Snacking extreme

After dinner I got the munchies.  So, I grabbed a bag of Flat Earth Tangy Tomato Ranch Baked Veggie Crisps and some chipotle salsa. One after another I ate the yummy chips until...

...the bag was empty.  That was 130 calories x 6.  That's 780 calories.  *sigh*

Nicole's Update

Reflection: The Journey of Weight Loss as of May 28th 2009.

I joined Weight Watchers at the end of March 2008 with great expectations. I had gained and lost weight so many times before and I was tired of it – I wanted a long term plan that would let me lose weight, feel great, stay full, and most importantly, give me my life back as a young vibrant 20-something. I can honestly say the journey has been awesome and I’ve had far fewer hiccups then I could have ever imagined thanks to the buddy system and general determination.

I still feel that same determination and am incredibly positive as I look into the future. I’ve continually refined my choices and gained confidence in making good choices in a variety of situations where I never thought possible: eating out with friends and family, social gatherings, boring evenings, etc. I look upon these successes with self-admiration and praise to God for giving me incredibly strength to tackle something that affects all areas of my existence. However, as wonderful as all of this may sound, I still have my areas of struggle and assume I will always be faced with similar issues. As of this morning, I have 23 lbs left to lose before I reach my as-of-now final goal. As of the evening, I have begun to reflect upon a few things that need to change in order for me to be continually successful now and forever while on maintenance.

Successes

• I have learned I can go out to dinner and order a salad/healthy entrée and be completely happy and satisfied after eating it.
• I can enjoy a glass of wine and savor every last drop without the constant feeling of wanting more
• I replaced my love of candy with the love of fruit
• I have a consistent exercise program where I constantly challenge myself and I actually enjoy it!
• I have found 2 buddies that have been incredibly supportive through-out this entire journey – listening to every seemingly silly weight loss or health whim on a daily basis
• I have ditched my former yo-yo eating for a sound, healthy weight loss plan
• While on vacation – I have often chosen healthy options and avoided snacking in-between meals
• I’ve been slowly losing weight for almost 15 months now.
• I understand that motivation will come and go, habits and priorities are what makes me get through the lulls.
  

Still Need to Work on Issues

• Vacation! My general mentality is to throw most caution to the wind, eat what I want and overeat quite regularly. I love to tell myself “I’m having fun! How often do I get to go on vacation! How often do I get these yummy yummy foods!”
• Buffet/Loading up my plate – I way over pack my plate every time I go to a buffet or am somewhere where I get to load up my own plate. I usually don’t end up eating it all but would prefer to put wayyy less food on my plate to start with
• Fun and Fruity Drinks – Put a frothy, cold beverage in front of me, be it a margarita, glass of wine, or something else glistening and consider it gone. Put 2 or 3 in front of me and consider them and me ‘gone’ – I have a hard time stopping at one but feel like I’m missing out when I don’t have them at all.
• Eating Out – Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. If there is bread or chips, I usually lose the temptation battle and if I see a menu full of cheesy baked goodness I generally can’t resist. If I’ve had luck with a yummy healthy salad somewhere, I’m much more likely to go with it a second time around but it’s that initial ordering that always gets me. I get discourages when hubby orders something yummy and I’m “stuck with a salad.” Mentally it drives me crazy even if I do leave feeling better when ordering better.
• Post-Weigh in celebration – When I was weighing in on Thursdays, I celebrated my weigh in’s on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Now that I’ve switched to Saturday, I’ve at least tamed down two of the rough days and am just trying to be more focused on Saturday and Sunday.
• Schedule Changes/Changes in Environment – I am a true creature of habit. I know exactly when I eat breakfast everyday (7:00am) and I know exactly when I eat my snacks (9:30 and 2:00) and my lunch (11:15) and dinner (5:00). When this schedule changes I get panicky and tend to eat too much when I do eat the chance to eat. Blame this on my ancestors – I’m preparing for famine!
• Social Events/Anxiety – If I’m having a great time at a party, it’s easier for me to distract myself with good conversation and laughs, but when I want to do anything but stick around, I tend to grab anything in sight to ‘entertain’ myself with food. It’s the thought that ‘at least these chips will be something good that comes of this evening’ even though I know that’s not truly the case.
• Trigger Foods – Ah yes. Cheese that is melted. Or in block form. Or in or on a cracker. Chips. Pizza. Fresh Bread. Pie, and those delicious Sugar Cookies found around Christmastime! I know what they are. I try to avoid them but sometimes they are hidden right in front of my eyes and I end up having a bite and realizing it’s too late to turn back. And sometimes I just want them.
• Eating What’s Available – We’ve all been there (and me too often) – you’re out and about, had a healthy breakfast maybe and you’re planning on heading to the mall to get some items. Time flies and all of a sudden you’re starving. Only thing open for some reason is Greasy Spoon and nothing is healthy on the menu. Or, worse, you’re at a friends house and they’ve prepared a whole lot of comfort foods, and I’m hungry… so I eat what is there and because these tend to also be trigger foods, I’m in big trouble.

If anyone has any suggestions that work for you – please pass them along!

Trina's Update

Its been a while since I posted.  Here's an update:

Eating

I'm back in maintenance mode with a goal of 1400 calories a day. Some days I go over, but I forgive myself and simply recommit the next day.

Exercise

I've ran two races... the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler and the Pacers Half Marathon.  I'm happy to have completed them but have no aspirations to run further than 13.1 miles.  Now that I have increased my cardio endurance I want to focus on building muscle; particularly upper body strength.  So, I'll still run once or twice a week but only 6 mi or less. I want to start doing weights twice a week and I'd like to start swimming.

The weather is getting nice.  I'm curious what others are doing for exercise this summer.