August 29,2001

Another week, another pound.

Over the weekend to celebrate a friend’s birthday I joined several others at Outback Steakhouse. I had their grilled salmon and vegetables, which was quite tasty. I also had a cup of their cream of onion (walkabout) soup, which I could have done without. But including the piece of cake afterwards, the entire meal was around 10-12 points, which is probably about half of what I would have eaten 6 weeks ago.

A co-worker is getting married this weekend, and I joined several others yesterday for lunch as we took him to a local pizzeria. Of course I had pizza, and way more than I should have. But on Monday I brought some sushi from the local grocery store in for lunch, and I am going to do that more often as I want to cut down on the sodium-enriched frozen entrees.

I got up the courage to try the Planet Green juice mix from Fantasia this week. It contains a variety of fruits, along wiith wheat grass, barley grass and blue-green algae. 100% of the RDA for Vitamins C and A in one serving. Not too bad. I gagged several years ago when I tried wheat grass juice straight, but there must be enough fruit in the mix to counterbalance that taste.

There’s a Whole Foods store that is about to open within walking distance from where I live. I am anxious to see what kind of foods they have; I suspect I may be shopping there a lot.

I think I am beginning to see some results in these pictures.

206.6/198/150

August 22 2001

Lost 2.5 pounds this week. I haven’t stepped in an elevator for 2 weeks. Went bowling last weekend. It’s not a lot of exercise, but it was enjoyable. The only bad thing about losing 2.5 pounds this week, is now that I weigh 199, I’m only allowed 22-27 points a day. I rarely eat more than that now, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

Things I’ve learned:

I found a vegetarian liver spread which doesn’t exactly taste as good as the chopped liver my grandmother used to make, but still makes a good-tasting snack. Gefilte fish (white fish and pike) and horseradish sauce also is quite good all year-round. I’ve been eating a lot of sushi too.

I’ve now surpassed 10% of my target, losing 7.5 pounds in 5 weeks. I feel great.

206.6/199/150

August 15, 2001

Went to Six Flags over Mid America amusement park over the weekend with some friends. Spent 8 hours there and did a lot of walking, however, I made a few bad choices. The sub I chose from subway (seafood) for lunch was not one of the low-point ones. That evening, when we ate dinner at Denny’s I got the buffalo chicken sandwich which almost has enough points for an entire day. While I ate fairly well for the rest of the week, I guess it wasn’t enough to make up for it. I gained a pound.

Things I’ve learned:

I need to carry my Dining Out book in my car, so I don’t have to make my choices at the restaurant blindly, and find out what the points are later on.

However, things could have been a lot worse. I only gained one pound. I’ve still lost 5 pounds over four weeks. It might take me a year to lose 50 pounds at this rate, but I will lose it.

206.6/201.6/150

August 8, 2001

Is there such a thing as a “normal” week? Went to a party on Saturday, but easily made up for what I ate and drank the rest of the week by banking points. However, Tuesday was my first “Food Day” at work while on program. Whenever I felt tempted by the food table beyond resistance, I tried to take only small pieces, but I still ate too much. When I tried calculating what I ate at the end of the day, I came to the disturbing conclusion I probably ate twice my allotted points…and I had one day before weighing in.

I still lost a pound. But I know that’s because I’m still in the opening few weeks where I am expected to be losing the initial weight quickly. If I don’t learn how to manage these temptations, even though they only seem to come about once a week on average, in future weeks I won’t be so lucky.

Things I’ve learned:

Hummus and crackers are a great snack. The Jalapeno hummus from Tribe of Two Sheiks is only 1 point per 2 tbsp serving. A serving of 11 small fat-free garlic and herb crackers from Venus is also just 1 point.

On the WeightWatchers message boards someone suggested a tunafish/salsa/spinach/celery dish I may have to try. I am going to have to cook a lot more if I don’t want to keep eating the frozen entrees I’ve been eating a lot of the past 3 weeks.

Being my fourth meeting, I got the flyer on activity points. I’m not quite sure what exercise I will do — there isn’t much that I like.

August 1, 2001

First the bad news. Friday morning at Harrahs I tried to eat sensibly, but with the French toast, and home fries, it was not a good morning. And I couldn’t back away from drinking at the parties. Saturday night there was a buffet banquet. It was next to impossible for me to keep track of my points over the weekend at the conference, and I just gave up for those few days. There’s a black hole in my journal. Not too happy about that.

Good news: Before the weekend I had banked 10 points, and since I weigh in on Wednesday evenings, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I reverse-banked several more points. And since every little bit counts, I got a haircut Wednesday afternoon 🙂 Over the whole week I lost 2 pounds, just under five for the first two weeks. I wonder what I could lose with a normal weekend….maybe I’ll find out this coming week.

Things I’ve learned:

healthdiscovery.net is another great website with over 100 restaurant point-menus. Bison meat is a great alternative to beef (or chicken). Using the nutirional information on the above link, and the Weight Watchers food companion:

• 3 oz bison = 3.5 points
• 3 oz beef = 5.5 points
• 3 oz chicken (with skin) = 5 points
• 3 oz chicken (w/out skin) = 3 points

Fantasia Smoothies are an excellent way to start the morning. Some I’ve calculated are 2 points a serving, some 3 (2 servings per bottle), but there’s a pound of fruit in every bottle. (the company’s website is currently under construction).

I really like the Weight Watchers.com message boards. They can serve up inspiration and motivation between meetings.