Woo Hoo! Mission Accomplished

I’ve lost 20 lbs. and reached my goal!  Click here to see my before picture when I started this adventure.  Weight Watchers has my vote.  Believe me there were days when I could have eaten a dozen apple fritters from Tim Hortons topped off with a large DQ Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard. 

But I didn’t.  I did have a decent sized piece of birthday cake at my sister’s birthday party and a decadent chocolate dessert at my friend’s wedding.  And the trick is to eat it.  Enjoy it.  And NOT FEEL GUILTY AFTER EATING IT!  You have to indulge now and then.  Life is too short not to enjoy eating!  I just planned my meals that week knowing that I’d be eating something high calorie on the weekend.

Here are a few tricks that worked for me in this weight loss journey:

• Be diligent about completing your food journal.  It keeps you accountable for what you eat and keeps you on track with your points.  You’re forced to make healthy food choices or you could find yourself eating a whole day’s points in one meal!
• Measure your food.  When you’re hungry portion sizes tend to grow.  One cup is one cup.  Not 1¼ cups but one cup.  Believe me the ¼ cups will add up!
• At a restaurant, you don’t have to eat everything on your plate!  Even some entrée size salads could feed a family of four.  Eating half of what they give you is probably plenty.  And get over the “we paid for it so we have to eat it.”  No more excuses.
• Forget the white foam containers.  Don’t take the restaurant leftovers home!  You say to yourself, “I’ll give them to the kids” and then find yourself eating them in the car on the way home or having an awesome midnight snack.  Too much temptation here folks!
• I gave up rice and potatoes.  That was my choice although they aren’t “forbidden.”  I just felt I didn’t need the extra starch.  I chose to eat more of the “filling foods.”  I do eat 100% whole wheat bread.
• Drink lots of water.  I’m probably going to glow in the dark because I like flavoured water made with aspartame but at least I’ll be skinny and glowing!
• And finally, if you fall off the wagon, get back on and try again!  The cliche “tomorrow’s a new day” is soooo true when it comes to weight loss.  My eating was out of control one afternoon while my husband was on holidays.  We stopped at a small town bakery to buy “a loaf of whole wheat bread” (and if you believe that you’re more naive than I am) and I ate an apple fritter, a cream filled donut and 6 cookies.  My hand was in the bag before we even left the parking lot!  But I started “eating clean” again the next day. 

Normally, I’d be grabbing a Blizzard to celebrate but not this time.  I’m sitting on my loveseat with a new book and a Timmy’s tea with cream (uch I know but one indulgence I couldn’t give up).  Boring?   Perhaps.  But very low cal.