Monday, October 31, 2011

Weigh-in Day

At today's weigh-in I lost 1 pound.  That makes me right on track.  8 more pounds and 8 more weeks to get there for my 1 year anniversary of rejoining.  A total  of 33.4 pounds so far.  That puts me at 153.2 pounds.

The other weight loss challenge I'm in has helped me this week.  It really seems like I've been eating a lot more foods, but it must be the right kind of foods.  The protein has helped me stay fuller longer and the no junk food is a plus.  I really don't eat much junk food anyway, but I have found myself reaching for things that I shouldn't and had to double think it.  I've gotten all the points and bonus points for the challenge all week.  I hope to have a loss when I weigh in there tomorrow.

I didn't eat any cake at my grandson's graduation party.  I did bring 2 small pieces home and I will enjoy them tomorrow night after my weight loss challenge weigh-in.  Next week the challenge will only be weight loss so no extra thing to work on.

Tonight is our trick or treat.  I bought 1 large bag of assorted candy to hand out.  I made sure it was something I didn't like so I wouldn't be tempted.  I can't believe it's been at least a year since I've had candy.  I'm amazed at my will power.  I really don't even crave it.  There was one lonely small peanut butter cup in my pantry and I've even had it in my hand and moved it several times and I haven't been tempted to open it and eat it.  I am a little glad that my grandson finally ate it today.

I got a call from Kohl's asking for phone numbers for my background check.  I explained to the girl that it's been more that 18 years since I worked at these places.  I know that the principal at the last school I worked at is no longer there and the supervisor at the board of education has a new job higher up than the supervisor position and I'm not sure after 20 years she will remember me.  I did give her a personal reference just in case she wanted it so she could talk to someone that actually knows me now.  We will see what happens.  I would hope to hear something soon since there's a week training and we have to work the day after Thanksgiving.  That doesn't give a lot of time to get training and a little experience under our belts before the mad holiday rush.

How is everyone else doing today?

Friday, October 28, 2011

It Can't Already Be Friday Again.

Oh my.  The time is just flying by.  Next week it will be November already.  I am not ready for the year to be over.  It just seems like it was the holidays and here we are again and they upon it again.  November is a very busy month.  I have 3 birthdays that I have to furnish the cakes for.  My daughter's birthday is the 8th and her husband's birthday is the 13th.  My grandson's birthday is the 10th.  Then I have Thanksgiving dinner at my house with all the fixings and all the leftovers.  All this and then my other grandson is having his graduation party tomorrow.  You know there will be food there.  I'm getting the cake.  You might wonder why a graduation party in November?  He had to take his math class in summer school.  Things have been busy over the summer, so he's having it tomorrow.

Yesterday's eating went OK.  I ate more than the day before, but I stayed within my points and calories.  I did a little walking, but not as much as I needed.  It's all foggy out today and there's frost on the roofs, but I might go for a a walk outside anyway.  I feel like getting some fresh air.  I'll just bundle up before I go.  Here's my Spark People chart of what I ate yesterday.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Breakfast

Calories Fat Carbohydrates Protein Sodium, Na Fiber, total dietary
Banana, fresh, 1 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) 109 1 28 1 1 3
Juice, Naked Juice Red Machine, 4 oz 80 2 16 1 8 2
Egg, fresh, 1 large 70 5 0 6 70 0
Egg white, 1 serving 17 0 0 5 55 0
Weight Watchers Strawberry Yogurt, 1 serving 100 1 17 6 110 3
Best Choice Mixed Berries, 1 cup 70 1 17 1 0 5
Swiss Cheese, 30 grams 113 8 1 9 78 0
Hillshire Farm Deli Select Smoked Ham, 1 oz 30 1 1 5 170 0
Meal Totals 588 17 79 34 492 13

Lunch

Calories Fat Carbohydrates Protein Sodium, Na Fiber, total dietary
5 Can Dump Soup, 1 serving 120 1 23 7 532 9
Meal Totals 120 1 23 7 532 9

Dinner

Calories Fat Carbohydrates Protein Sodium, Na Fiber, total dietary
Hard Boiled Egg, 1 large 70 5 1 6 62 0
Chick Peas, 0.3 cup 81 1 14 4 4 4
Carrots, raw, 0.5 small (5-1/2" long) 10 0 2 0 17 1
Bib Lettuce, 1 cup, shredded or chopped 7 0 1 1 3 1
Kikkoman Lite Soy Sauce, 0.3 tbsp 3 0 0 0 173 0
Good Seasons Asian Sesame with Ginger Dressing, 1 tbsp 55 5 4 0 150 0
Apple Cider, fresh, 8 oz 120 0 30 0 60 0
Chicken Breast, no skin, 3 ounces 94 1 0 20 55 0
Broccoli, cooked, 0.5 cup, chopped 27 0 6 2 32 3
brown rice (1 cup cooked), 0.5 serving 109 1 23 2 1 2
Cheddar Cheese, 0.3 cup, shredded 137 11 0 8 211 0
Meal Totals 713 25 80 44 767 9

Snack

Calories Fat Carbohydrates Protein Sodium, Na Fiber, total dietary
Apples, fresh, 1 medium (2-3/4" dia) (approx 3 per lb) 81 0 21 0 0 4
Meal Totals 81 0 21 0 0 4
Daily Totals 1,503 43 204 85 1,791 34
Daily Goal 1367 - 1605 35 - 61 176 - 254 56 - 136 500 - 2300 35 - 40
Chart with no titled

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Could it be?

I was afraid to step on the scale this morning.  I still feel full from yesterday, but know I have to eat breakfast.  I want that point.  When I got on the scale it said I was down 1.5 pounds today.  Could it be that I haven't been eating enough or enough protein?  I still was down in calories according to Spark People.  With WW I really never know how many calories I'm eating, I've been trying the Simply Filling Technique this week.  I decided to eat a string cheese last night to get my last 8 proteins in.  The yogurt and breakfast bread just seemed too much to eat in the evening.  I think I'll start off with eggs with my smoothie this morning.  I can't have so much protein left at the end of the day.  Here's what I ate yesterday. 

Breakfast

Calories Fat Carbohydrates Protein Sodium, Na Fiber, total dietary
Best Choice Mixed Berries, 1 cup 70 1 17 1 0 5
Weight Watchers Strawberry Yogurt, 1 serving 100 1 17 6 110 3
Banana, fresh, 1 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) 109 1 28 1 1 3
Juice, Naked Juice Red Machine, 4 oz 80 2 16 1 8 2
bestlife buttery spread, 0.5 tbsp 30 3 0 0 50 0
Sara Lee Blueberry Crumble Breakfast Bread, 1 serving 90 1 18 3 95 3
Meal Totals 479 7 96 12 264 16

Lunch

Calories Fat Carbohydrates Protein Sodium, Na Fiber, total dietary
5 Can Dump Soup, 1 serving 120 1 23 7 532 9
Meal Totals 120 1 23 7 532 9

Dinner

Calories Fat Carbohydrates Protein Sodium, Na Fiber, total dietary
cottage cheese small curd 1% milkfat, 0.25 cup 40 1 3 7 205 0
Green Giant Sugar Snap Peas, no sauce, 0.5 cup 40 0 10 2 95 2
Chicken Breast, no skin, 3 ounces 94 1 0 20 55 0
Carrots, cooked, 0.5 cup slices 27 0 6 1 45 2
Butternut Squash, 0.5 cup, cubes 41 0 11 1 4 3
Meal Totals 242 2 30 30 405 7

Snack

Calories Fat Carbohydrates Protein Sodium, Na Fiber, total dietary
Frigo Light String Cheese, 1 oz 60 3 0 8 230 0
Meal Totals 60 3 0 8 230 0
Daily Totals 901 12 149 56 1,431 32

Today I have to exercise.  Maybe I'll do a Leslie Sansone DVD this morning and Zumba this evening.  Depending on how full I am tonight.  I just can't exercise when I'm too full.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Today's Job Iterview

OK, so I get there early so I can fill out the application, since I filled mine out online and they wanted a hard copy for their files.  I decided to wear black dress pants and a black turtleneck sweater with argyle print going down the front.  I curled my hair and I think I looked pretty good.  I even put makeup on. ;-)  Anyway while I was filling out the papers a young girl walks up to the desk and said she was there for the interview.  She was wearing tight jeans, a fleece jacket zipped up and flip flops. Is it me or is this NOT proper interview attire.  Another girl had a low cut sleeveless top on and tight pants.  A man that might have been around my age had on jeans and a very casual polo shirt and leather type jacket.  There was an elder lady that was dressed in a nice outfit.  The 2 of us were by far the best dressed ones there.  The interview had 7 of us and 2 interviewers.  One was a girl from HR and one was the manager.  I think it went pretty well.  They asked several questions and we all had to answer the same questions.  I was the 6th one to answer.  I thought I had a couple answers that were better than the others.  We will see what happens.  They said they would let us know in a week or 2.  This will be a seasonal position (which wasn't in the ad I answered), but they may decide to keep some of us after the holidays in a part time position.

I went to my weight loss challenge last night.  I lost .2.  A loss is a loss so I'm not complaining.  This week we have a food challenge.  I have to eat 56 grams of protein each day for 1 point.  Eating breakfast is worth 1 point, eating 3 times a day 1 point, eating 5 serving of fruits and veggies 1 point, not eating any junk food is 1 point, staying on our personal plan is 1 point, journaling is 1 point, and eating 14 grams of fiber for every 1000 calories consumed is 1 point.  If we meet all the guidelines we get 2 bonus points for that day.  This is going to be a hard one for me.  I've had all of my meals including breakfast so I got those points  I've journaled so another point  I've gotten in the fruits and veggies another point.  NO junk food, another point  I've stayed on plan, so another point.  I still have to get in 8 more grams of protein.  I'm thinking about eating a yogurt and slice of breakfast bread for my evening snack.  That will put me 1 protein over and I have plenty of fiber already thanks to my Dump Soup.  I sure hope I don't gain weight eating this way.  It's only for 1 week, so I can go back to my normal eating next week if I show a gain.  I know now that I'm going to have to budget the protein through out the day to get it all in.  I think egg whites for breakfast will help.  That's what I'm doing tomorrow.  I don't want to have to eat so much in the evening.  Tomorrow will be an exercise day for sure.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

EKK!!! Job interview tomorrow.

The last time I had a job interview was 20 years ago.  The last time I worked for someone other than myself was 19 years ago.  I applied online for a job at Kohl's in their shoe department over the weekend and I got a call this morning asking if I was still interested I the job.  The interview will be a group interview at 10:00 tomorrow morning.  What do I wear?  What should I expect from a group interview?  I've only had a couple one on one interviews in my life.  I started working after my girls were out of school.  Can you tell I'm nervous.

I'm not letting my nervousness get me into eating things I shouldn't.  I'm doing pretty good sticking to plan.  I'll walk to my Weight-loss challenge meeting tonight, so that will be my exercise.

Wish me luck with my interview and I'll let everyone know how it went tomorrow.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Weekly weigh-in

I had a .4 loss this week.  Of course, I had a 1 pound gain last week so I'm still behind.  That's OK, at least it was a loss.  I have 9 more weeks until it's my 1 year anniversary of rejoining Weight Watchers.  I have 9.2 pounds to lose to get to my goal again.  That means I have to lose at least a pound each week from now until December 20th to make my personal goal.  I can do this.  No, I WILL do this.  I lost last year over the holidays and I can do it again this year.  It will take a lot of planning and a lot of work, but I WILL do it.  I am back to tracking as of today.  I got in my 4 fast miles with Leslie Sansone this morning.  I am going to fill up my water bottle and get all my water in today.  I have no idea but we are having for dinner, so I have to look in the freezer and find something.  I really wanted to do the meatless Monday thing, but it just isn't working out.  My hubby just has to have his meat.  I have to make this weeks meal plan menu, so I know what I'm having the rest of the week, so I don't fall into a bad choice.  The next 9 weeks are going to be GOOD weeks and I hope they show it on the scale.

I took my measurements yesterday since my old clothes were fitting again.  Here's the results from when I took my measurements in January until now:
Arms  -.5
Hips  -4.5
Bust  -4
Waist  -6
Thighs  -3.5

That's a total on 18.5 inches overall.  That's amazing.  I still see that fat girl in the mirror, but I am shrinking even if I don't see it myself.  Others have notices and that's all that counts.  Someday I will see the change.

I've got a pot of dump soup on the stove, so I will be set for lunches this week.  I'm going back to basics.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

NSV

I had a nice NSV (Non-scale victory) yesterday.  I was switching out my summer and winter clothes and I got out the tub that had my "skinny" clothes in it.  I thought I would take a chance and try some things on.  It turns out that some of the pants are too big.  When I started this journey I couldn't wear my size 14 jeans.  They lacked closing by at least 4 inches.  I am now wearing them and they are loose in the butt and legs.  I can button them with no problem with room to spare.  I tried on my size 12 jeans yesterday.  THEY FIT!  They were a little tight, but I could button them and zip them without laying on the bed to do so.  I thought , "What the heck, try on the size 10."  I got them on and they were  2 inches or less from zipping and buttoning.  If I had laid on the bed I could have probably gotten them zipped.  My muffin top would be enormous, but they would have been zipped.  I was thinking I would need to go buy new clothes if I got a job, but I think I'll be OK as far as pants go.  I have some nice dressy pants that will work out fine and they all fit.

Tomorrow morning is my weigh-in.  I'm hoping for a loss.  Right now I'm not showing one, but after my smooth move tea and my Leslie Sansone DVD I might make it.  I will have a salad for dinner tonight.  I haven't been tracking my meals.  Monday I'm back to tracking what I eat.  It really does help.  I'm just lazy!

The sun's been shining yesterday and today, but it's cold outside.  I have to get the plants out of the ground that I want to try and winter over.  I want to do that today.

How is everyone else doing this weekend?

Friday, October 21, 2011

Is it Friday already?

This week has gone by so fast.  I can't believe October is almost over. The older I get the faster the time seems to fly by.  It will be the end of December before I know it and I want to be back to goal by that time.  I know I can do it, but if I don't step things up it's not going to happen.  The holidays are tucked in this time frame too.  Last year I lost weight during the holidays and it was before I started back to WW.  I was losing on my own.  This year I have WW and all my internet friends to help me get there.

I made my butternut squash yesterday for dinner.  I just sliced it and put olive oil and Splenda brown sugar on it and baked it.  Some of it got over done and very hard from the sugar.  It was like hard candy.  It really didn't taste much different than when I make sweet potatoes the same way.  I still have the neck and the whole bulb end to cook so I'm going to try them other ways and see if I like it cooked different ways.

I applied for a job at our local grocery store the other day.  It's for a demo person to serve samples to customers while they shop.  This sounds like a fun job.  They also have the position open at another grocery store near me so, I'm thinking about applying there too.  I have not worked outside the home except in my own children's clothing store for 18 years.  I worked in the school system as an early identification aide and  library aide in elementary schools for several years before that and had a job in a seasonal Christmas store for 3 years.  I had my online costumes that have kept me busy until sales fell off a couple years ago.  At one time I would be working day and night getting orders filled in time for Halloween.  Now you can get some really cute costumes in the retail stores for much cheaper than I sell them for.  This year I've made 1 costume and 3 cheerleader skirt and that's it.  I could use a little extra money to help pay my credit cards off.  My hubby is planning on retiring in a couple years and I don't want to have any balances on my cards when that happens.  We can survive on his SS if we don't have extra money going out to those kind of bills.  I don't want to work at a job I hate and these types of jobs sound like they could be fun.

I got on the scale this morning and I weighed 154.5.  This is good!!  Of course here we are, back to the weekend.  I'm going to try my hardest to stay on track all weekend and maybe lose more for my WW on Monday and MAYBE show a loss for this week.  The weather had been very WET and I haven't been out walking since Tuesday and then I didn't walk as far as usual because it was cold and had just rained. Most of the leaves are off the trees and now need to be raked.  I would much rather wait until they have dried out some, so they aren't so heavy to rake.

I finally broke down and turned on the heat last night.  Temps are in the 30's overnight and that is kinda cold, so I caved in and told my hubby I give up and we put the storm windows down and flipped the furnace switch to heat.  The thermostat is set low, but it's on.  I keep the temp down all winter.  I hear a lot of complaining, but I just tell hubby to put on more layers.  The poor dog actually sits in front of of the fake fire stove heater when I turn it on.  He's such a drama king. ;-)  My grandson was fighting the dog for the prime heater spot last night.

I think I'll go to Goodwill today to see if I can find any good deals.  I love to look at their video/DVDs and see if they have any exercise tapes and I look at their diet cookbooks.  They had a WW cookbook on Monday when I stopped in to look.  I didn't have any cash with me and I didn't want to have them run such a small amount on my debit card, so I'll see if they still have it.  I have a few bucks in my wallet today, so I can pay cash for it if I don't find anything else to buy.  So I'm off to have breakfast and then shower, so I can get going.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Butternut Squash??

I had to go to Joann Fabrics this morning to get some satin for a cape for my nephew's costume and I drove right past an Aldi's, so I decided to stop in and see what they had in the veggie section.  They had Butternut squash for $.99.  They also had some acorn squash for the same price.  I decided to get the butternut squash.  I've seen a lot of recipes for it and thought I would give it a try.  Now that I have it here I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.  I thought maybe some oven fries would be good.  Hungry Girl made some on her show and they looked easy to make.  Has anyone made anything that really turned out good using the squash?  How about acorn squash.  I could try that next time if it's cheap enough.  Also I really don't know if $.99 is a good price or not since I've never bought it before.

I went to my weight loss challenge last night.  I was also up a pound at that weigh in.  They did measurements again and I have lost inches since starting 5 weeks ago.  I know that my clothes are getting looser.  I'm going to have to go on a shopping spree if this keeps up.

Rosie how are you doing?  I haven't seen an update since I read you thought you might have broken your arm.  Have I missed the update or can't you type because you have your arm in a cast?  I'm thinking about you!!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Weigh-in after vacation not so bad!

I was up 1 pound.  Totally better than I expected.  I can live with a pound gain.  It would have been nice to have a no gain or a loss, but 1 pound should be easy to get off.  This week I'm going to get back into eating better and drinking my water.  I have to walk everyday again.  I did my new Leslie Sansone 5 mile walk today.  WOW it was 75 minutes of walking.  I was sweating for sure!!!

When I was at my WW meeting today the girl that checked me was saying that WW was going to change things again.  She said she wasn't sure yet what they were going to do, but they would know in a few weeks.  They have the cookbooks on sale 1/2 off to try and get rid of them.  I really like the points plus and I think it's stupid if they are going to change it to something else so soon.  They just got all the new packaging in the stores and now they are going to change it?  I know a lot of people were complaining that they weren't happy with the new plan and were going back to the old one because they were losing weight better with it.  Isn't that like everything that changes.  You always have people not liking the change.  I will do whatever plan they have, because WW works if you work the plan. 

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Down 2- 2 to go

When I weighed-in this morning I was down 2 pounds.  I need to lose 2 more pounds by tomorrow so I can at least have a maintain for my official WW weigh-in.  My hubby did get me a 5 mile Leslie Sansone DVD, so I will do it in the morning and hopefully sweat off some weight.

I will be glad when my hubby goes back to work.  He live for meal to meal.  He starts talking about the next meal while we are eating a meal.  I really didn't find myself hungry at all while we were gone, but since he wanted to eat, I ate too.  Once he's not around I will be able to get back into eating less and maybe I will actually get hungry before I eat my meals.  If I don't show a loss this week I should next week.  I'm not going to stress if the scale is not my friend this week.  I have to get back into drinking my water and exercising too.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Tupperware Quick Chef Pro System Giveaway 10/19

 Tupperware giveaway

I ran across this giveaway while catching up on my blog reading.  I'm thinking it would be a good gadget to have in the kitchen to help prepare my healthy foods.

Home from vacation with some unwanted visitors

I got on the scale when I got home and 4 pounds followed me home.  YIKES!! I'm going to have to work hard to get them to go back to they they were and not on me!  I didn't eat too bad, but I'm sure I could have done better.  I did not get ANY exercise in.  It rained one whole day so we just stayed in and worked a jigsaw puzzle.  We did walk to a falls stop, but I have trouble breathing in high attitudes.  I just couldn't catch my breath, so we didn't do any more talking.  I was really hoping to get some walking in.

We did have a nice time at the cabin.  It was just so peaceful and charming.  I really hated to come back home.  We drove around one day and went to NC to check out the Indian reservation.  It was so commercialized.  We drove through the casino parking lot and I said we shouldn't waste our money.  I love Vegas, but this was only 1 casino and I didn't feel like going in and only staying a few minutes while we lost $20 or $40 at the machines.  We enjoyed the hot tub at the cabin.  Even though it was chilly outside we were nice and warm in the 100 degree water bubbling around us.

Now I'm back in the real world and I an going to have to get back to my real life.  It is rainy and VERY windy here in Ohio today, so I'm not going out walking.  I'm getting the vacation wash done and some fall cleaning that should get in some exercise.  I am going to eat on target today and tomorrow and I hope to see at least a maintain on the scale.  Plus since I always have a problem with going to bathroom while on vacation I'm hoping to get that back on track too.  That could be a big reason for the gain.

Oh, I forgot to tell you.  When I weighed in last Monday I had a 1.6 loss. That put me at 153.6 with a 33 pounds total loss.  Only 2 more pounds to getting another 5 pound star.  That puts me 8.6 from my lifetime goal again.  While I was at my meeting I had my smoothie and a snack bar and then  I stopped by to weigh I  for my weight loss challenge and I was 154.6.  I weighed in a day early since I was leaving for my vacation and wouldn't be here for the meeting.

OK, back to working on the things that need to be done here around the house.  My hubby has left for the day, but he's getting me a Leslie Sansone 5 mile walk DVD for Sweetest Day, so I can do that tomorrow if it's not nice enough to get outside and walk.  I made him some brownies.  I'm not planning on eating any of those.  Well, maybe just a small one. ;-)

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Leaving for the cabin on Monday.

It's been a while since I've updated the blog.  Last week's weigh-in was a maintain.  Better than the gain I thought I would have.  I was up 1/2 pound at my challenge weigh-in.  I did very well on the exercise challenge.  I got all my points.  Only 3 of us managed to get all the points.  The leader of the challenge pulls a winner and runner up and out of the 3 names she pulled I was not the winner.

Eating's been good.  I haven't been tracking, but I'm eating small portions and no junk except the chips I had the last 2 nights.  I'm getting in most of my water and I've walked every morning for a mile.  The weather's been beautiful so I've been outside cutting down the dying plants and getting ready for winter.  Before long I will be raking leaves onto the flower beds.  There's plenty of exercise to be had working in the yard.  As a matter of fact I should be out there now soaking up the rays and getting some much needed vitamin D. ;-)  Plus I want to get the house clean and in order before I leave tomorrow.  My 18 year old grandson will be staying here so who knows what I will come home to.  As long as he feeds the animals I will be happy.

We are leaving on Monday after my weigh-in to go to TN.  We are planning on staying somewhere half way there and getting to the cabin on Tuesday.  We will be coming home on Friday.  I'm hoping to get a lot of walking in and to making wise choices when eating.  Wish me luck on both of those.  They are predicting rain while we are there.  As long as it's not an all day rain I can live with it.

OK I'm off to put another load in the washer and go outside for a bit.  I hope everyone has a great week and loses a lot of weight.