My first gain and some random musings

Yes folks, that's right after 7 months of being on Weight Watchers I have officially had my first gain.  The funny thing is I don't really feel too bad about it.  Now don't get me wrong, I prefer losing to gaining.  Heck, that's the whole idea here right?  The thing is, it's been a good learning opportunity and a great time to regroup and refocus on my goals.  This is very close to the last weight I was when I lost 40 lbs a few years ago (before I started to gain it all back).  So I looked back on my food choices of late and my lack of tracking and realized I need to do more to get to my goal.  I am pretty good at tracking but I had a few days in the past week where I didn't at all, and some days where things just go into my mouth without a single thought (well I'm sure I do think about it....) and they don't get written down.  This is going to be a great week I just know it.  I just finished an awesome yoga class, I'm feeling strong and fit and I have more determination than ever!!

I have been thinking lately about a lot of things.....there has recently been some people in my life that don't seem to be happy that I'm getting healthy.  Or let me rephrase that, they aren't happy that I'm getting healthy and they are not.  I know it's jealousy and that's a really sad feeling.  I know.  I have been there.  I was so jealous of my sister and before that my best friend.  I tried to take those feelings of jealousy and turn them into determination.  And, this time it worked for me (or is working for me).  Only you can make it work for yourself, no one else can do it for you.  I am trying really hard not to push this on anyone.  If they ask, I will tell them but that's it.  I am feeling so great these days I want to shout it from the rooftops but I won't.  My husband is my biggest fan and supporter of me, and for that I am so grateful and it's really all I need.

Last night I was at the farm visiting my husband.  It's only 20 minutes away from our house, so my husband comes home every night but it's harvest time so he's been there a lot and late nights (I'm usually in bed).  It was such a beautiful night.  I rode in the combine with him for a long time, and we watched the sun set together.  It was great to spend some time with him.  I hadn't seen my brother-in-law for awhile (and he hadn't seen me ;-) he was amazed at how much weight I have lost.  He is a big guy.  I think he must be close to 300 lbs.  He wanted to know what I'm doing and how I lost the weight.  So I told him.  He said, "but I love food so much!".  LOL who doesn't??  I told him how it's amazing how I actually crave the healthy foods now, but I can eat whatever I want.  Just less of it and not as often.  Then he said, "I'm going to join a gym".  Well, that's great and will probably help but it really is all (mostly) about the food.  My Doctor has been saying that to me for years.  Every time I would give her an excuse as to why I couldn't lose the weight (my ankle, my back, my knees....whatever) she would always say "it's not about the exercise, it's about the food".  She is right.  Now don't get me wrong, the exercise does help for sure, but if your food choices are wrong or your eating is out of control it doesn't matter how much you exercise you aren't gonna lose much weight.  When I started in January I had just had my 2nd surgery on my ankle.  I was hardly moving at all let alone doing any exercise, and guess what?  I lost weight!  I guess the bottom line here is calories in and calories out right?  Burn more than you take in.  Eat less, move more.  Sad but true, the secret is there is no secret.  I leave you with a few pictures from last night.

  sunset on the Saskatchewan prairies 

 farmer Dean driving the combine

Canola going into the grain truck, love the sunset in this picture!  (sorry about the dust, but it was dusty!)

looking out the front window of the combine

I've been BUSY!

I had to weigh in early last week because I was away on the weekend.  My 2 sisters and 3 of my nieces and I went to Edmonton to see Taylor Swift in concert.  We had lots of fun!  We did some shopping and of course had lots of laughs.  Our brother met us there too (even though it was supposed to be a girls weekend we let him come ;-).  It was great to see him, as he lives 2 provinces away and we don't see him too often.  Anyway, back to the weigh in.  I lost 0.8 lb for a total of 39.2 lbs!  Slooow but sure.  I recently counted out the number of stones that I still need to lose in pounds and put them in a separate glass.  I am really enjoying this visual reminder of how far I've come and how much I have left to lose.

the one on the left is 39 lbs lost, the one on the right is 24 left to get to WW goal

Kayla on the left, Joey on the right.....waiting patiently for carrots and snap peas!

Back to work today after 2 weeks of vacation.  I kind of missed drinking my coffee on the deck, reading the paper leisurely....sigh.

Weigh in and Size.......12!!

in front of the sign by the cabins we stayed at

beautiful sunset after our walk

my husband Dean

Dean and I at the local bar.  Enjoyed some great live music and a few drinks too :-)

Weighed in yesterday (Saturday) as I was still away on Friday.  I lost 0.6 lb for a total of 38.4 lbs!  I'm happy with that after a week at Waskesiu Lake.  We had a great time, did lots of walking and biking and I stayed on plan the best I could.  I used 35 of my 49 weekly bonus points which I don't usually use at all but it allowed me to have a cold beer or two and ice cream one day after a long bike ride.

 I'm on holidays for another week.  I will be at home, spending my time between relaxing and trying to get some things done around the house.  On Friday my 2 sisters and 4 of my nieces and I will be travelling 5 hours to Edmonton to see Taylor Swift!  It's going to be so much fun!  Looking forward to some girl time, a great concert, and some shopping.

I was at Costco yesterday, big surprise I know!  I found some jeans there that looked good for $19.95.  Of course you can't try them on there so I thought I would buy a size smaller so that I had a pair that I could try on periodically to see how I'm doing.  I got those size 12 jeans home, tried them on and guess what??  They fit me!!  So it looks like I need to go back and get a pair in size 10 for my smaller size.  I really can't believe it.  I'm pretty sure it's been over 20 years since I've worn a size 12.  It feels good.

                         

Zumba yesterday, Yoga today.......then it's time to clean this house!!!  

                              my little squirrel friend likes strawberries too but he really prefers peanuts!

Interesting book and weigh in day!!

First things first, today was weigh in day and I'm down 1.6 lbs for a total of 37.8 lbs total!  Very happy with that number.  Still going slowly but a steady loss and that's what's important.  My sister was at the meeting with me today which was nice since my friend Jen is gone now.  Of course Nancy is a lifetime member now and only has to come and weigh in once a month.  I am so proud of her, over 6 months at goal weight and she is still doing great!  I'm not even there yet and I worry about maintaining!  At least I will have her to help me and give me tips.

I read a lot of weight loss books.  Some of my favorites are:  "Half-Assed:  A Weight Loss Memoir" by Jennette Fulda, "Such a Pretty Fat" by Jen Lancaster, "The Weight Loss Diaries" by Courtney Rubin.  I have one on my Kindle that I am sort of reading slowly, a bit every few weeks.  It is meant to be read for 100 days one entry per day.  I haven't been doing that.  It's called "100 days of Weight Loss:  The secret to being successful on any diet plan" by Linda Spangle.  To get to my point, (and I do have one) on Day 3 the entry really hit home.  It talks about the difference between being committed to losing weight and just being interested in losing weight.  I really feel this is what the difference is this time for me.  It's like something has just clicked and it's not about wondering if I will be able to lose the weight this time, it's about knowing that I will for sure.  It's different I can tell.

I will quote some of the book's key points about the differences.  Day 3 is titled "Do it anyway".  So what it says if that on days you don't feel like exercising or cooking and eating healthy meals tell yourself to "do it anyway".  When you are really committed to losing weight you make choices that you might not particularly want to do at the time but you "do it anyway".  Here's a summary of the differences between people who are interested in their goals compared to those who are committed.

People who are interested in losing weight

• Stick with it until something better comes along
• Take action only if they "feel like" doing it
• Need to see results in order to stay motivated
• Blame people or circumstances for their struggles
• Easily give up when they face challenges

People who are committed to losing weight

• Stick with their plans no matter what
• Take action whether they feel like doing it or not
• Assume that if they stay motivated, results will follow.
• Take responsibility for their own actions
• Keep going in spite of challenges and setbacks

Interesting isn't it?  I am not exactly reading this book the way you are supposed to but I am getting lots of great information out of it.

Zumba!!

I finally got brave enough to go to a Zumba class at the gym!  Guess what?  I LOVED it!  I was worried that I wouldn't know what to do.  Here's the thing, there was lots of people like me that had never done Zumba before.  It was so much fun.  It moves very fast and it's hard to follow but I for sure want to go back.  I am constantly amazed by what my body can do these days.  I can't wait for my next Zumba class!