Bad scale!

I weighed in at Weight Watchers on Wednesday and my weigh in showed a gain....

of 7 lbs!!

This was my reaction:

yeah....Even factoring in that I was probably wearing an extra lb or 2 in heavy clothing after a busy work day without being able to change into weigh in clothes- and I haven't weighed in for 2 weeks.....7 lbs is nuts.

I busted my tail while in Phoenix- with double workouts nearly every day and I did 2 strength training workouts during the week, including 2 ab ripper X from P90X!  This is a great improvement over my lackluster strength training routine over the past couple months.  Overall I did a good job with my food choices.  I only had desert once a day, if that- and I tried to walk as much as possible when not sitting.  Also, I was feeling thin all week- and kept hearing from everyone how great I looked.  I can usually tell when I'm a few lbs over in the way my clothes feel- but not at all here!

I felt like I had literally been punched in the stomach.  Quite literally, actually.  I was nauseous all night that night- not sure if it's from the stress or those peanut butter M&Ms at my work meeting on Wednesday (yeah, I had some candy- but it was in moderation!)

I am trying to keep my head on straight this week, I'm doing a week of simply filling- which focuses on eating whole, clean foods.  Something I already do, but with the simply filling program you only count points for the food that is NOT a power food.  And power foods are foods I typically eat a lot of- fruits, veggies, lean protein, fat free dairy, whole grains, etc.

What do you do when you see something you weren't expecting on the scale?

Interesting morning....

I'm sitting in the BWI airport right now waiting for a flight and I just had a totally bizarre experience...

Suddenly I began experiencing some of the worst stomach cramps I've had since before being on Prilosec. (It's an amazing drug)  I immediately start rewinding my morning in my head and start frantically thinking- did I take it this morning?  Most definitely.  My routine with taking Prilosec then brushing my teeth is as solid as my habit of eating breakfast every day.  Aka- nearly flawless.  So, my mind is racing as I double over and try to give my stomach some relief.  It's cramping so bad my back hurts.

A couple minutes later, as abruptly as this bizarre spell came on me, it dissipated.  I look around in a bit of a daze and realized with a start that the person sitting right next to me eating a fast food breakfast sandwich had walked away.  I hardly noticed her sitting there eating it, but when she got up to leave it was a reminder that she had been eating one of my old standby breakfast feasts.  My brain had registered that for a split second when she sad down and I had immediately dismissed it.  Apparently my stomach didn't dismiss it and wanted to starkly remind me that it wanted NONE of that crap.  I heard you loud and clear- thanks!

Say no to fast food!

As I sit here pondering what just happened, I'm realizing how startling different my life is than it was just 4.5 years ago, before starting weight watchers.  This past October marked my 4 year anniversary with weight watchers. Wow.  That is absolutely incredible to me sometimes.  Just 5 years ago, I was a depressed, morbidly obese, desperate shell of a person.  I was going through the motions of my life, sitting in the backseat and watching it go by.

Now I'm the pilot. I'm in control of my destiny- and I'm loving life. 5 years ago if I had a flight delay I would be like that woman that just stood up- I would be eating fast food and inwardly dreading the nightmare that was about to face me on the plane.  If I was still 400 lbs I would be sweating nervous buckets of sweat waiting for the inevitable humiliation that IS flying when you are morbidly obese.  The pain of the seats, the emotional anguish and embarrassment of having to use a seat belt extender.  And that terrible discomfort of sitting next to a stranger that wishes there was any other seat on the plane to sit in, but beside you.

Now people want to sit next to me on planes.  Women talk with me comfortably, with plenty of space for themselves.  Men hit on me.  I once had a young man chose a middle seat next to me when there was plenty of other seats available, including a window seat nearby.  I was really confused....lol. But I was polite, and chatted back with him for the majority of the 3 hour flight to Chicago (I think it was Chicago? lol).  He told me as we were leaving the plane that he had seen me in line and had to try to sit near to me because my face was mesmerizing and he wanted to see if my personality matched.  He said it did and then asked for my number.  Wow.

Last night I was having a blast trying on all different combinations of dresses, shoes, and jewelry to match to figure out exactly what to pack for this week.  I have a closet full of size 10 clothes that fit me.  Even some 8s in there. Never could I have imagined 5 years ago that I would be here.  And I've been here for over a year!

I'm so grateful for this new life I've made for myself. And proud of myself. I DID THIS!

What are you proud of?

O my ....

Hello all!  I had an awesome workout yesterday! 45 minutes on the recumbant bike and a solid lower body strength training and abs routine.  I've been extremely lacking in strength training lately and I don't understand why I haven't been able to get my head back in that part of the game.  Sometimes it bothers my feet- but not always and I just tend to cling to that lame excuse and not even try anything.  I know that if I work on strength it will help with my foot recovery as well, but I just keep making excuses.  Well this is my second solid strength training workout in less than a week! My last one was Friday- so that's progress!

I'm gearing up for what will be a crazy, stressful, and extremely exhausting week.  I'm leaving for Phoenix, AZ tomorrow morning where I will be staying at the gorgeous JW Marriott resort for 7 days.



Gorgeous, huh? Unlike my trip last year to Disney, I won't have a single day off while I'm there.  So, I have to make sure I find ways to fit in workouts even given earlier starts than usual.  We are facilitating or presenting in some way every day of the session- Monday-Friday.  Saturday and Sunday will be a little more relaxed because those will be practice days in jeans.  And the best thing about this trip is I'll be seeing an old high school friend when I fly in tomorrow!

Looks like I will need to get my butt in bed by 9, so I can get up at 4am to get a workout in!  I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that every early morning workout will be worth it and help me start my day on the right foot.  I just need to somehow get my butt in bed early enough to get some decent sleep.

I'm really proud of a solid 3.2 lb weight loss at WW this week!  I'm still about 10 lbs over my goal- but at least I'm not 15 lbs over goal anymore! lol!  That binge in Portland is behind me and I have every reason in the world to eat well on this trip.  Typically the food at these conferences are great and offer a lot of healthy options- and a fair share of unhealthy as well, so I have to be dedicated to making good choices and not taking the easy way out with just eating what is "ok."  Or, the trap I fall into often...eating a great meal, but then having dessert every meal..  It's so easy to do that at these conferences- and my health and waste line depends on me NOT doing that!  I can have dessert once or twice during the week, but not twice a day!

What tips do you have on getting to bed early?