It has arrived....

The Christmas buffet at work. Starting today and being constantly refilled every single day (twice a day!) until December 21st. Luckily I'm taking the 20th and 21st for vacation so there is at least two days that the Christmas buffet won't tempt me. Today I happened to walk by on my way to the water cooler (forgot about it being set up this morning) and there was fresh homemade spinach dip and bread and 4 different crackers and 3 cheese balls, shrimp ring and sauce, a mound of different cheeses, 2 open boxes of assorted chocolates, chips and salsa, bread with other homemade dip, fruit tray with dip, bags and bags of chips, a crock pot with meat balls staying warm. The smell alone is enough to make you crack. I had one cracker, although surprisingly it wasn't form the Christmas buffet, a co-worker brought in a box of All Bran crackers from the States. Anyone tried these? The Garlic and Herb are SOO good. 9 crackers for 1 point. I had 2 crackers and I tried a little teeny bit of the Spinach dip on one cracker but I didn't even really like it all that much. Although I did enlist the support of a coworker so we hit the buffet together. Strength in numbers right? That's all I had, one smidgen of spinach dip. And that's it for me today. I've started taking the alternate route to the mail room and bathroom so no excuses for me to walk by it again today. I can seriously smell it from my office. Luckily I brought a nice healthy lunch so I won't cave due to hunger.

In other news, I hit the gym hard again last night. 30 mins on the StairMaster and 20 mins on the elliptical. Time dragged on a bit yesterday, I couldn't concentrate on the article I was reading in Women's Health but I kept trucking along and eventually it was over. The StairMaster almost killed me yesterday. Today I'm thinking 10 mins treadmill, 30 mins StairMaster and 10 mins treadmill. That will bring me up to 150 mins of cardio this week. My goals is 160 minimum so I'm sure I'll knock it out this week as I'm planning on hitting the gym again tomorrow after work. I might mix it up though a little and throw in some time on the bike.

I was successful last night in making my frogs (chocolate macaroons for the many of you who didn't know what I was talking about. Don't' you guys call them frogs? EVERYONE here calls them frogs. Maybe it's an East Coast thing) After I had placed them all on the cookie sheet, I scraped the bowl clean, there was about enough for a half of a frog, I was honestly JUST about to put the spoon in my mouth when I changed my mind and threw it in the sink with the bowls and the pot and the other spoons and dumped about a half of a bottle of dish soap on them as quick as I possibly could before I changed my mind and licked everything clean. Worked for me. Didn't even lick my finger once!

That's it for me today. Just like Angie and Kelly, I'm totally in the zone this week!

(insert clever title here)

So I did it. I made it through Monday without consuming ANY Christmas baking! I pretty much told myself Sunday night that as a rule, Christmas baking is not to leave the freezer unless I am making up a plate to give away. No Christmas baking allowed between Monday and Friday. I found that if I made that rule and told someone about it (Scott, you guys) then if I broke it, I would feel like I was breaking some big house rule (I also had to convince myself that something bad would happen if I did, like I would break a toe or something, kind of like bad Karma.) So it worked. I didn't touch it. Even after Scott last night tried to lure me in. After supper he asked, "What's for dessert? Christmas baking?" I knew he was trying to get me to splurge so that he would feel better about pigging out but I just said "Go ahead, none for me, I told myself no Christmas baking between Monday and Friday and I'm sticking to it". Then he said I was right and that he didn't want any either. Sweet. I did it. I was super nervous about having all that Christmas baking in the freezer, just sitting there taunting me but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I can soo do this. I keep thinking that if I were to walk into a store and see a Mars Bar there, it would never even occur to me to buy it during the week (maybe as a weekend splurge but NEVER during the week) so why would I break that rule for Christmas baking? I'm not. So there it is.

PS I'm also making frogs tonight to add to my Christmas baking since I have to bring in a pile of it on Dec 19 for a work potluck thing. Each department takes it turn bringing in mounds of food for a potluck for the whole building. It starts tomorrow so there is a table around the corner from my office that will be filled with Chocolates, candy, meatballs, sandwiches, finger foods, veggies and dip and crackers and cookies and fruit, and all sorts of other most-likely-bad-for-me foods so I've already mapped out a route to the bathroom and mail room so I can avoid the table whenever possible and I've enlisted the help of a co-worker who is also watching the calorie intake so we'll be encouraging each other.

Another success, 35 mins on the StairMaster last night and 15 on the elliptical and 5 mins of stretching. go me AND I'm gong back for more tonight! It's 3:30 and I'm actually pumped to go to the gym instead of dreading it. What has gotten into me this week? I don't know but I like it.

Wish me luck with the frogs otnight ladies, although I'm feeling pretty confident. I can do this!

Still no scale!

I had to slap my own wrist a few times this weekend when I went to grab the scale and hop on but I've managed to get through the weekend without it. No weigh in. For the first time in about 100 weeks. Sounds insane doesn't? I should be happy about not weighing in but I miss it. It's a little like going through withdrawal symptoms...but......there is a little piece of me that feels a little freer. Not in the sense that I can eat whatever I want and splurge splurge splurge but there's just this little part of me that feels more in control. I'm noticing things that I would have noticed when I was weighing in every single week or even more often. Like this morning I woke up and threw on a pair of pants and noticed they were a little bigger then they were last time I wore them. Or I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror and thought "Wow, I look pretty good." Before I just relied on the number on the scale to tell me what to think or to tell me how my clothes were feeling. I know, sounds crazy right but seriously that is the kind of hold that the magic little number on the scale has on me. It determines everything, right down to what I'm going to wear that day! So I'd say that my absence from the scale has been a good one and I'm slowly learning to live without it. Although I must admit I really can't wait for this Friday so I can weight in...

So this weekend was a great one and I had one Major NSV. As most of you know, I have been going WAY overboard on the weekends, and although this weekend wasn't perfect, I do feel that I did pretty good. Friday night I went out to dinner with my best friend. We shared a chicken wrap and a few nachos at ESM. I picked at the nachos but tried to save up some points for a "treat" later in the night. After 3 hours of shopping, we headed home with 2 Gingerbread train making kits and we were up until 1:00am making them....AND.....no treats! This is the first time in a long time that I haven't had a chocolate bar or a bag of Baked Doritos on Friday night. I was pretty proud. Saturday was Christmas baking day with Scott's family. I got up early and had All Bran for breakfast, lunch was 2 pieces of toast and supper was homemade baked beans and a biscuit. I had about 5 sweets the entire day with wasn't that bad. 3 during the baking (taste test!!) and 2 later when I got home. (more taste testing....I can't give out sweets unless I know they taste great right??) Later in the night I did have 3 pieces of pizza and a few more nachos since Scott convinced me to go out for an appetizer before the movie. I know, bad move. Didn't need it. BUT I didn't get ANY treats for the movie. I don't think I've ever gone to a movie treatless. Seriously. That one was big for me. I debated on getting some M&Ms when we go tthere but really I only wanted them because I was at the move theatre, I certainly wasn't hungry and I really didn't need them, I just wanted to munch.

Sunday was pretty good. I talked Scott out of Wendy's for supper and we had Spaghetti instead with a side of veggies. I did have too many baked goods but I've locked them all up in the freezer now so I won't be touching them again. The novelty has worn off now and I've tried all the different sweets so no excuses now!

Exercise plan for tonight -
30 mins Stairmaster
15 mins elliptical

Wish me luck ladies! Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Friday and no weigh in

It honestly took all I had this morning not to haul the scale out and jump on. It's like an old boyfriend that you just can't let go. Or an addiction that's just too hard to quit. I've decided to takes Glam's advice and I'll most likely weigh in next Friday mainly because I want to stay accountable and make sure I'm staying on the right track. I think Jen summed it up pretty well yesterday..."I think the scale sometimes has an adverse effect and it actually puts you down more than encourages you". That is EXACTLY why I feel that I need a break form the scale, it was ruling how I felt every week. That just can't be healthy. I was actually surprised at all the positive feedback and it's exactly the type of encouragement I needed. Thanks!!

So last night I hit up the gym for 60 mins, 40 mins on the StairMaster, 15 on the Elliptical and 5 mins of hardcore stretching since my legs were feeling pretty weak after that Stairmaster. Now I understand why Katie calls it Satan. Yikes that thing is a great workout. I like the fact that you can't slow down unless you make a conscious effort to take your magazine off the rack and lower the level. I find with the elliptical, while you are reading away or watching the news, sometimes your speed will drop without you even noticing. With the StairMaster, if you slow down, you'll fall off and it will most likely run you over. I'm also finding that working out for longer than 40 mins is pretty easy. Before I was really only working out for 35-40 mins per session but since I set my Minimum Minutes of 160mins/week, I have been upping my time. Mainly because I was only able to get to the gym 3 times this week so I had to go for longer each time. I thought it would be awful but seriously, once you get in the zone, it actually gets easier the longer you go. Does that even make sense to anyone??

Any so my weekend plans aren't too hectic. Tonight is date night with my best friend. We are hitting up some dinner (still in discussion about where we ar heading to but I'll plan it out my menu choice before we go and look up the point value) then a few hours of Christmas shopping and back to my house for some gingerbread house/train making. Looking forward to it. Tomorrow is Christmas bake day with the Scott's family so that may pose a challenge but I'm going to be good! I'm planning on packing up a lot of it as soon as I get home to get it ready to be given away, the rest goes right in the freezer! Some to Scott's work and some to my work, some to our neighbor who was kind enough to plow us out after the big storm for free! Sunday is a planless day...I haven't had one of those in months....oh wait. We have our course to go to so I guess not totally planless but we'll be home most of the afternoon anyway.

What do you ladies have planned for the weekend?

PS Epicure party last night was soooo good. I can't believe how yummy those dips are! AND they were all made with fat free sour cream and mayo. I used raw vegetables for dipping for the majority of them. I ended up buying the Chives, Cheese and Bacon, the Lemon Dilly and the Guacamole (SOOO goood!) I can't wait to use them!!

The Breakup

First of all, last night after work, I went to the gym, actually looking forward to my workout. Went to the changing room , got all dressed in my workout gear and just as I was about to lace up my sneakers....I realized they weren't there! I had worn them home from the gym on Tuesday and had put them in my closet rather than my gym bag. SO FRUSTRATING! I actually dragged my butt to the gym and am more than ready to take on the StairMaster again and I'm stuck without sneakers! Ugh. BUT on a brighter note, I'm not letting this minor set back get in the way of my commitment of getting in at least 160 mins of exercise this week. So far I've got 55 mins under my belt (Tuesday 35 mins on the StairMaster and 20 mins on the Elliptical) tonight I'm hoping to squeeze in another 55 mins before my epicure party which would bring me up to 110 mins. I'm also planning on hitting the gym on Friday for at least 50 mins to round out my 160 mins but I may go for more if I have time.

Friday night I have a date with my best friend. We are going out to dinner (East Side Mario's I believe, does anyone have suggestions?) and then hitting the mall for some Christmas shopping and after that we are making gingerbread houses (although I saw a gingerbread train kit....) How Martha are we? Looking forward to it.

Now onto my big decision. I've decided that the scale and I need some time apart. I've been reading so many blogs about measuring success without using the scale. At first I thought this was utterly absurd. I mean, I know my pants are looser than they were 2 weeks ago and it's a great way to measure success but I still NEED that number just to verify my feeling good....wait. Is that even healthy?? Have I become that attached to the scale? Then I realize that since I started WW almost 2 years ago, I have not missed one Friday WI. Not even one. The scale dictates my whole attitude (if you remember THIS post from September, you'll know what I mean) By now, I pretty much know what the scale is going to say, I can tell by the way my clothes fit, by the way I feel so why do I put so much into the scale? Why do I let the scale tell me how to feel? I guess I use it as another tool to stay accountable but if I am following the WW program consistently and eating well then there's no reason for me to have to worry about a gain right?

Another reason I'm thinking of letting go of the strings for a while is that I find myself splurging on Fridays and Saturdays:

1. because it's the weekened
2. because I've saved up all my bonus points
3. because I know I don't have to weigh in again until next Friday

Seriously, just thinking about not weighing in scares the hell out of me. But I think that anxiety is the exact reason why I have to let go of the scale for a few weeks. I have an unhealthy attachment to that number and the scale and now is as good a time as ever start measuring my success in other areas, gym time, smaller clothes, basically NSVs. The funny thing is, just thinking about not weighing in doesn't really make me feel like I can slack at all, it's actually the opposite, making me want to work harder to compensate for not having that "loss on the scale" relief feeling. More gym time. Better decisions on the weekend. What do you girls think? I need feedback!

Has anyone seen my OP weekends?? I can't find them anywhere!

Thanks ladies for all the encouragement and especially to Noelle for giving me the kick in the butt I really needed. (Side bar, check out Noelle's amazing before and after pic here.) I always come on my blog and complain about my weekends and how out of control they were. It's become a habit. A bad habit. Every weekend. ZERO accountability. Noelle asked me what I am going to do about it? What AM I going to do about it? I know a few other ladies (Randi and Angie to name a few) are going through the same cycle, letting the weekends get of out hand. It's so easy isn't ladies? To forget the gym and the journal and just eat. And eat. And eat. And we're not talking veggies here. Oh no. I'm talking pizza, chocolate, nachos, too much wine. It's all in there. How do we break the cycle? It's become a habit for me. I look back at my journals and the last 2 days are blank. I know what I NEED to do but why aren't I doing it? Why aren't I journalling on the weekend? Why am I having that extra Christmas sweet when during the week it wouldn't even be an option? I don't even remember the last weekend when I actually jounrnalled. I seriously can't remember. I need an OP weekend. I'm way past due. I just need to get back into the habit of using my 35 bonus points and that's it. If I don't have the points for that Mr. Big bar, then I WON'T eat it. It's simple. Isn't it?? sigh......

I didn't make it to the gym last night because we got hit with a major winter storm. Blizzard actually and we woke up this morning with over a foot of snow. It took us forever to get home last night as the roads were awful BUT I'm not letting that get in the way of my Exercise Challenge (See Sarah or Kelly's blog) of at least 160 mins of exercise this week. Tonight I'm hitting the gym hard and I am planning on 30 mins of the StairMaster (It burns and I love it!)and then 20 on the elliptical or treadmill. Next week I am planning on starting a strength training program for 2 days a week. That will leave me with 2 days of cardio so I will up my time to probably 60 mins/session.

This Thursday I am heading to an Epicure party so if you ladies have any suggestions, I'd love to hear if you use any of the products and what you can't live without. I have tried a few of them but haven't really bought much so I'm looking forward to picking up a few new ones! This also means taste testing but I will try to limit it as much as possible and will only try the ones that I would seriously buy.

Well that's it for me today ladies! Hope everyone is having an amazing week so far!

OH wait...I need some suggestions to give hubby for Christmas, I really want to get an exercise DVD for nights like last night when the roads were too bad to make it to the gym. Any ideas? I'm basically a exercise DVD virgin so bring on the suggestions!

Oh what a week! What a weekend. How the scale must hate me now. We're not even on speaking terms. Avoiding each other at all costs (this could be one sided) I know we'll reconcile eventually but for now, I think it's best if we just stay out of each other's way.

Most of last week was spend on the road for work, although I did find time to catch up on your blogs in the evening, even if I didn't post, I'm still reading! This past weekend was a barrage of bad choices. Ugh. When will I learn? Friday Scott and I took a vacation day and headed out of town to get some Christmas shopping done. Oh how I hate the vacation AND out of town mentality. It took over at about 2:00pm when Scott and I split a pretzel from Pretzelmaker. I think my weekend can best be summed up in a GBU borrowed (stolen) from Marie.

Friday
The Good: We spent about 6-7 hours on our feet strolling through the mall, stores and shops. Hello activity!
The Bad: We ordered nachos and fajitas for supper from Lone Star.
The Ugly: 2 hours later we stopped at the Irving Big Stop for Cheesecake

Saturday
The Good: I started off the day with a great breakfast and walked around yet another craft fair for about 1.5 hours.
The Bad: There is always a fudge vendor at those stupid craft fairs.
The Ugly: Pizza was on the menu for supper and there may have been chocolate as well.

Sunday:
The Good: I ate on plan all day until.....supper
The Bad: We had company over and I made baked beans and brown bread. Except I forgot to put molasses in the brown bread (who forgets the molasses??) so it was really just white bread that tasted a little sweet.
The Ugly: Our company bought the most delicious apple pie I have ever tasted
The Really Ugly: They left it at our house instead of taking it home with them..... I had a second helping.

I feel like I just went to confessional.
Ok, that wasn't that bad was it? ok, it was. I know it. You know it. We all know it. What can I do about it now? Nothing. Except...I can follow Randi's advice and set myself a gym goal for this week to melt away those extra calories consumed over the weekend. I have put some thought into it and I think that 160 mins this week is a pretty fair number. What do you ladies think? That would bring me to 4 sessions of 40 mins. Maybe I should step it up a little though? Maybe 170 mins? Then 2 sessions, I could add 5- 10 mins of abs. Hmmm. Feedback please!

How did everyone's weekend go? How are the Holidays affecting your food plan? Or are they at all?