Nostalgia and the Weight Watcher

“And as I think back makes me wonder how
The smell from a grill could spark up nostalgia”~ Will Smith Summertime

 

You’re driving down the highway scurrying to get to your mundane destination taking extra caution to deal with the miserable weather conditions. You could almost close your eyes you’ve driven this road so many times. You pass the same grey buildings and nothing even catches your eye as you chat with your passenger. Then in an instant, you are pulled  from that moment, transformed by a wistful yearning for the happiness of days gone by.  It could be a song on the radio, the smell of chocolate chip cookie, or for me an ORANGE DINOSAUR?

My son snapped this photo as I drove of this construction site, watched over by a familiar friend. The orange dinosaur. I was instantly transported  to a moment with ice cream dripping down my arm, yelling at my brother that it was my turn to putt my ball towards the spinning space ship hoping I hit the moon for the automatic hole in one. The business that once stood there was technically named “Route 1 Miniature Golf and Batting Cages” but there isn’t a person within a hundred miles that ever called it anything but the orange dinosaur. And now the great beast stands for nostalgia alone, soon to stand guard over a batch of new condos. 

We were so caught in the nostalgia over the weekend that we headed up that same road to the “Putnam Pantry” to make our own sundaes listening to Juke Box Hero on the radio. Ice cream that tasted extra sweet because it was sprinkled with my childhood. I savored the pure joy of the moment.

Then I thought about my weight loss journey. Not because I had just eaten an ice cream and if I had points available for it. It was because in that moment I remembered to enjoy my food. WW does not have to be a punishment. Sure we can’t have everything we want but we can surely have some of it. We can save up for that ice cream and eat it with no guilt. It brought me back to my previous blog on the WW site where I talked about the Pancake Kangaroo. Like the Easter Bunny bringing candy on that special day, the Pancake Kangaroo was a mystical creature who delivered pancakes loaded with syrup and butter. After planning all week and saving my points I treated myself without guilt and on plan.

We don’t even have to wait for those moments. It doesn’t have to be an indulgence to enjoy our food. We are not tortured. We are simply Weight Watchers. Food can still taste good. Food can still be enjoyed. Food can still spark nostalgia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Weight Watcher’s cup runneth over

The WW is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down with green vegetables: he leadeth me to drink many waters.
He restoreth my scale reading: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for weight’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of gluttony, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy tracker and thy community they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my trigger foods: thou anointest my head with healthy oils; my plate runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the WW for ever. ~Evolved from Psalm 23.

As I wrote the verse above I stopped for a moment to see if I would be stricken down from above for worshiping false gods. Since no lightning bolts have come I will continue. I assure you I simply play with words, not pray to weight loss programs. I certainly mean no offense. I am a Catholic school boy after all.

You see I struggled with today’s entry. I was not blocked hunting for the right words. Instead my mind flooded with ideas and I fought to capture a piece for me to hold onto for today’s self motivation. Into my head jumped the phrase “my cup runneth over”. (as does my plate at times.)   I have so many ideas that I want to develop and to share. So many ways that I want to push this weight loss journey yet I cannot fit them all into a single topic. I must also understand that I cannot expect to implement all of those changes into my life in just one day. It is exhilarating and exhausting.

So for today instead of diving deep into how I will move more, eat less, or learn about myself, I will simply sit back and let the cup overflow. I will enjoy the fact that I have excitement and motivation. As the week goes on I will share some of my experiences from this weekend that have me so pumped. Unfortunately one of those is not me stepping on the scale but I’ll take some Non-scale victories and even some results from “off plan” behavior are quite motivating. Stay tuned friends and until then may your cup runneth over with ways to motivate your journey.

Gears, mindsets and the Weight Watcher

“Once your mindset changes, everything on the outside will change along with it.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Did you ever stop and think that you haven’t stopped and thought in a while?  I stopped and thought about how the last couple of weeks have been crazy. My inner voice responded with my typical  “The last year has been crazy”.  The last year has been crazy. I have fought through multiple ailments and  injuries, had major renovations at home, started a major new project at work, and dealt with a child going through some serious issues.  It’s no wonder I struggled with my weight.

Then in an instant my mind shifted gears and my entire mindset crumbled.

• The renovations are done. The last check has been written. The house looks beautiful.  We are just enjoying it now. I even started making my own to-do list of all the little things I put off while construction was underway. I’m kind of excited about doing some of my own projects again.
• The injuries are gone. I had my surgery. My doctor and physical therapist are thrilled with my progress. It is only me dragging my feet on rebuilding my strength that holds me back.
• Work is fine. The transition is long completed. The project is going well yet I am elevating the stress as if it were still new and unclear.
• My son is just a typical teenager. We squabble about lies and grades but in the big picture he is a great kid who never gets in any real trouble.

So what holds me back from real progress in my weight loss?  Sure I am already eating better but my progress has been slow, inconsistent,  and my feelings about it uninspired. I’m holding myself back on excuses that just don’t fit anymore. Admittedly I need a few more ways to cope with stress but sometimes you need to stop and realize that some of those stresses are either not so stressful or gone altogether.

So today I shift gears and let a new mindset grow. Embrace the positive and make my weight loss story become a true positive and not a minor “better than before” story.

The Selfish Weight Watcher

“Mine”~ Finding Nemo

Excuse me if I seem a bit rude but it is time for me to be selfish. MINE. It is not always the path I choose but sometimes we must take care of number one. MINE. Before you unfollow or unfriend, let me explain. MINE. As I have gotten back on track I have been paying close attention to the things that give me trouble. After all the theme here is always “What’s different this time?” Often as a weight watcher it can be difficult to adapt to things setup by others. .

• Dear wife has a large snack cabinet primarily setup for the kids to pack lunches yet it is large, looming and filled with items that would not even be my choices. I end up picking one and not feeling satisfied which then tortures me to try another to see if that does the trick. It is time for me to be selfish and reestablish my own secret snack stash. In a different location so I never even see the other choices.
• Dear wife decorates the house beautifully changing for each season and event. We are decked out for Halloween which means candy on every free surface. Then I thought about it. There is always candy everywhere. The funny part is that for her it more of a decoration than a quick way to grab a treat. I never see her or the boys dipping in. It is there for me to empty or more recently as I have been doing better to torture me. It is time to be selfish and see if I can get all or most removed.
• Last night came the first return on this journey of my white whale. A busy family evening filled with sports practices and carpooling around. Dinner would be a challenge so we ordered pizza. I knew it would be a problem but went along for the ride. Now I will never say I will never get a pizza, nor would I say that I would EVER stop the family from enjoying but the selfish WW has a chance to step in here as well. I easily could have ordered something else from the same place. I easily could have picked up the pie and stopped at an alternate spot for my own choice. I could have been selfish for me while allowing the others to enjoy what they wanted. In the end the dinner was fine but the leftovers were killer. A couple extra slices that ate deep into my weekly points. THE WHITE WHALE.
• The final spot I have noticed comes to the morning schedule. I rise quite early and shower quickly so dear son can rest and have a clear path to get ready. In an effort to make things different and find actual time to workout, since evenings have been loaded up lately, I will try the morning. Your first thought may be that how can I be so selfish to inconvenience my own son for my needs. Here’s the funny part. We added a second shower so now it doesn’t even matter. My brain still thinks the old way and taking care of myself has no effect on anyone else’s schedule anymore.

MINE MINE MINE. It is time to remember that as a WW we sometimes have to make selfish choices. We can, however, make those changes without spoiling anything for anyone else. They are really just minor tweaks from what is already happening. Sure there will be one or two that you need to sit down with someone and make a compromise (My wife loves having candy everywhere.) but the majority can be done invisibly and won’t be seen as selfish at all.

 

The Weight Watcher and the Soothsayer

“Beware the Ides of March”~ Caeser’s Soothsayer

Welcome. Please sit down. Like Nostradamus before me, I have come to predict the future. Let me gaze into my crystal ball. My soothsaying powers are strong yet they do not come without some restraint.  You see friends I can see the future but only certain futures. Do not ask me if time will bring you fame and fortune. Do not ask me how you will meet your demise. Do not ask me the score of the Red Sox game later this afternoon. But do NOT doubt my powers.  Look only to the previous fall of day to demonstrate my power.

I fore-saw a gathering of great merriment. Family and friends gathered at the hearth to partake in feast and tournament. (Dinner and board games). Among them I saw the Weight Watcher standing perplexed. He would gaze at the great cornucopia, wielding his tracker as his only defense. I predicted a great battle of choice as the brave warrior tried to fill his plate. I saw that his demons would emerge from the ether to draw him back to the table. And sadly friends, I foretold his demise as he would lose control of will and surrender to the night. Before it began I saw that this warrior would not overcome this challenge so early in his journey.

I fear these visions shaped the very future they predicted. Instead of using these visions to guide my actions I brought them as a ready made excuse. I could have added better choices to the table. I could have planned an attack or set some limitation even if it did not align within the WW plan.

My crystal ball may only see the Weight Watcher but it has not projected its final image. I see him accepting this transgression as a momentary weakness, as a single event in an otherwise successful week on plan. I see him rise like the phoenix in a new day regaining his composure and strength. The images are blurry so I cannot predict if he will be triumphant in the end but I can tell that he will fight again.

The Weight Watcher and the familiar path

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I did not take this picture above but I could take many like it with a short walk from my house. After all it is October in New England. I have walked countless paths like this one before. Sometimes I know where they lead and others bring unforeseen wonder around every corner.

My weight loss journey has begun down a similar familiar paths. I have a spring in my step, I know right where I am headed, the sun is shining and all is right with the world. I think to myself “what took you so long, this isn’t that hard”. Ah yes, I have been there before…then I trip over a branch and have my face in the mud struggling to get back up and start walking again. The path is familiar for sure

Having had some very long journeys through these woods I have often said I like the first week or so to go on a familiar path with no downed branches, forks in the road or encounters with strangers or strange situations but alas that cannot always be. Sometimes life throws a branch down in the road or even has a weird clown jump out of the woods. (Check your news feeds). My challenge is somewhere in between tentatively navigating my steps on stones across a stream. Tonight brings a night out with the family (Spamalot at the local theater). That brings dinner, drinks, and snack bars at intermission. Sure I have been out to dinner before and had to snack on something that doesn’t come from my familiar snack cabinet but like I said having to navigate these streams while I still get my initial footing is another challenge level. I will travel into this fun filled evening with WW on the mind but not with WW consuming my thoughts. I will order properly and enjoy my meal, my drinks, and my show and I will manage to do so on plan. This is indeed a familiar path and I may be at the beginning of it but I have the experience to know how to navigate these early obstacles.

 

 

The weight watcher and the power of 1.

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”~ Mother Teresa

Today’s post is brought to you by the number 1  .There are so many ways where  1 thing can make an impact. 1  pt can mean the game, 1  idea can make you a fortune, 1  person can stand up and make a difference, 1 word can crush someone or lift them to the highest heights.   The easy place to go this year is 1 vote but I will spare you any political views other than I think you should vote).

Weight Watchers (WW) is often about a series of 1 s. 1  point, 1 meal, 1 lb, 1 moment. Yesterday for me was about 1  cookie. A tiny cookie not even homemade but baked from break away squares. 1 cookie can be your downfall. It can lead to the second and start string of indulgences. 1  cookie can ruin your night taunting you from the cookie jar. Calling to you as a constant distraction until it breaks your will. In this case, 1  cookie was my savior. 1  cookie was all I needed as I sat there hungry, or bored, or just used to being able to snack nonstop. My previous snack would not be enough and so I allowed 1  cookie. 2 bites really gave me the taste, cut the edge and allowed me to regain my composure. 1  cookie prevented dozens of bad choices. 1  moment where I savored this little chocolate nugget rather than shoveling many in. 1  cookie, 1 night, 1 WW still on track.

The Weight Watcher with a 1000 faces

“I can’t disguise myself with a wig and dark glasses – the wheelchair gives me away.”~Stephen Hawking

It is too early for Halloween. I am not the many faced God from Game of Thrones. I am not a member of the Village people (Enjoy that song in your head all day) Yet this Weight Watcher (WW) finds himself wearing many costumes even in a single day.

Yesterday I awoke as the Prisoner trapped in my body.  I became my own Doctor diagnosing why it was I felt so bad. As I took up this blog I took the toga of a Philosopher and the spectacles of the Author.  I was looking to be my own Teacher and Student. As my day progressed I found times I needed to be a Policeman deterring myself from robbing the cabinets. I transformed into a Cheerleader rooting for myself to succeed. I pulled on my uniform to become an Athlete while I muscled through my workout. Later I pulled on the Monk‘s cloak to meditate away form the need to snack late at night. In the end, I stood tall crowned King of the day successful yet still still slipped on the sheet of a Ghost causing ear of what may come tomorrow.

This WW has already taken on many faces and I suspect will find many more. My costumes have enabled me to get through one day and on to the next. At least they are figurative costumes so I don’t have to deal with the laundry.

 

 

The Weight Watcher and the new dawn

“It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me
And I’m feeling good” 

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”~ Eleanor Roosevelt

I ask myself the same question most days. Is today the day to get back on track? I have various levels of success. Sometimes I make it through the bulk of the day only to binge late at night watching TV. Sometimes I don’t make it past the McDonald’s on the way to work. The question is the same and so is the result. There’s a reason that I often quote Einstein’s definition of insanity because I am the poster child.

So here I am again asking the same question searching for a different answer. Why today? Why now? What’s different this time? There are some differences so let’s take a look.

1. My knee feels better. Two weeks post surgery and it is feeling good. I am surprised by how little strength I have but optimistic that with my rehab I can perform again. It is nice to do something without pain and this may be just the thing I need to finally ramp up my activity level.
2. I feel worse. I feel worse than I have in a long time. I don’t sleep well again. I have heartburn. I breath heavy with any activity. I am missing out again.
3. My fat pants don’t even button.  I caved a while back and bought a few things. Now each of those struggles to go on.
4. My wife can’t hold her tongue anymore. She loves me unconditionally and most times avoids making comments because she understands my struggle. She said “You need to start taking better care of yourself” A simple statement that screams loudly because of how hard she tries to just be supportive.
5. My son is starting to look like me. I work hard to set a good example for my boys and I think for the most part I do. When it comes to eating my example is bad and my 16 year old is heavier than he has been . I need to find a way to motivate him so he does not start the spiral that I have been on my whole life.

Sure I’ve had health and personal reasons to start before and not been successful. Sure this can be just another blog posting Monday that ends up with crumbs on the couch at 11pm. But what if it isn’t? What if I can start the journey again? What if I can do something different to fan the flames and make this spark into a roaring fire? What if?

The question is how? I am not a believer in will power. Not as a long term solution. I could muscle through today (and at times we must) but in the end I need a strategy that will work and it must be different to work differently (Wow, how many times have I said that)

So let’s take this new dawn and set a new agenda and see if it works.

How will I eat differently?

1. Breakfast. This is the one place I think works for me. I am rarely really hungry before lunch.
2. Lunch. Most days (ok close to everyday) some coworkers and I go out for lunch. It is a nice change of scenery and I CAN make good choices wherever we choose. I just don’t recently. Now that I look at my recent habits it is the days when nobody is around that I struggle the most. I still go out but make worse choices in “fast food” mode. So today I packed a lunch and I will plan to do so for a while limiting eating out to 1 day per week. It should save me money and keep me in a more controlled environment.
3. Dinner. Dear wife is amazing she cooks a wide variety of meals and every night has something ready for dinner. I am quite lucky to have her. So where have the problems been most recently. Second helpings. I believe needing a serving for lunch will help this. the more I look at this it feels like one of those “will power” slots. When I was successful I weighed and measured dinner every night. The serving spoons were measuring spoons and the scale was right next to the stove. Time to revive that.
4. Late night Snacks. Hello my name is Mark and I am a night time binge eater. Let’s use last night as the example.  Dinner finished around 7pm. From 7 pm until 11 pm. I ate the following: 4 pieces of cheese, a bag of chips, 3 sugar cookies, 4 oreos, 4 miniature chocolates, 2 mini cupcakes, an  oreo dipper snack pack, a rice crispy treat, a some popcorn. I’m sick just reading the list. It is constant and really the driver for all my problems. In the past I have had one snack and then fruit and that worked for a long time. I tried to revive it with no success. I’ve also been sitting there a lot lately because of my knee problems. So what will be different?  Time to go back to one snack. One that I actually want instead of a random assortment of whatever is there, grazing for hours. Time to go shopping
5. Through the day snacks. During the week I never snack through the day. On the weekends I get into grazing habits. They just need to be gone.

How will I move differently?

1. Knee rehab. I’m already off to a good start here. I found an app that dings at set intervals so I don’t have to count reps or time. I just do the stretch or exercise until the bell rings and then move on. I was amazed at how short I would cut things without this. I can’t quite ay I am making the rehab a habit but I feel like I am on that path.
2. Gym. My gym membership has gone unused for months mainly because I like the elliptical and could not do it with the knee problem. I seem to up very early lately so I am going to try the morning as a change of pace.
3. Soccer. Oh how I wish I could play. 4 weeks until my followup with the doctor so no soccer until then. My wife and I have agreed that I will drop some weight and get in better shape before I start cutting sports again. With about 6 weeks until indoor starts I think that will be my target. A goal that should help the rest.
4. What else? I’ve tried the Fitbit as motivation and fallen short. I will try to use the added time at lunch for a short walk. This week just 5 minutes. Let’s see if I can build it up. I will also try to revive my virtual cross country trek as I found that fun when I could actually do it.

How will I look at it differently?

1. The scale. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to weigh myself. I don’t believe in the every day plan. Once a week works as long as I do so on Monday to keep weekends in check. I’ve also considered not using it at all. I’ve also considered WW meetings again. I need to think about this one a bit.
2. The tracking. Anyone who knows me knows I have used WW for a long time. Itried some of the other trackers but I just didn’t like them. Right before I started typing this I considered rejoining WW. I feel like when I don’t do it I end up under-eating and that leads to failure because I find myself very hungry. Another TBD. For today I will simply try to eat “human size” portions.
3. The blog. Stop saying I will blog daily and blog daily. This is a long one but usually I try to keep them brief.  I know it helps.
4. The goal. I am trying not to overwhelm myself with the goal to lose 100lbs all over again so I will start simple. My clothes will be my goal. I’m not a fashion guy but I am REAL tired of things not fitting.  Goal 1: Button my pants without a deep breath.
5. The all or nothing approach. I am fully aware that I am an all or nothing participant in weight loss. I do not know how to fail a little and get going again. I don’t know how I will address it yet but I know that I will. This will be one of the driving factors of this blog.

“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”
― L.M. Montgomery