Proven once again!

Joining Weight Watchers before my mind is "set" is a complete waste of time. I re-joined for about six months, and was re-introduced to everything that made me dislike it in the first place. Our group seemed to concentrate on processed foods as being the salvation because of low point values, in some cases. These foods are so full of sugar for me that they are not an option, and not the way that I want to go. However, I was re-introduced to the fact that everything we eat counts, and if nothing else, this whole episode made me face the scale again!

Here we are, at the brink of another year. A friend of mine has lost a lot of weight this past year following "Calorie King". This was successful because she paid attention to what she ate and when her calories are "done", she is "done" eating for the day. Surely this is not too difficult a concept for me to learn!

Holiday events are almost done, there is a gym in my community (which I have been using!) and so here the ride begins again! Will 2012 be the year? And, just how many days are left until bathing suit season begins????

Stuck in Traffic

Weight traffic, that is. I have made very little "headway" since starting a year ago, and have basically given up on Weight Watchers. Not that it isn't a good program, but I was not doing my part. Waiting to get weighed, and then gauging my efforts on those numbers was just not good. So, for a while, I am going to weigh myself two times a week, with a new scale, in the morning, so I do not have the excuse that it must be the day, the clothes, etc.

To reach my goal, I am going to have to lose 43 pounds, give or take a few ounces. Trying to stay off any junk food, and overt sugar. Walking on the treadmill or outside. Walk more, eat less. That is the plan!

Finally!

A little bit of progress to report, although it is very little! At least the scale went down a bit, thanks to not eating out quite as much and perhaps getting a little exercise in. Again, can only say that the people who are having great success....get this! ...follow the program! They count points, they exercise regularly, and keep track. I have only managed to do this on given days. Which is why I am having little success.

However, I am still going to meetings, and "facing the music". Getting with the program can't be far behind!

Long Absence....

It has been several months since I last reported "in". Suffice to say, I am still working on my plan with W.W., but all I can say that is successful is that I continue to go to meetings. Christmas got in the way, winter got in the way, and I am way lazier than I was in the fall. Have "played" with the same few pounds for the whole month of January. Haven't tracked food intake, so that has been a huge mistake. Have renewed for another six months. Time to start tracking, and think that maybe having the tracking on the fridge might help. Seem to have fallen into the habit of eating in the evening. Bad mistake. Need to report here to keep true.

Why I love and Hate Summer!

Having a great summer with many events to attend and host. Nothing major, but all involve food and many involve restaurant eating. Had two lunches out this week, three dinners out at restaurants, guests over twice, and a party to attend. Now, considering all of this, I managed to only add .2 pounds to my weight. AAAGGGGHH! Keep in mind that if I hadn't gained that .2 pounds, and had only managed to lose .1 more, I would have jumped to a lower "decade" in weight. That would have sounded so much better in terms of numbers. 

  The real kicker was when I discussed this with two pros at W.W.  They tell me that they don't drink a thing after 2 p.m. of weigh-in day....and I had been guzzling water, and tea all afternoon! Will have to try their method next week and see if my efforts show. Wish I had a morning weigh-in, and then I wouldn't blame it on jewelry, glasses, clothes, water, meals, extra mascara, etc......

  This week....one major event, and out of two for two days. However, since that is life, and I have to cope with that, I guess I will just have to do my best, and hope for good news next Tuesday night!

Slowly but Surely....

Did manage to lose another pound this week at weigh-in. Felt as though I had made a great effort, and then I realized that we had been out for more meals than I realized, and this is an area which gives me great problems. No matter how I think I am doing in terms of portion control, etc., it seems to get the better of me. So, I should not be surprised at this very gradual weight loss. The fact that the scale showed up four pounds heavier after the June feasting, (I got away with it for a few weeks! Didn't show up on the scale!)  means that I have been fighting to get that off. Used to be a whole lot easier to take weight off! What is that about? Has my metabolism slowed down to NOTHING in my "old age"? Could it be that my poor body has been on diets so often that it is not going to be fooled into giving up weight so easily this time? (I think my first diet started when I was below my ideal weight! What was I thinking??)

   My goal this week is to track at least four of the days. Write it before you bite it....we'll see!

Buffets...the scourge of a dieter's existence!

After having three very successful days at sticking with my program, I found myself at a huge buffet out of town today for the mid-day meal. The one good thing I can say is that it was the early meal. I could add that I had walked for an hour early in the day, and that after the meal, I walked for around 1 1/2 hours, and some of that was uphill. I could also say that although I ate more than usual, it seemed that I tried a bit of what was on my plate, rather than eating everything. Yes, I had dessert, but half of the choices I had taken. The buffet, it seems, was not the bad part. Dinner on the way home was more than I needed, although I opted for a side salad instead of fries. Have avoided regular hamburgers for three weeks, but had one tonight. Could have lessened the damage by having the kids' size burger. Hindsight is 20/20....and then having eaten more than normal all day, somehow, peanuts fell into my mouth tonight when we got home. Had never read the nutritional info about peanuts before. Not good in terms of calories, particularly after a heavy food day. Hope that I learned my lesson and can stick to something tomorrow!

Limited Success....

Since the last post, I showed a gain at Weight Watchers  (all of my sins catching up with me from June feasting), and thankfully, since the "kick in the pants" at the doctor's office, showed a 2.2 loss this week. Eating less and way better choices. I know that by purchasing six months of meetings I have done myself a favor. Too easy to quit when I go week by week. I actually stay for the meetings, and have learned lots from people who have had great success with their programs. One person has lost over 150 pounds! Now, really, since I don't have nearly that to lose, surely I can make some headway here. Support is great, though, and since I go to the meetings with some friends, it is a commitment for all of us. 

  Finally, going in the right direction....plus an hour walk every morning! About two months of this routine, and I hope that it will become habit, and just a part of my life!

Dose of Reality

Playing around with dieting all of this time and accomplishing nothing has brought me to a bit of a health crisis....just into the numbers that say I am diabetic, and cholesterol numbers are too high as well. Is this what it takes to get me moving? I have convinced the doctor that if I do not have healthier numbers in three months, then the medication would start. So....game on. Nothing like a dose of reality/kick in the pants to motivate a person. Amazing how my eating habits have already changed!

It takes a Watch dog!

Finally, after thinking that I would do a program on my own, I joined Weight Watchers and am attending the meetings. Despite having had numerous "special occasions", I have managed to lose 3.6 pounds in the last few weeks. This is certainly better than I would have done on my own. There is something about "facing the music" for me. It can't be confessing to a friend, or setting up a personal program, it seems. I must need the structure at this point in my life, and to that end, I have joined for six months. I expect to see moderate weight loss, but a year from now, I will be certainly happier and healthier, and very likely, thinner. I have joined Weight Watchers so many times in the past, but this time, I have a group of friends going with me. Some extra insurance that I stick with it. Will keep all "posted"!

Inspiration!

Love those success stories! I have needed some inspiration to get at and stick to the W.W. that I have wasted a whole month of subscription to! I am going to have to join the actual club, I think, to have the "watch dog" of the scale. Somebody else weighing me would be a good thing. However, I have found a blog today that will be a major source of inspiration. Visit Cara's blog and read about her success story. She has reached the milestone of 100 pounds!!! Amazing! Surely, if she can lose that weight slowly and steadily, then I can make a decent attempt to lose the thirty pounds that would make a huge difference to me. Starting......now!

Thirty Days makes a Habit

A first success a few years ago was inspired by reading a book which stated that it takes at least 30 days to instill a habit. I recall walking every day for that thirty days, and continued that habit for over two years. (It takes a lot less that thirty days to turn a habit into dust if you stop doing it. I found that out without reading a book!)

  So, I guess that is what I have to do. Surely, I can do that for thirty days. If I think it isn't working, I guess I can stop it. I have a feeling that if I did do that, (exercising and trying to stick to some sort of a program), I would see some results. 

  That will be my plan. Stay tuned.

Lessons to Learn

Joined W.W. online about two weeks ago. Have paid little attention to it because I have followed the program before and think that I know it all. If I knew it all, I would not be following a program again, now would I? Typical of anything like that that I start. I start applying all of the lessons from other programs instead of following the one I should be concentrating on. 

  However, I did take some time to look at some of the information on the W.W. site. I looked at restaurants, and the points value, and took a quiz. Found out that there is a lot to learn on the site. Found out that I don't know everything. Found out that I should really try to follow the program that I spent hard-earned money on rather than just thinking that it is going to work without any effort from me. 

  We'll see.

My relationship with Cottage Cheese

There are some foods that one just naturally thinks of when thinking about dieting. One of them is cottage cheese. Perhaps it is because by the time that you choose to diet, the cellulite that you are gathering on your body resembles cottage cheese. Not sure, but it might be a plausible theory. 

  I brought cottage cheese for lunch earlier this week, and managed to finally have that as the "lunch" today. Other foods, just about anything, really, would drag me away from my virtuous intentions, causing me to snub that cottage cheese. (which is really quite good if you top it with pineapple and chopped walnuts!)

  But worse, is the fact that I seem to think that by joining something, it will do the work for me. Joined W.W. online over a week ago but really have paid little attention to it. Makes me wonder if it is stubbornness or apathy. Not sure. Menopause? Don't know. Probably don't care. I guess I will have myself to blame if things don't turn around soon. What they say about being in the right frame of mind is the first step. Wanting to do it for myself. 

   But there is that wedding we have to go to in August. Maybe I just found my inspiration....

What program?

Though I am supposed to be doing an "online" program, I haven't referred to it in days. Could it be because I have tried to do this so many times before that I think that I know it all? Weekends are always difficult, although getting through the first two meals of the day are not usually the issue. Dinner out is always an issue. No dinners at home the last three days! And one more dinner out tonight. Can just hope to "hold it together" for most of the day and no nighttime eating. 

The Three Deadly Sins

These are the three sins that I can confess to committing today. I guess the only good thing is that I now notice them. Portion is a big issue. Must watch that, particularly with things like pasta, and finger foods. The second sin to which I must confess is that in a social situation (there were two today!), I am still too "green" with the tracking not to lose control. This means that I can either avoid those situations, or try to be painfully aware that there are going to have to be things that I just shouldn't even START to eat if I can't control the portion and the poorer food choices. 

  Tracking all of the food while I am planning the day would be better, too. I am putting good thoughts out there that I am going to "get it" before my three month stint on W.W. online is complete!

A Good Incentive

I rarely allow pictures to be taken of me. Now, I know why. I found one that was taken a while ago, and it is funny how one doesn't see oneself like the camera does. Might be a good idea to keep that picture around somewhere for the times that I think I might just forget about following any sort of program.

  Need to refer to W.W. online, but at least the choice of foods has been healthier. Tomorrow is weigh-in day....

Tracking one's progress

This would be a lot easier on this program if one had a computer handy all day long. However, knowing that there were "points" in question, it did seem easier to keep track of food intake, even if it wasn't all tracked officially today. Also, very good that it was a busy day with a lot of structure...and not a refrigerator or cupboard in site. Just what was packed, and of course, in the morning, I am full of good intentions, so nothing "extra" ended up in the packed lunch today. My ten thousand steps were more like four thousand, though. One step (no pun intended!) at a time!

A Plan

Have been floundering with these posts, probably trying to rationalize myself out of following any plan, and following bits of the ones that I have used in the past, and not sticking to any one in particular. Decided that I need a more definite plan, and for that reason, and since I am spending so much time at the computer anyway, I have joined Weight Watchers online. I have done this program by attending meetings, but found that I go for a while, and then stop. I will be committed to this for three months at least, and at least I will be able to see how/when/why I turn to the wrong food. Not to bore anyone with the details of any plan, but suffice it to say that this will help me with the factual stuff, and I can do the "discovering" part here while I try to change my evil ways! 

   And, weigh-ins are on Wednesday. Hope that I can report a small change from last Friday's weigh-in...and a change for the better!

Starting point

Did it. Faced the scale. Not going to mention any numbers, but suffice it to say that I will start with the first 10 pounds, and now at least I know the starting place. Every Friday. Facing the music!