Freestyling on Weight Watchers: Weighing in on Week Two

Hey there!

So last week was another week doing the Weight Watcher Freestyle program and I must say I still am really digging the program.

Here's what I did that was good:

• I meal prepped and brought my own food with me to work for breakfast and lunch - even though there's a giant spread of food there. Having my own stuff helped me to keep in control
• I aimed to walk and get in close to 10,000 steps a day and succeeded more than I didn't
• I earned the "blue dots" in the Weight Watcher App 6 out of 7 days

Here's what I didn't accomplish which I wanted to:

• Still didn't drink nearly enough water
• Used a few too many points on empty calories like alcohol
• Didn't get to the gym once - no run / no strength :( 
• I totally overate on Friday night and was mad at myself for letting myself get talked into ordering something less than healthy and eating it until I was beyond stuffed

But, even with the "not so good" moments I had another good loss. I was down 2.6 pounds! That a total of 7.2 pounds down so far! YAY! 

WooHoo! 

I was shocked. Although my clothing is fitting better and I'm feeling good overall - I was so sure that the Friday night binge and lack of getting to the gym were going to get me. I expected either a very tiny weight loss (like .2) or a slight gain. I was so not prepared to have lost 2.6 - so much so that the lady weighing me questioned why I looked so upset. I wasn't upset, I told her, "I'm just confused seeing that number because I was braced for something much higher." It took a minute for my brain to process the number especially after losing so much the week before! I never have losses like that two weeks in a row! In fact, I'm still not completely convinced that the scale is right and that the loss is legit. Which is kind of ridiculous. Why is it my default to assume that the bad moments totally outweighed the good ones? Why can't I just think, "Damn, I worked hard. I said no to a thousand fattening choices this week, made sure to get in my steps, carried my food all over and ordered steamed shrimp with broccoli when dining out instead of a calorie bomb of a dish and I guess it paid off." 

speaking of calorie bombs. Holy shit.

I don't know. But I am very happy that I've got a little momentum. 

So after the meeting I decided to do some meal prep. 

I made a bowl of hardboiled eggs. And then I attempted these 3 point bagels from Skinnytaste which are all the rage right now. 

I was super dubious. I made the GF version (so they are 4 points). And the dough was sticky and icky and I wasn't sure how they would turn out. 

Uh. I don't know about this.

They looked much better out of the oven!

And guess what? They are pretty tasty too. I had a half of one for breakfast (for 2 pts.) and I enjoyed it. 

I also whipped up my spinach pie. I took the original recipe for it and added another egg and a half a cup of plain, fat free Greek yogurt. The extra egg and yogurt really made it even better. 

So tasty

Then I decided to make soup. I remembered this 13 bean blend that my friend Angela used to make a soup with and figured it would make a great 0 point soup. So I got it. 

I soaked the beans overnight. In the morning I removed 3 cups of beans (it makes a shit load of beans) and put them in the fridge to do something else with. 

I put the rest of the beans into my crockpot. I added a chopped onion, 4 chopped garlic cloves, a 15 oz. can of basil, garlic and onion diced tomatoes, two boulion cubes, 2 bay leaves a little pepper and a dash of salt. Filled the crock pot almost to the top with water and put it on low for the day. 

OMG - it's YUMMY. So flavorful, hearty and comforting. It's a winner. Even my husband who's not particularly trying to lose weight loves it.  

It's really yummy

Please don't ask me how many servings it is - Just know it's a lot and I will be having this soup all week.  :)

Thanks for following my journey. How was your week? 

XO

Jen 

Weighing In - Week One

I felt really good going into this week's weigh-in. I feel like I did a lot of things right. I made it to the gym 3 times where I at least ran/walked for no less than 30 minutes. (Surpassed my Weight Watcher goal of 72 FitPoints and actually earned 80!)

THE GOOD: I was very mindful of what I ate and tracked every day. I managed to earn the "within healthy point range" for 6 days in a row. 

TY WW app. I am proud :) 

THE BAD: I didn't drink enough water and I didn't get in any strength training which I'd like to try to work on.  I also drank alcohol (using my points!) almost every day. I should cut back on that but for better or worse I enjoy my nightly cocktail. 

I also did all of that even though between the holiday, working all week and a snow day, my routine was completely off.

So week one is in the books and the good news? I lost 3.8 pounds! Yay! This brings me 176.4 :)  I never thought I'd put a smiley face next to 176.4 but progress is progress and I'll take the victories as they come. 

Over the hill! 

My first goal is to get to 165 which is my Weight Watcher's goal (At this weight my doctor has determined that I'm healthy). At 165 I reach "lifetime" status again and don't have to pay for meetings as long as I stay at that weight or below. Plus most of my clothes fit (or fit better) at that weight.

My second goal is to get to and maintain between 150 -155.  

But my ultimate goal is to really just live healthfully and happily. If that's at 155 or 158 or 160 - so be it. I don't have to be skinny. I don't want to obsess over the number once I'm in the healthy range for me. I want to enjoy good whole foods, I want to work out hard, I want to be able to run the Chicago Marathon in October strong. I want to be fit. My goal is not to have the smallest ass or boast a size 2 label. My goal is to be happy, healthy and comfortable in my own skin.

I am not paid to endorse Weight Watchers. I do sing their praises because it's worked for me in the past and will work for me again. With that said, I have to say once again, I LOVE the new program. It's just so great knowing that I can EAT if I'm hungry. And I have. This is not a diet. It's a lifestyle that is doable encouraging healthy whole foods. I love that I can make my split pea soup or have a bowl of (lean) turkey chili or just grab a hard-boiled egg to take the edge off being hungry without having to burn any points. 

How was your first week of 2018?

XO

Jen 

Happy New Year's Eve! My Ugly Weight Watcher Weigh-In

Happy almost 2018! 

Went to Weight Watchers this morning for my weekly weigh-in and as suspected it was a shit show. I mentioned the other day that I love the new Weight Watcher's Freestyle program and I'd lost 5 pounds the first week. The new program is great... when you actually do it.  I ate like an asshole indulgently the last two weeks and drank dirty martinis like I had stock in olives and vodka, and well, I gained four back.

For accountability, I will be sharing my weight with the world after each weigh-in. Or at least the 5 of you who read this blog). This is terrifying but I think that sharing the good, bad, and ugly of the journey is important. So my starting weight as of right now is 180.2 - I haven't weighed this in at least seven years. Kind of a bummer but no surprise. You can't eat and drink like I have and fizzle out on the working out part and expect the scale not to "reward" you with a nice hefty gain. Worse than the scale though is how tight my clothes feel and how I don't love what I see looking back at me in the mirror lately. I came to identify myself as a runner and lately I just feel like a slug. An imposter. My goal weight is 150. I hung around the 160's like 165'ish for a long time and now I find myself here. Oh well. I can get hung up on this number or I can do something about it. So here we go.

So that's the bad news. But here's the good. I really do like the new program and I'm ready to get going. For the first time, in a long time, I feel energized to get back on track and back to me. I feel my best when I'm working out, eating right and taking care of myself. I want that feeling back. I can't change the past but can change what I do right now. That's what I'm focusing on. 

After the meeting today I went to the gym and ran/walked for four miles. It felt really awesome to be moving and was literally a step in the right direction. Then I came home and made some foods to help support my eating right this week. I made a slow cooker Freestyle Split Pea Soup (0 points on Weight Watchers!) Here's the recipe. And then I made this delicious chicken cutlet thing w/diced tomatoes and white beans - Recipe here. 

Split Pea Soup ingredients

So onward and upward!

Thanks for joining me on this journey and I wish you all the best in 2018.

XO
Jen