Rainy days and Mondays

The weekend was good. Today was not so good. I lost track of points at lunch and before I knew it I'd munched my way through 12! Ouch. I guess 12 isn't too bad, but on Monday I like to save some points so that I can have Family Home Evening refreshments. This week should be interesting. We have a goal to drive all the way to Arizona and not eat out. It's ambitious but I'm confident we can do it. I learned this week that there is only one spot in the United States where you can be more than 100 miles away from a McDonalds. It's in North Dakota somewhere. I thought that was pretty amazing. I think it says something about the culture we live in. For all the voice`s out `th`ere SAY``ing don't eat bad there are about a billion saying, "eat this,it's deliciously fattening good!"

I say, "Bahumbug! fat. Hello Christmas." I hope you all have a very merry Christmas season. I'll try to post a couple of times to let ya'll know how I'm coping with the holiday cravings.

-Jack

Sunday 9 December

B: Cereal (5)
L: LO pizza (10)
D: Enchiladas no cheese with peas (7)
D: Eggnog and cookies (5)
Total: 27 (oops that is what I get for not looking at the calories on Eggnog before drinking it)

I think that I have been depressed lately.  Saturday's goal 5K run did not help.  I need distraction.  I have taken crocheting back up and made A cute bootie for Baby.  Distraction works better than trying to defeat temptation.  Also,  I am going to lay off running so hardcore for a while and try yoga.  I still hope to run 2 or 3 times a week but with the colder weather I think it will be good for me.

--Lindsey

Wednesday

B: Cereal (5)
L: 2 waffles and 1 fried egg with syrup and apple butter (8)
D: Leftovers (6)
D: Ice Cream (5)
Total: 24

We got out Bluebell Gingerbread House and boy howdy is it good.  I serve it in small class bowls so it seams like more;)

--Lindsey

Thursday 6 Dec 2012

B: Cereal (5)
L: Tuna and corn sandwich with cheese-its (5)
S: Cookies (3)
D: L.O. Prom Chicken (6)
Total before possible dessert: 19

I really wanted to go get a Papa Pizza but it wasn't in the budget BUT it was good news because now I won't feel guilty having dessert during a movie or something tonight.

--Lindsey

NOTE:: Jack usually eats the same as me but tonight for dinner he had L.O. prom chicken with a fried egg and two tortillas. YUM.

Tuesday

B: Cereal (5) I do wish for oatmeal again but I got it from the canary and it is not so good.  I think it is not the quick cooking kind but the regular kind
L: Should have been prom chicken but it wasn't ready so we had L.O. (7)
D: Prom Chicken (7)
D: (5)

--Lindsey

Monday 3 Dec 2012

B: cereal (5)
L: 1 burrito with rice and cream cheese (5)
D: Same burrito (5)
D: chocolate chip banana bread and surprise eggnog with nutmeg (delicious)
Total: 23 (i guess)

I will try to figure out the points on the banana bread today but the eggnog was delicious.  All last week I made a lot of cookies for deliveries.  I made snicker cookies, rolo cookies, mexican wedding cookies, orange dreamsickle cookies, and spritz along with a 5 batch banana bread (my bosch was FULL for that).  I love the holidays.

--Lindsey

Jack had the same as me but more of it because he is bigger than me.

Post Thanksgiving, lessons learned.

This week has been rough.  Combine that with water retention and so forth and you get a bad weigh in.  I am glad at this point we are not announcing our weights online till Christmas.  This week I am recommitting to log EVERYDAY what we eat.

--Lindsey

I've had a good eating week. Yesterday we ate with friends and it was good and I ate too much. Then they brought out red velvet cheesecake from the cheesecake factory and I've been wanting to try that for years and I did. I'm glad they didn't send any home with us. It was good, but did not live up to the cheesecake factory hype. Maybe because it wasn't fresh... or maybe because I'd made my own home made cheesecake the week before and it was real good. I tried to eat less this week and monitor my intake. Thanksgiving made me a little lax. Plus I feel really good with the weight I'm at. I can't believe that I let myself get up to 260 lbs before. I fooled myself by saying, "oh, it's just because I'm getting more musclular" or "It's because I've moved and the gravitational pull is different in this part of the country" or "250 isn't bad for a guy who's as tall as me." What a load of bunk! Weight does matter and being healthy does matter. I like my new/old weight for a lot of reasons. Number one is that it makes me happier to have more energy to interact with my family.

--Jack

Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll!

Well, this week was the biggest eating holiday of the year! Thanksgiving! My favorite. I like all the food and family and fun... but I've decided not in that order. The family for me is what really makes this a great holiday. This year we didn't get to spend Thanksgiving with our family, but we were adopted for the day by a family in Woodville, TX. They sure were nice folks and the food was delicious. We did miss having our own family there though. It's just not quite the same. We decided to do a little experiment for the day though. We weighed in on Thursday morning and wrote the weight down. Then we didn't count points that day or Friday. On Saturday morning we weighed in again expecting to see some negative results from our holiday feast. We were surprised to see that we both had lost weight!! We noticed that during the day, even though we wanted to eat copious amounts of food, we were unable to eat a whole lot. Our stomachs have shrunk. We still got to enjoy our favorite things, but we couldn't keep consuming calories on top of calories.

So far our progress is going well. We've decided to keep writing down what we are eating and we'll keep weighing in weekly, but we're not going to post our numbers. "Why?" you say. Because we want our families to be extra surprised when we go home for Christmas. So, after we do our midway reveal to the family we'll post a big 'ol update here (probably a graph and pictures and everything). Don't worry, we're still going to be eating healthy and counting the points daily in the meantime. We're only blacking out our scale numbers. It'll be fun.

Cheers,
Jack and Lindsey

Lots of Meals in One Post

Monday 12 November
On Sunday I cooked a mexican roast in the crock pot with Rotel tomatoes with cilantro and lime and a can of green chiles.  I also made home made tortillas.  So we had left overs of that for Monday lunch and dinner.  By the way, my parents came in time for dinner.
Jack wasn't feeling well so he came home from work early and stayed in bed.

Tuesday
I was sick sick sick.  Jack and I didn't eat anything but a bit of broth for lunch and dinner.  My mom made the broth because we were so sick.  Just water and a whole chicken and celery and onion.  She then de-boned the chicken for us and put it all in the fridge.

Wednesday
Broth
Broth
Chicken sandwiches with celery and apple on real bread

Thursday (we are feeling better)
Cereal
Chicken sandwiches
Chicken sandwiches

Saturday 17 November
Potato hash with spinach and eggs
dinner we went out to Cotton Patch

Sunday 18 November
Cereal
LO
I made chicken noodle soup with the rest of the broth and chicken.  I only had to add carrots and noodles.  Bread with HomeMade apple butter from a friend a while ago.
Ice cream for dessert

Monday
Cereal
egg bagels
soup and bread with apple butter
ice cream

Tuesday
Oatmeal (4)
Prom chicken and rice (7)
Chinese food (lots)

Wednesday
Cereal (5)
LO

I realize we need to get back on track with counting and being more responsible.  I need to get back on track with working out but for some reason and having a hard time.  It's cold, my legs hurt, blah blah blah. I want to do a spinning class or something but don't know where to go.

--Lindsey

Weigh In

175.2 and happy with it.  And, we went to the Temple today and my dress is wicked baggy on me. Woot Woot.  I am sure that it helped that I ran Mon, Tues, and Wed and stuck with the food allowance this week.

--Lindsey

225.2 and I celebrated by going to the temple with my beautiful wife.

--Jack

Week 16 Weigh In

I came in at 176.4 Feeling pretty good about it.  I am still quite behind on my goal.  6 weeks to lose 6.4 pounds.  Doable and I will get there.  I ran 30 minutes on Monday and made it 2.28 miles and played a few minutes of frisbee on Tuesday night and ran 1.5 on Wednesday.  Monday's run was good but put me in pain for the rest of the week.  I am signed up to run a fun Zombie 5K in a week and that will be a good test for my for real 5k for Thanksgiving (which I am not yet signed up for).

--Lindsey

I lost a couple pounds this week. I came in at  227.8! I also have been noticing that I can play ultimate a lot longer and actually do some running while playing. I guess it makes a difference not carrying around that extra 30 lb sack of potatoes. Of course it does make a difference and I feel a lot better. I've noticed I can play with my daughter longer and I have more energy throughout the day. It's almost counterintuitive  to think that less food = more energy, but it does and that's cool. I should say that the right amount of food means the right amount of energy. I like being healthier.

--Jack

Tues 30 Oct

B: life (5)
L: Leftover Posados (10)
D: life (5)
snack: shared apple with Baby (1)
Total: 21

Still my birthday.

--Lindsey

B: Life (5)--the cereal :)
L: Leftover Pasados (I estimated 10 points for that)
S: 2 Muffins (S = snack), 4
D: Cold cereal again (5)
Total: 24

--Jack

Mon 29 Oct

B: breakfast burrito con mucho queso (5)
L: Muffins y juevos (5)
D: Posados (I guess 15)
Total:  25

It's my birthday but I need to take it easy.

--Lindsey

B: Fried egg/ bagel thin (3)
L: Muffins and eggs (9)
D: Posados (mucho)
Total:12+mucho

I want to point out that my mucho points were divided in half because I got a to-go box and put half my meal in there before I started eating. Good thing cuz it was delicious and I would have eaten it all up easy. I was satisfied with half... and I have a whole meal waiting in the fridge for me of good mexican food. Yippee. Happy Birthday Lindsey!!

--Jack

Saturday Weigh In 27 Oct

178 and disappointed in myself.  I did play frisbee on Tuesday night but other than that I was pretty sedentary.  Plus the cravings for chocolate and cookies didn't help one bit.    On to a new hopefully better week. 7 weeks to get down 8 pounds.  Healthy and doable but hard.   One thing is for sure, the first ten pounds is a lot easier than the second 10 pounds and if that is any indication about the third 10 pounds please wish me luck.

--Lindsey

It’s been a week since we posted and it showed up on the scale this week. My weight came in at 230. I’m glad I didn’t gain this week because I made some stupid food decisions. On Friday night, especially, I felt like a splurge so I ordered a large pizza and breadsticks and then ate my “usual” portion (1/2 a pizza and several breadsticks).  Boy did I feel ill afterwards. I was sick. I think my body officially will no longer tolerate unhealthy food in large quantities. This is probably the first time that has happened in my life. Usually I can eat whatever I want and as much as I want and then I’ll feel really full and need a nap, but I’m fine really. Not this time. This time I or rather my body was angry with me and I was in pain for the more part of the evening. It was stupid, but I learned a lesson that I hope not to repeat. My advice to myself next time is to take a modest portion and put the rest in the fridge before I take the first bite.

Second stupid decision. I didn’t really record what I ate during the week. I just sort of kept a running tally in my head and estimated the point value of my meals. I am pretty sure that led me to eat more than I ought to have on a few occasions. Like one day I had peanut butter on a pancake, which was fine, but then I had another one which was probably not fine. Sadly I guess I need the public accountability provided by this blog to help me make better decisions. A lot of people have asked why we decided to create a blog and make our journey/record public. Accountability is a key component to our success and the blog provides a good avenue for me to report.

Well, enough with  the dumb decisions. It’s about time for me to make another good decision. Daylight savings time will be ending next weekend and I think that I should keep waking up at the same time and get some exercise done in the morning. My problem is I’m not sure what to do for exercise. Any suggestions?

-Jack

Ps. I hate running, so don’t suggest running. In fact if I see the root word “run” in a comment I’ll probably stop reading. Thanks.

20 Oct 2012 WEIGH IN

I come in at 177..  I don't want to jinx this success but I would like to boldly announce that I have achieved Pre-pregnancy weight!!  Took me 10 months (Baby Sprat turns 10 months today!) but I am proud of it.  It is hard work and I know that if I can have the discipline and patience to do it, you can too.  I am totally excited about this.  I know it is not a huge loss this week but a small one still counts.  I only ran twice and I had made some bad food choices so I know how I can improve for this coming week.
I hoped that when I got down to this weight some of the flab on the belly would melt.  I was wrong.  It is flabby, flappy, and striped.  I don't see it as a "badge", I see it as...    . . . .. flabby, flappy, and striped.  Don't tell my to be proud of it.  I am however mucho proud of my legs.. My legs have always been my favorite body part.

--Lindsey

Today I weighed in at 230.4 lbs. so I guess I need to set a new goal. It was sweet to see "230" on the scale. The fist thing I thought was about a reward. The first reward that came to mind? Donuts (at least 6 points each, frowny face). So now I'm realizing once again how much my emotions, life experiences, and general happiness I attribute to food. So what would a "good" reward be. I thought of travel (too expensive and usually I go somewhere, in part to eat the food). Then I thought I could buy a new pair of shoes (I really like shoes, but they're too expensive and I have enough shoes. Plus spending money is not a reward). So my question is: What is a good reward? I suppose a super utopic answer would be that the nice feeling I had when I saw 230 on the scale should be reward enough. I say that stinks.

The weigh in this morning was extra great because of what I had to go through this week to accomplish it. I had a training all week this week. The training was held at a lodge retreat thing just outside of Nacogdoches. Every day they laid out pastries in the morning (lemon custard danishes, raspberry muffins, cinnamon rolls, etc.), then they served lunch with dessert (choices included apple pie--that someone said was as good as their mom's, carrot cake, and german chocolate cake), and to top it off they had white chocolate macadamia cookies out in the afternoon. I didn't eat any of the sweets. Not even a taste or a try or one per day or anything. That was very very difficult. I also tried to eat less in the evenings because I knew that I had eaten a lot for lunch each day. Even with my extraordinary effort I was expecting that this week would only be a week to maintain, so I'm very pleased to see a loss on the scale.

--Jack

Fri 19 Oct (Day 104)

B: Oatmeal (4)
L: Greek Yogurt and fresh tortilla (4)
D: Chinese Take Out (If I made it, I would guess 12 but because they made it, I guess 18)
Dessert: Cookies and Milk (4)
Total: 12 plus Chinese meal

I did pretty good today... I think.  I also ran today.  It was a pretty easy run and I was able to keep my rhythm pretty much the whole time and came in in about 17 minutes.  It's not good enough to make my 5K goal of 35 minutes but I am hoping that running without the stroller will help in the Zombie Run I signed up to do on Nov 10... 4 weeks away.. Actually, I thought it was a lot closer than that.  I still have a good amount of time to get to my goal.

--Lindsey

B: Cold Cereal (5)
L: Mozzerella Quesadilla (8)
D: Same as Lindsey
Dessert: Same as Lindsey
Total: A lot!

--Jack

Wed 17 Oct

B: Cold Cereal (5)
L: LO SS Chicken (7)
D: Waffles (11)
Total: 23

Not getting any better

--Lindsey

Tues 16 Oct

B: Cold Cereal (5)
L: LO Enchiladas (8)
D: Sweet and Sour Chicken (7)
D:Fresh Cookies (3)
Total: 23  oops

again with the not counting before I eat.

--Lindsey

Mon 15 Oct

B: cold cereal (5)
L: LO Enchiladas (8)
D: LO Enchiladas (8)
D: Banana Bread
Total: 21 + banana bread... oops

I have fallen out of the habit of not counting my points before I sit down to eat.  I just grab some food and hope that it is not too much then at the end of the day, I count it all up.

--Lindsey

Jack has been at a training thing for his work and they are providing lunch which means meals like chicken parm and chicken fried steak and burgers. As I understand it, they just bring the food, they don't get to order.  I hope he is able to maintain.

Sunday 14 Oct

B: fasting (0)
L: LO taco (4)
D: HM Enchiladas (8) peas (0)
Dessert: Sherbet (2) HM banana Bread (unknown so far)
Total: 14 plus Banana Bread

I am glad that I gave up on the "no dessert" thing.  I am not mad that I am not getting dessert but I am glad that I thought about and started it because I think it will help me not to have dessert every night.

--Lindsey

Same for Jack just more Enchiladas.

WEEK 13 (13 Oct 2012)

I came in at a whopping 177.6.  I wasn't feeling so good about the weigh in today but it turned out really good.  In 13 weeks, I have lost 12 and a half points.  Since we moved here I have lost almost 20 pounds.  I hope I never become acquainted with those 20 pounds again.  Lost and forgotten.
BTW, I can not do the "no dessert till Christmas" goal anymore.  I was feeling deprived and that is NOT the way to lose weight.  If I feel deprived for too long, I will break down and stuff myself.  I bought some light greek yogurt and sherbet ...not Blue Bell...to stave off the deprivation feelings.  The sherbet is only 2 points...not 5... per serving.

--Lindsey

I'm 232 lbs! Yippee. I had to use some discipline this week to stay below 26 points. Usually I would end up at 24 points and it took some major will power to say, "I'm done. I'm satisfied." Especially yesterday when I had to work again. I didn't have time to come home for lunch and one of the guys bought pizza for everyone (little ceasars--gross). I was starving. Back in my abnormal days I would have eaten at least 6 pieces, but my new normal meant I ate only 2 and a half. That greasy mess of pizza meant that I only had 9 points left for dinner though. Lindsay made delicious tacos and I was faced with the decision of one more taco or sherbet. I chose the taco, yum. I'm only 2 lbs away from my goal. It sure would be nice to see 230 on the scale next week. That's crazy. My clothes fit a lot better (some are even too big) and I've noticed a difference in my physical ability when I play ultimate. I still think I'm fat though, so I've got to set some new goals about what would make me not fat... I'm not sure that is even possible. I am happy about being near my goal weight though.

--Jack

ps. To everyone who reads this blog and is trying to be a healthier you too,
Keep going. Share your successes with us in the comments (be brave). We want everyone to be healthy and live with us forever!

Friday Weigh In (5 Oct 2012)

Friday--
I weighed in at 234!! Hooray, no more 237. I know I've got to work harder now though to get to my goal. Discipline is key. I've lowered my daily points allotment to 26 from 28 and I think that helped. I've also been playing Ultimate Frisbee on Tuesday nights and that helps too. I probably need to do a little more activity. This weekend I had to work and I think that made it more difficult to be active. I took Lindsey out on a date. We had  good time, but I probably ate about 17 times the points I should have. That shrimp sure was delicious though.

Saturday--
I had to work half  day, but made it home in time for conference (I'm glad I did because conference started out with a bang). My meals for the day:
B: Cereal (5)
L: Shrimp Po-Boy (8)
D: I ate with my brothers before the Priesthood Session (17X again)
Total: Too Much (I ate 16 points in bread alone yesterday--buns, eeke!)

Sunday--
Today is Sunday, so I've only eaten 1 meal so far. Delicious blueberry pancakes and blueberry orange slush, plus a fried egg and syrup for the cakes. 8 points.

-Jack

Friday-
I finally made it past the valley and am climbing again.  178.6  I didn't do enough running because I have been sick and it is a little colder.  I welcome the cold BUT I didn't want to breathe it in and hurt my chances at getting better for next week.

Saturday-
B: Oatmeal (4)
L: Shrimp Po-Boy (8)
D: LO pizza (6)
snack: orange juice (4)
Total:: 22

Hitting the valley is really hard.  Most of the time, it is when I give up. I pushed through and am glad.

--Lindsey

3 October 2012

B: Oatmeal (4)
L: German Pancakes (8)
D: Muffins/Eggs (8)
Total: 20

I know it was breakfast all day but I like breakfast.  I went for a run this morning though I was feeling sick and I think it helped a lot.  1) I didn't feel depressed that I didn't run 2) I sweated a lot 3) I think it healed me quite a bit.  I feel like I sweated out a lot of the sickness.

--Lindsey

B: Cereal (5)
L: German Pancakes (8)
D: Eggs/Muffins (10)
Total: 23

--Jack

Tuesday 2 October 2012

B:Oatmeal (4)
L: Haystacks (7)
D: Breakfast Burritos (8)
S: Cheese Crackers (5)
Total: 24

I know I went over.  I feel that your body needs more fuel when you are sick to get the sick out.

--Lindsey

B: Bowl o' cereal (5)
L: Haystacks (10)
D: Bowl o; cereal (5)
Total: 20

Yes, I cut back my points to 26. Gotta lose, I'm for real, and the truth is I know I don't need my whole 28 points any more. I had 20 points on Tuesday and I feel fine. I also played ultimate frisbee before dinner. That was fun and I think I handled it better than the weeks previous. I'm not sure why.

--Jack

Mon 1 October 2012

B: cold cereal (5)
L: Burrito (4) Cheese floppy (3)
D: Shells (8)
FHED: 1 cup 1% milk into chocolate milk (2)
Total: 22

I know that in some forms chocolate milk can be considered dessert BUT the last thing we need is to feel deprived.

--Lindsey

B: cereal (3)
L: Burritos (9)
D: Shells (10)
FHED: 2 cups chocolate milk (4)
Total: 26

Jack has lowered his point allowance as well.  I think he went down to 26

Sunday 30 September 2012

B: cold cereal (5)
L: LO
D: Stuffed shells (6) Green Beans (0)
Total : I really need to care more about counting my points

We have decided that aside from my birthday and Thanksgiving, there will be no dessert till we leave for Christmas.  Hitting the valley means things need to change so our bodies don't get bored.

--Lindsey

Same meals for Jack

Weigh In 29 Sep 2012

180.6   I hit a valley in weight loss. A few things in life are showing on the scale.  I have been a little lax about counting every point.  This happens in a lot of peoples' journeys I am sure.  This week I will try very hard to get back on the mountain (note for southerners:: A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak.  A mountain is generally steeper than a hill).
I am excited about a few 5Ks that I want to do coming up.  There is a zombie run, color run, and Turkey trot one per week for 3 weeks in a row.  Maybe you're not supposed to do three 5K in a row like that but I am excited to say the least.
I need to lose .84 pounds a week to get to my goal.  One of those weeks has my birthday.  Another week is Thanksgiving.  Holidays are hard for weight loss but hopefully I can stay strong and get through it.  It won't be perfect but hopefully it won't be as bad as holidays past.

--Lindsey

I also found myself in the same valley this week. I maintained my weight at 237.2. Perhaps I'm just enjoying the view and the fresh air. My clothes are fitting looser (in some cases fitting again) and that feels really good. I think that one of the great food lies I tell myself is that "I deserve to eat more" somehow I think that if I do some sort of physical activity I'm suddenly entitled to a more generous portion of delicious food. That is simply not true. If I want to truly be healthy and lose weight then I need to reward my body by not eating harmful foods or unhealthy amounts of food. Plus I've got to make up some ground for all the "rewarding" I did just because I like food. I too will struggle with these holidays. That's one reason I set my goal for a year out instead of by the end of the year. I know that it takes a lot of work to undo just small lapses in food judgement though. It sure would be nice if there was a once a year coupon that you could use for a week of no consequence eating. I'm pretty sure I would use it for Thanksgiving. This week I want to see 235 on the scale. Wish me luck.

-Jack

26 September 2012

B: Oatmeal (4)
L: HM English Muffin Bread eggs (6)
D: English Muffin/fried egg/sandwich meat (9)
Snack: slice EM bread (2)
Total: 21

This bread was really easy to make.  Water, yeast, salt, flour, I think sugar.

--Lindsey

Same thing for Jack.

24 September 2012

B: Oatmeal (4)
L: Burritos (6)
D: Leftovers (6)
D: Surprise ice cream (5)
Total : 21

I ran 2.4 miles.  It was hard but great

--Lindsey

B: cream of wheat
L: Burritos (9)
D:Leftovers
D: Ice cream (5)
Total: around 28

--Jack

Weigh In 9/22/12

Well, I'm back on track... pretty much. I weighed in at 237.6 lbs! That means only 7.6 pounds away from my goal. My goal of 230 I set thinking that once I got there I would continue to lose fat and work on gaining muscle to even out the loss. So far I haven't done anything to work out though, so I may start or just cruise on by my goal and then build muscle later to come back up to it. I don't know. What do ya'll think?

-Jack

I am not quite back on track though I am close.  I was hoping to be below 180 today BUT I had two lazy depressed days this week and ended up with 180.6 lbs .  Jack said it was becaaaaaaaause I didn't run and I agree with that because yesterday I ran and I was able to go-go-go the rest of the day and get everything done that I needed to and still felt good.
Yesterday, I ran 1.8 miles and the first mile took me -get this- 10 MINUTES!  That is a record for me folks. I need to work on endurance and distance training because the last .8 took me another 12 minutes.

--Lindsey

9/19/12 Day 74

B: bowl of cold cereal with milk (5)
L: Sugar free pancakes with homemade syrup (8)
D: left over sweet and sour on rice (7)
Total: 20

I gained last week so I'm trying to not use all of the points available to me this week. Yesterday I had 24. I don't feel hungry. Last week I was traveling for work, so I ate not the best stuff. I did eat a lot better in the hotel than I did when we lived in a hotel. Usually for breakfast I had a bagel or a egg sandwich (used to be I'd have pancakes with eggs, bacon, and a cinnamon roll). For lunch I had differing things. For dinner I ate late and usually whatever I could find around the national capital which usually meant something loaded with carbs. My goal this week is to get back on schedule. I'm aiming for 238 again (I weighed 241.2 this week). 2 more days. We'll see.

-Jack

B: I love oatmeal (4)
L: sugar free pancakes (7)
D: LO beef noodles and sour cream (6)
Total: 17  (somehow doesn't seem right because I am not hungry... well maybe a little)

The pancakes were sugar free because I forgot to the put the sugar in and you know what? They were still good. I ended up mowing half the lawn and we tossed the Frisbee tonight for 30 minutes.  The weather is getting nicer and I don't HAVE to run right away in the morning to beat the sun and heat.  I am hoping to make it below 180 this week.

--Lindsey

18 September 2012

B:Oatmeal (4)
L: Sweet and Sour Chicken (8)
D: Sweet and Sour Chicken (8)
D: nada
Total: 20 and feeling good.

Running has been hard lately.  Maybe not so much the actually running but the motivation to get dressed and go is not there like I want it to be.  Today, I justified that it would be okay to not run because I would mow the lawn and get caught up on the back yard.  Well, it's 4 pm and I have mowed one 10 foot line in the grass (wet grass not so easy to mow with a reel mower + it's been two weeks for that side of the yard).  I guess I am just having a down time.

--LindsEy

B: egg on bagel thin (3)
L: Sweet and Sour Chicken (8)
D: LO Beef, Noodles, and S. cream(5)
D: zippo

--Jack

Day 72 (17 September 2012)

B: Oatmeal (4)
L: 2 Burritos on whole wheat tortilla, canary beans, no cheese (6) spinich salad
D: Leftover Sunday dinner of Beef, Noodles, and S. Cream (5)
D: Amazingly good Wendy's Frosty Homemade style (a gazzilion)
Total: 15+a gazillion

In making up for the "lost week", I decided to knock myself down to 22 points and to no longer only run 1.5 miles.  I wanted to shoot straight up to 3 miles but I am a wimp.  I did elevate to 1.8 (I thought it was straight out 2 miles BUT I just looked it up on Google maps and it is only 1.8).  The Frosty, well, the Frosty will never be made again.  Think Sweetened condensed milk, chocolate milk, melted chocolate chips, sugar, + home made whipped cream.  So good though.

If I am to make my Christmas goal, I need to lose point nine two elbees a week.  Thanksgiving is in one of those weeks my friends.  I want so badly to make it happen.

--LindsEy

B:unknown
L: 3 Burros no salad (9)
D: Same (5)
D: same deliciousness
Total: A LOT

--Jack

Saturday Weigh in Results are Shameful

Lindsey weighs in at 182.8.  A disappointing number not only because it is a 2 week set back but because I know why it is that high.  New eating habits fell by the wayside as I tried to cope with Jack being out of town and not having motivation to COOK anything besides oatmeal in the morning and fried eggs for lunch sandwiches.   My favorite meal became a snack and late nights were the norm.  (Just be glad I didn't break open a stick of butter for toast.... we don't even have bread in the house thank goodness)
Although it was a disappointing and shameful week, I am glad that it happened and that the consequences weren't as bad as they could have been.  I could give up.  I have done it before and who hasn't.  That is why we are still fat right?  You go and go and you do so well on a new diet for a while but it fizzles out.  You go on vacation.  Holidays. It slowly fades to the back of your mind but while you are eating dark chocolate mint truffles it seeps back into your thoughts.
I am NOT going to let this bad week push my new lifestyle away.  I like being skinny (skinny is a mindset for me now) and feeling good about my collar bones. I don't want to give up.  I won't give up.  I can't give up.  I have goals that I want so badly to accomplish and I won't let something good like bluebell icecream ruin something great like weighing in and seeing 170 **.
Here is to a stronger resolve and a knowledge of what giving happens when I get a little relaxed for just 1 week and giving in to a few temptations.
**Sometimes Baby likes to play with the scale and when she does it messes it up a little and when I get on it will say 176 or so. It makes my heart skip but then I remember that she played with it and I need to zero it out and reweigh but it gets me excited to ACTUALLY see that number for realzz.

DON'T GIVE UP

-LindsEy

8 weeks in! Nearly 40 lbs down!!!

Well, here's the graph so far. I'd say that's a good trend. I'm down to 238.6 this week. Yippee!! I haven't been as diligent about updating the blog as I should, but I appreciate all of the encouragement I've been getting from my family. It helps a lot. I can't believe I've already gone down this much (I should probably negate the first week's data because it was on a different scale). I feel a lot better. I'm not craving a nap every afternoon and my life doesn't revolve around food as much as it did. It's no surprise why I was gaining so much before. I looked up some of my favorite restaurant dishes and this is what I found:

Panda Express; I usually ordered 1/2 fried rice (8 pts.) 1/2 noodles (4), orange chicken (10), Beijing beef (16), and sweet fire chicken breast (10).---Total = 48 pts in one meal!

Dunkin Donuts; Apple Fritter (9) and a cake donut (8); ---Total = 17 pts in one dessert round (I hate to admit it but sometimes I would have the panda and doughnuts in one evening. That's over 2 days worth of points in one sitting. That's disgusting.)

Texas Roadhouse: 1 roll (5pts, I'd usually eat about 6 with my meal), and a full rack of ribs (24); ---Total = 54 points plus sides!!!

Ouch! I was killing myself. Don't do this.

-Jack

down to 180.2

Yesterday was an active day.  I ran my usual then mowed lawn for the second day this week.  I ran 6 miles this week and while that might not sound like a lot to some, it is amazing to me since I did it in 4 days.  Today was REALLY hard. 

I started running when we moved here and I weighed 195.  It has been 5ish months and I have lost 15 pounds.  I am losing weight faster than Baby is gaining. haha.

When I started running my 1.5 route, it took 20 minutes and I m down to 18 (even on the 4 day in the week :))  Right now, I am focusing more on being in shape and fit (and training for 5k) than weight loss.  I think that is fine though because the weight is still coming off.

--Lindsey

26 August 2012

B: cereal (5)

L: LO pizza & PJ bread stick (6)

D: 2 Gaylyn Pork burros (10)

Dessert: nill

We have a visitor and it is pretty cool :)  

--Lindsey

ps. I lost 1.5 lbs this last week!

Yesterday and today were a bad couple of days. Yesterday I had a hot dog for lunch and then papa's pizza for dinner. Probably like 60 billion points. It was better though because it used to be that we would order pizza and breadsticks and then eat the whole thing while watching biggest loser (ironic). Las night I had 2 pieces of pizza and 2 breadsticks and I was full. Not just "satisfied" full. I had another breadstick and I think I ate too much. It was delicious but I'm paying for it today. My stomach doesn't handle those sort of greasy foods as well as I used to. Today wasn't much better because there was leftover pizza for lunch and then delicious pork burritos for dinner. That means I'll probably be ill tomorrow too. I think points today was 32! 4 over. That's bad.

In good news I lost another couple lbs this week! I now weigh 243! The same as what I weighed when I came home from my mission. The difference being I was extremely unhealthy after my mission. Now I'm just overweight not necessarily unhealthy. It sure feels good to go out and play frisbee or walk or whatever and not have to carry around 3 bags of sugar. It is nice to be eating less.

-Jack

20 August 2012 (I think day 32 or something like that)

Well, today was a good food day. I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast (5 points) and then juicy lucy's for lunch (more on this later for points) and then left over sandwich fixin's for dinner (9 points). So at lunch Lindsay made 4 juicy lucy's and we had them on sandwich thins. Yummy! I thought that they were 3 or 4 points each so I had two, yum. Then Lindsay says, "those burgers are 5 points each!"

"What?!" says I. Bummer. I used up all my points. I guess that goes to show I should have just used better judgement and only had 1 because I only needed 1. So total for lunch was 13 or 14 points.... So, I don't have any points left for FHE refreshments. That makes me sad. I hope the girls don't have something amazing because that will make me sadder. Sometimes this diet is the pits.

-Jack

B:oatmeal (4)
L: 1 burger and potato wedges (9)
D:leftovers (6)
Snack: stupid delicious cheddar mix (6)
Total: 25

Snacks are the devil and so is delicious beef.  I even bought extra lean.  I think that if you spend extra money on something to be healthy, it should be less points!  I did run this morning 1.5 miles in 19(ish) minutes.  The cheddar snack made me feel a little bit sick.  I haven't eaten snack like that in a while I guess.

-Lindsey

August 19, 2012

3 more pounds down. Who-hoo! I'm at 145 and it feels great. I haven't been at this weight in probably a year or more. I'm only 15 pounds away from my goal. Sorry for the short post, but I've got company and a crying baby.

-Jack

8/16/12 better

Well I've been not feeling well all week. I even missed a day of work. Boo. Today I had some really delicious food and I still stayed under points.

B: egg and bagel thin (3)
L: same as breakfast plus pancakes (3+5)
D: pizza (really, really good pizza) four pieces 16
Total: 27, which means I can have 1 cookie if I want.

This diet has gotten a lot easier. I think that my stomach has shrunk considerably. I don't even feel hungry most days even when I've had only 20 or so points. It sure is eye opening to realize that a lot of what I was eating before because I thought I "needed" it was simply fluff that I wanted. Usually just copious amounts of the delicious food my wife makes. She is a fantastic cook... I'm not bad either so that's no help.

-Jack

B-0
L: same as Jack (10)
D: Same only less (12)
D cookies
Total:25

Today I mowed the lawn but couldn't finish cause it plum wore me out.  The pizza tonight was really good.  Different dough recipe that I like.  I like both still though.

-Lindsey

12 August 2012

Today is Sunday. I had a good day, but I've been sorta sick this weekend. Whenever I'm feeling like this my usual remedy is to go to a buffet and just eat a bunch to provide my body with all of the energy it needs to fight off the sickness (I guess I've conditioned Lindsay too because she said that she was craving buffet since I'm sick). Well, we didn't give in. We had bean burritos last night. Today we had some good food too.

B: cereal and milk (5)
L: Left over bean burro with cheese sauce (4)--the sauce wasn't very good.
D: Pineapple chicken and rice with peas (8)
D: low fat chocolate brownie muffins (4) with milk (1)
Total: 22 (whoa! less than I'm allotted and I feel fine)

-Jack

Yeah so I just wanted buffet and used Jack not feeling well as an excuse (shame on me).
B: same (5)
L: leftover burro with ketchup (because light Alfredo sauce not so good on burro) (4)
S: apple (1) muffin (2)
D: same (6)
D: Same but less (4)
Total: 22


(Betty broke the "A" on Jack's computer:(  )

Weigh In Day! 11 August 2012

248.2 for me today. I'm still under 250, so that's good. Only lost 1/2 a lb this week though. I did notice at work on Thursday that my pants felt loose. One of the reasons I decided to start this diet was that all my pants were getting uncomfortable and I can't afford to go out and buy a new wardrobe. It was nice to be able to fit comfortably again.

185 Even for me.  I think I am slowing down but that just confirms what I know; you can't loose all the weight you want if you don't work out.  I have only been running once since we got back from Utah because it is just so DARN hot.  I can't believe it.  August is the worse month.  I do need to somehow still train for the 5K that I plan to do in Oct. or Nov.. I have still been doing a lot of yard work.  We gonna step it UP.

7 August 2012

5 Year Anniversary!!!
1 year from today we will be at our weight loss quest finale and beginning the maintenance routine filled with lots of good activities.

Today:
B: egg and thin (3)
L: 2 wraps (5)
D: salad (1), wedges (3), and two turkey burgers (8) with cheese (2)
Total: 22, before any dessert
-Jack

B: Oatmeal (5)
L: Burrito (3)
D: Salad (1), Wedges (3), Turkey burger (6)
Total: 18, before dessert

6 August 2012

Today I ate:
B: bagelthin and egg (3)
L: Rigatoni (4) and Salad (1) and bread (4)
D: Rigatoni (10)
Desert??? haven't eaten it yet, but I'm thinking I'll have about 6 points
Total: 28
-Jack

B: Oatmeal (5)
L: Rigatoni (4), Salad (0), Bread (3)
D: Rigatoni (6)
Dessert??? haven't had it either yet, but probably 7
Total: 25 points (I'm bummed because I thought I had more)
-Lindsay*

*as written by Jack

"I hate rigatoni" -Lindsay

4 August 2012 (Weigh In)

Hooray, hooray, it's weigh in day. Turned out to be pretty good. I guess I've been carrying around a bunch of excess because today the scale read 148.8!! (green means good, right?)  This is the first time I've been under 250 in about 6 months or so. At least since we moved to Texas. Hopefully I can keep this trend up, but I expect to slow pace a little bit after this week. As you can see in the before photos, I'm not obese but I am over weight. I hope to tighten things up a little around the edges. I'm also planning to add some muscles after I get down to my goal weight too. I could use a little of the good kind of beef up. I'm thinking 230 lbs at about 12% body fat... but I think if I want a six pack I need to get down to like 6% body fat. I'm not sure if that's possible. I guess we'll see. I've still got 12 months to get there (that will be our 6th anniversary, which is when this little experiment will be over and hopefully we/I'll have a new healthier lifestyle.

-Jack

BEFORE

Everyone needs to take some hideous before photos to start off some good weight loss.

p.s. Lindsey doesn't wear those clothes out and about because they don't look good right now. BUT soon... it will look fabulous!!

3 August 2012 (day 14)

Well we missed a few more days this week. I ate 28 points each day. This included a milk shake 2 of the nights. Tonight I took my wife on a chicken express date that was probably less healthy than a date should have been because the babysitter canceled and I wanted to take a break from the norm anyway. I had 2 pieces of chicken and some fried okra. It was good, but too much food. I guess my stomach has shrunk because I use to eat twice as much and then feel okay, but tonight just those 2 pieces and some fried bites left me a bit queezy. I guess I can survive on just 1 breast or 2 legs and a regular portion of side. Deep fried isn't all it's cracked up to be. Tomorrow is a weigh in day. I think I'll weigh, but I don't think Lindsey will. She's been a real trooper and has been doing the grocery shopping to keep us stocked with low point options. It sure makes it easier to eat better when we are doing it together. Let's see:
B: cereal and milk (4 points)
L: cheese it chicken wrap (6)
D: mucho
D: 8 points for 3 cookies and milk, yum (better than the chicken and okra, I should have just had cookies for  dinner)

-Jack

I have stayed at or below 25 points all week.  Can I get a woot woot "hallelujah". Good Enough.  I got 1 breast and a leg and some okra and it was a bit much.  I think just a regular side instead of family size would have been just fine.  We did make good choices in that we didn't get a large family meal like we used to AND we didn't get drinks.  Just water for us.  I would say we are trying to be more natural and NOT drink our calories (humans are the only species that DRINKS their calories after being weened) BUT I still like deodorant :) very much!
B:oatmeal (4)
L cheese it chicken wrap (6)
D: MUCHO
D: same (chicken is good for you.... not so much when it is fried)

-Lindsey

skip a few 11

Well, we've been on vacation for the last 10 days. It was great because we saw a bunch of family and one of my sisters got married. It was pretty disastrous for the old diet though. We decided not to count points and to just use "good judgement" with our daily intake. I found that it was too difficult to say no thanks to some of my favorite dishes. I really like my aunt's fried rice and egg rolls. We also went to a Brazilian buffet called Tucanos where you can eat a lot of delicious food. I had some amazing steak, little cheese rolls, and fried bananas... and a lot more stuff (some wrapped in bacon). Curiosity got the best of me today at work though and I weighed myself. I gained 1 pound on vacation. Not too bad, but I've got to get back on track now.

B: fried egg on a bagel thin with butter (4)
L: 2 slices of pizza (I found out that I had a "new hire" luncheon that I needed to attend and pizza was the only option for lunch.) I'm gonna say 10 points
D: Hawaiian haystacks 2 servings (10)
D: 2 mini ice cream sandwiches (4)
Total: 28

(Our fish on the other hand ate about 1000 points of fish food while we were gone! Icky dirty water!)
-Jack

B: Fried egg, toast (5)
L: Peanut butter Jelly sandwich (7)
D: Hawaiian haystacks (5)
D: mini IC sandwich &ice cream cup (6)
Total: 23

I feel pretty proud of myself.  I told myself I wouldn't weigh myself for atleast a week BUT knowing that Jack only gained 1 pound made me curious so I weighed and I gained maybe 1/2 a pound.  That is really good considering I ate what I wanted and I don't feel deprived.  Vacation is always a death the the diet but I did well.  Back to serious WW though.  No pigging out on delicious egg roles or casco bars (YUM).

-Lindsey

Day 10

B: 4 cream of wheat
L: 16 burritos and such
D: 4 sandwich thin pork sandwich
D: 4 mini blueberry pie! Yum!!!
Total:: 28

This week I'm hungry, but I validated my loss on the work scale as 7 lbs for week 1. I'll stick to the home scale from now on, so as to be more accurate. 7 lbs in one week, just by eating different is pretty amazing though. I'm off to a good start, I just have to keep it up and I'll be at my goal weight in no time. Then I can start building my guns.

--Jack

B: Oatmeal (4 cause we got 1% organic milk)
L: 2 Burritos (8)
D: Tuna Burrito (3)
Dessert: Mini pie and Ice cream (9)
Total:: 24

I like that I can have Ice cream.  I could have ice cream before but it was more of eat whatever all day and ice cream if I felt like it but now it needs to be planned.  I can't have cereal, a sandwich for lunch, then lazagna for dinner and expect to be able to have ice cream and lose weight.  WW is eat whatever you want but there is more planning and accountability involved.

Day 9

It wasn't hard at all today. I ate 3 meals and they all tasted good (maybe excluding cream of wheat, because hot cereal never tastes great to me). Church was good. So, here's today's stats. Oh yeah, I meant to mention that tomatillo dressing taste lingers long after blueberry pie. Not very good because I feel like I need another pie or something. Oh, our mini blueberry pies are only 4 points each. I think that's smashing!

B: Cream of Wheat with honey, cranberries, and cinnamon (3)
L: Pizza (4) and Cheese Floppy--home made tortilla, yum! (3)
D: 3 pork burritos with lots of greens and no cheese (4x3=12)
D: Pie (4) and Milk (2)
Total: 28, right on the button

I think I'm doing really well and I feel a lot better. Not so tired and actually I have more energy now. I think my mind is less groggy. Probably because all of my blood doesn't always have to be at my stomach trying to work through the latest crazy binge of calories.

--Jack

B: Oatmeal (5)
L: Pork on sandwich thin (4)
D: 2 Pork Burros lots of green and HM tortillas (9)
Dessert: Mini Pie and Organic Milk (6)
Total: 24

I know exactly how I got fat.  It's Butter, Cheese, and too much food.  We used to go through a little more than a stick of butter a week.  So far we still have the same butter on the plate that we did when we started 9 days ago :).  We used to go through a gallon of milk a week and maybe a little more but now its about a half gallon a week (I think at that rate we can get organic milk all the time).  I had no idea (well a little bit I did but it was so good :)).  I still eat what I want and these points are enough that I am satisfied.

Day 8 pm

B: late, bagel thin egg sandwich (4)
L: piece of pizza (4)
D: had the missionaries over for pork and pie (mucho points, probably 20 ;)
Total: about 28

Also, I played ultimate Frisbee this morning for an hour. It about killed me because I'm way out of shape. However, I accomplished my goal this week of 1 hour exercise and 100 push-ups. It has been a pretty good week getting into the WW swing of things. Lindsey is always pressuring me to do more and get more muscular or something. She thinks my anatomy is birdlike, yeah you heard right.

--Jack

B: Late, oatmeal and bagel thin with essence of cream cheese (6)
L: Slice of pizza (4)
D: Same as Jack (but probably more like 15:)
Total: about 25

Also, I mowed the big front part of our lawn and it really did kill me and here I am all reincarnated to tell the story.  It was the best of days but also the worst.  It was dark but also light.  Then, I mowed the lawn.
  I accomplished my goal of running 5 miles this week and on day I even did 1.5 miles (that is the most I have run so far).  I am just trying to push Jack to do all that he can do.

--Lindsey

Day 8 (WEEK 1 WEIGH IN!) am

Jack:
Weight: 255.4
Thigh: 24.25
Waist: 40
Navel: 45
Hips: 45.5


Lindsey:
Weight: 188
Thigh: 25.25
Waist: 36.5
Navel: 42.5
Hips: 45

Day 7

Tomorrow is the big 1st week weigh in. I'm anxious to see what the scale reveals. I've been hungry today, so far, because by the time I got around to it, it was too late for breakfast. Then for lunch I had an egg salad sandwich (3) with tomato and spinach. It was really good, but not too filling. I was satisfied enough though. Tonight Lindsey is taking me to our favorite Mexican restaurant. That almost spells death to a diet, but we need to learn to make good choices. I'm going to get the special dos with black beans and rice. I'll drink water. For the "dos" I'm going to get a chicken chile relleno and a chicken tamale. Yum. Points... Infinity (no, I'm guessing it will be close to a healthy amount of points, but it will taste like a million on the scale of deliciousness!!). We'll see how much chips and salsa I can resist.
--Jack

I am not going to try and resist the chips and salsa because I know that if I do, I will just be disappointed in myself and feel like a failure.  All things in moderation.  I had pretty much the same as Jack (3) and I am very hungry... I think "starving" is the word for it actually.  I am going to get the same "dos" with the chicken relleno but I am going to get the Guisado (a chicken and sauce mix) to eat with 2 tortillas, black beans and rice.  I feel good today (besides having the "crabs") and we even went on a walk to the bread store.  I feel skinny.  I have eaten some things that don't taste all that great in the name of getting good points in and feeling full.  I say to myself "Eat to live, not live to eat" to get through it.
--Lindsey

Day 6

B: egg sandwich with cream cheese and chives (5)
L: Pizza 3 pieces (12)  and salad (1)
D: pizza 1 pieces (4) and squash (0) and 2 bean burritos (6)
Dessert: not today
Total: 28

--Jack

B: Oatmeal (4)
L: 2 pieces of pizza and salad (8+1)
D: 1 piece of pizza and lazagna (12)
Total: 25

--Lindsey

Day 5

B: cereal no milk (2)
L: 6 pancakes (6) and a fried egg (2) with syrup (2)
D: Burritos (9)
Dessert: Milkshake (7)
Total: 28

--Jack

B: Cereal (5)
L: Pancakes (3) syrup/jam (2) and a fried egg (2)
D: Lasagna (8) and salad (1)
Dessert: Bluebell ice cream (5)
Total: 26

--Lindsey

We also took "before" pictures today in hopes that at our 6th anniversary will be able to do some "after" pictures. We'll post the "befores" soon.

Day 4

B: Whole wheat cream of wheat with peaches (4)
L: Tuna on wheat bread open faced (2), open faced fried egg sandwich (3)
D:1 piece of lasagna (8) and salad with some new dressing (1)
Dessert: Cookies and ice cream (9)
Total: 27

It was a long day at work, but I thought that all of my meals were filling. I must have been eating like 60 points average per day before we started all this.
--Jack

B: Oatmeal with a peach (5)
L: Same as Jack + butter on one piece of bread (6)
D: 1 piece of lasagna (8) and salad with thousand island lite (1)
Dessert: Cookies and ice cream (9)
Total: 29

--Lindsey

Day 3

B: Bowl of cereal and milk (4) Muffin (2)
L: 2 slices LO pizza (10)
D: Oatmeal with cranberries, milk, & 1t B. Sugar (4) Squash (0)
Dessert: Mini ice cream sandwich (2)
Total: 22 (it's hard to not use up all my points but it will be good for me... make me stronger)

We went grocery researching and shopping.  Bought some salad dressing that hopefully isn't gross like fat free ranch.  It's amazing how many points things are.  I used to eat too much.  Now I am hungry.  I like food.  I like the way it tastes.  I like the way it feels in my mouth.  I like the activity of eating.  I need to get over it.  Eat to live NOT live to eat.  To be skinny, you need to live and eat like a skinny person.  I think that skinny people have a different look on food.  That is what I will research around December when I am BODACIOUS.
--Lindsey

B: 2 muffins (4)
D: mannicotti (8) pizza, 1 piece (5)
S: 1.5 pieces of pizza (8)
Dessert: Mini bluebell ice cream sandwich (2)
Total: 27 (right on target)

Lindsey is already bodacious, but in December she will be bodaciouser. It is fun doing this together. It's like a game, trying to squeeze out points. I am hungry today and I didn't get enough water, but it feels good to be doing something that's good for my body and actually, even though I'm hungry I feel more alert and energized than usual. That surprises me. I also did 20 push ups today (working on my bicep gain). Long day at work, short day at food. Good day.
--Jack

Day 2

So, today wasn't too bad either. This is what I ate:
B: Oatmeal with cranberries and blueberries (5)
L: BBQ Tuna (actually looks like pulled pork, but tastes a little different) open faced sandwich (2)
D: Lasagna 1.5 pieces (12), Salad with bell pepper from our garden (0) and Brussels sprouts (0)
Dessert: Cookies (4 points) and ice cream (5)
Total: 28
I discovered that eating only a piece and half of lasagna (I usually down 4) was really hard. Not hard because I'm starving, but because I like the taste of lasagna and I know I have room for more. That's the sort of thing that I need help with and that the points do for me. They help me limit how much I eat. If only I could spread out that taste more, make it last longer, and not have so many leftovers sitting there when I'm done. I think this diet is going to save us money too because we will have a lot more leftovers and they'll last longer too. Even after 2 days of this we've got about 8 muffins, some manicotti, and 8 servings of lasagna in the fridge. Oh boy. Also, I've realized that cheese is my worst enemy... and its sidekick is bluebell ice cream.
-Jack

B: Oatmeal with cranberries and blueberries (5)
L: Open BBQ Tuna (which was actually pretty good) (2)
D: Spinich/Romain Salad with carrots, bell peppers, and tomato (0) Brussels Sprouts (0) Lazagna (8)
Dessert: Cookies (4) Ice cream (5)
Total: 24
I realize that most of my points are spent on dessert at this point but I am still easing into this and we have a bunch of already made cookies in the freezer that need to be extinct for a while.  I also noted today that drinking 5 full glasses of water helps with the whole feeling full thing.  Hopefully, I will be to a point where I like fat free ranch, no mayonnaise in my tuna, and no dessert (no dessert will be the trick).
--Lindsey

Day 1 (7 July 2012)

Day 1:
Today wasn't too bad. I was actually more full than I thought I would be. Lunch was rough and I was near starving when it was time for dinner, but breakfast and dinner were quite filling. We did fudge a little on dessert because we already had cookies made and in the freezer. Overall we're off to a great start.
B: Blueberry Muffins (4) and an Omelet (4)
L: Tortilla (2) with beans (3) and salsa (0)
D: Salad (0) and Pizza-2.5 slices (12)
Total: 25 + Dessert
--Jack

It wasn't too bad except that I don't like being limited.  Breakfast was great. Lunch not so much and fudging was the best part.  We are off to a good start but I think easing into it is best so you can make small lifestyle changes without feeling jipped.
B: Blueberry Muffins (4) and Omelet (4) Butter (1) skip butter next time because it didn't make a difference
L: Leftover potatoes (3) Green beans with salsa (0)
D: Big Salad (0) 2 slices Pizza (10)
Total: 22+ Dessert of two cookies and 1/2 cup ice cream
--Lindsey

Welcome

"Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean. So between the both of them they licked the platter clean!"

This blog has been established to document the, hopefully, miraculous transformation of two flabby newly weds (approaching their 5th anniversary) into a pair of bodacious bods. So that they can continue to live a wonderful happy life together with their family. We are using the Weight Watchers' diet to restrict our intake (although we are not officially doing WW, we use it to track what we eat on a points system). So, what are the beginning stats?

Jack:
Weight: 267 lbs
Chest: 45.25
Bicep: 14
Thigh: 26
Waist: 43
Navel: 46.5
Hips: 46.5
Neck: 16.5
Calf: 16.75
Pants: 43

Lindsey:

Weight: 190lbs
Chest: 47
Bicep: 11.75
Thigh: 24
Waist: 40.75
Navel: 45
Hips: 45
Neck: 14
Calf: 14.5
Pants: 16.5

Goals: To be accomplished by our 6th anniversary.
Jack:

Weight: 230 lbs
Bicep: 16
Navel: 36
Pants: 38

Lindsey:

Weight:  165 lbs
Chest: 45
Bicep: 13
Thigh: 23
Navel: 40
Pants: 14