Making it through the Weekend

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. The weather here is Chicago was beautiful! Saturday I joined my friend Chris and her friend for a bike ride at a local forest preserve. We did 7 miles in about an hour. This was the most I have done on my bike since breaking my wrist. I was pretty proud at myself for holding a 12 mph pace the whole time but I was pushing through a lot of pain towards the end. My wrist was killing me and it hurt most of the day afterwards. BUT my OT will tell you I am one tough cookie. Pain is part of my every day life now and because I broke my wrist at the joint; I will be on arthritis medication for the rest of my life but I am not going to let that stop me!

One thing I have learned through my recovery is you have to push through the pain. This can be applied to a lot of things especially pushing through the temptations. Yesterday, was a hard day. I am not sure why but I wanted to snack and I knew I was not hungry. I had to push through it reminding myself that there is nothing that tastes better than wearing my size 8 pants again.

If you are a snacker like me. Here are some snacks I always have on hand...

• Smart Pop (1 pt per cup) - This is the best commercially prepared popcorn on the market!!!!
• Bananas (0 pts)
• Frozen Grapes (0 pts)
• Cherries (0 pts)
• Oranges (0 pts)
• Herbalife Shakes (3 pts per shake)
• Apples (0 pts)
• Little Peppers (0 pts) - I have to fight my daughter for these. :)
• Any seasonal cut up veggies
• Beef Jerky (2-3 pts depending on brand but watch the salt!)

Happy and Healthy Eating!

Dawn

Found it!

I recently read in one of my Weight Watchers Weekly's that you should find a workout that you love. They said that you should not be looking at the clock and it should be something that you look forward to and miss if for some reason you cannot do it. I found this quite interesting because I couldn't really think of anything that I love doing other than riding my bike. This is the one thing that I could not wait to get back to after breaking my wrist.

But this morning I found something else to add to my list. ZUMBA! Ok, I have done Zumba before and it was fun. BUT I was not thrilled of dancing in front of other people because I stink at it. My embarrassment has kept me out of the Zumba classroom. So last week, I decided to invest in the Zumba DVD's and I am glad I did! I have now found a workout I love. I can do it right in my living room and I don't even have to leave my house! In fact, I cannot wait to go home and pop in my 20 Rush DVD when I get home.


So what's your favorite workout?

Back in the Chair

Last night was my first time back in the chair since I broke my wrist. It was with mixed emotions. I was happy to see my old leader and I was greeted with a big hug. I really missed that! She is a great motivating person who always takes the time to help you through those rough patches. I wouldn't want to be in the chair with anyone else. But it was very embarrassing returning 40 lbs heavier than I last time I saw her. However, she reminded me that we have all been there and if I did it once I can do it again.

I am feeling empowered that I am tracking everything that I eat. I will admit, I hate doing it. It is a tedious task...I don't know why I feel that way. But I know it works and that is the only way I will ever get to where I want to be. So let's do this...

It has been a while...

Wow it has been a while since I have written in my blog. Lately, I feel like I have let a lot of people down including myself; but I remembered one line from my blog "day to day struggles of finding my thinself." I have to admit that this year has been a struggle. Since January, I have gained approximately 40 lbs. Teetering on the line of onederland and struggling to stay on that lower side of the fence.

So what happened? Well, the first part of the year I was struggling with stressed induced hives. My son was recently diagnosed with ADHD and struggling in school, I was stressed about work, school and my other activities that I was engaged in. I was just way overwhelmed and my body was telling me so. For almost a month I was on steroids to help suppress my symptoms. I began to eat massive amounts of food to comfort myself. In fact, at one point my son said to me "Mom what is wrong with you?" He knew that the quantity of food I was eating was not me. Well, my clothes started to not fit.

To get back on the exercise bandwagon, my son just learned how to Rollerblade. One day after a birthday party the kids and I went to Play it Again Sports. I figured if I was going to get my son a pair of blades (he was wearing mine) I might as well get myself a "new" pair. Why not, right? A few hours later, while skating with the kids I fell and I fell hard. I broke my radius bone and dislocated my hand. It required surgery and I had a plate, 10 screws and a pin to hold everything together. Almost three months later, I am still in Occupational Therapy three times a week. I have gained a total of 20 lbs since breaking my wrist bringing my total gain to 40. :(

However, now that I shared all that with you...I have good news. After, watching a friends YouTube video and seeing and hearing her excitement about her weight loss, toning and healthy eating, it reminded me about how excited I was when I first started this blog. I went right online and looked at meeting times for WW. In doing so, I found out that my favorite leader has not one but two after work meetings in Park Ridge. Starting next week (Monday), I am back in the chair. Starting today, I am tracking every bites, licks and tastes. All I have to say is I am back and I am going all the way this time!!!!

Happy and Healthy Eating,

Dawnie