Mamavation Monday

I didn't get anywhere last week, despite my best efforts. I think the culprit was a busy weekend with less than stellar food choices. Couple that with the fact that I am trying to avoid letting a cold get the better of me by drinking tea (with honey), fruit juice, gatorade and more.

I am glad to say that I walked everyday last week. Saturday, rain in the morning and rain again in the evening had me resort to an indoor walk - used Leslie Sansone Walk At Home DVD. I walked at least 3 miles everyday. With the humidity, my normal walking partner did not join me other than Monday, so that was the only day that I did the 3 mile walk/1 mile run interval that I have started, with a plan of doing that three times a week. I was successful on the weekdays, in coming home from my walk and doing some strength training - chest/back, abs, arms/shoulders, abs, legs. When I did the walk dvd, there was strength training built into the second mile.

The weekend aside, last week was a pretty good eating week. The biggest thing was not having the candy at work. The supply dwindled early in the week and by the end of the week, I wasn't in the habit of walking by it, so that is a good thing.

This week started out good on the exercise front. I just hope that I am successful in fighting this cold. I figure that staying active is a good thing. I am trying to get to bed earlier in the evening to allow my body ample time to rest, but still time to exercise. Since tomorrow is the ab day, I should be able to start about 15 minutes later than I do normally, and still wrap up at a good time (earlier than normal actually) - allowing a little morning shut eye. I keep taking my vitamin C, zinc and gatorade - we will see if I conquer or not.

This post shared at Mamavation Monday. This week's carnival is sponsored by Organ Wise Guys and Fiber Choice. The question is: What nutrition lessons have you learned from your kids? I have learned that enjoying your food one bite at a time allows you to really savor food. Have you ever watched a child eat M&Ms, they take them one piece at a time - I find that if I do that, rather than putting a handful in my mouth, that I enjoy them and consume less. I've also learned that they want to eat what you eat, so if you eat well, so will they. That certainly provides motivation on eating better.

No compensation was received for this post. By participating in the carnival, I am entering to win a prize pack from the sponsors.

Mamavation Monday

It was a good week.

I did pretty good with eating well and tracking what I ate. I used up the balance of my weekly PointsPlus values on Sunday, so my Monday weight was up slightly from yesterday, but I expect that to recover to the full amount of loss that I expected for last week. I was down over a pound on Sunday morning.

I resumed P90X this morning. I had been doing other workouts and decided that I needed a boost in my workout routine. I haven't decided if I will just use the strength training workouts and alternate with assorted cardio or if I will follow the full 90 day program again. I did Chest and Back this morning and I can tell that I worked out - I can feel the pull on my muscles when I stretch. No matter my morning approach, I hope to fit in an evening exercise too. Tonight was crazy, so I didn't get it, but I'm hoping to fit in some of the Walk At Home DVDs in the evening. I'm considering putting them in my laptop and following along while I watch my shows. Most of the shows that I watch don't require full engagement, so I should be able to do it. If not, I might just try remembering the walking workouts and do those. I also would like to get back to doing Ab Ripper a few times a week. I don't have time in the morning, so those I do in the evening.

With summer fast approaching, I am feeling a little more motivated to eat right and work out. Assuming my work schedule permits it, and the weather, I should be able to get back to walking at lunch too. It is such a nice break and I enjoy being active while catching up with friends.

Hope you are having a good week!

This post shared at Mamavation Monday. This week's blogging carnival is sponsored by Orville Redenbacher Popcorn. The question of the week is: How would you like to alter your family’s nutrition and eating habits? Do you have a plan to do this? I would like to include more fresh fruit and vegetables. I do my best to purchase them each week, but depending on how busy I am, I don't always get a chance to clean them and make them an easy to grab snack when we are hungry.

No compensation was received for this post. I am a Weight Watchers Insider for the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program and have received complimentary online access to Weight Watchers, and other tools to help me on my weight loss journey, using Weight Watchers. 'People following the Weight Watchers plan can expect to lose 1 - 2 pounds per week.' By linking back to Orville Redenbacher and participating in the blogging carnival, I am entering to win a basket from Orville Redenbacher.

Mamavation Monday

Lately, I seem to be suffering from a deplorable lack of motivation. It doesn't seem to be any one thing and it hasn't completely derailed me (perhaps that is part of the reason it is perpetuated), but I find myself with a rather blah attitude on the eating and exercising front. The good news is that I am ready to start fresh...tomorrow. I know, I should do it today, but that just isn't going to happen.

A little bit of back story....

As I mentioned, it hasn't been any one thing that seems to have me feeling unmotivated, but rather a series of things, that together have gotten me completely off sync.

My week away - I did really good that week maintaining a focus on exercising. I got up each morning and walked. One day, we walked over 5 miles. We even walked home after some evening activities - driven more so by our desire to avoid the questionable cab than a desire to exercise at 10 pm. Unfortunately, try as I might, the eating thing just got out of control. I had two snacks a day, and reasonably healthy at that - cheese, cut veggies, fresh fruit. Now, normally, this might be considered a good thing, except, I didn't change the way I was eating at the meals and there was a dessert with each meal. Of course, we can't forget cocktail hour - I didn't have much, but even a glass of wine a day is more than I would normally consume. In then end, my calorie consumption was up and when I returned home, my one foot was sore.

My flooded basement - My bad eating was perpetuated that following weekend by a flooded basement. Since we were preoccupied with rescuing the basement and since there were no meals planned (we were supposed to have been at my brother's house for my niece's birthday that afternoon/evening), we ate not the best meals and I brilliantly added soda to each of my meals, which was regular full calorie soda, since I can't drink the diet stuff. The secondary effect of a flooded basement was the loss of my workout area where I do many of my workouts since we had everything torn apart for a solid week. That whole next week, after a week away with increased eating and a bad food habit weekend, I found myself craving snacks at random times - even if I wasn't hungry, I wanted the flavor.

Daylight savings - My foot was feeling better, my basement was back together and my alarm was set for 5 am on Monday so that I could resume my workout routine. Only thing is, on Monday, when my alarm went off, the clock said 5 am, but my body said 4 am. I hit snooze and rolled over. Not a good way to start the week! Then, a week of early morning meetings left me with not a full hour to work out. When I was in the routine, I was very good at adapting and just shortening my work out to fit the time that I had. Somehow, having been off routine for a couple of weeks made it easy for me to excuse myself from exercise because I didn't have a full hour.

Swimming Lessons - For the most recent session of swim lessons, we had to change nights. That night now coincides with when I should be at my Weight Watchers meetings. I am still monitoring what I eat, but somehow between the week away (where I failed to track!) and the inability to attend my regular meeting, I have stopped tracking everything. I have the good habits still around, but without tracking, I tend to forget about the little nibbles that happen.

As a result, I have lost some of the weight that I gained that week away, but it has been a really slow process. I am confident (Sound of Music song playing in my head) that when I return to exercising and tracking what I eat that the weight will continue to come off at a better pace.

I recently received the Walk Eat Lose! 21-Day Challenge! DVD set from Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home Series. I am thinking that since I am completely out of habit, that I will start with that and then work in some of the strength training from P90X. Eventually, I'd like to get back to full rotation on all of my DVDs, but you have to start somewhere.

I logged back onto Weight Watchers eTools and fully intend to start tracking again. The awareness created in tracking will help me to continue to make smart food choices and to have more willpower against the nibbles that put me over the top.

Yesterday was the first day of spring, I'd like to be well on my way to my goal when summer arrives.

This post shared at Mamavation Monday. The weekly blogging carnival is sponsored by Orville Redenbacher’s Gourmet Popping Corn. The question is: Are you a sweet or savory snacker? What do you look for in a healthy snack? My answer, unfortunately, is Yes. I am both. It can become a challenge as I enjoy both sweet and savory snacks and sometimes I find that if I eat one, I "need" the other. When it comes to a healthy snack, one that is full of flavor and texture generally goes the furthest in making me feel satisfied.


No compensation was received for this post. I am a Weight Watchers Insider for the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program and have received complimentary online access to Weight Watchers, an IPad with the Weight Watchers Kitchen Companion App downloaded, a Flip Camera and other tools to help me on my weight loss journey, using Weight Watchers. 'People following the Weight Watchers plan can expect to lose 1 - 2 pounds per week.' This Mamavation Monday post is sponsored by Orville Rednbacher's Gourment Popping Corn and by participating in the blogging carnival, I'm entering to win a an Orville Redenbacher’s Very Important Blogger (VIB) Gift Basket which includes popcorn, exercise kit including clip n step meter, exercise bands, healthy recipe mix-ins, yoga kit with yoga mat, blocks, strap, and beginner DVD ($100 value).

Mamavation Monday

Well, considering that yesterday was the Super Bowl and considering that I saved up many of my weekly Points Plus values to splurge for the party, I am happy to say that I still showed a small weight loss this week! Yeah! often times, when I save up my Points Plus values for a special event at the end of the week, I see a slight uptick that takes a day or two to correct.

You know, it may sound funny, but my trip to the water park this weekend made me realize that I really should (and sort of do) have a more positive body image than I used to. For one thing, it takes a lot of comfort to walk around all day in a bathing suit. I remember when I used to be very self-conscious about that. Not that I'm there to watch other bodies, but let's be honest, there are a lot of people that where skimpier suits than they ought to and even those that can wear a bikini, well their figures aren't perfect. So, I'm sure it's a combination of having lost some weight (mostly last year, but who's counting) and the realization that I'm not much different than a lot of other women.

Speaking of the water park, it is a great workout! Trudging back and forth in knee deep and waist deep water is an excellent lower body workout. Climbing up and down the stairs to get to the slides is also good for the legs. Holding onto your child's raft in the wave pool, so that they don't flip out of it when the waves are happening is a full body workout, both the lower body when jumping with the waves and the upper body with fighting the force of the wave to keep the raft from flipping.

I'm slowly but surely rebuilding my recipes in the Weight Watchers eTools to reflect the new Points Plus Values. I still think that the Recipe Builder is one of my favorite tools. It is what allows me to continue to eat what I am feeding my family. I've had to adjust what I consider to be a serving, but I get true variety in my meals. No plain chicken breast with some sides for me!

I'm hoping that without a party on the plan this week, that it will prove to be a better and more successful week. I missed yesterday's P90X workout, but hope to get right back on track this morning - the only question is do I due Monday's workout today or skip it this week.

This post shared at Mamavation Monday. The sponsor of Mamavation Monday this week is Chef's Requested, who asks : Question: What are you doing to keep your heart healthy? For me, maintaining an active lifestyle, full of not just exercise, but active play and making healthy food choices are what I am doing to help keep my heart healthy.

No compensation was received for this post. I am a Weight Watchers Insider for the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program and have received complimentary online access to Weight Watchers, an IPad with the Weight Watchers Kitchen Companion App downloaded, a Flip Camera and other tools to help me on my weight loss journey, using Weight Watchers. 'People following the Weight Watchers plan can expect to lose 1 - 2 pounds per week.' I’m writing this post as an entry to a blogging carnival sponsored by Chefs Request and could win some free Chef's Requested Steaks.

Mamavation Monday

It was a good week, it was wrought with its own challenges, but I persevered and albeit a small loss, I lost weight this week.

Keeping track of my food certainly helped, but a work event on Friday at a Cooking School, was just enough to put me over my PointsPlus values for the week. It wasn't so much that what we were making was that bad for me, but it was a lot of different foods and it combined with some wine and cheese at the cooking school and my regular eating during the week prior to the event did not work well for me. As the instructor said at the end of the class, when they teach these classes, the intent is not that you would go home and actually prepare all of those items as one meal, but rather that you would take 2 or 3 of the dishes and pair them with some easier/lighter fare like a salad for a meal. Our menu was brunch and we made our own sausage patties, baked french toast with a blueberry maple syrup, Florentine egg cups, sweet potato hash, and a fruit tart. With it we also had a Raspberry Bellini. I've never actually eaten creamed spinach before, but the one that we used for the egg cups was made with sharp cheddar and it was awesome! Does creamed spinach always involve cheese? I think I might have to make just the creamed spinach as a side dish at dinner one night. I also enjoyed the sweet potato hash and think it would make a nice side for dinner as well. I guess that I should have expected more eating at a cooking class and prepared earlier in the week, by not using as many of my weekly PointsPlus values on the other days. But, if it weren't for mistakes, I wouldn't learn so much.

I exercised each morning - except for Friday, when I totally failed to set my alarm clock. Seriously? I've been setting an alarm clock for so many years, I would have thought it was a habit by now and am not sure how I missed that. Since I went to cooking school that day, I probably could have really benefited from exercise that day too!

I'm looking forward to another great week. I plan to continue with my P90X workout plan and plan to continue to use the eTools to track my eating and calculate my PointsPlus values. I feel that without the disruption of an event like cooking school, that I should be able to step it up.

Weight loss to go: 22.2#.

This post shared at Mamavation Monday. The sponsor of Mamavation Monday this week is Earh Footwear, who asks : What does “wellness” mean to you? To me, wellness is a total package - it means eating right and remaining active. It doesn't mean dieting, just eating the right stuff and the right amount of that stuff. It doesn't mean following a workout regimen, but remaining active through your week whether it is working out or playing hard.

No compensation was received for this post. I am a Weight Watchers Insider for the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program and have received complimentary online access to Weight Watchers, an IPad with the Weight Watchers Kitchen Companion App downloaded, a Flip Camera and other tools to help me on my weight loss journey, using Weight Watchers. 'People following the Weight Watchers plan can expect to lose 1 - 2 pounds per week.' I’m writing this post as an entry to a blogging carnival sponsored by Earth Footwear and could win a pair of shoes from Earth Footwear

Mamavation Monday

Admittedly, I was a little more challenged this week than I was the week before. I wasn't doing my formal exercise workout and was instead relying on activities that I had planned with the family. Those activities were excellent workouts and I received activity points every day. Unfortunately, many of those events seemed to wind accompanied by eating events. I did not do such a good job of tracking my PointsPlus values and the actual food consumed. In addition, we had company in and wound up eating out an additional meal than originally planned.

When I first learned about fruit being Zero PointsPlus value, I thought that a fruit smoothie would be a great treat with a very low value - just frozen fruit and a bit of milk or yogurt. Well, it still is a great treat, but I learned today that when you use fruit in a recipe, that you count the full PointsPlus value for it - it is only Zero PointsPlus value when you are eating it whole. When I made my smoothies last week, I simply entered the ingredients in the tracker and got 0 for all of the fruit and a few points for the yogurt, but then when I entered it through Recipe Builder today, I learned that the smoothie that I expected to be only a few points for the milk or yogurt is actually closer to 4 or 5 PointsPlus value per serving. Those were some PointsPlus values that I didn't account for last week, which I'm certain also didn't help me. Guess I will stick to eating my fruit instead of drinking it!

In the end, I wound up not losing and actually had a slight gain (but expect that to disappear quickly!).

But, as I mentioned the other day, I did a little shopping at VS and I was able to go down a size - okay, not a major change but evidence of progress.

Now, looking forward...

This week, I started the Mamavation P90X Challenge. Nothing out of the ordinary for me, but since I am sharing my experience through comments at Mamavation, I want to push myself harder. I took my measurements this morning and will use them as a benchmark to measure my progress through the coming weeks. Because I am in Phase 3, I am not restarting at Phase 1 with those that are just starting today, but will instead take recovery weeks with the others but otherwise continue to follow the alternating weeks of workouts approach of Phase 3.

I am back and focused on tracking my food and the associate PointsPlus values (tracking was even the topic at tonight's meeting). Would you like to learn more? There is a Weight Watchers virtual event on Wednesday that you can participate in (see my post here).

I am confident that I will have success in the new year. I am already starting the year ahead of where I was this time last year, which is a positive from my perspective.

This post shared at Mamavation Monday.

No compensation was received for this post. I am a Weight Watchers Insider for the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program and have received complimentary online access to Weight Watchers, an IPad with the Weight Watchers Kitchen Companion App downloaded, a Flip Camera and other tools to help me on my weight loss journey, using Weight Watchers. 'People following the Weight Watchers plan can expect to lose 1 - 2 pounds per week.'

Mamavation Monday

Yes, I know it is Tuesday, but I am on my own schedule this week. Speaking of which, it is hard to get the motivation to get up early to work out when I don't have to get up to go to work. The flip side of that is it can be a challenge to work out with the kids up. They generally do a good job entertaining themselves, so why is that as soon as I start to exercise (or get on the phone) they suddenly have a hundred questions, can't agree on a show, can't agree on the rules of the game or respect the other's personal space. I have been getting up, with some sleeping in, and I have been exercising this week - so I am proud of that. I must say that doing Ab Ripper X in the morning, immediately following my strength training is a challenge. I'm tired after the strength training and barely have the strength to muster my way through the workout. I also have decided I have been "cheating", when I do Ab Ripper X in the evening, I'm not wearing shoes and I don't think to put them on. The added weight on the feet is definitely a different workout experience. I think I am still getting the benefit, even without the shoes, but I never would have guessed how much harder it makes it.

I was doing really good at tracking my PointsPlus values last week, right up until I wasn't. It was a busy week at work with carry-in day and the company Christmas luncheon. That was followed by a weekend with family, which wound up including 3 meals out and dessert and treats and wine and lots of pop. I'm not normally a big pop drinker and I guess that I consumed it at all three eating out occasions. I also indulged in a glass of Eggnog, no alcohol. Love the stuff, rarely consume it.

The good news is that I didn't let it set me back and even as I stood in line at Wendy's on Sunday night, I looked at the nutritional chart hanging on the wall, looking for the item that minimized fats and carbs and maximized fiber and protein. I miss my slide for figuring Points on the run, but I guess with four metrics, it would be a challenging slide to configure and use for PointsPlus. Some would say that I could have used my mobile phone and accessed the Weight Watchers Mobile site, but I didn't.

Speaking of technology and tools, I'm really excited about the upcoming release of Kitchen Companion I-Pad App from Weight Watchers. It is due out soon and will allow you to access new recipes and to modify your recipes to be healthier. It is supposed to provide you ideas on what to cook and how to cook it as well. "It's the ultimate interactive healthy cooking tool". It will include featured recipes and videos on cooking techniques. Plus, if you are a subscriber to the online tools, you would have access to thousands of Weight Watchers recipes and can also use the Recipe Builder tool to create and edit recipes.

I attended my regular Weight Watchers meeting this week for the first time in a long time. My husband's class schedule had me busy during my regular meeting and sports had me too busy to find an alternate time. I have no problem with completing the program online, but was reminded of how great it is to have a support network and others to talk to about my experiences and theirs. I liked the quote that they had displayed, I don't know exactly what it was, but it was something to the effect that we didn't get where we are by eating too many bananas. It, of course, refers to the fact that fresh fruit is all 0 PointsPlus value. For me, I think this is one of the things that I like best. I enjoy fruit and I feel more free to include it as part of my routine again. Not that I was avoiding it before, but now it is less stressful to include - I don't need to measure it and I know it will fill me.

As for this week, my target is to continue to be vigilant about not only making healthy decisions in my eating, but also to track it. I hope to continue to meet my morning exercise goal (especially after having read this article about the benefits of exercising before breakfast). But, I also plan to play with my kids. We are planning some ice skating, roller skating, bouncing and bowling over the time that we have off from work and school.

This post shared at Mamavation Monday.

No compensation was received for this post. I am a Weight Watchers Insider and will be receiving tools from Weight Watchers to help me in my journey using the new Points Plus program. 'People following the Weight Watchers plan can expect to lose 1 - 2 pounds per week.'

Mamvation Monday

Wow! Where does the time go? How can it be that it is Wednesday and I am just now writing my Monday post?

Either way - last week was a great week! I had a lot of activities that lead me to some extra eating - it can be challenging to figure out how to tally up when you eat out or when you have a potluck type gathering, but I was able to stay within my Points Plus allowance, based on my estimates. I try my best to stick to easy foods, foods that I can track easily. As an example, I had a lot of steamed asparagus with a wasabi dip (the dip, a little difficult to figure out - should have asked for the recipe, it was good) at the potluck gathering. Not knowing what it was, I counted it all as if it were mayonnaise. I was pretty sure that was the base, and couldn't imagine that any other ingredients would make it worth more points. Dinner out can be hard too! Trying to build a meal from it's components up.

The other tactic that worked really well for me was to build in the known items ahead of time. As an example, I knew that at my work Christmas party, that I was having fillet and I knew I wanted to have wine. I simply put those on the tracker ahead of time so that they were already part of the "budget" and I wasn't adding them on to a meal plan that already was consuming that budget. This really helped me plan and succeed.

The first week of Weight Watchers Points Plus was definitely a bit of a learning curve for me. I was so used to the Points program - even had an equation that allowed me to quickly evaluate the number of Points. I can't do that with the Points Plus program. I am still trying to get my hands around the impact of more or less fat, carbs, fiber and protein on the calculation. I learned that many of my favorite items were more on Points Plus than on the old Points program. I found it interesting, for instance, that now all of the cereals in my cabinet are worth the same on Points Plus. It somehow makes it easier to allow myself a "treat" at breakfast or as an evening snack (seriously, a bowl of cereal and milk, especially a lightly sweetened one, makes a great, satisfying snack (even for a sweet tooth) for only about 5 Points Plus.)

Last week was my recovery week on P90X. I didn't do any evening workouts during the week, I was too busy. I hope to get back on track this week with doing the Ab Ripper X and Walking in the evening. I am starting into Phase 2 this week as well, which means some new workouts to help mix it up.

In the end, I lost 0.8# last week. Not bad for one lunch and two dinners out and a potluck meal one evening. I now have 26# that I would like to lose on my journey to my new goal.

This post shared at Mamvation Monday.

No compensation was received for this post. I am a Weight Watchers Insider and will be receiving tools to help me in my journey on the new Points Plus program.

Mamavation Monday

Last week was a very busy week. I had dinners many evenings for work. This made it very difficult to stick to both my eating plan and my workout plan. And, I did pretty good. I worked out both in the morning and the evening to start the week. The morning was P90X and the evening was either Ab Ripper X or Walk At Home 2 mile workout. It started to crumble on Thursday. I was so exhausted that I decided to sleep for a little bit, since I knew I couldn't fit in my full workout. I did walk on Thursday night...but I also ate a wonderful delectable dessert and some appetizers at dinner, I had steered clear of both earlier in the week, but I was weak and how could I pass on Pumpkin Creme Brulee? So creamy smooth, yum. On a positive note, I did share it with a co-worker, so it was only half bad. Friday was a return to routine, but I'm not sure I gave it my all.

This weekend was relatively smooth, until I tried this new bread dip - you know those seasonings that you add to olive oil? - it was absolutely addictive, I ate way more bread than I normally would or would reasonably expect to. I have to figure that one out, how do I enjoy that bread dip at home and not over do it?

Needless to say, the scale was a little bit flat for the week.

The good thing is that I started right back onto my P90X morning/Ab Ripper or Walk At Home routine this morning. I am confident that I will do better this week, even with Thanksgiving. (writing that makes me want to break out in "I have confidence in confidence alone, besides which you see I have confidence in me...", but that is another story - I never did share about my trip to the Sound of Music Sing A Long at the theater or the CD soundtrack I listen to all the time now - have you ever noticed how it's hard not to smile when singing many of those songs. But, I digress...)

This post shared at Mamavation Monday. Subway Fresh Buzz and their Commit to Fit is the sponsor of this week's Mamavation Monday. They ask, what fit commitment are you going to make? My first answer is to complete P90X, but then I would like to mix it up and try some of the other Tony Horton DVDs. They are sponsoring a giveaway of $100 to support one participant's Commit to Fit.

Mamavation Monday

I did it! I started back on P90X officially and 'I hate it, but I love it'. I started Monday morning with Chest and Back and then as I said I would I did the Ab Ripper in the evening. It worked out really well with doing the Ab Ripper in the evening. I traditionally have not been able to do it, because I never seem to have time to do an extra 20 minutes in the morning. I can already feel the workout - which to me is great, it makes me feel like I have accomplished something. Of course, after taking about 6 weeks off to do the 30 Day Shred Challenge, my body is definitely not used to the intensity of P90X which makes it a little more of a challenge to jump in where I left off in terms of number of push ups, etc.

This morning I did Plyometrics. I think it is my favorite workout. I feel so invigorated when I am done with it. I know that I will be sore tomorrow, but that is okay, because I know that it is making a difference.

On the eating front, I didn't do such a great job of tracking my Points using the Weight Watchers eTools. I would track my breakfast and lunch before I left, but then something would happen and I wouldn't get to eat my lunch and I wouldn't get back in and update and dinner was a lost cause. I've started using the mobile application on my phone and it is working well for me. I can add things and change things no matter where I am. I am hopeful that this will help. Yesterday, I did eat the lunch that I packed and I did track my dinner, so far so go.

I know that there are only 8 weeks left this year but I would like to try to lose 1/2 of the weight I need to lose by then. With a total goal of 30#, that would mean 15#, which is a stretch goal, but I figure I will aim high! I am confident that with the right eating and activity that I can be at 1 - 2 # per week.

I am sharing this post at Mamvation Monday. The post over there talks about Muffin Tops - I totally can relate. I can fit into my small jeans but with the couple of pounds I put back on this summer, I am increasingly aware of them and feel very self conscious if I have a fitted shirt on with my jeans. This week's posts are sponsored by Earth Footwear. By linking up, I am entering for a chance to win a pair of shoes from Earth Footwear.

No compensation was received for this post. I am an Advocate for Weight Watchers and they provided me with complimentary access to their eTools and a gift certificate to a local grocery to help me get started. I am entering a giveaway to win a pair of Earth Footwear shoes by linking back to them in my post.

Mamavation Monday

It is so hard to believe that it is November already. Where does the time go? I wrapped up the 30 Day Shred Challenge last week. It felt good to complete it. This week, I am trying a mix of workouts to pass the week. Next week, I am starting Round 4 of P90X. I am sure that my muscles are in for a shock, returning to the P90X workout after a month plus absence. Of course, I have been doing other exercise, but I expect that it will be difficult. I am looking forward to it, with doing the same workout every day, I'm not sure I was getting as much out of the routine with the 30 Day Shred.

I started watching my food intake more closely, using the Weight Watchers Online tools. As luck would have it, I forgot that I had a lunch for work today. It made tracking what I was eating a little more difficult (I knew exactly what was in the lunch that I packed), but I was able to practice restraint and had only a small serving of fruit and half a sandwich.

Overall, I feel like I am off to a good start in my journey to eat healthier and become more fit. How was your week?

This post shared at Mamavation Monday.

Mamavation Monday

I am fully back in the swing of things and it feels good. I got up each morning last week and fit in my current workout - The 30 Day Shred, level 3, followed by a 2-mile Walk at Home routine for a cool down. It feels good. The Level 3 workout is really a good one, it is hard and I feel like I am getting progressively better.

I have decided that when I finish the 30 Day Shred, that I will return to P90X. I think my goal will be to do the workouts in the morning and then in the evening either fit in a 1 mile walk or Ab Ripper X, depending on the day of the week. After really starting to be able to do some of the Ab exercises in the 30 Day Shred, it inspires me to want to do Ab Ripper X. Let's see if I can stick by it when I start in a couple of weeks.

After a family wedding and a lot of eating out this weekend, I think I am ready to get back on track with eating and tracking. I started out really great today, until I got to work and found out I had a lunch meeting. I guess I could have brought my packed lunch, but in the end I decided to do my best to eat a balanced meal. I filled my plate first with salad and then treated the meat and other sides as sides, having only a minimal amount. I almost avoided the temptation of the dessert, but grabbed a cookie to go after the meeting.

This post shared at Mamavation Monday. Subway is sponsoring the Mamavation Monday post, and by mentioning them, I am entering to win a $50 gift card from Lulu Lemon, a green Gaiam gym bag and yoga mat. That would be fun to win.

Mamavation Monday

Well, last week I shared how reading a post on Money Saving Mom helped me identify something that had changed in my attitude and approach to eating and "splurging". I tried hard this past week to put things back into the right gear. I had a pool party, family wedding, family picnic and more than a couple of meals out over the past week, but I am glad to say that I reported a weight loss at my Weight Watcher's meeting this week. It wasn't a big loss, but it was a loss. Not only was it a loss, last week I weighed in before dinner and this week after, so it makes it even a little bit better.

I tried Jillian Michael's Shred DVD out last week. A friend had lent me her copy to try, so I squeezed it into my regular workout routine. I think I could enjoy it as a short workout option, for those days where I don't have a full hour or more. I might try her 30 day program after I finish P90X this time. See if it makes a difference - besides, isn't that part of the P90X philosophy - muscle confusion.

I had planned to return to P90X, recovery week of Phase 2 this week, but yesterday at some point, I must have sat or moved or stepped or done something that has my right quad (lower portion only) in pain. I can't decide what it is. It hurts to bend it. I have been trying to stretch it all day. When I have been doing a lot of walking, it feels better, but once I am sitting for a little while, it gets really tight and painful. I'm not really sure how to handle it. I am thinking I might try the X Stretch workout tomorrow, just to see if I can through a series of different stretches, make a difference. If that doesn't work, I'm not sure what to do. thoughts?

I am ready to face another week and hope to be successful again in obtaining my goal of moving in the right direction.

This post shared at Mamavation Monday, which is sponsored by Lori @gutimom. She is giving away lots of different Avon products and I am entering for a chance to win by linking up this post.

Mamavation Monday Wednesday

I finally made it back to my Weight Watchers meeting this week, which was a good thing. With travel and family outings, I had missed a few in a row. The good news is that I only gained 2# with all of the fun I was having. Now, I need to get moving in the right direction. I know from my home scale that I gained that all on one weekend and been doing a great job of maintaining since then.

It's funny, I have been trying to figure out what has been so different that has caused me to plateau, and this morning, in reading Money Saving Mom's P90X on a Budget post, it struck me. She talks about avoiding non-nutritious food and feeling empowered. Back when I first started on the P90X program and on Weight Watchers, I was more strict with myself and what I would eat. After a while, if I ate cookies or chips (or other things that aren't so healthy), I would very blah - I no longer wanted this type of food. For the most part, I had no interest in eating that food. I was determined and motivated and knowing how it would feel like a brick in my stomach after eating it, there was not really any temptation to eat it. I think though, that as I went through the holidays, I started to allow the occasional treat into my diet. I discovered that when I let myself enjoy those treats, the results weren't negative, just neutral - I wouldn't gain weight, but I would maintain.

Now, as I thought about it in reading Crystal's post, I'm back to the point where eating a cookie or some chips doesn't make me feel blah - sometimes it has the opposite effect and serves as a trigger food (this week's Weight Watcher topic) - the flavor makes me want more or want a counter (i.e. a sweet to counter the salty). I'm staying within my Points range (daily and weekly), but honestly, how many times am I under counting the Points on a treat - do I really know how many Points are in something like that? Take pizza as an example, unless it was homemade, I didn't eat much pizza early on. When I did eat it out or pick it up from a pizza shop, I limited myself to one slice and enjoyed a salad with it - enjoying a bit of the taste without eating too much. Now, I find myself having two slices when I eat pizza from a pizza shop. For pizza, most included in the database are 4-5 Points per slice for cheese or veggie. What if the person building my pizza was heavier on the cheese or the sauce has more sugar? How accurate are the Points then? How many Points am I likely going over my allotment, just because of underestimating portion/under calculating Points on an item? Sure, if you have these types of items occasionally, they probably balance out with something you over count, but if you have them regularly, then it magnifies estimation/calculation errors and there aren't as many things to balance with. Plus, I am more tired now than I was when I first started working out and watching my food intake (minus the first week where my body was adjusting). I think that I am not getting all of the good nutrients that I was then and as a result, I feel more sluggish. It shows in the morning, when I struggle to get up when my alarm goes off. It shows when I rely on snacks to help keep me awake.

It probably doesn't help that I have learned that I can maintain my weight, while enjoying all of my favorites. I need to get back to enjoying less of my favorites - not depriving, because that could lead to over-doing it, but just enjoying less. I think I need to re-focus the types of "treats" I allow in my diet. I need to go back to having healthy treats that can satisfy the need for sweet (think fruit or yogurt) or salty (think cheese or crackers or even salted celery). I know that I can do it and I am hoping that this new found insight will help me to refocus and re-energize.