Weeks 37 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -1.8 lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -38.6 lbs

GGGGOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!

I finally made it! WOHOOOOO!!!!!  I’ve reached my goal weight (plus a teensy bit).  After almost 9 months of weight watchers I can say that I am the lightest I have been since graduating college 13 years ago!  While it’s true that I probably could have gotten here a month or two earlier if I had stuck to the plan a bit better, truth is that life sometimes happens (and it did).  But when it does you can’t let it completely derail you.  I kept working at it and continued to remind myself that if the pounds didn’t come off as fast as they did in the beginning then that was OK.  When I look back at a summary of my loss it’s quite obvious that I had a strong start with my first 4 months being great loss months and then I tapered off in the summer which was when I was searching to try and get

my momentum back.
 
January:  - 9 lbs
February:  - 8.2 lbs
March:  -4.8 lbs
April:  -6 lbs
May:  -2.4 lbs
June:  -0 lbs
July:  -3.8 lbs
August:  -2.6 lbs
September:  -1.8 lbs

Half of me wants to go for another 1.4 lbs to make it an even 40 but I don’t know if I should push my luck.  Ha, ha!  I’m pretty psyched to be down 4 pants sizes and 2 shirt sizes.  At this point, I’m just going to let nature take its course; continue to eat healthy, exercise & monitor my weight weekly.  I won’t be posting weekly updates anymore though since I reached my goal.   This whole experience has changed my eating habits (for the better) as a lifestyle change and I need to keep it that way if I want to maintain the body I’ve worked so hard to achieve.

 

Week 32 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -2.2 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -36.4 lbs

 

I’m very happy to see the scale go down this week.  Yay!  Hopefully this isn’t just another yo-yo week and the trend only continues.  I sort of feel like I’m already in maintenance mode already, but I still have another 1.8lbs left to go until I hit the goal weight set for me by weight watchers.  I’m determined to hit that number before I mentally switch into maintenance. 

 

Here’s this week’s dinner menu. 

 

Sunday 8/18:  Italian-StyleBraised Rabbit with roasted onion potatoes (10 pts+ total) 

 

Monday 8/19:  (a repost from last week since we ended up going out last Wednesday.)  Garlic Lime Marinated Pork Chops (5 pts+) with Cilantro Lime Rice (5 pts+)

 

Tuesday 8/20:  Chicken sausage with broccoli and provolone. (6 pts+)  Served with side salad. (1 pt+ for dressing)

 

Wednesday 8/21:  Naked turkey bruschetta burger (7 pts+) 

 

Thursday 8/22:  Bangin' Grilled Shrimp Skewers with ½ cup brown rice and sautéed zucchini (7 pts+ total)

 

Friday 8/23:  leftovers

 

Saturday 8/24:  leftovers or takeout

Week 28 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -3.8 lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -36.0 lbs

Only one week back on the plan and what a difference!  I had to do a double take (and triple weight check) yesterday morning just to make sure the scale wasn’t lying.  I wasn’t expecting this much of a loss this week so I’m ecstatic and highly motivated to keep it up!  I’ve surpassed the 35 lbs mark and only have 2.2 lbs to go to hit the “goal” weight I had set for myself on Weight Watchers.  Even though I haven’t been obsessing about hitting a certain weight, at this point I really want to hit that number since I’m so close I can taste it (no pun intended).  I’m hoping that by week 30 I can report back that I’ve hit my goal and have switched into maintenance mode. 

Here’s this week’s dinner menu. 

Sunday 7/21:   Lobster Rolls (6 pts+)

Monday 7/22:   (I moved this from Saturday b/c we ended up going out with our friends instead of BBQ’ing at home)
Asian Grilled Chicken Thighs (6 pts+)  I used skinless boneless thighs instead of breasts with Asian Cabbage Mango Slaw (2 pts+)

Tuesday 7/23:  Grilled hot dog (no bun) with baked beans & grilled corn on the cob (8 pts+ total for everything)

Wednesday 7/24:  Skinny Lemon Glazed Chicken (6 pts+) with ½ cup brown rice (4 pts+)

Thursday 7/25:   Grilled chicken sausage (5 pts+) with grilled zucchini (0 pts+)

Friday 7/26:  Spicy Shrimp Fried Rice (8 pts+)

Saturday 7/27:    no cooking (attending a party)

I am a Spartan!

I did it!!  On June 8, 2013 I completed my first Spartan Sprint in Tuxedo, NY and became a

Spartan!   As I had mentioned before, I wasn’t competing for a time (which was good because mine stunk. lol) but only to complete the course as an accomplishment of my strength.  I did exactly that and was extremely proud to cross that finish line. 

 

Call me crazy, but the race itself I found to be kind of fun.  Mastering the different obstacles was my favorite part (except for one obstacle).  However, all the hill mountain climbing I could have done without. Thankfully we had a perfect temperature that day so it was perfect running weather.  I started off the race with a clear head and high expectations.  That mindset was crushed not even 5 minutes into the race when we were hit with our first obstacle - running through 3 trenches of waist high muddy water while you got sprayed with more water.  Well, that certainly woke us up!  It also made for some nice sloshy sneakers to climb the steep hill of rocks that was up next.

 

It POURED the entire day before I was scheduled to run the race.  All this extra rain made the race site an (even bigger) mud pit and also made all of the rocky trails we were running on dangerously slippery.  I watched as other racers slipped and slided past me twisting their ankles as they ran the course.  It wasn’t worth breaking an ankle so we walked a lot of the trails where it was extremely slippery and ran in the places where we could.  This of course slowed our team down quite a bit.

 

Some of the other obstacles that we had to overcome over the 4 miles included: 

-  Monkey Bars

-  Lots and lots of walls (5, 6, 7 & 8 feet tall)

- Herculean Pull (using a pulley lift a concrete block 10 ft off the ground & back down)

-  Tractor Pull (drag a concrete block connected to a chain up a hill & back)

-  Tire Pull (drag a huge tire down a hill then using a rope pull it back up)

-  40 lb Sandbag carry (up & down a hill)

-  Hurdle jumps

-  Cargo net climb

-  Tire Drill (running through tires like the old football drill)

-  Log carry (up & down a hill)

-  Spear Throw

-  Rope Climb

-  Transverse Wall

-  Muddy “slip & slide” under ropes & into a trench of water

-  Barbed Wire Crawl

-  Fire pit jump

 

For any obstacle that you are unable to complete the penalty is 30 burpees.  If you don’t know what a burpee is check out HERE for an explanation.  Luckily I only failed 3 obstacles (rope climb, spear throw & transverse wall).  The barbed wire crawl was by far the worst obstacle in the entire race.  I was dreading it the entire day and couldn’t wait to get across it and put it behind me.  You can see the “oh s**t” look on my face in the pictures.  That’s pretty much exactly what I was thinking. It hurt like a mother crawling over the rocks and I have the bruises and scratches to prove it.

Crossing that finish line was one of the most satisfying moments I’ve experienced in a long time.  My hard work training certainly paid off and I couldn’t imagine having done this at my previous weight.  Although I was sore and a bit bruised and scratched up afterwards, it was completely worth it. 

The scratches will heal.  The bruises will fade.  My muscles will loosen.  But the experience will stay with me forever.

I can’t wait until next year.  Aroooo!!!!

Week 24 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  +1.0 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -30.4 lbs

This past week was my own fault.  I know what I did wrong. Nothing to blame other than bad choices and very little exercise.  Ever since I hit the 30 lb mark I’ve hit a plateau.  I teeter back & forth on a pound or two, but haven’t made any real progress in weeks.  I need to find my motivation again.  I need something…anything…to get me out of this rut and back into the groove that I was in for so many weeks.  It’s that motivation that is going to get me past these last few pesky pounds and over the finish line.  I know I said that I didn’t have a number goal I was trying to hit, but when I first joined WW they make you put in a number.  I’m only 7 8 pounds away from that number now and it would be a huge sense of accomplishment to hit the number that I set for myself so long ago.

This week’s dinner menu is not all that fantastic.  I’m working from a freezer stash of meat so it’s a hodge-podge of whatever I’ve got on hand.  I had to deal with a medical issue over the weekend (I’m ok) so didn’t get a chance to go food shopping.

Sunday 6/23:   no cooking (attending a graduation party for our niece)

Monday 6/24:   little man requested Chinese (I ordered steamed shrimp & veggies with brown rice to stay light)

Tuesday 6/25:  Skinny Baked Chicken Fingers with Honey Mustard Sauce (7 pts+) and side salad (1 pts+, for dressing)  - didn’t get to make this last week

Wednesday 6/26:  leftovers or something quick (have a client meeting in Philly and am getting home late)

Thursday 6/27:  Baked (orgrilled) chicken thighs with dijon & lime (5 pts+), garlic brussel sprouts (0 pts+) & side salad (1 pts+, for dressing) - another one that I didn't get to make last week

Friday 6/28:  baked sole (lightly breaded) with sautéed zucchini  (approx. 8 pts+)

Saturday 6/29:   leftovers (have birthday party & play date during the day)

Week 23 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -1.2 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -31.4 lbs

 

I was a tad lazy this week and didn’t count my points at all.  I guess I’ve either gotten really good at figuring out points in my head and/or portion control has started to become 2^nd nature.   I’m hoping it’s the latter since I’ve started to get tired of measuring everything out and have been trying to do things more by eye.  Hopefully this means my eye has become smaller (haha) and I’m measuring out what I should be eating rather than 2x the amount, like most Americans do. 

 

You would think that between losing weight and exercising more I should be feeling so much better and energetic, right?!  Ironically I’ve been exhausted & crabby this past week, to the point that I caught myself nodding off yesterday while at work (NOT good).  It baffles me that once I started getting healthy I kinda started to feel a little worse.  I don’t get it.  It’s not only this week.  I haven’t really felt a ton more energy like I expected.  Maybe I just need to up my vitamin or my protein intake.  Or maybe I’m just having an off week…

 

Here’s this week’s dinner menu:

 

Sunday 6/16:   Father’s Day BBQ

 

Monday 6/17:  Mexican Adobo Rubbed Grilled Pork Tenderloin (4 pts+) with ¾ cup cilantro lime rice (5 pts+)

 

Tuesday 6/18:  Taco Tuesday!  Using ground chicken & whole grain shells (6 pts+) with fat free spicy refried beans (2 pts+)

 

Wednesday 6/19:  Surf & Turf night.  Steamed snow crab legs & grilled marinated London broil (no recipe.  Just some garlic, olive oil & parsley.  Marinate in a bag for a few hours)

 

Thursday 6/20:  leftovers

 

Friday 6/21:  Skinny Baked Chicken Fingers with Honey Mustard Sauce (7 pts+) and side salad (1 pts+, for dressing)

 

Saturday 6/22:   Baked (or grilled) chicken thighs with dijon & lime (5 pts+), grilled corn on the cob (2 pts+) & side salad (1 pts+, for dressing)

 

 

Week 22 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  +0.4 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -30.2 lbs

Not exactly the numbers I was hoping for this week, but it could have been worse.  I allowed myself a junk food binge after I was done with my race on Saturday so I’m probably still full of salt.  I should have been taking measurements of myself from the beginning so that I could not only measure pounds lost but also inches lost.  While I haven’t quite lost that many pounds over the last month, I do feel my clothes fitting much looser and even noticed just this week that I need to put my bras on the very last setting because they are too big for my back.

These last few pounds are certainly going to prove to be the most difficult ones but I’m determined to hit the goal that I had set for myself when I signed up for weight watchers years ago.

Here’s this week’s dinner menu:

Sunday 6/9:   Fluke Piccata. (7 pts+) with corn on the cob (2 pts+)  Actual recipe calls for flounder, but hubby went fishing on Saturday and caught fluke which is very similar to flounder so I used those fresh filets instead.  It came out perfect!  

Monday 6/10:  BBQ spare ribs (10 pts+) with sautéed zucchini (0 pts+)

Tuesday 6/11:  Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Vegetables (9 pts+)   

Wednesday 6/12:  Asian Glazed Drumsticks (5 pts+) with side salad (0 pts+) 

Thursday 6/13:  Going out to dinner for A’s preschool graduation

Friday 6/14:  Leftovers

Saturday 6/15:   no plan.  attending a late day birthday party.

Week 21 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -0.2 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -30.6 lbs

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been at this for 5 months.  If one way it feels like forever but in the next breath it feels like I only started a couple weeks ago.  This past week I was pretty bad at tracking my points within the weight watchers app, but instead was doing it in my head.  I didn’t do a half bad job considering I pretty much stayed even for the week.  I guess the last 20 weeks have taught me something after all ;)

Here’s this week’s dinner menu:

Sunday 6/2:   Asparagus Risotto (7 pts+)  I ate it as my main meal, along with a side salad.  For hubby he needed something more so I made him some lamb chops to go along with it.  

Monday 6/3:  Chicken Marsala (7 pts+) with garlic brussel sprouts & ½ cup long grain wild rice (4 pts+)

Tuesday 6/4:  Grilled Shrimp Scampi (8 pts+) with side salad (1 pts+ for dressing)

Wednesday 6/5:  Tandoori Chicken (3 pts+) with ¼ cup quinoa (4 pts+) and mixed vegetables (0 pts+)

Thursday 6/6:  leftovers

Friday 6/7:  Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas (8 pts+) with fat free spicy refried beans (2 pts+)

Saturday 6/8:   Treating myself to takeout 

Week 20 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -3.0 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -30.4 lbs

Not only did I make up for last week’s bad choices, but I finally hit the 30 pound mark!!   I had hovered so close to it at week 18 that I was thinking I was never going to get there after last week’s minor setback.  I put in some major workout time this week between running & a boot camp class I started and I ran my farthest distance to date – 4.14 miles!  I wasn’t planning on running this far, it just kind of happened.  I signed up for a 5k run at work but when I clocked it with my running GPS app, it clocked in at just a little over 4 miles.  It’s possible that my GPS could be slightly off, but my body could tell that it was certainly longer than 5k.  I also improved saw an improvement on my time per mile. 

While it’s great to see the numbers on the scale moving, even if they weren't I can definitely see a change in my body and am seeing more definition and toning coming out.  According to weight watchers, I’m almost to my goal.  And from looking in the mirror I’d have to agree with them.

Here’s this week’s dinner menu (a couple things fell off the menu last week due to some switches so am trying them for this week):

Sunday 5/26:   Nothing fancy.  We BBQ’d on our own.  Veggie burger (no bun) for me and hot dogs for the boys.

Monday 5/27:  Nothing.  Attending a Memorial Day BBQ.

Tuesday 5/28:  Leftovers (going to subway series baseball game)

Wednesday 5/29:  15 Minute Ginger Shrimp Stir Fry with ½ cup brown rice (10 pts+)  

Thursday 5/30:  Taco Thursday! (using ground turkey & whole grain shells 6 pts+) with fat free spicy refried beans (2 pts+)

Friday 5/31:  Spicy Sweet & Sour Chicken with ½ cup brown rice (8 pts+) 

Saturday 6/1:   Nothing.  (Having a girl’s night out)

Week 19 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  +2.0 lbs

Pounds Lost to Date:  -27.4 lbs

I’m not shocked in the least that I gained this week.  I had called it and knew with the take out we were eating last week that it was inevitable.  I tried to be good and worked out as well, but the temptation was just too much to bear and I indulged too much.  But I am getting back on track this week now that we have our new fridge and it’s stocked with lots of fresh, healthy food.

Here’s this week’s dinner menu:

Sunday 5/19:   nothing.  We attended an afternoon baptism party and ate enough there :)  no cooking (and no dinner) tonight.

Monday 5/20:  Chicken Thighs with Mustard Citrus Sauce (9 pts+) and sautéed squash with garlic (0 pts+)

Tuesday 5/21:  Ginger & Cilantro baked Tilapia (6 pts+) with steamed brussel sprouts (0 pts+) 

Wednesday 5/22:  15 Minute Ginger Shrimp Stir Fry with ½ cup brown rice (10 pts+)  

Thursday 5/23:  Leftovers (volleyball night)

Friday 5/24:  Spicy Sweet & Sour Chicken with ½ cup brown rice (8 pts+)

Saturday 5/25:   Shrimp Pad Thai (on the Lighter Side) – substituted miracle noodles for the rice noodles in this recipe (8 pts+)

Week 18 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -0.4 lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -29.4 lbs

It may not be much this week, but I’ll take it!  Any loss (or even no loss) is considered a win in my book.  I wasn’t exactly the epitome of weight watchers standards this week and followed my points only about 75% of the time.  I allowed myself freebies on Friday, Saturday AND Sunday when I normally only allow myself some freebies on one day of the week.   I did work myself out much harder than I normally do, but maybe that just helped me from having a gain. 

Sunday morning instead of sleeping in for Mother’s Day I decided to give a new workout a try.  One of my fellow preschool moms told me about an outdoor bootcamp that was being taught 5 minutes from my house.  No sign up required and for $15/class you get an hour long butt kicking workout with a gorgeous view of the Hudson River.  Figuring I needed to do something different to mix up my training I decided to give it a try.  Talk about butt kicking!  lol  My arms were so sore all day Monday.  It definitely was just what the dr. ordered but boy was I not expecting to feel that sore afterwards.  Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I’ll be going back for more this weekend ;)

I’m taking this week off from meal planning because our refrigerator died suddenly late last week.  The new one is being delivered later this week but that means we will have to do take out for a majority of the week.  Hopefully that means I’m not reporting back this time next week with a gain but I am going to try and be as good as I can be – and also go back for more butt kicking to burn off the extra calories!! 

p.s. look how pretty our new fridge is!!  I can’t wait for it to arrive and fill it back up with yummy healthy food!!!
 

Week 17 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -1.0 lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -29.0 lbs

A slightly bittersweet week for me.  While I may have just missed the 30 lb mark, I did achieve a few other milestones that I’m pretty psyched about:  (1)  I’m now within 10 lbs of the goal number I was forced to put into WW (2)  I tried on my “skinny” pants (which are 4 sizes smaller than where I started) and got them to button (not all that comfortably but they went on!!) (3) I’ve lost 15% of my body weight

I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished over the last 4 months.  Hard to believe that it’s only taken 4 months for me to get this far but at the same time it feels longer than 4 months that I’ve been cooking and eating this way.  Maybe that’s a good sign that my brain is catching on that this is a lifestyle change and that in order maintain what I’ve worked so hard for I’m going to need to continue to eat like this (or close to it).

Here’s this week’s dinner menu:

Sunday 5/5:   nada.  I stuffed myself with a late lunch at a baby shower I attended so no cooking (and no dinner really) tonight

Monday 5/6:  Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken Thighs (7 pts+) with Garlic Roasted Cauliflower (0 pts+) (this again fell off the menu again last week and we ended up eating out Friday. Oops ;)  Definitely making it tonight)

Tuesday 5/7:  Leftovers (volleyball night)

Wednesday 5/8:  Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake (6 pts+) with Miracle Noodles (0 pts+)

Thursday 5/9:  Spicy Korean Tacos (8 pts+ for 2 tacos) I substituted ½ cup of pre-cooked chicken breast strips for the tofu

Friday 5/3:  Tuscan White Beans with Spinach, Shrimp & Feta (7 pts+)

Saturday 5/4:   Leftovers or take out (Saturdays are crazy between tee ball & birthday parties we have every weekend)

Week 15 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  +0.8 lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -25.8 lbs

I would be lying if I didn’t say I was disappointed with my weigh in today.  It’s the first time in 15 weeks that I haven’t had any type of loss, let alone a gain, so it’s kind of a blow to my ego and my motivation.  But it’s barely a pound, so I can’t beat myself up too much over it.  I can only blame myself and it could be due to a number of reasons.  Last week was one of those weeks where I was just SO hungry.  Nothing was satisfying me and drinking gallons of water was just not cutting it.  Could be that the uptick in my exercise was making me more ravenous and I should have adjusted my protein intake to help with the hunger.  Whatever the reason though, today starts a new week and a new beginning.  To end on a positive note, I increased my mileage and ran 3.5 miles yesterday.  I was pretty proud of myself :)  

Here’s this week’s dinner menu:

Sunday 4/21:   Store bought sweet sausages (5 pts+ per link) with sautéed zucchini and garlic (0 pts+)

Monday 4/22:  Taco Monday! (using ground turkey & whole grain shells 6 pts+) with fat free spicy refried beans (2 pts+)

Tuesday 4/23:  Leftovers  (volleyball night)

Wednesday 4/24:  Sprint Stir Fried Chicken with Sugar Snap Peas & Carrots (5 pts+) and ½ cup white rice (5 pts+)

Thursday 4/25:  Ham Steak (3 pts+) with sweet potato fries (5 pts+)

Friday 4/26:  Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken Thighs (7 pts+) with side of lemon green beans and salad (0 pts+) 

Saturday 4/27:   Leftovers (we will be running around between tee ball & birthday parties)

Week 13 Results

Pounds Lost this Week:  -1.4 lbs
Pounds Lost to Date:  -25.0 lbs

I’m happy to announce another loss this week.  What makes this week even better is hitting the 25 pound mark!  I’m also at the same weight I was before I got pregnant with Anthony.  I am so incredibly proud of myself for making it these past 3 months.  I am not sure what it is this time around but I feel a mental shift this time.  I’ve dieted before, I’ve been this weight before and I’ve told myself before that I’m not going to put the weight back on.  But something in the back of my mind tells me that I’m serious this time around.  I’m feeling so much healthier and more confident.  Now if I could only find a way to add more hours to the day so that I could get more sleep I’d be all set!

Here’s this week’s dinner menu.

Sunday 4/7:   Roasted whole chicken with rosemary and lemon (pts vary depending on part) with side of sautéed brussel sprouts with lemon & garlic (0 pts)  I swear this is the last time I’m moving this recipe.  We had a party on Saturday night so I didn’t get to make this.  But I made it Sunday and it was delicious!  The chicken stayed so moist & juicy.  Definite recipe keeper. 

Monday 4/8:  Leftovers.  Volleyball night.

Tuesday 4/9:  Flank steak with tomato & onion (4 pts+) side salad

Wednesday 4/10:  Leftovers.  First night of tee ball practice.

Thursday 4/11:  Special dinner out for A’s 5^th Birthday!!!

Friday 4/12:  Garlic Lime Marinated Pork Chops (5 pts+) with side of garlic asparagus

Saturday 4/13:   Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken (7 pts+) with side of lemon green beans