I skipped my meeting and ate cake instead.

I didn't go to my Weight Watcher meeting tonight.  Instead I went out, ate marvelous seafood with my family and afterwards ate cake.  Why?  Because it's my birthday! yay! 

I led my mother along on my rebellious path as she is my weight watchers guru and she ate marvelous seafood and cake with me.  She said "worry about it tomorrow". 

But you know what?  I WON'T worry about it tomorrow.  I won't worry about it...ever!  I'll just enjoy today for what it was and then tomorrow, pick up where I left off. 

I'm not in any competition except with myself.  I am on a long journey and, sometimes on long journeys you need a pit stop or two.  And for goodness sake, if you can't take a pit stop on your birthday then what's the use in taking the journey in the first place?

I hope ya'll had just as great a day as I had. 

Exercise Plan - not as easy as it sounds

Before I joined Weight Watchers I had an exercise plan in place.  I have been walking regularly with a friend since September. We had initially decided that we would do a program called "Couch to 5K".  However, once we began walking neither of us really had the, um,  motivation to begin running.  It didn't sound like fun, just something that we felt we should do for our health, but also our weight.

In January we decided we would begin the program. The program has you start off running 30 seconds and then walking a minute... or something like that....and you progress, increasing your running time, until within 6 weeks you are able to run a 5 k. 

Well my friends, it has not been easy.  Maybe if you are a teenager or a 20 something you can progress as quickly as it says, but for my friend and I, not so much.  We have made progress, we are running up to three minutes at a time, five if we really wanted to push ourselves, but consistently three. 

We did participate in a 5k a few weeks ago.  I can't say we "ran a 5k" because there was more walking than running, however, we did finish.

Now, what I will say is that even though I haven't progressed as fast as I would like and I'm not a marathon runner by now, I DO feel so much stronger and healthier.  I remember the first time I bounded up my stairs and was surprised to find I wasn't winded.  I find myself much less tired in the middle of the day. 

One key that makes this work for me is having a friend hold me accountable.  I know she is expecting me to show up at her house every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to participate in this dual torture we have agreed to.  I couldn't do it without her.

So, if you are a interested in a running program, I'd suggest the "Couch to 5k" and if you can get up to running a 5K, Congratulations!  If not, give yourself a little leniency and do what you can.  It does make you feel better.

I Tried to Make a Pie

I made a pie this week using a Weight Watchers recipe.  It was good, but honestly, not worth the points.

I'll share the recipe anyway just in case some of you just love this kind of pie.  It's a lemon pie.  AND, if you aren't counting points it is a really good low fat pie.

6 whole reduced fat cinnamon graham crackers

2 Tbs butter

11 oz fat free sweetened condensed milk

1/2 C fresh lemon juice

2 large eggs

1 Tbs lemon zest

• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
  
• Grind graham crackers in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Or place crackers in a resealable plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Place crumbs in a small bowl.
  
• Melt butter on stove top or in microwave and pour over graham cracker crumbs, mixing with a fork until completely moistened. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom of a 9-inch pie pan; place crust in refrigerator while preparing lemon filling.
  
• In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk and eggs; mix until smooth. Add lemon juice and zest; stir until incorporated and pour into prepared crust.
  
• Bake pie for 15 minutes. Cool completely and for best flavor, serve chilled. Yields 1 piece per serving. 
•  find the recipe here

 Now, each slice is 4 points.  Each slice is also about an inch to an inch and a half wide. sooo...
in my world that equates to four bites at the most.

Now, for those of you who wish to be educated in points,  this is also four points.

For me, the choice is clear.  Although I am a huge fan of lemon, chocolate wins every time!

Me

I didn't take a picture of myself when I started this weight loss journey.  Honestly, I wasn't too excited about seeing myself at that size, nor did I take the measurements they recommended prior to beginning.  Looking back I wish I had.  It is encouraging to see the scale go down but really, I want to  be smaller and I'd love to know the amount of inches I've lost. (though most of it is probably in the boobs!)

So here I am, "officially" 8.2 lbs lighter than when I started, but still about 40 lbs to go.  Please ignore my swinchy face.  I was trying to focus for the camera.

Also, please ignore my HIDEOUS striped wall paper.  That is a project for another day.

Weigh-In

Well last night was the dreaded weigh in.  I lost another three pounds.  A total of 8 pounds.  Not bad for two weeks.

I've had a pretty easy time so far.  I'm learning to make better choices in my food quality and quantity.  For instance, tonight I want chick-fil-a. I've planned my day around my dinner.  I had one of my 2 point smoothies for breakfast, a 7 point lean quisine for lunch and fruit for a snack this afternoon.  So, I can get my diet lemonade, grilled sandwich and yes...a small waffle fries.  It will all fit in my points for the day.  AND since I ran this morning I can have a piece of chocolate for desert at bedtime if I want to.

If this sounds kindof obsessive, it is sometimes.  Honestly, though, it's really not  most of the time.  I just want chick fil a for dinner which surprisingly is REALLY high in points so I need to plan.

I plan on loosing at least 50 pounds so this is what I have to do.

First Purchases

I'm making a list of things I want to get when I hit my goal weight.  Here are my first choices:

Weekends are hard.

In this weight loss journey weekends are hard.  My family is all home, we are going fast forward all weekend and fast food is what naturally goes along with all of the activity.

My husband loves to eat out so we ate out twice this weekend at two different yet awesome mexican food restaurants.  I tried to make wise choices but it's not easy with the amount of food they serve, tortillias with everything and the chips....oh those chips!  I would find myself munching on a chip and not even remembering picking it up.  Habits are really hard to break.

I do know though, that this is a long journey so I'm not too hard on myself.  I know I'll learn better menu choices to make as I go along as well as breaking nasty habits such as instinctively grabbing up the chips.

Oh yeah, also it was my daughter's birthday so, yes, a cupcake did pass my lips.  But I walked twice so it should be okay.

I'm glad to get back to a routine this week.  It's much easier.