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! 

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!