Good morning....wake up... rise and shine!! This is your BL coach of the week speaking! Let me do a brief introduction, for those of you who don't know me... if you already know me or don't care a whit who I am... skip forward!
My IRL name is Pamela... not Jill, as some seem to think. Yes, I would have picked a far more exciting DIS name all those years ago if I had realized I would staying for the duration! I am mostly a SAHM... I do substitute teach, but that is very flexible. I also coach DS's FLL Robotics team and spend a LOT Of time driving DD to swim practice!! My favorite hobby is scrapbooking, so if you don't find me on the WISH board, chances are I am over at the scrapbooking board!
I have struggled with my weight to some degree most of my life. My first official time at Weight Watchers was when I was about 14. I lost 30-ish pounds and kept it off through high school and most of it off through college. After college, however, I started to slowly gain. I can remember weighing about 165 and thinking I was HUGE.
I got down to about 140 pounds when I got married in 1992 and hadn't seen that number again until just a few weeks ago!!
My weight got as high as 219 (might have been higher, but I rarely got on a scale) when I started WW AGAIN in 2003, in anticipation of a 2004 WDW trip. I lost 40-ish pounds in 2003 and went to Disney a happy and fairly healthy 170 or so.... but lost my momentum upon returning and slowly regained 20 of those pounds over the next few years.
I started WW AGAIN (probably the 10th time, at least.. no lie) on January 1, 2008 (in anticipation of an April 2008 trip). I was at 200 pounds even. I REFUSED to go back to Disney fatter than I was the previous time. I worked HARD from 1/1/08 until 4/16/08 (both with WW and exercise) and lost about 35 pounds and returned to Disney slimmer than my previous trip. I LOVE looking at the pictures and I felt strong, pretty, and energetic! I walked for MILES and MILES without any problem.
SOMEHOW I managed to KEEP my momentum going this time. I returned home from Disney up a few pounds, but got RIGHT BACK on track with my eating and exercise. Since that time I have continued to lose (with some struggles, a few gains, and some plateaus along the way of course) and I am now 8.2 pounds away from my ultimate goal of 130 pounds even.
So as you can see, no matter where you are in your weight loss journey, chances are I have been there!! Discouraged?.... Yup, I've been there. Elated and excited? Yup... been there. Struggling?.... been there and will be there again, I'm sure!
I hope to make the most of my week as your BL coach. It is a hard weekend with the Halloween candy around, and of course, the big holiday EATING season is right around the corner. I hope I can make a difference to someone.
Todays QOTD:
What kind of support system do you have (outside of the DIS) to help keep you on track with your healthy lifestyle? Maybe you are attending WW meetings or keeping in touch with people on sparkpeople, or exercising with a friend. If you DON'T have a support system, what could you do to help build one?
This question really hits home with me. I DON'T have any close personal friends. My DH is not at all supportive of my healthier lifestyle. Not that he intentionally sabotages me or anything like that, but he is a very unhealthy eater and doesn't exercise at all and that is very hard for ME to be around. I have to continue to be surrounded by ice cream and popcorn and potato chips and beer and cookies. He constantly wants to order pizza and I have to either put on a brave face and eat salad while the family eats pizza, or put my foot down and insist that we eat a healthier, home-cooked meal. I LOVE him... he is a wonderful man, a great provider, and a great Dad, but I worry about his weight/health and I get frustrated that I don't get the support I could use.
DD (14) tries to be supportive, but as a typical teen, she is very wrapped up in her own life (and a very busy life at that).
I wish I could find a way to make some really good IRL friends (other than you all....
) that I could chat with and such... but I've never been very good at that. Guess I should work on that... not sure how, but now I've got myself thinking about it at least!
C
I like the talk about Thanksgiving. For the last couple of years by the time I sit down to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner I am too tired to eat. I spend the morning cooking in my home which is nice but then I have to pack it all up and bring it my in laws. (my inlaws have a stove that is broken and they have never had it replaced and it is going on 5 years) It also helps that we eat at 2 (if it is not 2 then fil starts to yell (yes yell)) and by 3:30 we are on our way home. If I didn't bring a dessert to Easter last year there would have been no dessert or they would have gone out early Easter Sunday morning to buy one.
WOW... you have the patience of a SAINT. If my FIL (or any IL) started yelling about dinner, dinner would end up on the WALL! Can you say "STOVE FOR CHRISTMAS"?!! Or next year...maybe you should make... RESERVATIONS!!
I took today off as a mental health day, and started with an hour of wii fit, followed by coffee with Ellen Degeneres, and then I had a good cry with some Touched by an Angels tapes that I got from my mom's. She loved that show, and it was a Christmas one and it was so sad, yet so inspiring. I forget who was saying they watched that show a little while back, but you were right, great for a cry. I did do some laundry and clean the kitchen, but then I sat and read Good Housekeeping from cover to cover. (another fav of mom's). I finally got in the shower at 2, and michael came home at 3. I wasn't going to turn on the computer at all today, but he's watching a show, so I thought i'd come on for a minute. I am also still on track with the eating, and all in all, it was a really nice day. I don't take enough me time usually, and it is very therapeutic. At night, when I tend to be too tired after michael goes to bed to do much, and reading usually puts me to sleep.
Great question. At ww this week, my leader suggested to plan for the candy, and decide how many points worth would be satisfying, take that amount of candy and put it in a plastic bag just for you, and to savor and enjoy it, guilt free. So that's what I did. I bought the candy tuesday, and put aside 20 flex points worth- twix, kitkat, and dots. I haven't had any yet, but looking at the bag, it's a lot of candy, and I'm not going to start on it til halloween. I might trade for some peanut butter cups, since we didn't buy them. Maybe I won't eat it all, but if I want to, that is my choice, and I will do it guilt free. After halloween, Michael's school does a candy drive, and you bring in your candy and they donate it to the troops, so I'll encourage him to send most of his there.
Pjlla- Great job planning ahead for Thanksgiving. It's going to be here before you know it. That pumpkin ravioli sounds fabulous. Sounds like a big challenge for you, but if you plan to enjoy just a little of your favorites, or a lot of one or two favorites, that is ok. Last year before the holiday's my ww leader had us all close our eyes and think about our favorite food for easter, and she made us in our heads to slowly savor it, to take small bites, and really taste them and savor them before swallowing, and not to just eat fast and hardly taste it. She also made us vow to sit down while we were eating, and to concentrate on the food, with little distraction, so we didn't mindlessly eat. It did work. I thought of her and really savored the dessert I had planned to eat.
I'm SO proud of you for taking some "me" time. You really needed it, I'm sure. This entire YEAR has been so stressful for you it seems. I'm sure you had a good LAUGH with Ellen and then a good CRY with the Angel tapes. Both emotions are so HEALTHY to express! I wish I laughed more.
I LOVE the visual you gave about the WW leader telling you to really concentrate on the foods, etc. I need to do that much more. I have one side dish at T.giving and Easter that I ADORE (and it is one of those "twice a year only" dishes) and I tend to WOLF it down because I am so excited... but it does seem like I hardly even taste it. This year I am going to really take the time to take small bites and really linger over it and enjoy every single calorie!
I gained .8 this week. I expected it, what with it being that time of month and all the junk food at school during conferences and parties. But when I weighed myself at home right before weigh in it showed me having lost weight- and my scale normally weighs a pound higher than the WW scale. So I was disappointed because I was expecting to lose weight.
Oh well.
I love working out with my trainer. I think I'm glad I said to go with a nicer trainer. He definitely kicks my ***! I've had two sessions so far and both times I felt like I had no muscles left in my body! I was so proud of myself Monday night for really sticking with it, and I remember thinking, "Thank God,' it's over!" When the trainer said, 'Time for round 2!' He did give me the option of stopping if I was too tired, but I did it. Just knowing that somebody is there watching me (and that I'm paying him!) makes me persevere beyond what I would think possible.
I also have worked out twice on my own, although both times I didn't have time to do two rounds of the routine (but I did work out for an hour!) I think it's a step in the right direction.
I am thinking about getting a bodybugg, but I wanted to get some opinions on it. Does anybody use it?
No one knows better than me about TOM problems lately... and it wreaks havoc with the scale! Glad to hear you enjoyed your workout with the trainer... and you managed a few workouts alone... GOOD JOB! The tiny gain will be gone in no time. I hope work is settling down for you.
Good Morning, Biggest Losers!
As
Dona said yesterday, we thought we'd take a break from the COW and focus on
pampering ourselves a little bit. The more I thought about this, the more I thought we should work on our minds and spirits (although if you're inspired to do something for your body, that's awesome!). Each day I'm going to have a short activity you can do to improve your focus, or just take a few moments out to devote to yourself!
Pampering Activity For Friday:
Spend 10 minutes reading something you normally wouldn't -- a newspaper (online is fine!), book, magazine, comic book -- it doesn't matter as long as you read about a topic you normally wouldn't to get your mind thinking in a new way.
We are not awarding points or keeping track -- as always, this is completely optional. Just a way to challenge your mind!
My dh has a shelf full of books I would never read -- but today I'm going to spend 10 minutes with
Alice Cooper, Golf Monster. It seems like it could be appropriately scary for this time of year!
Maria
I LOVE this week's challenge! I haven't kept up with the COW because things have been hectic, but I LOVE this idea. I have always been a HUGE reader. My Mom always said that if there was something she wanted me to know when I was growing up, she would leave an article or book about it lying around and she knew I would find it and read it!! I would read ANYTHING!! I have gotten more selective as I have grown up, but I still read LOTS. We get the newspaper delivered daily, but I only read the comics occasionally and the rest of it pretty much NEVER. I'll make an effort to read at least two stories every day this week!
Well.. my weigh-in was much prettier this week than last week's fiasco. I'm still not where I was two week ago, but only a little away. I can't help but think that maybe it was a scale problem and I didn't really lose the 2+ that week... but no way of really knowing. I am down 1.6 pounds this week and I am happy things are going the right way again. And TOM "should" be here any moment, so ANY weight loss this week is a small miracle!
I have a busy day and busy weekend ahead... after coaching Robotics today I have to hustle DD to the pool for the start of her team's 3 day Invitational meet. She is swimming a 400 yard IM and a 500 yard freestyle tonight. She swims again tomorrow afternoon and again Sunday afternoon... and somewhere in there we need to fit in Trick or Treating on Sat. evening and of course the usual weekend stuff like laundry, and homework! Plus I am expected to volunteer during the times that she is swimming, so I will be busy around the pool. I need to be SURE to get in my workout both days (today's is already done) and of course meals need to be made for the men (DH and DS) who will probably stay home. I guess I better get off the computer and get to work!!
I'll check back with you all later this afternoon!.................P
I also do Spark People and have meet a few of them IRL and they are great. I am blessed to have a supportive mom, dad, brother, cousin and best friend. Sometimes I wonder why I am not taking advantage of all the support I have.
for all of you. Keep it up because you CAN do it!!!!! 
I just put the clippie on. I've never put a clippie up and thought it was about time. I too am over 200 - I'll post some pictures - sounds a little pompous but my bones must be made of concrete 
b/c I don't look my weight. My goal will not be much under 200 - probably 180 something. Anyway I'll show you in pictures. Because in numbers it sounds insane. 
But for me it has been a very emotional change so I needed to take breaks and hold it many times. Also, I'm really concentrating more on the maintain so I eat whatever I like but try to eat consciously (not always easy of course) and concentrate on exercise. I always check myself "can you do this for life Lisa?". If the answer is no - I'll make a change even if that slows the bus down so to speak.
You will be under 200 before me. DO let us know - shout it at full volume - okay? 
I have gained weight the last 2 weeks. Yes I have been sick and mostly slept but have also gone back to unhealthy choices. The saddest thing? I thought I would see a LOSS this week! I am finally starting to feel better and will be able to exercise this week.
and sahbushka for you dh getting a job!! what a huge relief for you both!!
