I'm Just Gonna Keep Walking

So, throughout all the craziness of the past several months, the one thing I have been able to maintain is my walking routine.  Thanks to the GymPact app, I have had some financial motivation to get out there and walk....and it has really worked for me.

In the past 12 weeks, I have gone on 67 walks and earned more than $20 in GymPact rewards.  I walk almost every day....some days I even go on more than one walk.  Even though my walks are only 1 mile or 1.5 miles long, I know they still burn calories and get me closer to my fitness goal.

Plus, my walks are just a great way to get out of the house and clear my mind a little bit.  I'm proud of myself for sticking with it....go me!

When Too Many Points is a Bad Thing

So, many of you know that several months ago I started doing the Weight Watchers plan on my own....just using guide books, the PointsPlus calculator, and paper trackers.  That went well for several weeks, I dropped more than 10 pounds, and then--like things often go in my life--I lost interest.

At the beginning of September 2013, I got on the scale and realized that not only had I gained my ten pounds back, but I had also put on even more weight on top of that.  I'm not getting any younger...and honestly, I'm just sick of NEVER having had the body I really want, so I've decided to give Weight Watchers a more serious try.

At the beginning of September, Weight Watchers had a special offer where if you bought one month of their Monthly Pass program, the second month would be free.  This seemed like a good deal to me, so I signed up.  My Weight Watchers Monthly Pass gets me access to the Weight Watchers eTools website, which I can use to track my food.  The Monthly Pass also covers the cost of attending Weight Watchers meetings.

I'm definitely the kind of guy to get what I pay for, so I decided to start attending Weight Watchers meetings regularly.  I've enjoyed attending the meetings...my Weight Watchers leader is really nice and so are the other meeting attendees.  I enjoy the group discussion aspect of the meetings, and learn a lot from hearing others people's experiences.

On the PointsPlus tracking side of things (that would be what I am eating), things aren't going so well at all.  My daily PointsPlus target is 37 Points, which I understand is actually a lot compared to other program members.  But honestly, I can eat/drink that much before noon, let alone the whole day.

I try hard to restrict my food intake to stay within my PointsPlus allowance, but it seems like if I want even a couple of drinks of alcohol for the day it takes up most of my PointsPlus.  Slowly but surely, I see my Points racking up, and by the time the day is finished I'm 40, 50, 60, or more points from where I should be for the day.

This makes my weekly weigh-ins at the Weight Watchers center the worse.  I hate going and seeing that I'm not only not losing weight, but actually gaining weight as the weeks go on.  I feel like I am personally letting down my Weight Watchers leader and the staff at the center.  But I'm paying for these weekly meetings and weigh-ins, so I'm gonna keep going.

Last week I think I ended up 350 points more than where I was supposed to be.  Hopefully this week will be better.

Starting to Get Back on Track?

Yesterday was a really good day in terms of Weight Watchers.  I kept to my PointsPlus values perfectly, and even had a few points left over at the end of the day.  I got on the scale, and I'm still at the same weight I was when I stopped using my tracker regularly--170.9 pounds.  So that's good news.  That means I'm still down 13 pounds from where I started.

I'm determined to make today a good day.  I'm going to stick to my weight loss program, and I also have lots of other things I need to get done.  I just bought a book by Jack Canfield called The Success Principles and it is really good so far.  I've been trying to focus my thoughts and intentions more recently and I can see good things already starting to happen in my life.  I'm just beginning to delve more into the New Thought and Law of Attraction teachings, so I'm starting with the people from "The Secret" film who stood out to me.  Bob Doyle and Jack Canfield are the first two that jumped out at me immediately, so I've been reading books by the two.  There's a lot of really good stuff!

I also need to get back on track with my Partylite business.  I complain about not having enough money, but I have this golden opportunity with no income limit sitting right in front of me and I don't do anything to turn that into a reality.  I love candles.  I love talking about them, learning about them, teaching people about them, and using them.  I love Partylite.  It really is a perfect "job."  I just need to get over some of my hesitation and really put the petal the metal as far as my business is concerned.

So yeah, lots to work on and keep me busy today.  I have to work this evening, so I have a good 6 hours to get things done.  If I'm gonna turn things around in my life, I need to stop letting all my free time slip away.  Today, I'm gonna try to take some really positive steps forward for me.

Up & Down the Scale We Go

Weight has always been a struggle for me.  I've never been very athletic, and I've always seemed to have some "baby fat" on me which....let's face it....isn't baby fat at the age of 30.  I've made a few serious attempts at losing weight over the years, but nothing has lasted longer than a month or two.

The one time in my life where I can remember being at a healthy weight and "feeling skinny" was several years ago when I was a strict vegan.  I adopted a vegan diet for animal rights reasons, and over the course of six months, I went from 190 pounds to right around 150 lbs.  That's a significant weight loss!  I looked and I felt great.

For a variety of personal reasons, I went back to an omnivorous diet, and over the next couple of years, all the weight I had lost slowly came back--and then some.  At the end of 2012, I found myself dangerously close to the 200 pound mark, which is a point which I've always told myself I would never let my weight reach.

At the end of January, I decided it was finally time to get serious about tackling my weight problem.  A vegan diet isn't a good fit for me, and I felt like I needed something that would allow me to eat foods that are more familiar.  I decided that the Weight Watchers diet plan would be a good fit for me, so I went out and bought everything I would need to faithfully follow the plan.

As soon as I started Weight Watchers and tracking my PointsPlus values, the weight literally started to just drop off of my body.  In the first week, I lost almost 6 pounds, and at the end of a month I was down 13.5 pounds.  I was so proud of my success!

Then, maybe a week and a half ago, I just stopped.  I got lazy and didn't feel like using my tracker one day, so I just didn't.  Then the next day, too.  And the next day....you know how the story goes.  I've put back on about two pounds....I'm happy it's not more, but I know it was my lack of discipline that caused any weight gain at all.

Yesterday was supposed to be my first "serious" day back on Weight Watchers, but I got invited out to dinner and a couple of cocktails later, I had blown my Points for several days.  "Oh well," I thought, "Back on track tomorrow." :-/

Now it's today, and I'm hoping I can have a better day.  I'm going to start a fresh Weight Watchers week, so I can just make sure I'm doing well from here on out.  Stay tuned to see how it goes.