Starting weight: 286
Current weight: 247.8
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 112.8
Wahoo! For those of you counting along at home, my total weight loss is now 38.2 pounds! I had a SUPER good week last week- down 4.2! Let me tell you why it was so super.
1) I actually didn't track last week! I know, I'm as surprised as you. But it started because we were working on a big event at church last week and so the times when I was normally pausing to track got thrown off. (Or, more accurately, thrown completely out the window...) After two days of not tracking, I decided that I would just do a little experiment to see how much my habits had changed since starting this adventure 5 months ago. I felt pretty good about most of my choices, and it looks like I was right!
2) I didn't technically work out last week. I did run around and lift heavy things for a few days, but I also slept a lot on the weekend because I was just so tired from the week! And I was also trying to pre-empt a cold I felt coming on, PLUS we gained an hour. Yikes!
3) I had gained .2 pounds the week before. I know, I know, that is practically nothing. And honestly, I was fine with it. I knew ahead of my weigh in that I didn't feel like I was going to be down by a lot (or at all) and so I had made my peace with it before hand. So when she said "only up .2, not bad!" I actually agreed with her.
A month ago, I probably would have beaten myself up about it. But part of this whole journey is not just getting healthy physically; it's about having good self-esteem and a healthy self-image too. It can be a hard line to draw sometimes, but there has to be a difference between how much the scale says and how I interpret it. As my mom would say... "put the best construction on everything!" A gain doesn't mean the whole week wasn't worth anything, and a big loss doesn't mean that it is going to be all sunshine and roses from there forward either. Seeing the good in BOTH situations is what will truly help me achieve my goal.
What I am actually more excited about than being down 4.2 in a week is this: I got a 5 pound star yesterday for passing the 35 pound mark, which is all well and good. But when my leader started announcing the awards, she said "we had a few 5 pound stars this week, but they all had to leave, so we'll just move on to bravos." In my head I went "WHAT!" She wasn't kidding either, she had forgotten my 5 pound star!
Now, if the Caitlin who started Weight Watchers 20 some weeks ago had been the one sitting there, I can say with absolute certainty that there would be no 5 pound sticker in her book yesterday, unless her leader had remembered of her own volition. I wouldn't have spoken up or raised my hand. Maybe, MAYBE I would have asked for one privately after the meeting. Again, MAYBE. I was still new to the meetings and to the program, and I would have sat there silently wishing her to remember, yet unwilling and unable to say anything.
But last night, I waited until I was pretty sure the Bravos were over because I didn't want to negate anyone else's victories. Then my hand shot up into the air! I wasn't afraid or intimidated, and I wanted that sticker! We all laughed, I got my sticker, and we moved on. But sitting there afterward, I was thinking to myself about how un-Caitlin that would have been not so long ago, and how good it felt to leave that fear behind.
I'm very much enjoying this new found confidence, and in more ways than just at WW. What's even more fun is recognizing the turning points as they come and being able to document them with you! It looks, feels, and really truly is super.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Too Funny
Starting weight: 286
Current weight: 255.6
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 120.6
This is a funny story.
Last week at weight watchers, I was on my way out. We all wear name tags every meeting, and there is a little trash can on the way out of the building where you can throw them awway. As usual, I pulled mine off as I was walking out, but missed the trash can. As I bent down to pick it up, I lost my balance and started to fall forward. I caught myself with my hand like a tripod- I was safe, not going down that easy! But then I started laughing so hard that I couldn't stand back up properly and had to sort of lunge sideways to keep from actually falling down (into a display case, which would be way worse and more embarrassing!) And of course, this all went down in front of everyone on their way out. Two ladies that I know from church saw me and looked really worried, even after I started laughing. Once they realized I was really okay, they started laughing with me. My remark to them, as soon as I caught my breath back from laughing, was "I'm not going down that easy!"
I told you, funny.
But the real reason I tell you this story is because on my way out to my car, and after, I was thinking about this. It took me a month to get from my 25 pound star to my 30 pound star. I had started to get really discouraged. There was a time when I was flying past 5 pound stars every other week. I felt like I was just barely inching along, and found myself running crazy stats in my head: "at X pounds per week, it would be Y amount of weeks until I could hit my goal." I got all wrapped up in my end goal and distracted by my impatience to get there. But this is a marathon, not a sprint. That's the only way for this to be a lifelong mindset/lifestyle shift, not just a temporary success.
Current weight: 255.6
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 120.6
This is a funny story.
Last week at weight watchers, I was on my way out. We all wear name tags every meeting, and there is a little trash can on the way out of the building where you can throw them awway. As usual, I pulled mine off as I was walking out, but missed the trash can. As I bent down to pick it up, I lost my balance and started to fall forward. I caught myself with my hand like a tripod- I was safe, not going down that easy! But then I started laughing so hard that I couldn't stand back up properly and had to sort of lunge sideways to keep from actually falling down (into a display case, which would be way worse and more embarrassing!) And of course, this all went down in front of everyone on their way out. Two ladies that I know from church saw me and looked really worried, even after I started laughing. Once they realized I was really okay, they started laughing with me. My remark to them, as soon as I caught my breath back from laughing, was "I'm not going down that easy!"
I told you, funny.
But the real reason I tell you this story is because on my way out to my car, and after, I was thinking about this. It took me a month to get from my 25 pound star to my 30 pound star. I had started to get really discouraged. There was a time when I was flying past 5 pound stars every other week. I felt like I was just barely inching along, and found myself running crazy stats in my head: "at X pounds per week, it would be Y amount of weeks until I could hit my goal." I got all wrapped up in my end goal and distracted by my impatience to get there. But this is a marathon, not a sprint. That's the only way for this to be a lifelong mindset/lifestyle shift, not just a temporary success.
After I got my mindset back on track, I crunched another set of numbers.
Even with bad weeks and what sometimes feels like slow progress, I have still lost an average of 1.68 pounds per week! That is pretty good progress, not to mention a healthy weight loss rate. And, check out these pics. The one on the left is me one week before I joined WW. The one on the right is my two weeks ago. It is harder to see weekly progress, but when you look at the bigger picture it's pretty cool :-)
It's funny, because last week I got my 30 pound star. My leader remarked that it seemed like just yesterday I got my first 5 pound star. I said that's good, because this one felt like it took forever to get to! Just another reminder to look at the whole picture and not just a single snapshot.
Here's to moving forward, not giving up, and being able to laugh at ourselves when we trip.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Ups and Downs
Starting weight: 286
Current weight: 258.2
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 123.2
The last few weeks have been, just as the title says, up and down. I had been having some trouble jump starting again after August, and had set myself a goal a few weeks ago to work extra hard and get down to my 10% goal. At weigh-in on the 15th, I reached it! As expected, I got a nifty little keychain. I am really proud of this addition to my keys :-)
Current weight: 258.2
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 123.2
The last few weeks have been, just as the title says, up and down. I had been having some trouble jump starting again after August, and had set myself a goal a few weeks ago to work extra hard and get down to my 10% goal. At weigh-in on the 15th, I reached it! As expected, I got a nifty little keychain. I am really proud of this addition to my keys :-)
 |
Why yes, that is my 25 pound award on it, thanks for noticing!
Despite an ice cream bar, despite Oktoberfest and all the fried food that comes with it, despite a handful of Doritos the night before, I not only met my goal I exceeded it! I was down 29.4 pounds. So close to 30 pounds down I can taste it. I celebrated a little.
Ok, I probably celebrated a little too much. Got a little over confident that I was back on track and hard at it! Anyway, all that to say, at my next weigh in I was up 1.6.
It was my first gain. And, just like everyone says, your gain comes on a week that you think you did pretty well. I took it strangely: I didn't weigh in at the normal time that I usually do. I was scheduled for inventory on Tuesday evening at work, and so I wasn't going to make the meeting. And, sort of selfishly, I knew I was going to have lunch with a friend that afternoon and didn't want to worry about spiking my number that night, or whatever. So I was a little shocked when I was up. At first, I was disappointed. And then I found myself thinking very little about it the rest of the day.
What I ultimately decided was that it didn't have to matter. The only way this gain had to matter is to motivate me, not discourage me. And bonus, they don't take your keychain away if you go under your 10% ;-)
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Totally Serendipitous
Starting weight: 286
Current weight: 260.6
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 125.6
Down another two pounds! I hit another 5 pound mark yesterday, but not just any 5 pound mark... I hit the 25 pound mark! Hard to believe. I feel like I've been doing WW for a long time and also no time at all, but it's also hard to believe that it's already September and that fall is almost here. What I didn't know about the 25 pound mark is that you get a little charm!
I am looking forward to a lot more of these little guys in the future... especially a 100 pound one! And of course, my mind was already racing about what I could do with it... necklace, bracelet, shadow box... or keychain! I think when you hit your 10% or 20% goal you get a keychain that is designed to hold the charms, and I will be hitting my 10% goal next week if I have a really good next 7 days. And so far they are shaping up quite well!
Mostly, today's post is very little about WW. It's about confidence.
There is a choir here in Salem called Festival Chorale Oregon, and it is directed and led by my college choir director, Dr. Solveig Holmquist. She is far and away the best director I've ever worked with, and one of the most amazing women I have ever known. I have wavered on joining for the last year, and despite my best intentions last September, I just wasn't in a place with the availability to join. But September has come again, and their first rehearsal was yesterday. I had been thinking about it and seriously was planning on attending a rehearsal, but then my mind started to get the better of me. I've been honest about my nervousness and apprehension in certain social situations (or any situation...) here, and I was definitely wrestling with that. I looked up the website like 16,000 times; double, triple and quadruple checking all the info over and over. I stopped short of looking up a campus map for the school they practice in. It would have been so easy to just not go. So I set myself a safety mechanism. I texted an old friend who I thought was still in the group to make sure I would know at least one person. "There," I thought, "someone is counting on me to be there, I have to be."
But then it started spiraling more and more into absurdity. "You haven't seen these people in over a year, they're probably going to look at you like a stranger." "Everyone is wondering how on earth you think you belong here." "You can't sing like that anymore, it's been too long."
Yeah, I know. My brain is dumb.
In reality, I was met with warm hugs from my TWO friends in the group. Everyone I met was super friendly and inviting, and aside from a few of the really high notes, I CAN still sing like that. But it didn't stop my brain from thinking about it. As I headed to my WW meeting that evening, I had moved from "seriously joining this time!" to "firmly on the fence." But thankfully, God had something planned for me that was bigger than my brain.
Upon arriving, who should I meet coming in the line to weigh-in but Dr. Holmquist herself! We hugged, we talked, I told her how funny it was to see her on today of all days since I was thinking about coming to FCO that night and singing with her again. Seeing her, hearing her enthusiasm for my joining, and telling her that I would be there was enough to put all my fears to rest. The voices were silenced immediately and replaced with butterflies of excitement.
Suffice it to say, I went to rehearsal last night. I paid my dues, I borrowed a score from Dr. Holmquist, and I am now a Festival Chorale-er! Can't back out now. And I wouldn't dream of it either! The music is challenging and it's different from anything else I've done in the last 3 years. It's refreshing and it's fun. Plus, Solveig and I are going to be WW buddies now!
And to think, I almost missed out on all of that because I was going to let the stupid voices in my head talk me out of something amazing just because it was unknown. I could have easily done that with weight loss, but I didn't. I feel like I'm being taught over and over the value and the reward of things that I feel are risky. But what do they risk? Not my life, and certainly not the love of my friends or family. Nope, all that is at stake is my own ego. It's all at once humbling and exciting to share weight loss with people, especially the "big win" moments like 5 pound stars and 25 pound charms. Humbling because it takes a lot of willpower to talk about something that has been such a big hurdle and roadblock to me for so long, but exciting because it is such a big accomplishment for me. I have a feeling that dealing with this over-protected ego of mine will be something I'll have to battle for a long time. But just like singing, practice makes permanent, and I plan on making a permanent habit of making bold choices :-)
Oh! And let me know if you want to come to a concert. Because, seriously, it's going to be good ;-)
Current weight: 260.6
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 125.6
Down another two pounds! I hit another 5 pound mark yesterday, but not just any 5 pound mark... I hit the 25 pound mark! Hard to believe. I feel like I've been doing WW for a long time and also no time at all, but it's also hard to believe that it's already September and that fall is almost here. What I didn't know about the 25 pound mark is that you get a little charm!
Mostly, today's post is very little about WW. It's about confidence.
There is a choir here in Salem called Festival Chorale Oregon, and it is directed and led by my college choir director, Dr. Solveig Holmquist. She is far and away the best director I've ever worked with, and one of the most amazing women I have ever known. I have wavered on joining for the last year, and despite my best intentions last September, I just wasn't in a place with the availability to join. But September has come again, and their first rehearsal was yesterday. I had been thinking about it and seriously was planning on attending a rehearsal, but then my mind started to get the better of me. I've been honest about my nervousness and apprehension in certain social situations (or any situation...) here, and I was definitely wrestling with that. I looked up the website like 16,000 times; double, triple and quadruple checking all the info over and over. I stopped short of looking up a campus map for the school they practice in. It would have been so easy to just not go. So I set myself a safety mechanism. I texted an old friend who I thought was still in the group to make sure I would know at least one person. "There," I thought, "someone is counting on me to be there, I have to be."
But then it started spiraling more and more into absurdity. "You haven't seen these people in over a year, they're probably going to look at you like a stranger." "Everyone is wondering how on earth you think you belong here." "You can't sing like that anymore, it's been too long."
Yeah, I know. My brain is dumb.
In reality, I was met with warm hugs from my TWO friends in the group. Everyone I met was super friendly and inviting, and aside from a few of the really high notes, I CAN still sing like that. But it didn't stop my brain from thinking about it. As I headed to my WW meeting that evening, I had moved from "seriously joining this time!" to "firmly on the fence." But thankfully, God had something planned for me that was bigger than my brain.
Upon arriving, who should I meet coming in the line to weigh-in but Dr. Holmquist herself! We hugged, we talked, I told her how funny it was to see her on today of all days since I was thinking about coming to FCO that night and singing with her again. Seeing her, hearing her enthusiasm for my joining, and telling her that I would be there was enough to put all my fears to rest. The voices were silenced immediately and replaced with butterflies of excitement.
Suffice it to say, I went to rehearsal last night. I paid my dues, I borrowed a score from Dr. Holmquist, and I am now a Festival Chorale-er! Can't back out now. And I wouldn't dream of it either! The music is challenging and it's different from anything else I've done in the last 3 years. It's refreshing and it's fun. Plus, Solveig and I are going to be WW buddies now!
And to think, I almost missed out on all of that because I was going to let the stupid voices in my head talk me out of something amazing just because it was unknown. I could have easily done that with weight loss, but I didn't. I feel like I'm being taught over and over the value and the reward of things that I feel are risky. But what do they risk? Not my life, and certainly not the love of my friends or family. Nope, all that is at stake is my own ego. It's all at once humbling and exciting to share weight loss with people, especially the "big win" moments like 5 pound stars and 25 pound charms. Humbling because it takes a lot of willpower to talk about something that has been such a big hurdle and roadblock to me for so long, but exciting because it is such a big accomplishment for me. I have a feeling that dealing with this over-protected ego of mine will be something I'll have to battle for a long time. But just like singing, practice makes permanent, and I plan on making a permanent habit of making bold choices :-)
Oh! And let me know if you want to come to a concert. Because, seriously, it's going to be good ;-)
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Hiatus Status
Starting weight: 286
Current weight: 262.4
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 127.4
Hello everyone! I knew I hadn't posted much in August, but when I signed in and say "last post: August 6th" I was surprised! I guess that's what it's like when time flies, right? On August 12th, I left for Summer Camp with our youth group, and when we got back on the 15th, I literally unpacked half my stuff, re-packed some fresh clothes, and turned back around and headed off to our family camping trip 2 hours later. Crazy! Since then there has been a lot of catching up to do... on laundry, on life, on errands, and finally on my blog.
I had a few pretty major roles at camp this year, and the whole week leading up to it was pretty stressed and frazzly for me. I worked 6 of the 7 days before camp and was spending my free time running around and making sure all my ducks were in a row for the week ahead. It was the first time in this journey that I experienced a strong urge to stress eat. All I really wanted was a big bag of crunchy cheetos and pretty much anything made of bread. But I stayed strong! Stuck to veggies and turkey pepperoni (my favorite protein at the moment... 11 slices for only 1 point!) and hummus. I did splurge on some Reese's at one point late in the week, but I made sure to buy the fun size and portion them out so I didn't go over points all week.
And I was pretty pleased with how I did the week of camp/camping. I usually weigh in on Tuesday evenings, but since we were at camp I weighed in that week on Thursday afternoon. I wasn't able to track very well all week, but had premeditated that I wasn't going to worry about it. Even with all the stress of camp and not tracking all week, I still lost 1.2 pounds! I had set my mind that if I could just maintain my weight, not gain anything, I would be happy. But for all that and to still lose was pretty great! It made all that will power it took to not buy the family size bag of Cheetos SOOOOO worth it.
Since then, I have lost another .8 pounds. Since we've been back from camp, I haven't been to the gym. But I have been staying on my points plan, and have taken measures to ensure that I won't be able to brush it off or postpone it any longer this week. Summer is almost over, and I can get back to my usual routine just like everyone else. I'm looking forward to more awesome weigh-ins ahead! The next big star milestone as far as WW goes is my 10% star, which would be 28 pounds down and I hope (read: WILL!) hit in the next two weeks. Personally, I am looking forward to being at least 50 pounds down by Christmas. It feels like a crazy long ways away, but I know that time will FLY, just like it has the last couple weeks.
Thank you for your persistent support, and I look forward to sharing more and more good news with you as the weeks go by! I am thankful for each one of you!
Current weight: 262.4
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 127.4
Hello everyone! I knew I hadn't posted much in August, but when I signed in and say "last post: August 6th" I was surprised! I guess that's what it's like when time flies, right? On August 12th, I left for Summer Camp with our youth group, and when we got back on the 15th, I literally unpacked half my stuff, re-packed some fresh clothes, and turned back around and headed off to our family camping trip 2 hours later. Crazy! Since then there has been a lot of catching up to do... on laundry, on life, on errands, and finally on my blog.
I had a few pretty major roles at camp this year, and the whole week leading up to it was pretty stressed and frazzly for me. I worked 6 of the 7 days before camp and was spending my free time running around and making sure all my ducks were in a row for the week ahead. It was the first time in this journey that I experienced a strong urge to stress eat. All I really wanted was a big bag of crunchy cheetos and pretty much anything made of bread. But I stayed strong! Stuck to veggies and turkey pepperoni (my favorite protein at the moment... 11 slices for only 1 point!) and hummus. I did splurge on some Reese's at one point late in the week, but I made sure to buy the fun size and portion them out so I didn't go over points all week.
And I was pretty pleased with how I did the week of camp/camping. I usually weigh in on Tuesday evenings, but since we were at camp I weighed in that week on Thursday afternoon. I wasn't able to track very well all week, but had premeditated that I wasn't going to worry about it. Even with all the stress of camp and not tracking all week, I still lost 1.2 pounds! I had set my mind that if I could just maintain my weight, not gain anything, I would be happy. But for all that and to still lose was pretty great! It made all that will power it took to not buy the family size bag of Cheetos SOOOOO worth it.
Since then, I have lost another .8 pounds. Since we've been back from camp, I haven't been to the gym. But I have been staying on my points plan, and have taken measures to ensure that I won't be able to brush it off or postpone it any longer this week. Summer is almost over, and I can get back to my usual routine just like everyone else. I'm looking forward to more awesome weigh-ins ahead! The next big star milestone as far as WW goes is my 10% star, which would be 28 pounds down and I hope (read: WILL!) hit in the next two weeks. Personally, I am looking forward to being at least 50 pounds down by Christmas. It feels like a crazy long ways away, but I know that time will FLY, just like it has the last couple weeks.
Thank you for your persistent support, and I look forward to sharing more and more good news with you as the weeks go by! I am thankful for each one of you!
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Trial by Floret
Starting weight: 286
Current weight: 264.4
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 129.4
I have had a whirlwind couple of weeks, friends. It has just been one after another thing! For those of you that don't know, I work with a youth group here in Salem. We put on our own summer camp every year, and we leave next monday! I am pretty involved, and have a lot of projects for that adventure in the works. That, plus work and normal life I didn't get to writing a post last week. BUT I will make up for it with good news... I have passed the 20 pound mark! I am 21.6 pounds down total :-) Celebration! And even better, my weigh in this week was down 3.6 pounds even after some ice cream and fish and chips when I was at the coast last week. Delightful!
In all the craziness of the last few weeks, I am proud to say that I have stayed on plan. There have been some temptations, to be sure. But I just kept asking myself: "is this worth it?" Fresh Tillamook ice cream at the cheese factory? TOTES WORTH IT. And can I just say it is so much easier when people know that I am tracking then if they don't? I would probably be stressed out of my mind by now if I had been trying to do this in secret. It just works out way better for me, personally, if everyone knows. That way it isn't awkward if I pull my phone out at dinner to check the point value of something, or pass on dessert, or whatever. I think I talked already about my feelings that people were secretly watching and judging food choices I would make, and so to have all this out in the open takes all that pressure off. I haven't felt self conscious about it even once since starting this blog. Which is good. Really, really good.
I have been trying different foods lately, half for fun and half for health. You figure out pretty quickly some nice go-to food that is high power, low point value. For me, it's turkey pepperoni with hummus, some fruit or vegetables, and sometimes cheez-its. Delish! And I don't cook very often, but sometimes a recipe comes along that you just have to try. This week, it was cauliflower pizza crust. I have seen cauliflower bread things all over pinterest, and at first thought it sounded totally awful. But the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became. So, with the help of some friends, I tried my hand at two different recipes this weekend!
The first one was really pretty good, although I wished it was a little more cooked. The middle ended up a little soggy. But a coworker of mine who is gluten free told me about her favorite recipe, so I tried that one yesterday and let me just tell you, it was fantastic. I got the recipe from Sandy's Kitchen, a blog done by a woman following the Medifast diet. I made a few tweaks of my own, since I am not following the strict guidelines of Medifast, and between the instructions from Saturday, Monday, my own changes and some tips from my coworker, I'd like to present to you my trial-by-floret Cauliflower Pizza Crust recipe!
Is there a recipe that you have ever tried that sounded super strange but ended up being super tasty?
Current weight: 264.4
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 129.4
I have had a whirlwind couple of weeks, friends. It has just been one after another thing! For those of you that don't know, I work with a youth group here in Salem. We put on our own summer camp every year, and we leave next monday! I am pretty involved, and have a lot of projects for that adventure in the works. That, plus work and normal life I didn't get to writing a post last week. BUT I will make up for it with good news... I have passed the 20 pound mark! I am 21.6 pounds down total :-) Celebration! And even better, my weigh in this week was down 3.6 pounds even after some ice cream and fish and chips when I was at the coast last week. Delightful!
In all the craziness of the last few weeks, I am proud to say that I have stayed on plan. There have been some temptations, to be sure. But I just kept asking myself: "is this worth it?" Fresh Tillamook ice cream at the cheese factory? TOTES WORTH IT. And can I just say it is so much easier when people know that I am tracking then if they don't? I would probably be stressed out of my mind by now if I had been trying to do this in secret. It just works out way better for me, personally, if everyone knows. That way it isn't awkward if I pull my phone out at dinner to check the point value of something, or pass on dessert, or whatever. I think I talked already about my feelings that people were secretly watching and judging food choices I would make, and so to have all this out in the open takes all that pressure off. I haven't felt self conscious about it even once since starting this blog. Which is good. Really, really good.
I have been trying different foods lately, half for fun and half for health. You figure out pretty quickly some nice go-to food that is high power, low point value. For me, it's turkey pepperoni with hummus, some fruit or vegetables, and sometimes cheez-its. Delish! And I don't cook very often, but sometimes a recipe comes along that you just have to try. This week, it was cauliflower pizza crust. I have seen cauliflower bread things all over pinterest, and at first thought it sounded totally awful. But the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became. So, with the help of some friends, I tried my hand at two different recipes this weekend!
The first one was really pretty good, although I wished it was a little more cooked. The middle ended up a little soggy. But a coworker of mine who is gluten free told me about her favorite recipe, so I tried that one yesterday and let me just tell you, it was fantastic. I got the recipe from Sandy's Kitchen, a blog done by a woman following the Medifast diet. I made a few tweaks of my own, since I am not following the strict guidelines of Medifast, and between the instructions from Saturday, Monday, my own changes and some tips from my coworker, I'd like to present to you my trial-by-floret Cauliflower Pizza Crust recipe!
Cauliflower Pizza Crust
yeilds: 8 personal pizza crusts, 2 large crusts
Ingredients
- 1 head of fresh cauliflower (about 3 cups when shredded)
- 3 oz (6 Tbsp.) of low-fat ricotta
- 3 oz (6 Tbsp.) of low-fat mozzarella
- 2 eggs OR 3 egg whites
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1 tsp. basil
Directions
- Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Begin by "ricing" your cauliflower. AKA, grating it up until it sort of looks like small grain rice! A food processor does a really nice job quickly, but you can also do this with a manual cheese grater. Make sure and cut as much of the stem parts off as you can. The stem holds the most water, and it will make your "dough" sort of runny and less willing to stick together. When you are done, make sure there are no big chunks that escaped into your mixture. Also, if you notice a lot of moisture in your riced cauliflower, microwave it, uncovered, until it dries up a little bit.
- Mix in eggs and cheese, stir well. Then add your seasonings! You can put whatever herbs you like in your crust, I just went with traditional Italian sorts of flavors.
- Spread parchment paper over a cookie sheet, and begin to form your pizza crust with your dough mixture! You can make the crusts whatever size you want. And parchment paper is important because you're going to flip your crust half way through baking, so you have to be able to flip quick and not worry about the crust sticking to your pan. Using the back of a spoon, make sure to spread it pretty thin. The thinner the crust, the crispier it got. If it was even a little too thick, it ended up still tasting good, but being a tad spongy in the middle. Also, the crust isn't going to expand when it cooks, if anything it will shrink slightly. So don't worry about putting them too close together.
- Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. The edges might start to look burnt to you, but until they start turning black they are fine. Just remember that vegetables brown differently than bread :-)
- Once crust is golden brown, flip it! This is where the parchment paper is really great to have. Flipping the crust will help it brown evenly and not have a soggy bottom. Which no one likes! Once flipped, place it back in over for another 10-15 minutes, or nice and browned.
- After the crust is done, you have two choices! You can make your pizza right away, just put whatever toppings you like on it and then broil it in the oven until the cheese is melted. OR, you can freeze your crust! My coworker shared this tip with me. She will make a bunch all at once and then she has something tasty, healthy and fun to pull out for a quick dinner. To freeze them, just wrap them in tinfoil, with a slice of parchment paper in between each crust. Store flat!
Here is a picture of the first one I made. note the black edges! I was just fine, although the middle could have cooked longer.
Is there a recipe that you have ever tried that sounded super strange but ended up being super tasty?
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
5%
Starting weight: 286
Current weight: 272
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 137
Current weight: 272
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 137
I was thinking about that statement, that I "lost 5% of myself." But I really can't consider it a loss! It's a trade-up. Weight lost is just physical pounds, but the other benefits have been 10-fold awesome. The confidence that I have felt return in just a few weeks is astounding to me. Not a "look at me, aren't I awesome, I'm doing this thing that no one in the rest of the world has ever done before la la la" sort of way. There is just so much empowerment in sharing. I can't tell you how many people have come out of the wood work and told me that they have experienced the same feelings, same hesitations, same journeys as I am on now. This is one of the hardest things I have ever embarked on, and the fact that it is one of the most sensitive parts of my life made it that much harder to want to share. But that is exactly why I needed to. Plus the whole host of other benefits like accountability, encouragement, structure, support... the list goes on. And to know that there are others, some who you would never guess, who can suddenly identify with you on a whole new level just blows your mind.
So today I might have reached a weight loss milestone. 14 pounds down is not something I ever imagined myself being able to claim, never even visualized in my mind. When I would think about weight loss I would think two things: There was "oh man I have to join a gym I will probably hate that UGHHHH sweat and sore muscles and not knowing which machine to use and just ugh." Or I would think of how great it would be to be skinny. To not worry about trying to find jeans that fit, or squeezing in to a chair, or fearing other people seeing me eat a french fry and thinking "wow she really needs that?" (That isn't something anyone ever said to me, by the way, it was what my head was telling me they were thinking.) I never really considered the road to a weight loss goal, except that it would be hard. And hard takes time, and I didn't really have the time. But you know what? I DO have the time. It's amazing how much time I have for it! And when you share it with people, each success becomes that much more awesome and each failure becomes that much more encouraging. There isn't just that mean person inside my head telling me that I am not good enough: there are 100 people with a better perspective than I cheering me on and sticking with me. It is just plain wonderful. In other words, I may be 5% less of a physical person, but I am 100% a better person because of it.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
The First 10!
Starting weight: 286
Current weight: 276
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 141
It's official, the first 10 pounds are GONE! And, may I add, never to return.
Admittedly, I wrote my first post right before a meeting and my second post right after a meeting the next week, so last weeks reported loss was two weeks combined. I was a little discouraged that I was only down 1.2 pounds last week. My mom reminded me that I also started working out at the same time that I started Weight Watchers, so some of the weight I am losing is being replaced with muscle. But it gave me a little more get up and go for this past week, and not only was I down 3.4 pounds, but I hit the 10 pound mark right on the nose! Excitement!
Last week we talked about our trigger foods. Those things that we just can't seem to be able to resist. I've actually ended up polling different people this week to see what they can't seem to pass up, and the answers are so diverse! One person's downfall might be cookies, and another persons might be nachos. Mine is salty, snacky foods. Plain potato chips I can seem to pass by without too much ado, but good tortilla chips, Cheez-Its and anything with the word "cheese" in the title is pretty dang delicious to me. It all culminated in a little Points Plus research to see which of my favorite snacks had the lowest point values and to keep those numbers in the back of my mind when I'm craving something snack-ish.
Along with talking about our trigger foods, our challenge for the week was to really think about "is this worth it?" I pretty much ruled out potato chips. They are just not worth the points! But 27 Cheez-Its or 30 Juanita's tortilla chips are only 4 points. And for 4 points, I can justify a little snack action :-)
The hardest thing then, now that I know which snacks I like and which are better than others, is portion control. It's definitely a conscious thought process for me to set aside a serving and no more. But two things have helped me so far: One, pull out the serving and put the food away before I start eating! If I can't just grab another handful, it's easier to resist. Two, look up the point value of even 5 more pieces. It can jump one or two points sometimes, and that starts becoming more of an entree value then just a snack. Both have been effective so far, and I will keep making those decisions!
The whole philosophy of Weight Watchers is based in healthy habit forming. If you love pizza but you swear it off because you just can't keep control when you eat it, you are either going to end up bingeing on it OR developing a resentment for keeping track of your points. If you can't keep up the habit you're working on for a month, a year, or in 5 years, then is it the right habit to form? Maybe it's good in theory and just needs some tweaking. I am DEFINITELY interested in keeping this habit up for a very long time, so I want to really make sure the habits I am changing are for the better.
What is your "trigger food?" Is there something that you just can't seem to stop eating once you start, and what are some tricks you use to keep yourself on track?
Current weight: 276
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 141
It's official, the first 10 pounds are GONE! And, may I add, never to return.
Admittedly, I wrote my first post right before a meeting and my second post right after a meeting the next week, so last weeks reported loss was two weeks combined. I was a little discouraged that I was only down 1.2 pounds last week. My mom reminded me that I also started working out at the same time that I started Weight Watchers, so some of the weight I am losing is being replaced with muscle. But it gave me a little more get up and go for this past week, and not only was I down 3.4 pounds, but I hit the 10 pound mark right on the nose! Excitement!
Last week we talked about our trigger foods. Those things that we just can't seem to be able to resist. I've actually ended up polling different people this week to see what they can't seem to pass up, and the answers are so diverse! One person's downfall might be cookies, and another persons might be nachos. Mine is salty, snacky foods. Plain potato chips I can seem to pass by without too much ado, but good tortilla chips, Cheez-Its and anything with the word "cheese" in the title is pretty dang delicious to me. It all culminated in a little Points Plus research to see which of my favorite snacks had the lowest point values and to keep those numbers in the back of my mind when I'm craving something snack-ish.
Along with talking about our trigger foods, our challenge for the week was to really think about "is this worth it?" I pretty much ruled out potato chips. They are just not worth the points! But 27 Cheez-Its or 30 Juanita's tortilla chips are only 4 points. And for 4 points, I can justify a little snack action :-)
The hardest thing then, now that I know which snacks I like and which are better than others, is portion control. It's definitely a conscious thought process for me to set aside a serving and no more. But two things have helped me so far: One, pull out the serving and put the food away before I start eating! If I can't just grab another handful, it's easier to resist. Two, look up the point value of even 5 more pieces. It can jump one or two points sometimes, and that starts becoming more of an entree value then just a snack. Both have been effective so far, and I will keep making those decisions!
The whole philosophy of Weight Watchers is based in healthy habit forming. If you love pizza but you swear it off because you just can't keep control when you eat it, you are either going to end up bingeing on it OR developing a resentment for keeping track of your points. If you can't keep up the habit you're working on for a month, a year, or in 5 years, then is it the right habit to form? Maybe it's good in theory and just needs some tweaking. I am DEFINITELY interested in keeping this habit up for a very long time, so I want to really make sure the habits I am changing are for the better.
What is your "trigger food?" Is there something that you just can't seem to stop eating once you start, and what are some tricks you use to keep yourself on track?
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Brain Games
Starting weight: 286
Current weight: 279
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 144
Can I just say "WHOA."
You know sometimes there are things in your life that you just know about, things that are just truth and you don't think that you take them for granted, but you don't realize how powerful they are? That might be a poor explanation, but the outpouring of pure love and encouragement I got last week was just overwhelming. I knew that people would be supportive, but I guess I just didn't realize how much it would mean to me. It brought tears to my eyes with each new email and comment and phone call and conversation that I received from the people I love and cherish the most. So thank you for believing in me! I will most definitely have days where I need it more than others, and to know I have that to lean on in hard times is beyond words. I am so, so, SO deeply blessed.
Other news: I hit my first five pound mark! You get a little star sticker for you log each time you lose 5 pounds, so that was fun. Everybody at the meeting claps for you. I know it's not a huge deal, and it will be the first of many 5 pound stars, but it brought up something I am definitely working on in myself. Like I said in my last post, it is super hard for me to talk about this part of my life. I had been in WW for 2 weeks before I wrote my first post and shared with all of you. Even still, there are close friends that I haven't shared with because I just really don't like talking about my weight.
Getting that star made me blush. And I sat there thinking to myself "all of these people are here for the exact same reason I am! Why am I embarrassed in front of them?" For someone who is labeled an extrovert by many, I am very unsure of myself. I have been very good at editing my life and only showing people what I want them to see. I know that we all do that to a certain extent, but I was doing it so well and so often that there were whole segments of my life that different people knew nothing of.
In many regards, I know I am an over-analyzer. I don't like not being able to account for everything ahead of time, like who will all the guests be at a party, what am I going to buy at the store, how does this look to a stranger... Those sort of feelings make me very prone to concealing the parts of my life I don't think people would like or those that will make them see me differently than they already do.
Last week at my WW meeting, our topic of discussion was "the ripple effect." How the little changes that we are making for ourselves now will affect us or others. We heard stories from people right there in our group, of choices they had made that seemed insignificant in the moment but were really the stepping stone to something bigger. And it struck me in that moment that there were absolutely no negative stories. No on in that room regretting making the changes they had, and all of them could pin point specific turning point moments in their own weight loss journeys. Where something just clicked for them.
One story from a lifetime member particularly hit home: She joined WW in 2006 and didn't want to tell anyone. Only her husband and kids knew. But she worked closely with a unit of 5 other people, and one day she forgot to take her WW name tag off her coat and one of her coworkers saw it. She didn't intend on telling them, or even her closest friends. But once they found out, 4 of them joined up with her. Soon, people all over their office started noticing how their whole unit was losing weight and the HR department called her in for a meeting. They had heard she was the instigator of this healthy change, and wanted to know what it would take to spread it to the whole office. She connected them to the WW people, and they started a group in the office. It eventually got so big that it had to split into THREE separate meetings. She lost 100 pounds and has still kept it off, and even though she retired 3 years ago the groups are still going. Her one choice to start WW ended up being the catalyst for literally hundreds of people to make positive life changes.
It was funny because I had just published my blog right before I went to the meeting, and it was just confirmation of how important this blog is going to be for me. I need, WANT, to learn how to be comfortable being who I am. Truly who I am. Which is why step two comes right now: after a private message with a link to this blog to my closest friends is sent out tonight, I am going to share this link on my Facebook tomorrow. TRULY put it all out there. To everyone who knows me, or thinks they do. I thought sending this link last week was scary... yikes!
I am not inclined to believe that starting WW, joining a gym and starting a blog will instantly impact hundreds of people. But I do like the notion that this isn't just about me. And you all proved me right last week with your kind words and love. So I will continue with this venture! Aside from a healthy life, who knows what it could lead to :-)
Current weight: 279
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 144
Can I just say "WHOA."
You know sometimes there are things in your life that you just know about, things that are just truth and you don't think that you take them for granted, but you don't realize how powerful they are? That might be a poor explanation, but the outpouring of pure love and encouragement I got last week was just overwhelming. I knew that people would be supportive, but I guess I just didn't realize how much it would mean to me. It brought tears to my eyes with each new email and comment and phone call and conversation that I received from the people I love and cherish the most. So thank you for believing in me! I will most definitely have days where I need it more than others, and to know I have that to lean on in hard times is beyond words. I am so, so, SO deeply blessed.
Other news: I hit my first five pound mark! You get a little star sticker for you log each time you lose 5 pounds, so that was fun. Everybody at the meeting claps for you. I know it's not a huge deal, and it will be the first of many 5 pound stars, but it brought up something I am definitely working on in myself. Like I said in my last post, it is super hard for me to talk about this part of my life. I had been in WW for 2 weeks before I wrote my first post and shared with all of you. Even still, there are close friends that I haven't shared with because I just really don't like talking about my weight.
Getting that star made me blush. And I sat there thinking to myself "all of these people are here for the exact same reason I am! Why am I embarrassed in front of them?" For someone who is labeled an extrovert by many, I am very unsure of myself. I have been very good at editing my life and only showing people what I want them to see. I know that we all do that to a certain extent, but I was doing it so well and so often that there were whole segments of my life that different people knew nothing of.
In many regards, I know I am an over-analyzer. I don't like not being able to account for everything ahead of time, like who will all the guests be at a party, what am I going to buy at the store, how does this look to a stranger... Those sort of feelings make me very prone to concealing the parts of my life I don't think people would like or those that will make them see me differently than they already do.
Last week at my WW meeting, our topic of discussion was "the ripple effect." How the little changes that we are making for ourselves now will affect us or others. We heard stories from people right there in our group, of choices they had made that seemed insignificant in the moment but were really the stepping stone to something bigger. And it struck me in that moment that there were absolutely no negative stories. No on in that room regretting making the changes they had, and all of them could pin point specific turning point moments in their own weight loss journeys. Where something just clicked for them.
One story from a lifetime member particularly hit home: She joined WW in 2006 and didn't want to tell anyone. Only her husband and kids knew. But she worked closely with a unit of 5 other people, and one day she forgot to take her WW name tag off her coat and one of her coworkers saw it. She didn't intend on telling them, or even her closest friends. But once they found out, 4 of them joined up with her. Soon, people all over their office started noticing how their whole unit was losing weight and the HR department called her in for a meeting. They had heard she was the instigator of this healthy change, and wanted to know what it would take to spread it to the whole office. She connected them to the WW people, and they started a group in the office. It eventually got so big that it had to split into THREE separate meetings. She lost 100 pounds and has still kept it off, and even though she retired 3 years ago the groups are still going. Her one choice to start WW ended up being the catalyst for literally hundreds of people to make positive life changes.
It was funny because I had just published my blog right before I went to the meeting, and it was just confirmation of how important this blog is going to be for me. I need, WANT, to learn how to be comfortable being who I am. Truly who I am. Which is why step two comes right now: after a private message with a link to this blog to my closest friends is sent out tonight, I am going to share this link on my Facebook tomorrow. TRULY put it all out there. To everyone who knows me, or thinks they do. I thought sending this link last week was scary... yikes!
I am not inclined to believe that starting WW, joining a gym and starting a blog will instantly impact hundreds of people. But I do like the notion that this isn't just about me. And you all proved me right last week with your kind words and love. So I will continue with this venture! Aside from a healthy life, who knows what it could lead to :-)
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
On your marks, get set...
Here we are, the starting line. I am not entirely sure how to start this, so I am just going to cut right into it.
As many of you know, I've struggled with weight for a long time. Not so much in a super public way, since I am very shy about discussing anything related to my size or self esteem, but I think it has been noticeable. I've gone through more steady times than others, but for the better part of my 25 years I have been overweight. I have half-heartedly attempted a few things here and there, but never made it past a few days, maybe weeks without giving up. I'm a creature of habit, and I am weak.
I've tried to make up for that weakness by pretending that it doesn't bother me. That I am who I am and that is who I was made to be. And really, for a long time, that was true. For as long as I could remember I was always bigger than the other girls, so I didn't worry about it. Because it was just part of who I was.
But in the last few years, it has really taken a toll on me emotionally. The last 3 years have brought a lot of change in my life, and I was eating right through all of those emotions, never really dealing with any of them. And then my weight became something that overshadowed what I thought other people could possibly see in me. Friends, family, total strangers, it didn't matter. The way I saw it, the first thing everyone would notice about me was my size. So I pretended on the outside that it didn't matter, that I didn't care. But on the inside I was hurting, yet unwilling to do anything about it because I had myself convinced that I was beyond hope. That it was too hard and too much work, and that just like every other time I would fail.
And to top it all off, that's just half of a vicious circle! Because when I felt bad, I would eat; drown my sorrows in the very thing that was making me sad.
I am done feeling worthless. I am done sitting around.
I'm not interested in delving deep into my childhood to find some reason that I have issues with food, because I don't think it goes that far. I don't eat a lot because I wasn't hugged enough as a kid or anything like that. If anything it would have to be the opposite! But here is what it has been:
A coping mechanism.
An escape.
A hobby.
A treat.
A secret.
A crutch.
A power trip.
But no more! Through some prayer, encouragement and lots of pros-and-cons lists, I have taken two major steps toward a healthier life. One, I joined a gym. I have already started working it into my routine, and it is really empowering to walk out of there covered in sweat because I put in some good time there. Two, I have joined Weight Watchers. I have a whole host of tools with me at all times on my phone (AWESOME.) and the two meetings I have attended were super encouraging.
Already, some days are better than others. I have pitfalls and discouragements that still have and will continue to trip me up. But now I am learning to turn those moments into reminders and not excuses. I've already made conscious decisions based on my feelings the last time I did something I regretted later, all because I have decided to view them that way.
So far, I have only set a few small term goals. Lose 10 pounds, go to the gym 4 times a week, only have one drink at work... (for those of you that don't know, that's Starbucks.) But most of all, start this blog. Like I said earlier, I have a super hard time talking about myself in this way. Writing this blog will accomplish a few things at once for me. One, I have always sort of thought I could be good at writing a blog, but I never had a good subject matter to revolve it around. Two, I can put all my feelings down in words and put them out there for the whole world to see. (scary!) Three, I am so blessed to be surrounded by people that love me. Even if we have never breached this subject before, I want to share this journey with you. I NEED to share it with you. I will try to post at least once a week, but maybe more frequently. Most of all, I pledge to be honest. It would be super easy to edit my life down to the good parts for a blog. But life doesn't have a backspace! And while I will correct spelling errors and typos, I will not edit my life just because I can.
My long term goal is to lose 151 pounds. Practically half of myself! I thought long and hard about that goal, because it is substantial. But in the end, it seemed ridiculous to limit my goal setting just because it would make the overall number seem less scary. And I think I sort of needed a crazy number. Something that seems impossible. It will be that much sweeter when I achieve it.
So here we go! The journey begins. Thanks for joining me on it. Don't feel obligated to comment on or even read what I have to say... this isn't an exercise in vanity for me or a venue for flattery. It's an honest airing of something I haven't had the courage to put into words for far too long. So I'll quit rambling and end this post the way I will begin the rest...
Starting weight: 286
Current weight: 284
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 149
But no more! Through some prayer, encouragement and lots of pros-and-cons lists, I have taken two major steps toward a healthier life. One, I joined a gym. I have already started working it into my routine, and it is really empowering to walk out of there covered in sweat because I put in some good time there. Two, I have joined Weight Watchers. I have a whole host of tools with me at all times on my phone (AWESOME.) and the two meetings I have attended were super encouraging.
Already, some days are better than others. I have pitfalls and discouragements that still have and will continue to trip me up. But now I am learning to turn those moments into reminders and not excuses. I've already made conscious decisions based on my feelings the last time I did something I regretted later, all because I have decided to view them that way.
So far, I have only set a few small term goals. Lose 10 pounds, go to the gym 4 times a week, only have one drink at work... (for those of you that don't know, that's Starbucks.) But most of all, start this blog. Like I said earlier, I have a super hard time talking about myself in this way. Writing this blog will accomplish a few things at once for me. One, I have always sort of thought I could be good at writing a blog, but I never had a good subject matter to revolve it around. Two, I can put all my feelings down in words and put them out there for the whole world to see. (scary!) Three, I am so blessed to be surrounded by people that love me. Even if we have never breached this subject before, I want to share this journey with you. I NEED to share it with you. I will try to post at least once a week, but maybe more frequently. Most of all, I pledge to be honest. It would be super easy to edit my life down to the good parts for a blog. But life doesn't have a backspace! And while I will correct spelling errors and typos, I will not edit my life just because I can.
My long term goal is to lose 151 pounds. Practically half of myself! I thought long and hard about that goal, because it is substantial. But in the end, it seemed ridiculous to limit my goal setting just because it would make the overall number seem less scary. And I think I sort of needed a crazy number. Something that seems impossible. It will be that much sweeter when I achieve it.
So here we go! The journey begins. Thanks for joining me on it. Don't feel obligated to comment on or even read what I have to say... this isn't an exercise in vanity for me or a venue for flattery. It's an honest airing of something I haven't had the courage to put into words for far too long. So I'll quit rambling and end this post the way I will begin the rest...
Starting weight: 286
Current weight: 284
Goal weight: 135
Pounds to go: 149
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