Monday, March 14, 2011

Monday March 14th 2011
Points for the day are as follows: 18

Gala Apple: 0
Mandarin Oranges: 0
Hot cocoa (made with water): 3
Portobello mushroom chicken pot pie: 15


I'll update when I actually eat dinner.... though I suspect I may break into the samoa ice cream and skip dinner >.>

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Saturday and Sunday

Mashing these two together since internet was slow yesterday night.

Saturday March 12th 2011
Points for the day are as follows: 28

Cheesy Biscuits (homemade x3): 9
Smoked Chicken (leg/thigh + 1/3 breast): 6
Cheesy Biscuits (homemade x3): 9
Broccoli and Cheese steamer 1/3: 2
Cherry Coke: 2


Sunday March 13th 2011
Points for the day are as follows: 29

Eggs (x2): 4
Hash Browns (1/2 package): 6
Ketchup: 0
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread: 4
WW smoked string cheese: 1
Smoked Chicken 1.5 breasts: 6
Ruffles Baked Sour Cream and Cheddar chips (damn you eric for leaving them here!): 8

In other news, found the first black copper marans egg in the coop, and the first (probably) seabright egg.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Friday March 11th 2011

Points for the day are as follows: 45 total

1 Gala Apple - 0 points
2 eggs - 4 points
Portion of hash browns - 4 points
16 Oz water w/ Crystal Light (x2) - 0 points
Chicken Enchilada Soup (cup) - probably 5 points
Cheese - 2 points
Tortilla strips - 3 points
Spaghetti (3 cups) - 15 points
Sauce (1 cup) - 4 points
Parmesan - 3 points
Garlic Bread - 5 points
Mint - zero points
3 cups water - 0 points

Ok, so here's where things are interesting. I have gone over my 29 points for the day (which I normally do on Fridays because every Friday I go out to a restaurant with the guys). This means I will be dipping into my 49 extra weekly points.

So with 45 total, I can subtract 29, leaving me with 16. So I've used 16 weekly points, leaving me with 33 for the rest of the week. These, I will probably not use on other days, as the rest of the week I tend to try to stay at just my daily points.

On the old program, we used to get... I want to say it was like 25 extra points... somewhere around there. And it was my general habit to cross off the first ten of them on my tracker. These ten I used as my error points, for the times when my measurement of food was off, or reasoned that they accounted for the partial points I ate when I nibbled things (like 1 mini chocolate egg.... it's not actually a point but if I eat one every day I've eaten a couple points worth).

I still like to consider those points as gone, so I will say there are 23 weekly points, and 39 to start with for other weeks... but it's my own personal habit and shouldn't be listened to if you get easily confused.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Thursday March 10th 2011

This is my tracking post for Thursday March 10th 2011.

I expect my friend to post in the comments how he is spending his points for the day.

I will update my points when I get home from work.

EDIT: My points!
1 Cadburry Dark Chocolate Candy-shell egg (blue) - some fraction of a point
1 Gala Apple - 0 points
16 OZ water w/ Crystal Light packet (grape) - 0 points
Hamburger: 11 points total
(Patty (sirloin)w/ onion and garlic folded in - 8 points
Low Fat American Cheese slice - 1 point
Tomato - 0 points
Ketchup - 0 points
Dill pickle slices (Claussen!) - 0 points
Low fat Meijer hamburger bun - 2 points)
1 stick WW smoked string cheese - 1 point
16 Oz water w/ Crystal Light packet (strawberry) - 0 points
Small cube french bread w/ honey-whipped butter - the other fraction of a point
Hamburger: 11 points
Patty (sirloin) w/ onion and garlic folded in - 8 points
Low Fat American Cheese slice - 1 point
Ketchup - 0 points
Dill pickle slices (Claussen again) - 0 points
Low fat Meijer hamburger bun - 2 points
1 stick WW smoked string cheese - 1 point

Total for today (thus far at time of updating): 25
I'm going to attempt to be held accountable for my actions through this blog. I joined Weight Watchers for the first time when I was in my teens, and I lost something like 30lbs back then. It was great, and then I spent a few weeks in France, there was delicious food, and going back to the program seemed so... difficult. Plus, it was a lot of money and I didn't want my mom to pay for something my heart was not in.

Years later, after graduating college, moving around a few times and eventually ending up back home, I took a step back and looked at my life. When I'd started WW in high school, I'd weighed somewhere in the 180's. Here and now, I was looking at a me that was over 200lbs. As bad as this may sound, I looked at a friend of mine that I knew was somewhere in the 230's the last I'd heard her quote her weight, and I said oh the hell no. I was NOT going to let myself become that.

On my own, I changed some of my eating habits. I cut out fast food, and I started eating fruits and vegetables where I could. It was disorganized at best. I managed to fumble my way down by about 15lbs, and that was where progress stalled. I knew I wasn't going to be able to do it on my own. So I talked to my mother and together we joined up at WW. She'd kill me if I listed her starting weight, so I'll just say she weighed more than she wanted, and she was willing to change.

So we went. The program was still difficult at times. You get a set number of "points" per day, dependent upon factors like height and age and weight and gender. Every food has a points value. You also get a certain number of extra points for the week, which you can use in bits per day or all at once or however you want to spend them, so that things like birthdays or holidays or restaurants don't have to be totally killer. But the smallest number of points you could have in a day was 18... and let me tell you how that's not a lot of food. A Lean Cuisine runs you anywhere from 4 to 8 points, and those portions are tiny. A 100 calorie pack? 2 points. Forget any fast food except the occasional stop to Taco Bell. Big Mac used to be rated something like 25 points... maybe 35 I forget. Good luck, right?

When I got to 18 points a day, I despaired and pretty much surrendered. I still watched what I ate, but I was not driven like I had been. I'd lost nearly 50lbs total and was feeling pretty good. I had been wearing a womens size 18 and was down to a size 4 in normal clothes.

Then I heard WW changed their program, and that it was easier. I had recently changed jobs, changed boyfriends, changed focuses... I thought heck, why not change my habits again. I informed my friend Eric that I would be joining WW, as he had mentioned wanting to lose some weight as well, and he accompanied me to a meeting to see the new program.

It's.... awesome. Fruits and vegetables (well most of them) are free of points. The way they figure points now has changed, as they've learned much more about how a body processes nutrition. Now, the lowest # of points in a day is 29 instead of 18, and many of my favorite foods have stayed the same in value or even GONE DOWN! That's pretty exciting. I can eat things like bagels again without feeling guilty about the huge point load. Dinner out with the guys on Friday's no longer had to be a guilty pleasure either. In fact, I was able to order my Pad Thai AND have it be within just my daily points, no weekly points needed!

So there's the story that leads to my being responsible here. Every day I am supposed to track what I eat. Most days I'm terrible and I don't. I am within 8 lbs of my goal weight, and if I can make it in the next couple of weeks, I don't have to keep paying for meetings; I will become a lifetime member and can go for free. Having someone in real life to be accountable to is infinitely helpful in staying on goal, so I want to give it an honest shot. So I'm going to track here, and hopefully give and take some ideas if anyone stumbles across this that is doing the same, or wants to do the same.

My tracking week starts on Thursday mornings, so tomorrow when I get home from work will be my first report. Wish me luck!

~Ked