I always thought that was a really stupid saying: “It works if you work it”. Seems a bit like stating the obvious, to me. Honestly, I guess I never really thought much about it but if you dig into it deeper, it really is a helpful reminder saying.

What does working it mean? For me, it means working the Weight Watcher’s program as it was written by the experts – those who know more about successful weight loss than I do. Clearly I didn’t know how to do it, or I wouldn’t have been 100 pounds overweight when I joined in 2008.

Working it also means working it all the way – not dipping my toe in it. It means if I am going to see the results I want, I have to work the program the way they say to, not fudging it to suit my mood.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been only doing part of the program – sorta tracking, sorta not, and sorta not really watching what I eat and only sorta doing activity. As a result, I only sorta lost weight. Out of six weeks, I lost weight only one of those weeks. The others I gained.

So last week, I buckled down and quit playing around. I got back to tracking my food – all of it including the bites, licks, and tastes. I calculated points properly by weighing my food or calculating it off the nutrition panel of the package and measuring the correct servings.

And guess what? This week I lost weight. I lost 1.2 pounds. I can try to blame hormones, water retention, stress, muscle gain, or any number of things for my weight gain, but if I’m truly honest with myself (and I was last week) it really boils down to what I put in my mouth.

So, yep, it works if you work it. And I worked it. Because I’m worth it.

In the continuing saga of my weight loss journey, I feel compelled to ‘fess up.

I have been basking in the glow of compliments and skinny clothing for about a year now while hovering about 9 pounds from goal. I love the compliments – they really help with encouragement and staying on my path. I’ve also been steadily and consistently going to my Weight Watchers meetings every week unless I’ve been sick or out of town or the location was closed for the holiday. I have been doing a lot of things right.

But I’ve also been doing some things wrong.

I’ve been slipping.

BLTs they call them. Bites, licks, and tastes. And portion distortion. And plain just not counting what should be counted.

And now it’s biting me back in the ass. The sum of the last two weeks has resulted in a 5 pound gain. That is HUGE in the world of weight loss – or in this case, gain.

At my meeting tonight, I talked to my leader. We tried to figure out what caused the weight gain this week as I tracked (mostly) and I did a lot more activity. I know what happened the week prior – that was no tracking and eating bad-for-weight-loss food in San Antonio. I also talked with my fellow members and we tried chalking it up to hormones changing post-age 50, too much sodium in my diet, you name it, we tried to blame it.

The bottom line is it all adds up to what you put in your mouth and putting too much of it in. I immediately came home and weighed out the watermelon I’ve been eating (per serving). What was being not counted – at all – added up to 2 points. Do that a few times and I’ve eaten up 1/3 of my weekly bonus points. Add in the second helping of coleslaw and the ice cream cake that was justified as a meal – and then coming home and eating a late night leftover meal anyway. It all adds up.

So keeping it honest and keeping it real here means I’ll do a better job of staying on program this next week. And I’ll remember that each week when I weigh in, it’s feedback, not failure.

I’m declaring this National Hug Your Scale Month. Who’s in with me? If there isn’t already such a thing, then there should be. So many people are starting – or restarting – their weight loss program this month after a month or six weeks of food binging from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. And for many of us – me included – we have, or have had, a love/hate relationship with the scale.

There are the camps of “I won’t be a slave to the scale” and those that say, “There are other indicators of weight loss rather than the scale”. There are those that say all you need to do is lift weights, eat only vegetables, cut out all sugars, fats, and caffeine, or any number of variations on self-limitation and restrictions.

I say that many of these are valid when done in moderation but not exclusivity and will lead to positive results. However, the one main tool of my weight loss and ultimate maintenance of a healthy body and lifestyle – the one that never lies to me and the one that I can’t manipulate – is the scale.

I used to hate the scale. I doubt I’ve ever loved it in the past. In fact, I righteously refused to have a scale in my house citing many of the same reasons as above. Truth was, I really didn’t want to know what I weighed. And when my pants got tighter, it was obviously because my dryer was shrinking them. Didn’t matter that they never stretched out during the day. And I had a million lies I told myself as to why the size of my clothes kept increasing, why my health was getting worse.

One such example was when I saw pictures of my mother, who is now nearly 90, and me. I kept remarking how my mother kept looking smaller and smaller. She was shrinking! It never occurred to me that I was expanding and she was staying the same.

I still don’t have a scale in my house. Instead, I go once a week and weigh in. I may not literally hug my scale, but I embrace stepping on it. As for manipulating the scale – believe me, I try. I wear the lightest clothes possible, even in the dead of winter and freezing temperatures. I eat the same menu on weigh in day and  weigh in at the same time every week. I try to be as consistent in everything as possible so when I do step on the scale, the only variable is my weight. Why? Because then I can get honest feedback about how I did the prior week, up or down. And I can get honest with myself.

How my clothes fit, how I feel health-wise, my body measurements, and my esteem are all equally good indicators of my progress but they aren’t as objective as the scale. I can stretch that tape measure to have it say what I want it to say. I can buy clothes that are sized for vanity. I can lie to myself in a number of ways that hides the fact that ultimately what goes in my mouth counts. Cause and effect.

Today, I no longer have hate or animosity toward the scale, nor does it wield any power over my emotions. It’s feedback. Pure and honest.

Is it actually possible to lose weight during Thanksgiving week? Why, yes, it is. It’s not easy, but it can be done.

Last year was my first Thanksgiving on the Weight Watchers program and I worked really hard to follow the suggestions that my leader provided so that I would not gain weight during the week. I was successful.

What did I do?

• I tracked all my points
• I used Weight Watchers serving spoons so I would know that I was dishing up 1/2 cup of whatever
• I changed our traditional candied yams recipe for a Weight Watcher’s one and my daughter – who has loved my candied yams for years – actually liked the new one better. Instead of heaps of brown sugar, I used orange juice and sugar-free maple syrup.
• I measured the gravy I put on my plate using the Weight Watchers 1/4 cup ladle
• I filled up with more veggies and salad than stuffing, and skipped the mashed potatoes
• I made sure to get in some activity during the week

By doing that, last year I lost half a pound during a week (or day) that is focused solely on food and typical over-eating.

What will I do this year?

This year I’m going to repeat all of the above but I’m challenging myself to try to lose a whole pound or more this week. I think I can do that if I ease back into my normal level of activity (up to 4 times a week running) and drink a lot of water.

Some other tips that came up in my weight watcher’s meeting yesterday:

• Chew gum and drink water while preparing food or putting away the leftovers
• Keep your hands busy washing dishes or cleaning up (or some other activity that occupies your hands) so you’re not tempted to dip into leftovers
• Go for a walk after eating
• Bring something to the meal that is for you that is on program – like a wild rice, whole grain stuffing instead of Stove Top, or a box of Weight Watchers 1 point ice cream bars to have instead of the 9 point slice of pumpkin pie

And I love the story my leader shares about her first Thanksgiving on Weight Watchers. She got up early and cooked everything before other people were awake, and everything she made followed a Weight Watcher’s recipe. No one knew the difference, and she stayed on program. Love her!

If you’re trying to lose weight this holiday season, what will you do to stay on track?

Are there words you hear in conversation that trigger a strong reaction in you?

”Stop!” is one that drives me nuts. I usually hear it as an expression toward me  – an interruption in mid-sentence – to stop talking about whatever it is I’m talking about. I don’t often hear it directed at me as a cautionary word, one to protect me from harm or to keep me safe, like “Stop! There’s a red light ahead.” It’s usually expressed because the person I’m talking to doesn’t like what I’m saying. Sometimes they’re right, sometimes they’re not. The feeling it invokes in me is one of being unjustly restrained, and hence, I balk.

Let’s correlate that to food.

Before I started Weight Watchers, if anyone suggested to me that I “stop” eating the way I was eating, I’d balk. My defiance would rise and I’d continue my path of self-destruction. In fact, I’d probably eat more. Inside I felt rotten, defeated, restricted, and shamed. I knew deep down that I needed to change, but for whatever reason, I refused to. My loved ones who were saying “stop” really were telling me out of concern for my safety and health, but I couldn’t see that. There really was a red light ahead – one of dangerously ill health.

Now that I’m nearing my goal weight on the Weight Watchers program, I have a different attitude toward the word “stop” as it relates to food. Most of the time, but not always as I’m not perfect, I have my own internal stop dialogue. I use the tools I’ve been taught – like tracking my points, paying attention to hunger signals, eating filling foods, and so on – so I really don’t have to worry much about my internal stop dialogue.

But there are times – like tonight – where I’m not feeling well and I want comfort food. I’ve eaten all my daily points but I still want something more. It’s hard to trigger my own internal stop mechanism right now, but I also know that “just a little more” tonight won’t result in a complete spiral downhill on my progress. So, I’ll probably allow myself that Weight Watchers fudge bar, and count it toward my weekly allowance.

What’s one word that holds a lot of power for you?

So… I’ve been frustrated with myself and my weight loss progress lately, so I kicked my own butt buckled down and got back to basics with my program this last week. I was sick and tired of losing the same two pounds over and over again.

Although I have the Weight Watchers Monthly Pass membership that gives me the online tracking tools, I have lately found that I really like the simple weekly paper trackers that they have at the meetings. Keeping it simple, folks. I don’t even like the three-month journal, which I’ve tried but found too bulky and cumbersome. This tracker works just great for me.

Since I work from home, I kept the tracker open on my counter all day long and jotted down everything I ate – good, bad, ugly. You’ll see I made some good choices, and some not-so-good choices. (Popcorn and WW fudge bars – my “treats”.) Even so, I managed to lose one pound. I’m now back at my lowest weight ever – where I was in late September. Sad, but it happens. I got lazy and quit tracking, quit weighing my food, quit being fully accountable and fully “on program”. Getting back to basics has worked, even with the “bad” choices.

At the end of the week, I used just over half of my weekly points and earned a whopping 24 activity points. I succeeded in my challenge to myself of adding a day of activity to my routine, totaling four days. Best yet, I don’t recall being ravenously hungry all week long, which was a common complaint for me the last few weeks.

So, this week, I’m going to do it again. I figure if I do the same thing over again, I should get the same results, more or less.I also have a challenging week ahead – birthday dinner out for my daughter, who’s turning 30, (she chose Red Robin) and a party for her on Saturday with a Mexican-style buffet.

I learned, once again, the power in tracking all my food and activity – precisely, not “guess-timating” – and the results showed. My goal this week is to cut back on the not-so-good choices, sweat more, drink more water, and then we’ll see what the scales think of that!

The weather’s getting cooler in my neck of the woods and one of the things I love to have, especially while curled up on the couch, is a cozy cup of hot chocolate. In fact, I’ve been having lots of this drink lately, and not counting the points because, well, I just wasn’t. Usually I never count my beverages because I don’t drink alcoholic beverages and I only drink coffee, tea, or water. 

For some reason – well, because I’m on a roll with counting all my points and jotting absolutely everything down – I decided to calculate the points on this drink. Also, truth be told, my leader’s voice went off in my head from Monday when she reminded us to count our beverages too.

The can says the serving size is 1/4 cup of powder – that sounds like a lot, but that’s really slightly over two heaping tablespoons. If I made my drink using the full serving size, it would be a whopping 3 points per cup. I make it with one heaping tablespoon, which I put into a 1/4 cup measuring cup, and it about half fills that. So I cut the amounts in half and calculated the points: 1 point per cup. Now that’s more like it.

September was a difficult month for me to stay on plan with my Weight Watchers program. My whole schedule got rearranged and my routine was knocked off track. Over the last three weeks I’ve added a half pound here, three-quarters of a pound there, and I have to turn this around.

It’s a gradual slippery slope. Trying a bit of this, thinking I can “afford” that, and on it goes until slowly, surely, I’m going the wrong way on the scale. I am so darned stubborn that I will not let myself go farther.

There may be other reasons for the slight weight gain over the last 3 weeks, such as stress, not sleeping well, and not enough exercise or water. But really, I think the basis of it comes right back to not being diligent about tracking my food and staying (and being aware that I’m staying) within my points. And the last few weeks I have NOT been tracking my food or my points consistently.

It’s easy to get complacent after a while on this program. You figure you know how many points something is, how much to serve yourself, and you can tally up the points in  your head. But that doesn’t work so well when suddenly you are eating elsewhere and someone else is cooking it. Or you’re not getting enough sleep, water, or exercise – or all three.

So this week I’m determined to make a change – and it’s hard! I’ve pulled out my paper tracker and I’m writing everything down – diligently – even if I’m “cheating” and eating something I probably shouldn’t. I’m counting the points.

I’m also counting my activity points earned so that I know PRECISELY what I can or cannot add to my daily 20 points allowance. The advice given by my leader is to always overestimate the food points used and underestimate the activity points earned. I am doing this.

The other issue is that I’ve been plain hungry all the time. I’ve been more active the last few weeks, and possibly I’ve not been eating enough. This can also lead to a slight weight gain. I definitely know I’ve not been drinking enough water, and that can also show a slight weight gain – at least it does for me.

Regardless, I’m stepping off the slippery slope, grabbing on to the hand outstretched to me by my Weight Watcher family, and recommitting myself to get those last few pounds off. Next Monday at weigh-in, I want the scale to go the other way – as in down! Now, that’s the kind of slope I can embrace.

I feel kind of like this picture, which looks just like my puppy Lily, but isn’t. She does this thing with her tongue – exactly like the picture – when she’s happy. I’m happy too, but boy am I exhausted. I tried sleeping in but my body wakes me up like clockwork at 6:00 every morning. Ugh.

I’m fighting off a sinus infection, too. Um, not good. I’m grateful that my body has held up as well as it has this last month. I’ve been trucking down to tend to my mom every day since she was admitted to the hospital plus holding down a job. My house cleaning has suffered, though – ewww.

My weight loss has stalled, pretty much, the last couple weeks. I’ve not been as active as I should be, not tracking my food diligently or precisely, and not drinking as much water as I should be. Definitely not getting the kind of rest my body needs either. The only reason I’ve not gained 5 pounds is because I am climbing stairs, I did do a 5k run and a 10k walk last weekend, and I’m kinda-sorta paying attention to how many points I am eating every day. I’m still stress eating, but that will change.

My focus on health and weight loss over the last year and a half has really paid off because I would never have been able to survive the last month (taking care of mom, work, family, etc.) otherwise. I’d be flat in bed and unable move. I’m happy I’m able to move more, even with the fibromyalgia – and believe me, it’s still there. I’m just ignoring it – when it will let me, that is.

Now for another cup of coffee so I can get rolling into the weekend.

Photo credit: www.gwlittle.com

I know Kirkland fairly well – my mom has lived there for the past 16 years – so I figured that I knew this route really well. I do, however, I underestimated how much of a gradual uphill that whole first mile is. Then from mile 1 to 2, it’s downhill, then the last mile is flat with a quick slight downhill sprint into the finish line.

This run definitely felt harder than my first one. I think possibly because yesterday I walked nearly 7 miles with my friend, and have been feeling a bit run down after all the worry and stress surrounding my mother’s surgery and aftercare. I made sure to get plenty of sleep last night so I’d be as rested as possible, hoping to improve my time from July, where I completed the 5k in 38 minutes.

I succeeded. My time for this event was 36 minutes, about an 11 minute mile pace. I started by taking off fairly hard, but it was uphill and only managed about the first 1/2 mile before I had to walk t0 catch my breath. But throughout the whole race, I only walked a few paces each time, and quickly picked back up running, and sprinting as hard as I could the last bit across the finish line.

I really wanted to do this one for a variety of reasons. First, it was in Kirkland. Back in May, I saw runners finishing a race there and finally understood what these things were all about. (Read my post about that here.) This race was my chance to experience this for myself.

Also, a friend of my daughter’s is expecting twins, plus we recently had some fetal testing done for my other daughter’s baby. I felt running in this race was my tribute to both of them. Incidentally, the doctor who performed the placenta tissue test on my daughter was there at the race as a featured speaker and also a runner.

Next year, I want my grandkids to join me and do the Kids Fun Run. It was so darling – they essentially just run around the block, but a cute guy about 6 or 7 won the fun run. I can just see my grandkids doing this. I got really choked up watching that.

Now,I’m looking for one to do in November. Funny, they had a brochure in the SWAG gifts bag. Guess I’ll check that one out next.