I'm down 9.6 pounds this week. I was retaining so much water last week it was crazy! But I took everyone's advice and downed water and my fave Gatorade G2 and off it came. Another saving grace has been eating lots of summer fruit, especially watermelon. I swear I can drink a 32 oz. bottle of water and still not pee as much as I do when I eat a few slices of watermelon! Oh and this will be the last day I weigh in on a Sunday for a while. Since I'm not going to meetings and just doing WWOnline, I switched it to Saturdays. I got tired of weighing in great on Saturday only to eat a little too much salt or something and have a two - five pound gain on Sunday. When I decide to go back to meetings, I'll switch back.
For a while I was doing well with cooking meals and eating at home and packing my lunch, especially when we were trying to stick to our budget, but between formulating lesson plans for my classroom, doing my own homework and studying and then having to take care of my son I have no free time and have been falling asleep at 9 PM. I need to get back to meal planning because our budget is all blown to hell and we were doing so well with saving money. I'm just going to have to use the down time I do have to cook two meals instead of one and freeze them. Anyone have any good freezable meal ideas? I'd love to share/swap.
...did I gain 6.6 pounds this week? I mean I know HOW but I don't believe it. I've actually done very well and for the last two days we've walked miles! Miles, I tell you! I'm hoping this is water weight because I'd be very distressed to know that I can gain almost 7 pounds in a week. I'll probably weigh myself mid-week just to see if the scale goes down any.
I switched my WW to online e-tools only. I wasn't going to any meetings for months and that's $40 a month going to waste. But I'm not ready to give up WW just yet so I'm doing the e-tools. My hubby is back on track with me now. He saw a pic of himself from our outing on Friday and he was so disgusted with his belly and chin fat that he immediately agreed to do this with me.
Hello everyone! I haven't been blogging but I have been tracking and posting my weight here every week. I was doing okay but then I'm up FIVE pounds this week. I blame the 4th of July BBQs. I'm hoping it's water weight and that I'll be down by the time I weigh in next week.
I've been wanting to blog but school and work have me tied up, but I'll aim to try and blog at least once a week because I miss you all and I miss reading YOUR blogs!
Well, I'm off to do homework and then go to yet another BBQ. Hope all is well!
...but THIS time I have marching orders! But I'll get to that in a minute. In the last month I had to throw good eating habits out the window because of my hectic life. Okay, that's a sad excuse. I didn't have to but I chose to for the sake of making my life easier. Bad move, I know.
Anyhoo, in the month since I blogged last my Great Grandma (God bless her soul at 93!) was put in the hospital for what we all feared was the End. We really thought she was going to go to God but after 3 weeks of vigorous treatments we were finally able to bring her home a little over a week ago. But needless to say I spent every available moment I could by her bedside because, for one, she raised me and was my 2nd Mother, but also because she fell into a deep state of despair and depression so the family made sure someone was by her bedside at all times. Needless to say I did a lot of eating the wrong thing while in the hospital visiting. Many times I was there after the cafeteria closed so I was eating out of vending machines. In hindsight I guess I could have ordered salads...
Anyhoo, in addition to my hospital trips (did I mention that the hospital is in Maryland and I live in Virginia?) I had been promoted from assistant teacher to primary teacher and I had lots of work to do with planning lessons, etc... and I also started school for my teaching certificate so I could teach more than preschool. I'm so behind in homework it's not funny. So we've been living off of fast food, quickie meals (like ramen noodles) and junk food at my house. The only one who eats somewhat healthy is my son. I can take the time to give him something nutritious but not for myself. Sounds whack, doesn't it?
But anyway, back to my marching orders. As I've mentioned before I have had two very devastating miscarriages. My OB sent me and my husband to see a fertility specialist because she can't understand why someone who is healthy as an ox, with a healthy reproductive system-- I won't go into the tests/scans I had to have done "down there"-- and had an easy and uncomplicated pregnancy with my son can't sustain a pregnancy now. So we went to see the specialist and she's going to do deeper testing but there were 3 things she said I had to do, no ifs, ands or butts: cut out caffeine, eat a more well rounded diet of healthier foods and less processed foods, and lose weight. She said every pound I lose will help towards a healthier pregnancy (I knew this) but what I didn't know was that fat contains a lot of hormones and it could be my out-of-whack hormones that could be causing me to lose pregnancies. So I am officially back on WW, and determined to lose the minimum 10 pounds she suggested I lose before we start trying to get pregnant in the Fall.
I've been saying all along that I needed to lose weight so I could have a healthier pregnancy but there is something about getting told you have to as opposed to just saying you have to. So although I've been motivated before, now I am REALLY motivated. I really want that 2nd baby. That and she'll be monitoring my weight when I go for my visits. When I went to her office last Monday the scale said 248. I almost died because I couldn't believe I was almost back to 250 after I had gotten down to almost 230. That alone is motivation as well.
So even though tracking what I eat has gotten totally tedious for me, I know it's a necessary evil, so I will do it. I didn't make a WW meeting today but I did go to my online WW account and get it all up to date, so I'm tracking. I really want this baby, so I feel I have no choice but to lose weight. I know that's not true but for me it's good I feel that way. It will kick my butt into gear.
I hope everyone else is doing well. As soon as I finish my homework I will try and get back on and read your blogs. Ciao!
I've come back...again! I know, Kia has more "comebacks" than the Eagles. I've made every effort to come back but life is always throwing lemons my way and I was tired of trying to make lemonade. But here I am AGAIN. Life is still throwing lemons my way but I'm determined to make lemonade, using Splenda, of course.
Thanks to those who checked up on me. I really appreciated that you cared enough to see how I was doing. OneDitto, girl, I really wish you were closer. I have a feeling you'd be a great motivator to stick to my guns! Thanks.
So where am I? I've been going up and down, but now I'm up at 244.6 and that's really disappointing me because I've undone half of what I achieved in WW. It's a shame that I had my 1 year anniversary with WW on March 18th and I've only lost about 16 pounds. In a YEAR! So I'm still with WW and I need to get my head back into the game because $40 a month is getting wasted by my half-assed efforts.
I'm seriously thinking about trying Alli. I personally know 2 people who have used it successfully. I don't think I'd want to (or could afford to!) take it for a long period of time, but maybe for a month or so to boost my weight loss. Maybe that would motivate me. Anyone else trying Alli? Let me know how it's working for you.
So anyhoo, here I am, once again. Let's hope this time it sticks. Hope all is well for everyone!
Oops, meant to add that I am the moderator of a Yahoo group that's dedicated to Moms trying to lose weight. Doesn't matter if you had a baby last month or several years ago. If you'd like to join go to health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Fit_Mommas/
I finally went to a WW meeting and had an official weigh in of 245. I weighed in at home last week and found that my incredible weight loss stabilized and I was up to 245.4. I figured my 8.8 pound loss was partially due to water so I wasn't upset. I planned on getting back on the WW train for this past week but then I had a sonogram that showed I still had lots of tissue left in my uterus and so they scheduled me for a D&C this past Tuesday night. For some reason they felt I needed to be put under general anesthesia so I had no eating from midnight until my surgery at 6 PM Tuesday, but due to the anesthesia I was nauseous and couldn't eat. Then I had an allergic reaction to the doxycycline I was given and remained nauseous and dizzy and couldn't eat. I didn't get my ability to eat again until Friday night and, unfortunately, I made up for the past week in the past two days. But I'm still down 0.4 so that's good. I actually did weigh myself after my surgery and instead of being down after a couple days of not eating I was UP! Go figure.
My husband and I put ourselves on a strict financial budget after finding out that after the necessities and bills we could still have over $1000 left from our monthly paychecks. We quickly figured out that an enormous amount of the wasted money was from fast food. Since I started working we have been eating fast food up to 5x a week, and that adds up. So part of our budget was also to menu plan. We've found that with planning our menus ahead that we can get by on just $50 a week for groceries and get home cooked meals. I'm hoping that this budget and menu planning will help us to expand our savings but shrink our waistlines since we'd be eating more wholesome food and less processed and fast food. I've actually found very WW friendly recipes that don't cost a lot and I make double the portions so that we both have some to take for lunch because buying lunch was also eating a lot of money.
I have found my motivation! At least for the next few months. My mother is coming to visit this summer! I haven't seen her since 2002. She is Korean and if you know about the Asian culture, being fat is not acceptable, especially if you are a woman. She has always gotten on my case about my weight. She is glad that I've lost as much as I have but is she happy? No. She says she would love to see me under 200 pounds when she visits. I can't guarantee that I will lose 45 pounds by the time she gets here some time in July, but I can surely try to get close. She's the reason that I got my butt up and went to a WW meeting. It's time to stop pussy-footing around and get serious, right?
So that's my update. I have to run out but now that my personal computer is now up and running (hubby and I have been sharing his) I can get on later and check out everyone else's blogs. By the way, thank you all so much for your support during my rough time. I've gotten some nice comments, both on here and through e-mails, and they meant a lot to me. Thanks a million!
Have a great week everyone! Happy weigh-ins to all!
...but I can't take credit for fantastic dieting or anything. I had weighed in last week late in the afternoon, after eating all day, so I know I lost a few pounds the next day. In fact when I was at the doctor's office on Thursday (I have bronchitis and double pink eye -- the joys of teaching preschool!) I weighed 245. Then on Friday night I finally passed the baby, the most gory and painful night of my life, but I lost pounds because of that as well. So here I am at 8.8 down. So hopefully this week I can make it back into the 230s.
I'm back on WW online but I haven't been to a meeting yet for an official weigh in. I still am feeling under the weather and dragging myself out in the cold to go to a meeting wasn't appealing to me this morning. But next week, definitely. Gotta face the music!
I'm so ready for the cold to go and the nice Spring weather to get here. Spring and Fall are the best weather times of year, I think. Not too cold, not too hot, just right. Now that my DS is a bit older and can appreciate things more than before, I think we'll have fun going on Springtime outings. I'm looking forward to his first trip to the zoo.
Well, I'm off to feed the masses, and by masses I mean a very hungry DS and DH and Mommy, too! Hope all is well!
Well, I lost the baby. No rhyme or reason, just something that happened. So here I am, 12 pounds heavier than I was when I left (although I did weigh myself this evening instead of in the morning, so I might lose a few pounds by tomorrow) and ready to work on getting healthy for the next try, should I decide to try again.
I've rejoined WW and will start going to meetings again next week, I've got my black sharpie and ready to label points on everything in the kitchen. I'm determined. I know with every pound I lose, the chances of me having a healthy and successful pregnancy increases. I'm not saying that I miscarried again because of being fat, but being thinner has to help. I'm also going to try to eat a little more cleaner. I'm not quite ready to do the whole clean eating thing but I'm going to start trying to incorporate more natural and organic foods, stay away from so many processed foods, and get out into the fresh air more.
So I'm back and need your support more than ever! I hope you all have been doing well and I can't wait to get back into the groove of things.
Not permanently, just for a little while, like about...hmmm...nine months.
Yup! Like chickofegg I got a little surprise this month. Baby #2 is due, God willing, September 21st, the same due date as my DS. I won't say this was an accident because we weren't really trying to prevent the situation however it was a pleasant surprise. We are happy as can be and looking forward to welcoming another sweet child into the family.
Now I will not be putting my weight loss efforts totally on the shelf. I know that being pregnant does not really mean you have to eat for two. I will be following the Brewer Pregnancy Diet (http://www.blueribbonbaby.org/) that my OB recommended my first pregnancy. It's not really a diet but an eating plan that will ensure that your growing baby gets all the nutrients he needs to thrive and be healthy. The "side effect" for overweight women is weight loss or maintainence, just as a "side effect" for underweight women is weight gain. With my first pregnancy I managed to only gain 20 pounds and I lost all that within a month of giving birth.
So that's my news. I will still pop on here to check out how you guys are doing and to update every once in a while how I am doing. I am going to start looking into some prenatal exercise tapes, like yoga. LOL! I pick NOW to get physically active.
So I finally made it the other day and it was DELICIOUS! You couldn't even taste the tofu in it. Even my husband, who hates tofu, ate it up! Here's the recipe that I put together myself. I took a basic recipe and expanded on it. I also chose to use whole eggs and some of the higher fat cheese instead of fat free for taste. Anyway, I ran it through the recipe builder on WW and through Diet Power to get the points and nutritional value. I used generic items in both of those programs just to get an "across-the-board" reading. So enjoy!
Kia's Tofu Three Cheese Lasagna
Serves 12, 6 points per serving
Ingredients:
1 pound (after draining the water) of extra soft tofu
1 cup skim milk ricotta cheese
2 cups 4% milkfat cottage cheese, drained for 15 minutes before using.
2 large eggs
2 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. italian seasoning
8 ounces part skim low moisture mozzarella cheese
1 32-ounce jar of spaghetti sauce (I used extra chunky garden style)
1 10.5 can of diced tomatoes, drained (do not use the ones with olive oil or your points go up)
12 lasagna noodles
Preparation:
Make sure to drain tofu and cottage cheese for about 15 minutes before use. In a large bowl mash drained tofu with a potato masher until thoroughly mashed. Add ricotta and cottage cheese and mix well. Add in eggs and mix well. Add in seasonings and 3/4 of the mozzarella.
Boil lasagna noodles until al dente. Rinse and drain well.While the noodles are draining mix spaghetti sauce and canned tomatoes in a bowl.
Spray the bottom of your lasagna pan with Pam. Spread 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of the pan. Lay four lasagna noodles on the bottom. Top with half the cheese mixture. Cover with 1 cup of spaghetti sauce. Layer on another four noodles. Add the rest of the cheese mixture and 1 cup of sauce. Cover with the last four noodles. Cover the noodles with the remaining sauce, making sure to cover all the noodles. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
Tent lasagna with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Remove the tent and bake until cheese starts to brown, about five minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for about 15-20 minutes before cutting.
When I went to her office last Monday the scale said 248. I almost died because I couldn't believe I was almost back to 250 after I had gotten down to almost 230. That alone is motivation as well.
