Tag Archive | weight watchers

Jul26

I’ve been talking a lot about my pre-training for my October Bethlehem Running Festival races. Pre-training will officially turn into training this week.

What does the week look like now that it’s go time.

4 mile run

5 mile run

4 mile run

7 mile long run

Am I ready for this level of training? I guess we will find out. Here is what I do know……

I am down now over 15 pounds thanks to following WeightWatchers!

I am 100% off all supplements and currently my Yorvipath dosage is keeping my calcium stable. I’ve gone for several runs in the heat, with fast paces, and even shortly before my injection was due without issues. Fingers crossed this keeps up.

I will say that I feel once again like me. I will also say that after Natpara getting pulled once I got used tot his feeling that part of me worries that something similar will happen. Although I don’t think this will get pulled, I think my concern is more about insurance suddenly not approving it. It is nice not to constantly deal with effects of low calcium and have a stable level at 9.6!!!

With that being said, I do feel like I am at a good place to begin this training plan. There are no excuses. If I follow the plan it is on me. If I don’t it is on me as well. As long as my Yorvipath continues to work, I need to do my part.

So here is to beginning training….

Slow and Steady

Jun18

We are searching for that magic pill. Some are even opting for an injection instead. I get it. Sometimes it is necessary. Sometimes there are medical reasons that would require such extreme measures. Sometimes there isn’t except that loosing weight is hard. I’ve thought about other options, but as I mentioned before I signed up for weight watchers at end of April.

I am the type of person that needs a plan. In my 40’s when I lost 20 pounds (before gaining it all back and more), I used the South Beach Diet. While it helped, it is not a healthy diet for me nor did I want so much a diet as I wanted to retrain my brain/body to eat healthy.

So here we are 7 weeks in and 11.4 pounds down.

Steady…. Slow but steady

As you can see from my step goal, I am doing well. Probably because as a PreK teacher, I am rarely off my feet during the day. So that seems to be working in my favor. I am trying to be steady in working out. I, honestly, have not been running since the Brooklyn Half. I’ve been walking, indoor biking, and weights. I have not been as steady on that as I would like, but I do know that I am gearing up to start my Hat Trick Training at end of July. So theres that.

I like a plan. I like an easy plan. I have found the plan that is now working for me. Tracking which I’ve tried before and never stuck with seems to be working for me now. I think the overall approach to Weight Watchers is what is working for me. I’m not just tracking my food. I am assessing and thinking about what foods I am eating. The daily points have made me think, “is it worth it” when thinking about food choices. I am also encouraged to move more to get more points!

I still don’t feel like I am necessarily on a diet, but on a healthy eating path. When I pack my lunch, it is both tasty but also weeding out the easy to grab processed foods.

Breakfast, lunch and snack for the day.

That being said, I am still eating a cookie which I track. The thing is I am thinking just one cookie and not several. A small piece of ice cream cake and not a full slice. I don’t want to deprive myself. I just want to find the balance.

I’m not going to lie though…… I know hitting my goal weight is going to take time. I know it’s going to be harder than I want it to be. I know. I know. I know….. but, but , but ……….I am now one pound less than I weighed in last seen 2019. So that is a win! I am also a little less than 5 pounds away from my first goal weight. Then after that 15 more.

It is going to take time. The weight didn’t go on over night, so I can’t expect it to come off overnight either.

Onward….

Two Weeks In

May10

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I started Weight Watchers. I will admit that I have always said that I was not one to count points and it wasn’t for me…….

I was wrong.

Maybe back in the day when you had to do all the counting and calculating. That is no more. It couldn’t be any easier to use. There is a recipe calculator. You can scan bar codes. A “what to eat” tab with featured recipes and lists of all the zero point foods.

Honestly with all the zero point foods, you can eat and eat and not feel deprived. It does require a little planning, but we all know it is the mindless grabbing of food that is the problem for many of us as is processed foods. The one consideration is that it definitely more costly to eat fresh, but that is not weight watchers fault. It is sad commentary that a bag of potato chips is cheaper than a container of strawberries……. But I digress.

Anywho….

I’ve been consistently tracking. I’ve been managing my points. One thing that I do like is that besides daily points, you get what they call weekly points to use anyway you want during your week. These points also increase as does your activity. I didn’t understand that at first, but now use them.

I also am not depriving myself. This week was teacher appreciation week that brought goodies and I also went into NYC for a Hypopara study visit (more on that in separate post later). I ate what I wanted to eat, but maybe pregaming pizza lunch with a zero point salad. Then having only one slice of pizza instead of two. It is about thinking about the food you eat.

This was all only 2 points and that was for the feta cheese.

One thing that tracking made me think about is the number of calories that I drink. While I by no means will be giving up my coffee, I realized that for some reason using agave in my coffee was more points than regular sugar. I then realized switching to monk fruit sweetener was even better. Also had to rethink my morning smoothie which while always healthy needed to be adjusted.

So I will continue to do weekly updates with the good and the bad as I did sign up for the next several months. My first goal is 15 pounds. Ultimately I would like to loose a total of 30 pounds. Time will tell.

Currently I am heading in the right direction. Down 4.2 pounds. This feels like not so much a diet as a reset and shift in eating habits. It is about being the healthiest version of myself which the added weight has not been helping.

Stay tuned.

It is Enough

May1

Shhhhh… Don’t tell anyone but….

I am overweight.   Thanks to many factors, I might be adding instead of subtracting pounds.   Based on charts, I would be considered obese.   I am out of shape.   When I run I have been known to huff and puff.   I am not as strong as I used to be.    I am not as flexible as I used to be.    I’m definitely not as young as I used to be!  Sometimes I look at pictures and think…. Damn, what happened.

To be honest though while it does cross my mind on occasion, most of the time I just don’t give a shit.    Does my weight determine how I live my life?   Not a chance.    Does my weight determine if I head out the door to run or exercise?   Nope.    Does it keep me from living my life and doing the things I want to do?  Never.  Does my weight effect the way I fit in my jeans?   Yup.    Does the size of my jeans affect my overall life happiness?   Hell no!

All my life, I’ve been beating the odds.   I’ve been the one who was picked last for gym class.    I’ve been the one who is looked past and over.    I say this not for a pity party because who needs that.   I say this because at this point in my life, I don’t care and if you didn’t pick me to be on your team I wouldn’t want to play with you anyway.  If you look past me, no worries because I’m probably have a plan of where I need to be anyway.

I say these things because they are true.   I say these things because they are what made me who I am today.   They made me stronger.   I had to find my own self worth.   I had to find what made me who I am today.   I define who I am.   I define what I am and what I will do.

Now please don’t take that to mean that I don’t need others and others opinions aren’t important.    I’m just saying that although it is nice when others build a person up that you must learn to build yourself up first or it means nothing.    If you spend your life looking for validation from others, you will never truly be satisfied or know your worth.

So while I know that some might look at me at shake their heads wondering how I consider myself a runner and  an athlete, I do.    I know that I don’t have the speed of some.   I don’t have the agility or endurance of some.   I don’t have a lot, but what I have is enough.

I have the will.   I have the desire.   I push myself when it’s hard.   I push myself to be more than I was.  I strive to be better, stronger, faster than I thought I could be.   I also know that what I have to offer is enough.    That while I could always be better and improve myself, that who and what I am today is enough.

And while all of that is true, we all know that I have talked about trying to get the number down on the scale. At my last doctor visit, I had gained an additional 10 pounds which was always the number I said I couldn’t hit. My doctor said something that stuck with me, “Don’t let this be your new normal” after I said that to her.

Since that visit in December, I have tried on my own a few different ways. None of them stuck while the weight did. I very much like to have a plan. I think I’ve found one that I’ve been doing for a few days now. I like it. It makes sense to me and it is easy to follow.

So with that I will say that I signed up for Weight Watchers. I signed up for a 10 month plan as I have 30 pounds as my goal.

More to follow