I’m late posting my Weight Loss Wednesday post this week. Today was my husband’s birthday and so I spent this evening with my family and early this morning, I was busy writing reports for work and trying to get some of my Kroger match-ups done.

Last night, my husband decided he wanted to try the new Domino’s pizza. I hadn’t put anything in the crockpot that morning and didn’t feel like cooking when I got home, so I was more than happy to oblige. I figured that I could have will power. Unfortunately, I caved. I had been incredibly good for 26 straight days and for some reason that pizza was just sooo good (incidentally, I really didn’t notice anything different about the sauce, but the crust was good). I couldn’t help myself.

In the past, that would have been the start of the end for me. One excuse after another. I already bombed, so I might as well eat this, too. And then the next day I’d make excuses and the excuses went on and on for days and weeks and months.

But not this time. Today was a new day and I got up and got on my treadmill this morning and I didn’t touch the cheesecake that I made for my husband for his birthday even though cheesecake is my FAVORITE.

So, even though I had a bad day, I moved beyond it and I’m happy about that.

The question of the week on Mama Notes, who is hosting the Body After Baby Challenge, is “What is your Favorite Healthy Snack?” I have realized that having a good snack in the afternoon, either on the way home from work or right after I get home is a lifesaver for me and helps keep me on track. I think that is part of what went wrong last night.

Here are a few of my favorites:
*Applesauce (the small cups)
*Banana
*Cantaloupe – LOVE it!
*Carrots – these fill me up and they are 0 Weight Watchers points!
*Cottage cheese (low fat) with fruit mixed in – it sounds gross, but it is really good!
*String cheese – the Sargento light cheese sticks are SO good and only 1 Weight Watchers point!

On a bright note, I lost 3.8 pounds at my Weight Watchers weigh-in this week!

How did your week go? Feel free to link up and share below!

Saturdays are my Weight Watchers meeting days. I lost 2 pounds, which isn’t a lot by “Biggest Loser” standards, but I also have a full time job and can’t work out all day, so for me, it was great news!

As I was sitting in my meeting, I started thinking about what keeps me from sticking to a weight loss plan “long term.” I HAVE successfully done Weight Watchers in the past and even made it to “Lifetime” status, but after I started having babies, sticking to it has been difficult for me. I have re-started Weight Watchers and tried other new diets along the way more times than I can count and I’m always really excited and motivated when I first start and then a few weeks into I lose that momentum and so I was trying to figure out why….

The conclusion that I came to is that “life happens.” I’m sure many of you are well acquainted with life. It looks something like this ~ you get home from work, and your kids have soccer practice, so you all pile in the car for that and then you get home and there is still homework to be done and you can’t wrap your mind around what you want for dinner, so you decide to go through a drive thru. You know there’s nothing there that’s on your “diet” but that’s OK because tomorrow’s another day. Except tomorrow, at work, someone decides to bring in donuts and they’re in the breakroom and they look so good and just one won’t hurt, and it’s OK because you can get back on track “tomorrow.” And then tomorrow comes and you were up so late the night before that you’re too tired to follow through with your exercise plan. And then tomorrow turns into tomorrow which turns into weeks and months of excuses.

One of the reasons I decide to blog about my experiences this time around is so I have accountability and I don’t lose momentum and follow in the same pattern (it also helps that one of my best friends is getting married in June and I not only want to be able to fit into, but I also want to look halfway decent in, the bridesmaid dress!).

In Mama Notes “Body After Baby” challenge, she has a weekly question. This week’s question is: Why do you you want to lose weight and/or get healthier? What is your motivation?

I have known I needed to lose weight for awhile now, but I think that having to wear that bridesmaid dress in June is the motivation that kicked it into gear for me! My long term motivation, though is that I am doing this for myself and for my family. There are a number of health concerns in my family’s history and I want to make the changes now so that I can be healthy for my family long term.

Having said all of that, here’s how I’m doing so far this week on my “plan” to meet my goal of losing 10 pounds by 2/14/10:

*Commit myself to Weight Watchers ~ I tracked like crazy this week and it has been awesome! Through tracking, I have been able to stop and think about different foods and ask myself if something is really “worth” 2 or 3 points when I can eat something else that is only 1 point? A couple of times this week, I have actually had a hard time eating all of my points and I haven’t touched my flex points yet!

*Drink more water ~ I have forced myself to make sure I get in all my water this week and what a difference it has made! (Sugar free chewing gum has helped a lot, too!)

*Create an exercise plan for each week ~ I’m back on track with my “Couch Potato to 5K” plan. I’m hoping I’ll be ready to run (not walk) a 5K in the spring! I’ve also continued to use the work-out generator at Spark People to generate strength training work-outs for me.

How did your week go? Feel free to link up and share below!

When I wrote my Weight Loss Wednesday post last week, I was excited and encouraged and ready to begin.

This week has been a rough week for me. I started back to work last Tuesday, so at the point that I wrote my “Weight Loss Wednesday” post, I was only one day in to my “back to work” mode. This week, it’s starting to catch up to me. The stress of work. Staying up late to write reports for work. Then, the late nights catch up with me and I have a hard time functioning and meeting my work out goals in the morning. In the past, the stress has inevitably led me to turn to chocolate and eating other food. It has led me to make excuses. I have the mindset that I don’t want to do that, but it’s going to be hard to overcome.

To review, here are my current goals:

*Exercise a minimum of four times per week
*Lose 10 pounds by 2/14/10

Here were the things that I said I was going to do to “meet” those goals (along with a commentary on how I did this week):

*Commit myself to Weight Watchers ~ I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting in three months on Saturday. I haven’t been able to weigh myself since I started on this journey because we have a digital scale and it doesn’t have batteries right now. I had no idea where I was starting out and I was pretty happy to find out that I hadn’t gained anything in the last 3 months since I had been to Weight Watchers. Considering that I hadn’t been doing anything to maintain my weight during the holidays, I felt pretty good about that.

Last week, I said that tracking was the key and I know that it is, but I’ve become lax about that. This week, things have been so hectic that I’ve honestly had a hard time fitting in eating at all and at the end of the day I have a hard time even remembering what I ate. But, I know that tracking is a key and using the tracker (I usually track online) helps me to remember things like getting in all of my water, fruits, and veggies. I’m going to try to get back on track!

*Drink more water – I was SO good about drinking water last week and I’ve had such a hard time remembering to drink water this week. Last week, I took a huge water bottle to work and kept it filled and right by me throughout the day. This week, I’ve had a hard time even making it to the break room to fill it up in the mornings (did I mention it’s been a rough week?) I’m going to try to get back to drinking more water.

*Create an exercise plan for each week – My goal was to work out 4 times per week. I intended to do at least 30 minutes of cardio 4 times per week using the “Couch Potato to 5k” plan. Last week, I made it through the first week of the plan. This morning was my first morning on the treadmill this week. The best time for me to work out is in the mornings, but it’s been hard for me to get moving in the mornings because I’ve been going to bed so late. On a positive note, I have at least done a weight work-out EVERY day this week. If you’re not familiar with Spark People, it’s a free site and one of the features is that you can generate customized work out plans. It includes demo videos for the different exercises! The exercises are manageable, even for beginners/couch potatoes looking to reform themselves, and I could feel it the next day which tells me that it’s working! You can check it out and design your own plan here.

Even though this week hasn’t gone as well as I would have liked for it to have gone, I’m proud of myself for not giving up completely (and for not digging into the leftover Christmas candy that is sitting around).

I watched The Biggest Loser last night and was inspired by the “Pound for Pound Challenge.” I signed up and hope it will be one more thing to help motivate me in this journey!

How did your week go? Feel free to link up and share your weight loss successes and challenges below!

I realize that my blog typically focuses on “bargains” and that this post is not bargain related, but one of my goals for 2010 is to get in shape! I’m also always striving to find some sort of balance in my life, and I figure that there are others out there who are in the same boat that I’m in! So, I plan on having a weekly “Weight Loss Wednesday” post. I figure it will help me to be accountable. If one of your goals for 2010 is also to get in shape and you’re blogging about it, feel free to link up below!

My post today is inspired by the “Body After Baby” challenge that Mama Notes has started.

Here are my initial goals: (I’d like to set much higher goals, but I also want to be realistic and I don’t want to get discouraged early on)

*Exercise a minimum of four times per week
*Lose 10 pounds by 2/14/10

Here’s my plan:

*Commit myself to Weight Watchers ~ My weight has always been a struggle for me and Weight Watchers is the only program that has really “worked” for me. About 10 years ago, I became a lifetime member and I managed to keep the weight off….until I had my first baby. After two babies, I’m read to get back on track. My first goal is to just TRACK consistently so I actually know what I’m eating and by tracking, I also know that I’ll be less likely to “cheat.”

(On a side note, if you’re wondering, I have a monthly pass so I can use the online tools, but I can also attend meetings. I love being able to use the online trackers and being able to put in my recipes and calculate the points values, but I also do best when I have the accountability of actually attending a meeting).

If you’d like to try Weight Watchers, they are waiving the registration fee right now (that IS bargain related!)

*Drink more water – I never drink enough water! I plan on taking a huge water bottle with me to work and filling it up a couple of times each day. I know that is one of the keys to weight loss (for me at least).

*Create an exercise plan for each week – Exercise tends to be the thing that gets pushed aside when other things come up, but I’m an “emotional” eater and I know that when I exercise, it helps me deal with those other issues. I also know if I make a plan, I’m more likely to stick to it! Eventually, I would like to do a 5K so in an effort to prepare for that, I am using the “Couch Potato to 5K” plan as part of my work-out.

I started this plan on January 1st and so far it’s working out well. A few things that have been helped me to stay on track? Crystal Light and carrots (carrots are a zero point food on Weight Watchers, so when I have a craving, I pick up a few carrots instead and Crystal Light helps me get all of that water in)

Do you have a goal to lose weight this year? How’s it going so far? If you’ve blogged about it, feel free to share your link below!