Half Is Plenty

Well, I've decided these little daily challenges are fun, so here's another one for us to try.

At dinner this evening, just eat half. Fill you plate as you normally would, but slow down and savor every single bite you take, and leave half of it on your plate. If you're dining out this evening, you'll be making a huge difference in the calories, fat and sodium you take in.

Slowing Down

So, here's my challenge today: To put my fork down between bites.

I eat too fast. Cole tells me all the time that I do. I think it all stems from growing up and eating meals across the table from my Navy-lieutenant grandad. He ate fast, I mean fast. And if you wanted to spend any time with him in the backyard, at the farm or in front of the TV for the Cowboys' game, you had to eat fast to join him.

And don't studies show that the slower you eat the faster your brain will tell your stomach that you're full? We'll see...

Trying Something New

I'm getting ready to head to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the weekend, and another challenge hit me. (I wonder how many days in a row I can do this?) I'm going to pick up a fruit or veggie that I've never tried before, and try it today.

With fall in the air around parts of the country (we'll hit 90ish today), the produce departments are starting to fill with a beautiful autumn bounty. So maybe I'll roast an acorn squash, or chop up some jicama for a salad. I'm sure something will grab me.

Are you in?

Update: I bought nectarines at the store. I'll give you my review later.

Drink up!

Yesterday I issued myself a little denim challenge. It didn't have anything to do with counting calories or the number on the scale. I was pleased with the results, and maybe one of my five readers out there decided to do the same. (Let me know if you did.)

So for some reason this morning I woke up thinking about other little challenges I could give myself on this journey to better health. So my challenge today: 10 cups of water.

I'm normally pretty good about getting six in, and on a good day when I run, eight is no problem. But I decided today to try to get 10 full services down the hatch. Whadya say? Wanna join me?

An Experiment in Denim

I don't think I've put on a pair of jeans all summer. My daily wardrobe consists of t-shirts and draw-string shorts. Sometimes I even pair up a tank top and a simple skirt.

So with fall in the air and an upcoming trip to the northeast, where it will surely be a bit cooler, I've started planning what to pack in my mind. It will require long pants and sleeves, so I decided today to slip on a pair of jeans my butt hasn't seen since March.

If you haven't pulled up your favorite jeans all summer. Stop what you're doing now and go into your closet. I'm happy to say mine will be packed for the trip. They fit with no problems. If I wanna look my best in them, continuing on my ever-so-bumpy weight-loss journey will be best, but they do fit.

My point is this: Counting points is one way to measure, so is the number on the scale. But putting those jeans on today and looking in the mirror was just the test I needed to take.

Turning Point

I did not weigh Saturday. I didn't want to and I knew I wouldn't have posted a loss anyway. So I ate with abandon over the weekend. Cupcakes, wings, hamburgers, the whole bit. And I felt physically horrible because of it.

Monday evening after work we ran, and I continued to feel horrible. Heavy, tired, slow, puffy. I knew it was the terrible eating over the weekend, and I don't want to feel like that. I am coming to realize that the better I eat, the better I run. And the better (more) I run, the better I eat. It's a great cycle to get myself into, and I'm trying.

I am also on day two of no caffeine. My head is finally starting to feel like it's deflating and is a normal size again, and the pounding has slowed to a gentle thump. I didn't set out to cut the caffeine from my day, but it's an indirect result of me finally telling myself the truth about my morning vanilla lattes. I wasn't counting the points. I was having one each morning and somewhere in my mind I was letting myself believe that they didn't count. That if they did count, I was walking them off every day when I was walking dogs. That it took me an hour to drink one, so the points were going into my system so slowly they didn't count.

And even though when I stepped on our home scale this morning I was still up from the weekend, I feel like I've turned a corner. One where I'm more honest with myself. As much as I'd like to be thin by next Monday, I know that ultimately this is a lifelong journey toward health. The shape of my body is just a side effect.

Monday Food Journal

Breakfast: chocolate-bran muffin: 1 point
WW yogurt: 1 point
banana: 2 points

Lunch: ham/cheese wraps: 5 points
applesauce: 1 point
saltines: 1 point
snack cakes: 1 point

Afternoon snack: candy corn: 2 points
pretzels: 2 points

Dinner: BBQ cups: 10 points
salad: 4 points

TOTAL: 30 points. Terrible.

Wednesday Food Journal

Breakfast: chocolate-bran muffin: 1 point
WW vanilla yogurt: 1 point

Lunch: Lean Cuisine pizza: 6 points
applesauce: 1 point
snack cakes: 1 point

Afternoon snack: banana: 2 points

Dinner: BBQ brisket cups: 10 points
salad: 3 points

TOTAL: 25 points. A few too many, but I'm okay with that today.

A Tiny Loss

Well, I had a loss when I weighed on Saturday, but it was a tiny one. I don't feel like I'm doing great this week, but little by little is fine with me...

Breakfast: whole-grain waffles: 3 points
butter, chocolate chips, syrup: 4 points

Lunch: grilled cheese sandwich: 5 points
applesauce: 1 point
snack cakes: 1 point

Afternoon snack: peanut butter crackers: 4 points

Dinner: cereal: 3 points
soymilk: 2 point

TOTAL: 23. I'll take it, plus, we ran this evening.

Class Tonight

... means dinner on the run.

Our first two camera classes have been kind of a bust. The first class that was supposed to last two hours; we were done 40 minutes in. And we spent the next 20 or so minutes helping a sweet older couple figure out their new point-and-shoot so they could simply take pictures of their grandkids.

During the second class, Cole and I were the only two people to show up. Which was great in the end! We had one-on-one time with the manager of the store, and we got to talk to him about all of the little knobs and buttons on our cameras.

Tonight is digital imaging 101. I can't even remember what that means right now...

Breakfast: Fiber One bar: 2 points
banana: 2 points

Lunch: quesadilla: 6 points
chips and salsa: 3 points
snack cakes: 1 point

Afternoon snack: banana: 2 points

Dinner: chicken nuggets: 6 points

TOTAL: 22 points. I'll take it.

Rough Start to the Week

I didn't count a single point over the weekend, but I really wanted to. I also stopped counting points Monday around noon. The good thing is: I am counting today, good or bad.

Breakfast: WW yogurt: 1 point
cereal: 1 point
banana: 2 points

Lunch: soup: 2 points
pretzels: 2 points
snack cakes: 2 points

Afternoon snack: beef jerky: 1 point
cheese toast: 3 points

Dinner: cereal: 2 point
soymilk: 1 point

TOTAL: 17 points. How did that happen?!

Lose for Good

I did not want to step on the scale this morning. (It's a girl thing. I'll leave it at that.) But I did anyway because for the next six weeks Weight Watchers is turning each pound lost into a pound of food for the hungry around the world. Their Lose for Good program will donate up to $1,000,000 to world hunger organizations.

Pam, our meeting leader, this morning said that this campaign was started to help try to right an imbalance. She said 1.6 billion people around the world are overweight, but something like 8.2 million people are starving. (I hope I got those numbers right.)

So, even feeling bloated and icky this morning, I got on the scale to get a starting weight for the program. That just means that my loss next Saturday will be that much greater! Even if I only lose five pounds over the six weeks of this program, Share Our Strength would be able to feed a family of four for almost two full days, on my five pounds alone.

Thursday Food Journal

Breakfast: Fiber One bar: 2 points
banana: 2 points

Lunch: soup: 3 points
honeydew melon: 1 point
English muffin: 1 point
snack cakes: 1 point

Afternoon snack: beef jerky: 2 points
banana: 2 points

Dinner: Green chile stew: 5 points
homemade tortilla chips: 2 points

TOTAL: 21 points!

Weekend Worries

I need to get a grip on the weekends. I'm only two weeks in to Weight Watchers again, and I'm doing great Monday through Friday. But the weekends I'm letting myself off the hook when it comes to counting points. I really hate to get into the cycle of losing two pounds in a week just to put them back on over the weekend.

I'm trying to make good decisions, but I know the scale would really show it if I made more of an effort on the weekends. Maybe that should be my goal for the week: Actually count points Saturday and Sunday. Yes. I'll do that.

Breakfast: breakfast burrito: 5 points
(scrambled egg, 6" tortilla, 1-point WW cheese)

Lunch: SouthBeach sandwich: 7 points
chips: 1 point
snack cakes: 1 point

Afternoon snack: peanut butter toast: 5 points

Dinner: cereal: 3 points
soymilk: 1 point

TOTAL: 23. Two more than I should be having starting this week, but we did run this evening... And how pitiful is it that I didn't get a single fresh fruit or veggie in today?!