Today begins week two. I started Weight Watchers one week ago in hopes that I will finally lose the 10-20 pounds that have been following me around for ten years. I did Weight Watchers back in high school and lost about twelve pounds. Since then, I have probably put back on about four of those pounds. I work out very diligently so I am able to maintain without a problem. When I injured my tendon, I was unable to work out but was eating the same foods I had been eating before: A bag of peanut mm’s as an afternoon work snack from time to time, Tostitos and Queso when the mood struck and lots and lots of bread. Change was needed!
Working full time was the worst thing to happen to my waistline since they came out with double stuffed Oreos. I work in a building with many sales executives who host client meetings 3-4 times a week. They always have the meetings catered and there are always lots and lots of leftovers. Many of the choices are healthy – side salads and fruit, but for breakfast there is an assortment of muffins and bagels with cream cheese (I would always grab half of a multigrain bagel with cream cheese thinking, “It's multigrain, how bad can it be?”) and for lunch sandwiches with who knows what would be available to pick at. Mind you, I would usually already have eaten breakfast or lunch and then there would be more. Saying no to free food has been difficult, but this last week, I have done so well just taking the fruit. No more bagels (10 pts?!), no more corn muffins (a trillion pts.) and no more sandwiches after already eating lunch.
Weight Watchers is such a good system. You can eat whatever you like, but you have a set number of points you shouldn’t go over in a day. Never fear – if you do, you have a bundle of “flex” points to last you the week as well. You can literally have your cake and eat it too, just not three days in a row. I had no idea how much I was eating on a daily basis until I was forced to calculate it. A 6-inch subway sandwich and baked BBQ chips puts me back 11 points for lunch (a solid meal), but a bag of peanut mm’s has the same amount of points as the Subway sandwich does (8). When I realized I could eat a healthy dinner and use the same amount of points as the candy, they became much less desirable. Fresh fruits and veggies are zero points – I can eat as many of those all day long as I would like. Of course, this isn’t fool proof. Sodium is not calculated and we all should be watching our sodium intake, and fruits have loads of carbs, so eating three bananas a day is probably not the best option. But it’s good to know what I should be eating and what I should be staying away from. It’s been an eye opening beginning.
Now we are on to week two. I weighed myself this morning and the number went down, so I know it’s working…slowly but surely (sorry, I won’t be reporting the results – that number has always been for my eyes only.) The box my new scale came in had a picture of the scale reading 124.5. How rude – but I guess it’s something to strive for? Maybe? I’m a very competitive person, so competing with myself will be a blast. How much food can I eat today without going over 29 points? It’s like the ultimate challenge. Tina Fey lost thirty pounds when she was in her twenties just starting out in comedy on Weight Watchers, and Jennifer Hudson lost, what, eighty?! Success is possible and I’m determined to win this battle once and for all. Wish me luck!
Friday, April 22, 2011
I'm A Big Girl Now
I turned 22 on Wednesday. Where does the time go? I remember a morning, not so long ago, when I was laying in my bed in my house across town from where my parents live now. My mom walked in and said “Happy Birthday, you’re double digits!” – I had hit the age of 10. I also remember coming home from school and blasting “Sweet Sixteen” by Hilary Duff in my garage on my 16th birthday. I guess I remember birthdays in six year increments. Alas, I am now 22. No longer able to say I’m a child; No longer able to say I’m 21. Sigh.
I had a lovely birthday. My parents took me out to dinner at a great Mexican restaurant and surprised me with an IPhone. The surprise actually came four hours before when my dad called and said, “Can you live without your cell phone for four hours?” I had a hunch something was in the works. I was thrilled. It’s my new favorite thing. I am an Apple junkie and have been waiting for Verizon to get the IPhone for forever and a day. All night long, I kept repeating to my family and friends the commercial on TV right now… “If you don’t have an IPhone, well, you don’t have an IPhone.” I’ve been living by that motto for months. And now I am one of the millions of happy people.
The last year has gone by so fast. I hear that’s what happens the older you get. Then before you know it, you’re forty staring into the mirror wondering how life passed by so quickly. For the first time, I’m completely content with my age. I can stop now. No need to go any higher. I actually became a little nervous when I realized that in 363 quick days, I will be 23. People get married at 23 and it’s not weird. Women have babies at 23 and it’s not frowned upon. Lives are serious at 23. Well, for some people – for others, not so much, but I still feel as if this is the beginning of actual adulthood. And it’s a little frightening.
I shouldn’t be as shocked as I am that I am approaching my mid twenties. I live on my own and have a job, but the job is an “internship” and the apartment has a lease that is ending soon (TBD on whether I will take it over.) My parents still drive me home and buy me groceries when I come to visit – I can’t be a grown up. Unfortunately, my biological make up disagrees and here I stand. I always attempt to make each year better than the last. This will definitely be a difficult challenge this year. I hit some major milestones at 21; I legally was able to drink, graduated college, got a job in New York and moved there too. I’m not sure if 22 can top that, but I will try like hell to make it happen. Hey, I got an IPhone. Maybe that was the first step.
I had a lovely birthday. My parents took me out to dinner at a great Mexican restaurant and surprised me with an IPhone. The surprise actually came four hours before when my dad called and said, “Can you live without your cell phone for four hours?” I had a hunch something was in the works. I was thrilled. It’s my new favorite thing. I am an Apple junkie and have been waiting for Verizon to get the IPhone for forever and a day. All night long, I kept repeating to my family and friends the commercial on TV right now… “If you don’t have an IPhone, well, you don’t have an IPhone.” I’ve been living by that motto for months. And now I am one of the millions of happy people.
The last year has gone by so fast. I hear that’s what happens the older you get. Then before you know it, you’re forty staring into the mirror wondering how life passed by so quickly. For the first time, I’m completely content with my age. I can stop now. No need to go any higher. I actually became a little nervous when I realized that in 363 quick days, I will be 23. People get married at 23 and it’s not weird. Women have babies at 23 and it’s not frowned upon. Lives are serious at 23. Well, for some people – for others, not so much, but I still feel as if this is the beginning of actual adulthood. And it’s a little frightening.
I shouldn’t be as shocked as I am that I am approaching my mid twenties. I live on my own and have a job, but the job is an “internship” and the apartment has a lease that is ending soon (TBD on whether I will take it over.) My parents still drive me home and buy me groceries when I come to visit – I can’t be a grown up. Unfortunately, my biological make up disagrees and here I stand. I always attempt to make each year better than the last. This will definitely be a difficult challenge this year. I hit some major milestones at 21; I legally was able to drink, graduated college, got a job in New York and moved there too. I’m not sure if 22 can top that, but I will try like hell to make it happen. Hey, I got an IPhone. Maybe that was the first step.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Down But Not Defeated...
Hello Friends – I’ve been out of commission for the last couple of weeks…literally! My running adventures have been put on hold thanks to Post Tibial Tendonitis in my right leg. The post tibial is the tendon that runs down the inside of your leg and into your foot. I have my third physical therapy session tomorrow morning and am well on my way to getting stronger. After a very painful deep tissue massage during my last session, I am aware of how much damage I could have done had I not went to the doctor. “No pain no gain” is not always true. Luckily I caught my problem just in time. No torn ligaments, just lots of muscle damage. And I will spend the next 4-6 weeks (ugh!) working hard to get better.
On the bright side, my physical therapist said I wouldn’t be sidelined all 4-6 weeks. I will run again and hopefully it will be very soon! In fact, I have registered for my first half marathon this September. I have plenty of time to heal and train, and I will be running better than ever before I know it. This sort of setback, which has sidelined me from the gym as well (no elliptical, no spin), has unfortunately put me in a bitter mood the last week or so. Working out has always been my very own anti-depressant pill in sweat form. I need those endorphins to help alleviate worries, stress and anxiety. The weather was so beautiful today and all I wanted to do was lace up my running shoes and join the hundreds of others I saw jogging through Central Park. But alas, I will wait. My time will come and until then I will focus on stretching, eating right, and today I got the clearance to do a little light biking. Baby steps.
Since I’m on a health kick right now, I’ll share with you a frightening statistic I read yesterday on Yahoo! Health. This article stated that people who work at jobs that require them to sit most of the day (so many of us!) are 54% more likely to die of heart attacks. Depressing statistic? I think so! Needless to say I spent the rest of my day walking to get water as often as possible and standing when it was unnecessary for me to sit (on phone calls, while making spreadsheets…people were definitely starting to stare. Eh, I’ll live longer.) I decided then and there that my future cannot include cubical work – or at least not without a stand for my computer. I need to write standing or have a job that has me walking all day long. Maybe I’ll become a flight attendant…or a dog walker.
When I leave work, I often go home and sit in my hard desk chair, on my bed or on the couch flipping through twitter, my emails, and the daily news – that is too much sitting in one day for a person. Even a walk or a trip to the gym (sad face) can’t reverse nine hours of sitting. My next purchase will have to be a standing desk. While searching for such a desk online (they are not as common as you would think), I came across this NY Times article that informed me I am behind the times. Written in August of last year, the author states that standing work stations, while odd and challenging to come across, are in vogue. Not only are you able to cure writer’s block while standing, but you also burn more calories. Hopefully a day will come when movable desks are the norm in the workplace, but until then, I’ll be standing awkwardly in my cube.
On the bright side, my physical therapist said I wouldn’t be sidelined all 4-6 weeks. I will run again and hopefully it will be very soon! In fact, I have registered for my first half marathon this September. I have plenty of time to heal and train, and I will be running better than ever before I know it. This sort of setback, which has sidelined me from the gym as well (no elliptical, no spin), has unfortunately put me in a bitter mood the last week or so. Working out has always been my very own anti-depressant pill in sweat form. I need those endorphins to help alleviate worries, stress and anxiety. The weather was so beautiful today and all I wanted to do was lace up my running shoes and join the hundreds of others I saw jogging through Central Park. But alas, I will wait. My time will come and until then I will focus on stretching, eating right, and today I got the clearance to do a little light biking. Baby steps.
Since I’m on a health kick right now, I’ll share with you a frightening statistic I read yesterday on Yahoo! Health. This article stated that people who work at jobs that require them to sit most of the day (so many of us!) are 54% more likely to die of heart attacks. Depressing statistic? I think so! Needless to say I spent the rest of my day walking to get water as often as possible and standing when it was unnecessary for me to sit (on phone calls, while making spreadsheets…people were definitely starting to stare. Eh, I’ll live longer.) I decided then and there that my future cannot include cubical work – or at least not without a stand for my computer. I need to write standing or have a job that has me walking all day long. Maybe I’ll become a flight attendant…or a dog walker.
When I leave work, I often go home and sit in my hard desk chair, on my bed or on the couch flipping through twitter, my emails, and the daily news – that is too much sitting in one day for a person. Even a walk or a trip to the gym (sad face) can’t reverse nine hours of sitting. My next purchase will have to be a standing desk. While searching for such a desk online (they are not as common as you would think), I came across this NY Times article that informed me I am behind the times. Written in August of last year, the author states that standing work stations, while odd and challenging to come across, are in vogue. Not only are you able to cure writer’s block while standing, but you also burn more calories. Hopefully a day will come when movable desks are the norm in the workplace, but until then, I’ll be standing awkwardly in my cube.
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