Fitness and Weight Watchers Update

I haven't posted an update on my fitness and WW progress since before my Vegas trip, so I thought I would post an update tonight.

I took an entire month off from Weight Watchers from the time I was in Vegas until after my 40th birthday. I never really planned to take off that much time, but I got really lazy and went back to my old ways of picking up fast food rather than eating healthy. I also took off from exercising after my friends and I did our 5K in Vegas. Again, not planned, but my laziness wasn't just tied to eating right.

I somehow only managed to gain 4 pounds from the time I left for Vegas until the beginning of last week when I started back on WW full time. In my first week back on the plan, I managed to lose 2 of those 4 pounds and I feel much better about getting back on track. I know WW is the plan for me because it allows me to eat regular food and helps me stick to the correct portion sizes. I also earn activity points from exercise, and I can use those for treats.

I've also started working out more since I've been back on WW. Mostly because I feel better when I exercise, but my work has set up a voluntary exercise program. Work now wants us to exercise 15 minutes a day 3 days a week. Now that isn't really enough to work off much in the way of calories, but it has been a good way to get me started back on my fitness goal. Today I walked a 5k with my aunt, and even walked an extra mile getting to and from the car. It felt really great and I now plan on joining up for another NOBO training starting in January. I've missed my run /walk schedule, and am excited to get back to it. I'll be sticking to the elliptical for much of the next month and walking on the weekend. With the time change, it is dark when I get home from work, so the weekends will be the only time I can get in a good walk or walk/run.

So i have a plan now and I plan on sticking to my plan this time. The holidays will be hard for me, especially Thanksgiving when my sister, brother, dad and I make all my favorite dishes. I plan to really watch my portions that week, and walk at least a couple of days while at my sister's house. Luckily, my brother will be with me, so I know he will help me with my exercise plan.

Weight Watchers Update

Sorry I haven't posted any updates on my Weight Watchers journey in the last few weeks. I've had some ups and downs, but am happy to say I've lost a total of 10 pounds as of today. The heat has been an issue for my running, but now that we are starting to get a taste of fall temps, I'll be better about getting outside to run/walk. I have used my elliptical some, but found I don't really like it as much as I like running/walking outside.

I've been pretty happy with my food choices over the past few weeks. Luckily, I love some veggies and can always go to those for meals when I feel like I've fallen off the healthy food wagon. I have picked up dinner a few time over the last few weeks rather than fixing my fresh veggies, but have decided to put a stop to that until after my Vegas trip. I need to get back to my training and I'm not doing that if I'm eating the wrong food.

I'm going to run/walk a 5k while in Vegas with my friends. Two of they will have rock star times, and my goal is to run at least half of the total race. I'm still hoping to run the entire 5k at the end of October on my 40th birthday, so figure this will help to get me going.

Week 4 Weight Watchers Update

So week 4 wasn't as great as the first 3 weeks. I had a bit of a setback and gained 1 pound. Now, I'm not overly surprised by the gain. I wasn't as worried about keeping within my daily points. In fact, I went over my points most days. I didn't use all my weekly points allowed, but still went over my daily points too many days. I also didn't make the time to exercise each day. In fact, other than moving boxes on last Sunday, I really didn't have any other exercise for the entire week.

Time to get back to being really strict with myself on what I eat and get back to upping my activity daily. I will go over my points today, as I'm meeting friends for dinner at a restaurant that really doesn't have any WW friendly items. Must make up for that over the next 6 days and get back on track.

As much as I feel like I failed this week, I'm not letting myself call this a failure, rather I hit a bump in the road this week. Now to get back to doing what I know I need to do. I still need to register for the Franklin Classic 5K for Labor Day. I haven't trained well, but will walk/run the race and cross the finish line, which is the whole point.

Week 3 Weight Watchers Update

So in week 3 of Weight Watchers, I started craving certain items I'd been without for the last few weeks. One thing I wanted more than anything was french fries. I did my weigh-in on Saturday morning and had lost another 2 pounds. That's right, in 3 weeks I've lost 7 POUNDS!!! I'm hoping to keep this rate up, until my Vegas trip. If I can pull this off, I would have lost close to 20 pounds in 7 weeks. BTW, my one cheat item of the week was an order of chili-cheese fries yesterday for lunch.

I'm upping my activity goal for the week. I got my bookshelves in order yesterday. I finished getting the last few books put away this morning. However, moving boxes of books equals lots of activity points. I earned 3 on Saturday and 2 today moving boxes out to my aunt's car. With temps hopefully dropping this week, I'll be able to run/walk some outside. If the weather doesn't get any cooler, I'll stick to the elliptical again this week.

I will say it is getting easier to pick healthier food. I even had lunch with my aunt today at Logan's and went with the health nut meal to cut down on calories and fat, and even skipped the rolls and sweet potato. I am craving chocolate more this week, but luckily have some Fiber One brownies to get me by.

Week 2 Weight Watchers Update

So I lost another 1.8 pounds this week. My total weight loss for my first two weeks on Weight Watchers is 5 pounds!!! Didn't make the time to get on the elliptical this week, and I think that kept me from losing more weight.

I went to the grocery store this morning and bought more fresh fruits and veggies for the week. I've started only buying enough food for one week at a time, so I always have fresh food. I would really love to lose another 10 pounds before my Vegas trip at the end of September, so I'm going with as much power food on WW as I can, so I can still have snacks, yet keep within my point+ available each day.

Week 1 Weight Watchers Update

So I made it through my first full week on the Weight Watchers plan using the new points+ plan. I didn't get to exercise as much as I would have liked (only managed 2 days of exercise), but I stuck the the points+ as best I could.

Results: I LOST 3.2 POUNDS!!!

I know I can do this now! I plan on exercising more this week and hope I can continue to have such great results this week too. Off to buy more fruits and veggies at the store today.

Diet and Exercise Update

I know I've been a bit quiet lately. I took a few days off work in the last couple of weeks to go hang out with my cousins. They live about 2 hours from me and have a pool in their backyard. Now it has felt like it is 150* in Nashville for the last few weeks, so the idea of hanging by the pool for a few days sounded great. I was great, even if it felt even hotter there than it does here. Granted floating around in the pool for a few hours really does make it easier to deal with the heat index.

Of course, when I got home I realized how out of control I've let my diet and exercise routine get...maybe lack of diet and exercise routine is a better description. So to help get me back on track, I re-joined Weight Watchers this week. Now the new points+ system is taking some getting used to. I knew many of the old point values on some of my favorite items. Now those numbers are all out the window. I'm up for the challenge. I would love to lose at least 15 pounds before my Vegas trip at the end of Sept. If I'm really careful with food and stick to my exercise program, I'll be there. So now, I have it set up to use my elliptical 3-4 days a week and run 2-3 days each week. I'll mostly be on the elliptical until the temps drop a little. I'm also training for the Franklin Classic 5K for Labor Day, so I need to make sure I'm doing interval training even when on my elliptical. I'm sure my neighbors will love me when I workout at 4:30 in the morning, but mornings are best for me to stick to a workout schedule. Running will take place on the weekends for the next little bit, with 1 run after work each week.

My goal is to be down 20 pounds by the time I turn 40 at the end of October. So tomorrow is my last day to eat junk. After that I'm sticking to my WW diet very closely. Wish me luck, as I love junk food probably more than most teenagers.