Weight Watchers: Week 6

Week 6 is over and I am happy to report that not only did I finish my four week bootcamp but I also lost weight!

My first day of bootcamp we took body fat measurements, noted how many sit ups and push ups we could do, and timed how long it took us to complete an agility course and run 1.5 miles along with how long we could hold the plank position. After just 4 weeks, I made great improvements! I reduced my body fat by 2.7% (still too high though), I did 8 more sit ups and 10 more push ups, held the plank position for 4 seconds longer, completed the agility course 6 seconds faster and ran 1.5 miles 3.4 minutes faster than before. As far as weight loss, I just lost .4 pounds but I will take it. That makes a grand total of 4.2 pounds and many inches so I am happy. I am debating whether or not to sign up for the next round of bootcamp which starts next week.

I will admit, I took 2 days off of Weight Watchers this week. Yes, I cheated. This was a planned cheat though and not just an accidental one so I am really OK with it. One of my best friends from college came to Texas with her new boyfriend. Her parents generously took us all out to an amazing meal, we enjoyed some drinks, and even ate breakfast with them the next morning. I was not going to regulate my points while she was in town since I see her twice a year, if I am lucky. So yes, I ate and drank what I wanted, but am back on the plan. I even ran on my own this morning!

I will admit, as pleased as I am with my results this week, I did feel a moment of disappointment when I planned on wearing a pair of white pants that I could not even get on 5 weeks ago. I thought surely I could wear them out to dinner after all my accomplishments this week. I took a deep breath, put them on, and though I could snap them, they were not quite ready to be displayed in the rest of the world. White pants are not forgiving. I was very disappointed. I will just take that as motivation to keep on counting points and exercising.

My 5K is on Saturday morning so think running thoughts for me as I attempt to run the entire way in the heat of the summer!

Free! (or almost free)

A few good ones for this week though nothing fabulous to report from the grocery stores...

I got this free package of dog treats sent to me from Three Dogs Bakery and Walmart. They are adorable! They look like NutterButters for dogs. Dixie and Bandera are going to love these when they return home.
I made a quick trip to CVS one afternoon after getting an e-mail with a free product from CVS. My choice was either shaving creme or wet wipes so I chose shaving creme. Whenever I enter CVS, I always scan my CVS card at the red machine. The machine prints out extra coupons that you can't find anywhere else. This particular day, I got a coupon for free candy up to $2 so I managed to get all of this for just 31 cents (I had to buy over so tax could be included)! Mark loves the coconut M and M's so this was a little, cheap treat for him.I also scored another free Red Box rental (we rented "Blind Side" and LOVED it) along with 25% off two pedicures at a new salon that opened by my house. I completed a market research study on Tuesday night and got paid $85 cash for a little over an hour of my time. The topic that night was Kohl's so I was more than qualified to talk about that topic! I think people thought I knew a little too much about how to score a great deal there. And lastly, Mark was given a $50 gift card to Marshall's from a contractor at work so he generously gave it to me to use so I am counting this as free money! I plan to get a lamp for my bedside table and maybe a little something for myself.

Weight Watchers: Week 5

UGH! No weight loss this week and not sure why. I did bootcamp and ran on my own along with following the Weight Watchers plan to perfection....why no weight loss?!?!?!?! Can you tell I am a little frustrated? On a positive note though, I easily slipped on a pair of shorts that I was not even able to get on 5 weeks ago so maybe the scale isn't showing what my body is actually doing. Its gotta be the bootcamp!

I learned one good thing about food this week. Mark and I love sushi. We have gone out for sushi since we first started dating so we have our favorite things to order. We decided to treat ourselves to a mid-week date (using a coupon, of course). I researched on the Weight Watchers website and discovered what little of our favorite sushi I could eat, mostly because it was fried, had mayo or cream cheese, or was stacked with lots of fish and rice. I ended up having a spicy tuna California roll, a seaweed salad, and a bowl of miso soup. I loved every bite of it! Our date may not have included me sharing in our favorite rolls, but it was delicious and spending time with Mark always makes me happy!

I also made an important decision (mostly aided by Mark's encouragement) that I will attempt to run a 5K. I signed up for the Liberty Run on July 3 thinking it would be a good way to get some exercise on a Saturday (plus it was discounted admission on a Groupon deal). I thought I would try the 10K and just walk it but Mark suggested I truly challenge myself and run the entire 5K. Darn his athletic mentality! The last time I ran a 5K was nearly 7 years ago and it was hard then so this should be truly interesting. Good thing bootcamp has had me running!

Bring it on week 6!

Father's Day

I have a great Dad along with a great Father-in-Law so celebrating wonderful Fathers was pretty easy for me! My Mom decided to host a little party at my parent's house with some family members along with Mark's parents. She made brats (my Dad's favorite food), chicken breasts (for me, the dieter) and everyone else brought delicious sides. Mark and I brought a yummy, healthy cole slaw.

We chatted, ate, and played a few rounds of one of my family's favorite games, Balderdash. Overall it was a great day and I hope all the Father's felt loved and appreciated on their special day!







Macy, my former Lab and now my Dad's dog, wanted to be in our picture. She loves her Grandpaw very much!

A Belated Wedding Gift to Ourselves

Mark and I had a little time to kill before meeting my parents and grandparents for lunch on Saturday so we decided to take our wedding gift cards and head to Crate and Barrel. People were very generous to us so we had quite a bit of money there. We weren't sure what we were looking for until Mark spotted a great shelf for all of our bar-type items. We have been wanting one of these for awhile but had not found the perfect one yet....until now! I love our new piece!!! It fits just perfectly in our kitchen.
Mark put it together Saturday night and we loaded it up with all of our bar goodies. This made lots of room for me to spread things out in the kitchen so I spent some time Sunday rearranging things so we have less on our counter tops and more in the cabinets. The end result was total kitchen organization! Drinks anyone?

Weight Watchers: Week 4

"Slow and steady, slow and steady" is what I keep telling myself. I got on the scale this morning and lost .4 pounds. Not very much. This makes a total of 3.9 pounds which is on track for losing considering I have been at it for a month but I wish it was coming off faster! I can tell a great difference in the fit of my clothes even if the scale isn't reflecting my hard work.

I continued to work through Bootcamp this week. Whew, did the trainer put together some tough workouts! I am exhausted and hungry when I come home but I feel great (especially after a cool shower!). I even opted to run on my own Saturday morning at our local track. I ran 1.25 miles and walked 1.25. I was pleased with myself since it has been a long time since I chose to take a run.

Food choices were fairly simple this week since we ate at home the entire week including Friday night. We went over to our friends' new house Saturday night for dinner which always makes me nervous since I never know what people will serve for dinner. I lucked out because they decided to smoke chicken and corn and serve beans. A great Weight Watcher dinner! I made a healthy Triple Berry Trifle for dessert so I knew I could have a cup of that and still stay within my point range. Mark also made me a great breakfast Sunday morning of egg whites, toast, fruit and a small cup of orange juice. It made me feel very special that he not only got up early to make me breakfast, but also that he did it in a way that I could eat and enjoy!

I will be honest, I am really craving a Chic-Fil-A fried chicken sandwich and waffle fries (which is totally weird since I think I have eaten at this fast food chain maybe a total of 10 times in my entire life, no joke)or a yummy Tex-Mex meal of chips, salsa, refried beans, rice, and soft chicken tacos. Mark joked and said I could get these items but hold the, well, hold the everything. It was pretty funny since he is right!

Here's to a month of following the Weight Watchers exercise and points plan and not cheating! Looks like at least another month is ahead of me...

Meet My New Friend: The Excalibur Dehydrator

My brother, Drew, owns an internet business that sells healthy living type items. Mark and I bought the Excalibur Dehydrator from him nearly a year ago though never used it. Mark thought it would be great to make duck jerky with, and someday I am sure it will, but I decided to use it to try to make some healthy snacks. This quickly became my next summer project.

I decided to first try Kale Chips. I heard about these on another girl's blog and was intrigued. They were very easy to make. The recipe called for 1 tsp of salt though the chips were too salty to eat so I can only figure that I didn't use enough kale. They were very tasty minus the salt. I am going to try another batch of these since I had to throw the others away. Mark thought these were utterly disgusting.






After seeing how easy it was to dehydrate food, I decided to continue in my tree-hugger ways and try some fruit. I found a recipe for Honey Sweetened Apples. These took about 4 hours to dehydrate. It was amazing to me how just a few ingredients that I already had at home could make such a tasty, healthy treat!









I also found a recipe for Bananas. I learned that dehydrated foods are not always the same as the fruits and veggies that you buy at the store. Banana chips at the store are flash fried then sweetened which explains why they taste so wonderful but are far from a low calorie snack. My dehydrated bananas are soft, but not crunchy, and brown only because of the cinnamon I used. I learned that you put lemon juice on fruit before dehydrating it in order to keep the fruit from browning. These took 18 hours to dehydrate so I had to plan accordingly.







Mark liked the bananas over the apples though both my friend/neighbor and I loved them both. I can't wait to make more of these three recipes, plus, try some new ones. I love my Excalibur Dehydrator!!!