6 Week Challenge is On, and other random thoughts

Alright, seems that my group of girls are on a mission to shed 10 lbs by Dec 27, 2008!

If anyone wants to follow along "virtually" please,please do! Feel free to: Right Click on the image on the right, save as, and post to your blog.

On a higher note, the Smart For Life fainting girl did have an awakening. She's finishing off her 7 packs of cookies and she's decided to, guess what... join Weight Watchers. She asked me today if sushi was allowed on Weight Watchers. I responded with an enthusiastic " Girlfriend, you can eat a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g you want". This is about fixing what's between your ears and then transforming your body. Weight Watchers teaches us what thin people already know: moderation. A great example: my mother. I can remember years back going for breakfast with my parents and this particular moment was permanently etched in my mind. I ordered breakfast with the works. One of those "construction worker" combos. My mother ordered a bagel with cream cheese. As I'm writing this I'm picturing the waitress placing the bagel in front of my mom. The bagel had about an inch and a half of cream cheese in between. I drooled. My mother? no no. My mothers exact words were " Oh my, this is far too much". She then proceeded to start scraping off the cream cheese! If it were me, I would have said Woo-hoo in a very Homer Simpson'esque way and devoured it. How could there be such a thing as too much cream cheese?

One of my friends who is also a WW member told me about an incident the other night where she made dinner for her boyfriend. Just as she set his place in front of him, his eyes popped out of his head. " Oh, there's way too much on my plate" he explained. How have I never in my life sincerely thought that there was too much on my plate? Why, if it's on my plate it's meant to be eaten of course.

How after years of watching my mothers eating habits did I not catch on? How did I not learn this? Both of my parents eat like birds. They never finish what is on their plates. It's always too much. It's always so rich. How did I not learn moderation from the same people that taught me how to eat,speak,walk,read etc etc??

Whenever people would refuse cake at a birthday, I sincerely believed that they were full. My aunts will always say " I'm so stuffed, I'll just have the tiniest of the tiniest piece". As a kid I just assumed that grown-ups didn't like icing. Little did I know that they probably secretly fantasized about licking the inside of the Betty Crocker frosting container just as much as I did. I truly believed that they just either didn't like sweets, or they had stomachs the same size as those of grasshoppers. I, on the other hand, had the food storing capabilities of a cross between a camel and a hamster and would never turn down a second slice or two.

I'm learning

Saturday Morning Weigh In

I was down 1.8, which officially eliminates my .6 & .8 gains and then some. I'm a happy camper!
I want at least a 2lb loss to report next week. I am oooonnnn!

I've started a six week challenge with some friends. We've all agreed to do our best to lose 10 lbs over the next six weeks. If we all hit that target, we're going out for dinner. Now, I know we're supposed to celebrate our weight loss triumphs with non-food rewards, but this is special. It's an excuse to have a celebratory dinner with friends and work together on a goal. We have six weeks to think of what we'd like to eat on that day. The whole deal is this: What would you really want to eat if it had zero consequences, no points to track, no hours on the treadmill etc etc.. That will be what you will have provided the 10 lbs is shed. Now there really is no way we can know for certain that each person lost 10 lbs, so we'll work on the honor system. Besides, it would feel kind of crummy to go knowing that you're lying to everyone there. The only one anyone would really be cheating is themselves.

On another note, one of the "Smart for Life" girls at work really proved that this diet isn't so smart after all. The poor thing ended up passing out at her desk. When she finally came to, I gave her a banana to eat to get her sugar up. When the paramedics arrived, they asked her if she had any history of blood pressure issues, diabetes, etc etc. I explained that she has been on a new weight loss regime. The paramedic grabbed the bag of cookies to read the nutritional information and his words were " What the bleeping bleep is this?!?!?!??!?! No wonder she fainted, her energy levels are depleted" The banana eventually worked it's magic and she managed to get a few more hours in at the office before going home.

The whole diet is as follows. Eat six of these cookies per day, followed by 3oz of lean meat (chicken or fish) and vegetables. You are guaranteed to lose at least 12 lbs a month. Each cookie counts for 100 calories, so at the end of the day you've only ingested 800 calories. This is absolutely insane. I could eat 800 calories a day on my own and save myself the $300/month it costs on cookies.

I work with four girls who are following this diet. I was getting a little fed up of them knocking Weight Watchers, because what they don't understand is that Weight Watchers is not a diet. It is a life style change. You will have to eat forever. You can't eat cookies forever. The brain has to be conditioned first and foremost. As much as I argue the benefits they are all simply looking for a get thin quick fix. I don't want to be there saying I told you so. It sounds mean, but I'm sort of glad something like this happened so they could see what kind of a toll this can take on your health.

I highly doubt that anyone who has ever been on a crash diet maintained the loss.

WW products

I've noticed that the Weight Watchers bread has been rather hit & miss lately. Sometimes the bread seems to be a little more dense than usual and really fresh. Then there are times like today, that I end up with a loaf with a huge hole in the middle of each slice. The slices are small enough as it is. I could really do without the missing piece!

Does anyone know of any other breads that count for 1 pt for two slices? WW bread seems to be the only kind that I could find that boasts the low amount of points for two slices. Now granted, two slices equates to 1 regular slice of bread, but psychologically it just seems more because it's two.

I also must announce that I am completely and officially obsessed with Almond Breeze. How I have only tried it now is beyond me. It is simply divine. I bought the sweetened vanilla & chocolate. Talk about something yummy to drink straight from the carton. Don't worry, I live alone. I'm not spreading cooties!

Anyone have any yummy/low point suggestions for my big grocery order this week end?

I'm going out for dinner tonight to my favorite Mexican restaurant. I can't wait. I can wait for the W.I tomorrow however, I've been biting my nails....

The Biggest Loser: Episode 6.9

Not sure where to start. How about with this: Vicky & Heba: puke. barf. ralph. hurl.

I was so happy to see the eliminated players return and see how well they've done at home. I really had tears in my eyes. I had even more tears in my eyes when I saw how childish the Blue Team behaved when Phil weighed in. Not one of them clapped. Now, I understand Amy's position. She had to play the part. Did she ever, ever make me happy when she voted Brady off.

Did anyone else catch a glimpse of the cover of Prevention magazine? The clip was really quick and I don't have a PVR but it looked like it was Michelle & Renee and they both looked extremely trim!

I busted out the Stepper last night & I was stepping along with the gang. I doubt I came any where close to 1000 steps, but it was fun to follow along! I was also commenting on Fat Bridesmaid's blog at the same time (love it) during commercial breaks.

All I can say is that I hope someone feeds Vicky twinkies in her sleep & she gets sent home. I'm not happy that Ed is back, but at least Brady is gone so that it's not the two couples. I think I would have stopped watching the show altogether.

You should all tune in to Fat Bridesmaids' live blog next week. It's my Tuesday night entertainment. She's posted an excellent recap of last nights' show. It's a must read for those who did & did not catch it last night.

That's all folks!

I voted for me

So, TOM had me up .8. No biggie. The meeting felt as if it was customized to me. This weeks topic was about elections. The leader gave each of us a piece of paper and instructed us to write down whether or not we voted for ourselves based on how our week went.

This is what mine looked like:

I tracked 6 out 0f 7 days
I drank my water
I did not exceed my points allowance
I worked out 4 times

I was up .8- I tried.

She picked up all the papers and read out the answers to tally up the Yes & No votes. When mine was read (anonymously), every person in the room had a comment to make and I felt so relieved. I was reminded that our body does not know that it is 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning and that it must perform. Had I weighed myself the following day, the .8 might not have been there. Hormones are a dangerous thing. Increased exercise can add to a gain, etc etc etc. My note was considered a YES vote because I did try, I stuck to the plan, which meant that I was thinking of me.

I spent years of my life not voting for me. I accepted how I was and let it become part of my identity. I accepted that I could not shop in regular stores. I accepted that I did not like my body. I accepted that I was exhausted after a 20 min walk home. I accepted that my feet hurt regardless of the shoes I was wearing. I accepted that I felt pale in contrast to others. I voted for everyone but myself.

February 15 2008 marked a change in my "self-politics". I decided to vote for me. I decided that I wanted change and the only person stopping me from it was myself. Not being one to trust politicians, the trust and confidence I had in my actions had to be earned. They all talk the talk, but once in power, they seldom deliver. Not in this case. I voted myself in and I will continue to do so. I am confident in my actions because I know what I want and am determined to see it materialize. There has been a dramatic difference in my appearance and confidence over the past few months. I am delivering the changes I wanted. I'd vote for me again.

Here's a fun little story about my attempt at renting a movie last night. The video store (archaic term, I know) does not provide membership cards. Instead, they take a picture of you to store on their records. I had forgotten about this. Last night around 11 I ran out in my pj's to rent a movie. I take the case to the the cash and the clerk asks me for my phone number. I see him glancing at his monitor, then back at me, then back to his monitor. I was confused. I was starting to think that maybe I had a late fee that I had forgotten about, or the movie I wanted wasn't in etc etc. " This is not your account" he says. I gave him my # once again. " I'm sorry miss, this is not your account". " Of course it is, my telephone number is bla bla, my address is bla bla" I snap back. Then it clicked. " Oh, my picture" I say, turning 50 different shades of red. "I've changed a bit since then" I explained. I showed him some ID and managed to convince him that it was indeed me. He didn't argue any further. I grabbed my movies and ran out.

That felt great.

Have a happy period- are you kidding me?

Why is it that menstrual products are always marketed to us in the most cheeseballish ways? It's almost as though everyone's so embarrassed about what periods really are that euphemisms and blue liquid are used as distractions from what it really is.

Ah yes, the smiling, radiant woman horseback riding along the beach dressed in head-to-toe white. The saddle is white. The horse is white. Her teeth are a freaky shade of white. The clouds are white. The sand is white. You get the picture. This brings me to back to my title: Are you kidding me? I don't care if you've bought every single pad at Shoppers and are wearing them all at once. No woman, and I mean no woman, will A. wear white, and B. be so F#$**ing smiley.

Can we please have a more realistic commercial? My marketing classes gravitated around teaching us how to advertise in a way that people can relate to- It sells. How tampax has not honed in on this is beyond me. Show me a woman sitting curled up on the couch with a giant zit on her cheek, oily hair, mascara streaks down the sides of her face because she just saw a tissue commercial and the little (again) white kitty is just oh so cute, a bag of lays on the table, and a scrunched up ball of foil from a caramilk bar. Show her popping the pill, taking a nap for an hour, and then waking up feeling less crampy. I may just buy this medication.

Can you guess that TOM has arrived?

My dinner tonight was a granny smith apple with tostitos. It was a delicious combination, but I'm certain I'll look back next week and have another opinion.

Saturday Morning Weigh In Results & Last Nights Dinner Horror Story

Going out for dinner last night was quite an adventure. The menu made me cringe. Every item seemed to have the words drenched, battered, glazed,crispy,smothered,tantalizing,melt in your mouth, Oh the list goes on.

I settled on the most WW friendly item on the menu: a chicken brochette with salad and rice. Not an entirely terrible choice. Thankfully the waiter quickly came to take our orders so I didn't have time to change my mind. We were minding our own business waiting for the food to arrive when the waiter came to see us. " A large group has just come in and we're going to need for you to change tables" he says. " My manager is offering each of you an appetizer on the house". I cringed. I wanted to crawl under the table.

My friends agreed to accept the appetizers. I just said that I didn't want to spoil my appetite for my dish because I was really looking forward to it. I gave myself a mental pat on the back and watched them devour the cheesy potato skins, garlic bread, calamari, and the spinach dip with nachos.

No sooner had we finished our plates, the waiter is back at our table. "I'm sorry to bother you again ladies. We will need to move you to another table. The manager has offered coffee and dessert for your trouble" He explains. "We're terribly sorry for the inconvenience" He continues to take our plates away and moves us to our new table.

The dessert options are posted on some sort of flip card that sits in the middle of the table. Sweets are my kryptonite so it was my mission to make all of the desserts sound revolting. " The carrot cake is probably dry.The cheese cake probably has that gross skin on the outside from sitting in a rotating display case. Eew, can you imagine how over-sweet the chocolate cake is? Ice cream, puh-lease. It's probably been sitting in a bin in a freezer somewhere underneath ten layers of ice crystals".

My remarks didn't steer my friends away from the choices, but I am proud to say that I did not give in. I had a coffee and that was it. Funny how when things are free we suddenly want them. No one had voluntarily ordered a starter and no one was even considering ordering dessert. Insert the words free or on the house and suddenly we're all singing a different tune. If I wasn't planning on having it, I won't.

My WI was not so terrible considering my eating habits & lack of exercise this week. I was up .06 and was pretty shocked about it. I was expecting a 2 lb gain. I'm going to kick some serious ass this week.

It'sssssssssssssssss ooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnn!