My new anti-snack strategy July 8, 2009

I have a terrible habit of snacking while bored.  Even if I’m not hungry, I still want to snack.  I’ve tried to combat this by snacking on veggies or drinking more water/diet soda/crystal light, but it just hasn’t been working. If I’m at work, and either bored or stressed, I want something to chew on and generally I want it to be sweet or salty.

My latest strategy? Crystal light sugar free hard candies.  I’ve been keeping them in my desk the past couple weeks and it’s been going really well!   Just the act of “eating” something seems to curb my need to go to the fridge/vending machine, etc.  It’s also been cutting down on my biggest weakness — the need to buy “gummy” sweet snacks (like skittles, starburst, mike n’ ikes etc.) so I’m hoping this reduction in sugar will cut down on the dental bills as well. We’ll see.

Meal Plan for the week of 4/27/09 April 29, 2009

When I tell people I do Weight Watchers, the most common question I get asked is “What do you eat?”

After I explain about points and portion control, I still get asked, “so, what is a typical meal for you?” Since I’ve been trying hard to plan my dinners each week, I figure I’ll share with you my plan for this week:

Monday (had ice cream sundaes at work, so need to eat light):

- Tuna steaks on the grill – coated with soy sauce and cajun seasoning (2 points for 3 oz)
- Large salad – spinach, baby carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, a few croutons, tossed w/1 tbsp of light balsamic vinagrette (.5 points)

Tuesday (going to the gym after work, so meal needs to be quick prep):

- burgers made with lean ground beef on the grill – served on a whole wheat bun w/pickles, ketchup, & mustard (5 pts. for 3 oz burger + bun)

- 1 serving ore ida french fries (3 pts.)

- small salad – spinach, baby carrots, & cucumbers tossed w/half tbsp of light balsamic vinagrette (0 points)

- frozen corn (1 pt for 2/3 cup)

Wednesday (going to the gym after work, so meal needs to be quick prep):

- 1 cup whole wheat spaghetti (3 pts.)

- Prego spaghetti sauce (2 pts)

- small salad w/small amount of light dressing (0 pts)

- 1 and a half slices of whole wheat bread – coated with spray butter & italian seasoning and toasted (1.5 pts)

Thursday

- BBQ bone-in pork chops on the grill (4 pts)

- 1 cup brown rice (4 pts)

- small salad (0 pts)

- mixed steamed frozen veggies (0 pts)

Friday (we are leaving work early to drive out of town and visit my sister, so dinner is on the road):

- McDonald’s Hamburger (5 pts)

- McDonald’s ice cream cone (3 pts)

** As a disclaimer – these are estimated points values. Please see the weightwatchers website for official numbers.  I am not at all affiliated with Weight Watchers (other than as their paying customer) so please do not consider any information on this blog to be “official.”

Taking your clothes to a tailor — A cheaper alternative to shopping! March 21, 2009

Last year I lost 25 pounds through weight watchers.  Though I am thrilled with my weight loss, and the fact that I’ve managed to keep 20 of those pounds off, I now have a bunch of clothes that I love that I can no longer wear.

In particular, I have 3 pairs of dress pants from the Limited that I really like that I wore to work all the time.  I was going to sell them on EBay and then buy new pants, but after thinking about it, I realized that I would probably make less than $10 per pair.  Since replacement pants from the Limited cost $60-$70, (even on sale, you are lucky if you can pay less than $40 per pair) I decided this was a bad plan.  Instead, I took my pants to tailor, who took them in for $12 per pair.  So, for just $36, I now have 3 “new” pairs of dress pants!

Monday weigh-in January 12, 2009

So, I weighed in for weight watchers today, and it looks like I gained .2 pounds.  I can’t say that I’m shocked, my sister was visiting for most of last week, and that led to a lot more eating out, less exercise, and (probably what had the biggest impact) me not keeping track of my points.  I resolve to do much better about recording this week, because I know from previous experience that if I stick to the plan, I will lose the weight.

3 pounds down, 5 to go January 8, 2009

So despite my rocky start rejoining weight watchers on-line, I managed to clean up my eating habits enough by the end of the week to lose 3 pounds!

Obviously I don’t expect results this dramatic every week.  If my previous weight watchers experience is any indication, the pounds will shed more quickly at the beginning, and then slow down a bit as I get closer to my goal.  I believe this is mainly because the first few weeks are a shock to your system, so it reacts a lot faster.  Either way, I’m very pleased with my results so far!

Off to a rocky start . . . December 31, 2008

So yesterday I rejoined weight watchers.  My goal this time is to lose 8 pounds. (Last time I lost 25).  However, my real goal in joining is to reign in my eating habits — they have been terrible since I moved back to Virginia.

I remember how, when I joined weight watchers the first time, I was very freaked out and I stuck to the points plan very diligently.  Not the case so far.  I went way over on my daily points yesterday.  I even got 10 activity points for the day, and I used them all up and still went way over.  It was a real wake up call.  Yesterday, I pretty much ate like I’ve been eating on a regular basis, and by tracking it I was able to see why I had been gaining weight.  I wasn’t just exceeding what I should have been eating, I was REALLY exceeding how much I should have been eating.

Today, I resolve to do much better.

Christmas and weight gain December 30, 2008

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  Our started out a bit rough, as our initial flight got canceled due to weather, and then our new flight the next day was overbooked and we almost didn’t get on.  However, we made it in one piece, just in time for the Christmas Eve festivities, and enjoyed a wonderful week meeting up with friends and family.

 

I felt like I ate wayyy too much this week, and resolved to go back on Weight Watchers to reverse the trend.  However, when I got home, I found I had actually LOST 2 pounds!  Maybe I burned extra calories trying to keep warm in the colder climate, who knows?  Either way, I’m hitting the gym tonight!  I think I will still re-join Weight Watchers.  Though I lost 2 pounds last week, I”m still 9 pounds heavier than I was when I finished the program back in July,  and more importantly, my eating habits have gone down the tubes since I moved back to Virginia.  It’s as if mentally I think of living in Hawaii as a time of dieting, and now that I’m back in VA, I can just pig out like I always did.  NOT THE CASE!  I finally got new, smaller pants that fit, and I want to keep them!!