Run it Out

Hey! Look at me! Actually keeping up with my blog. I feel accomplished already...

The past two weeks have been a little trying but have also yielded some results in the ol' weight loss portion of our programming. Week one was a success! I weighed in and was down 3.1 pounds!! This may be because I was dedicated and tracked every little bite...and also the fact that Wednesday I hadn't eaten for 12 hours due to having the last of my gallbladder surgeries. Thursday (day before w-day) I couldn't eat much again. And frankly, weight watchers was the last of my worries. So come Friday, I was happy but also expected a loss of that proportion.

This past week also went well. I was down .6 which some, in the land of Biggest Loser and Celebrity Fit Club, would say is nothing. You know what? I lost something. Just because it wasn't 10, 20, or even a full pound, it was something. For that, I am proud.

There are some changes going on in my life (i wont bore you with the details) that have been affecting my journey for the past 18 months or so. Emotionally, I have been a mess and have not put 110% into my weight loss efforts. Things, happily, are starting to iron themselves out so I am feeling more in control of what I'm eating. Strange how we tie the two together... I'm sure that's not just me. Is it?

The past few visits to the gym have been quite fun actually! I am getting back into running (ok, lets be fair here...jogging. Ok, walking. fast. very fast. then jogging for 3 minutes before thinking death is upon me and walking again). I love it. It is a form of therapy that I never get sick of or hate. Me, my ipod, and my mizunos have become great friends. Theres really nothing like putting those ear buds in and being alone with your tracks and letting it all go. Regulating your breathing is all you're focused on. Not the fact that you ate something "bad" (Don't get me started on "bad" food). Here's hoping tomorrow I can jog (seriously, I mean jog) more than a mile at a time.

To round out this entry, I thought I would share a few of my favorite workout songs to get YOUR bum moving off the couch. Remember, only 20 minutes a day is all you need to start seeing changes.

Tracks!
1 - 2 Pac - Changes
2 - Stereophonics - Dakota
3 - Nicki Minaj - Va Va Voom
4 - Usher ft. Lil' Jon and Ludacris - Yeah
5 - Robyn - Dancin On My Own
6 - Kanye West - Stronger
7 - LMFAO - I'm Sexy and I Know It
8 - Dark Knight Soundtrack - Like A Dog Chasing Cars (seriously, this is my power song for running)
9 - Juvenile - Back That Ass Up
10 - David Guetta ft. Sia - Titanium

Long time, no weight loss..

Hello interwebs universe, oh how I have missed the occasional blog...

So remember how I was going to blog about my weight loss journey until the fella and my big trip to Paris and London? Yeah, me too. Sorry about that. A little thing called life got in the way. To bring everyone up to speed, this is what happened.

Last May I started a new job at a fantastic company. I was so happy and excited to finally be at a job where I felt like I can make a difference and have a career. A plus to my new job (that I thought only existed in movies...) was that they would happily provide us with food for a job well done or for completing our goals. Now, I don't know about you, but who's going to turn down a free meal? Especially when you've forgotten your lunch and the 30 minutes allotted for lunch don't get you very far. So bring on the pizza, chinese food, sandwiches complete with sides of macaroni salad and ice cream sandwiches.

The fella and I did go to France and London in July. We were lucky enough to see the gorgeous wedding of my cousin Hannah and her new husband Cedric as well as staying at this amaze-balls chateau. All throughout France and England we ate real food. The most amazing cheeses and wines you can imagine in Provence. Fresh baguettes and succulent meats in Paris were so worth it and worth the walking we did to burn them off. London, being somewhat of a second home to me, was full of ales, pies, and chips (fries). I learned a new way to eat when I was overseas. Even though we were eating high calorie foods, they were still fresh and we were only eating small meals all through the day with plenty of water for walking in the hot summer sun. It was a welcome sight when I stepped on the scale upon our return to see that I hadn't gained a pound. not even a little bit. And I was completely satisfied the entire trip.

The past summer was full of the usual summer get together, barbeques, and parties. To be 100% honest, I don't think I tracked my WW points more than 3 times this past summer. The scale was going up and I was not happy about it. Thing is, I wasn't doing anything to change it. I didn't feel like I had regained all of the weight I had lost, I felt like me. Just Kelly.

In November I had surgery to have my gallbladder removed. If you want to know pain (why would you? well if you're into that kind of thing...) just get some gallstones. Those little suckers are the worst pain I have ever felt and don't wish that upon my worst enemy. After recovering from 2 surgeries in 2 days, I have been lazy, had no energy, and continued to gain.

That brings us to now. Here I am, at my starting weight again and finally feel like I can do this. Will everyday be perfect? Not even a little, but I know that with some determination and inspiration from some good friends all over the world, Ill be just fine.Like one of my favorite quotes: A goal without a plan is just a wish. I have a plan. I have an arsenal of ww tools as well as a gym and I have me. My strength and knowing that I've done it before, I can do it again.  One day at a time...

Product Review and a New Path

This week has been a wash. No way around it. I have not counted one point nor have I cared. I remind myself daily that I have this amazing vacation coming up where I am going to be walking daily and want to look back at the photos and feel proud. Yet I succumb to the powers of ice cream and burritos.

The other night the fella and I went out for my last meal out until Paris. I had, and try not to drool, chili cheese fries with beans, a pulled pork sandwich with a side of fries, boneless honey bbq wings, and a maine tracks ice cream sundae. Woof. It was as amazing as it sounds but now is crunch time. I know that with hard work and discipline, I can lose about 15...ish pounds in 2 1/2 months. (secretly hoping for more but trying not to be greedy).

So, where do I start? I have the Monthly Pass through weight watchers and will continue to go to meetings and weigh in weekly. I have to change my weigh in day because of my new job (yay!) but I will not be following the PointsPlus plan. I will be using My Fitness Pal, which I will refer to as MFP. This is a free online calorie tracker that counts calories, fats, proteins, and carbs and helps you monitor all of it. The most inspiring thing about the site is that after you track your daily food and exercise, it will tell you "if everyday was like today, you can expect to lose ___ pounds in ___days". To me, that is very very helpful.

I have tracked all of my food today thus far and being on only 1200 calories a day, I only have 395 left for lunch and dinner. (Breakfast was before I decided to jump on the MFP wagon...)

Also happening this week was a product review! I tried the Quaker Oatmeal Real Medleys. I tried the apple, cranberry, and walnut version of this instant oatmeal. The packaging is durable and I can easily see myself popping this into my work tote if I am running late one morning. After adding hot (they called for boiling but I only had my keurig to help me out) water and stirring, I let it sit for 3 minutes. After it was ready I took note of the sweet aroma of apples and cranberries. The oatmeal itself was pretty good however, if you only like smooth, non textured oatmeal or porridge, this is not for you. You actually have to chew parts of it, including the halved walnuts. All in all I would give this item a 7 out of 10 and would probably buy it again if it went on sale.

Thanks for reading, I'll be back later this week!

I'll Take That

This week on WW has been challenging. I have this issue with planning perfectly and then, at the stroke of 5 pm, it all goes out the window. My personal challenge this past week was to leave enough weekly points to be able to cover any treats or little "I don't give a crap" moments. Apparently I did alright! I lost 2.6 pounds this week and nearly jumped off the scale in happiness!

My personal goal this week is to get back into the gym. I have struggled to find time to get to the gym and tried incorporating exercise into my day with little things. while watching tv I will do push ups or jumping jacks during the commercials or at work I am constantly trying to move around. I am signed up with the Fella for the Color Run in July so I am hoping that by then I will be able to jog the 3.1 miles.

We also have our trip to Europe coming up and a huge motivator is being able to look back at the photos and be happy and proud of myself and body.

Sorry for the short post, tons to do today!

Oh hello wagon, nice to hop back on

So somehow the months of October through.. what are we in now... April have gotten away from me. Over the holiday season I didn't really focus on WW nor on anything I was putting down my gob. I have gained some weight.. a lot of it. Frankly, I am upset about this and I decided to actually cut the sh*t and actually man up and do something about it. Last Wednesday I went to my first WW meeting since October. I really enjoyed it too! Who would have known!

The night before I planned out my weight in (WI) outfit down to the t (shirt..heh). I have to admit, I was really scared to WI. Its been so long and normally I step on the scale at home where no one but myself sees that number and the upward climb its been making this past year. Walking into the WW center I was nervous, but I had to do this. I needed to take control of my weight, feelings, and even as melodramatic as it sounds, my life.

BUM BUM, BUM BUM, BUM BUM.... (that would be my heart beat in my throat) I stepped on and the numbers over 200 came up. Damn! I knew I should have found lighter shorts! Feeling semi-defeated, I took my seat in the meeting. To be honest the next half hour felt like an eternity, mostly cause I was trying really hard not to burst out in tears. One year ago I was under 155.. and now I am not. How did this happen?

From that day I have tracked as best as I can every single meal, bite, taste, and lick. I am in this. I may not lose 50 pounds by July but I can easily attain my goal of losing 15-20 pounds by then if I stay on track and stick with it.

I suppose we will just have to wait and see....

Oh how I love Paris in the springtime..

Oh hello all! So lovely to see you! I have been m.i.a. for a good few months. Between desk jobs, stress, school, changing majors, and moving my bum has expanded. I have gained a good 25 (ok 30...) pounds and I am back on WW to lose it and put a lil pep back in my step.

This week was the first time in a long time, well ever actually, I tracked all of my food and counted every single point. I am very proud of this. With the fella out of town this weekend, I am afraid ill raid the Halloween candy we have here. Learning to limit myself and still have a small treat.

My main goal is to get to about 150 by around July when the Fella and I jet off to Paris and Brussels for vacation. I want to be able to wear adorable dresses and cute shorts without feeling completley self concious. I know I can do this and have to stay focused. I will be blogging about once or twice a week until Paris. Ok gals, here we go!!

Til next time
Au revoir my dahlings!!

Kels

Finding calm in the New Program

The new ww program was released last November and i have to say, I'm loving it. We get more daily points to work with, more weekly points for splurges and nearly all fruits are zero points plus value. Of course everything has gone up in points, but that's because the points are now calculated by fat, fiber, carbohydrates, and protein. This makes me so much happier. Now people are eating real foods, with healthy oils and fats. Naturally, when you have a new product, some people are going to have trouble catching on or willingly hopping on board. But everyone will find there way eventually.

Since this past week was Christmas week and i have a zillion things to do, i ended up doing what i always said id try not to.. skip the gym for other (supposedly more important) things. Im definitely feeling it. To me, i think being on weight watchers is about living a lifestyle, not a diet fad or trend. And in my life, i like to celebrate the holidays with my family, friends, and betty crocker. : ) I'm not saying I'm completely liberal with food during this time, but i am a tiny bit more lenient.

Today i woke up ready to eat well again, and maybe even hit the gym before heading to work. Ya know, to the Mexican restaurant... well I started out okay. Had some cereal and a light coffee and tracked it online. Then i went to work.... a side of rice and fajita vegetables with sour cream was my lunch. I did sneak in a yogurt though.. score one for me! I came home on my break and the fella and i made sammiches and had potato salad. I think I'm done with eating like this.. i feel awful, I'm so tired, and the feeling of heartburn is less than desirable.

Tomorrow I am going to do this. I'm going to track all of my food, get in my good health guidelines (ghg's), and im going to try to do some sort of exercise (wii games anyone?)

Here's to a good week!