A friend of mine has been changing her eating habits, exercising, and losing weight. That and while wearing a striped shirt and catching a good look at my reflection motivated me to join her. I looked like a beach ball with legs. Not a pretty sight.
After The Young One was born (almost 16 yrs ago), I joined Weight Watchers. I lost 25 pounds on the plan, and then got lazy and promptly gained it all back plus another 25 pounds. I decided I would follow that old Weight Watchers plan. I did well on it and liked the fact that I could eat real food inlcuding goodies as long as I planned for them. The plan was based on exchanges from the American Diabetes Association using the Food Pyramid. Portion control was the real key. All foods eaten to be weighed and measured. You also had to watch how many carbs, fruits, milk, meat, fats you ate. I also decided to cut out the sugar in my tea. Some days, I can drink 5 or 6 cups of tea. Add a heaping teaspoon, and that's a whopping amount of sugar each week. I did try Splenda. I found it sweeter than regular sugar so I've only been using half the amount I would normally dump in.
Two weeks ago, I made a spreadsheet. Using the healthy weight range tool at Weight Watchers, I found my goal weight. I dusted off the treadmill. I found a 10 week walking plan from the Mayo Clinic deisgned for the beginner. It called for walking for 15 minutes two times a week. Over the 10 weeks, you built up to walking 30 minutes a day for 5 days. That didn't sound too bad. I decided I could manage 15 minutes a day, every day.
So, after my first week on the plan, I lost two pounds. Sharing that excitment with my friend was a good motivator too. It's good to have a buddy to share ideas, tips, strategy and encouragement. We talked about setting small goals and celebrating little victories.
Week two, I followed my plan and increased my walking to 20 minutes. I'm not concerned about running 3 minute miles. I walk at a leisurely pace. The object is walking for the set time and moving.
Today was my weigh in day. I was disappointed to see the scale stand still at last week's weight. Ok, I didn't walk for two days, but I was certainly moving more than I had been before. I did snitch some Cheeze-Its, maybe 5 or 6, but I can easily eat an entire box in one sitting by myself. I did go out to lunch with a friend, but I didn't think my choice was all that bad. I had an unsweetened ice tea (I didn't add sugar or Splenda), an 8 oz flat iron steak, a baked sweet potato with butter and brown sugar, and a salad. No cheese and balsamic vinaigrette on the side. I didn't eat many croutons. Before I ate my meal, I cut the meat and potato in half, ate half, and saved the rest to be boxed up and brought home. I didn't order dessert. My friend came home with me. I had made a dessert from a Weight Watcher's recipe, given to me by my friend, Lambie, and it fit into my plan for the day.
Yogurt Pie (5 points for the entire pie if you're following the Weight Watchers Flex Points Plan!)
2, 6 oz. containers of Weight Watcher's Flavored Yogurt. (I used Key Lime)
1, 8 oz. tub of Fat Free Cool Whip, thawed (I found sugar-free Cool Whip)
Ready-made graham cracker crust pie shell
1. Mix together the yogurt and the Cool Whip.
2. Pour into the pie shell
3. Cover and freeze. (Apologies to BVMom because I didn't read the directions thoroughly and just chilled the pie in the fridge. It was good, but didn't have a lot of body to it. Thanks, BVMom for being a good guinea pig.)
Each slice is one point.
Frowning at the number on the scale, I wondered where I had gone wrong. I didn't drink as much water as all the weight plans suggest (8 glasses). I'm not a huge water drinker to begin with and find this the hardest thing to do. Guess there must be something to drinking all the water. I'll have to make an extra effort to do this.
Even though I was disappointed that I didn't drop another pound, on the bright side, I didn't gain any extra weight either.
So, if you're losing weight or have lost weight, what tips can you suggest for drinking all those 8, 8oz glasses of water?
Hey, congrats on maintaining in spite of eating out and a hectic schedule this week.
ReplyDeleteI'll be making that recipe for the family on the Fourth. It sounds nice and cool.
Way to go Girlfriend! I'm proud of you. You're making me feel like a slug and perhaps I can do something to take off my extra 30 pounds... (Which had been only twenty once!)
ReplyDeleteAs for water, I keep it EVERYWHERE. I have bottles on my desk, in the car, at the bedside. Course, since it's only me in the house, I know who has been drinking out of it, but basically, I learned to consume it both ice cold and non-ice cold, so I am always a sippin'. Plus, when at work, it helps the voice. Try talking a lot? *grin*
It was delicious, CJ! I am going to try that recipe soon. I drink water all day now. I fill my glass (one the kids never use, shaped like a cowboy boot, lol!) and through the day just keep replenishing it. You'll be surprised on how many glasses of water you drink doing it that way. Good luck on your holiday tomorrow!
ReplyDelete~Jo-Ann