I’m Ready!

Happy Saturday, everyone.  What a week!  Seriously - I am so glad that we have made it to Saturday.  The market officially opened yesterday and now that we know that operations are working we are in the process of pushing our marketing into full swing.  I spent the morning leaving flyers on the doors of all of our neighbors and then will begin working on our emailing campaign.  The paper has already contacted Zane for an article, and we need to decide if we are going to place ads and when.  Whew!  This is exciting, exhausting, and scary - but from what I understand normal for new businesses.  :)

Today was my first weigh - in at Weight Watchers.  I have had a pretty good week - I worked out every day but Thursday and my eating was pretty good.  It needs to be tightened up a bit - but I was tracking the things I put in my mouth and actually trying to eat balanced meals so I still feel like I did a good job.  I lost 1.8 lbs.  AND my period is about to start so I could possibly see more of a loss than normal next week when I am not retaining water.  So it has started and I am on the slope down.  It is going to be a long road - but at least I have started down the road and that alone brings me peace.

Support is the key to success for me and I know I couldn’t do this without the two women doing this with me.  SO very glad to have them along.  

I am off to get cleaned up and go to Walmart.  Then I will drop back by the store and then come home and work on emails.  And laundry.  

My parents are coming for a surprise visit (surprise for my husband) to see the shop - so that will be nice.  They live about 3 hours from our house so it will be great to show them the finished product.

I am hoping that all of you had a great week too and a nice weekend planned.  Want to read through some of your posts and offer some support as well!

As many of you who have ever done Weight Watchers know - everything is counted in terms of weeks and days and so for the purpose of simplifying my life - I thought that is how I should title my blog.  Almost through my *first* week (back) and so far it has been pretty good. 

Monday morning at 5:30, R (one of the ladies attending the meetings with me) came and picked me up and we headed to the YMCA for a morning deep water aerobics class.  After the shock of the time of morning wore off - we ended up having a really good time at class.  We did a lot of different types of movements (side stroke, breast stroke, bicycling - all this done with the use of a flotation belt and flotation weights) up and down the length of the pool before we finally ended up doing abs in place.  Although not nearly as taxing as aerobics can be - there was a lot of laughing and talking - I still felt that I had worked out sufficiently by the time we were done.  R and I decided that we would attend the class each of the days it is offered in the morning - which is Monday, Wednesday, Friday - and right now I am planning on doing Zumba on Tuesday and Thursday nights.  I also thought I would do some free weights at home and at some point I am going to refocus on the Couch to 5K program.  Right now, though, I am enjoying having a routine that is both doable and enjoyable. 

Eating has also been on task and I am tracking, weighing, and measuring everything.  I have even been keeping track of the margerine on my toast and to be honest I have never done that before.  :)  The only really great temptation I am having to deal with at home right now is a large bag of Hershey’s miniatures (Hershey bars, Krackle, Mr. Goodbar, etc.) I had taken to the Bunco game on Friday night.  I came home with the leftovers despite my protest.  I am still not completely able to leave them alone entirely - however, I have been tracking them if I eat them - and so I am counting them and budgeting as necessary. 

As I have mentioned previously on my blog my husband and I are in the process of opening a meat market - which after a long, arduous process has nearly come to an end.  We are almost ready to open!!  Anyhow - I had planned on attending a luncheon today with a co-worker and so did not pack a lunch before I left the house this morning.  Mid-morning my husband called me and asked me to meet him at the shop to help finish up some paperwork that needed to be completed - by the time I got back to office my co-worker had left for the luncheon and so I was without.  I ended up eating some swedish fish and a tootsie roll - which I logged - but I avoided the leftover pizza in the breakroom - so that was a victory!

I am going to Zumba after work this evening and then will stop by the grocery store.  I am in the mood for hamburgers and have the points and so I am planning on the following for dinner: a hamburger (using 96/4 meat and an english muffin as a bun) with lettuce, red onions, guacamole, some fat free sour cream (I am on a mexican kick lately!), a small baked potato - with fat free sour cream and salsa, and a cup of grapes.  I am also  going to make up a packet of Weight Watchers’ vanilla shakes.  I usually use one packet of mix, 2 cups of milk and 2 cups of frozen strawberries - and then split the shake between my husband and I.  I will be able to get in a serving of milk and fruit and get a treat!

I have to be up again early tomorrow morning so it will be a short evening - as I will need to be in bed at a decent time.  I am getting ready to sit for the exam again (hopefully to finally finish) so I will plan on studying before bed and hopefully not getting sucked into t.v. 

I have been trying to figure out which design I want to use for this blog and so have been changing the background to determine which one is the most appealing to me.  This will do for now - but I may decide to change again.  :p

As I noted in my last post - I did go back to Weight Watchers, but not Tuesday night - I went back this morning at 8:30 a.m.  I have now committed to getting up early every Saturday and attend meetings with two other women.  Hallelujah!  

Tuesday I had the best intentions - but I had a headache by the time I got home and was just not in the mood to go and get weighed.  Just like the Y - I have been having trouble going back to the Weight Watchers.  I have been upset that I have had to go back and have “failed” in m attempt to lose weight. 

Last night I attended a monthly Bunco game that I have joined and at the end of the evening two of the women there began talking about Weight Watchers.  We are all three members of the YMCA and all three have the desire to get back into shape.  We also all three wanted to go back to Weight Watchers, but needed some help getting there.  Before leaving the game last night we decided together to meet and attend the 8:30 meeting together.  And we did.  Then we went to the Y and I did 35 minutes on the treadmill.  Not great, but a start.  And that is what today is - a start. 

I have started tracking my food again and am so thankful to be back at meetings where ideas for food flow freely.  I am glad to be back at meetings that are lively, supportive, and engaging.  I am excited for this journal and to track here my progress.

My goal for the week beginning 6/20/09: To follow as closely as I can the healthy guidelines, to stay within my points, and to go to the gym 5 times this week.  I think I can do it.

I have posted my goal for the total amount of weight I want to lose, but like WW does it I want to break that down into 10% mini-goals (10% of the total loss) - otherwise this could just began to feel overwhelming.  ;)

Due to the busy morning I was not able to eat until nearly 1:00 today - so I have 17.5 points left to eat.  Which is ridiculous, kind of.  

More tomorrow - hope everyone is having a good Saturday!

Well, it has been awhile since my last post.  Although I have continued to read the blogs on this site I have not been posting at all.  However, I hope to amend that and once again try to use this little blog to my advantage and to its greatest usefulness.

Since I last blogged I have started going to the gym again more regularly.  For some reason just starting to go to the gym again seemed difficult - I felt badly that I had slid backwards since the last time I was going continuously and I have found myself struggling with some self doubt and some insecurity.  The wonderful thing about the gym though - and especially the YMCA - is that most people are in process as well.  Which ultimately means that I fit right in. 

Today - I have also made a decision about going back to Weight Watchers once more.  I am going to a meeting tonight at 6 - and am planning on making that my normal weigh in time. I will commit to leaving work early enough to get there - regardless of what is going on.  A time on Saturday or Sunday would probably be more ideal, but if I wait until the weekend I will not go - so tonight is as good as any.  I think that I am ready.  After a lot of thought I believe that the weighing in each week and the structured meetings are what I believe I need to stay on the path - as that is what has worked best for me in the past.  Furthermore, I just think that the overall support of the group meetings is helpful.  I don’t feel quite as alone or strange in a meeting with people who are all working toward a similar goal. 

So hopefully in the coming weeks I will have some really good news about that.  I have decided to add a ticker to my site and track by 5 pounds.  I figure that will seem less overwhelming than the total amount I would like to lose and therefore easier to accomplish.

I thought that I would also begin posting what I am eating again as writing down what I put in my mouth is always a great way to review and improve my eating habits.  Here we are so far for today.  I am assuming that I have 24 points on Weight Watchers (this may change) - but for now this will be my benchmark.

Breakfast:

1 egg (fried with pam), 1 piece of Wheat Toast, and a bowl (approx. a cup) of sliced strawberries and some splenda (total points: 6)

Lunch:

Smart Ones - Lasagna Bake (frozen dinner) and  a banana sliced with Splenda (total of 7 points)

Dinner:

Planned dinner: Herbed Chicken Parmesan, which I will serve with orzo pasta - (I will need to calculate the total points for this) - and a 100 calorie fudge bar for dessert.  (Link to recipe: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=549982)

I would like to exercise tonight, which I think will most likely be a walk with the boys (our dogs - Duke and Tucker) around the neighborhood. 

More tomorrow concerning how I felt about going back to Weight Watchers - and I will update my food journal.