with great intentions

With the spurt of great weather last week, I decided I was going to start to get super active.  Activity and going to the gym has really been at the forefront on this lifestyle journey.  It's not because I don't like to be active or exercise, it’s actually quite the opposite.  All of my life I have taken dance lessons and still to this day love it.  When I got into high school I began going to the gym regularly to strengthen my muscles as to help my dancing ability.  But alas in my old age I have become what they call a "couch potato.” 
To enhance my willingness to take part in activity I went to Walmart and bought out pretty much everything they had.  I bought a basketball (there is a basketball court across from my house), a few fitness DVDs (one that is a country line dancing fitness DVD, pretty stoked about that one), a couple hand weights (no more than 3lbs. though) and also weights for ankles (was thinking about wearing them whenever I wore long pants).  With full intention of using these great pieces of fitness magic, but they still haven’t left the bag and I bought these items over a week ago. 
I have kept up with my walking.  I promised myself I would walk for a minimum of one mile per day and so far I have been pretty on track.  I even walked 2.6 miles the other day, mostly because I made plans with two separate people. 
Hopefully today (since it’s beginning to look like another beauty) I can actually put to use some of my fitness investment!

total bust(ing gut)!!!

So this weekend I decided to take the trek up to Boston with my best friend Bob.  Bob is a veteran who fought in the Iraq war and lost half his right leg from an IED two years ago.  He has since obtained a beautiful yellow lab service dog (Maddie) and this weekend was her graduation.  The only thing was the graduation took place up in Leominster, Mass.. 

 I decided the day that he was leaving that I would accompany him for the 6 hour drive so had no time to plan out my meals for the two day excursion.  I ate terribly.  A lunchable on the way up was my first downfall.  Those things have as much salt in them as the Dead Sea!  Second mistake was going to a bar with Bob.  Normally I would enjoy a light beer or a sweet tea vodka and water cocktail (sweet tea vodka is said to have the least amount of calories).  But to my dismay they had no sweet tea vodka in this New England city.  So what did I decide to drink?  A cocktail named the Sexual Chocolate which contained every type of liquor you could imagine (including Baileys, Kalhua, and I believe a little Malibus).  Well needless to say it tasted like chocolate milk so they went down quick and they went down in a multitude. 

All the drinking that night left me feeling a little less then desirable the next morning.  We had vouchers for a free breakfast buffet at the hotel so before the graduation ceremony we went down there.  Well I definitely did use my tools I learned from weight watchers I went at that buffet like how I would when I was 10 years-old.  Piled on the bacon and the eggs and the hash browns, I did happen to grab a bowl of cantaloupe but by that point the damage had been done!

The buffet left me filled for most of the day (and the drive home) but Bob decided at 9 that we needed to stop off and grab a bite to eat.  Where of all places did we stop?  Outback steakhouse, the nemesis of any weight watcher!  I was good. I had the smallest steak I could find on the menu, ordered veggies with it and a baked potato with no butter or sour cream, and definitely stayed away from the desert and drink menu!

All in all I had a great time getting out of the house and venturing to a part of the country I have never been to with one of my best friends.  However, I am in for it tonight when I have to go to my meeting and face the wrath of my grandmother and our group leader Deidra.  Wish me luck!!!

Supersize it!

The other day I had to run to McDonald's to pick up lunch for my dad and sisters.  As a weight watcher I of course could have enjoyed hot, salty french fries as long as I accounted for it; however, I didn't because I already had plans to go out for sushi with a friend of mine.  While waiting in line I began to think back to times before I was a Weight Watcher and how much friggin food I ate.  When at Mickey Dee's I would always get the 10 piece chicken nugget with a large french fries and on a good day a vanilla milkshake (I love to dip my salty french fries into my sweet milkshake).  Now if I was to order from the drive through I would most likely get a happy meal which comes with four chicken nuggets and a small french fries.  I know they have done away with the Supersize me option, but how much has the portion sizes really changed?  In comparison to other countries our "small" size soda is comparable to their "medium" or even "large" sizes.  And something I learned in health class that I will never forget is the fact that a children's meal from McDonald's is an adults serving size for the type of food being served.  We are feeding the youth of our nation adult serving sizes!!!  Who can really be blamed for this though?  On the radio, the hosts were saying a McDonald's in California was not allowed to give out toys in their Happy Meals anymore.  How many parents truly allow their children to eat McDonald's just because of a toy?  Or is it the convenience of the drive thru?  Can McDonald's really be blamed for the obesity of children in this country or is that parents of this country have become lazy in their parenting?  I cannot judge anyone for the way they parent because a. I have no kids of my own b. I let my sisters get away with everything!!!

Portion Control

This week's Weight Watcher's meeting went over the one thing every person trying to change their lifestyle treads... portion control!!! Deidre, our group leader, was on a mission for us all to measure out every ounce of food.  Normally I will get the measuring cups and spoons out and be the goofball that measures even the teaspoon of milk for my coffee, but recently I have had to just "eyeball" it because of my on-the-go lifestyle with school and work. With a program such as Weight Watchers, it is crucial that you measure your food a. so that you don't eat more than you are accounting for b. so that you are getting enough and not short changing yourself.  A couple of the ladies in the group talked about the little extra they would leave in the measuring cups, we called it the “happy mound”.  One lady even confessed to using her Weight Watcher’s scale for only measuring her favorite snack… Doritos!  But what are you supposed to do when you go out to eat?  Bring your measuring cups and spoons with??  Weight Watchers has devised a way in which you can eyeball measures by using the size of your hands (which you obviously bring with you while out).  A closed fist is about one cup of fruit or pasta, a thumb is one ounce of meat or cheese, and your palm is about the size of three ounces of meat, fish, or poultry.  Portion control may be tedious and may take up time in our busy lives but those lives will last longer if we take a couple minutes to measure out what we are putting in our mouths.

oh yeah and went down  3.8 pounds this week!!! finally getting into the swing of things with the new points plus program =]

Introduction to Me!!!

It has been almost a year since I began my journey to change my lifestyle.  I seemed to have put on a few "comfortable girlfriend" pounds since my boyfriend Michael and I began dating.  Too many nights of delivery pizza, late night snacks, and dinner dates out put me almost over 170 pounds eekkk!! After seeing pictures of me at my sister's sweet 16 birthday, I decided I needed a change!! I began attending Weight Watcher's meetings.  My grandmother was also in need of a change of lifestyle. Her doctors were telling her to lose weight because she was at high risk for diabetes.  She also wanted to look hot for her high school reunion in August!  My grandmother and I set out on one goal: to stay focused and get our weight (and health) back on track.  It helped for most of the summer I lost almost 25 pounds.  I was focused! I brought my own lunch to the RESTAURANT I worked at, used my weekly flex points for our after work happy hours, and worked out as much as I possibly could.  It was once I started back at school that the pounds started piling back on. I stopped attending meetings and ate ALOT of taco bell because it's right down the street from school and we don't have one anywhere's near my house!!  All in all I gained 11 pounds from september until now.  So now I am back on track, attending weekly meetings, but I am having issues.  Since I've been back, Weight Watcher's has started a new program called Points Plus and I can't get it right!!!  The points are all different now.  What I had become such a pro at is now all backwards!  Through this blog, I am going to share my struggles and triumphs with my lifestyle change and the new Weight Watchers program.