Day 5–Monday 6/25– A Weight Watcher Repeater

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I am a Weight Watcher Repeater. I have followed and quit this program so many times I have lost count.

I joined for the first time in 1990 or 1991. I had about 15 pounds to lose. We didn’t have points then, we had exchanges. I had never followed a structured program before and I didn’t last long. I would re-join and follow the program almost every year after that.  I would lose a little bit of weight and then “life” would happen and I would get off track and quit. It would take me several months and then I would get frustrated with myself and re-join. Cycle repeat.

Does that mean it doesn’t work? I don’t think so, every time that I quit following the program before was because I didn’t work.

In the meantime I tried other diets some crazy some not. I always came back to Weight Watchers. Why? I know it works. It’s flexible and sensible. There really isn’t a lot they say you have to do. I know the program works when I work.

Did you notice I said quit not failed? Making the needed changes to live a healthy and active lifestyle is hard when you have been reckless with your eating and sedentary. Nothing worth having in life is going to be easy, and this takes work.

Shopping, planning and preparing food. It’s fun at first, but it becomes work. I re-joined Weight Watchers this past week because I feel really ready to do the work.

So this weekend I did some work. I read everything I was given at the meeting this week. I went to the grocery store after Mike had already done the shopping for the week; but I was now in search of healthy snack options. I planned to save most of my Weekly Points Allowance for the party we attended Saturday and to enjoy our Sunday breakfast and a meal Mike was cooking Sunday night. I tracked my points and I dragged myself out of bed to start walking again.

I am writing this now, not because I am already feeling the pain of the work. Quite the opposite I am excited about getting healthy. I know later I will need to remind myself of all of this. When I am not excited about getting healthy, when life gets in the way and I want to quit. When I blow it one week and think I can’t do this.

I can do it.

If I do the work.

Day 4–Sunday 6/24/2102 – I Started a Blog

 

I’ve blogged before. I actually have 2 other blogs. But, I have never really blogged about my struggles with weight loss other than a brief mention. I never wanted to put it out there for my friends and family or anyone else to see or find if they searched for me.

But yesterday I started contemplating it and by today I had the basic design set up and a domain name registered. By the end of the day I was catching up on entries from my first week on the Weight Watchers PointsPlus program.

My intentions is for the blog to keep me accountable. I plan to share what I am learning, what I am cooking and eating, tips and good ideas I find and what is and is not working for me. Whether this is read by no one or read by thousands it doesn’t matter, but I will be writing. And if my story helps even one other person beside myself that’s a bonus worth writing for.

I have realized since I hit 35 and had babies that weight loss got a little harder than when I was in my 20’s and early 30’s.  The body was more forgiving then.

I also did not have kids until I was in my later 30’s. It was a lot easier to have a schedule that accommodated exercise and eating well; this of course affects anyone with children at home, regardless of age (yours or theirs).

The title of the blog domain GettingHealthyInTheMiddle.com refers to losing weight after 35. But many of the “opportunities” we all face on our road to getting healthy could affect anyone on this journey, whether you are 20 or 70.

I do think my reasons for wanting to lose weight are a lot different than when I was in my 20’s.

Back then, I wanted to wear a certain size clothes. I wanted to get back to the weight I was in high school. I wanted to look good in my wedding dress.

Now, I want more energy to keep up with my kids. I want to stop taking blood pressure medication. I want to avoid having a heart attack as a result of being overweight.

Sure it would be awesome now to look and feel good in my clothes, but now that is just icing. In my 20’s that was the cake.

Day 3–It’s A Party–6/23/2012

  I did it! I got up early this morning and headed out for my first walk. It was 6:00 am and it was already a “too warm for an early morning” 82 degrees. It went fast and I enjoyed it, so why is it that I act like it is a huge chore?

I was blessed with a quiet house this morning when all of my boys slept in late giving me a chance to enjoy a cup of coffee and finish reading my Weight Watchers materials.

Tonight we are going to a birthday party. I almost postponed starting Weight Watchers this week knowing we were going to this party. The reality is there will always be an excuse to put it off, and I have to learn to work around these obstacles.

Last night when I got home from work I was hungry and we didn’t have any snacks that sounded good that were worth the points. I headed to the grocery store this morning in search of some point friendly snack options and here is what I found:

• Jolly Time 100 Calorie Popcorn Bags – 3 points
• Fiber One Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies - 3 points
• Weight Watchers Smoked String Cheese – 1 point
• Sara Lee Delightful 100% Whole Wheat, 2 slices – 2 points
• Sargento Ultra Thin Provolone, 1 slice – 1 point
• Kraft Chipotle Mayo – 1 Tbsp. – 1 Point
• Green Giant Broccoli and Cheese Sauce Steamers – 1/2 bag – 2 points
• Weight Watchers Vanilla Fudge Swirl Snack Size Cones – 2 points
• Blue Bunny Sweet Freedom Snack Size Raspberry Vanilla Swirl Bars – 2 points

Several tasty options to fall back on this next week.

I navigated the party decently by eating light all day and planning to use my weekly point allowance at the party.  I ended up using 19, mostly to cover my wine points. I skipped dessert and drank it instead.

Now let’s see how I survive the rest of the week with half my weekly allowance gone.

Day 2–Friday 6/22/2012 - Dodge the Brownies and Friday Night Pita Pepperoni Pizza Recipe

My good friend Jen is having her big 4-0 tomorrow and we celebrated with her at work today.  There was not just one, but two batches of brownies brought in for her. I was able to ignore them today. It is much easier now when you are in the first days of the program and starting fresh.  You are so gung-ho to stay on track. It is easy to pass up those gooey chocolaty treats.

A week ago I would have tried both kinds. A month from now I may work it into my day. But not today.

Tonight I am looking forward to our standard Friday night pizza and wine. At least I was looking forward to it until I put the recipe into e-Tools and saw how many points it was going to cost me.  Our homemade pizza with Boboli whole wheat thin crust, light sauce, part skim cheese, turkey pepperoni and mushrooms was going to be 15 points.  I usually eat half of it. It doesn’t seem like a lot, 4 small pieces. I am not even stuffed after eating it.

But there it was on the screen staring back at me, 15 points. That just isn’t going to work for me.  It isn’t worth starving myself all day.

Time for plan B.

Friday Night Pita Pepperoni Pizza

• 1 whole wheat pita pocket
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1/4 cup Ragu Pizza Sauce
• 1 1/2 oz. part skim mozzarella cheese
• 7 slices of Hormel Turkey Pepperoni
• 1/4 c fresh mushrooms

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Brush pita with olive oil. Top with sauce, cheese, turkey pepperoni and mushrooms.  Bake on aluminum foil directly on oven rack for 8 minutes.  Slice and enjoy.

8 - 9 PointsPlus for entire pita pizza. You could forgo the olive oil (I did by accident) and/or cut the cheese back a bit to shave another point or two off.

Points can very based on which brand of pita pocket you use, for example the  Thomas Whole Wheat Pita I had on hand made the pizza 9 points, but the Sara Lee Mr. Pita 100% Whole Wheat that I bought over the weekend would have made it an 8 point pizza. You can probably guess which brand I will be buying now.

Mike still ate the original Boboli pizza we have been making every week. I cut the crust in half before baking and froze the rest for him next week. This is how the pizzas compare:

My pita pizza on the left is smaller, but it was just as filling and satisfying as the Boboli pizza and I saved 7 points.  I could enjoy my wine and pizza Friday nights. I did not feel like I sacrificed anything except an extra couple of minutes to make separate pizzas.

I may not have got myself out of bed to walk this morning.  But I did finish the day only using 2 points of my weekly allowance, which for me is not bad for a Friday.

Even the small victories feel good.

Technorati Tags: Friday Night Pita Pepperoni Pizza,Pizza,Easy Dinner

Day 1–Part 2–First Day on Program–Thursday 6/24/2012

There is one advantage to being overweight. You get more points. I have 40 to spend.

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The downside is I can see a lot of those points being liquid calories.

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My weigh in at the meeting was a couple up from my home scale. I am just going to use the meeting scale as my guide; 118 pounds to lose is where I am at.

I really liked the leader. I see her being someone I can connect with.  I have to be honest and say I have not always been able to relate to the leaders that say they don’t drink alcohol because they would rather eat the calories. I am the opposite. I look forward to my wine at the end of the day. But I love food too.  These two combinations may have something to do with why I am in this predicament, right? Anyway when the leader brought up wine points, yes I knew we spoke the same language.

The meeting theme this week was about choices. I may try to fool myself and say I am not thinking about what I choose to do when I am making bad choices. But I am not fooling anyone, least of all me. I am just ignoring it. I am pressing that “mommy mute button” to ignore my rational self.

I hope to take in this topic to make better choices this week and start to build a foundation for the new me.

My first day committing to tracking went fine, except for how I filled in my day with snacks:

This was 19 points. Yes, I need to do better. And with faith and a bit of will I can.

Day 1 - Part 1 –This is How it Starts - Thursday 6/22/2012

No walk again today. Sleeping in today probably had a whole lot to do with staying up until midnight last night scrapbooking and watching the final 3 Grey’s Anatomy episodes from this past season. This morning the pants feel even tighter. I need structure and I don’t think I can do it on my own with only self accountability. That obviously has not been working out well for me. I know I need to commit to make time for myself and my health.

I made the decision to join Weight Watchers this morning. I have been avoiding it because I didn’t want to learn the new Points Plus System. But I owe myself the effort and the time.

So here I am now….

Where I Am

• I am 41 years old and not getting any younger.
• I have only kept off 9.5 pounds of the 25 pounds I lost last year.
• I am on 2 blood pressure medications.
• My vitamin D level is low.
• My energy level is low and my two little boys wear me out.
• My ankles swell so bad it hurts.
• I have so many aches and pains when I wake up you would think I was 80.
• I won’t wear shorts or a swimsuit around anyone besides the 4 of us.
• All my pants are tight.

I didn’t want to talk myself out of going to that first meeting. I looked up the time and put it on my calendar the minute I got to work. And at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, I showed up.  And now here I am:

My Overall Goals – (this is my where I want to be when the weight is off)

• Lose 118 pounds.
• Exercise 5-6 days a week for 60 minutes a day at a moderate to high intensity.
• Stop taking blood pressure medicine and lower overall blood pressure below 115/75. My current blood pressure even with medication still runs in the 135/90 range.
• Lower blood sugar level. My last blood sugar test was 98, below the 100 high end of normal; I’m shooting for the 80’s.
• Lower cholesterol level.  My overall cholesterol is about 180; but my good cholesterol (HDL) number is below 50, good is above 60. Smoking, being overweight and being sedentary can all result in lower HDL cholesterol. I don’t smoke, but I am guilty of the other 2.  Maintaining a healthy weight and getting at least 30-60 minutes of exercise and activity on most days can improve your HDL.
• Reduce the aches and pains to a level that is more normal for an active woman in her 40’s.
• Reduce the amount of sugars and alcohol I consume.

My Current Plan

• Follow the Weight Watchers Points Plus program focusing on fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains and lean protein.
• Walk for 30 minutes 6 mornings a week.
• Attend weekly Weight Watchers meetings on Thursday during my lunch break.
• Experiment with new foods and try new recipes.
• Reduce the amount of sugars and alcohol I consume.

My Goals This Week

• Read all the Weight Watcher materials I received in the meeting.
• Track my food and activity each day.
• Achieve the activity point goal set for me by walking 30 minutes a day for 5 days.
• Manage my weekly points allowance for the party we are attending on Saturday.

I have my work cut out for me.  But it is time to get it done.

A Little History

Last July this was me, 127.5 pounds overweight…

I was through with being unhealthy and out of shape. I didn’t like that I got tired so easy and had no energy. It is awful enough to live in the Arizona heat in the summer, but when you have 127.5 pounds to lose, it sucks.

I wanted to do something hard core and Mike was in.  On August 15, 2011 we began the Dr. Oz 14-day diet.  We felt great, but it was A LOT of food prep effort and it was not super flexible.  By the middle of October, I lost 25 pounds and already was feeling so much better.

Photo Credit: Sarah Nicole Photography

Then the holidays hit which coincided with my busiest time of the year at work. I did the best I could to maintain and finished up the year with a net 22 pound loss.

January was here and new intentions came and went. I really couldn’t get back in the groove. Then we started some home improvement projects and I became completely consumed with them whenever I was not at work. The extra activity helped the pounds from creeping back up for awhile, but they also weren’t going down.

From mid-April to mid-June life got busier with family trips and visits. At times long work hours were necessary and more sedentary projects were being worked on at home (like sewing drapes).  Even though I had good intentions to eat better and move more, I was not following through. It would last a day or two and then I would lose focus.

At the beginning of June I found myself mindlessly eating the junk food around the office during quarter end. I was grabbing unhealthy take out lunches during the week. When we went out on weekends, I ordered whatever sounded good, regardless of its nutritional content.

My pants were getting tighter, my ankles were swelling. My energy level was low. I added a second blood pressure medicine back after I had been off of it for several months.

This could not continue.

One Day Before–Wednesday 6/20/2012

Another chance to get up and walk, but I don’t. The auditors are here this week at work and I am slammed. I hope to leave at a good time each night, but it doesn’t. I live in the desert and I know I will not walk when I get home. I need to go to bed earlier but instead I stayed up late again last night.

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Mike and I seem to keep having the same conversation about eating healthy and exercising. Here is a snippet of today’s from an e-mail exchange: Mike: I don't want the kids to be out of the house when we are in our 60's and 70's and you or me to have to be riding in one of those motor carts at the grocery store.  Me: I am seriously thinking about going back to weight watchers meetings.  Besides my exercise I know what my biggest problem is - if I should only have 39 points a day I can’t be spending 21 of them on wine. Mike: Sweetie, I don't think you need to go to Weight Watchers.  Unless you really feel like the meetings help you, I wouldn't go.   It's just one more thing to have to fight during the week and you have enough trouble eating your brought lunch let alone leaving the office. Let me try and help us by planning good meals.  I can go to fresh n easy and trader Joes or wherever you want me to go each week.  You don't need to go to weight watchers to cut back on the wine.  Let's just have some tea or something else with dinner then we can have a little booze to relax. Here's what I think we should do.  Let's make a big push before our vacation.  Let's eat good meals and try and cut back on the carbs.  For one month, or maybe make it until Jon comes, try walking 6 days a week for 30 minutes at a good pace and see if by the time Jon comes, you are covering more ground in 30 minutes.  I know it's hot but you can walk in the morning.  It's not dangerous.  Then, maybe up it to 45 minutes.  And I bet you anything that if you lose weight you will feel so good, you will be like my mom and really want to walk everyday for 60 minutes.  But give it a month of 30 minutes 6 days per week.  If you don't lose weight doing that, then try weight watchers. I'm going to try and hit the gym 4 days per week.  I'm lucky that I move around a lot during the day so I can probably get away with 4 days plus I will be working out longer than 30 minutes.  But you need a gradual pace or you tend to not stick with it.  If you need me to help you get up, I will. Me: I just feel like I need some structure to the eating.  I don’t seem to have that at all right now.  My breakfast and lunch is more routine if I bring them from home; so they are usually good.  But I don’t feel like I have good control over meals out and we have been lax for some of our dinners (bread, too big of servings).   Also, I have been more stressed at work than I have been in a long time and I really noticed I was snacking a lot on things I shouldn’t eat or should not eat as much of.  Like I can have nuts or trail mix for a snack in a day but I shouldn’t have both. Add that to the quarter end junk of doughnuts, bagels, etc., that is around here and I feel out of control. When we go out I don’t even attempt to choose better options. I know I need to exercise and I like your suggestion on the routine and I want to follow that. I just need to make my body do what my head already knows I should be doing.  Right now head and body are completely out of sync with each other.  I go to bed telling myself I am going to get up and them when I wake up I don’t want to get out of bed. I have always struggled with that.  I also hate working out at night,  My ideal work out time would probably be 7:00 am, but this thing called work gets in the way. Mike: Well, if you feel Weight Watchers would help, then do that.  I did not realize you were doing more snacking.  We really need to minimize eating out.  That is what gets me in trouble too.  I usually do not need to eat as big as servings as I do and we do eat bigger servings than necessary sometimes.  Which is why portioning out the chili was a good thing.  I think that whole I need to leave at a good time at night is more of a stress situation for you than you probably realize.  You may just need to not worry so much about it and focus on a morning routine that works for you.  If you get home at 6:30 - 7:00 and if we eat after the boys bedtime, it is not the end of the world.  I know I complain, but it's not that big of a deal.  It would be nice if we could eat before they go to bed even twice per week but if it can't be than it can't be.  Seems like your job requires later stays and since you can get in to work later, maybe it is just the best thing to do.  If you walk, realistically, you probably would not be able to leave before 7:30 - 7:45.   If I were you, I would start your day with something you enjoy.    Get up early, get in your workout clothes, but first get on the computer, edit a few pictures, or read a blog post.  Then, try and get out the door by 6:00.  That gets you back in by 6:30 - 6:45 with plenty of time to get ready for work and spend a few minutes with the boys.  I know you want to get the walk over with but getting fun things to do first is good  for two reasons. First, you will be more likely to get up if you know you have a fun thing to do first.   And that will eliminate you talking yourself out of a walk because you are too tired or feel a few early morning aches.  Also, you probably will move a little faster if you get ready after your walk as opposed to getting ready after your down time.  Just means that you need to be disciplined enough to cut the free time off at 6:00. ……………………………

Yep, he’s a keeper. I have struggled with weight my entire adult life.  Within months of graduating from high school I began a battle that I have not won. I have been with Mike almost through this entire battle. In the middle of this exchange I went to Baja Fresh for lunch. I had great intentions. I looked up nutrition information before I left. But I was hungry and the power of suggestion is powerful. Instead of ordering the tacos as I intended I ordered this:

790 – That would be the calories when you eat the whole thing.

38 – That would be the fat grams, for the whole thing.

Yes I ate the whole thing…plus some chips and salsa. Forget how many Weight Watchers Points. I wasn’t tracking them after that.

Signing off today…Disgusted

Two Days Before–Tuesday 6/19/2012

It’s Tuesday and we are home from California and it is time to go back to work. A weekend full of indulgence behind me.

Today is another morning I sleep in; another morning I picked snuggling with Marti the dog over getting out of bed. Yes, it was another day I didn’t get outside and go for a walk.

Today the pants feel tighter. I look at the scale but I’m not ready to face the damage from the weekend. I am barely able to face the damage I have done since I lost 25 pounds last year.

Today we don’t have anything quick for me to pack for lunch. I’m sure I can make a “healthy” choice for a takeout lunch, right?

Today I make due.  I again am thinking about doing something. I need some structure. I have gained back a lot of the weight I lost last year. It’s not like I fell off the wagon, it’s more like I jumped.

Today I open up the Weight Watchers site and log into my account. I haven’t seen it in a while. I track breakfast and our planned dinner.

Today I take time to not go through the drive through at lunch.

Today I make a good salad choice at Paradise Bakery and pass on the cookie.

Today I snack all afternoon on nuts and trail mix and granola bars.  After dinner I have more wine and the rest of the pretzel M&M’s.

Today is over. There is always tomorrow.