Mar 13 2013

Wednesday Weigh In {March 13}

Posted on 13 March, 2013 by TheDailyMel

Happy Wednesday, everyone! That means it’s time for another edition of the Wednesday Weigh In.

Once again it’s been far too long since my last blog post. Sadly, it’s due to the fact that I have been sick … again. This year has been so rough for me. It started with the flu in mid-January which resulted in missing a full week of work. I managed to get back to work for one week when I ended up sick again. That time it was due to an upper respiratory infection that came on the heels of getting over the flu. I missed another full week of work with that. I made it back to work for three weeks before the cough came back with a vengeance on March 3. After yet another couple of trips to the doctor, I found out it had developed into full blown bronchitis and I missed another full week of work. For those counting, that means I’ve already missed three full weeks of work in the past two months. Not exactly the way one wants to start a new year.

Needless to say, due to all of the sickness I’ve been battling, I haven’t made it to very many of my Weight Watchers meetings this year either. I’ve still been staying on track though and weighing in at home. I’m down about 5 pounds since my last “official” weigh in at Weight Watchers on March 3.

I have to say, I’ve been really surprised that I dropped weight this week. I’ve been on four different prescriptions, one of which was Prednisone. Generally speaking, I usually put on weight when I’m on medication, especially something like Prednisone since it’s a steroid. I nearly fell off the scale at home when I saw that I’d actually lost weight!

I’m still not completely over this crud. I’m still coughing quite a bit, but at least I’m done with the Prednisone. I’m still on the Levaquin (antibiotic) and Promethazine (codeine cough syrup) until Saturday night. I’m hoping that since I made it through the Prednisone without gaining weight that I can make it through the rest of the other meds without a gain, too.

Oh, and on one final side note, I just want to wish my Daddy a very happy 75th birthday today!

Until next time …

Feb 21 2013

Progress Not Perfection

Posted on 21 February, 2013 by TheDailyMel

I stumbled across this image today on the Facebook page belonging to The Iron You. Ever had one of those moments that you heard or read something at just the moment you needed to hear it? Yeah, this was one of those moments. This was just what I needed to hear this morning.

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted a Wednesday Weigh-In entry in a while. Well, that’s because I haven’t been to a Weight Watchers meeting since January 27. I missed two meetings while I was sick, and then missed my meeting this past Sunday due to having an emergency come up. So, I’ve definitely been feeling out of sorts this month with my weight loss efforts.

It started when I was sick with this upper respiratory infection I’ve been battling since February 1. After several days of just feeling like death on a cracker, it got to the point that I just didn’t care about what I was eating. I found myself longing for comfort food. Of course, now that I’m well and can think clearly again, I know what I was really wanting was to be comforted by someone. Since I live alone, I returned to my old habits and food became my “someone” instead.

Once I finally did start feeling semi-human again, I’ve still been feeling like I’m on a sidelines because every time I exert myself, I start hacking and coughing. In case you’re wondering, why yes, that can indeed make working out a bit of a challenge. I can’t do my Zumba DVDs. I can’t swim. I really can’t do anything that requires me to do heavy breathing or I’ll end up just hacking for a couple of hours until my lungs settle down again.

After seeing that above image this morning, I stopped and just took stock of where I’m at right now. Ok, so perhaps I’m nowhere close to where I was last month with my workouts and I haven’t tracked my food every day this month like I did in January, but the month isn’t a total wash either. I’m back to keeping my food journal, and I’ve been taking full advantage of my FitnessGlo membership by using their short/low-intensity videos for things like stretching and balance. I was even able to finish a 30-minute step video by doing a few modifications here and there to keep the intensity low enough to avoid setting off my cough. Here are a couple of pics I’ve posted to Instagram this week as I’ve been doing my workouts.

So, while I may not be making the major strides in progress that I did in January, I’m still making progress, just more slowly, and that’s OK! It’s all about progress from month to month. As the old saying goes, progress not perfection. I’ve never been perfect little Suzy Weight Watcher, and I never will be. This is all about a lifestyle for me, not just another diet. Given that fact, it doesn’t matter how quickly I lose weight as long as I’m making a move in the downward direction over time. As the image says, slow progress is still just that … progress!

Speaking of FitnessGlo, don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a free 90-day membership for one lucky reader! The deadline to enter is 5:00pm Friday night (Feb. 22).

Until next time …

Jan 30 2013

Wednesday Weigh In {Jan. 30}

Posted on 30 January, 2013 by TheDailyMel

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I can’t believe it’s time for another Wednesday Weigh In again already. I had every intention of getting a post up a couple of days ago, but life has been so very busy this week. I guess that’s what happens when one is away from work for about 10 days. Part of that time was spent on vacation in Vegas with a few friends, but the bulk of it was missed while I was home sick last week with the flu. When I finally made it back to work on Monday, I had nearly 700 emails and about 20 voicemails to sort through as quickly as possible before the onslaught of meetings hit. I’ve been so mentally drained by the time I get home in the evenings that I’ve barely even been checking in online, much less having the mental faculties to try and actually compose a blog post.

Even though I was sick all of last week, I did manage to get out on Sunday morning and make it over to my regular Weight Watchers meeting. I really wasn’t expecting much in the way of a loss because I had just weighed in four days earlier on Wednesday since I missed my regular meeting the previous Sunday while I was in Vegas. On top of that, I had been consuming a LOT of canned soups while I was sick. Well, I was pretty much right in the expectations department. I was down 0.4. But hey, that’s nearly a half pound even with it being such a short week and all the sodium from the soup, so I’m calling it good!

Even though my losses at Weight Watchers over the past couple of weeks have been smaller than normal, I’m actually pretty pleased with how I’ve been doing, especially between all the restaurant food I ate in Vegas and the aforementioned quantities of canned soup. Both of those can be killers in the weight loss department, but I managed to successfully navigate my way through my mine fields and have a loss both weeks. How did I do that? By not giving in to the lure of Vegas buffets and making smart food choices instead! Here are a few examples:

El Pollo Loco – Grilled Chicken Salad with Light Creamy Cilantro dressing (8 PointsPlus).

El Pollo Loco Grilled Chicken Salad

Bahama Breeze – Simply Grilled tilapia with cinnamon mashed sweet potatoes and green beans (13 PointsPlus).

Bahama Breeze Simply Grilled Tilapia

Hard Rock Cafe – ordered a la carte – Grilled chicken breast with steamed broccoli and a side of fruit (6 PointsPlus). Sorry this photo isn’t that great. It was really dark in the restaurant and I didn’t want to use my flash and disturb other diners.

Hard Rock Cafe Grilled Chicken

While I know it’s really easy to give in to all of the food temptations when traveling, especially in Vegas, it is possible to make good food choices most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, I did indulge a bit one day. We went to Famous Dave’s and I had a lunch-size combo with brisket and a piece fried cod with a couple of sides. It was DE-LISH! The big difference from times past, I actually tracked all of it and counted the PointsPlus values for everything (35 PointsPlus for that meal, just in case anyone was wondering ). Yep, that’s right, I tracked 100% of the food I ate while on my mini vacation. If I can do it, so can you during your next vacation!

Speaking of which, did you know Applebee’s has lots of great options on their menu for someone who wants to eat out and still keep their calories & fat consumption to a reasonable amount? I had the opportunity recently to test out their updated Under 550 menu for a review over at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. You can read all about my thoughts over there, but I’ll leave with a teaser pic of this amazing Roasted Garlic Sirloin dinner I had (12 PointsPlus for the whole meal!). Oh yeah, and there might be a giveaway going on with that post, too. Just sayin’ …

Applebee's Roasted Garlic Sirloin

Until next time …

Jan 23 2013

Wednesday Weigh In {Jan. 23}

Posted on 23 January, 2013 by TheDailyMel

Wednesday Weigh-In Hello, faithful readers! Sorry I haven’t posted in a week. I went to Vegas for four days with some friends and then promptly came down with the flu when I got home. I have been online a bit while I’ve been sick, but I just didn’t have it in me to try and compose an actual blog post. Given it’s time for my Wednesday Weigh In post, I figured this was as good a time as any to jump back in with both feet.

First off, let me say that Vegas was a blast! Thankfully, between taking part in New Year’s DietBet put together by Roni and the Progress Not Perfection Trackstar Challenge put together by Dani, I managed to stay in control while I was there. I did end up using most of my Weekly Points Allowance, but that’s OK. That’s what they’re for, right?! Of course, it also helped that two of the other women on the trip are also on Weight Watchers and most all of us are either trying to lose weight and/or increase our workouts. It definitely made it easier to stay on track when others around me were being somewhat mindful of what they were eating as well.

Since I was in Vegas, I didn’t make it to my usual Sunday morning Weight Watchers meeting. I had initially weighed in for the week on my home scale this morning, but then realized later in the day that I needed to make a grocery store run for more tissues and juice. Since I was out anyway, I stopped by one of the other local WW centers and did my weigh in for the week. I was down another pound. Given last week included four days in Vegas and the related road trip, I’m definitely calling this week a MAJOR victory for me! In the past, I could easily put on 4-5 pounds over a long weekend in Vegas, but not this time!

Until next time …

Jan 16 2013

Wednesday Weigh In {Jan. 16}

Posted on 16 January, 2013 by TheDailyMel

Wednesday Weigh-In I can’t believe another week has gone by already. This year needs to just slow it’s roll a little bit because it’s just moving waaaaaaay too fast for my liking. Anyone else feel the same way?

It’s time for another weekly Wednesday Weigh In for me. I headed to my Weight Watchers meeting on Sunday morning and weighed in down another 2.8 pounds this week and a total of 7 pounds thus far in the New Year’s Weight Loss Challenge over at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. Woo Hoo!!

I actually don’t think I’ve really talked about my reset here on the blog. I did talk about it with a couple of friends though. I basically reached a point where I knew I needed to just wipe the slate clean and start over completely fresh. While I do accept and realize that I’m still down a good chunk of weight from my all-time highest weight, that all-time high weight was actually about 10 years ago now. It just started feeling very disingenuous to be counting my current loss from that point.

The final straw that lead me to making the reset decision was coming across a quote from Ashley over at Coffee Cake and Cardio. It was on the page where she was discussing her own weight loss and it resonated exactly how I’ve been feeling.

“I have had to close the book on my past weight loss and look at my present as a new start.”

This summed up perfectly what I needed to do. It was time for me to close the book on not just my past weight loss success, but on my past weight loss failures and regained pounds, too. I’m no longer that same person who lost nearly 140 pounds ten years ago. I’m older. My hormone levels have changed due to having a hysterectomy several years ago. My ability to do high intensity workouts has changed due to having a spinal fusion five years ago and knee surgery last year. Given all these changes, there’s no reason I should expect my weight loss efforts to be the same they were in the past.

So, after discussing it with my Weight Watchers leader, we did a complete reset of my membership. My weigh in on the day after Christmas was my new starting weight. I have new 5% and 10% goals. I have an all new weight record. All of my past weigh-in history in eTools was reset. It’s like I’m a brand new spanking member and it’s been extremely liberating in how I look at my weight loss. I’ve been 100% on program since my reset on Dec. 26. In that time, I’ve lost a total of 9.2 pounds.

I’m not saying everyone who has been struggling should do a complete reset like I did. However, if you feel like you’re getting mired down by your past successes and/or failures and it’s keeping you from being successful in the here and now, please just know it’s always an option.

Until next time …

Jan 2 2013

Wednesday Weigh In {Jan. 2}

Posted on 2 January, 2013 by TheDailyMel

Wednesday Weigh-In It’s really late and I’m really tired, so this is going to be really brief. I had my final weigh-in at Weight Watchers on Sunday for my personal Thanksgiving to New Year maintenance challenge. I’m happy to report that not only did I maintain my weight over the holidays, I actually ended up with a net loss of 3.2 pounds. Go me!

Until next time …