Thursday, January 31, 2008

I rock!

Today is one of those days that I just feel great about myself. I'm making great choices, I'm exercising regularly, the sun is shining, could it get any better?
Yesterday I hit up the gym after work for a KILLER Body Ball class. My best friend who just joined my gym came with me for the first time. I don't know if the girl has ever done any strength training in her life and I had to talk her into the class since she was a little apprehensive. The class usually isn't too bad and you can use small weights to make it less intense. I saw the instructor in the changing room and she mentioned that she had some new stuff and wanted my feedback after the class. Great right? Well not so great for my best friend who's never done weight training before. The class was brutal. The new stuff was pretty intense. Really good workout but basically we were working some muscles to the point where even my muscles were about to give out, and I've been taking the class for a few months. Needless to say, this morning I got a few nasty e-mails from said friend, cursing my name!

Today I hit the gym at lunch for 40 mins of cardio. 20 mins on the bike, 10 on elliptical and 10 on the treadmill. Nothing too intense but I feel great this afternoon!
Last night I made an attempt at cooking some Tilapia. I took 2 recipes and basically combined them (Thanks Kate!) I had a small bite last night and it was really good. Looking forward to having it for supper tonight with some rice and veggies.

A HUGE shout out to Angie too who had her first official run with the Running Room yesterday! I'm so proud of her. I'd second guess myself the whole way but she just dove right in and did amazing!

I'm so proud that I am following through with my New Year's Resolution to spend more time in the kitchen, I even learned that I LOVE cooking! It's so much fun! Especially on a Saturday moring or a Sunday afternoon. So far I have made:

ESBM Meatloaf (YUM!)
ESBM Tuna Casserole
WW Cheeseburger Casserole (Hubby's favorite)
WW 0 Point Italian Soup
WW 1 point Banana Bran Muffins
Cambpbell's Rice & chicken casserole
Breaded Parmesean Tilapia
Maple Glazed Ham

I've come a long way form just Tacos and Basil Pesto pasta. (Basically the only two things we ate at home pre New Year's resolution) This week I am making Amy's whole wheat pizza dough on Saturday and on Sunday I'm devoting a few hours to make up some lunch stuff for the week; ESBM meatloaf (at the request of my hubby) and the Basic 0 point WW Cabbage soup. I wasn't crazy about the Italian one but this one seems pretty decent.

Got any recipes you think I need to try? Let me know!

SFL for those of you who asked is a super strict meal plan. I thought it was more nationwide but apprently not. Basically the first 2 weeks are detox. It's very high protein. Breakfast for the first 2 weeks is a lot of cottage cheese and fruit or yogurt and fruit or Kashi Cereal. Lunch is 4 oz of meat (protein), tons of veggies and a pile of rice or pasta. To the point where you don't think you can't possibly eat another bite of food. But yuo have to eat it ALL. The first few days of this is brutal but after about a week, I swear you are hungry again in an hour. Your metabolism gets a HUGE boost. Supper is a protein and a ton of veggies. Snacks are fruit or almonds. I can't remember exactly but I may dig out my old sheets. It's crazy strict but if you follow it, you will lose weight, and a lot of it. After the first 2 weeks, it lets up a little more but still not something I could live on. Definitely not as flexible as WW. I did it for 3 weeks and lost like 13 lbs. 13 lbs!!! 7 in the first week. And after I went back to WW, I didn't gain it all back either. I just have to find the motivation to do it again is all. I love the freedom of WW! I've been flipping back and forth so that proves that I'm not ready yet. Maybe a few weeks before my wedding in April. Take off a few lbs before I have to walk down the isle. Hmmm... What do you ladies think?
I have to pick weeks though that I don't have any plans with the friends...or else wine seems to wiggle it's way in somehow.....

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

My week so far....and a mish mash

Tuesday was a bit of up and down. I made it to the gym at lunch for my 50 min Yoga class at lunch. Felt great about that. I'm really starting to love Yoga. My instructor is fantastic and I really think that is part of the reason I love it so much. I've always been so nervous to try Yoga but now I can't imagine missing my class!
I had my first physio appt last night after work (I've been having a lot of problems with a joint in my back for the past few months) So I got 2 treatments for that and it was like being on a massage table, loved it. Hopefully it will help to workout the pain. (Side bar - my physio therapist did an assessment on me last night and said I was "extremely flexible" Yay! I think it's the yoga!)
Last night I didn't get home until about 9:00pm but since I had promised myself I'd get in some cardio, I threw on my workout kicks and popped in Billy Blanks. About 15-20 mins in, my DVD player crapped out on me. Kept freezing. Nothing like cutting you off just when you're getting into it. Frig.
Today I'm heading to the gym after work for 20 mins of cardio and then a 45 min Body Ball class. I think I need to be getting in more cardio. Before Christmas I was doing all cardio and I was losing much more weight. I know strength training is super important but I seem to have slacked on my cardio to fit in the strength training. Not a good idea. The scale isn't moving much (most likely due to my weekend indulgence). I've even been toying with the idea of diggin out my old SFL (Simply For Life) meal plan and giving it a try for a few weeks. Has anyone else tried SFL? I don't know how nationwide it is. I tried it back in May and lost quite a bit of weight. Not something I could live on forever but maybe it's what I need to get a jump start. I'm still carrying around 4 lbs from Christmas! The first 2 weeks of the plan are just so strict! The first few days are super hard too. What do you ladies think?

Thanks Amy for the pizza dough recipe, I'll be trying it out this weekend!

Also, for the first time ever, I bought fish at the grocery store! I've never cooked fish before in my life and I bought a big portion of Talapia. Anyone have any recipes? I'm completely oblivious!

and Thanks girls for the motivatin after such an awful weekend (which Randi thinks was not-so-awful) It's just what I needed anyway!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

A Not-so-great weekend

Ugh. I've been dreading this post but it's time to come clean right? I can't put it off any longer!

Friday night with the girls was a blast but after 4 Margaritas, a glass of red wine, too many multigrain tostitos to count, guacamole and lemon/dill chip dip....I felt awful on Saturday morning. On top of all that, I had to go and give a presentation for work on Saturday afternoon. I started out great and had my usual breaky of All Bran, milk, & V8 juice. By the time I got out of bed and on the road, I didn't even have time for lunch. Of course lunch was provided at the presentation so I grabbed a turkey sandwich and a marshmallow square. That didn't fill me up for long and hubby and I had fajitas for dinner which really weren't too bad. Decent and point friendly. Then came the movies........It's going to be hard to type this one. I had that awful "I already messed up, may as well go all the way" mentality. 1 Mars Bar about 10 Nachos and Cheese, about 20 giant swedish berries and 1 large diet coke later.....I REALLY felt awful. Seriously I thought I was going to be sick.

Did that stop me on Sunday???

Again, morning started out great. Regular breakfast and a tuna sandwich for lunch. Doing good...until the dreaded birthday party for my niece. What are they serving? Pizza! My ultimate trigger food. 2 slices later and a large portion of ceasar salad, I felt stuffed and bloated. Did that keep me away from the birthday cake? NO!
Wow when I type it all out, it sounds so disastrous doesn't it? But when you span it out over 3 days, it's so easy to justify isn't it? I knew I did bad and I was anxiously awaiting Monday morning so I could start the week fresh again.
On a bright note, after coming home from the birthday party around 7:00 on Sunday, I decided I felt too full and I couldn't wait until Monday to do something about it so I threw in Billy Blanks Tae Bo for a good 40 min workout. I loved it and it was over before I knew it. Hubby did it with me and we were both sweating up a storm by the end of it!
So yesterday I was back on track and feeling much better. Except for the awful Root Canal I had to get first thing yesterday morning in the middle of a blizzard. On top of that, the anesthetic kept wearing off so I was in excruciating pain. She couldn't finish it and had to refer me to a specialist. There was one part of the nerve that would not freeze, she even put the needle right in the nerve but it still didn't help. Tears were literally rolling down my face. At least my dentist is super nice and she felt awful about the pain. So I have to go a specialist to get it completed. NOT looking forward to that let me tell you. so I left work early yesterday since I couldn't concentrate for more than 10 seconds. The pain was ridiculous and lasted pretty much until supper time. So I didn't eat a thing until around 5:00pm. Nothing. You know the pain is bad when I miss a meal! I haven't missed a meal since like High School when I had the flu!
Anyway so I didn't get to the gym yesterday either which I feel awful about. Today I have physio after work for some trouble I'm having with my back so I'm heading to the gym at lunch for 40 mins cardio. I dont' want to fall behind on my exercise so I'm hoping to throw in my tae bo video some night this week and catch up.
How was eveyones weekend? Hope you all stayed OP unlike myself.

Friday, January 25, 2008

It's Friday!

It's Friday! I feel amazing and my jeans seriously look 10 times better than they did last week (a little bit of muffin top action going on last week) The girls are heading over tonight for some Margarita's and munchies. I ended up making a low fat lemon and dill dip and I bought low fat crackers and Multigrain Tostitos. I also made a guacamole which is amazing but I'll only try a few bites since it isn't the greatest for you. Who would think that an avocado has so much fat in it? I made it with low fat sour cream but still...not so low in points.

A friend at work gave me this quick, 5 min recipe and seriously, for 5 mins worth of work, you won't believe how yummy they are. I made a little batch last night during a commercial break and threw them in the fridge overnight. Try it!! (but only if you have the points!) YUMMM!

1-1.5 oz semi sweet chocolate chips (I used about 1.2oz.....plenty)
1 Tbsp of Peanut butter (I used reduced fat stuff)
1 Cup of All bran flakes

Melt PB and chips in microwave until smooth, add in All Bran and mix. Drop onto a plate or cookie sheet with a teaspoon and throw into the fridge over night. Voila. Seriously, you're not going to get over how yummy they are. AND you get 2 for 1 point. (each batch makes 12 "cookies" so they aren't huge but definitely satisfies the junk craving) I bet the ones I made are actually lower in points though since I used low fat PB. 1 Cup of All Bran is only 1 point. 1 Tbsp of low fat PB is 2 pts and then you just have to count the chocolate chips. Hmmmm......

So yesterday was my 5th time to the gym this week!! I think this may be the first week I've gone 5 times. I'm also planning on doing my new Billy Blanks DVD this weekend (I bought into the Tae Bo thing) A friend of mine has one and she said she noticed a huge difference in her butt after just a few weeks. Who couldn't use a firmer butt....so off I go. I'll let you know just how torturous it is on Monday.

Tomorrow is pretty low key. I have to go into work for a few hours to give a presentation at a local Nursing Home. Lots of food but I'm planning on eating lunch before I go. Tomorrow night I'm hoping to hit up "Cloverfield" with hubby. Heard it was great and I love those kinds of movies.

Sunday is my niece's 2nd birthday bash so we are quite excited for that. It's going to be a pizza party so I think I'll save some points and have 1 piece and then bring a salad or something with me to have on the side. I'm usually out of flex points by Sunday so I'll have a low point breaky and lunch to accommodate. Usually 1 piece of pizza is like 6 points right? I can factor that in no problem. The only worry I have is tonight since the girls are heading over and who knows what they will bring with them. I think the problem we usually have is that we all sit around the table and munch and gab, maybe this time I'll leave the food in the dining room and make everyone sit in the living room!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Gyming it up & feeling great!

So I've been to the gym 4 times so far this week and I'm planning on going today at lunch as well for a 40 min cardio session. I feel great! Although I had to miss my strength training class last night due to mandatory bridesmaid dress shopping. So I went at lunch instead and jumped on the bike/elliptical for 40 mins.

Bridesmaid dress shopping was actually pretty fun last night and guess what? HUGE NSV! I was the smallest bridesmaid out of 5! How often does that happen? Those dresses do tend to run small though so I think everyone was a size larger than they thought. I was seriously having anxiety about the dress I ordered for a friend's wedding in April. I ordered a 10 but I was getting a little weary about whether or not I'd be able to squeeze into it. Well last night I grabbed a few 12s and a few 10s and set off to the changing room with the feeling of dread. You that feeling - "I'll break the zipper getting into it if I have to, but I'm not going up another size" kind of feeling. (Just goes to show you how obsessed we women are with sizes....thus the reason for vanity sizing!) Well I started out with a 12, just in case. Slipped it on and......what?? It's too big?? Way too big actually! Look at all this room!

Dare I try on the 10? Hmmmm

Ok Here I go. It fits!!!! Fits great actually. Even a little loose up top but through the waist and hips...perfect!! Huge sigh of relief at this point! Not only is my 10 going to fit me in my April wedding but I might actually have to get it taken in a little! Ok the nightmares of not fitting into my dress can stop now. Please!

I'm having one of those "I feel super fit and great" days and I'm loving it. Got a little extra swing in my hips. You ladies know what I'm talking about. It's days like this that I don't even care about the number on the scale, I care only about how great I feel and how appreciative I am to myself for how far I've come and for all that I have accomplished. I can honestly say that I am proud of myself and happy with who I am. Look how great I've done over the past 2 years? I've turned my life around, I've made so many wonderful changes and through all of those, I've really gotten to see my own strength, what I can accomplish, and just how wonderful I am. I hope this feeling in contagious because I want all of you ladies to take a step back, see how far you've come and appreciate yourself.

Self help book anyone??

Have a great day!!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Weigh in...

Wasn't as great as I had expected. In fact it was downright disappointing. But a loss is a loss right? I wasn't too discouraged. I was hoping to see a nice loss but after all the wine on Saturday night, I guess I should have known better.
So what did the scale have to say??
Down 1 lb
But that is one pound that I don't have to carry around with me this week right? There are a few reasons why I don't think I saw as much of a loss as I was anticipating.
1. I've been doing a lot of strength training in the last 2 weeks. New to me but apparently muscle weighs more than fat or so they say. So hopefully I've gained some muscle along the way.
2. Wine on Saturday. Wine Wine Wine. Sigh.
3. TOM showed up just after weigh in.
4. I've been saving too many points for supper and after supper snacks. I need to be eating more points during the day
So there you have it. I'm really not too worried about it and I'm totally working towards a nice big juicy loss next week.
Not much going on this week. Work is crazy busy and I have lots of meetings going on. I'm getting to the gym as much as possible. So far I've gone 3 times this week.
Monday was 15 min elliptical warmup and then 45 min Body Sculpt Class
Today was a 50 min yoga class at lunch and then 45 min cardio workout after work.

I'm hoping to get to the gym tomorrow but it's once again time to go shopping for bridesmaid dresses so that might tie me up after work. Maybe I can run down to the gym on my lunch hour though. Hmmmm......

Took a few pics of my time in the kitchen on Saturday.... Although I didn't take a picture of the wicked meatloaf I made last week. Sooo yummy.


1 Point WW Banana Bran Chocolate Chip Muffins! Mmmmmm


0 point WW Italian Soup....Not 100% crazy over it but not too bad

Last but not least...Tuna Casserole. Yumm!

Oh I need ideas ladies! I'm having a few girls over for a bite on Friday night before a movie. What in the world am I going to make? I need something easy but low in points as I want to make sure I track everything. Any ideas? Nothing fancy...just some munchies and finger foods maybe??

Monday, January 21, 2008

A Great Weekend!

I passed up SO many temptations this weekend!

Friday night is usually homemade pizza night but I decided to skip the pizza and save up my flex points for a few glasses of wine on Saturday. We had a new recipe instead. Meatloaf from the ESBM girls (which as REALLY yummy) with rice and veggies. We ended up staying in on Friday and rented a movie (Good Luck Chuck....funny!) so I did have about 6 points worth of chocolate on Friday but I counted it and instead of having nachos like I wanted, I settled for a 100 calorie bag of popcorn. Sweet.

Saturday was good. I spent the whole morning cooking. I made 1 point Banana Bran Muffins, Tuna Casserole, and 0 point Weight Watchers soup. I stuck within my points and even had about 10 pts leftover before I went out. So on our way out, Scott and I stopped at Wendy's, instead of getting a big greasy burger, I got a grilled chicken snack wrap. Hit the spot and was only 5 points. So we got picked up in a SUV limo which was sweet and it took us to the hotel that friends of ours were staying at. When we got there someone had some super greasy popcorn and I didn't even touch it, even though by this time, the snack wrap was wearing off and I was hungry! When we got to the pub, a few girls and I ordered some Nachos....not the best things to order but there was 3 of us and the plate was pretty small. I counted all the points too. The rest of the night I stayed away from food and even had to convince my hubby that stopping for pizza on the way home was NOT a good idea. When we finally got home (not our home, we stayed in town at Scott's parents) Scott dished out a bowl of ice cream and I had 2 pieces of toast. Then we called it a night. So over all, I think It did pretty well. I ended up drinking a bottle of wine plus 1 glass. Plus I spent a solid 3 hours dancing my butt off so I think I maye have earned a few activity points!

Sunday was a little harder....that awful I'm slightly hungover and all I can think about is eating greasy food feeling stuck with me most of the day. But I had toast for breakfast and a turkey breast wrap from Subway for lunch. I had a bridal show to go to so I was there all afternoon. Scott picked me up close to supper and asked me about 6 times if I was SURE I didn't want fish and chips from Deluxe. It took all I had to say no 6 times! We ended up just heading home and having tuna noodle casserole (ESBM girls again) It was yummy AND low in points! Score.

So that was my weekend. Oh there was a slight run in with a cinnamon roll last night but I had some points left over and the nutritional value was on the package so I didn't stress too much about it. Counted it and moved on. Could have done without it though....

So I'm wondering how Christy and Sonya made out this weekend. My first OP weekend in a while. 7 days under my belt now!

Friday, January 18, 2008

Days 3 & 4

4 days under my belt and I am feeling pretty fantastic. 4 days completely OP. 4 days of eating healthy and counting points. 4 days of exercise and determination.

I secretly weighed in this morning and I am down 2.5 lbs from Monday. I'm sure most of it was water retention but hey, 2.5 lbs is 2.5 lbs. I won't count my official weigh in until Monday when I weigh in at the gym. So hopefully that 2.5 lbs may even become 3 lbs by Monday. Although I'm going in with no expectations since tomorrow night may be a night filled with wine so I'm really not sure if that's going to throw me off for a few days. (now throw ME off, but throw my weight off) There's no stopping me now. On Day 25, I've decided to treat myself. Haven't decided on what yet but most likely a new pair of runners or a new gym outfit.

My exercise this week has been great but I'm hoping to step it up a little next week. This week:
Monday: 15 min elliptical warm up & 45 min Body Sculpt Class
Tuesday: 50 min Yoga class
Wednesday: 15 mins elliptical warmup & 45 min Body Ball Class
Thursday: 15 min on treadmill and bike & 40 mins on elliptical

I'm taking a day away from the gym tonight but tomorrow night will be filled with tons of dancing since we are going to a local pub that has a great band playing tomorrow night.

This week a friend at work brought in a cookbook for me to browse through. It's call Crazy Plates and it's by the same girls who wrote the ESBM book. I made the meatloaf last night and it is SO good. Scott's been asking me to make meatloaf for him for seriously about 3 years but I've never made it before so I just kept putting it off. I only tried a small bite since I only had 0.5 pt left but Scott had a whole piece and said it was excellent. I'm forgoing my usually Friday night homemade pizza tonight since I'm saving up my flex points for wine tomorrow so I thought I'd make it for tonight for dinner. Anyone else have a meatloaf crazed hubby at home - e-mail me and I'll give you the recipe. So good.

Other than than my night out tomorrow night, this weekend it pretty ow key. tonight we are going to either go to a movie or rent Good Luck Chuck. Sunday I have a bridal show to go to for the whole afternoon.

Congrats to Christy and Sonya who are kicking butt this week!! You girls are great motivation!

Randi also asked a great question: If I do go off plan for one day...should I just not count that day or do I start back at 0? Any suggestions? (Although there's NO way I'm falling off the wagon) I'm thinking that I should go back to 0. Gives me more motivation to stay OP!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Day # 2 ...Clean as a whistle!

2 fantastic OP days under my belt and already I can feel the momentum building. Everyday on plan brings less cravings for chocolate, more energy, more confidence, and just generally more satisfaction and pride. I'm not going back. I feel too great now. How could I forget how great it feels to be OP? Why would I ever want it any other way?

Congrats to Christy and Sonya who are counting away the OP days with me. I honestly thought about having a snack last night around 9:00pm (which is past my promised 8:00pm cut off) even though I didn't have any points left but then I thought..."What in the world would I tell Christy and Sonya tomorrow??" So I grabbed a big glass of water and sipped away while watching Biggest Loser. Counting the OP days has really helped too. I'm already thinking that once I get to 25 days, I might reward myself with a new pair of shoes, or a new purse, or the new pair of jeans I've been wanting.

I didn't get to the gym twice yesterday like I was planning but I did make it to Yoga class and it was a hard one! My arms were killing me afterward. Does anyone else find the downward dog "resting" pose to be pretty intense on the arm muscles? Maybe it will get easier in time since this was only my fourth class. I almost had to break it once because I thought my arms would give out but I held on long enough for her to change poses. It was rough though.

Tonight is Body Ball class so I am looking forward to that. Although last Wednesday they switched the instructor and I found it a little too easy. Hopefully we have the old one back tonight.

I really think that weighing in on Mondays is going to have a good effect on my weekend choices. I used to weigh in on Fridays so if I over indulged on the weekend I always had the mentality "well I have a whole week to take it back off so why not have that extra piece of carrot cake?" but I can't use that excuse anymore since I will be weighing in on Mondays at the gym for the challenge I joined. The next few weekends are going to be a little rough. This weekend we are going out for drinks with friends for a 30th birthday party. Escalade limo rental and all. It's been a while since I've been out with friends and had a few glasses of wine so this weekend I'm going to save 30 of my flex points for wine. Sounds awful right? But I love wine. And most of the time, after 2 glasses, I want 2 more. Especially when I'm out with my best friends. So if I know I'm going to probably polish off a bottle of wine, I should just plan for it right? Does anyone know how many points a bottle of red wine is? Not a flattering question eh?

That's it for me today. I'm off to the gym!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Day 1

Hi. My name is Carolyn. I'm a foodaholic/junkaholic/chocoholic and I've been clean for 1 Day.

Now that I got that over with.....

Day 1 was great. I think I really got back to the basics. Drank a massive amount of water, ate tons of fruits and veggies and stopped eating by 8:00pm (something I kind of got away from over the Holidays) I'm excited about being on plan again. It feels like it's almost been a hassle to count points lately especially over the Holidays, but I'm excited again and anxious to follow the plan.

Yesterday I also signed up and got measured for the "Get UnStuffed" challenge at my gym. I even had to weigh in. I wasn't suprised because I weighed myself yesterday morning. Although the number at the gym was abour 3 lbs heavier than at home. Time difference I guess. When I weigh in at home, it's first thing in the morning, sans clothes. At the gym if was around supper time and after Id drank about a litre of water (I totally wasn't trying to pull a Neil here). It's a 10 week challenge and you get weighed every week and you have to record your cardio/strength exercise. You get points for each. At the end of 10 weeks you also get measured so I will be anxious to see if I lose any inches.

I also hit up the gym yesterday for 10 mins warm up on the elliptical and then a 45 min Body Sculpt strength training class. I'm not as sore today as I was last Tuesday but I can't figure out if its because my muscles are getting used to being worked or if the class wasn't as hard as last week. I'll keep it up though. Today is Yoga at lunch and cardio after work. Week # 2 of hitting the gym twice in one day!

Christy & Sonya...how you ladies holding up??

Monday, January 14, 2008

A Great OP weekend......

is exactly what DIDN'T happen this weekend.

I think I've reached that point ladies. The point where you just cant go on anymore. The point where the number on the scale literally horrifies you and makes you want to cry. The point where the thought of gaining even one more pound is enough to induce temporary insanity.

I've had enough. Seriously enough. I can't spend one more day in my current out of control-I can eat what I want-who cares if I gain a few pounds state. The Holidays are over! Seriously, it's January 14th. Get over it!

So today is my day one. My first day of rededicating myself to Weight Watchers. Every point will be calculated, journalled and accounted for. Every meal will be balanced. Everyday will include at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies. The gym will see me walking in the door at least 4 times a week but I'm really aiming for 5. Water will always be within arms reach. I can do this. I need to do this.

My motivation:
1. The size 10 maid of honor dress I ordered for my friends wedding in 14 weeks.
2. The bridesmaid dress I have to order next month for another friend's wedding.
3. The unworn size 7 pants hanging in my closet with the tags on.
4. The "Get Unstuffed" challenge at my gym that I signed up for this morning.
5. The bikini I plan to buy this weekend.
6. Our trip to New York City in May.
7. The fact that my size 9 pants feel a little snug this morning.
8. The showers/bachelorettes coming up for previously mentioned weddings
9. August trip to PEI where Scott is in a wedding. He's going to be in a tux, I have to look great too!
10. And finally.....because I just hate feeling huge and out of control.

So there we have it. Time to get serious. I'm starting from scratch. Everything I "thought" I knew the points for will be re-measured. Measuring cups will be out constantly to keep portions on track. Everything will be journalled. (including wine which is a big one for me)

Who's with me? I'm ready to take off this last 15 pounds (if your observant, you know a few weeks ago this was 10 lbs) Time to get to goal. what have I been waiting for? I've been playing around with these last 15 pounds for the past year! Ridiculous!

A HUGE Thanks to Roni as well for putting on the Movie and a Popcorn contest! I'm psyched about the Netflix subscription & popcorn!! I never win anything, I was shocked when I did! Thank you!!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

I HATE black licorice.......

so why do I LOVE those Licorice Allsorts soo much?? They have been sitting outside my office now for 2 days. 2 huge boxes of them. Taunting me. Begging me to have just one. Why do I have a weakness for those little things? Anyone else have this problem? On top of those, there is also a cheese ball and crackers, chips and dip, and a box of Turtles. Aren't the Holidays over now? Didn't people in my office get the memo?? It's over ladies and gents. No more junk!! Geeeeezzz.

I had one. That's it and I promised myself I wouldn't have anymore.

On other news, I am totally ROCKING the gym this week so far I've been there 4 times since Monday! 4 TIMES!

Monday:
15 mins cardio
45 Min Body Sculpt Class (Still sore from it!)

Tuesday:
50 Min Yoga Class at lunch
then I went BACK to the gym after work! 2 times in one day. This is a huge first!!
10 mins Elliptical and 30 mins Treadmill (Was still pretty sore from Monday's class so I took it a little easy)

Wednesday:
45 Min Body Ball class....this was brutal since I was still sore from Monday and Yoga had my abs burning!!

Tonight I'm heading back again for some more cardio. Probably 20 mins elliptical and 20 mins Stairmaster and I might throw in a little treadmill or bike. The gym is SO busy these days. Apparently I heard they had 60 new members sign up so far in January! It's hard to find machines that aren't signed out. So frustrating.

My gym is also holding a little competition that I'm thinking about joining. "Get UnStuffed" Basically it's a 10 week program and you get points for lbs lost, mins of cardio, mins of strength training, inches lost etc. Although I hate the scale and have decided to avoid it at all costs, I think I might join. Since I just started strength training, I'd love to see my progress, especially in the inches lost department. So even though I might not lose a lot of weight, if I lose a few inches, that would be great. I also think it would help me to stay accountable and it would motivate me to drag my butt to the gym. What do you guys think?

Hang in there ladies, it's almost Friday!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

What does OP mean to you?

So yesterday I'm reading all my daily blogs and I come across Ms. Kelly (I'm a religious reader, she's great) and she went the WHOLE WEEKEND without using any flex points at all. I don't know how she did it. The girl is a hero. Then I got thinking.....is my definition of OP different from everyone else's? When I tell everyone I had my first OP weekend in months....do they know that I used every last one of my flex points? Am I lying to them by saying I stayed OP even though I used a few of my flex points to have a chocolate bar and baked Doritos on movie night on Friday?? I've always saved all my flex points for the weekends so I can splurge a little. Whether it's a few glasses of wine or some munchies for the movie, I love having them for the weekend so I can treat myself. Sometimes it's homemade pizza, sometimes it's chocolate, sometimes it's a fancy dinner out with hubby, sometimes it's wine, sometimes if I have saved the points, it's a combination of a couple splurges! Is this wrong???

If WW says I can have 35 flex points a week and still lose weight...why wouldn't I take advantage of them? I guess I should note that I don't count activity points. Gym time doesn't give me any extra points in my books. So maybe this makes up for the fact that I use 35 flex points each week. In fact I actually did a little experiment last Spring where I took a few weeks and tried different ways of using/not using flex points. A few weeks, I cut it down to 20 flex points, a few weeks I used no flex points and a few weeks I used 35 flex points. And to be quite honest, I lost more weight (not a lot more but about 1/2 lb more) on the weeks that I ate all my flex points! How is that even possible? Maybe your body needs the variation?

How many of you ladies use all of your flex points?? Every week? Every other week? Do you save them all up for the weekend or do you use a few every day and spread them out? I think it would be interesting to find out so let me know.

On another note, Hubby and I decided to take a trip to New York in May! We are total Big Apple virgins so we need advice. We are thinking of driving down since it is only about 9-10 hours and we can stop along the way and see a few other places like Boston, Portland (Hello, Bath & Body Works!) but we are just starting out with the planning so we really have no idea where to stay, what to see, what expenses we are looking at.....Suggestions??

Happy Tuesday!

PS Body Sculpt class last night is already taking it's toll. I'm SORE today!

Speaking of PS...has anyone seen P.S. I Love You yet???? Go see it!! Bring kleenex.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Monday Monday.....

My first OP weekend in SOO long! It has seriously been about 3 or 4 months since I've stayed within my points on the weekend! Of course I did save up my 35 flex points and I ended up using them all but still! I counted every point and I watched my portions. I even said no to cookies at our course on Sunday (I had one later but I counted it and it was good!)


Nothing too eventful to report about the weekend. We rented a few movies and did a little shopping but other than that it was pretty low key. I got together with a few girls on Saturday night and stayed away from the wine and junk food...somehow. A friend of mine is getting married and asked me to be in the wedding, which is always a surprise and I felt very honored. I am the maid of honor in a wedding in April, Scott's in a wedding in August and I'm in another wedding in September. I just picked out my dress for the April wedding...let me know what you think. It's going to be a black and white wedding so my dress is black, which is great because I can wear it again!



In other news, I am starting my new workout plan today and I'm actually pretty excited about it. Today is 15 mins warm up cardio and then I'm checking out the 45 min Body Sculpt class. If all these weddings are coming up, I better get in shape so I can look hot in my bridesmaid dresses!

Short and sweet today.....How was your weekend?? Everyone back on track now and ready to get rid of the extra Holiday pounds?

Friday, January 4, 2008

Friday Friday!

It's Friday! Finally, even though this was a short week since I only worked 3.5 days, it feels like a long one.
Work has been busy and I'm still doing Holiday visiting with friends that are home for the Holidays. Last visit was last night, a few of us went out to dinner before one of my good friends flew back out west to Alberta this morning. We ended up going to Vito's (I think it's more of a local restaurant but it's basically standard Italian food) Scott and I decided to order two meals and then split them. We ordered a small order of lasagna and a Chicken Souvlaki dish that came with chicken skewers, greek salad and brown rice. (It was on the Simply For Life menu) We skipped on the oil dressing on the salad and didn't add anything to the rice. I had saved up my points for the day so I had 13 points left and I managed to stay within my points so I was pretty happy about that. Although greek salad with no dressing really isn't all that great.
When we got home around 9:00pm, I was craving a snack but instead I filled up a huge glass of water and sipped away during CSI: Miami. Nice eh?
So I couldn't' do it....my break up with the scale. I caved. I got on the scale this morning. I just wanted to see how I was doing. I seriously think I'm addicted. I knew I was doing great so why did I need to verify my greatness with a number on the scale? At least 3.5 of those holiday lbs flew off pretty quickly. Those ones must have been the water weight. Believe it or not, there are still a couple Holiday lbs holding on for dear life. YES you read that right, I lost 3.5 lbs and I still have more to go to get back to my pre-Holiday weight. But I had a great Holiday filled with lots of wonderful time with family and catching up with old friends and of course, lots and lots of amazing food, so I can't complain. Now I just have to pay the piper.
I did make it to the gym yesterday after work but only for a quick 35 min jaunt on the treadmill. Nothing too intense since I had a dinner date right afterwards. But at least I went right? Better then nothing. I'm hoping to get in some activity this weekend too. I might try out my new Yoga DVD that I got for Christmas and I'm thinking that Scott and I might go skating as well. Monday I start my new exercise regime:

Monday:
15 min warm up
45 min Body Sculpt class

Tuesday:
50 min Yoga class at lunch
50 min Random Cardio (elliptical and Stairmaster are my favorites)

Wednesday:
15 min warmup Cardio
45 min Body Ball Class

Thursday:
50 mins of Random Cardio

Weekends are gym free unless I'm able to hit up a class or squeeze in some cardio but Scott and I usually stay pretty active on the weekends so I'm sure there will be some form of activity in there.

What do you guys think? I'm not sure if the 2 classes are enough strength training? Although they are both full body workouts and both involve using weights & resistance bands. Plus I think Yoga is gong to be great for strength training as well but since I'm new to it, let me know what you ladies think.

Happy Friday everyone! It's -36 C today in my city. That's right..... -33 F for all you ladies down south. It's freezing. I can't imagine being outside for more than 2 minutes. Bundle up!!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Day 1 down.....363 days to go

It's amazing what 1 good OP day can do to your confidence. Tuesday I felt sloppy, frumpy and basically just huge. But after a great OP day yesterday, I feel much more in control and I feel ready to take on these extra pounds that jumped on track over the Holidays AND get down to my goal weight (which is now about 15 pounds away instead of 10)

Last night I went shopping at Suzy Shier. I needed some new dress pants and although I thought maybe I shouldn't go shopping since I have these extra pounds on, I went anyway since I didn't want to miss the big sales. I figured that I could just buy the pants a little snug and then as the pounds floated away, they would be perfect. So I brought a few size 9's in with me hoping, I could squeeze my Holiday stuffed butt into them. I tried on a few pair that were no good (they fit, just didn't like them) Then I tried on the last pair and they felt a little snugger ( not even a word, I know) and there was a little muffin top action but not much and I knew if I dropped the Holiday weight, they would be perfect. (plus Scott said I look super hot in them) Off I went to the cash register. When the sales girl started folding them up the tag was on top and I realized they were a 7! A 7! I know many of you ladies have been talking about vanity sizing so I kind of had mixed feelings about buying a 7. Am I supposed to be happy or do I chalk it up to vanity sizing? Any shoppers notice vanity sizing taking over Suzy?

Anyway so today is another great OP day and I'm looking forward to staying on track. I feel so much better already! I'm hitting the gym tonight and looking forward to it. Yup, I said looking forward to it. It's been way too long. I'm actually anxious to get my butt to the gym. I'm thinking about hitting up some strength training today since I have a dinner date later and don't want to get too sweaty. We'll see though how it goes.

How is everyone making out back on the wagon?
Anyone have any great recipes for me to try out in the kitchen this weekend?? I think I've decided that Sunday will be my "try-a-new-recipe" day. Suggestions??

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Firmly planted on the Wagon.

That's it. I've had enough. My pants are tight, I'm not drinking enough water, the scale showed me a horrible number this morning and I just feel gross. I had a great Holiday but now it's time to come back to reality...even with a few extra pounds. I can't ignore them any longer. Time to start kicking butt again and get rid of these extra pounds. I knew that staying away from the gym for almost 2 weeks and basically eating whatever I want for 2 weeks was going to take a toll but this morning, the scale shocked me back to reality. I knew those awful pounds were there; I could feel it in the way my clothes fit, and that extra jiggle I can feel in my thighs. Ugh. I do it every year.

BUT....

No need to dwell on it now. Those extra pounds are already there but they aren't staying. I'm actually quite happy to be back on track. Last night I was anxious to start the day today on track and back at the gym. I feel more in control already. I've got my litre of water at my side and a nice healthy low point lunch packed up. It's on. I decided this morning that my next weigh in will be two weeks from Friday. January 18. I figure this gives me enough time to get back in the zone and not obsess over these few pounds that I am carrying. Hopefully most of them will be gone by then. My goal is to stay completely OP AND hit the gym at least 4 times each week. My minimum gym time/week is 180 mins. In that, I'm going to incorporate some strength training as well.

New Year's was great. I had a little too much wine on Monday night and WAY too much to eat all day on Tuesday. I completely let the "this is your LAST cheat day, better make good use of it" mentality get to me and I had a huge breakfast of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and pancakes Supper consisted of nachos and peanut butter cups. How awful is that??? Ahh well. I enjoyed it. Nothing I can do about it now right? Except get my (bigger-than-last-week) butt back on track.

Hope everyone had a great New Year's! Anyone come up with any resolutions yet? I've got a few to jot down...

1. Strength training at least 2 times a week
2. More outdoor activities such as skating, sliding etc.
3. Attend more fitness classes
4. Spend more time in the kitchen trying new recipes
5. Be more open minded (I'm a huge "plan" person. I like to have everything planned out and it gets to me when I have to deviate from my plan in any way. I need to be more go-with-the-flow, like my husband is.)

That should start me off. What about you ladies?

PS - I went to see P.S. I Love You and it is amazing!! Make plans and go see it right now! (or don't make plans and spontaneously go to the movie theatre on a whim....see? I'm trying!!)

Also check out Roni's Popcorn and a movie contest here from Orville Redenbacher! Mmmmm Popcorn.