When you fall off the horse....

Hello friends, happy (as happy as a Monday can be) Monday!

Well, as you can tell, I haven't posted in a while. I fell off the horse, yet again. I am SURE I will fall off the horse MANY more times in my life. But, as most of you can understand, leading a healthy lifestyle and maintaining an ideal weight is difficult for some (including me). The key is that every time you fall off, you HAVE to get back on. No use sitting on the ground feeling sorry for yourself. No one is going to get back on the horse for you. You have to do it yourself. :)

Here is my weakness - whenever anything happens in my life that takes my focus off of my eating habits, I get off track. A few weeks ago, I discovered I have an ovarian cyst. Well, hopefully it is gone by now (or at least has shrunk enough that I cannot feel it anymore). I was in quite a bit of pain, and wasn't able to exercise due to that....and that led to eating badly.....and that went from a few days....to a few weeks. And here I am. I need to work on my ability to focus on my eating habits, regardless of what's going on in my life. That's my goal.

So, today, I decided I needed to try something different for my weight loss journey. As you have probably read, or already know because you know me, I have followed Weight Watchers for the last two years. Well, I seemingly have become "immune" to the influence of WW. Although the program is WONDERFUL, and it truly WORKS if you follow, I am just having a hard time staying motivated. I need a change. So, starting today, I am counting calories instead of "points."

I am using http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ to do this! This website is awesome! You can track your daily food, exercise, etc. all online with the assistance of an extensive food database giving you nutritional values! You can put it your weight, height, age, goals and it will tell you how many calories you should consume per day, and how much exercise you should do per week to obtain your goals. And the best part is, it's FREE!

I am feeling very motivated with this new method of watching what I eat. And here's what I've had today:

Breakfast:

Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with 1 tbsp cream cheese

Lunch:

Weight Watchers Smart One

Snack:

Nectarine
6 almonds
Fiber One Oats and Chocolate Bar

Dinner:

4 oz. chicken breast (boneless, skinless - baked) over a large salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, 6 croutons and 3 tbsp fat free italian dressing (Wishbone brand)

After dinner:

Weight watchers Dark Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream Bar

Currently I am still under 1200 calories for the day (which is my goal). I also worked out today after work with my Polar Heart Monitor Watch. This thing is AWESOME! I put on the watch when I walked out the door, and started my exercise tracking then. In 28 minutes (20 min on the elliptical machine and 8 minutes walk to/from the gym) I burned 296 calories. And I know it's accurate! Very cool!!!

So, my lesson for today (LOL) is that you are NEVER done with your journey. It is never too late. You can ALWAYS start over. So what if you've gained 15 lbs, get back on the horse and lose it again. You can do it. And no one but you is going to do it. It's YOUR journey, so start today!

Until next time, happy eating and thanks for reading!!

-Sommer