And The Scale Let Out A Moan....

Not been the best morning so far, but that's all about to change.  What happened?  Well, I decided that today was going to be the day that I turned things around.  Had my early morning run scheduled, and then was contemplating heading to the gym after that.  The holiday treats have been out of control and I needed to get things on the right track, starting now.  Time to get some serious working out done!

Got up this morning with a little bit of an achey ankle, but figured it was just the cold, my age, whatever.  Made a cup of coffee, sat down at my desk.  Bent my leg to put socks on and saw stars!!!  Pain!  Oh, no, not pain!  Pain in the knee!  What was that all about?  Got up, walked across the room, no pain.  Sat back down, bent my leg again to put my sock on, pain!!!!  What the heck!

So made the decision right there, remember all I have read in Runners World, on Facebook and blogging, listen to your body, that I was not going to run this morning.  Took a Motrin and grabbed the bag of ice.  :(   No running today.

Totally bummed.  Today I was going to tackle some of those extra calories I consumed yesterday (and the days/week before).  So now what?  What can I do?  Well, I can do everything else, drink water, eat healthy and light.

After sending the message to my running buddy that I was canceling this morning, I decided it's time to face the scale.  Let's see what the damage is, accept it, and move on.    Was not prepared to see the number I've seen.  WHAT!!!!  Like I should be surprised?  Come on now.  Honestly, why should I be surprised?  I have been out of control and DID NOT want to stop doing what I was doing.  I joked with family last night that the scale was going to "moan" when I got back on, but maybe I wasn't kidding.  Honestly, I think I did hear it.

Well, it's like someone hit me over the head with a sledge hammer.  I get it.  Time to clean up my act.  Stop relying on running and burning calories to keep things where they need to be.  The journey to getting to a healthy weight for me began not with exercise but with Weight Watchers, eating healthy, hydrating, and that's where I will pick up again today, starting right this minute.

May need to head back out to the store this morning to pick up some extras, but whatever it takes.  I'm done traveling on this destructive path I have been on.

 

Setting New Goals in Prep for 2013

All day, I've had this on my mind.  What are my goals going to be for 2013.  I'm sure by tomorrow night, I'll have the list all made up.  Right now, I've got a lot of ideas in my head.

Would love to hear what some of the 2013 Goal Ideas are that are out there.  Feel free to share!

Hitting Reset Button NOW

Some choose to wait until after the next holiday, New Years, before hitting the reset button and getting back on track, but I choose to do it now.  I have tried (in between the holidays "stuff) to stick to healthy  choices, but the cookies, candy, and other choices have not been good.  I don't feel good.  I choose to reset today.  Cookies and candy getting put out of sight today (preferably in the freezer) and healthy meals and snacks are what it's all about this week.

I am feeling really tired and sluggish, and I KNOW that some of that is just the rush to get things done for the holiday (and the stress), but I think more of that for me is just being out of routine.

I don't like the feeling.

RESET

Holding Steady, but feels like the ground is slipping

My weekly Weigh-In was okay.  Stayed the same.  I'm good with that.  However, feel like the ground underneath me is slipping away.  The weekend was not my best as far as the food choices I made, but could have been worse.

Saturday after my meeting, knowing that I was going to a Christmas Party that afternoon, I went for a short run.  So that was a wise choice.  The party was full of "finger foods", dips, chips....  I "nibbled"....a lot.  But we came home around 7:00 p.m., and did not make dinner.  Good choice, but those darned Christmas sugar cookies were there.

Yesterday I took a trip with friends to New York City to help with a luncheon at the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge.  What an incredible place!  My day was filled with carbs and unwise choices, BUT WE HAD A WONDERFUL DAY!  After the luncheon, we headed to Macy's, saw Santa Claus, wandered down to Toys-R-Us with the kids, the Christmas department, grabbed a slice of pizza and then headed home early evening.  It was a very rainy day in New York City, but I definitely want to go back again and see more.

When I got home, more carbs, homemade pizza for dinner.  At least I ate two bowls of salad with my 2 slices of pizza.  That was a healthy choice.

So this morning, I woke up craving healthy meals.  Got right in the kitchen and made my omelette, spinach, asparagus and eggbeaters.  The plan for the rest of the week is to stay away from dangerous carbs for me, bread, pasta, potatoes, as much as possible, stick to proteins, fruits and veggies, and drink lots of water!  Tonight I think we're going to cook a nice piece of salmon.

So that's the plan.  Can't take back what I did the past few days, but I CAN MOVE FORWARD!

A Successful Week

Just back from my meeting and happy to report that I had a successful result at the scale, -2.8.   Yeah!  Next goal, another 2 pounds.

I did a lot of things well this week, getting my water in, making the WW 0-point veggie soup, a few short runs, and yes, a painful boot camp class.  However, I still stumbled in the evening.   With that in mind, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home and picked up two items to help with that issue this week:

The yogurt cups are 1 point a piece.  The mini bags of popcorn are 3 points each.  My plan is to split the mini bags in half, and rebag them in Ziploc bags.  Then I will have individual 1-point servings of popcorn.

I am feeling motivated again and confident that I can have another successful week, one day at a time.

Lunch with an "Old Friend"

I'm going to start blogging again once in a while about what I'm eating during the day.  Today is the perfect day.

Breakfast, omelet made with leftover steamed broccoli, one slice of colby cheese, and topped with a little salsa, and a small banana mid-morning.

Lunch with an Old Friend - Weight Watchers 0-point vegetable soup, and a sandwich - Arnold's sandwich thin, sliced rotisserie chicken, spinach and hummus.

This WW veggie soup is such a great tool for me.  Bulks my lunch up without the points, tastes great, and keeps me full in the afternoon, plus I can eat it while I work.  I don't really know why I stopped making it.  Just because I got to goal didn't mean I needed to stop eating the things that helped me get there.  And I really do love this soup!

For dinner tonight, we're having stuffed peppers that I made yesterday.  Haven't figured out yet what the points in them might be.  Weight Watchers website seems to be down right now.  So I can't use the recipe builder.  Will try again later.

And great news, it's an absolutely gorgeous day here in Jersey.  So I'm planning on getting out for some fresh air and exercise later.  For now, it's time to get back to work and earn my keep.

Are there any foods that you "go to" when you're trying to get back on track or anything new out there?  Would love to hear about it!

The Tides Are Turning....

The change has arrive... oh, not THAT change (well, maybe that too), but at the moment, I'm talking about weight loss again.

I struggled last night and this morning with the idea of going to my WW meeting, because I knew that I, again, had not had a loss, BUT, I quickly realized that if I was struggling, then I needed the meeting more than I knew.  So I went.  A slight gain, not even a pound, but puts me officially up to a number I never want to see, AND I'm back on the program.  I mean, seriously putting myself back to the beginning.  I am officially five pounds over goal!   There.  I said it!  That may not seem like a lot for some, but to me, it's enough to light a fire under me. That's the number that I never wanted to hit, and I'm there.  It took a lot of hard work to get to goal, and I'm not about to throw it all away.  I don't care if it's the holiday!

I tried to get myself back on program last week, but when I think about it, honestly, it was only half an effort.  Yes, I tracked my points....most of them....started Monday, not Saturday.  We had a second Thanksgiving here at our house...just the two of us...on Sunday, including the stuffing and mashed potatoes...way too much of them for two people.  Anyway, that's that.  It's out of the way, history now.

I am officially shifting my attention a little more towards weight loss goals once again and going back to what works for me.  Don't get me wrong.  I will still be running (oh, absolutely!), and getting to the gym for workouts and maybe starting a class, but I MUST start paying more attention to the new mini goals I have set.  First one, getting back to goal weight.

I am restocking the tool bag as follows:

• Returning to the WW message boards and finding some new ones to spark my interest.
• Reaching out to more people around me to help keep me focused.
• Making a big pot of WW 0-point veggie soup tomorrow.  Wanted to do it today, but got a little distracted by a day trip to the antique store.
• Treating the weekends more like any other day on program rather than the usual weekend splurge (or splurge weekend).  
• Drink my water out of my new WW mug.
• Get lots of rest.  
• Track my points.

So the big question today, any suggestions on how you get back on track and motivated again?  I am determined to do this.  I know what I want and I intend to get it!