WWIN - Taking the plunge

Okay, I'm officially back. I restarted the diet with gusto yesterday, and am ready to face the fact that I'm starting over.

My official overall total for today is +2 lbs. Now, I know y'all can do better than that!

Spicy!

The weight loss word of the day is SPICY! Research has shown that spicy food suppresses the appetite as well as decreases the amount of food eaten at one sitting and increases the amount of liquid consumed.

I find that red pepper flakes perk up any boring veggie. Red pepper flakes are especially good on squash. Just sprinkle the flakes on the veggie and then cook as normal. I also like them on the Weight Watchers Smart Ones Four Cheese Pizza. It adds just the right zing. But have that ice cold water ready!

Water

The weight loss word of the day is WATER! Water is good for you. It suppresses your appetite. It helps your body burn fat. You gotta have it.

Doctors recommend drinking 8 eight-ounce glasses of water a day. So today, your weight loss assignment -- if you choose to accept it -- is to drink that water! There are many flavored waters out there now, and no, I don't mean soft drinks. (Soft drinks are nothing but melted candy with stress-inducing caffeine thrown in to boot.)

Grab yourself a carton of the flavored waters and drink away!

Tech's Spicy Mixed Vegetables

I thought I'd share this quick recipe. It's low in calories and Weight Watchers' points.

1 can of blackeyed peas (without bacon)
1 can of green beans (drained)
2 large tomatoes chopped
1 cup of frozen okra
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients in microwave safe bowl. Cover bowl, and microwave for 15 minutes or until okra is tender. You can also add cooked shrimp or cooked crumbled sausage to this. Delicious!

A Request

Okay, this has nothing to do with the main purpose of the blog, but I would like to ask a favor.

My Dad's cancer seems to be trying to break out of remission. He's been in a hospital in Florida for a week now, fighting an infection and getting blood transfusions every day. They're trying to get him well enough to start chemotherapy again, but they can't do it until they get rid of his fevers and build him up a little. He's in good spirits and regarding this as just a "bump in the road", but please say a prayer for him.

Thanks, everyone.

Yes, it's here...again.

Alrighty then...It's WWIN's Day!! Are you ready?

Are you there? I am still holding out that this page will return to it's excited motivated glory. But there seems to be a few hinderences.

Here is the run down, as I see it...

TECH = No Computer (remedy to soon follow. I hope)

Crystal = Galavanting around Northern California

Frenzied = intermittant internet service (remedy merely a day away!)

Jaime = Kicking her scale out the window somewhere in North Eastern US

Trixie = Hi Trixie! I know you're there... :)

Jeannie = Not feeling well (Lots of prayers needed)

Mama Rose = Help! We need some motivational speaking!

Ok then...and then there is me. I am still working on this. I am not giving up and I don't think any of you are either...

I lost a lot this last week, but some of that is attributed to the fact that I was sick Monday. Icky nasty kind of sick that leaves you dehydrated and 7 pounds lighter. I am expecting not to lose much this next week, maybe even a gain. But it sure as heck was nice to see that huge drop. :)

How'd you do?

To weigh or not to weigh

I found an interesting article on iVillage. I know, I know it is the internets equivilant to Lifetime Television, but there is some interesting stuff on there. Anyway, it was discussing the good and bads about weighing in, how often and if it would work for you.

I happen to weigh myself everyday. In the morning for sure, just because the numbers are always lower in the AM (I LOVE seeing it go down in the morning whether it stays there or not. I figure it was there once, it will be again), but also I weigh in at night just to keep on top of where Weight Watchers will catch me, come weekly weigh in and how that is progressing. Sometimes, the numbers look great, sometimes...not so good. But I know not to count them as "official" until I do weigh in for the week. I use that definite number as my kick off for the next week, and so on. Some might say I weigh myself too much, but to be honest, it motivates me. It reminds me to keep track of my food for the day, it keeps my eye on the goal of getting this weight off and it also reminds me, that this is a day by day effort. What happened yesterday has nothing to do with today. I weigh "here" today and how am I going to make that better?

It works for me, but everyone is different. Here is a link to the article Weighing In

Let me know what you think!

Down for the count

Weight loss is wearing on me. I counted 46 pretzels to have with my 15.4oz of soup. Earlier, I counted 15 Wheat Thins to have as a snack. Just now, I wrestled, and lost, a grapefruit. Next, it's some dried mangos. I get to count 9 of those out of the bag, and then lick my fingers. (Licking fingers doesn't count as points)

But with all the effort and grapefruit injury, it pays off.

I lost 2 pounds this week. How'd you do?

WWINsday once more

So how did you do this week? I lost a half of pound. Sigh. I mean, it's a half a pound, but still it's hard to get too terribly excited about that. But I bet you did great, didn't you, Frenzied? How about you, Trixie? Michelle will probably wow us with her dropped pounds even though she just got back from vacation. And Jamie and Jeanne are hoarding their fantastic losses just so we won't be discouraged. Same for Crystal.

Or maybe not. Maybe we're all in a lull, a hard time where we're struggling for those lost ounces. If so, then we've just got to stay the course. We deserve to be thin. We deserve to be healthy. We deserve to have good lives and achieve our goals. We're good people.

For me, I have to keep aware that the biggest problem is me. Yup. I'm the one that I'm struggling with. It's a problem of discipline. It's how I'm going to learn if I'm living to eat or eating to live. It's how I learn where I control my appetite or it controls me. It's a fight to the finish, folks. Buckle on your weight loss armor and let's win the battle of the bulge. Let's also not take that metaphor any further.

Anyway, I'm back to toeing the Weight Watchers line again. No exceptions. No fudging. It isn't going to be easy, but I've done it before and will do it again. Whatever your weight loss plan is, I've got faith in you. Let's be thin together.

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One thing: I thought it might be cool to have a collection of inspiring weight loss quotes here. Do you know any? Post 'em!

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Another thing: Post your total loss and I will update the page with them this week.

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One last thing: If you'd like to join The Great Slimdown, just send me an email, and I'll add you as a poster! The more, the merrier. My email address is: issac skye @ gmail.com. Naturally, remove the spaces in the email address. Have a great day!

Monsieur Tech

Well, I’m up a pound this week. A whole pound. Basically I’ve added a package of ground beef to my butt. This makes me crazy, but I know why. I’m not being a good dieter.

Let’s be honest. When it comes to diets, I have all the restraint of a French king building a palace. I find this curious. After all, I’m a fairly driven person -- I drive a lot of people nuts -- no, no, no, I meant that I’m very focused and determined. So why is a diet such a problem?

I’ve been wrestling with this for the past couple of weeks as I tried to determine why I can’t lose the weight and keep it off. I’m not going to blame Weight Watchers. Or any diet. I know they work. I’ve lost weight on WW, Slim-Fast, etc. But keeping it off and continuing on any diet is the problem.

It comes down to this, I think: The payoff for losing the weight doesn’t seem as satisfying as eating the foods I enjoy and eating as much of them as I want. I hesitate to consider what that says about my personality, but I suspect it isn’t good.

What is the diet payoff? Let’s list them.

1. Better health. This is a biggie. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I need to lose 100 pounds. I’d feel better, get around better, help my back, knees and legs, not to mention help avoid diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
2. Easier to find clothes that fit. This is a problem. Clothes for large people aren’t available in as many colors and styles as clothes for slim people. (Some people claim this is because the clothing companies have to compete with tent companies for larger fabric. Some people need to be slapped.) This is slowly changing as America fats up, but I’d like to wear white once without someone attempting to show a movie on me.
3. Increase dating potential. We live in superficial world. That’s how it is. A lot of women would prefer not being seen with Shamu. Of course, then I have to wonder if I want to date those kind of women.

So ... having listed those ... and I’m sure there are others ... if knowing all those things, why am I not more motivated to lose weight? I’ll be looking deeper into this over the next few weeks, but what keeps you from dieting? What has allowed you to diet successfully? What’s your motivation?

Until next time, just refer to me as Monseiur Tech