Day 4: Duh, this isn't rocket science.

As I've said before, nothing I write here is really all that earth-shattering.  But perhaps it will lend credence to things that other people are thinking or reinforce my own resolve when I re-read it some day.  Hi, future me.

Anyway, today I had a thought, and maybe this is one of those thoughts that will help lead to success.  It was this: it's easy to succeed in small amounts.  I realized that choosing not to eat that slice of pizza, or that sample taquito at Costco, is really very easy.  Those small choices, those small victories, will add up to larger victories so long as you stay consistent.

Contrast this with "pre-weightloss" where small victories are still small victories, but can be easily undermined when inconsistently applied (skipping the extra slice of pizza so you can have the huge piece of cake, for instance).  While any victory is to be applauded, the real goal should be to line them up so that they can synergize effectively and lead to real long-term success.

The depressing part of this, of course, is that it means there is no quick fix, and this is a lifelong journey, not just a means to an end -- there will be no end.  Keeping that in mind is probably one of my most difficult challenges.

Day 3: Pointed Lessons

Today I tried eating a bit more at lunch, knowing that it's probably better to eat more earlier in the day and less at night.  I had leftover Split-Pea soup (5pts) and some open-faced steak sandwich on bagel thins (6pts) and salad (with the full-fat dressing that I bought not thinking about the points -- 4pts/serving).  Egads!  But not bad overall (at 15pts for lunch).

Dinner was considerably easier, Wifey made baked chicken and broccoli, the chicken was some huge portion at 11pts, plus 4pts for the BBQ sauce I added, total of 15pts.  I also had a fruit salad (blueberries, grapes, and a banana).  The Costco blueberries have turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.  Need to figure out when they're "in season" and try them then, maybe.

 

I'm not particularly starving, but sometimes it's like I need to have snacks (fruits & vegetables) handy, which is probably the point.  It could be hard to keep them stocked in the fridge is all.

Day 2: Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy...

Had a pretty decent breakfast/lunch/brunch today.  I made some egg-substitute in the microwave, added 2Tbsp. of Chipotle salsa to it, whipped up a fruit salad of strawberries, blueberries, and a banana, sort of macerated in a bit of Splenda, and a peach yogurt.  Not amazing or anything, but it took me about 10 minutes to make, and about an hour to eat, taking smallish bites at a time and switching from eggs to salad and back.

Snacks at Krispy Kreme (so not worth it -- but thanks to the blogging process I just double checked and realized I doubled the points) was a chocolate donut and a frappuccino.  And some baby carrots not to long ago, but those were 0 points.  Surprisingly, the baby carrots never really sound appetizing when I think about getting some of them, but once I'm actually eating them, I'm surprised at how good they are.

Dinner at Denny's was a build-your-own Chicken burger for 13 points, complete with dippable veggies.  Although Denny's kind of pissed me off claiming not to have fat-free ranch when it's clearly listed on their nutritional guide, and seriously, 3 2-inch stalks of celery and 2 cucumber slices are what qualify as "dippable veggies", intended to replace that pound of fscking french fries?  Not buying it, sorry.  You cheaped out, and I'm calling you on it.

The chicken burger, however, was excellent.  But I take at least half of the credit for that because I designed it.  :-P

But, that leaves me with a whopping 27 points remaining.  I know that in general it's not a great idea to leave a lot of points, so I'm going to go make some steak strip things -- I think I can use a lot of points there quickly without being really "bad" about it.  Maybe a bit of basalmic on them.  I'll have to report back on whether that's any good or not.

A lesson learned...

Holy cow.  Raw, undressed celery sucks.

Day 1: Once Upon a Time...

It seems like a bit of a stretch to call this day 1.  With health problems dating back something like 10 years now -- the trifecta of hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes -- and a weight problems going back as far as I can remember, this is hardly day 1 in that sense.  Having joined WeightWatchers last week, it's not even day 1 of their program.

But arguably this is Day 1 of the last program.  It's Day 1 of this blog.  And what I'm bringing out of the today's weigh-in and meeting is that this can't be something I do "occasionally" or when it's convenient.  I need to get this handled and under control and maintain it.  Like it is with my diabetes, I can do a better job of managing what I'm eating and definitely being more active.

We took "before" pictures and measurements after the meeting today.  I'll have to put the pictures up later, but here's what I have so far:

 

So, that's right, I gained one pound.  I'm blaming the birthday dinner and the potluck Geocaching dinner thing.  But that's not entirely fair since that was early this week.

I'm just going to have to do a better job of tracking everything and making intelligent decisions.  Also of going for walks or something.  I'm half-tempted to get Quin involved in going on walks.  The only problem with that is that he's likely to want to go on walks all the time and I'm not entirely sure that I'm up for that in the cold weather.   But I definitely need to start doing something.

That's what I have for now.  And now, since I'm getting hungry, I'm going to go fix something for lunch before I start starving and eat the entire kitchen.  :)