Holy Batman and Robin...How did this happen!?!

I went to Weight Watchers this morning.....and I am not happy! I was 4 lbs heavier than at home and according to that....I gained 5 lbs this week. I didn't drink a drop of liquid, went the bathroom at least 3 times to make sure any liquid that was in me was gone and wore light weight clothing. I know my scale probably isn't the best but...5 lbs!?! You know what was the hardest? I had to change my weight tracker on the top of this blog. And it sucks! So am I now motivated???? You bet your butt! I will not be disappointed again. There was one gal there that hit goal today. She said she had lost 33 lbs....but it took her 5 months to loose the last 2 lbs. Now that would be frustration. But she kept coming each and every week. Now that is determination. The only good thing is that I had to take a weigh in book from June of 2006 since I couldn't find my lifetime card....I am only up 1 lb since that weigh in. I guess I have done pretty darn good a maintaining or sitting on a plateau or being lazy. Darn scale....I am still so tied to it.

I did enjoy the meeting itself. Laura, the leader, talked about eating out. It all comes down to planning and being prepared. I have been going to WW for so long it feels that I should know everything. But Laura does a great job of having new ideas, info and a way of wording it that is real. It felt good to go back. I have already looked for Friday morning classes in case I think I might want to sleep in on a Saturday. I have realized that when I had to pay each week, I was a good Weight Watcher. However, lifetime/maintenance hasn't been good for me. If I don't go, I don't have to pay or be accountable. That has to stop. I Will Be Accountable!!!!!!

And now I am motivated!

Weigh In Day.....Tomorrow

I've decided to attend and weigh in at my old Weight Watcher meeting tomorrow with a friend. My Saturday mornings are now free from soccer games so I have no more excuses. I got my Weight Watchers magazine in the mail yesterday and it was for November/December. How can that be already!?! I don't want to gain...actually I want to loose. I know that I can be an emotional eater. Saying that, this holiday season will be very different and difficult. It is our first without my mom. My first Thanksgiving to cook as the woman of the family. And, since my mom passed away on Christmas day, it will be a very hard Christmas season for me and my family. Those things said, I think I might need the support of the actual meetings to get me through. I always had my mom at those meetings, expecting me to be there. Now my friend says she will do that for me. It will be different but I think it will be good. Heck, I attended meetings with the leader for over 5 years. I know she is good and the class has over 100 people who are incredibly supportive (a number of them actually came to my mom's funeral including the WW receptionist). So these darn last 10 lbs to get back to my WW goal weight might as well start crying....the 20 lbs I'd like to loose in addition better get scared. Because I am in a fighting mood. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are not going to add to my thighs. No way! Not this year!

Enjoy your Friday!!!! It is time to celebrate the Autumn...go on a hike or a color tour! Fall is by far my favorite season here in Michigan followed closely by spring, summer and even winter. Stop by www.puremichigan.org. It'll help you understand why I love the beauty of Michigan!

Germs, Hospitals and Funerals....

Today was one of those days....I woke up the same sore throat which has now more than taken my voice over (not sure my husband is complaining about that), spent the afternoon in the Emergency Department with the gal I supervise, and found out my great Aunt Betty passed away....the last of my Grandma Taylor's siblings. Tomorrow we are supposed to have severe storms. Don't know how that fits in but is seems like the week has been stormy; now we are really going to have storms.

I am doing well as far as food and exercise. My yoga class was today...I'm getting more and more flexible. I didn't get lunch since I was at the hospital so I didn't have my cooler. But I did make Chicken Fajita Soup for dinner. Which was really what I needed to help feed this cold.

My poor girl is now complaining about her throat and head....looks like the germs are sending their friends to my dear daughter. Time for some Tylenol and a cozy couch and much needed cuddling.

Running

Good food choices, exercised....gotta run now, literally!

Rainy Days and Mondays

How does your Monday start? Is it organized due to planning on Sunday or is it fly by the seat of your pants to get out the door? Mine is typically the less organized one. Yesterday was an incredibly rainy day that was spent making chili, beer bread and catching up on TiVo while sitting by the fireplace. It was wonderful....and so very autumn. Then this morning came with more rain...and a sore throat. Of course I wasn't motivated to get moving as I was still being the load from yesterday. I made coffee, sat down, poured a cup of coffee, sat down, watched Brothers & Sisters, ate oatmeal...and then realized I had exactly 35 minutes to shower, get my daughter up and ready for school and still get me ready for a big day of meetings. I hadn't even taken the time to make her lunch on Sunday night. I reflected on my commute about the stress I bring myself in the morning. If only I was more of a morning person...I'm not. And I believe that this isn't going to change anytime soon. I absolutely hate alarm clocks and have been known to hit snooze more than 6 times (which my husband loves!). So what solution do I have..... Nothing, Nada, Zip. But, at least I am aware of my problem and maybe, and I am really stressing the maybe, I can be more "organized" on Sundays (actually every night) so I am not so unpleasant in the morning. It is worth a try and only success can happen right??? As Dr. Suess said, "I'm sure you'll succeed...99 3/4 % guaranteed." Let's just hope I am not that 1/4%!

The one thing I am good at....is preparing my lunch and "cooler purse". I pack a cooler each day thanks to Corinne. I am very rarely stuck without fruits/veggies, protein or whole grain snacks. This is something that is a must for me and I will do no matter how late I am running. Before I planned my lunches and snacks, I was a sucker for drive thru! I can honestly say my only drive thru purchase is now a Diet Coke (which regrettable is probably more than it should be). Right now it is easy to grab portable snacks.....apples are in season and I LOVE Honey crisps!!! I've also always got low fat string cheese, hard boiled eggs, whole grain crackers and veggies. So I guess I do plan a little....because at least these are all in the house ready for me!!!

Tomorrow I am going the the Grand Traverse Pie Company for lunch....wish me luck!!!! We are having dinner at a friend's house. This will be great though because she always prepares low-fat, healthy dishes that taste great!

Here's to a great Tuesday morning....!

A Nike Ad Made Me Think...

I stumbled across this Nike Ad online today:

A WOMAN IS OFTEN MEASURED BY THE THINGS SHE CANNOT CONTROL. SHE IS MEASURED BY THE WAY HER BODY CURVES OR DOESN'T CURVE, BY WHERE SHE IS FLAT OR STRAIGHT OR ROUND. SHE IS MEASURED BY 36-24-36 AND INCHES AND AGES AND NUMBERS, BY ALL THE OUTSIDE THINGS THAT DON'T EVER ADD UP TO WHO SHE IS ON THE INSIDE. AND SO IF A WOMAN IS TO BE MEASURED LET HER BE MEASURED BY THE THINGS SHE CAN CONTROL, BY WHO SHE IS AND WHO SHE IS TRYING TO BECOME. BECAUSE AS EVERY WOMAN KNOWS, MEASUREMENTS ARE ONLY STATISTICS. AND STATISTICS LIE.

I have a beautiful daughter...and as I read this advertisement it dawned on me how many times I say, "I'm fat, my thighs are huge, I wish.....(fill in with whatever body part I am obsessing about at the time) was higher, smaller, tighter, etc." Every time I say that I am comparing myself to an unrealistic vision of what society says women should be. I am enabling my daughter to do the same. And you see, I look at her body and see perfection. I know that even in 1st grade she is starting to say her clothes don't look right, that her missing front tooth makes her look like a dork, that her legs are too long (can you imagine this problem) for these jeans.... I could name many more. But how can I convince her that our bodies are amazing. That the width of my hips are from the birth of two of the most spectacular people. That the lines around my eyes are from laughter and tears and memories. I will do it...she my future and I don't want her to feel that one cell of her body wasn't planned for greatness. Even if that cell isn't perfect, it is just right how it is. After I read that Nike ad, I ran across this one that used to be hung in my office....why isn't it anymore anyway???

I weighted in on Friday...and lost a pound. But after this post, it would have been okay if I hadn't. It was nice though to move my weight loss tracker :-)

Have a great week!

Hidden Veggies???

Did you get a chance to watch Oprah yesterday??? Jessica Seinfeld is so cute....but can this new book Deceptively Delicious really be, well, real? I have two small children. One of which loves and I mean loves veggies and fruits. However, my daughter would starve before she would eat broccoli. So if I can in fact smuggle veggies into say pancakes, cookies, chicken nuggets.....I would be one happy mama. I am going to check out from the library before I pay $24.95 for it. I have many cookbooks that were supposed to be wonderful in my basement. We'll see if the recipes taste as good as Oprah said! And just a decorating note, Oprah's stage did look cute in pink plaid.

I have walked the last two days at lunch for a total of 6 1/2 miles. Just that little bit of a commitment has motivated me. So I came home tonight and looked in my closet aka....the exercise dungeon. I have multiple and I mean multiple videos that haven't been opened. Oh, I watched the infomercial and had to have it. Most of these spontaneous buys were due to late night breastfeeding or snuggling with a cranky baby. But that gives me no excuse not to exercise in the morning. I have videos from 10 minutes to Yoga videos that are 1 hour plus. My agreement with myself is that if I show a commitment to one of them...I can purchase the Zumba videos. But to commend myself I have opted to try those before I buy them by checking them out from the library (there is a waiting list so it will be a week or so before I get them). So what is my new Zumba obsession??? I had a test class last spring during one of my work exercise classes and liked it. However, it was offered this fall at the same time as Yoga/Pilates which I really like. So I opted for the Yoga. But...there is a Zumba certification class coming to Rockford next month. I am thinking that if I like these videos and can feel confident enough, I might go for the 1 day certification. It is $199.00....but if I teach classes for community ed....I could make that up pretty quickly. Our community ed. is not offering any exercise classes at this time which is really disappointing. Zumba seems to be all the craze so why not make a buck off of it. Plus, if I taught 2 times a week, I'd be getting my exercise in too!

Tonight is The Biggest Loser.....another TV obsession of mine. I TiVo it and don't start it until it has run at least 1/2 hour. That way I can zoom right through the commercials (though I have started to notice that more and more shows are featuring name brand items....new marketing since DVRs). I checked out the Body Bugg they have been wearing..... It is $499.99!!!! Now that it an expensive piece of, well, ummm, exercise equipment?!? Any how, I am ready for a Bob fix!!!! If only he lived here in Michigan...now that would be motivating.

This and That

I've decided to go back to attending Weight Watcher meetings. This week we had many discussions about it at work....that's where the desire to start attending began. Then a good friend of mine told me she was joining today. She will be going to the meetings I attended with my mom. Until now I haven't had a reason to go. No one was expecting me.....where as a year ago, I got my dead butt out of bed on Saturday mornings because, well, my mom told me to. I am only 10 lbs over my WW goal (my personal goal is much higher than that). I haven't been able to loose those pounds on my own. I know WW meetings work for me especially the Saturday morning leader. So, I am going to support my friend and get the support for me. I am excited!

The kids and I went to Apple Fest today. They got their faces painted, painted a bird house and had an old fashioned photo taken (proceeds go to our library). It was a fun day for us! It is blistering hot for October so Doug was swamped at the golf course....Money, Money, Money!!!! Love those Indian Summers.

I've added a Widget to the site The Weigh We Were. This is truly my inspiration site when I am needing a "diet" boost. Check it out! I watched I Want to Look Like a High School Cheerleader Again. I guess it is CMT's version of The Biggest Loser. But....they complained about weighing 134 lbs. Come on! Oh, I'll watch it because I am a weight loss reality show junkie.

Time to go out and enjoy this wonderful evening weather! Gotta love Michigan!