One Month

Today marks the one month milestone of when I started Weight Watchers! From August 1 to August 31, I have lost....

12.5LBS!

I was literally ecstatic when I stood on the scale this morning. I did a little happy dance, but stopped when the weight went up and down on the scale (from me wiggling) and FREAKED me out. Lol.

I will admit, the first few weeks SUCKED. I felt worn down and was hungry for the 'good stuff.' When I figured out I could still eat things in moderation and found replacements for other things, life got better and it got EASY. Boy did WW get easy! I never thought I'd say that, but it really has. It just seems like a way of life now and tracking points is just another routine in my day.

Even when I got done with school and went to Walmart to get groceries and a few other things, I didn't impulse buy like I normally do when I'm hungry. I did, however, buy myself a treat. I searched and searched for something that would be well worth it. I finally found something for the upcoming cool nights we'll have next week... Ghiradelli double chocolate cocoa. Doesn't that look AWESOME? It'll look even more awesome when I tell you it's only 3pp! Yes, I did check the points on what my treat would be. You didn't think I'd sluff off now when I've gotten this far, did you? :)

I will take a monthly picture this weekend, but I don't really feel like I see a big enough change to post it. However, Erica told me I had to or I'd regret it, so I will. And I have to thank Erica for all her support along with Nikki, Kay, and the rest of the girls in Losing It. Thank you for answering all my questions and listening to me complain and whine. The support team that you have really does make a big difference.

I'm very excited to continue this journey and I have set a goal for the end of the year. My goal is to lose 20 more pounds. It may be an easy one and I know I can set it, but it's a goal that I'm satisfied with and anything more than that is just icing on the imaginary zero point+ cake. :)

Goal

So tonight I have been thinking about goals. Do I set small goals throughout the journey? Do I set a goal of what I want to be at the end of all of this?

While I don't really think there is an end to all of this, I did set a bit of a goal. It doesn't mark the end of anything, it's very far off and will take a lot of work. It's kind of silly, but it's something. My goal is to lose 100lbs. Yeap, 100.  I don't have a date that I want to lose it by. It might be a year from now and it might be two years from now, but that is my goal.

I am a very goal oriented person, so I just wanted to give myself something to reach for!


Here is a good workout tune for ya:

Duffy - Mercy

Positive Attitudes

This week, I have noticed how having a positive attitude about weight loss and a healthy lifestyle is so SO important. Not only having a great perspective on this myself, but surrounding myself with others who are full of positive energy. :) On the days where I was thinking how hard it is and how I just wanted to eat what I wanted, it was much easier when I could see why I was doing this and
how much better things will be.

It's not about getting back in the game, it's about being IN the game already. You can't make any baskets from the bench.


"Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can." - unknown

Whoa!

Weigh In Day.... I've officially lost 10lbs!

WW even gave me a 'You're losing too much' alert. Honestly, I am really, really overweight, so I don't feel like this is too fast. I feel like this is just right.

Things have been extremely busy the past week and school starts tomorrow! I will post a longer and more fun blog entry soon.

Foods I Love

There are a few foods that I have always liked, but since starting my WW adventure, I have come to love them.

The first food is Sugar Free Jell-O. Weird, I know, BUT it is 0pp and comes in all sorts of flavors. Put a little 0pp Fat Free Whipped Topping (Cool Whip) on the top and you have a delicious ZERO point dessert or snack. Not only is it 0pp, but both are pretty inexpensive items and you can get the off brands and/or hunt down some coupons to make them cost just pennies a serving.

The second food I love is eggs. One egg is 2pp and three egg whites are just 1pp! I go through about a carton a week. Gotta love the incredible, edible egg. :)

Good Workout Tunes

Foods I Never Thought I Could Eat

When I started WW, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to eat 'the good stuff.' You know, ice cream, potatoes, corn on the cob, and the list goes on. I figured they would be totally out of the question and didn't even look into the pp of them. I was wrong though!

My dad plants a HUGE field of sweet corn. I always look forward to this time of the year when I can go and pick it fresh. Nothing beats it! Add some chicken AND hashbrowns in with that sweetcorn and you have a delicious and very filling meal.

My lunch! Only 10pp!

Ice cream was another thing I thought I'd never eat again. I was, once again, very very wrong. Kemps makes FloatBars. They're a popsicle and ice cream combined. Double the fun! Eat one and it's just 1pp, eat two and it's 3pp. Definitely a great treat to cool off this summer.

Skinny Cow makes fudge bars, but beware!! The box says they are worth 1 WW points. Well, yes points, but not Points Plus! With the new system, they are actually 3pp. They are very similar in taste to the WW brand of fudge bars and I have seen this in stores around the area more. 

Do you have a favorite LOW point WW food? Feel free to share it in the comments and stay tuned for 'Foods I Love.'

My First Week

This morning, I got up and ate a quick breakfast which consisted of only a strawberry Nutrigrain bar (4pp). I was running behind and had a session, so I needed to get going. I filled up my Camelback and I was off.  I didn't even remember it was 'Weigh In Day.'

When I got home, I was thinking of what to eat for dinner. Oh yeah... it's SUNDAY. I quickly ran back to the scale. I stood in front of it for a little bit. I hoped (prayed is more like it) that I had lost enough to make this worth my while. I know on Weight Watchers, you normally lose 1-2 pounds a week. I figured since this was my first week, it had to be at least 3.

I stepped on the scale and looked down....


          I lost SIX pounds!

I couldn't believe it! This week definitely had it's ups and downs, but I'm feeling great right now. I'm ready for anything!

Day 3 is gonna be a long one.

Renae and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Not for WW reasons, but more just life reasons. It makes me want to eat EVERYTHING, but I am being strong. Trying to at least.

My lunch this afternoon:

2 slices of turkey bacon - 1pp
english muffin - 4pp
egg - 1pp
cheese - 2pp

A total of 8 pp. If I would have used just egg whites (0pp) and a lite english muffin (2pp) it would have only been 5pp. Awesome, huh! For dessert I had sugar free jello and fat free Cool Whip on top, both for 0pp. Proof that you can eat delicious food and still lose weight. There are always healthier substitutions for the things you are already eating. You don't have to go hungry.

Shh.....

Okay guys, so I have this secret. It's not really something that other people know, but I thought I'd share it with you today. Are you ready?......     I'm overweight!

I know. Shocked aren't you. You couldn't even tell.

          Yeah right.

I have been so intimidated to even talk about my weight. When other people say how they need to lose weight, I just encourage them and wish I had the guts to admit to the world that I had a weight problem. Even a week ago, I never would have admitted it.

Well, guess what. I have a confession. I just don't want to lose weight, I need to lose it. It's going to be hard. It's going to suck. I don't care. I'm going to do it!

Here is my 'before' picture:

Where to start?

To tell you a little bit about myself, I am 26 and in need of a new start.  I am currently a college student and will graduate in December. This time around, I am majoring in Elementary Education and I love it. I will be student teaching in a Kindergarten classroom this fall and I could not be more excited. About 5 years ago, I started my own photography studio so you will definitely see a lot of pictures on here. I love my family, I love my friends. I am hoping they will give me the support I need through all of this.

Ever since middle school, my weight has been up and down, but for the past 7 years, my weight has gone nowhere but up. I've tried to blame it on other things, but in reality... There is no one to blame but myself. It's time that I start taking things back into control. I signed up for Weight Watchers this morning and I have friends who have been very successful on it. I mean, if Jennifer Hudson can make it work, anyone can, right? ;)

I figure this blog will be full of my thoughts, hopes, plans, and hopefully, met goals. Like I said before, you'll see plenty of pictures and also videos. I am pretty funny (Okay, so I only think I am) so there will be plenty of humor.

Okay, now go do something healthy for yourself. I am going to go figure out the pp on all the food in the house.

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Update: I wasn't kidding.

New Start

Check.... testing 1 2 3. Anybody out there?