I Quit!!

After 4 solid weeks of maintaining my weight, I've officially quit Weight Watchers!!! No more counting points! Yay! Instead I'm becoming acutely aware of how many calories I consume each day since I'm using the fitbit website to track my every movement. One obsession leads to another, right? At least in my case it does.

The most valuable lesson Weight Watchers has taught me is portion size. Before starting the so called diet I didn't realize that a full chicken breast is 2 servings, not one. And, I should only eat 3/4 cup cereal with 3/4 cup of skim milk. A steak is 3 oz, or about the size of a deck of cards, pasta is 1 cup and brown rice is 1/2 cup and supplement every meal with fresh veggies. And of course, the most important lesson learned is how essential exercise is. This was the hardest part for me but now it's just a part of my daily routine. Thank you Weight Watchers!

Me after goal June 27, 2010


Me before so called diet - February 21, 2010

Calories versus Points

Since I started using the FitBit (see previous post here) I am moving towards counting calories versus counting points. There is a complicated formula to convert calories, fat and fiber to points and since I'm no math wiz, I'm using the WW website to calculate the points for me and logging my food on both websites. According to Fitbit, I'm consuming on average 1200 calories per day and with Weight Watchers I am averaging 23 points. (This doesn't include my binge fest over the weekend because I lost count of what I ate and drank after a beer tasting.)

In order to determine the correct daily point usage I have to convert each item individually and then add up the total points. One would think that taking the daily intake of calories, fat and fiber would work but it ends up being about 4-5 points higher. Just a little time consuming, but it's cool to see how it all works out.


Skinny Italian Meatballs with whole wheat pasta
384 calories, 10.6 fat, 10.5 fiber = 7 points WW -
(1 point different using totals)

Chicken adobo with brown fried rice
500 calories, 10.3 fat, 4.8 fiber = 10.5 points
(same)

Pork chops with skillet gravy, brown rice and green beans
420 calories, 7.2 fat, 7.5 fiber = 8 points
(same)

Costco rotisserie chicken with sauteed vegetables
334 calories, 2.3 fat, 6.1 fiber = 5.5 points
(1 point different using totals)

Dieting for Geeks

I've officially hit super geek status with my diet. Not only do I blog about my WW online diet, I just purchased a Ftbit. This is a cheaper, but way cooler alternative to the BodyBugg sold through 24 Hour Fitness. I eyed the BodyBugg for several months, extremely tempted to purchase one but couldn't realistically afford the whole system. The total cost for a BodyBugg is $278 plus a monthly fee to use their system. My nifty Fitbit, as seen below, is smaller, only $99 and the online system to track your activity is free. I don't really need to know my sweat, heat, and exertion - I just want to know how many calories I'm burning in a day! Yesterday was the first day I wore my Fitbit and I burned 2,176 calories; 1376 calories eaten, took 5273 steps, and traveled 2.20 miles.  Not bad for Day One!

In addition to tracking my calories burn, the Fitbit tracks sleep quality. I think the sleep quality tracking is a really cool feature and it shows on Fitbit's site, how "efficient" my sleep was, which is a percentage of how much time I spent sleeping versus how long it took to go to bed and how many times I became "active."  As you can see last night I woke up 12 times! My sleep didn't feel very efficient, but I scored 91%. 

The Daily Weigh-In

As I enter week two of maintenance I have to admit that I'm not 100% satisfied with my weight loss results. I had the idea in the back of my head that even when I hit my goal weight, I'd mostly likely keep losing weight because I wouldn't change my eating/working out habits. But, I've almost completed week 2 of maintenance and after a quick check on Monday, I was up one pound.

I liked it better when I was consistently losing weight each week because it felt like I was actually accomplishing something. Realistically, losing more weight is not what I need. I need maintenance. Which makes me wonder if I should consider starting a daily weigh-in so that I stay on target. I'm not sure if this will help ease my mind to see that on a regular basis my weight will go up and down or will I obsess more with my weight. Probably both, depending on the results.

Chicken Curry with brown rice - 8 points; steamed okra - 0 points

Staying Steady...

Maintenance Week 1:  When I weighed myself this morning, I gained 0.9 pounds but according to Weight Watchers this is completely normal to gain/lose one or two pounds during maintenance.  I can't say I'm surprised because I splurged last week with a few extra pints, chicken wings and ice cream which ended up depleting my extra points for the week.  I worked out almost daily, with visits to the gym, Zumba, Pilates, and 30 day shred.  But, it wasn't enough!

And let's be honest, I can't eat whatever I want, spend only a few hours a week at a gym and maintain my weight.  I have to still make good decisions on a daily basis and I have to remember, it's all about portion control.  Which unfortunately includes beer. 

Hooorraaayyy!

I’ve been dieting for 15 weeks now and I’ve finallllllllllllly reached my goal!! I actually surpassed it by one pound! THE DIET IS OVER! Oh wait, the diet is never really over because this is a lifestyle change and I’m going to maintain this hot body by eating healthy and working out.

It took a little longer than expected to lose 15 pounds especially after losing almost 13 pounds in the first two months. It’s no excuse but in the last month I went out of town on three different occasions - NYC, 2 pounds, Vegas, 1 pound and the most recent trip to San Francisco, 0.5 pounds. The San Francisco trip was a work related conference for a few days and I think they wanted us to have a heart attack with the food that was offered. Breakfast consisted of pastries, bacon and eggs. Lunch was creamy pasta with a wedge salad and leftover bacon from breakfast. Dinner was also swimming in grease but since meals were provided, I was stuck with my oncoming heart attack. I was surprised I only gained half a pound and I assume that is because I worked out both days I was there. Which means I’m dedicated!

I’m happy with the progress and I have to stay focused because this journey is not quite over. My next goal is to attempt at becoming stronger. Which I know will be challenging because I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to lifting weights. It doesn’t help that I feel overwhelmed in the gym but will need to overcome my fear and lift with the big boys.

To summarize: 15 weeks: 16 pounds lost which is about 11% of my body weight.

Last night's dinner:
Tri Tip - 4 points

Green Beans with Lemon Pepper = 0 points
Garlic Bread with butter spray = 2 points

3 months: -14.5, 0.5 to go

When I started my blog three months ago, the goal was to lose 15 pounds in 3 months. At the time I felt that it would be an obtainable goal but as time went on, the weight was harder to come off and I realized that dieting is definitely not easy. In the past 3 weeks alone, the scale has gone up and down a few times. But unlike the first time I gained weight, I didn’t stress out about it. I knew that if I worked out a little harder and really stuck to my diet, the weight would come right off. And it has. This doesn’t mean that I’m going to binge eat..who am I kidding, binge drink, because I’ve made a lifestyle change. I don’t want a beer gut anymore or a bigger butt than I already have. I am ready for a sleeker, toner body.

So here I am three months later and I've lost 14.5 pounds which is 10% of my body weight. I didn't quite reach my goal weight, but I know I have accomplished a lot and have no regrets.

Last night’s dinner was excellent coming to a total of 7 points. The chicken turned out so moist and delicious as well as the low fat mac and cheese. I know it’s an oxymoron but it actually tasted really good. I had to stop myself from going back for thirds! Both recipes are from www.skinnytaste.com, one of my go-to websites for Weight Watchers recipes. Both recipes were slightly modified due to what I had on hand (chicken breasts instead of thighs and fake butter for the mac and cheese) which resulted in lower points.

Baked Chicken with Dijon and Lime - 4 points

Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli - 3 points