Holiday Weekend

I had a few parties this weekend, and a few strategies to get me through it:

1. Bring a healthy side dish to the party
2. Drink water between beers
3. Drink low calorie beers
4. Be smart when it comes to party munching

I made the healthy trifle for friday's party. For sunday's party, I made a veggie platter & Harry & David's Pepper & Onion dip with light cream cheese & Stacy's Pita Chips (dangerous but yummy!) I drank water or seltzer water between beers & made friends with MGD 64 on sunday. Only 1 pt per beer!! I was able to have 5 1/2 beers for the same amount of points as 3 Michelob Ultra's would have been. I tried to keep from munching & even brought my own veggie burgers on sunday to eat without buns.  Kevin, my roomate Kerry, & I came home and made Nacho;s though, yikes! although they were somewhat healthy, just chips, salsa, & lowfat cheese. we shared.

Today I spent some time baking Jillian Michael's muffins & working on cleaning my grill. I need to get it ready for summer time. I love to grill so I need it in working order. Unfortunately it is supposed to rain all day tommorow, so no grill fixing, deck staining or garden work tomorrow. Gym and house cleaning i guess. 3 days before my next WI, I need to keep it up!

My Starting Pictures....

well technically not starting, since I have been on this jouney for a long time & those pictures are worse. I took these in my living room, and although I don't think the angle is that flattering, and I don't think I look as bad as the first picture looks.... here they are. I promise they will get better with time!

current weight as of last thurs AM WI: 189.5

uggghh YUCK! I said it! Now I need to take it off so I don't have so much weight on my feet when I start running again!

Training to get started & Nanasitting

My brother ran a 12 mile long run this AM, and I was insanely jealous. go figure. Prior to my surgery I was dreading each long run I had scheduled, making excuses not to go. "Its too cold" "I need to clean the house" "Im too tired". Maybe this surgery will give me a new appreciation & motivation to run when I can get back to it.

When I first decided I was going to run, I couldn't even last 5 minutes! Your starting ability, I have learned, does not dictate what you are ultimately capable of.  Just because you cannot run a mile straight doesn't mean you never will. Clearly I couldn't when I started, and now I've run half marathons.  The secret is to do what you can to start with, and work your way up from there. I would work on the treadmill. Running a little, walking a little, gradually increasing the distance I was able to run continuously. When I decided to run my first 5K, I used the Runner's World Smartcoach that I had seen online. I've used it training for several races, I do much better with a plan in place.

Last night at the party, I did well & ate good foods. Today I am at my mother's house watching my Nana and reverting back to bad eating habits. I think there are just some places that make you think of another time & other behaviors that you had. My mom's house brings me back to the times where I would snack relentlessly & not care about what I was stuffing in my body. So far I polished off a box of flipside crackers & had a small dish of low fat cookie dough ice cream. Maybe part of it is that I don't keep those things in my house. I got back on track eating some berries I brought with me & for lunch had a light english muffin with maple pumpkin butter. Tonight I'm going to dinner for a friend's birthday and my plan is for a salad & a plain baked potato to keep it light & healthy, no cocktails, hopefully early to bed since last night was a late one. wish me luck on my challenges tonight!

My ultimate goal for this Blog this week is to take some full length body pics to post for progress shots along with ::gasp:: posting my weight to help me stay more accountable & hopefully embarrass me enough to take this very seriously. p.s. thank goodness for the autosave on this thing, I almost lost my whole post!

Going out!

Yikes! look at those chubby legs! I am trying to find a good full body shot to post as a starting point view from here on out, this is all I have right now!

I like to go out & have fun, who doesn't?! When I was doing well, I would control how much I would drink and eat, lately I have just been eating & drinking whatever I feel like it ( I did the night in that picture). Tonight I'm headed out for a BBQ. Im bringing only 3 light beers and have committed to water & healthy food throughout the night.

I always like to have my hands busy. So my main goal is to switch off to water throughout so I have something in my hands, that isn't zapping calories away. Im making a healthy trifle to bring along, and I'm crossing my fingers my health conscious friend Ashley makes a fruit salad like she usually does.

Stephanie's Healthy Trifle
Angel food cake
Fat free, sugar free vanilla pudding made with skim milk
cool whip free
strawberries & blueberries

Layer in a trifle dish, in that order 3 times! I know it's not Jillian approved, but if I'm tempted for something sweet, it's something fairly good for me, that I know others will eat.

Wish me luck at the party, ill have more time to post tomorrow!

Master this...

Last fall, I read Jillian's book Master your metabolism. While I've been using weight watchers for years, the information that Jillian gave really clicked for me. It was all well researched, organized, and made so much sense. I loved it. I now eat organic dairy, meat & eggs. I've eliminated high fructose corn syrup, and hydrogenated oils & when I eat according to Jill I feel so much better. Her new cookbook The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook is amazing. I have made several recipes from there and they are all wonderful. Delicious and healthy. Buy it at amazon: Master Your Metabolism: The 3 Diet Secrets to Naturally Balancing Your Hormones for a Hot and Healthy Body!

My newest challenge has been developing a plan for myself to include Jillian's healthy eating with weight watcher's point counting to help me lose the weight I need to. The points just make calorie counting so much easier for me. Since my activity is limited right now, I have been trying to be extra careful with my nutrition.

I think a lot of times, people think of losing weight and associate it with a diet. That is where they fail in my opinion. Getting healthy needs to be treated as a lifetime adventure. It may not always go according to plan, but that is part of the challenge. Learning to overcome obstacles makes you stronger and able to withstand tougher situations that may come your way.

Today I went in to work for a visit, to send off a coworker that is leaving. I made a healthy, organic lasagna (yum) and managed to have a tiny piece of that and some salad & I avoided the dessert all together. The last few years I have been eating dessert just because it was there, not thinking of how it affects my body, how I will feel after eating it. I'm trying to get into the mindset of thinking of how it will fuel my body & how I will feel after eating it. The dessert today was not worth it. lost .5 on the scale today, I know it was less because I went all out in Boston last weekend with Margaritas, cannoli, wine & beer.... oh well. I'm trying to stay focused to the goal at hand and dealing with whatever comes my way.

Run to Home Base

Sunday was the first Run to Home Base 9k at Fenway Park! I cheered on and made signs for my coworkers (Katie & Jess) & brother (Jason). They did awesome & raised over 2.4 million along with the other runners to support veterans of the Afghanistan & Iraq wars who have suffered from traumatic brain injuries or traumatic stress disorders.

So sad I couldn't run, but I was excited to support a great cause and cheer on some great people! My brother finished in 55:21 & the girls finished in 1:04:51. This was Jess' first race ever, I'm so proud!

Hopefully next year they continue the tradition so I can run through Fenway park ( of course we're big RedSox fans!)

And the journey continues....

I can't really say begins. I've been at this game for awhile now, but decided to try a new blogging website to help me accomplish my goals and maybe inspire some others along the way.

A little back story. It all began in January of 2005, I was at Disney World for vacation with my boyfriend Kevin. I weighed in at over 200 pounds. A funny thing happened on that trip, I saw people with mickey mouse medals around their necks. This is what would inspire me to become a runner. Someone who had never run more than a lap around the small high school gym. I wanted to run a half marathon & earn that medal. I also came home looking at pictures & feeling disgusted at the size of myself. I started Weight Watchers 2 weeks later.

6 months later I had lost 40 pounds & ran my first 5k. While the years since then have been a struggle, I have gone on to complete 3 half marathons. The first with the Train to End Stroke program in Kona, HI, my second was in Hartford, CT & my third was that Walt Disney World Half Marathon, earning me a Donald Duck medal.

Weight wise, the years have not been kind. I have put back on all but 15 pounds I lost. I have struggled with many emotional times which have led me to food. My latest problem is foot surgery I had in April, that is keeping me from running. Beautiful running weather, and I can't participate & it is killing me.

I have started this blog with the intentions of journaling my struggles, my inspirations & information to give others for using running & a healthy lifestyle as a successful way to manage your weight & life. Wish me luck!