A New and Improved Tamara

This morning I couldn't make it to my Weight Watchers meeting because my child is ill, so I decided to go this evening. I was going to chicken out and skip the scale and just go to meeting, but decided to face the music and put my big girl panties on and deal with it.(FYI, them "big girl panties" aren't so big anymore!) I gained 2.4 pounds last week. Now my leader said that a person's weight can fluctuate somewhere between 2 and 3 pounds before morning and evening, but I know I gained something. I was not tracking everything last week. There were a couple days when I really was a chowhound. Take yesterday for example. Yesterday was the last day of tax season, which meant it was my last day until next year at H&R Block. Our office had a potluck. There was pizza, tater tot casserole, chips, dips, hummus, and Baklava. Every chance I could get I was running back to the break room to munch on something. Today the scale reflected that. 


The old Tamara would have been pissing and moaning about it. The new Tamara, however, knows where I went wrong. I knew what was coming. I didn't even have the nerve to be disappointed because I KNEW I had gained those 2.4 pounds with no one else's help but my own. That was my moment today. I didn't get upset, didn't call myself a failure, I didn't get down on myself. I just said, "Oh well". I'm proud of myself for accepting this little setback and not making a huge deal of it. I know I will do better next week. And in a couple of weeks I'll have lost 30 pounds. Stay tuned!

I Fought Off A Mac Attack

Tonight after work I went to Walmart to pick up a few groceries. I decide to make breakfast for dinner. I'll get more into that shortly. Anyway, it had been a few hours since I'd had lunch, and the "golden arches" of McDonald's appeared before me. They're in a lot of the Walmart stores. I had already done my shopping, but my tummy was growling. I wasn't sure I could make it home without stopping to get a hamburger. Worse, what was running through my mind was, "MAC ATTACK! MAC ATTACK!" I wanted a Big Mac. It's been so long since I've had one. Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. Yummy! It's always been my favorite sandwich. I pushed my cart into the McDonald's looked at the menu, and then I quickly turned the cart around and made my way out of the store. I had just purchased bananas, and decided that a banana would have to do! I took one out and walked through the parking lot, with the rain pouring down on me as I ate my banana. I'm sure it was an interesting sight. I had no coat on, and I was in no hurry. I was smiling because I had resisted the urge to give in to the Big Mac, which may or may not contain all beef patties now that I think of it. :-)


A Big Mac has a 14 Points Plus value. 14!! That's just the burger. Tonight I had an 8 Points Plus breakfast for dinner and I was satisfied and didn't feel deprived. It was 3 pancakes, with mixed berries, sugar free syrup, a touch of light whipped cream, and 3 slices of turkey bacon. The pancakes were made of 1/3 cup of fat free cottage cheese, a package of oatmeal, and 1/3 cup of Egg Beaters. It was surprisingly good! In fact I could only eat 1/2 of my meal! 


This was taken before I put whipped cream on them. 

Believe me, there will come a day when I give into temptation and have a Big Mac, but right now, I'm ok without one. I can make my own Big Mac. I can use REAL beef or ground turkey, make my own sauce that has ingredients I can pronounce and add some real minced onions, not dehydrated ones. Maybe I can call it the Big Mama. :-) 

Playing With My Food

I've always played with my food. Literally! I take pictures of it, and take pictures of myself with it. That's just my personality.
Since I've started Weight Watchers, I've incorporated more fruits and veggies into my diet, and to make them more interesting, I do things like what you see in the picture to the left. I'm not the most artistic person, but playing with my foods is helping me enjoy them more. To add to this I have a passion for photography, so I get to take pictures of my creations, ha, ha!

This is just a short blog today. I just wanted to share the results of a big kid who likes to have fun with her food, drink and camera. 


Have a fantabulous weekend!

The Scale Went in the Wrong Direction This Week

It was bound to happen. I know that the weight loss journey is LITERALLY filled with ups and downs, but I'd much rather have "downs", meaning that I'm losing weight. Tonight at my weigh in I discovered I'd gained .4 pounds, so not even a 1/2 pound. Should I beat myself up over that? No. But am I? You bet. Why? Because I KNOW better. I know exactly where I went wrong. I did not track EVERYTHING. When you're on the Weight Watchers Points Plus plan, unless you're using the "Simply Filling" technique (I can explain another time) you must track every single thing you put in your mouth. I mentioned in a previous blog entry that I had a bad day and consumed a lot of food. That was the day I didn't track, and the scale reflected that tonight. 

I learned that not only do I need to track my meals and snacks, but every time I taste something I need to track that, too. For example, tonight when I made dinner, I tasted a couple of bites of steak that I put in my salad. I tracked those tastes, and gave each one a point. 

I'm going to stop beating myself up, brush myself off, and get back on the right track. I know what I need to do, and it's time to get back to it. This is not going to be a blog just about my journey, it will be about my success. I can do this! No, I WILL do this! 

Check out the following pics. The first is an example of playing with my food, lol. The second was dinner tonight. I made steak salad. It was pretty darn good. There was only 2 ounces of meat on it, but it went a long way. It goes to show that in the past my portion sizes were way out of control!

Saying Goodbye to My Best Friend

I knew that at some point I'd slip up and consume way too many points in a day. I had a bad day a few days ago and decided to "eat my feelings" as my oldest daughter says. I had pizza, fried chicken and these yummy delightful potato rounds called "spuds". Even as I ate the 3 pieces of VERY cheesy pizza, that was so hot it almost burned the roof of my mouth I felt guilty. Sure I was hungry, but not THAT hungry. I was stuffed after the second piece of pizza and first piece of chicken. I didn't stop there, however. I had those spuds. They were heavenly. I think that now I am paying the price. My pants are feeling kind of snug. I checked my calendar, and it looks like that time of the month will come in about 2 weeks, so perhaps I'm just retaining water.

Whatever the case, I need to stop beating myself up. I've been doing that for the past couple days. In the past when I was having a pity party I'd eat more food. This time I haven't. I'm just trying to move on from that one episode. Things happen, people slip up. I just didn't want to this time. At a previous Weight Watchers meeting we talked about how most of us are emotional eaters. That is so me. I find that when there is no one to talk to and make me feel better, all I have to do is pop a piece of chocolate in my mouth and there is instant gratification and satisfaction. The flavor doesn't last long, but the calories do! I need to remember this when I eat something that is not really good for me, or when I turn to food for "friendship". Food can't talk to me. It can't tell me that everything is going to be ok. It can't tell me to stop. Don't get me wrong, food is not an enemy,  but if I don't make the right choices and continue to turn to food as a sort of comfort it will be my enemy that could ultimately lead to my death! Now is that a friend? I don't think so. The next time I feel like the urge to eat a cheeseburger or pizza is too much to resist, and I can't find a healthier alternative, I'll pick up the phone and call a REAL friend. A friend who won't let me do this to myself! A friend who cares that I'm using my body as a garbage dump. Ha! Take that, Food! You can't be my best friend anymore. You can be an acquaintance. I hope you understand.