Not Exactly What I Wanted to Happen...

So, yesterday's weigh-in didn't quite go as planned. I was hoping for a pretty good weight-loss because I really had a great week in terms of food choices, and I did a lot of walking through the week, for a total of just over 10 miles.  Ten miles may not be much to some, but it's 10 more miles than I've walked in a long time.  I know that sometimes boosting exercise can affect weight-loss but I didn't think it would do anything since I wasn't lifting weights or anything.  Also, it was pointed out to me that I actually may be drinking too much water.  We're supposed to drink 6-8 8oz glasses of non-alcoholic liquid a day.  I typically drink minimally 12 glasses. So I'm going to try to lower my water intake a bit.  It's hard because some people say you should drink 6-8 glasses, some say you're supposed to drink as much as possible, some say 1/2 your body weight in ounces.  I'm going to stick to about 8 glasses and see how that goes.

So, anyway, as you can see from the ticker at the top of the blog, I actually gained last week.  I was hoping for a 2lb loss, and instead I gained 0.6 pounds. I'm aware that in the long run 0.6lbs is not a lot of weight, but it is frustrating and disappointing, but I am not going to let it discourage me, and instead I'm going to focus even more, and work even harder. I will beat that scale.  Whether it's this coming week, or a few weeks down the road, I can see my 5% in the near future.  While my 5% is now 5.6lbs away, instead of 5, it's not that far away!

Here's to a new week, a fresh start, scale victories. non-scale victories, and focus on health! This week I will walk minimally 3 times, planned walks on M/W/F, and hopefully 2 additional days too, depending on weather.

Have a great week, and enjoy the rain we're getting here in the north of Boston and Southern, NH area...we need it!

Here are a few pictures I found online to keep us all motivated and determined, no matter what our level of ability is, what our weight is, what our goals are...we can all do this!

Inspiration can come from all places...Thank you Walk MS.

Inspiration can come from all places, but no matter where it comes from, it's always so amazing.  This weekend was the Walk MS 5 mile walk in Manchester, NH.  A very good friend of mine, Casie, requested that all her friends and family do this walk with her for her 30th birthday, which was the same day as the walk.  She doesn't have MS, but someone close to her does, much like many others.  Kristi and I signed up to do the walk, along with a good group of our friends.  We did a little fundraising (thank you to those who donated!), and we did a (VERY) little bit of walking to prepare. Sunday was the day of the walk and it was a hot (80 degrees) and very sunny day.  The walk started at noon, and we started our 5 mile walk around Manchester.  The route was mostly scenic, but quite hilly.  The walk started downhill, which unfortunately meant the end was up (quite a big) hill.  We walked a bit along the canals, which gave off a very nice breeze, and then headed up to downtown, walking by all the delicious restaurants and awesome bars...what a tease!!  The walk then wound up through neighborhoods and up a nice big hill just before the finish.

At the beginning of the walk, I was worried about finishing, but as we continued walking, we saw people of all ages, from babies to grandparents, with varying disabilities.  If they could do this 5 mile walk, so could I.  I sometimes think that being so overweight is a disability in itself at times, but even if it is, at least I have the option to make a change.  I don't have to be this overweight. I don't have to worry about fitting in an airplane seat, or worry about weight restrictions for different activities.  There is no reason that I should be limited to where I buy clothes, or how I look in them. The people with MS have no choice, they cannot change their diagnosis, much like people with other disabilities and illnesses.  Why should I live with a "disability" that I created for myself?   Time to make a change.  Thank you Walk MS for continued inspiration to continue on my path to a healthier and better life.

So, yes, I finished the walk.  I completed 5 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes. Yes, 8 minutes longer than it took the winner of the Boston Marathon to complete 26.2 miles today.  But you know what? That's okay, because every mile I walk is a step closer to getting my health, weight, and life under control.

Yesterday's Walk MS event was very inspirational, and I'd like to thank my friend Casie for putting her team together as her birthday wish.  What a great idea. Thank you Casie. :)

I did it!

"Join The Movement" as it says on my bracelet.

Yesterday after the walk we came home, had some lunch, rested for a bit and then decided to go out to dinner in Nashua with some friends.  I picked Shorty's in Nashua, NH because Kristi really wanted a burrito.  Unfortunately our meals were less than great, but it was still a fun dinner with some friends that were able to meet us there! I love when we randomly want to be social and are able to make it happen within an hour. Thanks for joining us friends! :)

Today was very hot and humid and we stayed inside for most of it.  I woke up very sore from the walk yesterday, but by early evening I was feeling good and so I decided to go for a little walk around the neighborhood.  Kristi and our pup, Samson, came too.  A nice family walk. We went about 1.4 miles, in about 30 minutes.  And it was crazy hot.  Then I made dinner on the BBQ grill that Heidi has on the back porch, and it was delicious!

14 Points for dinner, using low fat hot dogs, light buns, fat-free feta, and fat-free dressing to save points!

Saturday night was our friend Jess' birthday party. and we went candlepin bowling and then to the bar at the bowling alley, where some of the party people entered a karaoke contest.  It was a good time, aside from not getting to sleep until about 2am, which was not the amount of sleep I wanted to get before walking 5 miles. Oh well!  Overall, it was a very successful and enjoyable long weekend with lots of activity, friends, and successes.  

This is a picture of me and Kristi, my wonderful fiancee, before our bowling birthday party outing on Saturday! :) 

Have a great week everyone, and don't let anything hold you back from doing what you want to do! 

Weigh-In Results....

Two more pounds gone!!! :) I've lost 13 pounds in 5 weeks, and it feels great.  I'm 5lbs away from my first 5% goal, which also means I'm 5lbs away from getting a pedicure as a reward. :)

Feeling very good about my results so far.  Tonight is going to be a blast celebrating a friend's birthday with candlepin bowling, and other fun shenanigans that I'm sure we'll get up to.  Have to get a good night's sleep tonight because tomorrow we're walking 5 miles for Walk MS, which is going to be a fun day of sun, exercise, and friends! :) I hope that the day goes well, and that I'm able to complete the walk. I am pretty sure I will be able to, and I'll post tomorrow to let you all know how it goes!

That's all. :)

~ Me

What a week...where did it go?? Oh yes....

Hey friends, family, strangers, and anyone else reading this. Sorry I haven't posted all week. No idea where the week went, I feel like it flew by!  It's been a great week, full of successes, fun planning, healthy choices and other positive things! :)

Saturday was Passover at my BFF's parents' house, and it was a blast.  I took a bunch of photos, but they're all on my camera and unfortunately that hasn't been hooked up to my computer yet.  Kristi went to Boston PAX EAST before Passover and came home with a "Mustache Monocle" which was pretty awesome. If you click on that link, it's at the top of the page and she got the solo one on the top right in the picture.  It has become a little game to "photo bomb" people while wearing the mustache. Good times.  We even got an innocent bystander at CVS on our way home from Easter on Sunday. Speaking of Easter, we went to Newburyport, MA to visit some of my family and had a good time all around. Good to see everyone, and once again, Kristi's mustache was a big hit.  Every year there is an awesome bunny cake, and this year was no exception.  Please see below for the original bunny, and then the bunny with a 'stache.

Like I said, good times.  The food was also delicious! We had fruit salad, the salad I bought, 2 types of quiche, spiral ham, mini home fries and a make your own bloody mary station, which I did not take part in.  See below for most of the food...so good.  Tough to gauge points since I couldn't measure, and I didn't know the ingredients, but once I got past Passover and Easter, I just decided to not use my weekly points anymore this week, just in case I was off in calculation.  I did enjoy about 1/2 of the bunny's left ear as a treat, but stayed away from Easter chocolate all weekend, and week!

Once the weekend passed and Monday hit, I decided to go get my 10lb loss reward...a manicure! I met up with my friend Julie Ann and we got fancy shiny manicures to celebrate.  Check out those fancy hot pink nails, and my awesome watch, and engagement ring from my fiancee. Polished nails make my ring even more sparkly! Love it! (Sorry, I'm such a girl sometimes!)

So Tuesday-Thursday sort of flew by in a daze, not really sure where the days went!  I did make great meal choices all week, and want to show one of them off.  I made bell pepper, fresh pineapple, and chicken kabobs, with a mandarin orange vinaigrette glaze.  So good!!  Add a salad, and you have a very summery, fresh, healthy meal.  I made 10 kabobs, using a total of 12oz of chicken, at 1pt per oz, and the glaze was a total of 6 points.  Very healthy, and low in points indeed!

As I said, I'm not sure really what I did Tuesday-Thursday, other than housework like laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc. Actually, Thursday was a good day.  We decided to sign up for The Color Run 5k. Heidi signed up first, creating team "Spell It With Your Peas" (from Easy A...watch it...it's comedic genius, just like the entire movie).  Kristi and I also signed up, along with Heidi's boyfriend Frank.  We're super excited and if you're reading this and think it looks fun (click the link above), you should sign up too.  It's not too expensive, especially if you join a team, and it's going to be a blast!!  There's a little party after, and we're thinking of ending the day at the beach, likely Salisbury since it is so close.   I've written out a training program to help me be able to do the 5k, as I would really like to be able to jog some, if not most, of it.  I am realistic though, so I changed up the C25K program a bit, and lengthened it, so that it suits my needs better.  I hope it works, and if not, I'll make changes as needed.  

Nothing super special happened today but it was a great day! We got tickets in the mail for the Chad Perrone show on 5/12/12, with Lisa opening, who is also awesome.  If you like supporting local music, check out Chad Perrone and if you like what you hear, buy tickets to his Tupelo Music Hall show in Londonderry, NH! We also started booking our week-long trip to The Berkshires for next month, which we're psyched about.  A 7 night already paid for getaway in a 2 bedroom condo and we can bring the dog!  It'll be so fun!  Did I mention we can have guests, and we have a spare room? :) Other fun thing today that happened? Heidi bought tickets to Summerland Tour 2012, which includes Sugar Ray, Smashmouth, Eve 6, Lit, Gin Blossoms, and Everclear.  How could we pass that up? She got pretty awesome floor seats for Mohegan Sun casino, on July 29th. Heidi, Frank, Kristi, and I will be going. It's the day after The Color Run, which basically means that's going to be one helluva great weekend!!  

My NSV (non-scale victory) of today was 2 fold.  I ate some things I don't normally like, because I'm trying incorporate new things into my diet.  Breakfast today was 1/2 cup of egg beaters (1pt) that I made into scrambled eggs, which typically I don't like.  I added some turkey sausage crumbles and a little Mexican cheese.  I have one word for you: Delicious! 

The picture doesn't really make it look great, but I assure you, it was!

My other NSV was completing a 2.2 mile brisk walk in about 45min around the neighborhood with Samson (our dog).  It was perfect weather, the sun was shining, there was a cool breeze coming in off the lake and harbor, and Samson was a very polite walking companion.  I plotted my route ahead of time so I knew the distance and the mile marker to turn around to come home.  I loaded up a new iPod playlist, and just kept putting one foot in front of the other until I was back home.  From the 1/2 mile mark to the mile mark, my legs got tired and sore.  It's like the all of a sudden realized that I was exercising and not just walking out to get the mail.  Once I got through that though I felt great and didn't get worn out again until I got home and sat down for a minute before making a great after-workout meal.  I thawed some already cooked wild and brown rice, added a few ounces of chicken, and some steamed/seasoned asparagus. Great walk, great meal after.  Go me!  

This is a good NSV because last time I walked, about a week ago, I only went one mile and felt terrible during almost the whole thing!  I am doing a 5 mile walk for "Walk MS" this Sunday in Manchester, NH and am excited to do it per the request of a great friend for her birthday, but I'm also really nervous because well, it's not like I walk that far...ever.  I'm hoping with the support of a lot of friends who are doing it, along with the fun I'm sure it'll be, I'll get through it. If you read this, and want to support the cause, please feel free to donate.  It's a great cause, and every penny helps!  Please click here to donate if you can.  

Whew..what a week.  So many things to smile about, look forward to, and look fondly back on.  Tonight Heidi and I spent awhile in the hot tub just chatting about our weight loss journey(s)...we've each been on several individual weight gain, and loss, journeys to get to this point, and we're trying to think of how to keep ourselves motivated once we get close, or meet our goal weight.  For me, this is so far off that I'm not really thinking about it, but once in awhile it does occur to me how long this process could take, and that it's going to stay hard to stay on track the whole time.  But I know I CAN DO IT.  And if I can do it, so can she, and so can you.

Thanks for reading.  Hope you have a great day with plenty of things to make YOU smile.  Tomorrow is my weigh-in, and I am pretty confident that I will have a good result.  Here's hoping!

Success!

Today was a very good day.  I woke up on the right side of the bed I guess! I had 2 successes today. I made 3 delicious balanced meals...and I got out for some exercise!  I took pictures of breakfast and lunch, but I forgot to snap one of dinner before I got most of the way through it. Oh well!

Since my first 2 meals were so good, I wanted to share, and I'll include points after each food item.

Breakfast (English muffin, yogurt, fresh fruit, sausages, and coffee):


Banana - 0
Grapes - 0
Nonfat mixed berry yogurt - 2
English Muffin with apple butter - 3*
Chipotle and Peach Thin n' Trim Sausage (2) - 3
Coffee with Truvia and a splash of skim milk - 1

* Apple butter is less than a point per serving, and only a splash of skim milk was in the coffee so I counted that for a point, to even out the apple butter.

Total Points for the below meal: 9

Lunch (Roast Beef open faced sandwiches, veggies with hummus, pistachios, and rice cakes):

Carrots - 0

Celery - 0

Red Pepper Hummus (1.5 servings) - 3

Light wheat bread, 2 slices - 2

3oz Roast Beef - 3

Thin sliced cheese, 2 slices - 2

1/2 cup Pistachios - 5

Ranch Rice Cakes* - 2

* I ended up eating the rice cakes about 90min later as a snack instead of with lunch.

Total points for the below meal: 17 (Sorry for the sideways picture, I couldn't get it to turn!)

Today was sort of a lazy day, aside from cooking. I decided that we should go for a walk so my fiancee and I took our dog, Samson, for a 1.1 mile walk around the neighborhood. A little back story on this...a few weeks ago I decided to go for a walk and I got about 1/4 mile up the hill down the street and had to turn around and come home.  I went alone the first time, which doesn't help my motivation, and I guess I didn't realize how out of shape I was.  This time around I brought support, in my fiancee and our dog.  I was determined to go past where I did last time.  We walked out of our street and decided to take a left at the next street, which ended up being a dead-end, so we walked it and then walked back, then started The Hill.  This time I got to the top of the hill, and continued even further! Last time my walk was just under 1/2 mile. This time we were just over 1.1 miles.  It's not a long distance, but considering the hill, and how out of shape I am, I feel like I had a good "NSV", or non-scale victory today.  I forgot how energized it makes you feel when you exercise, I had all this energy while making dinner, and was in a great mood.

So, dinner...

Dinner was a taco salad, with all the delicious fixings. I used ground turkey instead of beef, and I used fat free sour cream, salsa, and Mexican cheese as toppers.  The salad included lettuce, red pepper, cherry tomatoes and cucumber.  This was all fantastically mixed together on top of some tortilla chips.    The meal totaled 22 points for my plate.  As a reminder, I have 55 points per day so my meals are going to be higher point values than most of yours, if you're on Weight Watchers.  I used extra chips and cheese to bulk up the meal, since I had 28 points left for the day as of dinner time, which is a lot.

No picture because I was too excited to eat it and forgot to set it up for a picture! Oh well, I think everyone knows what a taco salad looks like! :)

So, all in all I had a great day.  And I wanted to share that with you; my support system.

Thanks for reading, and I hope y'all had a great day too! Now we're watching A Fish Called Wanda, and then we're going to check out Betty White's new show, Off Their Rockers. Good night all!