The Thanksgiving Day Jitters

Thanksgiving is just a couple short days away and I am semi-terrified. I know that it would probably be best if I allowed myself to have a taste of some of my favorite foods, but I just don't know if I can or, more accurately, if that's a very good idea. It took me a good 4 days to get myself back on track after eating one slice of German chocolate cake a couple weeks ago and I don't know if I am ready put myself in that position again.

I'm in a mild ketogenic state and I want to keep it going for maximum fat loss! I invested in some Ketostix which measure the amount of Ketones in your urine. In the absence of glucose or sugar, the body obtains the fuel it needs by breaking down body fat. The result of this fat breakdown is that the liver produces fatty acids which produce ketones. So, when using Ketostix, you can tell how efficiently you are burning fat due to your low-carb diet and exercise program. It is important when doing this to also consume large amounts of protein (approximately 1 gram for each pound you weigh) to prevent the body from breaking down muscle tissue for energy. I've lost 21 pounds and 2 dress sizes in 7 weeks using this nutrition plan.



We have one remaining weigh in before the end of the Biggest Loser and I want to do well. Regardless of the outcome I will still have a gym membership for 3 more months, but it would be really nice to win some more free months by placing third. I don't care about winning as much as being healthy and I am willing to put in the work in the gym. The thing is... after March I won't be able to afford it.

I'd say, "I'm crossing my fingers" or "I hope it goes well," but screw that! I'm not just going to sit around and hope/wish that things magically end up the way I want them. I am going to PUT IN THE WORK. If I don't place in the top 3, no big deal. At least no one can say that I didn't try.

Some Days You Win, Some Days You Don't Play The Game

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Mostly I am just writing because I challenged myself to 90 posts in 90 days to help hold myself accountable. Nutrition-wise, today was great. Exercise-wise, today was not so great. I had told myself I was going to go to a fitness class today, but I came up with every excuse in the book for why I shouldn't go. I told myself I could save money by not using the gas for the 40 minutes round-trip and that I could just use the elliptical and other pieces of equipment in my home (which I didn't). Some of the other excuses included things that I should do that I also put off, such as studying for my licensure exam and writing "Thank You" cards.

Tomorrow is a new day.

90 in 90 Challenge/ Biggest Loser Program

I've decided to challenge myself to 90 posts in 90 days, no matter how short. This is similar to what some substance abuse programs suggest (90 AA/NA meetings in 90 days). Let's face it, food is most certainly a substance that many of us get addicted to. I recently had a slip (mini relapse) after eating a full slice of my own, homemade German chocolate cake. That one piece of cake had me fiending for simple carbohydrates for days. Before eating the cake, I was hardly craving carbs at all due to the nutrition plan I have been on since early October.

The Biggest Loser program I am currently a part of has us on a 60%-20%-20% macronutrient plan.

What does that mean? Well, firstly, the major three macronutrients that we need in order to function are fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. Carbohydrates are essentially anything that comes from the ground and consist of sugar, starch, and fiber. As we all know, not all carbohydrates are made alike and complex carbs are better than simple carbs. So, 60% of my calories are supposed to come from protein, 20% from carbs, and 20% from fat.

How do I calculate that? First multiply your current weight by 7. This will give you your daily caloric intake target.

Protein: Multiple your total calorie target by .6 (60%) to get the total number of calories per day to consume in protein. Then, divide that number by 4 (there are 4 calories per gram of protein) to get the number of grams to aim for. 
Carbs: Multiply your total calorie target by .2 (20%) to get the total number of calories per day to consume in carbohydrates. Then, divide that number by 4 (there are 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate) to get the number of grams to aim for.
Fat: Multiply your total calorie target by .2 (20%) to get the total number of calories per day to consume in fats. Then, divide that number by 9 (there are 9 calories per gram of fat) to get the number of grams to aim for.

I use My Fitness Pal to keep track of my nutrition and exercise. There is an option to within the "Goal" tab to customize your goals. If you don't feel like doing ALL of the math all you need to do is set your daily caloric intake target and tell it what percentages you want to aim for in terms of the macronutrients.

This is the bare bones of the initial Biggest Loser nutrition plan. More on this later...

I am NEVER. Giving. Up. Period.

I have been deciding for months whether or not I wanted to start blogging again. I originally thought that what was holding me back from blogging on this particular subject was a lack of motivation, but now I realize it was probably more of a lack of faith in my ability to follow through with weight loss. Over the past couple of years I have had a lot of false starts, but I don't think that is the case now.

So, if you didn't know, at the end of 2009 I reached my Weight Watchers goal weight of 137 lbs and even got down to 132lbs. After I started grad school everything went right out the window! My grandfather died, I had a minor existential crisis, and I began eating my feelings again. On top of being a grief-stricken, full time grad student, I was also balancing multiple jobs to make ends meet. I was spending a lot of time in the car and driving from client to client. I have a tendency towards trying to be perfect at everything, but I'm usually only able to master one role at a time. I ended up being a successful student to the detriment of most other areas of my life. The area that took the biggest hit was my health.

So much happened after grad school. I got married, went on my honeymoon, was lucky enough to land a great job right out of graduate school, and closed on a house just under a year from graduation. Even the positive things in life bring stress and my drive to achieve certain things definitely interferes with other goals. I tend to be so consumed with that one thing I want that everything else fades away.

After all of those events passed, I realized that I had no excuses left to justify not attending to my health and weight. By this time I had gained 30-40 pounds in a one year period and weighed 211 pounds. I decided to take the rest of my flex spending and enroll in The Biggest Loser program at a gym 20 minutes away from our house. Since October 10th I have lost 17 pounds and am down to 194. I am completely motivated and I hope to use this blog to share with you what happens along the way on my journey to reach a healthy weight.

Why Do I Fight it?

I really don't understand why I fight it. I just finished day 1 of the fitness challenge. I completed a 20 minute circuit routine on Jillian Michael's Fitness Ultimatum 2010, 15 minutes cardio on my elliptical, and a 5 minute ab routine. I feel wonderful! However, it's now 10 o'clock at night and I still have some reading to do.

I also wanted to share a product with you that my friend introduced me to. For all those who love hummus as much as I do, check out Super Hummus by Nasoya! It is only 1 POINTS PLUS(PP) per serving. So, I just made a delicious low carb wrap with hummus, lettuce, carrots, and orange bell pepper as my post workout snack for a total of 3PP. I am about 5 points under target today, but I think my body is still recovering from the weekend.

Hitting the shower, then reading before bed. Tomorrow it's back to the grind, but hopefully my focus on activity and nutrition will fuel me through the long days. Today also marks 1 week without caffeine!

Fitness Challenge

Today starts day 1 of the fitness challenge.

So far, I only have two friends participating in the challenge with me, but I think it's going to be fun. This months' challenge is to be active five days a week for 30 days for a minimum of 30 minutes. Every time we complete our activity we are going to text each other with what we did and for how long. If one of us doesn't meet the challenge for the week, it starts over. Only when the 30 days are completed will we move on to the next challenge.

I want to start the challenge off with a bang by working out on day 1. I am really looking forward to having some support in fitting in exercise. I haven't had caffeine in a week and my goal is to use a combination of a morning exercise routine and proper nutrition to get me charged for long days of graduate school and work. BUT, I need people to hold me accountable for what I say I am going to do. I should probably get off of the couch right now, but I am 1.) very hungry and 2.) have a lot of homework to do.

Time to figure out what I am going to eat for dinner. I have 21 points left for the day, but I don't see that happening. One thing I LOVE about the new WW program is that you don't have to eat all your points every day. Some days, I'm just not that hungry. I am so glad they are focusing on how satieted you feel.

Confessional:
St. Patty's day I had three beers. I don't usually drink beer, but I'm part Irish and it was a holiday. Cost=10 flex points
I ate 1/2 a piece of greasy pizza after a bottle and a half of wine. I'm pretty sure my flex points are gone. Cost=most likely the rest of my flex points.

So after dinner, it's time to Move That Body

Sweet Serendipity

Sweet Serendipity by Lee DeWyze sums up how I am feeling about today.

Early today I wrote about wanting to go back to Weight Watchers, but was feeling unable to pay the $12/meeting. Sweet serendipity stood in today! I was in JCPenney's looking for something to get with my coupon ($15 off $15) when I ran into my old WW Leader and receptionist! I found out that I only have to weigh in and pay once a month and can go to as many other meetings as I want! 45 minutes later I was in a meeting.

I feel so energized right now. I love the positive energy in the meetings and the support cannot be paralleled. I've tried doing it online, but I need person to person contact.

When I went to go step up on the scale I knew exactly what it was going to say, so I asked if I could start fresh. I didn't want anyone to say out loud "you've gained 25 pounds in 6 months". Not that anyone would really say it like that, but in my head that's what it would sound like. So, new starting weight! New goals!

I am completely re-charged. I got out my garage sale "price" tags to label the cost of my food and took my measurements. I thought of posting my new "before" picture on here. Should I?

Current measurements:
Bust- 40"
Natural Waist- 32"
Belly- 37 1/2"
Hips- 41 3/4"
Thighs- 26 1/2"
Arms- 14"

I just finished a glass of wine. WHO CAME UP WITH THESE SERVING SIZES? Four ounces...really? I went by the meniscus!

Anywho...time to work on those inches and get on the elliptical and watch the end of American Idol!

My Subtitle Needs Upgrading

It's been nearly a year since my last post and this first post of the year feels like it may be a confessional. Forgive me readers for I have...stumbled.

This past year has been difficult. I was doing really well with maintaining my weight loss until I started graduate school, and then, I gained 10 pounds. Then my papa died and I gained 15 more. I had just started to lose some of what I had gained when my boyfriend of 2 years and I parted ways just in time for the holidays :(. At 5'2" I now weigh 161 pounds.

So, here I am world! Overweight again. The trials and tribulations that have taken place over the last 6 months have helped me to realize that my subtitle is highly inaccurate. There is no LAST JOURNEY for a person who suffers from food addictions. It is a lifelong battle, but it's one that I am willing to fight. I have been anorexic, I have been bulimic, I have been/am a compulsive over-eater, but I want to be healthy. I will be healthy.

It got to the point a couple of weeks ago where I was so disgusted with myself and guilty after a day-long binge, I had a relapse. That happened a couple of times that week, but hasn't happened since. Now that I live alone, I have to try to figure out how to prevent myself from overeating and binge eating. In the past, I have always lived with people and their presence would always prevent me from overeating because the amounts I sneak in are embarrassing. I used to overeat when no one was around, but these days, that condition exists almost always!

So, what am I going to do about it? I'm not really the kind of person that can complain about something incessantly without doing something about it. Constant complaining without action annoys me when anyone does it.

What I've done so far:

• I stocked up on healthy foods and low cal snacks because I am a snacker! The heavier, unhealthy foods are depleted--I'm not replacing them.
• I made homemade chicken noodle soup with 99% fat free broth, lean chicken, and whole grain noodles.
• I made a hot playlist on playlist.com that I linked to on my Facebook page.
• I ACTUALLY GOT ON MY ELLIPTICAL yesterday and did a circuit routine for about 45 minutes.
• I started writing about my relationship with food again.

This last item is probably one of the most important things for me and hopefully I get some of my readers back. I haven't gone to Weight Watchers(WW) since summer because I can't afford it. Even though I am a lifetime member, because I am overweight, I would have to pay. $12 is just too much! But WW meetings was where I got a lot of my support and I thrived within the cognitive behavioral framework.

Even though I am in graduate school and work, I am going to try and fit in blogging whenever possible. My hope is that it can be a coping skill where I can unload here, instead of loading my body with food.

Recipe: Crispy Sesame Ginger Turkey Wrap!

Hello hello! I should be at Weight Watchers right now, but I am out of gas *sigh* and I put in my two weeks notice at work. Conservation mode here I come! I look forward to my WW meetings, but I usually go visit my mother right after and tonight she's going fishing. I just can't justify spending $5 on the drive right now. My income is about to drastically changed, so I need to spend the time instead blogging (LOL) then applying to more jobs like a mad lady.

Tonight I want to share something with you that I threw together last week that I believe is...amazing, or at least really good.

Crispy Sesame Ginger Turkey Wrap!

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Ingredients:


1 Flatout light wrap (or other high fiber wrap)

2 ounces Jennie-O lean turkey ham (or other lean turkey cold cut)
cubed

2 T Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing

1/2 -3/4 cup broccoli slaw



Nutrition Facts: 195 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 10.5 grams of fiber for 4 POINTS and 42% of your daily fiber


Drizzle the dressing over the ingredients in the wrap, roll up, and enjoy! I love the crunch factor in this wrap. I found it to be delicious, filling, and satisfying orally and visually.



$$$$$ Saving Tips $$$$$



For crazy people like me who may have just quit a job they hate or like saving money.

1.) I buy the big block of Jennie-O lean turkey ham, weigh out 2 ounce slices/chunks, bag them individually in freezer bags and place in a container in the freezer.

I am not a fan of things going bad before I get to eat them and that's usually what happens when I eat the appropriate portions. You save money by buying in bulk and by not having to throw out old cold cuts. This ham is very versatile as well. I've used it in breakfast omelettes, on salads, and in another recipe of mine, Light Turkey Carbonara.

2.) Broccoli Slaw is much cheaper at WalMart instead of getting the one endorsed by HG at the supermarket. That's the one I buy and I haven't died yet.

WW Topic of the Week: Monitoring Yourself

What a great feeling it was to be back at Weight Watchers this week after missing last week's meeting due to surgery! The support I get there is amazing and I love being surrounded by so many kind people with similar goals.

This week's topic was monitoring yourself. There are many different ways to monitor your progress from day to day. The primary monitoring tool I use is clothing; if I'm dancing into my tightest fitting jeans with a few extra hops, I know I've been a little too relaxed with my food intake and exercise plan.

The goal for this next week is to monitor myself in a couple different ways. I would like to track my intake every day and make sure I'm getting proper nutrition and I would like to continue blogging, paying special attention to emotional triggers.

Controlling the Cost of Snacking

For many people, including me, random compulsive snacking can add up! The cost often ends up being more than you wanted to pay.

Today I had some extra time on my hands and spent approximately 20 minutes making a snack drawer using a pile of snacks, snack bags, and garage sale pricing labels. I labeled each bag or bar with the appropriate POINTS value and put all the remaining boxes and bags of snacks out of my reach.

Not everything in the drawer is a filling food, but at least it's all portion-controlled.

In my snack drawer you will find:

Weight Watchers Bars

Pretzel Snacks

Quaker Delights Bars

Smartfood

Fiber Bars

Pistachios

Almonds

Dark Chocolate covered Espresso Beans

Sugar Free Jelly Belly Beans

Quaker Delights Rice Snacks

Crackers

What's in your drawer?

I'm off to family night at my mother's house! We'll see how I navigate that experience. I'm bringing a snack and a couple 4C's sugar free tea2go packets (I love the Red Peach Tea) because her cooking can often be delicious, yet disasterous.

Re-committment

Hello...hello! My apologies to all. I have been dealing with some medical issues this past month or so. I had a tumor in my salivary gland that had to be removed. It was removed this past Monday and was benign, so now I'm ready to get back in the swing of things.

When I first found out that I had a tumor I was fairly angry. I've done all this work to be healthy and then I found out at my fittest that I had a medical issue! I really was floored. But now I am ready to recommit to my health and fitness. Since making my goal weight it seems that each week I became more and more lax about my eating habits. What I noticed the most was that I stopped paying attention to portions sizes and stopped journaling my food. These two things combined could have really done some damage. When I met made lifetime for Weight Watchers I weighed in 4 pounds below my goal weight at 131, currently I am weighing in at about 135, but before my surgery I was all the way up to 138. They say that a five-pound weight gain after significant loss should be a warning bell, so I consider myself warned. It's time to recommit to this lifestyle. It's obvious that the habits I've learned are not second nature, so I need to keep working at it.

One thing that really helps me stick with it is constantly looking for and finding new healthy foods. Here are some of my most recent finds

Kellogg's Special K Fruit Crisps 2 POINTS
Pros: A great on the go breakfast with a cup of coffee
Cons: Not the most filling, makes a mid-morning snack a must

Imagine Organic Soups 2 POINTS
So far I have only tried the Butternut Squash soup, but it was both delicious and filling

I'll be back soon with more updates

Struggling

Right now I'm struggling.

I have no idea where I am weight-wise. I keep telling myself, I'll track what I eat tomorrow. Pretty soon tomorrow has to turn into TODAY or I am going to spiral out of control. Right now I am even making cookies!

The one thing that I have going well right now is activity. My boyfriend and I have a gym membership and he's been on me to go every free moment we have. On the one hand, I'm grateful for the support and encouragement, but then there are times...when I just want to be in bed! I really haven't been feeling well lately. Lately meaning the last 2 months or so. I've always been a sleeper, but now I can't get enough sleep no matter how long I'm out for. In the past going to the gym has given me bursts of energy that keep me up through the night, but lately when we go, it seems that I come back feeling good momentarily then I crash and burn. I'm just exhausted. I should be in bed right now, but unfortunately, it's not like it's going to matter. I'm still going to be tired in the morning, all day, and all night.

Weigh-In

Wow! I couldn't believe I made my weigh-in. I weighed in at 135.8, only .8 above my goal. Thank goodness I joined the gym and made some healthy substitutions in my meals. I don't usually like salad, but I found a dressing that is absolutely delicious and that is the Newman's Own Light Up! Sun Dried Tomato Italian dressing. One tablespoon is only one point, is very flavorful and goes a long way.

On the not so disciplined side of things, I ate half a pizza tonight. I made a somewhat home-made pizza with reduced fat cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and mushrooms on a whole wheat crust. The ingredients sound fine until you factor in portion size. I think that's one thing that gets a lot of us. We end up snacking mindlessly and perhaps we justify it to ourselves by saying, "Well, this was sugar free, and that was reduced fat so how bad could it have been?" But when you don't journal your calories or POINTS and you don't watch portion size, the odds are you're doing a lot more damage than your willing to let yourself think.

After indulging on pizza, I relaxed for quite a while in front of the TV and wanted to blow off the trip to the gym because I was tired. Of course I was tired! I worked a full day, carbo-loaded, and parked my tuchus on the couch. Fortunately, my boyfriend didn't let me get away with it, so I just returned from a late-night gym trip and I feel so much better!

I'm back! Plus, 1st Workout in 1.5 months!

This is my first post since after Thanksgiving. The holidays came and went after I met goal and I have gone off of plan. Maybe it comes from feeling a little too confident and underestimating the power that food has over me, but currently I am weighing in at 4 pounds over goal. I have gone to my Weight Watchers Meeting every week, but so far this month, I have not weighed in. I have hardly weighed myself at home either. Combined with my excessive snacking, this has been a recipe for disaster. I can feel the extra few pounds.

Monday when I weigh-in I am probably not going to be exactly at goal, but maybe I can at least get to 137, so that I can be one month closer to having maintained my goal weight(within two pounds) for a year. Not all is lost because of a few pounds.

What went wrong:

I've been really stressed lately because I HATE my primary job and I'm trying to get find a new job and get into graduate school. I eat and snack more when I am upset and/or on the go and I have not been tracking what I eat.

What I'm going to do about it:

I am going to put my POINTS journal out where I can see it. I spent money on it, so I might as well use it because it's an excellent tool. I'm not going to let a single morsel go untracked. Also, tonight my boyfriend bought us a membership to one of the local gyms. It's actually helpful that he made the purchase in more ways than just the obvious; because he paid for it, I'll be even more motivated to make use of the membership so I don't waste his hard-earned money. I'm hoping that I can use the gym as a stress management tool as well. If I go before I reach for the chips, I'll be less likely to reach for the bag when I get home. Why ruin all my hard work?

Tonight I did 30 minutes of cardio between two machines and also used some of the strength training equipment. I didn't want to push myself on the first day, but we do plan on going back tomorrow afternoon before I go to work at my second job.

Gearing up for Holiday Chaos & The Skinny on Fiber

My Weight Watcher meeting leader has been having us pass in our *completed* trackers every week through the holiday season for a raffle. Along with continued blogging, that has really kept me on track with my nutritional and fitness goals throughout maintenance. Today I was looking at this weeks tracker and noticed that I've been filling up the page every day without going over my daily POINTS target as compared to the last two weeks when I might have only filled half a page.

Not only does it look good on paper, but I feel great. Snacking and having small meals more often has kept my hunger at an even keel and the constant tracking has spiked my vigilance to adhering to the good health guides and incorporating many filling foods. Many of the foods I eat are full of fiber, but are all those high-fiber products worth the extra dough?

This morning I was confused when trying to figure out the points in my coffee because I used Splenda with fiber along with 2 PONTS worth of creamer. I went on the internet in search of an answer and found that no, the sweetener with fiber does not reduce the point value of my coffee. The reasons for that answer have caused me to be hungry for more info.

Look back soon for "The Skinny on Fiber"

Weigh-In/goal change

This past week was week 3 of maintenance and I am doing just fine. I gained a bit last week, lost a couple this week. I'm trying to figure out my body and balance things out. Yet, as I wrote before, I am still not sure what my goal really is even though I have met the goal I set at Weight Watchers. I don't want to be too thin, yet I want to be lean and fit. I still feel I have a few pounds to lose, but definitely not many! Long story short...I have decided to move my goal to the 125-ish range. I am very short, only 5'1", and this is right in the middle of the healthy weight range listed for my height. I have lost all of this weight largely by making healthy food choices and with minimal exercise. Now it's time to become fit and be the healthiest me I can be.

Thanksgiving Battle Plan

This Thanksgiving I am going to:

1.) Eat off of a smaller plate

2.) Eat slooooowwwwllly- because I do have a tendency to inhale my food at an astonishing rate

3.) Drink lots of water

4.) Have a filling breakfast- oatmeal perhaps, with a sprinkling of pecans or walnuts for crunch

5.) Go wogging with my boyfriend and anyone else who'd like to join- currently we're looking at 53 degrees and partly cloudy :)

Activity plan B is to watch a Christmas movie while using using exercise equipment

Activity plan C is to sneak off and do a workout DVD

What I want and plan to eat/drink:

Turkey (white meat only, no skin)

Miracle Mashies (recipe here)

Stuffing

Lots of veggies

Berry Pie with splenda

Sangria (with cognac and fresh fruit)

Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without a second helping of dessert, so I plan to make some fat free, sugar free chocolate pudding to have with fat free reddi-whip (YUM)

Yellow light food: black olives. Every year I eat an entire can, but this year I will have a serving (or 2)

A failure to plan is a plan for failure

Trying to Maintain

Maintenance is as much of a battle as I thought it would be, maybe even bigger. These past couple of weeks I find myself constantly putting things mindlessly into my mouth with not so much as a second thought to whether or not I am hungry. Earlier this week I ended up devouring half a jar of salsa con queso...not the small jar, but the big one. That combined with the salt-covered tortilla chips at 3 points per ounce, was quite an expensive snack point-wise.

Not having a number-related goal has been difficult to get used to. I tried to set an activity goal instead, but I still have been unable to motivate myself to move. I am less active with each passing week and it's so frustrating because I want to be fit, I want to be truly healthy, and I want to keep this weight off, but I just can't seem to get off of the couch. I say everyday that things are going to change right now, but I always push it off until tomorrow, then the next day, and so it goes.

I can't stress how important it is for me to journal, if I did not write things down and hold myself accountable on paper for the things I eat, I would never have lost these 70 pounds. However, since making goal I notice that I'm saying more and more, "I'll write it down later", and I do, but I end up eating more points than anticipated.

On top of it all, this time of year is so hard for me. It was right after Thanksgiving that I lost my grandmother almost ten years ago at the peak of my anorexia/bulimia. It's hard to believe so much time has passed without her in my life. I miss her every day. She is the reason I am alive today. Before she passed away of pancreatic cancer she asked me to eat again and get better. She believed that I was meant to be around to touch peoples lives in a very special way, maybe it was the morphine talking... but here I am anyway, trying to be the healthiest person I can be. I am still working at it. I'm not perfect and never will be.

I think she said "Hi" to me the other day. I was accepting a delivery and randomly the truck-driver whom I had never met called me Miss Meg. I love it when that happens. In my darkest, coldest moments, it's like a ray of warm sunshine on my face.

Goal and New Goals

This Monday I made my Weight Watchers goal! In 42 weeks I went from 204 pounds and a size 15/16 to 134 pounds and a size 4 (5/6 juniors). BUT IT'S NOT ABOUT THE NUMBERS. This is the first time that I have ever lost weight the right way. Sure, I tried other fad diets, but I feel they always pushed me to some extreme and never taught me how to eat like a "normal" person. I had to try so hard not to cry at my meeting. Everyone was so supportive and happy for me. This journey has been and continues to be an emotional one. I've definitely come a loooong way in the last ten years.

I plan to continue on with the Weight Watchers plan and my goal is to be more active. Specifically, I would like to exercise for 15 minutes a day, 3 days a week. Believe it or not, that is more than my current level of activity. Once I achieve that, I would like to move to 20 minutes/3days. Then 20 minutes 5 days, in small steps, until I am exercising at least 30 minutes a day, 5-6 days a week.

I've even been having exercise dreams lately. Mostly I have dreams of running and they are completely unrealistic visions of me running effortlessly. So, this morning I went running because the sun was shining and I thought it would be a nice way to pass some time. I jogged for a grand total of 10 minutes (maybe even less) and thought my lungs were going to explode. I definitely need to do this in stages! For having lost all this weight, I'm honestly not all that fit, and in order to be successful long term I really should be.