Weekly Weigh-In and Hot 100 Update

Today was a good weigh-in day.

First off, my WW buddy got her second 5-pound sticker PLUS her super-duper 5%!  Way to go!  I'm realizing how much better it is attending with somebody who is also really committed to this.  Celebrating each of these pounds and fractions of pounds that comes off just makes me want to keep going and not give up.

Then after she got her sticker prizes, I scored this little beauty...

Another 5-pound star!

As well as this!

10% Keychain!

I'm now down a total of 22.4 pounds.  Just 47.6 more to go before I hit my Weight Watchers goal!  I realize that sounds like a lot (and it is), but I'm almost a third of the way there.  Not too shabby!

How about a Hot 100 update?  You got it!

1.  Lose 15-plus pounds by the end of the year / end of the challenge.  I'm down 7.4 pounds from the start of the Hot 100.  This means I'm about halfway to my goal of losing an extra 15 during this challenge.

2.  Get more sleep.  It's always a struggle, but I'm still doing better.  Not perfect by any means.  Last night I actually turned off the light and went to bed right when I felt a little sleepy.  My husband wasn't even in bed yet, and I rarely do that.  I'm like a big heat-seeking lizard or something.  Need my warm fella to curl up next to.

3.  Start taking vitamins.  I was just about to go off on how amazing I am at #3 on my list, when I realized that for the first time I forgot to take my supplements today!  Well, other than today, I've got this one in the bag!

4.  Make a plan for eating and exercising over the holidays and stick to it.  Still have not purchased Halloween candy for the trick-or-treaters.  After this week's binge on candy corn, I realize I cannot be trusted with any kind of candy products of any form.  In fact, I'm a little concerned I might start wolfing down those spider rings I bought for trick-or-treaters if I'm not careful.  No, they're not SUPPOSED to be edible, but you should have seen me going after that candy corn!

Be good, and do good, my friends!

Betcha Can't Eat Just One

Yesterday I fouled up.

Here's what did it:



Feeling festive, I bought a bag of candy corn.  I don't normally keep treats like this in the house anymore, and this is one of those items that only comes out once a year.  "It's for the kids," I told myself.  Apparently, I lie to myself on a regular basis.

I realize there are worse things in the world, but I shouldn't have eaten as many as I did.  On a positive note, I wrote down the calories, calculated the Points, and went light on the rest of the day.  This enabled me to stay within my calorie range for the day, despite having about three servings of tri-colored sweetness.

Who said, "A calorie is a calorie, no matter what the food is"?  I'm gonna have to call B.S. on that.  As far as weight loss/gain, I might not argue the point.  However, by last night, I felt gross from all the sugar.  Had I enjoyed 480 calories worth of, say, apples or veggies or almonds, I don't think I would have felt the same as I did after 480 calories of corn-shaped sugar and corn syrup.

My plan for today is this:

Eat my regular breakfast and lunch.
One or two SMALL, healthy snacks between lunch and dinner.
Extra water.
Lean dinner.
Nothing after 6:00 PM.
Cardio.

I weigh in tomorrow at noon.  Hope I haven't blown it.  I've exercised more in the past two weeks than I normally ever do, so at least I know I'm doing something good for my heart.

I will be very diligent today and might try to come in a couple hundred calories below my norm.  I'm not going to starve by doing this for one day.  Tomorrow I will resume my regular pattern.

This is a good reminder to me that I need to be more careful with my environment, especially around the holidays.  I make it far too easy to set myself up with excuses during these months.  I really convinced myself that candy corn would be a safe bet, since it's not chocolate.  Clearly, I'm not that picky in how I blast sugar into my system.  Good to know!

Anyone else have a Halloween food item that triggers overeating?

Queen B

The birthday party I attended was at Queen B's English Tea Room.  It's in this old house which is filled with shelves and shelves bursting with antique teapots and cups and little knickknacks, all of it for sale.  The tables are right in the midst of all these items, and it's very cozy.  In the mood to be a little silly? Queen B's has loads of hats and boas and lacy gloves to add to your "posh afternoon."

The Tea - About ten of us ladies shared the day's celebration for our friend.  We each had our own little pot of tea, which we poured through strainers into our floral cups.  I chose vanilla, but the choices were endless.  There was Summer (fruity), Winter (spicy), Gunpowder (a strong green tea), and Chocolate (yep, chocolate), just to name a few.

The food - Wonderful and abundant food, with choices from soup and salad and sandwiches to more traditional English fare.  Then I had one little treat and put it in my food journal.  Still stayed within my calorie range for the day!  However, I must admit that despite my wee indulgence, I showed incredible restraint while sitting in front of this:

The gifts - We were instructed not to bring gifts.  I always feel a little funny about this, for some reason, but I obeyed the request.  At one point, the birthday girl said that she wanted to let us know that we had already given her gifts.  She then presented each of us with a slip of paper containing her account of ways our friendship had blessed her.  Each was specific to the recipient.  I thought this was such a sweet gesture and was a real celebration of friendship.  

The bonus - In the central area of Queen B's is a little shop with British items for sale.  I'm sure it's actually a lovely product, but I had to snap a picture of this item that caught my attention purely for its interesting name.

Cheerio, loves!

Hot 100 Update

My update for the Hot 100 Challenge:

1.  Lose 15-plus pounds by the end of the year / end of the challenge.  I missed my weigh-in yesterday, as explained in my last post, but I am still down according to my scales.  Not going to count it until it's on my "official" WW scales though.  But I'm on track to make my 15 pounds during the challenge, for a total of at least 30 total by the end of the year!

2.  Get more sleep.  After a comment from Dr. Fatty Finds Fitness on my last Hot 100 update, I really see the value of sleep and am determined to do better.  So every night (except last night), I've gotten to bed earlier.  I'd still like to get to bed even 30 minutes earlier each night, and I'll get there.  Feeling better already.  Thanks, Dr. F!

3.  Start taking vitamins.  I continue to choke down a fistful of supplements daily, including a couple for my joints.

4.  Make a plan for eating and exercising over the holidays and stick to it.  Still have not purchased Halloween candy for the trick-or-treaters.  Planning to wait until the last minute and then to purchase candy I don't like (if such a candy exists).  Or I might just forgo candy altogether in lieu of these other treats I've gotten.  So far I'm stocking up on spider rings, scary pencils, orange and black bracelets, and mini-size Play-Doh to give out.  Better for the kiddos too, right?

Don't get weak now, Hotties!  We're just now starting up that hill of holiday temptations, so now is the time to pick it up!

Weekly Weigh-In

I'm on my way to a birthday lunch for a friend, so I will miss my official Weight Watchers weigh-in today.  I knew all week I wouldn't make it to my meeting today.  I could have slacked off and done some sneaky eating this week, hoping to make up for it by the next weigh-in.  But did I do that?  Hell no, people!  I didn't want to lose my momentum this week just for some curly fries.  I weighed at home, but I don't officially count it until I weigh at the meeting.  However, my home scale showed -1.8 for the week.  Not too bad.  I didn't work out as much as I could have, so that's my goal for this coming week.

P90X, by the way, is not as scary as you might think.  Yesterday we did the workout for arms, as well as the Ab Ripper X.  Okay, the Ab Ripper is pretty brutal, and my arms are really sore today, but you do what you can.  I'm going to be a total badass with some major brute strength when I'm done.  Or at the very least I will be able to do regular push-ups and not the girly kind.

My post just before this included a recipe for Taco Soup.  Some of you expressed concern about the dry ranch dressing mix.  I promise you it won't wreck it, and it won't taste like dressing.  It just thickens it up a little and gives it some extra oomph.  When you see how much this recipe makes, you'll notice that the mix is a very small percentage of the whole.  So sprinkle that dry mix without a care in the world!  Trust your Auntie Char.

Oh, and in case you're wondering and decide to chastise me about not attending another meeting this week, here's the deal.  My little town offers only 3 meetings per week.  One of those is in the evenings when my kids are out of school and husband is still at work.  I am NOT taking those little monkeys to the meeting with me.  But my reason for not going to the other remaining option is based purely upon my narcissistic need for attention -- I'm expecting to get my 20-pound star, and I want my regular group to clap for me.  See, I'm not too proud to admit my true motives.

Hot 100 update coming soon!