Back in...

...the Saddle
(That could totally be me...if...I rode...horses)

Good Afternoon to all you lovely friends of the blogosphere! I hope you're enjoying your day. I certainly am. I spent my morning at Bloomingdales...for work. Could it get any better?

Okay--back to the topic at hand. I am back in the clichéd saddle. I finally went running last night and it felt great. After 45 days of not doing any exerted exercise other than walking, I finally just got up and did it. And granted I probably should have started off a little slower than I did (I ran most of the 2.5 miles), I pushed through some of my usual struggles including breathing issues, side cramps and leg fatigue and I did it. And I'm going to do it again tonight. Even with the heat during the day, it cooled down nicely by 9pm and it was perfect for running. Plus my apartment was a sauna so it was actually nicer to be outside.

My energy level was high yesterday--and I was ready to take full advantage of it. If that wasn't enough, my meeting last night was another driving factor--both positive and negative.

Negative first.
I had another gain. It was only .4 lbs, but being that this was the 3rd week in a row I've gained (which has not happened to me ever since I started WW), it was a slap in the face. I need to start making changes. I can't skirt by as I'd been doing for a while with the bare minimum expecting to see results. I won't go into details about the negatives of last week because I don't want to dwell on them*. Moving forward...

The positives:
The meeting topic was about getting off track. My leader specifically talked about Plateaus, but it was entirely appropriate to what I've been going through the past few weeks--addressing why you aren't losing weight. Lack of focus, getting sloppy, monotony etc. I don't know if it necessarily enlightened me on anything, but it did reinforce the fact that I need to take control of this before it gets out of hand.

Even more helpful was after the meeting, my leader came up to ask how I was doing & we started talking about helping me get back on track. Just talking about it seemed to get me back in the momentum. AND one of my fellow meeting members came up and asked me about how I lost my weight. I have to admit I probably was a bit of a Debbie Downer because I was still a bit cranky about gaining, but I tried to give her some of my tips (basically everything that I wasn't doing for the past month). Next week I plan on being a little more helpful to her. So all of this, plus the fact that I felt like I was finally getting my head together to get back on track really helped to motivate me and give me back that positive spirit I'd been missing.

Looking back...
Even though last week didn't go as well as I'd hoped, there were some positive improvements:

• I tracked...most** of my food--on WW.com and in my work planner
• I brought my lunch every day. Home made is always better.
• I walked at lunch during the nicer days. Hey it was a start right?
• I hydrated! Boy did I ever. Bathroom trips were frequent.
• I limited TV, at least at the beginning of the week. I didn't necessarily take that time to do something productive, but even going to bed was better than sitting there mindlessly.
• I did not drink unnecessary alcohol--only on the weekend at two parties--and that was also limited.
• I started practicing a new habit (mentioned at Losing My Thighs) of putting my food down between bites to be able to savor the taste and slow down eating. When I am conscious of it and practice it, it actually works! It makes food last longer too. Point in case-my chocolate chip cookie is only 1/2 eaten 10 minutes after I started it! Chances are I won't be wanting a 2nd one.
  
• Even though I had a rough week last week, my obsessive blog-browsing got me psyched again for moving in the right direction.

*Note to self-don't fall for two-for-one deals on snacks. Like Goldfish. They're evil.
** Most of my food...weekends still tend to get lost in the shuffle. Don't know if I'll ever get past that.

So here's to a fresh week of conscious efforts to get back in the saddle and keep on riding!
Until next time

Step by step...

I didn't mean to make that refer to a NKOTB song, but hey--it's fun.

Well last night's WI brought me down a whole .2 lbs. WUHOO! hahahah--I was a little extra layered anyway--and I probably could have done one more trip to the restroom before I got on the scale, but I'm happy with the .2...it's still progress. And although I had a good week points-wise, I didn't get in too much activity. There was the possibility that my New Years partying would have caught up with me too. So I'll take the .2 which brings me to an even 34lbs from my starting weight.

Then I went home had a (giant) slice of pizza, and a beer. Oh it was so good. I did not exercise. Surprise surprise. I was all set to, but then I got tired & lazy and made excuses. But I still feel like I have more energy today than I did last week (tired yes, but still energetic. Wacky dreams last night again...).

So last night at my meeting we had a convocation of craziness. There are several new additions to our meeting group who have changed the dynamic and not in a good way. Last night this one couple was argumentative, pessimistic, contrary, disrespectful to everyone else who was at the meeting, and just plain annoying. Then there is another woman who is very nice, but also very outspoken and somewhat of a nuisance to the flow of the meeting. And she asked me out for a beer. Is that strange? Whatever--I was all set to go, but then I remembered how tired I was and just thinking about going out after the meeting and having to socialize...not too tempting.

If only I could make the 5:15 meetings...ah well. I'll just grin & bear it. And hope the other couple doesn't sit behind me next time. Which will now be in two weeks because next Monday I will be in Washington DC for the Inauguration celebrations. HOORAY!!

Until next time

Am I Ready for change?

Change can be scary. But it can also be exciting.

I am usually pretty open to change--at least in certain aspects of my life. Hair, wardrobe, decor, etc - bring it on.

But when I found out at yesterday's meeting that Weight Watchers is going to be changing...HELP!!!

Our leader did not say specifically what will be changing, but it sounds like the whole system of Core vs. Flex will be different. I've been a member for 7.5 months. I've gotten used to this points system--I'm certainly not an expert, but I've become very attached to it.

And the idea of this something new is just a bit scary. I guess I will find out next week.

Our leader suggested to think of it as a kickstart to refresh our look at weight loss. I wonder how people who are only a few weeks in will think about this. We will be getting all new books & materials, as if we were new members. I guess it could be kind of fun. But still scary.

In the meantime, I am back down the 4.6 lbs I gained last week and am at exactly the same weight I was two weeks ago. Which is a good thing. I don't know where that 5 lbs came from, but it was not fun. Because of this crazy food week, I am not sure what next week will look like, but I feel like I'm back in the swing of things. I even stayed within my newly-lowered points target yesterday! That strutting idea helped I guess.

Now to plan for the rest of December. And believe me, I have a plan.

Until next time