Weight Watchers: Week Six - Weigh In

Last week I lost nearly 2 lbs. I think this had a lot to do with not worrying about eating all my points. It was jut about eating and tracking. I've also noticed a lot I change in my choices of what constitutes a meal.

I had a spicy, marinated, skinless chicken thigh with green beans. That was just 3 points. I avoided making rice or pasta and adding those carbs in when I would most likely be eating as much rice or pasta as I could versus veggies.

I've learned that not every meal needs a starch. This has really changed my eating. I look for combinations of foods that would satisfy me without assuming that I need to make rice or pasta. I start with protein and add in veggies. If I need more after all that, I consider noodles over rice because I can gauge portions for noodles much better than I can with rice.

It has also led to me discovering new foods, like Indian! We ordered chicken vindaloo and lamb curry. Delicious! Stay away from lamb, though. It's almost as bad as beef for points.

A huge triumph for me was having valentines lunch with my husband and ordering a 6 oz. steak instead of a 12 oz. I also ordered a sirloin instead of ribeye. I saved the Texas rice for another day and only ate half of my mashed potatoes. It was delicious and filling, and I wasn't craving more afterwards. That's a huge triumph for me!!

Throughout college, I was always hungry. Between stress and just needing to eat at all, I would go out to eat and order a pizza hours later. I was constantly snacking. By snacking, I really mean "mealing." A snack was ramen or rice and a hotdog. Now, I'm snacking on popcorn or smoothies. I even eat a bunch of fruit.

It's really rewarding to be losing the weight. I can't wait to be in jeans I haven't been able to wear comfortably in a while. I can't wait to look at my body in the mirror and feel like I don't have to hide anything. I want the image of myself in the mirror I match the one in my mind.

1.6 lbs. lost last week. Can't wait for more.

Weight Watchers: Week Five: Weigh In

Here we are again! Unfortunately, I've been slightly ill and stressed over the last week. This meant that I was eating a lot more to keep myself hydrated and feeling well. I gained some weight as a result: 203.4 lbs.

A minor loss. I've realized that not having fruits on hand has really made it hard to stick to eating right. Despite being a lot better at portion sizing, I still chose some foods that I should have left alone (like ramen). 

On top of that, I was recently diagnoses with a urinary tract infection. May be too much information, but it has drastically changed my diet in the last week. I'm on meds to clear it up, but it made my energy level last week very low. I'm hoping to see it bounce right back up in the next few days. My doctor and I are hoping that this clears up a lot of the digestive issues I have been having, meaning I'm not lactose intolerant or allergic to gluten. We had quite the debate on whether or not rice had gluten in it (it doesn't). That will show him for suggesting that rice might be killing me slowly from the inside out. Haha...

Anyway, more updates very soon on Weight Watchers, the UTI, and on playing with my new camera!

If you didn't know, I recently purchased a Nikon D5100. I have been getting pretty good at it. I just purchased and received my copy of Photoshop Elements 5.0. I'll be sure to post about my new photography adventures in the coming weeks (culminating in a trip to the Bahamas aboard the Disney Dream with my husband and his parents). I'll be sure to take so many photos that I'll have to buy new memory cards on the ship.

Until then, keep losing weight and stay healthy!

Weight Watchers: Week Three - Weigh In

Well, I lost 0.2 lbs.

I think the biggest reason I didn't lose as much weight was that I had several meals with steak and bacon. The first week, I lost nearly 3 lbs. from eating very little over my daily limit and eating healthy most of the time. The second week is the hardest. Trust me. We even rounded out the week with pizza and wings from Papa John's because I did a lot of walking and working out. I still find this a success, however. I've lost more weight in two weeks than I did over all of last year. This is success in my book, a huge success.

If you didn't know, they count weight loss as anything over 0.2 lbs. in a week because weight loss is variable. You eat more some weeks than you do others for various reasons. Also, what you eat factors into that, too. If you use all of your points to eat carbs and don't work out, it will affect you more than using all of your points on healthy meals with more veggies and fruit.

I'll take the 0.2 lbs.

As I mentioned from the beginning of this journey, I am losing weight for a variety of reasons. Aside from fitting into old clothes and being able to feel less self-conscious buying clothes from my favorite stores, I'm preparing myself to have some children with less risk. It seems odd to some that I would be losing weight to have a baby, where I will most likely gain a portion of it back. It's just a choice I have made to prepare the best possible environment for our baby to grow. It's no different than child-proofing a house or interviewing babysitters. If I'm healthy, my baby has a great chance of being healthy, as well.

Anyway, here's to the next week of weight loss. Some of my friends have already begun to join me. Don't forget to check out Weight Watchers if weight loss is on your list.