Almost 20% Off! No, Not a Great Sale-20% off of ME!

Last week wasn't so great for me. I was bloated, got food poisoning, and was stressed to the max.
I had some good and bad days as far as the eating goes. I did not track my food or activity, yet somehow managed to lose 4.6 pounds. I'm happy, yet I'm a little ticked at myself for not staying on plan and tracking everything. I was doing a lot of estimating in my head as far as how many points I was consuming. I think the weight loss is lucky, to be honest. 

Today I just realized 2 things. I am just a half pound away from a 40 pound weight loss and I am 5.2 pounds away from having lost 20% of my starting weight. A goal of mine is to get certified to become a Zumba instructor once I've lost 20%. I'm excited. It may take some time to get certified, because the classes cost money and they fill up quickly. There are 2 classes available in September. One is September 8th and still has space, but I won't have the $225 in time. The other class is September 22nd and is already sold out. I hope that more open up very soon! 

I admit that I've slacked off quite a bit, but today when I realized I'm so close to another milestone I had a talk with myself, and said that all that slacking off, mindless snacking, and laziness ends today! I'm going to plan out my week, which will include exercise and meals. I should have been at 20% long ago. However, I'm still a happy girl. I have more energy, I can wear smaller clothes, and I have more confidence as I've mentioned in other blogs. 

I'm off to do a walk now. It's kind of warm out there but I am NOT letting that get in my way. I've let too many things get in the way of my success. Mainly myself! Not today and not ever again. I DO deserve the very best and damn it I'm going to get it!

My Pants Are Almost Falling Down!

The time has come when I can finally say: I NEED A BELT! Yes! I hate belts, but at the moment, I don't want to invest in too many new clothes because I intend to lose more weight. I have this pair of jeans that has always been kind of loose, but now they are super loose. It looks like I have a saggy butt now, lol! I find myself constantly pulling up my pants. And it's not just my jeans, it's my slacks I wear to work. They are too loose as well. It's a great feeling. I went through my closet the other night and actually chucked some things that are too big, because I REFUSE to ever have to wear those again. 
My bras are even too big now. Eek! My girls are getting a little smaller. My boyfriend may not be too thrilled about that if it keeps happening. Ha, ha..


Just a short one today. Just a reminder, if you see me walking down the street with saggy jeans, I'm not trying to go all gangsta, I'm just losing pounds. :-)

Walking to the Beat

I LOVE music. I'm eclectic. I love rap, hip-hop, pop, disco, oldies, and country. It really depends on my mood  as far as what kind of music I'll listen to while I drive, walk or workout. 


Yesterday I was in a lot of pain from this ovarian cyst I've had for over 2 years. On a side note, I am finally getting medical care for it soon. Anyway, I had taken a nap because I was so uncomfortable and the pain had kept me from having a good night's sleep the night before. When I got up from my nap, it was once again pain that woke me. Rather than sit on the couch moaning and groaning with a heating pad, I decided to take a walk. It wasn't very nice outside. It was raining a little, so I had to wear a jacket. I took my iPhone so I could listen to music. Right now all I have on it is Michael Jackson's The Number Ones album, and the single Forever by Chris Brown. It was a great walk! I walked a mile round trip, stopping at Starbucks on the way. When I was walking back, however, it was so difficult to resist that urge to dance to the music! I found myself actually walking to the beat of the music. I imagined I was on the catwalk at a fashion show. The only thing I didn't do was do a little twirl, ha, ha! I just had a sassy strut. When I was closer to my apartment building, I couldn't resist any longer, and as I came up to the building I was snapping my fingers, moving my arms a bit and singing softly. Believe me, I wanted to say "to hell with it" and dance in the parking lot, but my fear of being watched and laughed at got the best of me. That is something I need to get over one of these days. I think that to a certain extent it is ok to worry what others think of me, but if it holds me back from enjoying or expressing myself that's a problem. Perhaps with more weight loss this confidence will come. Who knows, next time you see me I might be dancing in the street! Until then, I'll be strutting to the beat of my favorite music, and smiling.

Winter Storm 2012

Today was a real test of my commitment to my Weight Watchers plan.


At about 8:30 am we lost all power at home. Everything is electric, so we had no heat and no way to cook. 
I did ok with breakfast, but as lunchtime neared, I realized I wasn't going to be able to eat unless I had a microwave to cook some leftover soup I had made last night. I decided to drive to the store to get some fixins for tuna sandwiches, candles, and firewood. The store is just a 1/2 mile down the road, but man was it an adventure. Since the power was out all over, the store was operating on a generator for power, but it was still cold in there and crowded. I got everything I needed, but didn't really pay attention to the cashier's warning about trying to get my cart through the parking lot. I didn't make it far and 2 nice gentleman had to lift my cart and carry it to my car. Happy to make it over that hurdle, I skidded my way back home, and then I got stuck. 
I made a left into my apartment complex and got stuck in the entrance. My car was halfway in the road, and I was in real danger of getting hit if people didn't change lanes quickly enough to get around me. A nice couple walking down the street tried to push me, but there was so much snow packed under the tires there was no way they'd get me out of there. I called the apartment manager and told her the scenario. Two of her maintenance men came out with shovels and started getting the snow out from under the car. Then, a truck that had gone around me pulled in and the driver got out and started helping clear snow, keep the drivers on the road stopped, and then stared helping with pushing me out of that mess. A total of 5 people got together to help, 7 if you count the couple that wasn't successful. I was very relieved. 


Once I got home, I made my late lunch of tuna on wheat and hoovered it. I won't go into details about the other things I ate, but I did end up going over my daily points amount by 2. Not too bad, but my goal is to never exceed my points. I am giving a weekly points allowance, however, that can be used on those days I need it. I get 49 weekly points. Here's how it works: If I exceed my daily points I can dip into that 49 points. It's there to give some flexibility or for them times when I just HAVE to have that cookie, for example. If I wanted I could divide them up and give myself 36 points a day, however, I'd rather stick to my 29 daily points and use the 49 for emergencies only, lol. I'm going to call it my emergency points account. :-) 


 The power was restored at almost 9 pm, and if the roads are better tomorrow, I'm going to a meeting and will get my weight. If not, I'll wait until next Wednesday, my normal meeting day. Until next time....


Check out some of the Winter Storm pics below.

Eggplant? Me?

Today I tried eggplant for perhaps the second time in my life. I think the first time I had it someone else prepared it and it was very delicious, but this was over a year ago. Since I've begun Weight Watchers I've been determined to expand my palate and try new things, instead of turning my nose up at them. I looked up some recipes for eggplant and tips on preparing it and I must say I have a new favorite vegetable. I dipped slices of it in Best Foods Low fat mayonnaise that is made with olive oil, stirred in some garlic and oregano, then put a very light dusting of flour on the slices. I put them in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes per side. Sooo good. What's really bizarre is I'm having PMS symptoms right now and for the first time in a VERY long time I'm craving something other than chocolate. I want some eggplant! My mind is churning. How can I make it next time? Should I make eggplant fries? Saute it? Bake it? Eggplant Parmesan? Chocolate dipped eggplant? I'm kidding on that last one, seriously. 


It snowed here today, but that didn't deter me from getting in my exercise. Instead of driving to the store, I took my daughter with me on a walk so that I could get a few things. At the time we walked to the store it was not snowing, and it appeared that maybe we wouldn't see anymore because the streets were clear. However, on our return trip the sky had darkened and the snow was falling hard and fast. The old me would have complained and walked faster to get home. Today the new me laughed and kept grinning like an idiot as I made my way home. 


I mentioned before that I'm considering the Big Climb in Seattle on March 25, 2012. That's 69 flights of 1,311 stairs! The event is to help raise funds for Lymphoma and Leukemia. I was on the fence about it because I was afraid of not being ready. I've decided to DEFINITELY sign up. I'm going to see if my Weight Watchers leader will allow other people to join Team Believe if there are still spaces available. I'm very excited! 


In my next blog I'm going to get personal, and post my "Before" pictures, and my current stats. I'll update them on a weekly basis when I have progress. That's right. I said "WHEN" not "IF"!