Jumping the Gun

Normally I wouldn't post anything right before a weigh-in, but I've decided to do just that today.  Here's why.  My friend Mandy mentioned the need to remind herself that no matter what her weight today, she has worked the program and done what she's supposed to.  I'm doing that too.

First off, I did weigh at home this morning, and it showed a little gain.  I could let this get me down, but I'm not going to.  Instead, I'm going to learn from it.  I did what I was supposed to do this week, and I added in exercise.  So why the gain, you wonder?

Here's my theory.  I ate out several times this week, and I tracked everything and didn't go over my Points allowance.  So I thought.  What I've decided is that I must have just misjudged my restaurant servings.  It's the only explanation.  I really enjoy going out to eat (don't we all?), but I need to cut it down a little if I can, at least while I'm trying to lose weight.

The hubs and I met up with about 16 other people for dinner at the new Japanese restaurant on Monday.  It was lots of fun.  Judging from all the butter slathered all over everything, I'm guessing this could have been a contributing factor to my gain.

Wish I'd gotten a photo of the flaming volcano onion!

Where's the rice?  P.S. - That's my husband's beer, not mine!

This was my plate (before the little bit of beef was added).  I actually did order steamed rice, but for some reason it didn't get delivered.  I didn't ask for it, and still enjoyed the meal without the extra carbs/calories/points.  

Sunday, our family went to a late lunch/early dinner at Mamacita's Mexican Restaurant.  Afterward, we were walking to the car and I couldn't help noticing how warm and perfect the weather was.  We got in the car and I said, "It's so beautiful outside, it makes me wish I could just walk home from here."  Mike stopped the car and said, "Then walk home!"  He was joking in an "I-dare-you" sort of way.  I looked at my shoes (not workout shoes, but Skechers), and figured they'd work just fine.  So I hopped out and hoofed it on home.  Now, it's not really all that far from there to my house -- maybe 1.5 miles -- but it was a great feeling.  I was doing something spontaneous, just because it would be good for me, got a little exercise, and got to enjoy the sunshine.  It's hard to believe it was around 80 degrees just a few days ago, and right now it's like 16 here!  

I have another friend who just got certified to teach Zumba, and that will start on Monday.  I'm going to go try it out and will let you know how that goes!

To close, I just want to say that I probably will see a gain today at Weight Watchers, but it's not because I didn't try.  I just made some mistakes somewhere in my estimations, I think, and I want to learn from this and keep going for more losses coming up.  Not gonna let this get me down, but I'm also not going to take any gain lightly!

Ta-Daaa!

My eating has been a challenge this holiday, but I did accomplish a goal.

A little backstory:  Because we had people coming in from all over and at different times, we wound up having our big holiday meal Sunday night and opening gifts on Monday morning.  So I had a little delay in the festivities.

Then after gifts were opened and leftovers consumed, my husband and I geared up and went out to walk the hilly road called Holdsworth Drive.

Did the whole thing, baby!  It was about 3.6 miles total, I think.  (Been awhile since I measured it out.)  I know for some of you die-hards, that doesn't seem like much, but at my fitness level and with all the hills, it really was pretty big for me.

It was windy, but the weather was really nice otherwise, and I had my fella with me.  All good!

And now for the photo proof of my quasi-5K:

Wait for me, dude!

Don't know if these pics do justice to the hilliness of this road

Big hill coming up in the distance!

Blue skies and sunshine

I think I might do this again sometime!

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!

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!

Exercise Souvenirs

A couple of weeks ago, while doing my 3.5 mile walk with Mandy, I realized it might get dark before we finished, so I took my flashlight along.  We were walking along and heard a noise in a drainage ditch next to our path.  I whipped out the flashlight and saw a little kitten in there.  Aw, cute.

Every time we passed by there after that, the kitten was still there, and now he has a twin with him!  They were so cute, and the first one was very friendly and followed us every time we passed by.  In fact, one time we had to run to get away from him!  It was sad (the sight of me running, as well as the poor, pitiful kitten).

These two guys were black cats, and it was nearly Halloween, and we often saw rowdy-looking teens passing through this area.  Mandy and I discussed how we really hope nobody messes with these kitties, and how they're so trusting they'd probably go to anyone, and stuff like that.

Cut to two hours later at my house.  I'm telling my husband this story and my concern for these little guys.  Just chatting.  Then he said, "Put your shoes on."  Yes, he sent me back out in the dark to go get those cats!

Casper and Boo

Three-pronged approach to the future of the kittens:


1.) Check to see if anyone has lost them.  Newspapers, neighborhood signs, vet offices, animal shelters, even animal control - All negative.

2.) Take them to the vet and see if they have any major illnesses.  Nope, they're good.

3.)  Introduce them to Stuart (our Jack Russell terrier) and see if he tries to kill them.  So far, so good, but the meet-and-greet sessions have been brief and highly controlled.  If this last bit works out, the kitties can move from the garage to the house.

Stuart

So while some people collect bruises, big muscles, or worn-out shoes when they exercise, I apparently collect stray animals.  I guess the only reason for me to post this is to prove that I have, in fact, been exercising.

Meow!

Subjectivity

I've been increasing my time in my evening walks.  So far I'm up to 28 minutes.  I thought I was going a pretty good pace...until last night when my neighbor saw me walking and joined me for the second half of the walk.  She was talking about interval training and how you could do a minute really fast and then a minute really slow "like this."  Yep, she thought we were crawling along, but I was sweating and panting.

This means more room for improvement!  It's a good thing.  It gives me something to shoot for.

Meanwhile, I've been keeping up with my food consumption quite well.  I'm "biting it and writing it," as they say.  I'll go to my Weight Watchers meeting on Thursday.  I haven't been in a few months, and I think I'll just use that as my official weight, since I can easily access it.

And now I'm going to stretch some more.  Because I know I rock at stretching.

It Counts!

So I've added a whole minute to my walking routine.  I don't want to make any marathon runners jealous, but I did go a full 13 minutes walking tonight!

I'm taking it as progress from my 12-minute walks.  It does count!

I went for months and months with extremely low levels of activity.  First it was due to an injured foot that left me barely able to walk, and then it was due to my complete lack of motivation.  So now, due to my 104 resting heart rate, the doc says to start slow.  Yeah, even if I wanted to do more, at this point 13 minutes is good for me.

Oh, and I took a couple of pics with my iPhone, because the sunset was so pretty tonight after yesterday's hurricane rains.  I also saw a deer (oh, dear!) standing near me, just watching me huff my way down the street.  I took a picture of her too, but it came out too dark to see.  A nice walk.  I'm feeling pretty good about these changes so far.

Onward I go!

Walkin' the Walk

Last night I decided to go for a walk.  I was shocked at how out of shape I am!  I went 12 minutes around my neighborhood.  And, yes, I was out of breath just from that little walk.  My legs weren't hurting or anything.  I could have gone longer if my lungs were in better shape.  Clearly I've let my health issues slide a little more than I realized.

Two positives:

1.  My foot didn't hurt.  This means that my hours and hours of physical therapy and being in a soft cast and medications must have really helped my foot (plantar fasciitis, stress fracture, bone spur, AND ruptured medial band -- When I have an issue, I go all in, baby!)

2.  There is lots of room for improvement.  I like to keep track, so I'm looking forward to being able to do more and more.

And a third positive, just for good measure:

3.  I'm doing something new (moving around, versus being a sloth creature on the couch).  It was peaceful and gave me a sense of accomplishment, no matter how small.  I'll take every victory I can get!