Surprise! I'm back where I started.

So needless to say, I did not follow through with that 28 day challenge.

Goodness those photos are awful.

Man those last couple of posts seem SO determined. And yet...I let it all fall by the wayside and only took on worse eating habits and gained more weight.

But I'm starting at the beginning. Again.

This week I re-joined Weight Watchers. Yyyyyyyup. 8 years later. In April again. I rejoined Weight Watchers. *Sigh*
Here was my first post from my first go-round
And my before and after back then...

April 2008

Sometime in 2009

And now my after...after...

December 2015

I'm disappointed in myself...but I'm not letting that get to me. I have spent the last few days tracking what I'm eating, making healthier food choices, even exercising! (Sort of)

And there's a lot that's different! The points system is pretty much the same, except it's now calculated to really promote lean proteins, along with fruits & veggies, and discourage you from foods with sugar and fat. So lean meats like chicken breast and pork went down in points, and anything carby went WAY up in points.

What is very different is I had the choice to do online only, online with meetings, or online with coaching! Now I might be able to do online only, but meetings are difficult to get to each week consistently with my schedule. So I signed up for coaching, which means I get a dedicated coach who I have weekly phone calls with and will help me develop my own personalized action plan for success. I can set up more than one coach, and I can schedule multiple phone calls during the week! It's really tailored to accommodate a weird schedule like mine.

This is not that far off from my actual schedule last month

And can I tell you how excited I've been? It's weird--even knowing that I'm starting so much further behind and have even more bad habits to change...I'm excited. I'm excited to have someone dedicated to my own journey. I got surprisingly excited to track my food. I've been actively making food choices knowing that they are lower in points, and nutritious...

and...

I haven't had a single chip, cheeto, or piece of junk food since Monday.
*and neither has my cat...which is a different story

This is a HUGE victory. I've spent so much money and consumed so many calories in the last few months on junk food. Sometimes it would be the only thing I would eat that day. And for someone who is turning 36 in just over a month, it was a big WTF.

Another new feature on the WW app is something called connect - which is a social networking community for members. The old site had a message board which I would go to, but I never was good at keeping up with online forums, and it seemed to have it's cliques and established posters. Plus I could only access it on a computer. Now, I have the connect feature at my fingertips to get support, ideas and encouragement from other members. Not to mention a 24/7 support chat feature if I need it. For someone who is part of the social networking/tech revolution, this is a great feature.

So there it is. April 2016, I am starting my journey on Weight Watchers again.

Healthy life, here I come!

Until Next Time <3 p="">

New month, new post, new start...

It's November. One of my least favorite months...those late fall days when the colors fade as the leaves fall, when it gets dark earlier each day, any time it rains the cold & damp soak through to your bones...

In other words, it's depressing.

So I guess it's a bit contradictory that I'm choosing this time of year for a starting point for getting back on the weight-loss wagon.

So why am I doing it?
1. I can't fit in my clothes comfortably anymore...and not in the good way. (I've had to dig into the "fat" clothes box)
2. After accomplishing 2 half marathons this spring, I could barely finish a 5k last week
3. Rolls, handles and tires should be on a car (shh) ...not on me.
4. I. Feel. Like. Crap.
5. I'm paying $40 a month on Weight Watchers and $30 on a gym...and I'm broke. You do the math.

Tonight I went to Weight Watchers for the first time since July. In four months I gained almost 14 lbs. WHATTHEFLOCK?

I knew it was bad, but the number was shocking. All in all, I've gained close to 30 lbs...IN THE PAST YEAR. Again...WHATTHEFLOCK?? Every time I tried to restart my engines, my head, laziness, potato chips something gets in my way. And it's just gotten me further and further from my goal. But it's got to change. For my health, my sanity, and my overall well being.

I won't go into any more sob stories, but I am setting up the following goals:

• To blog weekly. My schedule probably won't allow daily posts, but I can certainly aim for 3x a week. When I first started at WW, this blog really helped to keep me motivated and to hold myself accountable. Since I'm starting from scratch, I am committing to blogging again. And speaking of starting from scratch...goal #2
  
• Go back to basics. Re-read the Weight Watchers materials, follow the weekly plans, and take it step by step. Set goals and reach them, and evaluate progress both good & bad.
• Put myself first. My health needs to be a priority. My daily choices need to reflect that, and I am in control of those choices. Figure out what I need to do to be successful (like planning ahead, scheduling exercise...) and then do them.
  
• Persistence, not perfection. This is something which came out of my meeting tonight. It struck a chord with me. Despite all my missteps along the way...I haven't completely given up. I am still trying. Which means that this persistence will pay off.

Hope there are still some of you out there...I could use your support more than ever!

Until next time

Luck o'the...Italian?

I bet he's not Irish either...

Okay--so I'm not Irish...but EVERYONE's Irish on St. Patty's day...right?

Anyway--this post actually has nothing to do with the holiday, it is just really a quick and lame update.

Life has been busy. March is always my busiest month with work and this year is no different. Our big fundraiser awards dinner is next Thursday and I've been trying to balance that with half marathon training & working out, choir, stage managing, eating & weight loss, and life in general...some more successful than others.

But since this is not my "extracurricular activities" blog...let's focus on the parts that matter:

Half Marathon Training: Actually going well. I am doing my weekly Saturday runs, and the longest I've run is 8 miles since I missed a 10 mile run a couple of weeks ago...which I get to try to make up for this weekend. The weekday runs are still not as frequent as they should be and average 3 miles apiece. I should be doing runs Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays as well as Sundays on top of our Saturday run. I've been averaging Tuesdays or Wednesdays or Thursdays...and never on Sundays. This week I ran two days in a row and I definitely felt the stress on my body. I guess I'll have to work on that between now & May

Working Out: pretty much non-existent right now--but I am eager to get back to my workout videos--Booty Barre was great & I really felt like it was targeting the areas I needed...ie, my butt & thighs! I think I'll be canceling my gym membership now that the weather's warming up (not like I ran indoors more than 2 or 3 times this winter anyway...) and I do most of my other workouts at home.

Eating & Weight Loss: Okay--so really this is the toughest part right now. Because I'm so overwhelmed with everything, I'm not eating the best. I try...really I do. I have been trying to bring fruit with me to work and get in my veggies. I did give up chips & fried foods for lent & so far I've been good! (You know...for the one week that's passed...) The problem is now I'm replacing it with sweets which I don't normally gravitate towards. Shame on me... The other problem is that I haven't weighed in or been to a meeting in WEEKS! Sometimes it's because of work, other times it's because of fear of the scale. The last meeting was after my 5k and three days straight of running which threw my weight off tremendously. So I know I would have lost since that meeting, but I still haven't been back. Because I'm not focusing on the scale, I'm not focusing on what I'm eating. So it's been a lot of rationalization...such as "well, I ran 6 miles today...I can have a burger" or "well I'll just work that pizza off on my run"--without really thinking about the math of weight loss.

The further I get from it, the more overwhelming it is, and I keep saying to myself "I'll go back as soon as..." And whether that "as soon as" is my PMS bloating goes away, or I have a good eating week, or my fundraiser is done with--I keep making excuses. The problem is, there's always something to make excuses about--I just have to do it.

Anyway--that's my update...not so quick, but certainly lame because I am not holding myself accountable for the journey I have taken thus far. I was looking at photos today---some before my weight loss, some during and some when I was at my lowest. I'm nowhere near my high weight, but I certainly am farther than I wish to be from my lowest. And I have to do something about that. In this case...it's not about Luck--it's about taking charge.

Here's to March Madness and marching to better health!

Until next time

Ready, Set, LIVE!

So as many of you Weight Watchers followers know, as of November 28th, they have re-vamped their program to the Points Plus method, taking into account more than just calories to help you make the best food decisions in order to eat healthy.

While I was a little skeptical on the first approach, it really is a great plan because it encourages you to eat less processed foods and more natural foods that will make the most of your meals. Lean proteins and fiber carry more weight than fat and carbohydrates in this revamped plan, but all are taken into account to make up the foods we eat.

On one hand, many of the foods we typically enjoy end up being more points...mainly carbohydrate heavy foods like breads and sweets. And you can't get away with as much as you could on the original points plan with the goodies...On the other hand, it forces you to really pay attention to what you're eating to get the most bang for your Point...

Well, being on week two of the plan, I feel like I'm finally getting it. Even though it is easier to choose the greasy, carb-loaded food when hungry, I have been using this new plan as a springboard to step back towards my health journey.

I reset my weight on eTools and when I weighed in after the long Thanksgiving weekend, I weighed in at exactly 200.0 lbs. It's a sad realization how far off track I am from where I was last year at this time (down in the 180s), but as I said, this Points Plus plan is definitely a refreshing restart to getting back in the game and getting back to basics.

Successes for the week:

• Passed on pizza several times as a meal option--twice being that I skipped a meal that was provided for me at an event! 11 point pizza? NOT WORTH IT!
• Finally made it back to the gym for the first time since the summer...last week was a bit of a slow start and I went only once, but this week I have a better plan and better frame of mind and tonight will be the 2nd time.
• Have discovered new ways of incorporating food with the new plan such as having FF plain greek yogurt mixed with fresh berries and some splenda, or just some honey. YUM.
• Got the starter pack for the new plan with the companion guides for the new points values as well as a 3 month journal to track my progress, meals, exercise etc. I do still track online and it's sort of double duty, but when I don't have access to eTools, it's keeping me honest.
• Actually re-planned meals based on earlier meals to incorporate the healthy guidelines (fruits, veggies, etc) and to stay within my points values.
• Dusted off my food scale to measure my portions!
• In most cases...Stuck to portion sizes!!
  
• Lost 1.4 lbs this week!!!

Though I am definitely still a work in progress, I feel like I'm already starting to re-think how I eat and I'm more determined to stick to the plan than ever to make these changes in my life. I even sat down with my boyfriend after the first meeting to show him how the plan worked so he could help me when I need it (like encouraging me to think about what I want when I say I want dessert or not suggest that I have more helpings).

On a side note, I've missed being a part of the health blogging community and although I can't guarantee the frequency of my posts, I definitely want to reengage myself with this blog since it helped motivate me so much when I was in the swing of things.

Until next time!