Friday morn weigh in

Well, down one more lb! Brings my total of weight loss to 40 lbs!!! Over halfway to my goal now.  Although it's been slower weight loss for the past several weeks.  Found myself eating more food and not the light, healthy food either.   And I've gotten a promotion at work, but during the transition it's been crazy busy and I haven't made the time to work out like I was doing a few weeks ago. Plus, I walked to work one day last week (approx 6 miles) and got this blister that still hurts. I changed to different tennis shoes last night and that helped.  Excuses...rationalization...I've got to get off my butt and get back on the program. Which I have been the past couple of days esp. I think that's what did the extra pound this week.

I've got to get back to the grindstone for now.  I hope that you are all doing well on your journey and are having success!!

Joyce (JBaker)

Friday morning weigh in

I was afraid that I would be up a little due to having a cold and working out less, eating more, etc. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was down instead. I'm now at 170! I actually got off and on the scale again, just to double check it. Yeah!!  It's a nice way to start my Friday! Now I'm more than halfway to my goal-that feels really good. And it's been a good week, I am getting a new job which is a promotion at my work. God has been very good to me!!!

I hope that you all are having a good week and are enjoying your summer.

Joyce (JBaker)

Monday update

Well, when I weighed in on Friday morning I thought I was down another pound. I didn't get online for a few days so when I put in my weight on the log, I realized I was up 1 lb!   Last week wasn't a good week for working out. I'm training for walking a half marathon and I don't feel like I'm working out as hard following the training schedule. Plus, I didn't keep my food diary last week so my points tracker in my mind was probably way too lenient. With it being the 4th of July I ate regular yummy stuff and it may show up this week on the scales. That's okay - it's life and I'm here for the long haul weight loss for the rest of my life.

Plus, I'm feeling like I've gotten a cold - got a sore throat. I think there's something going around.  My dd was sick for about 7-10 days with it. Not exactly helpful... now I have to balance the sick to workout schedule so I don't overdo, but don't use it as an excuse either. And the weather is really heating up here. It's been so nice-I guess it's time to get back to the standard hot, muggy summer.

Well, I hope you were all able to enjoy the holiday and see some great fireworks!

Take care,

Joyce (JBaker)

Good weigh-in today...

Friday morning each week is my weigh in so this week I'm down 2 more lbs.  Wahoo!!!  I wasn't sure how it would look this morning because last night I ate some potato salad. Later I was craving cookies in the worst way, so instead I ate two bowls of cookie crunch cereal with skim milk. Two bowls is too much, but was better than eating regular cookies and filled my craving. 

I've been trying to eat at least 2 fresh fruits a day which is healthier and also brought carrots to munch on at work when I hit a boring spot that food fills for me. I haven't been very good at journaling my eating this week.  Will have to start over again today since it's the first of my journaling week (which means 35 new WW points to use for the week).

I am considering doing a half marathon in Sept. I haven't decided if I will walk the whole thing or try to run for part of it. I found the Prevention magazine's training schedule and have followed it this week. I wish I knew someone that would join me but don't really know anyone that would be interested. If you join a training team you have a built-in social circle, but I really can't afford to do that right now. I'm pretty happy training with just me and my Ipod. I did walk last night and at the end decided to jog around these people in my way and ended up jogging most of the way home (2/3 mile maybe?). Boy that felt good. I can't remember jogging that much without practically dying since high school. I kept thinking to myself "I am jogging and my heart and lungs aren't killing me". So I kept on going...man that felt so good.  I did do a cool down walk for a while and I'm a little sore today in my legs. Today is my rest day before doing a long walk tomorrow.

I better get to work. I hope you all are having a swell week and are enjoying your summer!

Joyce (JBaker)

Exercise - the poor man's plastic surgery!

Thursday - the day before my weigh-in

I'm going to have to be careful today. I've used up my extra weekly points (on WW plan) and only have half a point to spare today. Luckily, I start over tomorrow at my weigh in. This is my first week with only 22 WW points per day vs. the 24 I had always been on before. Not too bad. I'm trying to find ways to still have some decent stuff and cut out a point or two here and there. I usually buy low-cal puddings at Aldi's and they are 2 pts. each and tasty. I found a Jello dark chocolate pudding that was yummy yesterday for essentially 1 point each. If I were to cut out my coffee creamer each day, that would take care of my 2 point difference. I'll consider it...I really love my one cup of coffee each morning!  Now that it's warming up here, maybe it will be easier to swap out a diet cola  instead. Hm.....

This afternoon will be my "last chance workout" before weigh in tomorrow morning. I didn't workout on Tuesday because I worked late and I was doing well with my points and didn't go over. Monday and Wed. worked out pretty hard. It is showing in my clothes.  The pants I'm wearing today I got a couple of months ago and they are getting too big. That's so cool!  May go shopping at Goodwill this weekend for something smaller-that'd be fun.

That's all I have for now.  I hope that you are all having a swell week and are eating healthy and getting/staying fit! 

All the best,

Joyce (JBaker436)

Monday morning blahs...

Well, I had a pretty good weekend.  I was going to clean out the garage to fit my car in, but I just blew it off.  I really need to sell a few items on Ebay or Craig's list before there will be enough room anyway... So instead yesterday I took a nap and then made some homeade bread. Last night I fixed a nice meal for my 2 dd and myself. We had all of their favorites and I tried to lighten them as much as possible. Pork chops were lean and grilled, mashed potatoes had skim milk and a little margarine, used light butter on the homemade bread slices, etc. and then I had small portions for the most part.  The bread actually turned out good for the first time. My mom is known for making great bread and up until now, I haven't been able to get much with yeast to come out very good. I know what you're thinking, homemade bread=calories and carbs, which is true. Although, it's probably 3 WW pts. per slice, which is do-able along with a salad or a meal in moderate proportions once a day. It sure helps the meal to stick with me longer. I hate eating "light" things all day and never feeling full or worse, feelilng kinda hungry all day. Plus, my girls really loved it too. My youngest dd (16yrs.) and I could use more common interests too and she likes cooking. Maybe this could be a format for some interaction for us. One can hope... Anyway, I did have a couple of slices last night when it was warm and will have to call on extra weekly points to cover my indiscretion. It was worth it!

If anyone out there has any good low-cal recipes for homemade bread, please forward to me.  I will be trying some other breads out of the same cookbook, preferably with some different grains, etc. to add more good fiber.  Hopefully, that will help the points value go down a little bit-if not, it's healthier and will have more texture. Sorry-enough about the bread already!!

I was proud of myself on Friday. We had a reception at work with a cake from a great local bakery with icing and the works. I helped serve it and even took peices home for the girls but didn't eat one bite. Not even licked my finger when I got icing on it. I was afraid that I would have to dive into it if I tasted it. I did eat part of an apple right before and then chewed gum during the event to help.

I hope you all had a good weekend and have a great week.

Joyce (JBaker)

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!

Words from a Pointer Sisters song, although it's the only part that is really applicable. They just come to mind as I weighed this morning and was down 3 lbs. Luckily people can't see me grinning from ear to ear in my cubical - they would think I had lost it for sure!!   I guess a plateau was bound to happen, after making eating and fitness changes since the first of this year. I keep reminding myself when I get discouraged that this isn't just a diet to get to a specific weight, it's a lifestyle change - this is how it is going to be for the rest of my life.  Not so much for my looks (although that sure is a good motivator!!), but for my health and my confidence level. My dreams are bigger than they used to be when I was really overweight. Some things that I thought out of the question are now "maybes". That feels so invigorating!! 

I'm also excited because I'm following the Weight Watcher program (without the meetings). You can either follow the Core plan (eating healthy food in bigger proportions) or the Flex plan based on points for eating and exercise.  I've been using the Flex plan and my points have been based on my current weight, which up until now has been 24 points/day. I finally hit a new category of points with my new weight-first time ever w/WW plan. Although it means that I have to ingest 2 less points per day, it's a really good sign for me. My target for today was to hit 174 and I did it!

I hope that you are having a great week!

Joyce (Jbaker)

Tuesday- just checkin' in

Well, so far so good today. I didn't eat many veggies or fruits like I should have last night.  Instead, I ate a whole bag of caramel rice cakes throughout the afternoon and night. I did eat light otherwise. Thank heaven they were only rice cakes - that helps when you eat a whole bagful.  lol Yikes! At least I did eat all of them and won't get any more until next weekend on my weekly grocery trip. I need to get back to bagging up my snacks and sitting down with a little baggie vs. the whole bag. I know better than to do that.

I worked in the yard for the past 2 nights so I've burned some calories too. Today, it's back to the gym to work out good and hard. I really need it. I'll be glad when I can work my upper body more again. Since I fell off of a ladder a few weeks ago, I've been very sore in my chest and arms so I've been mostly working my lower body on an incumbent bike or treadmill instead. I would really like to keep working on my "jello" arms so I can wear sleveless tops. At this rate, maybe next summer... oh well, enough for the pity party. Just got to keep on keeping on so to speak. It's a lifestyle change and not a quick fix for me.

Hope everyone is having a good day!

Joyce (JBaker)

One lb. back on - oh well...

I was so excited to have lost 3 lbs. the week before. Seems like I've gotten a bit sloppy with my eating and journaling which caused my weight to go back up one pound. So this week I'm being better about writing everything down and trying to make better eating choices.  More fruits and veggies vs. starches. I tend to go for the prepackaged frozen entrees, which taste good, low in points and easy, but they don't have much in the way of veggies/fruits.  I try to eat only 1 per day (usually lunch at work) and eat something fresh for the other meal. Even if I do have a sandwich, I try to put on extra romaine lettuce and tomatoes to supplement my diet. I've been watching Ellie Krieger on the Food Network and am trying some of her recipes which help incorporate more veggies into standard entrees. Small steps, right?

Here's a tip for those who like popsicles.  I found a box of popsicles flavored with Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet A&W and Diet (orange) Crush.  They're tasty, good on a hot day and little or no calories to boot. You all may have seen them before - they were new to me.

All my best thoughts to everyone sharing my weight-loss journey. Hope you have a great day!

Joyce (JBaker)

Weigh-in update

I was afraid to get on my scale this morning, even though Friday am is usually my weigh in time. I ate some extra stuff last Monday for the holiday, then had Greek food yesterday and I splurged since I wasn't paying and really wanted to try some of my favorites. Then last night my dd and I went to see the Sex in the City movie midnight showing and followed it with breakfast at Denny's.  A Grand Slam no less.  Although I really loved the food and I haven't eaten out breakfast in a really long time so sometimes you need to be able to do that.  I'll be happy if I don't gain very much this week. I lost several pounds last week, so it'll be okay - no matter what the scales say. This is a journey not just a means to an end.

I hope that everyone is enjoying the summer weather. Have a great weekend!!