A Lazy Day

 Shapa threw me back into the gray zone; which depresses me a little.

I'm off work today due to having to be on a clear liquid diet for a medical procedure I'm having tomorrow.  Just a preventive procedure, nothing serious.

But it got me thinking that Saturday will make a good new start!  I really don't want to wait until the start of Kickstart to start over when I can start now and join in with them later.  Don't put off what you can do today.

Again, KICKSTART is free to join and there are no costs at any point.  You can, if you choose, purchase their workbook; use your own; or not use any at all!!  All information is at the link!

Sunday Update

 I leave for Myrtle Beach next Sunday, getting excited but vacation means all types of eating.

I didn't want to just give up until after vacation, so I decided to keep things simple for this week.  I'm going with a Nutrigrain bar, Dannon Light & Fit yogurt and a fruit for breakfast.  Grab & Go is what is Simple.   I found cherry nutrigrain bars - excited to try them!

I bought some streamed shrimp to eat for lunch one day; I know we have pizza coming tomorrow - I need something to go with that as I don't want to overeat pizza.  I'm going to make sloppy joes for dinner tomorrow and that will give me a day or two of leftovers for lunch.  Lunch is the hard one for me!

It's A Slow Process.....

 "It's a slow process, but quitting won't speed it up."

"Every morning that you wake up is another chance to get it right."

"Commitment: staying loyal to what you said you were going to do long after the mood you said it in has left."

I came across the above quotes on a label sheet.  I had typed them out some time ago to put in my Kickstart Commitment Tracker.  They never got used, but they definitely brought me back into focus.

One of my co-workers has gone to a nutritionist and has lost 18 lbs. in 8 weeks.  Good for her!  I was talking to her and she said they advised she download the Lose It app, eat at least 1300 calories a day and no more than 1500, eat beef no more than 3 times a week, start the day with a protein drink with at least 30 grams of protein, and stay away from the whites (white bread, pasta, rice - whole wheat/grain are fine).  Seems simple and it is doing her well.  I was asking what she ate besides the protein drink and she said she has steak twice a week and cereal in the morning and snacks of fruit (she does not eat vegetables, not a veggie eater) and eats Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice for lunch.  I asked her if she did weighing and measuring - that seemed foreign to her.  So I said how do you justify the calories in the app if you don't know the amount you're eating.  She said she just puts in a serving.  I'm glad it's working for her and hope it continues to do so, but you can't just pour an amount of cereal in a bowl and count it as one serving.  I guess that's the WW mentality in me.

I know she's eating better and less than she has in a while and I will not give any unsolicited advice as she's doing better than me; but at some point counting 2 cups of Special K as one serving (3/4 cup is a serving for Special K) may slow her down.

She's got the mindset right now - the one you need to lose weight.  I don't; but I haven't given up.  I get up each morning with the right mind set...sometimes it lasts through the days, sometimes it doesn't.  Shapa still has me in light gray, and though I hate that, I know it's the truth.  I'll get it back to Teal!

I so wanted to clean out the one room upstairs today but it's full of old computer equipment, tablets and such.  I need to find a place to take that for recycling and until I have that worked out, I can't really do anything else.

Another week at work and then off to the beach!

Quick Update

Things are still moving forward.  Haven't gotten any walks in due to the heat; but I'm still moving forward.

Trying to figure out next week's breakfasts.  I'm thinking either frozen waffles or cereal.  

I did go a little over in calories today, but not by much and I didn't use all the calories yesterday.  For the record, unlike WW, nothing carries over to the next day or gets added to the week - use them or lose them.  Honestly though, I think it all works out in the end regardless.

Shapa has me in the Teal, which is a step down from Blue - but it's still a good place to be!

Something I've Come To Realize

 This past week on Lose-It, I've discovered my main focus is on correct portions.  Guess what?  That's what the original Weight Watchers points plan was - portion control.  It seems odd they chose to move away from that.

I get it - not all calories and foods are created equal.  I understand what WW has tried to do with all the plan changes - steer you towards the healthy foods; well sort of - I don't consider fat free and sugar free foods healthy at all.

I'm a person that overeats.  So portion control is good for me.  I know what foods are healthy and what aren't.  Though WW claims you can do the plan and still eat all your favorite foods, you really can't - their zero food list and points don't allow it; but on that original plan, you could.

Anyway, my official weight loss since the start using Lose-It is:  3.2 lbs

YAY ME!!   

Also, my Shapa scale has me in the BLUE, which is the best you can get!

Now I do realize it was the first week (well actually 10 days) and I shouldn't expect a loss like that every week, but I'm off to a good start and am so very happy for it!

Still Moving Forward

 Today I have off work due to the holiday!  So I'm just relaxing at the house (hubby is dog sitting).

Since I am home, I opted to change things around and have this for breakfast:

It was a very filling breakfast ( 2 eggs, 2 slice Oscar Mayer fully cooked bacon; 3 cherry tomatoes, 4 strawberry slices and 2 slices of light Italian bread)!  4 pts on Weight Watchers; 312 calories on Lose It!

You're going to stop seeing point values on here soon...I'm really enjoying the Lose It app and getting away from points.

Right now, I'm only looking at calories - not anything else.  As I need to switch things up on my weight loss journey; I'll look at other things.

I'm thinking a protein smoothie for lunch and I have a beef roast with carrots and potatoes in the slow cooker for dinner.  I'm still under in calories, but that leaves room for some healthy snacks.

Lose It says I will reach my goal weight by October 1st.  The goal I set isn't where I want to be; but I can be satisfied there while moving towards the next goal.  I will not be going to where Weight Watchers wants me.  I could never maintain that, but did have an area I could maintain.  I realize Weight Watchers needed to set areas for Lifetimers to achieve; it was just never doable in the long term for me.

But any weight loss is putting me in the right direction.

Tomorrow I'm thinking baked oatmeal again for breakfast, leftovers from dinner for lunch and dinner is undecided.  It may be another pork chop with corn on cob or hubby and I may go out.  

Shapa has me in the green, so I'm pushing towards teal or even better blue!

On The Right Track

 So Shapa today has me in the Teal - which is great!

Still not feeling the greatest, I get tired quickly without really doing anything active.  Just sitting at my desk at work exhausts me.

I'm looking forward to Kickstart starting again, but there's a few weeks for that yet. If you're interested you can sign-up or get more information here:  KICKSTART, it's FREE to join.  If you want, you may purchase their journal for it: Kickstart Journal, but you do not need to...any journal or a plain notebook will do; you may find that you do not need any type of journal or notebook.

I hate to keep talking about Kickstart; but I do find it to be a useful tool.  It gives me some structure; which I'm missing from no longer having any meetings; it just keeps me on track.

I think I'm going to start to do some movie reviews on the blog.  I see a lot of movies, at least one a week, so I have lots of opinions!!

Back in the Gray

 Shapa put me in dark gray today.....that's the worst you can get.

Then I woke up feeling sick again.  Hubby has it again and passed it on to me. 

And, of course, the weather has started to be nicer and I've no energy to walk.

I always feel like I'm always going back to square one!  Why can't I get passed that?

I'm still looking forward to the next Kickstart which begins April 28th.  That's still a way off!

I just need to pull through this cold and keep trying.  Move towards getting Shapa to at least the light gray area.

Calories Finally!!

 This afternoon the calories finally appeared in my Weight Watchers app.  No update, it was just all of a sudden there!  So it is coming out; if you don't have it yet keep looking on the app down where the macros are listed (protein, carbs, etc) when you see the plus ( + ) sign, click it and you can add calories.  That area will let you add or delete what you want.  I kept calories and protein and deleted the others (they aren't deleted forever, you can always add them back).

So we'll see how it goes.  I'm resetting my start day to Fridays again.  I just always like having those weeklies for the weekend!

I am still using my Shapa scale and it has me maintaining in the green!

Where Are Those Calories!!!

I still don't have the calorie option on my WW app.  I've gotten several updates and none have brought me the only update I want!

It infuriates me!  I have never understood why, if I'm part of the beta group, I don't ever get any of the "new" things to test before everyone else?!  What's the point of beta? And, before you ask, yes I have left beta and downloaded the regular app only to still be met with no calorie option.

I do not understand how the app store can provide the update to some members and not others.  I don't understand! Now it seems that the update may not be out to all until mid-March.  Yes, I know, that's only another week or two.

I only rejoined WW because of this update.  When I used Healthi, that information was available, and it made a big difference in my weight journey.

A few posts back my Shapa scale had me in dark gray - the worst place to be.  Over the last week or so; it got me to light gray, green, teal and blue.  Today I'm in green, which is basically maintaining.  I can live with that!