The Magic Number

          This week's meeting topic was about Non-Scale Victories; also known as NSV. These are EXTREMELY important in a Weight Watchers journey. The reason is when you're on a diet you count on the scale to tell you if you are doing all right. But when you are making a lifestyle change, the scale does not always provide the type momentum you need to encourage you. Sure the scale is an important factor. But, you should look to other things for encouragement. I am guilty of letting the scale get me down from time to time, especially after a week full of activity. I think that the scale means the most. I drive my hubby crazy when I have a gain or a low loss. But he is kind enough to talk me of the ledge and remind me of all the things that I have done. He is not the only one. I have a wonderful support system with my WW homies. I need to get my fix from the non-scale victories of my journey.
-I can walk for miles without collapsing.
-My clothes are loose.
-I can ride my bike, Pinky Tuscadero for miles.
-I can climb multiple flights of stairs.
-My co-workers notice and compliment my change.
-I am aware and make better food choices (most of the time).
         These are all great NSV's. Whenever you're feeling down about the amount of the scale, take a little time to write down and then say out loud all of your non-scale victories. And then pat yourself on the back.
           I have been trying to up the ante of my exercise these days.  One of the first challenges I gave myself was to extend the length of my morning walk to work. While getting ready for my first walking 5K last Spring, I started getting off the bus one stop further. When I first started WW, I used walk 20 blocks to the office. So I added to this amount and started to walk for 33 blocks. This week I kicked it up a notch and walked 46 blocks. It felt great. I was a little apprehensive when it was time to jumped off the bus but 46 blocks went by pretty quickly. When the weather cooperates I will turn this into a regular routine a few mornings a week. I like the idea of knowing that a big workout has been completed before my work day plus the adrenaline rush puts you in a good mood.
          On my "work from home" day, my son Jake and I went for a quick bike ride before dark. I missed riding my bike and it had been a few months. It was an extremely windy afternoon. The gusts of wind were so powerful the we were being blown off the track, but I kept on peddling. When the wind was against me, it made peddling a struggle. I kept right on peddling. It took 45 minutes but I was able to do six laps. When we got home, I told Jake we were not finished yet. It was stair climbing day. We climbed up and down 50 flights of stairs. My knees cracked the whole way. This was a challenge because I did not believe I would be able to climb stairs, but I did it.

         Saturday was the real challenge. I am getting nervous because I have not been training for the running 5K on April 2nd. The best access to the track for me are on the weekends. After breakfast, I pulled out all of the Fitness Magazines and read them to encourage me to get my running clothes on and get out to the track. Seriously it took those magazines to get me outside. Once outside I had to keep pushing myself the whole way around the track. My track measures .82 mile. It would take four laps to complete a 5K. The first lap was great but somewhere in the middle of the second lap I started to feel burnout. I had to pull out my Tools For Living; Positive Self Talking. First I thought I have run this plenty of times before. During a heatwave with ten or more pounds still attached to me. I had to remind myself that my friends Cindy and Tamra would be disappointed because we plan to run the 5K together. Surely I could not let them down. I heard Sheryl and Melanie's voices and told myself "the only thing stopping me is me". All of this self talk went through my entire run, even while listening to music. But that's what it took to complete four laps totaling 3.35 miles. Jake ran one lap with me. After the one lap he informed me that he had enough and now that he has his own house key, he was going home. I thanked him and asked him to take a couple of pictures of me before he left.
        
This week's activity
Tues.-  Walk 33 blocks to office =4pts + all day = 4pts
Wed. -ride bike for 45 mins= 5pts + climb stairs= 2pts
Thurs. - all day = 2pts + 30mins WW walk dvd w/ 3lbs weights= 3pts
Fri. - Walk 46 blocks to office= 5pts
Sat. - Jogged 3.35 miles = 6pts
Sun- rest day
Mon. - all day= 2pts + 30 mins WW walk dvd w/3lbs weights= 3pts
Total Activity Points for Week = 36 pts




      





  Although it does not count as this week's activity, today was our first WW monthly walking 5K. My WW homies did a walking 5K every month until the New York winter kicked in. It was freezing cold today but we struggled through anyway.In addition to getting in more exercise, this is also a way to network with one another about our journey with WW and get tips and advice on dealing with different situations. I was talking to our friend Bob whose favorite exercise is walking. He has created a challenge for himself that not only is he tracking his daily mileage for activity purposes, but he is adding his mileage together as though he is walking from New York to San Fransisco. I was so excited by Bob's idea that I let him know there and then that I am going to borrow his challenge for myself. But Bob, I've decided to walk to Seattle instead.  I looked up the mileage from Bronx, New York to Seattle and came up with 2,863 miles. I should reach Seattle by retirement. But until then, today's mileage on my pedometer was 6.97 miles (3.58 miles belongs to the map stylings of Tamra who mapped out our course for this eveing. I did not take many pictures (I think my hands were cold,but  here is tonight's group Tam, Cindy, me, Amanda, Steve, Elise and Bob.

In the beginning

The finish line

       This week's scale victory was a 1.6lbs loss. My total loss is 46.6 pounds. I now weigh 231lbs. Almost out of the 230's. Let's cross our fingers. This week I am going to pay close attention to my intake( there is a possibility that I am not taking in enough points), train for the running 5K and keep walking to Seattle. I hope you all have a good week.

Borderline

            This week's WW meeting topic about combating boredom while on your journey. This is extremely important. I sometimes feel as though I have ADHD. But I was not always like this. I have become quite the multi-tasker. Sit and watch television? Not me. Most likely I am knitting something or readng a magazine and or even working out. When did I become this person? I have no idea. I often think it's all the stimulation we human beings have all of the time all around us. Cell phones, blackberrys, laptops, Playstation, Wii and DVRs. We do not allow time for our brains to clear out. I suppose this is why I have to read the Idiots Guide to Zen Living. Sometimes I have to read something like three or fours times. Be in the moment . Be in the moment. A collegue at work said we should have a meditation group. I was so happy that she said that because once upon a time, I used to meditate. Even while I was pregnant with Jake I meditated. And then it was gone. So we invited  all of the executive assistants in our office. Two people joined us. We said we would meditate for ten minutes every morning at 11am. One week later it was just my collegue and me. No one else could pull themselves away from the fray long enough to meditate ten minutes each morning.  I struggled really hard with concentrating on my breathing. But other things crept in. The slightest noise took my concentration. Eventually the business of work took us both away from our meditation every morning.
          But folks, this is what life is like for most of us everyday.We are constantly moving on to the next thing. I am knitting and watching televsion and having a conversation. So it's no wonder that I could find boredom creeping into my weight loss journey. I remember years ago having a co-worker who had a can of tuna and cucumbers for lunch ( or a bag of carrots) everyday. I tried doing it for a while too. And I like tuna and love cucumbers. But everyday. Eeh! Don't get me wrong. I like my steady go to's like on work days the gentleman at the deli counter in my office building says "the usual" when he sees me( the usual is two egg whites on and english muffin- no butter, no cheese). I happen to love that quick breakfast with two oranges. It keeps hunger at bay until lunch. But on the weekends I want something different like whole wheat blueberry pancakes or a veggie omelet with turkey bacon.  You have to change it up .
EVEN EXERCISERS GET THE BLUES
          If you have been reading my blog, you know that the snow this winter got me down. I became so used to taking longs walks, jogging and riding my bike that I was almost bereft when my beloved neighborhood track disappeared into a puff of white. I was using a couple of WW dvd's that I loved but looking out the window at all the ice and snow started to make me feel down. That's when I spruced things up by pulling out ancient exercise vhs tapes. I had forgotten how much I used to love these things. Sometimes I get stuck on one for a whole week. But just the fact that at any given workout, I can do something different gives me comfort.
         Another source of beating the exercise blues are magazines. I remember avoiding magazines like Shape, Fitness and Women's Health because they always have a skinny women on the cover. I felt like they were saying to me that I did not deserve to read these magazines because I was not going to be that skinny women. But last summer I purchased one. And lo and behold there were tips from women who had lost large amounts of weight like I am trying to do right now. There were tips on how to start running. I swore I would not be able to run until I was thin but reading an article on how to get started said "if you can walk for miles, you can run". That was the very words that inspred me to try. And I did it the very next time I went to the track.
CHALLENGE
       I also find that the way to break out of the rut is a challenge. Of course I am not ready for the NY Marathon but there were things I could try. My wonderful WW friend the awesome Ms.Bitchcakes climbs the stairs every week. I would hear her say that in a meeting and think wow, how does anyone do that. Then one day after sitting at my work from home desk waiting for the five o'clock whistle to blow me outside to the track, it started to rain. And I thought about Sheryl and her weekly climb and decided to give it a try. I actually did it. I used the stairs in my building ( no audience there) and ran down twenty-one flights and crawled up twenty-one flights. I felt accomplished at the challenge I gave myself. Until then, I thought the stairs in my building were a form of torture when the elevator was broken.  Months later, listening to Sheryl talk about prepping for her Empire State Building climb, I thought "why did I stop using the stairs for an exercise?" So I started doing it once a week and the end of my work from home day. If it was not for Sheryl and the other wonderful people in my meeting, that idea probably would not come to mind. Look for inspiration in your meetings , co-workers and friends. Something you thought you could not do EVER just might be possible.
FOOD PORN
        I love when my leader Melanie uses that term. I happen to love watching the Food Network.  Especially Diners,Drive-Ins & Dives. I swear I drooled one evening watching that show. Yeah it's food porn with dynamic personalities peddling it but there is nothing wrong with desiring good food. The trick is to find a way to cook some of the things you desire in a way that you can control what it contains. This is also a way to have a diverse food ideas for meals. I pick up those ideas in WW meetings and the WW ETools website.
One of the challenges I made for myself this week regarding portion control was to eat from small plates. It lasted two days. Some foods do no fit on a small plates. I'm just saying.
         This week I gained .6lbs. It's not much but I will say it hurts my pride when I enter it into WW ETools and the reply is you gained a bit this week. It might as well say you cow! I was talking to my friend Cindy in our meeting after the meeting. I told her how I get annoyed when I gain weight. But then I have to positive talk myself into realizing that I lost 45lbs. .6lbs is really not that much.
This Week's Activity
Tues- all day= 5pts
Wed. - climb 60 flights of stairs and did the 53 mins Richard Simmons workout = 5pts
Thurs. - all day = 4pts + 30 mins walk dvd using 3lb weights = 3pts
Fri. - all day = 2pts + 30 mins walk dvd w/ 3lb wieghts= 3pts
Sat. -five walking laps around the track = 8pts
Sun. - rest day (sort of)
Mon. - all day - 6pts + 30 mins walk dvd w/ 3lb weights = 3pts
Total for the week = 39pts
               This week I will take it a day at a time. There are signs that Spring is coming and I will take every opportunity to take advantage of it. On Saturday it was fairly warm but still winter like but after some warm days and rain my track was visible to the human eye. I saddled up my sneakers and my MP3 and walked around the track until my legs started to shake. Sure I was walking through all the mud and dirty that was caked under all the snow but to be able to use my legs the way they were meant to be used felt so heart warming. I almost teared up. I've never been so happy to see pavement in all my life. I was wearing a winter jacket. That was the only thing that kept me from trying a jog. There is always next weekend.
       
       

All I Really Want

           All I really want is food. Not really. I want to live. I want to dance. I want to read. I want to knit. I want to ride my bike.I want to play. I want to watch television. I want to take a nap with my cat. I want to have a good hard laugh until my stomach hurts. I want to sing. I want to take pictures. I want to write. I want to cook. I want to daydream. I did all those things this week.
          I did spend the week looking for SBG( Satisfied Balloon Guy) after I ate. I literally asked myself the question " do you feel satisfied"?. Most of the time I did. I had one slip and ate an extra plate of spaghetti. I know I know. Spaghetti is a little bit of a trigger. But it is a quick meal to cook and fits into my budget. I just have to learn to live with spaghetti. But during the rest of the week, I never had that "I ate too much " feeling. As Martha Stewart would say "this is a good thing".
          This week's meeting topic was one that is close to my heart. PORTION CONTROL. This is a little bit of a hardship to me at times because of vision. I can see. And when I can see a dinner plate with a small portion of food on it, I want to cry. Or to quote my hubby "that hurts my feelings". But portion control is something we all must have in our lives. For me it's something that I must work on day to day. Portion control during the day is easy to me. Maybe it's because I am at work outside of my comfort zone. It might be that I can be seen eating in public. There's nothing like someone walking past your desk and you're shoveling food into your mouth. For breakfast I usually have something light ( except Sunday mornings). For lunch I pack food in smal containers that are portable and neat. I am satisfied (insert SBG here) when I eat these small meals. Really I am not hungry after I eat those meals. But in reality I am using these small containers to keep me honest as well. But at home, my plate can become a free for all. Not every day, I am in Weight Watchers after all. But there are times when it doesn't seem like enough.
        At this week's meeting ( and several other meetings) I heard someone call out the old small plate trick. This really is an illusion folks. You look at the small plate with just the right amount of food on it it and you think you have eaten alot of food. I have spurned this illusion for a very long time. But this week I have decided to take the illusion by the balls ( at least for a few days) and see if I can use it to TRICK myself into having a small amount of dinner. I already have the tools at my disposal. I have a Hello Kitty cereal bowl. In a house full of men I can guarantee that when there are no other clean bowls, they would not be caught dead eating out of the Hello Kitty bowl. I also have a smal one cup size bowl. I have eaten a portion of spaghetti out of it before. It was sad but maybe I need to revisit that pain. I have a small half cup size square bowl. I use it for cut fruit. I also have the small plates that come with a set. We do use them for small breakfast portions like toast or an egg sandwich.  I also have my WW measuring spoons.

Hello Kitty cereal bowl

one cup size bowl

small plate



half cup size bowl





WW measuring spoons

        Here is the activity I put to good use this week.
ACTIVITY
Tues: All day = 5pts
Wed.: Climb 70 flights of stairs + 30 mins walk dvd with 3lb weights = 6pts
Thurs.: All day (2pts) + walked 49 city blocks after work(5pts) = 7pts
Fri.:All day (2pts) + 30 mins walk dvd w/ 3lb weights (3pts) = 5pts
Sat. Laid like broccoli
Sun. Grocery shopping + Laundry = 4pts (pedometer)
Mon: Jog in place for 45 mins = 5pts
Total= 32pts
                 Even though I did not have as many activity points as the week before, I managed to lose 1.6lbs. And I am darn glad to get it too. I actually took time for myself. Usually I am doing so many things that I lose track of cutting myself some slack. On Saturday, I stayed in bed all day (with the exception of cooking dinner for the men in my life). I watched shows on my dvr. I read some of the back issues of magazines. I knitted myself a hat. When I felt a little hungry I went into the kitchen and had a piece of fruit.  I think there is improvement there. All in all it was a good day.
                There is another exercise that I seem to be getting good at. I call it cat yoga. It's when you are sitting down and your cat comes to you for petting and then settles so far away that you are now balancing your body leaning out of your chair in a strech pose.
                 This week the small plate trick is on and cracking.