Evidently, you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.

You can also teach this new dog tricks--like learning your child's name and programming certain songs and tracking what they're learning. I know this because I've been obsessing over this dog for a couple of months. This morning, I got to order it along with a VTech Infant Learning Light-up Learning Camera.Why? Well, becaaaaause...





GOAL #1 is COMPLETE! Yes, ladies and gents, this girl is capable of losing weight. I've lost almost 15 pounds (14.6 to be entirely accurate) in under 2 1/2 months.

I've decided that I whole-heartedly lurve the whole Weight Watchers points system. No obsessing over calories, fat grams, carbs, or any of that. I have to stay within the point guidelines, but I can splurge and still put it together for the week and tie it altogether with a pretty little "I just met my first goal" bow. For example, this week, I had some food that would be considered "cheating" on other diets (which can lead some people to tossing out the diet altogether and giving up). There's so much of the "you can't eat this, you can't eat that," that you feel deprived on other plans. With WW points (and no, I'm not being compensated), you tailor the points to what you want to eat. Obviously you can't go splurging every day and you can't eat 1/2 of a huge pizza and expect to lose weight, but during the week, I made a Costco run. Unless you're living under a rock, you're aware of the $1.50 hot dog/soda combo. Yes, I ate it. They're generally awful for you, but I figured it into my points, used some flex points and voila, I stayed within my points allowance for the week. I also had a yummy cheeseburger on Saturday--had 1/2 for lunch and 1/2 for dinner--as well as cheese fries. (Serious YUM.) Granted, I didn't have a big weight loss week, but I still lost. Oh yes, and there was the sub and soda on Thursday. Mmmm. That was yummy. But again, I had 1/2 of the sub for lunch, 1/2 for dinner. The Hubs was worried about a frenzy resulting from soda intake, but I'm getting less of a taste for it now. Sometimes it just. sounds. so. yummy. So I'll have it. I'll charge myself the usual 3 points and be done with it.

On that note, my suggestion to myself and to others is that if you're going to splurge, ENJOY the splurge. Allow yourself to enjoy every bite. Not that I didn't, but I was in a rush when I stopped at Costco and didn't enjoy my Hebrew National as much as I could have--because they may be bad, but oh, they're so good.

I maintain my opinion that some diets are way too restricting. They'll ultimately lead to a breakdown and a relapse. Because they don't offer flexibility, like I mentioned, once you stray off course even slightly, you risk giving up, getting frustrated, and calling the whole diet fiasco off. I should mention that I've had a few days where I just feel reeeally hungry and I want to grab whatever I can. I will say that I can talk myself down and WW points gives me the power to get myself to eat something that'll cost fewer points. I won't starve myself if I'm really that hungry. I just try to be smarter with what I grab to eat.

Anyway, here's my progress (and a non-doctored or modified photo):

Waist= -2 inches

Hips= -1 inch

Upper Thigh= -2 inches

Upper Arm= -0.5 inch

=-5.5 inches total

(These are the only measurements I took to start. Because I'm still pumping, that's not going to be accurate anyway.)

Down a jeans size and then some. I'm at the odd in-between stage and I'm not wanting to really invest in a whole lot of new clothes just yet. I have lots of pants/jeans I have to shrink into, which is fine with me.

Now to the photo--this was not taking in the bathroom, rather it was taken in one of the lactation rooms--wait, which is better? Anyway, I see some progress--particularly in the side-by-side tummy comparisons (those are just for me though. Not that you'd want to be privied to see my stretch marks), but I also see the areas where I'd like to see a lot more improvement. My arms are looking better and they're gaining some muscle from hoisting my nearly 20 lb baby up in the air for airplane and for headstands, not to mention dancing, but there's still...extra. My problem areas are still my problem areas. It's getting better though and I have quite a way to go, which also means I'll see quite a difference when all is said and done. Oh yeah and I rock a pony tail most days. It's 110-115 degrees here on average right now and because they keep my office so warm, I often feel like I'm hot-flashing even with my handy Air King fan pointed directly in my face.
What I did well this week: Points values are starting to become second nature. I can pretty accurately predict how many something will have. I was also good about looking up values and making wiser choices.

I also took the stairs, pretty much all the time, starting onWednesday. My lung capacity seems to be improving even with these short spurts.

What needs improvement: I stopped writing things down, even though I was mentally keeping track, over the weekend. I need to keep up with this.

While I did do a few baby yoga sessions with Little (which we both enjoyed), it's not exactly a workout for me. I'd like to do some grown-up yoga this week (in addition to the baby yoga).

I also need to drink more water. I wasn't very good about staying hydrated and I could feel it. Perhaps I should track this with food?

Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley (Note: These aren't necessarily Stuart Smalley quotes. If you don't know who Stuart Smalley is, I'll feel like a dork. If you YouTube him and still don't know who he is, I'll feel old...and like a dork. But you know what? "I'm good enough, smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me!")

“Believe in your dreams and they may come true; believe in yourself and they will come true”

“Why compare yourself with others? No one in the entire world can do a better job of being you than you.”

Motivation for this week: Planning a fabulous tropical vacation for next year hopefully. I want to feel equally fabulous in a bathing suit. Slightly vain, but it'd be nice to feel confident in swimwear for once. Perhaps I'll print some island photos and post them around to keep myself on track and pushing myself to do a little extra here and there.

How do you keep yourself motivated?