Bethany--Week 4

This week was different in every possible way from last week and as this photo shows, I got some workouts in!  I wasn't perfect, but nobody is and nonetheless I'm excited to share tonight.

Plan:  Weight Watchers 360--still loving it

Scale:  down 0.8!  9 lbs from my lowest weight since having children.  I'll go ahead and save any of you from searching on my family blog and doing mathematics late at night in the middle of the week--I'm at 148.8.  I still think the numbers don't matter, but they are one way I can measure success.  I still have so much regret over being 9 lbs up from last June, but what can I say, life happens.  Maybe one day I'll stop reminding myself of this failure and move on!

Success:  Yesterday, I lifted weights for the first time since December and only the 3rd or 4th time since last May.  I KNOW from experience how important weights are, I just always have an excuse to skip them.  Here is the workout I did from home yesterday--I used weights for the lunges, squats and mason twists:

I was happy with this workout and today I am SORE!  Good sore though so I'll take it :)

Fail:  I did fail to get to the gym four times this week--if you're keeping track that was a goal of mine last week.  I got two great workouts in, plus my tap class tonight which I loved even better than last week.  I tried to go to the gym, but my 22-month-old was SCREAMING as soon as we entered the childcare room and the ladies are not very friendly with the children or their parents...  I was very frustrated that this happened and messed up my week, but I'm going to keep trying to get her in there so that some of my time working out can be during the day and not all early in the morning or later in the evening.

Burning:  I was on the treadmill for 50 minutes for one workout this week and did the workout above another day this week.  I also did my tap class as I mentioned above.  I'd like to get in 4 workouts + tap this coming week!

Getting There: Like I said when I began this post, this week was a whole different ball game compared to last week.  I felt very much in my groove and in control of the meals I planned, etc.  I was extremely busy this week--for those of you who don't know me in real life, I have a "small" online business selling bows and hair accessories.  This week I fulfilled my two biggest orders yet--161 items went out between two orders.  To have stuck to my weight watchers allowed points and been as busy as I've been these past 7 days is definitely a new and exciting thing for me.  Usually I let life & work get in the way, but not this week.  It was not an option!

I also did not struggle with emotional eating at all this week.  There was one time where I was really craving chocolate, but the only thing we had in the house was something for a Valentine gift, so that wasn't an option.  I had a few clementines instead and was shocked, but they did the trick for me. 

Baby Step:  My baby step {again} this week is to hit the gym 4 times!  This will be my goal until I can make it happen! 

Big Picture:  I still want to lose 13 lbs.  I still want to address emotional eating and eating unhealthily when life gets busy--this may be an issue for me forever...who knows.   I still want to incorporate exercise into my daily life and make it something I feel empty without.  I want to make sure I do not yo-yo with my weight going forward--I want to get down and stay down!

I leave you with this tonight--

What are YOU going to do for the next 7 days?

Bethany--Week 3

Well hellloooo Wednesday!  Wow, you came around fast.  I am not gonna lie, this week was HARD!  I have been slammed with emotions and I will be the first to admit I did not make the best choices as a result.  But you know what, today was a new day and I stuck 110% to plan despite some ups and downs in my day and tomorrow is another new day.  In life we're going to have successes and failures.  I hope to turn these failures into successes so that there are many more checks in the "success" column overall!

Plan:  Weight Watchers 360--love it!

Scale:  I was not able to make my normal meeting this week so I'm not sure what the scale would say about me today.  8 or 10 months ago I put up our scales in the house because I was measuring how I felt about myself on a daily basis by what the number on that dang thing said.  Not.worth.it.  I do know that I had a tough week and I'm feeling heavy tonight as I type.  I hope that if I was going to be "up" in terms of the scale today that a solid week of being back on track will get me back down and then some!

Success:  I renewed my gym membership for 2013 AND I signed up for a tap class!  My first class was tonight and while it was a little overwhelming having not danced in 16-17 years, I did enjoy it.  My daughter Jaden and I have big plans to practice our tapping this weekend in our basement and she claims she's going to teach me a few things!  ha!



Dancing was a huge positive in my childhood and I hope that having this class to look forward to each week will put a smile on my face no matter what the week holds.  I also hope to burn some calories and learn some new steps!

Fail:  I failed this week in that I succumbed to emotional eating.  When I talk about emotional eating, I don't mean that I got upset about something, so I ate an entire bag of chips.  However, I faced a difficult situation this week and got caught up in it instead of focusing on me, my goals and my health.  I went through a drive through on Tuesday instead of packing lunches which would have been just as easy, if not easier!  But that morning I was in the middle of a conflict, dealing with my crying 22-month-old and trying to do too many things at once.  I took my kiddos to Columbus for the weekend and instead of watching what I ate at all, I went overboard. 


If you reading this have any suggestions as far as eating while traveling or have had success transferring emotion to doing something positive such as taking a walk instead of eating a soft pretzel, I would love to hear from you!  I struggle with both, and when I take my girls to Columbus I almost always in some way enter a tremendously stressful situation (of which I cannot sort through details fairly right now), so the combination of being away from home + stress = failure.


One good thing:  I don't go to Columbus very often!  ha!

Burning:  I burned some calories today at my tap class, though I'm not really sure of how many.  According to weight watchers, I earned 3 activity points--woohoo!  Better than the zero I've been earning the past few weeks.  I did not have a chance to set up my active link through weight watchers, but it's a priority for this week, as is getting to my gym 4 times before I write my next post here!

Getting There: I wish that I could delve into some personal stuff tonight, but it just doesn't feel right.  I'll put it this way--I had a tough childhood.  Not nearly as tough as some, but tough.  It has followed me into adulthood.  I'm a wounded, yet healing young woman and sometimes the wounds open up.  I'm plagued with not feeling like I'm "enough" due to the way I've been treated since my parents divorced 28 years ago.  It impacts every single facet of my life regardless of how much I try to prevent it from doing so.  The worst part about this entire situation is that the person who has played the biggest part in this downright refuses to see how they have treated me and how they have made me feel.  And worse yet, they continue.  I cannot say anymore right now--I've probably said too much as it is.  But maybe down the road I can tactfully delve deeper into some of this.  I know without a shadow of a doubt, especially after carefully taking note of my own stress level and emotional eating this past weekend anticipating, during the stress and afterwards, that this has a major impact on my health and weight journey.  In fact, I think I'm fortunate to sit here tonight only 15 lbs above where I think I should be and not 150 lbs!

Baby Step:  My baby step this week is to hit the gym 4 times!

Big Picture:  I still want to lose 15 lbs.  Even more than losing pounds, I would like to treat myself and my body with the love and respect it deserves daily.  I would like to make time for myself and my needs before other less important things.  I want to unlock the puzzle of emotions and eating as it pertains to me!

Thank you for joining me for week 3 of the journey.  Here's to a good week for all, and may we reconnect again next week with lots of positives and successes!

Bethany--Week 2

Good evening friends!  Where did this week go?  A tad bit less of me sits here posting tonight.  Get it?  0.6 lbs less of me in fact!  Here is a recap of my week in the format I plan to use for my weekly posts:

Plan:  I'm following Weight Watchers 360.  I attend weekly meetings to weigh in and to be enlightened.  I walk away every single week feeling renewed and ready to face the next 7 days.

Scale:  I am 10.2 lbs. above my lowest weight since becoming a mom.  I'm sitting right at 149.4.  I'm trying not to let that number frustrate me, but it does.  I can't help but feel like I've failed having spent so much energy losing weight last year, keeping it off for months and then completely losing track of myself...  A number is just a number, but I also feel flabby and frumpy.  I can't wait to shed these 10 lbs and more, and to feel better!

Success:  Small goals and small successes are going to lead to reaching my big goals through big successes.  This week I succeeded in packing my lunch for a weekly mid-day Monday appointment which was a first.  Instead of indulging in Panera, I had fruit, a protein shake and some goldfish crackers!  I plan to start doing this every week.  I've realized after thinking it through that packing my lunch actually takes less time than taking kiddos into Panera, ordering and carrying it out to the car.  Plus I have more time to eat my lunch this way.  Win, win!

A second way in which I succeeded this week was that I had a social situation in which I actually stuck to my plan!  I had girlfriends over for a movie night and instead of losing track of my plan and eating more than I should, I made light popcorn and had a plate of fruit.  I think I could definitely have friends over again and stick to plan. 

Fail:  I failed this week in that I had too many sweets and not enough water.  I'm going to work on that going forward!

I also failed at exercising this week.  I need to renew our gym membership and get back in there!

Burning:  I burned 0 calories this week.  However, I am adding Weight Watchers' Active Link to my plan and I am planning to get back into the gym this week!  More about Active Link after I set it up and know what I'm doing :)

Getting There: The only "aha" moment I've had this week is that of figuring out that it takes more time to pick up lunch on Mondays than it does for me to pack.  As we get further into this journey I hope to use this section to dig a little deeper into myself and explore why I don't make myself the priority I should.

Baby Step:  My first baby step this week is that I am going to drink and record 8 glasses of water per day.  My second baby step is that I am going to set up Active Link, renew my gym membership and start making time to work out!

Big Picture:  From where I stand today I would like to lose and keep off 15 lbs.  I *think* I'm over trying to weigh what I weighed when I met my husband, Scott.  That was often my big focus in losing weight before and it was the wrong focus.  Even more than losing pounds, I would like to treat myself and my body with the love and respect it deserves daily.  I would like to make time for myself and my needs before other less important things!

Thank you for following along, for your support and love.  If you're reading this, I'd love to connect.  Let me know who you are and how you found us, and I will do my best to reply!  If you are on a journey of health and fitness yourself, let me know where you stand and how you got to where you are today.  I love to be inspired and enlightened by others' stories.

Here's to a great week ahead friends!

Bethany--Week 1

Hello there--I'm Bethany.  I blog, mostly for family memories, over at http://thevittfamily.blogspot.com/.  I am Wife to Scott, Mama to Jaden, Sienna and Bristol, Chief Organizational Officer of our home, Founder and Creative Director of B's Bows (shop), School Volunteer, Christ Follower, Sister & Friend to many, Household Cleaning Lady, Boo-boo Kisser, Laundry Folder, Family Memory Manager, Party Planner, Weight Watchers Member and the list could go on...and on...and on...

With so many things on my plate, it is in some ways understandable why I have chosen not to make time for ME.  Sure, I go out with friends, I get to do fun things and I have a wonderful life in almost every way.  But when it comes to taking care of Bethany, and making time for me alone, I fail time and time again.

As a child and into my teenage years, I never, ever struggled with weight.  I was a devoted dancer and studied ballet, tap, jazz and acrobatics.  I ate, quite literally, anything and everything I ever wanted to and was as thin as a rail.  I never gained the "freshman 15" in college and being a pickier eater probably helped me in that regard.  I went to college at about 125 lbs, met my husband my junior year at around 128 lbs and graduated my senior year around 133-135 lbs.  My senior year I got super lazy and often drove up to class instead of walking which I'm sure accounted for that 5-7 lb gain, but nonetheless amongst roommates ranging in sizes 0 to 2, I felt like a real cow in my size sixes.

I graduated from college in November 2004, got settled into my own apartment and my first "real" job and immediately joined the local gym.  I started working out consistently for the first time post-dancing and actually found that I enjoyed it.  By February 2005 I became frustrated as I did not see any of my hard work paying off and I started noticing some extra flab around my mid-section.  I ordered a DVD system called Core Fitness, determined I was going to keep the flat abs I'd always been blessed with.

On April 22, 2005 after a long day at work and an even longer 5 months spent working out and staying at what I thought was a 133lb. plateau, I found out that I was pregnant.  On May 5th my pregnancy was confirmed by my OB, an ultrasound put me at 16 weeks along and we were told we were having a girl.  On that day I made a mistake--I hung up my athletic shoes indefinitely--and had I not made that decision, I would probably be healthier today and I would probably not be battling 7 years post-baby the same 10-17 lbs that have stuck around, some lost and re-gained, all this time.

After baby #1 I got down to 140 before giving up, enjoying an abundance of Christmas treats and getting pregnant with #2.  Two years after #2 I got serious, kicked 22 lbs out the door, was back down to 140 and got pregnant with #3.  When #3 was 8 months old I re-joined Weight Watchers, got serious at the gym again and kicked 25 lbs to the curb reaching my lowest weight since having babies--139!

In the past 7 months since seeing that beautiful number on the scale, I've regained some.  I did very well, never going above 142 until November and then holidays, bow-making, house-cleaning, gift-shopping, etc. got in the way and I completely stopped watching what I was doing.  It wasn't all for not though because during the past few months I have realized something so important to me as a person who needs to care about herself--I've realized that when I am going to eat something, I need to be fully present and fully enjoying whatever it is in order to feel fulfilled by it.  If I eat something mindlessly, it's like my psyche says it doesn't count--my inner self still is hungry.  But if I sit down for my meals, try to make them interruption-free as possible, and savor every single bite, I am amazed at how much and at how healthy the food is that fills me up.

Today, 1/23/13, I am two weeks back into Weight Watchers.  I am above what I was last June, but I am feeling wonderful.  I spent two Weight Watchers cycles blogging every Wednesday on our family blog in what was known as Weight Loss Wednesdays.  The focus always was on dieting, on getting the number on the scale a little lower, on fitting into the lower size, on wearing a bikini.  When I made the decision to start calling my weekly food and fitness posts "Case of the Wednesdays" I made up my mind that this time, the focus was going to be on feeling in control of what I eat, feeling healthy and strong, building muscle, being consistent, and not quitting.  A diet is something one gets to quit after the weight is lost; a lifestyle is forever.  I always focused on the diet and thought the lifestyle would follow.  Today I focus on the lifestyle up front and I hope that the weight loss and then keeping the weight off will follow.

Here are my goals to begin, and my far less lengthy Wednesday posts will reflect these goals:
1.  I would like to ultimately lose 15lbs. from where I am at today.
2.  I would like to make exercising and lifting weights an integral part of my life--something that I feel lost without.
3.  I would like to only eat when I feel in control.
4.  I would like to address and conquer my issues with eating among friends and family (I overeat...every time).
5.  I would like to take time for Bethany and put myself before bows & business & volunteering & outside sources of time-taking and stress.
6.  I would like to start dancing again--I think that finding exercise that I truly enjoy is essential to my success.
7.  I would like to run my 2nd 5K in 2013 (I ran my first one last July!).
8.  I would like to eat no fewer than 5 servings of fruits and vegetables on average every single day--even while on vacation, even while spending a day with friends, even while having to be out and about for a time.  I need to realize that even during these times it is essential that I take care of Me.
9.  I would like to explore any core issues that may contribute to my ultimate lack of past success--my childhood, my father's sudden death when I was 16, my unplanned dive into wife-hood and motherhood at 22 and 23, how I've been treated in the past and how I've treated myself in the past.

Join me for the journey--a journey that will never end.  My promise to you all is to be transparent and to never give up.  I hope that I'm still journaling about this when I'm 75--perhaps by then I won't need the accountability of weekly journaling and will move onto monthly check-ins with myself--we shall see.  I hope that even more than writing about this that I am still embracing the desire to be better and to life healthfully into all the years of my life. And finally, through all of the ups and downs ahead, the successes and failures of myself and the other bloggers here at Case of the Wednesdays, I hope that you know...

We aim to inspire, and to be inspired.