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!

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!

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!!!

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??

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!

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!!

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!!

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!!!

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!

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!

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?

Just Randomness

So I couldn't help it and jumped on the scale this morning just to see how I was doing. I'm at the same I was on Friday (Last week's WI) Which is great because I still have 3 more days to crank out a nice little loss for this week! YAY! I did get to the gym yesterday for 40 mins of cardio which felt great even thought I had a super headache which went away and then came back as a migraine later in the evening. Anyone who's suffered from migraines knows how absolutely dreadful they are! I ended up falling asleep in the tub and then waking up to an even worse one. I was severely sick to my stomach and was sweating and cold and felt so awful, I couldn't stand any lights at all being on at all and I couldn't even talk on the phone to Scott because it hurt so much. Finally at 7:30 after I popped a few pills I curled up in my room with the lights off and woke up an hour later and it had pretty much subsided. I was still a little dizzy and felt weak but the horrible pain was pretty much gone. Scott was at work, thankfully. I love the guy like noobody's business but when I have a migraine, I don't want anyone near me. I don't want to talk to anyone and I don't want anyone touching me. Poor Scott always tries to take care of me and wants to help but it's better if I'm just alone. Luckily when he came home I was getting better and he comforted me for a good hour on the couch :)

On top of all this, I was supposed to be preparing for an interview I had today. It was one of those darn situational interviews so they punch out the really hard questions. I work for the Province of New Brunswick but I am a casual employee so even though I work full time, I'm not permanent and my contract is up on January 2 so hopefully I can squeeze into a permanent job before then or I'll at least be able to get my term extended. We'll see. I'm pretty optimistic.

I have been doing great this week OP. I'm determined to get in 4 sessions at the gym this week. Tonight I am planning on another 40 mins of cardio. Tomorrow Scott and I are trying out a Body Ball class that sounds really interesting and I've heard that it's quite hard and very good for the abs so I'll keep you updated on that one.

I'm really looking forward to the weekend as it's a long weekend! YAY! I'm also planning on making a few WW recipes this weekend as I may have some time alone in the kitchen this weekend. I've found that time in the kitchen is SO relaxing and it's a lot of fun for me. Plus it keeps me on my feet and away from the TV too. This weekend Scott and I are going to a Christmas Craft fair on Saturday (You can imagine how excited he is eh??) I offered to go with a friend instead but he objected and said he wanted to spend time with me and that he doesn't mind going. I don't know if he's going just because he knows how much I want to go or if years of me dragging him to these Crafty/girly events has actually grown on him and now he actually enjoys them!! Who knows. AND I dug out all my Christmas CDs so I thought I'd do a little Saturday morning baking complete with Christmas music in the background. Does it get any better than this??

7 weeks from today until Christmas!!! YAY!

Weekend Recap and my New Toy!

So this weekend has probably my best yet but I still feel like I could have done better
I made out good on Friday. I ended up winning 50/50 at work and took home $50 so I decided to take Scott out to supper on Friday and we hit up Swiss Chalet. I ordered the Santa Fe Chicken Sandwich with a baked potato for a side. YUM! Have any of you Canadian gals tried this? So good! We also had Chicken Spring rolls for an appetizer but they were supper small and mostly had veggies in them. We skipped on dessert and opted for a flavored coffee at Java Moose instead. We almost talked ourselves into getting a brownie to split but ended up making the right decision and just took the coffees. That was basically our Friday night, we spent a few hours shopping so I was on my feet all night. I did have a small run in with Baked Doritos at the end of the night but only 4 pts worth so no big deal there!

Saturday was a bit of a different story. We had our usual breakfast and then decided to save up as many points as possible for the birthday party we were going to. It was our Goddaughter's birthday and pizza and cake was on the menu. Luckily I offered to bring Caesar salad with me so I heaped that on my plate before adding any pizza and I ended up only eating 1.5 pieces of pizza (compared to Scott's 6 pieces!!) I also used fat free Caesar dressing and no one even noticed the difference! Then came the cake.......Randi was right....I couldn't resist. BUT I didn't take a huge piece and I shared it with Scott so we did alright. The real kicker came when we got home and we decided it would be an AWESOME idea to make Nachos for supper! Not the best idea right but that's what flex points are for!! They were darn good too!

Sunday was a bit of a challenge but I was determined to pull through and stay OP. First up we had a course that we are taking together and someone decided to bring Chocolate chip cookies for a snack (instead of the veggie tray we had last week!) I totally wanted one but declined (TWICE!) when they came around to me. YAY for me! THEN after the course I was meeting my friend in town for a day of shopping and forgot to grab something at home for lunch. I was surrounded by fast food restaurants and decided to just get a small chili from Wendy's. Filling AND low in points. Another YAY for me! THEN after supper (Tomato Sup and grilled cheese sandwiches, my FAV) Scott wanted me to come with him to the store to get milk so I hoped in the car (Fully decked out in Christmas pajama bottoms, crocs, and Scott's Old Navy sweater) and once we got there Scott started in with the treats. But since I wasn't going in looking as ridiculous as I did, I said None for me!! I totally wanted a Mars bar but opted for a Banana-Vanilla milkshake at home instead! Nice! I ended up being under in points yesterday because the shake filled me up so much!

How was your weekend??

Now, on to my toy. I inherited a bread maker yesterday from my MIL. I've always wanted to try to make homemade bread but have always been WAY too scared to. My Mom isn't a huge bread maker so it's not something she ever really taught me to do (that and she lives 12 hours away from me so when we get together, making bread isn't a high priority). How hard can it be when you have a machine that does it all for you right? So if any of you ladies have any yummy recipes, bring em on!! I invited my brother and his wife over for supper on Saturday. Scott's making a pot of chili and I'm making homemade bread AND the Chocolate Peanut Butter parfaits that you'll find in this month's WW magazine!! Mmmmm

PS I've also heard that bread is easy to mess up, and if anyone's going to mess it up, it would be me. So any tips or tricks you ladies have would be great!

WI Results and Weekend plans

I couldn't even believe it when I jumped on the scale this morning....I woke up absolutely dreading the idea of getting on the scale this morning but I knew I had to face the music. I have had less than a steller week and I need to own up to it. Actually my week wasn't TOO bad (with the exception of my Halloween treats) but last weekend was pretty rough. I probably used at least 70 bonus points or MORE. Damn Pizza Shack. Damn Halloween party. Who brought those homemade peanut butter balls anyway??

Anyway so I got up and jumped on the scale this morning and closed my eyes. I got hubby to look at the number for me because I couldn't bring myself to do it. Then he said it. I was down 0.5 from last week. I made him check and recheck just to make sure it wasn't some kind of fluke. What?? I'm DOWN 0.5??? I'm trying to think of an explanation but then it came to me. I gave blood yesterday and although it was my first time giving....They take about a pint of blood from you so I imagine that is what I can accredit my weight loss to. How much does a pint of blood weight I wonder? Hmm Just looked it up, apparently it's one pound. So they took one pound of blood from me yesterday. I'm sure it will slowly come back on but in the meantime, I'm going to get my butt in gear and wipe out this last 5 pounds.

Hope all you Friday Weighers had some success this morning! don't forget to send Randi your WI results for this week.

My weekend plans are actually pretty laid back this week. It seems like this is the first weekend in a long time where were weren't booked up for every minute of the entire weekend. Tonight we are going to the gym after work (have to make up for missing yesterday) then we are hitting up Wendy's for supper (Suggestions ladies???) and then we are going to the mall to start a little Christmas shopping and hopefully get some lights for the outside of our house. I can't figure out what to go with but hopefully I'll get inspired tonight.

Saturday we have our Goddaughter's 2nd Birthday party. It's at 3:00 and I heard that pizza is on the menu and I offered to bring Caesar Salad. My plan for Saturday is to eat a nice filling lunch around 1:00 and hopefully just have a little Caesar salad at the party (of cours eI'm bringing light caesar dressing to go tiwht it!). I should have lots of flex points left over so I might take Randi's advice and have a half a piece of cake or I might just nibble off Scott's plate. Birthday cake is a hard one. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not even worth the points so I'll have to wait and see. If I see it getting rave reviews than I may indugle in a half a piece, I'll let Scott be my test monkey on that one. He could probably eat half the cake and still end up losing a pound...men!

Saturday after the party, Scott and I are going skating in the evening and then out for a hot chocolate and then heading home with a movie in hand. Kind of like a little date night. I love those nights. It's supposed to be miserable here too since we are getting the tail end of Hurricane Noel (which will be a tropical storm when it hits us) so it will be nice to get cozied up on the couch with a good movie.

Sunday we are going to a flea market in the afternoon and after that we are both free game so we'll probably get some things done around the house and I'd like to try out a new recipe for supper so if you've tried anything spectacular lately, let me know!

Have a great weekend ladies! (Why do I always feel like Bob Barker when I call you ladies??)

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween last night! How did everyone do with sticking to their plan and staying away from the candy? I definitely could have done better but all in all I wasn't that bad. Luckily, the Aero Car and Smarties were all only one point a piece and I did cut down on my supper to compensate for the treats so . Not too bad. I'm going to work it off at the gym today. This week has been so hectic and I have to admit (even though I don't want to) that I have been failing miserably at the Exercise Challenge with Kelly and Sarah. I've only gotten to the gym ONCE this week! Monday Scott didn't have his gym clothes so we skipped the gym (I know, I Should have went, afterall I did have MY clothes!)

We went on Tuesday and I tried out a new machine! The Stair master. I did it for about 12 mins and wow! That thing really works out your legs. I'm going to try it out tonight for a little longer and then hit up the elliptical again. What a great workout. AND my new Weight Watchers Magazine came in the mail yesterday so I can read that while I'm doing the elliptical, it looks like it has tons of recipes in it for the Holidays! Can't wait!

Last night was a bit of a mad dash since Scott had a meeting until 5:00 and we wanted to get home for the Trick or Treaters. All in all we got about 40 kids. They were so adorable! We would have had candy leftover if Scott and I didn't help ourselves throughout the night! I had about 5 mini chocolate bars but to my defense, I did pick the lowest point ones! We bought a variety pack that had Smarties, Aero, Coffee Crisp and KitKat. The last two were 2 points each so I gave away all of those ones first! Then I had 2 boxes of smarties, 1 Aero and 1 Coffee Crisp. So about 5 points in all which wasn't too bad and I had 6 points leftover after supper just for this reason so I'd say I broke even throughout the night. Although I still feel like I cheated and I can feel a a gain coming for tomorrow morning. Last weekend was NOT good and I can still feel the effects of it in the way my clothes are fitting. Ugh.

This weekend is it. I'm NOT going over my flex points even if it kills me. We have a pretty low key weekend planned. A little Christmas shopping on Friday night and then our Goddaughter's 2nd birthday on Saturday (NO cake for me!) Saturday night we are going skating and Sunday we are going to the local Flea Market and just spending the rest of the day catching up on things around the house and relaxing. 35 flex points is MORE than enough for this weekend! I can do this! It's been an absolute roller coaster when it comes to these flex points and for the most part, I've been going WAY over. Not this weekend. I can so do this!

What are your weekend plans??

Update later in the day.....

I just went to give Blood on my lunch hour and apparently I can't do any physical exercise for at least 8 hours!!!! How frustrating is that? I REALLY wanted to hit up the gym after work! Grrr. Guess I'll be a Friday night gymer this week. I need to get in a least 1 more and then it's hours upon hours of raking this weekend to get our lawn in shape!