Measuring Up.

Three things:


1) I would like to get a digital food scale so that I can be really exact about my calories.

December 19, 2009

2) I found some measurments from "before".

I thought I'd share.

The Body. In Inches.

December 30, 2009 (most recent in parentheses, you can also see them here)

BUST: 44.25 (39)

BICEP: 15.75 (14.5)

THIGH: 29.75 (25.5)

WAIST: 40.75 (35)

HIP: 52.5 (46)

That is quite a difference. 23 inches of difference, to be exact. That doesn't even include neck, forearms, calves, or chest (just under the bust).

That number will grow, people. Wait and see!


3) I figured out the calories I eat in a day and compared that to my Weight Watchers Points Plus.

I'll share that as well. I'm a giver.

Calories in a Day (Yesterday, actually!)

(Weight Watchers Points Plus in parentheses)

Breakfast 173.6 calories (4 WW Points+)

12 oz coffee: 3.6 (0)
5 Tbsp fat free half & half: 50 (1)
1.5 Tbsp sugar free hazelnut syrup: 0 (0)
1 Tbsp Stevia: 0 (0)
1 package Quaker instant oatmeal: 120 (3)

Mid-morning Snack 100 calories (0 WW Points+)

Banana (about 100g): 100 (0)

Lunch 255.3 calories (6 WW Points+)

2 cups spinach: 12 (0)
10 salted almonds: 54.3 (2)
1 Tbsp Newman's Own Light Sesame Ginger dressing: 17 (0)
4 oz cooked plain chicken breast: 120 (4)
1/2 grapefruit: 52 (0)

Afternoon Snack 210 calories (5 WW Points+)

Fiber Plus bar: 120 (3)
Lucerne Light Yogurt: 90 (2)

Dinner 254.8 calories (5 WW Points+)

Pan Fried Tilapia: 234.8 (5)

• 4 oz tilapia fillet: 100 (3)
• 1 tsp olive oil: 39.8 (1)
• 1 Tbsp almond flour: 40 (1)
• 1 Tbsp light Smart Balance: 50
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice: 0
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic (from a jar): 5

1/4 cup cooked mushrooms: 14 (0)
1 cup spinach: 6 (0)

Dessert 202 calories (5 WW Points+)

1 York Peppermint Patty Mini: 70 (1)
1 Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Mini: 42 (1)
1 Lucerne Light Yogurt: 90 (3) (The Points are higher on this one because I had two in one day- the Points round up on some items when doubled.)

Total calories: 1,195.7
Total WW Points+: 25


4) I do measrue up. I will measure up.

For the past four months, give or take, on and off, for the most part, I have used 27 WW Points+ per day and somewhere between 35 and 49 extra weekly points. I earn Points for activity also, that I can swap for more food, but I have never done that.

I really do think the Weight Watchers Points Plus Program can work. In fact, I know that it can. It has for me in the past. According to my current weight, I could have 28 Points+ per day, fruits and veggies (mostly) don't have any Points, and then the extra weekly points.

But.

I'm not losing.

Granted, I don't think I've been quite as ardent about my measuring as I could have been. It really does add up.

And my body is in a plateau. Stagnant. It needs things to change.

So...

My plan (always a plan) for the 12 weeks of this Competition:

• Sweat 3 days a week, 45 min. at a time. REALLY sweat.
• Eat only 25 Points+ per day (roughly 1,200 calories).
• No extra weekly Points.
• No matter what.
• No excuses.
• None.

Several of the gals in the Competition offer daily or weekly challenges. I'm going to try to incorporate these as well. Ya know, 50 crunches before bed, 50 stairs during the day, avoided evening snacking, choosing a goal outfit (something I've done several times before, pictures of mine coming soon), cutting out caffeine (ummm.... I don't get it.......), increasing water intake - those kinds of things.

Yes. This is a bit extreme. But I have done it in the past. I can do this. And, because I have been all over the map this week, it won't be 12 full weeks. August 7th is 89 days from today.

Actually, I don't think I've kept to this stringent of a goal for 89 straight days before. Gulp. Big Gulp. The 7-11 kind.


BUT I CAN DO THIS, DAMMIT!!! (Sorry for the swearing, Mom. It probably won't ever happen again.)

(I think this is the part where I sheepishly side-grin and inform you that I am one of those Jesus Following Ladies who swears occasionally. This is a judge-free zone, K? That goes for stretch marks and irrational freak-outs too. Both of which I have to spare.)


Phew, glad I got that out. Can you picture my flailing arms and frizzy hair?


One of my best friends posted this verse on my last post (read her blog here):

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." - Colossians 1:9-14

Thank you, Kristin. I needed that.



So tell me: What do you measure? Any good tips to keep at it for 89 whole days? How are you doing on your goals (of any kind)?

Weekly Update, and Meal Planning - HA!

Weekly Update:

Exercise: Two 25-min walks in my classroom, one 30-min walk with Kevin.

Weight Loss: To be continued.

Oofta.

This last week was a week of indulgences and "breaking the rules". Still didn't binge or eat mindlessly, so that's good.

And it wasn't bad. It was just a week of thinking, planning, and feeling tired.

All in all, it was a good week. And I have a burst of energy to get me through my next endeavor: 4 weeks of kicked-up exercise.

Here's the plan:

• Continuing to exercise/walk during my lunch break most days
• Exercising (more intensely than I have been) 5 days a week for 30 min at a time.
• Cut out all "extra" Points.

This really isn't a change from my program (if I can call it that) since January. Instead, this is a boost, an addition.

My hope is to break through my weight plateau. I won't know from the scale, but I will know from my clothes. If I can get down a few pounds, it will help my motivation - and keep me from pulling out my hair!

So stay tuned! Keep telling me about your stories!


Something else that can make me want to pull out my hair: meal planning.

See below. :)

Planning dinner for the week is not really my forte. There are several meals that we default to, though, which get cycled through often: white chicken enchiladas, spaghetti (I usually use spaghetti squash in place of pasta), Nalley Vegetarian Chili and green beans (both from cans), the lentil soup, burritos, sandwiches, and pizza (delivery), to name a few. Of course, I always add a veggie of some sort, but we stick to a pretty slim (though tried and tested) variety.

Recently there was a Groupon deal for a year's worth of e-Mealz at half the usual price. The ladies from this website create weekly menus desiged for various family sizes, dietary needs, and some specific stores (such as Wal-mart, where they can create a menu based on weekly sales). Each week you get an email with your plan: a menu for 5 dinners, recipes for each, and a shopping list broken down into grocery store sections. I looked into this last summer and decided it was really neat, but not the right timing. As you may have guessed, I went ahead and took advantage of this deal. Even if I don't stick to it exactly, it can't hurt to have 52 weeks of menus/recipes, right?

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Jump forward many weeks. The above draft post has been on pause for awhile.

The idea was nice.

In fact, I do meal plan... sort of.

But my hope of doing even one full week of the e-Mealz has yet to happen.

Again, the idea was nice. And I have many great recipes, tips, and tricks to meal planning and saving money piling up in the cookbook section of my pantry thanks to this helpful site.

I can say that it has helped me get the hang of weekly meal planning, even if not in the same way.

Here's what I have to work with:

• limited grocery budget
• cooking for two
• cooking for one who has a refined palate (a.k.a. he's a picky eater)
• cooking from scratch every night is not realistic with our schedule
• we don't mind having the same meal week after week
• limited calorie budget (mostly for me)

So what we end up with is a creative combination. Lately, I have been attempting to meal plan on Monday mornings, knowing that I will be doing a "big grocery shop" on my way home from work.

Just because I know you are so curious, I'll share some of my meal planning/ shopping wisdom (feel free to laugh incessantly at the loose use of the word wisdom):

Food Staples:

• Lucerne Lite Yogurt (I try to have one every day) (2 WW Pts. each)
• Strawberry Lucerne or Yoplait yogurt (for the hubs)
• Full fat sour cream
• Fat free sour cream
• Smart Balance, light
• Sandwich Thins
• Oroweat Original Oatnut bread

Weekly Produce:

• bananas
• apples
• tangerines
• broccoli
• spinach
• baby carrots
• celery (when we make the lentil soup)
• vine tomatoes
• onion

Alternates:

• grapes
• grapefruit
• berries
• expensive apples
• grape tomatoes
• avocado
• cucumber
• asparagus
• fresh garlic
• mushrooms
• spaghetti squash
• yellow squash
• zucchini

Non-perishable goods we like to keep stocked:

• Green beans
• The Nalley vegetarian chili
• diced tomatoes
• tomato sauce
• corn
• Classico Four Cheese pasta sauce
• Chili beans
• kidney beans
• spaghetti
• lentils
• cereal

When Monday rolls around again, I make my grocery list, making sure I restock anything we used from our "keep stocked" list the previous week. I also don't like to shop too much during the week, and not at all on the weekend if possible, so I try to get it all on Monday.

If there are some great sales, I might pick up something off-list. If I spent part of my day looking through recipes, I might note additional items to cook something new. But mostly, we know what we like and try to stick to that.

Here are our favorites right now:

• The lentil soup, as ever. Though we have added baked bacon and roasted mushrooms as sides. So. Good.
• Spinach salad with diced chicken. I've been using pre-cooked Tyson grilled chicken breasts- great for quick meal nights.
• Roasted or steamed broccoli as a side.
• Chili. This is a one-pot, fairly quick and easy meal that basically entails throwing everything I find in the pantry that might work. It hasn't failed me yet! We got a little burned out on the canned chili, but it is great in a pinch.
• Burritos. Pretty typical - fat free refried beans, tortillas, cheese, sour cream (fat free, for me), avocado (if we have it), diced tomatoes.
• Sandwich of some kind. Egg, egg salad, turkey, roast beef, etc. Add a salad and some side and you're good to go!
• Haystacks. At least, that's what my family always called them. It is very much like a taco salad. Each person builds there own from the following: Frito's, cheese, canned chili (or ground meat, or refried beans), lettuce, sour cream, avocado, diced tomatoes, onion. The possibilities are endless. This is a great go-to for company (or picky eater) because each person gets to make their own according to their taste.

Each week I create a meal plan for the week of dinners (excluding the weekend, which we leave open to whatever comes up), write my corresponding grocery list, and remind myself that my plans rarely occur "just so" - so I'm just being prepared - anything could happen!

It's amazing how much easier this has gotten over time. I used to stress a lot more about meal planning, and everything else for that matter. I'm starting to mellow a little. We have our routines, they work for us, and we are both trying to roll with the punches, allowing wiggle room for the unexpected. This is SO not my greatest strength, but I'm trying. Having a practiced person-of-spontaneity at my side is extremely helpful.

Organized chaos, chaotic organization. Living life in the balance!


So tell me: How do you meal plan? What things in life do you organize knowing it will need wiggle room?