Healthy You Challenge Check-In

It's been a crazy few months - studying for the GREs, going through a hormonal meltdown, two vacations (much needed!) and slowly and steadily losing weight.



I am back though. I want to up the exercise and continue with WeightWatchers to really get this weight loss accomplished. I was a little frustrated that I wasn't "losing fast enough" for a while, until I realized what that meant. It meant that the changes I was making were really sticking. Gone are my days of weight fluctuations and rapid changing habits. The slower I lose, the longer I maintain at a certain point, the more this knowledge is settling into me. I'm going to celebrate that I've lost almost 10% of my original weight and that I'm really making long-term changes to my health, attitude and body. Hurrah!

I was participating in WW through an at work program for the past 4 months. We weren't able to garner enough interest for another session (people want to take the summer off - eek!) so I'm now left to my own devices with an online membership. This Friday I'm going to to center to join the meetings there. Along with this HYC, I find the accountability of seeing my leader each week and stepping on the official scale to be another thing that keeps me successful and committed.

So my goals for this week:

1. Back to the gym! Hit the gym or do some form of exercise at least 4 times this week. Make it to at least 1 yoga class.
2. Track, track, track. It's the only thing that consistently keeps me on track and the scale going down.
3. Carefully think about the snacks I crave and the snacks I eat. My hormones are not the boss of me!

Future - start the C25K in August. It will be my birthday present to myself!

Summertime means...

When you live in a climate like that of New England, you spend many cold months daydreaming about the warm glow of summer. The promise of long sunny days keeps you sane, warm and alive. Some days, those summer days to come can feel like the only things worth living in New England.

Of course there are many other things I love, including bits of the icy frigid winter months, but summer is a special treat. A rare and fleeting season of romance, cold drinks and long, lazy evenings. The soundtrack to each day consists of the radio playing on the beach or the Red Sox game on the radio or the sounds of crickets chirping in the evenings.

This summer hasn't delivered our normal dose of happiness and carefree romps. We've had an extended early spring feeling - cool days, colder nights, rain and gray and gloom. It leaves me feeling a sense of waiting, or like a sense of ending in that the cold months ahead of winter will be here sooner than I can imagine!

So I'd like to remind myself that summer is still special and all of the reasons that is so.

Corn on the cob
Raspberries
Flip flops
Red Sox
Camping
Fireflies
Ice cream
Canoeing
Grilling hamburgers
Summer ales
Iced tea
Outdoor concerts
Sleeping with a fan on
Tank tops
Ponytails
Freckles
The smell of sunscreen
Fireworks

What's your favorite season and what do you look forward to?

Product Review - Salter Kitchen Scale

After reading and hearing about the difference a food scale can make to weight loss efforts, I decided it was time to get one for myself. Not only does it allow me to be more accountable to just how big that steak I ate really was, but it allows me to quickly weigh and measure for recipes and tracking.



I did a bit of research online and after some struggles with in-stock availability in the stores, I decided on a fairly basic model, the Salter Stainless Steel Electronic Kitchen Scale (retails for $29.99).







After using this scale for a few months I wanted to share my thoughts on the product.


Pros:

This scale weighs foods in both ounces and in grams. This is a convenient feature when you're basing your calculations on nutritional information provided in grams (think chips and cereal here!!)

It has a tare or zero function. I am so dependent on this feature. It takes away having to do your own calculations and just subtracts out the weight of the bowl or other container for you.

Decent price point. Some other food scales have more bells and whistles and you pay for those. Since this was my first scale and I wasn't sure how often I was going to use it, I wanted to make sure it was affordable. You get what you pay for though, it's a basic scale. But for $29.99, I'm pleased overall with the affordability of something I'm using every day in my meal preparation.

Easy to use. Since the displayed information is just the weight (down to 1/8 oz.) there's not much to understand. Pop in the battery, and you're ready to use it.

Small and compact, this doesn't take up a lot of room on the countertop. I am seriously lacking in counter space in my kitchen, so that's a very important feature for me!

The weight capacity is just over 7 pounds. I haven't found a need to weigh anything heavier that that.

The scale can measure either in ounces or grams. If you choose to weigh in ounces, the scale measures in fractions instead of decimals. I feel like this is a bit of a pro and a con, depending on the user. The fraction functionality works for me as I can convert that to decimals easily enough in my head.

Cons:

Short battery life and type - this takes a 9V battery, which isn't something I have around my house. With such a short battery life, I don't like having to run out to replace the batteries so often.

Inconvenient LCD display location. If you're measuring your food in a bowl or larger plate, the display gets completely covered. I avoid this by measuring in small containers or by putting the food directly on the scale. Means more clean-up.

Not easy to store - though, that may be the case for most food scales. I put this away in my pantry for a short bit and even though the scale was off, something was inadvertently placed on top of it which I believe drained the battery.

Final thoughts:

Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. I may want to replace this within the year and get something with a little more functionaly and better design, but for now I will continue to use this almost daily. I would recommend this as a great starter kitchen scale, good for someone who doesn't use their kitchen scale for large cuts of meat or full meals, or great for someone with not a lot of space in their kitchen.

Making choices

I can look at things two ways right now:

The good: after a few bad weeks I've maintained my weight.

The bad: after a few bad weeks and almost 4 months doing WW, I'm only down 11 pounds.

So here I stand with a choice. I can look at this either way. At the moment, I'm feeling happy that I've turned things back around, had a great week so far of tracking and exercise and have managed to stay at the same weight I was 2 weeks ago.

I've also got nagging feelings of being slightly frustrated that I'm still stuck at the 11 lb mark.

A girl can drive herself mad with such silly thoughts.

I need to frame this properly so I can continue. Of COURSE I'm stuck here, I haven't been making a solid effort over the last month. I can't expect to not make healthy choices/exercise regularly and lose. Clearly, I know that. Rationally, I know that. I've proven it to myself time and again.

I have to just remind myself that the plan DOES work. When I stick to it I feel better, lose weight and create more healthy habits for myself. When I don't, I either gain, maintain but most importantly, don't feel healthy, energetic OR strong.

Does anyone else feel when they follow whatever plan they're on, they feel more free? I totally feel like it my life is a little easier when I make the effort to stay on plan. I waste a lot less time thinking about what to eat, feeling bad about what I ate, craving something I "shouldn't" eat, and the cycle goes on and on....

So I'm making a choice to feel good about this week and my progress. I've lost 11 pounds, and I'm going to be proud of that. I've exercised and moved my body every day this week and I'm going to be proud of that.

I am making a choice to be on this journey and stick with it, good and bad.

I'm NOT going to think about the big bag of macadamia nuts I ate two weeks ago (we're talking BJs big). Or, maybe I will think about it, but only in a way to know that it was not the way to lose the weight I want to lose. Macadamia nuts won't solve my problems (if only!!). Neither will giving up on myself, deciding to feel sorry for myself and eating a bag of chips, ignoring my energy levels and skipping the gym to watch the Real Housewives (but it's just so delicious), etc.

Perfect is a myth and bad weeks/days/months will happen. Here's to accepting that and moving on!