I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE UP

Remember the old saying "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!"?  Well, that's what I'm doing.

I'm giving Weight Watchers another try.  I know it works.  I've done it several times.  Then I quit for one reason or another and I gain the weight back.

I lost about 50 lbs last time I was on Weight Watchers.  Then I got lazy and decided I could do it on my own and the next thing I know, it's almost a year later and I've gained 40 lbs back.  YIKES!

So today I went to a meeting, signed up, paid my money and got back on that scale. 

Rather then looking at it like I gained 40 of the 50lbs back, I'm looking at it like "Hey, I still am 10 lbs lighter then the last time I joined!".

I've been over weight my whole life.  Well, at least since my first birthday, I know I was.  I don't have any pictures of me before that.  Guess by the time I came along, the youngest of 5 kids,  pictures were not a high priority. 

Of course we didn't have cameras like today.  They were the cameras that took film, you had to be sure you not only had film in the camera but also flash bulbs.  Then you had to get the film developed,  wait about a week or so to get your pictures and hopefully some came out 1/2 way clear. 

Anyway, back to me being overweight my whole life, as a kid I was chubby.  Though back then I felt down right fat.  I was always the biggest kid in my class.  Though, I can't remember anyone ever making fun of me being fat.  I was not teased in school. 

I was however, always one of the last ones picked when it came to sports at PE time.  I would just act like it didn't bother me, but of course, it did.

Then there was high school.  I would kill to be the size I was in high school now, but, for a young teen age girl, I was fat.

I remember really hating having to get dressed for PE. At our school they color coded the shorts and swimsuits by your size. So everyone...yes, even the boys, knew what size you were. Talk about traumatizing!

I'll never forget I had dark blue. Very few of us would be out there with dark blue on. Most girls had black or green. Some of the really thin girls had red.

I'm so happy they no longer do this to young girls. Life is hard enough without having to prance around school in a pair of shorts that yell to the world "I'M FAT!".

I can remember doing Weight Watchers even back then.  That was when they made you eat fish a few times a week (I've always hated fish) and liver once a week.  YUCK!

They had some really silly recipes back then too because they didn't have all the low cal, low fat, low carb foods they do now. 

One I remember was a "breakfast danish".  You took a piece of white bread toast, then added some cottage cheese that was mixed with cinnamon and saccharin.  Then you stuck it under the broiler.  That was it.

Funny to think we used to think it was so good.  Little did we know.

Today there are so many really good foods out there that we don't need to pretend something is good. 

At my age, I really no longer care about what others think of me.  However, I do know I don't feel good being so overweight.  Plus, it's not good for my health and at my age, you think about your health more then teenagers do.

So, I'm back to watching what I eat, weighing in weekly, trying to get more exercise in and I know by doing that the scale will go down, down, down. 

Sure, I've been here before.  Many times.  But, I'm not going to give up.  I'm going to try, try again.

COME TO A MEETING WITH ME

It's Tuesday and you know what that means? It's trash night and I can't forget to put the cans out.

Just kidding. Well, I do have to put the cans out but, Tuesday, for me, is weigh in day at Weight Watchers. Every Tuesday, I get up early and go to my meeting, weigh in and know that no matter what, the week is over and it's time to start fresh.

I thought I would bring you all along so you can see where it is I go every week.

This is my leader Annie. I love her and can't say enough good things about her. She is so up beat and full of ideas, tips and recipes. She really should write her own book.

To me, the leader is one of the most important things in the meetings. If you click things are wonderful. If you get one you can't relate to, well, my advice is to go to a different meeting and keep searching.

Don't give up until you find a leader you really enjoy. It will make the biggest difference in your weight loss journey.

When my sister and I first joined, we went through several meetings before we found Annie. We knew right away she was something special.

I actually look forward to going to see her every week. I know if I lose, she is there to encourage me to keep going. If I gain, she is there to help me figure out why and what I need to do to have a different result the next week.

She is always positive and such a joy to be around.

The part most people dread is weighing in. Those scales seem to make everyone a bit nervous. Even when you know you did good, it's still not fun to get on there.

Up here at the front is where you check in, pay if you have to and then get weighed.

Go on, step right up!

No one sees your weight, except the lady behind the counter. This part of the scales face her and only her. She will then put a sticker in your book showing how much you weigh and what your weight loss was that week. Then she gives you the book back.

See, it wasn't bad, was it?



Weight Watchers also has some great snacks, cook books, DVDs and other items you can purchase at the meetings. They don't sell these items at other stores. Only at the meeting locations.

I almost always get one or two things to take home to enjoy for the week.

Then you go take a seat and it's time for the meeting to start. Each week is a different topic. The leader will talk a bit and then everyone else adds to the meeting with their input. It is here where you get some super ideas, first hear about new products, make friends and get your support.

Everyone is there with the same goal in mind. To lose weight, get healthy and stay that way.

There are some who have lost all their weight and are life time members but still go weekly. They say they would put all their weight back on if they didn't go. It helps to remind them to stay on track.

I can't wait until I'm a lifetime member. I know it's only a matter of time before I am. I'm not giving up until I make it.

I still have a long way to go but, with determination and the tools given to me by my great leader, all the support from my friends and family I know I'll be there before I know it.

Going to my meetings is fun. I have met so many great people there and it's almost like we have formed a little family. We all know when someone is missing. We know about each other's family. We know about each others ups and downs in trying to lose weight. But most of all, we know we can count on each other for support.

So that's it. What is that? Oh, you wanted to know how I did this week? Well, I'm happy to report that I'm down another 1.4 pounds this week.

I'm leaving for Vegas on Wed. I'm going to do my best to stick to my plan and come back with only the extra weight of the money I won and not the weight of extra pounds!

STEPPING ON THE SCALES

Well, here it is Tues. Weight Watchers day for me. Time to face the dreaded scales.

Today I was pretty confident that I was going to be happy about what I saw. After all, I had been good. Counted my points, did exercise a few times and skipped going out to eat out in an effort to lose weight this week.

Some days you just know you didn't do good and you don't want to step on those scales. After all they don't lie. They tell it like it is. If you were good, the number goes down. If you were bad, up, up, up the number goes.

No those scales don't lie...or do they?

Normally, when I weigh in I don't see the number on the on scale. It's behind the counter where the lady in charge sees it only. Then with a smile she will tell me how much I lost.

Or, if it's a gain, in a quiet voice she will tell me and asked if the gain was a surprise. Which of course it never is.

But, today, the computers were not working up front and so I went into this cubicle with my leader and stepped on the scale. No pause at all. Just got right on.

This time I could see the numbers. WHAT! They had not moved since last week. How could that be? After all, Weight Watchers weighs you in .0 pounds. So even a few oz. would make the number move.

Not today. I was 100% exactly the same as last week.

I tried everything to get that number to drop lower. I moved the right then to the left and even tried standing on one foot! While it got me and my leader to laughing, it didn't get me a lower number.

I don't know why. Really. Sometimes the scales are like that. They just don't give the results you wanted or expected.

I've had weeks where I've eating out of control and I ended up losing weight. Then there are weeks like this one where I did good and I don't lose at all.

I'm not discouraged though. I know if I continue on and do what I did last week then the loss will show up, most likely next week.

Sometimes our bodies are strange and they don't show the weight loss or gain until a week or sometimes even two weeks later.

Often we could be holding on to water weight because of something we ate that was high in sodium or just because we are a woman with that lovely once a month "gift" we get.

I'm not sure really why I didn't lose. I do know, I'm giving up. I will keep on tracking, exercising and following the plan. Because, I KNOW I am going to stick to it this time and get the rest of my weight off.

IT'S TIME FOR A RE-COMMITMENT!

For several months I've been doing pretty good on Weight Watchers. I lost almost 50 lbs and eating healthy was becoming 2ND nature to me.

But then something happened. A few weeks ago I lost the excitement. My desire to lose was gone. I got lax and didn't really follow the plan the way I should be. I got stuck in a weight loss plateau.


I still went to weigh in every week and I stayed for the meetings. I didn't give up totally. I knew if I stopped going to the weigh ins I would be in trouble. I would not have gone back and most likely ended up gaining all my lost weight back.

Today, our meeting brought us all a challenge. To do a 5K by June.

We were given ways to start training now and if followed we would be ready for a 5K by June.

I was happy about this as I seem to well with a challenge. It gets me motivated again. Gives me a goal to shoot for.

I knew this week I was going to be back on track and I also knew I was going to exercise more.

In fact, I was talking to one of the guys in my meeting and he said he walks at least a 5K four to five times a week. I asked him where he walked and he told me. In fact, he said he was going to go walk after the meeting.

Then something scary happened. He asked if I wanted to join him. YIKES! I wasn't ready to start my re-commitment so soon. I paused for about 10 seconds and then said "Yes, I would love to go with you."

So, after the meeting we went to one of the parks in the area and walked to an area he had mapped out before. He said it was a loop of 3.2 miles which is a tad over a 5K but was a close as he could get it.

Off we went. We talked, saw lots of animals, enjoyed the smells of the blooming plants and before I knew it our walk was over.

It didn't seem like we walked that far. The time flew by.

We walked to the parking lot and got into our cars. I wasn't ready to stop walking yet and so I went out to a few thrift stores to get a few extra steps in.

OK, I wanted to see if anything good was out there too but I really did want to get more steps in.

I was happy that I had a good start to my new week. Then my phone rang. It was my nephew. He wanted to know if I wanted to go for a hike with him tomorrow. I quickly said yes.

I don't know why I hit this plateau. I just know I want to break out of it and I'm going to do everything I can this week to do so. I think I'm off to a good start.

I'm not going to give up. I'm going to reach my goal this time. I don't know when. I haven't really set a deadline. I just know that this time, I'm going to make it!

Have any of you had a weight loss plateau before? If so, what did you do to dig your way out of it?

IT'S A GOOD DAY

Another Tuesday is here, which means time to step on the scales at Weight Watchers. It was a good weigh in with another 1.8 lbs gone. Ya, that means 48.8 lbs gone!

Today I woke up and I actually felt like I lost weight. Some times I don't notice anything and some times I can actually tell.

Today my sister, Maureen, got her lifetime membership with Weight Watchers. That means she lost all her weight and maintained it for 6 weeks. So, now, she gets to go to the meetings for free. The only catch is, she has to stay within 2 lbs of her goal weight.

That should be a piece of cake for her because she not only reached her goal weight but she continued to lose even more weight and now she is something like 10 lbs below her goal weight.

She looks so good! I felt really proud of her today as she went up front to get her award, a golden key charm to add to the rest of the charms she already got for meeting different goals.

I am so happy that she is now healthier and feels much better then when she started. I couldn't help but think about the first time we walked into Weight Watchers. I admit I had my doubts about doing well. I wondered how long it would be before we quit.

Knowing that she stuck to it and made her goal helps me to see that I too can reach my goal. I think having each other to go through this together has made it much easier.

On the days I don't feel like going to weigh in or the weeks I had where I knew I had a gain, it was her that got me to show up. I knew she would be there waiting for me and I would have let her down if I didn't show up. I think she may have felt the same way.

Congratulations Maureen! You did it! I'm so proud of you. Also, thank you for all your help and support in my weight loss journey.

FINALLY!!!

Well after going back and forth for a few weeks with my weight I finally broke through and had a good weight loss.

I can't tell you how thrilled I was when I stepped on the scales at Weight Watchers and was told I was down 3.6 lbs. That brings me to 33.8 lbs. total so far.

Now I just need to stay on track so I can meet my goal of losing 10 lbs by the first week in Jan.

I still have 5.8 lbs to go and there is only 4 more weigh ins. But that is still a goal I can reach if I lose only 1.5 lbs. a week average.

I just have to stay away from all the cookies, candy and other treats that are everywhere these days.

I think I'll be able to do it. I really want to reach this goal.

How about you? Are you still shooting for your goal?

BACK FROM VEGAS A LOSER!

Last night I got home from spending four nights in Las Vegas with my brother.

Yes, I came home a loser and I'm happy about that. I lost 1.6 more pounds! That's now a total of 29.6 lbs gone!

If you have ever been to Vegas you know that everywhere you turn there is yummy food, lots of free high calorie drinks and of course so many great places to have wonderful desserts.

So, it's not easy to come home a loser. Except a loser of your money. LOL


We stayed at Paris and I was faced with all the beautiful French Pastries every day as I walked through the Hotel.

But, I was good and while my brother had one I just figured it wasn't worth it.

I even went for a 3 mile walk while I was there. That, on top of all the other walking helped a lot.


It was the first time since my brother had his stroke that he went on a vacation. We had a nice time.

He rented an electric wheel chair to use and really liked it. It helped him get around much easier and allowed him to have more freedom.

We had a lot of great talks and it was nice to spend the time with him.

On Sunday, he wanted to watch all the football games and of course he had bets on each of them.

I decided to go for a walk and I went over to the Bellagio so I could see the Conservatory.

If you have never been there, you are missing out. They always decorate it for the season/holiday.


It's now all done up for Fall. With beautiful oranges, reds and golds.

The flowers there are always so pretty too. Yes they are real.

I loved how they had big Fall colored leaves floating around and appearing to actually be falling.

This cute Scarecrow welcomes you to the Conservatory area.

All the flowers were so pretty and they had some Whimsy going on with things like big larger then life Venus Fly Traps.

Even the trees had faces and at time would talk to you.

Every inch of the place was filled with something going on. Big and little pumpkins were all over the place.

They even did a mini Bellagio with a water show.

Look at this tree with the face! It was very strange.

I loved the big copper leaves that doubled as a water fountain.

Vegas sure has changed since I first went there. It used to be all about gambling but now, well, you don't even have to gamble if you don't want to and your days and nights can still be full of excitment and fun.

I learned on this trip that I can go on vacations and still have fun without gaining a pound.

I've now gone to New York, two cruises and Vegas and lost weight each time.

So if I can do it, you can too!

The holidays are now upon us so make sure you keep yourself in check and with proper planning you and I can make it through to the New Year without not only gaining weight but also losing.

My goal is to be at least 10 pound lighter by New Years. What's yours?

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

Another one bites the dust! Another one bites the dust! And another one's gone. Another ones gone. Another one bites the dust.

Yes that is what was going through my mind this morning as I stepped on the scale at Weight Watchers and saw that another 1.6 lbs was now gone from my body.

Slowly but surely the numbers on the scale is going down, down, down.
I have now lost 28 lbs.

Wish it was faster but hey, I'll take it. We are now in the season full of holidays. Candy, cookies, party food and celebrations are everywhere.

I must stay firm and not give in. If I can get through the next few months then it should be smooth sailing for awhile.

So, I'll take it one pound at a time. I can do this. I know I can.

How about you? Can you do it too? Of course you can!

ALL POUNDS ARE NOT CREATED EQUALLY

It's Tuesday and that means weigh in day at Weight Watchers for me. So I got dressed and drove to my meeting. Got on up on the scale and was told I was down another 1.8lbs! That is now a loss of 20.4 lbs in 9 weeks.

I'm very happy with my loss so far. This time has been so different for me.

Normally I go on a diet and I feel deprived, a bit depressed and just look forward to the day the diet is over.

If I eat something that is not on the "diet" then I feel bad and mostly likely quit. Only to gain back everything I've lost and then some.

This time, I'm not on a diet. I don't feel like I'm on a diet. I'm not eating diet food. I eat what I want and if I have a craving for something I eat it.

The only difference is I practice portion control and will only eat a little bit of what it is that I want. I will also exercise more to help me continue to lose.

I search for ways to get more movement in. Things like walking tours, going places that you know you will walk more, like Disneyland or the beach.

I try not to eat out as much. I drink more water and I now stop before I eat to see if I'm really hungry or just bored, tired or depressed.

So I think that is why this time it's working and I'll stick to it.

Have you thought about what a pound really is? I've posted a picture to show you that a pound of fat is not the same as a pound of muscle.

Fat takes up much more room in your body. Fat also burns 2 calories per pound. Yet muscle burns 6 calories per pound.

That is why when you work out and build up your muscle you not only look thinner but you can eat more and still not gain.

In fact, when you build a pound of muscle you not only burn the 6 calories per pound of muscle but you will burn off the fat even while you are sleeping or sitting watching tv. So, it's like sucking away 4 calories of fat and 6 calories of energy for every pound of muscle.

Just another reason why we should be moving more. Build up those muscles and burn off that jiggly fat.

So how did you do this past week? Did you meet your goals?

By Thursday I will have joined the gym. I have to be honest and tell you I'm not looking forward to this at all. I must retrain my brain to enjoy exercise. It's something I'm going to have to do for the rest of my life so I have to make peace with it.

Hope you are all doing well and if you messed up last week, well it's now in the past and time to work on this week and moving towards your goal.

I'M GOING DOWN

It's true. I'm going down. No, not down into the ocean. Down in weight. It's Tues and that means it's Weight Watchers weigh in day for me.

I'm down another 2.6 lbs. That's a total of 18.6 lbs in 8 weeks. I'm pretty happy with that amount.

I have only one more week and then I'm joining the gym. I've made it a goal to join on the first of Oct.

I'm not looking forward to joining at all so I'm really trying to talk myself into this. I know I need to kick up my exercise and not just doing walking/hiking.

I hate to work out. I'm lazy. I admit it. So I'm going to come up with some kind of reward system to get me there. Not sure what yet.

Do you have any type of a reward system set up for you to stay on plan or exercise more often?

I know a nice weight loss should be reward enough for me but some how that just doesn't do it. Although it has been enough for me to get out and walk.

Maybe I'll get myself a nice fresh bunch of flowers for every week I reach my goal of working out. That would be nice to look at every day and know they are there because I did good.

Today is the first day of fall! Happy Fall to all of you! I love Fall. The weather is cooler, it means the holidays are just around the corner, time to change the decorations in the house and the crowds have all gone home.

However, it also means, candy, cookies, big dinners and all the wonderful fruits and veggies will be gone. So Fall can be hard when it comes to watching what one eats.

There will be great squash, apples, pears and nuts though. All good tastes and good for you.

So stick with me and we can get through the months ahead and come out like shinning stars.

LOST AGAIN!

I'm down another 2.8 lbs! I'm so happy that every week I'm seeing the scales get lower and lower.

I've lost a total of 16 lbs now. I think I may have finally gotten through to myself about this being a life long way of eating for me.

I can't tell you how many different diets I've been on. I've been on just about every kind of crazy diet out there. I even went 6 months without having one bite of real food. Just liquids. It was called Optifast. Do you remember that?

Sure I lost weight but as soon as I started to eat real food again I gained it all back, plus some.

But now, I know that I can really eat anything I want. It's just the amount of what I eat and also how much exercise I get in.

When I was on vacation for two weeks I ate a lot of stuff I would have thought would have made me gained. Things like 3 pieces of cheesecake, 7 cookies, 5 candy bars, two bags of chips, popcorn four times, bread with butter, waffles with whipped cream, pizza and two pieces of chocolate that was left on bed every night.

So when I got on the scale last week I just knew the numbers would have gone up. So I was really surprised to see not only did the numbers not go up but they went down.

This week I thought maybe the gain would show up. Sometimes it takes awhile for weight gain to show up.

Yet, again there was a lower number. I know it's all about the amount of exercise I got. Well, I should say movement. I never once felt like I was exercising. In fact, I hate that word.

I much prefer to say I'm walking or moving rather then exercising.

My sister, Maureen, has lost 19 lbs! I'm so happy for her. At first we were side by side on our weight loss. Then I went on vacation and she continued to follow the plan as she should have. So she lost more.

I can't help but think "I wish I would have been better on vacation" but I know that isn't true. I'm happy with my loss. I'm happy that I didn't once feel deprived while I was gone.

I'm really happy I learned first hand that moving more lets you have a few meals you would normally think you couldn't have.

I'm also learning to be aware more. I'm aware of my portions now. Before I thought I was doing good when I had a bowl of cereal. Now I know I was eating almost enough for 3. So now, I measure.

I'm also trying to be more aware of why I eat. Am I really hungry or am I bored, sad, depressed or even happy.

I know I'm going to make it this time. I just know it. It feels different this time. Not like just another diet. This is for life. A new way of eating and looking at things like never before.

I hope you guys are still on track with your healthy living too. Let me know.

I have so much to share with you guys but things are crazy here. We are getting our hard wood floors in so things are nuts. Plus, I leave tomorrow for four days. I'm dog sitting for a friend of mine.

So things may be slow around here. I'm hoping by next week to get back on track.

I'll pop in as often as I can until then. When I do get back on track things I wanted to share with you will include things like...the rest of my vacation, Halloween things, another Party that is in the planning and the final look at all the work on the house that got done.

I'M A LOSER!

Yes, you read right. I'm a loser and I'm proud of it. I lost another 2.2 lbs! It was my third weigh in at Weight Watchers and I'm down 11.6 lbs. I was thrilled.

I have not really even felt like I was on a diet these past weeks. I don't feel like I've missed out on anything.

I did get a pedometer. I got an Omron. Just like the one in the picture above.

I put it on first thing in the morning and don't take it off until I get ready for bed at night. I'm shooting for 10,000 steps a day. That's a lot when you don't work and get out to move, like me.

I found if I stay home I don't get many steps in at all. I have to actually make it a point to get out and get my numbers up there. Ten thousand steps is actually a lot. It's about 5 miles a day.

I have a feeling I'll be getting those in with no problems once I go to New York and also on my cruise. You do so much walking there, it should be easy.

I have discovered something about myself. I used to think my problem was just the lack of movement. I never thought I ate a lot. I've even had several people tell me I don't eat a lot.

Well, let me tell you. These past two weeks I have been watching everything I eat and I try to check on things before I eat them. I was shocked to find out just how much I really ate!

I went to Ruby's with my sister. We ordered the "light" meals. I got a veggie burger with a fruit salad rather then the fries. It came on a whole wheat bun, light mayonnaise and light cheese. Sounds like I did good huh?

Nope! After I figured it out that one veggie burger and cup of fruit was almost a whole days worth of calories. That was for the "Light" one too, not even the regular ones. WHAT!!!!

I almost fainted when I saw a regular burger, fries and a shake was over 3,000 calories! That is almost 3 days worth of calories!! The real kicker is that would have been just one meal for the day.

No wonder I'm fat! You don't have to eat a lot of food to have it be a lot of calories.

So be careful out there. Just because something says "light" does not mean it's low calories. It just means it's lighter then the regular one.

Also, check your labels. Low fat often means, extra sugar. So even though it's low fat, it's still high calorie.

Don't be fooled. Check and recheck those labels. Look up the nutritional value of the meal you plan on eating before you eat it.

Take time and do your home work and soon you too will find you are a loser also!

JUMPING FOR JOY!

Well today was my first weigh in after starting on Weight Watchers. Even though I know I did good following the plan and I tried to get moving more this week then before, I still hated stepping on that scale.

Boy was I happy though when I did. I was 5.4 lbs down! Sure it's my first week and I know we all lose faster the first week. I was still happy to see that big chunk gone.

I figure some was water weight and some was fat. Who cares, weight is weight and I'm 5.4 lbs lighter in my weight.

My sister, Maureen, did just as good! She also lost 5 lbs! Good for her!

I do have to thank Maureen for joining with me. She has made it much easier for me to stick to this. We call each other to see what we ate and we went for walks.

It's always easier when you have someone to join you in your weight loss.

So now I'm on my 2nd week and I'm actually looking forward to my next weigh in. That is something I never thought I would say.

Hope all of you who said you were going to join me have now done so. If you did, let me know how you are doing.