Weight Watchers SmartPoints 2016 | Beyond the Scale

After many attempts this summer to lose weight on my own, I decided to join Weight Watchers for the third time in my life. The first time I joined, I was a meeting member and was successful in losing 77 lbs. The second time I joined I was an online member only and I totally failed. With no accountability, no meeting to attend, I did not follow the plan very well or take it seriously. This third time around, I am a meeting member again and I feel that the meetings will truly be the key to my success. I joined and had my first weigh- in on 7/18/2016. My starting weight was 232.8 lbs. What made me finally decide to join? Well, aside from being totally overweight and uncomfortable in my skin, I remembered how when I first joined Weight Watchers the first time, ages ago, I really felt like I had a total support system. A support system that would be there for me during the good and the bad. Weight Watchers gave me total support. Today as I am writing this entry, I am so grateful that I was able to join and work on becoming a healthier and happier me. I like how Weight Watchers has changed their program, and I love the new smartpoints way of eating! I am approaching my Week#4 weigh-in at the end of this week, and I am glad that I am sticking with the program. There is no turning back for this gal!!!!!!

Week 2 Food and Exercise Logs (3/16/16-3/22/16)

WEDNESDAY, 3/16/16

2 scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese - 1 cup

smoked pork neck bones - 2 cups

korean noodle cup - 2 cups

polska kielbasa - 1 cup

orange slices - 1 cup

EXERCISE                                                                                                                                                     

10075 steps (achieved via indoor fitness walking)

THURSDAY, 3/17/16

popcorn x2 - 2 cups

white rice - 1 cup

green pepper steak + rice - 1 cup

captain crunch - 1/2 cup

wawa meatballs - 1 and 1/2 cup

spicy tomato and corn soup - 1 cup

EXERCISE

12505 steps (via indoor fitness walking)

FRIDAY, 3/18/16

2 baked chicken thighs - 2 cups

captain crunch - 1/2 cup

white rice - 1 cup

spicy tomato and corn soup - 1/2 cup

tofu miso egg drop soup - 1 cup

popcorn - 1 cup

EXERCISE

10309 steps (via fitness walking)

SATURDAY, 3/19/16

2 scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese - 1 cup

japanese udon noodles - 2 cups

baked chicken thigh - 1 cup

honey bun - 1 cup

kfc macaroni and cheese - 1 cup

kfc green beans - 1 cup

kfc original recipe chicken thigh - 1 cup

EXERCISE

15604 steps (via fitness walking)

SUNDAY, 3/20/16

chicken noodle soup - 2 cups

2 KFC chocolate chip cookies - 1 cup

brussels sprouts - 1 cup

captain crunch - 1/2 cup

KFC original recipe chicken thigh - 1 cup

blueberry yogurt - 1/2 cup

2 scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese - 1 cup

EXERCISE

10406 steps (via fitness walking)

MONDAY, 3/21/16

vegetable beef soup - 2 cups

captain crunch - 1 cup

lime and black pepper rice cakes - 1 cup

chicken fried rice - 1 cup

chicken tomato corn and seaweed soup - 1 cup

EXERCISE

4519 steps (via fitness walking)

TUESDAY, 3/22/16

baked pork chop - 1 cup

lime and black pepper rice crackers - 1 cup

pasta salad - 2 cups

white rice with seaweed paper - 1 cup

tofu miso egg drop soup - 1 cup

EXERCISE

8015 steps (via fitness walking)

STEPS WEEKLY TOTAL - 71,433 steps

Tracking Exercise With a Fitness Tracker

Fitness trackers are a very popular fitness accessory in society right now. I love my knock-off Fitbit that I purchased at the beginning of this year, and use it everyday. But should you wear your fitness tracker all day? Even during times of sitting or just walking around the house? It is a tough question to answer. At least for me it challenged me to think about it a little. I think it all depends on how inactive you really are. Lately I have not been active outside the times that I exercise via fitness walking. The normal activities I do during the day do not involve much walking. So, I have decided to challenge myself to move more outside of fitness walking, but I am not going to wear my fitness tracking device while doing so. I really want to achieve my 10000 steps per day by way of heart pumping exercise. I don't want to achieve a bulk of those by way of just milling around the house.By all means, there is nothing wrong with gaining steps by just walking around doing your daily activities ( moving is moving and all moving is good!). I would just prefer to challenge myself to gain those steps during fitness walking so that I can increase my endurance.So, I will only wear my fitness tracking device during fitness walking, and try my best to reach 10000 steps per day. Wish me luck!

Too cheap to buy a Fitbit?

I am on a strict budget, don't have a stash of extra cash hidden in a closet, so......Heck YES!!!!!!! I am totally too cheap to buy a Fitbit! Even if I had the extra cash right now, I would have to fight long and hard to buy a Fitbit at full price. So what is a girl to do? Well, I got my butt on eBay and searched to see what kind of Fitbit knockoff thing-a-ma-jigg I could purchase. I have been doing a bunch of indoor walking these days, and I wanted to keep track of my steps. You know,....so that I can have step goals to work towards. My search was a very short one. I came across the perfect Fitbit knockoff and immediately purchased it. Ok," so what made it so perfect?" you may be asking.Well, it was dirt cheap, so that means it is perfect!!! Lol! I'm kind of half joking here a bit. It was dirt cheap, but it had many features that I was interested in. It may not have all the features of a Fitbit, and it does act mostly as a glorified pedometer, but for the price, I find it to be a gem of a find.

Name : TW64 Smart Bracelet

- counts steps

- keeps track of distance

- shows calories burned

- displays date and time

- sleep monitor function

- call and alarm features

- selfie function capabilities

- has bracelet specific app in google play and the apple store

*purchased on eBay from a seller in China

How Many Pounds Per Week?

If there were a magical chant that I could recite,...turn around counter clockwise,...... hop over two sticks placed parallel on the ground, ......snap my fingers three times....., and instantly wake up at my ultimate goal weight--I can not say that I would not recite that chant. There is no chant, and unfortunately and fortunately people trying to lose weight can not exceed a certain amount loss in certain time frames. Even people lost on an island without food will not turn into dust overnight. So, while on my weight loss journey, I can not expect the weight to drop off my body like the meat cooked in a crock pot falls off the bone....mmmmm....meat [insert saliva here].I am unsure of the results on the scale my new way of eating is going to yield, but I shall still set some goals to work toward. Then I can tweak my food or fitness according to my satisfaction. Starting out, I am going to set a goal of minus 2 pounds per week. I don't want to lose weight too quickly (although that has never been one of my problems....lol) and I don't want to move at the pace of an ice glacier melting. If I happen to have a week where the scale gives me a higher loss, then by all means I will rejoice. I believe in the tortoise and the hare and the age old saying " slow and steady wins the race." Slow and steady weight loss sounds more appealing and doable to me. New habits to help me lose weight will be formed and those habits will help me stay on track to reach my weight loss goal. Slow for weight loss is so much more frustrating than the instant gratification of a crash diet, but "slow" is so much better than "no", or no weight loss at all!

Food and Exercise Logs

Since this is the last day of week 1 and my weigh in day will officially be on Wednesdays, I will start making my food and exercise logs more of a collective type log. Instead of showing my food and exercise daily, I will just show the entire week in one post on weigh in day. The first collective log will be posted on Wednesday, 3/23/16 (week 2 weigh in day). I feel that my blog will be less cluttered this way and it will be easier to view my eating and workout efforts all at once each week.

Tuesday, 3/15/16

beef tenderloin steak 5oz (cooked in oven)

packaged deli meat turkey 2oz

2 scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese

Italian pasta salad x2 (1 cup servings eaten at different times during the day)

white rice (1 cup)

tofu miso egg drop soup (1 cup)

EXERCISE

10204 steps (achieved via fitness walking)

Counting Cups to Lose Weight

* Note: I am just a consumer that purchased a book with my own money, read it, and thought it was awesome enough to share an opinion about it and follow the advice it gave. I am in no way affiliated with the makers of this book :).

Those of you that follow this blog or my YouTube channel know that I am on this big weight loss journey, and it is just getting started again (does it ever really end??!!). I have stated that I was feeling like a slave to the calorie count, and wanted to try portion control as a method of weight loss. So, for the past week (week 1) I have been cutting my portions down to smaller amounts than I have usually eaten in the past. I was using measuring cups as a means to help me whittle down my portions.I was eating whatever type food I wanted. I was using mostly the 1/2 cup and 1 cup to measure out my food. If I was eating a small item like a mini pack of roasted seaweed or a few pieces of candy, I would not measure it at all. I was eating these small amounts due to various articles and info online that I read about. My week 1 went well, but I still felt that I needed some kind of guideline to tell me when enough food was enough food. Also I still felt a bit lost because I was unsure if my methods were actually going to result in weight loss each week. I was researching online to find ways to help a person that was trying to lose weight and wanted to implement portion control instead of calorie counting. Google can be such a vast mountain of info that leads you through loops and twists until you find some info that you feel pertains to you..lol.I felt like I was searching forever. I felt like I hit the jackpot when I came across a book called The ProportionFit Diet by Nicholas J. Meyer, MD. I read a few reviews, visited the book's website, and was so curious to know more about what information this book had to offer, that I decided that it was totally worth my money to buy it. I could not find it in a bookstore near me, so I just decided to purchase my copy from the Google Play store. I read the entire book today (literally right before I published this post) and I am hooked! I am amazed, and am eager to give this weight loss method a try. I love all that the book has to say. I totally believe that this is not just a fad diet, and is something that is doable for me. Something long lasting. So, starting tomorrow (3/16/16) I will be keeping my portions small by counting cups of food I eat and following the guidelines the book has set. I am also going to still be working towards the fitness goal I already had set (10,000 steps per day via fitness walking). I am excited to continue on this journey and eager to challenge myself more! Visit the ProportionFit website and see if this is a lifestyle that may suit you also!

Link to the ProportionFit Diet website :  www.proportionfit.com