Exercise....Uuuugggghhhhh!

I wish that I loved exercise. In the past when I consciously made it a part of my every day life, there actually was a point (after 2-3 months of consistency) that I did enjoy it....BUT now....Oh how I am struggling, even to do something as simple as walk 3 times a week. I had all intentions of starting back this week. The truth of the matter is that I get bored very easy. My daughter who was recently certified as a personal trainer, volunteered to teach me ZUMBA and work with me on Pilates to "shake things up a bit"....I think I would have literally been "shaking things up" if I did Zumba, as it is a series of dance steps taken from Africa. Anyway, this week....once again...no exercise. I have an overwhelming amount of "things" on my plate. I am writing this post in hopes that someone will hold me accountable when I say that I have all intentions of starting exercise on October 1st! We'll see.....

Staying on track despite all.....

I missed my Saturday "weight in" at Weight Watchers as I went out of town for some much needed R & R with family....I knew that I would not be eating as close to plan but did manage to watch portions and stick to as many vegetables as possible. Sunday was a little "trying" as there was birthday cake and ice cream and I did manage to have a portion of both. I am not going to bother to "toot my own horn" at this point. I know me and I am mainly attempting to just encourage myself and hopefully someone else, but normally when I eat something like cake and ice cream, I throw in towel, declare myself the loser of the battle and go crazy....this time was different. I started back on plan as soon as I got home Sunday night and am still feeling strong. Of course, I can't take credit for any of this, as I give God all the glory for it....I absolutely cannot pull through this in my own strength.

Dessert Coffee

Funny...the post on my other blog is about coffee as well (see www.suecombs.blogspot.com). As you've noticed over the years, coffee has gotten more publicity than ever...it's the latest craze...almost every corner has some kind of coffee shop. I think if most of us are honest, it's not the coffee that we are addicted to but the creamer. The other day I was telling Cece, my nurse manager, about my husband's perfect cup of coffee, half coffee and half vanilla creamer. She laughed and said, "Girl, that's what I call 'dessert coffee". I thought, you know, she's onto something! Most people do not look at serving sizes when they are ingesting food or drink, but Weight Watcher's encourages you to do so. The serving size for this coffee creamer is 1 tablespoon, yet most people have as much as 5-10 tablespoons in a cup of coffee. It all boils down to this, training your mind to think differently and your taste buds to taste differently. As my friend Deb stated recently in her blog, "Eat to live, don't live to eat..". So, next time you are fixing that cup of coffee, pay close attention to the serving size...it will not be as sweet at first, but with time you will get used to the taste. I know for myself, I am so accustomed to kicked up flavor on almost everything, that a piece of fruit or a vegetable often taste bland and pales in comparison.

Today's Weigh In......

O.K., today was the big "weigh in" at Weight Watchers. Anyone that has been a member of Weight Watchers any length of time knows all the tricks you do prior to your weigh (i.e., wearing the same clothes you wore the week before, urinating before weigh in, taking your shoes off, not eating breakfast or not even drinking alot of water before weigh in, not wearing excessive jewelry, etc.)....So, today I weighed in and had lost 1.2 pounds (gone are the days when you could drink diet coke and eat a head of lettuce and lose 5-7 pounds in a week). I was not ecstatic, but was content (thanks to my self pep talk from yesterday). It was a loss after all. I just love our leader and the members in my class, they are so enthusiastic and jovial and keep it lively. At the end of our meeting, we were all sharing food ideas. I could not wait to share my latest food find, powdered peanut butter. To understand what I'm about to say, you must understand how Weight Watcher's works. It works by a point system. 1 point is equal to 30-60 calories depending on the caloric/fat/fiber content combined. A person is allotted a certain number of points daily depending on their age, weight, activity level. My daily point allotment is 23. So today, I boldly raised my hand and exclaimed, "I found a new food that I'm so excited about, it's powdered peanut butter and it is 56 POINTS" for 2 tablespoons. (Keep in mind that I meant to say 56 calories). My WW leader looked at me with what I thought was excitement (but it was really disbelief) and questioned, "56 POINTS?!!!", I was so proud of my find, "Yes", I said "56 points"....everyone of the members were reverberating "56 points?"....it finally sunk it, "NO...Not 56 POINTS....56 calories", I said (realizing my error)....the room shook with laughter and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. One of the members looked and me and laughed, "Bragging about a food that is 56 points in one of these meetings will get you beaten"....Oh, that we can laugh when others laugh at us!

Pep Talk to self.....

Tomorrow is the big "weigh in" at Weight Watchers. To recap, I started trying to eat according to the weight watchers plan one week before I returned to the meetings and then last Saturday made up my mind that I need the accountability found at the meetings. I have talked to myself and God most of today as I went about my day-to-day activities...I have purposed in my heart that regardless of what that scale reads tomorrow, I am going to claim a victory. Any weight loss is a loss, no matter how small. AND...if I am the same weight, well...at least I didn't gain. If I gained, I'll show my WW leader my journal and see if she can decipher the problem....So, as you can see, I've got a plan.
This week went well, I didn't exercise as often as I wanted but my main focus this week was staying true to plan, writing down every bite I took, and drinking my water. I did manage to write down everything I ate, stayed on plan, avoided late night snacking....but none of this was my own doing....I prayed every day for the Lord's help and as usual, He was faithful.

"The Hunger Scale"

If you've ever been to the hospital or the doctor's office with a pain related problem, you are probably familiar with the "pain scale", where the nurse or physician ask you to rate your pain on a scale of "0-10" with "0" being no pain and "10" being the worse pain you could imagine. Well Weight Watchers has implemented a hunger scale. This scale is designed to help you assess your hunger levels. As most of us know, in America we are so accustomed to eating for social reasons that we are not even aware when we are hungry or too full. I am test piloting this scale this week. I am going to think about this scale before I eat and then 30 minutes after I eat. The scale works as follows:

"0" = Very hungry/ravenous
"1" = Hungry
"2" = A bit hungry
"3" = Satisfied/comfortable
"4" = Not at all hungry/full
"5" = Stuffed

Of course you aren't supposed to wait until you are at "0" to eat and you are not supposed to keep eating when you are a "4"....
On a different note, our Weight Watcher leader challenged us this week to take out a placemat and eat at the table regardless of what we are eating. She discussed how we tend to eat slower and less when in a setting designed for eating (unlike being in front of the computer or TV)....