How many points can I have????

Here is what I have found online that I use as a tool to know how many points I can have.

I hope you find it useful! This information was taken from this site.

This is just a rough guide. You'll need to attend a meeting to find an accurate daily points target that meets your own needs and profile.

less than 150 pounds 18-23 daily points

150 to 174 pounds 20-25 daily points

175 to 199 pounds 22-27 daily points

200 to 224 pounds 24-29 daily points

225 to 249 pounds 26-31 daily points

250 to 274 pounds 28-33 daily points

275 to 299 pounds 29-34 daily points

300 to 324 pounds 30-35 daily points

325 to 349 pounds 31-36 daily points

more than 350 pounds 32-37 daily points

I track my points on a spreadsheet I designed, it gives me 3 weeks on one sheet. I then use a calendar to take what food I am eating.

3 Exercises...

....for a tighter you. Yep this is what I found and guess what....they are not horrible exercises. Check it out here. If you look at this page, I think it is nice that they give you a variation of it. I am hoping to get started with these exercises this week. Probably tonight.....if you think about doing them and start, let me know how they go!

Excitement this weekend

When I had to send my letter to my Dr to get a approval to be reinbursed for my treadmill, he sent back the letter. With this letter he included a copy of his dictation from my August 2008 annual exam. Well with all of the new information out about waist size and heart disease, Dr P. has started checking this.

Well long story short

......I bought a tape measure this weekend and have.......

Lost 6.5 inches off my waist!!!

OMG I never thought that day would come....

March 30, 2009

The day of the weigh in came once again! Strange how that happens week after week! First I would like to say how very proud I am of myself. I have been working at this new way of life for 8 full weeks now. I suppose it is because I am seeing results...boy that sure helps.

But the offical Monday weigh in......
DOWN 2.5 pounds!!! YEAH
That gives me a total of 21 pounds lost since February 2, 2009

I am trying to reach my 10% goal by my next weigh in. That would mean a 4 pound loss for next Monday...do you think I can do it? I am confident that I can, if I just put my mind to it!

march 23, 2009

Well another weigh in approached today, and I am proud to announce that I was down another 2.5 pounds. This week I hit 18.6 pounds that I have lost. Amazing. I have never lost that much weight on my own without some sort of pill. Ok actually I have only tried a couple. But this time I am achieving success on my own! YAHOO!

Two more weigh in's and I am so excited....I get to have a picture taken! Honestly....I can't wait! I never thought that I would say that, but it is true, I CAN'T WAIT!

This weekend, we were outside on Saturday afternoon playing and I had Morgan go in and get the camera to take pictures of the boys, and so that I could take some! Well the smart allic that she is....took some of me and I must say, I even see the difference. Maybe if I can get it together I will try and post them.

The best part of today's weigh in though.....I even lost over the weekend!

Look what we got

That's right a treadmill. We got it home on Wednesday night. It was fairly quick to put together and I used it last night. I was very proud of myself. I walked 1.38 miles and burned 200 calories in 30 minutes. Not bad for someone who sits at their desk most of the day!

My struggle now.....my children want to execise. Christopher asks almost from the moment that I pick them up if he can go home and exercise. Not a bad thing I guess, but it makes it hard for Mommy to get her exercising in!!

March 16, 2009

Well.....here is the latest weigh in results!

I am down 2 pounds from last week! Yeah I am seeing consistency! That is what I love. This is also what keeps me going! I love that I am seeing some weight loss each and every week. The weight isn't much at a time, but it is consistent.

I had a great recipe shared with me last week for Cheesey Potatoes. The only thing that I did do differently was use regular hashbrown vs. the southern style potatoes. This is a recipe off the site I have linked to the side.....Dotties. She has a great site. She has done lots of the work for you in figuring out points. She also has a huge list of restaurants. Take a look if you are wanting something new!

STRESS AND WEIGHT GAIN......

I was talking with a friend at work this morning.... and she is wanting to lose weight but is not at the point of committment yet. I keep telling her it is ok....which it is.....she will commit when the time is right for her. She said it is just frustrating because she is watching what she is eating and the scale seems to continue to creep up. I told her what I learned (reheard) a few nights ago about stress and weight gain. So then I started my break today by Google'ing Stress and Weight Gain and found a great site. Click here to view. This really tells you many things about why people are struggling these days to lose/keep off weight. There is so much stress for EVERYONE, whether at home, work, or personal committments everyone just has way too much. So what do we do about this?????

I think back to the time that I was being treated for Migraines. My Dr kept saying that they were stress related (and I do think he was right) and that I needed to learn HOW to deal with my stress. How to deal with my stress......that's a loaded gun waiting to be fired. Oh wait...that was just me. That WAS how I dealt with stress...I would bottle it up and keep it in and do my best to make everyone around me frustrated. So a lot of good that did me.....now not only was I stressed but those around me were and that in turn made things worse for myself. What a vicious cycle that was huh?!?!? My poor family, they were usually the ones that got the worst of it. I have learned that this I cannot do.....so I have learned a lesson there. BUT...

I have also and am in the process of learning this new lesson.......EXERCISE.....HMM....kill 2 birds with 1 stone if you ask me. Because here is the thought....if I exercise then I release endorphens and I am happier. Point being....less stress. If I exercise I burn fat and calories....less weight....less stress.....another cycle. HMMM.....ponder that for a while.....read my next entry to get more of my thougts about stress and weight loss......also I want to hear your ideas! How do you relieve stress. And if you hear ideas from others, send them here or give them to me yourself!

Have yourself a stress free weekend....the sun is going to be out!

POTLUCK TERROR......

Do you know how horrible these can be to a person that is trying to lose weight? But I did it....I made it through my first one yesterday. I was very proud! I even lost 1.5 pounds yesterday. YAHOO!!! I thought I did quite well. You know how when you are going to one, you like to try lots. Well I did that, but did it sensibly. I only had 1 bite of everything except the main entree, which was sloppy joes. And the dip that was there for chips....only tried the dip and didn't have the chips to go with it! I was very proud of my self control. And the desserts that were there....oh man....we have awesome chefs in our midst. But again...control prevaled and I did not have any. After my first few lessons, I have learned better.....HOW DO I WANT MY POINTS TO BE USED? On empty calories? Nope not anymore! I want to eat foods that fill me up and give me energy. Today I have to endure another potluck....what am I doing to myself? Well I am proving that I can beat this challenge! Wish me luck.

29 POINTS.....UGG

Tuesday night was not the best night for me.....first off it was snowing, and you couldn't go anywhere, and then you know that time when you have all the cravings in the world! Well my craving last night was for a WHOLE entire bag of chips.....wait....calm down.....I did NOT eat the whole bag, in fact, I ate NONE! That's right....NONE! This would be a first! So next comes logic, I know at this point of the evening that I am just craving and craving salt. So I think, hmm...I have to eat supper anyway, let's have Culvers. It is close and the drive there won't be so bad. So Morgan and I wander (by means of car of course) over to Culvers and I am thinking what I want to eat. Grilled chicken would be the best, this I know....but gosh darn, it doesn't have the same salt taste as a great big burger (mind you I have only had 1 in 6 weeks). Normally I would have the Bacon Butterburger Deluxe DOUBLE, and onion rings. But in my quest to eat "healthier" I choose to only eat a single. That has to be better right? Sure 4 points better. Somehow 4 points doesn't seem like much.

Anyway....I did not know the point values until I checked this morning.

Bacon Butterburger Deluxe - SINGLE 15 points

Onion Rings 14 points

Do you see that......29 points for two items. Thank goodness for weekly bonus points.

Stuffed French Toast....only 4 points

I made this delicious STUFFED FRENCH TOAST for a staff meeting. It was wonderful! Filled with lots of fruit and just a hint of sweet! If you want to get the recipe for this great treat, click here.

March 9, 2009

Well the good news is........THIS DID NOT HAPPEN TODAY!

For today's offical weigh in, I am down.....

14.1 pounds

Is this not the cutest.......

This little black dress is what I can't wait to wear when I reach my goal! I have always liked the looks of the "little black dress" because they are always cute and most often very classy looking. Maybe I will get into this before the New York trip and I would be able to wear this on the dinner cruise. I am not sure if we have to dress up for that or not I guess. Only time will tell.

Wish me luck!

WEEKENDS........

I am finding that weekends are a struggle. Not that I eat in excess, but rather that I don't always choose to eat the best items.

Read on......

Friday night I splurged.....I had a CHILD size Shamrock shake @ McDonald's.

This little critter holds a WHOPPING 9 POINTS. That is terrible. And let me tell you, my taste buds were not quite as happy with that shake as I thought they might be~ Now lets look at this in reality. I can eat that shake for 9 points.....OR....I can have the following

Grilled Chicken Breast (3)/ Side Salad(0) / Parfait (3) / Honey Mustard (1) (for the salad) / Hot Mustard (1) (for the chicken)

8 points

Now tell me.....why would I do that to myself? That's a lot of food for only 8 points vs. 1 thing to taste for 9. Slowly I learn.

Last night's supper.....

Last night we had spaghetti. I love spaghetti....in fact it is probably my favorite meal. This tends to be a stuggle food for me to control. But last night I was proud......normally I would want to eat 2 huge plate fulls but I only had 1 medium plate full. Yes I did have another 2 bites. I had a couple pieces of garlic bread and a glass of milk. However, I was ready to ping my 14 year old that said, when I went for a bit extra, "Is that in your points?" I was VERY quick to inform her that i had been planning for that meal all week and had saved points just for it!

Now my offical weigh in's aren't until Monday mornings, but I would like to point out to my dear darling daughter....that I lost 1.5 pounds yesterday....so yes! I did have enough points.

March Pictures

Here are my March pictures. I seem to see some difference between last month's pictures and this month's. I don't know for sure....what do you think?

February 2, 2009

Below you will see some of my pictures at the beginning of my journey. Not very pretty pictures, but they are reality! The top one is taken at Christmas, so about 6 weeks before my life style change began. I decided that at the beginning of each month I will take pictures of myself, so that I can reflect back and see where I don't want to go again.

The above picture was taken sometime in January, again not a pretty picture.

I just look forward to be able to take a picture and see a beautiful, healthy young (yes I consider myself young) woman! Stay tuned for the adventure!

The day has come.......

.......that I decided that it is time to lose weight. I don't like looking the way I do, and I sure don't like having to search for clothes that fit! I took a good hard look at life and realized I am important. Not that I didn't think this before, but I realized that I am important. Important enough to fight for. Losing weight has to be one of the hardest things to get past. I am sure it is just as hard as any other addiction.

My mind has gone back and forth through many thoughts with this whole process. There are so many options when it comes to dieting....but only one decision when it comes to a lifestyle change. I have read many articles online about weight loss and talked to many people about various things that they have done. Some have done programs like Nutrisystem, or others where you have to eat their food. I have also seen the weight creep right back on when they have reached their goal and quit eating the food. I have also talked to several that have opted for the surgury way. For many it works great and others.....the few I have read about died. I know that the chances of death are slim, but I have 3 reasons not to try it....

1. Morgan
2. Christopher
3. Kaden

To me they are reason enough. I know parents are "supposed to" drive their kids nuts but my plan is to drive them nuts for the next 92 years!! Yep you guys are the lucky ones.

And even more than my kids.....I deserve it! I deserve to live the kind of life that I want and not what I am letting myself!

So here it is....my goal

120 pounds (to lose)

My reward...there will be several along the way.....but in March of 2010 Morgan is going to New York City and either I or Dan gets to go....and if I am the lucky one......I am going to buy a cute outfit! Can you imagine how fun it will be? I can't wait!