The Holiday Siege: Strategies to Stay Focused on My Weight Loss Goals

Firstly, I apologize for my lack of weight loss posts. I have been so focused on my NY Foodgasm Brand I completely forgot to give all of you an update. As you know Thanksgiving and my very own holiday Friendsgiving just happened recently. I went up .4 after Thanksgiving week but went down 1.4 pounds this week! Woooo Hooo! I am now 198.4 pounds, my lowest weight since high school! Why? I tracked the hell outta that bitch! I made sure I tracked everything I ate this week and I kicked butt! Tracking is KEY! While I am enjoying this success I know there is something scary lurking around the corner.... the holiday season.

Ahhh yes the holidays, such a lovely time for everyone except, of course, if you're a Weight Watcher! LOL! What is a girl to do? Well I got some hints I have learned from Weight Watchers and over the years.

1- Give yourself a goal. 

I am talking about a realistic goal, not "I want to lose 15 pounds by Christmas". Seriously what are the odds of that happening?! Your goal could be to go up a max of 1 pound or even to stay the same weight. My goal is to lose 2 pounds by January 1st, 2013. Totally do-able!

2- Plan and Strategize for upcoming events

Yes, just like a general planning the attack on Normandy you need to have strategy to fight and win on the holidays! Think of the coming weeks, look at your calendar and all the parties. You may even shuffle plans, if possible, to ensure not having too many high calorie hits that week. If you have a couple parties you will attend in one week think about which one will have the best food, maybe you wanna save your extra calories or points for that one? For example, I have my company holiday party next Friday and a holiday dinner at an amazing restaurant the next night. So I have already decided I will eat a salad for lunch and a modest plate of food at the company holiday party. I will also save room to have a couple drinks and dance for a looong while to burn off some of the alcohol. I am saving the majority of my extra calories or points for Saturday night- I will eat and enjoy every bite of that gourmet food!!!

3- Know your weakness and plan for it

Ahh yes know thyself...some famous dude said that. Knowing your weakness is priceless. Then you can build a strategy around that. For me I am powerless and have NO self control when I am in arm's reach of food! So I have a couple strategies: pretend I am being helpful and start clearing the table OR walking away and moving my own party away from the food table. One other thing I like to do is to bring a large water bottle with me to remind me of my good health and to keep my mouth occupied.

4- If all else fails exercise

Okay so you had the best of intentions, but you didn't know that food would be that good?! There is always a last ditch attempt at redemption----exercise! Or better yet- plan on messing up a little and plan some extra activity into every holiday event day! Take the dog for a walk, go for a hike, hit the gym....whatever it is just keep moving and burn baby burn! The week of Thanksgiving I went for a long walk Thursday, Friday and Sunday. I also did a lot of cleaning Wednesday. My .4 gain coulda been a 4 pound gain, had I not worked in this extra activity.

Good luck to all of you during the holidays, I will keep you posted on my continued journey: both good and bad!  Lastly ENJOY your holidays! Make sure you eat the food that you just gotta eat and enjoy the company around you, Tis the season!

Another milestone!!

OFFICIALLY 60 POUNDS DOWN! Can I hear a hells yes?! It feels AMAZING! How much longer do I have to go? No idea and that is okay, because whatever my goal is I KNOW I will get there! It is a fact!

I will also mention this was the week of my wedding anniversary and I still managed to lose weight. I ate out 4 times over the weekend!!! Oh and I enjoyed every minute! It is possible to love every minute of your weight loss journey!

Yeah I STILL love food just as much- if not more than before. But my relationship with food is totally different. A mutual respect, an understanding. I love it, even lust after it. But I respect every bite and the experience of eating. I am in control, food is no longer a crutch. I stand on my own.

I thank you for sharing this journey with me and even more for the support and encouragement! It keeps me going every day, especially the touch ones!

We all like a Before & After but what happens in between in more important!

This is a recap of the last two weeks! (Sorry for not keeping up) Last week I went up in weight pretty significantly *gulp* I am definitely NOT perfect. But I understand this is life and life happens! The reason I went up- A day of really great wine AND really great food for my friend's birthday. Did I go overboard- yes, HELLS yes, BUT this is my life and I am going to enjoy it. Unfortunately with that came a 3.2 pound gain. Yeah it sucks, yes it is a setback, however it is part of life and I lived it to the fullest. I was NOT happy when I learned this, however it happened and I just needed to accept it and move on.

I did just that and I am down 1.8 pounds this week! What did I do differently? Well there was way less food and drink debauchery.  It was confined to one meal with micro brew and pub food YUM! I also made sure to walk to the pub and at one point I even jogged! I also added in more activity during the week- weather walking or cleaning I moved more!

Long story short- I want everyone to see here my struggles AND my successes! 

We all like a before and after, but what happens in between is WAY more important!

Keeping it active

This week I got some SERIOUS activity in and loved every minute! I lost .6 this week, but my major achievement was in getting a record 62 activity points!  That is the most I have gotten EVER! I went hiking in the Catskills and here on Long Island, I also completed a set of 4 kickboxing classes. I am killing the activity and feeling GREAT! I gotta write more about all the hiking, it was AMAZING! Get out there and get active, try new things you never know what may spark an interest! Stay tuned since next week I am doing my second 5k and I am setting a goal to do a 14 minute mile.

Enjoying the Journey

Losing weight is a lifestyle change, not a diet.  People ALWAYS say this, but I didn't get it until I starting living it. Yes you cannot eat the way you have been, obviously this has not turned out well, but this journey never ends. So if you are going on a lifelong journey, you MUST enjoy the ride! While before joining WW I would drink and eat and not monitor it at all. Now I reserve wine or cocktails for once a week or every couple of weeks. I will also make better decisions for lunch, if I know I will be doing out wine tasting or for cocktails. All things in moderation! I live life to the fullest and I am not perfect (I didn't track anything that day) but I made better choices for food and I would have NEVER done that 1.5 years ago! These small behavior changes occur slowly and as time goes on, you won't even remember how you used to eat!

The moral to the story: you must indulge from time to time, this is a long journey and if you don't enjoy it you won't keep it up! Salute!