Changes, Updates, and Planning

So I finally found that sneaky motivation that has been MIA this fall. No idea where it was, but I'm going to go with inside that thanksgiving turkey :-) Or maybe I just got tired of seeing bigger numbers on the scale. My full on recognition came on Sunday, when I was hiking. It made me realize 1. How much I missed hiking with my sisters, and 2. that I'm not done yet. I want to get fitter, healthier, thinner. I still have a ways to go, and I need to start doing better again, for real. Not just talking about it. I need to get strict again.

One thing I never understood was the mentality of "you can eat whatever you want on weight watchers". Because when I do that, I don't lose. I think WW was great for teaching me that I didn't have to starve myself, but it also taught me about making choices, and limiting indulgences to when they are actual indulgences, or treats. And not just something I eat everyday. When I was doing well on WW, I was only eating dessert 2-3 times a week. I was only drinking 2X a week, and one of those times was 1-2 beers. I would eat my hamburger topless (hehehe), without the top bun, and portion things out ahead of time, so that I wouldn't accidentally eat more than a serving size. To me, that isn't eating anything I want. That's following a plan and restricting yourself, however slightly, to make effective change.

I understand what the saying means, it was just always something that never registered with me, because to me, effective weight loss is restricting certain things, and following a plan. And that is what I'm getting back to. Portioning out food, planning ahead, limiting "treats"

So in that realm, here are some changes  I'm making:

•  To keep me accountable, I'll be posting the following:
• A weekly post on either Monday or Tuesday which will review my weekend, and plan ahead for the week!
• Recipe Reviews on either Sundays or Wednesdays
• Weighing In On Thursdays, which I will post every Thursday (with a better name)

I'm really excited for this! I'm also getting a new phone (Samsung Infuse I think?) Either next week or the week after, so the amount of pictures I post will increase. like a lot. :-)

And I have some updates as well...
-Thanksgiving was great. I combated the dreading snacking by going to see the Muppetts with my sisters. Great movie, family bonding, what more could you ask for? The food was amazing too, and we had so much left over! My mom gave us giant ham steaks (bc my dad doesn't eat turkey, so naturally she bought an entire ham) so we have been using them to go along with our breakfasts (cut up of course)

-I managed to work out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Sunday's workout was a whopping 865 calories, thanks to a 2 hour hike. I felt so awesome afterwards. Oh , and guess who left her HRM at the bottom of her laundry basket. Best find ever!

- I did no shopping this weekend. Well that's a lie, I bought clothing for myself. Whoops. Now I'm onto holiday mode. And I have no freaking idea what to get anyone. But this is rare, normally I do all my shopping online this weekend, and I'm pretty much set for the holidays.

-I made an eggplant parm soup last night after dinner. From scratch (like boiled boullion to make stock). It was way more work than I had hoped for, so hopefully it's tasty! But I'm excited to have so much of it- Lunch for the week for Matt and I!

-I've updated my financial and weight loss goal pages on here, for once. I'm back to hard core budgeting (I knew November would be a wash with all the moving) and work out goals. Lets get it!

Plan for week
Day	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Lunch	Turkey BLT	Eggplant Parm Soup with slice of french bread>>>
Dinner	Buffalo Chicken Bites with roasted pot/veg	cheesy taco pasta	brats w/ aspara	1/4 lb burger, sweet pot fries, veggie	steak stir fry
workout	rest	1/2 cardio (elipt) and 1/2 strenght	yoga/video (morning?)	cardio (run/walk), strength	morning yoga

Happy Tuesday! Now if only my sinus issues would go away!

+2.2

I jumped on the scale Friday morning. I was up 2.2 from last week. Which I obviously expected. But I won't lie, I wished that I would miraculously be under last week, just because life wanted to reward me for my vacation victories and enjoying myself (now, wouldn't it be awesome if life rewarded you for just enjoying yourself?)

Ah well. Moving on. I know what I could have done better (a lot!). I also know that I had a blast, and needed the break (see previous post). I can't get hung up on the scale, it was only one week, right?

The past weekend my friends A and D came up from Jersey to visit my other friend A and I! The four of us (plus a bunch of others who couldn't make it this weekend) were in London together, and a good time happens whenever they come to visit, this time was no different. Lots of fun, lots of laughing, and lots of me missing our time together in London. Love those girls and love when they come visit! The only downer was I ended up having to babysit saturday night, and my friend A ended up having to go home to see her family, so I felt awful leaving them by themselves. Thankfully M (who really earned his brownie points with me this weekend) came through and met up with them for me, and bar hopped with them. I have never been so thankful to have such a kick-ass boyfriend as I was on Saturday. I was so stressed out with everything (we went to the bruins parade, so some of them had been drinking since noon, and were in rough shape by 6 when I left) and just knowing that my friends were having a great time and not left stranded in the city helped enormously. But enough of that gush :-)




How cute are they? this is them on the busride up friday!

 
All in all, a good weekend.  I did have a plan this weekend though. Did I stick with it perfectly? nope. But I finished the week out tracking everything and making decent choices. I only drank one night (Saturday night I had to babysit, so I missed the bar hopping part and didn't get to meet up with them until close to 1am), and then limited my drinks considerably. I did snack a lot, but I tracked it to the best of my abilities, and can say that I'm still in a pretty good place this week. Now for a weekend after a gain, I definetly could have done better. I did walk a ton (all around boston, I felt it both mornings) but I didn't get to the elusive gym. And I was a bit lax with my WW choices (ginger chicken udon actually turned out to be a relatively healthy choice, as did the turkey burger I had for lunch Saturday), but I didn't just throw caution to the wind and go crazy either.

I also have my first not crazy week in about a month coming up this week. I actually have time to relax, and really focus on my weight loss journey.  And I fully plan on taking advantage of it. Here is my plan (in addition to healthy eating and minimal snacking):
M- gym- 35-40 minutes eliptical, strength training
T- running outside (probably at the beach so just 2 miles)
W- gym- running inside, strength
Thursday- day off

Where I haven't (confessional) worked out consistently in a few weeks, I figure three days on and then a day off are a great start. I have worked out, don't get me wrong. But it's been varied, and not nearly as intense as what I was doing a few weeks back. I'm getting back into it, break time is over! I miss how I felt when I worked out regularly. I slept better, I felt thinner (which was all mental but still), and I was less tempted all the time. I am determined to get below 200, and closer to my goal. And now that life is calming down after graduations, vacations and friend visits, I have the opportunity to focus on myself once again. Life will always get in the way, and it's ok to not be as intense with my system sometimes. I don't want to get to the point where I feel like I have to give up everything just to work out and be healthy. There has to be that balance between the fun and the work. It's my enternal struggle :-)