Weight loss journey - December report

When I last posted on August 5th, I'd just reached my Weight Watcher goal the week before. And I was really worried about what I'd weigh when I got back from the cruise. It actually wasn't bad - I gained less than 5 pounds and it came off the next week easily. Must have been the exercise, because I certainly ate well! I did try tomake a lot of good choices - but never turned down dessert.

I made Lifetime 6 weeks after I reached my goal. I wasn't at goal any more, but I was within the 2 pound allowance above goal. Lifetime meant I didn't have to pay as long as I stayed within that 2 pound leeway. I did fine until last week, when I went to .6 of a pound above goal. That was my official weigh-in for December (lifetime members need weigh in on the first meeting of each month unless they go over the 2 pounds above goal). So I had to pay. Today I paid also - not only am I struggling with food now that the holidays are here, but I dressed for the weather as I refused to be cold. When I got up this morning the temperture was at 2.3 degrees. That's the coldest weather I've ever experienced, and is WAY below normal for our area. So I must have had at least an extra 5 pounds of clothes on. I just couldn't wear my summer weight weigh-in clothes - if I had I would have frozen to death!

And this is the first update on my life LOL!

Sisters was great - and lots more to chat about also

I need to focus on posting - I think I have material for at least half a dozen posts if not more. And lots has happened since then too!

First I must share my big news - I reached goal at Weight Watchers this morning! Goal was 164, and I weighed in at 162.8. Now I just need to hold that for 6 weeks to become a lifetime member - meaning I don't have to pay any more. I'm absolutely thrilled! One catch however - I'm not at my ultimate goal yet. That goal was set when I still thought I was 5'8". Now that I've shrunk to 5' 6" I need to get to 155 for a healthy BMI. WW knows that, but leader René said she'd stick with the first one as far as reaching lifetime. I'm not all that far from 155, so I hope to have reached that in the six weeks before reaching lifetime.

We went camping with our kids weekend before last and had a fabulous time. Here are two pictures my daughter sent. (Can't do a post without pictures, of course! It was so much fun to watch Sophie and Joseph, as they were both too young to appreciate it last summer. They sure loved the dirt - and the creek! Joseph waded in shoes, clothes and all before his parents could stop him. The water was only about 2-3 inches deep - and they were right there - but the bottoms of his pants legs were soaked, and then he sat down in it before they could stop him!

Lots more tomorrow. I need to get some sleep. I need to get up early as I'm heading down I-205 to Clackamas, OR to get my mammo at 8:30. We'll see how it goes - it's been SO hot here. 106 yesterday with 40% humidity, and 107 today. We have no air - it's still about 85 downstairs - it was up to 102 in the family room and longarm room during the day! No longarming for me as long as his heat keeps up!

Weight loss update

Weigh in was this morning at Weight Watchers. I'd tracked very carefully this week - making sure I wrote down everything that went into my mouth even when I didn't want to, including the half dozen french fries I stole from Joseph when I took him out to lunch on Monday.

I chose to have a wild dinner last Thursday - including Baby Back Ribs, some fries and coleslaw, a Long Island Ice Tea for startes, and the bartender's signature "chocolate milk" in a martini glass for dessert. Completely yummy - but adding up to 47 points! I'm only allowed 20 per day! I had ten or twelve left of my daily allowance, so used all but about 3 of my extra 35 points I receive each week. It was worth every point, but it sure made it hard to stick to the plan the rest of the week when I had so few points. I did exercise to add some activity points, but by last night I didn't have a single point to spare.

The main thing is I tracked and paid attention - and I lost .6 of a pound. Not much, but still down some instead of gaining. I'm very pleased with that result!

Weight loss journey report

After three weeks of doing badly - and seeing the scale rise pound after pound higher - I'm back on track. I did really well eating healthy and tracking everything last week, and it showed at Weight Watcher meeting Wednesday morning. 3.2 pounds down! That's half of what I gained the three weeks before. The other 3 pound loss I attribute to not eating much while I was sick, causing a false weight loss, that went away as soon as I started eating again. I did have a considerable splurge at Applebee's Thursday night - a Long Island ice tea, a half rack of baby back ribs, and the bartender's signature "chocolate milk" for dessert. That totaled a LOT of points, but I wrote every one of them down on my tracking sheet. It took almost every one of the extra 35 points I get each week, but it was worth it. And I've ridden 30 minutes a day on the stationary bike during ball games - every day this week! If I can do that every day from now until next meeting I should see another drop in weight next week. So overall I'm happy with the progress.

My current favorite cookbook is "Now and Later", the newest Weight Watchers book available only at WW meetings. If you attend WW I encourage to at least take a look at it. Every recipe makes one dish for today's meal, plus leftovers and a recipe to make something different from them the next night. I've tried a bunch of the recipes and found only one that wasn't a hit.

Total loss as of 4/15 is 32.4 pounds! It's so much fun to walk back into the credit union - I've been retired for 15 months already! - and being told I'm just fading away to nothing!

A finished little quilt top - how cute is this?

This one was so very fast to applique. At least it would have been if I'd placed the pieces correctly. When I went to trim the center to size I realized the flower pot was too far to the right, hanging almost an inch into the fabric that needed to be trimmed off. So I took it off, moved it, and restitched it. I fussy cut a daisy from a brown fabric for bunny's eye - click on the picture to see it. If I tried I could probably get it finished before Easter, but I've decided not to. I want to hand quilt this little mini - maybe with a big stitch - and I don't want to rush.

At least a couple of you asked about these last two quilts I posted. Lots and lots of patterns, books, and kits are available on Jan Patek's website. Click on the link and then click "Catalog". She also has several "Quilt Clubs" to join. Right now I belong to the Mystery Quilt and Mini Quilt clubs. (Click on "Quilt Clubs" for details.) When you sign up for a club you receive all kits for that club at 15% off, and the kits are mailed to you regularly before they become available to anyone else. You can always return a kit you don't like. I've not done that yet - I love Jan's stuff! If I didn't have so many Brazen HSY's (pronounced husses - haven't started yet's") I'd want to join every one of her clubs!

Now that I finally feel like myself again I walked to Starbucks for coffee this morning. I was really dragging the last quarter mile or so coming home. Not walking for 6 weeks wasn't good - I have to start all over again as far as speed, energy, and endurance. I'm hoping the walking will help me get back on track - the last two WW weigh-ins have not been at all pretty.

Weight loss journey - update

It's been some time since I've remembered to report on my weight loss journey. I'm progressing nicely - helped significantly by the fact that this virus - or viruses - that I've been battling for over a month took away most of my appetite. I'm now down over 35 pounds, and am about 8 pounds from goal! I'd actually like to lose an additional 5+ pounds after I reach my Weight Watchers goal, but my next focus is on hitting that 164 pounds suggested by my leader. It feels so good to be minus that weight. Now when I see people I've not seen for some time the first words out of there mouth are always "You look great!" What a nice thing to hear!

Loser Monday

Somehow I missed last week entirely. At least I've got the right day this week. I worked so hard the last two weeks, and though I did lose I didn't lose nearly what I hoped to lose. I seem to be stuck at .6 of a pound down each week. I guess that's better than none. When I weigh in this week I hope to have lost a total of nine pounds since I lost the 20 and reached my WW 10%. If I manage to do that then I will have lost an additional 5%, which is my next goal.

As far as weight loss hints go - I have a couple. First of all - be sure to journal what you eat and write down EVERYTHING that goes into your mouth. Doing this may make you think twice about eating something. Studies show that people who do this lose more weight more quickly and keep it off better than people who don't. My second hint is to start planning meals. When I plan five or 6 days at a time I'm more likely to cook, I enjoy the cooking more, and we are much less likely to head out for hamburgers because I don't want to cook.

I hope everyone else is doing well with their weight loss journey!

Loser Monday

Hmmm . . . let's see what I should talk about today. You got my weight loss report last week, and I've not weighed myself since then. Sharon has suggested we post a great low calorie dessert recipe. Since all the recipes I have are either from Cooking Light or Weight Watcher magazines and cookbooks I don't feel I can do that as I won't break copyright law. I can give you some suggestions however.

Jello sugar free single serve pudding packages - they have fewer calories than the fat free puddings
Healthy Choice fudge ice cream bars - rich tasting and yummy!
Any Weight Watcher frozen dessert or ice cream treat - I depend on these a lot

My other suggestion is to get yourself a pedometer - a good one that you can program to your weight, stride, etc. Then make it a point to walk when you can - take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator, park farther away from the store or wherever else you go, move your ironing board out of your sewing room (if you are pressing seams as you sew - which you should be doing - this can really add steps to your daily total.) Shoot for 10,000 steps a day.

Good luck to all you losers this week! May your clothes be looser and your meals healthier and more filling.

Just pretend it's Monday

I got so caught up in my sewing room redo that I totally forgot about Loser Monday! I know it's so trite - but better late than never!


Last week was a nice success - down 2 pounds! Walking the 3.3 miles round trip to Starbucks several times a week has really helped - especially since I'm not allowing myself to have anything to eat. A skinny venti latte gives me my coffee and milk with few calories. I earned 20 exercise points this week!

I took the picture this morning - I'm confident that when I weigh in today I will have finally dropped below the 180 mark. I'll let you know later!

Hint for the week - another great healthy eating website is http://www.dwlz.com/. - Dotti's Weight Loss Zone. Lots of great tips and ideas, plus a very comprehensive restaurant list with points value of menu items. Check it out!

Update - lost another 1.6 pounds this week!

Loser Monday

I promised Sharon I'd post before and after pictures. (If these look familiar it's because they've been posted before.) The first picture was taken the second Sunday in July - right after I attended my first Weight Watchers meeting.

The second picture was taken on November 14th when I reached the mile stone of 25 pounds down. I've gone from a tight Women's 18 to a comfortable Misses 14. I still have another 20 pounds to lose - I've not really accomplished much since the November picture. Last week my holiday eating caught up with me - I weighed in with a gain of 2.2 pounds. Since then I'm firmly back on program. This Wednesday I expect to see a loss.

My suggestion for the week is to go to http://www.hungrygirl.com/, look around the website, and subscribe to the daily email newsletter. Lots of great nutritional info - and what to buy and what to avoid. She also has great recipes - remakes of your fatty favorites that are actually low in fat and high in fiber. One of her favorite products is original Fiber 1 bran cereal. She turns it into crumbs and uses it to coat things like sweet potatoes cut into fry-size pieces which are then baked in the oven. They really taste good!

Sharon's Challenge

Notice the new picture on the top of my sidebar? Better late than never I guess. As I'm finally having a chance to read blogs again I see I'm a bit late. I don't feel too badly, however, as I've been posting about my weight loss journey for some time now. Sharon has made Mondays the day for Loser posts, so I'll have to shift my thinking a bit - especially since Wednesday is my weigh-in day.

I'm hoping many, many of you decide to join us. Quilting is a pretty sedentary hobby - unless you set up your ironing board at the opposite end of the house from your sewing machine LOL! When I look around at guild meetings I see that at least 95% of quilters seem to be overweight, and many of those 95% are much too overweight. After all - we have to live a LONG time to finish all the quilts we want to make - so we need to do whatever we can to help us live a long, healthy life.

All I can say is Wow!

At Weight Watchers yesterday morning I bought one of the pedometers. I really like it because I can program it to my weight and length of stride. I eagerly clipped it on this morning as soon as I got dressed, because I was curious as to how I'd do. Most everyone I know recommends using 10,000 steps as the goal to shoot for each day. Since I'm usually pretty sedentary I figure this was a good way to get myself moving more.

My friend Kim and I really enjoyed walking to Starbucks during the snow, and I knew it was great exercise. Now that our snow has gone and rain - hard at times - and wind has returned the walk isn't nearly as enjoyable. We both need to keep at it, however, so when she called this morning I agreed to go. I find it much easier to walk outside, especially when I have the reward of a great latte waiting for me at the midpoint, and sewing waiting for me at the end of the walk. So armed with umbrella and raincoat I set out this morning. The steps really added up quickly on that walk - a good way to start the day.

Once I returned home, however, I didn't get to sew. Instead I need to pack away all the Christmas decorations. I have no idea how many times I walked from the tree to the table where the boxes were sitting - must have been hundreds of times as we have that many ornaments. Plus walking back and forth packing everything else away also. Then standing in the kitchen to fix dinner. Now back to the living room with the vacuum as there are needles everywhere. I wanted to do a good cleaning so I moved every piece of furniture I could so I could clean underneath it.

Every now and then I stretched out on the couch for a short time to give my back a rest. I even fell asleep for a few minutes - I was listening to an audio book while working and suddenly realized the story had jumped ahead a bit. By and large I was on my feet the entire day, however. Every now and then I would look at the number of steps I was accumulating, as well as the activity points I was earning. As the number grew I was more and more amazed. I can't imagine how this total could possibly be correct! But as I wore the thing yesterday after I got home, when I didn't move much the rest of the day, and accumulated less than 4000 steps I figure it must be correct.

Tomorrow I'm going shopping with Kim - wandering a high end mall in Portland (Bridgeport Mall) as I've never been there before. Our plan is to accumulate a lot of steps tomorrow also!

Not much quilting this week

It's been another Joseph week - and at 20 months he's a ton of fun to watch but he really doesn't give me a chance to sew while I'm with him. My eyes haven't been up to appliqué so all I really wanted to do when I had the chance was some mindless machine sewing.

Remember those 2" squares? (If you've not read the story of why I have hundreds and hundreds of 2" squares to use up, there are three links at the bottom of this post that tell the story..) I've been sewing lights and darks into pairs as my leader-ender project - and the drawer of squares seemed bottomless. Doing something with them seemed like the perfect project for a couple hours of mindless sewing last night. So I dumped out the bin where I'd been putting the pairs, and was amazed at how much I've accomplished. I'd even sewn together lots of strips of 6 squares, and sewn enough of those together to make five blocks. I dug some OLD darks and lights from my stash - the light is a pin dot from the 80's! - and started framing the large squares, turning them into modified churn dash blocks. I got the idea from one of Judy's Hour-a-Day quilts - thanks Judy! I really like how this is looking. I'm hoping to have time this weekend to finish the quilt top - it will be just perfect for charity.

My weight loss report isn't that great this week - too much holiday I guess. Up one pound. It could have been lots worse!

Reports of various kinds

Let's see . . . what should I report on first? How about my weight loss report - seeing it should have been on Wednesday. This last week was good, though I'm not sure how LOL! I lost two pounds, for a total loss of 25.8 pounds. I received my "Circle of Success" at Weight Watchers - which actually looks like a washer - to put on my 10% loss key chain. This is my first significant loss in the last few weeks - hopefully I'm moving off that plateau I've been on.

Seeing as it's Sunday, I guess the stashbusting report should come next. As usual it's pretty sketchy as I don't take the time to do any measuring of what I've used. I did purchase 26 fat quarters - I just couldn't resist the new Sturbridge Village line. I ordered it last week but didn't count it then as it hadn't arrived yet. As to how much I've used - I'm guessing a bunch of yards - certainly more than I bought. So I'm calling it a net loss and leaving it at that.

So what did I do to use up yardage? Well, I decided I felt more like doing more applique prep than actual applique. So I prepared an additional 38 blocks for my Civil War applique quilt. This includes every applique block we've received. I also cut out squares for the rest of the blocks as well as setting triangles for the entire quilt. I'm sure I used at least three or four yards of background fabric, as well as at least a couple yards of reproduction prints. While I was working with the background I decided I might as well cut more blocks for the mid-century Album quilt - that used at least another couple yards of background. I certainly won't lack for applique projects for some time to come.

Friday I felt like doing some quilting, so I loaded the blog block exchange top onto Gandalf and had it quilted by noon. Next I loaded the Civil War sampler top I pieced some time ago when I participated in a $5 monthly block program at Cottons in Battle Ground before it closed. Hopefully I'll get them bound this week so I can mark two more off my list.

By the time I finished picking up around the house today and doing five loads of laundry I decided I was too tired to put away the Thanksgiving and fall decorations. That is now on the list for tomorrow after I get home from watching Joseph. Fred put up our outside lights today - hopefully I will get the rest of the house ready for Christmas by next weekend. I hate putting away the fall things because I love how the house looks all decked out - thank goodness I'm even more eager to get out the Christmas stuff!

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Gratitudes:

1. A great Thanksgiving dinner with friends

2. A wonderful visit with our granddaughters and their parents

3. Neighborhoods full of twinkling colored lights

4. Clean, sweet smelling laundry

Weekly weight loss report

When I weighed in at Weight Watchers Wednesday morning I weighed exactly what I did last week. I was OK with that, as I knew I'd not stuck to program the entire time I was at Quilt Camp. I was just thankful I'd not gained anything.

Today after I got my hair cut and colored I stopped by Dress Barn. I decided I was done with the jeans that were almost falling off my body. I still can't get into the skinny ones hanging in my closet so I needed a interim size pair. I am thrilled to report that I've gone from a size 18 women's to a size 14 misses. These make me feel so good when I look in the mirror. I have exactly 18 pounds to go to goal. When I started at the beginning of July I'd hoped to reach goal by the end of the year. I don't think that's possible now, but I'm happy with the progress I've made. I'll get to goal - it just might not be until spring. That's OK - lots of baby steps add up to a long, successful hike!

The top picture was taken the second Saturday in July during our aborted camping trip with the kids. I couldn't stand to look at this picture then, and didn't figure I'd ever post it. But it's a good comparison with the one Fred took this evening of me in my new jeans. Hooray Weight Watchers! (In case you are wondering what my shirt says - the quilter in the picture is holding a read sign that says "Will Work for Fabric!"

Weight Loss Journey

I've forgotten to post my progress the last couple weeks. Really - I didn't do it on purpose - even though it wasn't all that great. Two weeks ago I was still feeling lousy from the cold so I was eating comfort foods. My weight had gone down a little because I wasn't eating much. By weigh in day it was back and more - up 1.4 pounds - ugh! Last week I was back to eating healthy - for the most part - but lost only .4 of that added weight.

This week I'm happy to report I'm down another 1.2 pounds. This puts me .2 pounds under where I was a couple weeks ago for a total loss of 24.2 pounds. Now if only I could get back to exercising I'm sure I'd do even better! Won't happen until next week at the earliest - not much exercising happens at Quilt Camp lol! I just hope I can manage to eat well - I sure hope the caterer has some healthy options at each meal!

Missing in action

It's a good thing I'm typing this and not trying to carry on a conversation orally. At the moment I sound sort of like a stuffed up, croaky frog. My dear husband - gotta love the guy! - shared his cold with me last week. Started getting a sore throat on Wednesday, and by the weekend I was a washout in most every way that counts. Didn't even get dressed all weekend! Sunday he announced that after 3 weeks he thought he was finally feeling like himself again. I was glad to hear that, but at the same time hoped that I don't have to wait three weeks to feel better!

Needless to say I've not been accomplishing much in the way of sewing. Finished the three aprons I cut out several weeks ago for gifts - a good thing! Took all weekend and every ounce of energy I had, but they are done. After that I couldn't face anything requiring thought, so decided to make some quilt backs. Seemed like a good thing to do because it would (1) use up a bunch of stash, (2) take very little thought beyond some basic arithmetic with the help of a calculator, (3) get a bunch more tops one step closer to being finished quilts, and finally (4) sounded like something I could do with little or no energy. I'm happy to report that I now have completed backs for almost every flimsy in my sidebar list. I think there are only three or four left. Here they all are, hanging together with their tops in the closet in the longarm room, waiting their turn with Gandalf. The stash didn't go down nearly as much as I'd hoped - I still have more fabric than will fit on my shelves - but it's a beginning.

Looking on the bright side of things - being sick certainly helped my weight loss because I've not felt like eating much of the time. Fred lost 8 pounds while he was sick - 8 pounds he couldn't afford to lose. I've not lost nearly that much, but did weigh in yesterday morning two pounds lighter than the week before for a total lost of 24 pounds. I even found the energy to try on some of the clothes I've been saving and some of them actually fit!

Weight loss journey report

Last week was disappointing when I stepped on the scale - no weight loss. I told myself that also meant no weight gain, which is a good thing. However, it made me more determined than ever to see a loss this week. So I increased my time on the exercise cycle and buckled down on my food intake. I did OK - other than a total loss of control at a party Saturday night - so I was very pleased when I weighted in at WW this morning and had a 1.6 pound loss. That's 22 pounds total! I came home - went through my closets and drawers - and filled two more sacks with fat clothes. Felt so good to put them in the local charity bin!

I hate to write a post without a picture - guess I should have taken a picture of the two sacks LOL!

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Gratitudes:
1. A wonderful day spent with Joseph
2. Fall colored leaves against a clear blue sky
3. A supportive family when it comes to my weight loss journey

Wednesday weigh-in

I had a good week, in spite of succumbing to some marvelous pizza Saturday night when we celebrated Rick's birthday. I earned 24 exercise points for the week - by far the most I've done since I started weight watchers - so I'm sure that helped. After last week's slight weight gain I was determined to do better.

I was thrilled this morning to post a 2.8 pound loss - which is a total loss of 20.8 pounds since July 2nd. With this I earned my WW key chain for losing 10% of my total body weight. Really felt great to reach this milestone. My friend Kim did great too - she lost 5 pounds her first week. We each brought shopping lists made from the menus we created for our weekly menu challenge, and had a great time shopping at a beautiful new store. They even carried Boar's Heads meats which haven't been available here before. Kim's been talking about them lately, and I've seen them advertised on the food network. I bought some lowfat basil Parmesan ham - oh my, it is yummy! Made myself a great 4 point sandwich for lunch! (It didn't look like that by any means - I stole this one off their website - it has at least three times as much meat as mine and would be WAY more points!)

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Gratitudes:

1. A weight loss friend who can help support my efforts and allows me to help support hers

2. A renewed interest in cooking

3. Fall color starting to appear in trees around town

4. A great evening with my quilting friends

Wednesday report

What should come first - the good news or the bad news?

I'll start with the bad news so I can end on a positive note. This is the first week at Weight Watchers that I didn't lose weight - I gained .8 of a pound. This wasn't a surprise at all, because I knew I'd fallen off plan and stopped journaling my food intake since last Friday. I also hadn't exercised since then - except for chasing Sophie.

The good news is I now have a friend who is going with me. Tangled Thread Kim has been to WW before, and has lost weight before, but always seems to hit a plateau and then backslides. We are going to help hold each other accountable. Part of our problem is that neither of us are good at meal planning ahead of time so we just throw together what's there. We've decided that by next Wednesday's meeting we will each have a weeks menu planned with a shopping list, and will go shopping when the meeting ends about 8:30 a.m.

We went shopping today after the meeting and Kim helped me discover a bunch of new things I didn't know about. We started at Whole Foods because I was sure I could find the lowfat Monterrey Jack cheese there that I couldn't find anywhere else. Also bought some great looking fresh vegetables and a couple other things. Then we went on to Walmart. I hate Walmart - I hate so much about the way they do business - and I've always felt uncomfortable the two times I've been in their stores. This time we went to the newest super Walmart east of town where I'd not been before. What a difference! The other two stores in town are crowded, with unappealing displays. This is a beautiful, clean store with wide aisles and lovely displays, including gorgeous produce. The selection of food for people watching their food intake was huge compared to every other store I've ever been in. And of course - since it's Walmart - the prices are lower than elsewhere. I think I'm going to do my best to forget their business practices long enough to grocery shop there once a month or so. If any other stores in the area had that kind of variety I'd shop there and pay more, but they don't. So Walmart, I'll be back.

In the meantime I've pulled out my Weight Watcher cookbooks and started planning some meals. Gaining this week has renewed my resolve - I really want to hit that 10% goal when I weigh in next Wednesday.