Ok, here we are...staring down the barrel of my first really, REALLY big challenge: going out to dinner with friends. I have less than 8 hours until I will be sitting down in a real restaurant, with real bread, real butter, and real temptation all over the table. In my preparation, I got up early and worked out (UGH....), so I know I've burned up a few of the calories I have available to "play" with...you know what this is all about, by now, don't you? The coveted glass of wine.
I have to point out that I'm really not a HUGE drinker...sure, I enjoy fine wines and spirits as much as the next guy, but it's not like I've ever been a daily drinker. However, now that I'm committed to something that doesn't really include alcoholic calories at all (did you know ONE glass of wine - or one drink of any kind, for that matter - has 150 calories???? SCARY!), I'm actually missing the taste of my favorite Pinot Grigio! So tonight, I'm taking the 150 calories I have available to "play" with each week, and I'm going to apply it to a delicious, crisp, gorgeous glass of Pinto Grigio...and I'm totally ok with that!
What's going to be tough and tempting is the goodies that will be right in my face...I.E. the plates of buttery cheesy goodness that I'm sure my company will be enjoying. I talked to Christine (Jenny Craig consultant to the stars...and the rest of us...) yesterday about my concerns, and I'll tell ya, one 10-minute conversation with her made me feel completely in control. I know exactly what I can order, and I'm quite confident about my choices, because I'm so incredibly conscious of them! Before, going out to dinner wasn't always necessarily about enjoying the company and conversation and ambiance, but it was more about eating WHATEVER I wanted, and in GIGANTIC portions...after all, someone else was cooking it, someone else was bringing it to me, and someone else was doing the dishes! All this added up to me feeling ZERO responsibility for making healthy choices and believing no matter where I was dining out, or how often, I could throw caution to the wind, and dine like royalty. FAT royalty....
So, with a workout under my belt already, and still a meal and a snack or two away from my dinner, I'm going to try to keep a very positive attitude about this, and remember why I'm going out to dinner in the first place: to celebrate my friend's birthday, to enjoy conversation with people I don't see all that often, and to make healthy, CONSCIOUS decisions about what I'm going to be putting in my mouth...because after all this, I STILL have a goal of fitting into a bikini this summer without looking like a Christmas ham.
Wish me luck...I'll keep you posted! And I can't WAIT to tell you about the WINE!!! :)
Till next time,
~L
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Well, Wednesday, at least....
...Ok, ok...I have to come clean. I'm a little disappointed in myself, and I'll be completely honest. I know I said I wanted to make Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday my workout days...but I totally flaked on this Tuesday. Why? No excuse...just plain ol' didn't feel like it. I know that's not good enough. I'm almost ashamed to share this with you. Here I am trying to be the motivating, positive, committed participant, and I flake on one of my two goals for the week. But I vowed the good, bad and the ugly, and that's what you're gettin!
Now, the Jenny Craig people are not going to come to my house and steal my dog. They are not going to scold me and shake a finger in my face. They're not even going to tell me "Shame on you". They're going to say "What can we do to help motivate you?" And that's the difference, and why I love this program. I have my own guilt to deal with...they're not going to give me more! Yes, I'll beat myself up about this for a while, because that's just the type of person I am. But at least I know on Monday when I go for my weekly consultation, Christine is not going to make me go to reconciliation...at the most, I'll have a penance of trying to drink more water....
On the up-side, I DID work out tonight...Did another toning segment from my "The Biggest Loser" dvd...I like that segment, because it doesn't involve jumping all over the room (my apartment is very small, and not exactly conducive to 100 meter sprints anyway...) and trying to keep pace. It's strength training, which makes me FEEL strong, even though I'm not...just yet! Lean muscle burns calories, so at least I feel like I'm accomplishing something...despite my lack of movement yesterday! (Ooooh, there's that guilt again...can you tell I was raised Irish-Catholic? Hehehe that's a little joke...even though its true...)
I am facing a bit of a challenge this weekend, as it is a friend's birthday and I may be at a restaurant for a small get-together dinner. I'll admit, I'm a little nervous, even though I'm fully equipped with everything I need to know about what to order. But what's going to get me is wanting to have a glass of wine or two...I'll tell you now, I WILL have one - maybe two - but I know what I have to do to equal out my calories so I'm still on a losing streak (pound-wise!). Despite being nervous, I'm still pretty confident I can do this!
And ya know what? After 4 weeks of being BY THE BOOK, and losing over 10 pounds, dammit I deserve a lousy glass of wine! :)
I'll keep you posted!
Till next time,
~L
Now, the Jenny Craig people are not going to come to my house and steal my dog. They are not going to scold me and shake a finger in my face. They're not even going to tell me "Shame on you". They're going to say "What can we do to help motivate you?" And that's the difference, and why I love this program. I have my own guilt to deal with...they're not going to give me more! Yes, I'll beat myself up about this for a while, because that's just the type of person I am. But at least I know on Monday when I go for my weekly consultation, Christine is not going to make me go to reconciliation...at the most, I'll have a penance of trying to drink more water....
On the up-side, I DID work out tonight...Did another toning segment from my "The Biggest Loser" dvd...I like that segment, because it doesn't involve jumping all over the room (my apartment is very small, and not exactly conducive to 100 meter sprints anyway...) and trying to keep pace. It's strength training, which makes me FEEL strong, even though I'm not...just yet! Lean muscle burns calories, so at least I feel like I'm accomplishing something...despite my lack of movement yesterday! (Ooooh, there's that guilt again...can you tell I was raised Irish-Catholic? Hehehe that's a little joke...even though its true...)
I am facing a bit of a challenge this weekend, as it is a friend's birthday and I may be at a restaurant for a small get-together dinner. I'll admit, I'm a little nervous, even though I'm fully equipped with everything I need to know about what to order. But what's going to get me is wanting to have a glass of wine or two...I'll tell you now, I WILL have one - maybe two - but I know what I have to do to equal out my calories so I'm still on a losing streak (pound-wise!). Despite being nervous, I'm still pretty confident I can do this!
And ya know what? After 4 weeks of being BY THE BOOK, and losing over 10 pounds, dammit I deserve a lousy glass of wine! :)
I'll keep you posted!
Till next time,
~L
Monday, February 26, 2007
Weigh-In #3....
...and yet ANOTHER 2.7 pounds of me...GONE! This brings my total to 10.6 pounds lost in 3 weeks! This is unbelievable to me...as a matter of fact, I had to do a double-take when I stepped on that scale this afternoon, as surely it was lying to me.
I knew somethin' was up this morning, because I grabbed an old stand-by pair of jeans...you know the ones, that you can kind of fit in, depending on what day of the month it is, but only if you wear a big, baggy sweater over them in order to hide what Oprah has termed "The Mushroom Effect" (that's the plethora of fatty fatness that hangs over the waistline of a pair of jeans that just shouldn't be worn, creating a mushroom-like shape)...but I grabbed these jeans, and just for fun, wanted to see if I could get them on without having to lie on the floor and suck in all the air in the room before attempting to get the button to even MEET it's counterpart hole. And ya know what? They not only buttoned, but they ZIPPED, comfortably! And ya know what else? NO MUSHROOM!!!
So, here I am, a quarter of my way to my goal. In THREE WEEKS. When they said "Laura, in order to get to your goal in a healthy way, you'll probably do this for about 30 weeks," I laughed (to myself, at first), because honestly, I don't know that I've ever stuck to anything for 3 weeks, let alone 30. But this Jenny Craig thing? It makes it EASY. I'm eating better than I did when I lived at home and had Mom cooking three squares for me a day! (Sorry, Mom) Heck, I'm eating even MORE than that, because there's snacks and salads and fruits and well...I just can't believe that eating Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken can result in losing weight. I don't get it! But ya know what? It's working, and that's all I care about!!!
Today was Karen McCaffrey's (my grand prize winner) first weigh-in...I can't WAIT to hear how she did last week! I won't lie (and the posts prove it), the first week was NOT easy. But I suppose nothing worth working this hard at IS ever easy, right? Karen and I share the bond in that we both quit smoking, something everyone knows is one of the hardest things to accomplish. Both of us were HEAVY smokers, for a LONG period of time. If we could beat that, we can lick this fat thing EASY! (mmm...licking fat....somebody say cheeseburger???) So, I'll let you know how she does...I know she's gonna do GREAT!
If you've EVER thought "I'll never lose weight, I'm just going to have to get used to this fat body," you're singin my song, sister. I've said it for years...YEARS. And in three WEEKS, I'm over 10 pounds lighter. It sounds cliche, but if I can do this, anyone can. And anyone includes you. I don't care if it's Jenny Craig or not...do yourself a favor, and make the decision to make YOU better. YOU deserve it! And so do I!!!
TEN POUNDS!!! YEEEEAAAH!!!
Till next time,
~L
I knew somethin' was up this morning, because I grabbed an old stand-by pair of jeans...you know the ones, that you can kind of fit in, depending on what day of the month it is, but only if you wear a big, baggy sweater over them in order to hide what Oprah has termed "The Mushroom Effect" (that's the plethora of fatty fatness that hangs over the waistline of a pair of jeans that just shouldn't be worn, creating a mushroom-like shape)...but I grabbed these jeans, and just for fun, wanted to see if I could get them on without having to lie on the floor and suck in all the air in the room before attempting to get the button to even MEET it's counterpart hole. And ya know what? They not only buttoned, but they ZIPPED, comfortably! And ya know what else? NO MUSHROOM!!!
So, here I am, a quarter of my way to my goal. In THREE WEEKS. When they said "Laura, in order to get to your goal in a healthy way, you'll probably do this for about 30 weeks," I laughed (to myself, at first), because honestly, I don't know that I've ever stuck to anything for 3 weeks, let alone 30. But this Jenny Craig thing? It makes it EASY. I'm eating better than I did when I lived at home and had Mom cooking three squares for me a day! (Sorry, Mom) Heck, I'm eating even MORE than that, because there's snacks and salads and fruits and well...I just can't believe that eating Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken can result in losing weight. I don't get it! But ya know what? It's working, and that's all I care about!!!
Today was Karen McCaffrey's (my grand prize winner) first weigh-in...I can't WAIT to hear how she did last week! I won't lie (and the posts prove it), the first week was NOT easy. But I suppose nothing worth working this hard at IS ever easy, right? Karen and I share the bond in that we both quit smoking, something everyone knows is one of the hardest things to accomplish. Both of us were HEAVY smokers, for a LONG period of time. If we could beat that, we can lick this fat thing EASY! (mmm...licking fat....somebody say cheeseburger???) So, I'll let you know how she does...I know she's gonna do GREAT!
If you've EVER thought "I'll never lose weight, I'm just going to have to get used to this fat body," you're singin my song, sister. I've said it for years...YEARS. And in three WEEKS, I'm over 10 pounds lighter. It sounds cliche, but if I can do this, anyone can. And anyone includes you. I don't care if it's Jenny Craig or not...do yourself a favor, and make the decision to make YOU better. YOU deserve it! And so do I!!!
TEN POUNDS!!! YEEEEAAAH!!!
Till next time,
~L
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Hey...Long time, no blog!
Hi all....I must apologize for TOTALLY slacking on blogging this week. Don't think for a second it's a reflection on my commitment to Jenny Craig, because I'm still going strong, and LOOKING FORWARD to my next weigh-in tomorrow! Just been a busy week (which amazingly actually HELPS in this weight-loss thing), and I never got around to it!
First things first: My consultant Christine will be SO proud...My "goal" I set with her last Monday was to work out at least 2x that week. Well, I did work out: not once, not twice, but THREE WHOLE TIMES! Granted, if you read my last post you'll know how much I just ABHOR working out, but I did it, and as I sit comfortably on my sofa waiting for my Jenny Craig rising crust deluxe pizza to come out of the oven, in all it's sausage laden, bubbly goodness, I am happy to be able to say I DID IT. Actually, (and I'm a bit of a commitment-phobe here, so I'm almost afraid to say it), this week made me kind of want to make Tues, Wed, Thurs. my "work out days". That way I'm getting it in 3x a week, but I'm not torturing myself with committing to a Monday, and I'm not being unrealistic in expecting myself to work out on Fridays...because...Um....yeah, that's never gonna happen! lol!
I also was trying to cut back on my Diet Pepsi (just saying it gives me the shakes) and really try to increase my water. I've done ok with the water, and I have cut back on the Diet Pepsi, but probably not to where I should. Don't get me wrong: Diet Soda is "free" on JC...meaning I can pretty much have as much as I want. BUT - and this is strictly a personal thing - for health reasons, I should cut down. My best friend is a dietitian and she shared with me that there is a direct correlation between the amount of phosphates you take in (which are in diet soda's) and the amount of calcium your body and bones will absorb. At this point in my life, I really should be concerned with calcium issues, since before JC, I did NOT get NEARLY enough calcium in my diet. My grandmother had the "hump" on her back, and I don't want that "hump". My hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps. (Sorry, had to add that for my "Friday crew", Ric, Cat, and Darwin....) I digress.
Well, the pizza's almost ready, and I'm about ready to settle into my regular Sunday night regime of terrible TV....Oh I love it so....
Have a great week, and I'll be sure to update you on this week's weigh-in results! Keep your fingers crossed for me! :)
Till next time,
~L
First things first: My consultant Christine will be SO proud...My "goal" I set with her last Monday was to work out at least 2x that week. Well, I did work out: not once, not twice, but THREE WHOLE TIMES! Granted, if you read my last post you'll know how much I just ABHOR working out, but I did it, and as I sit comfortably on my sofa waiting for my Jenny Craig rising crust deluxe pizza to come out of the oven, in all it's sausage laden, bubbly goodness, I am happy to be able to say I DID IT. Actually, (and I'm a bit of a commitment-phobe here, so I'm almost afraid to say it), this week made me kind of want to make Tues, Wed, Thurs. my "work out days". That way I'm getting it in 3x a week, but I'm not torturing myself with committing to a Monday, and I'm not being unrealistic in expecting myself to work out on Fridays...because...Um....yeah, that's never gonna happen! lol!
I also was trying to cut back on my Diet Pepsi (just saying it gives me the shakes) and really try to increase my water. I've done ok with the water, and I have cut back on the Diet Pepsi, but probably not to where I should. Don't get me wrong: Diet Soda is "free" on JC...meaning I can pretty much have as much as I want. BUT - and this is strictly a personal thing - for health reasons, I should cut down. My best friend is a dietitian and she shared with me that there is a direct correlation between the amount of phosphates you take in (which are in diet soda's) and the amount of calcium your body and bones will absorb. At this point in my life, I really should be concerned with calcium issues, since before JC, I did NOT get NEARLY enough calcium in my diet. My grandmother had the "hump" on her back, and I don't want that "hump". My hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps. (Sorry, had to add that for my "Friday crew", Ric, Cat, and Darwin....) I digress.
Well, the pizza's almost ready, and I'm about ready to settle into my regular Sunday night regime of terrible TV....Oh I love it so....
Have a great week, and I'll be sure to update you on this week's weigh-in results! Keep your fingers crossed for me! :)
Till next time,
~L
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