Moving from WW to Counting Calories

I've been rocking my food tracker but I've become increasingly dissatisfied with WW. I started in October and it was the right thing for me at the time because I was not on a solid foundation with my eating and exercise at that point, but the good new is that now I am!

So I've decided to save my $40 a month and go back to tracking calories. I love having the support here online because there are so many people that I can identify with...unlike WW. I used to use MFP (I still use it to keep track of my weight) and liked it, but honestly I love writing things down on paper now...so I'll figure out in the next few days which way I am going to go - electronic or old school.

I'm pretty excited about the switch. I have to figure out how many calories I have been eating and then decide what my target goal will be for the week. I am also moving toward eating cleaner but I'm not quite there yet. I don't want to live with too much restriction right now and I want to continue my healthy way of life. I definitely don't want to start feeling like I am on a diet because I'm not. 

Until later, happy living!
Jamie

WW Week 13 Weigh-in

Well, last week I went up even though I did everything right. This week I was hoping it would come off but it didn't....yet. I have really been working hard the last few days and know eventually it will come off. Trying to be patient! :)

WW Week 1 START: 10/30

(11/6) Week 2: -2.8 (happy)
(11/13) Week 3:  -0.8 (disappointed...thought it should be more)
(11/20) Week 4: -0.2 (happy..I had a tough week!)
(11/27)  Week 5:  -1.6 (5 pound star!)
(12/04) Week 6: +0.2 (WTH because I had a great week! Earned 27 APs!)
(12/11) Week 7:  0 (Maintained...really?)
(12/17) Week 8: -5.2 (10 pound star!)
(12/24) Week 9: -0.2 (yay, kept that flu weight off!)
(12/31) Week 10: -3.4 (5% award!)
(1/8) Week 11: +1.6 (OK because I know I didn't really gain!)
(1/15) Week 12: +0.2 (Still doing everything right!)

Total WW loss: -12.2 pounds

Next week I should see a loss! I'm just going to keep eating right and working hard. Today was my 30th day straight tracking my food! Definitely an accomplishment!

Until later, happy living!
Jamie

WW Week #11 Weigh-in

Today I was hoping I would be down at least a pound but I was actually UP. I think this can be attributed to two things 1) switching back to evening meetings and 2) retaining water and feeling bloated. But for once I'm OK with being up because being up on the scale doesn't mean that I actually gained weight! I know I didn't! I did everything right - tracked every day (23 straight days in a row!) and I worked out (earned 31 activity points!), so there is no mathematical way those 1.6 pounds are real. So I'll just wait until next week to see my real progress from last week.


WW Week 1 START: 10/30

(11/6) Week 2: -2.8 (happy)
(11/13) Week 3:  -0.8 (disappointed...thought it should be more)
(11/20) Week 4: -0.2 (happy..I had a tough week!)
(11/27)  Week 5:  -1.6 (5 pound star!)
(12/04) Week 6: +0.2 (WTH because I had a great week! Earned 27 APs!)
(12/11) Week 7:  0 (Maintained...really?)
(12/17) Week 8: -5.2 (10 pound star!)
(12/24) Week 9: -0.2 (yay, kept that flu weight off!)
(12/31) Week 10: -3.4 (5% award!)
(1/8) Week 11: +1.6 (OK because I know I didn't really gain!)

Total WW loss: -12.4 pounds


I'm going to keep working hard like I have been and it will come off, at the rate my body wants to take it off. Sure I wanted to see a loss today but sometimes the results don't come exactly when you are looking for them.


Until later, happy living!
Jamie

Healthy Crock Pot Hawaiian Pork

I love my Crock Pot but I don't utilize it as much as I should, so I'm going to try to use it more and share some easy and healthy recipes here. I have a pretty big size pot and the feature I love most is the programmable timer so I can set it and forget it! When it is done it turns to warm! I'm afraid with the manual timers I will burn the house down if I leave it too long! LOL...

Anyway, Friday when I went to HEB they had some lean looking pork tenderloins on sale and I was really excited...$5 for a 1.75lb pork loin...sweet!

When I cook, I like to use simple and fresh ingredients. I also don't like recipes that are crazy complex with a ton of things in them. I believe healthy cooking should be easy, otherwise we won't do it! I also try to do as much low sodium, low sugar, low preservative cooking when I can.

I named this Hawaiian Pork because it of the pineapple and because it has a little bit of a pacific Asian flair, despite using BBQ instead of soy sauce. The BBQ sauce is meant to add flavor and shouldn't drown the pork and is the only added sodium and sugar in this dish.

Healthy Crock Pot Hawaiian Pork

• 1.5-2lb pork tenderloin
• 1/2 c. honey flavored BBQ sauce
• You can sub a low carb BBQ sauce or a homemade sauce too!
• 1 whole fresh pineapple cut up
• 1 diced red bell pepper
• A few dashes of crushed red pepper

And that's all you need!

Using a large crockpot, put the pork in first, then the other solid ingredients, then crushed red pepper, and then spread out the BBQ sauce on top. Cook on low for 5 hours, or around 2-3 hours on high. If you are around while it is cooking, rotate the pork loin and pineapple through the cooking process. When the pork shreds easily with a fork, pull it apart and mix everything up so the juices can soak into the meat. Serve over brown rice or even on tortillas. Enjoy!

If you are on Weight Watchers, lean pork tenderloin is only 1 PointPlus per serving! To count my PP, I weigh the meat and add a point for any sauce (just for good measure), then I scoop out the pineapple and add it to the dish. 

Guess what I'm eating for lunch tomorrow? That's right, leftovers!

Until later, happy healthy eating!
Jamie

WW Week #10 Weigh-in

So today I wasn't really planning on going to weigh in but at the last minute I decided to do it since it was the last day of the year and the meeting place would probably be closed tomorrow anyway.

WW Week 1 START: 10/30

(11/6) Week 2: -2.8 (happy)
(11/13) Week 3:  -0.8 (disappointed...thought it should be more)
(11/20) Week 4: -0.2 (happy..I had a tough week!)
(11/27)  Week 5:  -1.6 (happy)
(12/04) Week 6: +0.2 (WTH because I had a great week! Earned 27 APs!)
(12/11) Week 7:  0 (Maintained...really?)
(12/17) Week 8: -5.2 (some of it probably due to the flu!)
(12/24) Week 9: -0.2 (yay, kept that flu weight off!)
(12/31) Week 10: -3.4 <--- Got my 5% award! YAY!
Total WW loss: 14 pounds

Total loss in 2012: ~22 pounds

My weekly average weight loss for the past 10 weeks was 1.4 pounds, but if you look at the last 4 weeks, my average was 2.2 pounds per week. Now that I am seeing better results, I am hoping to have a steady average of 2 pounds a week. Of course, more than 2 would be awesome but as long as I work hard, I'll take what I can get and not be upset!
Until later, happy running!
Jamie

WW Week #9 Weigh-In

Last week I lost 5.2 pounds and I know some of that was because I was dehydrated so I really worked hard last week to keep that off. So I was super excited when I went to weigh in and I was down 0.2! Normally 0.2 would make me mad, but not this week! Overall for the holiday I've done really well, though I need to drink more water.

WW Week 1 START: 10/30

(11/6) Week 2: -2.8 (happy)
(11/13) Week 3:  -0.8 (disappointed...thought it should be more)
(11/20) Week 4: -0.2 (happy..I had a tough week!)
(11/27)  Week 5:  -1.6 (happy)
(12/04) Week 6: +0.2 (WTH because I had a great week! Earned 27 APs!)
(12/11) Week 7:  0 (Maintained...really?)
(12/17) Week 8: -5.2 (some of it probably due to the flu!)
(12/24) Week 9: -0.2 (yay, kept that flu weight off!)


Total WW loss: 10.6 pounds

Total loss in 2012: ~19 pounds


I'm going to try to work out as much as I can this week but I don't have high hopes because I am sans gym and it's cold outside...so I definitely will try to pay attention to my eating!

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

WW week #8 (early) weigh-in

I've had the flu now since Friday. Normally being sick doesn't stop me from eating, but I haven't been terribly hungry for the past few days things, plus taste kind of gross. I'm certainly not starving because I'm eating all my points but I am definitely keeping myself in check and not allowing myself to go nuts eating JUST because I'm sick.

I went to the doctor today and because I still had a fever, he said no school tomorrow. Since I was out already I decided to pop in to the WW center a day early and weigh in so I wouldn't have to go out tomorrow night just for that. OK, so I knew I should have posted a loss this week, but I lost 5.4! Wow, I'll take it! Given that I was mad/disappointed 2 weeks in a row, I'm just going to pretend this was all my doing, and not the result of having the flu.

WW Week 1 START: 10/30

(11/6) Week 2: -2.8 (happy)
(11/13) Week 3:  -0.8 (disappointed...thought it should be more)
(11/20) Week 4: -0.2 (happy..I had a tough week!)
(11/27)  Week 5:  -1.6 (happy)
(12/04) Week 6: +0.2 (WTH because I had a great week! Earned 27 APs!)
(12/11) Week 7:  0 (Maintained...really?)
(12/17) Week 8: -5.2 (some of it probably due to the flu!)

Total WW loss: 10.4 pounds

Total loss in 2012: ~17 pounds

Maybe if I'm realllllly good for the next week all my flu weight loss will stay off! :)

Hopefully I'll be back in the gym Thursday or Friday.

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

WW week #7 weigh-in and a new milestone

Last week I talked about being back at Weight Watchers and how it was slow going. When I walked into the center to weigh in on Tuesday, I have to admit that I was still a little pissed about GAINING the week before. Well, my mood certainly didn't get better when I stepped on the scale and it was the same as last week...REALLY? Ugh...

I have been in the habit of going to weigh in early and then going next door to eat at Subway (the guy who put that there was a genius!) and eating dinner before the meeting. While I sat there I couldn't decided if I wanted to scream out loud or cry. I was really upset. I even picked up a bag of Cheetos in protest but did the math and decided against the 8 points and went back and got the 3 point baked lays. This week I used my new 3 month tracker and did pretty well until Friday came where I made the (poor) decision to drink lots of points. Overall, I didn't go over my 49 and I did earn some APs because I worked out some. I though something should have showed up from last week...but it didn't.

WW Week 1 START: 10/30

(11/6) Week 2: -2.8 (happy)
(11/13) Week 3:  -0.8 (disappointed...thought it should be more)
(11/20) Week 4: -0.2 (happy..I had a tough week!)
(11/27)  Week 5:  -1.6 (happy)
(12/04) Week 6: +0.2 (WTH because I had a great week! Earned 27 APs!)
(12/11) Week 7:  0 (Maintained...really?)

Total WW loss: 5.2 pounds

Total loss in 2012: ~15 pounds

Even though the scale isn't showing it, I know that I am actually making progress. I was able to go down a GAP jeans size this weekend and today I ran 1.5 miles straight!

Patience...I know.

Until later, happy running!
Jamie

Weight Watchers Weigh-In

I meant to post this sooner but at the end of October I went back to Weight Watchers after my friend Jenny asked me to go with her. I am Jenny's go-to person for trying out different diets. Two springs ago we did a 3 week vegan program...I actually did well and ended up staying on it for 8 weeks, but she only made it like 3 days. It's hard to stay vegan though if you really don't have an ethical reason to, but overall it was a good experience and I really learned a lot...including incorporating some new foods in my diet I didn't think I liked.

I had actually been considering doing WW for a little while, so it was easy for me to agree to and I was happy to have someone to do it with. The ONLY difference though is Jenny is kind of thin already. She is technically in her healthy weight range but had gained 15 pounds over the past few years that made her uncomfortable and made her clothes not fit anymore. I can respect that, but it's still a little weird doing the program when she's skinny and I'm like 100 pounds overweight. I swear I would ECSTATIC if I looked like she did! But being uncomfortable is still being uncomfortable.

Anyway, I am VERY hesitant to put my actual weight up here at this point...maybe when I make a bigger dent in it. But here are my weigh-in results so far:


Week 1 START: 10/30

(11/6) Week 2: -2.8 (happy)
(11/13) Week 3:  -0.8 (disappointed...thought it should be more)
(11/20) Week 4: -0.2 (happy..I had a tough week!)
(11/27)  Week 5:  -1.6 (happy)
(12/04) Week 6: +0.2 (WTH because I had a great week! Earned 27 APs!)


Total WW loss: 5.2 pounds

As you can see, it has been slow going with the weight loss..that has been really frustrating. I lost around 10 pounds before I officially started WW, so I am down about 15 pounds total since the spring. Yes, it feels great to be down, but having worked so hard, especially in the last month, it makes it hard to feel like I am making real progress.

This week I was extremely annoyed when the scale went up 0.2 pounds. I worked out really hard and I ran my fastest 5K yet (sub 14:00 min mile!) and the scale didn't show that progress. I know I didn't gain weight so it wasn't fat registering on the scale BUT it felt like I was moving backward, rather than forward. Sigh...

I know I just need to stick with it and it will come off eventually. Like everyone else, I'm just impatient and want to see result now! Until then, I guess I will have to ignore the scale and keep eating right, tracking, and being active.

Source: itsuxtobefat.com via It Sux To Be Fat on Pinterest

Until later, happy running!
Jamie