Week 1

I'm doing Weight Watchers.  Yeah, it's time for me to get in shape again and I've failed on my own more times than I can count.  My mom and I are doing it together and we are both super pumped!  I'm hesitant to write about it because it's such a vulnerable spot for me and has been for much of my life.  I guess my thought was that if I don't write about it, people won't know that I need to lose weight, that I'm out of shape and unhealthy.  Well, I realized that someone could just take one look at me and know that, so why not write about what I'm going through?  Hopefully it will motivate someone else.

Here's a picture of us the week before beginning looking nice and chubby.



For the first week, the leaders at WW gave us a little assignment to write down ten things we've learned.  I didn't think I would be able to come up with ten because I thought I already knew it all.  I've been telling myself that I know how to eat healthy and exercise, but I just need accountability.  Well,  I was wrong!  So here are just a few of the things I've learned in week 1.

1. Portions.  When I cook at home, I tend to cook pretty simple, relatively healthy meals.  They usually consist of some kind of meat, some kind of starchy side like a potato, rice, or pasta, and a vegetable.  Starting WW hasn't drastically changed the way I cook, but it has made me realize that the portions I've been giving myself are WAY too big.  For example, I've always made spaghetti with lean ground beef and whole grain pasta, but the serving I gave myself was probably four times too big, and I often returned for seconds.  This week I made it the same way, but scooped out a 1/4 C of pasta with a 1/2 cup of meat sauce.  I didn't make garlic bread, but salad and fruit instead.
2. Blinders off.   Wednesday night we used our Applebee's gift card.  This seemed like a good choice since I knew they had WW options on their menu.  I was disappointed to find that they only had a few items with the WW label, but after looking at the nutrition facts and calculating the points I discovered I could eat a small steak and half a baked potato for less than some of the WW items.  After I decided what to order, I looked up the points for other menu items that I used to order and I was shocked.  My favorite chicken tenders were worth almost a full day's points!  This was hard to take, but I was glad to know the truth.   It definitely motivated me to learn about what I eat before I put it in my mouth.
3. Balance.  Friday night we joined friends from our church at Mojo Tapas by our house.  Kyle and I had walked by it many times on our way to The Gelateria, and always wanted to try it.  We really liked the atmosphere and the tapas were so good!  I had a very low-point day leading up to our night out and I did my daily shred with Jillian, so I didn't feel so bad ordering just what I wanted.  We split crab empanadas and calamari.  I skipped the table bread, which was difficult, but Kyle said it wasn't that good anyway.  The next morning, to my great surprise, I had still lost weight!
4. Small goals.  I have a fair amount of weight I want/need to lose, so when I try to think about that big number, I get a bit overwhelmed with grief and remorse that I've let myself get this far out of shape.  However, if I think in terms of 5 pounds, or even 5%, I feel much more able to accomplish my goal.
5. Motivations.  I have to be honest with myself about my motivations.  I have many.  They range from wanting to honor God with how I take care of my body, wanting to be healthier, wanting to increase our chances of fertility, wanting to just feel better, all the way down to wanting to look better in clothes, and to not be the "fat Bass wife" (if you knew how beautiful my sisters-in-law are, you'd understand).  Now, I know that items 1, 2, and 3 really ought to drive me more than anything, but all I have to do is take a walk around the mall and look at the clothes I want to wear, and all of the sudden I am back on track.  It's silly.  It's frivolous.  It's really superficial, but it's the truth.  

I'm going to install a little tracker of some sort on the side of my blog so you all can stay in the loop about where I am in the process.  I'm hoping to reach my goal by the end of June.  I'll try to remember to update it weekly, but once I start back to school next week, I'm not making any promises.  Thanks for any encouragement or prayers you might have on my behalf.  If you just want to snoop, that's cool too.  I would!