Family Ties

Question...have you ever seen a cuter family?

I am literally obsessed with this family selfie I took last week as we hiked Starved Rock. These people are my absolute world. In this picture beside me is my cousin Jessica, cousin David, Uncle Jay, Aunt Tiffany, Aunt Teri, Uncle Larry, Uncle Scott, Audie and Grandma. Some people don't like the time they spend with their family but I would absolutely choose the people in this picture over anyone else. How is this related to the theme of my blog? Well, weight issues are something we all have dealt with in my family.

My cousin Jessica is currently becoming a lover of running. Naturally thin, she is getting into being fit. She is training for a longer run than she's ever done and she's doing an amazing job. I love supporting her and she loves supporting me. My Uncle Scott recently joined a contest at his gym - he is naturally a larger person but not larger in the "fat" way but more in the "built" way. He's a BIG guy! Very intimidating but a giant teddy bear. He has cut out alcohol and refocused his diet to cut what fat he has to build more muscle. He's a solid man! My Uncle Jay and Aunt Tiffany together have lost a lot of weight over the years. They work together as a unit to eat healthy and work out, along with their pups. Aunt Tiffany had also worked for Weight Watchers before I did and she was very successful on the program. My Grandma has been working Weight Watchers for YEARS! I mean back in the day when basically they could only eat liver and onions or something crazy like that. We check in with each other weekly on our weigh-in progress and she has always been concerned about my health and weight. Finally, my Aunt Teri was the initiator of our family becoming healthier. Back almost 20 years ago my aunt embarked on her weight-loss journey where she lost a significant amount of weight through health eating and physical activities and has since kept it off and remained as healthy, along with her husband. Both are extremely active and support everyone in all of their health lifestyle choices.

This past weekend was an example of why I love spending my time with them. We had plans to go apple picking which we do every year as a family. It is something my grandparents did with me as a child and I wanted to continue this tradition as an adult and hopefully will be able to continue with my children. We especially look forward to this weekend each year since my Papa passed away because he always really enjoyed apple picking. We do it in his honor. We decided to try a new U-Pick place this year instead of the place we've gone for the past decade. When I pulled up, two sets of aunts and uncles were already there. We were waiting on the last set, plus the cousins, and Grandma. My aunt greeted me with a cheerful "Want to hear a funny joke?" - well, duh. She proceeds to tell me that there are NO apples to pick! We all drove 2 hours and there are no apples! We are an incredibly positive family and right away I laughed. Of course we'd drive two hours for no apples! What now? Collectively we decided that the day must go on! Until a few years ago, we would have never decided that our back up plan would have been to drive 45 mins to hike. We decided that we were going to go to Starved Rock and hike the trail. It was so beautiful and we were so proud of Grandma for how much she walked with us on the unsteady paths.

We followed our hike with a well-deserved lunch at a brewery in town. Here is a personal celebration for myself: I chose not to drink beer (I love beer. Especially craft beer) and I chose a healthier option for lunch. This all culminated into my weight-in last night where I lost 3.0lbs this week. 8.0 lbs total. It's a good start for my first month and I'm really happy with my progress so far. I've made many better choices from the food I eat to the beer I drink. I am still able to enjoy the things I love and I am able to be social but with modifications.

What followed our fun family day was our 7th Annual Chili Cook-off on Sunday. Another family-filled day with some friends in the mix as well. Between both Saturday and Sunday and I was still able to lose 3 lbs. I'm pretty proud of myself! I earned my first token at Weight Watchers which is a charm holder for the milestones I'll earn.

I don't quite feel any different from the 8 lbs. However, my attitude and self-worth is much higher than it was last week in my resurrection post.

It's a good start for another long journey.

Cheers!

I'm hoping everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with family and friends and good food and laughter. My Thanksgiving week was fantastic and included a short work week, two Thanksgiving dinners and a weekend of solitude.

This year, I choose to not run in the Naperville 5k Turkey Trot, which I otherwise would have done, however, since I've been running so much on my own and farther than 3.1 miles it is hard for me to spend the $25 or $30 that the race may cost now that I have student loan bills due and Christmas is approaching rapidly. I had to sort out some priorities and unfortunately spending money on that wasn't at the top. I did miss the group setting of running, however I am still in the infant stages of running I feel and I am always trying to out-do myself. In a race like that, it's impossible because it is so crowded. One of my fellow runners offer to pay my entry fee, however, I graciously declined. I knew I could run my own Turkey Trot. I don't mind running alone. Realistically, when I run, I wear an iPod anyhow and we are all at different speeds once the race gets going so it's like I run by myself anyway. So I suited up in past Turkey Trot gear and headed out for my 3.1 mile run, feeling empowered that I didn't use the absence of the "official" Turkey Trot as an excuse to not run at all.

Our first Thanksgiving dinner was with my in laws. This year it was a much smaller crowd than the regular 35+ guests that my mother-in-law would typically host. We had about 17 guests, with about the same amount of food as if we had 35. That's how it always goes though, isn't it? We had three deep fried turkey's, stuffing, cheesy broccoli casserole, mozzarella salad, green salad, rolls, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and whatever Thanksgiving essentials I might be missing. Not to mention desserts...cheesecake, rice crispy treats, lemon cake, cookies, cupcakes...etc. How did my inner "fat" girl deal with all this delicious, decadent, once a year foods?

Let's put it this way. I ate enough on Thursday that came Friday evening 8pm and I still hadn't eaten a thing because I physically wasn't hungry yet.

On Sunday, my family celebrated Thanksgiving. This was a much more toned down meal for the only reason that all the guest presents (all 7 of use) are following Weight Watchers, with the except of two (who are extremely health and wellness conscious). When we get together we have meals that have very little left overs and that are relatively healthy. We had a pork roast, spiced in a Bohemian way, potato and bread dumplings, a green bean casserole made in a low fat/low calorie way, homemade cranberry sauce and a green salad. I'm not much a fan of the Bohemian way of cooking so this meal was easy for me. One chop of the pork roast, green salad and a little green bean casserole. My meal was easy, however, have I mentioned my uncle is an amazing home brewer, brewing at least 4 different kinds of beer that are all equally as tasty as the next? Oh, I haven't? Well, he is. And I enjoy every one last of his home brews.

In between Thursday and Sunday, my husband was in Michigan for his annual deer hunting trip with his father and brothers. I've mentioned before that when he is gone, I go one way or the other. Perfectly on plan because I have no one to cook for so it's easy to make good choices, or completely off plan because there is no one to watch what I eat, therefore I feel I won't be judged. I'm not saying my husband judges me when I eat, or anyone else, but you can't help but feel like that sometimes. While he was gone to Missouri for a week I did great. This time, not so much. I was a grazer. I grazed all weekend.

Good news?
Indeed.

I must have made better choices than I anticipated. And I was active. I lost over a pound and a half from my last weigh-in. I struggled on Monday, deciding if I was going to go to my weigh-in and hold myself accountable for my lack of tracking last week and my (what I thought was) over eating. I knew I had to be held accountable for whatever damage I thought I had done. To my surprise, I worked it out that I lost enough to see 129 again. And damn it, I have 4.8 pounds until 125 lbs, which I have embraced as a good goal for me and my body. Any less and I feel I'll start looking like a pre-pubescent boy. Not the look I'm going for.

This week I've tackled head on. Sunday I prepared my lunches for this entire week. Two of those days included my new go-to food, spaghetti squash. I am in control of my food this week. I am ready to take on the two holiday parties I have this weekend, a staff holiday party and an ugly sweater party.

On the Weight Watcher leader front, I am so proud of my members this week. At weigh-in last night, out of the 10 members that weighed in, the collectively lost 19 lbs. That's huge for the week after Thanksgiving. I am so proud to be this groups leader. They all make me so proud.

Cheers to the holiday season!

With more activity and more conscious food choices, we can all enjoy the holiday parties to the fullest extend and still lose weight!