April 1, 2010: Update

So, yeah, I definitely thought this weigh in would see me heavier than the last. But! My weight is now 130.1 lbs! Yay!

I have definitely been eating a lot more, but I think my increase in Zumba classes (I usually go around 5 times a week now) is helping balance this out. Now I just need to stop eating crap, which is kind of what I'm been doing recently. :S I did make an awesome baked ziti the other day (with peppers, chicken, and carrots mixed in). But I just haven't been as inspired to cook as much lately. Tomorrow I'm going to make chicken nuggets from scratch (as a trial run for Riley's bday party easter-egg hunt on Saturday). So, that's something, right?

March 18, 2010 - Update

So I haven't posted in a while. On my last post, I discussed how I wasn't going to calculate WW points anymore. Apparently I meant that I wasn't going to calculate points, calories, or meticulously watch/post everything I ate. :/ Which is fine - the point of stopping was to see if I could continue to (a) lose weight and, more importantly, (b) make smart choices regarding food without doing all of the extra stuff.

So, today was the (a?) moment of truth - the first time I weighed myself since stopping. And my weight is .... (drum-roll please) .... 131.7 pounds. Yay! I lost about 2 pounds in a little over a week. Only about 6.5 pounds to go until I reach my goal weight! What's even more exciting is that I think I am now officially considered to be in a healthy weight range (i.e. I am not overweight anymore!).

So, I just thought I would share that with you. I'm still going to my fitness classes - Zumba about 3 times a week; Pilates/Yoga once a week; and sporadic times at university rec center when I want to do a little something. I've cut back on the ab workout at home - I get a great ab workout at the fitness classes. So, come bathing suit season, I hope to rock an amazing swimsuit (not that I go swimming ever - it's more just that I could if I wanted to).

March 9, 2010 - Day 65

***** Weight update: 133.8 lbs *****
So, my weight loss rate is down since that number represents a little less than a pound in almost 2 weeks. But, really. I couldn't be any happier - I didn't gain anything b/c of my conference travels. Yay!

For breakfast

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

1 nutri-grain strawberry bar (130 calories; 2.5 points)

3/4 of a serving of shredded wheat w/skim milk (150 calories; 2 points)

For lunch

Water

Smart Ones 3-cheese ziti marinara (320 calories; 6 points)

For dinner

Water

1 serving of maple dijon chicken w/sweet potatoes (245 calories; 4.25 points)
* Score another for the crockpot! I love using one. It's so easy to throw something healthy together and forget about it, which is great on days that I am watching Riley. Then I can spend more time playing with her!

1 cup of steamed broccoli (54 calories; 0 points)

Snacks

1 Skinny Cow low-fat fudge bar (100 calories; 1 point)

1 Special K strawberry cereal bar (90 calories; 2 points)

A handful of Kashi Crunch! cereal (50 calories; 1 point)
* Sooo good! I love this Kashi brand. Everything so far has been yummy!

Total Calories: 1104

Total WW Points: 19.75

Total flex points left: 35 of 35

Days left in flex points week: 6

Exercise

A little over 45 minutes on an elliptical machine

150 ab crunches

February 24, 2010 - Day 52

So I had every intention of making spinach lasagna today but got side-tracked by going to a movie with Cam in the middle of the day. And depending on how you look at it, this was either a good or a bad thing. Diet-wise: bad; Everything-else-wise: good! The movie theater we went to serves food (pizzas/salads/burgers/etc) directly to you at your seat. Totally amazing. We've done this before at a different theater in town, but this place just opened last fall and is mere minutes away from the university. So, we had to go. Plus it was our Valentine's day gift to each other, since we didn't do anything on the actual day.

So, I ate some food at the movie theater and enjoyed myself immensely! Then I went to the gym and did about 30 minutes on an elliptical machine and some crunches. This wouldn't have been so tiring if I hadn't already done an hour Zumba class before going to the movies. :)

Oh, on a positive note, I weighed myself at the gym. I'm now at 134.7 lbs. Do you know what that means? Less than 10 pounds to go!! Woot!

For breakfast

1 multi-grain english muffin w/peanut butter (200 calories; 3 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1/4 of chicken ceasar salad (265 calories; 7 points)

1 slice of "Cleopatra" pizza (300 calories; 7 points)
* It was a thin-crust pizza with ceasar salad dressing, red onions, and chicken on it. I actually have no idea how many calories this slice is, so I looked around at other thin crusts pizzas and tried to make a best guess. Who knows how off I am.

Water

For dinner

1 bowl of cheerios in skim milk (140 calories; 3 points)
* My "lunch" (which really was around 2:30pm) was so filling that I couldn't have eaten a big meal if I tried.

Snacks

1 Kashi trail mix bar (140 calories; 2 points)

French Vanilla hot chocolate (80 calories; 1.5 points)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 1160

Total WW Points: 24.5

Total flex points left for week: 28.5 of 35

Days left in flex points week (after today) : 5

Exercise

Zumba!

100 ab crunches

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

February 19, 2010 - Day 47

I couldn't resist - I was intrigued to know, even though I usually go a whole week without checking. So, my weight update is 136.2 lbs.

So, now officially my weight loss exceeds the amount of weight I still want to lose. Woo-hoo! On to the size 8 jeans now!

For breakfast

Strawberry fruit and grain bar (130 calories; 2 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

Grilled cheese on multi-grain bread w/fat-free cheese (200 calories; 3 points)

1 clementine (40 calories; 0 points)

Water

For dinner

Shrimp and Zucchini with Ziti in Light Tomato Sauce (450 calories; 8 points)
* I'm a little unsure of the points/calories here. Listed on the recipe I used, it said 440 calories (I upped a bit since I put a little cheese on) but 5.5 WW points. I have no idea how she got that. Granted I don't know the new formula for WW, but still. So, I just put it up to 8. Better to be safe then sorry.

Water

Snacks

High fiber blueberry muffin (160 calories; 3 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

A small handful of animal crackers (50 calories; 1 point)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 1100

Total WW Points: 19

Total flex points left for week: 35 of 35

Days left in flex points week (after today) : 3

Exercise

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

200 ab crunches

February 14, 2010 - Day 42

Happy Valentine's Day! This morning I decided to make crepes for the family. Cam loves them, and ever since I've known him, he's wanted to make them. So I figured this would be a nice surprise and something we could all do as a family. It was fun! Riley loved helping, saying over and over again, "Help Mommy! Help Mommy!" and helped add the ingredients and whisk them all together. I manned the grill, and Cam experimented with different fillings. My favorite was honey and cinnamon; Cam liked them with butter and syrup; and Riley liked hers with honey. These were also super easy to make. Gotta love stuff like that! :)

On another note, my weight is now at 138.5 pounds. While that number represents a slower weight loss rate than previous weeks, it's still a loss of weight. So, woo-hoo there! I'm closing in on having lost more weight versus the amount I want to lose. That's my immediate goal for now. Then it's on to fitting into the size 8 jeans I bought at Goodwill today. I tried them on and I can get in them and close them, although not in a super comfy way. But I'm thrilled I could get them on b/c that hasn't happened in a long time!

For breakfast

3 crepes with cinnamon and honey (400 calories; 8 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 ham and cheddar sandwich on multi-grain bread w/dijon mustard (160 calories; 2 points)

1 clementine (40 calories; 0 points)

Water

For dinner
Continuing leftover weekend, I decided to have:

A half piece of turkey meatloaf (100 calories; 2 points)

1/2 of a cauliflower fritter (60 calories; 1 point)

Water

Snacks

1 square of dark chocolate (57 calories; 1 point)

Diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 877

Total WW Points: 15

Total flex points left for week: 31

Days left in flex points week (after today) : 1

Exercise

A little tennis with Cam and Riley (until Riley decided she had enough of chasing balls, and wanted to go down the slides in the play area)

About 45 minutes on an elliptical machine

100 ab crunches

February 7, 2010 - Day 35

****** Weight update: 139.1 lbs ******
This is the first time I've been under 140 lbs in I don't know how many years! Woo-hoo!

For breakfast

1/2 of an everything bagel w/fat-free cream cheese (170 calories; 3 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 bbq beef burritio (290 calories; 5 points)

1 clementine (40 calories; 0 points)

Water

For dinner

1 roasted chicken garlic sausage (140 calories; 3 point)

1 serving of 3-bean salad w/rotini pasta (230 calories; 5 points)

Water

Snacks

1 handful of chips w/refried beans, cheese, and sour cream (120 calories; 3 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

1 high fiber banana nut muffin (170 calories; 3 points)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 1235

Total WW Points: 24

Total flex points left for week: 28

Days left in flex points week (after today) : 1

Exercise

A little over 30 minutes on elliptical machine

Various weight exercises for my arms (using 5 lb weights)

100 ab crunches

February 1, 2010 - Day 29

So, I weighed myself today, and I've decided that my home scale is completely unreliable. At times it is 2.5 pounds less then the gym scale; other times it is only .5 pounds less. So, I've decided to only use the gym scale to measure my progress. Too bad I always weigh more on the gym scale. :) But, I figure it is more accurate.

So, as of today, my weight is 141.7 pounds. On first glance it looks like I didn't lose any weight this past week, but I need to remember that last week's weight report was done on the home scale. When I weighed myself on the gym scale last week, I weighed 142.5 pounds. So, I lost about a pound this week.

What's also important for me to remember is that since the gym scale is always more than my home scale, I probably didn't weigh 148 at the beginning of this journey, but instead more like 150-151 pounds. So, total approximate weight loss in this first month (I'm only a few days shy) is about 9-10 pounds. Woo-hoo!

For breakfast

2 pieces of multi-grain toast with peanut butter (190 calories; 3 points)

Some cantaloupe (60 calories; 1 point)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 serving of Special K with skim milk (140 calories; 3 points)

For dinner

1 serving of garlic and peppercorn pork (150 calories; 3 points)

1 serving of onions, garlic, and peas (130 calories; 2 points)

1 serving of onions, garlic and sweet potatoes (150 calories; 3 points)

Water

Snacks

1 banana nut high fiber muffin (170 calories; 3 points)

1 diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 1050

Total WW Points: 19

Total "Flex Points" left at the end of the week: 18!

Exercise

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

100 crunches

January 25, 2010 - Day 22

Yuck. I was so tired today, that I couldn't see straight! So after dropping Riley off at day care, I went right home when I should have been going to the gym. Long and short of it ... no exercise today. :(

****** WEIGHT UPDATE: 141 pounds (via home scale) *******
This means that I am down 7 pounds since starting this diet a little more than 3 weeks ago. In fact, I now weigh less than I did pre-pregnancy! Woot!

For breakfast

High fiber oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 bbq beef burrito (290 calories; 5 points)

1 Cutie (aka: Clementine) (40 calories; 0 points)

Water

For dinner

1 fillet of breaded, parmesan dover sole (240 calories; 5 points)
* Not as good as the last time I made it, but still tasty.

1 serving of cauliflower mash (40 calories; 0 points)
* I found the idea for this in a fitness magazine, and it seemed an interesting way to cook cauliflower. The result: Not bad. It probably isn't my favorite way to eat cauliflower (I think it has something to do with the texture), but I'd eat it again.

Water

Snacks

Diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

1 Smart Ones peanut butter cup sundae (170 calories; 3 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 1000

Total WW Points (roughly): 17

Flex points left at the end of my week: 14!!!

Exercise
Nothing.

January 21, 2010 - Day 18

I can't believe I squeezed in some exercise today. Not that it was difficult to do logistically; more that I'm just proud of myself for doing it. Another good thing is that the scale at the gym said I was 144. My home scale said I was 144 on Monday, but I think the one at the gym is more accurate. Either way, I'm definitely losing weight, which is awesome! And I can totally feel it too... my clothes are definitely fitting me better. OH! And someone at work today (who I haven't seen since before Christmas break) said I look like I've lost weight. Woo-hoo!

For breakfast

1 high-fiber blueberry muffin (130 calories; 2 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

A serving of (leftover) sauteed ham and butternut squash (215 calories; 5 points)

Water

For dinner

1 bbq burrito (290 calories; 5 points)

Water

Snacks

1 small piece of dark chocolate (68% cacao) (40 calories; 1 point)

1 small banana (90 calories; 1 point)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

1 serving of animal crackers (120 calories; 2 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 955

Total WW Points (roughly): 18

Flex points left: 30

Exercise

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine
* Not only am I proud of myself for going, I'm proud of myself for doing the weight training program again. At least there were soaps on the TV that I could watch - both Days and GH! I chose GH.

100 ab crunches

January 18, 2010 - Day 15

Today was a MUCH better day than yesterday! And I stepped on the scale this afternoon, and it registered 144 pounds. 4 pounds down! Woo-hoo!

For breakfast

1 serving of high-fiber, maple and brown sugar oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

1/2 of an english muffin w/reduced-fat margarine (90 calories; 3 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 turkey and fat-free mayo sandwich with romaine lettuce on multi-grain bread (180 calories; 3 points)

Some cantaloupe (60 calories; 1 point)

Water

For dinner

1 serving of chicken pot pie (?? calories; 4 points)
* I don't know how many calories this is, because I got this recipe from a friend and I forgot to write down the caloric info (and I didn't feel like calculating it). This is mostly because when I wrote down the recipe I did write down the number of points it was (it was a WW recipe), so I felt that was enough.
* Oh, and this pot pie is fabulous!

Water

Snacks

1 blueberry muffin (130 calories; 2 points)
* This was amazing. I bought Fiber-One blueberry muffins, because I was looking for snacks that were not too bad for me. These are high in fiber (hence the name) and are so good! I was a little worried, because I don't like the Fiber-One cereal, but my fears were for naught!

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

1 package of Smarties (50 calories; 1 point)

Total Calories (roughly): 755 + x

Total WW Points: 18

Exercise
Nothing. Seriously, I have to start doing something again!

January 15, 2010 - Day 12

Oh, today was bad. Real bad. Take a look-sees:

For breakfast

1 english muffin w/reduced fat margarine (180 calories; 5 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

So, it started off alright. But then, I stepped on the scale and noticed I wasn't losing any weight, so instead of getting re-affirmed to stick to my diet, I went the other way. Maybe it was all the rain today. Or maybe it was the incessant TV watching.

For lunch

1/2 pound of on-top-of the stove macaroni and cheese (900 calories; 18 points)

Water

Yeah, that wasn't a typos folks. One half frickin' pound of pasta! The only saving grace (and it's a small one for sure) is that is was the low-carb pasta.

I'm not real sure what happened. I mean, seriously. I was just going to eat 1 serving, and before you know it. Bam! It's all gone. I should not be allowed to eat this meal again without supervision. I love it too much! Ask my husband - I will eat it until I feel sick. That's not good, right?

And the best part? That I didn't even get off my lazy ass to go to the gym, because I was too busy watching a Friday Night Lights marathon. I did do 250 crunches on my ab-lounger. Big whoop.

The upside of eating so much food is that I wasn't really hungry for dinner. So, all I had was a bowl of cereal.

For dinner

1 serving of Cheerios in skim milk (140 calories; 2 points)


Total Calories (roughly): 1255

Total WW Points: 26 - although this is only over my 2 points for my day, I'm actually within my week's points, since I hadn't used a lot of my flex points. But seriously, 70% of the points came at lunch. Damn. I'm pretty sure that's not the way to lose weight, not to mention the lack of fruit, vegetables, and protein in my diet today. Double damn.

Oh, yeah, this was not the healthiest of days for sure.

January 11, 2010 - Day 8

Happy birthday mom! For your birthday I decided to go to the gym! Just kidding. :) Not on the gym part, because I did go there. Turns out that I have a free membership to the university gym. Woo-hoo!

I also stepped on the scale this morning right after I woke up and it was 144.5 (-3.5 pounds off of my starting weight). Weighing myself after my delicious dinner, I see that the scale reads 146.5 (-1.5). So, my real weight is somewhere in there! Yay! I'm doing it! I'm losing weight!

Regardless, I gotta say that after a week into this New Year's resolution, I do feel better - both about myself and with myself (if that makes any sense). I have a little more energy, feel like I fit my clothes better, and just really think this is good for me (both physically and emotionally). So, I'm motivated to go on!

My day -

For breakfast

1 english muffin w/a little butter (210 calories; 5 points)
* I shouldn't have used the real butter on this.

1 orange (well not an orange, but like a tangerine small thing) (25 calories; 1 point)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (20 calories; 1/2 point)

For lunch

1 chicken sandwich with fat-free mayo and romaine lettuce on multi-grain bread (235; 4 points)

Water

For dinner

2 servings of Shepard's pie (450 points; 11 points)
* I absolutely love this dinner, which is why I had that second helping. Shouldn't have, I know. I think it'll be healthier when I get reduced-fat ground beef, which is where a lot of the points came from (well, that and the real butter I used for the instant potatoes).

Water

Snacks

1/2 cup of coffee (20 calories; 1/2 point)

1 rice cake with peanut butter (130 calories; 2 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 1130

Total WW Points: 23

Exercise

35 minutes on an elliptical machine
* This was the equivalent to about 2.7 miles, and I burned a little over 300 calories.
* My goal is to visit the gym at least 3 times a week (MWF). It's easy now since school is out of session. It's going to be harder once the semester starts since it's going to be packed and the multi-purpose room isn't that big. So, I'll have to make sure and scout out the best times to go!

January 4, 2010 - Day 1, Rationale

Okay, here it is... my attempt to hold myself accountable for my New Year's resolution of losing weight. Inspired by the Julie/Julia project (I just saw the movie this past weekend), I figured that writing down a list of food that I ate during the day/how much exercise I got in a journal that no one would see but me wouldn't be enough of a motivator. What I realized (as I was putting my daughter to bed last night) is that I needed to be held accountable at a higher level.

So I decided that each day I will blog about what I've eaten. Now, I'm not putting a time limit on myself like "I will have shed x pounds in y days." But I will say that I would like to weigh at most 130 pounds. Currently I'm 148 pounds, 5' 4", and have a small frame. What that means (according to this weight checking site I just went to) is that I should be in the weight range of 120-132 pounds.

I do realize that just losing weight isn't enough; one should be physically fit as well. This will be difficult for me to do, as I'm not really an active person. But, I am going to try and incorporate exercise to my routine. I can't say that I will do this everyday, but whatever I do (or don't do) I will post here as well.

So, that's it. My New Year's resolution. Even if no one reads this, that's fine. After all, it's for me, and no one else. :)