What a good day, and it's only 10am!

I am already having a great day and it's only 10am! I went to Weight Watchers this morning and I lost 3 lbs exactly! I was definitely not expecting that at all! I bought a bunch of Weight Watcher snacks at the meeting, learned some useful tips and was feeling SO GOOD that I got home and immediately went for a run/walk! I am now going to "splurge" and have squirrly bread with cheese whiz, YUM!

Knitting: The Dieting Miracle?

It's not really news that I am trying to lose weight. Really this is something that I have been "trying" to do my entire late teen/adult life. This time it is connected to something bigger, having a baby, so I am trying to be really serious about it! In light of this, I joined Weight Watchers last week. I have had some moderate success on my own the last year, but I feel like I need the accountability of a program. I have my first weigh-in tomorrow morning and I am not optimistic for huge numbers, although I am sure that I did lose weight. Mental Note: Don't start Weight Watchers on the week of Thanksgiving :)

It is amazing to me how much my thinking has changed even in this past week. I have always been concerned with eating healthy meals, but this week I was so much more aware of what I was choosing to eat. For instance, tonight Sam and I wandered around the grocery store for 45 minutes just to figure out what to eat...everything we wanted turned out to be high in points. Surprisingly we ended up with a pasta-veggie-alfredo toss for only 9 points!! It was delicious and I feel like I ate a gigantic meal!!

I have also been trying to think of ways that I can curb my late-night eating. If there is one thing that I love, and crave, it is eating something sweet at the end of the night. I know all the research says that eating after dinner is awful for weight loss and for digestion, but I have such a sweet tooth!! Anyways, I was driving home from work today and all of a sudden it hit me: when I have a knitting project on the go, my hands are busy, I don't think about snacking, and I don't eat the extra points! I LOVE knitting and I LOVE that it helps me stop snacking! It is my dieting miracle!! I have three new projects in mind already: a blanket for my niece (her request lol, and how could I resist?), a cowl for myself, and a Christmas present that I won't share just in case the person is reading this! I hope that this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between my shrinking body and my knitting needles :)

Cheers to weight loss and knitting!!

New School Year...New Fertility Approach

I am heading into a new school year, my third as a teacher, and I can't help feel that "turn over a new leaf" feeling. September has always been one of my favorite times of year because of new school supplies (I have a weakness for pens and notepads), new school clothes, and a new class! This year, I am the teacher in this scenario, but those feelings are still evoked nonetheless. In keeping with this new leaf, I decided to go to a different doctor. This was one of the best things I could have done. He has such a different approach to whats going on with me. In our first session, I felt like more was done than there had been in the past year. He is confident that I will get pregnant, and he was honest that it is going to mean some hard work and dedication from me. He was blunt about my need to exercise and lose weight, and doesn't believe in pumping me full of hormones or fertility drugs just yet. He wants to see me in two months and see progress with my weight. Talk about incentive...I can't just show up and not have lost any weight. Honestly, I don't really know why this time is different...its not like I didn't know that I needed to lose weight, but having a doctor give you a deadline is kind of a wake up call. He suggested that I join Weight Watchers and join a gym, and make these a major priority in my life. I have to treat this like a problem I have. I have never really thought of my weight this way, its always more been a weakness in my eyes. I have to treat this like I have high blood pressure, or type 2 diabetes...something that I need to work to maintain.

So, in light of my new doctor and my new beginnings I am going to join WW and begin an exercise regime. I am going to be honest, every other time that I have attempted to maintain exercise or weight loss, I have failed. I am still working through and thinking of ways that I am going to be able to keep this up. My major incentive, of course, is having a baby, but I am thinking that I need to put up reminders around the house that remind me of this! Or perhaps a reward system: every month I lose weight I get to buy something for our future baby. I am still thinking through this, but if there is anyone out there who reads this and has ideas for perseverance, I would appreciate anything :)

This summer has flown by and I can hardly believe that I am looking toward a new school year in just a few weeks! I have many hopes, dreams and goals for this year, and as soon as I have them all figured out I am going to blog about them so I have a constant reminder of what I really want out of this year! Now to narrow down all the things I want to do/have...could be a big task!!

Mel :)