Yesterday, I completed the Vancouver Sun Run. I walked 10k in 98 minutes. As I crossed the finish line with Bernie holding my hand there was such a sense of accomplishment that came over me and I was in awe of my determination.
Back in January as I started training for this day, my goal was to have 100 pounds off my back by Sun Run Sunday and I did it!! Plus 10.8!!
The other day, I thanked my co-worker that talked me into signing up for our corporate walking team. Because when I first heard about it I was like righto!! Me walk 10k!! I don't think so!! She saw something in me that I was not aware of. And let me tell you I loved working towards a goal and having something that I could be totally proud of.
To keep up with the training, I'm going to start next week training to walk a marathon. I'm focusing in on the Okanagan Marathon in October and going to register for the 21.1k but train for the full marathon. Just think the sense of accomplishment I will have after walking 2 Sun Runs!!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
The How You Do It Question
Many people have asked me how I do it and for advice on Weight Watchers. To be honest with you, I have found what is working for me. Each one of us is different and our bodies are looking for that balance it needs to become the best fat burning machine. One thing that I have learned is that our bodies want to be a normal weight and as long as you are giving it what it needs then it will fight with us in the battle of the bulge!!
Here's how I'm doing it:
~I journal the night before creating my menu that is within my daily points. I find it much easier for me if I just eat what is in my journal instead going willy nilly through the day. Trying to divide my points evenly throughout the day. Currently, I have 30 points so I try to break it 10 for breakfast/10 lunch & snack/10 dinner & snack.
~I don't eat my Weekly Points in order to cover the taste tests at work since I'm a Chef and it is just my nature to taste test!! And I'm working on eating at least half of my Activity Points in Almonds. It really goes against our ingrained thoughts about dieting but you have to EAT YOUR POINTS to be successful on our journey
~I drink at least 4 lts of water per day. Check out the hydration calculator website to find out if you are drinking enough.
~I walk every day (rain, shine, or snow) for at least 30 min. Lucy is a great walking partner and makes walking easy for me since she has to do her biz and she prefers not to do it in her yard.
~I follow the Good Health Guidelines and take a wide array of vitamins and supplements to insure that I'm doing this the healthy way
~I avoid eating after 9pm (3 hr before bedtime). However, I do drink one glass of skim before bed to help tide me over until morning.
~I try to satisfy a hankering or craving before it becomes a binge. This is a lifestyle change not a deprivation plan. If I want that cheeseburger, then I journal it and have it. Easy Peasy!!
~I attend my weekly meeting faithfully. I have faced the music that it is my AA meeting. I leave feeling so empowered and ready to continue on this journey. No one has ever told me that it was going to be easy. But my leader, Marisa, and my fellow members make the journey more bearable just knowing that you are not the only one out there.
~ I post on the WeightWatchers.ca message boards. I find that there is also someone out there walking in your shoes on the boards and just keeps my energy focused on the task at hand to lose half of me by St. Patrick's 2008. Challenges on the boards have helped me set lil goals along the way and brings the A factor front and center.
Just work on finding what your body needs and I hope that this has helped you to find that balance.
Here's how I'm doing it:
~I journal the night before creating my menu that is within my daily points. I find it much easier for me if I just eat what is in my journal instead going willy nilly through the day. Trying to divide my points evenly throughout the day. Currently, I have 30 points so I try to break it 10 for breakfast/10 lunch & snack/10 dinner & snack.
~I don't eat my Weekly Points in order to cover the taste tests at work since I'm a Chef and it is just my nature to taste test!! And I'm working on eating at least half of my Activity Points in Almonds. It really goes against our ingrained thoughts about dieting but you have to EAT YOUR POINTS to be successful on our journey
~I drink at least 4 lts of water per day. Check out the hydration calculator website to find out if you are drinking enough.
~I walk every day (rain, shine, or snow) for at least 30 min. Lucy is a great walking partner and makes walking easy for me since she has to do her biz and she prefers not to do it in her yard.
~I follow the Good Health Guidelines and take a wide array of vitamins and supplements to insure that I'm doing this the healthy way
~I avoid eating after 9pm (3 hr before bedtime). However, I do drink one glass of skim before bed to help tide me over until morning.
~I try to satisfy a hankering or craving before it becomes a binge. This is a lifestyle change not a deprivation plan. If I want that cheeseburger, then I journal it and have it. Easy Peasy!!
~I attend my weekly meeting faithfully. I have faced the music that it is my AA meeting. I leave feeling so empowered and ready to continue on this journey. No one has ever told me that it was going to be easy. But my leader, Marisa, and my fellow members make the journey more bearable just knowing that you are not the only one out there.
~ I post on the WeightWatchers.ca message boards. I find that there is also someone out there walking in your shoes on the boards and just keeps my energy focused on the task at hand to lose half of me by St. Patrick's 2008. Challenges on the boards have helped me set lil goals along the way and brings the A factor front and center.
Just work on finding what your body needs and I hope that this has helped you to find that balance.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Walking through the doors is the first step
The name of the game for me is Accountability or as I like to call it the "A Factor." I still have not figured to out after being in this body for 33 years, why I can't just be accountable to myself and be successful. All I have figured out that it must be my sign or in my wiring that I need people around me in order for me to be accountable and to be successful on this journey. I have faced the music and can't wait to become a lifetime member of Weight Watchers since it is something I will always need. It is my addiction recovery program!!
Weight Watchers and I are a good match. Kinda like a fine wine and an aged cheese!! It brings the A Factor!! I still journal everyday and still weigh and measure. But if I want that wine and cheese, I can have it as long as it is accounted for!!
This program totally works if you work it how it is intended to be worked. There are 2 plans that you can follow: Core or Flex. I'm not sure that I could ever do Core since it is totally about listening to your body's needs in the hunger department and eating wholesome foods. I would talk myself into eating when I was satisfied. I love the Flex plan!! It gives me a stopping point. Zero points equals the hatch is closed. I have also learned that there is not a 3rd plan called the "Beth Plan". The program will not work if I start freestyling!!
Weight Watchers and I are a good match. Kinda like a fine wine and an aged cheese!! It brings the A Factor!! I still journal everyday and still weigh and measure. But if I want that wine and cheese, I can have it as long as it is accounted for!!
This program totally works if you work it how it is intended to be worked. There are 2 plans that you can follow: Core or Flex. I'm not sure that I could ever do Core since it is totally about listening to your body's needs in the hunger department and eating wholesome foods. I would talk myself into eating when I was satisfied. I love the Flex plan!! It gives me a stopping point. Zero points equals the hatch is closed. I have also learned that there is not a 3rd plan called the "Beth Plan". The program will not work if I start freestyling!!
Monday, April 2, 2007
The Change
I decided to join Weight Watchers on August 20, 2006. I had been checking out all the options that I had around me since I needed to do something about not being able to fit. To fit into my jeans, to fit into my subaru, to fit into my chef coats, to fit into airplane, to fit into society.
This was not going to be my 1st battle of my journey. I had been successful in shedding pounds before but it is when there is a life hiccup where I run a ground. This can not be healthy for me to be a yo-yoer and I really want the chunky kid off my back.
I have always been the chunky kid. I clearly remember my brother getting into fights at school to stop the kids picking on me. I just don't want to pass that on to my kids. I can only imagine how cruel kids are today if they were that way in the 70's and 80's.
When I was 15, my family joined Weight Watchers. We had great success and I lost over 100 pounds. Then I had jaw surgery and was wired shut for 3 months and stopped going to Weight Watchers. So, the chunky kid was back. I was having being a kid and then off to college I went and lots of fun there.
In 2002, the chunky kid was feeling alone in Michigan and started asking the why's of life. Why did I chose my career as numero uno? Why did that breakup lead to a new relationship with Ben & Jerry? Why did my feet hurt so much that I couldn't walk after a long day at work? Why did my work clothes cost so much? And then one day as I was bonding with Judge Judy, bam a LA Weight Loss commercial came on and before you knew it I was walking in to the store and signing my tax return over to them. One year later, I was lighter!! In the pockets and in my waist. I had lost 134 pounds!! I was feeling great about myself and want to change more of the whys?? So I started dating again looking for the guy for me. The market in Michigan was not the greatest so I opened up my search up to the worldwide web. Lo and behold, a guy from Canada was my soulmate and lifelong best friend. After talking to Bernie, I decided to fly out to Vancouver and meet him for my 30th birthday. Let's not talk about the 30 issue. Okay lets!! I was having a hard time with turning 30. I was working 80 hour week sometimes, alone, not having enough time in life to do the lil things like pay your bills, not having relations with Ben & Jerry, and I totally hot after a guy 3000 miles away. As I was flying out to meet Bernie, I knew I was about to meet someone that I wanted in my corner of the ring. After a couple of trips out to be with him, I knew that was my place to be. So I moved!! Had a couple of job interviews via the phone but Bellingham, Washington was a tough job market. It took me over a year to get a job. So guess what, Judge Judy & I become buddies again. Diet Coke and Chips were invited to the pity party and the couch too. You know what happened next. All that money and hard work went down in flames!! Once the smoke cleared, 340 pound Beth reappeared.
What's different this time you ask?? I was thinking about and trying to decide which route to go since I was ready of the lifestyle change. The real kick in the pants was the conversion that my father in law had with my husband about my health and weight. I guess wasn't hiding it from anyone that I was obese!! This time is different because it is just not me anymore. I have Bernie to think about and any kids that we may be blessed with. Why would I want to have anything that I can have a hand in controlling put me in harms way if we were to have kids? Why would I want to put Bernie in a position of being a single father at the age of 50? Why would I want my legacy be to the chunky kid card?
So on August 20, 2006, I walk through the door a the local Weight Watcher Center and started the journey of my life.
It will be a journey for life since I seem not to be able to be accountable to myself like I am to others.
I love food, it is a passion of mine, but like any other drug. I'm addicted to it!! Hello, My Name is Beth, and I'm a food addict!!
This was not going to be my 1st battle of my journey. I had been successful in shedding pounds before but it is when there is a life hiccup where I run a ground. This can not be healthy for me to be a yo-yoer and I really want the chunky kid off my back.
I have always been the chunky kid. I clearly remember my brother getting into fights at school to stop the kids picking on me. I just don't want to pass that on to my kids. I can only imagine how cruel kids are today if they were that way in the 70's and 80's.
When I was 15, my family joined Weight Watchers. We had great success and I lost over 100 pounds. Then I had jaw surgery and was wired shut for 3 months and stopped going to Weight Watchers. So, the chunky kid was back. I was having being a kid and then off to college I went and lots of fun there.
In 2002, the chunky kid was feeling alone in Michigan and started asking the why's of life. Why did I chose my career as numero uno? Why did that breakup lead to a new relationship with Ben & Jerry? Why did my feet hurt so much that I couldn't walk after a long day at work? Why did my work clothes cost so much? And then one day as I was bonding with Judge Judy, bam a LA Weight Loss commercial came on and before you knew it I was walking in to the store and signing my tax return over to them. One year later, I was lighter!! In the pockets and in my waist. I had lost 134 pounds!! I was feeling great about myself and want to change more of the whys?? So I started dating again looking for the guy for me. The market in Michigan was not the greatest so I opened up my search up to the worldwide web. Lo and behold, a guy from Canada was my soulmate and lifelong best friend. After talking to Bernie, I decided to fly out to Vancouver and meet him for my 30th birthday. Let's not talk about the 30 issue. Okay lets!! I was having a hard time with turning 30. I was working 80 hour week sometimes, alone, not having enough time in life to do the lil things like pay your bills, not having relations with Ben & Jerry, and I totally hot after a guy 3000 miles away. As I was flying out to meet Bernie, I knew I was about to meet someone that I wanted in my corner of the ring. After a couple of trips out to be with him, I knew that was my place to be. So I moved!! Had a couple of job interviews via the phone but Bellingham, Washington was a tough job market. It took me over a year to get a job. So guess what, Judge Judy & I become buddies again. Diet Coke and Chips were invited to the pity party and the couch too. You know what happened next. All that money and hard work went down in flames!! Once the smoke cleared, 340 pound Beth reappeared.
What's different this time you ask?? I was thinking about and trying to decide which route to go since I was ready of the lifestyle change. The real kick in the pants was the conversion that my father in law had with my husband about my health and weight. I guess wasn't hiding it from anyone that I was obese!! This time is different because it is just not me anymore. I have Bernie to think about and any kids that we may be blessed with. Why would I want to have anything that I can have a hand in controlling put me in harms way if we were to have kids? Why would I want to put Bernie in a position of being a single father at the age of 50? Why would I want my legacy be to the chunky kid card?
So on August 20, 2006, I walk through the door a the local Weight Watcher Center and started the journey of my life.
It will be a journey for life since I seem not to be able to be accountable to myself like I am to others.
I love food, it is a passion of mine, but like any other drug. I'm addicted to it!! Hello, My Name is Beth, and I'm a food addict!!
A First
I'm dipping my toes in the blogging pool!!
I want to share my journey so that I might be motivation to anyone out there who has ever struggled with being overweight, obese, fluffy, extra fluffy, chunky, fat or whatever it is called that day.
I have discovered that I don't always have to wear my happy mask to cover up the fact that I was hurting being obese. I really hate hearing that word but it was reality and I could no longer keep fooling people that I was happy.
So, I decided that I needed to make a change in my lifestyle so that my legacy wouldn't be the cheerful obese lady. Since only 2 out of 3 were right.
I want to share my journey so that I might be motivation to anyone out there who has ever struggled with being overweight, obese, fluffy, extra fluffy, chunky, fat or whatever it is called that day.
I have discovered that I don't always have to wear my happy mask to cover up the fact that I was hurting being obese. I really hate hearing that word but it was reality and I could no longer keep fooling people that I was happy.
So, I decided that I needed to make a change in my lifestyle so that my legacy wouldn't be the cheerful obese lady. Since only 2 out of 3 were right.
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