New Path, New Direction

Maybe you noticed that it has been a while since my last post, that is because I decided Weight Watchers was not for me and have been sticking with Kick Boxing for the past month. I am going to start in a new direction today however.

Starting today I have a gym membership to a locally owned gym, $99 for 6 months and no contract! I am also starting Tae Kwon Do at the same place I am continuing Kick Boxing. I am scared to death of Tae Kwon Do and making a food of myself, but I am hoping to gain some coordination and self defense while I am sweating off a few pounds. Being a large woman and wearing an all white flowing uniform also makes me a little apprehensive.

Please check back for more updates on this new path, my goal is to be at the gym everyday and at Tae Kwon Do 4-5 days a week and Kick Boxing 3 days a week. So if you try to contact me and I don't get back to you for a while, it is probably because I am getting some form of exercise. Oh yea, did I mention I am also going to be walking my new puppy!? :)

Updating

Well, I haven't been blogging much lately, you probably noticed my Weigh In updates have stopped. That is because I stopped Weight Watchers, I did not want to pay for it without any results anymore. And I realized that my issues are more about exercise than eating differently. I don't eat that much to begin with, and our home is full of healthier choices more often than not. When we have guests over is usually the more unhealthy food eating.

I started a Kick Boxing Class and I absolutely love it! I feel great when I am done. That is three nights a week and those are my busiest days due to working those days as well, but at the end of those days I feel very productive. In August I am going to start a gym program and Tae Kwon Do, along with the Kick Boxing. It sounds funny that a grown woman will start a martial arts program, but I am super excited. There is also another change coming next week that will encourage more exercise, AND NO IT IS NOT A BABY!! You will find out all about that in a couple weeks when I return from a camping trip.

Along with those changes I am going to start using a juicer to follow an eating plan that is geared toward my body type. It uses my body shape and weight habits, as well as the foods I naturally tend to crave and my genetics as far as my nationality goes into my body type. I am very interested to see how this goes, and I think it will be a fun research project if nothing else comes of it. Juicing is never a bad thing really so it can't be any worse than I am right now. :)

So that is the update, feel free to leave comments or thoughts.

Emotional Eating

I have always known I was an emotional eater, I guess you could say I am just an eater, because I will eat for any reason. This is not a huge revelation for anyone that is overweight; as they said in our WW meeting yesterday: If you didn't have an eating problem you wouldn't need WW. The cycle of emotional eating is a vicious one; and I actually noticed I was in the cycle the past week.

After my weigh in last week I was very angry and depressed over my WW failures, and eating was there. I ate a lot all at once and then realized I had done it and felt bad about it and ate again and then I felt gross so I didn't want to do anything so I ate again and then I realized what I ate the day before and I got angry and ate again; this cycle went on for three days until I looked at it for what it was and decided to knock it off. Three days folks! I was depressed and lonely because my husband is at training for an extended period of time, and also because of my WW issues. I realized I have to keep planning my days instead of just letting food happen and exercise happen. So on Wednesday I found a kickboxing class that meets three nights a week and costs $2.50 per class and I went. I am going again tonight and will continue to go three days a week as often as I can. I am eating like a person is supposed to, with actual meals at normal times of day, not just grabbing stuff and eating until I feel sick.

In WW yesterday we talked about our trackers, and I admit that I don't use mine when I feel bad about my eating. But that is the point of the little things; to show our patterns and help us fix them. To show us how we eat and why, and also that you can track your emotions and daily events too, and you will be amazed how they line up! This post is to encourage anyone that feels trapped in their cycles of emotional eating, there is a good way to stop doing this. It takes a lot of work, think of an alcoholic that uses drinking to numb some sort of painful memory; they drink to numb the pain and then have to drink again because they feel bad about drinking...and they cycle starts. You can stop the cycle if you pay attention to your body and what you are putting into it. If you are bored or depressed make sure to plan your meals and your exercise. Go take a walk or run or hit the gym when you are sitting at home feeling blah. The exercise releases endorphins and you will feel better after 20 minutes. There is a way to stop eating; there is an Italian Proverb that states it perfectly:

"EAT TO LIVE, don't live to Eat!"

Honesty Time Again

I share this with you with tears in my eyes, and ask that no one call or text to comment on this one. You can respond with e-mails or on facebook, but no phone stuff.

I weighed in again this morning like I do everything Thursday at Weight Watchers. I have somehow gained the little bit of weight I had lost, back. I hate this feeling. I actually am looking into some health problems that I feel have gone undiagnosed for a while; but the ultimate problem is me having trouble sticking to this plan. I have very low energy and am actually mildly depressed. I think the mild depression comes from many things, but one of the top two is my weight. That's quite a vicious cycle huh? But this is all I am going to say about this, I am now going to be positive again and lay out the plan.

It is summer time, my favorite time. Long long days of sunshine and warmth to spend doing fun things. I hope to be outside working in my tiny garden and exercising somehow at least once a day, if not more.

Summer means all my favorite natural foods are in season and abundance and cheaper. Cantaloupe, strawberries, corn, spinach, apples, grapes, watermelon, peaches, blueberries, the list could go on and on. I am actually eating half a cantaloupe right now. Sounds like a lot, but it is zero points and a lot of good water and vitamins in there and it tastes like heaven.

So keep me in your thoughts and prayers that I can stay on track, I need to track every single thing that goes in my mouth and every activity I do. I HAVE TO do these things. So get on Facebook and ask me if I tracked today, ask if I worked out. Keep me motivated and honest. I have to do this now. I have the summer to hit my goal of 20 pounds to continue with WW, and I need to get it going. I had lost 5 pounds, I can do it again! I am still down a size in clothing which is great, but I need to get the weight moving down again!

Loss of .8 This week

This is a short post because I have strep and I really want to crawl back in bed today. I lost .8 pounds this week, helping me get back to where I was before my 3 pound gain last week. This once again proves it is much easier to gain weight than it is to LOSE IT! Peace out friends!

Gaining is going to happen

It is a fact of life, at certain times you will gain a little weight. You will not be the same weight day after day and week after week. I know this, so I am not depressed by the fact that I gained 3 pounds back this week. I don't honestly think it is all weight as much as it is water due to major bloating today.

I didn't track as well as I had been this week, that may have been part of it too, but I don't think it was very much of the problem. I am definitely going back to tracking religiously so I can watch my habits and so on, and look for better choices and accountability.

So, check back next week to see what happens, but until then, here are some ideas to help you get through Eating Out without over doing it:
*Put your fork down between each bite
*Get a box and put half your meal in it as soon as you get your order
*Drink a glass of water before your food arrives
*Tell the server to leave your bread in the kitchen
*Order all salad dressing on the side
*Eat a salad before your meal arrives
*Eat something sweet before you go, have your dessert first, so you don't have a huge dessert after you eat

If you have more eating out ideas, please leave them as comments!

5.6 pounds total lost

Time for celebration and honesty! I hit my first goal of five pounds!!I started exactly one month ago with Weight Watchers and it is going very well. For the honesty part, last week was my worst as far as following plan. Somehow it worked out, but I am going to do a little confession, it is only fair.

1) Moving days were hard, the movers had our food and we couldn't get in the kitchen either day, so we ate out, cheeseburgers and pizza. Those aren't exactly great foods when you watch what you eat, but I ate in moderation actually.

2)Easter was a holiday, but I didn't eat like I normally do on holidays. The holiday is not for eating, it is for celebrating our Lord. Still, there are tons of yummy candies out there that were calling my name (Peanut Butter Eggs you know who you are!) but I didn't buy a single piece, not even for my hubby. I attempted to make a WW recipe that was a Red Velvet Angel Food Cake, but it didn't work. It was yummy in a low fat trifle, but it didn't turn out as a cake.

3) Due to internet issues and getting out of my groove, I didn't actually track anything for a week, I started back to tracking yesterday. This is not what I recommend, but if you are on WW and you lose a couple days tracking, it obviously doesn't mean you will gain. It makes it harder to stay on track, FOR SURE, but you can conquer pounds still.

4) Even when you think you are going to have a bad weigh-in week, go to your meeting anyway, you might be surprised and the support is what you need more than anything at that time.

I did work out more this week, thanks to going to the gym with a friend twice and also doing all the unpacking and going up and down our stairs a million times to move furniture and unpack.

So all told, it was a fantastic night last night when I stepped on that scale and the lady said I lost 3.4 pounds last week!!!! I almost cried I was so happy and I couldn't believe the lady, I asked her three times! Then to see that I had hit my first goal was incredibly gratifying too! And also, a huge thanks to all of you that read my blog or support me on Facebook, you are much appreciated!