Veggies and fruit in their bounty!

So I have been on the get healthy train for some time now.  It started with the weight watchers, which worked, however I’ve been a little lazy on my counting of points – Fat, Fiber, and Calories that is what it’s all about. 

Well on to my latest gig, jogging.  This did not originate with me however, my bff suggested running for a half marathon.  And i gladly did not commit, but agreed to joining her on some of her training runs.  And let me just say, even though I have never been a runner in any way shape or form, it has made me feel pretty good.  So we’ll so how long that continues.  Strangely enough I found myself still trying to walk the two dogs of mine (day 3 in a row, impressive huh) and I decided to start a slow paced jog with them.  We’ll see how this continues.  I’m sure the tangle effect could get a lot worse given their 8 legs.

Anyways, what has also helped me along the way is bountful baskets.  It’s a co-op that fills up two of the round laundry baskets – one with fruit, one with veggies.  You get whatever is in season, typically the tomatoes, lettuce, apples, and whatever new veggie/fruit that is fresh and amazing.  It’s how I got on a speghetti squash kick.  Grilling my many zuchinni spears, getting those fancy pears.  It’s like a surprise every other Sat – I pick it up at my location in the early am of Sat – that’s what I was doing this week, hence the freezing cold weather in the am in my last blog.  It forces me to figure out how to cook acorn squash, or whatever the newest produce is for the week.  And those 2 laundry baskets full are only for $15.00 .  You can’t beat that. 

So here’ s the information, they have them in AZ, Idaho, Utah, Washington currently.  Take a look at the website – but the key is eat more fruits and veggies.  

http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/

Weight Watchers Update

So maybe I should of been better at the before and after pics.  But really who wants to go back and take a picture when you feel your worst?  But I probably could of docuemted it better, and for that I am sorry.

Irregardless, what weight watchers has/is doing for me was showing me where I was over-doing it.  I am a 100% foodie, love the stuff, watch the food network 24/7, eat, live and breathe it.  Do I make the wrong choices?  Not necessarily…I love my veggies, and EVOO, and fruits…however what I had been doing wrong is eating the wrong quantities.  That along with some poor choices, and you add an additional 30lbs in a year and a half or so.  Yeah = not pretty.

So luckily I had some support from a friend at work.  She suggested I join along with her so she could lose her baby weight and I could lose my…umm (finding a sufficient excuse) post newlywed weight.  So our 6 month program is now over, (probably be joining the next set when avail at my work) but went on my wii fit and am now very close to the normal BMI.  Which is amazing!  I have officially lost 21 lbs since my last Dr. appmt a 8-9 months ago.  Which is also amazing because they kept telling me to lose some weight since I was now in a pre-diabetic state. Which at first made me gain more weight because it was depressing.  (It’s an endless cycle people).

So anyways, I wanted to share some tidbits of information with you that made all the difference.

1.  Every day is a new day – if you mess up the day before and go a little crazy, wake up with the desire to make good choices again. 

2.  Eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day.  These are filling foods – so you’re not starving for the next snack.  They also have the vitamins and minerals your body needs to feel better and look better.

3.  No what foods you go crazy on.  “The green light foods” – these foods are the ones you can’t hold yourself back from.  So either find a way to make them healthy, or stay away from them.

4.  Educate yourself!!!  This was probably the biggest deal for me, because it seemed like I naturally was drawn to the less filling, higher calorie items.  If I was looking at a menu, grocery shopping, or just choosing a snack and just choose whatever looked the best to me it was almost 95 times out of 100 the worst thing to eat.  So I had to retrain myself and look up the nutrition facts first.  Once I started seeing positive results the Italian Cheese Bread from Little Ceasars didn’t do it for me anymore.  (ok, I may still struggle with that one from time to time)

5.  Be more active.  K, I was a dance from like the age of 5 thru college…so I naturally was pretty comfortable in my skin.  However being that I was dancing and I enjoyed it so much, it didn’t feel like it was a work out.  I tried the gym thing, but it felt like a chore.  So I’ve gone out of my way and found things that are my like activities than work.  Such as bike riding, finding a local ballet class, or taking my lunch hour at work and hoping on the elliptical/tread mill.

So that’s my spiel, and I’m still on track and hoping to get to my goal of 145 sooner than later.  However after my celebratory italian meal last night I may need to put a couple more excercises in place again!  As of yesterday 14 more lbs to go.

Oklahoma travels - feeling better

Point Systems!

Well for those of you out there that don’t know me, let me just say that i am a bit of a numbers freak.  I just think that way.  It’s my calculating mind…and not necessarily always pure numbers are running thru my mind, but situational things that add up.  So when I decided to join the Weight Watchers System to lose some of the 30lbs I put on since my wedding (Yeah who knew married life could be so grand   ) it’s kind of got me a little crazy I must say.

Did you know a tortilla is 7 points!?!  Can you believe that, it’s so flat and little and delicious as a wrap/cheese crisp, etc.  And that’s not even adding anything to it to make it tasty!

Yeah, and don’t even think about a burger at McD’s…that’s like your whole alotment of points for the day.

Even the butter you put on the bread, or the oil you cook with adds up…and I’m not always eating from the box that breaks out the calories, fat, and fiber.  Especially since I enjoy putting my chef hat on most nights.

So you can see where this can become perplexing/mind altering.

Almost made me think twice today about eating the delicious slice of apple pie today for a coworkers bday. 

Me:  Could I see the label on that pie?

Fellow female coworker:  No, you can not…

Friend coworker:  Please pass it over, we just need to take a quick peek.

Fellow female coworker reluctantly reads the label…mmhmm, sugar, more sugar, and some apples, no nutrition break down.

Friend coworker:  Well, that means it’s 0 points then!

Me:  Nice!