Weekly Weigh In - Thanksgiving Review

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I hope you all had an awesome holiday weekend!

As you can see below, I weighed in on Saturday morning and I had a frustrating gain of 2.6. I know it was Thanksgiving, so I need to be gracious with myself.

At first, I didn't want to share this disappointing news with all of you. However, I want you all to know that I have bad weeks too! Life happens and I gain weight, just like anyone else. I'm not perfect. Last week, might have been a bad week last week, but this week I am trying to get right back on plan.

 

This week in the Weight Watchers meeting room, they are asking us to think about our holiday action plan. They want you to take some time to think about the typical holiday stressors that you face each year. How have you dealt with it in the past? What do you plan to do this year?

If you want to be more successful this year than last year, you have to be intentional!

 

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8 Weeks to Thanksgiving Challenge Review

Last week we finished up our 8 Weeks to Thanksgiving Challenge!! For me, the hardest part about this challenge was/is week 4 when Weight Watchers asked us to be active. I work from home all day with my baby girl and I find it hard to get in my activity each day. The easiest task for me was to power up, because I already bulk up my meals each day with power foods.

How did you do? Leave me a comment letting me know which task was the easiest for you and which was the most challenging.

Weekly Weigh In - Lighten Up

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I am happy and proud to share with you that I lost another pound at my weigh in this past Saturday! 

Last week, I was able to stay on plan everyday and record everything that I ate in my tracker. I think that these small changes made a huge impact on my weight loss results. I have been able to get back on track and I am excited to see how I continue to lose weight in these coming weeks.


I am a little nervous about Thanksgiving, because I do not want to go off plan. I am trying to prepare myself by earning some extra Activity PointsPlus before Thursday.

What are you doing to stay on plan this week?

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Week 8 - Lighten Up

This is the 8th and final week of our 8 Weeks to Thanksgiving Challenge!! Our challenge this week is to use the Recipe Builder on eTools to assign PointsPlus values to Thanksgiving classics or lighten them up. What are some of your favorite family recipes? How have you lightened them up?


P.S. My baby girl has been so fussy the last two days. Please pray that I have wisdom to know how to take care of her!

Weekly Weigh In - Make a Losing List

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I just want to start by saying, thank you for all of your words of encouragement that you sent my way after I posted my Weekly Weigh In - Losing My Baby Weight blog post last week!! You did not judge me for how much I did or did not weigh, but accepted me for who I am!!

God knew that I needed to be honest with you. I was nervous about posting my current weight on my blog. However, I think it was the best thing for me to do. I truly believe that freedom comes when we are honest and share the truth, no matter how ugly that it is. Since posting that blog post, I have felt free to follow Weight Watchers and get back on plan. I am no longer ashamed of my baby weight, because I know that God loves me and is helping me reach my goals! 

My Weight Watchers Weight Record

The picture above is my official Weight Watchers Weight Record. I am a currently Weight Watchers employee, which means that technically I do not have to keep a record of my weight like this. However, this weight record helps me to be more successful on plan. I like seeing my weight loss and/or gains, week after week like this.

On Saturday, when I weighed in, I was excited to see that I had lost 4.2 pounds! I was not expecting to lose that much weght, but I will take what I can get. I have been trying to take things one day at a time. Last week, I stayed within my daily PointsPlus target on Wednesday. After doing that I knew I could do it again on Thursday and Friday!

In addition to taking things one day at a time, I have been learning to say no again. Jon was gone working Friday night and I really wanted to go to eat at Panda Express. However, I knew that my weigh in day was the next morning! I said to to eating out and decided that Jon and I could go on a date sometime this week. For me, that is a much better use of my daily PointsPlus and weekly PointsPlus target.

I am focusing on making smal changes. It's a baby steps! This week my baby step goal is to make a losing list, read more about this below.

Pleaase continue to pray for me while I am losing my baby weight!

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Week 7 - Make a Losing List

This is week seven of our 8 Weeks to Thanksgiving Challenge!! We are almost there, so each day this week jot down one reason you want to slim down. It is important to write down these reasons, so that you can go back and read them during times when you get off plan!

I would love to hear your reasons and have you share them with each other, so please share your reasons on my blog, Facebook, and/or Twitter.

Thanksgiving Challenge: Week 6 - Power Up

For the last five weeks we have been making small changes to help us be more successful in our weight loss. It's hard to believe that we only have 3 weeks left!!

I am so excited about this week's task! This week, we are supposed to include one Weight Watchers Power Food at each meal. I included the Weight Watchers Power Foods List below so that you could begin to add in these foods throughout your day. I do not eat a Power Food with each meal, but I am going to try to accomplish this goal throughout this week.

Power Foods List

Fruits
Included: All fresh, frozen or canned fruits without added sugar (unsweetened) — whether or not it has PointsPlus values per serving

Not included: Dried fruit, fruit juices
Apple
Applesauce, unsweetened
Apricots
Banana
Berries, mixed
Blackberries
Blueberries
Boysenberries, fresh or frozen, unsweetened
Cantaloupe
Casaba melon
Cherries, fresh
Clementine
Cranberries, fresh
Currants, fresh
Dates, fresh
Elderberries
Figs
Fruit cocktail, canned, unsweetened
Gooseberries
Grapefruit
Grapes
Guava
Honeydew melon
Jackfruit, uncooked
Kiwifruit
Lemon
Litches (lychees)
Lime
Loganberries
Loquats
Mandarin orange (tangerine)
Mango
Melon balls
Mulberries
Nectarine
Orange
Papaya
Passion fruit
Peach
Pear
Pineapple
Plums
Pomegranate
Raspberries
Sharon fruit
Pumpkin
Starfruit (carambola)
Strawberries, fresh
Tangelo
Tangerine (Mandarin orange)
Watermelon

Vegetables
Included: Most fresh, frozen, or canned without added sugar or oil — whether or not it has PointsPlus values per serving; potatoes — white, red, sweet
 
Not included: Juices, vegetables prepared with ingredients that are not Weight Watchers Power Foods (for example, corn in butter sauce, dried tomatoes packed in oil); avocados; French fries; olives; plantains; sweet pickles
Artichoke hearts, cooked
Artichokes, cooked
Arugula
Asparagus, cooked or uncooked
Beans
Beans, refried, fat-free, canned
Beets Bok choy, uncooked
Borscht
Broccoli, cooked or uncooked
Brussels sprouts, cooked
Cabbage, all varieties, cooked or uncooked
Carrots
Cauliflower, cooked
Celeriac, cooked
Celery
Chard, Swiss, cooked
Collards, cooked or uncooked
Corn
Corn on the cob
Cucumber
Dandelion greens, cooked or uncooked
Edamame, in pods
Eggplant, cooked or uncooked
Endive
Escarole
Fennel
Giardeniera (vegetable medley, without olives, packed in vinegar)
Grape leaves
Greens beet collard dandelion kale mustard turnip
Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes)
Jicama
Kohlrabi
Leeks, cooked
Lentils, cooked
Lettuce, any type
Malanga
Okra, cooked or uncooked
Onion
Parsnips
Peas
Pepper, any type
Pimientos, canned
Potatoes
Potatoes O’Brien, frozen
Potatoes, new, cooked
Potatoes, sweet
Potatoes, white or red
Pumpkin
Radicchio, uncooked
Radishes
Rhubarb, cooked or uncooked
Rutabaga, cooked or uncooked
Salad
Salsa
Sauce, tomato, canned
Scallions
Spinach, cooked or uncooked
Sprouts
Squash
Squash leaves
Stir-fried vegetables, without sauce
Taro, cooked
Taro leaves, cooked Tomato paste
Tomato puree, canned
Tomatoes
Turnips, cooked or uncooked
Yam
Zucchini, cooked

Whole Grains
Barley
Bulgur
Cereal, hot
Cornmeal
Couscous, whole-wheat
Hominy, cooked or canned, whole
Kasha (buckwheat groats)
Macaroni
Millet
Pasta
Popcorn
Quinoa
Rice brown, cooked wild, cooked
Spaghetti
Urad dal (split matpe beans without skin)
Wheat berries, cooked

Non-Fat Dairy and Dairy Substitutes
Cappuccino made with fat-free milk
Cheese cottage, fat-free hard or semisoft, fat-free soy, fat-free ricotta, fat-free
Cream, sour, fat-free
Creamer
Latte made with fat-free milk
Milk fat-free soy, calcium-fortified, unflavored
Soy cheese, hard or semisoft, fat-free milk, calcium-fortified, plain yogurt, plain
Yogurt fat free, plain light, artificially sweetened

Lean Proteins
Not included: Canned fish or shellfish packed in oil; meats or fish with breading or added fat; Processed meats, such as hot dogs 
Beans, refried, fat-free, canned
Beef
Beef, ground
Bison, lean, all visible fat trimmed, cooked
Buffalo, water, trimmed, cooked or raw
Caviar (fish roe), any type
Chicken breast drumstick giblets, cooked gizzard, cooked
Cornish hen, cooked, without skin
Egg whole, chicken substitute white, chicken
Elk, cooked or raw
Fish
Ham
Lamb
Lobster, steamed
Luncheon meat
Ostrich, cooked
Peas, black-eyed (cowpeas), cooked
Pork
Sashimi
Seitan
Shark, cooked
Shellfish
Tofu
Tripe, beef, cooked
Tuna, grilled, frozen
Turkey
Veal
Vegetarian burger, frozen, fat free
Venison, cooked

Plus More
Bouillon (any type except court)
Bread, reduced-calorie, any type
Broth, any type
Chicory (curly endive)
Gelatin, sugar-free
Kim chee
Muffin, English, light
Mushrooms
Pickle, unsweetened
Pico de gallo
Poi
Roll, hamburger or hotdog
Sauerkraut
Soup
Sweetbreads, cooked
Tempeh (fermented soybean cake)
Water chestnuts
Watercress

Thanksgiving Challenge: Week 5 - Take Time

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We are already on week 5 of our 8 Weeks to Thanksgiving Challenge!! I cannot believe that we are more than halfway done with our challenge!! We have already tracked and discovered, enjoyed friends without food, snacked and tracked, and got active.

This week is called, "Take Time", because Weight Watchers wants us to set aside 5 minutes of "Me Time" a day to reflect on how well we are following the Weight Watchers program.

When I first read about this topic, I laughed! I am a Mom of an 8 week old little girl and some days I don't even have time to take a shower! However, Weight Watchers wants me to find time to take for myself!? Impossible! I realize that this isn't the best attitude to have, but I want to be honest with you all and let you know that this did not come easy for me. I wasn't sure how I would be able to do this every day.

It seems like I don't have time for much of anything these days and I am nervous that I will not be able to successfully complete this part of the challenge. However, I do think that this is important to my weight loss success, so I am going to try. I hope that you will do this with me!

First, sit down and figure out the best time for your 5 minute "me time". Your time is not going to be the same as mine and that's okay. Make sure that you put your "me time" on the calendar or in your phone, so that you do not forget about it.

Next, make the most of your time. Like I said earlier, I do not have 5 minutes to waste each day. Below are just 3 questions to ask yourself during your 5 minute check-in. Really make an effort to reflect on your day and make changes so that you can be more successful tomorrow!

- What did I do well, that I should keep doing?
- What will I try to do differently in the future?
- What are my top 3 goals? Has anything changed?

This is a very important week, because we've got roughly 225 food-related decisions to make each day! Taking just 5 minutes each day to check-in with our Plan can inspire more thoughtful decisions - and better numbers at the scale.

Share in the comments section when you plan to have your "me time" each day this week.

Thanksgiving Challenge: Week 4 - Get Active

How are you all doing with the 8 Weeks to Thanksgiving Challenge? Have you been making some good changes that are impacting your weight loss journey?

For me, life has been busy, so I am glad that I have been able to do this Thanksgiving Challenge and focus on a small goal each week. Even though these changes seem small, they will help me to reach my ultimate weight loss goal.

Last week, during week 4 of our Thanksgiving Challenge, Weight Watchers wants us to try a new activity for 10 minutes everyday. Just 10 minutes!!

Here are a few examples that were given during the Weight Watchers meeting of ways that people met last week's challenge.

What can you do in 10 minutes?

- Climb stairs

- Walk (outside or on a treadmill)

- Run

- Jump rope

- Turn your house into a gym

- Follow the TV leader

- Have a ball

 

When can you sneak it in?

- at the mall

- buying groceries

- at a sporting event

- gassing up the car

- at a sporting event

- making dinner

- in the office

- watching TV

- picking up the kids' toys

Please leave a comment and share the 10 minute workout that you fit in last week.

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Week 5 - Take Time

Don't forget that this week we are going to spend 5 minutes each day reflecting on how you plan to work the Program into your day!!

Thanksgiving Challenge: Week 3 - Snack and Track

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I cannot believe that we are already on our 3rd week of our Thanksgiving Challenge!! Before we move on lets review what we have learned so far.

Week 1 - Track and Discover
We need to be tracking no matter what! We need to be tracking even when we make poor food choices. It's important to find a way of tracking that works for you, especially if you hate tracking.

Week 2 - Friends Without Food
There are more important things in life than food! Let's stop focusing on the food on our plates and begin to pay attention to the people sitting across from us! Find other activities to do with your friends that won't jeopardize your weight loss program.

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Week 3 - Track and Snack

This week we are focusing on tracking all of those late night snacks!! This week's topic is perfect for me, because I have always been a late night snacker! Even while I was losing weight the first time on Weight Watchers I would plan my day knowing that I would want to enjoy some after dinner snacks. I would save the majority of my daily pointsplus, so that I could eat dinner, dessert, and a snack.

I'm going to be honest when I say that I wasn't willing to change my habits. However, I did set up a few rules for myself so that I would be able to continue to stay on plan.

1. No eating past 9:00pm.
2. Track what I eat.
3. Make healthy choices. For example, I would eat Veggie Straws instead of buttery popcorn.

These rules have been really important over the last 7 weeks as I have been up late with Olivia. I want to eat and snack while I am up with Olivia, but I have to remind myself of the rules I set up for myself. It's okay to eat, especially if I am genuinely hungry, but I need to make sure that I still make good choices.

Oh! One more thing, do you remember how I told you I struggle with closet/binge eating? One of the main reasons I like eating late at night is because there isn't anyone around to watch me eat. This is a bad habit that is so hard to break. I think in the last 7 weeks, I have even fallen back into this more than I would like to admit. If you struggle with this too that's okay! You are not alone!

This week, how do you continue to stay in control and on plan during the late night hours?

P.S. It's a miracle I even got this post written, because Olivia's being fussy today. I put her in the Moby Wrap and she finally fell asleep long enough for me to finish this. I love being a Mommy!

Thanksgiving Challenge: Week 2 - Friends Without Food

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Sorry that I left you hanging last week without anything about the Thanksgiving Challenge. I cannot believe that there are just six more weeks until Thanksgiving!!

Last week's step was to find opportunities to socialize without eating. I have a hard time with this one, because my family and friends like to eat! When I spend time with my friends and/or family foods is always involved. I think that this is just the routine we have gotten into, because we cannot come up with anything else to do. Just in case you are like me, I have included a list from Debbie Brzozowski that gives us some great ideas of ways to have fun without food.

Is this a challenge for you to? Last week, what were some ways that you began to socialize without food?

- Go to your local Chamber of Commerce/Visitor’s Center (or go online) and find out about all the free, fun stuff to do in your town.
- Go to a local museum (libraries have free passes!)
- Check out your city-center or downtown area.
- Visit the historical sites in your town.
- Take a ride on public transportation. You see things differently when you are not driving.
- Visit a state park.
- Walk your dog.
- Go roller-skating.
- Go fishing.
- Go for a bike ride in your neighborhood.
- Have a picnic.
- Go bird watching.
- Hike through the woods.
- Go to the beach.
- Watch a sunset.
- Find a non-profit that you are passionate about and get involved.
- Play “Design on a Dime” and change up a room in your home
– swap out towels, placemats, flower vases, etc. and recreate a room with stuff you already have.
- Make crafts that can later be given as holiday gifts.
- Make a home movie.
- Make sock puppets.
- Have your kids put on a play.
- Write a letter to a friend or family member (preserve the lost art of hand-written notes).
- Plant an indoor herb garden.
- Scrapbook.
- Play board games.
- Put a puzzle together.
- Listen to music.
- Plan an at-home spa day.
- Borrow a DVD from the library or rent a $1.00 movie at BlockBuster Express or Redbox.
- Read a book or magazine.
- Take a nap.
- Find free games to play online.
- Connect with friends on Facebook.
- Reconnect with an old friend and send them an email.
- Pile up in the car and go for a ride in the country.
- Learn how to juggle.
- Make a video for "Funniest Home Videos".
- Take up competitive chess.
- Go for a walk in the park.
- Study something part-time that's always caught your interest.
- Invite someone for a game of tennis.
- Go for a ride on a bike.
- Spend an afternoon looking through your old photos and organizing them.
- Go to an art gallery for a browse.
- See what's on at your local theatre go check it out.
- Go to the top of a nearby mountain and check out the view.
- Call an old friend you haven't spoken to for a while to see how they're doing.
- Go to the local cinema and take in a film.
- Go bowling.
- Dance.
- Challenge yourself to learn a foreign language.
- Go to the zoo.
- Paint or draw something.
- Join a public speaking society such as toastmasters.
- Organize a poker evening.
- Go for a swim at your nearest lake, river or beach.
- Kick a football in the local park with a friend.
- Go out to a local festival or carnival.
- Form a book club and meet up to discuss what you've read once a week.
- Go camping.

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Week 3 - Track and Snack

Don't forget that this week we are going record everything little snack that we put in our mouths!

Thoughts on a Saturday Morning

As I am sure many of you already know, I rarely blog on Saturday. Normally, I am too busy trying to clean my house and prepare for the next week. However, Olivia is currently napping and I've got a lot on my mind. All of that combined is producing this Saturday blog post.

 





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8 Week to Thanksgiving Challenge Update

This first week of our challenge we focused on making an effort to track everyday. Your tracker did not need to be perfect or fully complete. However, it was important to make an effort to track any way that you could.

How did this first week go? What did you learn this week that you can apply in the days to come?

This week as I made an effort to track everything that I ate, I was reminded that the basics are vital to my weight loss success. I have always loved tracking the food I eat, because it makes such a huge difference in my results on the scale. Tracking also helps me to study and understand which foods keep me satisfied for the longest amount of time. It helps me to make better food choices.

Next week we are going to focus on Friends Without Food. These small weekly tasks will continue to help us stay on track and reach achievable goals by Thanksgiving!

 

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The Many Faces of Olivia

 

 

Just for fun, I wanted to share a picture with you of Olivia. She is already 5 weeks old!! Here are so of the many faces that she makes on a daily basis.



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Must Read Devotional

People often ask me how I was able to keep my motivation and lose weight the first time around. I try to be as honest as possible and explain to them that I relied on the Lord to be my strength throughout my weight loss journey. God was so faithful to be with me without my entire journey! He gave me the strength and determination I need to reach my ultimate weight loss goal.

In the last two weeks, I have become really frustrated with being overweight. I know that I have a good reason for it (my beautiful baby girl), but I am still overweight. I have been trying all week to refocus and get back on plan. I was not as successful as I thought I would be, which just caused me to be even more frustrated!

Yesterday, I read a devotional from Proverbs 31 Ministries called, Renewing My Vow. This devotional opened my eyes to the reason why I have not been able to be successful so far! For the last two weeks, I have been focusing on being skinny again. In addition, I have been doing this in my own strength. Not once did I sit down to ask God to be apart of this journey with me.

This morning, I am taking time to talk to the Lord! I needed His strength the first time I lost weight and I will need it again as I get my baby weight off. I don't know why it took me so long to give this area of my life over to the Lord!

Thanksgiving Challenge: Week 1 - Track and Discover

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I am so excited about our Thanksgiving Challenge!! There are so many of you that have written me to let me know that you are doing this challenge with me. I am so thankful that I am not alone over these next 8 weeks and that we get to do this together!!

So, how is the first week of our Thanksgiving Challenge going?

This week we are focusing on tracking and I really want to know how you all are doing. Is tracking easy for you? Or do you hate tracking? I would say even if you hate tracking give it a chance, even if it is just for this week.

I am sure you are curious about my progress as well. Like I said in my previous blog post, I have not been following the Weight Watchers program since my daughter was born in August. I let myself take a break from everything, as I have been adjusting to life with a newborn.

I was so excited to begin this challenge and get back on the Weight Watchers program. I feel that I must confess to you that these last two days have been hard for me! I am trying to get back into the swing of things, but it is more difficult than I thought it would be.

Yesterday, I made an effort to track everything I ate even if I went above and beyond my pointsplus budget for the day. I did well until about 4 pm. I was tired and it was a very emotional day for me. I am sad to say that I gave into emotional eating and was too ashamed to record my mistake on my tracker. I really didn't want to write about my mistake either! However, I am hoping that my honesty will be able to help someone else out there.

Even though I made some bad choices yesterday, I am not giving up! I am tracking all the food choices I make today, even if it's unhealthy for me.

It is not too late to jump in and join the Thanksgiving Challenge.

Leave me a comment on my blog, Living a Changed Life, and/or blog Facebook page, Living a Changed Life, to let me know that you are joining us!

8 Weeks to Thanksgiving Challenge

It has been almost one month since I gave birth to Olivia. In the last 30 days, I have not been following the Weight Watchers program. Instead, I have been trying to focus on taking care of my daugther and adjusting to life as a new Mom. We have had people bringing us meals and I knew it would be next to impossible to try and count the PointsPlus values of these foods, so I made an executive decision to take a break from the program.

However, now I am ready to get back on plan! I have been trying to figure out when would be the best time to start following the Weight Watchers PointsPlus program again. I keep telling myself I will start tomorrow, but then I never do!

I was so excited today when I received an email from my friend Amanda about the Weight Watchers Thanksgiving Challenge!! As it turns out, there are just 8 weeks until Thanksgiving and during this time Weight Watchers is offering this challenge. I think that this is the perfect time for me to get back on the Weight Watchers program.

I have decided to take this Thanksgiving Challenge and focus on getting back on plan. I hope to lose weight over these next 8 weeks. I am really excited to recommit to my weight loss journey!

Why am I tell you this? Honestly, I want you all to recommit to your weight loss journies and take this challenge with me! I know that everyone doesn't follow the Weight Watchers program and that's okay! If you want to do this challenge with me, you can follow whatever weight loss program works for you.

Do you know that if we recommit to our weight loss, by losing ½ a pound per week we could lose 4 pounds by Thanksgiving day? Or if we lost 1 pound per week, that is 8 pounds lost by Thanksgiving. And if we can lose 2 pounds per week, we could be 16 pounds lighter in just 8 weeks. Wouldn't you like to lose some weight before the holidays? I know I would like to lose weight, because I am tired of wearing maternity clothes and yoga pants all the time.

Let’s make a commitment to follow along with the 8 week challenge and work to slowly achieve one small goal per week. Below is a list of different topics that we will be focusing on over the next 8 weeks of the challenge. Everything on this list is doable and can help you accomplish a weight loss between now and Thanksgiving

So, if you want to look and feel healthier by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, accept this challenge!

Please leave me a comment to let me know if you are accepting this challenge. Leave me your name and the weight loss program that you will be following over the next 8 weeks.

I am so excited that I do not have do this challenge and that I get to do it with all of you!!