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Fat & Fabulous

Last week I joined Weight Watchers.

This week I'm 2.8 pounds lighter!

I think if I hadn't been, ahem, having a monthly hormone fluctuation, I may have done even better. I certainly feel less bloated. TMI? Too bad.

I like the new PointsPlus system and it really seems to work for me. Will I continue having my weekly ginormous Starbucks white chocolate mocha? At 8 points per drink, I'm thinking unlikely but you never know. What's nice about the PointsPlus is that you have a daily allotment (mine's 37, which will decrease as I lose weight), plus a weekly extra 49 points that you can distribute over your week if you, say, go out drinking one night, or really want to have McDonald's one day. I find that the fast food and prepared food are too dear at this point, so out of the diet they have gone. Alas, my kingdom for a cheeseburger(s).

What's different about PointsPlus from the previous points incarnation is that most fruits and vegetables are zero points. As I recall from before, fruits used to cost points… which means I wouldn't eat them. But I've been eating more fruits this past week and have come to enjoy having an apple at lunch! Who knew. Not I.

You might be asking yourself, why now, Melissa? And why Weight Watchers? Well, the why now has a lot to do with the hot pink bridesmaids dress I am going to have to wear next year (sigh) and Weight Watchers because I'm familiar with the program and because a bunch of people I know are doing it right now, so right away there is a built in support system.

But mostly it's the bridesmaids dress.

And I'm tired of being the fat friend.

I don't really have any mental issues with my body aside from my belly, which is a result of six months of Taco Bell and eating my emotions after my grandfather died. I'm a little fixated on the belly too because it has a large scar on it from my surgery years ago and I've never really been able to flatten it out because of that (but have I ever REALLY tried??)

I love fashion so it's sad to me that more options are available for smaller women when so many of us are actually fatter than ideal. Years ago my mom said that if I lost weight she would put $500 towards a new wardrobe, and maybe I'm finally ready to take her up on it. (Does she remember she said that? Haha, TOO BAD)

But anyway, I'm only a week into this, and a lot of it has to do with Making Better Choices and Not Eating Taco Bell All The Time. Thank God we don't have Taco Cabana here, because then I would have a problem.

I'm finding that I wasn't eating all that differently (calorically or otherwise) but that adding in the fruits and vegetables, portion control and making a concerted effort to actually eat breakfast has been helping. I'm also cooking a little more and even made oven fries (baked wedged potatoes) for the first time in my life. Yes folks, I made it 31 years without ever cooking a potato! (I would totally eat them but only at other people's houses. I don't know why I never cooked them, I just wasn't interested).

There is also a nice paved path by work so I'll try to get out for a bit of a walk during my lunch hour like I did today. Mostly I just needed to get out of the office for a bit since they have been power washing the building for DAYS I couldn't stand it in there anymore so I went for a walk.

But anyway, so that's kind of why I've been quiet here and on Twitter for the last week, I have been busy being awesome and getting my life on track a little.

If I don't update about more resin adventures tomorrow or Friday, my next post will be revealing what I made for the Bead Soup Blog Party on Saturday! Can't wait to show it off and see what other people made!

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Vacation Time (for 2010)

I have somewhat injured myself and seriously must lie down for the next two days. Damned lunges and also squats. I am so tired and achy, which may also be a symptom of being dehydrated. Made it into work though, where I am diligently working hard. *ahem* At any rate, I full on feel like crap.

I have been talking to my Texas friend Tara via Facebook and we have decided that we will do the South Beach diet starting after Thanksgiving.  Our reasons are thus: Tara’s getting married next year and wants to look awesome, and I also want to look awesome for this event. I have been wanting to do the 2 week Atkins metabolic reset that starts out your South Beach experience because I really felt great the last time I did it. I was going to do this in January, but having Tara do it at the same time will be a supportive bonus, because no carbs is SO HARD for like three days, you think you are going to keel over and croak, but by the end of the two weeks you are really feeling awesome.

Speaking of Tara’s wedding, I asked her if they’d set a date, and they have! July 31, 2010 – which, honestly, is like the most perfect time for me to take time off the job. I was going to go regardless of workload/meeting schedule, but now I can take a little more time off and really enjoy myself! Since 7/31/10 is a Saturday, I am thinking that I may take off 7/29-8/6/10.  I won’t spend all that time in Texas, but I will certainly spend a chunk!

(Incidentally, I wonder if Tara realizes she is getting married on Harry Potter’s birthday?)

I also found this picture and I think I found the style of dress I will wear to the wedding:

anthrodress

Isn’t that cute? I love Anthropology stuff. Made out of cotton jersey or just regular cotton would be a nice, cool, and flattering fashion statement. I want to whip out the sewing machine this winter, so hopefully I will acquire some Mad Skillz to make it. I haven’t actually sewn anything in about 18 years, so I’m a little, uh… out of practice. I think boots would look awesome with this dress, however being realistic I have to say that boots in Texas in late July would be stupid as it is approximately 800 Billion Degrees that time of year there.

My friend Sarah has started sewing recently and has really surprised me with her enthusiasm for it, so I kind of figure that if she can get going with it, so can I! I’ve been toting a sewing machine around the country for five years, I oughtta use it, don’t you think?

Anyway, I’m pretty stoked about going back to Texas for a few days next summer. It’s my favorite place, after all. I’m a little bummed I didn’t make it out there this year, but every other year seems to be the schedule so this will be right on track.  PLUS my friend Daphne is out of grad school in Arizona so I will be able to visit with her.  I haven’t seen her since I moved away – she was out of state when I was there in 2008.

So, brace yourself, San Antonio. I am returning to your hallowed ground in a mere eight months!! bwahahaha

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Finding Food Friday #4

I think summer has let go, here on the Left Coast.

I enjoyed the one stretch of cool-but-warm weather, maybe a week. It’s my favorite. Everything else I loathe. Today was the first cold day of the season. I hate it.

This week was much less of a food challenge than previous because I actually had groceries! Go figure. I’m making better choices and making use of the awesome, cheap, and questionably originated vegetables and fruits  at the Asian markets around here. My favorite is 99 Ranch Market, which is across the street from my office, but if I can’t get there for some reason, I can go to County Market which is less than a mile from my house.  It’s one of the few things that’s nice about living near the coast of the Stupidest State of Them All: easy access to A) Asian culture and B) their grocery stores.

Anyway, one of the things that’s really nice about the Asian stores is that everything is so, so cheap. I’ve been kind of strapped for cash lately (this whole “owning a house” and “paying for mortgage” thing kind of sucks you dry in the greenback department), and one of the monumentally unfair things I have found in terms of trying to Lead A Healthy Lifestyle is how frigging expensive it is!!

You can, however, learn how to shop around and make use of bulk stores and other types of stores, like organic or indie grocery shops.

My favorite grocery store, besides 99 Ranch Market is Trader Joe’s.  Trader Joe’s is not only a great store with great products and great pricing, but it treats their employees right. I buy most of my meat here because it’s good quality, often organic (like free range chicken, which is more delicious than regular chicken… honestly I could care less about chicken treatment, except that nicely treated free-range chicken really ARE way more delicious!!), and fairly inexpensive if you shop right.

Anyway, so my whole point is that here, in what is one of the (if not THE? – I’m too lazy to look) most expensive places to live (e.g.: my cost of living is triple what I was paying in Texas) if you look around and make the right choices, healthy eating isn’t too hard.

Here’s where I shop:

Trader Joe’s for basic groceries on a weekly basis – I can get about a week’s worth to supplement my current supply for about $20.

Asian Grocery Stores for fresh fruits and vegetables and quirky ingredients (I cook a lot of Thai food these days, mostly curry)

Local Farmer’s Markets for fresh fruits and vegetables – this also localizes where you shop and helps the economy for your neighborhood or county.

Winco/Target/Walmart for discounted canned goods and basic groceries.  All “house brands” at these places are good and much cheaper than regular grocery stores.

I haven’t actually set foot in a regular grocery store (here it’s Safeway, other places is Vons, HEB, Ralph’s, etc.) in months. Making that decision to look for alternate sources of healthy eating wasn’t very hard: mainstream supermarkets are crazy expensive! And I can get all the things I used to get there at Winco for much, much cheaper.

So that’s what I do when I’m grocery shopping, is go to many different places in order to find the best deals around.

(And yes, I realize I’m posting this on Saturday.)