Rethinking Holiday Food....

Yesterday was my favorite holiday...Thanksgiving....probably because I love food. Several years ago when I was 100% Weight Watchers (meaning, I all but made it my god..), I could not enjoy the holidays, it meant everything to accomplish and stay at that "goal weight".....I'm on WW again, but not as diligently and I have only one God and that is my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ....so that said, I have to look at holidays different now then I did when I would make myself sick on holiday food, and when I would deprive myself of something. Yesterday, I took a break from logging in my food journal and just simply enjoyed my family and food. I put one large spoonful of anything I wanted to try on my plate and I savored it. Today, I am logging in my journal again. I have to look at food different now....it is not something to gorge on or deprive myself of, it is meant to be enjoyed but in moderation. As usual, I am not patting myself on the back...every day is a battle for me...and while eating good comes fairly easy for me (because I love fruits and veggies), exercise doesn't and that is equally important.

NO MORE CAMI CAKES!!!!

As I typed the title to this post, I was reminded of the scene from "Mommie Dearest", where the mother snaps and yells at her daughter, "NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!"....I hope you can tell by the exclamation points that I am yelling this "NO MORE CAMI CAKES!!!"....My oldest child has started a bad habit at our house lately....she recently fell in love with "Cami Cakes"...for those of you that aren't familiar with this delicacy...it a small family owned chain in Tinseltown near her college campus. They make gourmet cupcakes. When she first told me this, I wasn't impressed. After all, a cupcake is a cupcake. She said that one day she was asking one of the older women that worked there just how many calories a cami cake has. The woman stopped, looked at her and chuckled, "Chile...these cami cakes are not made with calories but with a whole lot of love..."...so I would estimate that in the weight watcher world, one of these cami cakes are worth anywhere from 6-12 points which is equal to almost a half days worth of calories. So....every Monday...my dear daughter brings home these gourmet cupcakes....I tasted a bite the first time and thought, "That's not too bad", then the other day, she brought home one called "Elvis". I was in cupcake love! I said all that to say this, "NO MORE CAMI CAKES"!

Tommorow is a brand new day....thank God!

I have felt this week spiraling out of control with my eating as I have went from one doctor's appointment to another, then a wedding early this morning....then to top it off, the Florida/Georgia game was today and Mike and I had our own little party, complete with snacks (plenty of them)....so...tommorow is a brand new day and I am ever thankful that it is...I have not had time to blog over the past couple of weeks and that too is therapeutic in my weight loss endeavor....

Five combined fruits & veggies a day!

I love fruits and veggies, could have been a vegetarian easy (if it weren't for my "meat & potatoes" loving man)....Weight Watcher's advocates getting five combinations of fruits and vegetables in a day. As much as I love them, I seem to struggle to do this. But one thing is clear, if I made it a point to get my fruits and veggies in first before I allowed myself any processed food or snacks, I would be much healthier and would probably see the weight drop quicker. This past Saturday when I attended the local WW meeting, we talked about ways to incorporate fruits & veggies....Here are a few ideas:

1) Top yogurt with sliced fruit of your choice
2) Top cereal with sliced banana
3) Banana and Peanut Butter sandwich
4) celery sticks or carrots dipped in hummus
5) Garden vegetable soup
6) Sliced cucumber on sandwich
7) Add steamed veggies to whatever protein you are having
8) Add a new veggie to your salad (I love artichokes in salad)
9) Add applesauce to plain oatmeal
10) Mix left over veggies in with pasta

"Weekdays with Donna"

Due to my lack of a recent post over the past week, you are probably surmising that I have fell "off the wagon" and am face down in a box of chocolates by now. I have been lazy in the "blogging department" lately but have more energy than ever in other areas that have needed my attention (i.e., house maintenance, organization, cleaning, etc.). My long time friend Donna, read my post prior to this one and called me last week with a proposal. She would be my accountability partner when it comes to exercise. I thought quickly of every possible excuse to get out of this (love Donna, hate exercise)...but she was persistent. So, last Friday, we set out for a walk and walked an hour. This week, we have walked an hour on two seperate days and plan to walk again on Friday. Already, I feel my stamina starting to pick up. An hour goes by really fast when you have great company! So...Donna, if you are reading this, Thank you for inspiring me! I look forward to my "Weekdays with Donna"!

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.