HARD WORK PAYS OFF

Well it's "weigh day" and I almost took a "no way" day, but decided to just bite the bullet and get on the scale.  WOO HOO thank goodness I did.  I worked very hard this week and kept to my plan to work out in some way every day.  So I stepped very gingerly on the scale this morning and I lost 1.6 lbs. bringing it to 31lbs. total.  Sooooooooo happy.  I quickly jumped off before the scale changed it's mind.  :)

I have a wedding on May 27th (so that's about 4 weeks away, right?)  Well I'm setting a goal to lose 4 more pounds by then.

I have a tip to share that I have to credit my brother with.  I love greek yogurt, but buy the plain variety (less points) and then put fresh berries and bananas in it.  I've learned to like it, but it's very much like eating sour cream with fruit in it.  So my brother swirls sugar free preserves into it.  The other day I tried it with a tsp. of raspberry preserves and then put fresh raspberries in.  YUM and it added no points.  Enjoy!!!

Until next time...........

GET BACK ON TRACK!!!

Okay so I have a lot of work to do this week.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself this weekend celebrating Easter and spending three days with family.  It was wonderful and I don't regret one minute of it or any of the food I ate or wine I drank.  It was great!!  :)  But now I have to do double time to "fix" for  lack of a better word all the fun I had.

My plan is to just get right back on track as far as my eating, which I have already done as well as doing some sort of activity every day (i.e. walking, jazzercise, etc.)

I may not lose this week (in fact I will probably gain) but that's okay I'm back on track and will get back to where I was in short order.  At one point in my life, it would have discouraged me, but I have come to realize that in order to enjoy this journey I am on - I have to be able to ENJOY all parts of my life.  Depriving yourself constantly is a quick recipe for failure.  The trick is being able to get right back on the right path.

So the journey continues and it's quite a trip.

Until next time................

WEIGH DAY

So this week I gained a little bit - .8lbs.  I kind of expected it so I'm okay with it.  I'm very proud of myself for getting on the scale even when I expected a gain.  This week will also be a difficult one with Easter this weekend, but if I gain a little bit again as a result, then I just work harder until it comes off again.  I refuse to not celebrate this weekend - I'll just make better choices than I would have in the past.  Let's face it with going away last weekend and eating all meals out - only gaining .8 is pretty damn good.  So good for me :)
There I feel better. 

I did FINALLY go back to jazzercise this week (only once though)  I could feel the tightness in my hip and leg, but I just did lower impact moves and got through it and I'm fine.  I also took a nice walk this week.  I'm going to up the exercise a little bit more this coming week and maybe that will help get rid of the Lancaster and more than likely Easter gains.

I am bringing dessert to my family gathering this weekend so I wanted to bring something people would eat and not even realize it was light so I'm doing a trifle with angel food cake, fresh strawberries and blue berries and fat free cool whip.  Kind of like a strawberry short cake in a trifle dish.

I'm also planning on trying some new light recipes soon so if they are good, I'll post them here.

Until next time.............

SUPPORT SYSTEMS

I started writing this blog as a way to keep myself accountable in yet another way.  You get to a point where you have to "think outside the box".  I have found that if I feel like I'm accountable to anyone but myself, I do better with keeping on track.

I received an email this morning from my beautiful sister in law (I have many wonderful sisters in law- but this one has been my friend far longer than my sister in law) and she told me that reading this blog inspired her.  What a wonderful thing to hear.  It also got me thinking about just how important a good support system is - it is key to success.  I am very lucky in that respect.  I have a great family and wonderful friends who hold me up when I start to fall and keep me inspired.

That email this morning (and I'm sure she doesn't even realize this) inspired me.  By her telling me the things she did, it kept me going.

Don't underestimate how important your support system is.  It is VITAL.  I hope you are all as lucky as I am.  Thank you to all of you for your never ending support and love.

Until next time...............

CHALLENGES

Challenges have become a way of life - especially the older I get.  But without challenges, you cannot have success, right?

One of the things I really like about the Weight Watchers program is that it is a "lifestyle change" and not a "diet".  I have come to realize that I have to allow myself to relax once in a while on this journey and enjoy my life and the people in it.  I can't always say no, but I can always try and make better choices.

This past weekend my husband and I went away to Lancaster,PA with two of our favorite people.  So now I have two dinners, two breakfasts and one lunch to try and deal with.  I was very proud of myself.  I knew the last night we were there was a dinner theater and I had already decided I was just going to allow myself to take the night off for that meal, but I had the others to still deal with.  Here's where the "better choices" came in.  Breakfast buffets are especially tough for me because I LOVE breakfast - bacon, waffles, oh yum.  I didn't even go over to that side of the buffet - I went right over and got my yogurt, my box of cheerios, and my fruit, sat down and didn't go back up - I was full and enjoyed it.  The second day at the breakfast buffet, I opted for a bowl of delicious oatmeal with craisins and apple - again so good and I was very satisfied.

Lunch we hit up Panera - you can always find better choices here so that was easy.  And Ruby Tuesday was my friend the first night with the wonderful salad bar they have and their fit and trim grilled tilapia.

So I survived the challenge of the weekend and even though I know I consumed more calories than I normally would have, I still made better choices and had a great time!!!  A true success if you ask me.

Until next time............

WEIGH DAY

Today is the kind of day that make all the hard work worthwhile - a day when you actually see results.   Today (weigh day) is also the day that makes me shake with fear before stepping on the scale.  I genuinely never know how I'll do.  Some weeks I'll work very hard and lose nothing or actually gain and other weeks - weeks that I haven't been able to work out at all, I'll have a great loss.  Honestly it's a crapshoot when you are menopausal. 

Thankfully today - for me - it's a GREAT DAY!  This week I lost 2.4 lbs. bringing my grand total so far to 30.2 - I am literally dancing on the moon right now!!!

I am convinced that if you literally don't put a time frame on your weight loss and embrace the fact that it's going to take as long as it takes, you will see results.  The old me would have said - I want to hit my goal before summer.  The new me is happy to say - look at how much better I'm going to look than last summer. 

I have also been enjoying going through my old clothes that haven't fit in forever - and they are all starting to fit again - there is nothing better than that.

The rule of clothes - when they get too big - get rid of them.  Holding onto them is giving yourself permission to put the weight back on.  When they get too tight - keep them as a goal to shoot for again.

For all of you women over 50 reading this - remember we can do anything!!!  I mean let's face it - if you can continue to live a normal life while in menopause - you're already amazing!!! You will succeed!!!!

Until next time..............

HUNGRY GIRL - YOUR NEW BFF

If you haven't already discovered Hungry Girl, you are really missing out on a true find.  I am now the happy owner of four Hungry Girl cookbooks and I have found many many delicious recipes in each one that I cook all the time and they have become family favorites.

Besides the cookbooks, Lisa Lillien (creator of Hungry Girl) has her own tv show on the cooking channel as well as the Hungry Girl Website.  Check out all of these resources - you will discover your new bff just as I did.

Besides giving us all wonderful recipes and tips, she is a very real person and interjects a lot of humor into her writing.  She also (much to my delight) will very often put the WW pts. plus value right next to her recipes. 

Start today by checking out the website     www. hungrygirl.com  I think you'll be very happy you did.  We can always use the extra help, right?

Until next time..........