back in the heat and my hands and feet feel swollen.

So it's back to what works, it's back to Weight Watchers with a focus on vegetables and lean proteins, and adding low glycemic fruits and high fibre carbs. Drinking lots of water. Journaling and weighing in at Weight Watchers. Taking a daily multivitamin. Continuing to run 2-3 times a week and doing weights at the gym 1-2 times a week. And staying off my home scale, that messes with my head too much. My first weigh in back will be Thursday morning. But I have started back on plan today and will hit the gym tomorrow morning.

Doug has also said that starting tomorrow he'll be doing it with me. I can't tell how what that means and how motivating it is to have someone else working it. I know he'll lose a lot fast, so I'll be extra motivated to stay with it and keep up to him with a loss each week.

Without a goal this is all sort of pointless. So my first goal is 5lbs. I'm not sure what I'm weighing exactly right now, but lets say it's about 180 lbs (gulp, how did I let it get to this?). So goal #1 is getting to 175lbs. After that, it's going to stay at 5lb increments. The ultimate goal is 150lbs. It's not nearly as low as I was before kids, but it's a weight that will be maintainable and will feel good and healthy. I'm visiting a couple of other blogs for motivation and will share them with you as I go here AGAIN!

I know someone that is taking and posting monthly photos of herself in yoga pants and a sports bra and I greatly admire her confidence and although I think I'll do that for myself. I doubt very much I'll be sharing that here. I will share this photo, which is the one yesterday that was my big kick in the arse.

Numbers vs Compliments

I don't know what feels better to record an official loss at the scales or to get my first comment that I look like I've lost weight. Because I've got some paid ahead passes for weight watchers, I've decided to go to weigh in there for my official weight loss numbers seeing that I don't have a digital scale and doubt mine is super reliable.

Well, this morning I weighed in at a meeting and hadn't weighed in since April 2nd. After that weigh in a month ago I wasn't really doing a whole lot to lose weight and new I may have even been up a bit when I started South Beach on the April 27th, but my loss today was 4lbs from that last weigh in. On my scale I thought is was around 5-6 which may be true from a couple of weeks ago. SWEET!!

Then tonight I stopped at Save-on Foods after work to pick up a few things (being off refined foods and sugars sure is expensive, but well worth it). I ran into the mother of our new baby sitter, who I'm getting to know and last saw a few weeks ago, the first thing she says, "you've lost weight, looks great, I almost didn't recognize you!" SWEET!! Love that feedback.

Of course I'm feeling the difference already in my clothes and my energy level, but I'm so happy that the weight truly is coming off and people will be noticing it too.

Success!

Weight Watchers is a great weight loss program, it is balanced food and allows you room to treat yourself without guilt and keep right on going. It worked wonders for me 7 years ago (in 2002) when I lost 65 lbs. So what has the problem been the past couple of years when I keep going back with no success. Well, I finally figured it out. I'm sick and tired of measuring, weighing and writing down everything I eat. I don't have the energy, nor the time to figure out points on something and keep it all together, plus I was eating too much junk ... refined foods, chocolate, fruits, etc.

So when I came across some friends chatting about South Beach, I was intrigued. I read a little more into it and it all sounded good. So here I am, one week in and loving it!! I have a ton of energy, feel clear headed, sleeping great, and am losing weight. I am reading the book as I'm doing Phase 1 and I would recommend reading the book before you actually start. It hasn't hindered me, but it would have been better that way.

So one full week in (half way through Phase 1) and I've lost 4-5 lbs, my clothes are feeling looser and I'm not craving sweets and carbs. I've always known that I have a problem with carbs, if I eat some, I have to eat more and that's just not right. So what I've learned, is that my eliminating them, I am actually retraining my brain/body in it's relationship with carbs

So far I'm finding it pretty easy, other than I seem to be spenidng a lot of money right now as I figure out how to feed me and the rest of the family this way, also I'm actually cooking three full meals a day for myself, but no longer snacking on junk or hitting Starbucks regularly. Because I'm paid up at Weight Watchers for a while, I'm going to continue to go to meetings for the weigh in because my scale is not digital and crappy, so it's hard for me to know exactly what I'm weighing and how much I'm losing. So I'll let you know.

and here we are again

I didn't share what I did two week ago with you all, I don't know why I didn't, I just didn't. So I'll share it today. I went back to Weight Watchers. I hadn't weighed in since November so I knew that it might not be pretty and well, with Christmas, my birthday and Valentines all during that time, I was up 6.2 lbs. YIKES! It's amazing how fast it comes back on. But let's not focus on that. Let's focus on today.

So during the past two weeks I had my good days and not so good days of following the plan, hitting the gym and drinking my water. We've had a few stressful days as we've started to feel the effects of the recession on our bank account, but something clicked a few days ago. I realized that I have no control over the recession, and I could either continue to eat with the stress, or chose to control what I could and that's my food intake and activity. So I journalled, I drank my water, I ate yummy healthy filling foods, and I exercised. And today I was down 3.4 lbs from two weeks ago.

Doug and I went out for dinner at Boston Pizza (thanks to our Christmas gift card from my seester Erin and her fiance Garett) and before we went, I checked out the nutritional info on-line and came up with a few options. I ate the Ribber meal (8pts) with steamed vegetables (1pts...the website said 2 pts, but there is no way there was more than a cup of veggies and butter/oil on them) and garlic bread (3pts). Then Doug and I shared the Chocolate Brownie Addiction....YUMMO...and the 6 pts that used up was worth every bite.

I have a lunch date with my girlfriends tomorrow at Earl's (notorious for their HIGH FAT food...did you know that more than half of their meals are over 1000 calories). But again, I've scoped out their nutritional info on-line and written down my favs, the points values and some other lower point options too. I'm going to hit the gym in the morning to earn a few extra points and keep supper lean. It helps to tell myself that lunch with the girls isn't about the food, it's about the company. I'll enjoy a soup and salad with them as much as I'd enjoy the Chicken and Brie Ciabatta, and I'll feel less guilty afterwards too.

Slow and Steady

They say slow and steady wins the race and I'm holding on to that thought. I weighed in today and since my last weigh in two weeks ago, I lost 1.4 lbs. Now there are some hormonal factors (sorry if that's too much information) that may be affecting that number a wee bit too.

I worked for that loss this past week, the week before was here and there, but this past week, I wrote down everything, hit the gym twice and drank lots of water. I'm still feeling strong and loving the way my body is feeling already, just feels a little less toxic. I'm looking for a new recipe to try this week and am planning on making another big pot of soup this week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thai One On

So I said I'd share the soup recipe and after eating the soup again for supper tonight, which tasted just as good as the first day, here are the cast of characters:

2 tsp butter or olive oil

1 cup each chopped onions and red pepper

3/4 cup chopped celery

2 tsp minced garlic

4 cups peeled, cubed sweet potatoes (about 2 large)

1 tbsp grated ginger root

3/4 tsp each ground cumin, ground coriander and curry powder

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cups chicken broth

1 can (14oz/398ml) light coconut milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

3 tbsp each chopped fresh cilantro and fresh basil leaves

2 tbsp light peanut butter

1 tbsp brown sugar (which I just realized I forgot to add to mine oops)

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1 lb (454g) cooked medium shrimp, tails removed (thaw first if using frozen)

And now here's what you do with all that yummy goodness:

Heat butter/olive oil in large soup pot over medium heat. Add onions, red pepper, celery and garlic. Cook and stir until veggies start to soften, about 4 minutes.

Stir in sweet potatoes, ginger root, cumin, coriander, curry powder and cinnamon. Cook and stir for 30 more seconds. Add broth, coconut milk, salt and pepper. Bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, just until sweet potatoes are tender.

Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return pureed soup to pot with remaining soup. Stir in cilantro, basil, peanut butter, brown sugar, and lime juice. Mix well. Add shrimp and heat for about 2 more minutes, just until shrimp is hot.

Makes 6 servings

239 calories, 8.2 g total fat, 3g fibre

If you make this, let me know what you think of it. Oh and be like me and just slop it in the bowl, I'm losing marks for presentation. Oh well, at least it tastes good.

Confessions

So last week didn't really get back on track and I was out with girlfriends for nibblies, drinks and a few bites of dessert Friday night, so weighing in on Saturday morning was not my idea of a good time. I don't like paying for a gain and I was pretty confident I'd be up a little, if just from the night before. But that didn't stop me from getting back on plan and I've journaled every bite the past three days, including the delicious supper including dessert and drinks at Horizons last night.

One of the things that I love when I'm on plan is that I get an increased interest in cracking open my recipe books to cook new things. Tonight I made a delicious soup from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry called Thai One On. It's described as an "exotic sweet potato and coconut soup with shrimp. It has quite an extensive ingredient list, but it was easy to make and was ready in half an hour. It works out to 5 points a serving and serves 6, so I have four more servings in the fridge and freezer for upcoming days. I should have considered making a big salad or buying some chewy rolls to go with it, but we had a slice of bread with butter with ours.

Doug wasn't a huge fan of the flavours, but he didn't dislike it either...me, I loved it and can't wait to eat another bowl. I'll try to get the recipe up on here in a day or two. Oh and I also hit the gym this morning for a quick 20 minute bike ride and some weights. I usually go to the gym Monday nights, but can't because of a doula meeting, so I fit it in somewhere else (I am appearing to becoming more committed to this change).

Anyone else making any changes out there? Is anyone else out there? Am I in this alone?