Friday Evening, You Know What That Means

Yep. I weighed in this evening. I started this week convinced that I would lose two pounds and make up for the slow loss over the last few. I ended this week thinking that I had actually gained. I stepped on the scale and was down .6 (after the .6 gain last week). Not a banner week, but a loss nonetheless, and that's what it's all about!!!

And, don't tell Pam (my WW leader), but I'm not planning on counting points this weekend. I'm just gonna live and eat and visit with Cole's family and shop and enjoy the weekend. That's my plan. I won't let myself go crazy and have chocolate cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but I don't wanna stress and worry about every bite. Just for a couple of days...

And here's the thought that I've been trying to work through in my mind all day... Am I eating enough??? Has my weight loss slowed because my body is hanging on to every little calorie??? If I feed my body well this weekend, will my cells think "oh, she's gonna feed us, we can go ahead and burn all the fat and calories we need/want to" come Monday when I cut back again???

Or am I being lax with my jounaling, allowing myself to "forget" to write down food and keep track of points??? Fun weekend ahead. Focus again come Monday.

But it boils down to this:

Losing more than half a pound is a win this week.

Being 35 pounds lighter than my all-time highest weight is a win.

Having a plan is a win.

Knowing I can and will reach my goal weight... one of these days... is a win!!!

Pull My Trigger

I ran across this interesting story this evening while hanging out on the couch, watching TV with Cole. While all four of the "babies" are sleeping, scattered about on the floor around us, I'm convinced that I will not have lost any weight when I step on the scale tomorrow, so I'm surfing for inspiration...

The story, about a weight-loss trigger study, says there are basically six reasons that someone will decide it's time to lose weight:

• Medical reasons
• Event to get ready for
• Vanity
• "Diet pusher"
• Seeing someone else's success
• Pure emotion

Is it okay that THREE of those are the reasons I'm working on getting rid of a few pounds??? Dr. Schneider told me to (surely his office will call tomorrow); I'm about to turn (gasp) 35 and I wanna get hotter by the year, not just older; and Mom's success. The article groups competition in with success, and it's certainly not competition with her that made me want to join Weight Watchers when I did. But when she started and made it look so easy and doable and livable, she was just the inspiration I needed...

The article also breaks down which of these triggers might lead to long-term loss and maintenance as opposed to others, and how to make short-term triggers (like a specific event to get ready for) simply the starting point, and not the end of the journey...

(Editor's note: Those are not my feet.)

Trying something new

Normally, I'm pretty scared to cook anything where the recipe lists more than four ingredients. I fear having to julienne or blanch something. I like to cook, but I like to cook fast and easy.

BUT, this evening I created my very own recipe. (I tried to use the word "invent," but Cole wouldn't go for that.) I have been hungry this week for avocados, so I tried to look for a recipe that came close to the Avocado Club Rolls at California Pizza Kitchen. Something I know Cole likes too. I couldn't find anything really close, and I didn't want to have to deep fry anything. So I started brainstorming...

The rolls from CPK have avocado, cheese, tomato, bacon and chicken in a fried wonton wrap. I don't know where in the world to find wonton wraps in Austin (probably Whole Foods, but they're too far away), so I went with Athen's fillo dough.

Here's the recipe I came up with:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Before opening the fillo dough, prepare the sliced avocados, crumbled bacon, shredded chicken and shredded cheese. (The fillo dries out quickly, so have everything ready to assemble and back).

I used about five thin sheets of fillo for each wrap; brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled with a bit of salt and pepper. To each group of five sheets, I added about 1/8 cup shredded chicken, two slices of fresh Hass avocado, a pinch of crumbled bacon and some shredded cheese (I'll probably use more cheese next time). I rolled it all up like a burrito, and brushed the top with a bit more butter, salt and pepper.

Bake for 20 minutes and there you go. From what I can calculate, they were only five WW points each. Not too bad...

Last week I was up .6 on the official scale. Here's hoping for a loss come Friday evening!!!

Screw Slow and Steady, How About Liposuction?

When walking the dogs this morning, I saw a big Sunday Austin American-Statesman newspaper in someone's driving way with the words "Weighing Liposuction" under the plastic wrap. I assumed it was going to be an article about liposuction... you know, pros/cons, history, new technologies, etc.

No, it was about a 12-year-old girl whose parents encouraged and purchased liposuction for her on a payment plan: "It would take Brooke two weeks to lose one pound, Cindy Bates said, and then she'd get frustrated and give up." For the record, that would have her 26 pounds down before she turned 14... on her own!!!

Let's not teach her patience and slow-and-steady-wins-the-race by any means!!!

Short version of the story: She was a fat kid, all her life from what the article said, and ridiculed constantly at school. So her parents got her liposuction from a doctor who saw no problem with the fact that she hadn't quit growing yet and didn't bother to send her to a psychologist or anything.

To his credit, the article said the doctor who performed the surgery encouraged a diet plan before agreeing to the surgery. (Side note: His commercials creep me out, so he doesn't get a mention by name here.) But after hearing the girl's father was sick, he caved.

Here's the other part that got me on my soapbox today: "'We may not be able to buy you a car when it comes time to graduating,' he told his daughter, but 'we'll get you a figure right now, and that will save your life.'"

I'm sorry, a "figure" is not going to save his daughter's life. A lifestyle of healthy eating, fitness, not smoking, being around family and friends who love and respect you no matter what, getting a good night's sleep, participating in hobbies you enjoy, going to church, drinking plenty of water, pets you love... THOSE things will save your life!!!

OK, off of my soapbox. And very thankful that Cole and I walked the Hike and Bike Trail twice this weekend. I'll be very happy to lose a full pound over the next two weeks!!!

Waiting for the phone to ring

Went to the lab this morning; got poked with a needle. I think she took about two pints of blood -- it seemed to take forever. But she was so gentle and used some sort of "butterfly" needle that was smaller than the usual ones. It didn't hurt a bit.

So... now I'm just waiting for Dr. Schneider (or Kimberly) to call and give me the results of my liver profile. I did what he said. It took almost a full year, but I lost the 10 percent of my body weight (last October I was at 172 in his office) that he suggested. Back then he thought that the high liver enzymes were just a result of what he called "fatty liver." I'm not a drinker, so it's not like I've pickled my liver through the years.

My hope is: Either the weight loss and change in eating habits has helped. Or, it was just a fluke and my liver is perfect and the test had a 3 percent margin of error. (It is election season after all.)

To be continued...

Getting there

Well, Friday evening I weighed in at my regular time and at my regular place. 1.2 pounds down from the week before; 12.2 pounds total lost since starting with WW. I can't believe how simple the program is if I just follow it. I haven't counted a single point this weekend. I feel like we haven't even been home or anywhere with a pen for me to count and journal points. But I feel like I've done half-way okay on my own, with lots of walking to boot.

Yesterday we went to the lake to ski and dragged Cole's folks along with us. I tried several times to ski... and even succeeded once. I'm sure that burned off the snickerdoodles I had with lunch.

And today we went out to the Austin City Limits Festival to see our friend Robyn Ludwick on the BMI stage. She had an incredible show, and I'm sure we probably walked well more than a mile total. When we first got there, we caught Peter Dawson on stage. He had a great voice. Country. Young. Cute. I need to look him up and see what his story is. Mom and I also cornered Doug Moreland for a picture in the rain. Super nice guy.

After Cole and I couldn't take the mud and heat and steam and crowded stinky hippies any longer, we went to Hut's for a very late lunch. Mom is a trooper and stayed out there until who knows when. I had never eaten at Hut's before; Cole had eaten there several times during college. It's one of those dive burger joints that has quite an Austin history and is a must for any Austinite to mark off of their to-do-in-Austin list. I had a veggie burger on a wheat bun, so I don't feel like I did too bad at lunch. (We won't talk about the fries and onion rings.) Then I had a grilled cheese for dinner. Tomorrow, back to counting, drinking tons of water and being careful of my portions.

Oh, and tomorrow I'm calling Dr. Schneider.

ACL Fest, Austin City Limits Festival

Surviving Labor Day

After my great loss last week, we celebrated Labor Day and being off of work and Erin and Ron's upcoming wedding by eating. I thought for sure I had gained that two pounds PLUS back over the weekend... but when I weighed in at my meeting this evening, I had only gained four-tenths of a pound. I chalk that up to wearing a heavy t-shirt... HA!!!

So, my total is still 11 pounds down from the point where I started with Weight Watchers. I wanna give myself just a couple more pounds before calling Dr. Schneider. Soon, very soon...

Bugsy Turns 10!

Okay, this is not food related, but I had to post a few words to celebrate the Bugman's birthday yesterday. Ten years old... he's been my Bugalicious since he was six weeks old, when he was all belly and ears. The only male and the first born in a litter of seven, now the oldest of our four babies.

Happy Birthday, Bugsy!!! (I owe him a trip to PetsMart this weekend...)