It's a New Day

Why yes I have disappeared off the face of the earth for a bit.

Sorry about that.

It's been a time of reflection for me. I've been humbled by a gradual weight gain that I've been trying to nip in the bud.

My run has slowed, my jeans are a little bigger.

I have tried a few diets to get a kick-start loss but it seems I lose five and gain back 6. Kind of like how it seems to go for people. 

I guess the overall problem is I wasn't paying attention and I let a few bad habits come back.  I was in denial about that because I still exercise and eat pretty clean for the most part. This weight didn't come from all of a sudden scarfing a pint of ice cream every night or slopping mayo on everything. The weight has crept up because of the handful of potato chips a few times a week instead of salad with lunch. Or the extra piece of cheese on something instead of being cheese free. Oh and the nightly glass of wine after my son goes to sleep probably hasn't helped either. 

For a minute I felt doomed. I blamed my age and just kind of accepted that being 25 pounds overweight is the new me and I should just deal with it.

Ha. NO. I can't accept that. 

Right after eating about 10,000 calories worth of Chinese Food on Sunday night I get this.
Oh. Good news.

For a long time I thought to myself, "but I train now. I should be able to have a glass of wine or a slice of cheese." Yes. I should but only depending on how hard I'm training and how often I'm eating the foods. If I'm having one slice of cheese in the morning, a few chips at lunch and a glass of wine a night that's 350 extra calories a day -2,450 calories a week! Without thinking much about it, then add a nibble of chocolate or a healthy heaping of guacamole to dinner and well - this is how the weight creeps back. Something has to give (or be given up) so I'm buckling down and cleaning up my act. And I do not mean I'm hard-core dieting per se. I'm revisiting the idea of balance and moderation. I have to get on a scale once a week. I have to track my food. I've decided to go back to what helped me take the weight off originally and that was Weight Watchers. More specifically the "Simply Filling" technique.  Of course back when I was losing my weight it was called "The Core" program. 

I like this program. It's based pretty much on clean eating and you don't have to count many calories or points. You base your meals around "power foods" (most lean proteins, veggies, fruits, whole grains, fat free dairy and a little healthy fat like olive oil) and then you get 49 'points' for the week and can earn even more points through activity. You use those points for treats - like if you want a glass of wine, some cheese or something that's not on the power food list (I like to try to use some of my points for healthy stuff that's a little more caloric like avocado in my salad.) 

FYI wine is 4 pts. for 5oz. :) 

You don't weigh or measure your food, you eat until satisfied. I am not sure why I haven't gone back to this sooner. I lost my weight with the core program. I like that I don't have to obsess about serving sizes and can eat if I'm hungry - it gave me structure without feeling suffocated. Anyway... 

This is what my day looked like yesterday: 

Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs, 1/2 cup of black beans and salsa on a corn tortilla (certain corn tortillas like "Mission white corn" are considered a power food - so the whole breakfast was Simply Filling)

Snack - banana

lunch - steamed shrimp and broccoli with brown rice and a cup of egg drop soup (2 pts for the soup) 

pre-workout snack - small lean turkey burger (no bun) topped with salsa

Run 4 miles - (earned 6 activity points) 

Dinner - Lean pork chop, steamed broccoli with 2 tsp. of olive oil, sweet potato with 1 tsp. of ghee. (1 pt. for ghee).

snack - 1 tsp of cashew nut butter (licked off the spoon lol) 1 pt. 

= used 4 points for the day (And by the way if I was hungry during any part of this day I could've eaten more - and anything on the Power Foods list - like ff greek yogurt with fresh strawberries might've been another snack or a cup of homemade lentil soup - I could've also used points if I wanted a non power food treat.)

Now this day isn't "WW perfect" technically the plan calls for 2 servings of FF dairy to fulfill the guidelines they provide. 

You might remember that I did Whole30 earlier this year and some of you might wonder why I don't go back to that. Looking back I felt it was a bit restrictive for me. I think it's a decent plan and I know many who are successful on it. I enjoyed my journey while on it but it's a lifestyle too and not the lifestyle for me at this time. I lost a few pounds with Whole30 but because I felt a little deprived on it, gained the weight right back. 

I like the WW Simply Filling Program because I can strive to eat healthy most of the time but use a few points on indulgent foods and drinks too. I have kept a few of the habits I got from Whole30 like using ghee, eating avocados, using cashew nut butter, etc - I just don't use them without abandon and keep an eye on the servings. And even though WW considers fat free cheese and some other processed foods "power foods" I, myself, will be avoiding the few processed items that make the list. I'd rather spend the points on a real piece of cheese for taste and I try to avoid foods with ingredients that I cannot pronounce. 

I'm on day 3 of the program now and feel happy. I'm not hungry, I'm eating foods I enjoy and for the first time in a long time I feel like I'm truly back on a good tack. For the first time in a long time I'm not afraid about the future of my weight and feel positive again. 

In other news - I started day one of a new marathon training program. 24 weeks until race. 

24 weeks to go, 25 pounds to lose and 26 miles to run...

It's a new day. I'm back on my path and once again going 'From Fat To Finish Line.' ;)

XO
Jen