More pounds lost...hopefully never to be found again!

Of course tonight was my Weight Watchers meeting and I am super happy to report that I lost 3 more lbs, for a total of 14.6 lbs!

I am really pleased with my progress and can finally see some of my hard work paying off. I wasn't as good last week as I could have been:

1. I didn't go to the gym at all because work was crazy and I didn't take many lunch breaks, plus we had plans most of the evenings. I do have to thank my wonderful husband for pushing me (really hard!!) to go to the park yesterday to go for a walk. It was a beautiful crisp day and we walked around the park and nearby school for about an hour. I truly believe this exercise - and fresh air - helped me in my weight loss tonight.

2. Last Monday night, I went to a local Wing restaurant with my co-workers to watch a UVA basketball game and I totally went off the program!! I ate chicken wings and they tasted sooooo good! :)

3. I gave in to the candy basket that sits on my desk - granted it was only eating tootsie rolls, but still.....I also ate a few of the Reese's peanut butter hearts that we have at our house that my mother-in-law sent us. (I believe she means well, but I wish she would stop sending us chocolate!)

However, by the number that showed up on the scale this evening, I must have done something right!

1. I tracked everything I ate, including the tootsie rolls and the reese hearts, on the WW online food tracker. Even the days when I went over my allotted points total, I still did my best to keep track of everything. For anyone who is looking to lose weight, I believe that is an excellent way to see what you are really eating. And, often, once you see HOW MUCH you are eating, it's easier to see why you are gaining weight or can't lose it.

2. On Wednesday night, Keith and I went out for a quick dinner before the UVA-Duke basketball game. We went to Boston Market, which is a good choice when we are looking to eat something close to the arena that won't take too long. I always get the 1/4 white chicken dinner, which includes two sides. It's a pretty high point dinner, but usually if I eat ok the rest of the day, I can save enough points and not go over my daily allotment. This particular day, I hadn't saved enough of my points to have the sides that I usually do - corn and green beans. One would think that corn and green beans wouldn't be that bad (which they really aren't compared to the other things that looked REALLY good - the macaroni & cheese and the mashed potatoes!) But, knowing that I didn't have enough points, I researched other menu options on the Boston Market website and chose to eat steamed veggies and fruit as my sides.

3. We went out to dinner at a local restaurant that has amazing pizza and calzones with some friends on Friday night and I ate soup and salad while the others all got pizza, including Keith! He even got a large pizza so he would have leftovers. I believe by-passing leftover pizza in the refrigerator is a huge accomplishment (especially when I re-heated it for him for lunch yesterday and it smelled SO GOOD!)

4. We went out house-hunting on Saturday from 11:00am to 5:00pm and I brought along healthy snacks - fruit and string cheese - so I wouldn't be super hungry once dinnertime came. And speaking of dinner, we ate at my sister Katie's house that night - she made an awesome meal of Chicken & Spaghetti (which is a family recipe that I love!). It was hard not to go for seconds but I think I did pretty good and I ate closer to a serving (or maybe two) instead of a heaping overflowing plate like I used to. Oops, I forgot about the good-sized brownie that I had after dinner - I guess that didn't hurt me in the long run - thank goodness!!

5. Today I went to the gym at lunch and walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes. It was really busy in the office but I knew I had to go - to feel better and to help in my weight loss efforts. I'm glad that I went and I am going to really try to go at least 3 more times this week.

I'm excited that I am only .4 lbs away from the 15 pound mark. That was my next short-term goal and I am hoping that I will surpass that mark next week. Then, on to 20 lbs!! I can't wait to see how things continue to progress!!