How did I get here?

First a bit of background...

Age 12: I start complaining to my friends that I'm "fat." (I'm already 5'8" at this point)

High School: I varsity letter in two sports (tennis and basketball). I'm never "thin" in the tradition sense but very fit and muscular.

College and the years after: I put on over 20 pounds.

The year before our wedding: I lose 25 pounds reaching my lowest weight since middle school and finally reaching my "happy weight".


And today...

I've gained 12 pounds since our wedding on 8/16/08. Ugh.

It was this recent picture of me that really brought the gain to my attention.

I compared it to a similar picture taken at my bachelorette party in 2008.


So I admit that the 2008 picture angle is better and the outfit is more flattering. But the 12 pounds is definitely noticeable in my legs, tum, and face. And I can feel the gain in way my pants fit.

Now I need to lose weight. Again.

I'm embarrassed to be back here.

I keep asking myself, "how did I get here?!"

But I know the answer... I got here by working out less and not tracking how much I eat/drink.

I have to lose the 12 pounds before 12 becomes 20 again.


So what's the plan?

The plan is start tracking how much I eat and drink using Weight Watchers points again.

I'm also jumping back on the workout train by:
- Hitting the gym 2 times a week
- Doing yoga 1 time a week
- Walking or hiking 1 time a week
- And for something new, swimming 1 time a week

My goal is to lose 10 pounds.



I'm posting this here to a) keep it real with you all and b) create some motivation and accountability for myself

I hope that in 6-10 weeks I can post a success story here!



Does anyone have any other tips for me?

Our Weight Loss Story

Before you all knew us as the Newlyweds Next Door, we weren't always the fittest couple.

We both were Varsity High School athletes. But once we went to college and lost our team workouts we definitely let the fitness slide. Add in a steady diet of beer and Del Taco and our weights shot up.

But even after college, the weight didn't melt away. In fact for me, I hit my heaviest weight in Summer 2007 (by that Summer the Mr. had already taken off a few pounds from his heaviest weight in 2006).

In Summer 2007 I decided that it was time to lose the weight for good and over the next year I lost 25 pounds!


Take a look at our befores and afters:


How did I do it?*

1. Weight watchers. Religiously counting points and sticking to it. I've gone on and off it, but it always works for me if I don't cheat.
2. Cutting out ALL artificial sugars. That means no yogurt with fake sugar, no diet sodas, not sweet & low in my coffee. If I want sugar I eat the real thing and count the points. To this day I don't eat fake sugar.
3. Eating small dinners of mainly veggies and protein. I realized on weight watchers that by dinner I only had about five or six points left. Which meant that most dinners became pretty light, which is funny because usually dinner was the heaviest meal of the day. Not to say that I don't eat big dinners sometimes on weekends, I just try to limit myself during the week.
4. Working out three or four times a week. This is an area where I could do better. But for me weight loss is more about food intake than workouts. The fact of the matter is I often don't have time to work out during the week with my work and travel schedule, so I just try to eat healthy.
5. Drinking lots of water. I try to drink at least 60 ounces of water a day.

*Quick caveat... I know I'm still not the thinnest girl out there. I never have been. I've been 5 feet, 8 inches since I was 13 years old and I'm built from large Scandinavian stock. So growing up I felt "fat" a lot even thought I was just tall and broad. After losing the 25 college lbs I am now at what is considered a healthy weight for my height, and I finally feel happy with my size.


But the Mr's weight loss story is truly incredible. Over two years he lost 60 pounds! He doesn't even look like the same person!

How he did it:

1. Joining a gym and working out four or five days a week
2. Cutting out fast food
3. Eating smaller dinners

No special secret sauce there, huh?


My health goals for 2010 are to continue to do weight watchers and eat more organic food. I know that I would be healthier if I ate more organic, but it's so much more expensive. Sometimes I just can't bring myself to spend the money on it even though I know I should, ya know?


Want to see more weight loss stories and ideas? Check out Kelly's Korner this week!

WWW - Recession Edition

I haven't done a Weight Watchers Wednesday in forever, mainly because I'm not doing WW consistently. I've had to trim out going to meetings from my budget. And I've plateaued at about one pound over my goal weight and I am OK with that.

I do still keep track of points most days. It helps to remind me of how much I should be eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But I use a non-sanctioned weight watchers tool (i.e. FREE!).

My free weight watchers system includes:
1. My own points tracking spreadsheet. I've uploaded it to google docs here so you can download it and use it if you want. It has some formulas in it!
2. A free list of points found in most foods on website here.
3. A free weight watcher points calculator here.

What free weight watchers or other diet tools do you use?

WWW and Diet Soda

I know I've slacked the past couple of weeks in doing Weight Watchers Wednesday... but I'm back!



I went to my WW Meeting on Monday and in two weeks I'd lost two pounds! Yay! I'm now only about 2 lbs from my goal-weight. Those stubborn last few!

At the WW meeting we got in a discussion about beverages and the WW points in various beverages. Eventually we ended up debating diet soda.

Diet soda has zero points, but according to our leader there are several studies that say that the fake sugar in diet soda that sets you up to crave real sugar and you end up eating more sugary things and gaining weight. Some ladies in the meeting strongly disagreed with these studies and some had anecdotes of losing weight just from cutting diet soda.

I'm not a big soda drinker, but I have a personal anecdote about fake sugars... about a year ago I quit putting artificial sweetener in my daily coffee (I put non-fat milk in only) and quit eating my daily non-fat yogurt with aspartame in it (now I eat the more natural low-calorie yogurt). My sweets cravings were noticeably reduced and I lost about 5 lbs around that time.

So what do you guys think about fake sugars? Diet Soda - friend or foe?

Weight Watchers Wednesday -- Working Toward Lifetime

Hello to all the WW ladies out there! How was your week?



I went to WW last night and I'm down .5 lb (so basically no change but at least no gain). I skied a lot for exercise this week, but also ate at lot at Breckenridge. So that makes sense.

The meeting leader last night talked to me about becoming a WW Lifetime Member. In order to become lifetime, I only need to lose 5 lbs! So exciting!

Is anyone else a Lifetime Member?

Weight Watchers Wednesday

So after some holiday binging, I'm jumping back on the "fit train" and doing a fun thing called Weight Watchers Wednesday that some other bloggers started.

Here's my Weight Watchers weight loss story:

• Summer 2007: Weighed the most I've weighed in my life. Started Weight Watchers online.
• Spring 2008: Down 22 lbs! Woo Hoo! No more WW for me.
• Summer 2008: Maintained weight, got married.
• Fall 2008: Gained 4 lbs.
• Christmas 2008: Gained 4lbs.
• January 2009: Up 8 lbs since reaching my goal weight. Re-joined Weight Watchers with a co-worker. Went to my first meeting on Monday!

Here are a couple of great Blogs for those looking for Weight Watchers Inspiration:

• Founder of Weight Watchers Wednesday, Mrs. Mojito
• Weight Watchers Changed My Life

Have any of you done Weight Watchers? Do you have any success stories? Failures (hopefully not)? Tips?