What happens when you open your eyes...

This past week, I've been trying to pay more attention to myself and to my habits. A few things I've learned are:

1. While eating breakfast is typically good for me, eating last night's leftovers for breakfast is not. On the days that I do that, my whole mentality is fried and I tend to eat whatever whenever.
2. I've been having more control of my pizza insanity lately. I actually ordered a large pizza last week and did not eat the whole thing in one day.
3. I tend not to overeat if I'm eating with someone. It seems that the people pleaser in me will not allow a friend to see me binge uncontrolled on my food drug of choice. (I would use this information to keep me in line when it comes to pizza but it also seems that most of the people I'd eat with would rather eat something other than pizza. Crazy, I know.)
4. I need to schedule in some actual workout time. Lately, I've been letting myself down when it comes to this. It seems like I've been making all kinds of excuses and that is no bueno.
5. Sophie and her bicycle basket make me feel unbalanced when I'm riding. I need to practice with it more. And also figure out why my tire pump isn't working.
6. With the weather turning colder, I need to start thinking about winter wear. Since Sophie is a chihuahua, she needs something to keep her warm while I"m riding. I need to get her a new sweater and while I was looking I saw THESE

Wouldn't she look so cute????

I've also been thinking about cancelling my WW monthly pass. I can't remember the last time I actually attended a meeting and I still haven't figured myself out on the new plan. Plus my new lower income could seriously use the extra $40 a month. I've still got all my old plan info, I wonder if I could find some old food journals.

This week I surprised myself with my portioning. I didn't over do it or binge like I could have. I cooked most of my meals and generally had a good attitude about what I was putting into my body.

In the coming week, my goal is to increase my activity. To meet this goal, I'm going to schedule exercise and also commit to adding 10 minutes of  non scheduled activity per day (ie taking the stairs, parking further away, etc.) I'm also going to commit to a blog posting schedule. :)

Gigi's Cupcakes and A Loss???

Gigi's Cupcakes has arrived in Sugar Land. Wouldn't you know that I've discovered this little oasis on the week that I recommitted to WW meetings? I tried to deny the call. The little voice in my head kept saying, but MAGHAN, it's just ONE cupcake. You've got the weeklies for it... c'mon it'll be soooo good. 

I wavered. Realistically it was only ONE cupcake. And I really did have the weeklies available. I know myself well enough to know that if I DIDN'T eat a cupcake, I'd likely think about nothing but cupcakes for days until I ended up caving and eating half a dozen of the yummy morsels.

So I decided to go in. If they didn't have my favorite, I reasoned, I could just walk out. No harm in looking. (Hilariously enough, Gigi's is located right next to a Quick Weight Loss Center, they share a wall. I thought back to my QWL days and remembered how having a cupcake then would have ruined everything.) I took a deep breath and went in. The owner greeted me right away and I saw several of the above beauties. My absolute FAVORITE red velvet with cream cheese icing. 

As I tried to contain my drool, I struck up a conversation with the owner. Of course, WW came up. At the moment, GiGi's does not have nutrition information available but they are working on it. Once they have 5 more locations, the government will require it and they want to be ahead of the game. He told me that he too was Point conscious and that whenever he and his wife take some home, they split them. (By the way, they make each cupcake fresh daily, so I'm sure that happens pretty often.) He boxed up my delectable little treat like a treasured present and I went about my way.

Once I got it home, I took Sophie out and evaluated the cupcake. I decided to cut my little beauty into fourths. It was STUPENDOUS. I found myself with another fourth about to leap into my opened mouth. And....

I stopped. I put it back in the box. Those of you who know me IRL know that I LOVE sweets. So I was doing some SERIOUS self talk as I put the container in the fridge, closed the door, and drank some water. 

I was satisfied with the fourth?!? I don't think that has ever happened to me. But I was totally satisfied, to the point that I'm sure if I'd had the other fourth, I'd have been a little nauseated from the sweetness. I'm happy to report that the second fourth tasted just as good the next day. AND I shared the remaining half with Trevor. 

This week I lost 3.6 pounds and had Activity points for ALMOST every single day.

Stay within my weekly points allowance for Thanksgiving and do a 5k. 

Pressing the RESET button

For my sanity (and my Mama and sister's birthday) I took an extended weekend home. I stayed in my bedroom at my parents' house and enjoyed five days of being Daddy's little girl again.

For five days I had no cell reception. No emails, no texts, no Facebook. At first it was a little scary but then it was kind of liberating. I was able to focus on myself and my family even better than I had in the past. I realized that I use my phone in my daily life a little more than is actually necessary. That said, being home and having time for a little self introspection made me realize a few things, some weight loss related, some not so much.

1. I've gained two pants sizes since I was last home.

2. I want my own family a lot sooner than I originally thought.

3. I really miss being a country girl: riding horses, getting dirty working on the farm, hanging out with family, playing tag with the kids in the front yard, and just slowing down in general. 

       

Most of these things I can actually accomplish with my continued weight loss journey. (For sure #1 but in extended ways, all of them would be improved by reaching my goal weight.)

Today I went back to my new favorite store (HEB Sugar Land market) and loaded up on meal planning foods. Tonight I enjoyed a delicious Slow cooker brisket. I found the brisket on sale. The store actually had one slab of brisket that was 97 cents a pound, however that was WAY too much meat for just the two of us. I purchased a three pound package of trimmed brisket for just over $6. I already had most of the items needed for the recipe. I cooked a can of corn (72 cents) and mashed some potatoes that Mama gave me. So this meal cost about $1 per serving. We have tons of leftovers and I froze the other 1.5 pounds of brisket so we still have plenty to eat. If I'd gone out to eat, these two portions would have EASILY cost us $8 each. (That's a savings of $14!)

Today was my first day "on plan" in at least a month. I was actually surprised by how much I got to eat. (I remember thinking that over two years ago when I first started Weight watchers.) But I had some apple pie and some Blue Bell for dessert after dinner and even had chips at lunch and still didn't "spend" any more points than my daily point target. :)