Drumroll....

Despite my over indulging in dinner (and drinks!) last night, this morning 

I WEIGHED IN AT GOAL!

and for my "happy weight loss" present, I think I need a new scale!

 

 It's SO great to finally see the word GOAL all over Weight Watchers!

Now the big question, do I go into maintenance mode (where I get a few extra pts) or do I reset my goal weight to something a little lower?  Part of me feels like I still have some ways to go, that I could probably lose 5 more lbs and be more comfortable. Part of me is just so TIRED of always dieting!  The weight guideline from WW says 128-160 is my healthy range. I'm at the high end of that, but I honestly don't know if my body can get lower - between my body shape and having babies, I may just be at my "right" weight now!

So there ya go. I finally did it!! What the road ahead holds, I have no idea :-) But I'm going to celebrate with a (sugar free) peanut butter and (sugar free) jelly sandwich :-)

Delicious Recipe for you!

We had a few bananas that were WAY past their prime lying around and E has been begging me to make banana bread.  I've done so well this week saying no to sugar, I just couldn't bring myself to end the week by ruining the efforts.  I jumped on the internet and found the Spoonful of Sugar Free blog where there was a whole wheat banana bread muffin recipe.

Unlike some sugar free recipes, this recipe was COMPLETELY sugar free. There was no agave, no stevia. It was refreshing! The only sugar was from the bananas.  I was able to make 8 standard sized muffins out of the batter. I did also replace the milk substitute with skim milk, because that's what I had on hand.

I would have taken pictures for you, but honestly, the muffins WEREN'T ON THE PLATE LONG ENOUGH! My son, 18 mos, had two. My hubby had two. My daughter (4 this week, eek!) had THREE of them! I would say this is a resounding SUCCESS for a recipe!!  No one even mentioned that it didn't have sugar.   In fact, it even has flax added to it for an extra health kick. 

 I'm purposefully letting bananas get too ripe now, so that I have a reason to make these again. But maybe I'll triple the recipe next time. :-)

Here is the recipe, from Spoonful of Sugar Free:

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins:
These muffins are whole grain, vegan, and of course sugar-free!

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 Tablespoons ground flax
• rounded 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk substitute (i used almond milk, but soy, rice, hemp, or cow’s would be fine, too)
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil (or coconut, vegetable, grapeseed..)
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• round 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (optional. can substitute almonds or dried fruit, too)

Preheat oven to 350*. Mix together all of the ingredients, but add the baking soda last. Line muffin pans with liners (i used adorable mini muffins!). Then, fill each muffin with batter to the rim. For mini muffins, bake for 20 minutes (makes 20 muffins). For regular muffins, bake for 25 minutes (makes 10 muffins). To make banana bread, double the recipe and bake for 30 minutes.

This is a definite KEEP in our house and I look forward to trying more recipes from the blog!

Small victory!

 This is something like a mini-entry.

I made the kids root beer floats tonight as a treat after dinner. I didn't even give them a whole can of root beer between them, so I made a mini float for my hubby. I took it out to him and he said "oh, no, I'm so full, you can have it." 

And you know what - I DID NOT DRINK IT! 

Sugar:0 
Me:1!

Mid week check in

Monday, day 1.

WI 154; Lots of extra effort to make sure I wasn't eating sugar. I got out of the habit of paying attention.



Tuesday, day 2.

WI: 153; Headache, SUPER OVER EMOTIONAL, joints still hurting but feeling better. Appetite going away, left with 8ww points after dinner (drank a Corona to use some ;-)




Wednesday, day 3.

WI: 150!!!!  Feeling GOOD today! Appetite gone. Cravings low. Although I ran out of all my juicing veggies today, so I don't know what I'll do about that tomorrow.  I'm feeling WAY less bloated today as well.


My kiddo is still sick, so I haven't made it to the gym yet this week. It's not looking too promising that I'll be able to go before the week is up. Next week is busy - family coming for my DD's birthday, the 4th of July festivities (including vodka slush, it's tradition!) and the following Saturday a big big birthday party for my big girl!  But the following week, she has camp at the Y daily, so we'll be back in the swing of things then!

Thanks for checking in! How are YOU doing this week, detox-diet-exercise or otherwise?

Begin Again.

So my experiment last week, with not tracking, not avoiding sugar and barely working out - success AND failure!

For one, I didn't really gain any weight so to speak.  I weighed in at 154 this am, which is right around where I've been for a few months.

However, I am bloated and gooey feeling in my belly.

My joints hurt.

My emotions are ALL OVER THE PLACE.

And I just feel all over yukky.


So this am, I am starting to detox again. Obviously, I don't need it anymore for weight loss - as I didn't track a thing last week (and ate like I wasn't tracking anything!) and didn't go too high.   But this time around, I'm going to allow myself the yummy summer fruit - IN MODERATION. I know that bananas are my gateway drug to sugar (hello bananas + nutella + peanut butter.... *drool*) so I will avoid those. But the fresh cherries, pears and plums in my fridge will get in my belly! :-)

Here's my stats update as of earlier this month (I don't think I ever posted this):

And for comparison, here's a photo from today (ignore the sweat, I tried the Zumba Wii game I borrowed from the library!) -- hoping the bloat goes down!










The plan:

Juice for breakfast (lots of greens!) and coffee with half and half.  Adding chia seeds to my juice helps keep me nice and full and keeps those nasty cravings away.

Lunch will be full-fat cheese, some low fat lunch meat (ham) and cucumbers probably. I will add crackers here and there as I see fit.  I am also looking for a great oatmeal recipe - steel cut oatmeal at lunch sounds delicious to me!

Dinners I will continue as usual.  Tonight, for example, we're having steak, baked sweet potatoes and a nice romaine salad.  I have always tried to keep my plate 1/2 veggie, 1/4 protein and 1/4 carb. That won't change.

After dinner: I will be avoiding what has become my summer routine - Corona with lime! Cutting back on my alcohol intake should also help the bloat.


I'm hoping to get to the gym more this week, but I have 1.5 sick kiddos (one is definitely sick, one seems to be on his way there) so I may have to improvise - some 30 day shred at home, maybe a run after the kids go to bed. I never run in my neighborhood, but I AM DYING to go for a run! I miss it! It's been several weeks since I've gone and I just need the decompression time.



So that's it for me.  Hoping I can shed the last few lbs and get to a good, toned place for our beach vacation!

Stuck.

I'm feeling defeated.

The line has stopped moving (well, significantly downward at least).

Since April, I've been within FOUR POUNDS of goal. I've weighed in on off-days at 150. I've NEVER hit goal officially on a weigh in day.  I've been kicking my butt spinning, running, classes.... and I just can't.get.there.

I've hit a wall. I'm in that place that says "JUST GIVE UP!!! Eat sugar, drink and be merry!"  So I did. Yesterday, I had a Reese's egg & a cookie. Today I had another egg and some yogurt (sugary greek yogurt, it's delish!)  And you know what? I don't feel better. I feel worse. I've been short with my kids, crabby to everyone, my patience is non-existent. I feel bloated, my joints hurt and my head aches. 

SO WHY DO I KEEP DOING IT TO MYSELF?!?!

This week I have decided to just live.  Eat what I can/want and see what happens.  Maybe if I pack on a few pounds, I can do a strict detox on the other end and actually see my goal. 

It doesn't hurt that my new (awesome) class is kicking my butt.  I have been experiencing some serious low back pain that has sidelined me from a lot of my normal workout activities.

What do you do when you get stuck??

Back to basics.

As more people ask me about quitting sugar, I find myself back in the place I was before I started. I hear them say "I'm weak" and "It's not for me!"  and I am instantly back to last summer/fall, before I quit. I remember thinking how ridiculous it was to quit sugar. I remember thinking about how small my willpower was and how sugar wasn't "that bad" for me. And then I re-read this post and remember how empowered, strong and awesome it felt to achieve "the impossible."

But I did the 8 weeks. And I FELT better. Wholly better - emotional, physical... clearer, pain-free. 

So here's a quick bullet point of some of my favorite "sugar free" tips: 

• Trader Joe's has two salad dressings that are sugar free - a Greek Feta dressing and a "Goddess" dressing that tastes vaguely like hummus. 
• Whole Foods has sugar free ketchup!!
• You can easily make your own taco seasoning and Italian seasoning (Italian dressing mix) that taste BETTER than the jarred/envelopes!
• Greek yogurt (plain!) starts to taste less like sour cream and more delicious the longer you are without sugar! Yogurt with walnuts and cinnamon is a fantastic breakfast or snack!
• Triscuits are about the only crackers that don't have added sugar that I have found.
• 
  

I'm not going to lie, I haven't been "sugar free" these days.  A little ice cream here, some fruit there. And I pay for it - my joints hurt, I have cravings, I have wicked mood swings. 

In my head I know I CAN do it. I also know that I am doing fine allowing the occasional "treat" now and again.

And I'm kicking BUTT on my fitness. Still doing Weight Watchers and last week, I earned **42** Activity Points!

Tues: Yoga - 75 min

Wed: Spinning - 66 min

Thurs: Spinning - 75 min (I rode extra!)

Fri: new class - cardio drills & power sculpt - 75 min (this class KICKS MY BUTT!!)

All in all a good week.  Weight holding steady at 152. I feel like I need to weigh in on Fridays instead of Mondays! 

Weekends are my diet enemy!