Confession!

Well I finally fell off the Weightwatchers rolling wagon for awhile there and have spent 5 weeks going up and down like a tarts drawers!

The net result is I am up 6lbs right now, but I have now been back totally 'On Plan' for 2 days and am confessing as I seem to be back on the straight and narrow. I refuse to reverse the 30lbs lost way on down the bottom of the blog, so watch for the slide moving in the right direction again by July.

However, if you still see it stuck on 30 by July 3rd, feel free to abuse me generally and remind me I prefer my butt as non-fat skinny latte!

Close your eyes Weightwatchers!

It's a small chocolate chip pizza and it was scrummy! ;-)

Best marketing move of the decade!

C'mon down Lane Bryant with the new 'right fit' sizing for your jeans for curvier ladies.

Trust me on this, if like me you have spent your whole life trying to fit into size 8 jeans, then to be told you need a size 2 is likely to get your immediate attention!

This happened to me on a recent visit to OKC whilst trying out the newly revamped LB jeans. When the assistant suggested I ought to try a size 2, after assessing my hips and butt, I literally laughed out loud and replied "AWWW HELL YES!" in my Brit' accent which really tickled her!

But joy of joys they were too big, so she said "Oh honey you're a size 1" and sure enough, once she'd helped me back up off the floor where I'd fallen in delirium, this proved to be the case. Well talk about a guaranteed sale, I was giddy with excitement as I paid....LOL!

I told her even if I hadn't needed jeans I'd have bought them just so I could see something with 'size 1' on the label in my closet! I literally left the store grinning from ear to ear :-)

So if you have also always dreamed of fitting into a size between 1 to 8, I strongly suggest you head into your nearest LB store for a morale boost you can't beat.

Let me admit something...

I HATE EXERCISE!

Always have, always will and always lacked the motivation to do any.

We even have a spare room at the back of our garage, all decked out as a small gym with an Ab' machine, Treadmill, Bench, Weights, DVD Player and A/C unit. I also have a lovely mountain bike we bought last year and actually I do venture out on that, as it is fun, but not often enough.

I need to exercise, this is the message we are all being given daily now in the media and our Dr's offices. It's just sooo hard to get started and then keep doing it regularly!

I need help people..those of you that do exercise, how do you stay motivated, what gets you on that treadmill? I need idea's please?

My weightloss tips....

These are the things that have REALLY helped me stick to Weightwatchers for 6 months now and lose 30lbs. I have broken them down into foods and attitude:

FOODS

V8 'LOW SODIUM' drink - I am not a fruit & vege' lover so every single day I either have one of the large cans or 11oz from a bottle. That is 1pt and 2 vegetable servings

Frozen Wild Blueberries - again a way to fulfill my vege'/fruits, I have 1 cup (1pt) of DOLE frozen wild blueberries on my cereal everyday, not only does it sweeten the cereal but the wild ones have 50% more antioxidants in them. You could use any berry like this

Hummus - this is a European tradition and extremely healthy, it is basically a dip/spread made from chickpeas and olive oil. But I get the different flavoured one's from Wild Garden (see link down in my list) and it's only 1.5 pt for 4 tbspn. I spread it on veggies, pita bread, crackers or a whole-wheat bun as a sandwich with salad. I buy it by the case from Wild Garden and get it shipped to me

Hostess 100 Cal Cakes - 1pt for the 3 pack of mini chocolate cream filled cakes - a god-send for cravings!

Organic 100% Wholewheat Buns - Mine are made by Rudi's an organic bakery (see links) and I have to either order them through our local co-operative by the case or get them in the city at a health food store. But they are so worth it, only 2pts and amazingly tasty and filling, you can check their website for stockists near you

Baby Spinach - I hate lettuce, so I put this in all my sandwiches

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray - an essential!

Subway 6" Club on wheat - my go to meal for when we have to eat out and it doesn't need to be a restaurant. No cheese, and mustard as dressing brings this in at 6pts and very filling

Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, Healthy Choice meals - absolute essentials for my freezer. I have a few meals and a few of the panini/pizza sandwiches, great for quick meals or taking to work

The Laughing Cow Cheese Triangles - I use the Garlic or French Onion flavours on sandwiches instead of butter. 1pt each, very tasty and solves the butter issue

BBQ Sauce - I use Head Sauce but it's local to OK. However all BBQ sauces are low pt and this one is just 1pt for 2tbspns. I slather it on chicken breasts and lots of other things

Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches - essential sweet craving solution for just 2pts and very delicious and filling

Homemade Smoothies - I throw in a banana or blueberries or both, Breyers FF Ice Cream, 2% milk, sometimes sugar-free Nesquick and ice cubes. Whizz it all up and I have a delicious meal in a smoothie

2% Milk - not Fat Free, same pts anyway and tastes so much better

Breyers Fat Free Ice Cream - makes all the difference to a smoothie!

Water - I drink at least 80oz daily and constantly carry a water jug with me everywhere I go.

Herbal/Flavoured Tea - I have at least 2 x 16oz mugs of hot tea a day, I love the Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice as it's sweet and warming, but also have Cinnamon Apple, Wild Raspberry, Earl Grey and Green Tea. if I get hungry after my evening meal, I just keep drinking tea until I am no longer hungry!

Pop/Fizzy drinks - I have totally given them up since starting WW

Alcohol - never touch it due to meds, but wouldn't anyway due to pts!


ATTITUDE

For the first 2 months I turned down every social occasion where eating was involved, or I turned up after the meal. This helped me tremendously in getting a great start and the initial weight loss which then keeps you motivated

I don't do Church Dinners, or if I must I take a Lean Cuisine (etc) with me to heat up. Just by nature, rarely is anything prepared healthily and you have no control over what you are eating

If I eat out I usually choose Applebee's where they have WW meals available, but now I am at the point where I can judge a menu and make wise choices

If I really want something I have it, but then I compensate the rest of the week taking a few pts off everyday

I nearly always use most of my Flexie pts and certainly at least half of them every single week without fail, I don't want to starve when I get to goal and am on Maintenance!

I have done this without exercising at all yet, but I do not recommend this and will be starting soon. Just making the point you can lose without exercise

If friends try to pressure me at all, I get firm with them and if necessary I will just stand up to them and say "NO I am not doing that as I know I can't deal with the temptations there"

All along I have been buying smaller clothes I like as I see them and putting them away, it's a great motivator to try them on occasionally

I have an excellent online/phone buddy to help me also on WW

I TRACK EVERYTHING THAT I EAT RELIGIOUSLY - IT's CRUCIAL. If I can't find, can't estimate or don't know the pts, I won't eat it

I really watch my sodium intake, for my thyroid and water retention

Mindset - this time is different, I know I will succeed, failing is not an option

I am open with everyone about my diet and how much I have lost, now people are saying to me "no way do you need to still lose 40lbs" - I ignore them and carry on!

I finally accepted I need to lose weight to be healthy, NOT just skinny

When people say they can't lose weight, I just say to them "If I can with a thyroid disease working against me, then you certainly can"

I have finally learned to like myself and accept this is not a diet, it's how I will live from now on

I do WW online, no meetings necessary and alot cheaper, but I have iron-clad willpower and a WW buddy of my own

If I am no longer hungry, I stop eating and if I crave something, I wait 10 minutes and really think through the implications of eating it

My mantra = "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels"

I am making a Scrapbook of my weightloss journey for motivation

I'm all about facing up to 'the truth' with myself and everyone else - that's essential for success, don't kid yourself

If you can think of a diet, I will have done it at sometime. No other diet works as well or allows you to eat anything like Weightwatchers - it's the best, end of story

Ta Daaaa!

It's official, my butt now weighs 30lbs less :-)

After a week of being REALLY dedicated and occasionally hungry late at night, it all paid off as I lost that final 2lbs to hit the magic 30lbs.

I am a HAPPY GIRL! Now I just have to be careful not to put it back on in the city this weekend but still enjoy myself! I may have to break out the treadmill and do some dreaded exercise to compensate.

Woooohooooo - off to shake ma shrinking booty around town!

I just have to endorse this advertising slogan totally, as someone with a thyroid issue that should prevent any weightloss at all according to my Dr last September:

"Diets don't work, Weightwatchers does"

So close but no cigar YET!

Well I lost another 1.4lbs this week taking me to 28lbs in total and a milestone in the UK, as that's 2 stone :-) and people are now really noticing a difference in me.

The UK measure every 14lbs as 1 stone and you say your weight as so many stones and then a few pounds - crazy I know!

I say no cigar yet....as I am waiting to hit the magical 30lbs and am determined to do it next week without fail. So no Creme Eggs this week and just a few flexies used, as we are also away in OKC next weekend and will be eating out more, so I need to start cutting back now (sigh). I will post an updated piccie at 30lbs.

Good luck to all my other weightwatchers bloggers out there.

Interesting fact I learned at school today....

Not such good news for me, but excellent news for my great Weightwatchers buddy Michelle!

Ave # tornado's in OK = 1000

Ave # tornado's in RI = 1

Now I have no idea whether this is per year, or an isolated year, as it came out of a 4th grade Science book.

Anywhoo I guess I'd better not lose too much weight, as I might be in danger of getting blown away...Yeh Right! I try to 'Always look on the bright side of life' thanks to Monty Python!

That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, not convinced Michelle is gonna buy it though :-(

Every dieters nightmare....

I appear to have hit my first weightloss plateau!

There's just no movement up or down, I guess at least it's not increasing, but it's getting bloody annoying after 2 weeks.

I am staying within my Weightwatchers points and on track, so I have had a look through what I have been doing differently food wise and think I may have found the culprits.....

Some of the regular readers will remember a couple of weeks ago I was happy to discover a Creme Egg was just 3 pts. So I have been happily building them into my daily allowance since then and 'Bob's your uncle' I'm now stuck!

Prior to this the same 3 pts were used on a delicious WW recipe Pumpkin Pie that my buddy and I ate every single day. It's just sooo frustrating - they are equivalent to the same number of points, but they are obviously not 'truly' equivalent!

Pumpkin Pie is obviously healthier, contains less fat and a piece of it alot more filling - it's just not a Creme Egg! So whilst being inspired by The Biggest Loser last night, I made the sad but inevitable decision to drop the Creme Eggs and kickstart my losses again...

I may just allow myself one a week, after all they're not around for too long ;-)

Uh-oh temptation abounds!

Above is a picture of the ULTIMATE form of temptation in the form of Candy, for yours truly since childhood (which is a long time ago)!

I have already spotted them in Walgreens and given them an extremely wide berth, or just pretended they were a figment of my fertile imagination! Unfortunately unlike other imported candy bars from the UK, these taste just as good in the USA. Why oh why do these have to be one of the only exceptions to the general rule that American chocolate is just not as tasty!

I tried to search the Weightwatchers points value on the website, but they are not listed and I am not even sure they have nutritional information on that foil wrapper.

So in order to prevent my weightloss reading +26 as opposed to -26 in about 8 weeks.....PLEASE can someone tell me what the points value of a Cadburys Creme Egg is URGENTLY??

I can then plan to use a 1/3 of my flexies on them every week, as this is one temptation I ain't never beaten yet and am not about to now, so I'll just have to allow for them! ;-)

This makes me very sad for her....

but it also proves the point I was trying to make to a friend arguing in favour of the Jenny Craig Diet a couple of weeks ago, long term it does not work, it's just a quick-fix!

Yesterday Jenny Craig dropped Kirstie Alley as a spokeswoman and below you can see why!

Sadly for Kirstie after 3 years eating Jenny's ready prepared meals delivered to her door (and in her case for free!), she has not learned anything about healthy choices and the pounds are piling back on rapidly. At least she wasn't paying huge amounts of money every month for the diet.

At my last Dr checkup we discussed my dieting success thus far and he specifically asked me 'this isn't one of those pre-packaged meal diets is it', because he does not think they are successful long term.

I then explained to him how Weightwatchers works to re-educate your eating habits and portion control over a much longer period. Although weight loss may be slower, it has been scientifically proven, slow weight loss is weight that stays off - usually. Plus you can use their recipe builder to input home cooked meals and calculate points or make healthy exchanges and no food is banned.

As their current advertising campaign says:

'Other diets don't work, Weightwatchers does'!

I would love to see a comparison 5 years down the road, of the percentage of Jenny Craig or Nutri-system dieters who have kept at their goal weight, compared to Weightwatchers dieters! I would bet a good few dollars Weightwatchers would win.

My friend and I agreed to disagree in the end on whether Jenny Craig was a good diet, I am genuinely sorry for Kirstie to have be the one to prove my point. Having battled my weight for years too, I feel for her and suggest she signs up with Weightwatchers.

Just think how many years Weightwatchers spokeswoman Sarah, Duchess of York has now kept her weight in control and she was always battling the bulge!

Why do women have weak moments...

This question popped into my head whilst I was contemplating the damage done to my usually perfect Weightwatchers diet yesterday. It was just one of those days that I know all women will understand.....from the outside nothing appeared very different about my day, but on the inside I was a maelstrom of thoughts and emotions culminating in food cravings!

This time my iron clad willpower let me down, a first since Christmas, and I feasted on Kentucky Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Coleslaw (some veggies at least!) and Biscuits. But oh no I didn't stop there....I then ate 3 of my 100 calorie Reeces Peanut Butter Wafers (those 100 cal' packs are dangerous to have in the house I have decided!), followed by just a few M&M's. Last night I dutifully put it all in my points tracker, the end result being depression, a headache and I now can't eat again until Thursday!

But why do we do this to ourselves? I know hormones are often blamed and certainly that was probably a factor for me yesterday, but I didn't have a problem the last 2 months! So why now?

Why do men never seem to have these weak moments? We have weak moments regularly and not all related to food either. Most women at some point in their lives have had a weak moment where a man's concerned. Whether it be dating someone they know will be bad for them, or a last fling with an ex, staying in the wrong relationship,or a one night stand they know will never go anywhere. But despite knowing it will do nothing for our self-esteem and probably make us depressed, we charge in head first anyway!

How many of you could go to your closet or wardrobe right now and dig out an item of clothing or jewelry you have never worn, but just had to have at the time. If you're like me then you know your retail weakness - mine is shoes, a fact supported by my shipping nearly 70 pairs when I moved here! I even shipped some I know I will never have a reason to wear again living where I do now. But they were just too beautiful to be let go and after all just holding them makes me smile...lol!

How many of us hold onto clothes we know will never fit again, they may be too big or small, but the little voice is in the back of our heads saying "you just never know, better hang on to it just in case"!

I have housework weak moments too - I get up with the good intentions of getting it all done today, but then am called away by a magazine, the telephone, a friend, a book or my computer. If a man gets up with a plan to do something, usually he'll go ahead and get it done as planned and on time, he is not as easily distracted.

Even as we're indulging our weakness we already know we are going to hate ourselves for it later, but will that stop us......probably not!

I am sure hormones play a part, but I also think self-esteem is part of it, as is the need to spoil ourselves occasionally but then equally to punish ourselves too. Women are much more finely tuned into their emotions than men and maybe this also makes us vulnerable to temptations. We are more likely to take things said to us to heart, we find it hard to just let emotional stuff go, plus we are natural multi-taskers and therefore more easily distracted.

How many times have you asked a silent man what he's thinking, only to be told "nothing" and he means it! Ask a woman the same question and I guarantee the answer won't be "nothing".....it'll probably be at least two things, one of which she is worrying about!

Today I am 'kind of' doing my housework...lol! Obviously not totally or I wouldn't be writing here, but I do have two loads of laundry done, the bed stripped and the polish out ready to go. I thought I would listen to my latest book on CD, this is something my husband does with great success everyday whilst he works. But not me it seems!

I will put it on and start a task or even two and then suddenly realise I haven't heard the last few pages as my mind has wandered off somewhere else...lol. This is the main reason why every night of my life I read a book before I sleep, if I don't my mind will just keep on mulling things over for hours. A book is like my mental equivalent of an 'off' switch but not on a CD it seems!

This is maybe just one clue as to why we have weak moments and men don't....women are not only emotionally different, but constantly thinking, plus we do have all those damn hormones running amok too!

I say embrace your weak moments ladies. They're what make us all unique, very human and our lives so all encompassing, enthralling and exciting - just try to get back on track at your earliest convenience!

I am happy to report today I am back on the straight and narrow and cutting back to help me regain some lost ground.....oh and there goes my Dryer buzzing - back to the housework!

If any of you have a theory on this subject, please comment, maybe between us we can solve the mystery!

Weight to Lose? Get a Buddy....

This is a testament to my wonderful Weightwatchers buddy, Michelle in Rhode Island, as well as a recommendation for weight loss success.

Michelle & I met online in the WW community area when I posted for a new buddy. My first buddy just wasn't as committed and dropped by the wayside quickly. But the second time last October, I struck gold and we started emailing each other daily with tips and support.

It helped that we were both starting from around the same weight and have about the same amount to lose. We had also both done WW before years earlier and not stuck it out to goal, but were now totally committed to getting to goal. We were from the very start equally committed to building our friendship and this is vital, as one person making all the effort, just doesn't work long term.

Total honesty is another essential requirement for your buddy to really be of value to you. If you start lying to them about what you are eating, you are on a slippery slope to failure. Then there are times when one of you will have to get tough with the other, after all we all need to be accountable to someone for our actions. This is when a strong base of friendship is essential, so that things said are not taken the wrong way, but taken as a sign of caring enough to tell it like it is. We share our lives as well as our diet and this bonds us closer together as a team. We hope one day we will meet in person to celebrate our success, this week we discussed possibly having a weekend in NYC after goal!

If one of us has a difficult social situation approaching we discuss it and agree on a plan to get through it successfully. When we do fail, we have a laugh, talk it over and then ensure we get back on the plan and don't just give up. If one of us loses motivation, the other will remind them of all the reasons they wanted to lose the weight and get them back on track. We both struggled to get back on plan after Christmas and I know it was only because we had each other, we finally hauled each other back from the brink.

We email everyday, we also chat with im and then occasionally we will speak on the phone too - usually when a milestone is reached or a crisis! We exchange photo's regularly so we can see each others progress and we agreed early on to exchange reward gifts (with a budget) whenever we lose 10% as an added incentive.

We exchange food idea's, send each other things to try, share recipes and even have our own shared weapon, a low cal' homemade Pumpkin Pie. We joke that we will be the Weightwatchers girls that reached goal eating a piece of Pumpkin Pie everyday!

Michelle is off on a cruise in April and a bit worried about it, but I have already told her to enjoy herself for that week and not worry. Because when she gets back I will be waiting to help her get motivated to go onto goal and I will not let her give up.

For the first time in my life I can confidently say and actually believe, I am going all the way this time and will get to goal. So if you sometimes struggle, I suggest you find yourself a buddy like Michelle. Not only will your chances of success improve, but you will also gain a friend for life, if you're blessed like I have been :-)

Attack of the Munchies

Help WW buddies! I have a major attack of the munchies, probably because I am feeling better. So far I have managed to restrict myself to 2 packs of the Hostess 100 calorie cakes....but DH's Pecan Roll is screaming 'eat me' from the counter right now. I think I will take it and banish it to the garage, I had some last night, FATAL mistake!

I have made myself some green tea and if need be will eat a pitta & hummus to ward off danger until supper. I still have 16.5 pts for the day but I could probably eat the lot right now...LOL!

I will watch Oprah in 10 minutes and hope she distracts me.

Oh THANK GOD....my WW buddy just got in from work and signed in, she'll sort me out!

Homemade Berry Smoothie

Well I figured I need to get as many anti-oxidants as possible in today, so I made the following delicious smoothie for just 6 Weightwatcher points.

I eat a cup (WW 1pt) of Dole Frozen Wild Blueberries every single day, usually with cereal. The wild blueberries have been proven to have 50% higher concentrates of anti-oxidants and Dr Oz was only saying we should all eat blueberries on Oprah last week :-) Oh and I should mention here, what Dr Oz says, I usually do - that man is a health god!

1 cup of Blueberries (or any berry)
1 cup 2% Milk
1 cup Breyers Fat Free Vanilla Ice Cream

Whack it all in the blender, give it a whiz and hey presto a delicious WW 6pt healthy snack....enjoy!

WW fave food tips

This week I found 2 new products that will satisfy my chocolate cravings and keep me good with my WW points.

The first one is a 1pt treat for 3 cakes! 'Hostess 100 Calorie Packs - Chocolate Cake with Creamy Filling'.....these are yummy girls. First of all the chocolate is like cupcake topping chocolate, soft & squidgy, the sponge is moist and the cream filling is great. They are a real treat for any sweet tooth for just 1pt!

The second treat is the new '3 Musketeers Mint' for 3pts for both bars in the pack, or 1.5pts for just one & save the other for later. I love chocolate & mint, the outside is delicious dark chocolate with the fluffy light traditional 3 Musketeers filling flavoured with mint.

I would like to extend a big "Thank You" to my crazy friend Becky for tipping me off on these great chocolate treats for low points.

A week of highs & lows!

Well it's been an interesting week - full of highs and 'literal' lows!

Last Monday I was trying to get my little kitty inside and managed to trip, falling flat on my face on our concrete patio. Not good, very painful and possibly very costly longterm - I hit my front crowned tooth as I fell and there is some question as to whether I split the root and will need a $4,000 implant. In the meantime it's antibiotics and alot of praying I didn't, because I'd rather have some new windows this year than a new tooth! I also managed to badly bruise my knee and crack a bone in my toe.....I always was clumsy!

My thoughts were also back home in the UK alot with my family. Both my gran & my aunt have been seriously ill & hospitalised during the past month. My gran is now home and doing well, but my aunt after 3 surgeries faces more to come and is still very sick. At times like this it is very hard being so far from those you care about and not being able to help.

Then as the week progressed things improved. Firstly I emailed friends about starting a local book club and received enough replies to go ahead. I already belong to a couple of online book groups and would love to participate in a face to face club, I hope to get it going at the start of March.

The second high of the week was both myself and my WW buddy, Michelle, hitting a big Weightwatchers target. It has taken us a few months and we have both been frustrated at times, but finally we made it together. We have shipped each other rewards as an extra incentive to keep going all the way.....we have faith by the end of this year our husbands will be married to supermodels, without a costly divorce....LOL!

I have managed to read 2 books this week, both in the Mitford series, which I am still loving after 6 books in a month!

But then of course life has to bring you back down to earth and so I caught a head cold. So today I have stayed in my PJ's all day long and sneezed my way through Sunday as hubby nurses me.

Hopefully this week will just be your average kind of week and a bit more peaceful!