Goodbye Weight Watchers...

So on Saturday I weighed in. I'd stayed exactly the same. I'd tracked... I'd measured & weighed... I'd gulped water like it was going out of style. I'd spun (spinned?) (span?) until my butt was bruised and sore... I'd even run. (Have we talked about how I'm the world's worst runner and how every time I do it I literally think in my head "OMGIHATETHISIHATETHISIHATETHISHOWDOESANYONEDOTHISFORMORETHAN10MINUTESWITHOUTDYING?")

And yet?

Nothing.

*SIGH* 

If you follow me on Twitter you've already heard some of my grumbly tweets but here's the deal..

The Saturday before Easter I hit 90lbs lost. Now... Since then I've gained about 6lbs. I've also lost it. And then gained it again. And then lost it. And, yes, you're catching a theme here... lost it again. Studying for the bar exam didn't help things. I took basically a full 2 month hiatus from working out, save for doing the Couch-2-5k program intermittently and doing some weights/ball workouts in my house. I tried to make up for my HUGE decrease in exercise by fanatically controlling my food intake. However, surprise, surprise, I gained 4lbs. No big deal, I thought... I'll lose it in a week after getting back into a groove.

Ok.

So I'm back in a groove. (SORT OF.) I'm going to the gym 3-4 times a week. I'm making food. I'm working which means I'm on my feet for 4-6 hours a day without sitting or eating or stopping to do anything to make myself fatter.

Yet... Nothing. 

So I had a come-to-jesus meeting with myself and my body this week. I need to lose 25 more pounds. While I love everyone that says "You'll be emaciated!" "You look perfect, no need to lose anymore!" "Gosh, you've already lost so much, you can't POSSIBLY need to lose any more!"

It A) isn't true and B) isn't helpful. 

According to my BMI I am still categorized as "obsese." Yes... I know the BMI system is silly and flawed, but still... I'm proving a point. I still can't wear jeans most jeans that are a size 12... While my top is slimly (or so I think) ensconced in a size 10 in most tops now... My bottom can't seem to part ways with a 14. Now... I'm not complaining.
Did I, when pouring myself into a generous size 22 jeans (and laying down to zip them)  contemplate that I would even get an ankle into a size 12, much less an entire thigh?
NEVER. 

But now it is in reach. I've accepted the fact that I will never be lean and thin and wear tiny jeans. I've accepted the fact that I have junk in the trunk and always will... I will always be referred to as "curvy"... I will always have unfortunate legs, chubby knees & cankles. It is what it is. I just want a slightly smaller... 25 lbs exactly... version of them.

I've taken the week to try out slimfast shakes and to devise a strategy to shock my system back into losing. While I *LOVE* Weight Watchers... I'm thinking that my time as a loyal follower might have come to an end. The flexibility is great and it REALLY has taught me how to eat in moderation and healthily. I've perfected the art of maintaining. I know how to balance my good & my bad. What I need now is structure. I need a "diet." I've already made the lifestyle change and it worked... but to hit my goal I need to start really working.

So... Goodbye for now Weight Watchers... 

It's not you. 

It's me.

I'm almost done creating my "plan" and I'll definitely share that with y'all next week when I start it. It's going to be tough... I'm going to have to get back into the habit of going to the gym 5 days a week... if not 6. I'm going to have to completely cut out some foods that I love, but I think this might work. 

My goal was 25 lbs by Christmas. Now that we've had a bumpy 2 months it's looking more like March. Either way... come hell or high water, I WILL lose it before our first anniversary. After all... I've already said no babies until I meet my goal. Let's just say, we're getting motivated around these here parts! I just wanted to share with you all my struggles because I know I can't be the only one out there having plateau problems.

Tell me- Have you ever hit a HUGE plateau that you haven't been able to break? If so, tell me what worked for you or what helped you hit your goal! 

Sharing is caring, kittens.

Confessions of a Sugar Addict...

So since I've had my "lifestyle change" 2 years ago and started following Weight Watchers, my eating habits have dramatically changed. I eat SO much healthier than I used to. I do it without even thinking about it now. However, I'd noticed in the past few months a trend that I need to curtain... and a development that is starting to worry me...

I have developed a sweet tooth. 

I NEVER used to be into sweet stuff. If given the choice between a bag of doritos and a bag of M&Ms, I'd always pick the Doritos. I loved chips. Loved, loved, lovvveedddd chips and salty things, but not so much sweet stuff. Fast forward to now. I have almost completely cut out potato chips, pretzels, salty snacks completely. I still have baked chips every now and again but in the past two months I've literally had chips once, with my subway sub. Have I been so good about sweet stuff? NO! I do not know what has gotten into me but I've been eating sugar like it is going out of style. I usually have one piece of chocolate before bed every night but now I've starting popping little treats throughout the day. I've been having mini-reese cups randomly, or a couple of swedish fish, or CANDY CORN(!!) orrrrr a skinny cow ice cream, or a cookie, or a cupcake. But it is like adding up to a LOT of sugar every day. I've still been losing weight each week, but it's being a little too slow for me and I want to speed it up.

SO.

This week I am COMPLETELY cutting out treats. I need a sugar detox. I do not recognize this sweet teeth, I do not know where it came from, but I am ripping this bugger OUT! I am going to start a tumbl'r account so I can post pictures of EVERYTHING I eat for a couple of weeks. I'm counting on y'all to keep me accountable. If you see anything sweet call a sister out! Tell me to throw it away. This is my goal for this week. I'll let y'all know how it goes!

Do y'all find that when you have changed your eating habits that your tastes changed, or is it just me?!

Uh-oh.

Apparently the unlimited pizza, breadsticks, and candy veggies has caught up with me.

I got on the scale this morning. 

3lbs up since Saturday.

UM.

If you need me I'll be running until my legs fall off.

(And NOT eating.) 

Weight Watcher's Wednesday: Seared chicken with mint yogurt dressing

This past weekend I rejoined a weekly meeting here in the UK. It was my first weigh in at an actual meeting since I moved over. While it wasn't pretty, it was NOT as bad as it could have been. I'm excited to be back on the WW fit-train and looking forward to this FINAL leg of my weight loss plan.

I picked up a cookbook while we were there entitled "Cooking for Two." It's perfect for PB & me because all of the recipes are, you guessed it, only 2 servings. Last night we tested our first recipe and it was a KEEPER! You need to make this ASAP. Super easy & super tasty! I made some adjustments based on our tastes & what we had on hand. It's definitely going on our meal plan again next week. We both absolutely loved it!

Seared Chicken with Mint Yogurt dressing 

(9 ProPoints per serving)

(Picture from the cookbook)

Ingredients:

75g (2 3/4oz) dried wholewheat couscous (We used a lemon, parsley & mint blend because our grocery store had no wholewheat options- But I checked and the points was still the same for our blend.)
1/2 kettleful of boiling water (Or just generally follow directions for the couscous on the package. Duh.)
1/2 vegetable stock cube (We omitted because our couscous was already flavored)
300g (10 1/2 oz) skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch wide strips
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp ground coriander (We omitted because we are not coriander fans!)
calorie controlled cooking spray (PAM! for those in the US)
50g (1 3/4 oz) frozen peas (We doubled this amount)
50g (1 3/4 oz) sugar snap peas (Omitted because I didn't have any)
1/2 red pepper, deseeded & cut into thin strips
1 large spring onion, sliced diagonally
salt & freshly ground pepper

For the Mint Yogurt dressing:
small handful of fresh mint
75g (2 3/4 oz) 0% fat Greek Yogurt (don't judge. I used the plain half of a Fage mix-in!)
juice of 1/2 of a lime
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (Omitted because I didn't have any)

Put couscous in a bowl, pour water over to cover, stir in the stock cube and cover. Leave for about 5 minutes until the stock is absorbed and the grains are tender. Fluff using a fork & set aside.

Meanwhile, using a hand blender, blend together all the dressing ingredients, except the cumin seeds. Or, if no blender, finely chop the mint & stir with the remaining ingredients. Season & scatter with the cumin seeds.

Sprinkle the chicken with the thyme & coriander. Seasons and then turn until evenly coated. Heat a griddle pan or non stick frying pan over a high heat. Spray the chicken with the cooking spray. Cook over a medium high heat for 6 minutes, turning once, until cooked through & golden.

Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the peas, sugar snap peas, pepper & spring onion and cook for 3 minutes or until tender. Refresh under cold running water & drain.

To serve, divide the couscous between two large shallow bowls then top with the peas, sugar snap peas, red pepper, spring onion and chicken. Spoon over the dressing before serving.

Our final product!

Delicious! If you try it, let me know what you think!

PranaVayu Yoga

One of my good friends turned me onto yoga when I moved to Boston two years ago after the campaign. She took me to a class at Exhale Spa taught by David Magone. He is the founder of a type of yoga called PranaVayu.

"PranaVayu Yoga blends specialized vinyasa sequencing, a unique system of skeletal alignment principle, guided meditative practices, and a Buddhist-inspired philosophy of universal interconnectedness. The practice is built on the founding belief that we can help make the world a happier, healthier and kinder place to live by cultivating the best in ourselves."

I LOVE this variety of yoga because of David. He is hilarious, soothing, inspiring and helpful. I remember for the first month of yoga I could NOT get into the wheel. He came over during our class, stood in front of me and had me grab his ankles. I immediately was able to pop up into the wheel (which is a backbend for those unfamiliar). Then the next class I was able to get into it on my own and he came over and whispered a congratulations to me! I also was having trouble with my handstand because of my ginormous booty, but he came over and basically picked up my VERY HEAVY entire lower half to help me up into the handstand! His focus on breathing throughout the sequencing in conjunction with his hands on approach really helps ease you into poses that seem impossible.

He currently teaches at Exhale, The Sports Club LA and Equinox. I joined the Sports Club LA specifically because I wanted to keep going to his classes while also having a "real" gym to use. I can't rave about him enough... It was solely because of him and Pranavayu that I was able to lose my first 30 pounds. I would DRIP sweat each class but over time it's gotten better and I'm SO much stronger for it. I went to a class tonight and even though I haven't been in a while, it was AMAZING what I was able to do and how fantastic I felt afterwards. 90 minutes of sheer bliss!

I encourage all of you Bostonians who might be hesitant about yoga to try a class with David. You'll love it, you'll love him and you'll never want to stop... (PS- It doesn't hurt that he's gorgeous to look at!)

What's your yoga flavor of choice?

Nom... Nom... Nom... Nom...

Being a single (well, not technically, but you know what I mean) super busy law student makes eating healthy and following weight watchers even harder. I've had lots of friends and blog-friends ask me what my go-to meals or snacks are to keep me on track. I've decided to show you an average day of eating for me. I don't know if y'all think this is a dumb thing to share, but I always thinks it helps knowing what other Weight Watchers are doing and strategies used.

Here is what I had on Monday, which is a very long day for me at school.

8AM: Breakfast (5 points)

3/4 cup Kashi Cinnamon Heart to Heart

1/2 cup skim milk

12PM: Snack (3 points)

1 cup grapes

Tea w/ skim milk and splenda

1:30PM: Lunch (7 points)

Leftover stir fry (1 cup of brown rice and 1 1/2 cup of veggies)

Apple

4:00PM: Snack (4 points)

Kashi Coconut & Chocolate bar

Tea w/ skim milk and splenda

7:30PM: Dinner (7 points)

Small salad with broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers and sunflower seeds

1 1/2 cup cauliflower soup

9:30PM: Gym (Earned roughly 7-8 points)

30 mins on level 7 of the Stairmaster

15 minutes on REV bike

45 minutes of weight training (Squats, lunges, arms, abs)

11:15PM: Late-night snack (4 points)

1/2 cup reduced fat Thin-Mint ice cream

1 Cadbury caramel dairy milk square

My daily points allowance is 27 per day. I earned 7 exercise points and used 3 of those in additional to my 27 for a total of 30 points spent on the day. On days when I'm not at school all day, I usually eat a little less and stay right on my points target.

Sometimes I end up going from lunch until 10PM without eating when I get home from school and the gym. Usually on those days when I haven't had time to prepare dinner in advance or don't feel like cooking I'll toast some high-fiber whole wheat toast, put 2 tsp of light mayo on it and cover with cucumber slices and salt and pepper. I'll have that with some grapes and maybe a few "hint of lime" tortilla chips. I ALWAYS end the night with a chocolate. I've found that I just NEED chocolate right before bed. Each square is 1 point so its easy to track and keeps me from going crazy! Also I go by the rule that when I *think* I'm hungry, if I am not willing to eat carrots, I don't need to eat and am not truly hungry.

Hope this ends up helping someone! This works for me, but to each their own!

Weight Watchers Fit Train!

It's been a while since I did a Weight Watchers post! I've been slowly but steadily losing. I've found the more I've lost the slower it goes. So, what have I been doing to get back on the WW Fit Train?

I have been:

• Tracking everything I'm eating (Done everyday this week!)
• Working out daily (Done everyday this week!)
• Trying to keep "treats" down to once a day (Still need to work on this... Oops.)
• Trying to curb my addiction to Starbuck's Morning Buns (NONE this week!)
• Eat more vegetables (Still need to work on this)
• Trying to drink at least 64 oz of water everyday (I keep forgetting my water bottle, so I haven't been good at this!)

How have I been doing weight wise?

Pretty decent. I had a loss of 1.6 this week for a total of 88.5 lost. Only 1.4lbs to go to hit 90! I'm going to work really hard to hit it by next Saturday. (Because Sunday we're indulging in the Grand Buffet at The Four Seasons Boston and I want to be able to sample everything! Goodbye flex points!)

I've been busting my butt at the gym. I signed up for the "Sizzling Summer Shape Up Bootcamp" which started this week. It meets 2x a week for an hour. After the first session I could barely move! I was seriously hobbled. I forced myself to go to the gym the next day anyway. I tried doing the Stairmaster but after 10 minutes my legs were screaming again. I switched to the bike for 40 more minutes. The second session was a little better but I pulled my hamstring... I'm falling apart!

I also went to a drop in ballet class this week at the Boston Ballet. I took dance from the age of 2 through high school (and into college). However, that was a LONG time ago. I was fine at the barre and remembered all the positions, moves, etc. I was able to hold my relevés and my calves didn't seize up. However, the minute we got into the center of the room, I fell apart. I was a bit of a mess! I couldn't remember where my head and arms were supposed to be and the instructor only showed us a combination once before we had to do it. Suffice to say it will take a little time to get back into the swing of it, but it was really fun and I had a great time! I'm going to keep going once a week until I move to England.

I have 40 more lbs to lose to hit my goal. I WANT to do that my December, so I'm going to be super strict from here on out. I've decided that when I hit 100 lbs lost, I'm going to do a HUGE giveaway! Like seriously HUGE. I'm going to give away a basket of all my favorite healthy products... including workout clothes! 

Now, tell me, how have y'all been doing? 

Anyone else doing WW? 

What is your workout routine?

What's Cooking Wednesday

I haven't gotten my Cooking Light for the past two months thanks to a dumb new mailman, so I've been having to check it online. Luckily for me I found this recipe! I plan on making in Sunday. it looks SO yummy and is really healthy. It is only 3 points per serving for you Weight Watchers out there. I'll do a post Monday about how it turns out!

Flatbread with Pancetta, Mozzarella and Asparagus

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
• 1 teaspoon dry yeast
• 6.7 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups), divided
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• Cooking spray
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 ounces pancetta, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 cup very thinly vertically sliced asparagus
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preparation

1. Combine warm water and yeast in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 5.6 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt to yeast mixture; stir until blended. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead dough until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining 1.1 ounces (about 1/4 cup) flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (the dough will feel sticky).

2. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If an indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.)

3. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add thyme, pancetta, and garlic to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until pancetta is crisp. Stir in pepper.

4. Preheat oven to 475°.

5. Place a baking sheet in oven for 15 minutes to preheat. Punch dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Stretch dough into a 10-inch circle on a floured surface. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cornmeal on preheated baking sheet, and place dough on sheet. Spread pancetta mixture evenly over dough. Arrange thinly vertically sliced asparagus over pancetta mixture; sprinkle evenly with shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese. Bake flatbread at 475° for 10 minutes or until crust is golden. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Cut flatbread into 8 wedges.

*Images and recipe from Cooking Light.*

Weight Watchers Recap!!!

I had a FANTASTIC weigh in today.

How much had I lost this week?

0.

That's right.

0.

As in Z-E-R-O.

So why am I happy? Because I was on a CRUISE and the average cruiser gains 8 pounds on a 7 day cruise (Or so says the Google gods and the Celebrity cruise ship staff.) We got back last Saturday night and I weighed in on my own scale and I had gained 4 pounds. I was scared that when I actually got back on the real weight watcher scale today I would still be up a little. I stepped on today with a nervous tummy. I crossed both fingers and was praying I didn't hear the "You're up just a little." And I didn't! She whispered "You stayed the same." and I was ECSTATIC. I don't think she understood why, but I was. I busted my butt this week to lose it!

The day before we got on the cruise I finally hit the exact 60 pounds lost mark! This was a HUGE deal for me. I got to 50 a little while ago but I've been struggling with the last 10. I'd been plateaued for a while and I'm FINALLY back on track. I got a big celebration at the meeting today and about 4 people stopped to congratulate me and to ask me to give them tips.

Now don't get me wrong. It is not fast. I'm currently averaging about 1/2 pound a week. But slow and steady wins the race, right!? I'm all about little goals, so my next goal is to lose 2.2 pounds (I'll lose a point and enter a new 'decade' on the scale.)

(Random Side Note: I think that when I hit my goal weight one day I want to be a WW leader. I think it would be fun and something I'd be good at.)

Here's hoping for another great week!

How was YOUR weigh in this week?!

Self-Intervention (i.e. Diatribe about my eating)

So I had an epiphany this morning during my training session at the gym. I've been busting my butt at the gym for the past month and I've been completely negating all my progress by my eating habits and choices.

After a year and a half of hardcore Weight Watchers and around 60 pounds lost, I've become complacent. I tracked again for a good month but stopped... I weighed and measured again for a good month but stopped... I've been making choices when eating out that are ok, but are not the choices I should be making to reach my goal. In short, I'm half-assing it.

Why am I doing this? Why am I not being strict and healthy and cutting out things that I like, but do not need?

I think it comes down to the fact that I have lost a lot of weight! I mean, all my life I've been pretty huge. I weigh less now than I did my freshman year in high school. The fact that I'm able to actually buy clothes at Gap, JCrew, Saks, without having to order a special size online or to go to a special section makes me SO happy! Part of me is content with the size I am. I'm roughly the size of the average American woman. (ok, so my lower half might be a size bigger, but that doesn't count...) I'm healthy. I am more in shape than the majority of my skinny friends (um. All of my friends are skinny... so maybe not the majority...) I actually DO eat pretty healthily... In short, I am pretty ok with myself right now. This is one reason that I've become complacent.

Another reason? I get resentful. When I'm in the law school and I see tiny girls who eat essentially whatever they want, I get resentful! Why are they skinny and can eat a tuna melt and why do I gain 5 pounds if I so much as look at a tuna melt? I don't think it is fair. I don't think it's fair that I gain weight if I so much as sniff something with butter in it. I know part of it is genetic and part of it is the way people eat ALL the time, not just one meal, but it's still annoying.

I wish I was one of those super healthy people who loves brown rice, flax seed oil, radishes, organic peanut butter and hates processed foods, but I'm not. I love them. I love white rice, I have no desire to add flax seed anything, I like Skippy Reduced Fat PB (hi, extra sugar) and not the natural stuff, I love bacon, I love doritos... In short, I will NEVER be a Whole-Foods shopping health nut. I love food too much. I've been REALLY good about changing my eating habits. I've essentially cut out all fast food (exception- the occasional Big Mac), switched to whole wheat pasta and brown rice, switched to spinach instead of iceberg, cut out red-meat, and have cut WAY back on my Starbucks mochas (1 tall a week. Very good!)

So, I've decided to stage an intervention with myself. I need to light the fire under my lazy, cellulite dimpled behind. I've come this far and so help me, I'm going to lose at least 15 pounds before I enter my late 20s in May. I'm going to purchase a tape measure today to start marking the change in my body shape because of all the training I've been doing. I've also dug out my 3 month WW tracker and I'm going to start putting it to use again. I'm going to make the best decisions possible and stop sabotaging myself. I'm going to plan out my meals and make a weekly meal plan. I'm going to start acting like a WEIGHT WATCHER again!

Thanks for listening... I just needed to get this down and out here so that I'll be more accountable for my choices! I apologize also for the Lilly rant below... that was part of the instigation for this epiphany and self-intervention. Lilly doesn't alter the dresses to fit me, I alter my body to fit Lilly! (Bride Wars, anyone?)

*Tomorrow will be back to normal and will reveal the wedding venue that we've 90% decided on!*

Nutrisystem Review: Week in PICTURES!

I'm a day late in uploading these but yesterday was a super busy day in BP land. We had to exchange my rehearsal dress for a different size and then we were on the hunt for Mama a jacket for the wedding. Turns out we found her a brand new dress! I also ended up with the BEST anniversary present from PB (our anniversary is next week.)

I didn't take pictures of every meal, every day. I sometimes was so hungry that I'd forget to snap before devouring my meal! I cheated this week and had 3 glasses of wine on Wednesday night with some law school buddies followed by dinner consisting of small fries and 4 pc mcnuggets from McDs. Whoops.

Here are a selection of meal snaps from the week! 

Breakfasts: The french toast at the top was decent, the peanut butter bar in the 2nd picture was DISGUSTING, loved the breakfast burrito (I added the salsa), and the oatmeal was tasty and filling. So far my favorite breakfasts have been the muffins (will take a pic for next week), burritos and the omelets.

Lunches: The lunch bars are actually DELICIOUS! There is a chocolate caramel one that I will definitely be reordering. (I eat the bars on Mondays & Weds because I have tax smack in the middle of the day.) The middle pic is a steak & cheese pocket (salad has fat free ranch) it was seriously good! The bottom pic is tortellini in tomato sauce. It was decent but not my favorite. (I cheated and put feta cheese on my salad and sunflower seeds... That was the lunch after that nasty peanut butter breakfast bar that I couldn't eat so I felt I needed a little more bulk.)

Snacks: On the system you are supposed to have a fruit and a dairy as a snack. I usually save the snack to have between lunch and dinner. Here are some of them (repetitive, but good.) If you are a cheese lover you should RUN to the nearest grocery store and buy those Cabot 45 calorie Habenero Cheddar Cheese packs. They are my favorite EVER. I usually have yogurt & fruit, skim milk & fruit or cheese and fruit. Boring, but hits the spot.

Dinners: I was really bad about taking pics of my dinners this week. I'll do better next week! First pic is the mac n' cheese with roasted cauliflower (w/ 1 tsp of olive oil for my fat.) The second pic is of the asian beef. It was DELICIOUS! I added roasted broccoli but forgot to take a pic when it was plated. The last is of the spinach & cheese ravioli and I added roasted broccoli. I forgot to take pics of the pizza I had one night & the chili I had one night. All & all the dinners are fantastic. Pizzas and pastas are my favorite. I'll show more next week!

Desserts: PB was sweet and sent me Petit Fours from Williams Sonoma for Valentine's Day. I ended up eating one (or two) of them after dinner most nights instead of my Nurtisystem desserts. Again, I'll do better and will show more next week. The chocolate peanut caramel bar was very good. Like a dense snickers!

I had a slight gain this week but it disappated later in the day on Saturday. My fingers and ankles were swollen up! After drinking about 5 gallons of water the gain was gone and I'm slightly under where I was last week. I think I actually maintained but I know why. I did cheat this week and only went to the gym 3 days instead of my normal 5. I also didn't drink enough water this week! (Hence the retention.) I think we'll have a better week this week! 

Stay tuned next week for more Nurtisystem pics & reviews!

Nutrisystem Review

You all, or most of y'all, know I'm a 2 1/2 year member of Weight Watchers and I am one of their biggest cheerleaders. However, I have plateaued folks. I am stuck in a little ditch vacillating between 81 and 84 pounds lost. My WW leader has defined a plateaued of 4 weeks or more with less than 1/2 pound loss per week. After trying everything I decided to take the plunge and order one month of Nutrisystem meals to get me back on the downward track.

The Program: My one month supply provided me with breakfasts, lunches, dinners and desserts for 28 days. With the food came the program booklet and tracker. You supplement the Nurtisystem food with fresh vegetables, dairy and protein.

 The tracker tells you what to have at each meal. 

Examples:

Breakfast.

• Nutrisystem breakfast entree (in BLUE package) 
• 1 serving of a dairy or protein (like skim milk or a hardboiled egg-they tell you what qualifies in the back of the booklet) 
• 1 fruit. 

Lunch:

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree (In a GREEN Package)
• 1 serving of a dairy or protein
• 1 vegetable serving
• 1 vegetable serving (with 2 Tbsp of fat free dressing, if desired)

Snack:

• 1 serving dairy or protein
• 1 fruit

Dinner:

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree (In a RED package)
• 1 fruit of vegetable
• 1 vegetable
• 1 vegetable (with 2 tbsp of fat free dressing, if desired
• 1 fat

Dessert:

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree (In a PINK package)

At the bottom of the tracker you keep track of your weight, your water intake (6-8 8oz glasses per day) and your activity. As I mentioned above, the guide to what counts as a dairy, protein and a fat is in the back of the booklet. It also tells you by vegetable how much you get for one portion, so you can make sure you aren't just overeating vegetables.

My thoughts thus far: 

• The food is really delicious and quick and the program is SUPER easy to follow. I think this is good for people like me that are stuck but are already committed to a healthy lifestyle and have really learned how to eat, portion sizes and are committed to exercising. (Or people who only need to lose a small amount of weight.) However, I'm skeptical how well this would work for someone in the long term who just joined this without trying a holistic program like Weight Watchers which addresses food choices, portion control, mental blocks to weight loss, exercise and gives more support.

So far it seems to be doing the trick for me. I had my Weight Watchers weigh in this morning and lost 2.6 lbs despite my cheating the other night for burgers and wine. (So I'm at a total of 83.5 lbs lost so far.) I've also been checking the points on the packages and have discovered that it puts you right at about 29-30 point per day, which is where most folks would be on WW. 

I'm planning on taking pictures of my meals all week this week and I'll show you all next Saturday so you can actually see what I'm eating! Check back then to see if I really can break my plateau.

Have you ever tried Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig or Fresh Direct either to lose weight or to get through a plateau?

Weight Watcher Recap & Randomness

Had a GREAT week at Weight Watchers! Lost 1.6 pounds this week. I worked out Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. VERY proud of myself. On Wednesday I could barely walk. I have NEVER been so sore in my life. I blame the "quick" squats Boola made me do Thursday. I could barely get up the stairs at home! It was miserable.

Last night I had big plans to go Lauren Conrad's book signing at the Pru. I got there at around 5:15ish and planned on buying her book and then getting a few more goodies for Valentine's Day before getting in line for the 7PM signing. Apparently everybody and their brother (and sister) decided they HAD to meet LC. The line was RIDICULOUS at 5:30. There was absolutely no way I was going to stand in line for an hour and a half and then lord knows how much longer before I got to her! Love me some LC but not that much. I aborted, went home, cooked dinner and played Super Mario Bros while watching TV. I'm addicted. I seriously need someone to take the DS away from me.

On tap for the rest of the weekend? Work until 11 tonight and TRY to get caught on the mountain of work I've been neglecting. Gym tomorrow morning, work until 2 and then TRYING ON WEDDING DRESSES! I was going to wait but we found a MUCH cheaper version of the expensive designer dress I've fallen in love with so we've decided to go ahead and go try it on.

Speaking of dresses... The little red number came in the mail yesterday from Nordstrom. It made me laugh. When I looked at the picture of the model, it was lose around her hips... But around mine? Snug as a bug in a rug. Apparently this is what happens when you put ginormous hips in a straight dress. I love it anyway! Makes me feel like a fat version of Kim Kardashian (aka my obsession.) Countdown to Valentines weekend in London: T-4 days and counting!

What are y'all up to this weekend?

Dear brand-new hot pink sports bra,

While you are ridiculously cute and I love that you are neon and can be seen from space, was it really necessary for you to dye my workout top, long sleeve shirt and my BODY neon pink? I mean REALLY. Have some courtesy.

I know it's hard to imagine that one might sweat in one's sports bra/workout wear, but it DOES happen and you should have been prepared and in control of all of your faculties. I'd appreciate it if you'd kindly refrain from doing that again. As punishment you'll be getting a long sentence in a very hot washer. Maybe next time you'll think twice before scarring 2 shirts and MY BODY!

XOXOXO

BP

Weight Watchers Recap

This week was ok with Weight Watchers. I was down almost a pound. I had a chat with my leader after the meeting to try to ascertain what is going on with my weight loss. She pointed out that in 3 weeks I've had an average of 1/2 pound a week weight loss. Unfortunately since I have already lost a lot of weight, things slow down and they (WW gods) say that to have healthy, sustainable weight loss you should aim for no more than 1/2 to 1 pound of weight loss per week. Apparently I'm on the right path... Even though it is a slow, highly annoying path.

My goals this week: Track daily and try to get in every one of my "good health guidelines."

I've been doing well getting in my whole grains, water and milk but I've been slacking a little in the veggie dept. I stocked up on prepackaged veggies yesterday so I can grab and go (and some Sabra jalepeno hummus, which makes any veggie edible.)

Now, onto other, more materialistic things... I've been pining for this dress. PB likes it and I've gotten the go-ahead to break my new years resolution and purchase.

But, before I do, let's have a poll- Yay or Nay?

And finally, check out my steal of the week. PB and I are going on a cruise in March and I was perusing the shoe dept at Target last night and came across these beauties. They were a budget friendly $15! Perhaps I'll need them in pink too. (And they would go with the aforementioned dress, should I purchase and take on the cruise, no?)

Now I'm off to work at the lab and do a gazillion pages of reading... Happy Saturday!

Trainer Thursday

So have you ever heard of a "Mountain Climber" move? No? Neither had I... Until my trainer unveiled them today.

1st set? Ok. 2nd set? Slight burn. 3rd set? DEATH.

Just sayin'

Weight Watcher Recap & Randomness

My weigh in was this morning. Last week I did great and lost 3 pounds. This week? I was UP! 2.4 pounds! It's pure craziness. I did the same thing this week, I did last week. I tracked, I worked out (See trainer post below), measured and got in ALL my good health guidelines almost every day.

Hm. I'm not worried. I think it might be a little blip. I've stayed the same EXACT weight to the ounce for 2 months, lost 3 pounds and then shot back up. I think my body might have panicked. My rings were tight this morning so I think I also might be retaining a little water weight. To that's the weight watcher recap for this week! Hopefully next week I'll see a bigger loss!

Last night I needed to go stock up on a few groceries for the week and I didn't feel like cooking. I decided to go to Wagamama. It was SO hard for me to go in because I was alone! I was BBMing PB and he thought I was crazy because he's a consultant he is away 3-4 days a week and is completely used to eating along. I, however, am not. I have no problem going to a movie alone, getting fast food alone, but actually going in and sitting down in a restaurant? That took some courage. So I did it... Turns out it was completely fine! They have a little section of seats that are for people alone. They have those seats facing a TV screen and there were 4 others eating alone. I had the absolute Wagamama deal with 3 steamed chicken dumplings, chicken ramen and a diet coke. It was DELISH! PB and I are geeky and have virtual date nights on Friday nights when we can't be together. We pick the same movie, find corresponding times (can be hard with the 5 hour time difference) and then he goes to dinner and I have lunch at the same time. Don't judge. But he always gets chinese, but that's not very WW friendly, so I think Wagamama will be my Fri night date pick from now on. (Unless I resort back to my PF Changs lettuce wraps... Which may or may not be inevitable!)

Am I the only one that felt weird about eating alone!?

Last but not least, I baked a low-fat Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt cake and it was AMAZING! You can get the recipe here. I switched out the oil for applesauce and did not glaze it, but it's still delish. You should definitely make it. It is SO moist!

OH! ALSO: Vineyard Vines is having a RIDICULOUS sale! All sale items in the store are an additional 50% off this weekend. It's INSANE! RUN if you haven't been yet! RUNRUNRUNRUN!

I snatched up a $125 sweater for about $45.

Trainer Thursday

I had my FIRST session today with my personal trainer. It was actually pretty fun. I have a male trainer and when I saw him I was a little skeptical. He is not big and full of muscles... but boy did he know how to work me!

I've never had a trainer before so this all was completely new to me. First, he took me upstairs and had me do a series of tests to determine my "Real Body Age." There he hooked me up to this computer-machine-thingy and took my blood pressure (which is absurdly low), then my weight and body fat (not pretty but not nearly as bad as it was a year ago- I've lost 4% body fat all on my own!), then I had to stand on the machine and do a strength test (which basically involved me pulling up as hard as humanly possible on a bar), then I had to do a stretch testy thing on the machine, and finally I had to put on a heart rate monitor and a finger thingy to test my blood "oxygenation" or whatever.

Results? Apparently I'm a little more fit than I look! Blood pressure was excellent, stretching ability was excellent, oxygenation was good but can be improved, strength was very good but can be improved and % of body fat was above average (I mean, obviously) but not terrible. My "body real age" is 32, which is not terrible. My actual real LIFE age is 26 (approaching 27 at an alarming pace). If we can bring my body fat down about 5% I'll be at around 26 in "Real Body Age" which is where I want to be!

That took a good chunk of our first session but we did manage to get in a workout. All I have to say is lunges = death. I HATE lunges. I think I look dumb when doing them, they hurt, they make me sweat and I often can't walk the next day. I never do them when I work out, but he's assured me that they will be more than happy to join my training routine!

I'll be seeing him Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and I'll be sure to recap the pain... er, progress. Now I'm baking a low-fat chocolate pumpkin bundt cake (check for recipe tomorrow), heading to see The Lovely Bones and then getting a drink with a friend at Parish!

How was your Thursday?