Still goin'!

Down 0.6 pounds yesterday, so total loss since the beginning of April is 15.2 pounds - yay!

Now that summer is here and the weather is getting warmer, we've been spending more time outdoors. That means I'm less tempted by hot, cheesy foods and more tempted by cold, ice-cream-like foods! Fortunately I've discovered Weight Watchers makes these really good ice cream bars - I have two boxes in the fridge right now - one is latte flavored and the other chocolate fudge. Mmmm!! They're very good and only 2 points per bar.

I also like their little cups of ice cream. My absolute favorite is the chocolate chip cookie dough -- mmm! (Remember last week, when I told you about some of the "bad foods" I used to eat regularly? Well ... did I mention ready-made chocolate chip cookie dough? No? Well, consider it mentioned then.)

Another really good hot weather snack is Kozy Shack no-sugar-added puddings. My favorite is the tapioca. I tried the chocolate, but it had kind of a funny aftertaste - the only word I can think to describe it is "dental"!

Sorry, Kozy Shack, but that's what it reminds me of - the taste of the nitrous oxide that our dentists used to conk us out with back in the good old days. So no chocolate pudding for me - I don't need the nightmares!

I was rereading some of my old posts and realized it's more "Curvy" than "Catholic". Now I do have some Catholic-related opinions I'd like to share; but I need to think over just how much I want to reveal to my vast reading audience.

Let me meditate on this a little, till next week.

"Bad" foods and a stunning weight loss result!

Hey, remember last week when I said I figured the big weight-losses were over and I'd start losing a half pound to a pound a week now?

Well, this morning I weighed in at WW and posted a loss of 4.6 pounds! Woo hoo!

This is why you should never take me seriously when I predict the future; I'm almost always wrong.

Anyway, as promised, here's just a few of the "bad" foods I've indulged in during my past, which made me the woman I am today (fat!):

1. Ramen noodles and popcorn - Doesn't sound too awful, does it? But those tiny little packages of Ramen noodles contain a whopping 16 grams of fat! (And of course I ate the whole package - how could I not? It always seemed ridiculous to me that they thought anyone would actually be able to share them.)

For a while, they made a baked version which was much lower in fat, and I bought those when I could find them. But I guess they didn't make enough obscene profit from them because they quit making them.

As for the popcorn, that's actually good for you and has lots of fiber - except when you cover it in butter and melted cheese.

For many years, Ramen noodles and "popcorn plus" were my regular evening meals, especially during winter months. In my defense, the Ramen noodles are CHEAP - check them out next time you go to any grocery store. You can get, like, 100 packages for a dollar! It's pretty tempting when you're on a limited budget.

Still, the fat did add up (and the melted butter and two kinds of melted cheese on the popcorn didn't help).

2. Parmesan cheese. You know those big green canisters of Kraft Parmesan cheese? A nice, light topping for your cheesy needs. I'm able to just sprinkle a little bit on my foods now with no problem.

However, for a long time I was going through not one, not two but THREE of those canisters in the space of a week. Not only was I pouring it on top of popcorn (see #1 above), I also just ate it straight out of the can. Quite filling.

3. Boxed macaroni & cheese. Mmmm good, and theoretically you could cook it & eat small portions of it over several days - right? Yeah RIGHT! Get this:

On a regular basis, I would buy TWO boxes of the stuff - cook the macaroni from only ONE package - and mix in the pouches of cheese from BOTH boxes!

Because ... see ... when prepared with just the one packet of cheese, it didn't taste cheesy enough.

And sometimes I would add some Parmesan (see #2) on top of THAT.

Mmmm ... good! But definitely NOT good for me!

Now - here's the big question: Did I *know* that all these things weren't good for me?

Well ... yes. I kind of did. But I had also gotten kind of mixed up in the way I thought about my health, and my weight. See, I was still trying to walk regularly, and I kidded myself that as long as I was exercising, I didn't have to worry about what I ate.

So here I am, almost 50 years old, finally finding the right answers, but more importantly, putting them into practice. And the answers are as old as the hills - "Eat right and exercise." There's really nothing else to it. But as the saying goes, "We are too soon old and too late smart!"

Half a pound, still going down!

Weighed in this morning 1/2 a pound lighter than last week, so I'm down a total of 10 pounds as of today. Yay!

I have a feeling the dramatic multi-pound weight losses are over as that's usually the water weight. Now the fat will start going and that will be much slower. Let's hope I can stay interested - I know from past experience that once the novelty wears off it gets more difficult.

Things I did today to keep going: bought some Weight Watchers ice cream & other low-fat frozen snacks to counteract the allure of the Breyer's Natural Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (100% natural ingredients!) currently calling to me from our freezer. I've found that it's easier to resist the "bad" * stuff if I have "good" * stuff that's similar in kind/taste.

(* I don't really ascribe moral values to food. Food is just food. The "bad" stuff may actually be very good for me under other circumstances. But when I'm trying to stay under 25 points a day, I need to be discriminating.)

(and if you want to know about some REALLY bad foods that I used to indulge in on a regular basis, stay tuned - I'm working on a post about them for next week!)

Oh, by the way, HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY to all the men and women of our Armed Forces! Thanks for making it possible for me to focus most of my attention on weight loss and diet foods, rather than dodging terrorist attacks.

Another good Saturday morning!

I've been having a pretty good week (other than my boss -- or should I say "EX-boss who doesn't KNOW she's my ex-boss, or at least PRETENDS she doesn't know") -- being, well, bossy!).

I got Mickey, the franchise owner at my CURVES, to do my measurements on Friday. Everything looks really good - I'm down an average of one inch on all my vitals. CURVES shows me down 5 pounds but I don't really rely on their scales, which are the old-fashioned kind with the metal weights that slide from one end to the other. Frankly, those scales intimidate me - they have a "the doctor will see you now" vibe. I prefer the digital Post Office-quality scales at Weight Watchers -- much more accurate and you don't have to worry about which kind of thermometer they're using today. ;-)

Anyway, today I had my official weekly Weight Watchers weigh-in (say THAT three times fast!) and yay, I'm down another couple of pounds! Weight today, 214.8, which means I've lost 9.6 pounds since I started - yay!!!

See you next week! (Oh, by the way - L.A. Metro SUCKS - more next time!)

(P.S. I think our cat, Princess, has noticed I'm shrinking - she tried to help me by bringing me a nice, juicy nutritious sparrow last night. Dead, thank God. I appreciated the thought, my piercing screams and pleas to my husband to GET IT OUT OF HERE NOW!!! notwithstanding.)

SEVEN POUNDS, baby!

Hey, I'm doing GREAT! (At least in my humble (and undoubtedly biased) opinion!

Today's weigh-in shows me down a total of 7.2 pounds from my starting weight! Weigh to go, eh?

Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the WW meeting I wanted to go to this morning. My hubby is out of town, so I was in charge of cantoring for this morning's liturgy. It's what's called the 5th All Souls Saturday in the Byzantine Catholic Church - basically a liturgy for the departed. The priest reads the names of deceased members of all the families in the parish. It's actually kind of cool.

So this morning I just decided to get up super-early and went to the 7 a.m. meeting at the location I kinda sorta don't like that much. Fortunately the weird Aussie woman who insulted me wasn't the leader this morning, so it wasn't too bad.

Also, I knew our fellow cantor Kitt would want to go out to breakfast after liturgy. He hasn't been there on Saturday morning for a while, and enjoys going out to breakfast with us. I enjoy it too, so I didn't mind changing my plans a little. Next week maybe I can make it to the "good" location again.

It's been a good week, nutritionally, fitness-wise and personally! Nutritionally, I've kept well within my Points balances every day. Fitness-wise, I've continued exercising at CURVES three days a week (MWF). And personally - well, let's just say my husband is happy and so am I! ;-)

Ready for a better week!

Well, last week I did a lot of bitching and moaning, both here in my blog and in various other forums. Mostly about how the Weight Watchers meetings I'd been to were unfriendly, and the Curves lady didn't know how to use a tape measure, and it's too hard to do this, and that, and the other thing.

I still think some of the things I complained about were valid criticisms. However, on Thursday morning, I went to my doctor and found out that I have SHINGLES! Which may well have made me more irritable than usual and, hence, more apt to bitch 'n moan.

Fortunately I seem to have dodged a bullet on the shingles - everyone I've mentioned them to shudders and says, "Eek, shingles! They're so painful!" But mine haven't been. They're on the left side of my neck, under my ear, and so far the worst pain has been comparable to a mild muscle ache. They do itch from time to time but I haven't felt compelled to scratch them, so they aren't spreading.

So thanks, God, for giving me a mild case of shingles - just enough to bring me back down to earth but not enough to ground me for good!

And after going to the doctor's on Thursday, I decided to hit a Weight Watchers meeting at a different location than the ones I'd been going to. And guess what - it was great! The leaders & weigh-in ladies were nice, and I even made a new friend (hi, Rita!).

The only down side was that my weigh-in showed a 3.2 pound GAIN! Eek! I rationalized it by saying that all my other weigh-ins had been on Saturday mornings, and this was a Thursday afternoon. Which may well have been the case. I'll know for sure next Saturday morning as I'll be going back to this location then - before breakfast!

As for CURVES, I've calmed down about the measuring thing and just decided to use them for exercise ONLY. I'll weigh in at Weight Watchers, and do my own tape measurements at home if I feel the need.

The main thing to keep in mind is - I am not doing this to please anyone at CURVES, or at Weight Watchers. I'm doing it for ME. And I'm not going to let anyone stop me this time!C

The Curvy Catholic Lashes Out At CURVES!

Grr!

I'm a little irritated with the nice lady at the downtown L.A. CURVES which I joined at the same time I joined Weight Watchers.

This morning I asked her to do my measurements before I started my workout. My last measurements were done on the date I joined, April 8, 2008.

So get this - here's what she came up with:

Weight - 4/8: 223-1/2; 4/30: 222 - which is inaccurate compared with my WW weigh-ins, showing I started at 224.4 and have now lost over 4 pounds; but at least it shows a loss, right?

But then we get to this:

Bust - 4/8: 40-1/2; 4/30: 46-1/2

Come on!!! My bust has gone from 40-1/2 inches to 46-1/2 inches -- in less than 3 weeks??? And yet I've LOST weight? Give me a break!

And all my other measurements have gone UP at least an inch or more!! (I'd like to post all of them but for some reason I can't seem to create a table, or set up tabs, in this format - if I figure it out I'll post it later!).


Yet if it wasn't been for the wildly ridiculous bust measurement, I would have shrugged and said the usual mantra, "Oh well, muscle weighs more than fat," and just gone on with my life.

But - come on!!! There's no way my bust has increased 6 inches in less than a month! I would have noticed that (and my husband would DEFINITELY have noticed that - nyuk nyuk!).

I told her that, and she kind of agreed, but then she said, "Oh, I can tell you're really disappointed - let me give you some tips on how to make your weight loss go faster!"

I told her I'm in Weight Watchers and I don't *want* my weight loss to go any faster - 3 pounds in less than a month is just fine, thank you, and I'm very satisfied with what I'm doing; I just want CURVES to do my measurements with a little more consistency so I can add that information into the mix!

But she still kept trying to make it seem like *I* had done something wrong!

I posted a thread at the Weight Watchers Forums with basically this same information and will check it with interest to see if anyone has any suggestions.

I am steaming - and not just from the workout! But maybe that'll help burn off some more calories - nyuk nyuk!