So I Made The Vacation Weight Gain Official

I did it. I finally got my behind to WW to officially weigh in and get that gain down on paper and in a computer so I can't hide from it! I hadn't weighed in since early July, and it took me a full week after getting back from our trip to force myself to go in there. I'm gonna tell you my vacation weight gain total - it was 5 lbs exactly. Ugh!! That was actually better than I thought and I know that right after I got back, it spiked up much more than that, so I can live with 5.

My theory is - you have to deal with it and log in that gain. If you don't, you'll keep trying to get back to your original number before going back to WW, which will take too long and get discouraging which will cause you to quit. So now that I have the gain, I can start losing it! So if I lose a pound next week - it will show as a loss, not as a- well you still gained 4 lbs. See? We won't dwell on that fact that I already lost that weight once before! :)

So back to weight loss mode again. I won't go and weigh in this Saturday, but will go in the following Saturday. That gives me over a week to get back to being healthy and losing some weight.

How are you doing this summer? Have you had any vacation weight gains and how have you dealt with them? I say, don't beat yourself up about it now - just move forward. You can do it!!

Lisa :)

Better Late Than Never To The Hop

I had already linked my other blog up to the hop and, as usual forgot about linking this one!

Though the Blogher blogging conference is ending now in Chicago, I'm still having fun participating in Blog Hop '09 hosted by Robin at Pensieve and Jo-Lynne at Musings of a Housewife! And another fun one is the BlogNerd Bash hosted by Amanda at Garibay Soup! You can stop by those blogs to "meet" a lot of bloggers and make some new friends!

If you're new to this blog, here's a bit about it. My main blog is Stop and Smell the Chocolates, but I started this one over a year ago to keep my healthy recipes and struggles with weight separate. I wanted it to be a way to work things out for myself through writing, keep track of recipes, share healthy tips, and get and give encouragement. Though my weight is still high, I believe that this blog has been helpful for me!

I'm happily married (for almost 17 years!), have one fantastic son, and a basset hound that's growing on me! You'll mostly hear me talking about weight results, frustrations and struggles, cheering about successes, and sharing healthy recipes. In fact, you can look at the labels on my sidebar for great recipe ideas.

It's nice to meet you and if you like what you see, then I hope you'll be back! Have fun blog hopping!

Lisa :)

The Pounds, Oh The Pounds

Yes, I was supposed to at least attempt to be good during vacation. Other than a couple of small attempts here and there, I ate WAY too much food and a lot of unhealthy food and I did NOT do much in the way of exercise. My best guess according to my Dad's scale is that I have gained...are you ready to be shocked...4+ pounds during this vacation!! UGH. :(

Since I can't go back in time and redo my vacation, I must try to get back on track now and get this weight back off as quickly as possible. We are getting on the road tomorrow to head home and will be home in 2 days. If I could eat nothing for 2 days, I would (not only is that not healthy, but it is not possible for me)! I will try to stay away from the bad foods on our road trip and walk around during our overnight stop. After I get home, I'll only have about 2-3 days until I need to weigh in at WW. We will see what happens!

How are you doing? Do you struggle during vacations? I usually do, though I was doing WW a few years ago and was really on track before vacation. At that time, I weighed in at WW in a different town and actually lost a pound while I was on my trip! So I know it can be done!

I hope all of you have a wonderful week!!

Lisa :)

Guest Post ~ If I Can Become A Runner, You Can Too

Welcome my friend Mel from A Box of Chocolates! Mel's blog is all about her life, including her weight loss journey and even healthy WW recipes on Fridays. We get along well because of our love of chocolate, fun, and our shared weight loss struggles. Mel is almost at her weight loss goal - so close! Something that has really helped her lately has been her running program. I think it's inspiring and hope you enjoy her story! Thanks for sharing with us Mel!

I have never been one to run. Not as a kid, not as a teenager, and surely in adulthood. I just never liked to run. I always played sports like softball and tennis so I moved, but didn't necessarily run any distance or that fast either.

My first experience with a treadmill was only five years ago. Some girlfriends encouraged me to join them at the gym and I gave into the peer pressure, eventually joining. They would all be sprinting away while I huffed and puffed through my walking program. I kept on walking though, increasing my speed every workout, and eventually even jogged a little (and I do mean a little) here and there. It was great having them cheer me on and I must admit that not wanting to fail in front of them gave me more reason to run. But within a few months the gym thing grew old and it became hard to get there with the kids schedules so I eventually stopped going.

My next interaction with the treadmill didn’t occur until 3 years later when I joined Weight Watchers. With two kids and working full time, I knew a gym was out of the question so I bought a treadmill for home. I used it pretty consistently for walking, but wasn’t big on pushing myself so I never jogged.

About a year later, I was 10 pounds away from my goal weight and seemed to have stopped losing. I decided that I was either going to have to step up the exercise or be content where I was. I knew that running burned lots of calories and around here at the beach during the summer, all you see is people running. I would watch them and dream of being able to run...and of having their legs and butts! But, no matter how much I envied them the thought of actually running myself was scary.

Then I discovered the Couch-to-5K (C25K) running plan. Supposedly if you followed this plan you could go from walking to running 5K’s in just a few weeks. I was very skeptical, but figured I didn’t have anything to lose so I downloaded the podcasts from Robert Ullrey. The great thing about the podcast is that each week the intervals are already timed for you so he will tell you when to walk, when to run, and encourage you throughout the workout. There was nothing better than hearing him say “you are halfway finished” or my personal favorite “this is your last run.”

The first week started with intervals of 60 sec runs with 90 sec of walking in between. I just told myself that I could do anything for a minute and by golly I DID. I finished the week successfully and I believe that is what motivated me to keep going. Week 2 then pushed a bit harder with 90 second runs, but 2 1/2 minutes of walking in between. I kept telling myself, "You can walk for 2 1/2 minutes, you just have to run for 90 seconds" over and over. When I finished week 2 successfully, I was ready to take on week 3. By the time I finished week 3, I found myself actually looking forward to running. I was enjoying the challenge and at the end of every run was so proud of myself that it kept me going for the next one!!

I won’t lie and say that it was all absolutely wonderful because let me tell you my first 20 minute straight run was not! It did get easier though as I focused on my breathing and my running mojo. I ran my first 5K race this past April after beginning the C25K program in February. Since then I’ve ran 3 other races and I try to sign up for at least one a month to keep me motivated.

For regular training, I try to run 3-4 times a week and push to get a 5K in during each run. The most important tip for beginning runners is don’t focus on your time. My first goal was to just finish the distance, running the whole time, no matter what the time. Now that I am confident in my abilities to finish the distance I am beginning to focus on my time. I would love to one day be able to run a 5K in under 30 minutes!

So now I call myself a runner!
WOW. I didn't think that word would ever be used to describe me.

If you are like me and have thought about running, but thought you never could, I challenge you to check out the Couch-to-5K program. If I can do it, then you can too!!

Thanks Mel! Running is really working for Mel and it could work for you and me too! Stop by We Are THAT Family for more Works-For-Me-Wednesday!

Lisa :)

Check Out This Cool WW Widget!

Thanks to Mel at A Box of Chocolates, who shared this great WW widget! It helps you choose a better snack when you are craving something that might really throw you off track!

You can get the code for the snack widget to put on your own blog. I did add a smaller version to my sidebar.

Try it out!


Also - be on the lookout for a great guest post from Mel this week right here on my blog!

Lisa :)

On The Road

Well, we're more than halfway to MT now and I was so busy getting ready for the trip that I didn't have time to weigh in at WW! Not only that, but I didn't have time to make any of the WW-friendly snacks that I had planned.

So - not surprising that I didn't start the trip out healthy. I might have had a blended dark chocolate caramel coffee drink and an Entenmann's glazed buttermilk donut for breakfast. It didn't go too well after that either though I kept portions small. I'm not sure that tomorrow will be much better, but I will have to try to make up for it when I get to my destination.

I really have to make an effort to eat healthy while I'm visiting. Help!! Any words of encouragement??

Have a great weekend!

Lisa :)

P.S. I'm in a KOA cabin right now. I just looked at the breakfast menu and I can order 1 egg and maybe get a slice of bacon and/or split an English muffin. So I will do that along with some iced tea and skip the leftover donuts and fancy coffee drinks! I only looked into it because of writing this post! :)

I'm Down - Now Don't Let Me Gain It Back This Weekend

Since WW is closed tomorrow (for the 4th), I had to go and weigh today. I almost didn't get there this morning because I had all kinds of running around to do and had forgotten my monthly pass! I still made it just before they closed the doors after a morning meeting. Officially down 1 lb.!! Woo Hoo!

That means that I actually lost about 2 lbs this week because when I missed WW last week, I would have logged in a gain of about a pound. That means I lost the pound I gained plus an additional pound. I find it really encouraging to turn it around like that so quickly!

Now I need to try and get through this weekend without ruining it all. I've already had trouble today - wasn't my worst, but I could have made some better choices. I am making side dishes from this very blog for our dinner tomorrow and we're having all kinds of barbecued meat, some of which will be chicken, so that should help. I will need to really stay on track this week and do some Wii Fit (only did it twice last week).

Ack - I just realized that I am leaving on Thursday for my MT trip! Either I will have to weigh in on Wednesday or on Thursday morning on our way out of town. That doesn't give me very many days to "make up" for any extra eating this weekend. I am going to have to be better than I was even planning over the next 2 days.

Any encouragement or tips for me? How are you doing?

Have a wonderful and blessed Independence Day!

Lisa :)