Eating outside the box

I weighed in tonight and lost another 2.8 lbs.  That makes my total 19.6 lbs since I started and tonight was also my 10% weight loss.  I guess research says that when you lose 10% of your body weight, you significantly reduce your chances of developing weight related health issues such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.  That's a huge goal of mine.

On Saturday, I went to a technology conference, which was awesome.  They provided free lunch and at first I thought that was awesome too until I saw my options.

I walked up to the table of boxes and looked at my three options:  Ham and Swiss (no thanks), Tuna (yummy but not even touching the mayonaise there) and turkey (that seems safe).

I open it up to find a nice fluffy croissant (OMG!), followed by three slices of cheese.  I figure that I can just pull the turkey off and wrap it around the lettuce. Let's see what else they have.  1/2 cup serving of potato salad, a bag of lays potato chips, and a gigantic chocolate chip cookie.  Are you joking me?  I made an executive decision...I was eating outside the box. So I left the conference and went out looking...I came across Panda Express.  With their Wok Smart menu, I was able to get a Panda bowl with steamed veggies and String Bean Chicken for 5 points.  Just for kicks I had to compare and see what the box would have been.  Not even joking....








wait for it....









22 points!  Yep, that's right.  I could have eaten more than 4 Panda bowls for that.  My daily allotment is only 25.  Today, I made a great choice!

Some new adventures

I mentioned in my last post that I had joined Weight Watchers, and that continues to be successful and exciting.  I lost 2.2 more pounds last week taking my two week total to 8 lbs.  I'm very near my 5% goal.  I go again tonight and am excited to see what happens.  In addition to watching what I eat, I've added exercise to the mix.  On Saturday I tried my first Zumba class.  Besides basically floundering about like a fish out of water, I really enjoyed myself.  Today my arms and abs and legs are all sore...the good kind.  I used the activity calculator to see how many points I earned and it was 9!  OMG, that's astonishing.  I want to keep on keepin on and taking on this journey because results are invigorating.

We officially only have 1 quarter left of school and I admit that my heart is breaking just a little.  I love my students and teaching this year.  Everyone told me that if you can make it through your first three years, things will change afterward and they were right.  It's a wonderful twist to desperately miss the students who haven't even graduated yet rather than eagerly count the days until their departure. 

Stay tuned for an update after tonight's meeting...