Month: November 2019

There are many versions of myself when it comes to my weight loss journey. Sometimes, I am “On Point Jenn” I’ve got things squarely under my control and the plan is humming along like a well oiled machine. Sometimes, I am “Fly By the Seat of My Pants Jenn” I’m improvising as I go and I’m doing my best to keep it together. Other times, I am “Checked Out Jenn” when old habits come back for a spell and I’m not engaging with WW. I don’t know how many of you can relate to this, but I think it would be a safe bet to say that quite a lot of you out there understand these scenarios.

Here’s the thing, I’ve got to learn how to love, really love unconditionally, the version I am of myself right now. Right now, by the way, I’m somewhere in between flying by the seat of my pants, and on point… Weight loss is difficult because it Is unrelenting. There really is no victory lap, touch down, or even GOAL! Weight loss is not a game, it’s a way of living my life. If I’m doing this for life, then I have to be very intentional as to why I’m doing this: I want to be in the best possible health I can be, I want to have the most energy, and I want to feel good about the way I look. These are the reasons that define my why. Another thing I know, love the path that will lead me to living my why.

I listened very carefully during my workshop, and I heard people celebrate what was working, commiserate about the struggle. I know I am not alone, and that helps. I also know that I’ve done this journey better in my past, but it’s not helpful to long for that version of myself. Doing that, longing for my past success, makes me feel weak. Instead, I what to build myself up and love that I am taking this on even if I’m not as confident as I have been in the past. Love is the thing that makes me strong so why wouldn’t I indulge those feelings for myself? My wish for you is that you are love the person you are right now – love the one you’re with. 🙂

It’s the eve before Thanksgiving, and back in the day, this was a night to go out have a few drinks, listen to a band, and catch up with friends who came home for the holiday. These days things are different. We did actually go out we saw Ford v Ferrari at the new AMC Cinema.

Then I came home to prepare stuffed mushrooms for baking tomorrow. Forget it, there is no way to count SmartPoints for them, they are loaded with butter and olive oil. As you can imagine, they’re so delicious. Again, this is a once a year kind of food.

So here are some things I’m grateful for before I call it a day and go to bed:

1. I’m grateful for my family and friends, for all the love in my life
2. I’m grateful that I am in good health.
3. I’m grateful that things at work have improved.
4. I’m grateful to work with children.
5. I’m grateful that I love where I live.

There is more, but I’m tired and I have to go to sleep so I can go to spin class tomorrow. It is going to be a whopping 90 minute ride.

Knowing that a bad day on plan doesn’t have to become a bad week, or month seems like it would be obvious, but it’s something I have to keep reminding myself. Today was a bad day on plan. It started out strong, I went to 5:15 am spin. I packed my breakfast and lunch. I came home, and was decisive about what to cook for dinner. Then… I didn’t track dinner, and I over did it later with snacking and dessert. I think it’s a combination of the behaviors that popped up while I was traveling (fewer healthy food options made it hard to be successful). Then I weighed myself in the morning, something I don’t usually do, and it looks like I went up. That was a little depressing.

Ok, ready… “BOO! WOO!” I think I’ve spent enough time feeling rotten about things, and now is the time to set myself up for a better outcome. I have done this before and I’m starting right now. While some days flow like clockwork, acknowledging that there are other days when this is just really difficult helps. It helps by taking off the internal pressure and negative narrative, “You’re messing up. Maybe you can’t do this.” If I stay in that place, those words will become my reality. Instead, I say, “Move on, and do better. You can do this, concentrate on what you will do next.” Do overs don’t follow a script but you know some helpful moves to make them stick:

1. Be an active thinker, and examine the internal dialogue that’s going on inside and take away the negative narrative.
2. Go through the motions of doing the plan. Go in the kitchen pack food for the day, and track it.
3. Get moving, keep up activity and nurture your positive energy.

That’s it, readers. I can do this, I believe in me. I hope you feel the same way about you.

Successful, but stressful first day back to work and family routines. I had to go food shopping after work today, and I really don’t care for that. I’m signed up for spin tomorrow morning, and it’s my priority to go. So tonight’s post will be one more short one. Tomorrow is another day and I am hanging in trying to do my best. That’s all I can do for now. Sometimes the most successful days can be the most stressful days on plan. It wasn’t the best day… I was not planned and I know planning makes all the difference for me. However, I am hopeful that tomorrow will be a much better day.

Today’s post will be a book end to Thursday’s post. Two short post with lots of action in between! I attended #NCTE19 at Baltimore MD. Sessions were great and I learned a lot. I am home with a head full of ideas, and SmartPoints balance next to zero heading into Thanksgiving week. I’m not going to let that bum me out because I know I have momentum on my side. I found it difficult to preserve my SmartPoints because there was not a lot of healthy food options. Everywhere I went the food choices I had available to me came up as a lot of SmartPoints. I put them all into my tracker and that is something; I did try, I skipped fries and substituted salad, I stayed away from trail mixes, in favor of lower point pretzels, I ate baked chips, and drank lots of water. I had to hunt down a banana and an apple at one of the hotels (that was almost impossible). The hostess wouldn’t take money for them, so I left her a tip by her scheduling book. It was a hectic busy trip for this skittish traveler. I’m happy to be home and I am going food shopping tomorrow.

I’m attending the NCTE National conference in Baltimore. I leave tomorrow. I am packed and ready to go. My plan to stay on plan is to try to eat mostly whole foods, drink lots of water, and use the hotel gym one morning/night. I am glad I have a plan, and I am going to try to remain flexible. More tomorrow.

When I came into work today, these two fine feathered friends on my featured image greeted me. So close to Thanksgiving I bet they’re happy to be touring elementary schools. Then, when I got home from work, my son came home from school just full of useful advice. He had listened to a dietician lecture about what we should, and should not be eating. He explained in great detail how meat products are extremely bad, they cause heart disease and cancers, and we should be eating more plant based foods. He said all of this, as though it should have been the revelation to me as it was to him. Ego and teenagers are close friends. Little does he know, that sans the degree, I am practically a dietician at this point. Years of being a WW member, reading countless books and articles, watching documentaries, and news programs, I have learned a lot about nutrition.

Here’s the thing, he does raise a good point though. Maybe we are eating too much meat. Maybe a few meatless meals a week, are a good idea. Don’t tell him I said so but he might raise a good point. As it happens I had planned to make the Butternut Squash Soup tonight – it was delish! I think I may try this Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash sometime over Thanksgiving weekend:

I guess my take-away from today is to be open to trying new things. Keep an open mind because maybe there is always something more to learn. And to try to live my life in a way that shows I really believe those things.

It was a busy day! I worked all day, I picked my my son from school, I ran some errands, and made dinner. Now I just feel exhausted. My body is saying, “Enough! Go to bed.” My muscles are all protesting my return to the gym. and all I can think of is an expression that I learned today,

“Pain is weakness leaving the body.”

Military Expression

Tonight’s post is short and sweet. I prepped dinner before I went to work this morning. I’m rolling over two SmartPoints, I went to spin, my lunch is packed, and the kitchen is clean. I’m proud of all of these accomplishments. Really, I knocked it out of the park, today. Go me. Sometimes you just have to be your own cheerleader.

I woke up hungry this morning. Being hungry is not a great thing for me. I find that if I get too hungry, I am more likely to lose control and overeat. The day began with eating an egg and a banana. Protein in the morning helps to curb hunger and keeps me satisfied longer. Later in the afternoon, I made the decision to eat an earlier lunch. I drank lots of water, but I was still hungry after lunch and resorted to eating my snacks. So on the drive home all I could do is drink some seltzer water.

Dinner was in the oven cooking (I had prepared a lasagna yesterday to cook today) so at least I didn’t have to spend so much time thinking about what to make. By the end of the day I had eaten all my SmartPoints. My day was balanced: Breakfast: 2 sp. Lunch 7 sp. Dinner 19 sp., Snack 2 sp. I feel good about my sense of control, and I think the reason why today worked out so well was because of planning. It did take a bit of time and effort over the weekend to plan but it all paid off today.