Birthday

Tonight I went out for my birthday. Went with another couple and kept it very small tonight. I did have my favorite steak and an appetizer. I said two weeks ago I didnt want to go out for my birthday last week so we went for dinner tonight.

Back to my routine tomorrow morning.

Today's weigh in

Today I went to the doctor for routine bloodwork (Cholesterol, etc) and then went to my weigh in. This week I am happy to report that I lost 2.6 pounds of me. That brings the total to 28.6 pounds. Thank you all for your support.

I only went out for dinner once this week. Even when I was alone on Thursday I made dinner at home. I am extremely encouraged and impressed about my journey to date.

The doctor was very happy that I am doing WW as he believes it is a very sound program. Next week Maddie and I begin swimming classes at the JCC. I hope Maddie enjoys it as much as I am looking forward to it.

Another day

Well I did not post last night as I was having my annual eye exam where they give you the drops and dilate you eyes. Today I went to the gym and then to work. Another wise choice I made was that I had gone out to lunch with a co-worker today and had a salad.

I am currently working late tonight. In the past I would have stopped for fast food on the way home. Instead I had my lunch that I brought with me for dinner. Its the small choices and changes in the road that help every step of the way.

Another accomplishment

Two accomplishments actually. Saturday I bought a pair of jeans that were a size smaller than I was wearing. When I put them on this morning I found that my belt was too big and not really appropriate for them.

I will now have to buy another belt. Wow this weight loss journey isnt cheap, but it will be soooo worth ever bit of work.

Sunday Dinner

I broke out the slow cooker for the first time in ages. I tried a "Taco" recipe from the WW slow cooker cookbook that Meri bought me for my birthday. The meat came out flavorless but I realized altho I added other spices that I forgot to add the salt and pepper. WHOOPS

Anyway I will try this again but I will add a bit of flavoring to it as well to give it some taste. Next week I will try another recipe from the book as well.

WOW

Today I went to my weigh in not sure if I lost anything at all. Much to my surprise I lost 5.8 pounds. I am still in shock over this because I know I wasn't great over the weekend when I went to CT with Meri, however I did watch what I ate while travelling having a salad for lunch followed by fish at night (Both nights were salmon).

I originally posted the weight loss from my blackberry on Facebook. I likened it to the perfect game that David Wells threw in the 90's where he went out to pitch with a hangover but threw a perfect game.

I thank everyone for the help and support that they give me on a daily basis. I cant do this without you.

Weigh in tomorrow

Well tomorrow will be my biggest test yet. I went away for the weekend with Meri for Valentines day, and spent a couple of days on the road for work. While I was not perfect when I was away for the weekend, I was very careful travelling for work. I pushed myself at the gym and even spent a longer than normal workout in the hotel gym.

Lets see where my hard work takes us this week. The scale shall tell me tomorrow!!!!!

Eating on the road

Today and tomorrow I am on the road in Harrisburg, and Baltimore. For lunch I had a Chef's Salad with dressing on the side. For dinner I had a crab appetizer with a Salmon entree. I think I am within my points for the day.

Travelling on the road is never easy however there are always safer choices that can be made.

Happy Birthday

Today as many of you know was my birthday. I brought lunch to work and was going to make dinner but it got wayyyy too late. So I ordered a Caesar Salad and two slices of pizza loaded with veggies.

Sadly I am still big enough that I had enough points to absorb it all without going over. Next year when my birthday arrives I will not be that lucky (I hope). I got some really cool gifts from Meri and Maddie. Meri got me a Weight Watchers slow cooker cookbook, and Maddie got me a bathrobe.

The best part of my birthday was spending time with Maddie and playing with her. Tomorrow I hit the gym and then head to Harrisburg and Baltimore and will be back home Thursday night. Time to hit the gym in the hotel

Valentines Day

Today I got a gift from Maddie. It was a shirt with a sign that said "I know you will fit into this soon, I am so proud of you for losing weight". It was a size 2x when I normally wear a size 3x. I tried it on to see how close I was to it, and it fit me. I will be wearing it to Mohegan Sun today.

Meri and I are going to Mohegan Sun for today and tomorrow. Maddie is staying home with Grandma watching her.

I probably will not have time to post until Tuesday as I will not be taking a laptop with me for this trip.

Saturday Weigh In

I honestly did not know what to expect this morning when I weighed in. I only went to the gym twice this week and didn't think I did all that well at the superbowl. However when I stood on the scale this morning I found that I had lost 2.8 pounds again WOO HOO. The new total is now 20.8 pounds YAY

Tomorrow's weigh in

Well tomorrow is Saturday and it will be time to face the scale. I believe I did well this week but you never know. Here is to hoping it is a good week.

Who Knew?

Well today before I went to work I needed to shovel my walk and cars out. I didn't have time to go to the gym because I was already late. I decided to enter the time that I shoveled into the Weight Watchers Journal and low and behold it turned out my time was worth FIVE points. That is more than I normally get during a half hour at the gym. Who knew this could be rewarding?

Back to normal

Today was the first day that I was back in force. Not that the last two days were bad, they were for a completely different reason. I was sick with a nasty cold/virus and didnt eat nearly enough. Yesterday I had soup and steamed dumplings in the evening and that was all I had to eat or drink all day.

I believe I am doing well this week and should be on track to lose at least 2.5 pounds again this week if not more.

Another inspiration

Today while I managed to stay up for a couple of hours this morning I was talking to a friend of mine that I grew up with on Facebook. He lost over 100 pounds last year. Today was the first time that I got to see pictures of him and I did not recognize him. He is another inspiration to me and I have to say WAY TO GO ADAM!!!!!!

New way to lose weight

Well I think I found the magic way to lose weight. I got sick while at work yesterday and spent most of today in bed. I finally forced a small turkey sandwich down my throat which was the first thing I had to eat or drink all day. I know I know BAD BAD Howie as I should at least have been drinking fluids.

I am feeling a little better now and will have soup tonight as Meri will bring me Won ton soup. YAY but I have lost 3 pounds today alone according to MY scale.

I promise to be better. I am annoyed that I didn't get to go to the gym today as it will probably be closed tomorrow and possibly Thursday as well. Oh well I guess I'll just have to shovel snow as exercise.

A story from yesterday

I decided to share the following story from my lunch yesterday. Meri and I usually go out to eat once a week to the diner for breakfast or lunch. We try to eat every other meal in. Yesterday I ordered a caesar salad with grilled chicken. When the salad came it was the hugest salad I have ever seen. I decided to only eat half of it and leave the other half for lunch on Sunday. Today I will have the rest of the salad so I will hopefully not be too hungry for tonight (Super Bowl). We are having a number of people over and I will be busy watching the game and entertaining so I wont have too much time to munch down on everything YAY.

Recipe from last night

At the urging of my favorite redneck, I am going to share a recipe that I created last night for dinner. Rachel wants me to share anything that is successful. The meal was a fusion of a couple of recipes that I had seen around. One came from a Weight Watchers meeting, while the other came from the Weight Watchers website. I made my own fusion to it and came up with the following:

1 lb ground turkey
1 package white mushrooms
1 package frozen spinach
1 cup onions
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp grill seasoning (or other seasoning)
1 Can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
2 tbsp worcesteshire sauce
Olive Oil Spray (PAM or equivilent)
1 Cup Weight Watchers Mexican blend cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. spray a skillet with the olive oil spray then heat
3. Add the onions and garlic and let them cook for a minute
4. Add the mushrooms and mix to combine
5. Add the Salt, Pepper, and Worcestishire sauce and cook for a few minutes
6. Add the turkey and added grill mix to taste cook until the turkey is fully browned
7. Add the spinach (Defrosted and most liquid removed) cook until completely combined
8. Remove from heat
9. Combine mixture with the cream of chicken soup and add to baking dish sprayed with olive oil spray
10. Top mixture with cheese and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

I used it with whole wheat pasta, but it can go with almost anything. I am looking for a name for this dish and am open to any suggestions.

Success

Today I weighed in for the first time in 2 weeks. My weight loss was 2.8 pounds for the two weeks. Given that I was probably up 1 pound for the trip I think I did well. My total weight loss for the journey is now 18.0 pounds

Thanks to everyone for all of your support.

Tomorrow

Well tomorrow is the day of truth. I have been good all week. I went to the gym 4 times, lets see if it was enough. I hope that WW is open tomorrow as I have already gotten a call from my Dr. that they have closed for tomorrow and I had to reschedule my appt for the following week.

If the center is not open tomorrow I am not sure if I will simply wait one more week, or change my day to Sunday which I would rather not do.

The first month

Well the first month has certainly had its ups and downs. I learned what happens when you dont pay attention to what you are ordering (Sausagegate). I learned that travel isnt that easy but you have to stick with it.

I could not have made it this far without the support of everyone. I thank everyone for reading this and contributing whenever possible.

Working Hard

Well I have been sticking to it since coming back from Germany. When I came home I stepped on the scale the following morning and cant remember what MY scale said before I left. So I either gained a pound, or lost a pound. Either way I do consider the trip a small victory.

Went to the gym again today and will hit it tomorrow again unless the weather prevents me from it.

Back on track

Well today was the second day of staying on track. I woke up and went to the gym before work and was good the rest of the day. I think I am adjusting nicely back to the New York timezone. Another day of gym then work awaits me tomorrow.