For the past few months, I usually have oatmeal in the morning. I mix 50 or 60g of oatmeal with 10-120ml of water and microwave it for a minute or two. While the oatmeal is in the microwave, I mash a banana with a fork and then add that to the oatmeal, as well as a teaspoon of nutella and peanut butter. I am loving this breakfast so. freaking. much. I love banana and peanut butter and nutella together and what with it still being so cold outside, it is so nice to start the day with a warm meal.

The way I solved the lunch issue is that I cut up some fruit that I brought in a tupper container along with a fork. It’s not ideal because I cannot keep it refrigerated at the library so it just sits in my locker for a few hours before I eat it but I just make sure to eat it for lunch. That way it still tastes good and fresh. I have also been bringing a sandwich with me or bought one at the cafeteria (not much you can do wrong there).

I’d prefer a warm meal but they only offer one meal per day and it’s not the most weight-loss compatible option.

I usually also bring a cereal bar to snack on or buy a chocolate bar, because studying all day really makes me hungry and depletes my energy. I do need to watch out not to have more than one snack like that, though.

The biggest issue, I have found, is dinner, though. I often come home very very hungry and it is easy to just shove whatever I can find into my mouth, because I find myself too hungry to wait till my dinner is cooked. Luckily I don’t usually* have anything too unhealthy in the pantry but it’s something I need to work on. Maybe an option would be to prepare meals ahead of time so I can just microwave them in the evening. A lot of days that is how I do it anyway as I often just cook two portions and leave the second one for the next day.

* There have been too many exceptions lately. I have apparently still not learned that I cannot buy larger sized bags of snacks because I just. cannot. portion. them.

** Usually this works really well. Not when I cook pasta with cheese sauce though. I love cheese sauce so much that I often end up having the second portion as well just for the cheese sauce.

How do you handle meals when you do not have the opportunity to cook for lunch or bring in something microwavable? And how about dinner when you come home absolutely starved? I’d love for you to share any tips you may have.

Last week I did not do perfectly. I went over points by quite a bit at the end of the week, and I have not been at the gym in five weeks. But despite everything …

I lost 0.7 kg (1.5lbs)!

This past week, I did okay. I again went over points. I did realize one of my major problems: I often end up snacking too much on the day of my weigh-in and the day after. I had used up my weekly extra budget after three days this past week. I think my mentality is a little like … there are seven days till the next weigh-in so it won’t influence the weigh-in. But of course it will, if I end up eating just a few points over budget every day for the rest of the week (which would be fine if I still had the extra budget).

This past week I also made one big mistake: I bought hard candy for while I am studying at the library, and I completely underestimated how many points that is! I didn’t buy the sugar-free version but for some reason I didn’t think that it would be high in points. And needless to say, I have yet to actually be back at the library to study (I bought the hard candy on the way home from the library Saturday night) but the candy is already gone – all 450g (I think that’s a total of 45PP) within four days. Needless to say, I will go back to chewing gum.

Luckily, I did not gain this week. I even had a small loss, which is really all I could hope for after this hard candy disaster.

I lost 0.1kg (0.2lbs) this past week!

I am back at a total of 3kg lost since December. Which, I know, isn’t much. Heck, I was here before, on December 30th. But I try to keep a positive attitude because I know that all that matters is to keep trying and not give up. Even if my weight has been yoyo-ing for the past 7 weeks, I am not giving up.

My challenge in the next few weeks will be to keep up the small losses, because I have noticed that when I am up from 8am to midnight, I need three proper meals, and some (filling) snacks in between, when usually I would be up from 12pm to 4am and do with two meals. (Weird, I know.) But what with my trying to use my time efficiently and studying at the library a lot, I am just using up a lot more energy (at least so it feels, I am completely drained at the end of the day), and it takes all of my strength not just to shove everything I can get a hold of in my mouth when I get home from the library at 8 or 9pm. (Luckily, I don’t have too many unhealthy foods at home.)

How do you deal with eating your meals when you are out all day?

I gained 1.4kg (3.1lbs)!

I was shocked, guys. Really shocked. Not all is lost, though. Now that I am back in Heidelberg (at my own apartment) the ridiculous amount of eating out has stopped (it’s what happens when you cram several months of socializing into two weeks), and I am back on track. Mostly. I do very much need to go to the gym tomorrow though, because I did go over points already. With the help of chocolate yesterday. And cake on Friday. I will not be able to finish this week on points (unless I do three hours of Tae Bo or something crazy like that tomorrow), but it’s an improvement. And I know now that I need to watch to evenly spread my extra budget between days because I have a very hard time going without some extra points every day. I also weighed myself yesterday, and I was actually down to 84.1kg (but back up 1kg today, so I don’t know if it’s the scale or the moon or what, but I’ll just have to wait for the weigh-in on Wednesday.

My three months Weight Watchers subscription expired today but I have decided not to cancel it because despite the pathetic effort I have shown over the past month, I am still determined to lose the weight. And I still believe that WW can work for me. If I let it.

You know, after weighing in at 84.1kg yesterday, I ate a whopping 100g of chocolate (not at once but throughout the day) and 250g of pasta for dinner (in two servings, which is way way way too much for one meal). Which made me think … am I sabotaging myself? I don’t know if I am. I guess that’s something to ponder over and to observe myself.

I somehow managed to lose 0.7kg (1.5lbs)!

I must admit, I would have never expected to lose anything at all, let alone this much over the past week. I knew I did better than the three weeks I had gains (weeks #7, 9, 10), despite not counting, but I really am surprised at this weigh-in.

But you know what, I am going to take it as a motivator for getting back on track with WW. What is better to motivate yourself than having success and feeling good about yourself, right?

I am very curious about the next week. There will probably be several occasions of eating out and a pie on Sunday but I will just try to make the most responsible choice when I go out and pick a healthy option from the menu. As for the pie? Well, I’ll just save my weekly extra budget for that.

How has your week been?

Before you start worrying, I am doing okay. I am not entirely on the bandwagon as far as WW goes, but I am still doing my weigh-ins. Unfortunately, I have gained 0.9kg over the last two weeks (I have been keeping my weight loss progress page up to date), so it is high time for me to fully commit to WW again. And to go to the gym once I get back in town (I’m at my parents’ currently).

I think what is up with me right now is one of those cases of ‘oh whatever.’ I just don’t care enough. There are too many occasions for me to consume too many points and I don’t (want to) say no. I have been feeling unsure about it being worth it. Saying no, turning down snacks for a small loss. It’s amazing to think that I made it through the entire holiday season without any issues and now here I am. In February.

I must admit that while I did journal most days in the past month (since my first gain), I have not properly journaled my food intake in the past week or two. I don’t think I did all that horrible this week with the exception of a load of cookies I had on Wednesday and Thursday. Oh wait, there was that visit at Burger King on Saturday too. The only reason we even went there was because there was no available seating at Subway. Bad excuse, I know. But hello, Germany, ever heard of food courts?

I have not weighed myself since Wednesday, mainly because at my parents’ the scale is in their bathroom (as opposed to my bedroom at my place), so I am not tempted to step on it as frequently, as it is one floor up from my bedroom. I have no idea where I am weight-wise right now, though I am hoping that if I gained it was a small gain like last week (0.2kg) or no gain at all. I would LOVE a loss but I am not sure that is going to happen.

I am promising myself to start journaling food & liquids again starting Wednesday (my weigh-in day) and I will get back on track and losing again. I think what I need right now is a really good week. A week of sticking to plan every day and having a big-ish loss. Something that will make me care again. And that is not going to happen as long as I don’t count points. I know that. So there, Wednesday* is the day I will be getting on the bandwagon again.

I also need to write my weigh-in posts sooner. I have noticed that if I wait until the weekend, I have often forgotten so much about the past week again, that I have nothing much or interesting to say. So that’s it – back on track with WW & a weigh-in post on Wednesday!

* If you are wondering why I say Wednesday instead of tomorrow, the reason is that I am visiting a friend tomorrow who may be making a pecan pie and counting points on a day you’re going to have pecan pie is just setting yourself up for a disappointment. I am not planning on going completely overboard though, what with the day after being weigh-in day.

Read on for the recipe.

Recipe found here and adapted by yours truly.

On Tuesday, while I did not go to Tae Bo due to being so so so sore from Sunday’s workout, I did go to a few stores to look for new shoes for the gym. I have been using some so far that I bought about two or three years ago that are perfect for walking but when you wear them while working out they turn out to be too small. My toes would usually hurt after a while at Tae Bo, and I knew I needed new shoes. Well, turns out it was a good moment for buying new shoes because there were sales at all the stores. I ended up buying these which were on sale for €25.

I wore them for Tae Bo on Thursday, and I think they’re a lot more spacious at the front even though I didn’t buy a size up like I had planned (and the other ones I used so far actually are a size up from my usual size). So even though I should not be spending any money right now, I do not regret this at all. It was a good deal and my toes are thankful.

But back to the weigh-in? I am so happy that …

I lost the 0.6kg (1.3lbs) that I gained last week!

After eight weeks of doing Weight Watchers, I am down a total of 3.7kg or 8.2lbs which is not as much as I would have liked or am used to from doing WW but I am happy anyway. I want to make sure to go to the gym at least twice or even three times before the next weigh-in to work off that extra budget that I have already used without actually having it (let me just say, my meals today almost exclusively consisted of apple pie and chocolate, and no, I do not know what got into me either). Hopefully I will be able to have at least a little loss this week. It’ll take some true dedication in the next three days, though.

Do you understand how amazing it is to hear that from an adult? Do you know how amazing it is to hear that from anybody? It’s one of the simplest sentences in the world, just four words, but they’re the four hugest words in the world when they’re put together.

You can do it.

— Sherman Alexie (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian)

I am sure I must have looked like some health nut to the other people shopping there. I must admit I am one of those people who will look at what you’re buying, and secretly judge you for it. Well, maybe judge is a little harsh, but I will notice if an over-weight person buys a lot of junk food. Or if someone buys a lot of alcohol. Or if someone doesn’t buy any meat, I will wonder if they’re a vegetarian. Hey, you have to pass the time somehow while waiting in line, right?

And I assume others to do the same. So whenever I used to have those days when I would buy two bags of chips and ice cream and a bar or two of chocolate and a bag of gummy bears as well as a bottle of Coke, I would expect people to think, no surprise then that she’s overweight. And what with my super-healthy groceries (sans the chocolate spread and herb butter), people must have been thinking I live almost exclusively off vegetables and fruit (and hate carbs). Which is wrong of course.

As you might also have noticed, I am lazy. I do like to eat salad and vegetables but I am lazy. So I buy prepackaged salads, cherry tomatoes (which do not have to be cut – but they were out today) and frozen vegetables that you can just put in the microwave where they will be steamed within a couple minutes. And recently I discovered the ready-made potatoes. They are regular baby potatoes that are peeled and cooked but with nothing added, like spices or fat. They taste pretty good, and instead of having to wash, boil and peel potatoes myself, which can take a good 30 minutes, these are ready within two minutes.

For all I know, I might be the only one judging myself for the food I buy, but I am kinda proud whenever all (or most) of the food in my shopping cart is healthy. Please tell me I’m not the only one?

The seventh week of WW marks my first gain. I cannot say I was all that surprised what with my going 46 points (!) over my budget (and that is after using my weekly extra and activity budget). The good thing, I suppose, is I know exactly why I gained. I saw it coming all week. There were some errors in judgment (like I never would have expected the breakfast burger at Burger King to be 21 PP!!) but a lot of it was just plain ole poor choices and eating too much.

All in all, the week brought me a gain of +0.6kg.

Of course I hope this will be my only week of gaining for a while to come, but within the past two days, I have already used up almost all of my weekly extra budget of week 8. But despite this, I have no plans of gaining again this week. I *will* stay on points this week, I will simply have to manage with the rest of my weekly budget and the daily budget!

How do you get yourself back on track after a gain?