point four

Today's weigh-in: 224.6lbs. I lost .4 lbs last week, and yes, I'll take it, because I completely failed at staying on plan while we were at the inlaws' house. My husband will be at work until 8pm for two days, then off for the holiday. Then the inlaws might be coming up with their giant motorhome to spend Thanksgiving with us. Oh boy! Stress eating here we come! First stop: Holiday Pie!

No. I really hope not.

So, I need some really delicious vegetarian WW-friendly Thanksgiving recipes. That's not asking too much, right? I'm off to search.

Happy Monday!

an apple a day

Honeycrisp apples! Lately I've been shredding half of one into my oatmeal in the morning. I think I could live on nothing but honeycrisp apples for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy. Seriously, wonderfully, yum.

My winter squash and sweet potato soup turned out beautifully yesterday, but I just didn't like it very much. I was bummed. Peeling and chopping butternut squash is a workout for my hands. I'll be glad when squash season is over and I don't feel obligated to use them anymore.

Today I'm going to take the kids to the library (wish me luck) and see if I can find some craft books and a few beginners yoga dvds. I tried the p90x yoga video a few months ago and after the first half hour they wanted me to start standing on my head and all kinds of crazy shit, so I said no thank you. I really enjoyed the workout it gave me, though, so I want to find something more reasonable.

My mom called me yesterday to ask what kind of pie to order for Thanksgiving, and she and I both agreed on the "chocolate chip bourbon pecan pie." Ohhhh. I'm in trouble. I will NOT let her send me home with leftovers, though, no matter what my husband says!

Happy Wednesday, lovelies!

bracelet

Someone asked, so I thought I'd let you know that my bracelet was made by tinahdee on etsy. I highly recommend her - she made the bracelet and shipped it in the blink of an eye.

Hello, Monday!

I lost 9 pounds last week! That first week on plan is always so rewarding. I went to the grocery this morning and picked up a few things for black bean chili, yummy salads, spaghetti with veggie meatballs, and sweet potato and squash soup. This week will be another good week, then we're off to the in-laws' for an early Thanksgiving celebration.

I really love this thought from Jack Sh*t:

The holidays are a time for celebration, to be sure, but every celebration doesn’t have to revolve around food. Every good time doesn’t have to happen with your mouth crammed full.

Let's enjoy the time with friends and family without going completely off track. Then, after it's all over, we can look back with nothing but joy, instead of joy and food-guilt and a few extra pounds.

every moment counts

This is my anchor. Every moment counts. I wear this bracelet, and it's a tangible reminder to be present in the moment, to be aware of my words, my thoughts, and my actions. Not just in my eating habits, but in everything. The way I treat my children, my husband, my family and friends, and even strangers. Every word, every action matters.

Weight Watchers works for me. In 2007, I lost 50 pounds before conceiving my son. I gained back all of that and more while pregnant. After he was born, I lost 80 pounds. I don't know what happened this summer. I don't know why I can stick to the plan for so long and enjoy the results, only to completely quit for so many months. I can't make sense of it, but I guess I don't have to. I'm glad I managed to maintain my weight loss during those months, fluctuating within about 10 pounds.

Today, I will treat my body well. I'll worry about tomorrow when tomorrow is today. Every moment counts, but the one that counts the most is the one I'm living right now.

there's a rumbly in my tumbly

This is day 4 of tracking everything, being on plan and binge-free. Four days may not sound like a lot, but after the chaos of the past months, it's an accomplishment.

If you don't follow this guy's blog, you must. He has some really inspiring (and occasionally hilarious) words of wisdom to share.

I hear my belly growling. Breakfast this morning was coffee with hazelnut hot chocolate mix and fat-free hazelnut creamer, and a mini bagel with a bit of peanut butter. Definitely not filling enough, but I was in a hurry. I'll snack on some yogurt before I go pick the girly up from school. It's a beautiful day! Wish I had somewhere to go.

three, oh it's the magic number

Coffee (from home, with cinnamon hot chocolate mix and a little pumpkin spice creamer) and oatmeal with brown sugar were breakfast this morning. I made broccoli cheese soup yesterday and divided it up into 6 individual containers, put the recipe in my points tracker, and counted everything. Each serving is pretty high (14 points? eek) but it's delicious comfort food and the servings are generous.

Last night I caught up on The Biggest Loser from the past few weeks. I was sad to see Shay go home; I think she really needed some more time on the ranch, whether the other players liked her or not. And why didn't we get to see her update? Hmmm.

I'm starting to enjoy going to bed with that hungry feeling in my gut instead of stuffing myself just to numb it.

Dinner tonight will be something quick - veggie patty sandwiches and rice & lentil pilaf. The husband has two after-hours meetings and I'm taking our daughter to Girl Scouts.

Happy Wednesday!

day 2

Oh, I miss summer already. Isn't that pathetic? I feel like I'm at the top of a roller coaster that I really didn't want to go on, about to plunge down the hill with my eyes closed, screaming in terror. That's how much I hate winter. If it weren't for my family, I would not be living in Northeast Ohio.

Yesterday was up and down (again with the roller coaster metaphor). Breakfast was good, lunch was terrible (leftover cake, leftover pizza, doritos) but I counted every point and had a salad and an apple for dinner, with no snacking afterward, and I still had points left when I went to bed (at 9pm, because I was so hungry and exhausted). Breakfast today was honey nut cheerios and another peppermint mocha (nonfat milk, no whip). Lunch will be a tofurky sandwich on an arnold sandwich thin with low fat swiss cheese, some light yogurt, and an apple. Dinner will be salad with veggie chik'n strips and some kind of potatoes - we have a ton of potatoes to use up from our CSA.


Something positive: This feels sustainable.
Something negative: Ugh, winter.
Something for tomorrow: Get my running shoes cleaned off so I can get back on the treadmill!

234

I saw a scary number on the scale this morning. I'm not saying "This is it! I'm going on plan now!" out loud, but I am in my head, and after I've been on plan for a week, I'll tell you all about it. I changed my weigh-in day to Mondays. I re-took my points quiz, because yesterday I turned *gasp* 28! One more year closer to 30. I spent a lovely birthday with my mom and stepdad and dad and (half) baby sister, as well as the usual suspects (husband and the kidlets).

My daughter had her first basketball game. Have you ever seen a gaggle of 5-year-olds playing basketball? Let me tell you, it is absolutely gust-busting hilarious. My daughter was completely flattened by the biggest girl on her team and got whacked in the face twice with the ball. After some tears and cuddles from me, though, she actually rejoined her team and went back in the game. I was very, very proud. She's a petite little sensitive thing. I don't know if basketball is going to be her "thing" - but at least she's having fun.

Oh hey, we have a new cleaning lady! Allow me to introduce you to my new best friend, Rosie the Roomba! Rosie is a bit high maintenance, what with all the pet hair she has been cleaning up for us, but I am totally digging this whole "Look, Mom! No hands!" sweeping thing.



My husband also gave me a pair of fabulous green boots (I can't believe I've gone so long living in this godforsaken snow belt without snow boots). Taking the kids out in the mornings to drop the little girl off at school will be a little more tolerable this winter, thanks to my new boots. Yesterday, while enjoying the unseasonably warm weather (70 degrees! on my birthday!) I kept wanting to say that I can't wait to use my boots, but then I revised that to "I'm looking forward to wearing my boots when I need them." Because honestly, I hate winter. Snow is pretty for about a day or two, and then it's just cold, wet, and a dirty nuisance.

This morning I ate a banana and treated myself to a little Starbucks therapy. Really? Peppermint mocha = heaven in a cup. I think they added an extra shot or two this time, because I've had to make way too many trips to the bathroom. There is leftover cake and ice cream and pizza and all sorts of terrible things in my kitchen, but I feel different today. I feel like I can do it, and that little voice of doubt is quiet for now.

SkinnyMinnie, mind if I steal this little habit from you?

Something positive: I AM READY!
Something negative: I have to pee, yet again. And I'm already hungry.
Something for tomorrow: If I stay on plan today and tomorrow, maybe I won't feel too guilty to watch The Biggest Loser (like the last couple of weeks...)

Happy Halloween!

I'm not going to talk about the scale today, other than to say it was 229.8. Yes, that's a gain. I have no excuses, I just still haven't gotten my shit together.

So last night we carved our pumpkins, and I thought I'd share some photos. It's raining right now but is supposed to clear up by this afternoon. I'm crossing my fingers for a nice trick-or-treat night!

First of all, this is what our backyard looked like two days after I raked. Leaf collection begins Monday and I have no idea how we're going to get all these leaves (which are now soaking wet) blown to the front by then.

My pumpkin! Jack Skellington.

And, the kidlets.

now I need a place to hide away

Yesterday was a big fat fail. I discovered that frozen chocolate is not such a bad thing (especially in the form of Fun Size Snickers). Moving on.

Today is going to be hard. I'm baking cookies for my daughter's harvest party tomorrow. The plan is/was to make pumpkin cookies with caramel icing. They're absolutely to die for. The fatty part of me wants to make a double batch, send one batch in with her, and eat the other batch myself. But ugh, I will hate myself for that. But they're so delicious! But I can't.

I love baking from scratch, so this is going to hurt, but when I go to the grocery this morning I'm going to pick up some of those ready-to-bake refrigerated cookies. Hopefully they'll have oatmeal raisin, because I don't like those as much. I'm only going to get as many as I need to send with her. It's Thursday. I need to hold this together.

morning check-in

Yesterday was the first completely on plan day I've had in a very, very long while. In addition to having my eating under control, I also spent a half hour on the treadmill and an hour raking leaves. My hands are blistered to hell and the rain last night completely covered the backyard in leaves again (insert expletive here), but I feel great about the choices I made.

This morning was rough. The wee one was cranky (he's got the mother of all stuffy noses, though, so I'm sympathetic) and I found a note from the kindergartner's librarian telling us her book is way overdue (2 weeks, at this point). I have searched the house from top to bottom no less than 5 times and can't find the damned thing. Whose idea was it to send library books home with 5 year olds, anyway? Seriously. I'm handing the search over to the husband when he gets home, because I can't take it anymore.

So I was stressed this morning, and after I dropped my daughter off at school, I had every intention of driving through BK for a 7 point egg-and-cheese croissant. I'd already had coffee and a banana, so that would bring my breakfast up to 12.5 points. I was rationalizing it in my head, and then I stopped. I acknowledged that I was stressed and aggravated, and that's why I was turning to comfort food. I chose to come home and search the house one more time. I still can't find the book, but I'm glad I didn't have a 12.5 point breakfast.