On a roll?

No, not a roll with butter and jam. ;) I've successfully completed my fourth straight day on-plan.

OK, I admit to not getting any exercise today. I slept in until noon and then had to make lunch and get ready for work. I was going to head home for my lunch break at 6:30 so I could sneak in a short walk before it got dark, but didn't manage to leave until 7.

Still, today's food choices couldn't have been much better. I'm allowed 25 Points and I ate 25 Points ... unless I head home and make myself a small after-work snack. Even then I'll be at about 27 Points.

For dinner, I tried something new. I had leftover butter beans in the fridge, so I made some whole wheat penne, then sauteed some garlic with the beans. I added a tomato (seeded and chopped) and some basil.

It was delicious — and filling. It's amazing how much better I feel when I'm eating good, healthy foods. When I'm eating crap, I eat a lot more and don't feel nearly as satisfied.

Anyway, here's the recipe. Sorry the picture turned out blurry.



Garlicky Beans with Pasta

2 oz. whole wheat penne

1/2 cup butter beans, with juice

3 cloves garlic (I love garlic)

1 tomato, seeded and diced

sprinkle fresh basil

1 Morningstar Farms Italian Sausage link

2 tsp RF Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

In same pan, heat beans and garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the tomato and basil. Stir pasta back into the pot. (It should absorb the bean liquid pretty quickly.)

While beans are cooking, cook sausage link according to microwave directions. Cut up and add to pot.

Serve in bowl with cheese sprinkled on top.

Serves 1. 8 WW Points.

Another good day

I'm back ... really back!

That's right. It was another good, OP day for me — the third in a row. I had a great lunch (grilled shrimp and veggies over whole wheat couscous for 7 Points), a Frapuccino light & 100-calorie pack of cookies as an afternoon snack, and some cheese before dinner.

Dinner was some whole wheat pasta with spaghetti sauce and a veggie Italian sausage link and a serving of sherbet was in order after dinner. My evening snack (one of Roni's banana oatmeal cups) put me at 26 Points (one more than the 25 I'm now allowed).

I also took a 20-minute walk. I know, I should be getting 60 minutes of exercise ... but I'll have to build up to that. I'm out of shape after taking so much time off. The walk I finished was exhausting enough.

I'm still not happy about being back in the 200s. In fact, I'm rather ticked off. But like I said earlier, it's my own damn fault.

I was watching an episode of Dr. Phil today, the second of two focusing on "the Ultimate Fat Debate." Among the panelists were Kelly Osbourne (who has apparently lost 42 pounds), Jillian Michaels and some trainer wearing a "No Chubbies" T-shirt who kept saying that fat people were that way by choice — they chose not to exercise and to eat poorly.

Naturally, the fat people on the panel took offense. I took offense. But there's some truth to his message. There are a lot of choices to be made — and until very recently, I've been making all the wrong ones.

I've been doing what's easy instead of what's right. It's easy to grab a drive-thru dinner and sit on my butt. It's right to cook my own meals (even if it takes away from my writing time) and get some exercise (ditto).

Being fat doesn't make me a bad person, and there's no moral imperative for me to lose weight. I won't automatically be happier because I'm thin. However, I will be healthier ... and healthy and happy often go hand in hand.

It'll be more fun to shop for clothes, too. ;)

I need to take Jillian's advice and start pushing myself out of my comfort zone. A 20-minute walk is better than nothing, but a 30-minute walk would be even better.

Ask and you shall receive

Just last night, I was lamenting the fact that my week was activity-free and I vowed to earn at least a few Activity Points this week.

This morning, Tina over at Carrots N Cake served up her 2010 Yoga Challenge.

I love yoga whenever I bother to do it. In fact, every time I make it to a class, I think to myself, "What took you so long?" So of course I jumped right on Tina's challenge bandwagon.

Yep, that's me: Comment # 41. I said I wanted to make yoga a regular part of my life this month — at least three times a week.

To get me started, I borrowed a Web site from one of the comments above me, yogadownload.com. I was worried it'd be expensive, but all the 20-minute classes are free. I'm going to download one and get started just as soon as I finish this post.

Perhaps exercise will help me budge the scale faster.

Yes, this morning's encounter with the scale was a bit disappointing. I know I shouldn't complain, having dropped from 198 to 193.2. That's down 4.8 pounds!

However, last Friday the scale was at 190.8 ... so 193.2 is a disappointment, especially after an in-control weekend.

Oh well. I refuse to let it keep me down. I lost 4.8 pounds in my first OP week in I don't know how long. That's a fantastic result! :D

I plan to keep up the great work this week. This morning started with a glass of almond milk and Hungry Girl's Egg Mug Classic (2 Points) topped with a little salsa.

For lunch, I'm thinkin' enchiladas. I made them again Sunday, and this time I was able to eat them. They were delicious ... and I still have beans and sauce to use up, so I can make another batch. Think I'll enjoy a salad with them this time, though.

Not the most stellar day

But I'm still putting it in the "win" column.

Sure, I didn't get any exercise — again. I drank more diet soda than H2O. And I ate a little more than I should have, starting with a burrito from my favorite burrito place for lunch (no breakfast because I overslept). The choices were a little calorie-heavy and nutrition-light, from the post-burrito TCBY 96% FF coffee-flavored yogurt to my burger dinner.

But I also kept track of every bite. Right now, the day's total stands at 29. I may or may not have a (very) low-Point snack when I get home from work. I'm leaning toward yes, because I'm a little hungry. Maybe BBQ soy crisps and salsa, to sneak in some more veggies.

And before choosing to eat that Whopper Jr. & onion rings for dinner, I thought twice. I knew I had the Points for the burger, and my FPs would pay for for the rings. (I still have 6 1/2 FPs left for the week, which ends Sunday.)

I know, I know. There's no rule that says I have to eat every last FP. But there's no rule that says I can't, either. And I say if it's helping me stay OP and not feel deprived, I will savor every single one.

Here's my pledge for tomorrow: Some kind of exercise. Maybe I'll see if the roommate wants to wii. And with the promise of more snow in the forecast, there'll likely be shoveling. Ugh. That's no fun.

Lesson learned — again

I know I've discovered this once or twice before, but when I'm tracking Points properly, I often find that things aren't as bad as I feared.

Case in point: Today's smoothie from Starbuck's — only 4 Points. But the last few times I ordered it (already in "what the hell, I've already shot the day" mode), I continued overeating for the rest of the day.

Today, armed with the knowledge of how many Points I was actually consuming — not as many as I'd feared — I managed to finish the day having eaten just 29.5 Points. (That's 5.5 FPs used, since I'm allowed 24 these days.)

And that was with eating out — TWICE. I had my favorite lunch, a slice of pizza and caesar salad from Picazzo's, and went to Taco Bell for dinner.

At Taco Bell, knowing that I'd only had 16 1/2 Points for the day, I ordered two grilled steak tacos (fresco style, for 6 Points). I even treated myself to an order of cinnamon twists, which took me to 25 1/2 total Points eaten. Usually when I go to Taco Bell on a Friday night, I'm already in that "what the hell" mode and I order something gooey, cheesy and really bad for me.

My after-dinner snack to carry me through the rest of the night at work was another package of those Special K Fruit Crisps. Then, when I got home from work, I had a Bagel Thin with 1 T RF cream cheese.

I avoided the Girl Scout cookies on the communal desk a few steps from mine, in part because I knew my Points total was under control for the day.

It's nice to know how much I've actually eaten, instead of fearing the worst. It keeps me from going off the deep end and eating everything in sight. And that, my friends, is a wonderful feeling. I'd like to have it more often.

Points left for a late-night snack

I'm excited to say I still have 3 Points left to eat something when I get home from work. I'm thinking some Special K (Chocolatey Delight) with skim milk. Yum! I love that stuff.

Speaking of Special K, I tried those Special K Fruit Crisps today. Someone said they tasted like Pop-Tarts ... and they were right. Definitely something to add to my snack drawer at work.

More proof that my head is on straight, finally: There were snacks at the office today (including chocolate chip cookies and bagels w/ cream cheese) and I didn't partake. I did, however, grab a handful of baby carrots (but no dip).

You read right: I didn't eat any chocolate chip cookies. I avoided those suckers even though they were mere feet from my desk. And then, when I returned from dinner, they were gone — and I was glad. (I know my willpower wanes as the night wears on.)

Overall, I'd call it a very good day. :D

Food	Units
yoplait red velvet cake yogurt - tasty, but nothing like cake	2
mcd's 4-piece mcnugget meal w/ sweet&sour, apple dippers & side salad w/ rf italian	7
special k blueberry crisp bar	2
hard-boiled egg	2
pickle spear & 15 grape tomatoes	0
ambrosia apple	1
handful baby carrots	0
healthy choice garlic lemon chicken & shrimp	5
sf pudding cup w/ 1 tsp rf pb stirred in	2
Total:	21

Table provided by Roni's Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

Finally back on track

I think my head is finally in the right place to take off the rest of this weight.

How can I tell? Today, when the Boyfriend and I were debating where to go for lunch, I told him we should go to McDonald's so I could order a 4-piece McNugget Happy Meal with apple dippers and a side salad on the side.

All that food was only 7 Points, bringing my total so far today to 9 ... and I'm perfectly satisfied.

This is much better than yesterday, when I had a Whopper Jr. with fries for lunch (11) and had eaten all but 1 of my 24 Points by 2 p.m. or so.

If I'm making those hard choices — the ones that taste good but not great — I'm well on my way. Not that McNuggets are a huge hardship ... but I'd still have preferred a burger. What can I say? I'm a red meat kind of girl.

A decent day

Food	Units
thomas' bagel thin w/ rf cream cheese	3
california roll	7
coffee drink - see below	3
100-cal pk almonds	2
nutrigrain cherry cereal bar	2
homemade fish tacos w/ lemon-pepper tuna, 3 corn tortillas, cabbage, greek yogurt sauce	6
zucchini, grilled	0
sf boston cream pie pudding	1
1 chocolate-cherry diet soda cupcake	2
Total:	26

Table provided by Roni's Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

As you can see, it was a pretty great day overall. I gave myself some treats and sweets, but didn't overindulge.

What I find amazing is that it's 12:30 a.m. and I'm still full from dinner. Guess that's what happens when you actually plan a meal (of sorts) instead of grabbing something on the go.

OK, it's not all that amazing ... what with filling foods and all. ;) Eating real food is definitely the way to go. (Yes, I knew that before ... somehow, though, I'd lost sight of the fact.)

I might not even need to fix my after-work snack ... and that's a good thing, since I'm already 2 Points over the 24 I'm allowed for the day.

That's the good thing about being solidly back in the 190s: I get 24 Points a day instead of 23. Since I always struggled with 23 for some reason I still haven't defined (I'm sure it's a head game of some sort), I'm glad to get 24.

But I'll be even happier when I drop back into the 180s ... even if it does mean getting one less Point. :D

Another decent day

That makes two in a row! I feel so much better than I did earlier this week that I'm doing a little happy dance right now.

I ate a little more today than yesterday ... and succumbed to the lure of a chocolate-covered pretzel rod (2 Points) at the Barnes & Noble Cafe this afternoon before work. It was on sale for 49 cents, so when I saw it only had 2 Points, I just couldn't say no.

Do you guys ever end up eating something you totally didn't plan on just because you're out and it looks good? I'd just had a container of Stonyfield Farms Chocolate Underground yogurt, so I certainly didn't need a chocolate-covered pretzel.

Overall, including the bowl of Special K and skim milk I ate after I got home from work, I consumed 28 Points today.

That's not bad. Granted, I'm allowed 23 ... but if you factor in the 5 FPs I can add to each day (provided I have them, which technically I don't, unless I start my week yesterday), I'm right on track. Maybe I should start my week Friday, then! :D

I was a little hungrier today than yesterday. Maybe that's because it was a carb-heavy day, with sushi and yogurt for lunch, soup and an apple with peanut butter for snacks and a veggie corn dog and mac & cheese for dinner, then the cereal snack.

Must work on getting more protein. Some days I wonder if I shouldn't just start doing Atkins again. Then I remember that, even though I once honestly thought I'd be able to do the low-carb thing for the rest of my life, things changed when I met the carb-loving Boyfriend.

Still no exercise, though. I only logged 2,138 steps on the pedometer. Pathetic. :S (But considering I slept til 11 a.m., then sat on my butt at B&N and then work, I guess 2,000 steps isn't so bad.)

In the "adventures in life" category, I've decided I'm going to try something new with money.

In keeping with the WW theory that tracking helps you take control, I'm going to start keeping track of what I spend, and what I spend it on (bills, entertainment, food, whatnot).

I haven't quite worked out the system yet, but I did buy a little notebook to start tracking in (4 of them for $1.08 at the Dollar Store). It'll be something with a key code (E=Entertainment, F=Food, U=Utilities, A=Auto, R=Restaurants ... etc.) so I can see exactly where my money goes.

I expect I'll be shocked and sickened at how much I waste. Guess I'll find out soon enough, eh?

Now, it's time to take some NyQuil gelcaps and knock myself out until tomorrow. As long as I wake up in time to go to work at 4, all will be well.

Great Wednesday ... & snowy Thursday

Activity (in the form of snow shoveling), plenty of water and staying within my Points … what more could a girl want?

This post is going to be quick because I’ll be up earlier than normal to go to work. We’re clearing early because of the monster snowstorm set to hit Flagstaff Thursday and Friday.

I like the thought of clearing early … I just wish it didn’t mean going in at 11 a.m. I’m used to having my mornings to myself.

Food	Units
10 min shoveling snow, 15 on elliptical [-2]	-2
svg spcl k cinnamon pecan w/ 1/2 c milk	3
ww pasta w/ lean ground beef, tomatoes, mushroom & onion	6
sf jell-o mousse cup	1
1/2 sandwich thin w/ 1 t rf pb, 1 t choc chips	4
hg slow cooker pulled ckn on sandwich thin w/ 1 c whole grain rice a roni	8
yoplait light mixed w/ 1/4 c ff cool whip & frozen for 1 hr	3
popcorn	1
Total:	24

Table provided by Roni's Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

That was last night's post, which I apparently forgot to publish.

Now, it's morning, and the snow is coming down. The snowblower woke me up — at least I think that's what it was. I heard something weird hitting my window, anyway. I sure hope it was snow. Kind of annoying when I didn't get to sleep until 3, to be awake again at just before 7. But a lot less annoying than ME having to go out and shovel this crap ... :D

Cookies got me

I made a choice to eat a cookie at the mall at lunchtime. In retrospect, it wasn't the best choice I could have made. I figured I was doing OK by eating a cookie and not the baked chips that came with my turkey sub from Subway. Sure, it was 5 Points vs. 3 for the chips, but I really wanted the cookie — and at least I didn't eat BOTH.

And I'd have probably been fine had I not decided to have Starbucks, too, before I headed to work. That means I wasted 8 Points on a cookie and coffee, because I got a peppermint mocha (even with less syrup, I've been counting them as 3). The latte is pictured on my desk at work, along with a holiday photo of my darling nephew. Cute, isn't he?

Then, toward the end of my shift at work, the press guys came up and said "We have cookies in the back."

Now, I should have just said "no." But I still have a hard time turning down free food ... especially desserts. So I made the trek back to the pressroom (at least it put some extra steps on the pedometer!) and fetched us some cookies. :P

That cookie added 5 more Points to the total in my chart, meaning I had 34 Points for the day ... 11 FPs down on Day 2 of the WW week.

So that goal didn't happen. However, the other three did. I exercised, I tracked and I did something else I can't remember at the moment.

To shamelessly corrupt a classic Meatloaf song (sorry, Mr. Loaf), three out of four ain't bad.

Food	Units
egg scrambled w/ mushroom, onion, & 1 oz. ham on sandwich thin	4
6-inch turkey sub w/ veggies, cheese, mustard	6
cookie	5
ff peppermint mocha w/ 1 pump less of each syrup	3
ww 2-point almond bar - yum!	2
2 svg. easy fried rice http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeid=182921&sc=11	6
jello sf chocolate mousse	1
100-cal pk yogurt-covered pretzels	2
Total:	29

Table provided by Roni's Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

Still stressing about money

... But I've managed to stay on track pretty well today. I can probably thank the fact that I've spent so much of the day on the phone with one person or another. It left me with no time to snack.

While I was out running around, trying to straighten out my financial mess, I stopped at the bank inside a grocery store. (Whoever thought of putting banks in stores was either genius or evil. I can't decide.) Even though I was stressing over my money situation, I managed to avoid buying myself a donut.

Oh, I was tempted. I walked past the donut case several times, drooling. I also looked at slices of cake and cupcakes — stress makes me want sweets. But in the end, I avoided temptation and settled for a WW 1-Point Red Velvet bar instead. I'll count that as a small (very small) success.

I did discover that work makes me eat. I was over there for 5 minutes to use the fax (faxing paperwork to an attorney) and managed to eat three chocolate-covered pretzels. They were there; I was there ... the darn things practically automatically ended up in my mouth. Ugh.

Thanks to the unscheduled 5 p.m. sweets, I've eaten my 23 Points for the day, and it's only 8 p.m. I think I'll hop on the exercise bike so I can enjoy a snack later. A candy cane shake is calling my name — homemade, of course, to make it a heck of a lot healthier than a DQ candy cane Blizzard.

Could have been better

But the day also could have been much, much worse.

I succumbed to a bad case of the munchies again tonight after dinner (11 Points worth of cookies, Cheez-its and Sun Chips).

However, I also tracked everything I ate. And I got in 40 whole minutes of activity, in the form of a 30-minute walk, 8 minutes on the exercise bike, 1 minute marching in place and 1 minute of modified pushups.

And I did not snack when I got home from work, even though I made the dough for a batch of my Mom's butter cookies. I was going to bake them, too, until I read the dough has to chill for an hour. (It was already 2:30 when I finished mixing it. I didn't want to be up at 4 a.m., rolling and cutting out cookies.) I plan to get up at about 8 a.m. and finish them then, instead.

I'm making some to take to the Boyfriend's when I head down there tomorrow — and also to take to our office Christmas party at noon.

Not sure how I'm going to avoid overeating (and using up the rest of my FPs) at the party. It's a potluck. Maybe I should just plan to eat lunch before I head over there.

Here are my vows for tomorrow:

• Track everything I eat, even at the party.
• Get in some kind of activity.
• No late-night snacking.

No weigh-in Monday

Because of the storm that blew through Flagstaff, the substitute WW leader couldn't make it for the Monday meetings ... so no WW meeting for me.

I did weigh in at home. 184. 2 — about a pound more than last Monday on the home scale. I'm not surprised. I had more bad days than good again.

Today, I'm celebrating a huge NSV: I finished my 90,000-word manuscript this morning (at about 5 a.m., after a marathon writing session, fueled by an early night at work and a loss of the satellite TV). You can read all about that at my other blog.

How shall I celebrate? Well, being snowed in, I'm baking a few batches of WW-friendly cookies. I picked up brown sugar and nuts Sunday night, knowing I wasn't going to be driving anywhere Monday or Tuesday with a full-on blizzard coming to town.

I may try to take a trudge through the snow, too ... but I wouldn't count on that. I will, however, keep a handle on my cookie consumption. I want to see the scale move in the right direction next week.

File this one under 'things that make you go hmm'

Those of you who read my blog over at Blog to Lose know that the Boyfriend and I got into a tiff Monday. He wanted me to fetch and carry (like he always does, somehow thinking that's helping me get more activity) and I didn't want to (like I usually don't. Why should I jump when he says jump?).

He yelled, and the words "fat" and "a$$" came up. He also asserted that all I need to do to lose weight is get more exercise ... like the macaroni and cheese, french fries, fried chicken and other unhealthy foods he's always tempting me to eat aren't a huge culprit in my failure to lose the last 15-20 pounds.

Later, he apologized. But he also brought up a good point: "You say your a$$ is fat all the time ... why is it OK for you to say it, but not me?"

A very good point, indeed. It reminded me of something my WW leader said once: We often say things to/about ourselves that we'd never put up with a friend saying.

And that begs the question: WHY? Why is it OK for me to call myself fat, yet I don't like it at all when the Boyfriend says the same thing?

The short answer? It's not.

We should all be a little kinder to ourselves. Let's celebrate our successes instead of focusing on our failures.

I'm particularly bad at that: I keep focusing on the weight I still have to lose instead of remembering that I've already lost 50+ pounds. In fact, I can tell you exactly how much weight I still had to lose as of my last WI: 18.2 pounds. But I had to look it up to know how much I've lost in all (53.8 pounds).

There's something wrong with that. I should be able to call that number to mind effortlessly. I've lost 53.8 pounds ... Yes, I have a few more to go — but I should still be celebrating what I've already accomplished.

Basically, I've been maintaining for a year. I hit the 50-pounds lost mark right around my birthday in 2008 — ever since, I've been bouncing around the 180s. My WW goal is still 170 (2 pounds under the max weight for my height).

I can get there, I know I can. Yes, I do need to get more exercise — at least 30 minutes most days of the week. But fetching for the Boyfriend isn't going to cut it. More long walks ... bike rides ... even jogging.

And I have to put the kibosh on eating crap, especially when I'm with the Boyfriend. (He really is a huge culprit.)

Time to live by the wise, wise words of Yoda: "There is no try. Do or do not." It's time for me to buckle down and just do it!