Drumroll please

4 pounds lost!

I am actually quite surprised, even though I did really well with eating this week. I really didn't exercise that much, so it is scary to think if eating well helped like this, what kind of damage I have done during holidays and other random gorge fests!

:)

I was sabotaged!

Eating lunch in the break room, minding my own business, my supervisor came in with tons of leftovers from an BBQ the night before! Ack, here is where another of my real issues come into play...willpower. I had just eaten my small portion of shepherd's pie leftovers, and had some FF yogurt in the fridge for later, so I was perfectly happy with my lot at that point. But could I resist a brownie and some pasta salad? NO! Well, I probably could have, but I didn't really try. The good news, I got a smaller brownie and portion of pasta salad than I normally would have.

I am going to be finding myself in this situation a lot, especially with cookouts and some upcoming trips, so willpower is something I am going to have to work on.

The result...7 points over yesterday! I still have 25 weekly points left though, so unless something else happens to derail my progress, I should still be able to get my treat on saturday :)

Menu

The good news is that the meals we already make really aren't that unhealthy- we just eat waaay too much of it (and probably have too much red meat, but that doesn't factor into WW). Then of course are the desserts, which I can pretty much never turn down, and snacks after I should be done eating for the day. This all goes out the window when getting a quick or special dinner out of course.

Michael was worried about me starting WW, b/c he specifically asked me if we were going to have to start eating special, diet food. I said, no, I just need to eat less of what we do make, and we may need to modify a few ingredients with lower fat options. But overall, he shouldn't be affected in the slightest! Our menu this week is no different than any other.

So far we have had:
spaghetti with meat sauce (made my own with 93% ground beef, which we always buy anyway) home made pizza (lower fat than frozen or restuarant varieties and I opted for only mushrooms on my side while M could add pepperoni to his)
shepherd's pie (again lean beef and fat free cheese).
Tonight we will have grilled pork chops- they are very lean except for a layer of fat on the outside, which I don't like anyway, plus we all know grilling is a great low fat way to cook!
later in the week:
crockpot chicken with salsa and black beans, served over rice- made with boneless skinless chicken breast
a roasted (in crockpot) pork loin
bruschetta chicken bake

In other news- I have finally gotten 4 days of the 30 day shred under my belt! Not really getting easier yet though. I think I might start investigating other options on the "excercise on demand" channel, because there is tons of stuff, and 30 DS just isn't "blowing my skirt up" as Michael says. (yes he should probably be embarrassed that that is one of his sayings). Maybe kickboxing, b/c I have always liked that pretty well!

Doing well with points again today, I have 1/3 of my total left to use for supper!

Already Dreaming...

I am already looking forward to treating myself on Saturday, assuming I have some of my weekly points left. I know it is only day 3, but I have 33 of 35 still available!

There is a local coffee shop across the street from our house (this place is way better than Starbucks!) that has delicious frozen coffee drinks. It has been a while since I have gotten one, and I just can't get it out of my head! I MUST do well this week, so that I can "afford" one this weekend!

mmmmmm......

My Story

I have been fat or obese for pretty much all my life. Looking back at photos, it seems the chub started all the way back in kindergarten. I gained more and more and more until I started playing basketball in the summer after 6th grade. To give you an idea, I probably weighed 20 pounds more in 6th grade than I do now, and obviously I am far from a healthy weight at the moment.

I really hate that it went that far, and wish my parents would have helped me out in some ways. Maybe encouraging me to participate in sports earlier (I just did softball for 3 years, which isn't a ton of exercise) and limiting the food that was available to me. My brother is 3 years older and he did a ton of sports. I loved watching him, but I think it would have been even more fun to participate on my own. I guess it never occurred to me since my parents never talked about it- at least I don't remember them doing so.

Through the end of middle school and into high school, I was probably about 5 to 10 pounds lighter than I am now- a little more toned though. Finally, in college, I encountered the "freshman 15", but in reverse! It was great. I lived in the dorm that was farthest from campus- it was almost a mile walk up and down hills and steps. I ate 3 meals a day and hardly ever snacked. I went to the student rec center and took fitness classes. I don't know for sure what my lowest weight was- probably 155lb.

This is really close to the ideal weight range for my height (6' tall), but I was still pretty flabby for some reason. I just wish I had taken better care of myself from that point on and not let things get so out of hand again, because that was so much better than the state I am in now :(

So many regrets, but I just hope I am going to be moving in the right direction from now on!

29 points

That is how many I used today- 2 over my daily value. So that means I used up 2 of my 35 extra weekly points. I am still kind of hungry, and was really ravenous around 3:00, which is why I had that extra snack that pushed me over the edge. I could have probably done even better though if the yogurt we had in the house was plain fat free, rather than low fat sweetened with sugar. The yogurt was actually the most points I used all day on one item other than the meat sauce for my spaghetti.

Whole grain pastas and bread, more fruits like strawberries and blueberries, and some plain yogurt and I should be well on my way to having some substantial meals while still staying within points!

here is what I ate today:
1 serving of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal
1/2 c 1% milk
1 banana
3/4 of an apple (emily had the rest :p),
1/2 of 10" flour tortilla with 3 Tbs cheese (not low fat) 1/4 cup of black beans and salsa
1 cup of orange yogurt
a 2 pack of chocolate gram crackers
1 cup of spaghetti
a serving of meat sauce.

hmmm- I think maybe I should have eaten some vegetables!

First Meeting

I finally found time to go to my first WW meeting this morning. I was afraid earlier in the week that I would end up weighing over what I originally anticipated, but I am actually 3 or 4 pounds lighter! So the original goal (30 lbs) still stands and I'll fix my weight loss ticker accordingly.

I don't have to start counting points until tomorrow, but I can already tell that I am going to need to buy a few different foods at the store if I am going to be able to marginally fill myself up and stay within points.

I think the hardest part with points (other than staying within my set amt of course) will be trying to add everything up when I make a home cooked meal that has several ingredients.

As far as exercising is concerned, I have only done 30 day shred 2 days. I tried to do it again on Thursday and the exercise on demand channel wasn't working, so I ended up doing about 10 min of abs and arm free weights on my own. Definitely not comparable, but better than nothing.

So tomorrow is the big day- 27 points!

Day One

Of 30 day shred wasn't pretty. I honestly can't remember the last time I have done any exercising other than walking (seriously, it's been years) and it definitely showed. I couldn't even do jumping jacks without my knees popping and grinding. I can see myself spending more than 10 days on each level (there are 3) before being comfortable to move on.

It also brings to mind that maybe I have more weight on me than I thought. I'm actually not sure when I stepped on a scale last, so maybe I have farther to go than originally planned.
I won't change my initial goal though, because I know my history and can't see myself losing more than about a pound a week. Hopefully I can get close enough to the 30 lbs to feel good about myself and then set a new goal for 2010!

Oh and I hope the fact that it is going to take me a week and a half to fit in my first WW meeting isn't a sign of things to come, although this is what I was worried about!

What's on the agenda.

First of all, an explanation of my blog address: 30by2010.

That shouldn't be too hard to figure out. I want to lose 30 pounds by the end of this year. As things get going and I am hopefully adding more muscle to my frame (right now I am pretty much ALL fat) this number could change. I am fine with that. If I am more toned and at least 2 sizes smaller, I can totally deal with the scale reading a few pounds heavier than this goal weight.

What I plan to do... I need to join weight watchers. This will mark the first time I have ever actually been on a structured diet. And to be honest, I don't know if I can do it.

Before getting pregnant in 2007, I had tried using my mom's WW materials to curb my eating, but it just seemed like using points I couldn't possibly get full or satisfied. I guess that is where going to the meetings for support and info comes in.

In addition to this, I would like to try Jillian Michaels' "30 day shred". If there is going to be any exercising done, it has to be done at home. I am worried enough about finding time to go to WW meetings, I can barely imagine getting my schedule to work around going to the gym, or just being out of the house in general, since I would have to find someone to watch Emily. Not to mention the extreme lack of money situation.

So there is the plan for now. I'll update once I have attending my first WW meeting and gotten weighed in so I can keep a weight loss ticker updated (we don't own a scale, go figure) Oh and I'll also take a "before" picture in a few days. YIKES