My Secret.

People are always asking me, what are you doing to lose weight? What's your secret? How do you keep losing. Well here it is people. Here is my "secret". (PS, I'm not saying these are weight watchers rules, this is me and what I follow).

1. I don't cheat. I track my points. If I put it in my mouth, I count it. (TWSS)

2. If I don't know the points, I find them out before eating it. (I made this mistake before and it bit me in the ass, can you say 31 point wrap).

3. I don't waste points on non filling, most of the time, high point things. Breakfast cereal, fast food, pop (or soda for my non local friends), cake, cookies etc.

4. I revamped my thought process when it comes to food. This was me before. No way I can ever eat a salad and be satisfied. No way I can eat a cold sandwich and be satisfied. Guess what, Grilled chicken salads are my new favorite and guess what else. That cold sandwich is sure nice to have when you are in a hurry and it's low points. AND the kicker - both are super filling!

5. I don't take nights off. Ever. Ever. Ever. Not even if it's a special event.

6. I drink a lot of water. I mean I'm a camel I swear.

7. I make my meals count. I quit having a bowl of cereal for breakfast because it's not filling and it's high in points. Over my dead body will I have a "shake" for breakfast or a "bar" for lunch. Um no thank you, I'll have my delicious Fried Egg McMuffin for 3pp rather than your 6-9 point idea of a meal.

8. Fruits and Veggies are 0pp - HALLELUJAH, but I don't go overboard on them. Fruit still has major calories.

9. When in doubt, I shoot high. If I'm not 100% sure on the points value I estimate higher than what the tracker might say.

10. Find the lower point options for the stuff you eat everyday. Bread 1pp or 2-3pp you pick. Buns 2pp or 4pp. Hot dogs 2pp or 4pp. Brats 3pp or 6pp. You choose.

11. Get a great support system. That is huge in my success!

12. If I have a craving for something ridiculous in points. I have it. But not all of it. I have a bite or 2 and that satisfies me.

13. Change the way you cook, I cook a lot of things with fat free chicken broth instead of oil or Crisco. You can't tell the difference. I use the fat free soups to cook with as well, lowers the points but still tastes the same in your recipes.

14. Don't think you have to make "diet food" I make 95% of the stuff I used to make. It's called portion control people.

15. I avoid buying junk food. If I don't have it in my house, I won't be tempted to eat it.

16. I don't punish myself if I don't have a loss or if I have a slight gain. I know that I will continue to lose, I just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

17. I don't exercise. Shame. I know and wish I could but I don't have time at this point in my life. This is all been from following these rules.

18. Understand that weight loss is a SLOW PROCESS. There are a million fad diets out there (ahem spray your fat away....really?) but the only right way to do this is to change your lifestyle. You have to want it and you have to be 100% dedicated.

19. I'm not afraid to eat out. Do I do it as much as I used to, no. But I still do and it's a nice treat. There are some great websites that show you the points values for a lot of popular restaurants.

20. Last but not least. These new clothes that are looking fricking fantastic on me sure feel great oh and all the compliments help a little too ;) !!!

I think it's working. How about you?

Here goes nothing.

Well some really good friends inspired me to try this again. I wanted a fresh start so here it is. A quick update.

Tucker

Tucker is 2 1/2 now and totally terrible two's. He is completely a different child than when I had posted before. Like my title says, not sure whose kid he is because he is definitely not mine. Mailman? Schwans? Jehovah's Witness door knocker? Who knows. But if you happen to find my sweet, polite, caring, loving little boy please return him. He has been hitting and spitting at daycare. Not my kid. He got all his toys removed from the living room because I swear he hasn't touched them in a month.

Sad thing is, he hasn't even asked for them back. We decided to tell him he could have one toy to play with. He chose a Frankenstein mask. Backfire. He got bored with that and I offered for him to pick another toy, hinting towards a dump truck. He chose a hand held drum that he took in the living room and played with for 1 minute then decided to throw it. Backfire. He plays more with his sister's toys than his own. Well I will give him some credit. He is an amazing big brother. He loves his sister, even though I'm sure he's still jealous. I know he loves her to death. He will wipe her mouth if she has drool or spit up. He will be the first to tell me mom Ellie pooped. I'll say, no way because I haven't smelled it. So I check and sure shit, she pooped! He is constantly giving her hugs and kisses (melts my heart). When he is older I truly hope he still loves her this much!

Ellie

Little Ellie Lynn. 6 months old and stubborn. Wow. She is the boss. Even if she is starving, if she doesn't want to eat. She's not going to. Try again in about 10 minutes and then she'll think about it. If there is any commotion going on around her, not going to happen. She will let the milk roll into her mouth and just ooze out the sides of her lips rather than drink it if she's not in the mood. And naps. She's a little cat napper. A little 10 minute here, 1/2 hour here, basically making it impossible for mommy to get anything done. I'd also like to tell you that she tortured her father for the first 2 or 3 months of her life. When she would wake up in the middle of the night on his shift (yes we did shifts, it worked amazing and everyone should do this.) she would cry for 2 hours straight sometimes. I thankfully could not hear this from the bedroom on the other side of the house, but would sometimes wake up to go potty and hear this and offer to help. Jamie being as stubborn as Ellie says No, we'll get through this. (what a nice guy right?) BUT, she is an amazing night time sleeper now and it's honestly not very often she is in a bad mood. She has recently started sitting up so that means crawling is around the corner and walking is a few blocks and then Terrible TWO's AGAIN! Son of a bitch.

Me

I'm a loser. Not kidding. To date, I've lost 68 pounds and not far to go. It's a long slow process and it's hard. Not gonna lie. But I've stuck to it, and I'm very proud of my success. For those wondering I've been doing weight watchers since March 2nd. I have so many friends around me that are so supportive and there for anything. I really wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for them. Other than my weight loss, my life is unorganized, moving way to fast and awesome as ever!

Jamie

He works. He comes home. He eats supper. He give baths. That's pretty much his life. Not saying mine is better. I do the same thing except I'm cleaning up the kitchen while he is giving baths. He's an amazing dad though, his kids are lucky to have him!

Well I hope this was exciting enough for you to want to read again. If not I'm sorry I've wasted 5 minutes of your life!