Kuddos to Biggest Loser & I-Pad

So last night Trav and I decided to treat ourselves to Mexican food. Luckily I had been below my points so had almost enough to enjoy whatever I'd like. I went for bean and rice burrito with shrimp and a diet coke. I indulged in a few chips and salsa but the basket still looked pretty full when we left, I also had a diet coke with lime. Yummy. When I got home to put in my points the closest thing I could find was a bean and rice, shrimp burrito at Baja Fresh. There was one that was 18 points and one that was 21. Just in case, I plugged in the higher value burrito. This put me 4 points over for the day but I still had not used any of my 35 weekly points. Not too bad but I felt a little guilty and wanted to burn it off.

I love the biggest loser. I have pretty much watched all of the seasons. Most of the people I know that dont like the show are not over weight and cant relate but when you are overweight/obese it is so motivating to see people do it. The sad part is that we only have two televisions in our home; both are downstairs. The treadmill is downstairs but it will not fit conveniently in one of the rooms with the tv. This had made it hard for me to want to get on the treadmill as there is nothing really to distract you other than music.

Travis purchased the I-pad and I was trying to figure out its perks above and beyond our i-phones. Well, I just did. I was able to download the entire season of Biggest Loser to I-tunes and watch it from the i-pad while I walked on the treadmill. Now the downfall is that I had to pay for it because the I-pad does not support flash and I couldn't download for free from NBC or Hulu. It doesn't matter though, it was $25 well spent.

As I had said in a previous post, I purposely did not watch this season because I was prego and wanted to save it to watch and get motivated after the baby was born. The BL is now 2 hour episodes so with out commercial each episode is two 45 minute segments. I believe there are 16 episodes in the season which means I can watch BL for thirty-two 45 minute workouts. I started this morning. It was so easy to just walk and watch!!

I started out slow as it is my introduction to exercise since quite a while ago. But I walked at a consistent 3.0 for the entire 45 minutes. Earned 4 activity points with Weight watchers and now I am back to even steven. Tomorrow is the big weigh day with my friend. Today I am focusing on drinking my water!

Doing good

So there are things I like about Weight Watchers and things I dont and while it might seem crazy it is the same things that I like and dislike. The flexibility. It is so nice to know that you can eat anything on the plan as long as you stay with in your points but after reading what feels like thousands of weight loss books I still feel conscious of the number of carbs I eat. The good news is that is seems to be working. Today I weigh 226.5 which is my pre-pregnancy weight. I am pretty happy to be here 5 weeks after delivery. Now we will see how hard it is to lose the rest. It is nice to feel 25% done in such a short period of time. I know the last 75% will be so much harder and so much slower, so I just hope not to get discouraged.

I am really trying to eat all of my points as I dont want my body to go into starvation mode, yet I find myself struggling to eat them all. Also, I am so busy..running the kids around, doing errands and house chores that when I do eat I find myself running to things that are fast. These are usually carbs. My goal for the next week is to try to eat more protein even though I know it isn't really part of the WW plan. I am going to the store today. I want to get some cheese sticks, almonds, carrot bites and apples. That way I will have so easy go to snacks that are either protein or at least a better choice of carbs then a handful of cheez-its. Any ideas for protein quick snacks that aren't eggs. I despise eggs!!!

Hungry

Wow..I went way too long with out eating today. I woke up, got ready and had errands to run. It was 1PM and I hadn't eaten. By the time I got home I was so famished I had to eat something fast. So I turned to a bagel and cream cheese and a handful of M&Ms. I am still way below my points values but wishing I picked more responsible food choices.

I did dust off my food scale. I pulled it out and it is ready for use. Now I just need to figure out what to make for dinner.

Rewards

So I am trying to think of little ways to reward myself for pounds lost, I think a reward for every 10 pounds sounds good. One thing I have been toying with is cutting my hair. A couple of years ago, I lost some weight, got tan and grew my hair out. When visiting Boise my friend Shanna gave me the best color job and she flat ironed it. (Seriously I felt like I looked totally different and didnt even know my hair could be that straight. I loved it.) It was the best my hair had looked in years. Yet, those that know me know that I get bored easily and need change. So it has been cut 100 times since then. So recently I have been trying to get it back to that length as that is the last time I remember feeling good about myself and pretty confident. See pic below. But now I am getting sick of it long (and I still have at least 2 more inches to go) and considering cutting it. I cant go to short because it makes my face look fat but I am thinking a cute combo a-line/bob between my chin and shoulders with stacking in the back. Straightening my hair takes time as I have tons of it but I know I can only have uberlong hair for a little while longer and then I will be too old to pull it off. So what do you think?

Weight Watchers

So I got all signed up for Weight watchers yesterday. I am pretty excited. I am doing the online version but doing weekly weigh ins with my friend. There was a free app for my i-phone too so I can track my points easily from there. Yesterday I ate the exact amount of points I was supposed to. I had a sweet tooth last night and ate 15 M&Ms, it was 3 points but worth it. :) Today I am doing well. Not hungry and staying on track. I had a veggie delight from Subway for lunch and it was yummy.

I know I said I was only going to weigh once a week but I was feeling pretty down about the gain. The good news is that today I weighed 229.5 again. Now I am not going to weigh for at least 3 days so I dont get discouraged with the minimal ups and downs. That is the hardest part. When you do so good and the scale doesn't reflect it. I thought it was calories in-calories out. It cant be that easy. I watch the biggest loser and you know those people are burning more than they eat and even they hit plateaus.

Speaking of Biggest Loser, I have not watched the last season but have them all available to watch. I was thinking I could watch them on the I-pad while I walk on the treadmill. What good motivation. That could be another day of exercise.

Starting Afresh

So good news and bad news. We will start with the bad. Since my last post I have gained 2 pounds and now weigh 231. I had a friend visiting from out of town and Easter, etc. No excuse. I am embarrassed that I started a weight loss blog and gained weight. The good news is that my friend from church wants to do the journey with me and you know what I always say "those that weigh together, stay together". I actually got an email from her last night saying that she had been thinking and wanted to blog about our story. Haha. Great minds, think alike. I am pretty excited. Our stories are very similar. She also was thin in high school and has slowly gained weight over the years. We talked about different programs to try and we decided on Weight Watchers online. All the people that I know that have had success have had it with WW. I have done it one other time and didn't really stick with it but I think since we are both going to do it and hold each other accountable we will be better. So, I have officially started today. Going to count WW points. Also, my friend wants to prepare for a 5K as well. I am going to start looking for one in about 3-6 months that we can plan on.

Tonight I am making chicken breasts. I am trying a spice rub recommended by WW. It is oregano, parsley, rosemary and lemon zest. Should be good. If anyone has any good ideas for low point recipes..please share.

I also decided that for the four months I am off, I should utilize my gym membership. I got the newsletter in the mail and in May they are starting Zumba classes. I have been wanting to try them so that is exciting. I love to dance and the friends that I know that have tried it, really like it. I am thinking I will go on Mondays and the days that Hudson has preschool. Not going to bite off more that I can chew for now. I have a group of friends that are walking so I could do that too.

I have already been off work for a month. The next three months will go by so fast!!