Less Than 20 lbs to go…

Until I reach my initial Weight Watchers goal weight of 171 lbs. As my friend Charmaine pointed out, it’s 19.2 lbs. She should know – she weighs me in every week!

Why 171 lbs? Because when I reach 171 lbs, I will have lost exactly 100 lbs since joining Weight Watchers in November 2007. Will I stop when I reach the 100 lb mark? Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. I’ll see what happens when I get there… or close to there. I’m very happy where I am now, at 190.2 lbs – I feel great, I have lots more energy, I can move around a lot easier, clothes look good on me, and I can shop in “normal” size stores. I know the range considered healthy for my height (5′ 7″) is somewhere between 145-160, so I may push myself for the extra 10-15 lbs. Then, I’ll get to become a lifetime Weight Watchers members and not have to pay any more dues! If that’s not an incentive to meet my goal weight, I don’t know what is!

Having a regular support system of people who have been, or who are, where you are makes a big difference. Weight Watchers meetings do it for me. My fellow Wednesday Night Irregulars have kept me hanging in their when I’ve felt like giving up, and have kept me motivated and accountable.

While I still don’t like those weeks when I gain weight, I’ve now come to realize that it’s a regular, normal part of the weight loss journey. No one loses every week. In June, I gained two weeks in a row, for a total of 4.2 lbs – YUCK! But, this week, I lost 4.6 lbs. As long as my overall direction is downwards, I’m okay with it.

For the Avocado Lovers Among Us

How cool is this? It’s an avocado saver!  Now you can eat half, and save half for later without it turning all brown and gross. I just treated myself to one and can’t wait for it to get here!

Here’s some more info from the product description on Amazon.com:

The Avo Saver is an indispensible kitchen gadget for anyone who uses avocados. Even though avocados are such a culinary delight they are also quite expensive and have a short life, once cut. Save money, time and aggravation with this truly innovative gadget. The Avo Saver is easy to use and will reduce a cut avocado’s exposure to air, greatly slowing the destructive oxidization process. Unit is top-shelf, dishwasher safe.

The price is very reasonable, too – less than $5.00 before shipping!

Wednesday is Weigh-in Day

Wednesday is weigh-in day, and I think I’m up a pound or two this week. I’m not sure why, because I’ve been racking up the activity points. On Saturday, I went to The Ruby Walk at the South Street Seaport in NYC, and logged over three miles for the day (photos of me and Ruby can be found here). On Sunday, I spent the afternoon walking around (and I do mean around) Governors Island, to the tune of over five miles for the day. Then yesterday, I went out really early in the morning (as in 6:15 AM early), and went rollerblading for the first time in years, for over a half and hour.

Food-wise, I’ve been pretty good. Not great, but no Friday morning bacon and cheese omelet with home fries and buttered rye toast like I usually have,  and no weekend Dunkin’ Donuts egg, bacon and cheese sandwich on a toasted English muffin, either. I’ve stayed within my POINTS allowance for the week, too. But my bathroom scale says I’m up from last week, which means my weigh-in after work tonight will be up as well. I’ve tried some new foods this week, like having regular old-fashioned oats for breakfast, and I cooked a Mexican lasagna in my slow cooker, but haven’t eaten any of it yet. Not sure why I’m up. I’ll have to look at my tracker and see if there’s something Ive eaten too much of (like sodium) or not enough of (like fruits and vegetables).

Today, I know it will be cereal and a banana for breakfast, followed by my “Wednesday in the office” slice of pepperoni pizza, a light snack in the afternoon, followed by my Weight Watchers meeting. Maybe I’ll wear one of my new pairs of jeans so I can blame the gain on them!

If You’re Looking for a Good Pedometer

This is the one I have:

Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer

Omron Pedometer

I’ve had mine for over a year now, and have been very happy with it! Once you’ve set your stride length, it’s very accurate (I’ve compared my mileage on the pedometer to my mileage on the treadmill and it matches up perfectly), and you can wear it on your belt, or stick it in your pocket or purse. I haven’t tried putting it on or in my handbag, but I’ve put it in my pocket on several occasions, and it tracks just fine.

I had to change the battery after about six months and I broke the safety clip on it (my fault), but aside from that, there have been no issues with it. You definitely want to use the safety clip if you wear it on your belt or waistband. I can’t even count how many times it’s saved my pedometer from taking an unplanned trip to the toilet!

You can track miles, steps kcals and aerobic steps, and it stores seven days’ worth of data in memory.

It looks like Amazon’s got a really good price on it, too! I paid almost double for mine when I bought it.

So long, Lane Bryant!

I haven’t written in a while, but it’s now official – no more plus-size specialty shops and “women’s” departments for me! (Unless there’s something really cool that’s  in my size on sale, that is.)

I am now an honest-to-goodness, “official” size 16! When I say “official”, I mean that I fit in a real size 16, by a name-brand clothing manufacturer – not a 16W, or a “large” size 16. Not only do I fit in a size 16 medium (which is kind of funny, considering my psychic gifts) pair of jeans, but I fit in a J. Jill size 16! I had the best time the other weekend going shopping with my sister! We hit a fantastic clearance sale at Kohl’s, and I got not one, but three pairs of jeans in a “normal” size for under $30.00! Do you have any idea what an incredibly liberating feeling it is to walk into a department store and not have to worry or wonder if they have anything in your size??? Or being able to shop the clearance racks and score half a new wardrobe for under fifty bucks??? It is really cool!

For those of you starting your journey, hang in there! You are worth it, and you can do it! I’m still continuing on my journey a year and a half later. It takes time, yes. It gets frustrating at points, especially when it seems like the number on the scale is permanently stuck – like it was when I was less than 2 lbs away from being under 200 lbs. But stick with it! You will feel better not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. It’s a lot of work, but you have to decide whether you want to keep moving forward, or go back there. And we all know that there really isn’t such a great place, now, is it?  If there is anything I can do to help encourage and support you on your journey, please ask. I’d be happy to share what’s worked for me!

Good Food Near You Blackberry Application

This allows you to find the healthiest “fast food” options near you. You can also look up the same info on their website. You enter in your location, zip or nearby place of interest, and you’ll get the healthiest fast food options, including specific menu items.

Another one for us mobile food geeks!

clipped from www.goodfoodnearyou.com Free mobile app download for BlackBerry Use GoodFoodNearYou on your BlackBerry to find food choices and menu nutrition information for twenty restaurants near you. Download the app for free

For the Mobile Food Geeks Among Us

I have this installed on my Blackberry, and I love it! It’s a service of caloriecount.about.com, which is a great site for anyone looking for count calories. They have a database of nutritional information on thousands of foods!

The mobile application provides nutritional info on the thousands of foods in their database. I have the WAP/Web version, which allows you to see the full nutritional info on your screen. I haven’t tried the text version yet, but I love the WAP/Web application.

clipped from caloriecount.about.com Calorie Count Mobile Eating out? On the road? Take Calorie Count with you! Text Message Version Get calorie counts via text message Simply text message “food” and your search to the following number: 432584 (“HEALTH” on most phones) - and we’ll text message back the basic nutritional data. For example, try: food caesar salad food french fries food asparagus food anything! WAP/Web Version Get calorie counts via the web Start by typing the following link into your phone’s browser: http://ccm.about.com The WAP/Web Version is great for detailed summaries of nutrition facts, good/bad points, and nutrition grades. Most cell phones are supported. Have a BlackBerry? Text “BB” to 432584 to get our quick access BlackBerry Application or find us in the App Store!

For the Food Geeks Among Us

This is very cool! I’ve already bookmarked it on my Blackberry.

I can’t wait to check out the shopping list feature, because that is something that I desperately need when trying new recipes. I always end up forgetting something or buying something that I already have in my kitchen.

clipped from www.cookinglight.com Recipes on the Go MyRecipes launches new mobile site MyRecipes.com has launched a new mobile site that brings the best of Cooking Light and MyRecipes to any Web-enabled phone. Now you can search more than 33,000 kitchen-tested recipes and browse daily food features wherever you go. Simply point your phone’s browser to m.myrecipes.com. Healthy meal-planning just got easier. Forget your shopping list on the printer? Find your recipes with a quick search, then save them to your MyRecipes Mobile file and create a shopping list you can browse on the go. Wandering the produce aisle with no game plan for dinner? See the Cooking Light 45-minute Dinner Tonight menus.

76.8 lbs down

That was the result of my Weight Watchers weigh-in  on Wednesday night. I have officially crossed the 75 lb mark! Funny thing, when I started this journey, I knew it was going to take a long time to get this far, but it hasn’t felt that long. Okay, some days, it felt like forever, but you know what I mean.

It used to be that the number of pounds I’d lost was smaller than the number of pounds I still had left to lose. Now, it’s the opposite. I have about another 24.2 – 35 lbs left to go, depending on how far I want to push myself to go. Another 24.2 lbs will bring me to a total lost of 100 lbs since joining Weight Watchers in November 2007, about 126 lbs down from my all-time heaviest weight. Wow, I can’t believe I’ve really come this far!