I KNOW THE SECRET TO LOSING WEIGHT!

"Be on the lookout! An ALL POINTS bulletin (APB) has been issued for my GROOVE!" Yes folks, my groove still remains on the lam. This week, the scale revealed a +2 gain...not surprised.  


What do you call THIS part of the weight loss journey?  THIS meaning the part where I struggle with eating and maintaining my new healthy lifestyle changes. I KNOW what I need to do, but why the sudden struggle?  I thought I figured IT out. IT meaning the SECRET to weight loss and keeping the weight at bay.


Do YOU want to know the SECRET? Well. here it is: 

MOVE MORE! EAT LESS! Tadaa!! 

You wanna slap me...don't you? TRUTH BE TOLD, if you move more and eat less, the positive results will soon follow! I know, I know...easier SAID than DONE! 


Right about now I kinda feel like the hare from Aesop's Fable The Tortoise and The Hare.   You know the story...the slow-moving tortoise challenges the over confident hare to a race. Long story short, the arrogant hare breezed past the tortoise and decided to take a nap. When the hare wakes up, he discovered the tortoise crept past him and WON the race.  Like the hare, I got a little cocky with my weight loss. I "took a nap" so to speak and a few ponds crept back on my body. 


With his quick speed, the hare figured he could win the race without even trying, kinda like me right now with the weight loss. And judging from my  recent weigh in results, at some point I stopped trying and  decided to coast on my 56 lb weight lost success.


WHAT NOW?!


I DO KNOW I refuse to go back to THAT...

I think the novelty of my weight loss endeavor wore off as my progress slowed down.


SO NOW WHAT...MAP OUT A PLAN, that's what. 


#1 Go back to the beginning. Once again, I revisited my start of the New Year blog posts and I ran across my GLOWS & GROWS.  My glows & grows served as my weekly attempt to evaluate my lifestyle change hits and misses. Glows & grows seemed like a helpful tool. Why did I stop?  Who knows. I think it would be a novel idea to reinstate them; so, each week I will record my glows & grows on my blog or in my personal journal or maybe both.


#2 Determine what I want. Somewhere down the line I lost focus and forgot what I want and why I do THIS. So what do I want? I want to do things my former heavier self permitted me from doing. Check this out, I volunteered to go HIKING on a field trip with my son's Aquatic Science class. 

#3 Overcoming Detours and Roadblocks Ahead! I discovered I really need to sit down and write a list of possible weight loss detour and road block solutions. Some of my roadblocks include, but are not limited to: celebrations at work, holidays, parties, late night snacking, secret snacking, grazing...need I go on? Any suggestions?  


#4 Celebrate & Appreciate! I need to appreciate and celebrate my success thus far. I am also working on appreciating the small losses. A loss is a loss, and all the small losses add up. Just last week I lost .4, the equivalent to a bar of soap. That's right I lost a bar of soap.

• -2=spoon
• -4=bar of soap
• -6=toothpaste
• -8=coffee cup

In addition, celebrating mini-milestones achieved along the way may help me stay on course. How do you celebrate weight loss milestone?


I dreaded writing this post, but now I feel a little better about my next step. And you know, we can learn a thing or two from that slow moving tortoise, slow and steady wins the race. Put simply...as I continue my arduous task of losing weight; I feel it best to work slowly but consistently to ensure long-lasting weight loss results. 

Order Up. . . Today's Special!

Tonight's post may lean a little towards the bootleg side.

Definition:
Bootleg: Although the real word means pirated music/software and illegal alcohol, anything that is "bootleg" is fake, unfashionable, or lacking in any way.

Used in a sentence:
" Lisa told me to see that movie, but the bootleg special effects left little to be desired."

Yesterday my internet gave me the blues, and tonight I mismanaged my time. So, this post may lack my usual je ne sais quoi (French for...I don't know what) that keeps some of you coming back for more.

Just a little preview of the goodies nestled in my jazzy lunch tote:

Breakfast: Eggsters

85 g of Potatoes O'Brien
3 egg whites

Directions: Mix together egg whites and potatoes O'Brien. Season to taste and then pour into your Redi-Set-Go! Wait 7 minutes and BAM...EGGSTERS!

Lunch: Chicken Charm-esan

And of course a salad...

Snacks and Back-Up Snacks
Since I eat lunch at 10:15, yes 10:15, snacks are essential to my survival for the rest of the day.

Fresh Berries courtesy of price matching at Wal-Mart. I paid $2 bucks for these blueberries originally priced at $3.48!

An orange and 2 Clementines

I love the new Weight Watchers Roasted Almond Sensation bars...on sale this week for $3.50! When times get hard and my tummy starts talking, I bust out the PB and 1/2 a sandwich thin. I keep a measuring spoon in my bag as well. Also pictured my 0 point salad dressing which also comes in Raspberry Vinaigrette.

Tonight I intended on writing a post reflecting last weeks hits and misses. Tune in for tomorrows post...Glows and Grows.

Thank You...Gracias...Danke... Merci...Grazie

When I returned home from work yesterday, I called the maintenance personnel to remove my door from the frame. Why you ask? My BIG HEAD failed to fit through the doorway as a result of ALL the love fellow blog buddies and MY SITStahs showed Me So Hongry.

I want to THANK EVERYONE for the out pour of motivational and supportive comments in response to my SITS Featured Blogger post. Let me tell you a little something about Me So Hongry. Comments serve as fuel to keep me motivated, especially when the going gets tough and I want to get going ( to the nearest pizza buffet). I want you to know, I plan to respond to each and every person who left a comment yesterday, but it may take a while. I figured if I start responding to around 20 peeps a day, I may finish around...let's see...March (lol).

I even read the comments left by the SITStahs checking in on the SITS website. I discovered that many LOVED and found my blog title humorous. And for that reason, my blog name shall remain the same until the end of time. Well for that reason, plus the fact that I purchased the domain name www.mesohongry.com. And to think, I came up with title while drive down the freeway singing (To the tune of 2 Live Crew's Me So Horny) " Ah...me so hongry...ah...ah...me so hongry. Ah...me so hongry...me eat for long time."

I especially want to THANK everyone for congratulating me on achieving a loss of 45 pounds. Believe me when I say, I am truly touched that you find me inspirational, as well as motivational. Funny thing, I sit here thanking perfect strangers, but yet I struggle with accepting compliments from familiar faces: family, friends, co-workers, fellow WW members, etc. Why is that?

I work hard on my blog and my body, but yet I devalue myself by failing to acknowledge compliments. So from this point forward, I plan to accept and embrace weight loss recognition from family and friends with grace. So with that being said, I need practice with the whole "accepting recognition graciously thing," so let's get the complimets-a-rolling!

It Coulda Been Worser (No, worser is not a real word)!

So today's WI yielded the results I expected, +.4 lbs. Boooooooooooooooooo! It coulda been WORSER (intentional bad grammar alert)!

Definition of worser :it is worser than worse but not badder than worstest
Used in a conversation:
Friend #1: That shirt is worser.
Friend #2: Worser is not a word.
Friend #1: Yea it is. Worser is better to use than badder right?

That concludes today's bad grammar lesson. Back to the subject at hand, today's WI. I believe contributors to the gain include two birthday celebrations, a lack of activity, spending countless hours on my laptop blogging, and sharing a free order of birthday fried ice cream at Ichibons. So, what now? Today's WW meeting topic, "Planning For Success" prepared me for the what now.

To kick the meeting off the leader asked the group, what do you plan for? I thought about it, and some of the things I plan for include the following:

• College (for myself and kids)
• Retirement (???)
• Vacation

During summer, most of plan to take a vacation. In our vacation planning we take the time to extensively research the best lodging, malls, tourist attractions, and restaurants. We even go so far as to map out and print an itinerary. So, riddle me this Batman...why don't we take that approach with our weight loss efforts? I find that my week flows smoother when I take the time to plan ahead.

As our conversation progressed, the leader then posed the following questions:

Do we plan in Weight Watches? Answer: As Whitney Houston says "Hell to tha Yea!"

Okay, we established that we plan, so what do we plan?

• Grocery shopping: Never show up at the grocery store without a list. Only buy the items on your list. Never arrive hungry. When I arrive hungry, I reach for the nearest crappy snack (e.g. hot Cheetos, chips, something salty, etc.) and eat while I shop. As a general rule of thumb, always shop the outer perimeter of the grocery store first. The outer perimeter provides healthier choices: diary, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins. The aisles contain mostly processed foods.
  
  
• Menu: At the beginning of the week plan a menu and STICK TO IT! A menu will help you stay on track as far as budgeting and help you stay within your daily points target. For me planning a menu cuts down on those" Oh Yeah I Forget I Need This" trips to the grocery store during the middle of the week. At one point, I stopped by Wal-Mart or HEB 3 to 4 times a week on my way home from work, and the constant daily grocery stops ate into my after work activities (i.e. cleaning, cooking, exercise, etc).


• Activity: Booooooooo! I'm still waiting for the "I LOVE TO WORKOUT" feeling to kick in. As far as activity, plan a specific time to workout and STICK TO IT! I need to follow my own advice. If you prefer to workout outside, prepare a back-up plan for inclement weather.


• Event Survival (e.g. parties, pot-luck at work, celebrations): Plan ahead for celebrations by conserving points or dipping into your flex points. If I plan to attend a party or happy hour on a Friday, I usually workout at least 4 or 5 times during the week and I meticulously count my points.
  
  
• Surprises: Let's say for example you plan to attend a, let's say scrap booking class at 6 PM, but your son calls to inform you that he stayed after school and he needs a ride. BUT, you can't pick him up until, let's say 5 PM. BUT, you still need to go to the craft store and, let's say purchase a "home" for you Cricut machine, AND you still have to go home and cook. Solutions: BACK UP DINNERS! My kids and I purchase 2 frozen meals for back-up in case of surprises. I am not a proponent for frozen meals, but it beats the driving thru.

True Story...At work, each month a specific grade level hosts the monthly employee birthday celebration. The librarian sends the celebration announcement ahead of time with the menu listed on the bottom of the invite. In May, the 4th grade teachers hosted the birthday celebration, and the menu included tacos. Instead of eating the beef provided, I brought my own chicken breast. Lesson learned, if you know the menu ahead of time make adjustment to accommodate your weight loss efforts.

3 Steps of Success when planning for success:

GET ORGANIZED

• Place labels on food indicating point values. For example, a serving size of brown rice equals 3 points. Using a sharpie, write a number 3 on the box in order to remember the point value.


• Measure foods and bag them in Ziploc bags. Instead of sitting on the couch and eating out of the BIG bag of baked hot Cheetos, I measure and bag the suggested serving size.

PLAN AHEAD

• If you plan to eat out, look up point values ahead of time on the internet. An excellent resource to use, Dotti's Weight Loss Zone.


• Pack your breakfast and lunch at night to save time in the morning.


• Plan a menu in order to track points ahead of time. Sometimes at night I track the food I plan to eat for the following day.

PLAN FOR THE UNEXPECTED

• Life happens! While running errands carry snacks or 2 point bars in your purse or car to prevent unplanned trips through the drive thru.
  
  
• Use the WW mobile application to look up nutrition info when unexpected foods cross your path.
  
  
• If your the designated donut picker-upper, place the donuts in your trunk until you reach your destination. With the donuts in the trunk, you wont be tempted to nosh while driving.

Listen people, we all have the same amount of time. It's what you choose to do with it. I CHOOSE TO PLAN FOR SUCCESS! What do you choose?