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!

SO WHAT DID THE SCALES SAY TODAY?

You all know that this week has been a hard one for me. I felt like I was eating everything in sight!

I got on the scale two days ago (maybe a big mistake!) and noticed it was up 2 1/2 lbs. I was shocked.

I knew I was bad this past week. Eating things like Pizza and Mexican Food (more then once) but to see a 2 1/2 lb. gain was scary.

So, I spent the last two days eating right and trying to get my exercise in. I wondered if I could fix this gain with only two days left before my weigh in.

Well, today was the day to face the scales. Had I gained? Had I lost or was the number going to remain the same?

I didn't even want to go weigh in this week but I knew I had to or it would just another step backwards for me. So I got in the car and drove to Weight Watchers.

I got on the scale and, yes indeed, I had gained! There it was, right in front of me. The ugly truth. I had let food beat me this week.

The lady who weighed me said "Oh it's ONLY .2lbs. That's like staying the same this week."

I know she was trying to make me feel better but, it's NOT like staying the same. It's a gain! Sure .2 lbs is only a few ounces but so what. Sure, I'm happy it's not the 2 1/2 lbs I thought I would gain but so what. It's still a gain.

If I get excited about losing .2 lbs then how can I just ignore it when I gain .2 lbs.? I can't. I won't!

I took my .2 lbs and went to sit down. I didn't feel good but I didn't feel bad either.

I knew I had learned something. I knew that .2 lbs got me focused again. No more pig out weeks. At least I hope not.

So I tell myself I should still be happy because I'm down 32 pounds in 16 weeks. I am getting healthy and feeling better.

I did go try on clothes the other day and found I could wear another size smaller, that's good right?

Sure, we can all talk our self out of feeling bad for minor gains but I don't want to. I want to remember this feeling. This feeling of letting myself down.

I want to remember what it feels like to look back and see that those few meals WERE NOT worth the gain.

So that's it. This week, I'm back in the saddle and I'm moving ahead and I KNOW I'll have loss next week.

I'm happy this past week is over and I can look forward. Had I given in and not gone to weigh in I would have another whole week of worry and wonder.

It's always good to go face the scale and rejoice in the victories and learn from the defeats.

Staying away only ends up in the weight going right back on and nothing gets learned.

I'll be holding open my giveaway until midnight tonight so if you have not yet joined scroll down and enter. I will let everyone know the winner tomorrow.

Hope you are all doing well in your weight loss challenge and have stayed on track. We will get through these holidays with a 10 lb weight loss. We can do it!

DOING A HAPPY DANCE AND I LEARNED MY LESSON!

Are you wondering why I'm doing the Happy Dance? Well let me tell you...

I lost .4 lbs this week. Yes, yes, I know that is not a lot of weight and most people would be upset with such a low amount. But, not me! I'm thrilled.

First of all, it's a loss. A loss in weight is ALWAYS better then a gain. However, that is not the real reason I'm happy.

This is what my past week was like... Pizza, chips, cookies, candy, pretzels and cheese sauce at the movies and even cake. Hardly any veggies at all.

So you can see that eating all this would not make one think they had a weight loss at all. In fact, I was so sure I had gained and was worried about going to weigh in at Weight Watchers today.

I thought, what the heck! I might as well go and face the music. I would get back on track and put this week behind me.

So when I got on the scale and the lady told me I had a .4 lb weight loss I was thrilled! That's like two sticks of butter!

She laughed and told me she had not seen anyone so happy over a .4 lb weight loss before. Then I explained why I was happy and she laughed and said "I would be doing the happy dance too!".

I learned my lesson though. No more slacking. Nothing I ate last week was even that great. Not worth a whole week of working hard. This week I'm back on track, will be writting down everything I eat and making sure my healthy food is eaten so I won't get hungry and eat stuff just to be eating it.

I'm thrilled that weigh in is over and I'm looking forward to next weeks.

So here I am at 12 weeks and down 26.4 lbs. Thankfully, I'v emade it 3 months with a loss each week...no matter how small that loss may be.

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.

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.

WEIGHING IN AND PLAYING GAMES

I only had three ladies report in this week on how A BETTER ME is going. I'm not sure if people are busy, gave up, forgot to email me or if they gained and didn't want to report in.

The four of us lost a total of 7.7 lbs. more pounds this week! YEAH!

I've decided I hate weighing in. It doesn't really matter how well I stuck to my plan or not. I always seem to get butterflies in my stomach as I look at the scales. My heart beats a bit faster as I'm waiting for the numbers to stop on the final weight.

Of course I always want to weigh in first thing in the morning, after I've gone to the bathroom, before I eat breakfast and preferably naked.

Now if I weigh in at a meeting place I can't strip down to the buff but I sure get as close as I can. I put my purse down, take off my shoes, sweater or coat. I wear the thinnest clothes I have. Take anything I have out of my pockets.

I've even been known to exhale just so I don't have any extra air inside me.

I know, I'm crazy. But, I also know I'm not alone. I've seen some women doing some crazy things just to get that darn scale to give them a lower number. You know who you are!

Do you ever lean one way or another trying to get that scale to nudge down just a little bit? Ever try standing on one foot?

Why is it that we always try to play games with our self when we diet? Do you ever do that?

Things like thinking "That cherry pie isn't really that bad. After all it is a serving of fruit". Or thinking you did great because you ordered the salad bar when you go out for lunch. Only the salad bar also has fried chicken, tacos, creamy fattening dressing, chips and even desserts.

It's almost like we are our own worst enemies. Trying to talk our self into eating things that are bad for us. Why is that?

This week I would really like us to think about why we are over weight. Yes, I know we love food. But, so do many thin people. They are not over weight. So why are we?

Next Tues when you all check in with me I hope you will share what you have discovered about yourself. About why you feel you are over weight.

Not only that, but also why you feel like you want to lose your extra weight. Why now?

Sometimes it's not easy to dig deep down inside us and figure out why we are over weight. But, once we do we can always work on how to change things so we never mistreat our self again. We can once and for all stop playing the games with our self and finally get this weight off once and for all.

I know I sure want to. I also know you do too. So, together we will work on reaching our goals one day at a time. We WILL do it!

HAPPY NEW YEARS

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years. I know I did. But, now it's time to look forward to 2009 with much excitement and joy.

While I have many goals for this new year my main one is to lose weight and exercise more. You know, get healthy!

There are so many diets out there and to be honest I think they all work. At least while you are on them. But, I don't want a diet. I don't want something I'm not going to "go off" of. I want to retrain myself to eat correctly and move more.

The only way one can lose weight or even maintain is to burn off more calories then you eat. So, I'm going to just keep track of calories. No diet plan to follow. Just watch everything that I put into my mouth and write it down to track it. That way, nothing is off limits. As long as you track it and count the calories.

Of course doing this means one could eat nothing but candy bars all day. I guess you could still lose weight doing that but you sure wouldn't be healthy.

So with the counting calories I'm going to be making sure I get the right amounts of protein and fruits and veggies. I'll post my plan for you tomorrow.

I also found out my health insurance will pay for me to join a gym. YEAH! I never knew they did that. I'm going to take advantage of that and go to Bally's. It's right down the street from me so I have no excuses to go.

My brother had a major stroke last May and he is still fighting every day to recover from it. He goes to physical therapy three times a week now and hates every minute of it. It's hard. It's painful and he gets tired. But he goes! He has never missed a meeting.

When I don't want to go to the gym I'm going to go in his honor. I'm going to look up to him, my hero, and go. I will be thankful that I'm able to walk in to the gym and work out. I will just think of how hard it is for my brother and if he can do it and not give up I won't either.

Now on to the "rules" of A BETTER ME.

Anyone can join. You can post on your blog whenever you like about how you are doing. Write about your exercise, post recipes, share your joy when you reach a goal or anything you want to talk about.

On Tues I would love if you would email me at jk51958@yahoo.com and let me know how much you lost. You do not have to tell me what you weigh. Then on Wed I will post what our group weight loss is. We can see how we are all doing and by showing our weight loss as a group even a tiny little weight loss that one person may have had will add up to be tons of weight lost.

We can all cheer each other on, learn tips and ideas, try new things and just have fun.

I thought it would be a good idea to link up everyone who is going to be in the A BETTER ME GROUP so I've added Mr. Linky. Just add your name to the list and then everyone can come visit you at your blog to say hi.

It would be great if everyone would post something about what their goal is. Is it to lose weight, learn to eat better, exercise more or what?