Week 10: Lazy blogger gal

Sorry folks, but I have been shiftless and bum-like about doin' the blog thing. Good news is...

I am off for the summer!!! 

(please don't hate me)

Consequently, I really should have more time for blogging, yes? Well, here's an update on the last few days:

Friday: Last day of work! I had a baaaad feeling all day that I wouldn't get all my shit done before I left for the day. Self-fulfilling prophesy, you say? Perhaps, because I didn't finish and I have to go back! Wahhhhh!! The day was very busy returning equipment, filing, meeting with my grade group to figure out what we were going to do with our gr. 10s in September. Kinda cool, kinda funky actually. We are going to take 190 10th graders to the beach! Frisbee, volleyball and eco-art. We're going to get them to find beach objects to create an art piece and then once we get a picture of it, they must return every piece to it's original location. Take only pictures, and leave only footprints...or somethin' like that. 

We had a staff lunch as we usually do on our last day. We had nice chicken breasts, Caesar salad and buns. I had a bit of salad and a small whole wheat bun. I was pretty hungry since I had not time to even eat my banana snack. Then there was dessert. I eyeballed the dessert tray earlier, and saw cookies and decadent-looking brownies. Ohhh my...hold me back! I decided to go for a very small brownie. Mmmmm...it was a good choice. Then my co-workers had to go and tell me how good the cookies were. Darn it. Cookies are like crack to me!! Especially soft, chewy ones. I had half a cookie (thanks Ramon). :)

I didn't work out. I was just too tired. Jason and I were going to see The Hangover, but he was tired too. Such sad sacks! 

Saturday:  I got up, got ready and went to lunch with my friend, Ross.  It was a great visit (Ross always cracks me up), but the food was weird. I had the Southwest Wrap, which I've had before. As I was eating it, liquid started literally pouring out of it!  Gross! It soaked the fries and other half of the wrap. I ate 3/4 of that 1/2 and then we showed the waitress the mess on my plate, which she figured was from their kinda runny salsa.  She offered to get the chef to re-wrap it. Oookay. It came back, in two pieces again, and I ate 1/2 of the first piece.  t . Still, weird and gross. I didn't eat many of the fries at all. I was really full after though! Oh, and  I did have a bellini. Mmm. Slushy for grownups. Ross very kindly (and sneakily) paid for lunch. Thanks again, my friend! :)

When I got home, I knew I had to work out, which I did. Then, I wasn't hungry at all, so Jason and I decided to go easy on dinner. I had whole grain toast with low fat peanut butter. We were planning on getting to that movie, but apparently the entire western hemisphere had the same idea! Our multiplex has a huge parking lot, and it was full. FULL! We were already running a bit behind, so no way we woulda made the movie. We decided to try the video store instead. We settled on How to Lose Friends and Alienate People with Simon Pegg. Love him! The movie was, meh, but he was hilarious as usual. 

Sunday: Day off with hubby! We lazed a bit, both rode the bike, then headed out to the bottle depot (nearly $15 worth of returned bottles!) and then the movie theatre. We are nothing if not tenacious! This time it was nice and quiet, so quiet that no one was in the theatre when we got there! The movie was pretty darn funny, as everyone has said. We always use the tickets we can get from airmiles, and they come with a large popcorn and drinks. Yikes. I brought grapes to ward off the desire to eat a ton of popcorn. I did have some...a few handfuls. I am not a saint here! 

Monday: First official day off! Jason was at work, so I spent a good portion of the morn reading and watching TV. I did get off my ass and work out, shower and do some cleaning. Then Jason came home and we FINALLY went grocery shopping. Thank the gods...I was seriously depleted in the healthy snack area. I really have problems when there isn't a good snack choice out there for me! Some good things we bought:

carrots

cucumber

lettuce

tomato

potatoes

plumbs 

red peppers

apples

bananas

strawberries

yogurt

green onion

onion

Now, to eat it all before it rots away in the fridge! 

Alrighty then! I believe that catches y'all up on my fascinating life.

Stats:

Exercise: Hmm...math agian...let's see...100 minutes? 

Weight: 199 (OH MY GOD!)

 

The Half-Ass Challenge...

I had to post again because I am just so darn proud to be a part of this sh*t challenge: Jack Sh*t’s Kick-Ass Half-Ass Half-A-Pound Challenge. 

Yes, I must rise from the couch to meet to this challenge and lose HALF a pound this week! Also, please note the emblem I proudly display to show my participation in this worthy endeavor.

I must be, on Wednesday, 195.5 in order to be, as Jack Sh*t has informed me, "officially eligible for inclusion in the Jack Shit’s Kick-Ass Half-Ass Half-A-Pound Challenge Commemorative Poem"

A poem!?! Hells yeah, I want to be in the poem! 

Please note the rules that I must strictly adhere to:

RULES

1.    No cheating.

Hmm...sounds hard. Dunno. 

So wish me luck in the JSKAHAHAPC! 

I encourage you to go check out Jack's blog. It keeps me laughing, even when I would rather stab that next carrot stick into my eye than eat it. 

Day 66: Tiaras, golf and end of days (work days, that is)

Wow, what a day yesterday! I was a golfing princess in the rain with three fab co-workers. We had feather boas, tiaras and other crap plastic jewelry that would strike envy in the heart of any seven-year-old girl (and, yes, that is a wand...contain your jealousy). You know, I came to a realization about this sport I rarely deign to play-- golf is more fun with booze (and tiaras). Go figure! The best part was that our boas were molting as we traipsed down the fairways, so it looked like some freakish, multi-coloured bird had met an ugly end with bits and pieces of feathers everywhere.

I hope all my spoiling of that good walk (sorry, Mr. Twain, I murdered that one!) burned some calories because we had our staff party right afterwards. I think I did well though...I munched on about five chips total, had one small round of whole wheat bread with a bit of dip on it, lotsa carrots and tomatoes, burger and a veggie-bean salad (yummy!) and a bit of pasta salad. My desert was a few strawberries and a tiny sliver of this gonzo fabulous-looking chocolate pie (thanks to my friend Kim for slicing that up so nicely!). 

Today was a bit of a food-write off. I ate the usual breakfast and lunch, one banana as a snack, and that was the last healthy food I ate! Jason worked late, and I was on my own for dinner....and it's just before our grocery shop! Ahhh! Nothing to eat! I settled in desperation of hunger for two slices of leftover cheese pizza...and noodles. Mmm yes. I did work out though...1/2 hr on the bike that I DIDN'T want to do at all. 

I really have problems when we start running out of my healthy snack foods! Gotta get to the store pronto. 

Tomorrow is my last day of work. YAY! I am in the middle of the tedious task of cleaning up the piles of papers and random crap that I've accumulated over the year. I am not a neat freak. Not even close. This is painful for me. I do like having an organized classroom to start the year off. I'd just rather prop my eyes open with toothpicks and watch "Glitter" over and over than clean my room. 

There's a few new things for me too. Not only do I know, miracle of miracles, what I am teaching next year. First. Time. Ever. But I am not moving classrooms! I just have to lock up my books and stuff to keep it all out of the hands of those sketchy summer school people. What a luxury! Wish me luck in my final frenzy of organization because after this, I am OFF baby!

Stats for the day:

Exercise: 35 min moderate-high intensity

Weight: 200

Day 64: Cooookieeesssssssss

Yes, you got that right. I am making cookies. Now, don't go freaking out. I haven't fallen of the healthy eating wagon here. There is a staff party tomorrow, and I am finally trying this cookie recipe I was going to make before all this started. Thought this would be a good excuse. :) Alright, I will admit to a bit of dough "tasting". :P I have eaten one cookie and a bit of a few others. I am trying to test how long I want them in...blah blah. How am I supposed to know unless I try one?!? At least I am not eating whole cookies. 

Today I had my cereal and then lunch was a burger compliments of our graduating class. I had tomato and lettuce on it, which I never ever do, as a nod to the veggie gods. I ate some carrots after work, and that was it until dinner. Tonight Jason made his beef stew. Oh, my it was good. The best he's made yet, I'd say! I had one bowl and a bun and was pretty well on my way to full. Then there was the cookie/bits, of course.

I rode the bike today, did my weights and sit ups. I won't be able to work out tomorrow since the staff golf extravaganza and party is right after school. I am NOT a golfer, but that's ok with this group. We dress up in costumes and do goofy things like use pool cues to knock in our balls. My favourite ones from past outings were "golf on your knees" and "wear the wedding dress". I have some awesome pictures of the last one! I will post pics here if we don't get totally rained out! 

I will have to resist a lot of temptation tomorrow night. I plan to stick to veggies and have my burger. 

Ugh...gotta finish those darn cookies! Oh, and for the record, I don't like 'em that much anyway! Bummer. 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 200

Exercise: 35 min. 

TWO MONTHS!

Yup, it's official, I've been doing this for two whole months! Ok, it was two months YESTERDAY, but I'm a lazy blogger lately. :( I had to post today because I have officially lost...dum da dum...

TWENTY POUNDS!! 

(if I could make those letters sparkle, flash neon colours  and sing a jaunty tune, I would)

Yeahhhhh!! 

I'm very excited, especially when I realized I lost ten lbs per month exactly as I wanted to! What next, you might be asking out there in cyberland. What's next is the next 10 lbs of flab vacating my body! Buh bye...see ya fat!  I wan to lose 10 more before I got to Vegas at the end of July. We ended up changing our vacation plans because Jason's schedule changed. I will be going away to visit a friend at the end of August...the beach no less (cue screaming on the inside one word of negation- nooooooooooooooooo!!!) So still something to work towards! 

I think that I have the eating thing under control, and I'm working out pretty much every day. I missed Friday to go to a party...where I ingested my only snack of the day (busy busy!), a "funky" cookie. Yes, it contained a certain herb...and yes, it did have an effect...eventually. Luckily, I wasn't plagued by any ravenous bouts of eating. Just got really sleepy and crashed! I know, lame. Hmm...kinda glad my mom doesn't read my blog now!

We got really lazy on Sunday and ordered pizza. I had three small pieces of cheese pizza. Not very good either. Blahh. Last night we made turkey chili for the first time, and it ROCKED. Loved it. Had it again last night. I ate so much less than usual! 

Today I actually went for a walk! Yes! Jason came with me, too, which was lovely. I worked out on the bike, but made it only 20 minutes with a pounding headache. 

Still...

Stats for the day:

Weight: 200 (next stop...the 100s!)

Exercise: 6o min. moderate intensity

Day 58/59: Keepin' on keepin' on

I got a little lazy and didn't update last night. I know, terrible. I hang my head. 

Yesterday was busy, busy at work. I had many meetings and caught up an all my delinquent marking (which...er.... hardly ever happens). Yup, it was exactly as fun as it sounds. I managed to squeeze in lunch and a snack of a banana somewhere amongst the hilarity. I had strawberries, too, but didn't get a chance to eat them. Tragic...the uneaten, neglected fruit of the lunch bag. I did eat them when I got home though, so don't feel too bad for 'em. Dinner was a small piece of steak, salad, grilled peppers, and baby potatoes. It was a meal made for summer baby, ohhh yeah. 

I rode the bike for what felt like a lifetime, but my clock told me it was only 30 minutes. Jeeze Louise it went slow! I stuck with it though and did my weights and sit-ups too. 

Today, I had a hard time dressing. No, not because I suddenly lost all motor control or anything. I seem to be running out of clothes that fit properly! I know, tragic! The shorts I wore today used to be tight, and now they are all baggy. I wore them all last summer, so I know they haven't just "stretched". It was crazy...I almost like someone was playing a trick on me and had switched them for a larger pair. It's hard for me to see differences since I see myself in the mirror every day. Sometimes, I don't feel like I look any different at all. Then I try on something I used to wear, and...woah...doesn't fit, so I MUST be changing. 

Today was another busy day at work. The fun never ends, even without students in the building! I did some marking of the English 10 provincial exam with my colleagues to make sure we were marking the same way. Then it was this insane marathon in front of my laptop to enter my marks. Oh, and re-enter because I kept forgetting stuff like a mental deficient.  There were some temptations today, too. I went down to the staff room at lunch as we were doing a staff photo...and there was pizza. Yes, evil, cheesy, aromatic pizza. I was sitting (foolishly) beside the box, and commented on how I could have 1/2 a slice maybe. But then I said, no, because that would require me to get up and get a knife, and I am just too lazy. One of my lovely co-workers heard me and brought me a knife! Dang! So I picked a small piece and cut it in half. Oh, it was good. There was also this truly decadent-looking chocolate torte of some kind on another table. I just stayed farrrr away from it. Not goin' there! So I had that, my regular lunch, banana and raw bell peppers. At home I had an applesauce. You know, I wasn't hungry until I started writing about pizza! Dammit! Now my stomach is growling. For dinner we tried chicken hotdogs. Yup, tasted like hotdogs. Honestly I would never have noticed a difference! Only 80 cal/dog though. Jason bought these humungo buns, so I ended up putting two wieners on one. I had a salad and a spoonful or so of beans as well. 

I rode the bike for another eternal 30 min....oy is that getting old! 

Now 'tis late. Must sleep and do alll this again tomorrow! 

Stats for the days:

Weight: 202

Exercise: 70 min

Day 57: Resting in pieces

Yes, a day of rest. I thought I was due for one. I didn't go back and look, but I am pretty sure I've worked out more than 10 days in a row here. My arms have been sore lately, so I'll give 'em a rest and let those muscles repair and get stronger. :) Plus, I had to go back to work right after dinner, and when I got back, I was totally bagged. I need to mark a bunch of English essays too before the morning. Blahh. Ever since I busted two of them for plagiarism, my heart hasn't been it it. :( 

I tried to ward off hunger by having strawberries with my cereal today and bringing a banana along with my bell peppers for a double snack. I had the banana around 10, lunch at 12 and the peppers at 1:30 or so. It worked! I got home and had a few almonds because I knew we were having an early dinner so I could get back to the school. We made chicken fajitas with red, yellow and green pepper and onion. I went VERY easy on the shredded cheese and then added some nice salsa. Very good! I remember I had three last time, and I thought that was pushing it, so I had two. I wasn't hungry until....right now, actually! I think I need to drink some more water. 

Tomorrow I have to work out after work. I WILL do it...because I don't want to miss two days in a row. Nope. 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 202

Exercise: 0 (still kills me a bit)

WEEK EIGHT!!

Woah...so this is what almost two months of eating better and exercising feels like. Hmm...let's see...less flab here...more muscle there...smaller size...yup, all good! 

It may be the PMS talking, but I was hungry ALL friggin' DAY. I had cereal with a banana, my raw bell peppers nicely sliced up, and my nutribar. I ate lunch at 11:15 and then felt the familiar gnawing of hunger about 1/2 hr later. Now, in the old days, this is when I would go scrounging for change for the vending machine, or pop a bag of popcorn for a snack. With the healthy school program we have going in B.C. schools the vending machines are pretty tame fare. We have baked chips, and granola bars, juice and water. No chocolate or pop. This is good when I had a attack from the snack monster, but, really, I don't even want that pseudo "healthy" snack food anymore! I don't want to snack on chips, even the baked kind. I don't want popcorn...even the "Smart Pop." Really hope this is a permanent change in me. I still have two boxes of pre-packaged "healthier" cookies in my cupboard, and I haven't touched them in over a month! 

So, I resisted the snack monster at work. When I got home,  I had an applesauce and a handful of almonds. None of this made me feel less hungry. None. Arg. Since we had no food in the house to speak of, Jason and I headed out to our local family restaurant for dinner before grocery shopping. As usual I couldn't see anything good to order...so I went with a thin crust personal pizza.  I know, my nemisis! Still, my calories for the day were low, so I didn't feel too bad eating it...and I didn't finish. I had three and a half small pieces. It was slightly more than half of the personal pizza. I wasn't full when I stopped eating, which is something I am really trying to focus on lately. Normally, I would have scarfed all that pizza without thinking twice about it. No dessert tonight, but I did get on the bike after the groceries were put away. It was kinda late, so I only did a little over 20 minutes plus about 5 min of sit ups (which I really didn't want to do). 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 202

Exercise: 28 min. 

Day 54/55: Weekend Update - The 'Q didn't get me!

Saturday was my brother's b-day/homecoming BBQ. Here we are...me and my little bro. :) He had a fantastic experience in Ecuador and told a lot of pretty hilarious stories. Let's see, he faced off with reef sharks, survived muddy roads and questionable transportation, drank 80 proof distilled cane sugar (and didn't go blind), stitched up a pig's foot and watched bloody surgeries. Good times! 

Whaddya think? Do we look alike? 

I helped set up for the BBQ, which meant that I was in the vicinity of potato chips and cheezies pretty much all afternoon and evening. Salty, fatty, crispy temptation! I decided I wanted a few with dinner, so I had ONE and was able to leave it at that. It was a great night with lots of old family friends. Dinner was a hamburger, a dollop of potato salad, dollop of pasta salad and about 6 potato chips. It was gooood and I ate every bite. Now, it wouldn't be a birthday without cake, and yes, there was that. Will's girlfriend's father owns a Dairy Queen (or two), so she always hooks us up with blizzard cakes. This one was my fave- mint oreo. I had a tiny piece- about two bites worth, and it was deeelish. I think I did very well, and in the morning, the scale was down a pound! I worked out before I left that day, and even squeezed a walk in with my uncle to get onions for the burgers. My Uncle Nelson and Auntie Joan were so sweet and complimentary about my weight loss (love you guys!!). 

Today I just took it easy for the most part. I did my regular workout on the bike and tried to keep the intensity up. I think it worked because I was sweating and breathing really hard. I had cereal and a banana today, then soup for lunch. Jason and I were at a total loss for what to have for dinner on this eve of grocery shopping, so I ended up having soup again with a grilled cheese on multigrain. I drank nearly all my water today, but fell wayyyy short on fruit and veg. I will do better on that once we stock up on groceries. 

I am sooo eager to get below 200 lbs here!! I plan on walking at work again as much as possible. Now that school is out, I don't have to rush back to teach a class. I can do 1/2 hr walk in the park then do 1/2 hr on the bike at home without too much difficulty. Might make a difference reaching my goal faster with added activity....duh....ya think? 

Stats for the weekend:

Weight:  202  (Ahh only three lbs to gooooooo!)

Exercise: 70 min. 

Day 52/53: Rock and Roll Goddess

Ohhhh yeahhh. Check me out playing my wicked bass. Ok, not mine per se...it belongs to a student. And I am not playing it so much as holding it in my idea of a "rock and roll" pose. I had to post this simply for the fact that when I looked at it on my computer, I didn't think, "Woah, who's the fat girl?" Doesn't hurt that the bass is covering my midsection nicely! 

Today was fun tinged with extreme annoyance and a smidgen of near heat-stroke. My second-to-last block of the day started off great. I was Taking pictures with the kids, discussing our summer plans, etc, when suddenly, the fire alarm went off. Awww crap. I should have known some dumb kid would take it upon himself (yes, it's always the boys!!) to pull the alarm. When we all got outside, things looked a little off. Instead of lining up on the field as per normal, people were hanging back. I asked a teacher what was going on, and it turned out that, for the second year in a row, the grad class set off smoke bombs in the school, pulled the alarm and then proceeded to bombard the innocent as they exited the building! Oy people!! Thus, the entire school was forced to stand on a baking hot field with no shelter or water for nearly and HOUR while irate police officers and firefighters cleared our school. The wait was mostly to get the smoke removed via giant fans. Joy. To ice this shit cake, the school was fined $2000. This fine is being passed on to the lovely grad class unless someone comes forward to claim responsibility for the prank. I was telling people as we melted, that if I got a sunburn I was gonna sue the grade 12s for undue epidermal disfiguration. Not sure if that would fly in Canadian court. Besides, here, loser pays. 

I feel bad that I forgot to post yesterday, but it was really late by the time it occurred to me, and I ain't losing my precious sleep for blogging! It was a good food day yesterday though (not so good for water...I am TRYING, but I seem to come out with six cups on average). I ate six servings of fruit/veg yesterday. I think I heard my bod thank me. Dinner was chicken on the grill, small baked potato, salad, and about 1.5 grilled bell peppers. I also ate carrots, strawberries and a banana. Woo hoo! 

Today...hmm...well. Let's see I may have had a very small piece of pizza land on my desk compliments of a student (actually it was two, and I managed to pawn the other one off). I also ate a small chocolate chip cookie (a gift from a student). Damn that cookie was good. Otherwise, I had cereal, nutribar, raw bell peppers, and a modest serving of high-fiber smart pasta with a meat sauce consisting of extra lean ground beef, veggie lovers healthy choice sauce with added onion and bell peppers and a whole whack of spices. I didn't finish all my pasta. I did have another cookie. 

I worked out for 35 min. last night and tonight. Didn't wanna. But I did it. 

Tomorrow will be a challenge. It's my brother's 25th b-day/welcome home from Ecuador. It's a BBQ, so I know there will be lotsa bad food...chips, dips, potato salad, dessert. I am hoping also fruit and veggies for me to munch on. I am planning to have a burger and as many veggies and fruits as I want. There may be alcohol. Drinking calories is not my favourite thing by any means, so I will go easy, if I drink at all. 

I have to get my ass moving and work out in the morning since I am going to help my mom shop, chop and set up for the party. I CAN DO IT!! 

Hope y'all have a fantastic weekend! 

Stats for the days:

Weight: 203 (OK let's move it on now!)

Exercise: 70 min. 

Day 51: Walking in Richmond...

Yes, more pictures! Now that I have a camera that I love, I'm using it to death! Here are some pics that we snapped on our walk this evening...

Two little duckies...mama was keepin' an eye on us as I took this.

Duck nap

Paid a visit to the little chapel in the park. Married here four years ago! 

Aaawwwkward pose

Bunny's tryin' to decide if he wants to go to church today.

It's Mo's bunny counterpart! 

Point of interest...or perhaps not...Richmond is actually overrun with bunnies. They are considered a pest when they infest farmer's fields. I just think they are cute though! It's funny to drive down a highway, or walk in a park and see bunnies. 

Da Pond

Me and Jason (unbeknownst to him)

Getting  my "glam" on

Suck it Paris Hilton...big girls can be sexy too! 

It was so warm today, so we waited until after dinner to head to our local park. We were gone about an hour, but with our little picture pit stops, we only walked about 45 minutes of that. Not too bad though! 

Eating was pretty good today. I had cereal with some lovely strawberries, carrots and my nutribar. Don't worry, those bars will be gone from my diet once I am finished work. Dinner was deli sandwiches. I had black forest ham, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and mustard. I always indulge in a tiny bag of BBQ potato chips when I have this. 210 calories...meh. 

I thought about riding the bike when we got back from our walk, but I figured I'd be pushing my tired bod too much. 

Hope you enjoyed my pictures...I had great fun taking them! 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 203

Exercise: 45 min. moderate intensity

Day 50: Dragging Ass

I may seriously need to start going to bed at 10:00 here. I am SO TIRED!! At the risk of sounding redundant, I'm very tired of being tired. I know it's partly to do with sleep and partly to do with this f*cking cold that is hanging onto me like a spider monkey on PCP. ENOUGH ALREADY!!! 

Ok, I feel better now. 

I can't say I am super happy with what I ate today. It was one of those days where I was constantly running around in a slightly panicked way. I was approached by a student today who, in rapid-fire slightly broken English, outlined a very vague plan for some students to leave school order Chinese food for the school paper's year-end celebration (which I was shoulder-tapped to supervise). I expressed my dubiousness at this idea and suggested they order pizza instead. Pizza is easy. It comes to you when you call it. You need not go out into the world and seek it out. Plus, a student I know works at a pizza joint and gives us 50% off. It was around this time a latent synapse fired and I remembered I was to bring drinks for this celebration. Oops. All I could do was leave school during silent reading (foisting my class on my lovely neighbour, Kim) and go to the store! Meanwhile, I had a class to teach. Oh yeah. As the minutes passed, I got more and more worried about this fabled journey to fetch Chinese food. Luckily, the student from the morning came by and we nabbed the paper's editor from her class. I convinced them that the only thing to do was order pizza. They agreed. Much running around later, the deed was done. I was able to pop out and get some drinks, and we scrounged cups and napkins from places around the school. 

In all my semi-panic and running around, I didn't even eat my snack! Plus, I was to supervise the kids in the library, so I was in the midst of all that pizza. Trapped. For an hour. How was I to resist??!!? Am I a machine? Am I made of steel? No. So I ate two very small pieces of veggie pizza for lunch. And a cookie. 

When I got home, another wayward synapse fired and I remembered that we were supposed to have pizza for dinner!! Dang. Dang dang. Well, it's not like I don't enjoy pizza. Sigh. Ok.  I ate my carrots as a snack before dinner. It was homemade pizza, so I tried to make my portion slightly thinner crust with a lot less cheese. We usually halve the thing, but I cut it so Jason's part was much larger. I ate one piece and then half of another. I was full. I haven't felt hungry all night. 

I cringe a bit to think of eating all that pizza in one day...but then again, that's how much I would have had in one sitting before. I'll take the small victories. I also made sure to work out on the bike and do weights for 1/2 hr. and do my sit-ups. I just hope the scale won't hold a grudge for this one.  I can hear it laughing now.  

Stats for the day:

Weight: 203

Exercise: 35 min. moderate-high intensity

Week Seven!

That's right,  seven weeks. For 49 days I have eaten more fruits and vegetables, avoided junk food like it would give me diabetes and heart disease (oh wait, it WOULD!), and worked my sorry, lazy, couch riding ass out nearly every day (hmmm let's see...six days off in 7 weeks, including today). All this awesomeness has lead to a weight loss of 17 lbs!  Damn, I am gooood! Not to toot my own horn or anything. Oh, ok, maybe I'll just a wee toot. Yay me! 

Funny side note, my little brother (ok, he's 25)  just got back from a five week trip to Ecuador, and when I told him how much I've lost, he said something like, "I barely ate and did hours of backbreaking manual labour and projectile vomiting on a hillside for five weeks and I didn't lose that much!" Oh, I want to try THAT diet!! The manual labour was building houses for families in need. Very cool little brother! 

That being said, I've felt like death warmed over in a faulty toaster oven today. Headache, gas pain (ohh yeah...too much fiber!??!?) and despite only losing 1/2 hr. sleep to get to work early, sooo tired!! I dragged my butt around all day. Good thing that my classes are all but over and the kids are finishing projects, prepping for exams and watching a movie for the novel we studied. It didn't help though that I was at school that 1/2 hr. early and stayed until nearly 5:30 in a meeting. Blarrrrrgggghhh. Nine and a half hours in a high school is akin to torture in some corners of the world. And I don't get paid overtime. Overtime!! Hahahahaha! Ahhh. *wipes tears away* That's a good one. 

Getting home late threw a wrench in dinner, so along with my advil, I had a grilled cheese on whole grain bread and tomato soup. Unlike yesterday, I actually felt full after, and I haven't been hungry since! Take that belly! I haven't eaten too much today...just ceral, cucumber and carrots and my nutribar before dinner. I don't so bad not burning calories when I haven't consumed that many. 

I decided that since I was feeling crappy today, and I've worked out six days in a row, that I'd take tonight off. I don't LOVE it, but I think the bod needs it. Jason expressed some concern that this could be the beginning of a common pattern with me. Just sort of cop out and decide not to work out more and more until I miss weeks in a row. Yeah, true, that was my M.O. before, but really I don't think so. I am SO much more determined now. Plus, I have you guys to kick my ass if I get lazy, right? RIGHT? Uh huh, I thought so. :)

So here's not to being lazy this week! 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 203

Exercise: 0 (unless you count flapping my lips or typing as exercise!)

Day 48: Home Girl

I decided to do NOTHING today. I know, maybe sounds boring to some of you go-getter types (you know who you are...up at 6 a.m and GO GO GO all day long. And yeah, I know some of you with kids wanna kill me a little). I am a homebody! Probably my downfall when it comes to my activity, but I like staying home sometimes. I watched movies, cleaned a little and tried on a bunch of clothes to see how things are fitting. Of course, I did work out too! Sometimes if I do TOO much on my weekend, I just feel like I didn't have a break. And boy, do I need a break from the insanity that is work this close to the end of school. Um, I'm not trying to cram in all the lessons I can before the last day. Nooo. 

It was fun to try on clothes today. I put on a skirt that's a size 13, and it was only a TEENY bit tight in the waist. And, the shorts I wore two summers ago (at 200 lbs.) are getting BIG and BAGGY. The shorts I bought last summer are just plain huge. I could take off one pair without undoing the button. YES!! All good things. I have a hard time picturing myself 30 lbs. lighter than now. Seems like a lot to lose...but I have been there before, and I wasn't a skinny minnie! 

Oh, I wanted to share my new cereal with y'all. I've recently tried Kashi's Go Lean Crunch, and I LOVE it. It has lots of fiber being all whole-grainy and isn't too high in calories. I had some for breakfast, mmmm. Lunch today was much more sensible than yesterdays madness...chicken soup. Dinner was grilled chicken breast, boiled new potatoes, corn, cucumber and carrots. Very tasty. Trouble was I was still feeling all empty in the tummy area after. This hasn't really happened to me before! I am usually good after dinner. I don't know what evil tricks my tummy is playin' on me, but I don't like it. I had a fudge pop (40 cal), which helped NOT AT ALL. Hmm. I decided to have a yogurt (30 cal.) along with some more of that cereal. OMG...so good! I feel better now. :) 

I know I probably could have done a lot more today, but I am happy with what I ate, and the bike ride I did. You know, I was just thinking today that I've not over-eaten (you know until I was FULL) or snacked on nasty junk food for a month and a half!! Woah. 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 203 (yesss!!!)

Exercise: 35 min. moderate-high intensity

Day 47: Sand, puppy and questionable food choices...

What a lovely day spent with my mother here:

We brought along the 2 month old golden lab that she is training to be a service dog. 

Everyone, meet Lexus...

And here she is in the ocean for the second time in her life:

Waves are cool, right? 

After a few minutes of exploration of "the deep" I took this picture:

Mmm....warm spot

I wanted a pic of me for here, but perhaps she was a little far away....still hate it! 

Yes, a very good day. :) I have to admit though, I knew going in that I was going to eat an unhealthy lunch. Eyes wide open folks. I just couldn't pass up fish n' chips at the beach! Sooo goood. My mom is the queen of fish and chip pushing since it's her favourite thing to do. As my concession to better health, I didn't eat all my fries. Eh, eh see? Not a total loss, me. 

To compensate for what I'm sure could be scientifically calculated as an assload of calories at lunch, I ate a rather small dinner. It was challenging 'cause Jason, dear husband that he is, made garlic mashed potatoes. Smelling them cooking on the stove alone is an olfactory delight! He just mentioned that he could have eaten my entire portion of potatoes in one bite. Yup, he's watching me type my blog this eve. Nothing on TV, my dear? :) 

Of course, after my culinary indescretion of battered and fried loveliness, I had to work out. Put in some bike time with weights. Probably burned off the fries. Or not. :P

One small note: I waiver between feeling really good about losing 15 lbs. and thinking, yeah, I look thinner, and thinking, OMG I am so fat, what the hell is going on here! Pictures from today don't help with the latter. I guess it's just more motivation to do what needs to be done to be happy with those pictures. So I am doin' it. 

A few more pics....

Just playin' with b&w

Saved the best for last...

Crashed

Stats for the day:

Weight: 204 

Exercise: 35 min. 

Day 46: PIZZZAAAAAAAA!!!

(Please picture me shaking my fist with impotent rage)

I caved. 

I ate a piece of pizza at lunch today.

It was delicious. 

It was small with only one teeny piece of pepperoni.

I feel bad though. A little. 

Other than that, it was a good day. I am breathing ever more clearly, thank the gods of Cold F/X or whatever it may be. Today at work was KARAZY. We had our end of year pep rally that went wayyyy overtime. Lots of fun and screaming though. Problem was that I didn't have time to eat my grapes, and lunch was only minutes long. I ate some before dinner though. Dinner was so good too! If I do say so myself. I used some tips from my lovely friend, and amazing chef, Lara. I used extra-lean ground beef and added some stale bread soaked in milk, egg, mustard, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, finely diced onion, pepper, and crushed garlic. Mmmm so good! 

Very moist and tender burger. 

I definitely wanted to work out after the whole "pizza" incident (don't worry, I'm really not obsessing over it...I just don't like it when I "give in" to temptation, ya know?). It really helps that I can breathe almost normally, but it doesn't help that my condo is still freakin' hot. More sweat! Lovely.

Stats for the day:

Weight: 204 :)

Exercise: 35 min. moderate-high intensity

Day 45: If I had balls...they'd be shweaty

Crass, but true. 

It's ridiculously hot right now even though we are just on the very threshold of June...and it's nearly 10 p.m! 34 Celsius today?!?! You've got to be shitting me! You know it's hard enough to type when my body is rapidly melting into a pile of fleshy, inert goo, let alone work out! 

Today I think I ate a good amount of fruit and/or veg which I am kinda proud of since they aren't my forte. Lemme see...I had:

a banana

a bunch and a half of grapes

a baked potato

corn

salad

cucumber

I also drank a cup of juice that has 2 servings of fruit and veg. That's (basic math skills don't fail me now) EIGHT servings! 

Woah. 

Just basking in the glow of all those unfamiliar nutrients now...ahhh.

Maybe the added vitamins will help speed along this accursed cold I have. Here's hoping. It was very very hard for me to get motivated to drag my butt off the couch and work out with the heat and the stuffed up nose. So I was sitting on the couch,  and it was the usual time...8:00 or so. I was contemplating not doing it, but then I felt something niggling at me...what is that?And then it hit me...it was that pesky little pound that had jumped back on me, most likely due to four days of inactivity (not in a row, mind you). That did it.  No way I wanted to gain weight because of an annoying head cold and stupidly warm temperatures. 

But, due to the iron strength of my will (same will that has overcome the urge to gorge on that errant bag of M&Ms laying around my house, flaunting itself whorishly whenever it gets the chance) I did get on that bike and I did get even more sweaty. Hate to sweat. Really. Hate. It. 

I just know I have to keep working out as much as possible if I'm going to lose this weight for good. Plus, I really want to be down under 200 by the end of June. Five pounds! C'mon, five measly, pitiful little mewling pounds. No problemo, right? That leaves the rest of summer to knock off those last 20 lbs. Please don't hate me, my lovelies, but I am not working this summer! Yes! Freeeedom! It is very much needed though. If I don't get a break, I will return to work in September a very cranky, stressed-out teacher lady to be sure. The best part of a free summer is having loads of time to work out. Of course, flip side, I have loads of time to peruse the cupboards and snack to stave off boredom. Could be my downfall! But it won't be. My best bet is to get out of the house as much as possible and do some active stuff...like...um...what do active people do?? Er...well, something to work on. :)

Only one more full week of work, and then exams, meetings and getting my classroom cleaned up for summer! Woo hoo! 

On an unrelated note, it's nearly 10:30 and I'm flippin' hungry! Damn. Come along now stomach and I'll fool you- I mean-  fill you with water. 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 205 (no worse, no better)

Exercise: 35 min. 

Day 44: I should be sleeping...

Hack. Sniff. Oh yeah, I'm feeling just peachy keen these days folks. I was so tired today after stupidly not taking care of my stuffed up nose before bed. Not much quality sleep for me...uh uh. Yes, ok, so I am a bit of a whiner here. I hate being sick! I hate it more when I am trying to work out every day possible. 

I guess my appetite came back 'cause even after my snack of applesauce and almonds my tummy was growling. Luckily I was able to distract said tummy with some water and a trip to the grocery store. Foolish tummy. 

Alas, I must be brief as I have done the deed with the Dristan and must take advantage of clear nasal passages. I did work out this evening, and my dratted bike clock was true to form and was five min. slow tonight. I did some sit ups sorta. Just so hot here! 

That's all you get for this eve. Sleep take me soon.

Stats for the day:

Weight: 205 (uh huh...dat's right)

Exercise: 35 min.

Day 43: Sniffle

Yeah, cold is still with me, and it seems to have settled id by dose. Nice. I said I was going to work out today, and dagnabbit I DID. (Oh my, did I really just contemplate whether "dagnabbit" has one 't' or two? Oy.) 

I still don't have much of an appetite, and my carrots have gone dry and scary looking. I did manage to grab the last banana (sorry hon) and had that for a snack at work. At home I wasn't hungry until about 4:30 and then had an unsweetened applesauce cup and a handful of almonds. Dinner was pork chops on the grill, salad, baked potato and green beans. I am glad that I never went in for that sour cream business on my potatoes...one less thing to worry about. 

Do you remember those M&Ms that followed us home from the movies last week? Well, not only have I not eaten them, but neither has Jason! I am so very not fantasizing how those crisp little shells crunch between my teeth as the chocolate tumbles around my tongue and melts so deliciously. Nope. Not doing that. Cursed things. 

As I mentioned, I was very determined to work out today. During my workout, I came to a conclusion about my bike. It's slow. Yes...I know it's a stationary bike and goes nowhere. The TIMER is slow. I have looked at the clock when I've started a few times now, and it's been off as much as EIGHT minutes! Friggin' hell! So I may have been working out closer to 40 min. than 30 this whole time. I thought it was maybe off 'cause I do briefly stop every once and a while. I don't stop for 8 minutes...or even one minute 8 times. Uh uh. No way. So now, I am going to foil this bum timer and just use the TV clock. It doesn't lie to me. I guess in the end it's not so horrible to have worked out longer that I thought....but it's the principle of the thing. 

I hope everyone is having the fantastic weather we are getting here! It's amazingly warm. 

Alrighty, here they are...

Stats for the day:

Weight: 206

Exercise: 40 min. moderate-high intensity

Week Six!!

Wow, six weeks in. It seems a lot longer, I must say! Ok, so I'm a bit late with this post, so week six was yesterday. I will try to post a quickie tonight to recap today. 

I knew that somewhere along the way here I would get sick, and it's finally happened. Luckily, I feel better today than yesterday, so I think my kick-ass immune system is winning out on this virus. Since I've become a teacher, I definitely feel like I don't get sick as often. Do your worst germy teenagers! 

The only problem with this cold is how it's sapped my energy so much. I haven't worked out in two days...which is KILLING me. I have just rested and tried to will the illness away. Hmm...perhaps it worked! I guess the bonus of feeling like doggy doo is that I haven't been really hungry. I had tried to eat my normal food, with a work snack of red bell peppers and carrots, but I didn't have any after school snacks.  It may have been the sickness keeping hunger at bay, or the extreme annoyance I felt at having a 2.5 hr. staff meeting that went until nearly 6 p.m. Long meeting, long, annoying discussion that didn't even get resolved so we must meet AGAIN. Blahhh. Later, I DID eat three small soft-shell tacos for dinner.  It was a dinner that almost wasn't too. Jason wanted the tacos last night, but I just wanted soup, so we put the beef in the fridge. Due to some freaky cold spot time-space anomaly the few square inches the beef occupied froze. Mmmm re-frozen beef. Nothing else was affected. Weird. Luckily, super Jason was there to rescue us and went to the store for more beef. What a guy, eh?

Sadly, it looks like my recent inactivity is taking a toll. I don't think I've over-eaten at all though. Up a pound or two...but I'm not worried. I'm just gonna get back on the bike and pedal  baby! 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 206 (could be 207, but the scale lines are so darn close together, I can't tell! I'm erring on the side of less is more.)

Exercise: Does walking up the stairs at work, count? :P 

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