My weigh in went pretty much how I expected it to:
I am 4 pounds over my goal weight (my goal weight is 133, so it's not hard to do the math!). I was 133 a few days ago, so I set up the Quantum Scale at that moment to reflect my goal weight. So now, when I post photos with the Quantum Scale, it will show where I'm at, relative to my goal weight.
Yesterday, my sister sent me a text asking me if I'd like to hold each other accountable on our food tracking. She's been having a rough time with her tracking lately, too. Each night, we'll report our daily PointsPlus used/earned in hopes of keeping some accountability.
I also made the decision to cancel my ActiveLink account yesterday. I really love the ActiveLink, and it worked very well to get me to move more, but I know that my issues with tracking started right around the same time I started using it. I started eating a lot more junk food, because I was earning so many more PointsPlus from activity. Then my weight started fluctuation hugely--rather than a pound up or down, it's been 4 pounds up or down.
I'm going to go back to tracking my activity manually. I'm still going to eat my activity PointsPlus, but I don't count the daily movements, like cleaning the house or walking around the block with the kids. I'll just count intentional exercise. That's what I did the whole time I was losing weight, and it worked out really well.
I don't think we have anything going on this week that will be a struggle for me as far as staying on plan. We're going to Jerry's parents' house for a cookout on Saturday, but I'm going to bring my own food and I'm driving, so I won't drink anything.
Today, I went to get Jerry a Father's Day gift, and while I was out, I saw Banana Bread flavored English muffins. I could smell them through the bag, and they smelled so good! I had to try them. I toasted one and on half, I spread Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter and on the other half, I spread Mighty Maple peanut butter.
It was REALLY good! I can't really say which half I liked better; probably the Cinnamon Raisin Swirl. That peanut butter is so good, and I can actually keep it in the house without eating it off the spoon. This was my first time trying the Mighty Maple flavor. The English muffins were fantastic! Very soft and not overwhelmingly banana-y, which I liked. If I was having this for breakfast, I would have used more peanut butter; but since it was just a snack, I wanted to keep it at 6 PointsPlus (4 for the English muffin, and 2 for the peanut butter).
The problem with "Limited Edition" foods, like these English muffins, is that I end up really liking them and then they're gone!
Banana english muffins!? Oh man, count me in! Pepperidge Farm has a limited edition blueberry swirl bread and I made egg white french toast with them. Pretty dang good. You just reminded me I need to get more Mighty Maple. I make a maple sriracha chicken satay with it that we love and I haven't made it in a while.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll do fine staying on plan; you got this! ;)
Blueberry Swirl Bread sounds heavenly, too! I'm going to have to look for that.
DeleteI did the blueberry bread as stuffed French toast- amazing!
DeleteI hear you on the issues of eating more with activity monitors- the same thing happened with my fitbit. I'm counting calories now, and have just adjusted them up to reflect an average day of activity- it stays the same no matter if I work out or not. It really seems to be working so far- I'm not hungry, and I'm not relying on workout calories. You can do it!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea, to do the average. I tend to do the same thing with my PointsPlus. I know that I earn about 30 per week, so I try to spread it out during the week, whether I run that day or not.
DeleteI have noticed many people have this problem when they use a fit bit or other thing that tracks ALL their activity. It shows that they burn major amounts of calories and I think it can lead people to overeat. That's great you were able to connect that for yourself and see that they coincided. I am always amazed when people post pics of their HR monitors online and they've burned 1000+ calories. How the hell do they do that?! I run for 30 mins and burn around 400 and I consider that a good day. LOL Mighty Maple is like one of my all time fav spreads! I love that stuff, and I just found it the other day at the store. I've been ordering it online because here all I could find in stores were the Bees Knees and Dark Chocolate Dreams. I can have pb around and not binge, at least not anymore. I am always doing well with Nutella. I got a jar weeks ago and it's still half full, and my kids ate most of that. I still can't have ice cream in the house though, at least not a big container.
ReplyDeleteI know! I run for an hour and burn 550 ish calories (on a good day). That's awesome that you can keep peanut butter (and NUTELLA!) in the house without a binge. I was doing SO well with it for such a long time, and now it's become a problem again. There are very few peanut butter spreads I can keep in the house.
DeleteI used to not be able to keep Nutella around, but now I can, for whatever reason. I remember years ago when my kids were smaller eating a whole jar of it in 2 days. I kept putting it on everything!
DeleteI sort of had the same issue with the ActiveLink...I kept using it as an excuse to eat more. However, I love the thing. My solution was to keep using the ActiveLink, but switch from counting points to counting calories back on Spark People, and it really has helped me.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, keeping my activity and my eating separate is the key for me. At least for right now....
I really loved the ActiveLink for getting me out there and being more active; but I definitely increased how much junk I was eating when I started using it. Bummer!
DeleteSometimes limited edition foods sell so well that they become permanent editions!!
ReplyDeleteIn this case, I hope so!
DeleteI use a fit bit to track steps and although it counts steps for everyday stuff, I only track WW points for my intentional exercise. It has gotten me moving more in throughout the day which has been helpful.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea! I'd love to try a FitBit, but I think I have too many gadgets. I'm going to track my exercise the old school way for a while ;)
DeleteIf you have the freezer space, stock up on the english muffins while they have them and freeze them. That's what I do when they have limited edition stuff that I want to keep around.
ReplyDeletewww.shakinforbacon.blogspot.com
If I had the freezer space, I definitely would! English muffins freeze well.
DeleteI get way less points using my active link than I do when I try to track activity on my own since I sit at a desk all day! I also don't usually check the link until the evening, so I rarely eat my activity points. Trying to break the 'food as reward' habit that had me gaining despite running 15 miles a week!
ReplyDeleteI have the opposite issue--I get a lot MORE activity PP when I use the ActiveLink. When I saw how many PP I was earning, I went a little crazy with the junk food ;)
DeleteKatie - two products I've wondered if you tried. Healthy Life English Muffins are 2 points for the whole muffin. And here in the Chicago area you can get a product called PB2 - which is dried roasted peanuts that you add water to and it becomes peanut butter. The PB2 is 2 T = 1 pt. You can order it on line also.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been counting on my activity points at all - try not to pretend they are there. But you are way more active than me by leaps and bounds!
-Beth
I used to eat the Healthy Life English muffins up until this past January when I tried a regular English muffin for the first time in years. It was SO GOOD, that I decided it was worth it to make the switch and spend the extra 1 PP. But out of the lower-calorie English muffins, I definitely think Healthy Life tastes the best.
DeleteAnd I used to be the queen of PB2 for a long time! ;) It was a staple in my house while I was losing weight, to the point where I ordered it by the 12-pack. I still use it sometimes (mostly in smoothies, where texture isn't an issue).
I love that you and your sister are goin to help each other! I've been gaining and losing the same 4-6 lbs since March :/ Now I'm even savvy enough that I can't pretend I don't know why. It is completely 100% nutrition issues!!
ReplyDeleteI'm back down within 3 pounds of my lowest weight during my journey and I'm very excited to no see these numbers again!! You can do it, your sister can do it (by the way she is awesome!), and I CAN do this!
The deal with my sister definitely helped me get through the day yesterday, when I wanted to snack out of boredom. It's funny how something as small as sharing my food journal makes me stay on track :)
DeleteI love the cinnamon raisin swirl! I tried the white chocolate and didn't think it tasted any different from regular peanut butter??? I will have to try the Maple!
ReplyDeleteThe White Chocolate Wonderful tastes like regular peanut butter to me, only VERY sweet--and since I have a huge sweet tooth, that combo is killer ;) The Mighty Maple tastes very similar, and you may find it to taste just like regular peanut butter also. It has just a hint of maple flavor to it.
DeleteMaybe I could make my own... that sounds like a pp disaster! haha but i bet it will taste good.
DeleteI use a Fitbit and track my food with MFP. I like to see how many calories I can burn but I rarely use them. Just knowing that they are there if I need them keeps me going some days.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is nice to see that if you go over one day, at least you have something in the "bank" to help out! ;)
DeleteIts funny you say that your issues started when you started with the ActiveLink. Mine started with my FitBit. It tracks every movement and that gave me more calories to eat. Definitely something wrong with counting everyday movement, I think. I think I am going to take mine off too!!!
ReplyDeleteI think I would have been okay if I had stuck with the number of PP that was given to me, but I found myself eating all of those and STILL wanting more... which led to my going over my PP every week, even though I was earning so many. I'm curious to see how it goes now that I've canceled it.
DeleteMmmm....I love that brand of peanut butter. My favorite is the dark chocolate dreams - I eat it with a banana and it is SO GOOD!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's a good one too! Another one that I can't keep in my house, unfortunately. I like that one on my oatmeal.
Deletei love anything banana-flavored for a treat.
ReplyDeleteNormally, I'm not very big on banana flavored stuff, but these English muffins are REALLY good!
DeleteWhat if you converted your pp from active link into dollars and at the end of the week that is how much you have to spend on a (non food) treat for yourself?? I now I have been working really hard on rewarding myself with things other than food (because I always want to use food as a reward). So if at the end of the week you have 50 points from active link you could take $50 to spend on yourself! Or have a little competition with your hubby. Whoever has the most activity link points at the end of the week gets to pick the movie to see or whatever you decide. Just ideas....love your blog! :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE those ideas!! I'm going to go without the ActiveLink for a while, but I'm definitely going to keep that in mind for the future.
Delete*know
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