Last Saturday, I went out to dinner with my co-workers to celebrate the end of a hectic month. I went in to this Mexican restaurant with the best of intentions - "I'll have a margarita, which I hardly ever drink, and a sensible dinner, and watch how many chips I'm eating." Here's what I ended up eating: a peach margarita (10 points), chips (10 points worth), guacamole (8), 4 small tortillas (4), skirt steak fajitas (3), 2 nacho style chips (6), and a dessert cup (5). So this "healthy" dinner, where I ordered fajitas and only one margarita, ended up costing 46 points, well over my daily total! It was definitely a lesson in how fast things can add up. No wonder I'm fat! But one of my vows is to write every bite down, even when I have a day where I go a little overboard. I still ended up losing 2.8 pounds this week (yea!) partly because the rest of the week I did really well. And I think that's the kicker - it's okay to occasionally go out and splurge, if you're eating healthy the majority of the time. I was very careful the rest of the week and tried to make very healthy choices.

This week is going much better. I'm not as hungry this week (you're right, Sara, it is fantastic!). In fact, today, I realized I was so low on my points that I needed to splurge a little on dinner. I had a glass of red wine and some french fries along with my boiled shrimp. I even had a cookie! And I still have a point left over for the day! I think that Weight Watchers is really working out for me this time. I'm determined to keep going, even if my weight loss is very slow.

Today's find: The National Weight Control Registry website. I'm determined to be on it one day! Inspiring success stories. This is the registry that a lot of the diet books quote, including one of my favorites, Thin for Life.

One thing I did discover recently is that I DO like salad, as long as the dressing is some sort of vinegar. I don't really like salad dressings, but I love flavored vinegar! Who knew?

I made a fantastic recipe tonight. Check Weight Watchers Simply Delicious cookbook, and their recipe for Grilled Salmon and Roasted Corn Salad. It was.. delicious!

I have a lot less patience with people now that I'm eating better. Does that happen to anyone else?

The Flex plan is working out great! I was really hungry this week (before my period) but I haven't gone over my weekly extra points allotment, so I'm still on the program. And now the hunger is subsiding! I'm really looking forward to going to the meeting on Monday and seeing how I did. Though I'm feeling that thinner feeling, so even if I don't lose pounds, I'll know I've done well. Today, I had a lot of points left to use up, so I had a soda when I was out with my sister. I haven't had one in so long, and it tasted so sweet to me. Definitely not something to waste the points on! It's great to look at it as a budgeting decision, and I let myself have a cookie or piece of chocolate every day (at least for now) so I don't feel like I'm being deprived. But overall, I'm eating many more fruits and vegetables. And less carbs. Those are probably the biggest overall differences.

My busy work week ends tomorrow, so I'll probably start posting more regularly. It's been making a big difference for me. And if anyone is actually reading this, thanks! I hope whatever brought you here (probably that you're trying to lose weight as well) is going well.

Good food find: Lu Le Pims Raspberry cookies. They're only 1 Point each and they taste absolutely heavenly. Definitely worth a Point!

So yesterday, I had good intentions. To go to Weight Watchers and get weighed in. Problem is, this weekend, following the Core plan got really hard. My TOM coming up. So, bottom line, I did NOT follow Core. I weighed myself this evening, so that's what my stats reflect. Hopefully, the numbers will be lower next week. I didn't end up going to Weight Watchers because work interfered, plus I don't think this week would be representative of a good week, and I think it would have discouraged me more to go and get weighed in. I'm following the Flex plan now, and it feels a lot better. I think I'm eating more, and not feeling like I'm having to give up anything. Though there is flexibility with Core, one meal of carbs can really throw your week off, as I found out when I had lunch at Round Table pizza.

Right now, it's 7:52 and I have 2 points left to eat for the day. I'm going to have an ear of corn with no butter (1 point) and some yogurt to bring up my dairy total (2 points). That will leave me just 1 point over for the day, which will count for my weekly points. I'm going to try to stay to the low side of my weekly points, since I had a bad week last week. I'm also going to sit down and track my eating habits for the past couple of months, and compare them with my TOM, so I can figure out exactly which days are problematic for me. Hope everyone's enjoying the longest day of the year!

Way too long since my last update! We started a week-long project at work, which requires meals every day and long days. Not a good week to start Weight Watchers! I've been trying to just make healthy choices, but since Friday, I haven't been sticking very closely to the plan. It will be over in a week, so I'm just going to do as good as I can for the next week.

I've been recording what I've eaten every day, even though I was mostly sticking to the Core plan. And I find that I could be eating a lot more food under the Flex plan. So I think I'm going to do Flex during the two hard weeks (which I believe are this week and next week) and do the Core plan the other two weeks, which are easier.

I'm looking forward to my meeting and weigh-in on Monday, though I doubt if I'll have lost very much, since I'm only loosely following the plan. It's definitely hard to start a new eating pattern when you don't have a lot of time on your hands, but do have a lot of stress and temptation.

Today's going pretty good. It was my first day following the Weight Watchers Core plan, so I'll give a little outline of my day and how the plan went. I found that the day was pretty easy, because it's how I usually eat on a good day.

This morning, I had an apple and hard boiled egg white for breakfast, which I brought to work. I had a lunch date with a friend at 11:30, and we went to a Mexican restaurant. I was a little worried how it would go, since most Mexican food is not on the Core plan! At least, what I usually eat. So I pored over the menu. I finally settled on tortilla soup and a chicken soft taco. The taco was all Core foods except for the tortilla, so I'll put 2 points for that against my weekly total of 35. The tortilla soup had some ingredients that were non-Core foods (strings of cheese, tortilla chips), so I just ate the broth, chicken and veggies from the soup and tried to avoid the rest. Finally, there were chips on the table. Always hard to resist. So I had a serving of chips (about 12), which will count as 3 points. When I got home from work, I was hungry, so knowing I should eat, I had a nectarine and a bowl of oatmeal prepared with 1 cup of non-fat milk (all Core foods). Now, a few hours later, I'm ready for some dinner, so I'll probably go make some scrambled eggs and breakfast potatoes. All in all, not too bad of a day. Since I'm waiting until I'm hungry to eat, I feel like I'm eating all day. The hard part I think will be when my time of the month comes and I have to do this plan. Perhaps what I'll do is two weeks on Core, then switch to Flex for the times I know are bad. We'll have to see!

I've been asking people at work to support me, so I hope that with their help, I'll be able to stick to the plan. If I ever lose this weight, it will be the hardest thing I've ever done, but the best thing I've ever accomplished.

Crazy crazy crazy weekend! Work work work work non-stop work. Thank heavens, it's now summer and things will slow down now that the students are gone. Yea!

Big day today. Went back to Weight Watchers. I'm a little nervous, because I've been on this wagon train before. But I think this time, I'm determined. And I think it will help keep me on track, because it's been too hard to do on my own. I'm going to try the Core plan this week, and maybe I'll switch back and forth between the Core and flex plans. The group leader said that people who switch back and forth are actually a little more successful. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

I'm going to be going to Weight Watchers on Mondays, so the stats I post will now reflect the weigh-in there. So this week, I went up a few pounds, but that may just be the difference in scale accuracy, not an actual weight gain for this week. Next week will tell me the truth!

Massive disaster at work last night. I ended up getting home at 3 in the morning, after a run to Denny's with some co-workers. Hash browns at midnight does not make for a svelte figure. But it's so hard when you're starving and stressed! Potatoes, here I come!

You know how on Forrest Gump, Bubba loved shrimp? That's how I like potatoes. Fried potatoes, baked potatoes, potatoes with salsa, mashed potatoes, french fried potatoes, hash browns, and the list goes on. Too bad potatoes aren't a no calorie food!

I've been delving into You: The Owner's Manual and I can't get enough of it! It's really the most interesting and absorbing health book I've read in a long time. They recommend that adults over 40 take two baby aspirin a day, but they don't say anything about adults under 40. Do we take nothing?

Last night, I was lying in bed thinking about dinner. That was at 7:30 pm. The next thing I knew, it was eight in the morning. I can't remember the last time I slept so long. I must have been terribly sleep deprived!

So the carne asada worked out fine. I had one taco and then went and had a big salad. I wish I liked salad. I really don't.

I exercised today! I only did 10 minutes, and then I had to get off the treadmill because it woke up my roommate, who works the night shift. I did 10 minutes at a 6% incline at 2.7 miles per hour. It was really getting my heart rate up, too! It's often hard for me to move my body fast enough to get my heart rate up, so I've found having an incline on the treadmill really works.

I'm having a hard time finding whole grain breads. Does anyone have any recommendations?

So, I've made a big decision. I'm going to go back to Weight Watchers. I always felt like counting points was too artificial for me. I've heard about the CORE plan, and it sounds like something I could live with. My first meeting will be Monday.

This week at work is one of the busiest of the entire year for me. And it's full of people bringing in bad food. In fact, tomorrow is a luncheon with carne asada. I'm trying to figure out how to handle it. I think I'll go and just have a small bite of everything, then go get a salad.

What a busy weekend! I've been doing the bar scene a little more than usual. I need more going out clothes!

I found the coolest new book! It's Lucky, the Shopping Manual. I'm going to make it one of my rewards for when I lose some weight. It's great advice on how to build a wardrobe from top to bottom.

So, I'd like to be able to say I lost weight. Unfortunately, I didn't. I might have even gained weight. The scale was all over the place this morning (I have a cheap scale). But I'm just going to mark it at 270 again. I'd like to say that I ate great and that it must be water weight. But it's not. Because I didn't. I ate pretty poorly. I need to start making purposeful decisions. Being conscious about every choice. I tend to "eatwalk" through my day (as opposed to sleepwalk).

I think I'm going to do Weight Watchers. The CORE plan sounds workable to me. Maybe I'll go to a meeting tomorrow.

So.. this is hard. This changing your lifestyle thing. I have an idea of what I'd like it to be. But actually making it that is a different story. So I just keep plugging away. Keep trying.

I'm going to do a 5K in August. Not a huge deal, I've done them before. But there's a 1 hour timeline to complete it. Again, not a huge deal. But that's a pretty fast walk compared to where I'm at now. So I'm going to start training so I can make it. If I have a goal to work towards, maybe that, too, will keep me motivated.