Decision Time

Before I start my usual blog, I just wanted to share that I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for this blog. Many people have contacted be since I started publishing to share their weight watchers story and to thank me for my willingness to 'put it all out there'. Thank you all for the support!

When you start Weight Watchers now, they suggest you start with the Simple Start Plan. This is great because they give you a list of foods to eat, meal suggestions and 7 PP for indulgences. It is suggested that you do this for 2 weeks and then decide if you want to do Points Plus, which involved measuring, weighing and tracking all of your points, or if you want to do Simply Filling, which is the same list of foods to eat on Simple Start but with PP for the week. I am going to try the simply filling. I like the list of things to eat. I am sticking to whole unprocessed foods, so this I think will be a good choice. I will reassess the plan that I am choosing in a couple of week.

This weekend was another weekend away. This time I was going to Chicago to visit family. I wasn't as nervous about this weekend, because my mom is also participating in WW and I knew we would be able to support each other. Here is a great picture from the weekend!

It was great being with family!

Monday was back to work and I was ready to buckle down and put in some hard work at the gym. I did a step aerobics plus abs class after work Monday. It is a killer class that has me drenched with sweat by the end of it. I also did Zumba on Tuesday and then it was weigh in day again. This was my 4th week straight of going to Weight Watchers meetings. It was also my third straight week of going to the gym after work. I think that my routine is starting to set in. I was really proud of myself to because this week I gained 28 Activity Points. This week went great, maybe because of the activity points I gained. I lost another 1.6 pounds bringing my total to 3.6 pounds down!!

More weight loss!!

This upcoming week I am going to continue with Simply Filling and going to the gym. I have also decided to make some long term goals. I really want a Fitbit Flex(http://www.fitbit.com) or a jawbone (https://jawbone.com)but want to work for it. So I have decided that if I continue with my gym activity, I am going to buy one for my self as a reward around Thanksgiving. 

Enjoy your week!!

Weekend Away Challenge

Going into week 2, I already saw a challenge ahead of me. Andy and I planned to go to Marco Island Florida for the weekend to visit a friend. This meant not being in my 'comfort zone' of my carefully planned out fridge. So I started by thinking ahead for the couple of days of eating out. The great thing about Weight Watchers is you can eat out, you just have to make choices carefully.  I tried a new breakfast this week. It was made of pumpkin puree, Weight Watchers creamy chocolate shake mix, almond milk and coffee. It tasted like fall in a glass!

Pumpkin Smoothie!

I always forget how difficult it is to choose foods when eating out on a trip. I love that Simple Start tells you what to eat, it made it a lot easier. On our trip to Marco Island, I made sure to order power foods, like eggs with veggies, salmon and veggies or shrimp. The simple start makes it easier to find food on a menu. On the way home we stopped at Costco to get some produce for the week. When we got home I cut up peppers and carrots for lunches and snacks later in the week. I also found a recipe for a pumpkin pudding (2 PP) that I decided to make. Returning home and to work Monday was great. I focused on keeping to my simple start power foods and got in a great workout Monday after work (Step plus Abs), then repeated the focus on simple start foods on Tuesday and Wednesday. The moment of truth came on Wednesday's Weight Watchers meeting. I was nervous because of the weekend away, but believed I had stayed with the power foods well enough to not reverse the great work I had put in the week before and even lose a little more weight.

Wednesday's weigh in came and I was pleased! Weekend away and I still lost. Down another 0.2 pounds which brings the total weight loss to 2.0 pounds. Ready to conquer a new week!

Starting Over

As I entered my last year in my 20's and my 5th year living in Florida, I decided it was time for a lifestyle change. I have always been overweight, not obese but overweight. After college, I was at my highest weight 195, and made a lifestyle change. I joined Weight Watchers and worked out and lost 40 pounds. I then got lazy again and slowly the scale started creeping up again. It never got back to that highest weight but it was higher than I wanted it. 

This fall I left my job as a teacher and embarked on a new career in the corporate world. It was a huge change that impacted not only my professional life but also my personal life. I found my self back in old habits of stress eating and emotional eating. I know this is not healthy. So I decided to once again do something for me. I decided to rejoin Weight Watchers and get myself healthy again. On Wednesday, September 3, 2014 I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting and prepared myself for my new start. I weighed in at 174.2 which was almost 20 pounds above the weight I was at when I achieved Lifetime Member at Weight Watchers. I prepared myself for their Simple Start program, as opposed to tracking points. My mom is also working the Simple Start program and we decided to be each other's support system from far away (She is in Chicago and I am in Fort Lauderdale). 

I started with trying different options for breakfast through the week. I found that my favorite was the Weight Watchers shake with coffee and a banana all blended together. I drank this and ate a hard boiled egg, I find that if I don't eat protein in the morning I am hungry about 5 minutes later. I spent a large amount of time looking to see what was a power food and what I would have to use my 7 points a day for. I spent a lot of time the following Sunday preparing veggies for the week. I cooked beets to have on salads, cut up peppers and carrots to have as a snack and organized the fridge so I could see the Power Foods. It was a good week! I felt confident in my food choices. 

I then did something I have never done. I joined a gym. I got a 3 day guest pass to LA Fitness by work. I chose the one by work because I can go right after work, which lessens my risk of getting home and not wanting to go. I had wanted to go back to a Zumba studio but found that it had closed down. I started at LA Fitness on Monday with a Step plus Abs class. It was a great work out! I then followed it with a Zumba class on Tuesday. Wednesday was the day of truth...weigh in day. I lost 1.8 pounds in the first week. It had me looking forward to continuing this journey. I am excited about feeling better about myself and one day having a great before and after photo to share with you!

Week one Weight loss!