product reviews: new year, new tools

So I've done several reviews in the past of products that are important to what I've been doing at the time.  You can find the links below:  

Triathalon Gear

Pampered Chef Gadgets

Nashbar & Exustar

But in the past several weeks, I've added a few really fun things to my kitchen tools, workout essentials, and just daily stuff.  I wanted to share some of these things with you, just in case y'all had been looking for something like it or maybe contemplating buying them in the first place.  

1.  The new 2013 Weight Watchers 360 Kit 

(Available for purchase at Weight Watchers locations, I couldn't find it on the website yet.)

Sure, Weight Watchers launches a new kit annually.  Sure, it has a lot of the same stuff year after year.  Sure, most of the information is online.  Until now.  This new kit isn't like every other Weight Watchers kit that I've purchased, in fact it only shares two things in common with the old kits: it comes with a three month tracker and it includes coupons.  After that you can throw what you used to know out the window!  

The photo above is from a lovely website I folow, and I've included the link to the blog below:

The Daily Mel's Kit Review

See also: Jennifer's Kit Review

So here's the recap (left to right): You get a Success Handbook (sort of like a workbook in my opinion), a cookbook called What to Eat Now, a workout DVD sampler, a silicon measuring cup set, several pages of stickers with Points Plus values on them so that you can label your foods at home, body measuring tape (not pictured?), a three month tracker, and a neat neoprene zippered case to cart all of the stuff around in.  Shown here are the Points Plus calculator and skin, which do not come in the kit itself but you can redeem the coupons that are included at the Weight Watchers locations.  

Here's what they left out this year: The books with the Points Plus values and Dining Out companions.  Why?  Probably because the 360 program doesn't make any changes to the Points Plus values and they realized that we all had that already.  Smart people!  I wasn't about to buy another set of those when I don't use the ones I already have due to the fact that everything I need is online!  

2.  Glam Headbands, Inc. Products

Glam Headbands Website

For Christmas this year, my best friend and triathalon training buddy gave me my first Glam Headband.  

Back story:  I had been contemplating buying all kinds of headbands recently, but I was sticking with my cheap ones from Target for the time being.  They stink.  As soon as I sweat, they aren't stretchy anymore and I end up adjusting them a bunch of times.  

This new headband rocks!  I was so excited when she gave it to me that I couldn't wait to wear it to my next spin class.  Luckily, my next spin class was less than 24 hours away and I didn't have to wait long.  

Here's my mini product review:  The adjustable strap on the bottom of these things gets a HUGE thumbs up from me.  I happen to have a lot of hair, but a relatively small head.  Yah, I'm sort of a pinhead.  Yuck it up.  I was able to slide that thing to the smallest it would go and it fit perfectly!  The sparkly material did not shed a single strand of annoying glitter, because we all know that glitter is awesome until it ends up stuck to everything you own.  The width (1") was great for me personally, but they come in a smaller and larger version just in case you don't like that.  The soft side that went against my hair didn't budge at all during 70 minutes of spin, which meant zero adjustments.  That's unheard of for me!  The only thing that I struggled with were the two little clips to snap it into place.  I ended up just leaving them alone and putting the headband on like a normal headband and it worked great.  I think when I order more, I'll just skip buying the clips.  Sometimes simpler is better.  

3.  My Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 & EVO 4G LTE
Galaxy Tab at Costco
EVO 4G LTE at Sprint
I wasn't always big into technology, but the last 6 months of my life have really got me looking for ways to do things faster and easier.  Enter: my tablet and smartphone.  I don't really need them, but these two things have become two of my favorite tools for making my life better.  I've got a number of applications that help me with this, the first of which is the Weight Watchers Mobile App.  I can still do all the stuff I used to do (track meals, check off good health guidelines, log weigh ins, etc.) but now I can get more tips on how to make the program work for me!  New for this latest update is a way to snap a photo of my meal and track it later, review my spaces, and a place to take a look and get tips to help me change my routine.  I also use the Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner App at the grocery store!

Just about everything else that helps me simplify my life on these two gadgets is free!  I use the calendar app and sync it with my Google calendar.  This alerts me to my meeting times and spin class schedules really easily!  Also, I'm addicted to the Kindle app lately.  My Twitter pals know that I'm always down for a good read!  I've got my Blogger app, Twitter app, and loads of great recipes and blogs bookmarked through my Google Chrome app.

So there you have it, three tools I'm really digging right now.  I'm always looking for new things to try, so keep me posted!  

well hello again!

Two months.  8 weeks.  56 days.  

That's how long it's been since I felt like blogging.  

That's how long it's been since I let myself slide off track.  

That's how long it's taken me to gain 4.8 pounds.  

That's how long it's been since I think I gave a damn.  

Well I'm giving a damn again.  

Not because of the new year's resolutions, because those things are junk and I know it.  

Not because the holidays are over, although I did manage to give myself free reign and it got ugly.  

Not because of anything anyone else said to me.  

I'm giving a damn again because I need to.  

I need to because I miss the way it felt to be getting in better shape.  

I need to because I miss the way people smiled at me when they hadn't seen me for a few months.  

I need to because I miss the way that old clothes became new again.  

I need to because I have invested quite a bit of money in a new bicycle, loads of new workout clothing, and some home exercise gear throughout 2012 and I cannot let that go to waste.  

I need to because I don't feel right without taking care of myself.  

I need to because I need to be in control of something, even if some days I can only control the amount of water I drink or that I ate fruit with every bite of a guilt laden snack option.  

I cannot wait for January 1st to come back and begin taking care of myself.  I especially cannot wait until my meetings resume on January 8th to start acting like a Weight Watcher again.  I cannot delay signing up for my beloved spin classes until after the supposed "New Year's Resolution" rush dies down.  

So I've made a few small changes, but I hope they have a large impact.  Here's where I'm starting:

1.  I logged in to the Weight Watchers main site and I changed my weigh in day to Friday.  

This was completely personal, and I'm not saying everyone has to do it.  I only did it because for the past 14 months I've had my weigh in day on Tuesday which means that I would fall into the following bad habit: I would track on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday but on Friday and Saturday I would consume so much junk that I'd give up tracking on Sunday and Monday and just tell myself I'd start over on the following Tuesday.  This did not work well.  Let me rephrase that, this did not work at all.  

2.  I updated my Weight Watchers application on my phone.  

If you haven't done this yet, go do it.  Don't pass go, don't collect two hundred dollars.  Go update your app.  Now.  There are so many more features now on the program and I want to take advantage of every single one of them.  I want you to take advantage of it too!  The points program hasn't changed and neither have the good health guidelines, but the good people of WW have added a ton of new mental diversions and though process changing tools that I am really optimistic about.  I want to see if they work, because I know the points plus already does and anything on top of that is simply a bonus!  

3.  I logged on to my favorite spin studio's website and I signed up for 5 classes in the next three weeks.  

Back to the good old days.  I was cycling outdoors quite a bit over the summer and into the fall, but when the clocks changed and the weather got cooler I found excuse after excuse not to exercise outdoors anymore.  I've removed my excuse for the next three weeks because my beloved Pedal Spin studio is climate controlled and the rain doesn't change the ride at all.  After I signed up for the classes, I put them all on my calendar so I wouldn't have an excuse to forget...again.  

4.  I made sure that all of my exercise clothes are ready to go at a moment's notice in an easily accessible drawer.  

It sounds stupid, but because I'm putting my house back together after an unexpected and lengthy remodel (which I'll explain later, with pictures!) I had clothes all over my bedroom and in piles of disarray.  Just getting all of the necessary items in one place is going to help me, even just a teeny tiny bit.  Another small part of this equation is going to be getting the residual junk food out of my house, but I'm not going to try to tackle that all at once.  I find that getting rid of all the junk food makes me feel deprived, then I just rebel and eat like crap anyway.  It defeats the purpose.  

5.  Last, but not least, I'm back to my good old grocery shopping list.  

For a long time I had a routine of what foods I would buy and the good thing was that I got really comfortable with knowing the points plus values of my usual goodies.  The last couple of months have been a disaster of me grabbing whatever I could find at my local Target and eating junk food and fast food like it was the end of the world.  By adding my old grocery list to the knowledge that my beloved Trader Joe's has partnered with Weight Watchers to add over 1,000 of their food items into the Weight Watchers points plus database and I feel like I'm setting myself up for some baby steps back to success.  

So there you go, I'm going to coming around again.  I appreciate the "are you alive" emails, text messages, and tweets.  In fact, if you're not connected to me online somehow then I really hope you'll take a second to do so.  The easiest way is on Twitter, since I try to keep the health related stuff there.  I'm not shy though, feel free to get in touch with me in other ways such as Facebook.  I can always use another friendly person that is willing to share some accountability and support, and I hope I can provide the same to all you lovely people as well!  

tri update: a multitude of emotions

I think a picture is worth a thousand words, so I've compiled some photos to explain what was going through my mind during the triathalon.  The biggest chunks are (of course) missing because I didn't take a camera with me as I travelled, I only have the photos of my dad and other friends and family members to rely on.  But the location was gorgeous and I really wish I had a camera with me to show you some of the parts only viewed by those of us on the course. 

I didn't see this sign until after I had finished the course, but this is the body of water that we swam in.  Lake Cahuilla.  No swimming.  Except for the cool, spandex-wearing, bicycle-riding kids like us.  I feel special.  

Pre-swim.  Orange cap.  Unflattering clothing.  Big freaking smile on my face.  I was a doofus.  A pretty nervous doofus.  

By the way, the people behind me aren't strangers, they're my best friend and her husband.  My dad likes candid and awkward shots, what can I say?  

In the water (note the attractive "swim angel" in front of us) ready to begin and I believe this part of our conversation went something like this:

Me: "Well, we've done some pretty crazy shit together, haven't we?"

Amanda: "Yah, but I think this is by far the craziest."  

Me: "Definitely."

Transition #1.  All I was thinking was (1) how do I get this lake water out of my nose and mouth while my family is watching me and (2) I SURVIVED THE SWIM!!!

This may look like I'm smiling, but I think it's an optical illusion.  I was pretty nervous to get started on the bike ride.  This is where my fears started to kick in.  

What if I get a flat tire?  

What if I fall of my bike?  

What if I don't finish?

Fast forward to the part that I finish the 14 mile bike ride.  Here I was coming back into the park area.  

At this point, it was a down hill slope and I was so grateful for that.  You basically get to coast all the way into the bike area once you climb the hill back into the parking area.  

Run.  

What was I thinking here?  Hell.  That's what.  

It was unbelievably hot at this point.  Hot like hell.  My first mile was in an area like what you see above, then it became a flat run around the lake for another mile with no shade.  Not a single inch.  Sun blazing.  Tired.  Probably the worst run I've ever had.  

My best friend finished ahead of me by about 20 minutes.  When she saw me round the corner, I thought she was walking to her car or coming over to wave at me.  

Instead she ran with me all the way up to the finish line entrance.  Yah.  It was awesome.  I have great friends.  

Here I go...

"Am I there yet?"

Obligatory action shot...

Here's the lovely aftermath: Me shoving a banana in my mouth while explaining to my boyfriend how hot it was on the run.  

Right to left: Amanda's brother, my lovely aunt hugging me (excuse my mouth full of food and sweaty clothes), and my boyfriend contemplating all of life's deepest mysteries.  

Just kidding, I think he was hungry.  Or hot.  Or both, which means he's unhappy.  

Yay!  

My mommy got teary eyed, so I had to go give her a peck on the cheek.  

We're odd like that.  

So there you have it, my belated and picture filled wrap up!  



want versus need

I am facing a major struggle lately.  I was ounces away from getting my fourth 5 pound sticker, then my birthday happened.  The week before my birthday was great, the week after my birthday I was the same weight, and the second week after my birthday I was battling TOM and a whole lot of snacking and up 1.2 pounds.  

If you're on the outside looking in, you might be saying "Gee, 1.2 pounds isn't a lot, get over it" and you're probably right.  But the point is that I need to nip it in the butt.  I need to stop the needless carbohydrate consumption and start getting more serious about the way that I'm training.  I need to ask myself one simple question: Is what I'm about to do something that I want or is it something that I need?  

It's a simple question, right?

But I'm so horrible about answering it.  

Most nights I'd rather stop at Target on my way home from work than the grocery store or the gym.

  

Most nights I'd rather pick up two pizzas than cook a healthy dinner.

Most nights I'd rather curl up with a good book than go to spin or take Maddie for a walk.  

But we all know that I don't need anything from Target, pizza, or to sit my chubby but on the couch.  I only want those things.  

What I need is to make more consistent and healthier choices.  It's not as hard as it sounds.  I don't need to make some stupid statement like "I'm going to go to the gym every single day."  I'd love to pretend I'm that girl, but I'm not that girl.  All I need to say is "I'm going to make healthier choices."

I'll choose an apple over a candy bar more often.  I'll choose one gym trip over nothing sometimes.  I'll make a healthy dinner more often instead of looking for the easiest take out solution.  

Fear not friends, I may have had a mediocre couple of weeks and I'm feeling super bloated, cranky, and irritated but I'm stepping right back on plan.  

My head is screaming "I WANT THAT LEFTOVER PIZZA!" but my body is telling me softly "I need some yogurt and berries."  Funny what we choose to listen to, isn't it?

Note, if you like the illustrations you should head over to Erin Hanson's website.

a funny for my friends

Courtesy of Jack Sh*t

If you've never read his blog, do yourself a favor and go check it out.  He puts the humor into weight loss, points out our common ignorance, and puts everything into perspective!  

progress update

If you've been a Weight Watcher for any length of time, you remember that at one point they called their plan "Momentum."  I never understood why.  

I do now!  

You see, I'm a numbers based person.  In my life, numbers mean everything!  Numbers like how much money is in my accounts or the numerical value of how much of a chemical is in a sample I'm testing.  You could say that I'm sort of obsessed with numbers.  

So a few weeks back, I decided to explore my eTools page on Weight Watchers.  It tracks my food and keeps track of the number of points that I'm shoveling into my mouth, but it also records my weight every week after I step on that scale at my meeting.  

Let's just say eTools rocks.  You can set it up to only show you points tracking, activity tracking, or weight records for a specific date range!  I had to play around with this feature to truly appreciate how hard I've been working.  

Step 1: I asked eTools to show me results from the last week in 2011 into the first week of 2012, basically my first year back on plan.  This was sort of a disappointing year for me, I spent a lot of time hopping on and off of plan and I spent almost no time exercising.  The results weren't bad, but they weren't all that great either.  In twelve months, I recorded a loss of 11.2 pounds.  Less than one pound per month on average.  Actually it is a loss of 0.93 pounds per month.  Like I said, I like numbers.  

Step 2: Then I started looking at some small life changes.  Like when my mom joined Weight Watchers with me back in the fall of 2011.  She's been on plan with me for approximately six months (I don't remember her exact start date, so I'm estimating) and I managed to lose 8 pounds in that time.  Now that means that my average weight loss jumps up to 1.33 pounds per month since my mother has come into this journey with me!  That's a 40% improvement from 2011, when I was faltering and trying to do it on my own!  Yowsah!  

Now let's look even closer, at some more recent changes.  The last week in 2011, I committed to plan 100% and I started taking control.  At the time of writing this blog post, I am approximately three and a half months into these changes and I've lost a total of 7 pounds.  That is an average loss of 2 pounds per month! It is a 107% improvement from my average weight loss for all of 2011 and it is a 50% improvement from my average over the last 6 months.  

What did I do?  Not a whole lot actually.  I started by attending spin classes twice a week.  It is only about 2 hours of my week, which I manage to fit in, and it makes a big difference in my confidence level.  Then I started taking more control of what I was bringing into my house to eat.  In other words, I became a more careful grocery shopper.  I followed the simple rule that you cannot eat something if you don't have it, and it made a huge difference.  If you don't have healthy food in the house, it is going to prohibit you from making good choices.  If you don't have junk food in the house, it is going to slow you down on bad choices.  

Notice I just said  it will "slow you down on bad choices."  This is because I didn't give up things like going out to dinner.  I can still make bad choices if I go out to dinner with friends and family, but I'm less likely to let them occur.  My mom and I have this saying that we got from a past Weight Watchers leader, "Date the enemy, don't bring him home."  What this means to us is that it is okay to go out to dinner and splurge a little, but you need to leave the bad stuff at the table.  It isn't a huge deal if you split ice cream dessert at a restaurant, but it would be horrible if you brought home a 5 gallon tub of ice cream and started chowing down on it!  Date the ice cream, but don't bring the ice cream home.  

It is for this reason that I don't buy frozen french fries at the grocery store, but I still eat them at a restaurant. I don't keep loads of pre made pizza dough in my fridge any more, but I'm not afraid to buy a cheese pizza at a restaurant.  I have also started (sometimes) asking for a box with my dinner, and in some cases that waitress will box half of my dinner before she even brings it out to me so that I don't have to do it myself.  The reality is that I'm usually satisfied (or even full) after eating half of the dinner, and I can eat the rest of my dinner at a later time.  Saves me money, saves me time, saves me points, what's not to love?  

So there you have it, my numerically motivated and highly personal update!  If you have eTools or another way of tracking, I challenge you to take a look at how you've been doing in the past and present.  It's really eye opening!  

the "F" word

No, not that one!  Get your mind out of the no-no's. 

I'm talking about the word forgiveness.  I struggle with forgiving myself and moving on.  I struggle with it a lot. 

I can forgive just about anyone in my life for any harm or hurt that they've caused me, but I simply can not forgive myself for a single thing.  I think this is a very hard post for me to write, because it is an admission of a large problem in my life.  I am harder on myself than anyone else is. 

I have been this way forever.  As long as I can remember, I have always been extremely hard on myself.  In elementary school, I received a "B" on a test and I actually began crying and hyperventilating.  I had such a problem breathing that they actually had to call my mother to come take me to the doctor, where I was given medicine to calm me down.  I was sedated for getting a "B." 

This behavior continued as I got older.  When I was offered the opportunity to accelerate into a grade higher than I was in, I took it.  My parents didn't make me, I did it by choice.  I went from the fourth grade one year, into the sixth grade the next year. 

In junior high school, I was offered the opportunity to begin taking my high school level math classes, and I took it.  Not only that, I began working as an after school tutor in these math classes.  I was supposed to be in the seventh grade, but I was in the eighth grade, and I was tutoring people in the eleventh grade.  Yah, it was really odd.  I was an odd child. 

I won't get into all of the social ramifications of my decisions, such as being a seventeen year old college freshman in a world of fraternity parties and crazy behavior.  I'll simply tell you that it had some extremely awkward moments, and I survived them. 

Eventually, in college I learned to slow down.  Instead of graduating in four years and being a twenty year old with a college degree, I slowed down.  I worked on campus, I took classes that were fun and had nothing to do with my major, and instead of graduating at twenty one years old, I took an extra quarter of fun classes and graduated at twenty two years old like a normal person. 

Now, I see this behavior slowly start to creep up on me again.  I'm negatively pressuring myself, and I need to stop. 

If I have a bad meal, I feel helpless and anxious.  I do one of two things: I stop eating for the day or I go off the deep end and binge.  Neither of these are healthy behaviors, and it is through tracking everything that I've come to discover that I'm doing this. 

If I have a bad couple of days, I feel myself slipping into a sort of anxious depression.  "What is the scale going to say?"  "Why don't I skip my weigh in this week?"  "What is wrong with me?" 

After a couple of weeks in a plateau, all hell breaks loose in my head and I find myself (figuratively) beating myself up.  I start depriving myself of things because I think that is the reason that I've not been losing weight.  Then after a few days of deprivation, I rebel and I eat way too much. 

Lately, I've been working really hard to forgive myself.  I'm not going make it through this journey if I don't learn how to do it.  I need to allow myself a bad meal, forgive myself and move on.  I need to be alright with the fact that I might have a few days of a "hearty appetite" and simply track it and get over it.  I need to see a plateau for what it is: temporary.

This is what I'm trying to do, this is my daily struggle.  I'm not fighting the scale.  I'm not beating up the food.  I'm not battling exercise.  My own dilemna is within my own head. 

And that, my friends, is what sucks the most. 

"i can't get all the oil out of the tuna"

Every once in a while, something you over hear in a meeting room or read online hits you, and when it does it hits you HARD. 

This happened to me a couple of weeks ago in my meeting room.  We were discussing the upcoming Easter dinners and the struggles that we might encounter, and one of our beloved members, Stephanie, raised her hand with a comment. 

Back story on this woman: She's fabulous in every sense of the word.  She's honest.  She's a New Yorker, and she owns the accent (which I love).  She's funny.  She's open like a book.  I truly am grateful that she's in my meeting. 

So as we discussed all of the problems we might face (hard boiled eggs, chocolates, honey ham, etc), Stephanie pipes up with this amazing note.  She said, "When I joined Weight Watchers for the first time 40 years ago, we had to eat a lot of tuna on the plan and they didn't make water packed tuna, only oil packed.  One woman actually said in the meeting that she wasn't losing any weight because she couldn't squeeze all of the oil out of the tuna!"  

I sat there in sort of a stupor for a moment as I took this in, it didn't seem incredibly far fetched for me, but then Stephanie pointed out the obvious: It isn't one little thing like oil in our lives that prevents us from losing weight. 

BINGO! 

This is the absolute truth. 

It isn't Easter that prevents me from losing weight.  It isn't Christmas or Thanksgiving either!  Now I'm a mathematical person, so bear with me.  If you counted up all of the holidays and birthdays that my family and I celebrate, that means that we celebrate less than 5% of the total year. 

It is the other 95% of the time that is my downfall! 

Skinny people celebrate holidays.  Skinny people celebrate birthdays.  Skinny people indulge. 

But not all the time. 

It isn't necessarily the holidays or celebations that I need to watch out for, it's the rest of the time.  It's the lazy day when I grab pizza.  It's the night I skipped my workout to have some adult beverages with friends.  It's the day I said I'd have two beers, but I never outlined how big that they'd be. 

If I can cut down on those moments of weakness, I will become stronger in the long run. 

final results: monica's birthday challenge

Back in February, one of my Twitter friends decided to host a challenge on her blog.  I've never participated in one of these challenges, so I decided I'd try it out.  

The challenge was in honor of her friend, Monica.  Monica's birthday is April 26th, one day after my father's birthday.  It was to be an eight week challenge (week 0 through 7), and the winner would receive an amazing prize package courtesy of Dacia, the hostess.  

All I had to do was lose weight.  I wasn't even worried about winning, I just wanted to lose weight.  

Here are my results:  

Week 1

Down 0.5 pounds

Down 0.27%

Week 2

Down a total of 2.2 pounds

Down 1.19%

Week 3

Down a total of 3.8 pounds

Down 2.08%

Week 4

Down a total of 3.8 pounds

Down 2.08%

Week 5

Down a total of 3.7 pounds

Down 2.04%

Week 6

Down a total of 4 pounds

Down 2.21%

Week 7

Down a total of 5.8 pounds

Down 3.20%

I know for a fact that I didn't win because during week 6 of the challenge one of our participants was down over 8%.  Eight freaking percent!  That's awesome!  Well, not for me I guess, but still awesome for that person!

To be completely honest, I'm so glad that I chose to do this.  It was constantly in the back of my head, silently motivating me and inspiring me to keep making little changes on my journey.  In a total of eight weeks, I lost nearly six pounds and that was a fairly steady decline for me.  I was proud of the fact that I finished strong and I kept going.  I feel great!

So keep an eye out for a possible challenge coming on my blog!  I like the idea so much that I think I'd really like to host one!

top 10 life lessons that i've learned in spin class

I was pedaling away in spin class the other day when I realized that a lot of things that I've learned in spin class can be applied to my every day life.  I have to share these with you!  

10.  Every once in a while, you need to sit back down and have a drink (of water).

So often in life and in spin class I forget that I can just take a moment for myself, and it is something I struggle with daily.  I remind myself to take a moment at work for an apple or a quick walk.  I remind myself at home that I'm not alone and I can ask for help.  I remind myself that when I can't breathe at spin class, that I should sit down and have a sip of water.  

Speaking of water, I picked up a great new water bottle the other day at a cycling store.  

Camelbak Podium Big Chill  

It doesn't hurt that it's name is the same as one of my mother's favorite movies.  Honestly I like it because it keeps the water cooler for an entire spin class and it's really easy to drink from.  I don't have to remove my water bottle top every stinking time I want a drink now.  

9.  The right music can change everything.  

I'm a music lover, it's how I was raised and I truly love the way it makes me feel.  I can play a record from ten years ago or ten seconds ago and I can still remember how I felt the first time I heard it.  I love that in spin class and in life, I can hear a song and it can push me up a hill that I've been too scared to face.  (I dare you not to feel tough with this one!)

8.  Just because everyone around you is standing up and huffing and puffing, doesn't mean you have to stand up to do it.  

Some times in spin class, I take a quick peek around and realize that although the instructor has told us to stand up and peddle in position 3, I'd like to sit down and push myself harder in a seated position.  I don't do it a lot, but sometimes I enjoy the heat and the burn in the tops of my legs when I leave my resistance set really high and push myself in this way.  The same rings true for life.  You don't have to face every hill exactly like the people around you, you can face it any way that you'd like.  

7.  The right gear or tools make all the difference in the world.  

Oh man, never have more true words been spoken.  From the padded shorts and spin shoes to the new heart rate monitor (that I haven't reviewed yet), the tools really make the ride better for me.  Look around yourself, what do you think you need to make your life (or ride) easier?  

6.  Whatever you do, don't stop pedaling.

I don't know if you've ever had this happen to you in spin class, but I've done it a handful of times and it sucks: There you are at a heavy resistance and the song winds down, so you slow down to get your water and towel off your face but you don't realize that you've slowed to a complete stop.  Now you look like an idiot because you're making that horrible face as you push your legs to try to start the bike pedaling again, and finally you give in and take off the resistance and stand up so you can get moving.  

Really, it's true.  Don't stop moving.  If you stop, you've lost your power and momentum and it's a b*tch to get it back.  So follow Dory's advice.  

5.  When the ride gets extremely hard, sometimes you have to stand up and get some momentum.

The same is true in life, you could sit down and make it through most of the drama it's going to throw your way but every now and then you just have to stand up and power through it.  

4.  Some things in life are worth sweating for.

No, really.  It seems so simple, but so forgettable.  Aren't you worth a little sweat?  You sweat taking care of other people in your life, so why not yourself?  I struggle with taking a couple of hours out of my schedule every week so I can sweat, but I feel so much better after I do.  The final out come and the endorphins are well worth the pain of a sweat filled work out.  

3.  There is something about overcoming obstacles that inspires and strengthens friendship.

I look around during and after a spin class, and I see nothing but friends.  These people have cheered me on, yelled for me to work harder, and high fived me at the end of a tough workout.  The same is true for my non-spin friends, and I appreciate all of the support these people give no matter where they give it.  

2.  If you don't love what you do, you'll eventually stop doing it.

If I didn't love spin classes, I wouldn't buy 20 classes at a time.  If I didn't love science, I wouldn't be a chemist.  If I didn't love losing weight while still eating what I want, I wouldn't be a Weight Watcher.  This seems simple enough, but too many times I've tried to force myself into doing something that I didn't love.  I don't love all protein diets.  I don't love to run.  I don't love laundry.  

Well, I guess I can skip everything but the laundry part.  

1.  Ride your own ride.  

Man, I love this saying.  I say it all the time!  At work, I say it when people start complaining about how other people do their job.  With my friends, I say it when I see people trying to tell my ladies how to live their life.  In spin class, I say it to myself when I start to have self doubt.  I'm on my bike, I'm in my shoes, I'm in my own head.  I have to know myself and push myself accordingly.  

i'm talkin' to myself over here

A few weeks back, the meeting topic was positive self talk  I think my leader, Scott, had it right when he said "I am never going to look down at the scale, see that I've gained weight, and tell myself that it's a good thing."  

Boy, ain't that the truth.  

So the meeting started to shift it's direction at that point, and it went from a bit of a tense subject (what I really think when the scale goes up) to a great big happy celebration.  

One member had gained weight that week, but she didn't care because she had one hell of a non scale victory: Early in the week, she had gone to see her doctor and had an amazing report.  No more high blood pressure.  No more high cholesterol.  No more medications.  

Now, I'm not an emotional person like my mother, however I definitely got teary eyed at this accomplishment.  

Then the conversation shifted even more with the question, "What do you tell yourself when you aren't happy with the scale, the way you feel, your appearance, etc?"  The truth is, I start to slip and slide at that moment and I eat anything and everything in my path.  I don't have a sweet tooth, but I start cruising for cookies and candy.  I may have just eaten lunch, but I want something more.  

Then I spiral out of control and wake up the next morning with a stomach ache and one heck of a guilt cloud over my head.  

But one of our members said something absolutely brilliant (and so logical that I'm embarrassed I've never thought of it myself!).  She said that if a friend had come to us and was at a really bad place with their weight loss journey, we would encourage that friend and tell her to stick with it while keeping up the hard work.  One bad day, one bad week, or even one bad month is trivial because this is going to be a long process, and in the grand scheme of things, a few mistakes won't kill us.  She also pointed out that none of us would ever look our upset friend in the eye and simply say, "Well, that's it.  Throw in the towel.  You're never going to be able to do this."  

Lightbulb.  

I would never tell my friend to give up on herself, so why do I let myself do the same thing?  

Why do I have one bad meal and let it slide into a horrific day of binge eating and skip tracking?  

Why do I have two bad days and quit tracking for the rest of the week?  

Why do feel absolutely horrible for having to miss a work out?  

Why do I skip tracking something bad that I ate when I'm the only one that ever sees my tracker?  

Why does it seem like I don't love myself enough to be honest with myself and admit my mistakes?  

As you see, the list could go on and on.  I'll stop there.  But I'll leave you with this photo that proves that some weeks, the number on the scale doesn't mean much.  

"do you mind sharing?"

At the end of each of our Weight Watchers meetings, we have our celebrations, as I'm sure you all do.  We celebrate our victories both on the scale and off, and my leader is pretty fantastic at making each of the "losers" feel like big winners. 

Scott asks by asking where the honoree is sitting, and follows up with them to make sure it's okay if he shares with everyone what victory we are celebrating today.  I've never heard a person turn Scott down.  I can't even imagine them saying, "No, don't tell everyone how great I'm doing."  It seems silly to me, but he asks us all nevertheless. 

After he shares their victory and we clap and congratulate them, he asks another question: "Do you mind sharing what is working for you?" 

Then the fumbling begins. 

The number one answer each week is TRACKING.  Then the room goes silent and we all nod our heads because we know it works and yet some of us still didn't do it that week. 

Other good answers are ACTIVITY or SUPPORT (a lot of people come in family or co-worker groups), but I feel like a lot of people just say whatever comes to mind at that moment, not really taking the time to think about what really has been working. 

When I had lost over 18 pounds, I realized that I had better start thinking about what I was going to say if Scott ever asked me that question.  You see, my next milestone was going to be a big one: when I saw that scale drop down a few more ounces, I will have lost over 20 pounds and 10% of my body weight.  That's right, I can say that I'm only 90% of the person that I used to be, but 100% improved! 

Then I panicked!  What was actually working for me?  Which aspect of the program was giving me the best results?  Well it wasn't just one thing, I think it was a combination a few things and I had to jot them down so that I'd remember just what they were when I was called upon to celebrate. 

The biggest weight loss aid for me is support.  This can come in many forms, and I've mentioned most of them before but I'll say it again.  My mom and I are Weight Watchers together.  I have a co-worker that is a Weight Watcher.  My boyfriend is very supportive of my choice to change my life.  And finally, Twitter Weight Watchers are incredibly important to my success.  There is an entire network of men and women out there that are Weight Watchers, Lifetime Members, and Weight Watchers Leaders and I rely heavily on their online support each and every single day.  I can talk to them about recipes, points bombs, new products, bad days, good workouts, good health guidelines, and more!  I am so grateful for these Twitter friends, and I'm sure I'll be talking about more and more of them on my blog. 

Next up in my journey was a new mentality I adopted back in December and I'm so glad that I did.  I adopted the mentality that I would try anything once to see if I liked it.  Since adopting this mentality I have had loads of success!  I have discovered things about myself that I would have never known had I shied away from them like I always did!  I tried a spin class and I loved it.  I tried using a heart rate monitor and I loved it.  I tried an alternative for peanut butter suggested to me and I loved it.  Don't get me wrong, there are things I've tried that didn't work for me (ahem, kale chips) but I'm not going to talk too much about them for fear that someone may avoid them because of what I said on my blog.  My advice, try everything one time.  Give it a shot.  At least I know now that my dog loves kale chips. 

Another mental adjustment that has worked for me is my mental reset button.  No, it's not a real thing.  It's just something I have to give myself permission to do so that I can keep on moving and not allow myself to be paralyzed by failure and fear.  Sometimes I have a bad weekend, and I get really upset with myself.  This leads to anger, anger leads to anxiety, and anxiety leads to things like stress eating or extra glasses of wine with dinner.  So here's what I do, I forgive myself for that bad breakfast, or the bad day, or the bad weekend that I may have had and I forget about it.  I don't let it turn into a bad week or a bad month.  I nip it in the butt, I wallow for a split second or maybe I just wallow for the thirty or so minutes I'm in my Weight Watchers meeting.  Then I get up and walk away from it.  Done and done. 

So there you have it.  Three things that work for me on this journey so far.  I know there are more, but these are the faithful friends that have kept me sane so far. 

Well that, and the numbers marching slowly down on the scale. 

believe

Just watching this video gives me the chills.  These men and women submitted their stories in 2010 and Weight Watchers selected them for the new "Believe" ad campaign, but it's so much more than an ad campaign.  

These are real people.  These people have real lives.  Many of these people share their lives on Twitter, in blogs, and through Facebook.  

For me, that makes a world of difference.  Janet Jackson can lose all the weight she wants using pre-made meals from Nutri System, but she isn't your average person in my eyes.  Marie Osmond can do the same.  I hate to say it, but even the Jennifer Hudson deal with Weight Watchers doesn't motivate me.  It is a celebrity's full time job to look good, and they can hire a team of people to help them.  I need to know that someone out there who has a full time job and full time relationships can lose weight without hiring a posse.  

Then I'll Believe.  

Well, now I do.  

So if you haven't already seen the commercial:  

And if you have Twitter or Facebook, look these people up.  Or log on to the Weight Watchers website and go through the community blogs and message boards.  We're real.  We're motivated.  We believe.  

answer to the ultimate question of weight loss, dieting, and everything

I have a confession to make to most of you, I'm a bit of a nerd.  On the outside I appear girly and feminine, but in truth I was raised by a Trekkie, my favorite show growin up was the X-Files, and I've read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy just about as many times as I've read Pride and Prejudice. 

With that being said, I tend to think about life in terms of all of these influences.  First off, Star Trek taught me a lot about being open minded.  If Klingons can ultimately be nice guys, then I should never judge a book by the cover, right? 

Secondly, Trust No One.  No really, I try not to have to rely on people.  It is much easier for me to do things myself. 

And third, Don't Panic.  It's written on the cover of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and it's the simple and most amazing advice ever given. 

But then I think back to the answer to "The Ultimate Question" and I get a good laugh. 

42?  That's the answer?  Yah, right. 

In my weight loss journey, there is not one single answer.  Here are some answers I've recenlty come up with: 

Q: What should I eat for lunch?

Eat a salad. 

Q: What should I eat before I go to dinner?

Zero point soup. 

Q: I don't know if I want to go to spin class?

Get up. 

Q: I have an hour to kill, what do I do now?

Go to Target and walk around. 

Q: I've been staring at that cookie for days now, should I eat it?

Eat the damn cookie. 

Q: How do I get rid of late night snack attacks?

Paint your nails.   

And I'm imagining that some of you are all having the same mental conversations, right?  How do those go?  What are you asking yourself?  Are you usually in control of your actions? 

I'm just curious here, I can't be the only one. 

i CAN'T eat that, i'm on a DIET

Just telling you this story is going to make me angry and sick to my stomach, but I'm going to share it anyway. 

Back on Fat Tuesday (the day before Lent starts) I was eating lunch in the breakroom of my lab.  Seated next to me were several people from another department, one of them had brought in a very large Oreo cake from the grocery store around the corner.  

It looked sort of like this:

Okay, maybe it was a little less frosted around the outside and more Oreo's, but you get my drift.  

She proceeded to tell the group that because she was giving up sweets for Lent, that she was going to have cake for lunch and something like an ice cream sundae for dinner as well.  

I tried to pretend like I wasn't listening, but it really got my goat!  

Let's run down a few facts: 

1. This same woman is a vegetarian, and has shot me the evil "I can't believe you're eating meat" eye while I eat my turkey sandwich or left over tri tip salad in the lunch room.  
2. The lady has mentioned to me before that she's an atheist.  
3. I've overheard this woman tell everyone how she doesn't put processed foods or harmful substances into her body, but proceeds to talk about wine, beer, and gigantic cookie cakes!  

I am irritated.  

I am irate.  

I am exhausted.  

Why is it that some people can eat an entire cake, but not gain an ounce or have a stomach ache?  

Why is it that I cheat just a smidge and eat a handful of chocolate covered pretzels, and the scale jumps four mutha fuggggggin pounds? 

Why does it never fail that after an evening of two alcoholic beverages, I wake up bloated with the most massive hangover known to man?  

I'd like my body to start cooperating with me!  I'd like it to hear me begging, asking it 

"Please!  I just want to have some wine with dinner!  Don't make me balloon up to a size 16 and hit me over the head with an Acme sledge hammer while I sleep!"  

But alas, I am not that girl.  I have never been that girl.  I wasn't mad at the atheist vegetarian for eating a cake before she gave up sweets for lent, I was mad because I couldn't do the same.  Well, I wouldn't have chosen the cake, but you know what I mean.  

At my most physically fit point in life, I could never run a mile.  

That's me on the left.  Age 17.  I was training at least 5 days a week, doing cheer and tumbling practice.  

In my skinniest jeans, I was hungry and deprived.  

That's me on the right.  Age 18.  I had just started college and wasn't eating very often.  I may have had some skinny jeans on, but I was far from healthy.  

In the past, the ways that I attained the size that I wanted were not good ways.  So here I am, doing things the right way this time.  

I am doing things on my terms.  This doesn't mean eating an entire cake in one sitting, that to me screams I HAVE NO WILL POWER!  It means that I will celebrate successes without food, I will spend free time planning new meals or working off old ones, and I will love myself during the process.  No blame.  No judgement.  No excuses.  The past is the past, I'm moving on.

Author's note: 
Yes, I have bruises on both arms in the pictures above.  No, it isn't a camera malfunction.  I was and will always be a huge klutz.  In the first photo it was because of cheer practices and always smacking my arm into the elbow of the same girl, over and over.  The second photo was during my days working at Chili's Bar & Grill.  There was a small wall that popped out on one of the corners, and every single shift that I worked I managed to bang my arm into that wall.  I worked at that location for nearly 4 years, which means I had what I called my "perma bruise" for that long as well.