Weigh-in for 8/13/2011 - Goodbye 160s!!!

Last weigh-in (8/3/2011) : 160.4 lb

This weigh-in (8/13/2011) : 158.4 lb

Change : 2 lb lost

This was a very exciting week for me! I broke into the 150s for the first time since December 2008. It also puts me 3.4lb from lifetime. My goal for the month was to hit 157.4 and at the time it seemed a bit realistic to have to average 1lb per week for the rest of the month. This week has amazed me and put that goal into reach, so long as I lose at least 0.5lb for the remaining two weeks of the month. The sooner I hit lifetime, the better because you have to maintain for 6 weeks before you stop paying. When they say maintain, that means that you can't go more than 2lb above your goal weight. Since I intend to keep losing beyond that number, it should hopefully not be a problem. I just don't want one of those weeks to run into Thanksgiving where it's almost impossible to stay on track. Hopefully I won't see the 160s again until I get pregnant again sometime in the future (not that we're trying right now).

Though this week had a great loss, it had some challenges. I didn't make it to the gym and losing this much without the gym is bad for my mental attitude. I am attributing this loss to the fact that I'm back on track at home where I have more control and next week I will have to work for it. Also, I was dealing with some pretty serious back pain. On Tuesday, I was in such pain that I was physically unable to take care of Brady and that freaked me out. I've never been in that much pain and since I've had a baby that's saying something. When Andy came home that night he said, "Alright. I'll just go out and get a pizza." I told him no, which is really hard since it's easy to give into comfort food when you don't feel well. We had chicken stir fry over brown rice and when I saw my weight on the scale, I was glad we did.

Nothing Tastes as Good as Skinny Feels

The summer I got pregnant with Brady, we were living in Ocean City, NJ for Andy's internship with the Press of Atlantic City, the newspaper for southern Jersey. We were still renting our Oakland apartment since we would be back by the end of the summer, but were dealing with fumigation issues and having to empty out all of our drawers. This meant a lot of my clothes ended up at my bedroom at my parent's house.

Last summer, I was still up 25lb from where I am now, so the clothes were forgotten. Since summer comes in February to South Carolina, that had me on the hunt for my summer clothes, which I keep in bins underneath our bed. I started to realize I was missing a lot of my favorite tops. Every time we've moved, we went through the closets and donated what we never wore or didn't fit, so I started to think that I'd donated them. It took me a couple of weeks to remember that they were in my old bedroom, but when I was home for Easter, I forgot to get them. A few weeks ago was the first time I was home since then and when I opened my drawers, I was very happy with the shirts I found.

Today, I was wearing an outfit I hadn't worn since I started dating Andy in 2007, when I was at my lowest weight on program. It's an incredible feeling and keeps me motivated to think that maybe next summer I will need a whole new wardrobe. It's true what they say about nothing tasting as good as skinny feels. I'm not claiming that I'm "skinny," but I'm definitely thinner than I was even 4 months ago. Eating something bad only makes you feel good for so long and then the guilt sets in. Being thinner is something that you can feel good about every single day!

Meatloaf Muffins

Ingredients:

1lb 99% fat free ground turkey breast
1 box stove top stuffing
1 cup water
2 egg whites

Directions:

Combine all items, mixing well. Divide into 12 sprayed muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes


Makes 12 servings, which are 3 points plus apiece.

Eating Away From Home - Planning Ahead

For most people trying to lose weight, eating away from home, whether it's a gathering or a restaurant, can be a terrifying prospect and they try to avoid it. It's not always possible to avoid these situations. A family picnic is not something you're going to skip just because you're on a diet. Forgetting about eating out at restaurants is also not realistic. It's going to happen sooner or later and it's so much easier to deal with if you're prepared with how to deal with it.

Many years in meetings has given me a few tips on how to deal with these situations and I've used many of them to my success, so I'll share them with you. When it comes to gatherings where everyone brings a dish or even a party in someone's home where they're doing all the cooking, it's more than alright to call your host/hostess and ask what they're having so you can bring something. This way, there's something there of your control. 9 times out of 10 if you bring a light dish and don't tell anyone they'll gobble it up, but if you tell them they'll steer clear. If you want it all to yourself, you can tell them, but it's always fun to see people who hate "diet" food eat a lighter dish without even knowing. Socializing at these types of events also keeps you from eating. If you're busy talking, there's less time for you to put food in your mouth.

With restaurants, we're very blessed with the technology we have access to. The internet has really changed things because almost every single restaurant has their menu and full nutritional information on their website. This allows you to go on their website and choose what you're going to eat before you even go. This also allows you to not even open the menu and invite temptation when you get there. Knowing what you're going to eat when you go out on any given day, lets you plan for the rest of your day. If you know you're going to have a heavy dinner, you can choose to have a lighter lunch. For those of you who are on weight watchers, there is a website called Dotti's Weight Loss Zone (dwlz.com) and she has converted almost every single restaurant's menu into how many weight watchers points they are.

The last tip is to eat before you go to a meeting with friends. I know in college, the restaurants would offer 1/2 price food after 11PM and that's when everyone wanted to go so they spent less money. This was way too late to be eating, so I would have my dinner at a reasonable time and then just order a diet Coke when we got there. I could still hang out with my friends and have a great time, without the constant worry that I would be gaining a ton of weight that week.

Pork Chop & Stuffing Bake

Ingredients:

4 cups Pepperidge Farm stuffing
1 1/4 cups water
4 tbsp. butter
6 boneless pork chops, 3/4" thick
10.75 oz can condensed Cream of Celery soup (98% fat free)
1/3 cup skim milk
1/2 cup shredded fat free Cheddar cheese


Step 1:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare stuffing using water and butter according to package directions.

Step 2:

Spoon stuffing across the center of a 9x13 shallow baking dish. Place chops on each side of the stuffing.

Step 3:

Stir soup and milk in a bowl. Pour over chops and cover.

Step 4:

Bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese.


Makes 6 servings

"Just One Time"

Being home reminds me of family gatherings. Growing up, my extended family never held back about me being overweight. When I started losing weight, they thought it was great, but family gatherings were tough. One minute, they were telling me how great I looked, and the next I was being offered a piece of cake or pie. When I would politely decline (at least towards the beginning of my weight loss), they would say, "It's just one time. It's ok." If I thought like that, every day would turn into "just one time." Now that I'm married into an even larger Italian family than my own, the gatherings have more than doubled.




My youngest cousin is 7, and more overweight than I was a child. She sneaks food and even resorts to stealing change to buy junk food. She's been caught several times, but the behavior continues, just going to show that parents can't always control the childhood obesity epidemic. She gets the same criticism that I endured, but she's constantly getting mixed signals from family. She didn't want to eat her meat at dinner, after eating all the side dishes, and was told that she wouldn't get dessert if she didn't eat it, which led to lots of crying. My Mimi had had enough and finally gave her a second piece of bread and told her she could have it if she finished her meat. I was shocked that she would give her something less healthy in order to eat something healthy. I told her she was sending the wrong signal by bribing with more food, and she took it away from her, which led to more crying.

Where do you draw the line when it comes to making an exception? When I was teaching, there was always food around. When I taught Pre-K, there were two snacks per day and birthdays on top of that. At the elementary level, every Friday, the faculty would take turns bringing in bagels and pastries for everyone. It was very hard to say "just one time," because the next week the temptation would be back. Something I've learned along the way is having temptations around will lead to indulgence. If there's an item in your house or workplace that's a temptation, the more times you have to walk past it, the more likely you are to cave in and eat it. That's why I'm very lucky to be at home during the day with Brady. Some people would think that this leads to eating more and everyone is different, but for me it's the opposite. I don't eat in restaurants by myself, and since Brady's still young, even taking him feels like being by myself. I don't keep anything bad in my house so as not to tempt myself.Summer 2005 with my PopPop and youngest two cousins
(1 year before I joined Weight Watchers)

With my cousin, Lauren

With my cousin, Chloe

With my cousin, Ava

Weigh-in for 8/3/2011

Last weigh-in (7/23/2011) : 161.6 lb

This weigh-in (8/3/2011) : 160.4 lb

Change : 1.2 lb lost

I was completely shocked to see a loss on the scale for the last week and a half. Not only a loss, but over a pound! I wasn't tracking, not exercising, and eating out way more than normal (twice on Monday for meeting up with two different friends). I pulled on my weigh-in pants this morning (a very light material pair of shorts) and they felt loose. I was thinking it was all in my head and mentally preparing to gain a pound or two and working the next week and a half in the gym to take it back off, setting me back once again. I am thrilled because I am starting the month off on a good foot and only 5.4 lb from lifetime membership! Only half a pound away from the 150s and though I've been in the high 150s before, I've always bounced back out. This time I'm going to break through and make it to the 140s.

My goal for August is to make it to the lowest I've ever been on the program and that's 157.4 lb. I am three pounds away and will have 3 more weigh-ins to make it happen. This is an ambitious goal because I have to lose at least 1 lb per week. This would make it possible to hit lifetime by the end of September. It's so close I can almost taste it!