Just Do One Thing

What happens when you are well on your way to achieving your weight loss and health goals and your life turns upside down in ways you would have never predicted?

If You Are Me

Well if you are me, it apparently means that one by one you let all those bad habits that you worked so hard to change creep back into your life one by one.

If you are me, you start skipping workouts with your trainer because he isn’t a good fit and you are being too nice to cut it off.

If you are me, you start eating out more often.

If you are me, you stop ordering something healthy and deserving a treat becomes a common occurrence that you deserve because life is crazy right now.

If you are me, you stop bring your lunch and hit the café in the office building.

If you are me, you stop training  and don’t show up for both your first and then second  (that is now supposed to be the first) half marathon.

If you are me you start having a glass of wine or 2 or 3 at night. (This is the habit that was hardest to break)

If you are me, you stop running and going to the gym.

If you are me, you say you will get back after Christmas is over.

If you are me you get sick 3 times in a short period of time so that your whole and then half hearted attempts at getting back at it gets derailed again.

Oh yeah, and if you are me, you gained back over 30 of the 84 pounds you worked so hard to lose.

Ouch. That hurts to put that out there, to see it in print.

But yes, this is what happened to me after several things happened in my life in a very short period of time.

“It” happens to a lot of people. What is “it”?  It’s called life.  And for me it all started about a year ago.

Life Was

Life was my son being diagnosed with autism and we began the long and stressful process to get him the help he needs.

Life was deciding Mike should stay home with the kids indefinitely.

Life was an innocent visit to a model home that turned into signing a contract to build a new home by the end of the weekend.

Life was selling the house we thought we would live in forever.

Life was downsizing our stuff for said new (smaller) home.

Life was living in a temporary rental after our house sold and the new one wasn’t ready.

Life was moving again 2 months later.

Life was new schools for the kids.

Life was the most demanding audit (at work) that I have experienced in several years.

Life was the holidays were approaching.

Life was the whole family taking turn being sick from October - February - over and over and over.

Life was not sleeping well, staying up too late and not getting up early enough.

Life was feeling too overwhelmed by the thought of planning and tracking food.

The Reality

The reality was there was so much going on for so long that something was going to give. And for me, it was first the food and then the exercise.

I can’t do it all. No one can. Priorities for work, family and health can get out so far out of balance that it is easy to give up the ones where the only person you have to be accountable to is yourself.

A Plan

But, I had a plan. Or so I thought.

After the new year I was ready to go.  I was going to go to the gym at 5:00 am everyday,  track my food and eat perfectly. And I was going to get back to running.

I was going from 0 to 100 on day one.

And most people that have tried to lose weight that way know what happened next.

EPIC FAIL!

After a few weeks I was exhausted. And just didn’t have the energy to do it and by the end of January I was losing steam.

In February I joined a Facebook group to do 50 miles in February. I was on track the first week. And then I got sick again with a cough so bad that I was down for days and couldn’t walk a mile without coughing like a smoker for the rest of the day (and I don’t smoke).

Starting Over

So here I am now. The beginning of March ready to start again.  This time I am trying to take it one step at a time. I’m going back to the basics. I’m tackling one thing at a time.

What is my plan?

Walk 10,000 steps every day for a month. One step at a time.

Starting today.

That is how I started last time. Focusing on one thing.

And I lost 83 pounds in less than a year.

It’s really that simple.

Just pick one thing and do it for 30 days.

It can be the start of something good.

I promise.

How About A Progress Report

The last time I blogged was the day we were leaving for vacation in October. It’s amazing that it has been that long. Life got busy in the fall and I just haven’t made time to do it.

When the new year hit I wrote a couple of drafts, and never put the finishing touches on them.  But enough excuses.

The lack of blogging has not a reflection on my weight loss progress.

This week I was down a total of 65 pounds at my weigh-in! To give a visual perspective to that, here I am back in July right after joining Weight Watchers compared to where I am as of today:

The last time I posted at the beginning of October I had just hit the 40 pound mark – so another visual for you - here I am today and 25 pounds ago:

I am about 2 pounds away from my halfway point. I can’t even imagine what another 65+ pounds will look like.

So what else is new? I guess I would call myself a (slow) runner now. I ran in my 1st 5k on November 4th. Mike and the boys were there to cheer me on at the finish line.  I finished in 48ish minutes and was able to run 28 minutes of that time.

I did The Color Run with some friends last month – we had a soaking, wet, blast and can’t wait to do it again (hopefully with some sunshine)!

In the past month my distance and time has been improving. I have been able to run up to 65 minutes without stopping. This past week I ran 3.12 miles in 43 minutes, my best pace to date – and without stopping. I’m still slow but I have been able to run faster and longer each week.

I signed up for another 5K this weekend, have another one planned for March 9th and if we can manage a trip to California for Easter weekend Mike and I are planning to run the LA Angels 5K.

And you know that same 5K event I did this past November? Well I somehow have managed to commit to run the half marathon instead this November. I have my work cut out for me, but I feel good about being able to get there, and I may even try to tackle another half before November.

My running hero and mentor, Christina (on my right in the picture above) may or may not have used her subliminal running powers to get me to agree to the half – but now I’m in.

In other news, it looks like I may need to go shopping soon. This past weekend was really nice and a bit warmer so I thought I would wear shorts. It was only then that I discovered that I didn’t really have any that fit.

By the way, the shorts in this picture were a bit smaller than the shorts I was wearing in the July picture above.

Trying on the show prompted me to finally try on everything in the closet and when I was done this was all that was left of my shorts and pants….it was crammed full when I started.

This is what I got rid of…

For fun I tried on this dress that I haven’t worn in at least 15 years. I always kept it in the back of my closet. I always wanted to fit in it again…someday.  Well, talk about surprised! I could get it on, (but not zipped in the back). It probably won’t be more than another 15-25 pounds before it really fits again.

(Sorry for the crappy picture!)

That’s the highlights of what’s been happening these past few months. It took me a bit longer to lose this last 25 pounds than the previous 25, but I also did it through a vacation, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and getting sick 3 times between Christmas and January.

In years past I would have gained 10+ pounds during this period and still been trying to get that weight off in February. Instead I kept exercising during this time and ate well 80-90% of the time. I had some weeks with gains, most weeks with losses and was completely back on track in January – mostly because I never really got too far off track.

That is what I call progress.

Monthly Check-In September and Weekly Weigh In(s)

I missed posting my week 14 weigh in and I promise it was not on purpose. We are getting ready to go on vacation and work has been crazy busy. So time was short and life was full. Anyway, let’s get on with it. First here is a comparison from where I started this summer to this week.

September was shaping up to not the best month in the weight loss department. I was sick almost half of the month which really slowed down the physical activity. I hurt my arm in the middle of the month and that resulted in about a week and a half away from the weights.

However, since I am writing my month in review post a few days late I am including my October 3rd weigh in, which rounded out September with a strong finish:

Yes, that’s right I lost 6 pounds this week.

6 POUNDS!!!!

That of course is after having a slight unexplained, no good reason for it small gain the week before.

Let me tell you about that gain first.  I always weigh myself in the morning before my meeting. Last week my home scale said I was down 4 pounds. It seemed a bit high, but I had a good food week, just less exercise.

When I got to Weight Watchers at lunch time for my weigh in the scale said .2 pounds.

Call me irritated. Really.

And I know the normal leader response is to ask how your week was and if you expected it. I don’t like to make excuses and it was not my normal leader asking, so I just said it was a great week.

And I called Mike after the meeting and b**ched about it for 15 minutes. I should have hit my Weight Watchers 10% that day, so I was mad.

Then I moved on.

I had one more weigh in before vacation. I knew I did what I should that week, other than less exercise and that the scale will eventually reflect my efforts. And I really wanted a good week before vacation.

So I dug in and started building back my workouts after being sick. Food wasn't really much of an issue, I had been following the plan consistently and had stayed on track.

When I weighed myself at home I was down 2 more pounds from the week before (including that 4 that my scale had been showing for the past week).

And guess what, when I weighed in I was down 6 pounds for my official Weight Watchers weigh in.

I don’t know what happened with the scale the previous week or why. But I didn’t let the scale control me. I was excited to get my 10% award, another 10 pound ribbon and my 16 week award from my normal leader, Sue. Maybe that is why the scale held out on me, so I could share it with her. Sue has really been the best leader I have ever had in all the years I have tried to follow Weight Watchers. And I do think it has contributed to my success.

When I really look at everything in the grand scheme of things in just about 3 1/2 months (15 weigh in’s) I have lost over 30 pounds. I love exercise. I have lost over 18 inches off my body and I feel so much better than I have in years.

This month I was able to get rid of some clothes that were too big.

Lost weight the week after I traveled to Dallas.

Tracked every single day even when traveling. And even after losing control one afternoon and eating a cold leftover quesadilla that was in the fridge. That ended  up being my dinner, since I blew my points for that day on it.

And although it wasn't my best month with exercise. It sure wasn’t a bad one compared to my past and it was pretty good for a month where I was sick for 2 weeks, dealt with an injury and went on a trip.

I secretly had a goal to be at a total 40 pound loss by our vacation. Which I am so pleased with myself that I achieved, even when I didn’t think it was going to happen.

Now, even though I don’t like really having number weight loss goals of x pounds by a certain date. I feel like hitting 50 pounds off by my birthday at the end of November should be totally manageable and I should even be able to surpass that.

But first I need to survive this next week. We are going on vacation and we will be at Disneyland. I plan to work out at least 5 mornings and have been working on my food strategy for the week.

I hope to post at least a couple of times while I am there on how I am doing and hope to be able to share some tips and tricks that I learned. Vacations for me have always been full of abandon when it comes to food, and I don’t plan for that to happen this time.

WEEK 14/15 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day – DONE
• Balance exercise recuperating from being sick – DONE
• 4 days of exercise – no specific workouts just do something – DONE
• Stay focused to prepare for vacation – DONE

WEEK 16 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day
• Navigate the food obstacles while on vacation, specifically eat 2 meals completely on plan and for the 3rd meal enjoy within reason.
• Allow myself to eat all my weekly and activity points if I want to.
• 5 days of exercise – mostly cardio focused
• Remember it’s really just 7 more days and it isn't like I am never going to be able to eat these foods again. I just don’t need to eat everything.

And now I am off for a C25K run and then we are packing the car to head to California!

How I Stayed On Track While Traveling

I knew it would happen sooner or later. I eventually was going to have to travel while losing weight and I wanted to stay on track with my eating and exercise plan. A little over a week ago I went to Dallas to attend Bloggy Boot Camp. It was a chance to connect with other women bloggers and learn more about blogging. It was also a chance to enjoy a wine tasting party, an appetizer party, a dessert party, you get the idea.

For the  6 weeks leading up to the trip, I contemplated how I would handle this trip. In my past weight loss efforts I would give myself the weekend off and enjoy myself and then promise to get back on track when I got back.

The problem with this strategy was I usually gained a few pounds and then didn’t want to have a gain at my Weight Watchers meeting, so I would skip a meeting. Then one meeting would lead to another, and before I knew it I would have undone any progress I made in my weight loss efforts. This time I wanted it to be different.

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you always get what you’ve already got.”  ~Henry Ford

As I saw it my obstacles to overcome with traveling were:

• Surviving the airport without indulging in high calorie Starbucks beverages and muffins or pre-flight alcoholic beverages
• Surviving the flight without eating the snacks and in-flight alcoholic beverages
• Eating several meals where the food was pre-determined for me and I would have little choice
• Fitting in exercise or making myself exercise

Thinking about them ahead of time (okay, maybe borderline obsessing at times) made me make some decisions ahead of time. Other decisions were made as I went as I judged my surroundings and what I wanted most. There was a lot of conversation happening in my head the three days I was gone.

Plan Ahead

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"

A few weeks before I left on my trip I checked out the hotel’s site for workout facilities. The night before, I packed workout clothes for 3 workouts. I went with the intention of working out right when I arrived on Friday, Saturday morning before the conference and Sunday before I headed back to the airport. I mentally rehearsed this over and over, for weeks before I went. My commitment to myself was just 30 minutes of cardio each day – at a good intensity level.

The day before I decided to pack my own snacks for the airport, plane trip and at the hotel.

I packed cheese for my travel day, plus fruit, nuts, Fiber One 90 bars and pretzel crisps to last me throughout the weekend.

Follow Through and Adjust As Necessary

These were in my backpack easily reachable during flight. I ate a good healthy breakfast before heading to the airport and didn't need anything else until I was on the plane. I was flying Southwest so my options were limited to peanuts and cookies on the flight if I relied only on what the airline provided. I didn't.

I did choose to have a package of peanuts on the plane, but that was only after I calculated the Points Plus value with my Weight Watchers phone app (2 PPV).

When I got to the airport I really wanted Starbucks, and I had held off this long on having a Pumpkin Spice Latte (iced nonfat). I compromised with the smallest size, but later wished I hadn’t blown 3 points on it. It was good though.

At the airport, it was easy to not have a bloody mary at the airport bar. But once on the plane I had to remind myself, no alcohol on the plane either. It was a habit from long ago when I used to travel a lot. I hadn't flown in a few years, so it was easier to break this habit.  I had bought 2 large bottles of water from the airport gift shop and ordered diet coke on the plane. After a quick flight I arrived in Dallas, and shortly thereafter my hotel.

I unpacked and found the hotel map and located the gym before I could decide to do anything else. I wasn't tired, because I had ate light and had no alcohol on the flight. I ate a banana and found the 2nd floor gym.

By 3:00 I was hitting the treadmill for a Couch To 5K workout, then a good long stretch session.

My next obstacle was the evening events. There was an appetizer/wine reception and dessert party that evening with a break in between for dinner on your own. I was sure the food at the party was going to be the high PointsPlus variety and I would have more than I would want to use if I ate any of it and I really preferred to have wine.

Instead of letting my food choices be outside of my control. I checked out the room service menu and instead ordered myself a salad with salmon and light dressing. This was not planned days ahead, just something I considered while on the treadmill.

I was full and satisfied when I hit the reception. I was able to enjoy some wine, meet new people and completely ignore the cheese that looked delicious. Yes it cost me money when there was “free food”, but it wasn’t “free points”. It was yummy and worth every penny. I even had enough points left at the end of the evening to have a couple of bites of bread pudding.

I tracked everything all throughout the day, most  of the time before it even went in my mouth. That is the beauty of the Weight Watchers phone app.

I went to bed happy with myself for following through with my intended plans and making good choices.

Day 1 – Mission Accomplished!

I slept horribly on that first night. It was after 1:00 a.m. when my loud neighbors were no longer keeping me awake. When that 6:00 a.m. alarm went off, the last thing I wanted to do was work out.

I also knew that if I didn’t by 2:00 I would be fighting to stay awake and eating to keep myself focused. So I crawled out of bed and hit the gym. Surprisingly I pulled off a good elliptical workout. I think the 5.8 mph pace was the highest I have done so far.

(The incline and resistance in the picture were the final cool down, it really was much higher than that )

Next it was time to decide what to do about breakfast. We were told it would be a “light breakfast” but it was also sponsored by a meat company. When I had checked them out ahead of time, I saw bacon, ham, and other yummy not so point friendly items.

So I again chose to go with room service, starting my morning off with an egg white omelette with veggies, dry wheat toast, fruit subbed for the potatoes and coffee.

I packed some nuts in my purse and headed to the conference, where I just sipped coffee. The free  breakfast looked yummy, but I was glad I took control of my breakfast choice and saved the points for the rest of the day.

The plated lunch was manageable (chicken, risotto and salad - skipped the bread). The afternoon snack included a fruit along with chocolate covered strawberries, mimosa’s, cheese, chips and salami. I filled a plate with fruit and sipped a mimosa.

The wine party that evening included more yummy offerings, but again I chose to use points for wine and just watched what I ate.

All throughout the past two days I have been using my Weight Watchers phone app to track my food. So I always knew what I had used and what I had left. This helped me make informed choices when I wanted to indulge.

I was invited to join several ladies to dinner at Cheesecake Factory. This could really sound like a land mine for food choices. There were 2 things that really helped. The first is we had to wait to be seated, giving us a chance to look at the menu ahead of time. The second thing was Jennifer, my fellow blogger and new found friend. She is is also on her own journey to better health and following Weight Watchers. So we looked up menu choices and calculated our points together while we waited to be seated.

By the time I sat down I knew what I would order:

A bun less turkey burger and a salad with light dressing on the side. In the past this would have made me feel deprived. But now? I didn’t care. I had an awesome time with these ladies, the great conversation and laughs made the food a pure afterthought.

I did enjoy a “skinny” mojito (4 PPV).

That was my indulgence for forgoing cheesecake

Day 2 – Mission Accomplished!

Sunday morning I woke up and my cold was back with a vengeance. I had been fighting it for 2 days and the freezing cold air conditioning seem to egg it on. I also had searing pain in my calves (maybe too many hill intervals on the eliptical???).

Given the calf pain and how I felt, I did not work out that morning before heading back to the airport. But I was okay with that choice. I again ordered the same room service breakfast as Saturday morning then headed back to the airport.

This time at the airport I stuck with a skinny vanilla latte at Starbucks and skipped the sugary pumpkin syrup. I ate the snacks I brought on the plane, again ordering diet coke and no alcohol. I made it home feeling good about the choices I made over the weekend.

Day 3 – Mission Accomplished!

What I Realized

In the past none of these things would have happened. Planning ahead this time was key for me. Visualizing the choices I wanted to make ahead of time, made it so much easier to make them.

Deciding that I really had control of my food choices was a turning point on Friday. Deciding to spend money for room service and forgo “free food” helped me make choices that I was happy with.

I choose to use my Weekly Points Allowance for wine and forgo higher point value foods. This is what I prefer, and I was completely happy with that decision. You need to decide where you want to spend extra points. Choose one thing that is worth it and you won't feel deprived. If you say no to everything, you probably will.

Exercising the first 2 days helped me feel more confident, energized and alert. I was meeting a lot of new people and listening to a lot of speakers and the choice to exercise was one that I had no regrets over.

Sometimes You Have to Roll With It

I planned on working out on my last day. But my body thought otherwise. I don’t regret listening to my body. Over the following week I had a terrible cold and ended up hurting my arm from a workout (or getting my son out of the car, I’m not sure which so I am going with the workout). I had one of the lowest weeks of exercise I’ve had in a while.

Life happens.

I did prove to myself I could travel and stay on track. I used up most of my weekly points to get there, but it was still on plan. And I tracked everything I ate all week long.

What I didn’t realize ahead of time, but what made a big difference for me was explaining that my blog was about my weight loss journey to the new bloggers I was meeting at the conference. It made me very aware of my choices. Not that anyone was probably paying attention to what I was eating, but because that was in my head I was more intentional about making good choices. Also, meeting Jennifer helped me feel like I was not alone trying to navigate a host of temptations and stay on track.

The payoff?

I lost 1.2 pounds for the week.

I have never actually lost weight after a trip out of town - EVER.

I also came home and didn’t have to worry about getting back on track. I never got off track.

The effort was so worth the reward. Now I feel more ready to go on vacation in a little over a week and stay on track. I still am making my plans, but I know I can do it.

How do you handle staying on track when you travel?

Weekly Weigh In and Never Going Back!

With a little apprehension I tackled something this weekend that needed to be done….

It was time to go through the closet. I am really tired of tugging on my jeans throughout the day. I know it is time to downsize – the pant size that is.

I was pretty sure that I could do a little closet shopping for smaller sizes, but I hadn’t taken the time to explore. The majority of the clothes in my closet were things I had not worn in years. So one by one I started to try them on.

Guess what?!? Almost everything smaller fit. The picture above is the pile of clothes that I  discarded in my quest for pants that did not have to be tugged on throughout the day. At the end of it, I only had 2 pairs of shorts and 3 pairs of pants that were slightly too tight to wear yet.

Everything else fits!!!!

That means when I keep losing I will really need to go shopping!

I do know that it felt so good to pull on so many things today that actually fit and were not too tight.  It’s funny how sizes are so different. I got rid of all of the size 26’s and most 24’s. Most 20’s and 22’s fit but a couple of 24’s weren’t too loose.

This was something I had never done. I have never gotten rid of the clothes that were too big. Today I did.

I’M NEVER GOING BACK!!!!

At least now I don’t have to worry about shopping for a bunch of clothes before our vacation. I just need a couple of things to get through this size/stage.

Now on to catching up on weigh in’s.  I hope to get back to regular posting this week. I have been sick, traveling and altogether too busy. So all of my good intentions have just not happened.

I will be honest, exercise and eating well come before checking in here.

So I have 2 weeks to catch up on. After a small loss 3 weeks ago of .6 pounds, I pulled off a 3.4 pound loss the following week.

Then, I traveled to Dallas for a weekend conference filled with free food and social events. And I still lost another 1.2 pounds.

So that is 4.6 more down since my last weigh in post.

I have been sick almost the entire time. So the exercise department has been a little hit or miss. I think I keep going back too soon and then I end up feeling worse for a couple of days after.

The upside is I exercised 2 of the 3 days I traveled and 1 of the days Mike was gone. It really would have been more if I hadn’t been sick. I had to talk myself into not exercising to let my body recuperate.

Now getting back to a normal week, but I am still sick. I am planning to give myself another easier exercise week which means I really have to watch the food.

WEEK 12 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day – DONE
• Work with trainer 2x – DONE
• Body Pump, Body Flow, Body Combat – 1x each – DONE
• Couch To 5KTraining 3x – only did 2x
• Plan out workouts for next week – traveling and Mike out of town – DONE
• Choose wisely for dinner out with family on Saturday – DONE

WEEK 14 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day
• Balance exercise recuperating from being sick
• 4 days of exercise – no specific workouts just do something
• Stay focused to prepare for vacation

On the Weight Watchers Menu This Week 9/22 - 9/28

I missed last week with our back to back trips and had internet issues this weekend so I am a bit late getting this up for you this week.

This week we added a lunch box to our Bountiful Basketwhich came apples, pears, peaches and grapes. Saving a little extra at the grocery store this week on fruit.

Our regular basket came with lots of sweet potatoes, cucumbers, celery and more apples, bananas and pears. We missed getting a basket the past 2 weeks and it was fun to look for some new foods to make.

Breakfast

Saturday & Weekdays

• Chobani Greek yogurt, 1 container – 3 PPV
• Kashi Go Lean cereal, 1/2 cup – 2 PPV
• Blueberries, 1 cup – 0 PPV

Sunday

• Melt Away Banana Pancakes, 1 PPV each (I had 5 which ends up at 7 PPV)
• Topped with 6 chopped strawberries sprinkled and mashed with 1 tsp Splenda
• Bacon, 2 slices, 3 PPV

Lunches

Weekdays –

• Spring Mix salad greens, 2 cups – 0 PPV
• Roasted chicken, 3 ounces – 3 PPV
• Raspberries, 1/2 cup – 0 PPV
• Grape tomatoes, 1/2 cup – 0 PPV
• Cucumber, 1/4 – 0 PPV
• Crumbled goat cheese, 3/4 ounces – 2 PPV
• Marie’s Raspberry Vinaigrette, 2 Tablespoons – 1 PPV
• Apple or Pear , 0

Saturday –

• Whole wheat tortilla
• Rotisserie shredded chicken, 2 ounces – 2 PPV
• Sprinkle of low-fat cheese, 1/2 ounce, 1 PPV
• chopped tomato, 0 PPV
• Sliced tomatoes with torn basil sprinkled with salt - 0 PPV
• Shredded parmesan cheese, 1/2 ounce – 1 PPV

Sunday

• Garlic Herb Goat Cheese Pizzamade on a FlatOut wrap instead of tortilla - 4 PPV
• Sweet Potato Chips– (using 1 1/2 lbs of sweet potatoes) – 3 PPV per serving
• Fruit

Dinners

Saturday

• Shrimp Tacos with Cilantro Lime Sour Cream– Skip frying and warm the tortillas in the microwave. Cut the oil in the marinade to 1 tsp. Use 1 ounce of avocado per taco. Swap Greek yogurt for the sour cream.  8 PPV per serving (as modified)
• Avocado and Shrimp Salad – I will be substituting shrimp for the crab in this recipe – 6 PPV

Sunday

• Cheesy burger, 3 ounces cooked ground beef with 1 Tbsp. bleu cheese – 4 PPV
• Sautéed mushrooms & onions with 1 tsp. olive oil and 1 tsp. light butter, – 1 PPV
• Collard Green Chips – use olive oil spray instead of oil and sprinkle with sea salt, garlic powder and 2 Tbsp. parmesan cheese – (2 servings) -  1 PPV per serving

Monday – Thursday

• Sweet Potato Vegetarian Chili– To make 8 servings we will be using 1 1/2 pounds of sweet potatoes, 2 14-ounce cans of black beans, 2 red peppers, 2 onions, 42 ounces of diced tomatoes, 4 diced carrots, all spices 1 1/2 times the recipe amount and recuce the oil to 1 Tbsp. We are also substituting non-fat Greek yogurt for the sour cream in the topping. – 8 PPV per serving
• Tomato, cucumber salad with 1 teaspoon olive oil & balsamic vinegar – 1 PPV

Friday

• Pumpkin Flatbread Pizza – I promise to share this recipe – total comfort food at a PPV friendly value

Snacks

• Fruit or cut up veggies – 0 PPV
• Celery with Light Laughing Cow Cheese Spread – 1 PPV
• Weight Watchers String Cheese – 1 PPV
• Fiber One 90 Bars – 2 PPV
• 100 Calorie Brown Paper Bag Popcorn– 2 PPV
• Skinny Cow Ice Cream or Bars – 2 to 4 PPV

Want some other ideas this week? Check out the recipes I have been pinning this week on  my Healthy Eats Pinterest Board.

10 Tips to Making Healthy Restaurant Choices

One of the biggest struggles I face in losing weight is learning to navigate restaurant meals. Making choices that are in line with my healthy eating plans require planning. Below are 10 of the tips I follow to make healthy choices when dining out. Make these habits both before you go and once you get there and you will consistently make healthy choices

Know Before You Go

1. Check the Restaurant’s Website

Most restaurants with a web site include their menus and many are now including the nutritional information for some, if not all of their menu items. You may have to hunt around  the site to find the nutritional information. You may not find it in the most obvious place - the menu page. Look at the bottom of the web page for a Nutritional Facts link. Also try checking their FAQ or Contact links. What you are looking for may be buried within those pages.

In the past few years, several states have enacted legislation that requires restaurants with a minimum number of locations to make nutritional information available on the menus or upon request. The Health Care Reform Act (Section 4205 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010) will require restaurants with 20 or more locations to include the calorie content of most regular menu items right on the menu. The additional nutritional information must be available in writing upon request. Apparently the FDA is still working on a standard, so I was unable to uncover a definite date this will go into affect, but this is good news if you want to make better choices when dining out.

We may start seeing the impact of the law soon. According to a recent New York Times article, McDonalds is expected to begin including the calorie information on their menus this month.

2. Request Nutritional Information Ahead of Time

If the nutritional information is not readily available on the restaurant’s website and you have a day or two before your visit, locate the Contact section on the restaurant’s website and send an e-mail requesting the nutritional information.

Buffalo Wild Wings has this process automated, so within a few minutes of making my request I had a complete list of their nutritional information.

In the FAQ for BJ’s Brewhouse they indicate the nutritional information is available for California and Oregon. I live in Arizona, but I requested the California nutritional data. The menu items are the same.  While the preparation could be slightly different,  I know using this information as a guideline will help me make a better choice. It's still a better option than just guessing at menu descriptions. BJ’s does not include all of the nutritional components (fat, fiber, protien) so if you are on Weight Watchers, like me, you will still have to do a little bit of detective work to compute your PointsPlus values.

3. Check Other Related Web Sites

My two go to sites for restaurant nutritional data are Weight Watchers and My Fitness Pal.

Weight Watchers – If you are following the Weight Watchers program and are a subscriber of e-tools there is a list of many common chain restaurants with the PointsPlus value of menu items. Weight Watchers has a mobile app as well to access e-tools from your smart phone - taking away another excuse if you end up at a restaurant without time to plan ahead.

MyFitnessPal.com – Use the food search to find the restaurant and then nutritional information for many menu items. I find this website to be more comprehensive than most other sites. Many times I start with a Google search for "restaurant name nutritional information". The My Fitness Pal website is generally one of the first that shows up in a search and for me has been one of the most direct and complete websites when looking for nutritional data.

4. Review the Menu

If all else fails on your hunt for nutritional facts for the restaurant that you are going to, study the menu and decipher what appears to be the best choices. Then you will be better prepared once you arrive at the restaurant.

Once You Are There

5. A Kitchen, is a Kitchen, is a Kitchen

If a restaurant has the ingredients, they can probably make your food any way you want it. I do this all the time with my picky son. If he wants a quesadilla and they don’t have one on either the kids or adult menu, I look to see if they have anything made with a tortilla; I know they will have cheese – so,  I know they can make a quesadilla. I worked at Marie Callendar's when I was in college and we had an off menu price list to cover the most common of these requests, and the manager could give me a price on anything else.

If your request isn’t elaborate most restaurants will be happy to try to accommodate you. I wouldn’t ask a restaurant to make me lasagna from scratch (if you are watching your points/calories you are probably avoiding lasagna when dining out anyway). If you want whole wheat pasta with spicy marinara sauce, shrimp and veggies, but it’s not on the menu and all of these items are in other similar dishes, just ask. The worst that will happen is they will tell you they can’t do it.

6. Learn to Say It “On the Side”

Salad dressing, cheese, nuts, and other high calorie items do not have to be eliminated completely. Just use these three little words and you can be in control of how much of them goes on your food and in your mouth.

7. Ask, Ask, Ask

Don’t be timid. Ask how it’s made. Ask if they have nutritional information available. Ask if you can substitute fruit, a salad or veggies for high calorie/high point value side dishes. I’ve seen people ask a million questions about a $5 disposable item and then be too shy to ask about what they are about to put in their mouth. It’s your body and waistline – so care about it and ASK.

8. Learn to Estimate Portion Sizes

There are several tips and tricks to this – but none of them matter if you don’t measure and weigh your food at home on a regular basis. The saying “eyes bigger than your stomach” is no lie.

• Buy a digital food scale to quickly and accurately weigh your food.
• Dry measuring cups and measuring spoons in standard and odd sizes
• Standard liquid measuring cups
• Mini measuring cup - perfect for measuring oils and dressings

If you follow this practice regularly at home, you will better estimate your portions when you are dining out.

This article lists several foods with a visual cue. Here is a round up of most common visual cues you will come across:

• 1 cup = a fist or the size of a baseball
• 1 tablespoon = the tip of your thumb
• 1 teaspoon = the tip of your finger
• 1 ounce = the size of your index finger
• 3-4 oz serving of meats = a deck of cards
• 2 tablespoons = a shot glass
• 1/2 cup = ice cream scoop

Memorize these and you will be better prepared when dining out.

9. Order First

I have had many of my best laid intentions completely derailed by hearing what someone else is going to order. Plan ahead and decide what you are going to order and make the effort to order first.

10. Just Say Hold

To the bread basket, the chip basket, and the fried appetizer. If you didn’t plan for it in your meal, don’t let it hit the table. If you are dining with others, push the basket or plate away from arms reach. If you have to ask for it, you will be more likely to consider whether or not your really want to eat it.

To wrap it up, the biggest key to successful dining out is having a plan. When you are prepared you have more confidence in yourself and your choices. And what you put in your mouth, really is your choice.

Overcoming Gym Intimidation

For most of the past 7 years I have avoided the gym. it wasn’t always that way. But when you need to lose 100+ pounds it’s easy to think that you don’t belong at the gym. Aren’t gym’s for fit and healthy people? It’s what I would tell myself.

I joined my first gym, Bally’s, when I was 18 years old. My mom and I would go together a lot. I was young and in fairly decent shape (although I did think I was getting fat, thanks to the loser ex-boyfriend). It wasn’t hard to work out, just difficult to find the time. Back then, gym’s weren’t on every corner either, it was over 10 miles from home, but for a year or so I managed to get there about 3 times a week.

When I was 19, my mom got divorced and we moved. We found another Bally’s near the new house, it wasn’t as nice or big and it was much more crowded. I started working full time and going to college at night. Finding time to get to the gym was more difficult now. I would go to another location near Mike’s house on weekends, but it was getting harder. Mostly mom and I walked the hills by our new house, but even that was inconsistent for me.

I tried working out in the morning at the gym across from my office. It was the first time I really felt intimidated at the gym. By then I had put on some weight and was feeling a lot less comfortable in my skin. It was the first time I showered at the gym, and now I was having to get ready with 20 other women, a lot of them half naked as they prettied themselves up for their day. I figured out when to get to the showers so that I would be dressed before they got done with their class and were hitting the showers.

When I moved out a few years later Mike and I moved back near where I grew up. I really hated that Bally’s so we joined LA Fitness. I really got into working out for a while. I was doing step class a lot and was going most days, putting in long workouts. However, I knew nothing about how best to work out, so I did the same thing every time I exercised.

We moved again and joined 24 hour Fitness near our new house. It was always crowded and for the next 3 years I would hit the gym very sporadically. Mostly I walked the hills by our condo.

When we moved to Arizona we re-joined LA Fitness. I worked out with a trainer for the first time. But my heart was really at work at the time. I exercised because I had to and mostly only showed up when I was had a training appointment.  I gained a friend (my first trainer, Michelle), but soon my gym attendance slacked off.

A couple years later they opened a 24 Hour Fitness closer to the house, so we moved to that gym. But I didn’t go very often.

For years, Mike really wanted to join a nice gym, one with a lot of amenities. I didn’t want to pay the exorbitant membership fees. I had promised him if one was built closer to our house than the 24 Hour Fitness we could join. I never thought that was possible, 24 Hour Fitness was 2 miles away.

Much to my surprise, driving home one day I saw a sign for a Lifetime Fitness – it was 1 mile from our house. I knew it was over, we were changing gyms – again.

We joined and signed up for personal training together for both of us. This is where my experience with personal trainers really turned me off (a story for another day).  The upside of the gym being close is we went a lot.

Then we moved again. I tried to go to the other Lifetime location on our way to work, but it just was not a regular thing going. We were building a new house and temporarily living in an apartment. We used the apartment gym some, but I was no longer in the habit of going to the gym.

We moved in our new home and set up one of the bedrooms as a home gym. How hard could it be to work out if all you had to do is walk down the hall?

Apparently it wasn’t easy, because other than another brief stint at Lifetime, I wasn’t working out much. Occasionally, I walked, but never did get a consistent workout routine going.

For about 10 years at this point, I now felt intimidated at the gym. I was overweight and didn’t feel like I belonged there.

Mike joined Mountainside Fitness for a year and then joined our city’s recreation center, Tumbleweed, which is where he still goes. We have a family membership to Tumbleweed. I have been once.

It was almost 2 months ago that I wanted to add weight training and try working with a personal trainer again. We received a flyer for a new gym, You Fit, close to the house that was inexpensive to join. So I decided to give it a try. It was the first time since I was 18, that I initiated joining a gym. Usually Mike was the initiator.

Pretty quickly I started to feel comfortable at the gym. At YouFit, it never feels too crowded, it is spread out nicely. The people were very friendly and welcoming. I also was blessed with a new trainer, Michelle. She has completely made me overcome my past 2 bad experiences with trainers.

I didn’t let my comfortableness at YouFit last too long before I pushed myself out of my comfort zone again by adding Fitness Works to the mix. After trying a spin class I wanted access to more fitness classes. The do not have classes at YouFit, something that didn't matter to me when I joined.

I joined Fitness Works, but I was back to square one with gym intimidation again when I started going to classes.

I felt completely over my head in Body Step and Body Combat – I wanted to cry when I first took these classes, because I didn’t think I could do them. I felt out of place. I try not to look around too much in class. I realize I am probably one of the largest people in there. It is so easy to compare yourself to others in those situations. I do see other people other people appearing to struggle like me at parts in the class and I have seen a few of them leave in the middle of the class. I just wouldn't let myself do it.

I tried Body Pump (weight lifting) and Body Flow (Yoga) and these two classes made me feel a bit more capable. I loved them both and can see why there are a lot of Body Pump fans out there.

In Body Flow I still struggle in the plank section, but I manage most of the class just fine – (thank's to my trainer!). I now try to fit this class in once a week. It may not burn a lot of calories, but it makes me feel like I am doing something kind for my body rather than making it pound through another workout.

In Body Pump I started by following the newbie advice and used the lowest amount of weight (5 pounds) which was actually too easy for some sections and perfect for others. It would have been easy to think I could do more, since I have been doing weights with my trainer and I know I can lift more on some areas. But when you are focusing on one area for 6 minutes straight, the amount of weight you should use is definitely different than when you are doing 3 sets.  Each Body Pump class that I have taken since, I have challenged myself with more weight.

I kept going to Body Combat and after a few classes now I am starting to get comfortable. It is the hardest class I take, but I won’t give up. The instructor is my friend/co-worker Cindy (instructor from spin class) and she is a big reason why I even wanted to add fitness classes to my routine. She definitely motivates me to come back every Tuesday morning at 5:15 a.m. ready “to fight”.

Body Flow, Body Pump and Body Combat are now part of my weekly workout routine. I am also working out with the personal trainer twice a week and have recently started the Couch to 5K training program. I love the variety and it is a big part of what keeps me interested.

Who would have known down this long road of cancelled gym memberships that I would actually one day initiate joining 2 gyms at the same time, show up 5 – 6 days a week and love it!

Are You In Control or Do You Let Things Happen To You?

I woke up this morning at 3 a.m. and couldn’t breathe through my nose and it hurt to swallow. I have managed to dodge most of the colds in this house, and now I am definitely getting one right before I I will be leaving on a plane to Dallas on Friday and spending a weekend meeting lots of people and getting some blog and social media education at Bloggy Boot Camp.

When I got up a few hours later, I rummaged through the medicine cabinet and found some Airborne. I am hoping it will work, but skeptical since I had no idea cold was coming until I woke up with it.

It does explain why my workout last night with my trainer was so lousy. I had felt fine all day after doing Body Combat yesterday morning. I have been doing a double workout Body Combat and working with my trainer on Tuesday’s and other than being sore I have been able to push through them without much of a problem. But last night, I just thought it was because it was hot in the gym (they really needed to crank that a/c), and possibly because we were doing some different exercises. Now I realize I was probably coming down with this cold.

I am going to try extra vitamin C and extra sleep and see if I can kick this before Friday morning when I get on that plane.

The morning continued to “improve” when Nicholas and I got in the car to leave to school and click-click – dead battery.  Really! That is a “wonderful” thing about living in Arizona, you can count on your car battery dying every 2 years – even if it is a 6 year life battery. That is why I have time to write this post now.

The silver lining…when I called AAA they said since they had replaced the battery when this happened 2 years ago – the day we were leaving for vacation – that it was under warranty for 3 years and would be swapped out for free.

On another note – I really wish I did not see these in the vending machine at work this week.

I have completely avoided the vending machine since starting Weight Watchers, and then a few days ago these caught my eye.  On Monday I didn’t have enough points planned in my day and really wanted something crunchy – so I gave in. For a vending machine snack, they certainly weren’t diet damaging. At 3 points they hit the spot for a crunchy salty snack.

It is just that I worked hard to break the vending machine snack habit and I don’t want to repeat it. When getting the pop chips I noticed several other decent options in the vending machine. Great for an emergency, but a habit I don’t want to fall back into.

I know I can have this if I want to, I just have chosen to limit most processed foods when it comes to snacking – especially at work. I try to stick to fruit and string cheese.  I allow for Fiber One 90 bars and Skinny Cow ice cream several times a week, so I haven’t eliminated it completely and I don’t intend to, but I do plan for those treats and make eating them a conscious choice, not an impulse decision.

That has been the difference for me these past 3 months. I have changed the way I talk to myself. What I eat is a choice I intentionally make.  I don’t say “I can’t have certain foods”, I make a decision that I don't want to eat them. I say “I don’t want vending machine snacks”. If I think I may want to eat something, like the Filipino egg rolls at a recent work potluck, I look up the PointsPlus value first and then decide if I really want it. Each egg roll was 6 points, that day it wasn’t worth the points. So I skipped them.

In the past, I would have eaten 4-5 egg rolls at least. Later, IF I even looked the points up at all I would have felt screwed by how many points they were and tried to rationalize how much I ate.

It is like that with exercise now too. I don’t think I am so big that I can only walk. When I started working with my personal trainer, I decided that I chose to do this so I was going to push myself to complete every exercise and every workout without saying “I can’t”. I know that I am not always doing the move to the full extent, put I am doing it to my full extent. That is what matters.

Fitness classes are still hard for me to keep up with at times, but I don’t let the hard part stop me from finishing a class. Yesterday morning at Body Combat I was less winded throughout the workout than I had been 2 weeks ago, I was able to keep up more and that was with sore knees from my Couch to 5K training the night before.

I have used every reason excuse imaginable about why I was overweight and when I think about them now it all sounds very much like a victim, I was passive and let it happen. Now, I am in control of my life and I control my choices.

I have over 100 pounds to lose because of letting things happen. That was the past.

I will lose over 100 pounds because I have taken control of the choices I am making now.

Take control.

On the Weight Watchers Menu This Week 9/8 - 9/14

I have been trying to get this post up for a couple of days now. This week is not too exciting  as we are having lots of leftovers througought the week as we get ready for Mike and I to be on back to back trips. So we skipped our Bountiful Basket this week and kept things easy with a crock pot meal.

Breakfast

• Saturday & Weekdays – Greek yogurt, Kashi Go Lean cereal with blueberries
• Sunday – egg and egg whites with mushrooms and peppers, toast with Laughing Cow spread and bacon

Lunches

• Weekdays – Bean burrito (whole wheat tortilla, non fat refried beans, low fat cheese and tomato), fruit
• Saturday – Garlic Herb Goat Cheese Pizza - I used a Flatout wrap instead of a tortilla, Laughing Cow sun dried tomato and basil mozzarella wedges and I skipped the fresh basil, because I didn't have it.
• Sunday - Leftover BJ's Brewery Vegetarian Pizza (1/2 of a mini pizza - 7 WW Points Plus)

Dinners

Saturday - Family night out BJ's Brewery Vegetarian Pizza (1/2 of a mini pizza - 7 WW Points Plus), chicken noodle soup (2 WW points plus) and 6 tortilla chips with salsa (2 WW Points Plus) **

Sunday – A normal weekend dinner for us

• Cheesy burgers with sautéed mushrooms & onions (no bun)
• Baked Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries with light ranch dip (light sour cream and ranch dip mix)

Monday – Thursday

• Chicken Chili in the crockpot - I'll get the recipe up for this tomorrow. It is 6 points for 1 cup and very filling and perfect for fall.

Friday - I'm in Dallas and Mike is on his own for the night

Snacks

• Fruit or veggies
• Pumpkin Smoothie - I have been pinning lots of pumpkin recipes lately. You
• Weight Watchers String Cheese
• Fiber One Bars
• Popcorn
• Skinny Cow Ice Cream or Bars

Want some other ideas this week? Check out the recipes I have been pinning this week on  my Healthy Eats Pinterest Board. I have lots of recent pumpkin recipe pins. Now I need to stock up on some pumpkin.

** The points I calculated for BJ's Brewhouse were based on the calorie information I received from BJ's for their California restaurants. They do not provide all of the information,  I found comparable pizza and soup  with similar calorie counts at other restaurants and used that to estimate the points. I usually don't use all my weekly and activity points in a week, so I know if I am off a couple of points I have a cushion.