Women Food and God by Geneen Roth

Being the loyal Oprah devotee that I am I take her book references seriously. She recently said that Women Food and God has been very important in her recent weight loss attempts. So I headed over to the neighborhood Borders and invested in this new book. I've read a lot of it already and feel like it is a good investment and helps me think about eating in a new way.

Below are some of my favorite and thought provoking quotes.

"You always have something to do. As long as you are striving and pushing and trying hard to do something that can never be done, you know who you are: someone with a weight problem who is working hard to be thin."

"Weight is what happens when you use food to flatten your life."

"They realize that brokenness is learned, not innate, and that their work is to find their way back to what is already whole."

"The shape of your body obeys the shape of your beliefs about love, value and possibility. To change your body, you must first understand that which is shaping it."

"To be given wings, you've got to be willing to believe that you were put on this earth for more than your endless attempts to lose the same thirty pounds three hundred times for eighty years. And that goodness and loveliness are possible, even in something as mundane as what you put in your mouth for breakfast."

"When you love something you wish it goodness; when you hate something, you wish to annihilate it. Change happens not by hatred but by love."

Veggie Burger vs. Beef-y Burger

So I've been a fish eating vegetarian since about November 2009. Lately I have been craving meat. For a few weeks I have been thinking about meat, having a bite of meat on a few occasions. Tonight we went all out--I made hamburgers with organic beef. I was so looking forward to eating a hamburger, a formerly favorite food of mine. We bought pickles and baked cheddar lays to accompany the hamburgers. The first bite of my burger was mediocre and not much better than a regular veggie burger.

 
In the end we both un-enthusiastically finished our organic hamburgers then proceeded to eat the whole jar of pickles.

Clearly, our priorities lie in veggies over meat.  So in the end we will stick with the fish & veggie way of life.

Vacation

Let me begin by saying that I love vacation. Actually I LIVE for vacation. Before I'm done with one I'm already mentally planning the next one or two. This time was Aruba with Tom's Parents and Brother.

We had a great time sea, sand, surf, snorkeling & EATING. I ate way way too much bad food and drank way way too many bad drinks with way way to little exercising in between.
This week I will have to buckle down and eat right and exercise a lot! The morning before we left for vacation I went to Weight Watchers and weighed in and I was at my lowest weight since beginning the program only about 5 pounds away from goal. So I need to make sure by the next time I weight in I haven't gained too much. I have accepted there will probably be some residual vacation weight that might take more than a week to take off--but a girl can hope!
Anyway, the beach was well worth the weight gain! Tom and I love to snorkel and this trip was a great opportunity to that. We went to 4 snorkel places and saw a ton of pretty fish, a sunken ship, and a natural pool. The natural pool was my favorite because it was like being inside of a coral reef.

Now I am wishing I knew some places to hit the water in St. Louis, lakes rivers, anything. Going to the beach only makes me want more water in my life. I miss the beach and lakes so much from the East Coast. I'm hoping that I can spend the rest of the summer enjoying some Missouri lakes and rivers!

Girls Night!

So its always tough to stay on track during girls night. Luckily my girls let me cook for them so that I can make food that is conducive to my WW points. We had hummus & carrots, linguine & clam sauce, chocolate dipped strawberries & finally last but best Strongbow!! After some tasty Italian and other goodies we played Scattergories. It was a pretty easy going evening-- just some catch up chatting and gossiping to finish off the night.
D made chocolate covered strawberries. They were delicious and perfectly made! I was totally amazed by her ability to create such a perfect--pretty much healthy dessert.

All of us girls have traveled and lived in London so each of us has a strong personal connection to Strongbow. For those unfamiliar with the beverage it is a hard cider. Sort of like other US hard ciders like Wood Chuck -- but way way better!

While I realize hard cider & chocolate covered strawberries are not necessarily "diet" or WW friendly food sometimes its worth a few extra points to have a great girls night!

On Track

So tonight I'm going to be lazy and not post my food pictures.  I went to see Letters to Juliet with my friend Summer so I got home late and don't feel like uploading everything this late. I did manage to stay totally within my points and I'm feeling great about it! I was even able to sneak a peppermint pattie into my daily points and the movie :)
Today was day 2 of my 5k prep plan. I did 2 minutes of walking, 5 jogging, 5 running, 10 jogging, 5 running, 5 walking. With all of that jogging & running I went 2 miles without stopping! I am really proud of myself. I never passed the President's Medal gym competitions in school. I hope that I can keep up the good work while we are away on vacation.
It is good to have something that Tom and I are working towards together even while he is far away in Iowa (he works there during the week--long story). I think we are going to register for the SLU Cancer Center 5k on August 29th. That seems like a long way away and maybe we will move up the goal to the end of July. We'll see right now we have to see where Tom's next fund-raising assignment will be before we make any concrete plans.
Tomorrow it will be an elliptical and yoga day! I am having the girls over for dinner so that will be a points challenge, but since I'm making dinner it is easier to stay on track. I just have to resist the beer & wine & sweets!

Daily Points and Exercise

Today was a little tough. I wanted to indulge and overeat a few times today. I started the day with 30 minutes on the elliptical then took Yankee (our dog) for a mile walk before dinner. I was able to resist overeating so I am proud of myself for today.
I want to be sure that I make good decisions this week before we leave for vacation. I am concerned about my eating while I'm on vacation but I just have to keep on track. I try to remind myself that every time I don't shovel food into my face at warp speed I am proving to myself that I am strong. I want to eat healthy, physically and mentally. By resisting the impulse to EAT I see that I can really do this. I can really stay on track and eat well and treat my body well.
Anyway, here is my food run down for the day:

Breakfast: 5 points

Lunch: 6.5

Afternoon Snack: String Cheese (previously pictured) 1 point

Dinner: (Trader Joe's diet root beer not pictured) 7 points 

Dessert: 1 point

Today was a success! I even have 1.5 points left over after all of my meals and snacks. I think I'll leave them in the bank since I indulged last night at dinner. I am grateful to have my Weight Watchers points, which help keep me on track. I can do this!

5k Prep!

I started my 5k training today. My goal is to complete a 5k by August. Tom is on board and I think that we can really do it as long as I stick to the training plan. It is scary thinking about actually completing the 3+ miles. I also did weights this morning. I HATE weights so its a big deal for me to actually do them even after doing my 5k training. It was a tough exercise day!

I did well with my eating plan today. I went over my points because of dinner. That stinks but overall I think today went well.

Breakfast: 4 points

Morning Snack: 1 point 

Lunch: 5 points

Afternoon Snack: 1 point- Cocoa Brownie
Delicious!!!

Dinner: Many points
Strongbow-excellent British Hard Cider
Hummus&Pita
Greek Salad
Crab Cake

I think today went well--other than eating a few too many points at dinner. Its amazing how many points Greek Salad is!
I hope that tomorrow I can stay on my points goal! I need to get back on Weight Watchers points track!

2+ Years of Trying

So I know it is ridiculous to blog about weight-- to complain all of the time about size. But I hope this is a place where I can be accountable to myself about what I eat and why.

I've been trying--struggling--and fighting with myself for over 2 years to lose about 40 pounds. I have had success. I have lost weight. I have worked hard.

During the past year or so I have fallen off the wagon--to say the least. I have about 8 pounds to lose until I reach my inflated goal weight. It was 140 originally but then I bumped it up to 145 in the hopes that I would one day be able to get to my Weight Watchers goal and feel proud of myself for that. Unfortunately, that has yet to happen and I am still fighting those last few pounds.

I work out frequently and try to eat well. I just use food to deal with a lot of things. Stress, happiness, anxiety, and joy.

Its so strange that something that can make me so happy can also cause me so much pain. I am hoping that this is a chance to write about my journey towards better health. I will share my tips and tricks I find along the way to my goal.