The Healthy Tales

Archive for the ‘weight loss’ Category

We all have that ah ha moment when it finally hits us that we need to get serious about a goal. It doesn’t have to be regarding weight or health but I would wager that at least 50% of the time it hasto do with a weight or health issue. 

I had my ah ha moment in the month of June.

It actually happened twice.

I was asked if I was pregnant.

Twice.

Talk about embarassing and a shot to one’s ego.

So not what I wanted to hear.

So here I am.

Trying to stay on the bandwagon.

Trying to eat better and exercise regularly.

I’m  not sure if I can handle another question about how fat my stomach has gotten.

Does the calorie count really make a difference when you are eating in a restaurant? Is it truly necessary to put the calorie counts on the menu? Buried deep down in the Health Care bill, there is a requirement that any restaurant with over 20 locations must include the calorie count on their menu. Is seeing the calorie count really going to make a difference when people read the menu and order their meal?

As someone who has been on Weight Watchers off and on for the past 6 years, I already have a good idea on what the average calories are in each menu item at select restaurants. For those I don’t know specifically, I can pretty much guess a “points” range. To me, eating out is a special treat that my husband and I have once or twice a week. Since I am pretty strict with my diet every other meal/day of the week, when I go out I fully expect to indulge with menu items. So I don’t really care how many calories are in my beer or boneless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. I am there to treat myself and forget the nutritional values – that is save for other meals. I can see how people would like this change if they ate out more frequently each week.

So what do you think? Are you excited about this change? Indifferent? Mad?

Today I rejoined Weight Watchers.  I didn’t officially join in as that would be an extra budget expense I can’t afford right now, but I did “rejoin” at home today with my pen, paper, and the scale.  I hopped on the Wii Fit Balance board to take my Starting Weight and my Wii Fit Age so that I can track my progress along this fun journey.  I am not participating in any challenges right now but I’m hoping to remember to check with the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans in time to sign up for their next challenge. Their normal weekly weigh in is on Wednesday but I feel that stretching it out till Wednesday gives me an excuse to overdo it on the weekend and “fix” things by the time I face the scale again. Normally, that means a 0 weight loss and normally a 0 weight gain each week. Not very motivating as you can see. So I’m just going to be a tad early for the Wednesday Weigh in and try to keep myself on track all week.

So according to the Wii Fit ->
Starting Weight: 153.2
Wii Fit Age: 34 years old

Goal: 1 pound lost in 2 weeks, 10 pounds lost by Thanksgiving. Wii Fit age equal to my current age of 27.

I’ve tried off and on to be a meal planner. In fact, last Christmas, my father found a cute chalkboard to hang in my kitchen to help with my meal planning. At first, I was really good about writing the names of the recipes I wanted to cook that week or in the next two weeks. Then I started slacking off.

Now that we are back from the wedding festivities, honeymoon, and work is slowing down, I want to try and start meal planning again. I read about it on other blogs and in my weekly Weight Watchers meetings as a great way to help keep grocery prices down and lose weight. With everything that has gone on lately, Mike and I need help with both of those things.

So as I sit here on a Sunday night and plan our weekly trip to the grocery store, I want to ask. Do you have any tips or tricks for meal planning? Does meal planning work for you? Have you found any other benefits from planning your meals in advance? How far in advance do you plan?

Think Thin Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Bridgette over on the No So Blog.  I have been participating off and on since November 2008 on my other blog, The Blonde Diaries, but decided that it fits better over on this blog since I’m trying to journal about being healthier and exercising.  I have to admit I can’t remember the last time I participated.  I think subconsciously I have decided to not post unless I’m being good.  Well, that needs to change!  So I am going to vow to participate every week from here on out.  I really have no excuse and with this new blog, I will be able to tell fairly easily if I’ve participated or not since the post count is still a little low.

So let’s get going.  I did weigh myself last Thursday with every intention of blogging about it.  I was at 150.4 per my Wii Fit which is the scale I am using.  This morning’s weigh in had me at 150.1.  So a .3 pound loss.  Not a huge loss but a move in the right direction.  I think eating soup for lunch and light dinners has been working in my favor.  There is also the dvd workout I’m doing – Jillian Michael’s 30 day shred.  I’ve only done 4 days but I am feeling really good doing it.  I was hoping for a larger loss but I have been eating out quite a bit with a friend as she is going through a rough time at work – layoffs and pay cuts.  She’s made it through all of that with just a 5% cut so hopefully things will get better and we will quit meeting up frequently for drinks and gorging on food.

I am hoping to hit 146 before my friend’s wedding on April 25th so it will be back to the gym, more 30 day shred, and running on the treadmill.  I am going to try and trade soup for fish or other protein based meals.  Wish me luck!