Today was an odd day; in general, I just felt "blah".  Not sure why.  Maybe it was the overcast, but very hot and muggy weather, or that it was a Monday, or perhaps it was simply one of those days.  My body seemed to be having one of those days, too.  I had a gain this week of almost a pound (0.8 lbs, to be exact), yet I lost an inch around my waist, as well as some in other areas.

However, the weight gain was not a surprise for me as I struggled with the same old habits I've battled for some time.  Overall, I was disciplined with my eating until Friday hit.  I had a stressful day; lived on coffee until two o'clock, where I think ate a Pepperoni Lean Pocket.  Then Jonathan wanted to go out for dinner with one of his former interns.  Mexican.  So two burritos later (covered in sauce, cheese, and a large serving of refried beans on the side, as well as chips and salsa), the guys went to the store to pick up a movie to watch.  The came home with not only two movies, but an entire six-pack of Hershey bars.  I think I ate four candy bars over the weekend.  I can't blame them, as they were not the ones who shoved the chocolate down my throat, but having it in the house is not something I can handle well at this point.  Or sweets in general right now; I simply struggle with self-control in that area.  Or salami.  Not together of course, but I could literally eat my weight in either.

Anyway, I am working on being more disciplined this week with my eating.  One big area is late night snacking.  It's out of boredom or stress, not hunger.  I also need to start doing some exercise every day, even if it is only for 15 - 20 minutes.  Skipping days between walks/runs make it easy to miss one and tell myself that I will "make it up" another day.  So this week I will be disciplined by 1) eliminating late night snacking and 2) being active every day for at least 15 - 20 minutes.

Here's to a new week!

The Monday Motions:

Last Week's Weight:  236.8
This Week's Weight:  237.6

Weekly Loss:  + 0.8

 Total Pounds Lost:  -2.4

Starting BMI:  36.5

Current BMI:  36.1

 

Beginning Week 4 of WW:  237.6 pounds

 

Changes

Over the past three weeks we have made some changes to the Rogers' household; truth be told, Jonathan and I just started our third week of Weight Watchers.  It has been an interested journey of sorts, but was prompted by a couple different factors.  Even though I have been watching my eating on my own for the last three and four months, I was still struggling with overeating, eating at night, and pure ol' laziness.  In return, the scale was creeping up again.  In fact, it had creeped back up to 240, which is what I weighed the day I delivered Ethan... before labor.  I finally hit the point where I needed help, accountability, and support.  After talking with Jonathan, we both signed up for Weight Watchers the next day.  He does the men's version online; I have the monthly pass, so I can use all the online gadgets, but still go to as meetings as I want in a month.

So what's the rundown?  I actually like it; it is more like a slow lifestyle change:  We are both focusing more on portion control, better choices in food selection, and being pro-active in planning our menu.  Yet I can tailor my food preferences and he can tailor his.  I do much better health-wise on a low-sugar diet (I have struggled with candidiasis ever since Ethan was born), and am happy to eat leftovers from supper at the office for lunch, yet Jonathan can eat his lunch sandwiches and "snacky" foods in moderation.  We are also seeing a slow increase in energy and activity, which is a blessing (in fact, Jonathan is riding his bike while I type this, and it has been a long time!).  In addition, I'm seeing slow and steady results on the scale; in fact, it's been 1.6 pounds each week and I now weight what I did in April.  Progress!

As for goals, I hope to have lost at least 10% of my body weight by my 31st birthday, and I've started training for the Fall Out for Autism 5K, which is three days before my birthday.  I did my first walk/jog combo on Saturday (I've been walking the last couple of weeks) and I didn't totally die, and I actually had a decent minutes per hour time; I was surprised by that.  I'm wanting to bring Pilates back into the game soon, and I already have been biking a couple times a week, yet I'm trying not to over-obsess with exercise, or I get into an all-or-nothing mentality, which is what leads to running a 5K in December, then not running again for um.... three months?  Four?  Yeah... I don't know anyone who would do that!  *rolling eyes*

The Monday Motions:

Last Week's Weight:  238.4
This Week's Weight:  236.8

Weekly Loss:  -1.6

 Total Pounds Lost:  -3.2

Starting BMI:  36.5

Current BMI:  36

Beginning Week #3 of Weight Watchers:  236.8 lbs

 

Zucchini Pizza Bites

In light of our normal Saturday night pizza while Jonathan works 2nd shift, I decided to go for a healthier option.  A friend of mine had sent me a link to Skinnytaste's Zucchini Pizza Bites (a healthier option than store-bought Bagel Bites), so I decided to experiment with them for dinner tonight.  So I took two zucchini, 1/2 bag pepperoni, four ounces tomato sauce (seasoned with Italian seasonings), two teaspoons olive oil, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, my stoneware pizza pan and viola! a yummy pizza alternative.  Ethan wasn't sure about the zucchini (but liked everything else), and Emily had seconds.  It turned out to be an easy, and pretty yummy, dinner on a summer Saturday night.

Slice zucchini into forths (or for "bites", 1/4" round slices), brush both sides with olive oil, then broil both sides on high for two minutes each.

Topping Time!

 

Broil on low until cheese is brown and bubbly

Have your helper make a fruit salad and there is your easy, healthy, dinner

Sunday Motions Report

Good morning!  It's a beautiful (but HOT!) Sunday in the Savannah area.  It is also my first Sunday weight-in day.  I had hoped to lose two pounds, but am happy with the 1.6 pound loss.  However, I did learn some things this week:

1.  My office is NOT conducive to losing weight!!!  Almost every day someone is bring in cake, cookies, donuts, candy, etc, that they don't want to have at home so they won't eat it.  Argh!  Thankfully, my job is not a sit-at-my-desk-all-day job and I spend part of my day in the field.

2.  I need to get an exercise plan in place.  I only exercised once last week, and that was last Sunday.  I really would like to get back to what I once did (when I weighed 65 pounds less than I do now:  before mono (twice), and marriage, and moving, and two pregnancies, and one miscarriage, and all-in-all, a completely different life!).  Even when I lost forty pounds to help get preggers with Emily, I made sure I exercised in the morning, and tried to in the evening as well.  But if I didn't get the evening session in, I knew I had exercised that day.  And I can't use the heat as an excuse.  I have exercise DVD's, Netflix (yes, Netflix has work-out videos), and I can always use Jonathan's bike in the office.  It is just laziness on my part.  Going to try to remedy that this week and with that, will hopefully see the weight loss I'd like to achieve!  Maybe even try to post daily what I did/didn't do for a bit of extra accountability.

3.  I battle late night snacking/cravings, so to help conquer this (and help with getting up in the morning for exercise), I'm going to try to go to bed between 10-10:30 without my smart phone, and see if that makes a difference.

Sunday Motions (Week #2):

Last Week's Weight: 240
This Week's Weight: 238.4

Weekly Loss: -1.6

 Total Pounds Lost: -1.6

238.4 pounds