I would seriously buy this book if I could find it! I started making turkey soup last night, and I'm stumped. What veggies do you put in turkey soup? I made the broth and cut up all the chicken last night & I was thinking of swinging by the grocery store today to grab some of the "No Yolk" egg noodles to put in the soup but other than that, all I got is carrots. Any ideas ladies? I don't think I've ever made soup before. How crazy is that? What have we been eating all this time? I seriously need to expand my knowledge in the kitchen. Especially in the soup department. I'm hoping to make a big batch of turkey soup and then I can freeze it in lunch size portions. That's the plan anyway, if I can just get the thing made....help?
Yesterday was a great OP day. I did have one chocolate at the office but I counted it into my daily points so I'd say I'm still doing pretty well. I didn't make it to the gym since I still feel awful with this cold/flu thing. It completely wiped me out. Energy is at an all time low. Although I must admit that if I'm going to be truthful with myself, it's probably from the cold/flu & a lack of gym time. I just went home and jumped into my PJs but then I got a weird burst of energy so I spent an hour making turkey broth and cutting chicken and I also made a banana bread. Although perhaps that was a bad idea. I did bring a small slice with me in my lunch but I'm counting it in my points. We are going to a family thing tonight so I think I'll cut up the rest of the banana bread and bring it with me so I don't have it tempting me at home.
I'm still coming up with my New Year's goals but I know a big part of it is going to involve strength training. I really want to start toning this year and working more with weights. I know it's an important part of exercise but I have pretty much chosen to ignore that fact for the last year or so. But now that I have a gym membership and a new super cute pink MP3 player (Thank Scott!), I really have no excuses. Plus it will get Randi off my back (Thanks for the Christmas card!!) I'll punch out a more concrete goal though when the time comes for New Year's. I've also been trying to be more aware of the sodium content in some of the foods I am eating so that might be factored in there too.
Other than tonight, we have a pretty low key weekend. Tomorrow a few girls and I are going to see P.S. I Love You. Gotta love a cheesy chick flick with the girls every now and then! Then it's just Scott and I for the rest of the weekened! (yay!)
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Christmas is gone for another year...
Well it came and it went. It left a few pounds behind though. Too much wine/chocolate/turkey/chips and dip...you name it, I probably ate it over the course of the last week. To name a few of my discrepancies:
Christmas baking (WAY too much)
Cookies
Chocolates (Ferrero Rochet is NOT intended for Breakfast!)
Waffles
Eggs & Bacon
Pizza & Garlic Fingers (my last hooray last night before my wagon ride this morning)
Nuts & more Nuts
Chips and dip
Apple Pie
Chocolate Mint Pie
Lemon Meringue Pie
Whip cream
Nuts & Bolts
BUT the good thing about all this? It's GONE. All of it. I threw out any remaining baking, chocolate, nuts, chips. Everything went in the garbage last night in anticipation of my big OP day today. Christmas is wonderful but who needs temptation thrown in their face every second of the day?
On top of that, I woke up with something resembling the flu yesterday. I'm sweaty and nauseous and bloated and feel gross all over & I had to come back to work today. I'm sure a few OP days will get me back on track though. I think my whole system is just out of whack from the Holidays and lack of gym time. I was hoping to hit the gym after work today but depending on how this cold/flu progresses, I might just hit the hay early.
On a brighter note, has anyone started thinking about their goals for 2008? I've started coming up with a few but I've decided not to look for a number on the scale. I think I'd rather set goals like strength training twice a week, getting outdoors more, maybe a 5 or 10K, more goals related to overall fitness rather than a number on the scale. Something to think about anyway.
Hope you all had a GREAT Holiday and are all ready to get back on track with me. Even though New Year's is just around the corner, don't put off getting back on the wagon until then. You'll feel so much better (and look way hotter in your New Year's outfit) if you start now.
Short and sweet today ladies!
Christmas baking (WAY too much)
Cookies
Chocolates (Ferrero Rochet is NOT intended for Breakfast!)
Waffles
Eggs & Bacon
Pizza & Garlic Fingers (my last hooray last night before my wagon ride this morning)
Nuts & more Nuts
Chips and dip
Apple Pie
Chocolate Mint Pie
Lemon Meringue Pie
Whip cream
Nuts & Bolts
BUT the good thing about all this? It's GONE. All of it. I threw out any remaining baking, chocolate, nuts, chips. Everything went in the garbage last night in anticipation of my big OP day today. Christmas is wonderful but who needs temptation thrown in their face every second of the day?
On top of that, I woke up with something resembling the flu yesterday. I'm sweaty and nauseous and bloated and feel gross all over & I had to come back to work today. I'm sure a few OP days will get me back on track though. I think my whole system is just out of whack from the Holidays and lack of gym time. I was hoping to hit the gym after work today but depending on how this cold/flu progresses, I might just hit the hay early.
On a brighter note, has anyone started thinking about their goals for 2008? I've started coming up with a few but I've decided not to look for a number on the scale. I think I'd rather set goals like strength training twice a week, getting outdoors more, maybe a 5 or 10K, more goals related to overall fitness rather than a number on the scale. Something to think about anyway.
Hope you all had a GREAT Holiday and are all ready to get back on track with me. Even though New Year's is just around the corner, don't put off getting back on the wagon until then. You'll feel so much better (and look way hotter in your New Year's outfit) if you start now.
Short and sweet today ladies!
Friday, December 21, 2007
One last time for 2007!
Thought I would punch out one last post for 2007. What a year it has been. Although the pounds haven't been flying off as they did last year, I have had so many successes. Of course with those, came lots of frustration, anguish and anxiety but it's Christmas, and now is the time to focus on the positive (really I should be doing this ALL year around). I've come a long way this year and I'm very proud of myself. My most recent success was making it through Yoga class yesterday. Who knew it would be so hard on the muscles?? Yikes! But I loved it and a year ago, I wouldn't have been able to hold all those crazy poses.
I can't say Thank you enough for the support I've received on my blog over the past year. It has kept me sane and encouraged me to push myself beyond what I "thought" were my limits. Thank you so much ladies. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your friends and family.
I can't say Thank you enough for the support I've received on my blog over the past year. It has kept me sane and encouraged me to push myself beyond what I "thought" were my limits. Thank you so much ladies. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your friends and family.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
It's Friday! (For me!)
Today is my Friday since I took off Thursday and (actual) Friday this week to give myself a little vacay. I have to come back to work on the 27th and 28th so I figured if I can't take off those days (seniority thing) then I may as well take off a few days before Christmas. Actually I'd rather take off the days before Christmas anyway because then I can stay home and get prepared for the Holiday and I'm not all rush rush rush.
Update on my Goals:
Day 2 Tuesday:
- Stay away from Christmas baking
- 50 mins of Cardio
- Stay away from Christmas Buffet at work
I had 2 very small Rice Krispie Squares. I took your advice ladies and I really wanted a small treat so I had one. I saved the points so I figure I'm still doing ok. As long as I count the points and limit my potions right? You guys were right, I was being a little hard on myself.
I did get in 50 mins of Cardio. 42 Mins on the treadmill (walking/running intervals) and then I did 10 mins of abs. (Thanks to Scott, I tried to talk him out of going to the gym last night but he stood firm and we went and I'm SO glad we did!)
I did stay away from the Christmas Buffet but we had a little Holiday party in the afternoon and there was mounds and mounds of food but I stuck to the veggies and 2 pieces of shrimp (I don't even like shrimp that much but it was the only other semi-healthy thing on the table besides the veggies)
Overall I think I did pretty good on yesterday's goals. Here is a reminder of the goals I have laid down for today:
Day 3 Wednesday:
- Stay away from Christmas Baking (or limit it to ONE piece but ONLY if I have the daily points left over)
- 15 mins Cardio 45 mins Strength Training
- Christmas buffet at work for lunch (my dept's turn to do the table so I want to try everyone's goodies but I'll limit myself to fruit, veggies, 2 meatballs and count ALL my points!)
My plan for the gym is 15 mins of cardio/warmup and 45 mins Body Ball strength training class. I'm excited, I really like the class and I find it's very interactive and the time flies!
I didn't bring a lunch today but so far all I've had from the buffet is 2 small tastes of homemade hummus. Yum! Bad idea though since I had a client some in and all I could smell was garlic! Oops!
Lunch will be a few meatballs and tons of veggies and fruit from Christmas Buffet table. This will be my last day with that temptation. Good riddance!
How are you ladies doing this week? Only 6 days until Christmas! Are we all ready for it? what is your plan over the Holidays? Free for all on Christmas Eve? Christmas Day? I think we should set a date to get back on track. I think everyone has the same idea about basically letting loose a little on Christmas Day so when do we get back on track? Do we really want to wait until January 1st? Not me! I'm thinking December 27. Some of us are back at work, back in routine, Christmas is behind us. What do you ladies think?
Update on my Goals:
Day 2 Tuesday:
- Stay away from Christmas baking
- 50 mins of Cardio
- Stay away from Christmas Buffet at work
I had 2 very small Rice Krispie Squares. I took your advice ladies and I really wanted a small treat so I had one. I saved the points so I figure I'm still doing ok. As long as I count the points and limit my potions right? You guys were right, I was being a little hard on myself.
I did get in 50 mins of Cardio. 42 Mins on the treadmill (walking/running intervals) and then I did 10 mins of abs. (Thanks to Scott, I tried to talk him out of going to the gym last night but he stood firm and we went and I'm SO glad we did!)
I did stay away from the Christmas Buffet but we had a little Holiday party in the afternoon and there was mounds and mounds of food but I stuck to the veggies and 2 pieces of shrimp (I don't even like shrimp that much but it was the only other semi-healthy thing on the table besides the veggies)
Overall I think I did pretty good on yesterday's goals. Here is a reminder of the goals I have laid down for today:
Day 3 Wednesday:
- Stay away from Christmas Baking (or limit it to ONE piece but ONLY if I have the daily points left over)
- 15 mins Cardio 45 mins Strength Training
- Christmas buffet at work for lunch (my dept's turn to do the table so I want to try everyone's goodies but I'll limit myself to fruit, veggies, 2 meatballs and count ALL my points!)
My plan for the gym is 15 mins of cardio/warmup and 45 mins Body Ball strength training class. I'm excited, I really like the class and I find it's very interactive and the time flies!
I didn't bring a lunch today but so far all I've had from the buffet is 2 small tastes of homemade hummus. Yum! Bad idea though since I had a client some in and all I could smell was garlic! Oops!
Lunch will be a few meatballs and tons of veggies and fruit from Christmas Buffet table. This will be my last day with that temptation. Good riddance!
How are you ladies doing this week? Only 6 days until Christmas! Are we all ready for it? what is your plan over the Holidays? Free for all on Christmas Eve? Christmas Day? I think we should set a date to get back on track. I think everyone has the same idea about basically letting loose a little on Christmas Day so when do we get back on track? Do we really want to wait until January 1st? Not me! I'm thinking December 27. Some of us are back at work, back in routine, Christmas is behind us. What do you ladies think?
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Day 1 - Exercise: Check.....Avoiding Christmas Baking: Check!
So my plan for this week and next week is basically to take it day by day. I really think that's the only way to get through this Holiday Season. I've made goals for myself each and everyday this week to help me stay accountable and not go crazy on the Holidays (and gain 7 lbs like I did last year!) Most of them are redundant but hey...that Christmas baking is damn good so everyday that I get through and don't have any, is a huge victory. Especially since I'm still baking and hubby is still indulging!
Day 1 Monday:
- Stay away from Christmas baking
- 50 mins of Cardio
-Stay away from Christmas Buffet
Accomplished both goals!!
30 mins StairMaster and 20 mins elliptical & Stayed away from all Christmas baking! I even made up the trays for my potluck tomorrow and didn't even have one little nibble of anything. I did have 3 pieces of Broccoli form the Christmas buffet at work but I dipped it in lowfat Ranch and counted the points.
Day 2 Tuesday:
- Stay away from Christmas baking
- 50 mins of Cardio
- Stay away from Christmas Buffet at work
Day 3 Wednesday:
- Stay away from Christmas Baking
- 15 mins Cardio 45 mins Strength Training
- Christmas buffet at work for lunch (my dept's turn to do the table so I want to try everyone's goodies but I'll limit myself to fruit, veggies, 2 meatballs and count ALL my points!)
Day 4 Thursday:
-Stay away from Christmas baking
- 60 min Yoga class
- Eat all meals at home
Day 5 Friday:
- Some form of activity (probably shopping since I'm taking my 2 yr old Niece for the morning and I have a feeling she'd love to go see Santa)
- Stay away from Christmas baking
- Eat all meal at home
- Limit my wine intake (might get together with the girls)
Thursday and Friday are going to be tough since Hubby and I are taking a vacation day those days (YAY vacation!) so I won't have the routine of my workday but I also won't have the temptation of the Christmas Buffet table at work. We'll be keeping pretty busy bu my goal is to eat all of my meals at home. That will keep me from chowing down at any fast food joints.
Menu for Today:
1.5 C All Bran - 2pts
1/2 C Milk (Skim) - 1pt
1/2 V8 Juice - 0pts
Multivitamin
Tuna Sandwich - 3pts
1 orange - 1pt
All Bran Bites - 1pt
Banana before workout - 2pts
4 oz Ham w/mustard - 4pts
1/2 cup packaged Herb & Wild Rice - 4pts
Mixed Veggies - 0pts
Becel - 1pt
Total: 19 points
May have a snack later but it will only be 1 pt.
So what do we think ladies? Any suggestions on my eating, exercise or goals?? Bring it on!
Day 1 Monday:
- Stay away from Christmas baking
- 50 mins of Cardio
-Stay away from Christmas Buffet
Accomplished both goals!!
30 mins StairMaster and 20 mins elliptical & Stayed away from all Christmas baking! I even made up the trays for my potluck tomorrow and didn't even have one little nibble of anything. I did have 3 pieces of Broccoli form the Christmas buffet at work but I dipped it in lowfat Ranch and counted the points.
Day 2 Tuesday:
- Stay away from Christmas baking
- 50 mins of Cardio
- Stay away from Christmas Buffet at work
Day 3 Wednesday:
- Stay away from Christmas Baking
- 15 mins Cardio 45 mins Strength Training
- Christmas buffet at work for lunch (my dept's turn to do the table so I want to try everyone's goodies but I'll limit myself to fruit, veggies, 2 meatballs and count ALL my points!)
Day 4 Thursday:
-Stay away from Christmas baking
- 60 min Yoga class
- Eat all meals at home
Day 5 Friday:
- Some form of activity (probably shopping since I'm taking my 2 yr old Niece for the morning and I have a feeling she'd love to go see Santa)
- Stay away from Christmas baking
- Eat all meal at home
- Limit my wine intake (might get together with the girls)
Thursday and Friday are going to be tough since Hubby and I are taking a vacation day those days (YAY vacation!) so I won't have the routine of my workday but I also won't have the temptation of the Christmas Buffet table at work. We'll be keeping pretty busy bu my goal is to eat all of my meals at home. That will keep me from chowing down at any fast food joints.
Menu for Today:
1.5 C All Bran - 2pts
1/2 C Milk (Skim) - 1pt
1/2 V8 Juice - 0pts
Multivitamin
Tuna Sandwich - 3pts
1 orange - 1pt
All Bran Bites - 1pt
Banana before workout - 2pts
4 oz Ham w/mustard - 4pts
1/2 cup packaged Herb & Wild Rice - 4pts
Mixed Veggies - 0pts
Becel - 1pt
Total: 19 points
May have a snack later but it will only be 1 pt.
So what do we think ladies? Any suggestions on my eating, exercise or goals?? Bring it on!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Christmas Baking got to me
Well my weekend wasn't a complete bust. Although the Christmas baking did get to me on Sunday while I was home all day trying to wait out the big storm we got here in Atlantic Canada. I had 8 monster cookies over the course of the weekend. Used up all of my flex points but that's what they are there for right? Other than the cookies, I think I did pretty well this weekend. I ate all of my meals at home so I was able to limit portions and make the right choices. I know I should have limited the cookies a little but it could have been a lot worse right?
I had a slight NSV on Saturday night. Scott and I hit up "I am Legend" (really good movie!! Love Will Smith!!) I bought some Baked Doritos to take with me but I wanted something chocolatey too. So I went to the candy isle in Walmart to find something sweet. Nothing looked really appealing. Then I asked Scott to swing by the Bulk Barn on the way but I got to the parking lot and then thought, "you know what I don't really want anything, let's just go to the movies, I really only want chocolate because it's Saturday and it's supposed to be a splurge day" So Yay me! (although I did have a bite of hubby's chocolate bar once we got there, it's still better than getting my own!)
Sunaday the Surprise party for my good friend was cancelled because she was stuck in Toronto and her flight to NB was cancelled. Booooo. (but Yay that I didn't have the temptation of booze and lots of food!)
I've decided to follow Christy's example and start posting my menu everyday up until Christmas. I just think it give me that extra accountability that I need and will keep me away from the Christmas baking. I'm also enforcing my previous "No Christmas Baking Monday-Friday or Something Really Awful Will Happen to Me" this week so I won't be touching it. I'm bringing a good chunk of it to work on Wednesday for a huge Potluck that my department is putting on for the whole building so I imagine there won't be much left after this week. (not a bad thing at all)
Gym plan for this week:
Monday - 50 mins of machine cardio (most likely StairMaster and elliptical)
Tuesday - 50 mins of Machine Cardio (gotta burn off those cookies)
Wednesday - 15 mins elliptical/ 45 min Body Ball Class (More Strength training Randi!)
Thursday - 50 mins Cardio OR Beginner Yoga Class for 60 mins.
Friday - No Gym time, Vacation Day!
Saturday - May hit up the gym if I can the time in, we have a lot of visiting to do that day!
Menu for Today:
1 C All Bran & 1/2 C Milk - 3 pts
1/2 C V8 Juice - 0 pts
Multivitamin
All Bran Bites - 1 pt
Tuna Sandwich on WW bread - 3 points
Orange - 1 pt
Banana before workout - 2 pts
Homemade baked beans - 8 pts
1 slice WW bread - 1 pt
Snack (yogurt & fruit?) - 2 pts
That's it for me today. How did you ladies make out over the weekend?? 1 More week until Christmas Eve! Everyone done shopping??
I had a slight NSV on Saturday night. Scott and I hit up "I am Legend" (really good movie!! Love Will Smith!!) I bought some Baked Doritos to take with me but I wanted something chocolatey too. So I went to the candy isle in Walmart to find something sweet. Nothing looked really appealing. Then I asked Scott to swing by the Bulk Barn on the way but I got to the parking lot and then thought, "you know what I don't really want anything, let's just go to the movies, I really only want chocolate because it's Saturday and it's supposed to be a splurge day" So Yay me! (although I did have a bite of hubby's chocolate bar once we got there, it's still better than getting my own!)
Sunaday the Surprise party for my good friend was cancelled because she was stuck in Toronto and her flight to NB was cancelled. Booooo. (but Yay that I didn't have the temptation of booze and lots of food!)
I've decided to follow Christy's example and start posting my menu everyday up until Christmas. I just think it give me that extra accountability that I need and will keep me away from the Christmas baking. I'm also enforcing my previous "No Christmas Baking Monday-Friday or Something Really Awful Will Happen to Me" this week so I won't be touching it. I'm bringing a good chunk of it to work on Wednesday for a huge Potluck that my department is putting on for the whole building so I imagine there won't be much left after this week. (not a bad thing at all)
Gym plan for this week:
Monday - 50 mins of machine cardio (most likely StairMaster and elliptical)
Tuesday - 50 mins of Machine Cardio (gotta burn off those cookies)
Wednesday - 15 mins elliptical/ 45 min Body Ball Class (More Strength training Randi!)
Thursday - 50 mins Cardio OR Beginner Yoga Class for 60 mins.
Friday - No Gym time, Vacation Day!
Saturday - May hit up the gym if I can the time in, we have a lot of visiting to do that day!
Menu for Today:
1 C All Bran & 1/2 C Milk - 3 pts
1/2 C V8 Juice - 0 pts
Multivitamin
All Bran Bites - 1 pt
Tuna Sandwich on WW bread - 3 points
Orange - 1 pt
Banana before workout - 2 pts
Homemade baked beans - 8 pts
1 slice WW bread - 1 pt
Snack (yogurt & fruit?) - 2 pts
That's it for me today. How did you ladies make out over the weekend?? 1 More week until Christmas Eve! Everyone done shopping??
Friday, December 14, 2007
The Christmas buffet is wearing down my defenses!
I had a cookie. Not a Monster cookie but a cookie from the Christmas buffet at work. My cookies are better. I also had a half of a piece of Banana Bread (no butter) That's it. I told myself I would allow myself one treat at the buffet table today and now I'm done. No more. I had to post about it asap before I went back again for one of those homemade chocolate truffles that someone brought in. I'm not going back. Now that I've posted my plan, I feel better already. I feel stronger and I feel like going back to the buffet table isn't even an option. Thanks Ladies! (Randi, e-mail me at 2:00 your time would you and check in on me?) I need to know your gonna hold me accountable! I'm holding strong though....even though all my co-workers keep stopping by my office and saying "Carolyn, did you try the (insert super yummy Christmas treat here) yet?? It's soo good, you have to try it!" Ugh. I'm staying away. No more treats from the buffet table until Wednesday next week (my department's turn to do the Christmas buffet) so I'll try a few things then but from what I can tell, most of us are bringing in some decent stuff, fruit trays, veggie trays, meatballs, salad and of course I'm bringing the sweets so I can get a large chunk of them out of the house!
My plan for the weekend? (Since you didn't ask)
Friday night:
Wendy's for supper with my best friend, SIL and 2 year old niece
A few hours of shopping
Home to make a Banana bread and freeze it for company over the Holidays.
The Plan: Junior Hamburger & baked potato for supper. No treats afterwards! Maybe one, but it will be a coffee from Java Moose with a flavor shot! Mmmmm
Saturday:
Visiting family during the day, dropping off presents & cards etc.
Movie night with Scott. We're hitting up "I Am Legend" with Will Smith. Can't wait!
The Plan: Eat my normal breaky, a light lunch and maybe pasta for supper. Plan out movie treats and get them before we go. Probably Baked Doritos (4 pts) and a Mars Bar (6pts)
Sunday:
Course at 11:00 and then we are having my brother, SIL and niece over for lunch.
Surprise party for a good friend who's coming home from out West. (Lots of food and booze)
The Plan:
Having beans and Brown bread for lunch. Have a small portion. Eat a nice healthy and filling supper so I don't go crazy at the surprise party. Limit myself to 1 drink.
What are you ladies doing this weekend?? Everyone read for Santa??
My plan for the weekend? (Since you didn't ask)
Friday night:
Wendy's for supper with my best friend, SIL and 2 year old niece
A few hours of shopping
Home to make a Banana bread and freeze it for company over the Holidays.
The Plan: Junior Hamburger & baked potato for supper. No treats afterwards! Maybe one, but it will be a coffee from Java Moose with a flavor shot! Mmmmm
Saturday:
Visiting family during the day, dropping off presents & cards etc.
Movie night with Scott. We're hitting up "I Am Legend" with Will Smith. Can't wait!
The Plan: Eat my normal breaky, a light lunch and maybe pasta for supper. Plan out movie treats and get them before we go. Probably Baked Doritos (4 pts) and a Mars Bar (6pts)
Sunday:
Course at 11:00 and then we are having my brother, SIL and niece over for lunch.
Surprise party for a good friend who's coming home from out West. (Lots of food and booze)
The Plan:
Having beans and Brown bread for lunch. Have a small portion. Eat a nice healthy and filling supper so I don't go crazy at the surprise party. Limit myself to 1 drink.
What are you ladies doing this weekend?? Everyone read for Santa??
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Carolyn: 1 Monster Cookies: 0
I REALLY wanted these.......
But instead I had these:
Monster Cookies: I'd say 3 points each VS Sweet Potato fries: 3 points for a plate full
Note: to really appreciate this, you need to know that Scott had 7 Monster Cookies right in front of me and I still didn't budge!
Randi would be proud....
So I managed to stay away from the Christmas buffet at work for the rest of the day yesterday so I'm counting that as a major success. Today it's filled with fruits and veggies so I had one piece of pineapple but I think I'll stick to my lunch for the rest of the day. The dips get me everytime so it's better to just stay away, fruits & veggies or not.
So after work yesterday I hit the gym but just wasn't really feeling the StairMaster or the elliptical. I was pretty much dreading it, although I knew there was no way I was not going to workout so I decided to just tough it out and deal with it. But when I got to the board, I couldn't figure out what to sign out, they all just looked dull and unappealing. Then comes the light bulb moment. There is a fitness class that starts everyday at 5:00 at my gym. I looked it up and Body Ball was on the menu. So I jumped on the elliptical for 15 mins for a warm up and then hit the class. One word. Ouch. Basically the class was a full body strength training session with the stability ball (Yes Randi, finally a little strength training!). It burned let me tell ya! I thought I wouldn't be able to walk today but actually I'm doing ok....and the best part? The time FLEW by! I couldn't believe 45 mins had passed. So add that session to my previous 100 mins of cardio time and I've already made my goal of 160 mins this week! Sweet! But I'm still planning on going today after work. Even if it's just a little treadmill time. I'm still going. I made my goal so Kelly, it's your turn now!
Now for the awfulness that is my willpower. I broke. I broke twice. & I feel awful.
1. I ate 1 of my Monster cookies last night. But it was just one thank goodness.
2. I had a brief love affair with the scale this morning.
Both made me feel like a big sleazy cheat. I learned my lesson. I made 5 dozen Monster cookies last night (Peanut Butter, oatmeal, walnuts, Smarties, and chocolate chips all in one cookie!) I had one cookie. Half a cookie from the first batch and 1/2 a cookie from the third batch. To my defense I really was trying to figure out how long to cook them for. I ended up over cooking the first 3 batches but the last 2 are just right. My first time making them so I will know for next time. But afterwards I felt so guilty! I know it was only one cookie but I promised myself no Christmas treats during the week. Will not happen again. I promise myself and I promise all of you!
The scale....I just couldn't stay away. It's been 13 days since I last stepped foot on that little devil. I was down 1 lb from last time. Yay right? Not really. The thing is, I was feeling SO great before I jumped on the scale, I felt really good this week like I was really making progress at the gym, food wise, controlling my weekends. I felt skinny. You know that feeling when you can just tell your smaller. Tummy feels flatter, arms feel fit and your legs are starting to look toned? I had all of that. I assumed that I had probably lost a few pounds since I was feeling so great. Nope, just one. That stupid number on the scale took all those good feelings away and today I feel defeated and only half as great as I felt yesterday.
So.
I'm saying goodbye for now. I think this morning really proved that my addiction to the scale really isn't good for me anymore and we need time apart. I want to feel good because I've spent 200 mins at the gym this week, or because I bought a pair of pants in a smaller size or because I said no to that extra chocolate or no the seconds at dessert time. I want to feel good for those reasons and not because a number on the scale says I should. So I'm taking a tip from Katieo and wrapping up the scale. I figure it's the only way we can stay apart. Come the New Year, I may be ready to try again but for now, I want to be the one in control for once.
Thoughts? Advice?
So after work yesterday I hit the gym but just wasn't really feeling the StairMaster or the elliptical. I was pretty much dreading it, although I knew there was no way I was not going to workout so I decided to just tough it out and deal with it. But when I got to the board, I couldn't figure out what to sign out, they all just looked dull and unappealing. Then comes the light bulb moment. There is a fitness class that starts everyday at 5:00 at my gym. I looked it up and Body Ball was on the menu. So I jumped on the elliptical for 15 mins for a warm up and then hit the class. One word. Ouch. Basically the class was a full body strength training session with the stability ball (Yes Randi, finally a little strength training!). It burned let me tell ya! I thought I wouldn't be able to walk today but actually I'm doing ok....and the best part? The time FLEW by! I couldn't believe 45 mins had passed. So add that session to my previous 100 mins of cardio time and I've already made my goal of 160 mins this week! Sweet! But I'm still planning on going today after work. Even if it's just a little treadmill time. I'm still going. I made my goal so Kelly, it's your turn now!
Now for the awfulness that is my willpower. I broke. I broke twice. & I feel awful.
1. I ate 1 of my Monster cookies last night. But it was just one thank goodness.
2. I had a brief love affair with the scale this morning.
Both made me feel like a big sleazy cheat. I learned my lesson. I made 5 dozen Monster cookies last night (Peanut Butter, oatmeal, walnuts, Smarties, and chocolate chips all in one cookie!) I had one cookie. Half a cookie from the first batch and 1/2 a cookie from the third batch. To my defense I really was trying to figure out how long to cook them for. I ended up over cooking the first 3 batches but the last 2 are just right. My first time making them so I will know for next time. But afterwards I felt so guilty! I know it was only one cookie but I promised myself no Christmas treats during the week. Will not happen again. I promise myself and I promise all of you!
The scale....I just couldn't stay away. It's been 13 days since I last stepped foot on that little devil. I was down 1 lb from last time. Yay right? Not really. The thing is, I was feeling SO great before I jumped on the scale, I felt really good this week like I was really making progress at the gym, food wise, controlling my weekends. I felt skinny. You know that feeling when you can just tell your smaller. Tummy feels flatter, arms feel fit and your legs are starting to look toned? I had all of that. I assumed that I had probably lost a few pounds since I was feeling so great. Nope, just one. That stupid number on the scale took all those good feelings away and today I feel defeated and only half as great as I felt yesterday.
So.
I'm saying goodbye for now. I think this morning really proved that my addiction to the scale really isn't good for me anymore and we need time apart. I want to feel good because I've spent 200 mins at the gym this week, or because I bought a pair of pants in a smaller size or because I said no to that extra chocolate or no the seconds at dessert time. I want to feel good for those reasons and not because a number on the scale says I should. So I'm taking a tip from Katieo and wrapping up the scale. I figure it's the only way we can stay apart. Come the New Year, I may be ready to try again but for now, I want to be the one in control for once.
Thoughts? Advice?
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
It has arrived....
The Christmas buffet at work. Starting today and being constantly refilled every single day (twice a day!) until December 21st. Luckily I'm taking the 20th and 21st for vacation so there is at least two days that the Christmas buffet won't tempt me. Today I happened to walk by on my way to the water cooler (forgot about it being set up this morning) and there was fresh homemade spinach dip and bread and 4 different crackers and 3 cheese balls, shrimp ring and sauce, a mound of different cheeses, 2 open boxes of assorted chocolates, chips and salsa, bread with other homemade dip, fruit tray with dip, bags and bags of chips, a crock pot with meat balls staying warm. The smell alone is enough to make you crack. I had one cracker, although surprisingly it wasn't form the Christmas buffet, a co-worker brought in a box of All Bran crackers from the States. Anyone tried these? The Garlic and Herb are SOO good. 9 crackers for 1 point. I had 2 crackers and I tried a little teeny bit of the Spinach dip on one cracker but I didn't even really like it all that much. Although I did enlist the support of a coworker so we hit the buffet together. Strength in numbers right? That's all I had, one smidgen of spinach dip. And that's it for me today. I've started taking the alternate route to the mail room and bathroom so no excuses for me to walk by it again today. I can seriously smell it from my office. Luckily I brought a nice healthy lunch so I won't cave due to hunger.
In other news, I hit the gym hard again last night. 30 mins on the StairMaster and 20 mins on the elliptical. Time dragged on a bit yesterday, I couldn't concentrate on the article I was reading in Women's Health but I kept trucking along and eventually it was over. The StairMaster almost killed me yesterday. Today I'm thinking 10 mins treadmill, 30 mins StairMaster and 10 mins treadmill. That will bring me up to 150 mins of cardio this week. My goals is 160 minimum so I'm sure I'll knock it out this week as I'm planning on hitting the gym again tomorrow after work. I might mix it up though a little and throw in some time on the bike.
I was successful last night in making my frogs (chocolate macaroons for the many of you who didn't know what I was talking about. Don't' you guys call them frogs? EVERYONE here calls them frogs. Maybe it's an East Coast thing) After I had placed them all on the cookie sheet, I scraped the bowl clean, there was about enough for a half of a frog, I was honestly JUST about to put the spoon in my mouth when I changed my mind and threw it in the sink with the bowls and the pot and the other spoons and dumped about a half of a bottle of dish soap on them as quick as I possibly could before I changed my mind and licked everything clean. Worked for me. Didn't even lick my finger once!
That's it for me today. Just like Angie and Kelly, I'm totally in the zone this week!
In other news, I hit the gym hard again last night. 30 mins on the StairMaster and 20 mins on the elliptical. Time dragged on a bit yesterday, I couldn't concentrate on the article I was reading in Women's Health but I kept trucking along and eventually it was over. The StairMaster almost killed me yesterday. Today I'm thinking 10 mins treadmill, 30 mins StairMaster and 10 mins treadmill. That will bring me up to 150 mins of cardio this week. My goals is 160 minimum so I'm sure I'll knock it out this week as I'm planning on hitting the gym again tomorrow after work. I might mix it up though a little and throw in some time on the bike.
I was successful last night in making my frogs (chocolate macaroons for the many of you who didn't know what I was talking about. Don't' you guys call them frogs? EVERYONE here calls them frogs. Maybe it's an East Coast thing) After I had placed them all on the cookie sheet, I scraped the bowl clean, there was about enough for a half of a frog, I was honestly JUST about to put the spoon in my mouth when I changed my mind and threw it in the sink with the bowls and the pot and the other spoons and dumped about a half of a bottle of dish soap on them as quick as I possibly could before I changed my mind and licked everything clean. Worked for me. Didn't even lick my finger once!
That's it for me today. Just like Angie and Kelly, I'm totally in the zone this week!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
(insert clever title here)
So I did it. I made it through Monday without consuming ANY Christmas baking! I pretty much told myself Sunday night that as a rule, Christmas baking is not to leave the freezer unless I am making up a plate to give away. No Christmas baking allowed between Monday and Friday. I found that if I made that rule and told someone about it (Scott, you guys) then if I broke it, I would feel like I was breaking some big house rule (I also had to convince myself that something bad would happen if I did, like I would break a toe or something, kind of like bad Karma.) So it worked. I didn't touch it. Even after Scott last night tried to lure me in. After supper he asked, "What's for dessert? Christmas baking?" I knew he was trying to get me to splurge so that he would feel better about pigging out but I just said "Go ahead, none for me, I told myself no Christmas baking between Monday and Friday and I'm sticking to it". Then he said I was right and that he didn't want any either. Sweet. I did it. I was super nervous about having all that Christmas baking in the freezer, just sitting there taunting me but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I can soo do this. I keep thinking that if I were to walk into a store and see a Mars Bar there, it would never even occur to me to buy it during the week (maybe as a weekend splurge but NEVER during the week) so why would I break that rule for Christmas baking? I'm not. So there it is.
PS I'm also making frogs tonight to add to my Christmas baking since I have to bring in a pile of it on Dec 19 for a work potluck thing. Each department takes it turn bringing in mounds of food for a potluck for the whole building. It starts tomorrow so there is a table around the corner from my office that will be filled with Chocolates, candy, meatballs, sandwiches, finger foods, veggies and dip and crackers and cookies and fruit, and all sorts of other most-likely-bad-for-me foods so I've already mapped out a route to the bathroom and mail room so I can avoid the table whenever possible and I've enlisted the help of a co-worker who is also watching the calorie intake so we'll be encouraging each other.
Another success, 35 mins on the StairMaster last night and 15 on the elliptical and 5 mins of stretching. go me AND I'm gong back for more tonight! It's 3:30 and I'm actually pumped to go to the gym instead of dreading it. What has gotten into me this week? I don't know but I like it.
Wish me luck with the frogs otnight ladies, although I'm feeling pretty confident. I can do this!
PS I'm also making frogs tonight to add to my Christmas baking since I have to bring in a pile of it on Dec 19 for a work potluck thing. Each department takes it turn bringing in mounds of food for a potluck for the whole building. It starts tomorrow so there is a table around the corner from my office that will be filled with Chocolates, candy, meatballs, sandwiches, finger foods, veggies and dip and crackers and cookies and fruit, and all sorts of other most-likely-bad-for-me foods so I've already mapped out a route to the bathroom and mail room so I can avoid the table whenever possible and I've enlisted the help of a co-worker who is also watching the calorie intake so we'll be encouraging each other.
Another success, 35 mins on the StairMaster last night and 15 on the elliptical and 5 mins of stretching. go me AND I'm gong back for more tonight! It's 3:30 and I'm actually pumped to go to the gym instead of dreading it. What has gotten into me this week? I don't know but I like it.
Wish me luck with the frogs otnight ladies, although I'm feeling pretty confident. I can do this!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Still no scale!
I had to slap my own wrist a few times this weekend when I went to grab the scale and hop on but I've managed to get through the weekend without it. No weigh in. For the first time in about 100 weeks. Sounds insane doesn't? I should be happy about not weighing in but I miss it. It's a little like going through withdrawal symptoms...but......there is a little piece of me that feels a little freer. Not in the sense that I can eat whatever I want and splurge splurge splurge but there's just this little part of me that feels more in control. I'm noticing things that I would have noticed when I was weighing in every single week or even more often. Like this morning I woke up and threw on a pair of pants and noticed they were a little bigger then they were last time I wore them. Or I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror and thought "Wow, I look pretty good." Before I just relied on the number on the scale to tell me what to think or to tell me how my clothes were feeling. I know, sounds crazy right but seriously that is the kind of hold that the magic little number on the scale has on me. It determines everything, right down to what I'm going to wear that day! So I'd say that my absence from the scale has been a good one and I'm slowly learning to live without it. Although I must admit I really can't wait for this Friday so I can weight in...
So this weekend was a great one and I had one Major NSV. As most of you know, I have been going WAY overboard on the weekends, and although this weekend wasn't perfect, I do feel that I did pretty good. Friday night I went out to dinner with my best friend. We shared a chicken wrap and a few nachos at ESM. I picked at the nachos but tried to save up some points for a "treat" later in the night. After 3 hours of shopping, we headed home with 2 Gingerbread train making kits and we were up until 1:00am making them....AND.....no treats! This is the first time in a long time that I haven't had a chocolate bar or a bag of Baked Doritos on Friday night. I was pretty proud. Saturday was Christmas baking day with Scott's family. I got up early and had All Bran for breakfast, lunch was 2 pieces of toast and supper was homemade baked beans and a biscuit. I had about 5 sweets the entire day with wasn't that bad. 3 during the baking (taste test!!) and 2 later when I got home. (more taste testing....I can't give out sweets unless I know they taste great right??) Later in the night I did have 3 pieces of pizza and a few more nachos since Scott convinced me to go out for an appetizer before the movie. I know, bad move. Didn't need it. BUT I didn't get ANY treats for the movie. I don't think I've ever gone to a movie treatless. Seriously. That one was big for me. I debated on getting some M&Ms when we go tthere but really I only wanted them because I was at the move theatre, I certainly wasn't hungry and I really didn't need them, I just wanted to munch.
Sunday was pretty good. I talked Scott out of Wendy's for supper and we had Spaghetti instead with a side of veggies. I did have too many baked goods but I've locked them all up in the freezer now so I won't be touching them again. The novelty has worn off now and I've tried all the different sweets so no excuses now!
Exercise plan for tonight -
30 mins Stairmaster
15 mins elliptical
Wish me luck ladies! Hope everyone had a great weekend!!
So this weekend was a great one and I had one Major NSV. As most of you know, I have been going WAY overboard on the weekends, and although this weekend wasn't perfect, I do feel that I did pretty good. Friday night I went out to dinner with my best friend. We shared a chicken wrap and a few nachos at ESM. I picked at the nachos but tried to save up some points for a "treat" later in the night. After 3 hours of shopping, we headed home with 2 Gingerbread train making kits and we were up until 1:00am making them....AND.....no treats! This is the first time in a long time that I haven't had a chocolate bar or a bag of Baked Doritos on Friday night. I was pretty proud. Saturday was Christmas baking day with Scott's family. I got up early and had All Bran for breakfast, lunch was 2 pieces of toast and supper was homemade baked beans and a biscuit. I had about 5 sweets the entire day with wasn't that bad. 3 during the baking (taste test!!) and 2 later when I got home. (more taste testing....I can't give out sweets unless I know they taste great right??) Later in the night I did have 3 pieces of pizza and a few more nachos since Scott convinced me to go out for an appetizer before the movie. I know, bad move. Didn't need it. BUT I didn't get ANY treats for the movie. I don't think I've ever gone to a movie treatless. Seriously. That one was big for me. I debated on getting some M&Ms when we go tthere but really I only wanted them because I was at the move theatre, I certainly wasn't hungry and I really didn't need them, I just wanted to munch.
Sunday was pretty good. I talked Scott out of Wendy's for supper and we had Spaghetti instead with a side of veggies. I did have too many baked goods but I've locked them all up in the freezer now so I won't be touching them again. The novelty has worn off now and I've tried all the different sweets so no excuses now!
Exercise plan for tonight -
30 mins Stairmaster
15 mins elliptical
Wish me luck ladies! Hope everyone had a great weekend!!
Friday, December 7, 2007
Friday and no weigh in
It honestly took all I had this morning not to haul the scale out and jump on. It's like an old boyfriend that you just can't let go. Or an addiction that's just too hard to quit. I've decided to takes Glam's advice and I'll most likely weigh in next Friday mainly because I want to stay accountable and make sure I'm staying on the right track. I think Jen summed it up pretty well yesterday..."I think the scale sometimes has an adverse effect and it actually puts you down more than encourages you". That is EXACTLY why I feel that I need a break form the scale, it was ruling how I felt every week. That just can't be healthy. I was actually surprised at all the positive feedback and it's exactly the type of encouragement I needed. Thanks!!
So last night I hit up the gym for 60 mins, 40 mins on the StairMaster, 15 on the Elliptical and 5 mins of hardcore stretching since my legs were feeling pretty weak after that Stairmaster. Now I understand why Katie calls it Satan. Yikes that thing is a great workout. I like the fact that you can't slow down unless you make a conscious effort to take your magazine off the rack and lower the level. I find with the elliptical, while you are reading away or watching the news, sometimes your speed will drop without you even noticing. With the StairMaster, if you slow down, you'll fall off and it will most likely run you over. I'm also finding that working out for longer than 40 mins is pretty easy. Before I was really only working out for 35-40 mins per session but since I set my Minimum Minutes of 160mins/week, I have been upping my time. Mainly because I was only able to get to the gym 3 times this week so I had to go for longer each time. I thought it would be awful but seriously, once you get in the zone, it actually gets easier the longer you go. Does that even make sense to anyone??
Any so my weekend plans aren't too hectic. Tonight is date night with my best friend. We are hitting up some dinner (still in discussion about where we ar heading to but I'll plan it out my menu choice before we go and look up the point value) then a few hours of Christmas shopping and back to my house for some gingerbread house/train making. Looking forward to it. Tomorrow is Christmas bake day with the Scott's family so that may pose a challenge but I'm going to be good! I'm planning on packing up a lot of it as soon as I get home to get it ready to be given away, the rest goes right in the freezer! Some to Scott's work and some to my work, some to our neighbor who was kind enough to plow us out after the big storm for free! Sunday is a planless day...I haven't had one of those in months....oh wait. We have our course to go to so I guess not totally planless but we'll be home most of the afternoon anyway.
What do you ladies have planned for the weekend?
PS Epicure party last night was soooo good. I can't believe how yummy those dips are! AND they were all made with fat free sour cream and mayo. I used raw vegetables for dipping for the majority of them. I ended up buying the Chives, Cheese and Bacon, the Lemon Dilly and the Guacamole (SOOO goood!) I can't wait to use them!!
So last night I hit up the gym for 60 mins, 40 mins on the StairMaster, 15 on the Elliptical and 5 mins of hardcore stretching since my legs were feeling pretty weak after that Stairmaster. Now I understand why Katie calls it Satan. Yikes that thing is a great workout. I like the fact that you can't slow down unless you make a conscious effort to take your magazine off the rack and lower the level. I find with the elliptical, while you are reading away or watching the news, sometimes your speed will drop without you even noticing. With the StairMaster, if you slow down, you'll fall off and it will most likely run you over. I'm also finding that working out for longer than 40 mins is pretty easy. Before I was really only working out for 35-40 mins per session but since I set my Minimum Minutes of 160mins/week, I have been upping my time. Mainly because I was only able to get to the gym 3 times this week so I had to go for longer each time. I thought it would be awful but seriously, once you get in the zone, it actually gets easier the longer you go. Does that even make sense to anyone??
Any so my weekend plans aren't too hectic. Tonight is date night with my best friend. We are hitting up some dinner (still in discussion about where we ar heading to but I'll plan it out my menu choice before we go and look up the point value) then a few hours of Christmas shopping and back to my house for some gingerbread house/train making. Looking forward to it. Tomorrow is Christmas bake day with the Scott's family so that may pose a challenge but I'm going to be good! I'm planning on packing up a lot of it as soon as I get home to get it ready to be given away, the rest goes right in the freezer! Some to Scott's work and some to my work, some to our neighbor who was kind enough to plow us out after the big storm for free! Sunday is a planless day...I haven't had one of those in months....oh wait. We have our course to go to so I guess not totally planless but we'll be home most of the afternoon anyway.
What do you ladies have planned for the weekend?
PS Epicure party last night was soooo good. I can't believe how yummy those dips are! AND they were all made with fat free sour cream and mayo. I used raw vegetables for dipping for the majority of them. I ended up buying the Chives, Cheese and Bacon, the Lemon Dilly and the Guacamole (SOOO goood!) I can't wait to use them!!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
The Breakup
First of all, last night after work, I went to the gym, actually looking forward to my workout. Went to the changing room , got all dressed in my workout gear and just as I was about to lace up my sneakers....I realized they weren't there! I had worn them home from the gym on Tuesday and had put them in my closet rather than my gym bag. SO FRUSTRATING! I actually dragged my butt to the gym and am more than ready to take on the StairMaster again and I'm stuck without sneakers! Ugh. BUT on a brighter note, I'm not letting this minor set back get in the way of my commitment of getting in at least 160 mins of exercise this week. So far I've got 55 mins under my belt (Tuesday 35 mins on the StairMaster and 20 mins on the Elliptical) tonight I'm hoping to squeeze in another 55 mins before my epicure party which would bring me up to 110 mins. I'm also planning on hitting the gym on Friday for at least 50 mins to round out my 160 mins but I may go for more if I have time.
Friday night I have a date with my best friend. We are going out to dinner (East Side Mario's I believe, does anyone have suggestions?) and then hitting the mall for some Christmas shopping and after that we are making gingerbread houses (although I saw a gingerbread train kit....) How Martha are we? Looking forward to it.
Now onto my big decision. I've decided that the scale and I need some time apart. I've been reading so many blogs about measuring success without using the scale. At first I thought this was utterly absurd. I mean, I know my pants are looser than they were 2 weeks ago and it's a great way to measure success but I still NEED that number just to verify my feeling good....wait. Is that even healthy?? Have I become that attached to the scale? Then I realize that since I started WW almost 2 years ago, I have not missed one Friday WI. Not even one. The scale dictates my whole attitude (if you remember THIS post from September, you'll know what I mean) By now, I pretty much know what the scale is going to say, I can tell by the way my clothes fit, by the way I feel so why do I put so much into the scale? Why do I let the scale tell me how to feel? I guess I use it as another tool to stay accountable but if I am following the WW program consistently and eating well then there's no reason for me to have to worry about a gain right?
Another reason I'm thinking of letting go of the strings for a while is that I find myself splurging on Fridays and Saturdays:
1. because it's the weekened
2. because I've saved up all my bonus points
3. because I know I don't have to weigh in again until next Friday
Seriously, just thinking about not weighing in scares the hell out of me. But I think that anxiety is the exact reason why I have to let go of the scale for a few weeks. I have an unhealthy attachment to that number and the scale and now is as good a time as ever start measuring my success in other areas, gym time, smaller clothes, basically NSVs. The funny thing is, just thinking about not weighing in doesn't really make me feel like I can slack at all, it's actually the opposite, making me want to work harder to compensate for not having that "loss on the scale" relief feeling. More gym time. Better decisions on the weekend. What do you girls think? I need feedback!
Friday night I have a date with my best friend. We are going out to dinner (East Side Mario's I believe, does anyone have suggestions?) and then hitting the mall for some Christmas shopping and after that we are making gingerbread houses (although I saw a gingerbread train kit....) How Martha are we? Looking forward to it.
Now onto my big decision. I've decided that the scale and I need some time apart. I've been reading so many blogs about measuring success without using the scale. At first I thought this was utterly absurd. I mean, I know my pants are looser than they were 2 weeks ago and it's a great way to measure success but I still NEED that number just to verify my feeling good....wait. Is that even healthy?? Have I become that attached to the scale? Then I realize that since I started WW almost 2 years ago, I have not missed one Friday WI. Not even one. The scale dictates my whole attitude (if you remember THIS post from September, you'll know what I mean) By now, I pretty much know what the scale is going to say, I can tell by the way my clothes fit, by the way I feel so why do I put so much into the scale? Why do I let the scale tell me how to feel? I guess I use it as another tool to stay accountable but if I am following the WW program consistently and eating well then there's no reason for me to have to worry about a gain right?
Another reason I'm thinking of letting go of the strings for a while is that I find myself splurging on Fridays and Saturdays:
1. because it's the weekened
2. because I've saved up all my bonus points
3. because I know I don't have to weigh in again until next Friday
Seriously, just thinking about not weighing in scares the hell out of me. But I think that anxiety is the exact reason why I have to let go of the scale for a few weeks. I have an unhealthy attachment to that number and the scale and now is as good a time as ever start measuring my success in other areas, gym time, smaller clothes, basically NSVs. The funny thing is, just thinking about not weighing in doesn't really make me feel like I can slack at all, it's actually the opposite, making me want to work harder to compensate for not having that "loss on the scale" relief feeling. More gym time. Better decisions on the weekend. What do you girls think? I need feedback!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Has anyone seen my OP weekends?? I can't find them anywhere!
Thanks ladies for all the encouragement and especially to Noelle for giving me the kick in the butt I really needed. (Side bar, check out Noelle's amazing before and after pic here.) I always come on my blog and complain about my weekends and how out of control they were. It's become a habit. A bad habit. Every weekend. ZERO accountability. Noelle asked me what I am going to do about it? What AM I going to do about it? I know a few other ladies (Randi and Angie to name a few) are going through the same cycle, letting the weekends get of out hand. It's so easy isn't ladies? To forget the gym and the journal and just eat. And eat. And eat. And we're not talking veggies here. Oh no. I'm talking pizza, chocolate, nachos, too much wine. It's all in there. How do we break the cycle? It's become a habit for me. I look back at my journals and the last 2 days are blank. I know what I NEED to do but why aren't I doing it? Why aren't I journalling on the weekend? Why am I having that extra Christmas sweet when during the week it wouldn't even be an option? I don't even remember the last weekend when I actually jounrnalled. I seriously can't remember. I need an OP weekend. I'm way past due. I just need to get back into the habit of using my 35 bonus points and that's it. If I don't have the points for that Mr. Big bar, then I WON'T eat it. It's simple. Isn't it?? sigh......
I didn't make it to the gym last night because we got hit with a major winter storm. Blizzard actually and we woke up this morning with over a foot of snow. It took us forever to get home last night as the roads were awful BUT I'm not letting that get in the way of my Exercise Challenge (See Sarah or Kelly's blog) of at least 160 mins of exercise this week. Tonight I'm hitting the gym hard and I am planning on 30 mins of the StairMaster (It burns and I love it!)and then 20 on the elliptical or treadmill. Next week I am planning on starting a strength training program for 2 days a week. That will leave me with 2 days of cardio so I will up my time to probably 60 mins/session.
This Thursday I am heading to an Epicure party so if you ladies have any suggestions, I'd love to hear if you use any of the products and what you can't live without. I have tried a few of them but haven't really bought much so I'm looking forward to picking up a few new ones! This also means taste testing but I will try to limit it as much as possible and will only try the ones that I would seriously buy.
Well that's it for me today ladies! Hope everyone is having an amazing week so far!
OH wait...I need some suggestions to give hubby for Christmas, I really want to get an exercise DVD for nights like last night when the roads were too bad to make it to the gym. Any ideas? I'm basically a exercise DVD virgin so bring on the suggestions!
I didn't make it to the gym last night because we got hit with a major winter storm. Blizzard actually and we woke up this morning with over a foot of snow. It took us forever to get home last night as the roads were awful BUT I'm not letting that get in the way of my Exercise Challenge (See Sarah or Kelly's blog) of at least 160 mins of exercise this week. Tonight I'm hitting the gym hard and I am planning on 30 mins of the StairMaster (It burns and I love it!)and then 20 on the elliptical or treadmill. Next week I am planning on starting a strength training program for 2 days a week. That will leave me with 2 days of cardio so I will up my time to probably 60 mins/session.
This Thursday I am heading to an Epicure party so if you ladies have any suggestions, I'd love to hear if you use any of the products and what you can't live without. I have tried a few of them but haven't really bought much so I'm looking forward to picking up a few new ones! This also means taste testing but I will try to limit it as much as possible and will only try the ones that I would seriously buy.
Well that's it for me today ladies! Hope everyone is having an amazing week so far!
OH wait...I need some suggestions to give hubby for Christmas, I really want to get an exercise DVD for nights like last night when the roads were too bad to make it to the gym. Any ideas? I'm basically a exercise DVD virgin so bring on the suggestions!
Monday, December 3, 2007
Oh what a week! What a weekend. How the scale must hate me now. We're not even on speaking terms. Avoiding each other at all costs (this could be one sided) I know we'll reconcile eventually but for now, I think it's best if we just stay out of each other's way.
Most of last week was spend on the road for work, although I did find time to catch up on your blogs in the evening, even if I didn't post, I'm still reading! This past weekend was a barrage of bad choices. Ugh. When will I learn? Friday Scott and I took a vacation day and headed out of town to get some Christmas shopping done. Oh how I hate the vacation AND out of town mentality. It took over at about 2:00pm when Scott and I split a pretzel from Pretzelmaker. I think my weekend can best be summed up in a GBU borrowed (stolen) from Marie.
Friday
The Good: We spent about 6-7 hours on our feet strolling through the mall, stores and shops. Hello activity!
The Bad: We ordered nachos and fajitas for supper from Lone Star.
The Ugly: 2 hours later we stopped at the Irving Big Stop for Cheesecake
Saturday
The Good: I started off the day with a great breakfast and walked around yet another craft fair for about 1.5 hours.
The Bad: There is always a fudge vendor at those stupid craft fairs.
The Ugly: Pizza was on the menu for supper and there may have been chocolate as well.
Sunday:
The Good: I ate on plan all day until.....supper
The Bad: We had company over and I made baked beans and brown bread. Except I forgot to put molasses in the brown bread (who forgets the molasses??) so it was really just white bread that tasted a little sweet.
The Ugly: Our company bought the most delicious apple pie I have ever tasted
The Really Ugly: They left it at our house instead of taking it home with them..... I had a second helping.
I feel like I just went to confessional.
Ok, that wasn't that bad was it? ok, it was. I know it. You know it. We all know it. What can I do about it now? Nothing. Except...I can follow Randi's advice and set myself a gym goal for this week to melt away those extra calories consumed over the weekend. I have put some thought into it and I think that 160 mins this week is a pretty fair number. What do you ladies think? That would bring me to 4 sessions of 40 mins. Maybe I should step it up a little though? Maybe 170 mins? Then 2 sessions, I could add 5- 10 mins of abs. Hmmm. Feedback please!
How did everyone's weekend go? How are the Holidays affecting your food plan? Or are they at all?
Most of last week was spend on the road for work, although I did find time to catch up on your blogs in the evening, even if I didn't post, I'm still reading! This past weekend was a barrage of bad choices. Ugh. When will I learn? Friday Scott and I took a vacation day and headed out of town to get some Christmas shopping done. Oh how I hate the vacation AND out of town mentality. It took over at about 2:00pm when Scott and I split a pretzel from Pretzelmaker. I think my weekend can best be summed up in a GBU borrowed (stolen) from Marie.
Friday
The Good: We spent about 6-7 hours on our feet strolling through the mall, stores and shops. Hello activity!
The Bad: We ordered nachos and fajitas for supper from Lone Star.
The Ugly: 2 hours later we stopped at the Irving Big Stop for Cheesecake
Saturday
The Good: I started off the day with a great breakfast and walked around yet another craft fair for about 1.5 hours.
The Bad: There is always a fudge vendor at those stupid craft fairs.
The Ugly: Pizza was on the menu for supper and there may have been chocolate as well.
Sunday:
The Good: I ate on plan all day until.....supper
The Bad: We had company over and I made baked beans and brown bread. Except I forgot to put molasses in the brown bread (who forgets the molasses??) so it was really just white bread that tasted a little sweet.
The Ugly: Our company bought the most delicious apple pie I have ever tasted
The Really Ugly: They left it at our house instead of taking it home with them..... I had a second helping.
I feel like I just went to confessional.
Ok, that wasn't that bad was it? ok, it was. I know it. You know it. We all know it. What can I do about it now? Nothing. Except...I can follow Randi's advice and set myself a gym goal for this week to melt away those extra calories consumed over the weekend. I have put some thought into it and I think that 160 mins this week is a pretty fair number. What do you ladies think? That would bring me to 4 sessions of 40 mins. Maybe I should step it up a little though? Maybe 170 mins? Then 2 sessions, I could add 5- 10 mins of abs. Hmmm. Feedback please!
How did everyone's weekend go? How are the Holidays affecting your food plan? Or are they at all?
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Trouble in Spreadsheet Land!
Once again, I'm having a little trouble posting the spreadsheet for the Christmas Challenge. I've tried 2 days in a row with no luck. Sorry for the inconvenience ladies but I assure you that you're all doing wonderful and we are all rocking the challenge! The important thing is that we are all staying accountable and really, that's what the challenge is all about. If you've managed to turn down one cupcake or seconds at dinner or if you've jumped on the scale even when you've convinced yourself you just can't face it, or if you've hit up the gym for an extra session through the week, the challenge is working for you! Staying accountable is really the hardest part, especially during the Holidays. How easy is it to sneak in those extra chocolates without anyone noticing? Too easy. But if we all stay honest with ourselves and each other, we're accountable and FAR less likely to fall off the wagon. So Thanks ladies for helping me to stay accountable. It means the world! You've prevented me from overindulging on SO many occasion, you don't even know!
Thanks to Randi too who gave me the brilliant idea (she's got a ton of em over there!) of making a side goal for the Holidays that doesn't involve the scale. I think I'm going to center my goal around the gym since I've been finding that a little tough lately. For the past few weeks, I have been finding it hard to drag my butt there 3 times a week. But there really is no reason why I shouldn't be going 4 times a week. I have the time, I have the membership, I just need the motivation. I'm constantly fighting the gym, right up until I'm actually on the elliptical or the treadmill. Even when I am walking through the door, I'm am just looking for an excuse to not workout. Do any of you ladies dread the gym? Where do you get your motivation from?
I KNOW what the benefits of the gym are:
1. Way more energy
2. Burn extra calories
3. Results show on the scale
4. Feel better about myself and more confident
5. Sleep better (at least I do)
6. Stress reliever and time to wind down after work
7. Makes me feel fit and healthy
So why is it that everyday at 3:45, just before I get off work do I instantly search for a reason not to go to the gym??
So here it is ladies. I'm making a commitment. My goal is to get to the gym at least 4 times a week every week from now until Christmas. 4 times. Every week. NO excuses. Hold me accountable ladies!
Anyone else have any goals they'd like to throw in for these last 4 weeks before Christmas?
Thanks to Roni who gave me a shout out in her blog yesterday. Kinda made me feel like a little mini blog celebrity. I'm always so surprised when people comment on my blog that they've been following along for months or that they've found motivation in some random rant of mine. I guess this blog helps ME out so much with my journey and with staying accountable that I often forget that other people may find motivation here. It always amazes me! So Thanks to those of you who have been de-lurking lately and welcome to those who are just joining in!
Since I was out of town today for work, I haven't been keeping up to date and can't wait to see what's going on with you ladies!
Thanks to Randi too who gave me the brilliant idea (she's got a ton of em over there!) of making a side goal for the Holidays that doesn't involve the scale. I think I'm going to center my goal around the gym since I've been finding that a little tough lately. For the past few weeks, I have been finding it hard to drag my butt there 3 times a week. But there really is no reason why I shouldn't be going 4 times a week. I have the time, I have the membership, I just need the motivation. I'm constantly fighting the gym, right up until I'm actually on the elliptical or the treadmill. Even when I am walking through the door, I'm am just looking for an excuse to not workout. Do any of you ladies dread the gym? Where do you get your motivation from?
I KNOW what the benefits of the gym are:
1. Way more energy
2. Burn extra calories
3. Results show on the scale
4. Feel better about myself and more confident
5. Sleep better (at least I do)
6. Stress reliever and time to wind down after work
7. Makes me feel fit and healthy
So why is it that everyday at 3:45, just before I get off work do I instantly search for a reason not to go to the gym??
So here it is ladies. I'm making a commitment. My goal is to get to the gym at least 4 times a week every week from now until Christmas. 4 times. Every week. NO excuses. Hold me accountable ladies!
Anyone else have any goals they'd like to throw in for these last 4 weeks before Christmas?
Thanks to Roni who gave me a shout out in her blog yesterday. Kinda made me feel like a little mini blog celebrity. I'm always so surprised when people comment on my blog that they've been following along for months or that they've found motivation in some random rant of mine. I guess this blog helps ME out so much with my journey and with staying accountable that I often forget that other people may find motivation here. It always amazes me! So Thanks to those of you who have been de-lurking lately and welcome to those who are just joining in!
Since I was out of town today for work, I haven't been keeping up to date and can't wait to see what's going on with you ladies!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Weekend Recap and is it even possible....
to lose weight over the Holidays?? Lately I'm starting to wonder. I have been losing little bits here and there but it seems for the past little while, I have been up a half a pound, then down a half a pound, then up a half a pound then down. There doesn't seem to be any big moves on the scale. And to be quite honest with everyone, I'm not even a little frustrated. Shouldn't I be upset? Shouldn't I be frustrated enough to crack down more on the weekends? Shouldn't I say no to that extra peanut butter ball for fear that it might show up on the scale? Shouldn't I desperately want to get this last 5 lbs off? Shouldn't I be say no to that 2nd or 3rd glass of wine because it's really just unnecessary calories? Shouldn't I???
Truth is.... I'm happy. I'm happy when I look in the mirror, I'm happy when I put on my size 9 pants, I'm happy when I am able to buy a size small shirt, I'm happy when I get dressed up for an occasion and I feel sexy, I'm happy when I see someone checking me out at the grocery store or at the gym, I'm happy when people compliment me on my huge weight loss, I'm happy when I see pictures of me. Point is....I'm HAPPY. Just happy. I look in the mirror every morning and I love the way I look. I feel good. I don't feel self conscious, I feel confident. There has been such a huge change in my attitude, my entire life for that matter.
So what does this mean? I know a few other of you ladies may be going through the same thing as I am, but where do we go from here. I know I would like to lose another 5 lbs but I'm in no rush, if it takes me 5 more months, I'm ok with that. I think the important thing is that I wake up every morning and I feel great. I am great. YOU ladies are great for all of the support you give me. Who else could I go to with my issue?? No one, that's who. I can't say Thanks enough.
So after that spiel.....
My weekend was great. I did much better this weekend than I did any other weekend but I also think I went over in my bonus points by about 6 or 7, if I'm going to be honest with myself. BUT this is certainly better than going over by 40 or so right? (Which I have EASILY done many a weekend.) The dinner theatre was AMAZING and the salmon was soo yummy! AND I even had an NSV. The dessert came which was white cake with white icing and blueberry coulis. I had 2 bites, decided it wasn't great and pushed it away! YAY me! Usually I would eat it anyway because it's Friday night and Friday nights are made for indulging in sweets. Not this Friday! Saturday was really good too. I had a few sweets after dinner but nothing major and Sunday was great until supper time. I made homemade baked beans in my crockpot and brown bread so supper was high point (not to mention the Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls for dessert) but overall it wasn't bad at all. I think I made some great choices this weekend.
On a bright note, our Christmas tree is up and ready for Santa! Christmas is only 4 weeks away! Can you ladies even believe it?
I will post the results for the Christmas challenge tomorrow morning...stay tuned!
PS Thanks to those you you who are de-lurking. You have no idea how nice it is to know that you've been following along on my journey! Thanks!
Truth is.... I'm happy. I'm happy when I look in the mirror, I'm happy when I put on my size 9 pants, I'm happy when I am able to buy a size small shirt, I'm happy when I get dressed up for an occasion and I feel sexy, I'm happy when I see someone checking me out at the grocery store or at the gym, I'm happy when people compliment me on my huge weight loss, I'm happy when I see pictures of me. Point is....I'm HAPPY. Just happy. I look in the mirror every morning and I love the way I look. I feel good. I don't feel self conscious, I feel confident. There has been such a huge change in my attitude, my entire life for that matter.
So what does this mean? I know a few other of you ladies may be going through the same thing as I am, but where do we go from here. I know I would like to lose another 5 lbs but I'm in no rush, if it takes me 5 more months, I'm ok with that. I think the important thing is that I wake up every morning and I feel great. I am great. YOU ladies are great for all of the support you give me. Who else could I go to with my issue?? No one, that's who. I can't say Thanks enough.
So after that spiel.....
My weekend was great. I did much better this weekend than I did any other weekend but I also think I went over in my bonus points by about 6 or 7, if I'm going to be honest with myself. BUT this is certainly better than going over by 40 or so right? (Which I have EASILY done many a weekend.) The dinner theatre was AMAZING and the salmon was soo yummy! AND I even had an NSV. The dessert came which was white cake with white icing and blueberry coulis. I had 2 bites, decided it wasn't great and pushed it away! YAY me! Usually I would eat it anyway because it's Friday night and Friday nights are made for indulging in sweets. Not this Friday! Saturday was really good too. I had a few sweets after dinner but nothing major and Sunday was great until supper time. I made homemade baked beans in my crockpot and brown bread so supper was high point (not to mention the Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls for dessert) but overall it wasn't bad at all. I think I made some great choices this weekend.
On a bright note, our Christmas tree is up and ready for Santa! Christmas is only 4 weeks away! Can you ladies even believe it?
I will post the results for the Christmas challenge tomorrow morning...stay tuned!
PS Thanks to those you you who are de-lurking. You have no idea how nice it is to know that you've been following along on my journey! Thanks!
Friday, November 23, 2007
Friday WI and Weekend Plan
Even after scarfing down a Jr. Hamburger deluxe and baked potato with sour cream last night at Wendy's (all within my daily points allowance, although it did take up over half of my daily points!) I still showed a loss of 0.5 this morning. So basically I just wiped out my gain of 0.5 lbs from last week. I was pretty psyched though and feel great this morning. I feel skinny. I'm wearing jeans to work today that were too snug to wear a month ago. Seriously ladies, I know you have heard this before but.....this is MY weekend. This is THE weekend! I'm staying within my 35 flex points, no wine, no happy meals from McDonald's, no pizza. I'm doing it. I'm determined. I can do this. I've never had a problem with staying within my flex points on the weekends but for the past few months, I've just gotten into a habit of basically eating whatever I want on the weekend. Surprisingly I have still lost weight but I've also been busting my butt at the gym as well. Imagine how much MORE weight I would lose if I limited my weekend splurges? I have a pretty low key weekend planned so there is NO reason why I shouldn't be able to stay within my points.
Friday Night:
Going to Dinner Theatre for a work Christmas gathering. I am actually quite excited about it. Anyone who's ever been to the Dinner Theatre knows how much fun it is! The food is pretty decent and they have a salmon dish that looks pretty good and is served with veggies so it's pretty low in points and I can save a few up for dessert. It comes with a "creamy dill" sauce so I will get that on the side and use the fork dip method I think. I'm hoping to save 10 points from my daily points and then use no more than 10 flex points on the meal.
Saturday:
You ladies are going to think I'm a craft fair fanatic. This is the 3rd weekend in a row but SIL and I are hitting up 2, Yes 2 Christmas craft fairs tomorrow. She is picking me up in the am and we are having a little girls day out with my niece. Tomorrow night we are going to meet up with the boys and take my niece to the Christmas parade to see Santa. Who am I kidding? I am far more excited about the parade than she is! Saturday night after the parade we are going home to decorate our Christmas tree! Foodwise, I'm going to have my usual breakfast of All Bran, V8 juice, and fruit. I'll bring a few snacks with me for on the road (All Bran Snack Bites!) and then I should be home in the afternoon for nice healthy supper. Hot Chocolate for the Christmas parade is mandatory so I will block out some flex points for that.
Sunday:
We don't have too many plans except we are having MIL & FIL and my best friend over for dinner. I am going to attempt to make homemade beans in my crockpot and brown bread in my new breadmaker. For dessert, I bought stuff to whip up a fruit salad and also a few Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls (3 points each) I'll eat a light lunch to compensate for the heave supper but I'll also measure everything out too!
What do you guys have planned for the weekend? How did everyone's WI go??
Have a GREAT weekend ladies!!!
Friday Night:
Going to Dinner Theatre for a work Christmas gathering. I am actually quite excited about it. Anyone who's ever been to the Dinner Theatre knows how much fun it is! The food is pretty decent and they have a salmon dish that looks pretty good and is served with veggies so it's pretty low in points and I can save a few up for dessert. It comes with a "creamy dill" sauce so I will get that on the side and use the fork dip method I think. I'm hoping to save 10 points from my daily points and then use no more than 10 flex points on the meal.
Saturday:
You ladies are going to think I'm a craft fair fanatic. This is the 3rd weekend in a row but SIL and I are hitting up 2, Yes 2 Christmas craft fairs tomorrow. She is picking me up in the am and we are having a little girls day out with my niece. Tomorrow night we are going to meet up with the boys and take my niece to the Christmas parade to see Santa. Who am I kidding? I am far more excited about the parade than she is! Saturday night after the parade we are going home to decorate our Christmas tree! Foodwise, I'm going to have my usual breakfast of All Bran, V8 juice, and fruit. I'll bring a few snacks with me for on the road (All Bran Snack Bites!) and then I should be home in the afternoon for nice healthy supper. Hot Chocolate for the Christmas parade is mandatory so I will block out some flex points for that.
Sunday:
We don't have too many plans except we are having MIL & FIL and my best friend over for dinner. I am going to attempt to make homemade beans in my crockpot and brown bread in my new breadmaker. For dessert, I bought stuff to whip up a fruit salad and also a few Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls (3 points each) I'll eat a light lunch to compensate for the heave supper but I'll also measure everything out too!
What do you guys have planned for the weekend? How did everyone's WI go??
Have a GREAT weekend ladies!!!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Christmas Triggers and Triumphs!
I feel like I'm ready to take on the Holidays. They are here, they're not leaving until January 2nd so I may as well face them head on and do the absolute best that I can. Last night I started thinking about exactly what my big triggers are during the Holidays. What made me gain 5 lbs last year? Why have I had a big gain every year? What tempts me to fall off my plan? Here is a list of my triggers and a plan on how to get past them without adding any extra poundage to my behind!
The Attitude: Ladies, you all know what I'm talking about here. The "It's the Holidays!! Time to indulge!" attitude. The same attitude that gets me into trouble at every single Holiday function. It's only Christmas once a year right? It's only Easter once a year right?? Well guess what?? It's only November 20th once a year too and I'm not indulging today. I'm staying perfectly OP so what's the big deal?
The Plan: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are NOT get out of jail free days. Any calories consumed on these days are just like any other calories eaten on any other day. Eat too much and I WILL feel awful, bloated, and just plain gross. They WILL make the scale go up. My plan is to treat these days like any other OP day. COUNT POINTS. Even though I'll be eating higher point foods and will surely go over my daily target, it's important to stay accountable. Seeing 4 chocolates written down on my journal may prevent me from going for Chocolates 5 through 10.
The Boxes of Chocolate: Honestly these things are like heaven to me. There's nothing better to me than a full box of just opened chocolates. There's so many wonderful chocolates to sample! Who can stop at just one?? It's honestly like a little box of heaven to me. The Christmas before I started WW (2005) I bought 2 boxes of chocolates for presents for Scott's family and ended up eating the WHOLE 2 boxes a few days before Christmas! I even had to unwrap one of them. Ok... both of them. That was painful to admit.
The Plan: Read the labels! Usually boxes of chocolates come with a description for each chocolate. Tells you exactly what they look like and what's inside. I've eaten enough boxes of chocolate to know which ones are my favorites so I'm going to look for that ONE and indulge in ONE chocolate. Just ONE. Granted this might add up to 3 or 4 chocolates over the course of a few days during the Holidays but it's better than eating half the box right??? Also if there are 2 chocolates that I really want to try, I'll ask hubby to split each one with me so I can get a taste of each.
The Hectic Schedule: means no time for activity or the gym. Lots of laying around on the couch chatting with family and watching movies. Lazy, Lazy, Lazy.
The Plan: This one took me a little while to figure out but now it's so obvious! We live about 25 mins from our gym so it's not so easy for us to just run in, workout and run home. It has to be planned out. During the Holidays, every hour is pretty much accounted for with Scott and I. Especially since my Mom is home for Christmas and I try to spend as much time with her as I can. But....MIL has a gym in her basement including a treadmill, a bike and a stepper so while everyone else is laying around on the couch watching TV, I can run downstairs for a little treadmill time and no one will miss me. It will give me more energy and make me feel much better about that Christmas day dessert. Also, COUNT POINTS.
The Dinner: This one has never really been a HUGE problem for me. But I do tend to go a little heavy on the gravy and a little too light on the veggies. And really, those veggies are coated in so much butter that they can hardly be called nutritious.
The Plan: Ask MIL if I can steal my veggies from the pot before the butter and salt gets added to them. That way I can avoid the (totally unnecessary) fat and calories but still fill up my plate with veggies. Also if I put these on my plate first, there will be way less room for stuffing and rolls etc. Also, COUNT POINTS.
The Dessert & Baked Goods: This one is always the absolute toughest for me. It's brutal. I LOVE chocolate plain and simple. Everything chocolate. Anything chocolate. It's all gold to me ladies. This is probably the one I struggle with the most.
The Plan: I need to limit myself before I even walk into MIL's house or SIL's house. I think 2 is more than enough. I will scout out all of the treats available and pick my top 2. Holidays are the time to indulge right? As long as we keep it in moderation. Also, COUNT POINTS.
The Candy & Chocolate Stocking Stuffers: These thing always lay around my house until a weak moment arrives and I end up scarfing down loads and loads of crappy candy that I don't even like very much! Who needs it? Not me!
The Plan: I have asked hubby, MIL and my own Mom to leave the candy and junk out of my stocking this year. No chocolates, no Smartie tubes, no Chocolate marshmallow Santas. I know if makes it a little more difficult for the people who are filling my stockings (yes, I have more than one!) but I don't want that garbage and most of it doesn't even taste that great anyway. Also, COUNT POINTS!
So that's it for me ladies! what are you triggers and how do you plan to master them over the Holidays??
The Attitude: Ladies, you all know what I'm talking about here. The "It's the Holidays!! Time to indulge!" attitude. The same attitude that gets me into trouble at every single Holiday function. It's only Christmas once a year right? It's only Easter once a year right?? Well guess what?? It's only November 20th once a year too and I'm not indulging today. I'm staying perfectly OP so what's the big deal?
The Plan: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are NOT get out of jail free days. Any calories consumed on these days are just like any other calories eaten on any other day. Eat too much and I WILL feel awful, bloated, and just plain gross. They WILL make the scale go up. My plan is to treat these days like any other OP day. COUNT POINTS. Even though I'll be eating higher point foods and will surely go over my daily target, it's important to stay accountable. Seeing 4 chocolates written down on my journal may prevent me from going for Chocolates 5 through 10.
The Boxes of Chocolate: Honestly these things are like heaven to me. There's nothing better to me than a full box of just opened chocolates. There's so many wonderful chocolates to sample! Who can stop at just one?? It's honestly like a little box of heaven to me. The Christmas before I started WW (2005) I bought 2 boxes of chocolates for presents for Scott's family and ended up eating the WHOLE 2 boxes a few days before Christmas! I even had to unwrap one of them. Ok... both of them. That was painful to admit.
The Plan: Read the labels! Usually boxes of chocolates come with a description for each chocolate. Tells you exactly what they look like and what's inside. I've eaten enough boxes of chocolate to know which ones are my favorites so I'm going to look for that ONE and indulge in ONE chocolate. Just ONE. Granted this might add up to 3 or 4 chocolates over the course of a few days during the Holidays but it's better than eating half the box right??? Also if there are 2 chocolates that I really want to try, I'll ask hubby to split each one with me so I can get a taste of each.
The Hectic Schedule: means no time for activity or the gym. Lots of laying around on the couch chatting with family and watching movies. Lazy, Lazy, Lazy.
The Plan: This one took me a little while to figure out but now it's so obvious! We live about 25 mins from our gym so it's not so easy for us to just run in, workout and run home. It has to be planned out. During the Holidays, every hour is pretty much accounted for with Scott and I. Especially since my Mom is home for Christmas and I try to spend as much time with her as I can. But....MIL has a gym in her basement including a treadmill, a bike and a stepper so while everyone else is laying around on the couch watching TV, I can run downstairs for a little treadmill time and no one will miss me. It will give me more energy and make me feel much better about that Christmas day dessert. Also, COUNT POINTS.
The Dinner: This one has never really been a HUGE problem for me. But I do tend to go a little heavy on the gravy and a little too light on the veggies. And really, those veggies are coated in so much butter that they can hardly be called nutritious.
The Plan: Ask MIL if I can steal my veggies from the pot before the butter and salt gets added to them. That way I can avoid the (totally unnecessary) fat and calories but still fill up my plate with veggies. Also if I put these on my plate first, there will be way less room for stuffing and rolls etc. Also, COUNT POINTS.
The Dessert & Baked Goods: This one is always the absolute toughest for me. It's brutal. I LOVE chocolate plain and simple. Everything chocolate. Anything chocolate. It's all gold to me ladies. This is probably the one I struggle with the most.
The Plan: I need to limit myself before I even walk into MIL's house or SIL's house. I think 2 is more than enough. I will scout out all of the treats available and pick my top 2. Holidays are the time to indulge right? As long as we keep it in moderation. Also, COUNT POINTS.
The Candy & Chocolate Stocking Stuffers: These thing always lay around my house until a weak moment arrives and I end up scarfing down loads and loads of crappy candy that I don't even like very much! Who needs it? Not me!
The Plan: I have asked hubby, MIL and my own Mom to leave the candy and junk out of my stocking this year. No chocolates, no Smartie tubes, no Chocolate marshmallow Santas. I know if makes it a little more difficult for the people who are filling my stockings (yes, I have more than one!) but I don't want that garbage and most of it doesn't even taste that great anyway. Also, COUNT POINTS!
So that's it for me ladies! what are you triggers and how do you plan to master them over the Holidays??
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Weekend recap
My weekend went pretty well. I didn't do amazing but I wasn't as bad as I was on the long weekend last weekend so somewhere in between. But no happy medium here. I still made a few bad decisions that I really wish I hadn't. Like ordering spinach dip as an appetizer at Swiss Chalet? Or asking for an extra spoon when Scott ordered a Sundae for dessert (although he inhaled it so I really only had a couple bites), or maybe that happy meal I had for lunch in Saturday. It all adds up. Quickly. Once I had a few glasses of wine on Saturday night at the wedding we went to, there's was no stopping me! I polished off about a bottle and a half of red wine. Luckily there was no food to be seen, only a dance floor so I shook my booty all night long. We had a great time. All of our friends were there and there were a few people I haven't seen since high school so the compliments were flowing which is always nice! Thankfully I stayed away from my "I'm going to eat a whole pizza and wash it down with a bag of chips" mode that usually follows a few glasses of wine.
Sunday was a little rough. Ok, Sunday morning was very rough. I toast and an egg before hitting up our course that we are taking together. Somehow Scott and I talked each other into pizza for lunch (which really wasn't hard for me) I had 3 pieces of pizza and I was still full at supper time so I only had a Weight Watcher Bagel for supper around 7:00pm. Not a great nutritional day. By any means.
So I hopped on the scale today and I am up 0.5 lbs. I know exactly why so I'm not upset but I want to get my butt to the gym and sweat it off. We'll see how the week progresses. I'm definitely OP and I'm planning on getting to the gym tonight, Wed and Thurs for some intense ellipticalling. Nothing burns calories away like that baby. Oh an I've been meaning to ask you ladies, do you use your Activity points? I've never used them before and I'm really not planning on starting but I was just wondering what y'all do. I know some of you use them. How many APs would you get for let's say 45 mins on the elliptical? Burning around 400-450 calories. Just curious. Like I said, I don't plan on using them but I'm just curious.
That's it for me today. Nothing really exciting to report. Happy Tuesday!
Sunday was a little rough. Ok, Sunday morning was very rough. I toast and an egg before hitting up our course that we are taking together. Somehow Scott and I talked each other into pizza for lunch (which really wasn't hard for me) I had 3 pieces of pizza and I was still full at supper time so I only had a Weight Watcher Bagel for supper around 7:00pm. Not a great nutritional day. By any means.
So I hopped on the scale today and I am up 0.5 lbs. I know exactly why so I'm not upset but I want to get my butt to the gym and sweat it off. We'll see how the week progresses. I'm definitely OP and I'm planning on getting to the gym tonight, Wed and Thurs for some intense ellipticalling. Nothing burns calories away like that baby. Oh an I've been meaning to ask you ladies, do you use your Activity points? I've never used them before and I'm really not planning on starting but I was just wondering what y'all do. I know some of you use them. How many APs would you get for let's say 45 mins on the elliptical? Burning around 400-450 calories. Just curious. Like I said, I don't plan on using them but I'm just curious.
That's it for me today. Nothing really exciting to report. Happy Tuesday!
Friday, November 16, 2007
WI Results, NSV and Weekend Plan
I know I haven't been blogging much lately but work has actually been really busy this week (Imagine that? Work getting in the way of my blogging!) BUT my lack of blogging certainly does NOT mean that I fell off the wagon (as it totally has in the past). In fact I have been kicking butt this week trying to make up for last weekend's overindulgence. I actually sat down one morning this week and went through everything that I ate last weekend and Scott and I added it all up and it basically translated to me using about 70-75 bonus points last weekend. Can you even imagine??? Crazy. I guess you don't really see it all add up when you aren't writing everything down. That was my first mistake. The second mistake was the entire bottle of wine that I drank on Friday night plus the martini and 2 shots of Bailey's and the list just goes on and on from there ladies. Chips, chocolate, nachos, homemade bread. I'm guilty of it ALL!
But........
I rocked this week! I got to the gym Tues, Wed and Thurs and really pushed myself. Last night I had a great NSV. I hit the elliptical for 51 mins!! I could have even gone more but I was a little pressed for time and someone had the machine booked out after me. I burned over 500 calories!! Go me! It felt so great. (The last ten minutes I swear I just kept seeing Kelly's post from last week "Last Chance Workout" in my mind! So Thanks Kelly for the motivation) Of course I was sweating up a storm but the best part was that Scott was on the other end of the gym and he kept cheering me on (not out loud obviously) but he would catch my eye and mouth "You're doing great!!" Just gave me that extra boost I needed. My plan for the upcoming week is to get to the gym 4 times. Mon-Thurs and hit the cardio machines hard. I'm also thinking about taking a strength training class this week as I want to get into weight lifting as well and start toning this hot little bod of mine! Speaking of hot little bods...WI was today. I had weighed myself on Tuesday to see what kind of damage I had done over the long weekend and I was up 2 lbs. I wasn't even mad or frustrated. I think I even needed to see that gain to get my butt in gear. Sometimes I guess you just need to KNOW that you just can't eat your face off all weekend and NOT count points and expect to not gain weight. It just doesn't happen like that. There have been times when I have been able to get away with a big splurge weekend and see a maintain by Friday or even a small loss but this week wasn't one of them. I'm up 0.5lbs this morning but I wholeheartedly accept it and now I am bound and determined to rock this weekend and have a killer week at the gym. I know I can do it. How did everyone else make out at WI today? Don't forget to e-mail Randi or I your results for the Christmas Challenge. Also if you can e-mail us the results for each week so far so we can update the spreadsheet and make sure everyone is on track. Thanks Ladies!
This weekend I am going to be making some changes:
1. I'm carrying my journal with me everywhere and anything that goes in my mouth, goes down on the journal
2. Planning out all of my flex points in advance, right down to the last one
3. Sunday is going to be a completely OP day despite any possible hangover that I might induce on Saturday night.
My plan for this weekend (oh and I DO have a plan this weekend)
Friday night:
Dinner with my Scott, my brother and SIL and 21 month daughter, and my best friend Ryan. (girl Ryan) We are going to Swiss Chalet and I've already got my menu choice picked out and ready to order
Yet another Christmas Craft Fair but the one last weekend was small potatoes compared to this one. This is the one that the whole city waits for! I'm so excited!!
Saturday:
I have the house to myself all morning since Scott is going to go help a friend with siding his house so I haven't really decided what to do yet. Probably just putter around the house, do some cleaning and get ready for the wedding we have at 2:00. Good friends of ours are getting married so the whole gang is getting together and I can't wait! I'm going to get a bottle of wine to bring with me (Wedding is in a Hotel so a bunch of our friends got rooms) Wedding meals are usually pretty healthy, chicken and veggies sort of thing but I've already decided that I'm going to limit myself to one dessert. Some weddings have a dessert with dinner and then have wedding cake so I'm going to skip out on one. Won't decide which one until I get there. Whichever one looks more appetizing!
Sunday:
Completely OP day. We have a course to go to at 11:00 and then we are coming home and spending the afternoon putting up Christmas lights outside our house.
I can so do this. I can stay within my 35 bonus points. I need to get out of the habit of eating so much junk on the weekends! It's definitely hindering my weight loss efforts!
Hope everyone has a great weekend planned! What are you ladies up to anyway??
Don't forget to grab a "healthy version" of an old favorite Christmas baking recipe for a Recipe Exchange!!
PS Check out Candace's post from yesterday. She has some really great tips about how to lose over the Holidays!!
But........
I rocked this week! I got to the gym Tues, Wed and Thurs and really pushed myself. Last night I had a great NSV. I hit the elliptical for 51 mins!! I could have even gone more but I was a little pressed for time and someone had the machine booked out after me. I burned over 500 calories!! Go me! It felt so great. (The last ten minutes I swear I just kept seeing Kelly's post from last week "Last Chance Workout" in my mind! So Thanks Kelly for the motivation) Of course I was sweating up a storm but the best part was that Scott was on the other end of the gym and he kept cheering me on (not out loud obviously) but he would catch my eye and mouth "You're doing great!!" Just gave me that extra boost I needed. My plan for the upcoming week is to get to the gym 4 times. Mon-Thurs and hit the cardio machines hard. I'm also thinking about taking a strength training class this week as I want to get into weight lifting as well and start toning this hot little bod of mine! Speaking of hot little bods...WI was today. I had weighed myself on Tuesday to see what kind of damage I had done over the long weekend and I was up 2 lbs. I wasn't even mad or frustrated. I think I even needed to see that gain to get my butt in gear. Sometimes I guess you just need to KNOW that you just can't eat your face off all weekend and NOT count points and expect to not gain weight. It just doesn't happen like that. There have been times when I have been able to get away with a big splurge weekend and see a maintain by Friday or even a small loss but this week wasn't one of them. I'm up 0.5lbs this morning but I wholeheartedly accept it and now I am bound and determined to rock this weekend and have a killer week at the gym. I know I can do it. How did everyone else make out at WI today? Don't forget to e-mail Randi or I your results for the Christmas Challenge. Also if you can e-mail us the results for each week so far so we can update the spreadsheet and make sure everyone is on track. Thanks Ladies!
This weekend I am going to be making some changes:
1. I'm carrying my journal with me everywhere and anything that goes in my mouth, goes down on the journal
2. Planning out all of my flex points in advance, right down to the last one
3. Sunday is going to be a completely OP day despite any possible hangover that I might induce on Saturday night.
My plan for this weekend (oh and I DO have a plan this weekend)
Friday night:
Dinner with my Scott, my brother and SIL and 21 month daughter, and my best friend Ryan. (girl Ryan) We are going to Swiss Chalet and I've already got my menu choice picked out and ready to order
Yet another Christmas Craft Fair but the one last weekend was small potatoes compared to this one. This is the one that the whole city waits for! I'm so excited!!
Saturday:
I have the house to myself all morning since Scott is going to go help a friend with siding his house so I haven't really decided what to do yet. Probably just putter around the house, do some cleaning and get ready for the wedding we have at 2:00. Good friends of ours are getting married so the whole gang is getting together and I can't wait! I'm going to get a bottle of wine to bring with me (Wedding is in a Hotel so a bunch of our friends got rooms) Wedding meals are usually pretty healthy, chicken and veggies sort of thing but I've already decided that I'm going to limit myself to one dessert. Some weddings have a dessert with dinner and then have wedding cake so I'm going to skip out on one. Won't decide which one until I get there. Whichever one looks more appetizing!
Sunday:
Completely OP day. We have a course to go to at 11:00 and then we are coming home and spending the afternoon putting up Christmas lights outside our house.
I can so do this. I can stay within my 35 bonus points. I need to get out of the habit of eating so much junk on the weekends! It's definitely hindering my weight loss efforts!
Hope everyone has a great weekend planned! What are you ladies up to anyway??
Don't forget to grab a "healthy version" of an old favorite Christmas baking recipe for a Recipe Exchange!!
PS Check out Candace's post from yesterday. She has some really great tips about how to lose over the Holidays!!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Sorry Ladies
I apologize in advance but Blogger is being EXTREMELY difficult right now and it's not letting me post my spreadsheet. So instead of completely blowing my lid and throwing my computer out the window, I'm just going to list everyones results this week. I will make sure that we have all the updated info for next week.
Kelly -1lb
Adorav -1.6lbs
Tara +1.4lbs
Superjayman (definitely a loss)
Moody - maintain
Hazel - maintain
Christy -2.4lbs
Sheri -1.2lbs
Raquel -0.4lbs
Sonya +0.6lbs
Cory +0.5lbs
Candace +0.8lbs
Angie +0.8lbs
Carolyn -2lbs
Randi - maintain
Tammy +0.4lbs
Noelle -1.6lbs
I think Randi and I are going to have to do a complete overhaul on the spreadsheet this week so ladies here's your chance to fix all our errors! (Sorry!!) If you can e-mail myself or Randi your results for each week since the challenge began, we can make sure that everyone's stats are correct since we've passed the half way mark!!! I would also like to do a post on everyones progress so far!!! See how far we've all come and how much we have to go to get to our goals. You ladies are doing AMAZING!!! I can't believe how great the challenge has been. A HUGE thanks to everyone for joining and keeping it up.
I'd post more but I need to get away from the computer before I have a nervous breakdown so until tomorrow!!
Kelly -1lb
Adorav -1.6lbs
Tara +1.4lbs
Superjayman (definitely a loss)
Moody - maintain
Hazel - maintain
Christy -2.4lbs
Sheri -1.2lbs
Raquel -0.4lbs
Sonya +0.6lbs
Cory +0.5lbs
Candace +0.8lbs
Angie +0.8lbs
Carolyn -2lbs
Randi - maintain
Tammy +0.4lbs
Noelle -1.6lbs
I think Randi and I are going to have to do a complete overhaul on the spreadsheet this week so ladies here's your chance to fix all our errors! (Sorry!!) If you can e-mail myself or Randi your results for each week since the challenge began, we can make sure that everyone's stats are correct since we've passed the half way mark!!! I would also like to do a post on everyones progress so far!!! See how far we've all come and how much we have to go to get to our goals. You ladies are doing AMAZING!!! I can't believe how great the challenge has been. A HUGE thanks to everyone for joining and keeping it up.
I'd post more but I need to get away from the computer before I have a nervous breakdown so until tomorrow!!
Took a holiday
My weekend went pretty week. I took a little Holiday from blogging (I know, I was supposed to post the results of the Christmas Challenge yesterday, I promise it will be up there tonight!)I had a pretty great long weekend. I feel pretty good about my choices for the most part although I did stray from my plan a little bit, I tried to make fairly good choices.
Friday night we ended up meeting up with some friends and having a few drinks. I did go a little overboard and ended up polishing off a whole bottle of wine (Yellow Tail Merlot foe the Winos out there) and 1 Martini. I also had a piece of pizza and a few chips but we ended up going out dancing so hopefully I danced off those extra calories and then some. Had a great time though and isn't that what really matter??! (Ok.... I'm totally trying to justify eating the pizza, I felt guilty the next morning, I didn't need it but I had already had a few drinks by then and that pizza was looking mighty good!)
Saturday we hit up a local Christmas craft fair and I split a piece of fudge with Scott (which wasn't even good fudge! Don't you hate it when that happens?? I was looking forward to it and then it wasn't even good! It wasn't the usual "Fudge maker" that attends the local craft fairs but I took a chance and it just didn't pan out. Saturday night I did have a run in with some homemade nachos but that's what flex points are for right? They were soooo good though! Yum yum! Scott and I hit up Blockbuster on Saturday and have a movie night at home which was super nice.
Sunday I stayed pretty OP. We had my brother and his wife and my niece over for supper and Scott made chili and I made a loaf of homemade bread (I only had one piece with my supper! Yay me! I also had a few Mutigrain Tostitos to dip in my Chili, Boo me!) We had the Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Parfaits for dessert and they were absolutely amazing!!!!! WOW! The recipe is in this month's WW Magazine and it is SOOOO good! Scott and I hit up a movie on Sunday night. We wanted to go see American Gangster but we missed it so we went to 30 Days of Night with Josh Hartnett. I stared at my lap for half of the movie. Damn Vampires give me nightmares everytime, but does this stop me from going....no! My own darn fault.
Monday was a perfectly OP day even though it was a Holiday and being home all day gave me the urge to eat everything in sight. But I didn't! I stuck to it and got back on track. Although it would have been super easy since Scott was at work all day and I ended up getting up early to make muffins. This morning I kind of feel like I'll see a bit of a gain this week but I'm going to kick butt at the gym tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night and hopefully it'll be a good week. I'm going to jump on the scale tomorrow morning to see how I'm doing. That usually motivates me to get my butt in gear!
How was everyone's weekend?
I'll be posting tonight with the Christmas Challenge results.
Time for me to go catch up on everyone's blogs!!
Don't forget to get your recipes out for the Recipe Exchange!!!
Friday night we ended up meeting up with some friends and having a few drinks. I did go a little overboard and ended up polishing off a whole bottle of wine (Yellow Tail Merlot foe the Winos out there) and 1 Martini. I also had a piece of pizza and a few chips but we ended up going out dancing so hopefully I danced off those extra calories and then some. Had a great time though and isn't that what really matter??! (Ok.... I'm totally trying to justify eating the pizza, I felt guilty the next morning, I didn't need it but I had already had a few drinks by then and that pizza was looking mighty good!)
Saturday we hit up a local Christmas craft fair and I split a piece of fudge with Scott (which wasn't even good fudge! Don't you hate it when that happens?? I was looking forward to it and then it wasn't even good! It wasn't the usual "Fudge maker" that attends the local craft fairs but I took a chance and it just didn't pan out. Saturday night I did have a run in with some homemade nachos but that's what flex points are for right? They were soooo good though! Yum yum! Scott and I hit up Blockbuster on Saturday and have a movie night at home which was super nice.
Sunday I stayed pretty OP. We had my brother and his wife and my niece over for supper and Scott made chili and I made a loaf of homemade bread (I only had one piece with my supper! Yay me! I also had a few Mutigrain Tostitos to dip in my Chili, Boo me!) We had the Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Parfaits for dessert and they were absolutely amazing!!!!! WOW! The recipe is in this month's WW Magazine and it is SOOOO good! Scott and I hit up a movie on Sunday night. We wanted to go see American Gangster but we missed it so we went to 30 Days of Night with Josh Hartnett. I stared at my lap for half of the movie. Damn Vampires give me nightmares everytime, but does this stop me from going....no! My own darn fault.
Monday was a perfectly OP day even though it was a Holiday and being home all day gave me the urge to eat everything in sight. But I didn't! I stuck to it and got back on track. Although it would have been super easy since Scott was at work all day and I ended up getting up early to make muffins. This morning I kind of feel like I'll see a bit of a gain this week but I'm going to kick butt at the gym tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night and hopefully it'll be a good week. I'm going to jump on the scale tomorrow morning to see how I'm doing. That usually motivates me to get my butt in gear!
How was everyone's weekend?
I'll be posting tonight with the Christmas Challenge results.
Time for me to go catch up on everyone's blogs!!
Don't forget to get your recipes out for the Recipe Exchange!!!
Friday, November 9, 2007
Drumroll please........
-2 lbs!!!!
I had to get Scott out of bed to come and check and double check after I jumped on the scale this morning (honestly I was just really excited about the great loss and wanted someone to share it with!) What a great feeling. Do you want to know what the best part is? I deserve this loss, I did good last weekend saying no to some of my favorite trigger foods, I went to the gym and worked my butt for for 45 mins everyday Mon-Thurs, I ate great all week and got in lots of physical activity and was rarely found on the couch in front of the TV. I deserve this loss and that's what makes it so great. I know it's nice to see a loss when you're not expecting it or when you maybe went over in points but the scale is still being kind. But for me, the best losses, the ones that feel the greatest are the ones that I earn through portion control, saying no to high fat/calorie foods, through lots of time put in at the gym. Those ones feel great. I am now only 3 lbs away from my Christmas goal! So that means that I've shed 7 lbs since we started this challenge. Nice! which means I have 6 weeks to take off this last 3 lbs! Sweet! No time to slack though. Now is the time to really turn up the gym time and watch those daily points. Christmas is popping up everywhere, and with it comes chocolates, and baked goods, and gingerbread cookies. They seem to already be popping up everywhere so now more than ever is the time to really stay focused.
Last night I got off work and was tired and super cranky and tried to talk Scott out of the gym but thankfully he didn't let me and I ended up burning 400 cals on the elliptical! I felt great afterwards and then after that Scott and I spent another 2 hours grocery shopping and Christmas light shopping. Since it's our first winter in our new house, we have been searching for a good deal on Christmas lights. We decided to start off small this year since those darn things are expensive! We ended up getting white LED icicle lights for the house and I ordered a big wreath with a big red bow for the front door. Each year we'll add a little more but for this year, I think it should look great. Of course I'll have to take a picture and post it.
So my weekend plans....the long weekend is here! I really have to plan out my flex points this weekend because with an extra day off work, it's easy to go way overboard!
Friday night:
Shopping (doesn't it seem like I spent hours upon hours shopping?) I need a new pair of shoes/boots, Coffee at Java Moose (I like to treat myself to a little flavor shot on Friday nights, how lame am I?) Pretty low key night, we might grab a movie on the way home. I shouldn't have to use many flex unless I get a snack for the movie but I'll limit it to baked Doritos and maybe a 100 cal chocolate bar like Aero.
Saturday:
Christmas Craft Fair!! I've been looking forward to this one for weeks! There is this lady who makes her own fudge and she goes to every local craft show. Scott and I usually split a piece, last time we had the Turtle Fudge...OMG. So I will treat myself to that. I wonder how many points a half a piece of fudge is. Probably 3 or 4? They aren't huge pieces.
We might hit up a little skating after supper on Saturday as well and then we were hoping to go see American Gangster. I love Denzel Washington and I heard it was really good. Any of you ladies have a review for me?
Sunday:
Pretty low key, we have a course that we are doing together at 11:00 and then we are going to just do some things around the house (maybe put up the Christmas lights before the snow starts falling) and then Sunday night we are having my brother, his wife and my niece over for supper. Scott is making a huge pot of Chili and I'm making an attempt at homemade bread. I don't think my MIL could find the book so does anyone have a recipe for white homemade bread? I'm totally lost here. Points should stay pretty low as the Chili is low in points. I will limit myself to one piece of bread and for dessert I am going to make WW Chocolate Peanut Butter Parfaits. If any of you are WW Magazine subscribers, you'll find it in there this month. It looks yummy.
Monday:
Should be completely OP and by this day, I plan on having used all of my flex so it's back to my daily points. I think my best friend will be coming over for a little chick flick and scrapbooking action. Then Scott and I are going to visit freinds of ours who are doing major renos to their house so we are going to drive out to see how things are coming along.
That's it for my weekend. I find it helps so much for me to write out my weekend plans (especially plans that involve food) because I can see where I can and can't afford to use my flex points.
Anyway what do you guys have planned for this wonderful long weekend???
PS Randi mentioned on her blog about a Christmas recipe exchange for the Christmas Challengers (and of course anyone else who would like to contribute!) I think that is a great idea! Dust off your old cookbooks and start looking for your absolute favorite Christmas recipe! We'll give you more details in the next week or two, once everyone starts gearing up for Christmas and the Holiday season!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
The 100 Calorie pack to rule them all!
I can't even believe that I didn't know about these little goldmines! They are amazing! AND only 1 point? That is insane is it not?? I haven't tried the Strawberry but I've had the Cinnamon and Brown Sugar. They are honestly just like little cookies! Sweet and crunchy and totally fills the hunger void. These will certainly be a staple in my cupboard from now on! Plus, who couldn't use a little extra fibre right?? If you haven't tried them, DO IT NOW! :) A co-worker introduced them to me yesterday and also said they were great crumbled up in yogurt. What a great idea!
So I made out well on the Dinner-at-MIL front last night. I had a half of a piece of Lasagna which I counted to be about 5 points. A small Roll - 3pts and I filled my late up with Salad before I put anything else on it. So all in all I think I did good. I even went back and got another small piece of lasagna, put it on my plate and then sat down at the table. When I got there, I actually took a minute to think about it and I ended up getting rid of it. Go me! I did top off the night with about 1/2 cup of apple crisp but I loaded up with apples and only added a little crisp (I know the apples are still all sugary and stuff but I'm doing the best I can!) I counted that as 4 points. I hit the gym before going so I felt pretty good about my decisions AND I went shopping for a solid 2 hours after supper so all that walking around helped to work off some of that apple crisp!
Hubby just went all out and had 2 HUGE pieces of Lasagna, a roll, salad and about1.5 cups of Apple crisp. (Not that I was counting..... ok I totally was.) doesn't it make you feel even better about your choices knowing that he person next to you is making really bad ones? Maybe that's just the competitiveness in me but when I'm with someone who I know is trying to eat healthy or is on WW and they make a bad decision while I'm sitting there with my veggies and small portions. I always feel that extra encouragement. Anyone know what I mean? I bet Randi would. :)
I just found out it's my bosses birthday today so every is chipping in to get her a card/cake/small present. Ugh. I hate office birthdays. They are a nightmare to any points-counter. It's cake. Tomorrow is Weigh in. Do I even have a choice? I'm going to say No. None for me thanks. I'm going to say it. I should practice the words on my lunch hour. Because there have been WAY too many times that I've made up my mind to say No and then I get in the situation and I say.... Oh just a small piece. Just a little one. Oh...maybe a little bigger than that. Just a little bigger. Oh that's fine, I just want a taste. I can do this, I just have to remember that tomorrow is WI and feel GREAT! I'm really hoping to see a loss tomorrow. But cake is evil and is makes losses go away and stay away! I may have to report back later in the afternoon for moral support ladies. How do you get through these little functions? Any tips?
Is the weekend almost here?? Long weekend ladies! What are your plans?
PS...the WW Cheeseburger Casserole Melt thing was AWESOME! I'll have to post the recipe! So yummy. It's 5 pts a cup but really filling, I don't think you'd even want more than that!
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Get to know me!
Ok I've been tagged by a few lovely ladies now and it's about time I get to it.
Here's the Rules:
1-Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
2-Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird
3-Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
4- Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog
My random facts that you may or may not know about me:
1. I hate the thought of anyone touching or even coming anywhere near my belly button. I can't even stand it! Scott is constantly mocking me by sticking his finger in his belly button and it totally grosses me out!
2. I constantly have dreams about chewing too much gum or candy especially when I have something really important to tell someone. Usually it's a life or death kind of important and I can't talk because there is too much gum or candy in my mouth. It's the worst feeling ever! I have this dream at least once a month for probably the past couple years.
3. I am totally neurotic when it comes to making lists, grocery lists, things-to-do lists. Any list. If I make a spelling mistake or need to rearrange the items, I'll start the list over on a new piece of paper. I can't cross out anything or it drives me insane. Also I hate it when Scott adds things to the list. I always get him to tell me what to add and then I'll add it.
4. I can't wait to meet Scott as a father. I think it will be like meeting him for the first time again and falling in love with him all over again. I know he is going to be a great father. Now I'm wondering if too many of my things about me are actually about Scott. What can I say, I guess I am still in the Honeymoon phase (even though we've been married for over 3 years, isn't that stage only supposed to last for a year??) You ladies are right though, I do have an amazing husband. He tells me everyday how lucky he is but I really think I'm the one that lucked out.
5. I feel like I have to shave my legs every Thursday night. Even if I just shaved them Wednesday night. I like the feeling of freshly shaved legs on Friday. If I don't, it can ruin my whole Friday. (I didn't shave them last Thursday for the first time in well over a year and it bothered me constantly on Friday, I learned my lesson)
6. It really bothers me when there are dishes in the sink. I would never go to bed and leave them in there. I always feel like everything needs to be tidied up before I hit the hay. Just me being neurotic again I guess.
7. I have had a really rocky relationship with my Dad. There were times when I would go without talking to him for 2 years at a time. I don't think things will ever be great between us and he is not someone I think I could count on. I always envy my friends who are "Daddy's Girls". I can see how much their Dads adore them. But after years and years of heartache I've realized that it's better to have him in my life than not. He's made too many mistakes but at the end of the day, he's still my father and I just have to accept that. You play the hand your dealt right?
Well there you go. Now you now all about me!
My week is going GREAT! I feel like I'm totally on plan and I have gotten to the gym twice this week so far for 2 major sweatfests! It's funny that the elliptical never really makes me breath heavy but I sweat like you wouldn't believe after I've been on it for about 25 mins. Last night I did 40 mins on the elliptical and burned 400 cals! Nice! I also spent about 2 hours cleaning and cooking last night. I tried a new WW recipe. It was in an old WW recipe book that my Mom gave me. I think it's called Cheeseburger Melt or something. It's basically just lean hamburger, pasta, tomatoes, and cheese with a few other things thrown in there. We'll test er out today at lunch and if it's great, I'll post the recipe tomorrow.
That's it for me today. We are ghoing to MIL for supper tonight. I think Lasagna is on the menu. I wonder how many points Lasagna is....any ideas??? It's basically your run of the mill lasagna only with no cottage cheese. I'm going to watch portion size and hopefully there will be a salad as well and NO garlic bread (HUGE weakness of mine!) But I'm planning on another date with the elliptical before dinner so that should keep me in line!
How is everyone making out this week?
Here's the Rules:
1-Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
2-Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird
3-Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
4- Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog
My random facts that you may or may not know about me:
1. I hate the thought of anyone touching or even coming anywhere near my belly button. I can't even stand it! Scott is constantly mocking me by sticking his finger in his belly button and it totally grosses me out!
2. I constantly have dreams about chewing too much gum or candy especially when I have something really important to tell someone. Usually it's a life or death kind of important and I can't talk because there is too much gum or candy in my mouth. It's the worst feeling ever! I have this dream at least once a month for probably the past couple years.
3. I am totally neurotic when it comes to making lists, grocery lists, things-to-do lists. Any list. If I make a spelling mistake or need to rearrange the items, I'll start the list over on a new piece of paper. I can't cross out anything or it drives me insane. Also I hate it when Scott adds things to the list. I always get him to tell me what to add and then I'll add it.
4. I can't wait to meet Scott as a father. I think it will be like meeting him for the first time again and falling in love with him all over again. I know he is going to be a great father. Now I'm wondering if too many of my things about me are actually about Scott. What can I say, I guess I am still in the Honeymoon phase (even though we've been married for over 3 years, isn't that stage only supposed to last for a year??) You ladies are right though, I do have an amazing husband. He tells me everyday how lucky he is but I really think I'm the one that lucked out.
5. I feel like I have to shave my legs every Thursday night. Even if I just shaved them Wednesday night. I like the feeling of freshly shaved legs on Friday. If I don't, it can ruin my whole Friday. (I didn't shave them last Thursday for the first time in well over a year and it bothered me constantly on Friday, I learned my lesson)
6. It really bothers me when there are dishes in the sink. I would never go to bed and leave them in there. I always feel like everything needs to be tidied up before I hit the hay. Just me being neurotic again I guess.
7. I have had a really rocky relationship with my Dad. There were times when I would go without talking to him for 2 years at a time. I don't think things will ever be great between us and he is not someone I think I could count on. I always envy my friends who are "Daddy's Girls". I can see how much their Dads adore them. But after years and years of heartache I've realized that it's better to have him in my life than not. He's made too many mistakes but at the end of the day, he's still my father and I just have to accept that. You play the hand your dealt right?
Well there you go. Now you now all about me!
My week is going GREAT! I feel like I'm totally on plan and I have gotten to the gym twice this week so far for 2 major sweatfests! It's funny that the elliptical never really makes me breath heavy but I sweat like you wouldn't believe after I've been on it for about 25 mins. Last night I did 40 mins on the elliptical and burned 400 cals! Nice! I also spent about 2 hours cleaning and cooking last night. I tried a new WW recipe. It was in an old WW recipe book that my Mom gave me. I think it's called Cheeseburger Melt or something. It's basically just lean hamburger, pasta, tomatoes, and cheese with a few other things thrown in there. We'll test er out today at lunch and if it's great, I'll post the recipe tomorrow.
That's it for me today. We are ghoing to MIL for supper tonight. I think Lasagna is on the menu. I wonder how many points Lasagna is....any ideas??? It's basically your run of the mill lasagna only with no cottage cheese. I'm going to watch portion size and hopefully there will be a salad as well and NO garlic bread (HUGE weakness of mine!) But I'm planning on another date with the elliptical before dinner so that should keep me in line!
How is everyone making out this week?
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