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.

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.

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?

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 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!