Day 41: URG

Ok, so this weekend wasn't so good for blogging. Last night was spent catching up with my lovely BFF Lara, so no writing. Now, I am sitting on the couch feeling like crap on toast. Yup, sick. Sore throat, head stuffed with cotton, body ache....good times. I did work out yesterday for 25 min. on the bike on top of a 45 minute walk with Jason around the Richmond dyke. Today however, not so much. Taking it easy on the bod feeling this crappy. I ate well yesterday, but today I don't know. I had my cereal and banana at breakfast, then I left in the morning to take some students to the Vancouver Children's Peace Festival. We were there all day, so not a lot of chances to eat well! I bought a chicken pita thing and a very small brownie...then a small bag o' popcorn, but could only eat 1/2. I drank juice and a lot of water too. Felt worse and worse as the day went on though. At home I just collapsed on the couch and fell asleep on hubby. We were supposed to have tacos, but I just wasn't into eating a big dinner. Jason made me noodles and I had a piece of whole grain toast and some prunes. 

I really hope I am not sicker tomorrow...I'd hate to lose all this momentum working out!! Curse the germy child that gave me this cold! 

Went shopping yesterday...bought some new clothes in REGULAR sizes thank you very much. :) The plus clothes were all too bit. Awesome. 

Stats for the Weekend:

Weight: 205

Exercise: 80 min. moderate-high intensity

Day 38: Oops sorry, a bit out of date!

Hello my fab readers! I hope you didn't despair that I wasn't writing or doing my thing anymore! I have been very busy with the end of the school year approaching scarily fast. Things always get a wee bit insane just before we push those kids out the door for the last time in June. Rest assured, I have been eating properly and working out these past few days. :) 

Today was pretty much the usual for eating (as were the other three days). I had carrots today, but peppers yesterday for my snack. Dinner was a bit of a snooze though. We were going to have chicken spaghetti, but we forgot to take the chicken out, so I had soup. Low fat cream of chicken and about 7 crackers. Mmm....yawn.  It did the trick though 'cause it's now nearing 9 and I'm not hungry. 

I still have only taken one day of rest since I started all this, so tonight I am taking it easy. I may not be able to work out tomorrow either. It's my four year wedding anniversary.  (Love you Jason!!) I think actually my body would like a bit of a break! My left knee is still giving the odd twinge and I feel a wee bit sore all over. The two days may do me some good. I will do my step on Saturday, and that will kick my butt nicely. 

Oh, and most sadly, my cute little iPod shuffle was a dud. The volume control only served to either deafen or go silent. We took it back, and I got the, still cute and tiny, older generation shuffle. Less hassle, really. Thank you baby for my giftie! :)

Tomorrow we will head to The Keg to throw down some dough for a little meat cooked on fire. Mmm. The fam is coming out to celebrate with us. I will be sticking to my portion control and listening for my body to tell me I am full (I think I am getting better at this!). 

Stats for the day (s):

Weight: 205

Exercise: 90 min. 

Day 35: Home Today

Well, folks, I had the WORST time getting to sleep last night with a headache that throbbed with every change in position. This morn. I woke up, head still sore and dizzy. Nice. I called in a sub, and writing my sub's note took 1/2 hr. as usual....always SO much easier to just do it myself! I hate not leaving a note though. Afterwards, I was able to sleep for a few more hours, thank the gods of sleep. I basically sat on the couch for most of the day. I didn't eat much- cereal and nutribar (I was too lazy to even make lunch!). I had a nice snack later- 1/2 a toasted whole wheat pita with a bit of hummus and tzatziki along with a few bell peppers. Tasty! I was going to ride the bike after dinner, but I decided to go for a 1/2 hr. walk with Jason instead, since I'd been inside alllll day. Hermit girl. I was quite proud of the Jasonmeister keeping up a nice, brisk pace. He usually likes a more mosey-like pace. :) 

After our nice walk, we grilled some steaks. I had a small piece of steak, a few boiled new potatoes, salad and corn. No dessert tonight. My mind drifted to those M&Ms only once today...lol. Ok, make that twice now that I typed that! I think I will ask Jason to take them to work tomorrow. AND I think tomorrow I will be walking at work, which is exciting 'cause I get to use my new wee iPod shuffle! Yayyyy! Eeep, I hope it doesn't rain on my little parade of one! 

OMG, before I forget...I noticed something yesterday when I looked in the mirror. Please tell me if this is really weird. I now have this ugly VEIN very visibly bulging from my kneecap! WTF? Where did THIS come from? Is it because I've been exercising? Whatever the reason, it is really noticeable to me. UGH.

Stats for today:

Weight: 205

Exercise: 30 min. low-moderate intensity

Day 33/34: Weekend Update IV: Total Weekend Annihilation

It's been a fab weekend, my friends. So nice to be off for two days with the hubby, not to mention the weather was perfect! 

Day 33

I had to get up and work out on Saturday 'cause I was meeting my friends for our monthly lunch. I did the bike to save some time, and told myself I would do the step on Sunday. I had breakfast, got ready and and headed out the door. It was funny to think that the last time I had lunch with these people, a month before, I weighed 15 lbs. more! Woah. I had a drink (raspberry bellini...mmm total weakness of mine!) 'cause I said I would this time around. :) I ordered the southwest chicken wrap, which was really tasty. The chicken breast was tender and a bit spicy, and it had lettuce, peppers, onions and salsa in there as well. I ate about five or six fries, and left most on my plate. After some laughs with my lovely friends I headed home. Later, Jason and I went to my sister's for dinner and to watch the UFC fight. I am not that interested in the fighting...sweaty, muscular dudes rolling around...wait...um...ok, so it does have its moments. :P My sis and her hubby grilled up some chicken skewers and ribs for us. Yum! I had one and a bit skewers and a dollop of potato salad and about half a plate of green salad. My lovely sister also had prepared some snacks and there were potato chips and Doritos as well. Eeeeeep. I ate ONE potato chip to try her garlic dip, and ONE Dorito. I also had about 1/2 a piece of  whole wheat pita bread with a tablespoon each of hummus and tzatziki.  That's it! I did have another drink, which I didn't feel great about. It was a large glass of cranberry juice with vodka. Ahh well. Overall a really fun day, and though I ate more than I usually do, I didn't go overboard! 

Day 34 

Today was another beautiful day! I knew we wanted to see a movie in the afternoon, so I did my step workout before noon. I noticed that when I checked my heart rate it's much lower than it used to be at the height of the workout. Conditioning...it's happening! I was still breathing hard and red-faced in the end, though.  Before we went to the movie, I put a big bag of grapes and a few almonds in my purse along with my water. We saw Terminator 4...and of course Jason had to get popcorn. I did have a bit...two handfuls or so.  Then I ate my grapes (they were really good!) and later, had my almonds. The worst part was Jason's combo came with a bag of M&Ms. Eeeeeeeep. I love those things. They are still sitting in my purse....unopened. I have heard them calling my name a few times though. Oh, I nearly forgot dinner! We had pork chops done on the BBQ, and I put some red, yellow and orange peppers on there as well. So I ate the chop, grilled veggies, salad and baked potato. Really nice dinner. After, to take my mind off of those evil little M&Ms, I had a fudge pop. After that I could STILL hear those things calling to me, so I had another pop. They are only 40 cal. with zero fat, so I don't feel too bad eating two. 

I suppose I ate more than usual, but I did manage to exercise both days. So that just leaves me with...

Stats for the weekend:

Weight: 205 (!!!!!!!)

Exercise: 80 min. moderate-high intensity

Day 32: Yes! Yes! Yes!

Greetings my friends! I am feeling a bit off here writing early in the day, but I didn't post yesterday, so I thought I'd do a little fill-in.

I ate really well yesterday too...cereal, nutribar and a BIG zip-lock bag o' grapes for my snack. At home I had some fat-free yogurt (I love this stuff, and I can't remember why I stopped eating it!) for 30 cal. Nice eh? Oh, and some almonds as well. Dinner was my impressively well-portioned turkey, stuffing, corn, salad and mashed potatoes. I didn't finish my stuffing or mashed potatoes! AGAIN! After, Jason and I headed to that giant mecca of goods we buy but don't really need, Costco. Ahh...love that place. Where else can you buy a giant screen TV and an industrial-sized vat of mayo in the same place. We picked up chicken, steak and a big bag of bell peppers. Since Jason has also been enjoying the almonds, we got some more of those too. Walking through the bakery section was a bit torturous, I must say. I looked at the cookies...closely...and told myself "they are probably dry." Whatever it takes, right? OH, and get this! They were selling boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts outside!! OMG...WHY??? Jason was very tempted, but he held back (thank god), not only for my sake, but because he is also trying to eat less junk. 

We got back late from the store, so I didn't work out until 8:30 again. I DID work out though! 

And I know this is cheating a bit...since I am updating about Friday, and not today...but I have to tell you what happened this morning.

The SCALE MOVED! 

Yes! 

Not just one little pound but.....

THREE POUNDS! 

I now weigh 205 lbs! 

Woo hoo! 

But, for yesterday...

Stats for the day:

Weight: 208 (heh heh...not for long!)

Exercise: 35 min. moderate-high intensity

One MONTH!

I can't believe it's been a month already. Seriously, time flies when you are...er...losing weight. You may be wondering, "So, Tammy, how do you feel after doing this for one month?" Well, thanks for asking! I have to say I feel pretty darn great! I've lost weight (yay), I've gained muscle (yay), I've eaten wayy less junk and crap (yay?), and I've eaten more healthy foods (yay). 

I have lost:

1 inch from my waist

2.5 inches around my chest

1 inch of my thighs

.5 inches off my hips (c'mon man!)

and...drum roll please.....

TWELVE POUNDS!!!

Cool right?

I can count the junk food I ate this month ON ONE HAND. I've exercised on 30 of the 31 days I've been doing this. That's a lifetime record streak for me! My clothes fit better, or are getting loose. I may have to retire a pair of jeans and khaki pants that were a wee bit big before all this. They are falling off of me now! I can button blouses that never buttoned before (you larger chested ladies out there feel my pain). Yup, I have to say I feel pretty darn good, my friends. 

So no slacking off, just because I had a good month! 

Today was pretty much the usual for food. I had cereal and nutribar, and my snack was a bunch of those bell peppers. Mmmm. I did give one away to a student. I asked my ESL science class (when talking about eating a healthy diet to avoid disease) if any of them liked bell peppers. Some had never even tried one! I asked if anyone wanted to try, and my sweet little Japanese student said yes. She liked the green pepper best. I have told some of my students I am trying to eat healthy, as they noticed all the veggies I have been eating. Hey, if I can get even ONE of them to eat healthier, job well done, I say! After work, the big man and I went grocery shopping. We decided to try some turkey burgers. Less fat than beef, why not? Well, let's just say they were on the bland side. I think we should have bought ground turkey and made our own burgers. Maybe some BBQ sauce will liven up the rest. I was proud 'cause I put lettuce, tomato and onion on mine, which I NEVER do with beef burgers. I also had a salad and a serving of those spicy potato wedge fries done in the oven (remember the ones with a serving size of EIGHT pieces? Sheesh). Jason bought TWO bags of 'em because they were on sale. *sigh*

Since we had to shop, dinner was a bit later than usual, which meant working out was later too. I decided to just do 20 minutes of biking and weights. I did about 23 and then did my sit-ups. 

I hope you have enjoyed following my journey for this month, and I hope you will stick around to see how this whole thing turns out! Will I be under 200 lbs. by July? Will I reach my goal of losing 40 lbs? Will I stop there, or head on down another 5 or 10 lbs? Stay tuned....

Stats for the day

Weight: 208 (yup...totally bitchin')

Exercise: 28 min. moderate-high intensity

Day 30: Back on the horse. :)

Well, it was nice to have a day of rest yesterday, with no exercise looming ahead of me to dread. It was a bit weird, but I got over it with judicious applications of couch to my ass. Ahhh, works every time. 

I am a little worried at how much the weight loss has slowed down, and what that means for achieving my goal. It definitely isn't as easy as it was when I was in my 20s...dangggg. I had hoped to be under 200 by the end of June. I think I'll be happy with 205 at this point! I don't feel like I've been lazy or undedicated  in my eating or exercise though. Pretty proud of myself actually. 

Today I had Raisin Bran for breakfast (have you ever eaten a raisin that tasted like dirt? At least I think it was a raisin...hmmm....perhaps best not to think about it). At work I had my nutribar for lunch, and for a snack a whole whack of red, green and yellow bell peppers. I looove the red and yellow...so sweet! I had Jason cut them up for me when he was prepping the veggies for chili. Thank you hubby! I would have had carrots too, but my fridge seems to have suffered a cold snap, and they were frozen this morning! Eeep! When I got home, I decided to have few prunes and a handful of almonds for a snack. Dinner...now get this...was chili again! Lol...we made so much! Jason had some for lunch, and there was still enough for two more meals left! I couldn't bring myself to throw it away, so I had a bit more. This may not have been a wise choice for my digestive tract...that's a whole lotta beans. 

I was worried that after my first day off it would be harder to get on the bike today, but nope. I didn't really want to do it. But I did it. At the end I cranked 'er to level 5 and tried that for a minute. OUCHY on the leg muscles! I really want to move up to that level eventually. Oh yeah baby, rock hard thighs! I did my sit-up routine after as well. I can really feel those muscles coming in under the lovely layer of protective padding I have there. Protection for what you ask? Er...um...head butting goats? They are out there, people! 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 209

Exercise: 35 min. med-high intensity

Day 29: Takin' it easy

I can't believe I am breaking my workout streak!! AHHH!! It's hard, but I really think I need to give myself a rest. Let my muscles take 'er easy for a day. 

Today was a Professional Development day at school. I ate breakfast at home because I thought it would be best to avoid all the muffins and such that are spread out in an evil manner in the staff room. Bad muffins. Bad chocolaty....sweet muffins. Er...where was I? Oh yes, so I had my usual breakfast, to which I added a small banana, sliced. I did this yesterday too, but I forgot to mention it. We were served a snack too, and I had carrots and some yummy hummus. I had just a few pita chips too. I think I took, like, three mini tortilla chips and a scoop of salsa. Very satisfying snack! I went back for a few more carrots and hummus too. Mmm. We were well fed at lunch as well. I had a wrap (half was ham with a bit of cheddar, half was turkey) with a half-plate of salad and a bit of balsamic vinaigrette. Later, someone dumped a giant plate of cookies on our table. A WHOLE PLATE! OF COOKIES! For THREE people. Jeeze. I had: One. Small. Cookie. My friend and co-worker Aaron kindly put the plate elsewhere after. Love that Aaron! :) I didn't go for much of an after-school snack (two prunes). Dinner was, not surprisingly....chili! Pretty much the same as last night. I tried to keep my portion down. It was really good!! We still have a ton left, especially considering I've had about 1/2 as much as I usually do! 

Ok, so as I said before, I decided to not work out today. No exercise. For the first time in almost a month. Eeep. Ok, well, I did a TEENY bit of exercise, if you can call it that. My lovely friend and co-worker, Kim, had her dance team students teaching the teachers Hip-hop moves. Totally hilarious! Have YOU heard of "tutting"?? These kids are SO amazingly talented. It was actually kind of fun. The best part was getting to watch them do their thing though. 

That's my day folks! Nothing too exciting. Tomorrow I will be once again riding the bike. :)

I would also like to thank my lovely followers for reading and commenting. :) I am truly thankful for every word you write to me, and knowing you are reading means a lot to me! 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 209

Exercise: 0 minutes  (still makes me sad!!)

Four Weeks!!!!

I can believe it's almost been a month! I am counting the 21st as my one month point. Now, I've been toying with an idea for a while...and I think I've finally decided what to do. I started weighing myself with the Wii, and realized that it wasn't very accurate (gave three different weights in a row!). The problem is that I used that Wii weight as my starting point. I did use my regular scale at the beginning, but it had me at 220.  Of course I wanted to use the lower weight to publish for all to see! But I'm not using the Wii anymore...I am using the regular scale. This makes me think I should use that scale's weight as my start point. This means changing it from 217.5 to 220. I know it's only a few pounds, but I want to be accurate here. It doesn't hurt that it puts me at a higher weight loss for certain. :) So I'm going back to change all my stats to reflect that. DONE AND DONE. 

Today was cloudy and rainy, so I spent my time indoors doing chores that REALLY needed doing. One of those chores was to clean out my closet. I donated SO much stuff! I basically threw in any size 18 clothes immediately. Then, I had to try on a bunch of things. I am fitting into so many things I wore two years ago (at 200 lbs). I tried on this jacket that I got at Old Navy, and I remember thinking, ok, I can't button it up, but I WILL get there. This was when I was a lot heavier, so when I tried it on, not only did it fit, it was too big! GONE! I tried on a skirt, size 16 and it was wayyy too big. SEE YA! I am definitely a 14 for bottoms now. Tops, I can do 14, but sometimes to get them to fit in the chest, I have to go a size up. Grrrr.  I have some size 13 clothes in my drawer that I would love to get into this summer. :) 

I started out with my usual Raisin Bran breakie. Lunch was tomato soup with lotsa fresh black pepper and five crackers. With this soup, I usually crush four crackers in at time and do that several times. Love the crackers. This time, I put in one at a time and tried to savour them. Snack was three prunes (mmm so sweet and yummy!) and a handful of almonds. It's funny, but the Snack Monster hasn't showed its ugly ol' face in a long time! I have my chocolate fiber cookies, and fudge pops to eat, but I haven't wanted them! I like having my healthy choice snacks around (zero fat yogurt, unsweetened applesauce, almonds, carrots, and now PRUNES) While Jason went out to do some errands, I did my workout (yes! before 8 pm!) on the bike with the weights. I was really sweating by the end. Phew! I did some sit ups and stretches to finish things off. 

I am still planning on a day of rest tomorrow, even though it's going to be VERY hard to break my streak. Booo. 

Oh, yes, dinner! Tonight we made chili and tried to put in more veggies. Jason even looked for zuccini, but couldn't find any. We did put in red, yellow and green bell peppers, mushrooms, diced tomato along with the kidney beans and brown beans. It was really good! I usually have two plates of the stuff, but this time I had about 1/2 a plate. We did have some french bread too. I had two small pieces. Curses, it's so good! We have a TON of leftover chili now. Guess what's for dinner tomorrow! 

Ok, I'm off to change my stats now. 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 209

Exercise: 35 min. high intensity

Day 26/27: Weekend Update III: Weekend Harder

Oh, how wonderful it is to have a long weekend here. :) One more blissful day off to go! Here goes your two for one weekend special. 

Day 26

I didn't have much to do today, so it was a lazy day...to a point. I had my cereal for breakfast, and then rode the couch for a while. My friend and upstairs neighbour, Leanne, had asked if I wanted to walk with her today, so I knew I had to work out before then. I really wanted to do the step. I dragged my butt off the couch around 11:00 or so and did that well-loved video. I had planned on putting the step up a lil' higher today, but I was a bit sore and tired from the day before. I KNOW I  should have a day of rest. YES. I will! I am planning on not working out on Tuesday. OK? One day for my bod to recover from 26 days of activity. I still feel bad doing it though. So where was I? Oh, yes, step. I watched a movie while did it for the second time, and it was great to get my mind of the familiar monotony of the routine. I did the sit-up routine that they do at the end, which I usually do, but haven't mentioned before. Then I had lunch- usual weekend fare- the healthy choice chicken soup and pasta. Mmmm.  The old me would scarf about 1/2 the bag of crackers with it, but now I eat around five (unsalted tops). For a snack I had some almonds and cucumber slices. Mmmm! Love cucumber.

Around 2:30 Leanne and I headed out for our walk. There's a nice park a block or so from our building, so we went there. It was SUCH a nice day! I am so glad that I didn't spend it indoors. THANK YOU Leanne! We walked for about an hour total, but some of that time was getting a drink and looking at some pottery on sale. I think I will take Jason to the park on Monday. 

Dinner was turkey, stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes and salad. For fun, I decided to see what a "serving" of stuffing looked like. It was 1/2 a cup, which looked pretty close to what I usually took. Nice. Then, I took 1/2 a cup of mashed potatoes, sorry, garlic mashed potatoes. YUM! Ok, that was a tiny little splat of potatoes! I added a bit more...and this looked like what I'd take (NOW, not in the past!). I think I had about 1/2 a cup of corn and a cup of salad. You know, I figured my portions were really small, but I DIDN'T FINISH MY POTATOES OR STUFFING!! I was feeling full-ish so I stopped eating! Usually, I would just eat it despite the full feeling. Just because it was there. I knew I was going out with my friend Lara to a restaurant, so I was glad to not eat too much. Did I mention I was physically, SO tired at the end of the day?!? Step and a long walk...oooooh. 

Yes, so I had a plan to meet up with Lara again at Boston Pizza. I was worried about eating there so late at night, blah blah. But, I really didn't start this thing to deprive myself. I have been doing REALLY well and not snacking on unhealthy things, or eating sweets, and my calories were even on the low side, so I figured it was ok. I ordered some pizza bread and meat sauce dip. This used to be my favourite thing as a teenager. I also decided to get an alcoholic beverage. Hmm, perhaps a bad choice. Especially when it came and tasted HORRIBLE. Ugh, it was so sweet and fake tasting (supposed to be made with raspberry puree...uh huh...maybe raspberry flavoured syrup!). My friend urged me to tell the waiter...but I really hate doing that. I've never sent back a drink before. I took a few more sips. Ummm no. Can't do it. When waiter dude came by I told him it was terrible, and he took it away. I had a Smirnoff Ice cooler instead. I didn't eat ALL the pizza bread, so I was kinda proud of that. 

Lately, I've been tracking my food on SparkPeople, just for fun. Today's calories were just over 1700. I even looked up the pizza bread on the restaurant's website! My other days are averaging a bit over 1300. According to the website, for my height and weight, I should shoot for 1200-1500 calories. It's kind of a cool site because you can add foods from a database, or you can put them in manually  (usingthe nutritional info on the packaging) if they aren't in there. I did that for my applesauce and salad dressing. If you are a calorie counter, it's a neat tool to use. 

Day 27

Oh, my, another gorgeous day! I had my usual breakfast and soup for lunch. Jason and I lazed around a bit and then went to the mall to buy a new camera! And an iPod Shuffle for ME (early anniversary gift). :)  Yay!! I loooove my new camera, too. It kicks ass on my old one. The shuffle is SO small and cute! Jason is worried I'll lose it. :P Me? Nooo. 

After we dropped our dough, we decided to check out a nature park in our city. I've never been there, and Jason hadn't been since he was a kid. Also, I figured it would be a good place to try out the new camera. No more photos pilfered from the net! 

Here I am at the start of the trail. Just imagine me saying, "Are you going to take the picture now?"

 Some scenery Jason captured...

Flowers...

This is the trail we started out on...

And then we were on this trail...now this is bog country. Jason said this is what our area looked like 200 years ago. There he is, checking out the "mushy" spots on the trail! 

 

Walking this trail was kinda cool because the ground was really spongy. I could feel it sink down as I stepped, and then it would spring back. Neat! There were repercussions....

 (Nice socks, eh?)

 

Must stay hydrated! 

Testing out my camera's "macro" setting. Works well! Pretty fleurs. :)

We walked for about 20 minutes, and I tried to keep a fairly quick pace. After, we stopped at Safeway to get some sandwiches for dinner. Love 'em. I was hungry when we got home, so I had some sliced cucumber and some almonds. For dinner, along with my black forest ham, lettuce and tomato sandwich, I had my chip fix...small bag of BBQ potato chips. Once I was digested I got on the bike to do weights and pedal for about 20 minutes. I didn't want to push it since my knee has been a bit sore the last few days. Did some sit ups at the end as well. 

PHEW! That was a long freakin' post! I am done man.

Stats for the weekend:

Weight: 209 (YES! Finally!!!!!)

Exercise: 125 min. moderate-high intensity

Day 25: Ok plateau, I GET IT!

Arrrggghhh. This little plateau I am on is seriously starting to chap my hide. If I don't lose some weight this week, I am gonna...gonna....awww crap I got nothin'. If I don't lose weight, seriously, all I'll do is continue what I am doing. Exercising, eating less. I figure it's gotta come off SOMETIME. Right?? This is the point where a lot of people give up, just say f***k it. It's not working, so I might as well eat a doughnut. Or an entire pizza. Or a batch of cookie dough. 

This is not an option.

 Yes, I am frustrated. Yes, I want to see that malignant hunk of metal and plastic just freaking REFLECT all that I've been doing for almost FOUR WEEKS! The important thing is I feel like I'm smaller, I feel like my clothes are looser. So screw the scale, I say. 

I was thinking about my relationship with food today. A lot of people try to figure out what their food downfall is, their trigger that caused them packed on all those pounds in the first place. I've always been a binger. Starting when I was little with stacks of cookies pilfered from the cupboard. I would have two. Then I would hear them calling to me, and I'd go get two more...or three. I'd only stop when I feared that my mom would notice so many cookies missing and get mad! I always loved baking too, mostly because of the batter. It was a big treat to lick the bowl when my mom baked cookies or cake or brownies. When we were old enough, she taught my sister and I to bake too. When I got older, I'd have cravings for cookie dough. Not the cookies. Just the dough. I remember as a teenager, making up a 1/2 batch just to eat the dough! As an adult I still got the cravings. I loved the freshly baked cookies too. I am such a sucker for a rich, gooey warm cookie. Heaven. I don't really care for the cookies once they are cold, but hey, that's what microwaves are for, right? In the past, I would bake whenever I felt like it. I'd eat spoonfuls of batter, then sample the cookies as soon as they came out of the oven. Chocolate hot as lava was no problem for me! I'd make chocolate pudding too, the kind you cook on the stove. I'd eat about 1/2 the recipe in one sitting. Oh, even better was brownie pudding. OMG...the batter for the brownies was like crack to me. I made that batter more than once just to eat it raw. In the last few years, I've been baking a lot less. I can't remember the last time I made cookies. I think that this lapse has helped a lot for my recent attempt to eat better. I don't want to make cookies. I haven't craved the batter at all. The other thing I eliminated long ago was MacDonald's food. Jason and I used to eat it at least twice a month. It was convenient, and I have loved the taste since I was a child. We decided it was just way to unhealthy to be a part of our diets. I haven't eaten there in over three years. That goes for most fast food places, really! I am glad that I don't have to struggle with wanting that food now. In some ways, I feel like the things I have eliminated from my life already have led to making this whole weight loss journey easier! 

I haven't had any cravings for any of my old favourites- chocolate, cookies, chips. Nada. Of course, saying that now, I'm sure the next time I'm PMS-ing I will ransack the house looking for some sort of sweet, salty, chewy badness. I hate that feeling I get, like I just want to eat the whole house. 

Ok, so what did I eat today? It was pretty much the same as yesterday. Well, breakfast and lunch was. I had a really big bunch of grapes as my snack. I ate half during nutrition break (recess) and the other half during my last block around 2. At home, I had the applesauce and 8 almonds (this time I counted exactly). Oh, and I drank my 2 liters of water again! Lol...and I think my cells are just at a loss with what to do with all this water 'cause I had to pee twice in a 1/2 hour! It's a bit better now, but man, it ain't easy to drink so much! A fellow blogger had a  cool link on her page that directed to me to a site that tells you how much water you should drink based on your height, weight, activity level, climate you live in, etc. I was a bit stunned to see that I need 3.3 liters/day!! Oh lordy, build me a raft, I'm gonna float away! It did mention that if I ate a healthy diet I could get away with 2.6 liters. Oy. I guess that's only a little over one more bottle of water a day than I am doing. I will try to get to that point! Alrighty, water- check. Dinner was a toughie. Jason bought hot dogs, and we couldn't think of anything else to have. I checked the calories on the dogs and buns and decided to just have one. SO not my usual! I would eat two, and usually feel really gross after. I had a salad with it, and a serving of baked wedge spicy fries. The package said a serving was 8 pieces. Seriously!?! Who eats eight fries? And if we're supposed to judge by "the piece" why make them all such different sizes? Fry people...you're makin' my life difficult here! I gave Jason all the giant fries, and kept a few smaller ones for myself. No fudge pop tonight...or last night...or the night before. I didn't really want one! This is so weird for me because I always crave something sweet after dinner.

So I ate 'round about the same calories as yesterday. I really can't bring myself to work out after work in that hour to two hours before dinner. Just. Can't. It seems to be ok for me to do it at around 8. Tonight I had a headache, so I really didn't want to do it. I took tylenol, but when I got on the bike the pain was still there. Grrr.  I pedaled anyway. Damned if a headache is going to mess up my streak here! As I pedaled, my legs started to ache. Oooh. I still wanted to keep it up around 20, and alternate with level 4, but man did I want to quit! My head started throbbing more as if it wanted to join in on the pain fun my legs were having. Blah. I didn't think I could do 1/2 hr. No way.

 You know what though? I did do it. 

Stats for the day: 

Weight: 210 (shocking!)

Exercise: 40 min. moderate-high intensity (I did sit-ups after as well)

Day 24: Doin' more!

Yep, I like a good rhyme, but I'll settle for a kinda mediocre one in a pinch. :)

I was reading a great blog, Escape from Obesity, and the author talks a lot about counting calories, and it really works for her. I don't count calories per se, but I try to be aware of the calories I am eating. I thought for fun I'd do a calorie count for today. What the heck, right?

All Bran cereal with 1% milk- 300

Nutribar- 260

approx. 10 baby carrots- 40

unsweetened applesauce cup- 50

approx. 8 almonds- 56 (yikes!)

3 pieces of cheese pizza on multigrain crust- 570

approx 11 grapes- 33

2L (8 cups) water- 0

Total: 1309

WHA? Really?? Oookay. Honestly that isn't as much as I thought it would be! Hmm...perhaps too low, some might say. I think my dinner calories are usually higher than that though. Oh, in case you were wondering where I got the calorie info from, well, it's the first one that google sent me to, really! It was www.thecaloriecounter.com. I actually went to the pizza place's website for nutritional info for that. I looked at all the choices, and the cheese pizza had the least amount of calories. It was interesting to see that it was only 30 cal. lower than the pepperoni I usually have. There were about 10 more calories from fat in the pepperoni. The pizza with the lowest calorie count was the cheese on thin multigrain crust (140). I thought about it, but I really don't like thin crust pizza.  Jason doesn't either, and he is going to finish the rest of it for lunches at work. What a guy, eh? The old me would scarf 4 pieces of the pepperoni and consider the 5th, sometimes giving in, sometimes not. This time I ate three (I tried to choose the smaller ones) and considered four...but I realized I was actually fairly full. I do wish I had eaten two slices and a salad instead, but no salad in the fridge. Darn it! Next time, that will be what I do. 

I mentioned in my previous post that I wanted to walk today at lunch, and I was worried about rain. Well, I was a bit disappointed that it was cloudy and a bit windy when I set out (but no rain!). I have had sun every time I've walked for over three weeks. But wait...what's this?? The sky lightening? The sun peeking through the clouds? By the time I got across the soccer field and into the park, the sun was shining brightly! I really think this is mama nature's way of encouraging my walks. :) Oh, and there were lots of sweet baby duckies in the pond today which

made me long for my poor, waterlogged camera once again. Sigh. I really tried to push myself to walk quickly. Oh, lol...and I have to thank my all-time favourite blogger, author of My Life on a Diet.  She posted about how her personal trainer always tells her to squeeze her butt muscles whenever she walked the treadmill, or did pretty much any other exercise. Proof is in the puddin', she reports her backside looks great! So there I was walking the pond circuit, admiring baby duckies,  squeeezing as I took each step. Thanks Webmom30! My rear thanks you too. :)

So, a brisk walk for 35 mintues (with my little bursts of jogging!), that's pretty good for a day's exercise, yes? Ahh, but I didn't stop there! Uh uh...nooo. I decided to ride the bike too. I did 30 minutes, and moved up to the 5 lb weights. OMG...did I ever feel the difference!! I like to use the weights almost through the whole workout (chest presses, bicep curls, tricep....er...whatevers, butterflies and whatever else I feel like doing). Usually I do 10 reps of each and repeat until time's up. Oh man, the fiver feels so heavy right now! My heart rate increased with the effort, plus I tried to keep the speed at 20 again. Did some at level 4 as well. I pedaled 8.6 kilometers this time. I may just try to do 10k in the future, at least for a while, rather than worry about the time. 

I am happy that I downed so much water today, and it really wasn't that onerous. I wish I had eaten more fruits and veggies though. Still workin' on that one people. 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 210

Exercise: 65 min. moderate-high intensity

Day 23: Measurements and stuff

Today I noticed that the jeans I bought a few months ago are looser! Yes! They are falling down a wee bit now...may have to get a belt. A BELT! To keep up my PANTS! Just makes me oddly happy. Also, I have this really cute button-up top that I bought a size too small so it would fit in the waist even though it wouldn't button at the bust. Today...it buttoned! I did some measurements a while ago, and it seems I've lost 1.5 inches around my chest and 1 inch each off my arms and thighs! Coool! The waist and hip measurement is maybe 1/2 inch down. If I am feeling brave, I will post my measurements...maybe in 20 lbs or so. :P OH! And I wanted to take before pics for y'all, but as I mentioned in a previous blog, I drowned my camera. :( I will take some as soon as we get a new one. 

Today was a good day for eating...mostly because I ditched the carrots and ate sweet, delicious grapes instead. Mmmm. I was also able to eat cereal again, Raisin Bran this time (and yay it was on sale, so I have two boxes! No more breakfast crises for while.). I had yogurt and and a handful of almonds for a snack after work- a time I am usually hungry enough to eat a couch cushion. Dinner tonight was the leftover roast chicken, salad, corn, baked potato and a few spoonfuls of my macaroni salad. Devil salad...so tasty, but not not good for me! I was a bit full after, and I didn't even eat all of my potato! I am trying to listen for my body to tell me when I am full. Takes practice. I didn't drink enough water today, though. I had a headache. I am trying to drink some now, but I really have to do better on this one! I know drinking water helps me lose weight.

Ramping...did I say something about ramping yesterday? I believe I did! On the bike today, I made a very good effort to stay around 20 (I think that's kilometers/hr?), and I could really feel it. I've been doing mostly resistance level 3, with some 4 interspersed for added leg torture. I noticed that when I did the level 4 for a bit longer, it got easier. I want to work up to doing mostly 4 and 5. I can really feel my leg muscles now! Gettin' hard as rocks! Well, rocks with some cushy fat on them. Used the light weights again, but I'm thinkin' I will bring out the bigger ones for next time. I did 30 minutes and "rode" 7.5 kilometers. 

Tomorrow is walk day...but it may rain. EEP! 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 210  (there ya go!)

Exercise: 30 min. high intensity

Day 22: Got some ramping up to do...

Yes, you heard me. Gotta. Ramp. It. Up. I think the bod is getting a bit complacent with my current exercise regime. I was concentrating so much on just GETTING OFF THE BLASTED COUCH and working out...I haven't thought about pushing myself. At first, any exercise was new, so it was pushing me. Now, three weeks later, it's barely registering. Of course, dear reader, you know that this just sucks rotten lemons for me, 'cause I hate exercising and this means I have to do MORE!! Kill me now. Quickly. Or at least before tomorrow so I don't have to work out again. 

I think I am getting a bit lax with the eating too. Not that I am coming anywhere near close to my old portion sizes, but I think I can make better choices. Then maybe that darn scale will stop thumbing its nose at me and MOVE. 

Today I had no cereal. I KNOW. Tragical. I had to scour the cupboards for an alternative breakfast food.  Hmm...crackers? No. Soup? Ew no. Herbal tea? What am I a supermodel? No. 

I had nothin'. I had to break down and have toast. The good thing was it was all multigrain-y healthy goodness. But then, I had to put peanut butter on it. I KNOW, bad. But, as  nod to the calorie gods, I put this pathetic little skim coat of the stuff on there. Good enough, I say. At work, I totally forgot about my oh-so-beloved carrots. How could I?!? I did eat my nutribar, and then headed out for my walk. It was  a bit chilly starting out, and I wished I hadn't second-guessed myself about bringing a jacket. But, the sun was shining, and I was moving, so it was better after about five minutes. Don't laugh, but once I was in a fairly secluded part of the path, I started jogging. I said don't laugh!! It was just for a few seconds here or there. Felt pretty silly jogging in my jeans holding a water bottle. Yeesh. I do plan on trying the whole running thing, but I think I will do it on a track...in exercise clothes perhaps. Rebel. 

Once I got home I was really missing those carrots in my belly. We had to go grocery shopping, duh, no cereal! C'mon, how can I live?! I decided to be frugal and grabbed those old carrots and brought them with me in the car. Halfway through our shopping excursion, I was very hungry again. I don't think I have to tell you how much it sucks to be hungry in a grocery store. Cookies? I want those! Rows and rows of chocolate, candy, licorice and chips? I want those too!! Yes, all of them! I'll get a pallet and one of those loader thingies...rent a big truck and haul it home to feast on...no problem! But...alas...no. I didn't buy any cookies, or chips, or licorice, or chocolate (woe for the chocolate). I bought salad. And vegetables. And grapes (thank GOD for the grapes...buh- bye carrots!). For dinner we got another roast chicken. It's so good! Jason is getting a bit sick of it, but I love it. It's great to have so much left over for another dinner too. Lazybones that I am. :)

I waited a while to digest, and then rode the bike for about 20 minutes. Not a lot, but on top of my walk, it's pretty good. 

I may have to start doing my step during the week. Urg.

Thanks again for following me, dear reader. Hope to see you again soon. :)

Stats for the day:

Weight: 211 (ARRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! Don't worry...I'm not freaking out. I know it could be gained muscle and all that. )

Exercise: 50 min. moderate intensity

Day 21: Three Weeks!

It's happened...

I have blog envy. 

Just read every blog post on this woman's hilarious blog. I had to read every single one! I now feel my own little blog is akin to a semi-literate howler monkey scratching on a cave wall. Thank you to the author of "My Life on a Diet," though for such an amazing weight-loss story. 

Annnd here are the howler monkey scratchings for the day:

What can I tell you about today? I ate my stimulating breakfast of cereal and my equally stimulating nutribar. I actually had a student comment on the fact that I "really must like carrots," because I am always eating them. Hahahahaha. Funny girl. Dinner was what we like to call "cheater spaghetti." This consists of Catelli's Smart pasta (all the fiber of whole wheat without the icky taste!) and Healthy Choice chunky Vegetable Lovers sauce. Mmmm. I spice it up a bit since it's so bland. We are still doing the french bread accompaniment, which isn't so good for us. I ate about 1/2 as much pasta as Jason, and two and a half pieces of bread. I coulda done without the 1/2 for sure. I wasn't hungry after though! Them carbs sure are filling. 

I am very happy to report that my workout streak is INTACT BABY! I only had the energy to do 25 on the bike today, but I did it! The couch tried its siren song on me, but I put my fingers in my ears and went "lalalalala." Couch thinks it can get the best of me...got 'nother think comin'. Grumble... mutter...mutter...I'll show you couch...grumble...

I am hoping for walk tomorrow...wish me luck!!

Stats for the day:

Weight: 210

Exercise: 25 min. moderate intensity (I was TIRED ok?!?!)

A bit more about my walk...

I was so bummed that I couldn't show you the gorgeous scenery from my walk yesterday, I decided to go searching online. I hope you enjoy the pics I found. :)

Location: Lower Falls Trail, Golden Ears Provincial Park, British Columbia

This is an example of  the amazing moss-covered trees we saw along the trail. The climate is so damp that moss 

grows on absolutely everything. 

The most impressive sights were the huge stumps from the old-growth forest that once was. 

This is the pristine Gold Creek that we could see for most of our walk. In behind you can see the Coast Mountains. At this time of the year there is even more snow on them than you can see here. 

A similar view, with a bit more snow. You can see the emerald colour of the water here. We came across an artist sketching this view. Alyssa thought it would be really cool to swim across to the other side and hang out on that rocky beach. 

And here we have the pièce de resistance...the lower falls. Just stunning to see in person. 

Day 19/20: Weekend Update 2: The Revenge

Well, there is no revenge in my blog, but sequels always seem to have some cheesy tagline like that after them. Sorry if you came here to read about revenge though. Maybe I took my revenge on fat cells today? Hmmm.....might be pushing it a tad. 

Day 19

Saturday...seems so far away as I write this on Sunday night. What the heck DID I do on Saturday? Ahh yes, I think I remember. There was  a couch. Yes, for sure. A couch and my ass....and they were one, like a single entity. It was good, a harmonious connection the likes only a gluteus maximus can attain with fabric and foam. I enjoyed this soul-satisfying connection for a few hours in the morning, had some cereal, watched some TV, surfed the net. All good lazybones behaviour. This idyllic stupor of mind and body could only last so long, however. I had to work out. I HAD to. Was this going to be the day that I missed working out? A day I had nothing to do for hours? I think not! Even a self-proclaimed "Queen of Vegetating" like me couldn't do it. I broke that ass-couch connection (with much regret) and did my step workout. It wasn't easy per se, but certainly wasn't the challenge it once was. I think next time I will elevate the platform a few more inches. Yesss....this should do the trick. After, I had chicken soup with pasta for lunch and a bag of my yummy fiber cookies. But the exercise didn't stop there, folks, nosirree bob! I had to get cat food for crazy Mo. She gets bladder stones, so it has to be this fancy-shmancy vet food. So, instead of driving the short distance to the vet, I walked! I had no idea how far the vet's was from my place, but I figured I could go there and back in about 1/2 hr. I am so glad I did it! It was a completely gorgeous day and I had almost missed it being so busy riding the couch! Shame on me. SHAME. Later, I drove to my mother-in-law's place which is near the vet's and discovered it was 1.8 miles round trip. Not a long walk by any means, but it WAS an extra 1/2 hr of exercise! Better'n a kick in the head, I always say. 

Yes, so MIL's for dinner that night. We had hot dogs...annnd that's about it. They were GOOD though. I had two, and about four potato chips. I was a bit worried about later that night 'cause I was meeting my lovely friend Lara at a restaurant after she got off work. Once there, I ate a few of her calamari and then felt really guilty for not ordering anything and caved and ordered their "brownie bite". Basically a small brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. I haven't indulged in much this week, so I enjoyed it a lot. I didn't finish the ice-cream though. Yay me. 

Not a great day of eating, by any means, but I don't feel like I over-ate in any way. 

Day 20

Well, this should be easier to remember since it's today! This being Mother's Day, I headed out early to visit my amazing, wonderful mother. I had cereal before I left because I never skip breakfast anymore. Used to allllll the time, but I know how bad that is for your body and metabolism now. So there was no working out at home. Sad? Dissapointed? Crying out, "My god, how can this be?!?!?" Don't cry, dear reader. I DID exercise today! Yes! When I asked my mom what she wanted to do on her day, she said "Go for a hike." Cool! Gotta love killing two birds (vicious saying, I always thought, and I would never really kill any bird with any number of stones). I got to spend the day with my mom AND exercise! We packed a lunch and, with my niece and nephew in tow (bonus!), made our way into the wooded luxury of nature. It was over an hour drive (with a ferry ride) to get to Golden Ears Provincial Park. We ate our lunch in the ferry line up. This ferry is so cool. It's TINY for one thing, and it takes like, five minutes to cross the river to the other side. We waited for a little over 1/2 hr. and that was three sailings. Golden ears has a great trail that leads up to what they call the "lower falls". This was our destination. It's a lovely, wide trail that leads through the forest. The trees are tall and everything is green and moss-covered. I know nothing of nature, so I won't embarrass myself trying to name anything. Lots of trees, ferns (yes know those!), fallen logs and little rivulets covered by wooden bridges. As soon as we stepped onto the trail I inhaled that cool, green smell that makes me feel like I am inhaling the forest. Most of the trail is flanked by the river, the sound of which was lovely and soothing. At one point there is a rocky beach right near the trail, so we detoured over there so the kids could throw rocks in the fast-moving water. It was gorgeous. The water looks almost emerald green where it is deepest, and it is crystal clear and cold enough to take your breath away- glacier-fed as it is. We saw a guy wade in a little further down. He sat in the icy water and splashed his chest. Whoooeee! I asked his friends if he had lost a bet, or was just crazy. Crazy, was the answer.  The trail had many ups and downs, so I really felt my legs got a workout. We didn't walk super fast since my nephew, Jake, insisted on attempting to climb up on every rock and fallen log that struck his fancy. Fearless six-year-old. My niece, Alyssa, was a bit more on-task, but wasn't terribly enamoured with the length of the walk. When we got to the waterfall, I wished for the millionth time that I hadn't accidently drowned our camera in a terrible half-closed water bottle vs. purse incident. Tragic, because it was so beautiful. It's not a tall waterfall, but very powerful. There's a little lookout platform very close to it, so when you are standing on it you are sprayed with a lovely, cool mist from the fall. Ahhhhh. We did go up a wee bit more to see the fall from the top. Another gorgeous view. No camera. Curses. The walk back was much faster, despite Jake, having expended all his energy climbing everything, lagging behind. We passed a sign with some info on the walk and learned how far we had walked. 5.4 kilometers, baby!! Hmm you Yanks won't appreciate that measure too much...let me use my awesome powers of using my Mac's conversion widget...annnnd....it's 3.6 miles. Took us about 1 1/2 hrs. I really felt that I had worked out at the end. I will reduce that time to account for us standing around and admiring things. Oh, yes, and there was some eating I forgot to mention. Lunch was a small ham sandwich with lettuce on a crusty roll. Mmm. I had a very small bag or my fave BBQ chips, which I attempted give away to my fellow travelers, to no avail. My friends the carrots even managed to find me for this meal. Yay. My mom, the sweet woman, treated us all to a small vanilla cone on our way to the park. Don't feel to bad about that, though. Dinner was a major rush job. I had to eat super quick 'cause Jason and I wanted to see Star Trek. I gazed into the cupboard and the only thing I saw was a can of Alphaghetti. What, not only 8 year-olds eat that stuff! If you don't know it, it's pasta shapes in "tomato sauce". Suuure. Whatever you want to call it. Yup, so that was my dinner. My fab day of eating was rounded out with a few handfuls of popcorn at the movie (happy this time, Troy?? :P). I can't say that I am thrilled with my food choices this weekend. Not in the least. However, I am happy that I didn't over-indulge in anything, which is really my problem. (Really liked Star Trek, btw!)

Stats for the weekend:

Weight: 210 (Finally!!)

Exercise: 145 min. moderate to high intensity

Day 18: Did I or didn't i?

So are you curious? 

Do you want to know? 

 I know you are thinking it! 

Did she do it? 

Shall I tell now? 

Or make you wait? 

Hmmm.

Let me first say, that today was the usual for eating. Oh, wait...things got really interesting for my after work snack. I had YOGURT! Yes, I know, I shouldn't get too crazy. The shift from applesauce to yogurt is a wild one, but I took it slow, and I'm feeling good. Dinner was tacos. Jason decided he wanted to use up his sour cream from Wednesday. Sure, ok! At least there is some vegetation in that meal. I had two small soft tacos and one regular one. For my dessert I had a fat-free 40 cal fudge pop. Love those things! The Snack Monster didn't show its ugly face ONCE today. Woo hoo! 

Oh, you know I can't keep you waiting any longer. First off, I will say I DIDN'T go for a walk today. I remembered this morning that I have my club meeting at lunch. My friend Kim and I sponsor a multicultural friendship club at the school called Amica. Yeah, I know, but we don't sell insurance. We are planning to round up volunteers to help out at a children's peace day. We want to do "peace rings"- basically a circle of paper (think Olympic ring) with a message of peace written on it. The idea is to join the rings together to display (ideally at an Olympic venue). OH! For those of you who don't know me, I live very near Vancouver, B.C home of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Lotsa hubbub around here I tell ya! We are also trying to get some war toys donated by some kids in local schools. They could be anything from tanks, to soldiers, to guns, and we'd get the kids to transform them into an art project that promotes peace. Cool, eh? Yes, so had that meeting...no walking. I got home and became one with my couch almost instantly. I considered briefly working out, but that idea didn't stick, as usual. But...you will be HAPPY to know, that I rode the darn bike for 25 minutes after dinner. YES! 18 days in a row, baby! I hope the old bod is ok with all this exercise. I felt a twinge in my ankle today riding...but I think I just moved it awkwardly. It's a bit sore, but not bad. 

Something cool...Jason bought two tomato plants. YAY! Fresh tomatoes direct from my balcony! Well, one day. Now this is good...made me laugh when he told me...my silly hubby (love the man) named them. Can you guess their names? How does "Tom and Matt Ato" grab you? :) 

Stats for the day

Weight: 211

Exercise: 25 min. moderate intensity

Day 17: No rest for the weary

Yes, a lil' bit tired today, my friends. Not that it wasn't a good day, though. I am just having a very hard time getting myself to work out every day. I didn't set out thinking, "Hey, I am going to work out every day!" It has just...happened. Now,  since it's gathered this sort of momentum, I feel almost obligated to continue!  What happy mess have I gotten myself into? This girl who truly hates to sweat! Sheesh. I've said this before, but  I would really hate to not work out because my butt was too firmly glued to the couch. There will be a day that I'm just too busy, or I'm sick or some such thing, and then I won't work out. Until then, this die-hard couch-riding bag of lazy bones is going to work out every day!! 

On an unrelated note, I have been out in the bloggosphere of late, checking out my fellow bloggers. I have found several awesome blogs out there. I am so amazed at the quality of writing that I've found! If you get the chance, I hope you will check out the blogs I am following- they all deserve a good read. :) Oh! And if you check out wayyyyy at the bottom of my blog, you will see I've added a counter. I am so new, I am inordinately proud of this small addition. 

Alrighty...da bidness: I hate to be boring, but my breakfast, lunch and snacks were all identical to yesterday's. Cereal, carrots, nutribar, applesauce, almonds. I am Ms. Excitement! Dinner was steak (size of my palm, oh yeah, I know the rule), baked potato, salad and corn. Gooood stuff. 

I put off working out until after I digested said dinner. I don't LOVE to work out late, but it's better than nothing. I'm so not motivated to work out right after work. Uh uh. So around 8-ish I got on that darn bike and did 20 minutes with the weights (1.1 lbs- I have some heavier ones I will use soon, I think). Tomorrow, I want to do my walk around the park. I haven't had a chance to do that all week. Now, if only I could have some sort of music on these walks. I've been telling Jason I want one of those nifty new iPod Shuffles. It's cuter than a bug's ear, I tell ya. It's the size of a house key and has voice technology, so it will tell you the name of the song and artist you are listening to and even run through your playlists, too. Funky monkey! Gotta love the modern technology. If you get it through Apple, you can get free engraving on it. Oh yeah, I want one.  It's almost $100 you say? Pshaw. Totally worth it! Now, just have to convince my hubby of same. Hmmm.....

Stats for the day:

Weight: 211

Exercise: 20 min. moderate intensity 

Day 16: Still in this thing, baby!

Today was a good day, I think. I did feel a bit hungrier today than yesterday, but I still managed to evade the snack monster. :) That wicked Snack Monster did grab those 100 calorie pack bags of Doritos I have in the cupboard and REALLY tried to sway me, but I was stronger. You may be shocked to hear this, but I also have a HUGE bar of dark chocolate in that very same cupboard. I bought it because I wanted to try this chocolate cookie recipe I saw TV chef Michael Smith make a while back on ye olde Food Network. Funny, but I'm not really tempted to break it open and gorge. Considering I'd pretty near kill my best friend for a chocolate fix sometimes, this is a bit of a surprise.

Ok, so what DID I eat today? Hmmm...breakfast was All Bran's Strawberry Medley- very high fiber, and tasty too. I had my nutribar for lunch and carrots for a snack (hey, I'm nothing, if not predictable!). I made my carrots last today, and that helped with hunger a bit. Although, I was quite hungry when I got home, as usual. I had my last applesauce cup and some more almonds. I still felt hungry after, so I drank a glass of water, and that did the trick! Cooool. Dinner was chicken fajitas. I had three, but they were fairly small. I treated myself a little bag my high-fiber chocolate cookies for dessert. 

That brings me to my favourite part of my day...exercise. So you may be wondering, "Did she do it for another day??" The answer is YES, I did. Not happily, and certainly not with a song in my heart, but I did it. I had a date with the bike and my weights and, yes, a little Gossip Girl. 

I read a little article on willpower today. It was kind of interesting, since I am exerting some every time I look in the cupboard, or walk past packages of chocolate cookies. The basic premise of the article was that when we deny ourselves something, or exert willpower, it is harder to deny ouselves something else later on. So if you say, go shopping and deny yourself a new DVD, when it comes to your diet later, you might have a harder time saying no to ice-cream for dessert. Scientists think it may have something to do with blood sugar levels and the chemicals in the brain used when controlling impulses. The good news is that it seems like the more we exert willpower, the better we get at it. For example, the psychologists who did the study noticed that people who kept to an exercise program for two months spent money less impulsively, reduced alcohol and junk food intake, studied more, watched less TV and did more housework. (Jason, don't get any ideas on that housework part! :P) Sounds good to me! 

Here's the URL to the full article if you are interested in reading it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/opinion/02aamodt.html

I suppose that leaves me only with....

Stats for the day:

Weight: 211 (oh, I know any day now it's going to creeeeep downward to that 10!!)

Exercise: 30 min. moderate-high intensity

Day 15: Electric Boogaloo

Don't ask...honestly.

Today was fairly unremarkable. I still feel I am doing well with my eating, except maybe that I could be eating more fruit and veggies, of course. Usual breakfast and lunch and carotty goodness today. Snack was applesauce and about 10 almonds. That's an estimate, btw...I'm not quite anal enough to count them. I was on my own for dinner tonight since my hardworking honey took an extra shift. Way to win that bread baby! I was really uninspired to make a meal for one, and I couldn't bring myself to open a can of soup, so I fell back on an old standby...god...I hate to even type it....pizza pops. God. I KNOW. Not good. The calorie count for two isn't bad, it's the total lack of nutritional value and high fat content that gets me. I hang my head in a wee bit o' shame on that one. I bought them BEFORE the weight loss thing...and..and...well...er...yeah. I ate them. Today I noticed I didn't feel that hungry, or maybe it's that I am not noticing I am hungry as much. When I feel hungry, I generally eat something. Of course, I am hungry NOW, but I'm not going to eat since it's after 10 p.m. 

I thought about working out right after work, but that thought passed out of my head quickly...it fairly sprinted outta there.  Please don't despair, fair reader. I did work out eventually. After trying on all my summer clothes I had hidden away for the winter. I was trying to see if they fit any different than last summer. Methinks I saw a difference in a few things. Nothing big. I think they will be fitting a lot differently in the summer though. I still want to get below 200 lbs by the end of June. Yes, so anyway, after the clothesfest, I rode the bike for 30 minutes while watching a movie on my laptop. 

I was commenting to a friend today that I haven't missed a workout in 15 days now. Wow. He expressed some worry that I should take some days off in between or I might burn out. I thought about that, but I don't think my workouts are hardcore enough to warrant a rest. Sometimes my exercise is just a walk, or a 20 minute jaunt on the bike. I am trying to do a few more intense workouts throughout the week though. 

I wish I didn't hate exercise. 

I do though. 

Really. 

A lot. 

Stats for the day:

Weight: 211

Exercise: 30 minutes moderate-high intensity

Day 14: Two weeks innnnnnnnn!!!

Wow, I can't believe it's been two weeks. In some ways it seems like no time, and in others it seems like long, drudgerous decades (yup, that's right, makin' up words now). 

Before I go on, I just want to say THANK YOU again to all of you lovely people who are following along. I appreciate all your comments and feedback so SO much! Having people read my blathering is the whole point of this thing, and how it keeps me accountable. Fellow blogger, Christine, even gave me a lovely award the other day, and I, in my ignorance of such things, don't know how to "pick it up"! Perhaps someone could help me out? Thank you Christine! :)

Alrighty then! Down to da bidness. Today was...meh...ok....for eating. I did have a meeting all day, and we were treated to muffins at our break. I had less than half of a cranberry one. I probably could have done without it, but I am happy I didn't eat a whole one. It was a nice taste of something sweet, for sure though. Otherwise, I had my usual cereal and nutribar. Also, I hate to report, I am back on the carrots again. *Sigh*

I was REALLY tired when I got home, and I didn't want to work out at all. At all. At all all all. I talked to Jason on the phone about it and he said, "Do you really want to write in your blog tonight that you didn't work out for the first time?" Um. No...not really. Gawwwwd. Ok, fine. I lazed on the couch for a few more self-indulgent moments and GOT ON THE DARN BIKE. Very grudgingly, I might add. I was able to squeeze in 20 minutes of bike and weights before we had to eat. Jason, my sweet man, stopped off and got delicious sandwiches (about an 8 inch sub) from Safeway's deli. Oh, they are good. I am totally off Subway now that I have discovered these sandwiches. I had black forest ham with lettuce and tomato. I did indulge in a small bag of BBQ potato chips along with it. I'm not to concerned with that addition today. I am certainly not making potato chips a habit in my diet. After dinner, we headed out to see Wolverine, and I am VERY happy to say we had no popcorn, pop or snacks of any kind! I drank water. Oooh ahhh...yes, I know. :) Oh, and I liked the movie! 

 

I may be imagining things, but I kind of feel like my pants are a bit looser these days. Not sure though...could be wishful thinking!

Stats for the day:

Exercise: 20 min. moderate-intense activity

Weight: 211 lbs

Day 12/13: Weekend Update (thanks Troy!)

I am so sad I didn't get to post yesterday. I just ran outta time in the day, and had to go to bed. I'm sure it will happen again, but I hate to miss a day. So this post will be a two-for-one special. 

Day 12

Today was my friend's son's 3rd b-day party, so I knew I had to get my workout in early. I did my step tape again, and I was SO happy to discover that it was much easier this time! I didn't feel like I wanted to die, and I used the weights the whole time. Woo hoo! Gettin' in better shape! I discovered a way to make this mind-crushingly familiar workout a bit more interesting, too. I was able to turn down the volume on the TV enough so that I could watch a movie on my laptop. Ohh, yes, clever lil' me. It was great though! I could still follow the routine, and the movie distracted me from the fact I'd done it six thousand times before (remember, I've had this tape for over 10 years). You might ask, why not get a new one? Well, I actually LIKE the workout this gives me. Plus I've tried others and some are just hard to follow. 

Oh, and food! I did eat. Look at what's happened here...missed a day and I'm all discombobulated (love that word). I ate cereal for breakfast, and that healthy chicken soup for lunch. I knew my friend was serving hamburgers...and a really kick-ass cake shaped like Thomas the Tank Engine, so I wanted to eat right for at least PART of the day! At the party, there was lots of yummy food, and chips etc. I didn't eat anything really, just a few veggies and a couple multigrain tortilla chips. For dinner, I had one of Lara's AMAZING burgers made with extra-lean ground beef, which she managed to make moist and delicious. God, that girl can cook!  I had a spoonful of her mom's potato salad- also very tasty. I DID have some of the famous "Thomas" cake, too and a dollop of ice-cream. It was yummy. :) Overall, I think I did quite well. Ahh yes, there was some minor sipping of a sparkling wine Lara had. I am not a big wine drinker, but it was GOOD! 

Day 13

I love Sundays. Usually I spend them on the couch watching TV or movies, interspersed with bouts of cleaning. Today, I had a mission, however. I wanted to go visit a friend I haven't talked to or seen in ages, save a few brief emails. 

There was no milk in the house, so I had whole-wheat toast with a skim coat of peanut butter. Let me tell you, this stayed with me a LONG time! I grabbed a nutribar for lunch, since I knew I wouldn't be home in time, and I really didn't want to eat out. My friend and I planned on meeting at 11 for coffee near his work, so I couldn't do my workout before I left. This made me a bit nervous, because my old M.O. would be to get lazy in the afternoon/evening and blow off the workout entirely. I COULD have woken up earlier, yes. But I like sleep. A lot. My weekends are MADE for catching up on the missed bits of it. So off I went, workout-less, into the morning sunshine. 

At Starbucks, I indulged in my favourite hot drink next to hot chocolate- a chai tea latte. Mmm. To me they taste just like Christmas. I did give the banana chocolate chip loaf the old hairy eyeball whilst waiting in line. Nope...no...not gonna do it. Snack Monster did NOT follow me out the door. Of course, the Snack Monster is everywhere...omnipresent...like God...or Santa Claus (sorry to you religious folks for putting those two in the same sentence!). I bypassed the sweet treats and concentrated on the spicy goodness of my chai tea. Ahhhhhhhh. 

I ate my nutribar around one, and that held me until I got home around 3:30. I decided to have a handful of almonds and an applesauce cup. Oh, and water, of course! Dinner was this "lazy Sunday dinner"  turkey thing that is pre-cooked and all you have to do is nuke it. It's not the BEST food in the world, but it's not too bad. Jason made garlic mashed potatoes, and we had salad, corn and good ol' stovetop. I asked Jason after if he figured I ate about half as much as usual. He thought close to it. My portions looked VERY normal. Not normal for the old me of course, but my NEW normal. 

Exercise...my constant friend. I didn't want to work out when I got back from shopping. SHOCKING. I got hit by a really good case of the sleepies, and tried to nap. Trouble was, Jason left Star Trek on the TV, and I couldn't find the remote to turn it down. It's...really...hard to...ignore...Shatner's...bad acting. Finally, I gave up and got my butt onto the bike. Got in 25 minutes before I had to run to the kitchen and do my part of dinner. Better than nothing. Annnd...I belive that makes TWO WEEKS straight I've worked out! Dare I say...YAY ME? 

:)

Stats for the weekend:

Exercise: 65 min. high-intensity

Weight: 211 lbs.