End of the 4th week...

So tomorrow is the last day of my 4th week. I start my WW weeks on Saturdays because it tends to work the best for me. I used to start each week on a Monday, but I noticed that staying within my points is easiest for me during the week and when the weekend would come, I would think that I had lots of flex points so I could eat whatever I wanted on the weekend. Usually I would just let loose and not count points, which led to me grossly UNDERestimating how many points I actually ate. So now when I start on a Saturday, I try to use as little flex points as possible during the weekend so I have some left for the week- just in case I need them. I always like to have flex points available just in case so I'm less likely to blow them if I start counting on a Saturday.

As of this morning, I've lost another pound. However, I shouldn't know this yet because I should only be weighing myself once a week, not everyday like I have been :( So I need to work on this. I get frustrated pretty easily if I don't lose anything after a few days, but if I only weighed once a week, I would see consistent weight loss. I have to admit that I was a little discouraged at only losing 1 pound since I've been working out consistently and I have hardly used any flex points this week. But I was encouraged when I read part of Joyce Meyer's book "Look Great, Feel Greet" (which everyone should totally read by the way if you haven't already!). She was talking about focusing on our journey and not just our destination and she was speaking in context of a journey to be more healthy. Here are a couple of quotes from the book that encouraged me:

"Time does not go by any faster if we are frustrated about i, so we should learn to 'wait well'. On your own journey toward looking great and feeling great, you also need to enjoy the ride. What matters is not where you are, or how far away your destination is, but the direction you are headed."

"Even reading this book is a step in the right direction, so go ahead and feel good about it. The important thing is not what you weigh today, or how far you can run, but that you are improving. If your goal is to lose fifty pounds and you lose two pounds the first week, should you get discouraged because you are forty-eight pounds heavier than you want to be? No. You say, 'Hallelujah, what a great week!' and continue with your plan. Be proud of today. Don't go beyond that. Don't look at how far you have to go, look at how far you have come."

"Think about your successes rather than your failures. Maybe you ate a little too much today, but the good news is you didn't eat as much as you used to before beginning your new journey toward lifetime health and wholeness. Perhaps you intended to walk thirty minutes but got started late and could only do twenty minutes. Don't feel that you are a failure and should have done better; remember when you did not exercise at all and be happy for your progress. Keeping this positive attitude about your progress will breed more progress. Let your days be filled with good choices, healthy food, lots of activity and good thoughts. Then your body and soul will be healthy, fit and virtuous. Don't focus on your body, focus on the day."

This book is so encouraging for my journey! Anyone who is trying to lose weight or want to lose weight and/or be more healthy should definitely read this book!

4th week...

So I'm on my 4th week of doing Weight Watchers to lose all the weight I gained from foolish summer eating :( I've found that fall time is the easiest time for me to make a lifestyle change because the busyness of summer dies down and it's easier to get into a healthy routine. My husband Jason is also doing Weight Watchers with me this time so that helps me tremendously as I have a live-in accountability partner!

In the past 3 weeks, I 've lost 4 pounds and 2 inches. Although honestly, I'm not very good at measuring my waist because I don't know exactly where to measure and I can't remember if I measure at the same place every week! And do I suck in or push out- hold my breath or let it all out? I don't know, so I focus on the scale instead. I've been told not to focus on the scale numbers, but for me it's the most accurate representation because it is free from human error. I know that pounds can fluctuate from water weight and such, but eventually the numbers will go down. I'm excited about my 4 pounds, even though it doesn't sound like a lot. My ultimate goal is to lose 22 pounds, so 4 pounds is actually a good percentage. I know that my body doesn't lose weight very quickly so I am usually happy with around 1 pound a week.

I have a few short term goals on the way to my final goal as well. Right now, my short term goal is to lose 3 pounds to get under the current 10 pound weight zone I'm in right now (to change the first two numbers of my weight). 3 pounds is easy to focus on because it's not too much. I hope to get there by the end of September. My next short term goal is to lose 5.5 pounds after that, which will bring me to a healthy BMI for my height. After that, I will only have 10 pounds left until my goal weight!

So stay tuned for delicious recipes and snack ideas that I will be posting soon!! :)

My Weight Watchers/Healthy Living Journey

Hello all,
Since I haven't used this blog in over a year, I decided to start blogging about my current weight loss/healthy living journey that I am on. I am doing Weight Watchers and I wanted to share some of the things I'm doing, what I'm eating and how my weight loss is going. It's my hope that I can share some good ideas/recipes/food choices with some others on the same journey, but even if no one reads this, it will help me by writing every thing out. Here are the 4 main things I want to cover in this blog:

• Meal Plans- I will often post what I've eaten in a particular day. Hopefully this will give others ideas on what they can eat, but it also make me more accountable for poor food choices I make. I can't guarantee everything on this list will be the most healthy, but I will note which items weren't the best choice.
• Recipes- I like to try new recipes and I like to share those recipes with others. I will only post recipes that I have made and that I like.
• Favorites- There are certain low point snacks/food items that I can not live without and I will share what those are for those who haven't discovered them yet!
• Habits- This is where I will talk about bad habits I am overcoming and good habits I am picking up. This is more the emotional side of my healthy journey and will keep me accountable to improve certain areas of my life.

I hope this will help some people on the healthy living journey and I hope you will interact and give your input as well. Well, here we go!