Weigh in: Snackalicious

Happy Friday! It’s a busy Friday for me today. I went at 9:30 to my Weight Watchers meeting, and then I have to go to job #1 (I clean a bar twice a week) and then to training at 2 for my new job. Then Mr. Gaunt and I are going to have a little date night and go to Lynden Antique and Craft Show. It’s the start of the Holiday Bazaar and craft show season…YAY!!!!

I posted yesterday that I thought I wouldn’t be able to go to the 9:30 meeting because I was supposed to have training at 9, but my boss moved it to two. Today was my week 5, and I lost:

-2.6 lbs.

Holla! That’s exciting because I almost thought about skipping this weeks meeting because I was SURE I hadn’t lost any weight. That puts me at 11.4 pounds lost in 5 weeks. Maybe a little slower than I would prefer, but I can’t complain. I’m loving going to the weekly meetings, event if they are old and fuddy duddy. They hold me accountable, and that what matters.

Today’s topic was on snacking. More specifically, late night snacking. This isn’t something I have a HUGE problem with, but occasionally give into. Currently I have a pretty good routine of having 15-20 jelly beans (4 points) every night while watching an episode of whatever show we are into. I love it. I also started making my own Jelly bean mixes at the grocery store, so I don’t have to have any cinnamon or buttered popcorn, or tutti fruity.  Other late night snacks I enjoy are fruit, a healthy mini muffin (that I bake at the beginning of the week) or some popcorn. We flat-out don’t have any cookies, cake, chips, or delicious crackers anywhere in our house, because these are RED LIGHT foods.

In WW they talk about the three types of food:

RED LIGHT: Usually unhealthy. You can’t stop from eating too much. Shouldn’t be kept in the house (Potato chips, homemade cookies, croissants)

YELLOW LIGHT: Not super healthy, You can usually resist them, but they are a slippery slope into RED LIGHT territory. (pita chips, pizza, turkey jerkey, wine)

GREEN LIGHT:  Healthy food. You only eat when you are hungry and can stop when you are full. STOCK UP! (Fruit, healthy baked goods, lean meats, oats)

 

Some people in my meeting were talking about how while you watch TV you are bombarded with food commercials. I kind of forgot about this, as we cancelled our cable 2 years ago, and only watch Netflix (instant watch through our xbox) I never see commercial, ever. It’s sooo nice. We also recently have been watching gory TV shows (The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad) which are fairly un-appetizing, and do not make me want to snack.

Other tricks people said were to brush your teeth, take a night time class, and clean your whole kitchen so there are no leftovers to nibble on, and it feels like the KITCHEN IS CLOSED.

This weeks goals for me are: Stay away from all unhealthy foods at my new job, and make 2% or non fat lattes ONLY. (we have Edamame, eggs, whole wheat bagels, carrot sticks, hummus, and a few other things at work, which would be good choices). Also to move more, bake some healthy treats. Make a crockpot roast for the week, and keep moving while hanging around the house by cleaning and doing other chores.

This pic was taken yesterday, not today.

Weigh In: Slow and Steady Wins the Race?

I actually went to my weigh in yesterday, but my day was so insanely busy (INSANELY!) that I wasn’t home for more than 30 minutes to actual sit down to write a post. So here I am at the butt crack of dawn…HA! Joking, it’s 10am…lol. Writing my meeting post. I actually had meant to go to weigh in on Thursday, but ended up waking up late, and then doing some work for my new boss, so it was bumped to Friday. This weeks weight loss results are:

-1 lb

Uh, lame, again. I apparently am going to lose this weight VERY slowly, which I suppose is fine, but I also suppose its super-duper annoying. Like every week, my goal will be to lose 2 pounds, and up my physical activity. HOPEFULLY I will actually start working at my new job sometime this next week, and working (on my feet) will help me burn more calories, and lose a little faster.

It is now 6 weeks till Thanksgiving! I’m not sure I mentioned it, but my mom, Mr. Gaunt and me are doing our own little “THANKSGIVING JEAN CHALLENGE” to help motivate us. None of us love the way any of our jeans fit, so we are all hoping to lose enough weight that either we can wear a previously too tight pair of jeans, or (like myself) buy a new cute pair of jeans. Some might think it seems…uncomfortable to wear jeans to Thanksgiving, and it is! IF you eat too much. therefore the hope is that the jeans will also keep us in check, and not throw away all our hard work with a day (or a few days) of binge eating. Needless to say I would like to take off 10 more pounds by Thanksgiving. This might mean I have to really push myself. FRUITS and VEGGIES galore!

This weeks meeting topic was:

HOW TO HAVE FUN WITH FRIENDS WITHOUT EATING!

Which is a hard thing. This last week I did go to my friend Manda’s house and baked (decadent) cupcakes with her. Then I ate 1 cupcake and left the rest at her house. Although this is not exactly having fun without food, I did see it as a good choice. I got to hang out with my friend, and bake (which I love to do). I got to eat 1 yummy treat, but there was no option to have 3 or 4 or more treats! I never had to look at those amazing cupcakes ever again! Yay!

I’m definitely someone who likes to eat with friends AND share a bottle (or 2) of wine, and it’s something I KNOW I have to work on. Currently though, I’m working on doing fun things with Mr. Gaunt and not eating, as I really don’t hang out with my friends THAT often.

Things I suggest you do (and have actually done myself):

-Hiking/Walking

-Washing your car (inside and out)

-Go thrift shopping (no food, and we can be there for hours and only spend a few dollars!)

-Go wander around a new small town

-Deep clean something (garage, spare room, closets)

-Paint your moms kitchen (did this last week!)

-Carve Pumpkins

-Work in the yard

-Go Antiquing

-Decorate for the Holidays

-Paint some furniture

-Scrapbook

-Walk to the library

-Make a fall wreathe

-Reupholster a chair

Painting my moms kitchen last week

Things THEY suggest (that I think are little too obvious, and would rarely do)

-Take a dance class

-Ride a tandem bike

-Take a workout class

-Take up tennis

-Run/walk a race

-Play golf

-Volunteer

-Go on a nature walk

-Go hunting. huh?

-Go Swimming

Anyway, you get the idea. Move more, eat less, and have fun while you are doing it. Duh. Easier said than done. I also encourage volunteering to bring snacks or drinks to events with your friends, so you know they are healthy.

Oh and my sister died my hair a little darker for fall! Yay! Thanks Tay!

Weekend plans are to decorate the front porch for Halloween, carve pumpkins, and work on our new website for our business. Other goals involve NOT eating bad food, going on a fall walk or two, and NOT spending any money. Ugh 1 month of being unemployed today, which means I am absolutely DYING poor. Finger crossed I start making money soon, otherwise I’ll be decorating a cardboard box that I will be living in.

Weight In: Writing it Down

Happy Thursday!

It’s been a busy morning for me. I went to my WW meeting at 9:30 and realized it was at 10:30, so I went to Walmart (which I NEVER do, but it’s across the street) and stocked up on some healthy baking supplies! I hate Walmart, but man for basics like Whole Wheat Flour, and Pumpkin Pie spice, their prices can’t be beat! If I only go there twice a year, it can’t be too bad. I also got some cheap pumpkin spice candles which I’m burning as we speak. Sorry Yankee Candles, $19 for a jar candle vs $4, there really inst a comparison for an unemployed gal like myself.

Then I went and met my mom at a local event venue to discuss with the owners the possibility of starting a catering company in their kitchen. It looks like everything is a go, and we will just need to get the Health dept’s approval. We are hoping to some company holiday parties!

After that was lunch at The Daisy Cafe (try their Curry Salad!), and a trip to the shoe store to try on some Danskos. I’m thinking of getting a pair for when I work weddings, they are $120 though, so I really have to think about it.

Now I’m at home, in my Costco Sherpa, with my fall candle burning, looking up a healthy cookie recipe. I think I’m going to try this one tonight, maybe this one.

Oh right, back to my weight watchers meeting! In slightly underwhelming news I lost exactly the same as last week:

 

-1.2 lbs

 

I’m definitely a little disappointed, not because I thought I lost more, but because I feel I SHOULD be loosing more. I’m staying within my points, and I’m moving more…grrr. However I ALWAYS want to pat myself on the back! I didn’t gain, I have now lost 7.8lbs in 3 weeks, which is good, and I feel great. I feel motivated, and happy, and satisfied. So I wont dwell on the number, I will just feel good that I’m three weeks in and still putting along!

It was kind of boring today at our meeting. Our instructions for last week were to bring in a weeks worth of tracking (I printed mine from my WW e-tools) and then we got in groups and discussed them. The person’s tracker we got had eaten small portions of high fat foods, like macaroni, fish n chips, and crab salad. They also showed no signs of activity. I don’t know if they have lost weight, but I definitely didn’t learn anything positive from their week.

Looking over my own weeks, I can see there are many days I don’t eat as many points as I should. I also have been eating larger meals with no (other than fruit)snacking, as opposed to small meals all day. I have been snacking on fruit, and having 20 jellybeans every other evening for dessert. On days when I don’t drink a latte, I have more points leftover. On days when I have wine, I might have to skip a meal, which is sort of stupid.  Overall though I feel like I’m doing pretty good.

And of course the most important lesson is simply to write down what you eat. Your brain will not properly remember how much you have consumed. You should have it all written down, so at dinner time, you know if you can have the glass of wine, or those jelly beans, no guessing. I really recommend everyone do it for at least 1 week straight.

Next weeks topic is FRIENDS WITHOUT FOOD! As well as how to pamper or reward yourself without food. Think about it. I would also like to lose a solid 2 pounds this week.

SIDE NOTE: All the older ladies today were talking about how Carmel Rice Cakes are the BEST dessert. I have NOTHING in common with these women. If I never eat another rice cake in my life, I will be happy. Also the Katy Perry Movie is awesome, you should watch it.

 

Weigh in: 8 Weeks Till Thanksgiving!

What the what?!

8 Weeks until Thanksgiving! That’s coming up fast! My poor fall weather will be in and out before we know it! Sad day. I LOOOOOVE fall. Today after my Weight Watchers meeting I walked (yeah usually I would drive through the drive-through) across the parking lot, and ordered a “non fat pumpkin, spice? pie? whatever yah got that tastes like pumpkin” <—Imthatgirlinthefall. Needless to say DESPITE going on vacation and eating all kind of delicious foods, I still managed to lose:

-1.2 lbs

Huzzah! That’s also pretty awesome because with a big loss like last week of 5.4 lbs, in can be hard to follow that with another loss. Anyone who watches The Biggest Loser knows the DREADED WEEK 2 can strike, often resulting in a gain. So VACATION+WEEK2 = 1.2lb LOSS = ME A HAPPY GAL!

Next week I’m shooting for a solid 2lb loss, 10,000 steps every day, and at least 1 new physical activity with Mr. Gaunt.

Oh! I just remember on top of all that, yesterday my new job had Espresso training, plus they are in the process of deciding which baked goods to sell, so they wanted us to do a taste test. SERIOUSLY FOLKS! See Proof:

That’s me in the background with some SERIOUS BITCH FACE happening.

But in the foreground you see lots and lots of pastries (there are tons more not in the photo, and this was AFTER we had taste tested them). Anyway when we first got there and she started unpacking all the treats I really debated saying “Oh I can’t, I don’t eat that stuff” but what I know about Weight Watchers, is that they encourage you to face real life decisions with control and thought. So I took about 6 different items, items I had never tried (I’m not going to taste test a bagel or a croissant when I already know what they taste like) and I sat down. I then meticulously took one SMALL bite from each one, followed by a sip of water, and gave my opinion. GOOD, DRY, YUCKY, FANTASTIC. Then I put my plate that was full of one bite samples behind me, and never looked back.  I was one of the few people who actually gave an opinion and didn’t just eat them all and say YUM! I also was the only one who had a plate full of samples after I was done. Everyone else just ate big plates full. I felt really proud of myself. YO GO GLEN COCO!

On to today’s Weight Watcher meeting topic: 8 Weeks till Thanksgiving.

If you lost 2 pounds every week, you could lose 16 pounds by Thanksgiving! Holla! That’s what I’m shooting for. This weeks challenge is to write down everything you eat, and all the exercise you do for a whole week. Then at the end of the week we are going to submit our logs (with a made up name. Which once again to prove the “oldness” of this meeting, they all made jokes about using Della Street from Perry Mason as their fake name….seriously. I plan on using Suri Cruise…obviously) and then we go over/critique the logs. Did this person use their activity points correctly? Did they eat at the right times? Where were they consuming too much sugar? That sort of stuff. I’m looking forward to seeing what other people eat.

And as my personal goal (like I said above) to find one new physical activity to do. Preferably a hike that we haven’t been on. I’m making Mr. Gaunt research this.

Last someone in my meeting suggested picking out a Thanksgiving outfit now, that is maybe a little too small, and make it your goal to fit into it perfectly by Thanksgiving! Love it!

Have a Happy Friday!

 

 

Weigh in and Weekends

It’s almost the weekend! Which is silly for me to be excited about, because I don’t even have a job lol. BUT BUT BUT! This weekend we are going away for our anniversary, so it’s something to look forward to!

Ignore my greasy hair and no make up, kthanks. It also looks like I’m talking on an imaginary telephone…which I am…duh.

Today I went to my Weight Watchers meeting. I went 1 day early because we are leaving tomorrow morning, and I have stuff to do. So I hauled my yoga pant clad ass across town to Weight Watchers, and waited in line (oh my god why is it so hard for adults to properly create a line?) to find out I lost…

5. 4 Pounds!   <— Week one’s are always like this.

Yay!

The leader of the meeting is the same leader from last week, who I REALLY don’t care for. I don’t connect with her, and I find her annoying.  This meeting however did have at least 3 women in their 30s, so that was nice. Although there were some women in their 80’s too, which makes me so sad to think that women in their EIGHTIES are still struggling with their weight. I guess I would have the “you only have a few good years left, live em up!” <— thisiswhyyourfat. Hmmm. Needless to say I want to find a different leader who I like, at a different time, but I’ll probably wait until I know my new job schedule.

This weeks topic was WEEKEND MAKEOVER, focusing on things you can do to make your weekends more weight loss productive. So many people think of Weekends as their free-pass, and the week as their “strict time” where they stay on track. According to “somebody who researches this stuff” The average American eats 115 extra calories on the weekends, equaling 17,490 calories a year, or 5 pounds of weight. I’m willing to bet, it’s even more for a lot of folks.

So we discussed how to limit your beer (there was even discussion on how many points are in O’Doul’s Non Alcoholic Beer…ugh, I hate this group, the answer is 2 points, I looked it up on my iphone while they all pondered, GET SMART PHONES PEOPLE!) and wine intake, how to watch your football game snacking, and how you should just move more. CHECK CHECK CHECK! I have no plans to mess up my work this weekend! We will be finding entrainment in the great outdoors, not food and alcohol!

SIDE NOTE!

As I was writing this post UPS showed up and delivered this:

It’s a birthday/Christmas gift from my mother in law! IN ICE FREAKING BLUE! (or as I like to refer to it: Tiffany Blue, or Martha Blue). Oh she is such a beauty. I can not wait to bake a million treats (and give them away…obviously) this winter! We want to get the pasta roller or Ravioli attachment (So we can make our own whole grain pasta!) and the ice cream maker (so we can make our own frozen yogurt!). Seriously I feel like my life as a housewife (ha ha ha) is complete! What more could I need? Oh…maybe a kid or two, I’m working on it! Jeez!
Thanks Deborah!!! It’s seriously amazing! I’ll bake yah a pie when you come out for Thanksgiving!

For the rest of the weekend I have auto-scheduled posts of our wedding photos! Which I never even posted last year because I’m lazy, and it took 12 weeks for us to get them, so I lost interest. Enjoy.

 

Working For?

I got a new job! Yay! It wont really start until mid October, but I’m excited. It’s a pretty awesome job, and I’m very much looking forward to working there, however when they offered me a super low hourly wage, I definitely had to think about it. I talked it over with my mom and with Mr. Gaunt, and we all agreed that for me, the opportunity to do something I really like, be appreciated, and have flexibility in my schedule trumps poor pay. I know a lot of people wouldn’t have accepted the salary, but I’ve always been someone who prioritizes quality of life, personal happiness, free time and creativity over money. It’s why I’m always poor, but also get to do a lot of things I really like, and get to spend a lot of time with my family. This new job also has some opportunities for my personal business, including giving me a ton of free time in the summer to focus on weddings. It will also probably be a job that would work around a pregnancy/babies in the future, and that is very valuable to any mom! I wont be talking about the name of this business on my blog (for privacy and professional reasons) but if you know me in real life feel free to ask, it’s not a secret. (:

In weight loss news, I have been soooo good all week! No slipping up, no feelings of hunger, and lots of moving! Yesterday I hit 9,100 steps on my Pedometer! Today I’m at 7,000 and I accidentally left it at home while I ran a bunch of errands, so I’m at way more. I even made the conscious decision to park at the back of a parking lot and walk further, go me! I have my first weigh in tomorrow, hopefully it goes well.

EASY HEALTHY DINNER OF THE WEEK:

-Whole Grain (or low carb) bow tie pasta

-Olive Oil

-Fresh Zucchini

-Cilantro

-Fresh tomatoes

-Garlic

-Parmesan

-Salt, Pepper, and Red Pepper Flakes