Weight Watchers

So kinda on a whim, after work I Monday I signed up for Weight Watchers online. I did it in college so I'm familiar with how the diet works and so I thought I should try it again. I had some success with it but like all the diets I have been on as soon as I plateaued I became frustrated and went back to my hold habits. I am determined that this will not happen again. When I weighed myself to set up my profile, I was horrified to find that not only have I gained back all the weight I had lost before moving to New York but I am now the heaviest I have ever been! When did this happen? I don't feel like I have changed my eating habits? I'm not eating more then I did before. I'm actually more active here in New York then I ever was in Iowa since I don't have a car and am forced to do more walking. So how can I really be heavier now then ever before? This puzzles me but I want to look as this as a good thing. Maybe this is what I need to push me to really lose the weight. I refuse to gain anymore weight. I wanted to lose some weight before we go to Florida in March but it's no longer about that. I'm not happy with the way I look. I know I am not healthy and I have been overweight for most of my life. I know this is something I can change and God willing this plan will help me do it.

New Year New You

I have survived another holiday season at Barnes and Noble. Good for me. We are still dealing with the aftermath of the season with all of the returns. So many people got some really crappy gifts this year and some how this is my fault. Hey! It's not my fault that your Uncle doesn't know what you like but whatever. After January it'll be too late! haha

Anyway, so 2009 is so over. In 2010, I'm making some changes. The first being my weight. I have long wanted to lose weight and have had some success in the past but I have gotten no where near my goal. Right now, I'm doing the Special K Challenge. The Challenge includes eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast. A meal bar, a protein shake or another bowl of cereal for lunch. A snack bar or fruit in between meals and then a sensible meal for dinner for two weeks. In those two weeks, you are supposedly going to lose 1 jeans size or six pounds. (depends on which box you read, I guess they are backing off the jeans goal) So far, I have been doing very well. Since Sunday, I have lost 5 lbs! I do wonder though if it has more to do with the walking and exercising I've started doing this week then the Special K but I really don't care. I've feel good. (Well, except for the monster blister I have on my heel right now) The problem I have now is what am I am going to do after this two weeks are over. I'm going to have to find another meal plan to follow because Special K alone is going to get me to my final goal. I want to be at least 60 lbs by the beginning of 2011. Now I only have 55 lbs to go! Any suggestions on healthy and easy cookbooks I should be looking at?

And other news the Australian Open starts tomorrow (Australian time) I'm so excited! How I do love tennis! A lot of late nights coming up.

Updates of sorts

So, Challenge update. I did reach a minor milestone. The 10 lbs mark! but then I had the weekend off and didn't really exercise (it rained all weekend) and I wasn't really watching what I was eating! PIZZA. So I gained 2 lbs back But I'm still down 8, so that's good. I know I'm not winning but I think I am one of the leaders. So I'm pretty happy about that. The challenge ends on June 1st but I think this is just the beginning for me. I want to keep it up all summer if not longer. I really do want to lose weight. I don't want to be over 200lbs anymore. I want to be able to go into the Express or H&M and fit into their clothes. Not just squeeze myself into. I want to be able to wear the latest trends without feeling stupid. But really I'm tired of my feet hurting after a day of work. I know that If I wasn't carrying around all those extra pounds that they wouldn't hurt so badly. I don't want to be fat anymore.

It's been a pretty stressful couple of weeks at work. My friend, Lourdes and fellow head cashier, broke her arm and wrist playing kickball. She is out for at least six weeks, longer if it turns out she needs surgery. If that wasn't enough, a few people are leaving to go to the new store on the Upper East Side and 1 was fired. We have already been working on a thin schedule (which is still pretty robust compared the thin schedules I'm used too from my old store) so we have gone from understaffed to severely understaffed. The morale in the store was pretty low before and this has only made things worse. To cover things, I have had to work on days I don't normally. I'm closing tonight and opening tomorrow. Luckily, the closing Manager is Laurie, so she is going to let me leave early and she will finish up the nights paperwork. There isn't that much when you close, anyways. It's just counting down all the tills and I'll have all the ones we are not using down before I leave anyway. I'm planning on calling a car to take me home. I'm not sure I want to wait around for the bus and or train. It's days like this that I really miss my car. Yesterday, I just missed the bus because I was across that street and didn't feel like risking my life to catch it. Fortunately, it was in the middle of the day and there is like a bus every five minutes but still annoying.

So that's what's going on with me right now. I'll try to update more often but I say that all the time. ;-)

The Challenge

A group of us at work are having a weight challenge. I think they are 7 or 8 of us who are participating. We have all set a goal of how much we want to lose (or gain in the case of the few of the guys who are participating) by June 1st and who ever gets the closest to their goal wins the pot. We each put in $10. Yesterday we all weighed ourselves so it kind of made it the first official day of the challenge even though many of us have already been dieting for a week. I have already lost 4 lbs! It would be really nice to win because hey that's $70-80 but I'm just happy that I'm doing something to lose weight. I have struggled with my weight my entire life, as you all know. Three years ago, I lost 30 lbs with Nutrisystems and I was really proud of myself but in the three years since I have gained it all back. I thought, naively or wishful thinking, that after I moved to NY that the pounds would just come off because I don't have a car and I pretty much walk everywhere but that's not really true. I do do a lot of walking but I mostly walk to the bus or subway and take them places. So my brilliant plan was not so brilliant. So the new plan is when I have close at work, I'm going to walk to work. I figure it will take me at least an hour to get to work. I do live about 40 blocks away so it's not that bad of a walk. I just have to make sure to bring deodorant so I don't smell when I get to work. I have already started bringing my lunch to work so I'm not tempted to eat out at say, Five Guys once a week. (Which is delicious!) and I have started eating breakfast. I'm never really been much of a breakfast eater. I'm usually not hungry in the morning so I don't eat. I know this just makes me hungrier later and then I over eat at lunch or whenever I do eat but it didn't make sense for me to eat when I'm not hungry. But I am eating breakfast now and having small snacks through out the day so I don't over eat. I'm really exciting about the whole thing and I hope I do well. I hope we all do. Wish me luck!

Walking makes a difference

My weight has always been an issue with me. I'm sure most of you have noticed it's a recurring theme on this blog and for those who actually know me, know how much I have struggled with it. Two years ago, I went on Nutrisystem. I worked really well for a year. I lost 30 lbs and halfway to my goal but then Thanksgiving, my Birthday and Christmas happened and I gave myself permission to indulge. I still had my Nutrisystem for breakfast and sometimes lunch but when it came to going out and I didn't think, Oh, I should have veggies instead of fries. I ate what I wanted with the thought of going back on to Nutrisystem when the holidays were over. Well, that was a mistake. I got out of the habit of eating the meals and back to my old habits, which are hard to break and since then I have gained back all the weight I lost and then some. I am really disappointed with myself that I don't have the willpower or strength to get back on the diet. I did for almost a year and I saw the results and other people did too. It felt so good when someone would ask me, Have you lost weight? I miss that.

One of the biggest problems I had returning to Nutrisystems was when I'm hungry I want to what I feel like. If I eat something that I'm not craving at the moment then I still find myself still hungry. I guess it's a mental thing but if I want a taco but have pizza instead then I'm still going to want that taco. It's a problem because I rarely crave Nutrisystem meals. They are better then you would think but to make them filling you have to add a salad or veggies and that's usually want I'm not in the mood for.

Part of my reason to move to New York was I wanted to start over. I needed a change of scenery and maybe even a new lifestyle and the new lifestyle included a lot of walking. I sold my car (or in theory I did, Kate still has to sell her car so she can buy mine even though she is already driving mine but I digress) I weighed myself after the first week I was here and I had lost 5 lbs. I didn't take that much stalk in it because I did do a hell a lot of walking up and down hills that first week and it was pretty hot so I was doing a lot of sweating. So, I just figured it was a fluke. That my body would soon get used to it and it would stabilize. Two weeks ago, I was sick with the flu. The first day I went back to work, I wore a pair of Lane Bryant pants that fit me very nicely but on that day I noticed they were baggier then usual. I just chalked it off that I 48 hours ago, I barely ate and most of what I ate came right back up (sorry, it was gross) so I didn't have a lot of calories. I would gain whatever I lost right back so nothing to get excited about. Then his past weekend, while shopping with Mom and Jackie, I tried on a pair of 14 size pants and then fit! Really, fit, I didn't have to struggle to get them on, they were not tight but were just the right size. I probably haven't been a size 14 in about a year. I was really excited! So, I have lost some weight. My diet hasn't really changed all that much but I don't snack as much as I used to though (budget concern) but all that walking I now do definitely made a difference. Since I have moved to New York, I have lost 13 lbs!

I like to think that I have figured out the way to lose weight without even trying. Eat what you like, snack less and walk more but I know that eventually my body will get used to this and I will plateau. But at least, I'm on the right track. I'm exercising more, even if it is just walking to and from work and I have already lessened the snack intake, now I just have to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet and I will lose weight without actually dieting! Brilliant. Well, easier said then done. I will keep you posted on how well I do but I'm pretty excited about the prospect. I'm actually going to make a salad right now. Yummy.

Since the last time we talked.

Since my last post, I have been to the UK and back. I visited my sister, Kat, who lives in Cardiff, Wales. I wish I was still there because I really miss my sister. I guess I got spoiled living with her because I got to see her every day. Now it's more like twice a year. Not enough. We didn't do all that much. We spent a few days in London, a day in Bath and then an afternoon at the Museum of Welsh Life. Mostly we just hung out and spent time together. That's what I really wanted. I've been the island enough that most of the "touritsy" things I have already done and what I haven't done yet, that's Ok. I have my reason. Mostly I'm not interested or not going to pay that much to see it. I just wanted to hang out with my sister. Watch movies, go shopping, hang out a pubs. You know things we used to do at home. It was so wonderful. I can't wait for her to come home in April!

Now that I am back, I have to get serious about my diet again. The week before my vacation, I kind of took a vacation from my vacation. I basically went out every night, ate whatever I wanted and didn't even bother to exercise. I gained back 5 lbs! I was really disappointed with myself because after all that work to get to the 30 lb benchmark, I ruined it. While I was on holiday, I did lose 2 lbs but it wasn't because I was watching what I was eating but all the walking we did around London and Cardiff. I do this. I lose interest. I find that I can put in less effort and still get away with a little bit and I become content with that. Before all of this, I would have a nutrisystem breakfast and then a dinner but have a lunch out or have breakfast and then have lunch or dinner out. And I was still losing weight but not as fast as I was before. I know that early in your diet you lose weight faster but I'm not helping my cause by sabotaging myself here. My goal was to be at my goal weight loss of 60 lbs by June. That's not going to happen. I will be happy to reach the 45 lbs mark by then. I wanted to not look like a blimp when I went to the pool this summer and be able to wear a cute little tankini. At least I will look less a blimp this year. Anyway, Well I'm starting over. From today, I'm going to back to how I was on the beginning. I'm only eating my meals unless I am meeting friends. (Tomorrow, I'm meeting Anna and Stephanie for dinner!) I bought yogurt and bananas to have with breakfast and a bag of lettuce for lunch and dinner and new bag of frozen veggies for dinner. I'm going to exercise 4 times a week and I'm going go outside and walk. I'm going to do this because I am tired of being fat! I'm halfway to my goal now and I'm not going to stop now!

HAPPY

I am happy to announce that as of today, I have lost 30 POUNDS! I am halfway to my goal! I'm super excited because I've been lacking in motivation recently. I think it's been the weather. I hate winter. It just puts me in a bad mood BUT despite this I have lost 30 lbs! This was exactly what I needed. I'm back. I've already did my exercises for today and I'm going to make my healthy lunch now! THIRTY POUNDS!!! WOOHOO!!!

P.S. I'm having a very Sex in the City moment. I'm wearing my Skinny Jeans! From the Express!

The Monthly Update

So, if you lose 20 lbs. with Nutrisystem, they send you a bear. I did not know this until I opened my box of next months food and there it was. A purple bear! I love it! I think it was the inspiration I needed because I haven't had a very good week. I blame Thanksgiving. I did well on the actual dinner it has been the consent going out and since then that has screwed me up. I went out Friday, Saturday, Sunday (but was home early) and Monday. Every night at Old Chicago. The good news is that I am half way to getting a t-shirt! It says Blitzen on it! Sweet!

Other than that things are going well. The holiday season is full swing. Work is getting busier except during a ice storm. I have started to put up my Christmas decorations. I got a Christmas tree, lights and singing Penguins. At the moment, my tree is only lit because all of my ornaments are still at home. This will be remedy tomorrow when I help mom decorate their tree and then I think I am going to take her to see some singing and dancing penguins on the big screen! I have already seen it and LOVED IT!

Ok, I can't think of anything else to write so I will leave you all with this photo. The Claus Nativity!

TWENTY POUNDS!

As of today, I have lost 20 lbs! I'm super stoked at the moment. Of course, I don't think having hash browns and huge omelet for breakfast didn't help things but I was meeting with my friend Melinda, who I haven't seen in so long! Anyways, I've lost 20lbs! Go Me! I'm only 43 more to go before my goal but I'm 20lbs closer then I was 2 months ago. But I have to stay focused. It was around this point when I was on South Beach that I started to lose interest or got unfocused. Of course it was also my senior year in college and I was just trying to keep my head up and not get all bogged down in stress and papers but nonetheless, I have stay focus. I have a cabinent stocked with food and I just bought more fruits and veggies, that I think I will be ok. When Katharine and I joined Curves, Pauline, who worked there, said that she could tell that we were ready to make the commitment and lose the weight. Well, I think Katharine was more then I was. This time I really am ready. In six months I am going to be so hot, you won't even recognize me. That is if you know me. *lol*

15 lbs!

I've lost 15 lbs!! Woohoo! I have to say I am really impressed with my self but I find it strange that other people can see that I have lost weight by looking at me but I can't. I can tell it in my clothes because I have more room in my pants then I had before. In some cases, my pants are getting to go so baggy that I don't even have to unbutton them to get them off! But when I look in the mirror I really don't see a difference in how I look. My coworkers have noticed, my mom and even my dad says he can see a difference so why can't I? I think maybe I want to see such a huge difference in how I look that I'm disappointed in the subtle change that consciously I don't see it at all. Anyway, I'm still proud of myself!

I really should post more.

I never thought I would say this again because there was a time when just looking at him made me nauseous but Leonardo Dicaprio is hot! I just saw "The Departed" and DAMN! is he good looking. Like, I said I never thought I would ever think such a thing after all the times I saw Titanic. Oh, yeah he's also a good actor and blah, blah, blah. Who knew by adding a boston accent and some baggy clothes and baseball cap it would turn him into a super stud! I'm having such a girl moment! hehe

Now enough about Leo, *sigh* I'm watching the new dvd of The Little Mermaid. My favorite disney movie of all time. I still remember seeing it in the theaters for the first time and can do all the lines and music. I love the music! Sebastien, Flounder, Scuttle and the whole game. The best friends a mermaid princess could ever have. I loooooove it! I wish I could have red hair like Ariel. Maybe this is where my fixation on red hair came from. hmmm...

I'm sure you ae all wondering how the diet is going. Well, I had about two weeks where I didn't so good. I haven't gained any of the pounds I have lost which is good but I also didn't lose anything either but I think I have now righted the ship. I am almost at 15 lbs! I'm hoping by the time mom and I go Christmas shopping in the beginning of November that I will be at the 20 lbs benchmark. That would be sweet. I am so looking forward to next summer when I can wear a swimsuit and not look like a whale.

Day 1

I will admit it. I am fat. This isn't easy for me to say because well, no one likse to be fat. I have been overweight for most of my life. Over the years, I have tried different diets. I did weight watchers my freshman year in college and I lost about 20 pounds before school ended and I moved out of my dorm room and wasn't watching what I was eating. A year later Katharine and I did the South Beach Diet. That worked better for her then me because she lost a ton of weight. I lost about 35 lbs. So, it was my most successful diet but then my senior happened and I was too stress out and wanted comfort food and went downhill from there. I am now back at my heaviest, which was my beginning of freshman weight and not happy about it. I don't want to be fat anymore. So, I'm trying Nutrisystem out for a month. For those who do not know how Nutrisystem works, they send you a month's worth of food, breakfast, lunch, dinner, desert and snacks. I just have to add fruits, veggies and dairy to go along with my meals. Sounds easy enough. We shall see. So, wish me luck. Hopefully, the next time you see me I was be a couple of sizes smaller.