Face it Friday - Frustration OVER

I am human! I know folks it is a shocking revelation, but I am not always the perfect Weight Watchers member and I tend to think that is why you all can relate. We are human. Life happens. Then I realize "I Am Still Learning"!!

So a week ago today I stepped back on the scale for the first time in three weeks. We had been traveling each Friday to either Chicago for the Half Marathon or Maine for relaxation (not that I am complaining at all).

But I got on the scale on August 2 and was up 4 lbs since my last home weigh-in

July 13 - 155.2

August 2 - 159.3

(Note: I NEVER thought I would be upset/mad to see a 159 on a scale! Oh how times change...)

Well that was expected with vacation and taking advantage of stopping at all our favorite spots in Chicago. ;) But it was time to get refocused.

So on August 3, it was back to tracking. I was determined over the next 11 days to track everything (be a #trackstar), get 100oz of water each day, do a plankaday and hit all of my Good Health Guidelines.

At the same time I was starting full on Marathon Training...

so it was time! :)

Thanks to my ActiveLink I am wicked aware of my activity and motivated to top myself each day.

Well by Monday morning I was up to 60-something Activity Points, yet I got on the scale and nada.

Say whhaa?? Usually after a few days back on plan and that much activity, I woulda seen some movement but nope.

So it was time to bring in my reinforcements ... my #wwmafia crew (which is a group of WW Leaders and Receptionists that are the bomb biggity - yup I just used bomb biggity).

I asked for their advice and soaked it all in.

Because I can use all my WW Leader info on myself, but sometimes you need to hear it from someone else to get it to sink in.

So I kept on doing what I was doing:

*Eating 26 DPT a day

*Eating/Drinking all 49 of my Weekly Points

*Not touching my Activity Points

*Drinking at least 100oz of water a day

*Kept up my plank a day streak

I checked in again on Wednesday...

(Note: I am broke my own rule this week by weighing myself more than 2 times a week and I was upset with myself for doing that, but I got swept up in my own crazy!)

... and nada!

I started to look through my tracker and share with my most trusted WW Leaders and Receptionists to get their thoughts.

Common theme: water retention. Yup, indicator to me? Not able to get any of my rings off my fingers.

But I stuck with it!

I could've just given up and said Screw it! I'm having Chinese food but no! I trust WW and know it works.

I tallied up 111 AP this week - thanks ActiveLink for pushing me to light those darn lights up! ;)

So I got on the scale this morning and BAM. It worked.

Home Scale read 156.2.

WOO!

And the official Weight Watchers Lifetime/Employee weigh-in read .... 156.4!

WOO!

In range (153-157) and once again proving that WW works.

Now, for me ... this summer has been a HUGE adjustment. Not only are we in a new place and I am in a new job, I have now had to adjust to attending BBQs and having a social life. ;) Well going from working like 100 hours a week to not, I feel like a new member now (like I've written before). So now adjusting to social life and learning how to handle the delicate time of Lifetime/maintenance.

This whole summer has been a welcomed learning curve. I have learned to really keep my fitness up in the times of Happy Hours, BBQs and vacations.

Thankfully, I have a great support system that will not let me get too far off the deep end. They keep me in check and I would be LOST without them!!

So let's as a group just make it through these last few weeks of summer and move on ... to Birthday Season!

Oh darn... ;)

But moral of the story is: I Am Human ... and I am Still Learning!

Face It Friday – 0.2 lb Gain

Ladies and Gentlemen, this weigh-in shows that tracking and activity and Weight Watchers works. Why you might ask?

Well in full disclosure I weighed in June 1 at 154.8 (0.2 under goal - Woo!) and proceeded to slip up. Oh hell, eat and drink my way through June. Yup! I basically took most of the month of June off from tracking my food. I just sort of went off the Weight Watchers deep end if you will.

BUT ... I did up my activity. I am training for a half marathon so I am putting some serious miles on my sneakers and hitting up a lot of cross training.

When I checked in with myself on June 19 I had probably put on almost 5 lbs. YOWZA!! That's not good.

So I UPPED the activity and when I weighed myself at home on June 29 I had only gained 0.1 lbs from the previous home weigh in 10 days prior. Now during that time my eating was atrocious, but my activity kicked serious butt.

This my friends proves that activity can help you maintain, but you need healthy food choices + activity to = weight loss.

SOOOO on June 29 my dear friend Lindsey (who does WW online) and I decided to make July our bi-atch. Is that how you spell that? I'm not hip enough to really know that lingo. But I digress...

So after the July 4 holiday I got off my bad food wagon and hit the scale. Ooohhh that number wasn't pretty. It was literally 6 lbs heavier than my home weigh in on June 1 ... and 3 lbs over my Lifetime status range.

Oh no that wasn't gonna stop me.

I stepped into BEAST MODE.

I made the week after my bi-atch. I tracked every BLT. I measured out my wine. I weighed all my food. I blogged every food log. I upped my activity even more thanks to the extra incentive of AL (aka Active Link).

And what happened?

I weighed in this morning officially 0.2 lbs heavier than on June 1 ... and right ON GOAL - 155 even.

Yes! Woo!

But more importantly I felt AWESOME this last week. I tracked for 8-consecutive days for the first time since December 2011 and felt in control.

I felt on top of the world.

So yes, I may have slip and slided for 3 weeks, but I got myself back on track.

Why?

Because I NEVER want to go back to where I started. So even seeing how a 5 lb gain - even though most of it may have been bloating or what not - was not fun. I felt GROSS. I never thought I would be in the 150s and feel uncomfortable,

But I did.

And now ... I. Am. Back.

So yes I tripped, but before I hurled myself down the rest of the stairs. I caught myself on the railing and picked myself back up.

And THAT is what matters!

What A Fabulous Friday...

...when I went to bed last night I was decently happy with how May turned out. I hadn't accomplished all of the goals I had set out, BUT the month was leaps and bounds better than April. So I had no idea that June would start off with such a bang today! If this is any indication of how June is going to turn out ... let's do it!! ;)

To begin with today is Face It Friday and I got it done. I wasn't totally sure what to expect on the scale since I had taken full advantage of the three-day weekend with the wife. BUT, I did run and workout a lot so I thought I would come out even. And...

I lost 0.4 lbs and came in 0.2 lbs UNDER goal! WOO! I will take it.

—

Today: Loss 0.4

Starting Weight: 217.4

Today’s Weight: 154.8

Total Lost: 62.6

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Wow! I was happy to see that as even though I had been working out a lot - I felt blah. You know what I mean? I felt sluggish and run down this week. I think the higher pollen rate had something to do with it.

But, I woke up this morning feeling good, fit and trim ... and the scale agreed!

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Did you know today is National Donut Day?

Yeah - I didn't. So when I went to get my usual Dunkins Medium French Vanilla Iced Coffee with Skim Milk and Three Equal (1 PP), they asked me if I wanted a free donut. I swear the glazed donut (my favorite) was beckoning me to take her home.

NO! Okay, in my head I screamed no, but to the woman behind the counter I calmly and rationally said "No, thank you."

I felt accomplished ... even though I came home and splurged on the pizza I didn't eat last night (but today is a new week with a new 49 weekly points so I felt okay).

After some errands and snuggling with the pups, the word went out from Sparkly Soul that I was named their Blogger of the Month for June! Woo!! I want to thank everyone that nominated me ... including myself! Yes, I owe myself a treat. ;)

But, this is such an honor. I not only love wearing their product, I love what the company stands for.

There are definitely mornings when I am feeling a little off that I can turn it around by putting on my Sparkly Soul headband ... and I start feeling fierce! :)

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I also found out that my ninth - yes ninth - Weight Watchers at work meeting will be starting this week (4 on Tuesdays, 1 on Wednesdays, 4 on Thursdays). Woo! I can't believe how much has changed in the four months I have been with Weight Watchers.

It is an amazing feeling to help people on such a personal journey...

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So June 1st, you have rocked ... and you aren't even over yet!!

I can't wait to see what the rest of the month has to offer...

Face It Friday - 1.2 lb Loss

Yes folks! I kept talking about transitioning from Truth Tuesdays to Face It Fridays, but I finally had an OFFICIAL Face It Friday with the Weight Watchers scale ... since my last official WW weigh-in/last Truth Tuesday post on April 4, I've only been weighing  in/monitoring on my home scale. Why? Well, when you are Lifetime you only have to officially weigh-in once a month. But the real reason was, I wasn't happy with the numbers I was seeing on the scale because I was having a tough month regulating my off plan vs. on plan days ... too many off plan days in my mind. So I set up a goal for myself called Marvelous May to try and get me back on track.

Well, I didn't stick to every little thing I had set out to do, but I did much better overall in May than I did in April.

I have posted a food log for 19 of 24 days in May ... even if I didn't figure out the points value for everything I ate, I at least wrote it down. I am really proud of myself for that.

So back to today. This morning, I got my lightest dress on and headed out to work ... and weigh-in.

(Note: Weight Watchers employees need to weigh-in once a month so I was cutting it close this month)

I was the first one in so I was able to weigh myself in before the official weigh-in. ;)

Anyway, I got on the scale and ....

I was 155.2! Woo! Just 0.2 lbs over goal! YAY!

I was beyond thrilled!! If you can't tell...

—

Today: Loss 1.2

Starting Weight: 217.4

Today’s Weight: 155.2

Total Lost: 62.2

—

I was able to give myself my third Bravo sticker, which meant I have weighed in within my goal range (153-157) for the last three months since hitting Lifetime in February. :)

I like stickers!

Reminding myself of how far I've come keeps me motivated to maintain...

... and keep this healthy lifestyle going for the rest of my life!