Christy

Hello brand new week! I’m so happy to see you. Seriously. After last week’s Flex Points debacle, I’m ready for a clean slate and a fresh set of Points. I will never, ever act like that again! Promise!

So on to the good stuff!

Last week’s weight: 140
This week’s weight: 138
Change: -2 POUNDS <—--Did you see that? OMFG! I haven’t lost 2 pounds in a month, muchless ONE week, in I don’t even know how long!

THIS is why we sing the praises of Weight Watchers. This very reason. If you do it, and  you are honest with yourself in tracking your points, it works. Simple. Yes, it’s a little cumbersome when you first start out, but isn’t anything new? If you are on the fence about Weight Watchers, please get off and give it a try.

What did I learn this week? I learned that I need to plan a little better for my splurges. There is nothing wrong with splurging. As a matter of fact, I think you HAVE to splurge every now and then, or else you’ll go completely insane and the paddy wagon will pull up in your driveway.

I also learned that my indulgences are not what they used to be. One night this past week, I was starving to death (because I blew all my Flex Points) and wanted something, anything to eat. I grabbed the nearest thing and plunged it into Cool Whip. The nearest thing was a Z-bar, okay TWO Z-bars, and the Cool Whip was light. While I totally used Points I didn’t have, it could have been so much worse. The old me would have grabbed a 1/2 gallon of ice cream out of the freezer and polished most of it off. In one sitting. With chocolate sauce and probably nuts, too. Yeah, that was me.

So I am victorious this week, because I finally realized that I’ve been successful! I have changed my LIFESTYLE, and that is a huge win for me.

Also, if you haven’t joined us on Twitter for our Last Chance Tworkouts during the Biggest Loser, you totally should! You’re missing out Just check it out for  yourself.

With my travel last week, I didn’t have an opportunity to write my post out for the 1st Monday Project. Well, maybe I did and I was just avoiding it…

What about 2009 (and beyond) did not work? What were my goals? Did I fall short of achieving them? If so, why? What were my biggest obstacles? What were my patterns? What was my “rock bottom” moment? What are my bad habits? Sit down and think about each question and answer them as fully and completely as you can in your mind. Target your patterns and obstacles that have impeded your efforts in the past, the potential hazards for this time around. Is it sweets at work? No support from your family? No motivation to work out because it’s too early or too late? Eating at night? Emotional eating? Negative self-talk? Are you stuck? No time?

Last year was the first full year of the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. I started out the year with a gigantic gain of over 6 pounds due to terrible eating over the holidays. It was a huge slap in the face for me. Throughout the course of 2009, my weight went down, but I had so many weeks with gains. I know that tracking my points using Weight Watchers online worked for me, because the weeks I tracked diligently, I had loses.

In April of 2009, the Sisterhood starting Shredding using Jillian Michaels’ 30-Day Shred DVD. It was the first time I had added consistent exercise into my routine, and it was also the point when my Points tracking went by the wayside. I think I got a little arrogant, and figured that working out was more than enough, and while I still tried to eat healthfully, I wasn’t keeping track. Huge FAIL.

Looking back, it’s so obvious to me now that I needed BOTH. I needed consistent exercise and I needed to track everything that went into my pie hole. Without BOTH, I was basically struggling for very small losses, maintaining, and even gaining small amounts each week. That struggle gave me a poor attitude and kept me from finally reaching my goal.

On a positive note, I did dip into the 130 briefly in 2009, and my overall loss for the year was 18 pounds. Really not shabby, but as I said before, there were lots of weeks when I gained, and if I’d been in the right frame of mind, I probably wouldn’t have had as many of those weeks.

Then, take a look at 2009 and beyond and think about what did work. Because you don’t want to fix what ain’t broke. If something worked for you, if you felt progress somewhere, found successes, (because along the journey there are a million tiny victories, many of them non-scale related!), what were those? All of your victories are a very big deal! Give yourself a high five, out loud, to everyone!

In 2009, I incorporate physical activity into my routine, and that WORKED. I had more energy, felt great, and started to feel muscles in places that were just soft before. I loved the way working out made me feel, and the compliments I received from people only fueled the fire. I had a HUGE ah-ha moment when I realized that losing all the weight was great, but not being toned and fit when I reached that point would leave me short of my goal. So I exercised. I shredded, jumped on the EA SPORTS Active train with Personal Trainer, More Workouts, and the 5K challenge.

Looking back, I also realize I really woke up and started thinking about what I was putting in my body. I realized that processed foods were just bad, and I really cracked down on my intake of fruits and vegetables. I also started focusing on my water intake, and noticed a huge improvement in the way I felt as a fully hydrated person.

The part three of this project is to work out those bugs from 2009. For anything that didn’t work, think about your proposed solutions to the issues.

As far as solutions go, since I know working out worked for me in 2009, I am fully committed to continuing down that path. With the Sisterhood 1/2 marathon training about to kick off, I’m totally psyched about where my body will take me in 2010. I also plan to keep up with my strength training so my body will be in top condition for training and running.

I know where I need the most work, and that’s in the food intake accountability area. I NEED to track my points. I need to know what’s going into my body. I need to make sure I’m staying within my Points allowance if I want to see the scale move down. I also realize I need to tweak what I’m eating in order to fuel my body for the physical activities I’m taking part in.

This year will be the year it all comes together for me. I will reach my goal weight through tracking Points on Weight Watchers online, decide whether my goal weight is the right place for me, will train and run the San Diego Rock ‘n Roll 1/2 marathon as part of Team Shrinking Jeans, and will do it all consistently. No more arrogance. No more slacking. No more excuses.

The end.

p.s. Thank you Christie. Thank you so much for putting together this awesome new feature for the Sisterhood. Thank you for posing the tough questions and making me really, really think about my journey. You rock, and I love you.

Howdy y’all! Sorry I didn’t get a chance to post yesterday, but we’re on a family ski vacation, and I was busy with new challenge stuff yesterday!

ANYWAY, first things first. I want to give a HUGE shout out to our very own Christie O. for putting together the most amazing challenge the Sisterhood has ever seen. Yes, our past challenges have been fabulous, but this one takes the cake. Okay, maybe cake isn’t the best thing to talk about (or think about) right now. But you get my point. CHRISTIE, I LOVE YOU!!!!

Since I’m out of town, and unable to weigh in (yeah, imagine that! I, the OCD weigher, left my scale at HOME!), I’m just going to go with last week’s weigh in of:

140.4

Although in my heart of hearts, I know that is way off. You see, this past week hasn’t been pretty at all. Yes, I’ve been taking ski lessons, which surely counts for something, but I’ve also thrown caution to the wind when it comes to my eating. I’m not going to go into details, because honestly, I really don’t want to remember all the crap I’ve consumed.

I’m ready to start fresh with this challenge. I’m ready to Rethink MY Shrink!

So, according to Christie, I need to:

1. Figure out my eating plan. Well, since I’ve always used Weight Watchers, with great success in the past, I am going to get back on that bandwagon. I have fallen off of counting points, and honestly I’ve gotten a little overconfident in my ability to guesstimate how many Points I’ve consumed. Time to Rethink it all and get back to the basics of counting and eating my daily Points allotment. Another thing I’m thinking of doing, since I saw it on another blog (which I can’t remember right now, but when I do I’ll share it with you), is taking pictures of all my food (before I eat) and posting it here every day. I mean think about it, if I have to show you pictures of what I’m eating, don’t you think it will make me think TWICE about eating something I shouldn’t or too much of something I should. Anyway, it’s just a thought, so let me know if you’d be interested in seeing what I’m eating!
2. Get your workouts in order. Since I’m still participating in the EA SPORTS Active More Workouts 6-Week Challenge, I’m going to continue on with it, and probably start up another 6-week challenge when I’m done. I also plan to run, run, and run some more. I am training for a 1/2 marathon, you know!
3. Since the Sisterhood of the Shrinking jeans has already infiltrated my life (it’s my baby!), I don’t have a problem joining, taking part, and offering as much support as I can! I’m here for you, (wo)man!!!!

So there it is. The beginning of my plan to Rethink MY Shrink. I know I will be adding to it, honing it, and making it more doable for me, but I think I’m off to a good start!

OH! My goal for the next 7 weeks? *big sigh* Since I never seem to meet my weight-loss goals, I’m not going to set one this time around. I’m a little over 10 pounds from my GOAL weight, and sure I’d love to be there in 7 weeks! I think my goals are going to be:

1. GET ON WW ONLINE AND DO IT! No excuses. NONE.
2. EXERCISE! Strength training, running, cardio.
3. WATER! OMG, I have fallen off on my water intake, and that’s one thing I know helps me lose weight! WATER has got to be a priority!
4. FRESH! I need to start consuming fresh, fresh, fresh food.

LET’S DO IT! It’s time to Join the Revolution AND Rethink Your Shrink!

WHOOOOOOOOOOO-WEEEEEEEE. What.a.week. Seriously. Thanksgiving is a tough, tough week. Especially when you are trying to shrink. I set out with big plans. BIG PLANS, y’all. I had my menu planned, and it was traditional. I cannot mess with old family recipes. There is no lightening them up. It was all going to be about self-control and being active.

On Thanksgiving morning, I got up, got dressed, and hit the road for a 5 mile run. I ran the entire thing, and it was amazing! I felt like my day and week were starting off great. I came home and cooked, we ate, I went for a walk, and I did my EA SPORTS Active workout. I was proud as pie.

The weekend was a blur of Christmas tree shopping, decorating, eating out, snacking, and leftovers. I didn’t have time to run, and Saturday and Sunday were my off days from EA SPORTS Active. When I stepped on the scales Sunday morning, I was devastated. I was up several pounds, and it was a huge slap in the face. I buckled down, started guzzling water and fired up More Workouts on my day off. I knew if I was going to undo the damage I’d have to be serious.

Flash forward to this morning. After a long and sleepless night (thanks to my son falling out of the bed, and my daughter removing her diaper and peeing all over her bed), I groggily stepped on the scale. Totally forgot to turn on the light, so I couldn’t see the number! Light on, scale read, and happy dance!

KA-POW (that’s me sucker punching the turkey)!!! I managed to LOSE weight over Thanksgiving week. I think this could be a historical moment for me. I should have prepared a speech.

Where would I be without the Sisterhood? Probably back in the 150s, out of shape, tired all the time, and unhappy. But now I’m just about to say BUH-BYE to the 140s forEVER.

Last week: 141.6
This week: 140.8
Change: -0.8 HOLLA!

Miles this week: 7
Total miles for the challenge: 31

Since the challenge started, I am down 1.2. My goal was to lose 5 pounds, so we’ll see if I can make it. Only 2 more weeks to go!

Be sure to check out my EA SPORTS Active for Life entries over here! Give me some love while you’re there, k?
You can also check out my Daily Mile page, where I keep track of my miles!!

Day 1 was GREAT! I was actually excited to get started, and since I was already familiar with all the exercises and the way it works, I dove in.

I’m going to copy Melissa and do a bulleted list

• I chose to do the hardest level of workout and I like it.
• The inline skating, which I did not use the Wii Balance Board for, were very intense. I was jumping high, and my thighs were on FIRE!
• Like several others have mentioned, I might invest in a better resistance band. I don’t feel like my arms are getting much of a workout when I’m using the one that came with the game.
• I was very sweaty when I was done, but had amazing levels of energy all day!! Love that!!
• I did wear a sports bra. Thank God.

I’m really looking forward to tomorrow!! The fact that the workout is different every day is so very appealing

Starting Monday, the Sisterhood is taking part in the EA Sports Active 30-Day Challenge. This is my beginning profile.

Name: Christy
Age: 33
Hometown: Leakey, Texas
Family: Me, the hubs, BJ (5), & Mia (21 months)

1) Complete the following sentence – “When I look in the mirror I see…Someone who looks a lot better than she did 5 years ago, and who doesn’t have much further to go!

2) What exercise do you take? What’s your current level of fitness?
I’m a sporadic exerciser. I really enjoy being outside and hiking, but it’s been WAY too hot this summer. I participated in the 30-Day Shred with the Sisterhood, and have used other workout DVDs and the Wii Fit. I would say I have  a moderate level of fitness. I’m not totally out of shape, but I could stand to have some more endurance and strength.

3) How do you relax?
I love to read. Books, blogs, magazines, etc. I also like to watch some TV.

4) Do you watch your weight?
Every single day I’m a chronic weigher!

5) What’s your favorite body part?
My neck and shoulders. Okay, so that’s two, but they’re kinda together!

6) What’s your least favorite body part?
My stomach.

7) What’s your favorite way to workout?
Walking or hiking.

 8) Its time to work out, we’re most likely to find you decked out in?
Shorts and a tshirt with tennis shoes. Oh, a ponytail, too!

9) You’re due to workout, but it’s pouring rain. What do you do?
Workout inside using Wii Fit or a DVD.

10) What’s the one item you wouldn’t be without when working out?
Water.

11) What do you hope to get from the 30 Day Challenge?
I hope to be well on my way to shedding the last 15 pounds clinging to my body.

12) What are you apprehensive about going in?
The committment! Like I said, I’m sporadic at working out!

13) How will you reward yourself after the challenge?
Hmmm. Maybe some new jeans, or an online shopping spree!

14) Complete the following sentence – “I’m Active for …”
Myself. I want to be the best that I can be, and I know being active is the only way I’m going to get there and stay there!

Today was Day5 of the 30 Day Shred here at the Sisterhood, and I have to say it was my best day yet! I can honestly say I loved it today!!

Here’s how it all went down. I put my daughter, Mia, down for her morning nap as usual and planned to get Shredding right away, only this time with my 5 year old son. I knew I needed to invite him to do it with me, otherwise I’d end up cussing at him instead of Jillian because he can be quite annoying distracting when I’m trying to concentrate on something  that is not him. He was very excited to join me and drug out the mat and all the hand weights while I got the TV on and the DVD player set up. The only problem was I couldn’t find our universal remote, which meant I couldn’t switch the TV to the DVD player input thing, or whatever. You know what I mean. So after 20 minutes of searching high and low, and realizing the last time I’d seen it was when my previously mentioned daughter, who’s 16 months old, was hauling it around when I was making dinner last night. Yep, there was no chance in hell I was going to find it, so I started pushing buttons until I saw Jillian’s punk-ass face on the screen. Of course I realized that I could have been done with the damn thing by then, but I got up and got started. My son was seriously cracking me up! If it had been an earlier day, I might not have been able to handle him being right next to me, since I was in such intense pain before. But today was much easier, and I even swapped out the 3 pound weights for the 5 a couple of times. The anterior raises and side squats still made my arms tremble, but not AS much!! So he pretty much did the whole workout with me, except he did have to sit out a few of the exercises because he ‘needed a break’, but I was impressed with his stamina and coordination.

I had fun, and I did it despite all the roadblocks I had to navigate around: lost remote, son being home, etc. The old me would have easily said, “screw it, I’ll skip today and pick back up tomorrow” or “I need a day off, it’s been 4 days….” Yeah, that was me. I hated to exercise and looked for every excuse in the book not to do it. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever stuck with anything exercise related for 5 consecutive days in my life.

Did I mention I hated to exercise? I lost almost 50 pounds without exercising one tiny bit, and dammit, that’s how I was going to finish it off. Now I realize that it can’t be that way. It’s harder to lose now that I’m getting closer to my goal, and my body is trying desperately to hold on to that muffin top and saddle bags. I have to exercise to jump start my metabolism. Plus, who wants to lose all that weight and be all jiggly and flabby? What’s the point of being thin if you’re going to be too self-conscious to wear shorts or *gasp* a bathing suit, right? And to be honest, I hate my arms. HATE them. They are flabby and not pretty. I want to wear cute summer shirts with cap sleeves, or no sleeves!! So exercise I must, and I’m so, so, so glad that I’ve finally found an exercise program I can stick with. And I can stick with it, and I will stick with it, because I LOVE TO SHRED!!!

p.s. I found the remote tonight. In the pantry, behind a bunch of crap on the floor. Silly little Mia.

p.p.s. I’ve been on Amazon all night checking out Jillian Michaels’ other workout DVDs and several of them look very exciting to me! Particularly the Banish Fat Boost Metabolism and No More Trouble Zones. I think I’ll be adding those to my list and picking them up as soon as the 30-Day Shred is done!! I can hardly wait!

Yes, I’m home, and I’m so glad. Don’t get me wrong, I had a WONDERFUL time, but is it just me, or do you feel so unsure when you’re away from home? Unsure of whether you’ll be able to stick with your plan, unsure of whether you’ll be able to resist all the tempting food? Unsure of whether you even care to stick with the plan or resist? I feel in control when I’m at home and feel like I have the potential for out of control behavior when I’m away from home for long stretches. Maybe I just don’t fully trust myself yet? I don’t know. Do you feel that way? Ever?

Overall, I think I did great this weekend. I said no to many dessert opportunities, I chose lighter options at each restaurant and chose not to eat all of my meals. AND, we walked about 200 miles over 3 days. Okay, maybe not 200, but close. Trust me. I wore Mia (yeah, I’m a babywearer) the whole time, so I burned some extra calories thanks to my little bluebird. I can feel it, too. In my hips, thighs and butt. My scale was being a pain in the ass today, telling me I was up a couple of pounds, but I know that’s just because she’s mad at me for being gone for so long. I fully expect her to be nicer tomorrow morning and even more so on Wednesday!\

So how was your weekend? Did you soar or sink?

Do you realize this is the last week of our Looking Fine for Valentine’s Challenge? Do you know what that means? We’ll soon know who the biggest shrinker is, AND we’ll have a brand new challenge starting next week. This will be a mini-challenge. A shorter and sweeter challenge.

I am so very happy to have moved into the 140s this week. I feel like I’ve been running backwards for the past two months, and now I’ve finally taken a huge leap forward!

I’ve been sitting here going over the past week in my mind and I want to make a note of what I did that worked.

• I counted every sinlge point and I logged them into WW Online. Every snack, every bite, everyTHING!
• I upped my veggies. I bought a huge tub of baby spinach and had a salad with almost every meal in addition to the steamed veggies I prepared. Lots and lots of salad with a light balsamic vinagrette.
• I upped my dairy. I’m normally a huge milk drinker, but I got to the point where I didn’t want to spend my points on a beverage. I mean come on, 2 points for a cup of milk seems like overkill. But I drank my milk (2 cups a day) and I logged the points.
• I didn’t eat all of my Flex Points. The reason is that I feel like the extra points I’m getting for breastfeeding are a little much. I’m allowed 10 extra points and opted to use 9, which are added into my daily allotment. I’ve been using all of my points everyday, but didn’t feel the need to use all of my Flex Points. For the most part, I’ve been completely satisfied everyday with 29 points.
• I got moving. I finally got my Wii Fit and I’ve been using it. Not as much as I should be, but I have used it. And I’m sore, so I know that my movement is paying off a little!

I never, ever want to see the 150s again. EVER. I am looking forward to making my way down the 140s and into the 130s soon. Is it possible that I might look good in a swimsuit this summer? That I might be able to buy a size 10 jeans in a month or so? I love it!! I can’t wait to shrink some more.