Weekly Weigh-In and Hot 100 Update

Nothing too exciting to report in the weigh-in...I lost 0.2.  Yep, that weight is just FLYING off of me!  Sigh.  I have no excuses.  I know what I need to do (and you know what you need to do too, don't you?).  I just got busy and didn't make eating right and exercising enough of a priority.  It's the holidays, but I don't want to pack it all back on just because it's a festive time of year.

This means I am currently down a total of 25.6 pounds from the start.

Now for the Hot 100 Challenge Update:

1.  Lose 15-plus pounds by the end of the year / end of the challenge.  I'm 4.4 pounds away from meeting this goal.  Hmmm... I realize that's close, but I also realize that Christmas is in a week and I only have two weeks left in the challenge.  I'm going for it, no matter the odds!

2.  Get more sleep.  Doing better, most nights on this.  It doesn't hurt that my 3-year-old is sleeping all night in his own bed sometimes now.

3.  Start taking vitamins.  Hit or miss.  I'm not sure why, because for a long time this was the one I could count on knocking out of the park every time.

4.  Make a plan for eating and exercising over the holidays and stick to it.   I'm hosting Christmas for extended family this year, so I'm already trying to sneak in healthy options to my menu plans.  I won't be able to avoid serving some old-fashioned calorie nightmares, but it's just once a year, and I do know how to control myself. 

Have a great weekend, y'all!

My Super-Duper Saturday!

Saturday I walked MOST of the hilly road in my town called Holdsworth Drive.  After I walked it, I went and checked the mileage, and it was 3.2, which is just short of the whole thing.  I will get there, but that was pretty good for the first run.  Perhaps I shouldn't use the word "run," because running I most certainly was not!  It was a lot of panting and whining and legs threatening to quit.  But it was really good, and my big ol' glutes are still a little sore today.

Then my hubby Mike went to ring the bell for Salvation Army for a little while and I let the kids go bonkers in the backyard, and we took the kiddie art easel out there and made Christmas paintings outside too.  Love this December Texas weather!

After that, we cleaned up and hit the road for our annual drive to Johnson City to look at pretty Christmas lights.

First up was a quick stop between Kerrville and Fredericksburg to say hello to "Scrappy."

Scrappy - Yep, that's his real name!

Next we stopped in Fredericksburg for dinner.  The case of cheesecakes looked ever-so-enticing.

I did wind up with a teensy little molecule of a bite of one of these, but no more than that.  And I ordered a sensible meal and ate a reasonable portion of it.  The chips, however?  Um, that's another story.  But I did track it all like a good Weight Watcher.

After dinner it was on to Johnson City.  First stop was the courthouse, where lots of people were milling around and waiting to go inside to a craft fair.  

Courthouse

 Because we weren't all that interested in going inside, we walked a couple of blocks over to a church that had a living nativity scene, complete with live animals and a real baby.  They even served hot chocolate and cookies afterward.  The kids indulged, but Mike and I did not!

After that, we went to the park/courtyard area which was all decked out.  It was fun to walk around in all the little holiday scenes.

Finally we left there and went to -- (I'm not making this up) -- the electric company building.  It's actually a huge building with a lot of land around it.  Santa was there for the kids, they were selling hot apple cider, and there were hayrides and horse and buggy rides.  The most amazing thing is that they light up all the trees with a gazillion lights.  It doesn't really show up in photos, but it's just incredible to walk under these trees. 

Our daughter took this picture of me and Mike.

As we were leaving town, I noticed this little beauty salon called Truvy's (like in Steel Magnolias) and had to snap a quick pic of it.

Then it was back home, listening to Christmas music in the car, and arriving home with two kids who were already sound asleep.  

Good old family fun!

Hot 100 Update - Grumpy Edition

My update for the Hot 100 Challenge:

1.  Lose 15-plus pounds by the end of the year / end of the challenge.  Time is running out, and I feel like I'm spinning my wheels.

2.  Get more sleep.  It's almost midnight, and I'm nowhere near bed, so you do the math.

3.  Start taking vitamins.  Not once this week.

4.  Make a plan for eating and exercising over the holidays and stick to it.  Really want to be successful with this one.  I am hosting Christmas for my extended family this year, which means I'll have more control.  I have to be aware of the days surrounding Christmas as well.

Weight Watchers New Program

So as any of you who are doing Weight Watchers already knows, they've gone and changed up the whole system!

A Point is no longer the same unit it was before.  Fruits are free!  You get a higher number of points, but most foods now have a higher point value.  I feel like it probably all evens out, and that it does encourage you to eat more natural and nutritious foods, but it's different for sure.  I have certainly been getting in more produce than before, so that's a good thing.

My meeting is tomorrow, but I think I might wind up not weighing in.  It's kind of a silly reason, but here it is:  I have a Christmas Brunch to attend in the morning.  It's to benefit my little friend Katie, who is in the hospital with cancer right now.  I'm not planning to go wild and eat my weight in pastries or anything like that, but I do plan to participate and enjoy a sampling of what my friends have made for us.  Now, I wouldn't even blink at that if it were, say, tonight.  But I normally don't eat or drink anything at all until after I weigh, so I'm thinking that could affect my weigh-in.  I find that it does make a difference if I have even just a cup of coffee, and I don't want to get discouraged after my first week on the new plan.

I will go to the meeting, though.  I really want to hear what people are saying about it and hear what the leader has to say, as well as to see how the scales are treating everyone.  I will weigh at home on my scales, as usual, but I never count it until it's official at the meeting.

A few days ago my friend Mandy wanted to walk a winding and hilly road here called Holdsworth Drive.  It's really scenic and has nice sidewalks the entire length of it.  It's also just over a 5K if you go all the way down and back.  We started out, but then she started having trouble with her knee, so we had to go to the high school track and walk for an hour there instead, on that flat and level surface.  Before you accuse her of chickening out, let me assure you that she often walks it with no trouble and that it was her idea.  Don't worry though, it's coming!  I'm going  to blaze that trail!

Hope you're all enjoying this busy season and not getting too stressed out about it.  So far, so good here!

Weekly Weigh-In and Hot 100 Update

For my weekly weigh-in I was up 0.8 this week.  I'm mostly upset about this, I think, because I ROCKED Thanksgiving and didn't blow it until a few days after.  Grrr!  It's just a bump in the road though, and I'm not quitting.  So far I'm down a total of 25.4 pounds.

Now for a Hot 100 Update!

1.  Lose 15-plus pounds by the end of the year / end of the challenge.  Up 0.8 this week, so I'm down 10.4 pounds during this challenge, leaving me with 4.6 to lose in order to reach this goal.

2.  Get more sleep.  Depends upon the night and what's going on.  Last night was horrible - stayed up to the wee hours last night, but then one night I was scrubbed and in bed by 10:15.  I certainly always feel better when I get my sleep.

3.  Start taking vitamins.  I don't know what my problem is this week.  Travel?  Holiday?  Not sure, but I probably took my vitamins only a couple of days this week.  

4.  Make a plan for eating and exercising over the holidays and stick to it.  I did GREAT on Thanksgiving Day and the days right after, but then started struggling by Monday.  Exercise hasn't happened like it should either, which doesn't help!

Have a wonderful weekend!