Daily Recap...

Ugh. It's been a very long afternoon/evening. My grandfather went in for what they thought would be a routine heart bypass surgery, but it took a turn for the worse when the surgeon discovered a piece of his aorta was diseased, containing a lot of plaque and "stuff," as he put it. He feared that if he took the clamp off, the stuff in that part of the aorta would gush upstream, go to my grandfather's brain, and cause a stroke. So, instead, he decided to remove that portion of the aorta entirely. I was planning to go in after work just to support my grandmother, but the uncle I'm closest to called me, very upset and worried, and said everyone was gathering there because the surgeons couldn't guarantee he was going to make it. So of course I left work immediately to go be at the hospital. Long story short, he's in the ICU now, and probably won't wake up for a day or two. And, since his bypass turned into an aortic operation, he will be in for a longer recovery. This all assuming further complications don't develop. We're really praying he doesn't develop any bleeding tonight and have to be opened up again...If you are a spiritual or religious person, please pray or send positive vibes our way...

On the positive side, I did several great things for my health, despite the stress and worry over my grandpa. I parked in a farther away parking lot at the hospital to get a lot of extra walking in. I invited my mother, two brothers, and sister back to my house to eat, and we made burgers, chicken patties, and baked tater tots for dinner. I ate one chicken patty with cheese on a whole wheat bun, one serving of tots, and a pickle, along with the can of caffeine-free Dr. Pepper I treat myself to each evening. Then, after they all left around 8:00, I did a 30 minute Tae Bo tape. So, all in all, a great day fitness-wise.

Now, I'm just praying all goes well for my grandpa. He's the closest thing I've had to a father since mine died when I was two and a half...

Daily (For Real) Recap...

Food: Used 33.5 out of 34 WW points (didn't even have to bust into activity points today!)
Exercise: 30 minutes Tae Bo

Yay me! Doing really well this week. The best I've done in a long time. Hoping I can keep this up!

Sporadic Recap...

Okay, I'm trying hard to get back in the habit of daily updates. Really I am! And for once, silence doesn't mean that I was doing bad, just that I was forgetful. I've been doing great with both points and exercise. In fact, one could even say I've been doing FANTASTIC this week. =) Saturday I did 30 minutes on the treadmill AND 30 minutes Tae Bo (yes, I'm seeing my "other man", Billy, again!), in addition to tons of housecleaning, and more housecleaning and 30 minutes on the treadmill Sunday. Then yesterday I did 30 minutes of Tae Bo (a different Basic workout) and 20 minutes Pilates. I've been right around my points target, or just a few points over and using activity points to cover.

Not sure if the scale's cooperating. I guess we'll find out on Saturday's weigh-in!

Back from Vacation...

Whoops. Think I forgot to post a warning that I'd be out on vacay for awhile. We just got back on Sunday, and yesterday was spent unwinding and taking care of a few chores, but today marks my being officially back "on plan" with Weight Watchers and I'm planning to work out this evening, too. So far, so good!

We visited my husband's family in Maine, and our plan was just to eat as healthfully as possible and get whatever activity we could while there. We didn't count points or calories or anything, but all in all we did great. We chose healthier selections the few times we ate out, and his parents insisted on taking us grocery shopping a couple times so we could buy a lot of the healthy snacks and such we're used to. I did allow myself to drink several Dr. Peppers (a weakness of mine) while there, but I limited it by only buying one or two 20-ounce bottles every day or so.

I'm at work now, but I'll try and post more later. Just didn't want anyone to think I'd given up!!!

Semi Daily Recap

Heh. I REALLY need to get back into the habit of post every day so these are actual, true daily recaps! =) Yesterday was a good day, all things considered. I had class (my LAST Master's class--HOORAY!), so it was a break day from exercise, but I ended up with 34.5 WW Points, and my target is 35, so spot-on with food. That's even considering the pizza I treated myself to after class because I was STARVING and the professor was SUPPOSED to provide pizza in class, but didn't. And after I'd eaten light all day. Hrmph! I ordered a smaller than usual pizza and ate about half (it's really thin crust and they went light on the cheese), then set aside the other half for the baby for lunch today and tomorrow. And this particular place's pizza is one of my FAVORITES, so that is a true accomplishment for me. =)

Today was great as well. I started AF today, so the past day or two I have been MUCH hungrier than usual, which accounts for my relatively high points days. I ended up with something like 40 points, but I walked for 45 minutes on the treadmill (the longest I've done in AGES) and also did 20 minutes Winsor Pilates Ab Sculpting, so I had enough activity points to account for the overage. Plus, it being my TOM, I HAD to have some chocolate (which I don't normally crave much). I satisfy my sweet tooth with dark Hershey's kisses, just a few at a time, and not too high of points considering how much they satisfy me. Well worth the extra walking I did!

I still can't believe how much I've been CRAVING exercise this week. It feels AWESOME! I had been telling myself "You only HAVE to do 20 minutes on the treadmill." But I've been getting 30 minutes easily when just a week or two ago I was having to FORCE myself to get past 10. The 45 minutes today came easily, and I COULD have gone longer, but it was time to eat. In addition to the treadmill, I've been doing Pilates after the baby goes to bed. Even when I lost the 50 pounds before and was exercising quite a bit, I NEVER would have exercised once earlier in the evening and then AGAIN right before bed. But something about the Pilates is really appealing to me these days and I'm loving doing it right before bed. Maybe it's helping me sleep better and my subconscious knows that? Whatever, I am very proud of myself!

And that's what I have to focus on. How good eating right and exercising makes me feel. How strong I feel and how proud of myself I am right now. Cause it's the little things that help you push through the frustrating times (like the plateau that spun me out of control 3 years ago!). This time I WILL reach my goals, and nothing's gonna stop me. ESPECIALLY not me!

Daily Recap

Another awesome, on-plan day. I ended up exactly on my points target and didn't use any activity or flex points. Speaking of activity points, I earned an impressive (for me) 5 points tonight, thanks to 30 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes Winsor Pilates (Bun and Thigh Sculpting). The scale hasn't been kind the past few days, which was ticking me off at first because this is one of the best weeks I've had in ages, but then I remembered my TOM is due in the next couple days, so it made perfect sense.

I'm looking forward to sleeping well tonight! =)

Still Going Strong...

Whoops, think I forgot to do a post yesterday. I had a wonderful, healthy Mother's Day. Husband and baby boy got me cards (one from each), and took me to a late lunch so we could avoid the crowds. We went to our favorite family restaurant, O'Charley's, where I had the bite-sized shrimp, a baked potato, and steamed broccoli. I ate half the shrimp, half the broccoli, and all the potato except for the skin. We also had the loaded potato skins for an appetizer, and I had two of those. They were pretty small, so not TOO bad points-wise. I also had one piece of bread.

We went to the park afterwards and walked for about a half-hour, then let the baby run around the playground. He just LOVES it when we let him do that, even though he doesn't actually do much on the equipment. And not without one of us pretty much right with him, since he's still pretty small and not that steady. A couple hours after we got home I did another half-hour on the treadmill, which made me feel awesome. =)

Tonight I did 20 minutes upper body Pilates, a great accomplishment seeing as how husband is sick and I took care of baby this morning AND evening all by my lonesome. When we put baby to bed I was just going to surf the Net until bedtime, but reading through some weight loss success stories made me realize how much I wanted to work out today. So I did. Yay me!

I've been using my activity points and a couple Flex points the past few days, probably in large part due to it being right before "that time" of the month. I'm hoping the exercise I've been doing will compensate, and I may try and have a slightly lower day or two points-wise also. I'm not too worried, though. I'm feeling great and finally taking care of myself again. Woot!

Daily Recap...

Today was a great day food and exercise-wise. And I can tell I'm firmly back on the fitness wagon again...I promised myself at lunch that I could go to any restaurant I wanted and eat whatever I felt like (within reason, of course), and what I ended up craving was *drumroll* soup and a sandwich. *LOL* Well, specifically I wanted a sandwich on a croissant instead of my usual whole wheat bread, and chicken noodle soup. So I picked some up from the overly-expensive cafe in our building at work, then added pickles and peaches to even it out. Yum! I am using today's activity points and a few flex points so I can have a can of caffeine-free Dr. Pepper, three Hershey's kisses, and a fudge pop for dessert. Not all at once, the fudge pop will be more of a snack a bit later.

I am wicked proud of myself as far as today's exercise goes. I did something I haven't done in AGES--Pilates. I did 2 of my Winsor Pilates workouts, modifying what I couldn't do correctly, for a total of 40 minutes. Now I am pleasantly tired, feeling good, and hella proud of myself! =) Now to remember how damned good being on track feels, and get down to goal once and for all!

Fitness Blog Redux...

So. I kept a fitness blog for a few years a couple years ago, wherein I chronicled my 50-pound weight loss, then gained back the weight, then gained some more, then got married and pregnant. I stopped fitness blogging not too long after getting pregnant, although I kept up with my writing livejournal. Unfortunately, I put on way too much weight during my pregnancy. Over the 16 months since my son was born, I've slowly lost 50 pounds. The first 30 came off right away, thanks to them being mostly water weight. The other 20 pounds took a lot longer, and I've lost the last 10 over the past few weeks of FINALLY buckling down with tracking my food intake and committing to regular exercise.

I'm going to mess around with this blogger account to see if I like blogging here. If not, I'll probably just make a second LJ account my fitness blog. I've found that making regular fitness posts tends to help keep me focused and on track. It's the accountability, I guess! That said, here are my (scary) stats:

Height: 5'4"
Highest pregnancy weight: 330 pounds (ouch!)
Current weight: 280 pounds (less of an ouch but still ouch!)
Initial goal: 230 pounds (first 100 pounds)
Secondary goal: 197 pounds (where I got last time I lost)
Tentative final goal: 150 pounds (depending on how I feel at that weight)

The Plan:
Food: Following Weight Watchers Online
Exercise: MUST-do: 20-30 minutes walking 5-7 times a week (treadmill or outside) Optional: Exercise videos (Tae Bo, The Firm, Pilates) as able starting out, later 2-5 times a week

Like I said, I've lost 10 pounds since I re-joined WW a few weeks ago, although I only got REALLY serious about both food and exercise the past couple of weeks. I'm feeling strong and great again, so I think I'm finally ready to get this fat OFF! I once swore I'd get it all off in my 20's, but that didn't quite happen, so now I'm pushing for my 30's. Since I just turned 30 in October, I should make it this time! ;)