vacation is over.

Hey, y’all, I’m back! I decided to take a few months off of WW, in order to focus on bigger things in my life. We recently bought a house, so all of my brainpower—including point counting—needed to be put there.

It’s been quite a journey. Stressful, joyful, exciting... We’ve run the gamut of emotions over the past three months. I think we’ve finally settled in enough that I can focus on myself and my weight loss. Wahoo!

My last weigh in was at 185. I’ve been waffling between 187 and 189. (not too shabby, considering the amount of take out we consumed!) I don’t want to see it climb any higher. It’s time I take charge of my eating habits and push the scale numbers DOWN (where they belong).

The next WW series I can join starts in a month. Between now and then, I plan on managing my points myself (well, with eTools) and attempting to up my exercise.

I’m also going to start twittering my journey. Many of you have been kind enough to follow my progress, and have sent lovely notes about your own WW experiences. I felt this would be a great way to keep everyone in the loop of my successes (and failures). I will post recipe ideas, daily struggles, and thoughts on my progress. Feel free to jump in on the discussion; follow me @jen_on_WW.

(week 29). two pounds away from being overweight!

I am celebrating today. I am a mere TWO POUNDS from being classified as “overweight”. Why is that awesome? Well, for the past several years, I’ve been considered “obese”, and I’m VERY excited to change that very soon.

*sigh* I can’t even remember the last time I was one-eighty-something! Maybe when I got engaged, back in 2005? Wow. 6 years...

I had made a rule very early on in this process to not become obsessive about weighing in; there would be no daily scale-stepping for me. So that thinking eventually evolved into just not weighing in at all until Thursdays.

Of course, I was tempted by my mother-in-law’s scale this past Tuesday. I’ve had a rough few weeks, to be honest. I really didn’t expect much from this week’s weight loss, so I was beside myself when I saw 188 flash on the scale. In fact, I screamed! LOL.

I took particular care to not wear weighty clothes (hello, summer dress!) this morning. I was DETERMINED to at least maintain Tuesday’s results. As I stepped on the scale, 187.6 flashed! I LOST 4 POUNDS THIS WEEK! That’s almost 33 pounds since starting this, and about 50 since having Noah. That’s a lot to lose.

What does that look like? A little something like this:


I’d like to leave you with a quote I heard in my WW meeting today, as it is not only completely true, but giggle-worthy:

“Diet helps you look good in clothes. Exercise helps you look good naked.”

(week 28). losing again...

Not going to go into a long post about this, but I lost 1.6 pounds this week. Very happy that I’m getting back on track.

(week 27). eating my feelings (a setback).

I’ve temporarily lost my positivity. At least, I hope it’s a temporary loss. It’s weird how it seemingly came out of nowhere. (Or did it?)

A few weeks ago, my hair started coming out. Not in small amounts, either.

Oy. Of course it didn’t stop there. The ordinary (and not so ordinary) stresses started piling up, and before I knew it, I felt like I couldn’t handle anything.

When I started to stress out, I found myself reaching for a snack. Of course I didn’t count the points… it was a Red Vine here, or a few Doritos there… before I knew it, a small stash had formed in my bedside table.

I finally went to the doctor last week, and we ran a battery of tests. Anemia, thyroid, you name it, we looked into it.

Those tests came back today, and everything was “normal”. Of course, I was re-diagnosed with post-partem depression and anxiety. I’ve had bouts with both in the past, and neither has ever been as intense or as seemingly hopeless as it is now. It’s as if there are two parts to me; one that is overseeing things, trying to tell me how to make it through, while the other is actually living it, unable to hear what’s being said. It’s just such a disconnected feeling.

The doctor said that because I’m a naturally happy person, I feel the need to be “on” for everyone else, all the time, and I don’t let myself have bad days. I’ve now reached the point where I can’t turn myself back “on”.

I’m listless and tired, which is no good when you’re trying to motivate yourself to work out. (Wait, what’s motivation?!)

I don’t want to weigh in tomorrow, I’ll be honest. I don’t want to know what the scale says. I don’t want to see how the snuck snacks affect my scale numbers. But I need to. It may bring me down, but hopefully it helps wake me up. There are so many reasons that I started losing weight, and I can’t lose sight of it. I can’t let myself continue down the path of depression.

Not to make light of this, but I’m reminded of something from How I Met Your Mother: “I’m never sick. When I feel myself getting sick, I just become awesome instead.” That’s what I need to do. I need to find my “awesome”.

Oh, and about the hair thing: because the tests came back normal, it’s likely that it’s stress-related. According to Dr. D, if you count back about 3 months, you’ll find your stressor. For me, it was my son going into the hospital. Makes total sense…

Have you dealt with anxiety or depression? How did you get through it?

(week 26). Best. Lunch. EVER.

I am very lucky to work at a place that has not one, but two cafeterias. True, it could work against me (a pizza bar? Hamburgers and fries and gravy-covered goodness?! NOM.) but I have learned to find the better Points Plus values to maximize my food intake.

While I occasionally stop by the salad bar, THIS is what I usually feast on, for 5 POINTS PLUS:


Grilled chicken breast (5), broccoli (0) and mushrooms (0). Add in some A1 sauce (0) and a diet soda (0), and I’m set! Fortunately, this only takes up 1/6th of my daily Points Plus allotment, leaving many PPs left to splurge on dinner and snacks. (Oh, the broccoli gets switched out for a sweet potato occasionally, but the few additional PPs are worth it.)

(week 25). the voyage was very bon…

enjoying our first trip away at sea.

Wow, y’all, the cruise was amazing! We had a very lovely five days aboard the Carnival Ecstasy relaxing, resting, and of course... EATING! To truly celebrate my weight loss, I didn’t count a single point all week. I kept good eating choices in the back of my mind, but this was MY TIME to indulge, if I chose.

biggest indulgence: chocolate melting cake.

To offset that, I was going to use the on-board gym. Honestly—other than the initial tour—I never made it. (I got as far as the spa and then stopped, LOL!) BUT, we used the stairs A LOT (thanks mostly to annoying kids who pushed EVERY BUTTON) and walked the length of the ship often. During our excursion, we traipsed the grounds of Mayan ruins in 100 degrees, or plowed through sandy beaches (a workout in itself!). I more than got my 30 minutes of exercise each day, I think.

That’s probably a good thing, though, because the food could have really set me back. As our cruise director pointed out, you could have 14 meals a day, and it’d all be FREE! The buffet was always open, including a 24-hour pizzeria, the dining room had extended hours, and room service was always included! We tried it all.

lobster and shrimp. ooh la la.

Oh, and the drinks?! Wow. Very fruity, very fun, and very full of alcohol. I can see why Carnival calls themselves the party ships.

resting on the beach. in a bathing suit. GOAL!

Seriously, Alex and I had a fantastic vacation, and were so grateful for the break from it all. (Though we missed our little Noah terribly!)

the bares enjoying the last night of their vacation.

As soon as we hit Galveston, it was back to business as usual. I prepared myself for a gain this week, and was pleasantly surprised when I stepped on the WW scale: I lost 3.2 pounds! Hello, 190!

The numbers are encouraging for sure, but the fact that people around me are noticing my shrinking self is awesome. I’ve really appreciated everyone’s kind words… THANK YOU!

(week 23). the truth about numbers.

A few days ago, I promised to post my actual weight. (You can read the backstory here)

I'm a woman of my word. I'm proud to announce...

I'm 193!

Let's look beyond the number, though.

At my highest weight (pregnancy), I was 234. I lost 14 pounds before joining WW. I've since gone on a 27-pound journey, totaling over 40 in the past year.

Other fun facts about my weight loss: As a 5'6" female, I had a 35.5 BMI. Today, I'm a 31. Every day I lose weight, I am regaining a part of my life. I'm getting HEALTHY. I find myself with more stamina (perfect for keeping up with a toddler!), and of course, self-confidence. My clothes don't fit (which you'd THINK would be awesome, but it's fairly frustrating) and my feet seem to have shrunk about a half-size. Hah.

It's because of my success that I'm able to be so open with you all. Hell, even if I didn't lose another pound, I could look back on what I've accomplished so far, and have one heck of a smile on my face. But it's definitely not been without it's ups and downs.

For example, getting to weigh in this morning was a bit of a pain. I consider WW the ONE thing I treat myself to during my work week. I get up from my desk, go downstairs and for one hour, I surround myself with people venturing on a very similar journey. It's strangely cathartic to discuss your problems and progress. I love it.

Even still, other things get in the way. I flew in and flew out without even processing what the scale said. I just checked my sheet; I lost almost a pound. :happy:

I'm thrilled to be at 193, but am striving for lower numbers on the scale. I was 150 when I went to college in Texas, and 135 in Kansas. That may be a little low for me now, so 145-150 is what I'm shooting for, broken into smaller increments. I can do that!

Now, who's brave enough to share THEIR numbers?

(week 22.5). pizza pardners

The thing I love the most about blogging is the interaction with my readers. While comments don't always get left on blogspot, I have many of you commenting on my facebook page, emailing me and the like.

Yes, I started this blog for myself, to keep me on track and motivated. I can look back months (and even years) to see how far I've come. But more than that, others are getting something from my journey.

I received a particularly touching note today from an old friend. Alison and I worked together at Pizza Hut FOREVER ago. (almost 10 years ago, by now...) She was—and still is—an amazing person, and I am so proud to call her a friend. These days, she's a Notre Dame graduate, studying law and is engaged to an awesome man. ...I could go on, but let's get to her note:

Alison: Hey Jen! I just wanted to say I've read your blog, and it inspired me to get serious about my own health and weight loss in anticipation of my wedding and just to be more healthy in general. Anyway, I joined WW online eight weeks ago at the highest weight I've ever been, and I've lost almost 17 pounds in that time!! I'm really, really excited, and I feel so much better, and I wanted to share it with you because I feel like I have you partially to thank :)

That means so much to me! I am so glad that my journey is helping others start on theirs. That doesn't take away from all the hard work that she put in. ALISON lost 17 pounds. SUCCESS!

Does anyone else have any successes to share? I don't care if it's because of this blog or not, we just need to CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESSES!

Share them with me. jen826@gmail.com

(week 21). CHARMING.

note: I know this is a little late (read: 12 days), but it's better late than never. I would normally skip straight to the present, but this was such a huge milestone, I couldn't NOT add it to the blog.

I. LOST. 25+. POUNDS.

I remember when I first joined WW, a friend told me to expect stickers and charms as incentives for weight loss. I giggled, but she warned that I would come to COVET these trinkets. And when I received my first five pound sticker, I was over the moon. My weight loss was tangible; my success wrapped up in a 1/2" sticker. So now, to get my 25-lb. charm... well, you could imagine my elation!

My leader announced my success to the group, and I couldn't have felt happier. Normally, I shy away from being recognized, but when it comes to WW, I just feel... proud. I did this. 25 pounds. WOW.

It immediately went on my key chain, and serves as a daily reminder that I can make my big goals happen out of my smaller milestones.


My leader, through celebrating my milestone, brought up my blog (hi Linda!). She asked if I had posted my actual weight here. "Not exactly," I answered. I had to wonder why, though. It's not that I hadn't shared my beginning weight SOMEWHERE in this blog, and anyone capable of basic math could figure out where I'm at now. There is just a stigma behind the higher numbers, one that I still seem to avoid.

But no more. This week will be my 23rd week on WW. And lose or gain, I will not only post my pound status, but I will put my actual weight out there. In black and white. Those of you who have ever struggled with weight understand why this is such a big deal. Even still, my new number is SUCH a celebration. Let's celebrate together on Thursday! See you then!

(week 20). workin' my way down.

I wanted to be in a 12/14 by the end of April, and I MADE IT! Here I am in a size 14 pair of jeans... my NEW "skinny me" jeans!

It's crazy to believe that I was an 18/20 just a few months ago. It's not a place I ever wanted to be, and one I don't plan on revisiting any time soon.

Now, I've got my eye on a pair of size 10s for June...