1 year ago today....

I joined WW and started this blog. WOW how time can fly!

I cant believe its been a year all ready, and I cant believe how much my attitude has changed, my eating has changed, the number on the scale has changed, all of it has changed. All for the better :)

I feel pretty good right now, I feel like I have accomplished something amazing. So last year Sky danced at a street festival and I got one of these....

Yesterday I got one again. I think its going to be my yearly reward at this festival. It was just as good as I remember last year and still worth the points. Here is a Link to the post from last year. It was crazy to re-read my first 2 post. Wow how things has changed :)

WW Calender day 9

"Are you going to your Weight Watchers meeting this week? Plan to stay for some motivation."

My meeting days are Fridays, and yes I always plan on going and staying. I love my meetings, I love the people in my meeting group. They are all supportive and we all know, no matter where we are in our own personal journey, we are all in the same boat. I also LOVE my leader. She is amazing, super supportive, and is always pushing me to do better. Meetings are not for everyone though and that's fine too. One thing though, whether you go to meetings or not, is we all need support. Just making sure you get the support you need somewhere is important to success.

For me my meetings are my "ME" time. Its the 30min a week I take for myself with no questions asked. I get to be re-energized, have my WI and see how I did for the week. I get to see friends who get "it" and totally understand my feelings and struggles when it comes to losing weight. I also love the rewards :) I'm such a sucker for some recognition. My 10% key ring hangs on the rear view mirror in my car with my 2 16week clapping hands and my 25 and 50 lb ring hanging on it. I love seeing it and touching it and having it be my reminder of how far I have come and that I can do this.

Yes I'm planing on going to my meeting and yes I will stay for the whole thing, cause I'm that important and worth it to get the motivation.

WW Calender day 8

"What a great day to go to a farmers market and buy fresh vegetables. Add them to every meal."

I love the Farmers Market! Today we just happened to be going to one because Sky and I were both dancing with our dance studio at a street festival. This farmers market happened to be the same day in its usually spot just outside the street festival. So after all the dancing we walk walked around the festival and on the way back to the car we hit the Farmers Market. I could spend so much there but we didn't.

Tomorrow is another one that I really like maybe we will wake up early and hit that one. We do need some fruit and veggies in the house :)

WW Calender day 7

"Vary your routine today by earning activity points in a new place or by taking a different route."

Hhhhmmmm a new way? I think I'll have the kids do this one with me. Our school is only a mile from our home but with a 7 and 10 year old sometimes a mile can be a very long walk. So I think today we will try something new. We will park at the library and walk to school from there. Its only about 2 blocks but it will have us walk a different way and we all will get some exercise in. I also have WI today so I'm thinking I'll squeeze some more activity by parking at the top of the parking garage by my WW center and walking the whole way down.

Also later today I'm going to do some yoga, I haven't done yoga in a wile and since its a rest day from running yoga would be a nice change.

What way will you get more activity in?

WW Calender Day 6

"Always eat breakfast. Get that metabolism going!"

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, we have all heard that, but...... how many of you really eat it?

I know for me I used to NEVER eat breakfast. When I was a kid I would have cereal or something, but once I hit JR high and my mornings were a "do it yourself" kind, I never ate. I make sure my kids eat, but up in till a few months ago I was still having a hard time eating in the morning. I'm not a big breakfast person anyways (unless someone else is making it for me hehe). So now even if I'm not in the mood, I still have my coffee and a piece of fruit. At least its something and I'm getting my metabolism going and ready for the day.

Now that I started my half marathon training, all the articles I have read about proper training stress how a good breakfast is key to a long run. My body is going to need fuel to burn, but its going to need the right fuel. So today I had a good breakfast and I feel good already about it. I had a WW smart one. It was Waffles (wheat) with turkey sausage, and I had about  6 big strawberry's with it.

 It filled me up, I got a fruit serving in, and the waffles are a good complex carb which is what you need for running (and yes I had my coffee too, I'm a big coffee person and need that good wake up in the AM). The other thing to remember is your tummy needs time to digest it all too. So I'm passing the time blogging to let my body do its thing before I jump on the treadmill for 30 min.

I think the main thing I need to remember (ok we all need to remember) is that we need to eat to lose weight / keep the weight off. If we are skipping breakfast our metabolism cant start and that's what really helps us lose weight. So for the sake of reaching my goal, I think I can eat breakfast every morning.

So what did you eat for breakfast?

(this was so not a plug for smart ones, but it really was what I had. I'll buy smart ones every now and then when I know I wont have much time to cook, or that I know me so well and that I'm really lazy in the morning :P)

WW Calender

Every month at the last WI of the month my leader Joeann, give is us these cute WW inspired calenders. Each day has a message/thought for the day. I always look at it and think about it but I have never blogged about them or really put alot of heart in to each one. I decided this month I really want to do each one full out. So since it is the 5th all ready Im going to post the first 5 days. Then each day I will post the thought/question/change for the day. Do what you want with them but Im going to really try to implement them and then blog about my thoughts.

Sept 1st = A new month bring new opportunities. What is your weight loss goal for Sept?
   ME: My weight loss goal for Sept is to not have a gain bigger then 1lb at any WI. Im hoping to not have a gain at all but Im being realistic, because gains do happen sometimes even when you do it all right.

Sept 2nd = Plan ahead for the week. Make a shopping list of healthy foods.
   ME: I actually did this today (cause IM going shopping tomorrow) I printed out some new recipe's to try and made my list. All the recipe's have veggies in them so I know I will be getting at least 2 GHG's in at dinner.

Sept 3rd = Eating out this Holiday? Ask for a to-go container when you order and pack up half your portion before you begin to eat.
   ME: This is always a great idea. I didn't eat out this weekend though so I haven't had a chance to impalement this one, but I will keep it in mind.

Sept 4th = How could the Lose for Good campaign motivate you to achieve your goal?
    ME: click on the link to learn more about the LFG, it definitely will help me stay motivated because the weight I lose will have WW's buying food for someone in need. The more I lose the more people will get to eat, not to mention I plan on bringing in food to my WW center by the end of the month. It will be as many pound as I have lost in the month.

Sept 5th = Pay yourself a compliment today. Place real value on the power of positive self talk.
   ME: I look cute today. I fit in to this cute little sweater a friend gave me a wile ago and that made me feel grate. I wore it with some jeans a cute purple tank. I felt good in it and Mick even gave me a complement about how he loved the layers on me :) Yep I looked good today!

What about you?

2 steps forward 1 big step backwards

Ok so its not that big of a deal, but I had a gain last fri :( a pretty big one too. 5.2lbs.

I knew it was coming, I planed it (it was our 10 year wedding anniversary and we went to Santa Cruz over night) It was fun and I had the best time with my hubby all to my self. Even though I planed on not counting my points that weekend, the weekend turned in to the whole week. So 5.2lbs isn't so bad (I have friends that can gain way more then that in just a few days, every ones body is different) but any gain still leaves a sting.

Some times I just feel like its 2 steps forward and 1 step back. Ether way I'm still going in the direction I want, it might be slow getting to goal but I will get there.

In other Christal related news......Today was the first day of my 20 week training program for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon!! I ran outside today instead of on my treadmill and did pretty good. I was a bit slower outside but not by much. I feel so good!! Now I need to be really on top of what I eat cause I feel it when I'm not eating good y runs feel hard. I will definitely be posting more about each run, especially my long run days (7 miles seems so far).