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!  

looking backwards, moving forwards

I feel like people are always telling me not to dwell on the past or that I need to move on & move up. Yaddah yaddah yaddah...

Sometimes, I think they're full of it. If you don't examine your past actions or behaviors then I truly believe you are doomed to repeat all of your previous failures. I know that this is true of my life, so I want to take a moment to reflect.

In July I hit my 25 pound goal, and it felt great. Not long after that I threw my Weight Watchers tracking out the window because I had something new to focus on: a sprint triathalon. I can honestly say this was one of those wacky things in life that I'll never forget. Training, traveling, triathaloning...it was epic. Yes, I said epic. I had so much fun & support from friends far & wide that it was spectacular.

Now here comes the reflection: I spent three months training for the triathalon & ignoring what I was eating. After that event, I spent the last 3 months in the middle of a home renovation from hell & ignoring my eating & my training. I slacked off. Luckily, I have less than 5 pounds of slacking to account for. I realize it could have been a whole lot worse, but I feel as if the last 6 months were a waste of my time.

Now I've mentioned that I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, so I've started this little journey back to healthy a bit early. I realize though, as I sit on my couch eating the Pioneer Woman's Mac & cheese, that as the last 6 months haven't been successful, they haven't been a total loss. I've learned a few things about myself & I believe I have some people to thank:

1. Weight Watchers has truly given me the tools to continue being healthy, even when I'm not 100% focused.

Truly, I don't keep all the bad stuff in my home anymore thanks to what I've learned and that (if nothing else) saved me from completely losing my marbles.  

2. Eating out is not convenient, healthy, or efficient. 

Having my home in pieces for 3 months showed me that when I'm cooking at home I'm able to multi task & cook several things at once, do laundry, & meal plan for the week ahead of me. 

3. Exercise is not a luxury, it is a necessity in my life. 

I used to think that finding that time was a bonus or a treat, now I see how poorly I feel without it. I'm irritable, tense, & lethargic without some sort of outlet. I cannot live that way for long. The last three months appear to have only reinforced that in my mind. 

4. Loved ones that know you're on a journey towards a healthier lifestyle are priceless. Priceless. Priceless. 

I had to say that word multiple times because it is just so true. Twitter family, they're there when I'm stumped, lost, or feeling alone. Tangible family is there at family gatherings to give me the much needed "are you sure you want to eat that?" look. Friends that may as well be called family are always around to split appetizers at restaurants or join me for running, cycling, & spin classes when I need their support. Not a day goes by when one of you lovely people blessed my life & don't think I didn't notice it!

So there you have it. I'm sure I've learned more than what I just told you while I've been reflecting, but those were the big things. May you have a blessed new year & I hope you have plenty of amazing reflections during this time as well!

tri update: reflections

As this blog goes up, I'll probably be lining up for my first race event in my life: an all female sprint triathalon.  

You read that right.  I've never raced in my life.  In fact, I've never even run a 5K.  At least, I haven't until today.  

Today, everything I've thought about myself for my 28 years on this earth is going to shift a little.  Today, every negative word I've spat at myself is going to fade away a little.  Today, my own two legs are going to take me further than I've ever gone before.  They're going to take me approximately 17.4 miles through a series of events, culminating in one single thing that I said I'd never do: running.  

Let's back track, I've been active before, but never like this.  Distance wasn't my thing.  I used to ice skate a few days a week as a kid, I took tons of swimming lessons, I'd follow my dad around on my pink bike with the white basket on the front, and eventually I'd be a cheerleader and take gymnastics classes.  But never have I ever done anything like what I'm about to do.  

I am sure I'll come home and post pictures and tell you all about what it was like, but right now let me tell you about what it means in my head that I'm about to do this.  

It means my scale can take a long walk off a short bridge for a while.  I feel good and I haven't really let the number on that screen get me down in a while.  

It means my size 12's are loose and my size 10's fit right and aren't snug anymore.  It means a medium shirt in most brands will fit me, and I have gotten rid of a number of large and extra large items in my drawers and closets and the only size that has stayed the same has been my shoe size.  

It means that I'm in the home stretch.  I'm about 20 pounds away from that magic number in my head and while I am not worried about getting there or how long it's going to take me, I've got some new tools to help me along the way.  

It means I want to do this again.  True, nothing will be as cool and crazy as this first time, but I've already lined up another event in my mind and I'm anxious to keep training for it even though I've yet to complete this first one.  That sounds absolutely flippin' nuts, but it's the God's honest truth.  

So sit back, enjoy your day, because you know I'm going to be enjoying the heck out of mine.  

"Catch you on the flip side."

-Rocco

Thank you to Fit Bottomed Girls for sending me on this journey with your giveaway.  Thanks to Laura, Mae,  Alejandra, Lisa, Dawn, Kelly, Marisol, Andrea, Dacia and the rest of my twitter family for sending me (in 140 characters or less) all of your support.  Thanks to my friends and family for thinking I'm nuts, loving it, and cheering me on and supporting me as I do this.  But really, really, really thank you to my friend and coach Amanda for smacking some sense into me when I said I wasn't going to do this and she wouldn't let me quit before I'd even started.  Then she wouldn't let me quite after I'd started.  And I'm going to guarantee she won't let me quit ever in life and I love her for it.  

tri update: regrets part 1

I have to get some regrets off my chest, apologize, and move on right now.  I've got to do this so I can let go, get up again, and scurry on my merry way. 

First of all, I regret that my last blog post was 2 months ago.  I've not felt like talking much about training, I just felt like doing it and feeling it.  I've not felt like talking much about Weight Watchers, I've been falling off and fall back onto plan for a while and subsequently I weight exactly the same as I did 8 weeks ago.  I'm still down a total of 25 pounds, but that's not saying much.  I've not felt like talking much about my personal life, but I think it's time to open up a bit about it.  Apology made, now let's talk. 

Triathalong training has flown by.  Literally.  It just went WHOOSHHHHHH!  Then, it was gone. 

I can start by saying my brick experiences have been such a hard thing for me to accomplish, and they are far more rewarding than I could have ever imagined.  If you don't know, a brick workout is any workout where you combine two or more disciplines, such as a bike ride and a run or a swim and a bike ride. I did about 8 bricks over the course of 8 weeks, even doing two in one weekend!  Of those 8 brick workouts, 3 of them were done with my amazing friend, Amanda. 

Let me pause here and say I have amazing friends and family, Amanda being one of them.  Each of my friends and family has supported me through all of this, asking me how I was doing or simply taking a moment to say (or send me a text message) how proud of me they are.  Words and tears simply cannot explain how amazing this makes me feel, and I have to pause and say thank you to all of you. 

So back to bricks, we rode several times between 10 and 12 miles and then followed up with runs that were usually between 2 and 3 miles.  I.  Was.  Exhausted.  Thank the good Lord above that Amanda is a pretty awesome runner and an even better teacher and running coach.  She taught me to relax my shoulders, find good music, set attainable goals, and stop balling up my fists.  Those teeny tiny lessons have expanded running from something that I loathed into something that I tolerated, and more recently even something that I enjoyed completing. 

There, I said it.  I enjoy finishing a run.  I don't consider myself a runner in any sense of the word, but finishing up 2.5 miles during a sunrise with P!NK blasting in my ear buds has become a bit cathartic for me, and it's helped ease my anxiety a whole helluva lot lately. 

That being said, I regret not doing more brick workouts. 

I also have one more moment I regret.  About 8 weeks ago, I went down to ride with Amanda near Tom's Farm in Corona.  It was my first time riding there, and she warned me about a couple of hills.  I think I let myself get caught up in the warning and on the second to the last hill, I gave up, hopped off my bike and walked it.  Two words come to my mind as I type this: chicken and sh*t.  I regret hopping off my bike.  To this day I'm mad about it, but luckily I was mad enough that two weeks later I sent her a text message that said "I want a re-match with that hill." 

Needless to say, I did not walk my bike up the hill.  I huffed and I puffed and I blew that hill down, well, not really but you get the picture.  I wasn't speedy, I wasn't graceful, and I certainly wasn't lady like about it.  I said bad words, and even Amanda said I could call her names if I wanted to, as long as I was up at the top of the hill when I did it.  That is a moment I do not regret.  I'm grateful for that ride, and the 2.5 mile run that we did afterwards.  In that moment, I felt like I might actually be ready to do a triathalon. 

Before I sign off after this rambling story, I need to tell you that if you're reading this, you need to go read my friend Mae's blog.  She's getting an awesome opportunity to head to NYC and do a photo shoot at Weight Watchers because she is the epitome of a "Success Story" and they finally realized how amazing she is. 

Seriously, go read it.  Fall in love with Mae.  Wish you could snuggle with her awesome Boxer, Bowie.  Then thank me later. 

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!  

tip of the day: tell someone!

I don't often walk into a friend or family member's home, plop myself down on the couch and say "I'm on Weight Watchers!"  In fact, I don't tell very many people at all.  It isn't a fad diet.  It isn't something that I'm just doing for a while.  It isn't a fundraising opportunity.  It's my life.  

I'm going to be a Weight Watcher forever.  It's been decided.  I joined for the last time in December 2011 when I weighed 199 pounds, my personal heaviest weight.  I don't often talk about that, and I rarely say a number.  (By the way, thank you to Valerie for asking me questions I used to be afraid to answer!)

So there you have it folks: the truth.  I'm doing my thing at my pace and on my terms.  I don't run marathons.  I don't go to bootcamp at some ungodly hour every morning.  I don't cut out all carbohydrates and beer.  

I exercise when I can and when I want to.  I eat what I should when I want to.  I drink beer.  I eat hamburgers.  I could never give up french fries.  

So why is this post called tell someone! then?  Because I lived in hiding with my new lifestyle for a long time.  I avoided exercising for nearly a year.  I didn't take time for myself to shop the way I wanted to and go to the gym as I saw fit.  I didn't want people to notice the changes, and they didn't.  I lost about 10 pounds in the first 12 months on plan, and it wasn't enough.  I've now lost about 10 pounds in just three months on plan when I did something extraordinary: I started talking about my journey.  

I started small with my family, and do you know what happened?  My mother and aunt both rejoined Weight Watchers with me in a matter of a few months!  It's great!  

Then I talked about it more and more with my boyfriend, to make sure that he knew this didn't mean we could never eat a buffalo wing again.  I took advantage of his overtime at work and joined the beloved spin studio I've mentioned before.  I am very vocal about loving my workouts and my instructors.  He has realized that I'm not really different than I was before, but I usually order off the kid's menu or box up half of my food to take home with me for lunch.  Now for birthdays or anniversaries, he buys me class packages to my favorite gym.  He is incredibly supportive, but in a quiet and behind the scenes sort of way, and I love him all the more for it.  

Lately, as my clothes get more and more loose, I have begun telling a lot more people about my lifestyle.  Now when they ask if I'm losing weight, I smile and I try to say things like "I'm working on it" or "I hope so, thanks for noticing my effort."  It sounds corny, but thanking them for the compliment is a battle in my head.  Then they usually ask how, and I'm honest.  I tell them that I am trying out all sorts of activities and so far I really love spin classes, and of course I tell them that I'm a Weight Watcher.  

This means that I have friends joining Weight Watchers with me and I'm building an incredible support group.  I have co-workers and long lost buddies that are signing up for spin classes with me all the time and I rarely go into a class where I don't know someone.  People call me asking if I would like to walk with them. I text friends that live far away to see if they've tried their new workout dvd's yet.  I trade workout dvd's or plans with my friends all the time.  I am turning into a healthy living machine.  It is a daily part of my life, and I love it.  

Even most of the gifts I received for my birthday last week were healthy living related: class packages for spin classes, a heart rate monitor, cooking classes, new workout pants, and REI gift cards.  People know that this is something that I love and something that I am not going to stop doing anytime soon.  

Recently I had an epiphany, anyone who has known me for longer than six years knows that I've done Weight Watchers once before and I had success.  I feel like I look bad having to come back to Weight Watchers and lose the weight again, like I'm a failure.  But last night it occurred to me  that I didn't have to come back because Weight Watchers didn't work, I had to come back because I didn't work.  I didn't stay on plan back in 2007, but if I did I would probably be a lifetime member right now.  

Weight Watchers only works if you actually stick with it.  I can't just have them automatically deduct the money from my account each month and expect the scale numbers to start dropping.  I can't pay the gym every year and wonder why I don't have a 6-pack.  I can't stock my fridge with healthy food, then go out to eat every night, and tell everyone that my healthy lifestyle isn't working.  

"A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work."

Colin Powell