Weekly Weigh In---Getting Frustrated

I weighed in this week at 182.6, which is a gain of 0.4.  So, I've been at this for 4 weeks now and my total weight loss is just 1.8lbs.  I really was expecting a loss this last week.  I did five days of workouts, two of which were the semi-excruciating Bob Harper Pure Burn Serious Strength DVD, one Denise Austin workout and two sessions of cardio on the elliptical at the gym.  I tracked fairly well and stayed within my points range.  I'm wondering if this free fruits and veggies thing is actually backfiring.  Our leader mentioned at our meeting that even though fruits and veggies are zero points, we still need to remember that they are calories and if we're consuming too many calories overall, it can affect our weight loss.  I'm not sure if that's my problem.  I eat more fruits and veggies that I used to, but I don't think I'm consuming enough of them to make a really big difference.  
My other theory for this week is that, since most of my workouts were strength training, I built muscle which contributed to my slight gain this week.  I've had this happen in the past where I start a weight training program and gain a little bit the first couple of weeks and then start to lose again.
I've also been under a lot of stress lately and not getting enough sleep.  I've heard that both of those can affect weight loss. 
Only time will tell, I guess.  I'm missing the old WW system.  My body responded well to it.  No matter what the cause, I've really got to get into the swing of things and figure it out.  I guess I'll just stick to the plan and keep moving forward.  
My plan for this week?  Who knows!  I'll be doing at least 5 workouts again, drinking my water, and tracking my points.  I'm not going to consume my activity points that I earn for working out and we'll see if that helps.  
Check in next week to see if I can finally get out of this rut!

Weekend Bliss

As I mentioned in the previous post, Nate and I got to have a sort of weekend getaway the past couple of days.  My mom and sister, Sarah came and stayed at our house with the kids Friday and Saturday nights and we took an exotic weekend vacation to........Salt Lake City!  We decided on more of a stay-cation because we really didn't want to spend any of our time driving anywhere.  So we stayed at the Little America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City and spent the weekend shopping, eating out, going to a couple of movies, staying up late, sleeping in and just hanging out.  It was fabulous! I'll spare you the details, because they're probably blissfully boring.  But it was exactly what we needed.  Thanks Mom and Sarah for watching the kids and making sure they had a really fun weekend as well. They had a great time!  

Now it's back to the daily grind, but with a more relaxed and rejuvenated Mommy and Daddy. 

Weekly Weigh In

I weighed in a day early this week.  Nate and I are having a little getaway this weekend and I'm not about to interrupt it to go weigh in.  So, I weighed in at 182.2lbs which is a loss of 0.6lbs.  I know that doesn't sound like much, but I'm very happy with it.  My week included dinner at Marie Callendar's(complete with delicious pie!), See's Chocolates for Valentine's Day, and a cookie exchange for Relief Society.  After all that, I'm just grateful to have a loss at all.  
I did do better with my waters this week and I tracked almost everything I ate.  I got five good workouts in this week as well.  My problem is the food. I've known that I'm a bit out of control in that area for a long time.  I'll catch myself purposely distracting my brain when I'm reaching for something unhealthy so that I'm not thinking about what is going in my mouth or I'll try to convince myself that I don't care or that I really need that chocolate to stay sane that day.  
I didn't get to stay for the meeting today, but the handout was about making your kitchen your ally.  You do this by getting rid of processed, high points value foods that tempt you and filling your kitchen with fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, healthy snacks, fat free dairy, etc.  This is something I'm not so good at.  I like to blame it on my husband and kids.  They've got their cookies, and granola bars, and treats all over the place.  But then I have to stop and remind myself that I'm the one who does all the grocery shopping, hence I'm the one who put those things in our home.  My goal this week will be to eliminate as many of these unhealthy foods in our home as possible.  It's okay to have a few things around as long as they're not huge temptations for me and we don't eat them regularly.  I'm thinking we'll need to do away with the Oreos and M&M's, but the fruit snacks can probably stay.  
So, I'll check back in next week and let you know how it all goes.  Even though my loss was small this week, a loss is a loss and I'll take it with a smile.  At least I'm headed in the right direction.

Valentine's Day

Jewelry, chocolates, and pie...talk about a great Valentine's Day!  Well, it actually wasn't on Valentine's Day.  Nate and I wouldn't see each other much on the actual day, so we went out on a nice casual date last Saturday night.  We did a little shopping and went out to dinner.  
We got Nate a new wedding ring.  When we got married, Nate told me that he wanted a plain white gold wedding band.  So that's exactly what I got him.  Apparently when he says plain, he really means fancy, but without diamonds.  His original ring has also been beaten up a bit over the years with the various jobs he's had and it's too small for him right now.  So, last Saturday, after almost 9 years of marriage, Nate finally got the ring that he wanted. 

Nice, huh?
We also stopped by See's and picked up a box of oh so delicious chocolates.  They didn't last long, but before you judge me, know that I did share them with my kids. =)  
Jonah and Lilly really enjoyed their little Valentine's Day celebrations in their classes on Monday.  They spent the weekend writing their names on the cards for their classmates.   We didn't really do anything special on Monday, aside from picking up a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's for dinner.  I'm thinking maybe next year we'll start a tradition of going for ice cream together or something.  

Hope you all enjoyed sharing the love this Valentine's Day.  

Weekly Weigh In

So, remember how I said that some weeks you gain weight?  Well, this was one of those weeks for me.  I didn't go up by much, just 0.2, and I actually thought it would be worse.  So, what did I do wrong this week?  Pretty much everything.  I didn't track every day, I hardly drank any water, I binged on cookies and m&m's and whatever else I wanted.  I think the only thing I did right was to get in at least five workouts.  That's probably the one thing that stopped me from gaining two or three pounds.  I'm such an emotional eater and that is my biggest challenge.  I'm working on learning to step away from the situation and ask myself "Why exactly are you putting this umpteenth cookie in your mouth?"  
Like I said, this is a journey and it doesn't come easy.  So this week I'm ready to track everything I put in my mouth as well as my activity points, make sure I get my waters in every day, do my workouts,and cut back on the junk.  
I planned out our dinner menu for the entire week and pre-calculated the points for each meal.  Dinner is always my biggest meal of the day and I find that if I know how many points it will use up, I can plan the rest of my food around that.  I've got my kitchen stocked with fresh fruits and veggies for snacks and I'll be chewing sugar free mint gum while I bake these sugar cookies for Valentine's day to deter myself from eating fifty of them in the process. 
There you have it.  I fell off that blasted wagon already, but I've jumped back on, fastened my seat belt, and committed anew. 

Year Round School vs. Traditional: Which do you prefer?

Our elementary school is on a year round track schedule.  With Jonah being in 1st grade, this is our second year with this type of schedule and it seems that with every track break, I despise it even more.  I've heard people claim that year round school is supposed to increase retention and that the more frequent breaks are supposed to be beneficial, but I'm not seeing it.  I feel like the three week breaks interrupt their learning a bit too much.  For example, Jonah's track only went to school for two weeks after Christmas break before having a three week track break.  It felt like those two weeks were pointless.  His teacher didn't send home the usual homework sheets or mark in their planners or anything. 
I don't know about other people's children, but Jonah really hates changes in his schedule.  It feels like as soon as we get into the swing of things with school, he goes on another break and then we have to kind of start over again.  He went back on track today and when he got home, I could tell he was exhausted and emotional. It's usually like that for the first few days that he's back in school. 
They're building a new elementary school in our neighborhood which I hear is going to be on a traditional schedule.  Alas, we're about six houses north of the border for the new school. I've heard rumors that they might switch our school to traditional since the number of students should be down, but nothing is for certain.  So, I guess I'm wondering how others feel about it.  Year round or traditional?  I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Weekly Weigh-in

Today I weighed in at Weight Watchers at 182.6lbs.  That's a loss of 1.8lbs this week, which is great! For sustainable weight loss, you want to shoot for around 1 to 2 pounds per week.  Some weeks you'll lose less, some weeks you'll lose more, and some weeks you may even gain a little bit.  


What makes the 1.8 pounds really great is what I ate this week.  I had birthday cake, ice cream, pizza, dark chocolate, Wendy's, Arctic Circle, and Applebee's.  This is why I LOVE Weight Watchers!  I can eat these things and still lose weight.  And it's not like I just had one piece of pizza or a salad at all the restaurants (although I probably should have).  I had three pieces of pizza for dinner one night(which I admit is not exactly a good idea and I've committed to do better with that one next time I'm confronted with pizza), had an ultimate grilled chicken sandwich and regular fries from Wendy's, a ranch burger and regular fries with fry sauce from Arctic Circle,and  chipotle lime chicken, one wanton taco, two buffalo wings, and half a butter nut blondie at Applebee's. I wrote them all down, along with their points values and stayed within my little budget that they give us and voila!  I still lost almost 2 pounds.


Even though I ate all those things that aren't particularly healthy, I still found myself eating more fruits and vegetables than I usually do.  On WW new plan, all fresh fruit and most vegetables are 0 points, so I would have them quite a bit.  Just this morning I had an entire banana and one whole apple cut up mixed with a light yogurt and a tablespoon of fat free whipped cream for just 3 points and it was so yummy. 


I'm sure the exercise helped too.  I make it a goal to get in at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week.  I've found that the key to working out is finding something that you actually like to do.  For me, that's going to the gym.  I love to get on the elliptical machine or treadmill, turn on my music, and just escape from the world for 30 or 40 minutes.  On days that I can't get to the gym, I do a workout dvd at home.  This week, I worked out at the gym three times, doing 40 minutes on the elliptical machine each time.  I also did Bob Harper's "Pure Burn, Serious Strength" workout twice.  

On WW, when you exercise, you earn activity points.  You can add these activity points to your weekly points and eat more food.  That's what I did last week.  This week, my goal is to not eat any of my activity points and just use my daily allowance and my 49 weekly extra points.  I'm hoping this will translate into a little bit bigger loss this week.  
Oh, and I also plan on not eating quite so much fast food. =)

Weight Watchers: Take 4

Last Saturday I joined Weight Watchers....for the 4th time.  Now before you go thinking that the program must not work or I  must be such a quitter if I'm having to go back for the 4th time, let me explain my previous WW experiences.  

Take 1---I joined with my mom halfway through my second year of college.  I started at 180lbs and I lost 20 pounds before getting married that summer and moving away.  After I got married, I gained a lot of weight and then I got pregnant.  

Take 2---I joined, again with my mom, when Jonah was about 8 months old.  My starting weight?  221lbs.  Yes, you read that right.  This time I lost 60lbs before once again getting pregnant.  Are you sensing a pattern here?

Take 3---I rejoined WW two months after Lilly was born. My starting weight this time was somewhere in the 180's again and I lost about 20lbs before we moved and I stopped going to meetings.  I maintained this weight until I got pregnant with Jayne.  

Take 4---I managed to lose most of the "Jayne-weight" on my own, but over the last year I've gained back about 15 pounds.  My mom rejoined WW last year and recently reached her lifetime goal.  Watching her has helped give me the kick in the pants that I needed to re-up.  My starting weight is 184.4. 

Why Weight Watchers? What I love about WW is that it's not restrictive as far as what foods you can and cannot eat.  Foods are assigned a "points" value that is calculated using fat, fiber, carbs, and protein.  You have a daily points allowance and you simply track what you eat and don't eat more than your daily allowance.  You also have extra points to use weekly when you need them.  I've never been one who could just cut out sweets, or chocolate, or carbs, or anything from my diet.  I love that I can still eat ice cream or a chocolate bar once in a while, I just have to plan for it.  Also, all fruits and most vegetables are zero points.  So if I'm hungry, but I don't want to use points, I just grab a banana or apple or some carrots and I'm good to go. 

I also love the weekly meetings.  It's so great to meet with a bunch of people you can really relate to and who understand what you're trying to do and the challenges you're facing.  Plus, seeing other peoples' progress always inspires me. 

So, be prepared to read about my progress.  I'll be posting about it at least once a week as a way to sort of take even more accountability.  

So far this week, I'm feeling pretty good.  I've been to the gym twice, doing 40 minutes on the elliptical machine each time, and I'm planning to do my workout DVD tonight after the kids are in bed.  I've been pretty good with my points, but I definitely need to hit the store and stock up on some more bananas and apples for those "munchie" moments.  

Well, wish me luck and stay tuned for a new and improved, healthier and smaller version of Ashley.