After my stellar weigh in I was ready to face week three of my weight watcher journey. Or should I say weight watcher journey part two....or three or whatever number I am on. How about I just call it Weight Watchers Redux? I had some challenges to get through first though. Through one of the challenges that I faced I made a huge discovery.....or should I say a 'mini' discovery'
The Breakfast Reward
In my last post I talked about a bad habit that I had picked up in the previous months whereby I would stop for a fast food breakfast before going to work when I had to work on a Saturday morning. Yeah, I know it's bad. Heck, I even knew it at the time, but that didn't stop me. In my warped brain I thought I deserved it! So when my first work Saturday after rejoining WW came up, I knew that I had to stop that habit. I made sure I ate at home. I told myself I was being ridiculous when I tried to talk myself in 'just a diet soda' to propel me through these few hours of Saturday morning work. And I held firm! No breakfast reward for me. I set myself up for success through. I announced it on here. I also talked to my coworker on Friday night about it and said that I was determined to not do the 'much desired' breakfast. This coworker that was working with me on Saturday morning knows that I rejoined WW. So while she may be a bit of enabler (she freely admits it) she also was good accountability in the fact that I didn't want to walk in with my big drink and thus openly declare that I failed. So I arrived to work with my belly full of fruit and cereal from home and my water to drink. Victory!
Exercise Begins on Week three of WW
I started WW two weeks ago, I am in week three. I knew from the get go that I would be restarting an exercise routine shortly thereafter. And I could have started both at the same time, but I chose to focus on getting into the routine of WW first and then add in the exercise. Seriously, this was always the plan. SO much a plan that the same weekend that I signed up for WW, I also joined a gym that is opening near me. (Hopefully within the next few weeks!)
Well, week three was my set start date for exercise and let me say, I am smashing it! I know I know, I am only a few days into week three, but I have been active.
We went for a hike on Sunday.
I have managed to exercise at 5 every work morning thus far this week. I know that is only two mornings thus far....but still it's a start! (And it is only Tuesday as I write this!)
Mini Challenge
Another habit that Jason and I have fallen into is picking up Dairy Queen Blizzards on Saturday night. Nothing wrong with that, right? Well.....maybe, have you seen the calories/points on those things! Ohhh and I didn't get a small. I didn't even get a medium. I got the large and probably would have gotten an extra large had then offered that size! I avoided the blizzard challenge the first weeks of my WW Redux easily, simply because Jason forgot and I didn't remind him. But the subject came up this last weekend and I had to come up with a plan.
What options did I have? I could let him get one and then sit and watch him eat it. But I have long ago decided that this journey was not going to be one of total deprivation. Total deprivation just results in unhappiness and eventual failure, so that wasn't a valid option. I could get one myself and just damn the consequences. But I really want to lose this weight so damning the consequences didn't seem right. Or I could try to come up with an alternative. I honestly thought about blending a frozen banana to make my own ice cream, but wasn't overly happy with that option. I have long said. I knew that there was an answer out there somewhere, so I turned to the DQ website and the WW tracker to come up with a workable plan.
Well first of all, all blizzards are NOT created equal in terms of calories/points. The Choco Brownie Extreme Blizzard that I had been getting is is higher in calories. (Of course) I quickly figured out that the Strawberry dipped Blizzard was lower! Yay, I like Strawberries! The next thing I noticed was the sizes. The large was still way out of my budget, as was the medium and even the small. But did you know that they have a mini? Yes, a mini! I was leery, not sure what size this was going to be. Was I going to get two teaspoons of ice cream and that was it? I wasn't sure what I was going to get, but that was what worked with my food budget. So a mini is what I got!
I should have taken a picture of the mini beside Jason's large, just to really show the difference. It was small, I won't lie. But it was bigger than I had feared it was going to be! And the best part? It fit into my WW plan (Yes, I used weeklies...but that was the last day of my week and I had them to spare!) Ohh , and it was delicious!
The Mini Lesson
I was eating my mini DQ Blizzard and made a rather startling discovery. OK, maybe it shouldn't be very startling, because I have had similar revelations in the past (such as here) . I admittedly was a bit worried about this small (or rather mini) sized treat. I was afraid that I wouldn't be satisfied, that I would feel deprived. That this would leave me feeling like I was deprived.
Instead, the opposite happened. I ate that mini sized blizzard. It was absolutely delicious. I felt satisfied. I felt good. I felt like I had enough and wasn't still craving or desiring more.
What??? A mini satisfied my desires just as well as a large? I was left pondering!
But then I remembered. My satisfaction comes from those first few bites of bliss. I only continue to eat because I am remembering those first few bites of bliss. I am chasing that bliss. The mini was absolutely perfect because it allowed me to have that 'high' (The angels sing) but then stopped me from chasing the high.
It takes willpower, but the mini is a perfect option!
It has been a week of relearning, moving forward and staying on track!
