Weight Watchers

Well, I took the plunge and went and signed up on Wednesday.  I decided to sign up using a monthly pass, so I figure I'll give it a try for a month and see if I like it.  I got all sorts of stuff - 3-month log book, a cookbook, dining out companion, complete food guide, a PointsPlus calculator, a book with a bunch of tips, and some coupons.  I haven't decided yet what days I'm going to go to the meetings yet. I'm going to a Weight Watchers store, so they're open 7 days a week, with multiple meetings each day.  I'm thinking I'll go on Tuesday mornings, because I am more likely to be off of work on Tuesdays. I didn't do so great yesterday when it came to my points, but I also didn't pay a whole lot of attention to them, either.  I just wanted to see how many points I ate without thinking about it, and it was WAY too many. 

We bought our plane tickets for our February Florida trip!  We leave 2 months from tomorrow. I'm so excited!  We'll be gone for 9 days, and it will be so great to be able to get away and spend time with my family.  I can't wait to bring my parents, especially my dad, to Disney, they haven't been in years!

I'm off work tomorrow and I'm happy about it - Cody's new restaurant is going to open tomorrow!!! I plan on going for lunch, and probably for drinks and dinner later on.  I'm so proud of him.  It's been hard and stressful on us both, but it's always great to see all the hard work pay off!

Struggling

I have found myself really struggling the last few days.  I meant to start counting calories/working out again today, but I just wasn't feeling like getting out of bed, and basically stayed there until I had to go to work.  I know things will get better, and I know that it won't be this way for long, but I can't help but be sad. 

I think I mentioned this before, but the owner of the restaurant that Cody works at is opening a new restaurant.  Although Cody is going to continue working full time at the restaurant he's at now, the owner wants him to sort of "oversee" this new restaurant.  When they opened the first restaurant, Cody worked a ton of hours over a few weeks - probably a month without a day off, working 12-15 hour days.  The last three weeks, Cody hasn't had a day off, except Thanksgiving.  For almost a month now, our schedule has been something like this:

8:30 - Cody wakes up
9:00 - Cody comes in and gives me a kiss goodbye
10:00 - I wake up
2:00 - I go to work
10:30 - Cody comes home and goes to bed
11:45 - I get home, Cody is sleeping

So the only communication between us has been the kiss in the morning, and a "hi babe, love you" when I get into bed at night.  I'm so proud of all that he's done - he helped open one hugely successful restaurant, and has now basically opened this second restaurant by himself, which I also know will be hugely successful.  I am proud that I married a hardworking, smart, creative man who I know will be able to provide for our family forever.  And I know that the past few weeks, and the next few weeks are going to come and go, and we'll get back to normal.  But I also know that I'm lonely, and I miss him.  He's my best friend, and I miss him. 

I was excited because they had originally planned on having the new restaurant open by Wednesday, and Cody would be able to take Tuesday off, and I also have tuesday off, so we'd finally be able to get some time to actually spend together.  Today, his kitchen manager quit.  There is no way that they would be able to hire and train a new kitchen manager by Wednesday.  They would need to hire 2 more cooks to fill the 50-60 hours that the kitchen manager would have been working per week, which means that a) they won't be able to open in time, and b) Cody is going to have to work harder than he already his.  I know he's stressed out, and I know he's exhausted, and I wish I could do something to make him feel better. 

I think I just needed to rant for a minute, I don't want to tell Cody how I feel, because that will stress him out even more than he already is.  So thanks for reading my vent.  :)

Post Thanksgiving Weekend

I have been so nervous for the past few weeks, because I volunteered to host Thanksgiving at our house this year.  This was the first time we had a house to have a Holiday get together in, and even though we didn't have a ton of space, I wanted to give it a try and see if I could do it. 

Cody and I found ways to fight most of the day, just because we were both worried about getting everything right.  We fought over small things, like when to put the rolls in the oven, how to make the gravy, dishes, etc.  But everything went great. My mom asked during dinner, "What is something that you are thankful for this year?". I am so thankful that I had a year full of so many great things, with an amazing husband by my side through it all.  I am so thankful for the life that we are building for ourselves, and the family that we surround ourselves with.  Of course, I wish that we could spend more time with each other, but I am glad to know that I am surrounded by some great people. 

I ended up going shopping early early Friday morning. I decided to go only to Old Navy, because I REALLY wanted some $15 jeans.  I ended up getting some other stuff too, and didn't spend a ton of money, so I was happy about that!  Other than that, this weekend has been spent working, putting up Christmas decorations, and sleeping.  Cody is working so much lately, that I hardly get to see him.  I've gotten to see him for a few minutes in the morning before he leaves for work, and then he's asleep when I get home from work.  I'm hoping there's only another week or two of hours like this.  He's had 1 day off (Thanksgiving) in the last 3 weeks, and he's not sure when he's gonna get another day off.  That's the life of a restaurant manager, I suppose. 

Here's my question for everyone reading this.......Do you count calories using MFP or sparkpeople?  Or are you a member of Weight Watchers? 

I have really been wanting to join weight watchers again.  I know that MFP is free and it works for a lot of people.....I just think that I want the accountability of going to a meeting.  I loved doing WW when I did it in the past.  I want to talk Cody into letting me to a 3 month signup, just to see how I like it, and if I don't like it, then I don't need to sign up again.  What do you guys think?

Quick Week Recap

Okay, so as I said, my dog ate my computer charger last week, and we finally got it so now I am back in the online world.

I've had a pretty dull week, honestly.  Nothing exciting. I made it to the gym twice last week.  Instead of running,I did the elliptical.  30 minutes both times.  It was pretty easy.  I need to go back again.  Katie from Runs for Cookies posted a running plan, that feels like it may be more my style.  She said that when she started running, she tried to do the c25k plan, and it was too hard.  I almost think that the reason I'm not having luck with it is 1)I'm lazy and find every excuse in the book not to run, and 2)I get to week 5 or 6, it doesn't ever really seem to get easier, and I quit.  She said that she did this "her way".  It starts out by literally only running for 30 seconds, and then walking for 29:30, for a total of 30 minutes.  The next day is running for 1 minute, then walking for 29 minutes.  It increases just a little bit each time, slowly.  Here is the plan:

 

I am thinking about starting tomorrow morning, but I do have a lot to do for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  I have to work tomorrow night, so I have to get a lot of stuff ready to go, since we are hosting Thanksgiving Dinner at our house this year.  I'm nervous, because we don't really have a lot of space, but we're going to make it work.  We have lots of wine and liquor, so maybe everyone will get drunk and forget about the lack of space.  :)

I haven't gotten to see too much of Cody lately.  The owner of the restaurant he works at is opening a new restaurant, and Cody is now like a "regional manager", where he oversees both restaurants.  They are hoping to open next week, so he has been working like crazy to get the place ready.  He's written the entire menu, picked out all the serviceware, hired everyone....he's basically done everything except for the decorating.  I'm so proud of him, but new restaurant opens are so stressful, he's been putting in so much work, and I haven't gotten to see him much.  I'm so thankful that he has Thanksgiving off, so we can all be together!  

I'm a little bit stressed out about my job as well.  We currently have 4 managers at my restaurant.  The GM (who has been with the company for a long time, but was transferred to my restaurant around the same time I got hired), one manager who has only been with the company for about a year (and I can't stand him, he's not great at his job, he messes up counting money and someday I'm afraid I'm gonna get in trouble for one of his mistakes), a manager who has been with the company, and at my restaurant for 5 years, and me.  Well, we got the news that the GM is going to be going back to the restaurant he came from, and we're getting a new GM.  I guess this GM has been with the company for a while, but he worked at a corporate restaurant, where my store is a franchise.  I love my GM, and I'm nervous that he's leaving.  Also, the manager who has been at my store for 5 years is leaving as well, and we are getting a new girl.  I know this girl, because she is a bartender/server at the restaurant I trained at, and I like her a lot, but I'm nervous because she's brand new, just like me.  With a new GM, a new manager, the manager I hate, and me, I can't say that I'm excited.  I am new to the whole restaurant manager thing, and I still need a lot of development, and I am fairly sure that there isn't a whole lot that two of them will be able to help me with.  The GM, because of how long he's been with the company, he might be able to help develop my skills, but I don't know for sure.  I guess all I can do is wait and see and hope that things go well!

Well it's bedtime for me, so I will keep you all updated on when I start the Runs for Cookies running plan!

Source: Runs for Cookies

BACK!

So, after waiting 10 days for our "expedited" shipping from Amazon, and realizing that the husband put our old address in for the shipping address and having to go down to the post office to pick up the package, my computer charger FINALLY is here!  I have a big catch-up post planned, but tonight is Breaking Dawn night, and I have a date with my sister planned for tonight, so I need to clean up my house and myself, so I will for sure be posting tomorrow! 

Thanks for sticking with me!!

Dogs sure like to eat cords.....

....which is why I  havent written in a while.  My puppy ate my computer charger.  This is the fourth charger shes chewed up, so its getting quite annoying.  we ordered two new ones from amazon, so hopefully they will be here soon!! When they get here, I will post a real update!

Starting Over...Again

Everyday when I wake up, I argue with myself in my head about going to the gym.  I want to go, I don't want to go, I miss it, I don't miss it.  I think that at the end of the day, I do miss going, and at night, when I go to bed, I wish I would have gone that morning. 

I think that I need to make a plan, and follow that plan.  Instead of just going when I feel like it I need to schedule times to go.  I need to put it in my calendar, like I would a meeting, or when I'm scheduled to work, and just do it. 

So I'm planning on going on Wednesday and Thursday and Saturday of this week.  If I'm able to keep those commitments, then I'll schedule 3 days next week.  It's getting to be the type of weather where I don't want to run outside because it's cold, so I would REALLY like to be ready to run a full 5k straight through come May when the Girls on the Run 5k happens.  If not more.

So that's my plan.  Get myself ready to run starting in 2 days.  :)

Make Ahead Steel Cut Oats!

A couple of days ago, Cody and I were driving around, because we haven't really explored the area around our house.  As we were driving, we found a cute little Amish store.  We love grocery stores, so we went in to see what they had, and we fell in love. They have so much cool stuff!  While we were there, we bought a pack of steel cut oats.  They are something that I've been reading about a lot, and I know how good they are for you. Since I have a new found love of oatmeal, I thought I'd give these a try as well.  I know they take a while to cook, so I found a recipe for Make Ahead Steel Cut Oats.

The recipe was super easy.  All you need is:

2 Cups water
2 Cups Almond Milk
1 Cup Steel Cut Oats
2 Bananas, mashed
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
2-3 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp Chia Seeds (The recipe called for 1 Tbsp of Flax Seed too, but I didn't have any)

First, you combine the water and the Almond Milk to a boil.

Then, you add the steel cut oats, and a pinch of salt, and reduce the heat to low.  Then you add the Chia seeds and mashed bananas.

Let it cook on low for about 20-25 minutes.  Then, add the cinnamon and vanilla extract.

You can eat it then, but I made it at night so I let it sit in the refrigerator overnight, to help the oats soften, and the flavors develop. 

When I got up this morning, I got a bowl of it. I decided to eat it just as it is.  I read that you can add all kinds of stuff to it, just like regular oatmeal, but I wanted to see what the flavor was like just as the recipe says.  And it was very yummy!
I'm going to play around with the recipe a little bit, and I will let you know when I find something delicious!!

Battles

I should be cleaning my house right now, but instead I'm thinking about the battle that constantly goes on inside my head. 

Today, I went shopping, which is something I rarely do. I hate spending money on myself, because I feel guilty. I feel like I should be spending money on something that Cody and I can do together, instead of something that is just for me.  Anyway, I went to Maurices to shop for jeans. I've never been there before, because I was always under the impression that they didn't have plus size clothes.  I generally get my jeans from Old Navy, just because I know they have my size, I know how they fit, and they aren't stupid expensive.  So, I wanted to try them on and see how they fit.  I generally wear an 18/20 in Old Navy pants. I looked at the 18 at Maurices, and they just looked way too small, so I got the size 20 and tried them on.  They fit everywhere great, except in the waist.  So, I got a 22.  It almost killed me to get a size 22, because not long ago, I was fitting into a 16/18, so the fact that I was going to be in a 22 did not make me happy.  Luckily, the size 22 was a bit big, so I didn't buy any jeans today. 

I did, however, buy some bras.  I went to Lane Bryant, because I am in desperate need for a good bra, and I have only gotten cheap ones from Target.  I used to be a 38B, but I gained weight, and I have turned into a 40C.  Well, today at Lane Bryant, I tried on a bra....and the 40C was too small.  I had to go up to a 42C.  In my mind, I keep telling myself that it's just because it's a different brand than I'm used to, when I know that it's probably just because I've gained more weight than I like to admit. 

I let myself slide a little too much on my weight loss efforts. I was doing so good, I was motivated, I liked going to the gym, and now, for some reason, I'm just not motivated.  Cody and I told ourselves that after our Disney trip, we would do everything we could to lose weight.  I want to be down at least 20lbs by the time we go back to Florida in February.  And we had talked about how we'd both like it if I was down 40lbs before we start trying to get pregnant.  Both of those things are great goals, and should be great motivators, but for some reason I just can't get my mind wrapped around it enough to keep myself on track.

I know that most people who are successful have something that happens - one monumental moment - where they say "thats it, I'm changing my life and I'm doing it for real this time".  I feel like I should have had many of those moments, but instead, I say "I'm doing it for real.....oh a cheeseburger!".  I need to figure out how to get myself to really feel like I want nothing more than to lose weight. I need to figure out how to make my love of food stop keeping me from my desire to be thin, fit, and healthy.