$100

Umm... does anyone still read this blog?  If so, I have something to tell you.

First off, I guess a confession is in order.  I have been a super bad example for the past many months.  As it turns out, preparing to move across the country, selling all our stuff, moving across the country, buying new stuff, having to work outside the home, and then having my husband start optometry school are, ya know, stressful.  And apparently they make me deserving of as many treats as I want.  Which is a lot of treats.  I may or may not have kept us in constant supply of homemade cookies/cookie dough for the past many moons.  Let's not talk about it.

What we should talk about is $100.

Now, to all you filthy rich folk out there who bathe in your coins each night, $100 might not seem like a lot of money.  But when you are poor students with zero income, $100 is pretty awesome.

It's also what I am going to win.

Earlier this evening I was sitting at the computer.  Bryan was sitting on the floor.  I looked in the mirror and said, "I'm getting fat."  To which my husband mistakenly replied "Me too," instead of "No you're not, you're beautiful."

So that was that.

We made a deal (and pinky swore on it) that whoever loses the most weight between tomorrow morning and the morning of December 24th (Christmas Eve), will win $100 from our bank account to spend however he/she chooses.

All I have to say is, it is so on.

Also, I need rain boots.  It rains a lot here.  Not like Oregon rain, which I am used to.  It's this crazy cold rain that you can't just dodge by avoiding puddles.  No rain boots = no walks when it rains.  Which = no exercise every time it rains.  Which is a lot lately.  Bah.

Must.  Buy.  Rain boots.

The end.

Weight Watchers Update

My first week on Weight Watchers didn't go too well. I gained a pound. I wasn't tracking my eating. I claimed I was just too busy!...but I think I was just making excuses.

The second week went better. I took the time to set up the "eTools" that you can use with Weight Watchers. Wow. I've been a great fan of myfitnesspal.com, but the Weight Watchers eTools are even better. They are free for 13 weeks with a special code for joining. I think I will be hooked by then, and will want to pay the $13 monthly fee for this tool.

On my second weigh-in, I had lost 4 pounds (really 3 pounds, since I gained a pound the first week). I'll weigh in again tomorrow, and I think it will show another weight loss. According to my home scale, I've lost another pound (maybe 2?) since last week. I'm pretty happy with a program that helps me lose 4-5 pounds in 3 weeks.

Their new program is called Points Plus. Instead of counting calories, foods are rated on a points system that takes into account the fat, fiber, carbohydrates, and protein. I get 29 points every day. The "Plus" part of the plan is that I get an additional 49 points to use however I want throughout the week. It's nice because I can splurge on a special event, or spread the Plus points more evenly throughout the week. One of my favorite things: almost all fruits and vegetables are free points. Even bananas! When I get hungry or munchy, I can eat an apple or a banana and it doesn't count as points for the day. This system is helping me think "healthier" instead of just "low calorie." For example, I can eat 1/2 cup ice cream for 100 calories and 3 points, or a banana for 100 calories and 0 points. Guess which one I choose? You're right...sometimes I choose the ice cream, if I have enough points in my daily/weekly "budget." But lots of time I choose a banana or an apple instead.

The online eTools have a calculator for recipes, which is really easy to use. I can take one of my own recipes - enter the ingredients and number of servings - and it calculates the per-serving points for me. The eTools also have an easy way to mark favorite foods, recipes, and meals, so that tracking became really fast and easy once I got a bunch of "favorite" foods marked. There is a smart phone app that works on my iPod touch, so I can track and calculate points when I'm away from the computer.

The week before I started Weight Watchers, I weighed 141. This morning on my home scale, I was 136. My pants are starting to fit better again, which makes me very happy!