Moving it

Exercise is by far my biggest challenge in weight loss. I dislike it with a passion. It doesn't help that I broke my ankle a year and a half ago--ever since then, getting back in the groove has been tough. Now I not only don't like it, but it is more of a challenge because I am so out of shape from not exercising. So I get winded way too easy, and I walk more slowly, and I like it even less than ever. My doctor told me that if I would exercise for just 20 minutes a day, that would be good. I took that to heart, and most days, I have been doing that. But I have to admit, I didn't over the weekend. I was tired from our Relay for Life event, and on Saturday and Sunday, I just didn't make myself do it. I was home. I could have. I didn't. My eating this weekend was fabulous, though. I tracked everything I ate, and I ate very healthy meals with small portions. I can even kind of feel the inner, thinner me itching to get out. Right now, I am very motivated with my diet. Now, I just need to devote at least 20 minutes a day to moving! When I joined Weight Watchers, I also decided to enroll in the 21-day challenge that inspirational leader Lysa TerKeurst offers in conjunction with her book, "Made to Crave." You get 21 days of inspirational emails for free. Today's email was about exercise. I found it helpful, so I am sharing it here: I know I feel a sense of accomplishment when I exercise, that it puts me in the right frame of mind to eat the right things, that it is good for my health--all those positive things. I just need to be more disciplined and do it!

My Weight Watcher's meeting was over lunch, and am happy to report I lost 3.4 pounds! Woo hoo! We have two meetings at work, and this time, I went to the later one. There were just two members there plus two from Weight Watchers, so it became a very relaxed meeting where we could just talk. My downfall in the past has been eating out, so I asked the others about their favorite places to go and feel like they can successfully stay on track. I'm a very social person, and I have lunch out nearly every day plus frequently go out for dinner. I've really thought about this a lot this past week, and I came to the conclusion that if I deny myself going out with friends, that isn't going to work, either. I need to find strategies to make it OK to eat out with my friends. I know the ideas about taking half your food home, asking for your dressing on the side, all those things. One of the biggest things we talked about was planning ahead. I got online before every meal to look at nutrition information for chain restaurants and to read general information about what to eat at the other cuisines I tried this week. For instance, before going to Qdoba, I made a plan to get a Craft 2 meal with two crispy tacos and a taco salad, all with pork, lettuce, mango salsa, verde sauce, no cheese, but I opted for some sour cream because it was lower in calories than I expected. I was surprised that the crisp tacos were 30 calories less than the flour tortillas. I had remembered from dieting before that pork was the leanest meat there. It still surprised me that the shredded beef was lower in calories than the chicken--only the ground beef was higher than the chicken. As I ate the meal, I was pleasantly surprised that I really didn't miss the cheese as much as I thought I would. I mean, really surprised. Cheese is a staple like chocolate, right? But seriously. Try some tacos without the cheese. As weird as it sounds, it works! Another strategy I used was to read up on what to eat before going to the new Thai restaurant near Bradley. Did you know that in Thailand, pad thai is eaten in very small portions? The article I read recommended getting the som tum (papaya spicy salad), and I am going to get that next time. But, I wanted something other than salad my first time there. I settled on the pad nam prik pau (sauteed with a sweet Thai chili paste, onions, carrots, peapods, and bamboo shoots...and I chose pork for the meat.) Talk about tasty!!! I chose it because many of the dishes were stir fried or pan fried or had fried rice--notice a trend? I have no idea what the points or calories were for my meal, but it was very, very good and while it probably would have been healthier if it were steamed instead of sauteed, I thought sauteed was better than anything with the word "fried" in it. Last night, I went to Super Gyros where we had a buy one gyro, get one free coupon so I didn't venture over to the gyro salad or other options. I asked for that incredible cucumber sauce on the side and didn't use even half of it, so I know I saved a boatload of calories there. Some strategies from the Weight Watchers meeting include getting chili and baked potato at Wendy's (I also saw that their grilled chicken wrap and their half Asian chicken salad seem to be good choices), choosing the kid-sized potato at McAlister's, and getting an unwich (lettuce wrap) or Tom Turkey from Jimmy John's...oh, and the black bean soup or chicken noodle soup at Panera. In the past, I have often ordered kid-sized portions whenever the kid's menu has choices I am interested in. It's sad that salads are often laden with surprise calories. I have to say, though, I have discovered a wonderful salad right in my back yard, so to speak. The Student Center offers a custom salad where they include whatever you ask them to. They have wonderful choices with tomatoes and cucumbers diced up really small like I like, artichokes, broccoli chopped really fine, strawberries, blueberries, meats, cheeses (not me!) and other great options. Both last week and this week, I got one after attending the Weight Watcher's meeting and I can see this becoming my Thursday choice for lunch. Their cilantro lime dressing is out of this world. They were out of it this week so I went with a vinaigrette and asked them to put on just one spoonful instead of two. They toss the salad there and it was a-MAZ-ing! It makes me want to go try a salad from Subway. What are some of your favorite places to go and still feel good about staying on track?

Step One

I took the first step and went to the Weight Watchers meeting over lunch. I'm signed up for the next 17 weeks. The leader and her assistant, who know me because, let's face it, I've been there before, were welcoming, and I thought the meeting was good. Weight Watchers has a new "Simple Start" plan that looks like a great way to begin. Basically, you have a good-sized list of foods you can have, and you don't have to weigh, measure, or track anything. It's all common sense things like fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, high-fiber carbs--and the book gives recipes and restaurant tips, too. The leader says that while they suggest everyone start off on this plan for two weeks before going to Points Plus, many people like to stay on it because it's easy to follow. Oh, and there is a list of indulgences to choose from each day, too. Tammy, the leader, pointed out that you can take the list on the back of the booklet to the grocery store, and if you buy what's on there, you'll be set with everything you need. How easy is that? After the meeting, I stopped at the Student Center food court. I've been hearing that the salads there are great, so I tried a little one. It was great--sort of like a salad bar, except they put on whatever ingredients you want--so in that way, it's more like Subway. They had a fat-free cilantro lime dressing that's out of this world. I can definitely see this being my routine, and the nice thing is that if I can't make the meeting for some reason, I have plenty of other opportunities with the Weight Watchers' meetings in Peoria and Pekin. I'm feeling very motivated, and I also feel like it's my lucky day--I found some cash on the ground on my way back. It was enough to pay for my WW membership. How about that!

Back in the game

Guess what! I'm back! I've been trying to lose weight for the past few months, but while I have been watching what I eat and exercising more, I just need to dedicate myself to it more. A new at-work session of Weight Watchers begins today, and I'm going to join. I'm writing this blog because I want the accountability. I just read something about how it takes a village, not only to raise a child, but to succeed in weight loss. I found the article inspirational, and I hope you will be part of my village to support me when I succeed and encourage me if I backslide, and to walk beside me if you also want to lose weight. Please let me know how you are doing, too. I think one of my biggest problems with dieting is carving out the time for it. Time for exercise, time to grocery shop and get the fresh foods I need, time to clean, chop, dice--whatever I need to do to make sure the foods are easy to grab for a snack, time to cook and clean up afterwards (sliding through the drive-through for a quick something off the dollar menu becomes way too tempting when you cook for one.) Oh, and I really need to take the time to check out the current Weight Watchers program. I know they change, and I keep wanting to revert to what I was familiar with from Weight Watchers a few years ago. The thing is, I then don't put my whole heart into it. This time, I'm taking a fresh approach--as if I had never been in Weight Watchers before. Because this time I want things to be different. This is going to be the time I succeed in taking off the weight and keeping it off. It's not about looking good; it's about being healthy. So, my first goal is to carve out the time needed to make this a successful venture and do all the things I listed above. After all, I'm worth it!