Preparation (in pictures)

In my world, preparation is the second key ingredient for success in the fat fight. The first is accountability which I wrote about the other day.

I decided to break these things up into 3 blog posts (you'll have to stay tuned for the 3rd) because each and every part is essential. One doesn't seem to work without the other.

This consulting job was a slap in the face on the preparation front. I was doing little, if any, and now that I have to travel, pack lunch, work 7-4, workout and then cook dinner, there's no other way around it!

I set out to the farmers market on Sunday morning when it opened and just barely beat the ridiculous crowds. I came home with ALL of this for $28. All of it organic except for the clementines.

It makes me ill when I have to buy vegetables somewhere else and pay twice the price for non-organic produce. I just HAVE to make the weekly stop part of the preparation which isn't easy. The place is the size of 2 Walmarts and full (and I mean FULL) of people. I have had to take a xanax to go there on a Saturday.

Now here's where it can go all sorts of wrong. I have the choice to shove all of this in the fridge right away OR wash it and prep it all for the week so it lasts long and is more convenient. The difference is, if I shove it all in the fridge, that's where it will stay, rotting and unused, while we order pizza.

So I washed and prepped it ALL where it's resting comfortably in the fridge in paper towel lined bags. Ready to grab, cook and eat. I need an alternate storage solution - I hate using so many plastic bags but that's going to require a little research. Suggestions are welcome!


Now that I know what I have to work with, the meal planning begins. This is a work in progress shot...

I have a whiteboard calendar on the fridge. It's a month calendar but I only do one week at a time which leaves me room for my lists at all the different stores I have to go to. It's USUALLY color coded but as you'll notice on my target list, I need new dry erase markers :)

Wednesdays dinner will be a treat - our local market cooks weeknight suppers for $7 each. Wednesday is grilled flounder and zucchini. We try to limit them to one night a week since even though it sounds healthy, the chef is not known for low-fat cooking!

The next step is cooking anything that's cook-able in advance.

Jenny O Turkey sausages on the grill

added to 6 eggs (using only 3 yolks)

poured in a muffin pan and mixed with little bit of cheese and baked for 20 minutes

There was LOTS more but I had to stop being a photographer and get to work. I cooked and washed and planned and cleaned for 3 hours. It's NOT easy. It can be fun if you enjoy cooking but it's a serious commitment.

Last night was the big payoff. We've had such a mild winter that there's no excuse not to be outside. I got home at 5 and was able to power walk almost 3 miles with the dogs knowing I had the time since dinner was all ready to go. I can truly say I spent the whole day stress free because of the planning ahead. I'm hoping that lasts the whole week!

My weigh in will be Saturday morning with my sweet and supportive friend Crys who I unexpectedly ran into at my very first Weight Watchers meeting. I'm hoping and praying that putting all of this into action is going to show on the scale!

Back at Weight Watchers

+2 pounds. I can't say I'm too upset after not having been for a month. Next week will be a loss although I'm going to have to do some creative scheduling since I'll be out of town for work the middle of next week. I'll have to decide whether to weigh in before I go or when I get back. Luckily I'm traveling with my 90 pound co-worker who is the healthiest eater I know and also one of my strongest supporters!

Thank you all for your suggestions yesterday on my schedule. I suppose I should have clarified how much my husband does because he deserves some serious props. Not only does he run the dogs twice a day for 30 minutes, he feeds them, empties the dishwasher, does the laundry, starts dinner, mows the grass, waters the garden and so on. I don't want anyone to get the idea that I married someone who doesn't do anything because I would rather be single if that were the case! :) I'm going to start getting up 30 minutes earlier to do some abs and resistance training in the morning and focus on getting my cardio after work.

Speaking of cardio, I did 45 minutes on the treadmill last night for the first time in a very long time. About 15 minutes of that was running and I burned 340 calories. I'm trying at least 300 every workout and alternating treadmill and elliptical each night. So far so good!

This week is going by fast thankfully! Hope you are all doing great!

Weekend recap - Success!

Hang on to your hats kids. This may be my first ever successful 3 day weekend...and I had fun too!

On Friday morning I decided that I would go to a meeting at Weight Watchers to make me strong for the weekend. Even though I weighed in, I wasn't able to get to my usual meeting on Wednesdays. I got a nice surprise on the scale too. I will go into that on Wednesday so stay tuned!

Since it was the start of the holiday weekend, my husband and I both got out of work early and were able to go to the gym together! It was so nice for a change and I was so proud of myself for sticking to my wogging plan even though it was Friday night. I wogged 13 minutes out of 30. 5 minutes continuous. I hope to improve on this everytime. Hooray for the wogging and I'm so glad there are so many others doing it too! Maybe one day we'll be able to actually call it running!

There's a new Fresh Market that is right by the gym so we went there to pick up some dinner. My husband got rotisserie wings and I got some sushi. That place is incredible and will probably make me go to the gym even more!

The rest of the weekend was full of social obligations and I enjoyed some great things like margaritas, lasagna, beer, pizza and even some dessert. Just A LOT less of it. I didn't snack much aside from some microwave popcorn on Friday.

Exercise over the weekend was not purposeful but we had so many projects planned that involved sweat dripping work, I knew I could get away with not going to the gym. Let me tell you that Biggest Loser Yoga has nothing on replacing a garbage disposal. I was more sore from doing that than any workout I've ever done! We also made a new shade garden in the front yard which involved lots of shoveling and hauling and lifting. Again I was literally soaked through with sweat.

Things are definitely changing. I'm learning more about myself than ever and I owe so much of it to this blog. It helps me notice patterns in my successes and failures and both give me knowledge to keep going. I will dive into some of these things throughout the week.

In the meantime, this post is ridiculous long and I want to go catch up on y'alls weekends. Hope everyone had a good one!!

How much did she lose this week?

This box of Franken Berry cereal YUM!
-.6 pounds

I'll admit I'm a little frustrated with the slow weight loss because I've really been pushing myself when it comes to exercise. I've been so sore all week. I owe it all to the weekend eating and drinking and I guess it could have been a lot worse. Still. Going. Down.

Next Wednesday I WILL hit that 5% mark. We have no social obligations this weekend and plan on doing some extra exercise. I'm really seeing the transition happening in our transitional neighborhood and there are lots of fun things going on like a new farmers market and a garden club festival. It would be really nice if the sun would ever decide to shine on a Saturday or Sunday!

Even though I'm down about the slow loss, I had a great NSV today. I feel like I just got engaged because I've been looking at my left hand all morning. My engagement ring fits again!!! I haven't worn it in well over a year and it's so embarrassing when people ask me why I don't wear a ring! I'd almost rather say my husband was too cheap to buy me one than admit it doesn't fit! That wouldn't be fair to him though because he did indeed buy me this gorgeous ring from the Orkney Islands off the Northeast cost of Scotland. He was so happy to see me wearing it again and I promised him I would add the wedding band for my next goal. It's very wide and hard to bend my finger if it's even a little tight.

My husband is going out tonight and I get to have whatever I want for dinner. Immediately I was dreaming of all the delicious things I could enjoy alone at home in front of the TV. The world of drive-thrus awaited! In reality, I'm starting my new week by going to my water aerobics class followed by a trip to Fresh Market for some sushi.

Things are really changing. There wasn't a question as to whether or not I would blow it out during my alone time. The answer was no right away...not even a small argument with myself!

why I hate the scale

I just posted yesterday about how I WILL hit my 5% goal this week but so far the scale is not cooperating. I actually hit that goal on Friday but my official Weight Watchers weigh in is tomorrow and If it stays this way I will have a gain! This just goes to show me how much damage a weekend of drinking can do. Beyond the hangover!

I'm mad at myself for caring so much about what the scale says. Especially when I'm feeling so good about all my progress recently. Yesterday I was practically falling asleep at my desk and never thought I would make it to the gym but I made myself go. It was a great class and my butt, hips and arms are on fire today. Today, even though I woke up sore, I got up at 6 and walked the dogs anyway. It was a beautiful morning and I'm proud of myself for not using soreness as an excuse. More than anything, I just love not having to struggle to put my clothes on. I could even put my jeans on right now without unbuttoning them!

Part of my brain thinks I should only weigh in once a week and forget about it the rest of the week. The other part of my brain knows I need the knowledge I gain about how my body handles different foods and different amounts of exercise. Maybe I'm just over thinking it all because I have a specific goal. Before I joined Weight Watchers, I don't think I ever set goals for myself. Even when I lost 100 pounds. I know the goals WW sets for me are good for me - obviously they are making me work harder and I look forward to the little rewards we get. This is all new to me and I don't want to turn it into an obsession!

So excited for Biggest Loser finale tonight. I'm kinda hoping Tara wins!

The week ahead

Good lord that was a quick weekend! I could really use another day or five.

Successes over the weekend:
• Walking 3 miles on Friday night on major hills.
• Eating only half of my chicken Enchiladas at the Mexican restaurant Saturday.
• Doing extra hill walking and running around with the dogs at mom's in the mountains on Sunday.
• Shopped and prepped for the week despite all my social obligations.

UN-successes over the weekend:
• Drinking too much
• A few too many delicious mom treats

As for the week ahead, I will being going to my water aerobics class tonight, Wednesday, and Friday. Lucy (the crazy puppy) ran into my knee from the side at full force. It feels better today but I'm going to be careful with it so I thought the water would be a good idea. The other 2 days I hope to do 30 minutes walking/jogging in the morning and the same again after work. I'm hoping my water aerobics class is enough resistance training for now because It's actually enjoyable in the water!

This is the week I WILL hit my first big Weight Watchers goal which is 5% so stay tuned for the Wednesday weigh in! Have a great week everyone!

How much did she lose this week?

I know y'all will be extremely disappointed but I'm taking the day off from my official weigh in because I have been


partying with my peeps!

I don't plan on making this a habit but I feel relaxed and happy today and I know where I stand so I'm skipping a week.

I did get on the scale this morning and I'm up 3 pounds but hopefully after a day or two of really clean eating, I will be at least back where I was. I have my gym bag packed and I'm ready for a good class tonight. It's amazing how just a few days off makes me dread going back but there will be no excuses. Even though I'd rather be in my garden.

In other news, I've discovered I love organic soy milk coffee creamer from Trader Joes and have finally ditched my chemical-laden coffee mate sugar free vanilla. The coffee tastes great and it's probably going to save me some money.

I got this comment on my last post from MizFit

We missed you.
And have totally saved you a seat here up front.

By the driver.
So it is waaay harder to fall off.

xo xo,

The Wagon

I needed that so much today. Thank you for saving my seat. I'm now in it. Next to the driver. Strapped in and giving directions :)

How much did she lose this week?

A giant sized bag of M&M's

-1.2 pounds!

I'm thrilled to see that number since I usually gain 5 the week of my period. I'll take it!

In other good news:
• I got my 10lb. sticker. 10.4 pounds total on WW (as noted in my side bar)
• I'm 3 pounds away from my 5% goal.
• I earned 19 activity points and used none of them.
• My husband is half a pound away from onederland, wearing pants out of his skinny clothes bin, down two notches on his belt and the doc said he's younger now than he was 2 years ago.

Scary news? I lost 2 points after hitting the 10lb. mark. I haven't been using all my points anyway so hopefully it won't be too hard to adjust. I finally bought a food scale so it's much easier to control portions now.

Would I be happier with more? Yes of course but I'm following in the footsteps of my blog heroes who have done this 2 pounds a week thing successfully. It adds up and it adds up fast. The scale is going DOWN, it's not staying the same or going up. I was disappointed on the Biggest Loser last night how a 3 or 4 lb weight loss was something to be ashamed about. I know it's a TV show but they have a responsibility to their audience to at least mention that "regular people" should not expect to lose that much and that a healthy weight loss is 2lbs per week. I stopped watching it for a long time but I'm hooked again. BLERG!

Back to the pool again tonight! I'm looking forward to a good workout with the better instructor!!

How much did she lose this week?

Why it was this lovely laptop.
-2.6 pounds!

I'm thrilled about it considering my boredom binge. This just proves to me that this getting right back on track thing works and I haven't been able to do that well until Weight Watchers. The accountability to them and to y'all has really helped too!

I'm going to the pub tonight AFTER my water aerobics class to watch Scotland play and I hate that this place doesn't have their menu online. I like to be prepared these days! Oh well at least I'm going to my class first. Normally I would have skipped my class to allow more time at the pub but I'm committed to this exercise thing. I'll just go straight there with wet hair :)

I love the Jillian Michaels podcasts! I listened to almost a full one on my hour drive home last night. So much less frustrating than the news or the stupid satellite radio stations that play the same song over and over. She is very easy to listen to and she has a lot of great advice. It also gave me something to think about other than my ever growing road rage.

Last thing is Jen from Prior Fat Girl is giving away Pop Chips. These things are amazing if you haven't tried them. Trader Joes has their own brand but this brand has more varieties of flavors. I would love to win these!

Boredom Binge

Blogging has made me so much more aware of my feelings about food and why I have a problem controlling my eating. I don't consider myself a true binge eater because I don't consume mass quantities of things when I binge. Just lots of variety!

I was bored bored bored this weekend. The weather was awful and I was super lazy which led to a comatose grocery shopping trip and way too much bad food. I ate so much crap that I ruined my sleep in Sunday morning with horrible stomach pains. Just because I was bored and lazy.

This is getting serious. I have NEVER been lazy. I normally love to clean and do house projects all weekend not to mention all the other weekend type things like long walks and meeting friends in the pub.

I've gone through a list of reasons why I feel this way so I'm putting them all down here so maybe I can address them one by one. Some things I can control and some things I can't (like the weather)

a. weather has been awful every weekend and I tend to get depressed from lack of sun.
b. the bout of flu I had
c. I'm on meds for anxiety/depression that may need to be changed. Do they stop working after a few years I wonder?
d. lack of exercise
e. too much sleep (I have no kids) :)
f. I work a lot of hours and I'm getting older
g. all of the above

That's an overwhelming list to me and I'm not sure where to start. I know I feel best when I'm exercising so I'm committing to that this week. Pool tonight then up early tomorrow morning for BL Yoga. (that counts for 2 since it's exercise and sleeping less). I'm also making extra effort to be happy today and am going to sit in the sun for lunch today! I also need to go get a physical so I will put that on my list of calls to make today. Ugh. Scale at the doctors. I've been avoiding you.

See? I already developed a plan just by writing it down. Another thing my mom was right about.

All I can do about my binge is get right back on track and try to undo any damage done with eating clean and exercising this week. There was no way I was going to face the scales this morning. I will wait until my weigh in at the WW meeting on Wednesday.

Have a great week everyone!!