Sept. 1st

My goodness where did the time go? It is freaking September 1st 2010! WOW! Seriously where did the time go? Well I am looking forward to this Saturday's weigh in. My home scale has been going down and it really shows me just how much tracking your food (alone) can make a difference. I am not being perfect, in fact yesterday I had a milk shake and a carrot cake for dinner but its TOM and I felt so sick at work (FYI weight loss can affect your hormones and for people like me who suffered monthly in high school then out grew it "it" can come back with a vengeance!) so when finally all the ill effects stopped I wanted something comforting like sugar!! I later made a turkey and laughing cow cheese sandwich :-) so all was not lost!

Ahhh well its the first of the month! I, like many people, used to wait for some magical date to" get back on track." Mondays were popular once upon a time for me oh then the first of the month. I was telling myself a few weeks ago I'll just wait for September 1st to hit the ground running but something in me said NO HEFFA why put off a lifestyle?!? I have to get rough with myself sometimes! :-)

I often talk about this weight loss being a result of a lifestyle change and therefore there is no need to wait for Monday or the first of the month!!! I think that's my take away message for anyone reading today. Don't put this off. I will check in Saturday but I am expecting to be down at least another 4 pounds since my last Weight Watcher weigh in 3 weeks ago. I am happy because what if weeks ago I went with the feeling of waiting on September 1st to get it together? I'd probably be up 8-10 pounds rather than down 8-10 pounds Right?! For example this weekend I had an AKA event and the food was GREAT it was breaded talapia AND chicken breast with a lemon sauce and green beans and yellow rice drowned in butter! I aint gonna lie I wanted to eat and eat and eat! But I stopped myself. There was a tea before the luncheon as well and I avoided the cookies and cakes and only had 1 chicken salad finger sandwich 1/2 of a small scone and some tea. Instead I spent the time taking pictures and talking with my sorors instead of eating because I knew lunch was coming. But it was interesting to watch people add several sandwiches to their plates over and over and I thought about how I used to act at these kinds of events. I wasn't a big girl who only ate in private lol like a lot of overweight people. While I did do some "closet eating" but I did plenty of public eating as well lol But it was good that I could stop myself and not go overboard. I like that I am aware. I was not judging anyone but I know what its like to not be aware of what you are doing to yourself and this new era of enlightenment is so empowering. The new Regional Director is inspiring she has lost a lot of weight and I can see our pictures through the years and we've both come down nicely. She even had her personal trainer at the event and thanked him! Yes Charles will be getting a shout out at my 'Now that Oprah is gone I rule the world' luncheon!


Usually when I do the right (not necessarily easy but right thing) God sends me confirmation. I am sure you have experienced it as well. It could be a news story or a quote I run into or a conversation I have that says you are on the right track. Well today I was really re-inspired by a high school friend who posted a powerful message about his new weight loss efforts. I was feeling really down because I HATED my Iron Girl pictures. Not disliked BUT HATED them! I don't never hate no pics of myself! lol I'll post them in another post anyhow because it is what it is. I am trying to hold onto the fact that that was still 70-80 pounds lighter than where I was January of 2009 and that is a blessing but I am annoyed with my back tracking. Anyhow I am hoping I twisted his arm enough to blog about his experience as he starts his journey to wellness. I told him as a black man he would be great to be a role model to others because its common for black men to die in their 30s-40s of heart attacks, etc. That's scary! He said he'd think about it. I hope he does it it would be a powerful testimony. He is participating in a bible/spiritual based weight loss program and I think great things are in store!

Speaking of which....Mister has upped his workout game quite a bit! I don't know what has gotten into him! He is still doing the Iron girl race track in Columbia and in fact the only day he missed was when he asked me to go and I flaked :-( bad girlfriend! But he got right back on it! He's off this weekend so we have some active things planned. For those of you in the Maryland area you may find this list of 50 Free Things to Do in Baltimore interesting. We are going to do a few this holiday weekend! The cool thing is they all involve movement of some kind movement whether its walking around a park or a museum or sightseeing! Some of the events have passed but that's OK still plenty to do. Funny Mister asked if I had a list of what we will do prepared lol I told him no we can play it by ear. I am such a planner lol but I am trying to be more flexible. Its so hard when your anal retentive ways work for you but I am trying to be more balanced so we'll see!

What else... well I talked my sister into taking an intro to Italian language and culture class! Its a class at the community college and I can't wait. I have the Mediterranean cruise plans down and this will be a nice reminder that this is a reward for my 50 pounds lost!!! Or a grand total of 119.5 pounds weight loss! That will be sweet!

Last thing-Foodies I had a quick list of what I bought last weekend to help my diet/food issues

Laughing Cow cheese - 35 calories and great flavor I get the plain one and the garlic & herb nice on crackers & sandwiches saves lots of fat and calories!

Trader Joe Tomato Soup- Ok De-lish!!! Its like 2 points per serving and very flavorful! Stay away from the low sodium version lol

Trader Joe Chicken Lime burgers- Don't let the name fool you it isn't a lime-y taste to it but its a good burger!

Trader Joe Multigrain crackers- Ok hummm these were great but some how I guess they want to up the fiber content so I have been picking out branches out of my mouth. Not sure what that's about but its low calories and high in fiber lol Will not be getting anymore I need my eating uninterrupted by bark lol but you may like it. I will find a replacement and update you!

Mister's Dad (a.k.a. POPS!) Gave me some white peaches from the farmer's market!!!! Great juicy snack ok so here's his trick you have to wrap the hard peach up in newspaper and put it in the closet that helps them soften up! Good tip because I hate hard crunchy peaches!

Odwalla Bars- My new staple! I mentioned these before they are high in calories/points because they are meal replacements. I was overeating on Cinnamon toast crunch cereal for like 3 months and this morning I was tempted to get one from work but brought my Odwalla bars instead they are sweet and tasty. I had the chocolate chip peanut butter one. It isn't as good as the banana nut or the sweet &salty almond but still not too bad. Its 4 points and its HEAVY like I been snacking on it since 8am and its 9:30am! Its a hearty bar lol 4 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein. Good stuff!

Eggs-rather than egg beaters or egg whites this time. I been craving boiled eggs lately and so I wanted something versatile.

Louis Rich turkey bacon

Oscar Mayer has a 3 pack of ham, turkey, and Canadian bacon it was 2 for $5 at Giant this week. I tend to stay away from deli meat or at least get it fresh from the deli but this seemed like a good deal.

Water!!

Boost high protein energy drink its a meal replacement too good for a morning meal or afternoon before the gym. I still like the EAS shakes but these taste better more sugar I am sure but they taste better than Slim fast.

Jiffy peanut butter to go! They made them smaller because the first version was 11 points and I'd easily eat it off this is 6 still high but better portion control!

Andddd a few pink lady apples! Its a cross between a golden delicious apple and another one and its deeee-lish!!! I love them I can't wait for theme very year! Trader Joe's had tote for $2.49 that's a steal!!!

So that was my shopping list! I had a few things already at home tuna in water, veggie and chicken broth, turkey burgers, ground turkey, and beans.

I'll check in with my weigh in results and my workout with Charles gotta get back on that track! Latersssssss!