More organizing and some play time

Today I was inspired to clean the fridge before going grocery shopping.  Taking inventory and rearranging some items.  I love that this refridgerator has adjustable shelves which makes it easy to clean and make organizational fun... here are some before and after pics

Doesn't everyone's fridge showcase the art work of a 4 year old?

not impressive this is before 

another shot of the doors before

I had Riley's attention to help for about 15 minutes. She got right into washing the bottom out 

After shot. All clean and room for groceries.The shelves work really well for us placed where they were

I did rearrange the door shelves to bring the drinks up to a better level.

Now it was time to play

This is my little man enjoying the beautiful day we had here is south Florida. It was breezy , sunny, and just beautiful out.

She wanted the camera so she was not too enthused with me

I love this one looking right at me.

This is the little man trying to get me

Clearing the Pantry

So in getting ready for my meal planning I decided to clear the kitchen pantry and take inventory. This allowed me time to calculate points and write them right on the boxes of what we use the most.  I have a small pantry and things tend to get cluttered. Since we need to do the week's grocery shopping this is the perfect time to take inventory and start a weekly menu.

Here is my little man saying, "mom what are you doing?"

Before as you can see things are just willy nilly put in 

 I took everything out of the pantry and put it on the table and counters, I took inventory and separated everything into easy categories.  Then I played grocery store and shopping with Riley to gather everything back up. I got organized and she thought we were playing. So it was fun for both of us.

This is the after photo, I separated the items into categories  top shelf chips, breakfast items. See that I have extra black binder clips hung on the shelf. They make great chip clips or bag sealers. I had extra when we cleaned out the office and converted it to a nursery for little man.  Second shelf is for canned goods and common dinner sides. The third shelf is for baby food, non breakable Peanut butter & drink mixes.  The fourth shelf I organized our oils and baking supplies on the right and my commonly used mixers on the left. The bottom shelf I left for my basket that holds party plates, napkins and party cups on the right and on the left is the food saver machine and uncommon items which are used less because the trash can sits in front .   It is now easy to see everything we have and ready for healthy foods to come home.

Week 1 Results

This week was not the results I wanted, but that was to be expected I suppose given my effort over the past week.  The good news is I did not gain any. So I am not totally discouraged. This week I am going to avoid sugar. I put sugar in my coffee that is my biggest point portion of the day that are waisted. I had more sweets this past week than I would normally eat in a normal week with birthday celebrations at home and at the office.   I am also going to get up earlier and walk and try jogging  to get some activity points. I stocked up on some fresh veggies for snacking.  

Week 1 loss = 0 lbs

Tip of the week:  If you find yourself running out of points mid day and going over at night. Plan your points. I know I must eat breakfast to avoid over eating in the afternoon.  So I started to plan my breakfast  and lunch to fit my allowed points and snacks are free points or 2 points if I have less at Lunch.

This is how I plan my points

Breakfast 5 pts or less

snack # 1  0 pts

Lunch       8 pts or less

Snack #2   0 pts

Dinner  16 pts

This worked out so well for me once I started doing it, I think I will go a step further this week and try and do an advance plan for the week.

Day 6 and feeling nervous

Well it is day 6 on WW.  I am feeling very nervous.  I know that this week I have exceeded my points, I had cake twice, apple pie and brownies and pizza and a pepsi this week.  I know from that sentence it looks bad.  What have I been doing?  It is hard for me to ignore what everyone else is sharing and enjoying. And when I do try and resist there is always someone to say "oh one piece won't hurt".  Why can't we celebrate good occasions with veggies?  I am already giving myself negative talk. Telling myself I am a failure and this is why I got this far over weight to begin with.   I was excited on Saturday because I weighed early and was down 3lbs.  I just don't know what to expect in the morning when I weigh in.  I am also beating myself up that I didn't work out intensely and focus more on clearing the kitchen.  I did go on and read some success stories on the WW face book page and that made me feel better. Women who have lost 50 plus lbs have fallen off the wagon. The trick is to start each day out right.  So tomorrow I will post week #1 results.

Fresh Start

I am so excited that I can share with all of you my Weight Watchers Journey.  I started the new points plus program almost one week ago. I am not doing meetings however a co worker was able to get me started and I have found a ton of useful information on the internet to carry me along That I would love to share.

The last time I did a body makeover challenge I had to give up because shortly into it I found out I was pregnant and therefore dieting to lose was out the window.  I did not have as much energy in this pregnancy than I did with my first. I think mainly because nap times just do not exist when you have  a toddler at home.  I was very proud that I did not gain much during the pregnancy just eleven pounds YAY!  For a girl who has been on the fluffier side of life I was overly excited. However pounds packed right on during my maternity leave.  Now that my baby is six months I am ready to buckle down and get busy.  Mainly because the holidays are upon us and I need to feel in control.

I have tried many diets in the past and find that sticking with anything for any length of time was the major challenge. Some things are just unrealistic for anyone. I was most successful with biggest loser plan. I was able to lose 45 lbs just before my first pregnancy five years ago.  However I found it hard to keep my calories low enough to keep losing weight for any length of time.

I am happy that now W.W. does the points plus.   Which takes in account the glycemic index of foods . Basically it rates food on how much energy they provide after you eat them.  Thinking of foods in different terms seems to work for me. I have done very well this past week and I am excited to try new recipes   And I love the fact that I can eat what the rest of the family is having instead of cooking a separate meal of feeling deprived.

So here is a recap of my first week.

I started at a 29 pt allowance ( on this plan you never go below 26pts), the very first day (Wednesday Oct 10th)  I ate double my points allowance.  At first I felt like a failure. I thought I made good choices for the day but in the end I still exceeded my points allowance. I was devastated.  Then I found out the next day that the W.W. Plan allows you 49 extra points per week.  Oh thank goodness!  So I just used part of those points along the way to keep me in check.  I think the important lesson here was not to give up when first discouraged, dust myself off and get right back at it.   I did cheat and on Saturday I weighed myself ( instead of waiting the full week) I was down 3lbs.   WhooHooo!   But I should have waited the first full week. So we will see what my actual loss is on Wednesday.

I have found a good Points Plus Calculator online.  Though *disclosure is that these are not the official weight watcher tools,   but it works

http://www.exercise4weightloss.com/ww-points-plus-calculator.html

My Favorite Tip I learned this week:

Salsa makes an excellent salad dressing  and or Veggie Dip , 0 Points and Lot’s of Flavor!