Stay On Plan

I've been schooled.
For the past week, I've counted every "Point Plus" that I put in my mouth. I know... that's generally what you are SUPPOSED to do; but I hadn't been doing it until then. I haven't counted points in a couple months!!!

This week, I usually used up my daily points, and I also had some left from my flex points. I ate some serious crap. Coldstone ice cream, three pieces of pizza one night for dinner, McDonalds for dinner (TWICE)... along with other crap.

So what happened? I'm down another 1.2 lbs!!!!

It just goes to show me that Weight Watchers knows what it's talkin' about. I didn't even really exercise this week; but I think the thing that helped was that I had meals for breakfast and lunch all planned out and packed for work. Also... I had my oatmeal for LUNCH every day instead of breakfast. Perhaps this is a breakthough.

Every day, I ate fruit for breakfast. Nothin' else. That's a zero point meal!!! I got to the office and munched on at least two apples a day, along with oranges, strawberries, cherries, and grapes. Lunch every day was overnight oats.

I mixed 1 cup of plain yogurt with 1/2 cup of dried oatmeal, along with about half a cup of skim milk, a little vanilla, chopped up dried cherries, and walnuts. I let it soak overnight, then brought it to work; when lunch came along, I tossed in a packet of splenda for sweetness and ate it along with a generous portion of carrots and celery. This kept me FULL all afternoon at work; I usually get the munchies at about 2:00 pm, but it didn't happen!

Now I know that I need to buckle down. If I can lose over a pound eating the way I did, then I can lose MORE if I just cut it down to one or two "major indulgences" a week.

Also... I saw Studio 8 last night in the theater. It was GREAT!!! Kept me on the edge of my lil' seat.

Today, Husband is working at the zoo. This means that Amy gets to run errands, clean the apartment, and jam to some old school Bon Jovi all day. The fatter, more unhappy Amy would have seen this plan as a horrible thing. I'm actually looking forward to it. I can dance around and burn a little bit more off while I work!!!

Paleo = IBS Fail.

Nix the paleo diet off the list... it wreaked havoc on my system this past week. I think it's all of the meat that did it. And also, Amy Jo needs her oats. She dudn't feel whole without her oats. So, the plan is eat a produce heavy diet that fits within my Points Plus for Weight Watchers. I seem to do better when I'm eating less meat and more beans, lentils, yogurt, etc.

Today was 93 degrees. Michigan should not be 93 degrees in the beginning of June. I haven't any A/C.... so I spent my evening sitting in front of the fan, wondering if I should put a bowl of ice behind it to cool the air!

Eats for the day?

3 apples
an orange
a cucumber
2 carrots with hummus
oatmeal with dried cherries and walnuts
roasted broccoli
sauteed zucchini
a pork chop

Points-wise, I am low for the day; but I have really just been grazing all day and haven't felt hungry! I've decided that I'm not going to force myself to eat more if my points are low and I'm feeling satisfied. My body must be telling me something!

Weight Loss' Biggest Enemy? A CRUISE.

I won't go into detail here.

Okay, I will.

Tacos. Fried chicken. Midnight chocolate buffets. Pina coladas at 9:00 in the morning. Fish n' Chips. Beignets in New Orleans. Authentic Honduran beer. A 24 hour buffet with anything your heart could ever desire.

Did I eat a single salad on that cruise? No. Did I hit the world class gym even once? Nope.

So what DID I do?

I swam. I zip lined through the rainforest in Belize. I tubed through a cave system with one of those helmets with lights on them. I held onto the fins of a dolphin and rode it across a pool. I hiked up and down hills to get to the Mayan Chacchoben ruins. I did a little snuba (scuba/snorkeling). I walked through open air markets. I laughed my arse off every night at shows like the Newlyweds, or hilariously inappropriate stand up comedians. I got my long hair braided from root to tip. In New Orleans, I drank a Hurricane with 190 proof liquor in it... then proceeded to enter a strip club for the first time. Yes, those are definitely linked. Needless to say, Husband likes it when Amy drinks hurricanes. I happened across the coolest bar in the world; an open air bar with a band playing covers of U2, Journey, and Bon Jovi. I was tipsy enough that I was singing and dancing without a care in the world; but not too tipsy to forget a single moment of it. I met the most interesting people on our ship. I came clean with my husband about my love affair with Paul Bettany (okay... mayhaps it is one sided). I met a dirty man named Dan on Bourbon Street who proceeded to show us around and introduce us to the ghost that resides in Muriel's restaurant.

I gained 7 lbs. But you know what? The cruise director SAID people gain an average of a pound a day on a cruise. So I'm just average.... ;)

What's done is done. I honestly wouldn't change it for the world. I had a BLAST. I felt strong, and healthy, and pretty darn confident in my lil' cotton dresses. It helped that we were traveling around central America... my husband was quick to point out that hispanics like to admire my generous backside. Does feeling good about that make me a bad person? Because I'm sorry, but I haven't had men besides my husband admire me for my BODY in a very, very, very long time.

I have IBS. Crap. Thanks, doc. He put me on a new prescription that's been helping a lot. I'm also, however, fooling around with my diet to see what eating plan helps my IBS symptoms the most. Right now I'm playing around with a paleo diet. Here is what I bought at the store this week for my new eating plan:

chicken breast, bacon, pork cutlets, round steak, tilapia, eggs, asparagus, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, celery, artichokes, red peppers, cherries, strawberries, apples, oranges, yellow rasberries, watermelon, almonds, walnuts, olive oil, ghee.

My doctor said that he's seen people do well with opposite ends of the spectrum; some IBS sufferers find that vegan diets suit them best. Some find that low carb, high fat diets help. We'll see!!!

Aside from having to return to reality, life is good. SCHOOL IS OUT!!! That means that I am managing to work 40 hours a week, AND keep up with my housework! Amy is a happy girl when she wakes up in the morning to a clean apartment.

I think I'll post some pictures of our lil' vacay for you all to drool over. Yes, the Caribbean is glorious.