change

          I am a little late with this week's blog. I had a great weigh in this week. I lost 3.4lbs. which is totally awesome. This brings my total loss so far to 38.8lbs. That is close to the 40lbs marker. When you have a ton of weight to lose you try to focus on small portions at a time. For me it is in tens. I started out at 277lbs. So I have said good bye to the 270's, 260's, 250's, and the 240's. This is one way to see that my hard work is paying off.  I was stalled for a while on 259-257lbs. It was very frustrating. So frustrating that I realized I had to pay more attention to what I was doing. This is when I took one of my son's black & white composition notebooks and started using it as a journal. I wanted the journal to be big because I wanted to write down thoughts and feelings if it was a good or a bad day. The good thing about keeping a journal is when you're having a rough time, you may look back on the following;
1) was it your time of the month
2) were you eating above your points
3) were you eating from take out or restaurants
4) did you have enough activity
5) did you have any medication
6) could you be retaining water from healing muscles

     All of those things are really valid reasons for being on a "plateau". Sometimes we beat ourselves up for not being perfect. You are on a journey(definition= something suggesting travel or PASSAGE from one place to another) . I don't know about everyone else but commuting to work is a journey. I have to walk to my bus stop, climb on a bus, go some distance, get off the bus, and walk to my destination. Just because I follow those steps every work day does not mean that they become any easier. Sometimes the weather is bad. I might miss my regular bus. The bus could be very crowded. We could have an accident. There could be alot of traffic and I could be late for work. Does that sound good and easy to anyone? No, it does not. Can I change all of those things? No, some maybe but others are out of my control. And I will be angry and rail at the heavens but it the end, I'm going to do the best that I can.
                This week I started riding my bike a little more. I am trying to go home and get my bike and ride for about four miles. It is a quick ride and I break a good sweat. I do this in addition to the two mile work to work Mon-Fri. On the weekend I am trying the walk/jog combination. Last weekend my old man came with me. I don't know whether it is because of endurance or the fact that I was distracted by his company but I did jog a lot more than I walked. Adding some of these things probably attributted to my amazing weight loss this week. I hope that tomorrow's weigh in goes well.

Let them eat cake

       Let Them Eat Cake is an often misquoted statement that Marie Antoinette said when asked what to do with the starving masses in France. In a movie I saw it portrayed as though she had so much cake laying around her house from partying that she figured , well, cake is food isn't it. Which brings me to this cake is food. It is the highlight of most parties. People don't stay at the party just to see someone make a drunken fool of themselves, dancing with the lamp shade on their head. Actually, sometimes that can be the best part. But most people hang around for some of that cake. Birthday cake used to be a two layered 8'. Now they are huge. Wedding cake bakers make enormous amounts of money selling the towering inferno of cakes. There are even shows on TV all about crews that make the most elaborate cakes you have ever seen. That being said, there will always be cake in our lives.
       Last weekend , I went to the bridal shower of my beautiful niece. I consider this kind of party a DANGER. Why? Because guests just sit around and eat and talk and eat and drink and eat and open presents and eat. It was a family affair so someone made a giant pan of ziti in bolongnese. There was a pan of Jamaican beef patties(my son Jake finished those off by himself). There was shrimp cocktail. You cannot go wrong with a couple of shrimp. I ate a couple of shrimp but I was leary of eating any thing else. Just as I finished my second bottle of water , a goddess appeared bearing a large platter of cut fruit. I have never been so happy to see fruit in all of my life. I got up and made myself a plate with sliced pineapple, whole strawberries, kiwi, orange slices, blueberries and melon. It felt so good to munch on fruit instead of chips. I was on a natural sugar high. Not long after that, another goddess unveiled a tossed salad. I leaped from my seat to refill my plate; this time half salad and half with fruit.
     We played all the bridal shower games and the bride opened her presents. The maid of honor had planned this party to be a tea party. At the end of the party what should appear but cups of tea and three tiered platters of petit fours. These horrible gremlins were laid right in front of me on the table. I thought of the wonderful fruit that I stuck to eating and the wonderful salad. But then I thought should life going on without a little cake in it. Well, should it????? No it should not. I had to teach myself that you should allow desserts in your life once and a while. Weight Watchers has taught me to eat better and make better choices so allowing the piece of cake or petit fours is a good thing . Let's see what the good behaviors I followed that day;
*I got up early and walk/jog combination 4 miles
*at the party I avoided filling up on higher calorie foods even though they looked good
* when given the option, I went for the fruit platter
* I avoided the mayo based potato salad and opted for a tossed salad with a little dressing on the side
*I moved around as offten as possible. I even helped my son walk a party guest's dog around the neighborhood
*I had the dessert and it was delicious and I did not suffer guilt because I followed my plan
       Sometimes you have to remember that food really is not secretly plotting to make you do the wrong thing. Once and a while you're going to have a craving for a comfort food that is outside of your comfort zone. But if you have been following your plan, being honest in your journaling and helping your body become healthier, then you can let yourself eat cake.

Plateau and making them go boom

  This week's meeting topic was about plateaus. The definition is a stage at which NO progress is apparent. When we weigh in every week, we expect the number to be lower than the week before. That does not always happen. For one thing our weight can flucuate from day to day and from week to week. Plateaus can sometimes be discouraging. But a plateau can encourage you to do new things like change your eating habits or start a new workout. I had a "plateau" for a while where I kept gaining and losing the same five pounds. I was beginning to feel like a hamster on a wheel. After getting annoyed, I thought about what I could do to bring about a solution. One of the things that worked for me was to begin a new journal. I used a school composition notebook so that I would be able tomake notes or elaborate on my feelings,day or workout routine. Of course I also recorded what I ate. I started to lose weight. When I did have a set back or a stall, I would look back on what was happening when I did not lose.It was not magic but it helped me become more aware.
          Another thing to look at when you're stalled are NSV(non scale victories).
-My clothes fit better
-I have more energy
-Food is not my go to drug when I am upset or board

This week I had a scale victory. I lost 4 pounds. In total, I have now lost 35.4lbs. and I weigh 242.2.
      
What happened during the last week;
1)I exercised for seven days straight.
Tues.7/6: Walked over two miles to work + all day= 6pts
Wed. 7/7(my birthday): Walk over two miles to work + all day = 5pts
Thurs.7/8: Walked over two miles to work + all day + 5K = 8pts
Fri. 7/9: Walked over two miles to work + all day = 7pts
Sat. 7/10: Walk/Jog combination plus all day = 10 pts
Sun 7/11: Rode my new bike for three miles
Mon. 7/12: Walked over two miles to work + all day= 4pts

2)Major milestone: I jogged for nine minutes straight. I never thought I could do it but I did.
3) Went to a party and stuck to fresh fruit & salad .Okay , I did have a little dessert after.
4) I completed another 5K with the help of our WW crew and fearless leader Melanie.
5) I journaled what I ate.
    I had a bad day today. I was really angry. I mean REALLY PISSED! But for the first time, I was not hungry. I wanted to punch someone or something. I wanted to scream and cry. But I did not do food, my go to drug. I think that is a big accomplishment.
          This coming week, I am going to keep up my exercise and see if I can get more biking in.

Hello Gorgeous

Okay so it has been a month since the last time I blogged. I need to put my foot down and be committed to blogging. This is all so new to me. First of all the title is about my beautiful brand new bike. Yesterday was my 44th birthday and I have been wanting a new bike for a while. I was going to use my old bike (really old more than 20 years old) but the updates did not take. My sweet old man did the best that he could but in the end it did not work. I wanted a bike like msbitchcakes. So yesterday, I saw that a pink Schwinn was on sale and I went straight to Toys R Us after work and purchased it. I even rode it home just to make sure it works. It does but I sure am a little rusty. But I have been wanting a new shiny girly pink bike for a while and now I have one.
        As far as my weight loss is concerned, I am doing well but this week was a bad one. Here is my weight for the last four weeks;
June 8: 245.2 minus 2.8 lbs
June 15: 244.4 minus 0.8 lbs
June 22: 244.8 plus .04 lbs
June 29: 242.8 minus 2 lbs
July 6: 246.2 plus 3.4 lbs

      For anyone struggling with weight loss, this can be tough; especially if you are a big girl like me. But sometimes you have to look at it and go " it's not the end of the world". I have chosen to go a scientific route. Last week was the beginning of my vacation week. I stayed home with my family which is absolutely great because it gives me a chance to do and take the time to enjoy the things I want to try like a new workout or extended workouts or new recipes. But the first thing I screwed up was my water pill prescription. I skipped one day and on weigh in day I went to pick up my refill only to find out that I picked it up already. Yes, I am becomming forgetful. The next thing I did was I started to do the walk/jog combination for the first time. I did it on Friday and Saturday and I am still very sore. It is important to remember that you may retain some water when you teach old muscles new tricks. So I am probably retaining a litlle muscle repair water as well. Last but not least, I ate a couple of things that I had been avoinding for a while. Here is what I ate out of the norm;
*10 banana Laffy Taffys
* 3 pieces of fried chicken (I fried it myself)
*McDonalds Southwest salad w/ grilled chicken
*McDonalds small Wild Berry Smoothie
*a bialy
*cornbread
*Jack Daniels
*crabmeat salad
       Not all those things are bad for you but they were not my friends this week either.
       I did quite a bit of exercising this week because I had the time that I normally have on the weekend. I would walk around the track in my neighborhood at least five times. Each lap is almost a mile so in the end I was averaging almost five or more miles a day of activity. Here are the points I was able to earn.
Tues: all day 3pts
Wed.: laps around track = 4pts
Thurs.: 100 minutes walking around track = 8pts
Fri: 100 mins Walk/jog combination( 8 sets of 3minutes jogs) = 8pts
Sat: Walk/ jog combo @ 12085 steps = 7pts
Sun: rest day
Mon: 4 laps walking around track plus errands = 15,826 steps = 9pts
     Not bad for a big girl.
        This week's Weight Watchers topic was about getting in the right amount of produce every day. I really do not have a problem with that because I love fruits and veggies. I could even see myself being a vegetarian in the distant future. When I worked I eat fruit each day. I have two navel oranges with my breakfast most days( because it's like having orange juice and it's good for someone who takes blood pressure meds). When I make salad for lunch, I always pickup and apple or berries to add to my salad. It gives my salad a kick.

 Sometimes I eat the fruit separately as a lunch dessert.  There is always and extra piece of fruit in my desk drawer in case I get the munchies. No vending machines for me. I have two cups of salad mix (iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes) and sometimes I add extras like red onions, red or yellow peppers, olives. Also, there should be protein to keep up a satisfaction feel. At dinner we eat lots of broccoli because Jacob really only likes broccoli. That does not stop the rest of us from eating all of the vegetables I know how to cook like cabbage, collard greens, sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, corn &green beans. In addition to those side dishes,  I like to add sauteed onions, mushrooms and peppers to broiled meat dishes. My latest concoction is sauteed onions and granny smith apples. The first time I made it my hubby came over to me and said I need to see this every week. I have obliged his request for the last three weeks with pleasure. My meeting leader Melanie suggested a challenge this week to have half of your plate with veggie at your meals. This is hard for my male carnivores at home. They are happy to eat veggies as long as there is plenty of meat ( I tried to have vegetarian days but found my poor hubby in the kitchen one night looking for a leftover piece of meat).
       So tonight, our merry band of 5Kers are having our first of the month 5K's planned out by the amazing Tamra who has lost 75 pounds. My sons say they are going to attend as well. We end our 3.1 miles walk at the California Pizza Kitchen.  Here are some of the other things I hope to accomplish this week;

-jog/walk combination on Saturday
-riding my brand spanking new bike
-walking down Fifth Avenue from 71st to my job at least four times
-taking all of my water pills
-taking all my vitamins
-journaling-maybe even pre-journaling