At an impasse...

I've been with Weight Watchers for over a year now. It's probably been close to a year of active membership, as I only ever left when I became pregnant.

I've hit a stall. The stall has caused me to become severely unmotivated. So, I'm still stalled. (Well, I guess when I've been pretty wishy washy about tracking and about exercise, it's technically no longer a stall.)

183.8

That's the lowest number I attained before the last pregnancy. Then I gained a boatload during the 16 weeks I was pregnant. So, it took me a while to get near there. And then it hit again. 183.8. Really, the exact same number? And it's lowest number I get on my home scale, as well.

I finally became a little more dedicated again. The biggest reason is that in conjunction with (and sometimes instead of) counting points, I would track my calories (and fat, protein, fiber and carbs) on FatSecret. The big selling point was that I can enter recipes, and they have a BlackBerry App. It works fabulously, and I'm actually making sure I get enough protein and that I'm not getting so many carbs, and that the carbs I am eating contain a fair amount of fiber. A little bit more of a balancing act, but I like it.

Today, I weighed on a whim. I wasn't expecting anything, since I had just eaten. And it wasn't my low (that would've been a miracle), but only .2lbs above for a grand total of 184.0. I will almost (key word here) guarantee that I will be lower than 183.8 at my next weigh in. We shall see. But I'm feeling good. :)

Toying with a few ideas...

I haven't been toying with more exercise just yet. I mean, I will be getting some exercise tonight. I'm going to walk to my oldest's school and back, pushing about 100 pounds, in the process. My brake pads are in dyer need of replacement, and I'm not driving that baby until the hubby can get it to the shop this weekend. My guess is that it's about 3-4 miles round trip.

But this isn't about exercise right now. I'm starting to toy with going gluten free. I have been doing this off and on for a week now, and with the exception of a couple middle of the night slip ups, I've been alright. And I feel better. I may need to make the whole family gluten free until I can handle having it in the house without being tempted to eat it. Then again, that's the cool thing about being in control of the grocery shopping and cooking. MUAHAHAHA!

I've been on plan and weighing in... I promise!

Weight loss has been super slow this go 'round. I'm not sure if I'm doing something different that is slowing things down, or if it's inevitable. I'm sure I really need to kick up the exercise.

My last weigh in, I weighed 188.6, so I'm almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I was supposed to weigh in on Tuesday, but I am sans car for the moment (brake job, yay.), so it'll wait until this weekend when I can steal the hubby's car. The good news is that I weighed earlier today, and my scale (which runs close to WW's scale) showed me at 187.4. So, right where I was before I found out I was pregnant.

Maybe this is to help me become a little more humble. Maybe this is to help me develop some real empathy for those who are having a rough go at it, also. Who knows?

I'll be playing around with exercise and food (trying to go gluten-free, at the moment) to see what will help.

Updates and Ponderings...

I will admit that the reason I started WW... The reason I've started any weight loss plan... It was simply vanity. I was tired of being fat. I mean, I've always been a little overweight. Nothing that would put my health in danger until I had my last child and I had become much more sedentary. Usually, I would try to limit my carbs. It seemed like the best deal. I still believe it's a very healthy way of eating if done right. (Not consuming all the processed stuff laden with genetically modified soy proteins.) The thing is that I'd cave and have something carby, and give up. I started Weight Watchers even though I'd sort of dogged on it for many years. Low fat is crud. Meh. I was desperate. I was hoping that being accountable to my pocketbook and having to weigh in every week would motivate me.

It turns out that was just what I needed. I was not about to be embarrassed every week by a bad weigh in. Pride, for the win!!! Usually, I would not be satisfied by 2-3 pound losses per week (which is fabulous, I've simply been a sucker for a quick fix, and they don't exist). Over time, it felt really good. Then I realized that I was physically feeling better. I wasn't having trouble breathing when I would lie down. YAY!

I've been with them on and off for a year now. Granted, I never lapsed. I never skipped a meeting. The most that ever happened would be that I'd have to miss a meeting, and then I'd find another the next day. I was great about that. However, as I've mentioned previously, I got pregnant twice, and miscarried both times. The bad thing was that I kinda went crazy while pregnant with the eating. EEP!

Each time I've restarted, the losses have been a tad slower. This time, my pride is taking over again. That, plus my love of stupid gadgetry. The RoadRunner GPS program has made me want to get out and walk and run. Best $5 investment ever. And I've had my biggest weekly loss to date this go 'round. 2 pounds last week. It brings me down to 192.4, which is 6.4 pounds down this month, and 49 pounds less than I weighed a year ago. This is a good thing.

However, the best thing is that I'm really focused on health now. I want to be healthy. I want to be able to run. For the record, I stink at running. I have to go pick up a book recommended to me by a woman who runs regularly now, and has also lost a significant amount of weight. The book is Chi Running. Hopefully, it will help.

I will still do some regular workouts. My legs are super sore, so I might just do some upper body work. I want to give my kids a run (PUNNY! ROFL!) for their money in the energy department.

Workin' it Out...

I want to be a runner. I do. To be honest, it's not some great passion I have, it's just that I've never been able to run very far. Not even when I was going to aerobics, step and boot camp classes daily. And they were a breeze. I can walk forever. Running though? Ugh. I stink at it.

I thought I would start out doing the Couch to 5K plan. However, during the first week, you're running 90 seconds, followed by walking 2 minutes (then rinse, wash and repeat for about half an hour). I'm ashamed to say that I'm not quite running 90 seconds. I can, and I have, but I'm just so out of shape right now. I seemed to poop out (without looking at the timer) at around 1 minute 15 seconds. So, I think I'm just going to keep at it for a few weeks until I'm ready to start the C25K. I will do it.

Either way, I got 4 miles in today, walking at a 3.5mph pace. I also have a Crunch DVD from the library... Fat Burning Ab Attack, to be exact. I think I'll give it a try tomorrow, to take a break from walking. We have a great library system in my city, and it's even tied to a neighboring city's library. I can find nearly any workout DVD I want. Granted, I have a couple of Jillian Michaels' DVDs on hold, and there are lots of patrons who are going to get a copy before I do, even though they have multiple copies. But hey, it's free. From what I've heard about the 30 Day Shred DVD, it's pretty brutal, so maybe I need to increase my fitness level a bit.

I feel pretty great, though. I always do after working out. It's not that I don't like exercise. I love it. I just let so many minor obstacles get in my way. I can't workout in front of my husband or kids!!! I don't have any kid-free time to go walk. Really? Those are lame. If I really want to change my body and my fitness level, I have to work at it.

Busy Busy! (And an update!)

I said I had a weigh in Tuesday evening. Even with my "special monthly friend" visiting, I was down 1.2 pounds, which makes me 194.4. Slow and steady.

I also didn't work out yesterday. Not formally, anyway. I had a mountain of laundry to do, and I did that, housework, and finished off the day by mowing the lawn. I downloaded a new application on my BlackBerry (the trial version for now), and I like it A LOT. I will be purchasing it. It's called RoadRunner GPS, and it looks to be solely for the Blackberry. I haven't taken it on a long walk or run yet, but I've had fun playing.

Pretty nifty lookin', eh? I can't seem to find anything about it I don't like. I will definitely take it out this PM for a real walk/run. (More walk than run, but that will change! )

An Intro, Yo...

FYI - My eldest daughter would be mortified by my title. That brings me just a smidge of joy. Is that wrong?

I have another blog that is sort of the catch all, but I really want to devote it to my kids and family life. This one will be dedicated to my weight loss efforts. I've been with Weight Watchers off and on since April 20, 2009. The two breaks I took were not intentional, they were due to pure circumstance. My husband and I had not become pregnant (well, he never did) since the birth of our son, nearly five years ago. I sometimes wonder if my weight had something to do with it. The reason I say this is that I became pregnant twice in the past year after having lost nearly 40 and over 50 pounds. The first time, we miscarried at 13 weeks. The second time at 16 weeks. It was hard emotionally, but I was able to get right back on track with WW both times. The first time, I had only gained a half a pound at my first weigh in after the miscarriage. This time, however, I had gained 12. EEP!

I started off weighing 241.4. That's a pretty scary number. I was losing quickly at first, and now I'm not, but that's okay. What's that old addage about weight loss being a marathon and not a sprint? As of my last weigh in, I weigh 195.6. I have another weigh in this evening, so I'll update then. Okay, I'll probably update tomorrow, because Tuesdays are super duper busy.

So, I'll see you then. For now, I'm off to format the bloggity blog.