90 days on Weight Watchers...

...and here are my stats.

* I gained 48lbs with my pregnancy.
* By the time I started WW I had lost 22lbs.
* 3 months on WW I am am -13lbs (35lbs total).
* 13lbs more to lose until I am at my pre-pregnancy weight.



Granted, I have 25lbs more to lose once I obtain my pre-pregnancy weight to reach my ultimate goal weight but I have decided to focus on the next 13lbs first.

My goal is to be at my pre-pregnancy weight by my birthday, June 5th.

WW: Geez a Lou!!!

Anyone familiar with Everybody Loves Raymond is familiar with that exclamation most often heard coming out of Frank's mouth (Ray's dad).

It works now, too. Geez a Lou is RIGHT. I am failing miserably at keeping myself on track all week long in terms of my diet aka "Lifestyle Change". I do great for a couple of days and then one day I splurge points on a Pastelito de Carne and that night I make the decision to order Chinese Food for dinner. Or Friday arrives and I decide that I want a real breakfast (i.e. high points) and then lunch on the same day I head for the grill and a basket of fries.

What am I doing to myself? My current plateau has nothing to do with FLEX plan vs. CORE plan and everything to do with what I decide to put in my mouth. Realistically, if I cannot make the right decisions on FLEX (where I can pretty much eat whatever I want) then how the heck am I going to make the right decisions on CORE where my choices are much more limited?

I am sabatoging myself. I love food. I love the tastes, the textures, the anticipation of a good meal. I am the Rat from Ratatouille without the fantabulous cooking skills. Even now, as I sit here complaining about myself, I know that I am going to go downstairs and serve myself up a plate of scrambled eggs, tater tots, and bacon. And maybe even OJ. Why? Because right now I am so hungry that I am not thinking of my diet or the scale or my pants size. And since I have made such bad decisions during this week and I have not seen any movement on the scale at all - my miserable brain is thinking, "what could it hurt now? you already screwed up the week."

I realize now that I need to get my brain on track in order to get my mouth on track. If not, I am going to be stuck with this extra 40+ lbs for longer than is healthy for my mind or for my body.

Something's gotta give - and at the moment it ain't my pants!

I'm so proud of me!!!

I am on FIRE with my diet. I have been good every day this week, watching what I eat, and avoiding all temptations. I can barely believe it. I have been either eating breakfast at home or bringing my low calorie breakfast with me to work. I usually pack my lunch so that I avoid the temptation of my company cafeteria but I did not have time to today so I was forced to go down and walk by all of those foods I vowed to avoid in order to get to the healthy stuff. But I did it!

So, like I said, I am really proud of myself. I am trying my best to keep it up and see some real results this week.

Wish me luck!

____________________
As of 2/7/08: Update - I ruined my good streak this morning by agreeing to McDonalds for breakfast when the hubby offered it up. How quickly I succumb!!!! Thank goodness for Flex Points, if not I would be done for.

Welcome to Plateauland; Can I take your coat?

*sigh*

That little word does not even begin to describe the frustration I am feeling. I am STUCK. My scale is broken. I swear it is. I have been so good this week. Seriously, on points in a way I have not been in a while. Making smarter dinner decisions. I have been SURE that I would see a change on the scale. But no. Its the same as it was on Saturday. To the very ounce. It must be stuck.

I think this is the reason they (which they, I wouldn't know, but I hear about them a lot) tell you that you should not weigh yourself every day. And I don't. I weigh myself every 2 days. Sometimes even 3 days. I am just hoping to see a change to justify how good I have been.

I am going to the fair on Saturday. If I do not see a difference by then I honestly don't know how I am going to avoid splurging on an Elephant Ear.

I hit the 10lb mark.

Ten pounds lost, that is. It took about 8 weeks to lose them which is kind of disappointing but I am telling myself that since those 8 weeks ran smack through the holiday season that its all okay. I am gonna give myself credit for starting my diet before the holiday season instead of after it as so many people advised me to do. I am telling myself that had I not started my diet when I did I would still be 10lbs heavier at this point - if not heavier due to the weight I would have allowed myself to gain at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So - 10lbs lost. Not too shabby. I am gonna take a moment and pat myself on the back.

*pat*
*pat*
*pat*

Dual Blog: Weight Gain/ No Longer Nursing

+1.2lbs.

I expected it. I did not do very well last week with even attempting to stay on points. Combine that with weaning the baby off the breast and having to recalculate my allotted points in addition to cutting down on the water to keep my milk from rushing back - I totally expected to gain some weight. This week will be a better week. Heck, today has already been a better day! I stayed on points all day long and I can already feel how less hungry I am since I stopped nursing.

Don't get me wrong - I did not stop nursing Sophia so that I could really start losing weight. I have already dropped 40lbs in the 10 weeks since her birth. It just sorta happened that since she started sleeping 12 hour stretches at night my milk supply just sort of fizzled away. And since I did not start pumping to make up for it - I had to start supplementing more and more formula which made things inconsistent for her routine-wise. That led me to the difficult decision of weaning her. And then just stopping altogether. It actually went really smoothly and now she is doing great. She is a lot more full than she had been the last couple of weeks which makes her notably happier - which makes mommy happier, too. Even though I have to admit that I really miss nursing her. It was a wonderful experience.

Lots of changes. Sophia is gaining weight as she should, eating well, sleeping well... Mommy is gonna be losing weight as she should, eating well...and (hallelujah!)...sleeping well, too!

Life is good!

Week 2 on Weight Watchers

Stayed. The. Same. Weight. Dammit.

How annoying.

Back to the drawing board, right? Need to make sure I stay on points! I did pretty well today. Decent breakfast. Healthy lunch. Walked a lot, did not spend the day in front of the TV or sitting on my ass.

And then I messed up and had me an Oreo Frosty from Wendy's. That is what I happens when I do not see any change in weight. I slipped. I thought, what the hell - I stayed on points last week and did not lose a freaking OUNCE. *sigh*

Ah well. I wanted it. I enjoyed it. Time to start again again tomorrow.

One week on Weight Watchers...

...and I have lost 3lbs.

And I am more than a little proud of myself. While I would have hoped for more on my first week, I am realistic enough to realize that Thursday and Friday were lost days due to Thanksgiving and leftovers. So, inspite of not really watching what I ate too closely on those days I still lost weight. I am gonna give myself a pat on the back for that and keep trucking on!

Off to have breakfast!

My weight loss journey begins...again!

I say again because I did this already. Two times over the last 8 years I have lost approximately 35lbs. Each time. This time its different. This time I am attempting to lose pregnancy weight which, from what I hear, is a whole new ball of wax.

How am I planning to do it?
- Weight Watchers has a plan for nursing mothers. I joined online tonight.

How much do I need to lose?
- I gained 44lbs with my pregnancy
- I have lost 25lbs doing nothing but not being preggo anymore and nursing. Yes, supposedly you burn something like 500 extra calories a day when you breastfeed. Who knew?!
- I have 19lbs to go until I am at my pre-pregnancy weight...and another 20lbs until I am HAPPY with ME!

I CAN DO IT! I just need a little support and will power. So, get ready - you are about to start reading all about my weight loss journey in addition to all the other crap I blog about!

My post-partum shopping experience.

Here I am one month post partum. My body has had 4 weeks to do its thing. I have lost 25lbs. 19lbs to go until I hit my pre-preggo weight. Awesome, right? However, none of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit. Not my tops (boobs are huge due to breastfeeding) and not any pants that are not sweats or elastic in the waist. HOW DEPRESSING. I realized, with the help of some mommy friends, that I had to buy some transition clothes. It was a must. I need to be able to move about in the world in real clothes, not maternity clothes, so that I can hold my head up high and feel good about myself.

As of yesterday afternoon I am now the proud owner of TWO new pairs of Jeans. Size 16, Classic Fit, Old Navy. YES. Size 16. Ouch. Do I get brownie points for admitting that in writing? I hope so - because I will only feel better when I can come on here and write that I am back to my pre-pregnancy size 12 and better yet - when I finally get down to my goal size of size 10!

So, I went shopping yesterday afternoon. I left my daughter at home with her daddy and I went to the mall by myself for the first time since having the baby. It was an experience. First of all, who knew how GOOD it would feel to get out on my own? Second, it was mostly successful! I had no luck in the blouse arena - honestly, too much of what is out now are SWEATERS. Hello, we live in South Florida??? Do stores even make money at this time of the year with all of the winter stuff they have out? And where the hell did all of those loose-waisted-blouses that were so popular while I was pregnant go??? My tummy is not ready to be shown off in tight fitting tops yet!

Anyway. Thanks to a fellow Mommy recommendation I learned that Old Navy carries good jeans on the larger side. I immediately made the mistake of going to the mid-rise jeans section and picking up a size 18 and a size 20. The 18 was TOO TIGHT and the 20 was TOO BIG. *sigh* Talk about a nightmare. I almost burst into tears right there in the fitting room. Hello, even in my underwear I felt like a frump because I am freaking wearing briefs up to my waistline because bikini or anything lower still feel too uncomfortable on my c-section incision. I was about ready to bang my head on the fitting room wall and throw a full on hissy fit. But instead I took a deep breath and went back out to the jeans section resolved that there had to be a style for me. And there was. I noticed Classic Fit. I grabbed an 18 and went into the fitting room and guess what? IT WAS TOO BIG!!!! I almost fell over from my excitement. I realized that mid-rise is not what my body fits at the moment but I had NO PROBLEM being Classic - not as long as it was in a size 16. So, I walked out of Old Navy with two pairs of jeans only 2 sizes bigger than my pre-pregnancy size. Is that fantastic or what?

Its a start! Yet another new beginning in my life as a mommy.