Holiday Hoedown Check-In: Week Four

It's been a rough week for me as far as fitness and weight loss are concerned. I'm very happy to report that I lost 1.4 pounds but I'm not sure I deserved it. Since I did lose it though I have to give most of the credit to the Weight Watchers new PointsPlus program. I have so enjoyed my clementines and bananas and grapes and those are the tools that get me through until the next meal.

I know I could have done even better but I was sick for a good part of the week and when I'm sick I delude myself into believing that tasty, fatty foods will comfort me.

Now my overall assessment is that I can eat a pretty fair amount of food as long as it's the right food. I snack on pretzels at night and still limit myself to one 100 calorie cake pack.

I'm stoked that because of this challenge, I'll go into the holiday week a little lighter than I would have. By now the gain would have started because the baking has started. I'll admit I overindulged on the first batch of cookies that I made but then I forced myself to reign in my temptation and mail far more cookies to Iraq than Iraq could probably eat in a month.

I wish I could say that I exercised more but with my sinus infection and bronchitis beginning, I've kind of had a setback exercise wise. I at least hope to do some shredding everyday this coming week and maybe even give the EA Sports Active 2 a try.

I think I'll set my sights on a drop into the next lower decade. If I can do that, I'll have a lot more holiday spirit than I do now - and I already feel pretty jolly. Ho Ho Ho

Monday Musings

This has been a good weekend - quiet and enjoyable. We went out to eat last night and that was nice and we watched some TV and looked out at the snow and cold. For me, the best thing about that is the looking out at it and not having to be out in it. Winters, although dreaded, are not the enemies they were when I worked outside all day everyday.

UPS delivered an item the other day that was packed in a UPS box. It was so hard to open! Instead of having end flaps that I could pry up to open the box, it had perforated end flaps so that wherever I managed to pry up a part, only about one inch would open. I literally had to pry eight separate sections that were VERY firmly glued in order to get the box open.

To break the box down for recycling (I try to be green like that), the process had to be repeated on the other end.

This was all time-consuming, difficult, and annoying. What's up with that UPS? Are you going to say it's necessary to keep the box from coming open? I hope not because I would not buy that at all. One long flap, firmly glued, will stay closed no matter how carelessly you handle it.

I don't want to think that you just don't want us to re-use your box but that's what it feels like. So not only, can it not be re-used, but the difficulties in breaking it down for recycling might cause some of them to be tossed in the trash. Shame on you.

Okay, enough about that. I might be fussy because I have this terrible cold. I'm truly feeling pretty awful but there are a couple of good things about it. The first one is that I think we have to get these viruses occasionally to keep our immune systems strong. Although there are many different cold and flu viruses, getting this one will hopefully give me some resistance to future viruses of this type. The next good thing is that I'm hopeful that getting this now will mean that I won't have it at Christmas (fingers definitely crossed on this on).

Despite my illness, I wrote a guest post for The Sisterhood of Shrinking Jeans. I had mentioned in a post last week that I liked the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program and Christy asked if I'd write about it. If you're interested, you can read it here. Unfortunately, with the cold I'm battling, I haven't been able to embrace the program as fully as I'd like to; but I'm still holding my own weight-wise so the couple of days that I did do it, I feel like it worked well. I think there are just a couple of times in life when it's okay to really indulge and pamper yourself and one of those times is when you're ill. That's when I comfort my aching, unhappy body almost any way I can - warmth, lethargy, and comforting foods.

I may try to shred today. I planned on doing just Level 1 to get back into it but now I feel so exhausted that I might put it off.

I better go back to bed and think about it a little bit.

Holiday Hoedown Check-In: Week Two

Right off the bat I'll admit that this was a tough week challenge wise and I'll also admit that I got lucky. Or did I just reap the benefits of the tough workouts that I've been doing? Either way, I'm okay.

With company coming and a house that needed a lot of preparation, I had to forego my exercise routine starting last Wednesday morning. Yikes! I will say though that on Tuesday and Wednesday I got tons of exercise - it just didn't count because it was housework. But I was active - my was I active!

Santa's Little Losers had six members here almost the entire weekend. We had big and smart plans too. Everybody was to bring their dumbbells so we could shred together and we planned at least a couple of outings at Striebel Pond. But I guess we forgot who we were. We forgot that we get together so seldom that we stay up late at night talking and laughing. We forgot that we like to have special beverages for our entertaining pleasure. And we forgot that the kids get up early and one of the special treats about staying at Grandma's is setting up a table and eating breakfast in the living room in front of the TV. (That's right - the shred TV.) Not that it mattered - because none of us was in any shape to shred or worry about it. Mainly we were just too tired (wink wink) which is one of the things I'm going to address in the next month's effort to stay on track.

So the shred fell by the wayside. We were also planning outings at Striebel Pond but although we didn't have snow, we had cold and wind - big wind that made the cold even colder and the idea of walking in it pretty much an anathema.

I have to suspect though that the rigors of keeping the house tidy with fifteen people staying in it and the exercise accumulated while shopping on black Friday helped to offset our exercise shortcomings.

Most of all I think gaining some muscle mass to replace some fat mass helped me get through the weekend despite my will-power weaknesses.

I ate pretty much what I wanted. I didn't bother too much with things I don't love like turkey which I usually feel obligated to eat but I did indulge in the things I do love and that I only have the opportunity to enjoy two or three times a year - yeah like cheesecake.

And for someone who steps on the scale about 30 times a day, I avoided it altogether this weekend. (I really don't think I had time to be stepping on scales. lol)

And Monday morning I had gained almost 3 1/2 pounds. Ouch.

A couple of other things happened Monday morning. Weight Watchers started a new system called Points Plus which I love love love and which gave me a fresh start in a system that I was getting altogether to familiar with AND I got right back into shredding and counting points (did I mention that I love the new system?). And today.......I posted a loss of 1.4 pounds. Woo and HOO!

In years past I would have looked at that gain on Monday and then pretended I was going to do something about it pretty soon and before I knew it, it would have been part of me going into Christmas week where I'd be sure to pack on a few more pounds and then I would have lamented how frustrating it is to gain weight when I was pretending to be so weight conscious. Yeah. That was years past.

Thanks, Sisterhood, for making this a brand new kind of year for me. One where I was able to indulge and get right back into sensible Mary mode.

Shrinkvivor Challenge Check-In #6

I can't believe we're nearing the end of this giant challenge. When we started, I was confident that I had plenty of time to accomplish everything I wanted to accomplish in this time period. Now I'm not so sure.

I've continued with my good habits. I haven't missed a day of shredding in 45 days. And now, after I finish Level 1, I continue right into Level 2 where I'm up to Circuit 2. Wow! Even I'm impressed. There are so many exercises that I was sure were beyond my capabilities at first glance but now, with patience and determination, I've been able to work into all of them. A peek ahead makes me wonder if that will continue, but, deep down, I know it will. Slowly but surely.

And I haven't let go of the walking either. One of the things I love about these challenges is that they prod and nudge and force you to do the things that might slip away if we didn't have some mini-goals. So, on my worst day, I walked an hour and twenty minutes. I'm impressed again!

The only thing I changed this week was my eating habits. First of all, I started using most of my Weight Watcher points. This was hard to do but I had too many experts advising me in this direction to ignore them. In fact, last week I used all my weekly flex points and had only ten activity points left over when the week ended.

I also really tried to keep my water intake up. I'm convinced that this is a key part of getting fit AND losing weight.

And the final thing that was a change for me was a new product that I tried. I saw it advertised on TV so when I came across it in the store, I gave it a second look. The front of the box bragged about 9 grams of protein, 8 grams of fiber, and 7 whole grains. I hadn't really addressed protein before but I wondered if I needed better fuel for all the exercising I was doing and if so, it looked like this product would help provide it. Furthermore the back of the box called out to me too. It said Eat Right, Exercise, Relax. Hmmm. I had been tense lately. Maybe there was something there too. Long story short, I've had a bowl of Kashi GOlean Crunch every day for lunch. (I can't let go of my thin, everything bagel for breakfast) and I think it's helped.

So when I stepped on the scale this morning, I saw that my weight had dropped 2.6 pounds and that's something I can celebrate. Woo HOO! I am so pumped!

That 20 pound loss in 7 weeks goal, that I set, still looks kind of elusive but now I believe that I'll at least come close and that makes me so happy!

Thanks Sisterhood for keeping me 'on point'!

Shrinkvivor Challenge Check-In #5

What a week it's been!

I took the Shrinkvivor Fitness Challenge very seriously this week. VERY seriously. And I walked until I didn't have time to walk anymore. A lot of my walking was done pushing a stroller. That way I was able to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. And a lot of my walking was done at Striebel Pond. This week I walked over 30 miles. And I'm really proud of that.

I'm also proud of the fact that I've continued with the daily Shred and I've moved a tiny bit farther into Level 2. And that's after I've finished Level 1 every single day.

So, I would have thought that I'd lost maybe 5 pounds, possibly 10? I knew it would be good - but - again I was disappointed. I lost 1.2 pounds. Of course, I'm glad but I'm not. I don't know what else I can do. I stay within my points, and I exercise like a crazy woman. I've tried to keep my water intake up (but am I hedging a little bit here?) and I've tried to get my five servings of fruits and vegetables every day (but am I hedging a little bit here?).

I won't deny that I'm impatient to lose this weight. I can't wait. And I watch Biggest Loser and think that there's no reason for me not to do what they're doing. I'm a little less judgmental now though. It used to be if someone lost one or two pounds, I was a bit scornful. I always thought, "Well, she's not really trying". Now I think. Oh no. What went wrong?

Multiple people have told me that if this were easy, we'd all be skinny; and I guess it's true. This is one hard road. I feel like my shopping trip is slipping away because it is and it's going to take me longer than I thought to get where I want to be.

But the good news is that my resolve is still strong. I believe in my heart of hearts that if I keep doing what I'm doing (except with more water and fruits and veggies), one of these weeks I'll have a more dramatic loss.

In the meantime I'll just keep on keepin' on.

Shrinkvivor Challenge Check-In #3

It's been a rough week in this challenge for me. After my easy-breezy 6.4 lb weight loss last week I was feeling very pleased with myself. Sure, I knew that this week would be more challenging but I also knew I was committed to doing everything right! Almost everything that is.

I think I rocked out the fitness challenge by averaging over 100 minutes of true fitness exercise every single day. And I stayed faithfully within my Weight Watcher points. Now I wonder though if I was a little too faithful. I only dipped into my weekly points a couple of times; and one day I even failed to use 4 of my daily points. I think I cheated myself by not eating enough.

Why would I make that ridiculous sounding statement? Because I got stuck. Truly stuck. The day after the weigh in my weight went UP and I've been struggling ever since. That's probably why I went a little overboard on the point counting. Weight Watchers tells you over and over that you've got to use all your points to keep from slowing your metabolism. I guess I thought I knew better.

And while I rocked the fitness challenge I can't say I did well on the non-fitness challenges. Despite the fact that I thought drinking so much water the week before made a dramatic difference, I couldn't seem to find the time to get it all in every day this week. What was I thinking?

And I failed the non-fitness avoid-fast-food-at-all-cost challenge dismally. The day before that challenge came out Mr. Right was working late. He suggested I go to Taco Bell rather than make something for dinner because he knows I like it and find it fairly Weight Watcher point friendly if I make smart choices. I said no - we'll go tomorrow night when you're home to which he replied, "it's a date". As soon as I heard the challenge, I emailed him and told him no fast food. His response was, "It's a good thing Taco Bell isn't fast food!" He's a funny guy for sure. And we went to Taco Bell - twice in the past week. Since then I've researched my go-to favorite - chicken soft taco with nothing but lettuce and I can't find a definitive Weight Watcher friendly point amount. Some say 2.5 some 3 some 4. I guess Taco Bell isn't as good of a choice as I thought.

So, although I did great on the fitness, I didn't do so well on the non fitness challenges. And I certainly didn't do as well in the weight loss category. I did lose though. I slept in - sometimes that helps for me - and tipped the scales 2.6 lbs lighter than I did last Wednesday morning.

I'm happy but realistically, I'm afraid this coming week is going to be even more challenging than last.

I'm No Great Cook But .....Yum!

Last weekend when I went to the grocery with our house guests, Anna and Noah, the trip was pretty much focused on items necessary to ensure their having the best visit with us EVER. But my eyes wandered a little when I passed the meat section and I saw some giant, beautiful porterhouse steaks on sale. That was the good thing. The bad thing was that even with the nice, deep discount, they were still $17.00. My thoughts ran like this: Mr. Right has been working so hard lately and, although I've tried hard to make sure he doesn't have to do anything at home, he still deserves a special treat. I felt very sure of myself BUT I stilled called him to make sure he thought it was a good idea too.

I bought them and Monday evening when just the two of us were here I thought to grill those steaks. I'm not much of a cook and I'm certainly not much of a griller. I've just kind of figured out a system and used it even though it didn't make a lot of sense. So Monday I looked online for grilling times for porterhouse steaks and started my project.

I stacked my coals and lit them. Normally when the flames die down and the charcoal turns white, I spread it around and get ready to grill. This might explain why my fire loses heat before my meat is done. This time I waited for the fire to die down but started spreading the coals as soon as they were about half white - sometimes even less than half.

Then I seasoned the steaks and put them on the grill. Twenty-one minutes later I took them off and they were awesome!

Here they are just before I removed them from the grill and after I had cut a wedge out of one of them to check for doneness.

Can you believe the size of the tenderloins on these babies?! And those tenderloins absolutely melted in our mouths. That's mostly what I ate of mine and the rest went into Mr. Right's lunch for the next day.

Here's one of them next to the flashlight I had to use to see what I was doing. We tend to eat late and that coupled with the sun going down too early, made for challenging grilling.


So that's it for my most successful steak grilling ever. Except for one little confession. I knew I was going to join the Shrinkvivor Weight Loss Challenge on Wednesday and I always think I have to eat wrong right up until the diet starts.

The next meal is my favorite, low point, delicious diet meal - broiled pork chops.

Mr. Right loves pork chops and I've always browned them and then cooked them in a little water with the lid on but no more. Now I've learned to broil them and they are delectable!

First I spray them with a little no fat olive oil and then season them with salt and pepper. I toss them on the broiler pan and put them on the second to the highest level under the broiler. I watch them pretty carefully to make sure they aren't overcooking and when they start to get brown and the tiny bit of fat on the edges gets crispy, I turn them over. This is after only a few minutes. Once they look browned and a little crispy around the edges on the other side, I remove them and cut one to check for doneness. Here they are:

I calculated the point value of each one based on the calorie and fat content listed on the package and they came out to 3 little Weight Watcher points each. That, with a 3 point baked potato (baked in the microwave in a baggie with a tiny bit of water and an opening in the bag) comes out to a 6 point dinner. Of course I had green beans which are no points and I added spray butter and 2 tablespoons of fat free sour cream to the potato for an extra half point.

This is the best, low point dinner ever. I could eat it every night and it takes about fifteen minutes to throw together.

It almost eliminates all my excuses for fast food.

Shrinking Days of Summer - Week 4

This this week for the Shrinking Days of Summer Mini Challenge, I didn't shrink. I gained. I'm not completely surprised what with my poor dinner choice last night, my more dramatic drop last week, and my refusal to cave into my better judgment to go to bed instead of staying up late and eating to stay awake.

My daughter, Amy, tells me that it's okay just don't lose motivation and she reminds me that 6 years ago when we both rocked Weight Watchers and looked our best ever - we had ups and downs.

So it is what it is. I gained .4 of a pound and I'm gonna just keep on keepin' on.

Oh, and yesterday was the first day of the mini challenge where we had to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetable every day and I didn't eat any. I'm pretty sure I can do better than that! We'll see.

Shrinking Jeans - 21 Day Challenge #3

I've completed two weeks of the 21 day challenge and I'm not as excited as I wish I were. My goal habits were:

More sleep - at least 6 1/2 hours a night.

Eat regular food but track my Weight Watcher points religiously.

Exercise at least 30 minutes a day.

I only faltered in one area and maybe it makes sense that I can't post a loss since last Wednesday. I just haven't been getting my sleep. I like to get up in the morning and stay up. And I like to stay up late at night and watch TV with Mr. Right. We always have almost 100% of our recording time used up so there are shows that HAVE to be watched! (And I know how dumb that sounds.)

Here's what's bad about staying up late and not getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep profoundly affects our will power. I read once that people on 12 step programs are urged to not get sleep deprived lest their will power starts to slip and it makes perfect sense to me. We just aren't as strong, sensible, or motivated when we're running on no sleep. In addition to that, when we're staying up too late, we do things to help us stay away. Like munching. At least I do. As long as I'm eating, I'm awake. And then there's the fact that longer awake hours give us more time to eat. And that's something I don't need. So there you have it.

Thanks to Shrinking Jeans and my exercise and my point counting - no matter how bad it was, I maintained. And next week I'll lose. Maybe it will take me a little bit longer to establish this 'more sleep' habit but whatever it takes is what I'll do.

I want to be healthier, more energetic, and happier and I think the road to these goals is in the habits I can create. Thanks Shrinking Jeans for not letting this uninspiring week de-rail me.