Breakin' the Cycle

Yeah, I did it! Instead of passing by the gorgeous pond on the way home, telling myself I'll come back out later, I stopped and walked! It was a great, brisk, 35 minute walk around the pond, and I sat on the bench and watched the sky for 20 minute aftewards. The most peaceful hour I've spent! And I earned 2 points for it (why is it only 2 points! I so badly want it to be more :)

Regardless of points earned, I feel great, my body is humming, I feel calm and happy, and pleasantly hungry. I'm going to make myself some whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce. More low points, and I have 11.5 points left with 3 activity points to boot!

So thank you to Taunia and my S.O. for taking my calls to psyche myself up. Totally helped.

AAAAAND, Taunia, I stayed within my points yesterday! I was actually under (not a good thing), but by only 3 pts. Today, I am confident I'll be staying within my points, so I'm very happy! I'd have even more points left if I didn't splurge for the White Chocolate Mocha at Starbucks on my walk at work - BUT, I got a Tall, skim milk, no whipped cream White Chocolate Mocha - 6 points vs. 10 with all the other stuff on it. Not the best choice, but the best for the splurge.

perhaps Chatilla's this weekend... ;)

Hi-Lo, Yum-Yum Out

So today is a series of ups and downs...

up: my breakfast(s) were only 3.5 points and I ate them over the span of two hours.
Down: I was a bit hungry, and the oatmeal I started out with lost its luster because it was not filling. I think I need my grits.

Up: went out for Mexican for lunch and it was 16 points which was OK because my breakfast was so little.
Down: feeling guilty because it's the second time I've gone out in two days

Up: lunch was so big that I am still not hungry, now at 8pm (where I usually have to eat every two hours), so I guess that even though it was a lot of points, it went a long way.
Down: I was full and tired, and talked myself out of stopping for a walk at the pond on the way home. I have always done this with the pond - say I'll come back out, and then not do it. I know I need to stop on my way home or it's not going to get done. Perhaps a goal to address in the upcoming week. Also, I came home, ate a 100-calorie dorito pack (even though I was still stuffed), and took a 1.5 hour nap. No real activity points today, I wasted my opportunity.

Up: I'm leisurely thinking about dinner and healthy choices to make for dinner since I'm not starving
Down: my b/f wants take out Chinese tonite. DEADLY! And my third time eating out in two days. Seems excessive. I'm aiming for the chicken and string beans instead of the double cooked pork because of the lighter sauce, less oil, and more veggies. I'm thinking (hoping) that will not put me over my remaining 8 points.

And Taunia - I accept and appreciate your challenge! My plan for breakfast tomorrow is grits with garlic and 1/2 cup ground turkey. Grits (3tbsp) = 1.5 pt; ground turkey (2oz) = 2pt; and maybe 1tbsp butter spread = 1pt. 4.5 pts total.

Lunch is my chicken pasta leftover from two nights ago (6 points - 1/2 serving). Total bfast & lunch = 10.5. Total left for dinner: 17.5pts. niiiiiice. It feels good to have a plan, so thank you again for the challenge!

Slow and Steady...

Today I didn't lose any weight, or as I like to think of it, I maintained my weight from last week. I'm OK with this, because good lord, I lost 4lbs the week before.

My goal for this week? EAT WITHIN MY POINTS. I am going to challenge myself to NOT eat any of my flex points, like Taunia, because with good planning, there's no reason to resort to them. SO y'all, help me out, keep me accountable, kick my butt.

Tonite was a great cheat nite...I ate reasonable portions of lots of different things. The two things I could have done better were to eat LESS overall, and to have slowed down, especially with the appetizers, because I was wolfing those suckers down. I guess the other thing I would have done was to not eat so much of the cake at the end. I was just on auto pilot, and after a snafu of mistaking mayonnaise for butter (ooog, my stomach is still churning), I was eating the cake to settle my stomach and cleanse my taste buds.

Great company, great food, decent week. I'm looking forward to the week ahead, and I'm excited because this will be a month now that I've been doing weight watchers, and I'm still very motivated. Having great people around me to help each other thru this is definitely making a big difference.

S'Alright

Today...was s'alright. My biggest achievement? Not buying anything at the deli we usually walk to during lunch. It has fabulous foods - like mango chicken salad, and mozarella-prosciutto-basil-tomato sandwich. YUM! But, I resisted.

Food-wise, things went well. I didn't have to think too much about my food because I prepared. I had the second half of the above-said sandwich (leftovers from yesterday), a fit & lite yogurt (1pt!), and garlic-ginger-honey chicken for breakfast/lunch. I wolfed down the 100-calorie dorito pack and half the 100-calorie fudge stripe pack around 5pm because I was famished, then had 3 rolls of sushi (OK, not the best, but soooo good). I probably would have been OK with 2 rolls, but at least I know that for next time.

Now it's 9:15, and I'm full and happy and just tired enough to unwind and snuggle into bed. Today's a great day. Hope yours was wonderful too!

Crockpots Rock, part 2

Meal just cooked: Ginger garlic honey chicken - cooked together w/ soy sauce and sherry. Not bad if I do say so myself...it's a bit sweeter than I had anticipated, but good nonetheless.

Taunia's fridge inspired me and I went to Trader Joe's today - got a bunch of yummy stuff. Organic chicken breasts, organic french cut green beans, shao mai dumplings, low-cal salsa and chips, ginger (for da crockpot), whole wheat pasta, organic marinara sauce...don't know what else, but all this is yummy so far.

I've been noticing that I'm eating an ave of 33 pts a day - there was only one day this past week where I stayed within my points. I'm glad I had lots of activity points to offset it, but I don't want to depend on them - I have to learn to eat within my points. Mostly it's just planning correctly, because when I don't, I take whatever I can find, and lets face it - not too many healthy choices out there unless you're lookin' for them.

Good thing for today? Got weighed @ the doctor and was 245.5 - 1.1 lb less than last week! Of course I was nekkid...

Damn the Busy Weekend

Like Taunia, this weekend was a little rough for me. I was feeling great because I had prepared for the trip to Albany with a box of hand-selected 100-calorie treats to stave my hunger. We left in a rush, so I didn't get to eat a real meal, so I ate two 100-calorie snacks right after each other before we were able to find a rest stop. My 'healthy' choice was a BLT from d'angelos, which makes LOUSY subs! Rest Stop d'Angelos anyway. At least 10-11 points and I was still hungry after! I felt like I had a lot of high-point stuff but I was hungry all day, that's really weird! We got to my boyfriend's parent's place, and they made hamburgers and green beans, so I had some.

Interesting fact: my weight fluctuates +/- 5lbs when I eat. I weighed myself right after I ate, and I was 250-ish. I weighed myself later that night after walking 3 hours at the mall, and was 249. I peed and was 248. I slept and weighed myself the next morning and I was 246. So, I'm trying not to psyche myself up or out too much over losing 4 lbs last week, because I'm sure most of it was due to my extremely empty stomach and bladder. Which means I will probably go up this week, which is fine because as long as I go down overall, it's good. I shouldn't have put too much weight (ha ha) on how much I lost because I know it's unrealistic and somewhat of a fluke to have lost so much in one week. Not to mention unhealthy.

Anyhoo, I made the best choices I could this weekend: Saturday while walking around the mall, I got a fat-free vanilla frozen yogurt with fruit (no sugar added) from Haagan Daz. I ate a little buttered popcorn when we got back (1.25 cups). Sunday, we helped my boyfriend's brother move. 3 hours pretty laid back. Had 2 everything bagels (yikes!) and 1/2 cup mushroom soup (sooooo good!). We stopped at Panera on the way home and I had a lemon artichoke chicken panini (why are these specials never as good as they look in the advertisements!) and hot green tea.

I guess overall my choices were as good as I could make them - I didn't have any candy or go wild on chips...still, just frustrated that I didn't make the best choices possible, and sad that my weight loss last week was moreso because I wasn't filled with pee or food than actual weight loss, but I'm OK. I'm feeling great about my choices, and I'm liking the feeling of eating healthy, and happy about my activity level so far.

Week 2 Results: Down 4lbs!!!

Hey! Today was a great day, because I found out I lost 4lbs! I am now at 245.6. This achievement feels FABULOUS. I am just so excited because although I made some pretty bad choices the first three days last week, I tried really hard to change not only eating habits, but activity-level habits the last four days and have been feeling positive about those changes. This change on the scale is motivating me to continue doing what I'm doing.

The other great thing: tonite was "Cheat Nite" and we all made great choices - and were all surprised by how little we actually ended up eating. Our "splurges" were not gigungously huge by any means - Taunia had a buffalo chicken salad and french onion soup, and I had a shrimp pizza w/ goat cheese (yuuuummmmmy) and steakburger with fries. I finished the whole pizza (single serving thin crust) but only had about 1/3 the burger and fries because I was so full. And it felt great! I felt great about my choice of foods and I did not walk away from that dinner with any feelings of guilt: Mission Accomplished.

The only thing I'd improve upon for today is PLANNING. I know I need to do it, but that's proving a slow change to make. I only had a small yogurt for breakfast, and 1 cup vegetable soup for lunch. I then had two-100calorie sun chip packages in the afternoon topped with a weight watchers smores bar before dinner. Not a healthy combination, and I was SOOOOOOOO hungry the whole day, so I'm hoping to be better prepared tomorrow. Ideally that means not setting my alarm incorrectly and waking up late :)

Crock Pots and 100 Calorie Snacks Rock

Seriously. I have never used a crock pot before two months ago. We got one from my boyfriend's parents, and I was thinking "what the hell are we (I) going to do with this contraption?!). Enter garlic lime chicken. Enter lazy cooking. Enter immediate gratification upon coming home hungry. Don't know how I missed out on this one before.

Aaaaanyway, Taunia and I went shopping for healthy snacks. Well, ok, "healthier" snacks. I bought a whole bunch of 100 calorie snacks which amused me because I was such a snob against them for the longest time ("who in their right mind would pay more money for other people to segment out their food? Lame!") I stand partially corrected. I appreciate them right now because they get me to eat healthier portions quickly. Do I want to buy these for the rest of my life? Not really. I want to make sure I wean myself off of them so I don't break the bank trying to keep from breaking my seat. Case in point, instead of buying a big package of pre-cut fruit, I bought strawberries, grapes, a canteloupe, and a honeydew to make what would have cost me twice the amount to buy pre-done. Wish me luck on cutting these damn things. I can't remember the last time I ever bought a melon...it's got to have been at least four years ago.

Activity-wise, I've done well today. I went on my typical 15 minute walk during work. Later in the afternoon, Taunia and I went shopping. Then, when I got home, I went out grocery shopping to get meats and other staples. I found some Dannon fit and light yogurt---I'm going to give them a try. All in all, 45 minutes of walking, and it wasn't painful because I wasn't focused on the activity itself. That's the way (uh-huh uh-huh) I like it.

All in all, a good day. I weighed myself at Taunia's today and saw 248.4 which is 1.2 less than last week, so I'm excited, but tomorrow is the real test - WW weigh-in!

Bok Choi

Dang I love me some Bok Choi. And I needed to get back on track in terms of veggie intake - a perfect partnership. I had two cups of bok choi for my two dinners: 5pm and 9:30pm. I threw in some american veggies in the later dinner to jazz things up a bit.

Today was a great day in terms of eating. OK, not great, but really good. I started out a little shaky - had a bowl of grits, but I waited a while before eating, and lemme tell you, it does not taste that great luke-warm. Luke-warm and bland. Luckily, I had some cajun spice-covered turkey slices (Whole Foods in-house oven roasted turkey breast - great b/c it doesn't have the slimy coataing). I threw in some turkey slices and that made the grits yummy(er).

Lunch was great. I had bought pre-cut fruit, and fat free greek yogurt. I mixed the two, and had that, and some more turkey breast meat for lunch. It was great, and filling without stuffing me.

Dinner was bok choi and some pickings off vietnamese take out (1/2 summer roll, a bite of beef teriaki).

So it was a healthy day. I boiled up some whole wheat pasta for tomorrow and will eat that with the rest of the veggies, but I'm kinda wishing I had more fruit to munch on!

Fitness-wise, I decided to aim for doing 30 minutes of activity a day for the majority of the days this week. It shouldn't be too hard considering I walk 15 minutes every day for my 30 minute lunch. I danced for half an hour at home around 7pm tonite, and it was fun, but I'd prefer to be outside. Or to just have more space to move around.

But things are shaping up. yay!

More Active Weekend

This weekend has been good in terms of activity, and I've been eating much less of the weekly "flex points" (which is good because I have used roughly 120 points over). I'm realizing how in the two quick months since I stopped WW, my old habits have crept back up fairly quickly. 120 points over is about 24 points a day, which, I suppose, if I were doing Flex, would be in the range of target daily consumption. But I'm not doing Flex. Haha.

This week is somewhat of a transition as I get out the foods I've been eating, and get in the foods I should be eating. I'm amazed at how few veggies I've been eating this week considering I'm usually a veggie fiend. However frustrated I am that I haven't had a better start, I am happy that I am at least progressing in the right direction.

Things I'm proud of thus far: I've been eating less and less flex points each day (for the most part):
Wed: 57
Thurs: 36.5
Fri: 36
Sat: 41
Sun: 14

At the same time, my activity points have been going up (again, for the most part):
Wed: 1
Thurs: 1
Fri: 1
Sat: 14
Sun: 9.5

I went grocery shopping this weekend and bought good, healthy stuff, so I'm looking forward to this next week.

Ms. Taunia - I saw your WW tracking - good stuff! You've been getting in great meals. Don't forget to add in the activity points since I'm assuming you've been walking Julip this weekend. I like Wes' challenge!

Bumpy Day

Hmmm...it's been a bumpy day health-wise. I didn't dance like I was aiming to do...it's a habit with me - I psyche myself up the night before and I psyche myself out the day of. Hmmm...

I think I figured out that I can't eat my Chinese leftovers. I was hungry before, during, and after I ate, and it made me crave the brownie, popcorn, and second serving of leftovers.

So it's OK, but I can't keep telling myself that my mistakes are OK if I keep doing them. Looking forward to tomorrow.

WW Week 2 - First "Cheat Dinner"

So I gained 2/10 of a pound this past week. I'm not stressing it. Considering I ate unhealthily the last couple of days, and considering I ate right before going to the meeting tonite because I (unintentionally) skipped lunch, and considering the weight could be from any of a number of factors, I'm not stressing it.

What I am stressing about is the "cheat dinner" - where we just eat whatever and however much we want the night of our meeting. Well, I don't know if "stressing" is the right word, but "not happy with the outcome" is more the phrase I'm looking for. I "cheated" with 5 crab rangoons, 4 pieces of orange chicken, a cup of veggie fried rice, and a cup of double cooked pork. Not a heck of a lot of food, but guess what? I found out that it was 57 points (the crab rangoons accounted for almost half - 23 points). Waaaaaaaaay too many points for the amount of food - and it's two hours later and I'm hungry again! I've been thinking of the chocolate brownie I have tucked away in the fridge and how much I want to eat it. I got a cup of water instead. It's doing the trick. For now.

So, I think I realized that cheat nite's not worth it - I still have over half the food left, meaning I'll be munching on it through the week, meaning I'll be eating less food for more points for at least the next two days, meaning I'll be hungrier, meaning I'll eat more of other things, meaning I'll go over points, meaning it'll be a helluva hard time to actually lose any weight. I'll be punishing myself the whole week for one nite of cheating. At this rate, I won't lose any weight.

I think I'm going to think of "cheat nite" as "treat nite" - meaning I am going to treat myself to a week of delicious and healthy leftovers by ordering something delicious and low in points. I'll probably splurge on one item - maybe an appetizer or dessert - which won't put me into the hole so far. That way, I'll feel good about it the whole week. Right now, I'm resenting having to (ok I don't "have" to, but I am feeling very opposed to wasting the food) eat the rest of the Chinese food because it's going to throw me off for the week. I want to feel happy and "treated" to eat my leftovers for the rest of the week. And I want it to help me get to my goal, not keep me where I am or push me in the other direction.

I also learned that I need to be more active. I walk 15 minutes a day with a co-worker at lunch, and that equates to 1 activity point. If I'm going to treat myself food-wise, I've got to treat myself activity-wise by being more active so the food treat doesn't impact the week as heavily. I've always enjoyed dancing - I'll go to clubs and dance for 2-3 hours straight. I think I may have a 'personal dance party' at home the days I'm not busy right after work (Wed-Fri) and dance for 15-60 min depending on my mood. This never feels like "exercise" - just expressing myself creatively.

YESTERDAY

3.5 hours of laundry...about 12 loads...that's gotta count for keeping active, eh? 1 hour moving stuff the day before, 2 hours dancing the night before that at a wedding, and an hour walking around a casino the night before that. I've had an active couple of days, so I'm feeling good.

I've been eating healthily in terms of meals, but have been having unhealthy snacks, partially due to stress, partially due to "that time of the month", and partially due to whatever else. I finished a pint of ice cream in a week (Ben & Jerry's Caramel Core) but mostly in the last two days. Salt & Pepper chips to keep me company with all my driving around. However, I still very much prefer the healthy snack food. I'm working on making that happen more often by just trying to make sure I either cook something in the crock pot overnite to be ready the next day, or cook up the whole wheat pasta or make bean salad as a base for meals the next day...working on more recipes.

One of my friends gave me a lot of clothes that she no longer wore, and that's doubled my wardrobe. I feel attractive going out again because i've got great clothes. She's got great taste!

I have healthy stuff to go for meal tomorrow, so onward and upward! Tomorrow nite is WW nite, then Cheat Dinner! Woo hoo!

cyn

Hmm and bigger blip

I slid back towards old comfortable habits today for several reasons:

1) stress
2) convenience

STRESS
I don't need to rehash it all, but I'm under tight deadlines on the work and home front. Doing a lot of driving, lifting, packing, sorting, and working.

CONVENIENCE
I ran out of my healthy food (cooked pasta and veggies). I was in a rush and grabbed the quick and easy - salt and pepper chips. I was on the road and working from 4-9:30, and hadn't eaten that whole time. I also had no water. The only thing I had on me were the chips, which I ate (more than I wanted) on the way home.


The good thing?

Both times I gorged myself, last nite on chocolate and tonite on chips, it wasn't fulfilling. Physiologically, I am responding in a negative manner which definitely doesn't motivate me to grab them again. I will "resort' to them if they're all that's there, but they won't be my first choice. This means, I NEED TO COOK! Get things in order so when I grab for convenience, it can continue to be the good stuff. whoo hoo!

Yay and Blip

Today was the first WW meeting. I, happily, did not gain all the weight I thought I had. I am 0.1 pound less than what I was when I started WW back in March. I'm happy because this means that even while I was off WW, I continued to make positive, healthy lifestyle choices. We have a great leader, so I'm pumped.

Hit a bit of a blip later in the nite..was out w/ my partner in crime to Tar-jay gettin' some stuff. Got a call. My parents had moved a year ago and just sold the house this past month. It was to be closed the beginning of October. So, I have one month to clear out the rest of the stuff that was left behind (we had to keep some rooms set up so the house looked 'lived in'...helped with showing the house). Well, turns out the call was from the realtor, saying that the closing was moved up a month, and that everything had to be out my Friday morning. That's the day after tomorrow. We negotiated that I could leave some stuff there to pick up Sunday as long as it was all in one place, but the 'cleaner-movers' are coming in Friday morning to clear out whatever I don't tomorrow. Holy Yikes! It's a bigger deal than typical because there's furniture I'd like to keep in the family or among friends, and just a lot of crap to go through and figure out. I don't like rushing. Plus, I'm going to a wedding this weekend.

BUT, thank goodness for great friends. Mine calmed me down, and may even take some of the furniture. I called around and found some other friends who would also be interested, so I'm feeling better about the whole thing.

Anyway, this circles back to food. I had to eat and eat out after that. Went to On The Border. Ate a bowl of chips and salsa (yay carbs), had a virgin strawberry daquari, and some gobby mess of cheese, onions, chicken, steak, beans and rice. I only finished maybe 1/4 of the dish, so that's cool. I ate a butt load of chips but am hoping the salsa even'd out the chips. The daquari...what can I say. I think it was still an OK choice because I needed it mentally to unwind the stress. I have been very healthy in the past three days so I am feeling OK with this choice, and reminding myself that "what I do next is what matters." I did, you should know, resist purchasing an absolutely delicious M&M and choco chip cookie, and crumbly amazing coffee cake muffin even after pulling out my wallet and fishing for money. Thank goodness for places with minimums on credit cards! There was no way I was going to spend $10 on treats! But it felt great - empowering - to say no, stick with it, and come out alive and unscathed. This could be a better trip that previous ones :)

So What's This All About, Anyway?

If you have not already guessed, I am (re) joining Weight Watchers. First meeting is tomorrow. I started earlier this year but stopped in June. Since then, I have gained what looks to be 8 lbs. I am at the heaviest I have been in my life. This, in and of itself, does not bother me as much as the lifestlye impacts it has had: hard to play pick up sports, hard to sleep comfortably, increased heart disease risk, etc., etc., etc. It is basically getting in the way of me living the life I want to lead.

My first priority for joining Weight Watchers is my health. The looks are an ancillary benefit. I am fortunate in that I (try to) minimize the pressure to value myself based solely/primarily on my appearance. I use my personality, my intelligence, and my character. If only the world would come around :)

So, healthwise, my BMI is around 45. I carry my weight well, but I think that has given me the privilege of not taking my unsuccessful attempts at gaining a healthy life style (as opposed to "weight loss" only) seriously enough.

My focus right now, is to get the eating right. Being active is a challenge, and I have something worked out to try, but right now, my focus is to learn how to stop eating when I'm full (I was raised to finish my plate, so I'm used to my portion dictating my hunger).

I am using this blog as a (hopefully) daily account of my journey. It is more for me, not you, which is why it's written in stream-of-consciousness, note-taking fashion. I hope some of you men and women out there who see this, may read it and use it to help you in your struggles, or to be respectful and supportive of the fact that these challenges exist for people around you. Please feel free to leave suggestions of what has worked for you, or share disappointments or setbacks. It IS a lifetime journey, isn't it. I get stronger each time I come back to making a commitment to move to a healthy lifestyle. I can't let my failures dictate my future.

Today's Triumphs

So, today I picked another affirmation out of my "affirmation jar" - I call him "affy". Today, it again was "What you do next matters". Good moments today:

1) Breakfast. First thought was "hmm...I'll eat the rest of that whole wheat pasta and lean ground turkey w/ spaghetti sauce that I made last night"...it was a great breakfast - actually filling, unlike cereal, eggs and toast.

2) "Second Breakfast" at work - made the bad choice for a cup of coffee, but made a good choice for half an everything bagel w/ cream cheese (vs. whole) - and I only ate half of the half, so that was a quarter of a bagel. It wasn't worth it.

So it's kinda funny...the choices I make to indulge myself have actually been disappointing...the coffee, the bagel, the potato salad yesterday and the boneless wings yesterday. All disappointing. Which is great, because it means I'm not rewarding myself for indulgments (is that a real word??!)

3) I was so hungry after my voice lesson today that I was going to stop at a BK on the 40 minute drive home. I remembered the phrase (it really works when you say it out loud, over and over!), and I stuck out the ride home, and instead of grabbing the salt and pepper chips, I turned to the whole wheat pasta and ground turkey once again.

4) So second dinner (geez, I sound like an eating WHORE here, but I have to do small meals (e.g. 1 cup of food) 6 or so times a day to keep my body properly nourished instead of inundating it with large quantities of food fewer times.) I tried the whole "do what everyone else does because it's normal" 3-times a day, cereal/eggs for breakfast deal, and you know what, it doesn't work for me. It doesn't make sense for me to follow generic stereotypes when I know a different way in which I can be more successful.

ANYHOO, a friend and I went to a vietnamese restaurant, and I ordered chicken chow foon, which was greasy, but otherwise healthy. No heavy, salty sauce. Just chicken, veggies, and noodles. I also had a vietnamese coffee (bad!) but it was sooo good. But again, not as fabulous as I thought it would be. I also only ate half my meal and will be saving the other half for either breakfast or lunch tomorrow.

5) My friend and I went to Whole Foods and bought a pint of Ben & Jerry's Martha Martha Choco (?)...I didn't pig out - I gave myself three spoonfuls, which was just enough.

All in all, a good day. I kept thinking about my next choice. Just once choice at a time, one meal at a time.

More Affirmations and My Strong Moments

Hey!

I hope you're settling in OK w/ all the new stuff :)

I just talked to my brother for 45 minutes...we don't usually talk so much, but he's always been helpful with helping me. He brought up a lot of things that rang true for me, so I made them into affirmations for myself. I'm adding these to my "affirmations box" and thought I'd pass them along. I hope I'm not inundating you w/ this stuff, I'm just excited to have someone to share it with!

Another thing I wanted to share...my affirmation for today was "the next thing you do is what matters."...It helped me out twice today and I made some good choices:

1. In the grocery store on the way to your house. We were going to get sushi, but there was nothing good. So I was like "whatever, I'll just get pepperoni or something yummy since it's just for a drive", but I changed my mind and got chicken (well...boneless bbq chicken wings), green beans, and red potato salad. The chicken and salad were my "treats" and they were actually my least favorite of the three. I also got sun chips (instead of doritos)...

2. tonite 9:30, I'm hungry! I was just gonna get some salt & pepper chips and some ice cream or crackers since that was quick, but instead, I boiled up some whole wheat pasta, defrosted lean ground turkey, threw in some leftover greenbeans, and had some impromptu spaghetti. Granted I didn't eat til 10pm, as opposed to 9:31, but it was worth the wait as I'm more satisfied. Also, my brother called as I was eating, so I only ate half of what I put in my bowl, and I found that I really was "full" after 20 minutes! I am going to go buy smaller bowls to control my portions...

OK, that's it...sorry I'm so long winded, but I like the idea of being accountable to you, I hope to make this a daily thing but let me know if that's too much on your end - I don't want to inundate you. I was actually thinking of starting an anonymous blog to post this stuff so maybe I'll do that instead of clogging up your inbox...


NEW AFFIRMATIONS
It took me twenty years to learn to eat this way. Change will happen…in time.
I conditioned myself to eat this way. I can condition myself to eat differently.
I conditioned myself to be inactive. I can condition myself to be active.
I conditioned myself to lose motivation. I can condition myself to keep motivated
If I can get a Masters degree, I can learn to live a healthy lifestyle
Diet pills are like singing without learning how. I can fake it, but it won’t last long.

Weight Watchers Affirmations

Hey!

I just came across these when I was looking at my notes from weight watchers. Hopefully these'll get me motivated this time around. Thought I'd pass them on to you and our group :) Some are from the session; some I made up.

I have an "affirmations" jar where I wrote each one on a piece of paper. Anytime I get weak, I will pick one out.

I'm also typing these out and posting them on my fridge.

I'm also putting a small version of these in my purse to have at work and when I go out to keep me strong away from home.

Maybe we could send our personal affirmations around to each other to help each other out...


AFFIRMATIONS
I need to do this to have the kind of life I want.

I'm not going to beat myself up over one bad choice.

In time, I can be thinner, or still carry all this weight. The time will be the same.

I'm working on being a healthier, happier person. And I like it.

I have conquered these challenges before.

I need to do this to have the kind of life I want.

I deserve to be fit.

I am a rich treasure waiting to be found.

I will not let childhood experience get in the way of exercising.

I am able to handle any problem I face.

What I do next is most important.

I am a winner.

I deserve to reach my goals.

I know I can do it.

I did it once. I can and will do it again.

Remember walking four hours around town "just because"?

Do it. Just because.

Plastic pants, here I come!

My heart will thank me. For a very, very, very long time.

My body will reflect who my mind knows I am.

Dude. It's just chips. Not god. Say no.

How can I be fruity without my fruit?