Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.

We have been back to Weight Watchers for about 6 weeks now and my starting weight was 229. I was steadying going down at first and then had a bad week (as you can see I gained three pounds, almost all the weight I had lost at that point). Last week we missed the meeting but made it last night and I lost another 1.8 pounds (current weight 226.8). So over 6 weeks total weight loss is 2.2 pounds. This shows me just how complacent I have been over a six week span. In one week I gained three pounds but over six I have only lost 2.2 pounds. Time to get this in check. Time to FOCUS!! I can do better than this.

This is even a more surprising chart. I first joined Weight Watchers in 2007 over 7 years and look how much my weight has fluctuated, looks like the Dow Jones... Starting weight was 240 pounds and in 2011 I got as low as 198.2.  

I really feel like a normal person can maintain just about even weight, not me. This is proof to me, once again, about my over eating. I need to stop cutting corners on counting my points, I need to stop thinking that it's okay to have multiple cheat nights, I need to stay focused on the plan over the weekend. There is no question that the weekends are the hardest. I like eating out, I like drinking wine. Just like working out, it's about finding that balance. I need to find that balance between holding on to what I need and letting go of what I think I want. Do I really want this extra slice of pizza? Do I really want this oh so delicious frozen Halloween peanut butter cup? You bet I do, but I want to lose weight and be healthy more. The more I focus on this fact, the clearer it becomes. Now the hard part...to stay focused.

Keep moving forward.

Just as I suspected, gained 5.4 pounds.  Ouch.  I now weigh 220 pounds.  Essentially in three months I have gained back all the weight I have lost since I started writing this blog.  Well one pound less, whoopdedoo...

Well at least I had a good start to my first day back on.  Boot camp last night was miserable, I mean marvelous.  The goal was to do as many rounds as possible in the 60 min of class (less warm up and stretching) so really 45 minutes.  Yeah... I saw on Facebook that other clients were able to get in 4 plus rounds, oh how I miss the good old days. I was able to do a little over two.  Others in class did three or a little over.  I will get back there its just going to take sometime.  At least now I know where I stand, next time I will do better.  That is the outlook I am going to have from this point on.  I may not be there yet, but I am closer than I was yesterday.  Thanks Tom for the motivational words earlier today.  You honestly made me feel better, its about establishing a base and then keep moving forward.  I knew there was a reason we kept you around...  I have set a reminder in Outlook for thirty days from now, I will try this again in a month and see how I do.

Try the workout yourself and let me know how many rounds you get in.

I have a meeting this afternoon and cannot make it to class but my goal is to get in at least a quick (again the term is used loosely here) three miler.  I am ready and motivated after seeing the scale last night.  Back to counting and writing everything down today!  One step at a time but those steps keep me moving forward.

Save the weekly's for the weekend!

Day two of complete food tracking in check.

I am going to share with you one of my vices, because you are my friends.  I friggin love this Coffee-Mate French Vanilla coffee creamer and yes it's sugar free!  This is just about the only thing I eat/drink that has artificial sweetener in it.  I think this may even be one of the most processed food items out there but I still love it.  I actually go through times where the realization kicks in that I am not doing anything good for myself and resort back to half and half with real sugar but nothing kick starts my day like this cup of coffee.  Actually drinking some now, wow...it's good.

Breakfast:
Coffee - See above (4 points for two cups)  As you can see in the picture we weigh just about everything.  So when I say I drink two cups of coffee I am really using 90 grams of creamer in each cup.  Same applies to the cheese below, a 1/4 cup is equivalent to 30 grams.  I find that you actually get more food when you weigh it out as compared to measuring with measuring cups.  Most nutrition facts list the servings in cups or partial cups so it just translates easier to use cup sizes, plus most people just don't have digital scales.
Egg wrap - 2 eggs (4 points), 2 pieces of Canadian Bacon (1 point), 1/4 cup part skim mozzarella cheese (2 points), and mushrooms, onions, zucchini and spinach (0 points) all served on a whole wheat flour tortilla (1 point).  Grand total of 8 points.
45 - 12 = 33 remaining points

Snack - Banana

Lunch:
Exact same as yesterday.  Soup and sandwich for 12 points.
33 - 12 = 21

Snack - Apple

Dinner (due to pure excitement and absolute ravenousness I forgot to take a picture...again):
Homemade burger with blue cheese, lettuce, tomato on a Big Marty's Bun (made by my sister in law, Sarit).  Wow is all I can say.  I so wish I took a picture because this burger was awesome.  The blue cheese added a saltiness and flavor boost that was redonkulous.  Soo good.  Thank you Sarit, this was an excellent burger. (13 points)
Baked French Fries - from Trader Joe's I believe (5 points)
Asparagus - 0 points
21 - 18 = 3 remaining points

Dessert:
Vanilla pudding cup with some M&M's added in - Delish (3 points)
3 - 3 = 0 = Success

Another 6 activity points earned at boot camp.  Up to 12 for the week.

Day two done and both days exactly within my daily points.  No weekly's used yet, which is good, since the weekend is where the real damage is done.  Save the weekly's for the weekend!

If you bite it, write it.

Here is a breakdown of how food and I work together throughout the day.  I start with 45 total points.

Breakfast (no picture):  

Coffee - Two cups, two points creamer in each cup (4 points)

Cereal with almond milk, 8 points for 2 1/4 cups cereal, 1 point for a cup of almond milk (9 points)

45 - 13 = 32 remaining points

Snack:

Banana - 0 points 

Apple - 0 points

32 - 0 - 32

Lunch: 

Sandwich - 4 points for Big Marty's bun, 4 points for 4 oz of ham, 1 point for reduced fat provolone cheese, 1 point light mayo, 0 points for large heirloom tomato from the farmers market and a few lettuce slices (10 points)

Soup - 2 points for Giant Brand Spring Vegetable soup

32 - 12 = 20 remaining points

Snack:

Grapes - 0 points

Cheese - Trader Joe's Mini Brie, 1 point

20 - 1 = 19 remaining points

Dinner (of course I forgot to take a picture):

Chicken sausages - 2 links, 3 points each (6 points)

Quinoa - 1/3 cup (2 points)

Green beans - 0 points

Salad - Iceberg lettuce, tomato, cucumber, homemade balsamic vinegar (all 0 points), feta cheese (2 points)

Red wine - 1 glass (4 points)

19 - 18 = 5 remaining points

Dessert:

Red wine - 1 glass (4 points)

Reese's Pieces - With one point left for the day I gorged myself on a whopping 11 pieces, that's right 11.  While that may not seem like much, who am I kidding that's nothing, I can eat 11 Reese's Pieces before I even have to chew, it was still a nice treat at the end of the day.  Along with the glass of wine I was happy, very happy.  

5 - 5 = 0 remaining points

Boot camp - Earned me 6 activity points

I feel great on days when I eat exactly what I am allowed.  I could have done a lot of different things with my points, for example some people don't want to waste points on wine.  But I find it a nice treat at the end of the day and I was by no means hungry when I went to bed.  If the day had gone differently and I had more points for lunch or an additional snack throughout the day or more points for dinner I would have skipped the second glass.  It's all about making the plan work for you.  Start with 45 points, or whatever you are allowed, and work it out.  Sometimes I write down for the whole day, since most of my meals are planned and figure out from there how much is left for snacks, treats, wine, whatever.  I am by far the most successful when I write down everything.  BLT's as they are called in the business, Bites, Licks, Tastes.  If you bite it, write it.  That's the plan.  

Let the countdown begin.

The dreaded weekend.  While I love the weekend for more reasons then I can count, I also know that this is the time where the damage is done.  I will eat and workout every single day of the week, but come Friday night/Saturday morning is a 48 hour countdown to absolute destruction.  Dinners, parties, boredom, get-togethers, wine, whatever it may be, I can easily mess up everything I have done over the past 4 days in the few short hours of the weekend.  My goal this weekend is to focus on not overeating and counting everything that I do eat.  As they say at Weight Watchers, "if you bite it, write it."  That is my plan, no cheating, no making up eating calories by working them off.  All it takes is one night, and yes its easier than you think to put down a good 100 point meal.  Believe me I have done it several times.  And that one meal can be the difference between weight loss and weight gain come Monday night.  Last week I gained .8 pounds and this week I want to lose that plus some.  I need to stay focused and keep my eye on the prize.  The prize = SUCCESS.

Eating healthy means more than just counting calories.

For years I have tried all types of diets, all of which simply constrict some sort or type of food.  South beach is a bit complex but in a nut shell you cut out most carbs.  Atkins is similar, no carbs at all.  One issue I have with any diet, is that there is less emphasis on eating healthy than there is on not eating badly.  Of course sugar and candy and fatty foods are bad for you but so are processed cereals and granola bars and Lean Cuisines.  All processed with salt and sugar for flavor.  So yes while you can lose weight by eating a Lean Cuisine for dinner every night are you really putting the best food into your body?  In years past Weight Watchers used to assign a point value to fruits, for example a banana was two points.  Who would want to waste two points on a banana when they could have some chips or something else for the same point value, something they are really craving.  Well now they have changed things up a bit and all fruit is zero points.  Finally a push to eat better as opposed to just not eating badly.  I have never been a fruit eater, it was not in my house when I was growing up, we ate chips and nutty butty bars and other extremely delicious crap.  It has not been until recently, since I met my wife, that I have started eating more fruits.  Now I eat four to five servings of fruit a day.  I have tried to replace all daily snacks with fruits instead of processed foods.  Weekly we eat strawberries, bananas, cantaloupe, peaches, cherries and tomatoes (yes tomato is a fruit), just to name a few.  I have to say that the tomato has changed my life.  I liked tomatoes even when all we could get were the mealy ones from the grocery store.  Now, again thanks to my lovely wife and for her introducing me to the amazing farmers market, my love for tomatoes has grown exponentially.  There is not much better in the world than a perfectly ripe heirloom tomato.  When in season I eat a tomato just as a snack with salt and pepper, or on the side of my soup and sandwich for lunch.  The past two years, in addition to the farmers market we have started to grow our own tomatoes in our own garden.  What a treat this has been for the summer months.  Here is our most recent harvest, we pull about 10 tomatoes off the plants every few days.  I like to pull them a bit early and let them ripen in the house so the animals don't eat them.  I have also included a few pics of the plants themselves.  In addition to the tomatoes we also have a hot pepper plant and three dwarf basil plants.

Not only do we eat the tomatoes as a snack we also make salads with the different colors and some basil.  Just add a little balsamic vinegar and you have a delicious zero point addition to your dinner.

We also buy as many fresh fruits and vegetables from the farmers market as we can eat in a week.  You may pay a bit more than buying from the grocery store but the quality and flavor do not even remotely compare.  Plus you are supporting local farmers and their families.  Below are some plums, nectarines, and peaches.  A minor assortment of what we keep stocked in the house.

Recently Hila found a recipe for Baked Eggplant Parmesan Boats with Sausage (white eggplant also purchased from the farmers market), the stuffing is sausage, crushed tomatoes, seasoning and cheese.  We have enjoyed this for dinner the past two nights.  Beyond amazing and only 6 points!

All this rambling is to make one simple point.  Eating healthy means more than just counting calories.  Add fruits and vegetables to your diet, make them a staple in your life and try eating less processed foods.  It is a difficult transition to make (believe me I know it has taken me years) but in the end you will be healthier and feel better about your decisions when it comes to eating food and living a healthy lifestyle.  Good luck!

Now that's what I'm talking about!

It's days like today that make this incredibly hard weight loss journey all worth it.  Finally a victory on the on the scale.  Down 3.8 pounds!!!  Booyah.  (current weight 216.6 lbs)  That makes me very happy.  One reason so many people give up on weight loss is they don't see the results they are looking for or they don't see them quickly enough.  I would say on average an individual should be losing between .5 and 1 pound a week, tops.  Until last night for the past three weeks I have only been at a total weight loss of .2 lbs, that's nothing, especially not where I wanted to be while writing a weight loss/fitness blog.  But now, on average, I am losing more then a pound a week, I'll take it.  The only real difference this week compared to the others is that there was not a single night where I ate like a buffoon.  I tracked everything and even had some of my weekly points left over.  I am very proud this morning.  This little bit of success has given me even more motivation to push harder to achieve my first goals.

Tuesday means run day so no boot camp tonight and another trip to Burke Lake, hopefully a better run than Sunday, can't be much worse.  I will take the Tom Kalka approach tonight and possibly run in the rain, see what this rain running is all about.

Faulty Weightwatchers Scale.

It's the only logical explanation.  How the heck did I lose 1.2 lbs. while on vacation??  I am overjoyed with this number.  I really thought I was going to gain.  Yes I did workout everyday of vacation but like I said before, the food intake was not good.  Really not good at all, atrocious was the word I used.  I can only assume that the previous week of eating well and working out contributed to the success but I think that main reason is definitely the working out while on vacation.  I pushed myself harder than I wanted to and I made a commitment to stick to the plan and now I am reaping the benefits of that hard work.  It was not easy but now that it's over I have forgotten about the pain and I am only thinking about how great I feel.

Now comes the interesting part where I need to also incorporate a running schedule into my boot camp workouts.  I am into week two of a 12 week plan and will soon be getting to the point where I will need to skip a boot camp class in order to get in my runs.  I don't like it one bit but its a necessary evil.  Today I am scheduled for a three mile run, while it's not very long running this before or after class is extremely difficult.  If I run before it will take away from how hard I can push myself during class, if I run after I am more inclined to skip it due to the difficulty of class or not put forth the effort required to get a good run in.  In a normal situation I would probably just run after class but with this past week and how hectic this weekend was with traveling and the Dave show I missed my scheduled long run of 4 miles.  In any running plan the long distance runs are the most important and should never be skipped.  I need to be more careful not to miss these runs so tonight I think I need to skip class and get in my long run from last week.  So tonight I am doing a lap at Burke Lake, yes this is a 4.5 mile run but that last half mile won't kill me.

One reason I am even remotely successful in my weight loss is my wife, Hila.  I literally do not have to worry about food at all.  I mean not one little bit.  Every meal is healthy and completely prepared for me.  Honestly I am spoiled.  I would not be able to do this without her.  Today for example, my breakfast was (two eggs, cheese and vegetable wrap, 8 points) made and ready to be microwaved this morning.  She sent me with a bag of cherries, bag of strawberries, banana, half a grapefruit and one cup of Greek yogurt.  All of these snacks today are only 3 points and that's just for the yogurt, fruit is 0.  That is a substantial amount of food and all of it is extremely good for me.  Today for lunch I have a sandwich (10 points) and a bowl of soup (3 points).  After coffee, breakfast, lunch, and all these snacks I still am coming home with 18 points.  Not too shabby.  So, I say thank you as often as I can but it never hurts to get one more in, thank you very much Hila for all you do to aid in my health and weight loss, I cannot say it enough.  Thank you.

Bike race cancelled but I was prepared!

First things first, as you can see I have changed blogging sites.  I did not care much for SimpleSite, it's more of a website based program than a blog.  Blogger seems to be much more user friendly and even after one post I like it better already! (thanks Hila)

Well, it didn't rain until well after my race would have been complete but the race was cancelled due to wet trail conditions from rains previously in the week.  I saw that someone posted something on the race site and said that if the race were on it would be like riding in wet peanut butter.  A pretty good description if you ask me.  mmmm...peanut butter...  Regardless I was prepared to workout, I thought ahead and brought clothes to make it to bootcamp!!  And what a class it was.  Lots of running and upper body workouts.  I even ran stairs with my trainer for 5-10 minutes before class.  One day I will need to take a picture of myself after one of these workouts, I literally look like I just climbed out of the pool, I am that soaked with sweat.  Is it weird to want to change shirts half way through class??

One aspect of Weightwatchers that I have not mentioned yet is activity points.  Every activity you do earns activity points that you can use once you use up all your daily or weekly points.  I try not to use these points for food, I feel like I am negating my workouts.  Bottom line about weight loss is calories in calories out.  So If I replace my activity points with food I just feel I will be less successful when it comes to the weigh in.  You can get activity points for all types of daily things, walking the dog, mowing the lawn, playing sports, running, working out, etc.  Weightwatches has preprogrammed points allotted for these activities depending on the duration and intensity.  I count bootcamp as 5 activity points on average.  Honestly I think Weightwatchers gives too many activity points for certain activities   For example, my 2 mile run on Monday earned me 5 activity points and that was only for 20 minutes of running at a 10 minute pace.  There is no way that in those 20 minutes I burned enough calories to then be able to eat something equivalent to 5 points.  Personally I feel you earn one point for every 10 minutes of a strenuous work out.  On average I burn anywhere from 60 - 100 calories every 10 minutes.  Times where I have worn a heart rate monitor in class I come up with a calorie burn of somewhere between 400 and 600 for that hour.  If you breakdown the food itself 100 calories of food is just about equivalent to one point so my thoughts are that in a 60 minute bootcamp class I average 5 activity points.  That was quite a bit of rambling and I hope it makes sense.

Today is my wife's birthday so of course it's a week long celebration.  Last night we went to Tara and Assaf's house to see the family and order take out.  Uh ohhh how can I eat healthy ordering out???  In the past I have always had the mindset that if I am paying for it I am going to order what I want.  Well that becomes a bit more difficult when trying to lose weight.  So last night I spent some time looking over the menu and ordered the chicken platter with vegetables.  The key to this meal was not eating the 2 cups of buttered rice they sent, I only ate about 1/3 of a cup.    

I calculated this dinner to be 18 points with the naan.  We also opened a bottle of wine during dinner with another glass afterwards.  This was a whopping 8 points just for the wine, but believe me when I tell you it was worth it.  Assaf has some of the best wine I have ever had in my life!!!  So in total I went over my daily points by 7.  Not bad but I also have several other events this week that will be cause me to dip into my weekly points.  We will see how it goes...

With all that said about making smart decisions about ordering, tonight should be interesting.  I have a dinner planned for Hila's birthday and no part of this meal will scream healthy.  I just need to make sure I write everything down and do my best to get some more workouts in the rest of the week.  I will be going to bootcamp again tonight, that's 4 days in a row!!  Booyah.