Weigh-In Weeks 8 and 9

Uh-oh!  Life caught up with us and we forgot to post our weigh-ins!

Kelli's Total Weight Loss Week 8 - 21.4 pounds
Zach's Total Weight Loss Week 8 - 25 pounds

Kelli's Total Weight Loss Week 9 - 23.4 pounds
Zach's Total Weight Loss Week 9 - 25 pounds

The past few weeks have been a little easier for me, but a little harder for Zach.  He's really trying to motivate himself to keep going!  I know he can do it!!!

Thought of the day - "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."  Winston Churchill

Kelli :)

Weigh-In Week 7 (Dum, Dum, DUMMMM....)

I was SOOOO worried about this week's weigh-in!  We had been on vacation and my plan totally went out the window.  I was so down on myself for some of the choices I made while we were gone.  I was afraid of what the scale was going to say (or scream).  Here goes nothing...

Zach's total weight loss - 24 pounds (That's right - he ate like *pardon my French* crap and still lost weight.  Darn that male metabolism!)
Kelli total weight loss - 16.8 pounds (The bad news - I gained .4 pounds.  Please read that point in front of the 4 it's pretty important.  The good news - .4 is a doable number.)

Don't get me wrong, I shouldn't have gained at all if I had stuck to my guns.  But I didn't, so I gained.  But actually seeing the +.4 on my WW tracking page made me feel a little better.  It wasn't horrible - I could come back from this!  We are trying to be really honest on this blog.  Part of me didn't want to admit this week's weigh-in, but then I wouldn't be true to myself or this journey we're on for the long haul.  We will have bad weeks, we will learn from them and move on as best we can.  Yes we can, Yes we will!!!

I ran into a friend of mine from elementary school the other night at dinner.  I was maybe feeling a little bit sorry for myself whilst looking at the yummy pizza and taking a bite of my salad.  She told me about reading this blog and shared her mom's success story.  Her mom had lost 100 pounds on Weight Watcher's and looked absolutely fabulous!  Her mom said it took her over a year, but she kept working at it until she reached her goal!  I'm so glad I ran into Lisa that night - not only did I get to see her precious family in person, but I also got a boost of inspiration I was really needing!  Thanks, Lisa - You guys helped me more than you know!!!

Thought of the day - "A setback is a setup for a comeback." Jonathan Sprinkles

Kelli :)

Weigh-In Week 5

Here are our week 5 results...

Zach's total loss - 21 pounds
Kelli's total loss - 17.2 pounds

We're skipping the week 6 weigh-in due to vacation.  That makes me more than a little scared to see what week 7 has in store.  Vacation was HARD!  I didn't go too far off the deep-end, but we did eat at Pappasito's if that tells you anything. 

We'll see what happens...

Thought of the day - "Don't let failure go to your heart and don't let success go to your head." Will Smith

Kelli :)

My Workout Playlist

Howdy.  This morning I was sitting at 250lbs.  So there's been no change in a few days.  That might coincide with the fact that I hadn't been to the gym in a few days, either.  Funny how that works.  Nonetheless, I think it would be a real shot in the arm to wake up to 249 on that scale tomorrow.  You know, just the whole mental aspect of dipping into the 240's.

To that end, I went to the gym today.  I stayed the better part of two hours and burned 1064 calories on the eliptical and did 50 stomach crunches.  Sitting here now, I'm soaking wet with sweat, but I feel great.  Why is it that you have to talk yourself into going to the gym, but once you're done working out, you feel great?

Anyway, it hasn't taken me long to realize that man's best friend at the gym is his iPod.  It makes the time go by much faster, and it allows you to take your eyes off that calorie counter and think about something else.  Here's my iPod workout playlist.  Take it for what it's worth, which may not be much :-)

1. Dancing Queen by Abba.  I know.  Who would have guessed this one, right?
2. Respect by Aretha Franklin
3. Think by Aretha Franklin
4. Who Says You Can't Go Home by Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles
5. Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler.  I can't even explain this one.
6. Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams.  This my favorite song ever.
7. Sweet Southern Comfort by Buddy Jewell
8. Tubthumping by Chumbawamba
9. Small Town Saturday Night by Hal Ketchum
10. Califormia Gurls by Katy Perry.  Bet you wouldn't have guessed that one either.
11. Walking in Memphis by Lonestar
12. Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd
13. Party in the U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus.  Nope, that's not a typo.  It has a good beat.
14. Awesome God by Rich Mullins
15. The Road Goes On Forever by Robert Earl Keen
16. All Star by Smashmouth
17. Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band

Hope this offered a suggestion or two on what you could add to your gym playlist.  Happy pound shedding!!

Weigh-In Week 4

Well, if you read Zach's post from yesterday you see that he beat me to the punch on posting his total.  He had the energy to stay up late.  I did not after a weekend full of baseball and 4th of July activities.

Here's both of our results...

Kelli's Total Weight Loss - 14.6 pounds
Zach's Total Weight Loss - 20 pounds

Yay us!  We've now lost more pounds than our 3-year old weighs.  Woo-Hoo!!!  My friend Kathy reached her 10% goal this week!  Yay, her!  She is amazing and gives me a lot of support!  So proud of her!!!

A few weeks ago, I asked my friend Kim to take pictures of our kids.  She said, "Why don't we take some of the whole family?".  I said, "Nope.  Not until I lose some more weight!"  She suggested taking pictures now and then again around Christmas.  She said it would be neat to see the differences.  So, we took some family pictures.  My friend, by the way, is an AmAzInG photographer!!!  The pictures are beautiful and I'm so grateful to her into talking me into them.

So here's one of our "close to before" pictures.  I hope to post another picture around Christmas showing us much thinner.  We should be at our half-way point by then....



I love this picture because Zach is always doing or saying something to make me laugh!  I'm so blessed by his encouragement and partnership in this journey! 



Thought of the day - "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." Kate Moss

Kelli :)

P.S.  I know Kate Moss is not the best role model for weight loss, but it's still a good quote! 

Navigating the Fast Food Jungle

Today I finally hit my 20 lbs milestone.  I'm at an even 250.  Original weight was 270.  I'm going to share some truths that I've found along the way.  The first one has to do with breakfast.  I used to be of the opinion that skipping it was a good thing.  That's one less meal in your belly and therefore fewer calories, right? 

Apparently not.  Kelli and I have been watching Extreme Makeover.  If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend it.  It's inspiring.  The host and trainer on the show made the statement that skipping breakfast is actually counterproductive for weight loss.  If you don't eat something in the morning, your body goes into a survival mode of sorts.  It stores calories.  That's the last thing you need if you're trying to lose weight.  Now don't get me wrong here.  Breakfast still has to be sensible.  You still have to trade that breakfast burrito in for fruit.

Here's another thing I've come to realize.  Fast food can't be avoided.  In my opinion, any weight loss plan that involves avoiding fast food will fail.  It's just that simple.  Think about it.  You put in 60 hours a week at work - at least.  In the evenings your either at a game or at practice.  There's no time to cook.  What's the only option you have left at 8:30 when the game's over and the kids are whining about being hungry?  Fast food.

So here's what I say.  Don't run from fast food.  Embrace it!  Be smart about it.  Instead of ordering a double with extra fries, order a kids meal.  The portions in a kids meal at most fast food restaurants are actually the correct portion for adults.  That tells you something about the size of those adult combo meals.

Will you enjoy this?  Nope.  Not at first.  It'll be really crappy.  That's the honest truth.  You'll be hungry - alot.  The trick is to stick it out.  In two or three weeks, the hunger becomes manageable.  Your body gets used to the portion, and you get the benefit of a smaller gut.  Here's one other advantage.  You can buy a kids meal for three or four bucks.  Most regular combo meals are double that.  Hence there is money saved.

Here's another thing that a lot of people don't realize.  Most fast food joints offer relatively healthy options.  For example, there's the Wendy's Jr. Hamburger.  You know how many calories that thing has?  270.  That's awesome.  That's nothing.  It's almost a burger for free.  Here's the trick, though.  Stay away from the cheese.  Trade in the mayo for mustard.  If you can't stomach mustard, then trade in for ketchup.  Almost anything's better than mayo.  Especially the version of mayo that most fast food joints use.

Here's one other fast food choice that hit my radar.  Jack in the Box offers grilled chicken strips.  They come in at less than 400 calories.  That's just the strips though.  It doesn't include fries.  The quicker you give up fries, the better.  The list goes on as far as healthy food options go.  Most places offer a grilled chicken sandwich.  As long as you trade in the mayo for mustard and hold the fries, you're good.  Almost every major fast food brand has a website.  On that website you can find the full menu.  More importantly, you can find the nutrition facts on each menu item.  Most of these are in a drop down format.  Just highlight the item of interest and hit "enter".  You'll see how many calories it has.

One other tip for the fast food jungle.  Trade the regular soda for unsweet tea or a diet drink.  It's crappy.  What can I say?  There's no way to sugarcoat it.  There are some folks who can order a double meat, extra fries, and a coke all day long.  They can inhale it and not gain a pound.   I'm not one of those people.  You may not be either.  You've gotta come to terms with what God gave you.

One last observation on the last twenty pounds.  At some point, you need to allow yourself a cheat.  It's just that simple.  Notice I didn't use the plural.  One cheat.  Not multiple cheats.  If you don't, here's what'll happen.  You'll wake up in the night to pee.  The next thing you know you'll be in the fetal position on the floor of your pantry.  There'll be a bowl of ranch dip balanced on your knees and a bag of chips in your lap.  You'll start out by shoving the chips in the ranch and then into your face.  At some point after that you'll just tip the whole bowl of ranch up to your face and drink it like milk.  The whole time, your eye will be twitching and your leg will be jerking.

OOPS - Weigh In Week 3

Hmmm....Totally forgot to post this on Sunday!  I think too much chlorine and sun are sinking into my brain. 

Kelli's Total Weight Loss - 12.6 pounds
Zach's Total Weight Loss - 18 pounds

The good news - You only have a few more days until our next weigh-in.
The bad news - This week has been really hard to stay motivated.  I'm a little scared of what the scale will say.  Okay, a lot scared!

Thought of the day - "Nothing will work unless you do." -John Wooden

Here's hoping to keep eating less and moving more,
Kelli :)

P.S. I totally "stole" today's thought from Jackson's Attack Award he got last week at Brashear Basketball Camp.  I highly recommend it!  Go to www.brashearbasketball.com for more information!

Alternatives to Regular Soda

Hi all.  As I try to eat better, I am able to spot some of the culprits that inflated my gut in the first place.  I think one of the biggest is soda.  Specifically, I love Coke.  I love regular Coke.  If there were an Olympic size swimming pool full of fresh Coke, I'd probably dive in with nothing on but a smile and a straw.  I would then proceed to drink until I passed out.

The problem with regular Coke is the calories.  It's as fattening as it is yummy, in my opinion.  Some folks drink Diet Coke, and that's ok.  It's just too far from the taste of regular Coke for my liking.  If I'm going to drink a diet soda, I want it to taste as close to the original as possible.

For those of you in my boat, here are a few drink alternatives that I've had some success with.  I hope this helps you.  If you have one you'd like to add to the list, please comment.  It will help us all!

• diet Pepsi.  Of all the diet drinks out there, it's my opinion that this one is closest to the original.
• diet Dr Pepper.  I think it's a little farther from the original, but still close.
• Sprite Zero.  Again, pretty close to the original.
• ice tea with lemmon.  It took me awhile to get used to unsweet tea, but I have.  I find that putting a lemon in it improves the taste.
• flavor packets.  There are all sorts of flavor packets available.  They usually come in tubes.  Just pour a tube into your drink and shake it all about.  Market Pantry has a 0 calorie version that comes in several flavors and tastes great.

How I Lost the First 14 Pounds.

Hello friends.  My weight loss success stands at 14 pounds.  I've bottomed out at 256 from 270.  I've got a long way to go in order to hit my goal of 190.  I'm going to have to kick it into high gear.  Here are the things that I did to lose the first 14.  I'm hoping it helps any of you interested in losing weight.

1. I didn't give up fast food.  I just substituted Subway for Whataburger.  Subway has several sandwich options that are less than 400 calories.  Forget the chips and make your drink a diet or a tea so it won't tack on any calories.
2. I dusted off the gym membership and started using it.  I'm doing nothing but cardio in the interest of losing weight.  I'm a big fan of the eliptical because it burns lots of calories fast, and there's no impact on your knees.  That's important when you're portly like myself.
3. Drink water.  Lots and lots of water.  When I had the urge to grab a bag of chips out of the pantry or a cookie, I made myself slam back a full glass of water.  This does two things.  First, it fills you up to the point that food no longer seems appealing.  Second, it gets your recommended 8 glasses of water per day.
4. Find alternatives.  Over the years I've stretched my stomach.  So #3 doesn't always work.  When water's not working but I know that I don't need food, I find something to do.  Anything.  Get up and go to the gym.  Go for a drive.  Get on the internet and surf.  Write a blog!  You need something to take your mind off the fact that you'd like to head over to Krispy Kreme, buy every donut in the place, make a donut pyramid, and then jump in head first with your mouth wide open ....   what ... what were we talking about?
5. Hang out with your family.  Find something to do with the kids.  Find something to do with your spouse.

Hope this helps.  I'll be dreaming of a Krispy Kreme pyramid tonight.

Mid-week Humdrums

Today was really frustrating!  I had horrible cravings (I didn't cave in - small victory) for the first time since the start of this journey.  The kids had a brownie at lunch and it looked so good!  I think it was calling my name, but I pretended my salad was screaming louder.  Somehow, it worked. 

I heard something this week that really struck a chord with me.  I overheard (okay I was kind of eavesdropping) this man talking about being addicted to food.  He said unlike alcoholics or drug-abusers, you can't just stop eating.  You have to eat to survive, you just have to eat smarter.  So true, yet sometimes SOOO hard!

Okay, I'm done moping and griping.  Several people have asked me about Weight Watchers.  I thought I'd answer a few questions I receive frequently.

Question...Does everyone know how much you weigh?  Do you have to weigh in front of everyone?
Answer to both....Absolutely not!  You weigh on scales in front of the counter before the meeting starts.  The number comes up on a computer behind the counter that only the WW worker can see.  He/she prints out a label with your current weight and your gain/loss for the week.  They DO NOT and WILL NOT say your weight out loud.  Losses are celebrated in the meeting with stars, medals and such but only with your permission.  Your weight is never mentioned only the amount you have lost.

Question...Do you have to stand up in front of everyone?
Answer...No.  You can share your thoughts, ideas or feelings on the subject of that week's meetings, but only if you want to. 

Question...What do you do during the meetings?
Answer...The meeting topics vary from "Healthy Recipe Ideas" to "How to Kick Up Your Workout" to "Helpful Serving Suggestions".  The leader has a set topic for the week and they are always really helpful and motivating. 

Question...How many points do you get each day?  Is it hard to count points?
Answers...The points you are allowed in a day depend on how much you weigh currently and your sex.  Extra points are allowed for teenagers and nursing moms.  It is not hard to count points.  After you do it for a few weeks, you start to memorize how many points certain things are.  I have a handy little calculator that does all the work for me!  Plus - there's an app for that!  Also, nearly all fruits and vegetables are zero points.

I hope these answers help you if you've been thinking about Weight Watchers.  It's not for everyone, but it works for me.

Thought of the day - "Never let the fear of striking out get in your way." - Babe Ruth

If you see a brownie, tell it I said "BE QUIET!"
Kelli

Momma Was Wrong!

My mother was a fantastic lady.  She was also a survivor.  She survived the Great Depression.  My mother knew what it was to be hungry.  She knew what it was to be poor.  There was a time in her life that not being wasteful was the difference between survival or not.

Fast forward to 1980.  The Great Depression was in the history books for most of us.  For those who lived through it, the experience was anything but an abstract historical concept.  Mom would tell me of these huge, ominous dirt clouds that would roll into town and black out the sun.  She had the pictures to prove it, too.  In those days food was scarce.  When you had food on your plate, you ate it.  You ate every single bit of it.  No questions asked.

During my childhood, I was held to the same standard.  Waste not, want not.  It served me well.  I learned that a dollar is hard earned.  I learned that hard work equals pay which equals survival.  I also picked up the concept of waste not, want not.  Food on the plate gets eaten, period.  It goes in your belly and not in the trash can.

That last part was fine in high school.  My metabolism was about a million times better.  Instead of sitting behind an air conditioned desk in 104 degree weather, I was usually outside.  You see, I worked for this small town version of Walmart.  So I spent my summers tending the greenhouse, throwing freight, or unloading merchandise from the back of a semi.

Thank God, there's no more unloading semi's.  I went to college in hopes of avoiding more of that, and it worked.  What no longer works for me is to clean my plate.  God help me.  I'm sorry Mom.  The fact is that we eat out alot.  A lot more than we should.  You probably do to.  Most places here in the good old U.S.A. serve huge portions.  In fact, the portions are big enough to split right in half.  You could eat one half for lunch and one half for dinner.  In fact, I would suggest that.

But what about cooking at home?  A good rule of thumb is to refrain from eating more than one full plate.  Now here's the trick.  A full plate is not the same thing as a stacked plate.  A full plate has enough food to comfortably cover the surface area.  There is no stacking food on top of more food.  There is no squishing two plates of food onto one.

Another thing that I'm still learning to do is listen to my stomach.  Our stomachs never stop talking.  Think about it for a minute.  Think about the last big meal you had.  The one when you were hurting afterward.  There was probably a point during that meal where your stomach felt full.  You knew that if you continued to eat you would hurt, but you did it anyway.  To listen to your stomach is to stop eating at that first full feeling.

How in the world do we do that?  Sorry Mom, here comes another rule breaker.  We get up from the table and excuse ourselves so that we can get away from the food, even if that means leaving others at the table.  If you can't stomach the idea of breaking protocol by excusing yourself before everyone is done eating, then I have another suggestion.  Take your plate and your fork.  Walk to the trash can.  Scrape the rest of that food right off your plate and into the trash can so that eating more is no longer an option.

Hope this helps for anyone going through the same struggle as we are.

Weigh In Week 2

Hello!


It's week 2 weigh in time.  We'll get right down to business - partly because I don't really have anything else to say and partly because it's Father's Day and we've got some celebrating to do!


Kelli's total loss - 9.6 pounds
Zach's total loss - 13 pounds

Thought of the day - "Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality." -Ralph Marston

Happy Father's Day!
Kelli

Hey, I think I found your shoe!

This shoe has been point of interest for Jackson and me the past few days.  We've been watching the "progress" this shoe has made since last Wednesday.  It started out in the middle of the school's field that we walk/ride/jog around every night.  Sunday night, it had made it's way closer to the fence.  Last night, it was right up next to the fence.  Tonight, we found it hanging here.  Really, it's just a fun little distraction from the sweat pouring down various parts of my body.  It makes us smile!  So if you lost this shoe, email me - I know where to find it!

I don't really have anything earth-shattering to share or say.  We're still just trucking along our journey.  One day at a time of eating less and moving more.  I thought I'd share some tips I learned at my WW meeting about how to estimate servings of food using your hand.  I've already used these this week - they especially come in handy if you are eating out!

"Hand"-y guide to judge food portions

• Your fist is about a cup
• Your thumb is about 1 oz of meat of cheese
• The tip of your thumb is about 1 tablespoon
• The tip of your index finger is about 1 teaspoon
• Your cupped hand is about 1 to 2 ounces of nuts or pretzels
• Your palm is about 3 ounces of meat, fish or poultry

   
I wanted to share a few goals I set for myself to end this random post...
1.  Next summer, Zach and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary.  We want to take a little trip by ourselves to celebrate.  I want to look/feel better before we go (not to mention the whole dreaded "swimsuit" situation).
2.  I want to be able to "shag" the baseballs Jackson hits without getting winded so easily.

I'll leave you with the view I had on my walk tonight.

With a precious view like this, it's not so hard to try to push yourself just a little bit further!

Thought of the day - "The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!" - Marvin Phillips

Seriously, if that's your shoe - I won't judge (for long anyway), call me!
Kelli

Weigh In Week 1

Hello all!  It's been exactly one week since Zach and I really went in "whole hog" on this weight loss thing.  So, drum roll please...

Kelli's loss for the week - 7.6 pounds
Zach's loss for the week - 10 pounds

Together we lost the weight of an average 7 month old!  Yay, us!!!

We know these are the "easy" pounds to lose, but still feel pretty good about ourselves.  Celebrate your accomplishments - on the scale and off!  Yes, we can!  Yes, we will!

I also want to congratulate my friend Kathy!  I teach with her and she attends the same WW meeting as I do.  Today, she received her 25 pound medal.  She has lost over 30 pounds!  What an amazing inspiration - Way to go, Kathy!

One last thing - I had a few friends tell me how brave I was to post my weight and I thought - "Oh my goodness, what are they talking about?  I didn't post my weight!"  Then I realized, Zach posted his weight in the previous post.  I know it's confusing with two authors on a blog.  We'll start signing each post.  Oops!  If you see that the entry was posted by "Texas Night Writer", that's Zach.  Mine just says Kelli.  I'm not going to post my weight - just my losses.  He's braver than me!

Thought of the day - "Self-belief does not necessarily ensure success, but self-disbelief assuredly spawns failure." -Albert Bandura

Hope you "see" less of me next week,
Kelli

250 Calorie Meal in 6 minutes!!!

So here's what started all of this interest in weight loss.  About a week and a half ago I stepped on the scale.  It read 270 lbs.  Then it flipped me off and exploded.  270lbs is unacceptable for a man of my heigth.  I weighed 189 lbs when I graduated high school.  I'm the same height now that I was back then.  Time to send fat packin'! 

So I pulled out that gym membership that I've had for a year and dusted it off.  I used it three days last week and twice today.  Yep, twice today for a total burn of 850 calories.  The result - I weighed in this morning at 261lbs!  Nine pounds lost in just over a week.  That sounds dramatic, but the truth is that these are the easy pounds.  I'm nearly 100 lbs over weight.  When you're that overweight, the initial loss can be dramatic.  I'm still proud of myself, nonetheless.  I also have my first recipe to share with you!

This recipe will allow you to consume two whole chicken breasts.  It takes around 6 minutes to prepare, and it's around 250 calories.  How awesome is that?  Check this out.  Ingredient #1 is fully cooked and grilled chicken breasts.  You can purchase these by the bag at the grocery store.

Tyson's fillets run 110 calories each.  Here's the link for the nutrition facts, in case you're a skeptic.  It takes two of these to fill me up.  So that's a total of 220 calories.  Ingredient number two is salsa.  It surprised me to learn that salsa is very low in calories.  Personally, I prefer Pace.  According to the bottle, it has 10 calories per serving.  A serving is 2 tablespoons.

Now here's the easiest part:  preparation.  Just nuke the chicken according to the instructions on the bag.  Those instructions are also on the link I provided.  All that's left to do after that is dump a generous amount of salsa on top of them.  At ten calories for every two tablespoons, you can smother them!  That's exactly what I did, and I'm guesstimating that it cost me an extra 30 calories.

So .. 220 calories for the chicken and 30 calories for the salsa equals a total of 250 calories.  Cooked in about six minutes with the microwave with 10 seconds to add salsa.  Not bad.

Self-Efficacy

So, here's the deal - the hubby and I are overweight.  I'm laying that out there right now.  Seriously, it's not a huge secret.

I was thinking about starting a blog about my struggle with weight and my attempt to lose it for a little while now.  Three things happened this week to make me going ahead and do it. 

#1 - Sunday's sermon at church...Our pastor asked us what we were filling ourselves with instead of the Holy Spirit.  I guess you don't have to guess what I was filling myself with :)

#2 - Sunday's Weight Watcher's Meeting...The entire meeting was about journaling our successes and setbacks during our journey.  Hmmm - hello, blog!

#3 - A Session at my Leadership Institute on Thursday...It was all about boosting students' self-efficacy.  Small vocabulary lesson - Self-Efficacy: a person’s belief in his/her ability to succeed.  If you can boost a student's self-efficacy, they are more likely to keep trying and perform better.  Obviously this applies to adults as well. 

So, we've decided to lay it all there (Zach will also be writing a few posts now and again - yep, his will be funnier).  This will be our true-story of trying to lose weight and more importantly become healthier examples for our children.

This is not the first time we've set out on this journey, but I feel like it's the first time we've got all of ducks in a row.  We're doing it together.  We have self-efficacy.  We are praying about it.  We are exercising.  We are eating right.  We will be successful!  Don't get me wrong, we know it won't be easy and we know we have a long way to go!  But, we know we CAN do it!

This week, we dove in head first.  I feel like I need accountability and praise to help me through (a.k.a. Weight Watchers).  Zach feels like the gym is his best answer.  Basically, our recipe for weight loss will be: 1. Eat Less 2. Move More 3. Repeat.

I go in tomorrow morning for my first official weigh-in. I'm excited to see what has happened.  I'll let you know.  Zach is using our scale at home, so I'll share his success as well.

Here are my strengths from this week....
1. At my leadership institute this week, we were served lunch each day.  I didn't have control over what was served, but I did very well controlling what I chose to eat.
2. Jackson's bday was on Thursday, he chose to eat at Texas Roadhouse.  I chose a small steak, salad and green beans.  Yay, me!
3. I worked out 4 times and swam twice.

Here are Zach's strengths from this week...
1. He did not eat at Whataburger AT ALL this week.  BIG YAY for him!
2. He went to the gym 5 times.
3. He ate smaller portions of healthier foods.

No huge weaknesses to report this week, but it is only our first week.  I know there will be some and I plan on being really honest about them.

I'm usually not big on talking about my weight.  Hello - who is?!?  In the past, it has felt really taboo for me to say it out loud.  But, why shouldn't my friends and family know?  They will be our greatest support system.  So, there you have it and here we go...

Thought of the day - "If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning." - Mahatma Gandhi