Vacation starts now!

So I am officially on vacation until Jan 3 (originally I was planning to be off until the 2nd, but I decided to add an extra day on there).

It's going to be busy. We have tomorrow home, but then we are off to visit parents until Wednesday; home for a day and then my sister and her husband are coming to stay for New Year's. I'm looking forward to it all, but I also know it will fly by too quickly.

I actually decided this morning that I would try to get back to tracking points, at least for the next couple of days, and wouldn't you know it? The Weight Watchers site was down. Frustrating. Oh well. Would have been hard to do after tomorrow anyway.

Lots to do tomorrow. Cleaning, packing, etc. For now, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my evening at home.

Counting down...

One more day of work - tomorrow - and then I am on vacation! So looking forward to it, but I know it will fly by too quickly. Before I know it, we'll be in that desolate, long-weekend-less stretch that is January, February and March...when is Easter this year? Must look at a 2008 calendar.

Sometimes I feel like I am wishing my life away, longing for the next holiday or vacation...But let's face it: vacation is more fun than work.

Poor Moon, he really needs a vacation. He woke up this morning and asked what day it was. He's been on call this week, which messes with his sleeping and wears him right out.

A co-worker brought a big box of timbits to the office this morning and I have been eating them all day. Not good.

Finished reading The Thirteenth Tale last night - excellent read, highly recommend it. Trying to decide what to read next. I have a tantalizing stack of books, sitting there on a shelf waiting for me and my upcoming vacation...Thinking I should start a book blog - so many books, so little time.

Snackless in the office...

I didn't bring my usual afternoon snack with me today. Had a dentist appointment at 3:00 to get a small filling (molar with a little piece broken off somehow), so I thought I might not be able to eat anything. But now I am hungry. The chocolates are all gone from this office, but I know there are cookies across the hall....

More Tuesday Blues...

Second Tuesday in a row, I did not get out of bed to do my workout. Not sure what's going on with Tuesdays lately. I felt so tired and groggy this morning though. Possibly did not sleep well.

Woke up at some point in the night/early morning, realizing that I was sleeping on my stomach, which hurts my back. I toss and turn a lot, so every once in a while I wind up like that, and it always wakes me up because I am so uncomfortable. To top it off, there was a cat sleeping on my back. I am normally a big softy, and if I realize there is a cat sleeping on me, I hate to move and disturb them, but last night I had no choice...it was just not a good way to sleep.

I feel so loved though.

Ok, so the weather is really cold and the cats are cuddling as much as they can to soak up body heat.

Diet-wise, I am eating healthy meals and drinking my water, but I am also enjoying chocolates and cookies. Ah well. January will be here soon enough, and then it will be time for a sugar detox.

3 more days of work, then I am on vacation until Jan 2!

~~~

4:20 PM ~ Want to curl up in a ball and sleep. Craving a cup of coffee. Will make a pot of decaf when I get home from work...Probably not really what I'm craving, but it's what I'll have at that time of day.

'Tis the season to eat cookies...

That pretty much sums up how I'm feeling at the moment.

I did have some nice, healthy soup for supper. Then cookies and some decaf coffee. I suppose when January rolls around I may regret these indulgences; they will likely translate into extra pounds to lose. But they were very tasty cookies!

Ah, Saturday!

Oh how I love Saturdays!

Slept in, despite cats poking at me and walking all over me. Woke up, as usual, to find one cat by my head (Fred) and the other sleeping on my legs (George).

Enjoyed a breakfast of Red River Cereal and coffee, lounging on the couch, then went out and got some shopping done. Home before 2:00 and had the rest of the day to myself. Got in an hour long cardio + sculpting workout, had a lovely pita pizza with raw veggies for supper. All in all, a pretty relaxing day.

Heavy snowfall warning for tomorrow, so I'm thinking we won't be going anywhere. I may do some baking. I am sort of conflicted on this - I'm in the mood to bake, but if I bake I will eat it, so I'm wondering if I should put it off...We shall see.

Only downer of the day - my new scale.

I've been thinking of getting a new scale because mine does not do decimals, and I'm also not sure how accurate it is. Shopper's Drug Mart had a points redemption deal going on this weekend and I had lots of points, so I thought it would be a good time to cash them in.

I bought a fancy new Weight Watcher's scale - very cool looking, it's glass. But...it doesn't seem to be quite working right. According to the instructions, you tap the scale and it should come on. But it doesn't. I have tapped and tapped and tapped, but no joy. The scale can be programmed to remember up to 4 users. I was able to enter all the details to save my user, and if I push the user button on the scale, it comes on and I can weigh myself. So it is useable. But it bugs me that I can't just weigh myself without having to select the user, since the instructions say I should be able to. Grr.

So, I'm thinking I may have to take it back. I feel like I'm being really picky. But, it's not working the way it is supposed to.

I will have Moon look at it tomorrow (he's not home right now) and see if there's something I missed. But if it's not working, I guess I will have to take it back.

Weigh-In Day

Weight: 138 lb (+2)

So, weigh-in was pretty much what I expected. Still disappointed in myself. But, hoping to do better next week.

So not impressed with myself

Another bad eating week - can't seem to stop the munchies lately. Where is my willpower?

Last Friday's weigh-in (which I didn't post because I was busy having a sick day, curled up on my couch reading The Birth House by Ami McKay) was good - 136 which was 2 lbs down. I had no idea how I'd managed it since I'd been eating chocolate every day...Of course, I also hadn't been feeling well, so who knows, maybe that had something to do with it.

Anyway, I fully expect tomorrow morning's weigh-in (which I do at home since I do Weight Watchers Online) will not be quite so happy...I will not be surprised at all to see the numbers go up again.

Why, why, why do I do this?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Last night had Mahi-Mahi again so that Moon could try it out. He was not crazy about it. It wasn't terrible, he just didn't like it that much. Which I take to mean that he is hoping not to have it again any time soon. Sigh.

The cats on the other hand think it is great. The last couple of times, I just had Fred* cosy-ing up and begging. This time I had both of them, one on either side. And of course I shared because I am a push-over and I love my babies. So Fred and George will be disappointed not to have it again.

*Names have been changed to protect feline identities...Ok, Moon & I have online names here on the blog, so I figured the cats should too. So, from now on they are Fred & George. Yes, after the Weasley twins, since my cats look like twins anyway.

Tuesday blues...

Overslept this morning - which is to say when I came to enough to look at the clock, it was 6:20 and I figured I didn't have time to haul myself out of bed and do a workout, so I stayed there until 7:00. Now that I'm actually conscious, I know that I could have squeezed in a short workout which would have been better than nothing.

The weather has turned chilly...Yesterday's high was -10° C, right now it is -18, according to the weather page, but we can look forward to a high of -5. We've been keeping the thermostats turned down to 15° C and heating the house with the wood stove, but since it doesn't get lit until we get home from work, it's making for some chilly evenings. Which sends me right back to sitting on the couch under a blanket, with a couple of felines on my lap to keep me warm. Forget "puttering", I'm turning into a frozen lump. I know that I would warm up and feel better were I to get up and move around, but I just don't wanna.

Last year I was home for most of the winter and kept the wood stove going all day, so the house was pretty toasty. I could even have the window open during the day so the cats could get out into their enclosure, and the house was warm - once it really gets going the basement turns into a sauna.

Of course, the cats don't seem to want to go out in this weather anyway. I open the window and they mostly just look through the screen with disgusted looks on their faces. Heaven forbid they expose their delicate paws to snow!

I will...

I will write a blog entry soon, I promise! Just haven't been feeling great, but I think I'm almost back to normal.

Just looked at the calendar this morning and realized I only have two more weeks of work and then I am off for the holidays...Eek! Time flies.

My desk job is making me fat...

Still feeling blah. But here anyway.

Borrowing from Sara over at The Flying Trapeze , a little article about how your desk job detracts from your weight loss efforts:

A New Way to Control Weight?

Now, this makes a huge amount of sense to me - sitting all day is bad for the waistline. Problem is: I gotta work, and my job requires working at a computer. Saying that you need to get up and "putter" is all very well, but how much puttering are we talking here? Because I gotta think that if I spend all my time wandering around, my boss is not gonna be happy.

So, what constitutes enough movement to make a difference?
~ getting up to use the restroom?
~ getting up to heat my lunch in the microwave?
~ my daily (unless the weather is extremely crappy) walk to the nearby mall?

Sigh. What is a chubby computer programmer to do?

Blah.

Have not been posting because I haven't been feeling great and I have to admit diet & exercise have not been my top priority. Oh well. Hopefully I will be back to normal soon.

We had our first winter snow storm last night. Got lots of snow; cats = not impressed...They won't go out! Not that I can blame them. I worked from home, waiting around for our driveway to get ploughed and that didn't happen until around 2:30. But that's ok, not feeling great, it was nice to stay home.

Anyway, enough of my pity party. Just wanted to say that I am still alive!

Let there be light!

Weigh In: 138 (-1 lb)

Weigh in day - down 1 pound. Very happy with that.

Read this article yesterday about SAD, light therapy and dawn simulators:


Shedding a light on winter depression

This is something that I relate to. I always seem to have more energy during the summer months. I need lots of light! Ever watch Farscape? I think I'm a plant person like Zhaan - need that sunlight, baby! Except I'm not blue. Actually, I have an unfortunate tendency to burn bright red if I'm out in the sun too much. And I'm nowhere near that tall. I don't bloom either. Ok, so not like Zhaan, where were we? Oh yeah...

This time of year, when the weather is turning colder and we're driving home from work in the dark, I just want to curl up on the couch, pull a blanket up to my chin and stay there until spring. And it is sooooo hard to wake up and crawl out of bed in the morning when it's dark. Unbelievably hard. I mean, it can't be time to wake up yet if it's still dark can it? Nope, didn't think so.

A couple of years ago, I got one of these:

Dawn Simulator

The researchers and doctors can debate all they like, but I love this thing. It has made a huge difference for me. It does make my bedside table a little crowded - I have two alarm clocks: the SunRise Clock and a clock radio - but the light really helps to ease me into the state where I am ready to wake up when that clock radio goes off. I feel much less sluggish and groggy. My "hibernation tendencies" (that desire to just stay under a blanket until spring) are much decreased. I hardly ever sleep right through the alarm anymore. Believe, when it's dark, that is so easy to do.

I don't think those hibernation tendencies will ever go away completely, nor will I ever be a person who comes instantly awake and jumps joyfully out of bed in the morning...But winter mornings are much less painful, thanks to my trusty Dawn Simulator.


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Daily Record
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BF: Coffee w/cream, yogurt w/strawberries & rapberries, 1 mini-wunderbar (yes, for breakfast...I have a serious chocolate problem)

Life back to normal...

~ Yesterday's News ~
Fred & I enjoyed our Mahi-Mahi again last night...Seriously, had to fight him off; maybe I should be cooking him his own piece...Ok, ok, I do spoil my cats but I wouldn't go that far. Maybe.

Went to sleep last night with one cat, woke up this morning with two cats and a husband. Life is good.

Moon brought me two boxes of chocolate from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. I appreciate this. It was thoughtful. He knows chocolate is the way to my heart. I also know more chocolate around the house is maybe not what I need right now. Will try to refrain from opening the boxes just yet.

There used to be an asian grocery just down the road from our house. It was convenient and had a nice variety of products in stock. It closed a few months back which was disappointing. Drove by this morning and it is now a Thai Hut location. This is good news/bad news...Good news: They make yummy thai food and this will be extremely convenient for stopping in on the way home from work. Bad news: They make yummy thai food and this will be extremely convenient for stopping in on the way home from work. This would very likely have been our supper tonight except that I already had soup defrosting, so now it looks like it will be our supper tomorrow night.

~ On the Diet & Fitness Front... ~
At the beginning of November I signed up for a fitness challenge on the weightwatchers.ca forums. The challenge was to set a goal for the number of minutes you would spend working out during the month. I decided to join just out of curiousity...I wanted to find out how many minutes of exercise I usually get in during a month. So I set my goal at 1000 minutes.

As of Monday, I was pretty darn close and if I had stuck to my regular workout schedule, I would have blown right past it. But then I hit my lazy streak this week, where I started skipping my morning workouts so I could sleep in my snore-free bed instead.

Last night I was close to skipping the workout again...until I thought about this challenge and how close I was. I didn't have any good reason not to do a workout last night. I got home at a decent time, was not feeling overly tired out or anything. So I went ahead and pulled out my Pilates-Yoga blend DVD and felt good when I finished. And then I convinced myself to get up this morning and exericse. I am now just 20 minutes away from hitting my goal. Go me!

I guess this is why people participate in these challenge things. It really does give you a push.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 137 lbs

BF: Multi-grain toast w/pb, coffee w/cream
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Totally Tubular Pasta (Looney Spoons/Crazy Plates recipe)
Snack: Yogurt, raspberries, strawberries
Supper: Mexican Crockpot Soup, Multi-grain bread.

AM workout: Walk & Jog DVD + push-ups & sit-ups

Interesting article on CNN

I rarely add 2 posts in one day - as a matter of fact, this is the first time - but thought this was interesting:


5 foods that should have a place in your diet

Yay for all of these except the mushrooms...Have never liked mushrooms. They are one of the few things that I can't hide in something else in order to make myself eat them...I can always tell they are there. It's the texture.

But as for the rest - peanut butter, eggs, coffee and avocados - I'm on board!

Now excuse me while I run and get another cup of coffee....

Can't believe it's only Wednesday...

Somehow it seems like it should be later in the week than only Wednesday. But that may be because I have been counting off the days until Moon comes home - which is late tonight! So, I have enjoyed my last night of ear plug free sleep, but I guess the trade off is ok. :)

I did not get in my workout last night, which is not good. Even worse, I did not get up again this morning. This whole luxuriating in bed thing has got to stop, so it's probably good that Moon will be home, snoring away again.

The Mahi-Mahi was not bad, I think I could get to like it. Very easy to cook - just throw it in the oven and bake. Fred, my cat, certainly thought it was good. He was all cute-sy and lovey-dovey and begging up a storm. So of course I shared with him. I am such a push-over.

I will definitely convince Moon to give it a try. I know that we should be eating fish because it's healthy. I used to eat it growing up and didn't mind it at all. I just don't feel like I know how to buy it or how to cook it. But this was pretty easy, so now I don't have any excuses!

Had a check-up/cleaning at dentist yesterday and my mouth is sore. Hate going to the dentist. Have to go back. I apparently have one molar with a piece broken off, so the dentist wants to fix it up. How do you break off a piece of tooth and not know about it?

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Daily Record
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Weight: 139 lb

BF: Multigrain Cheerios w/2% milk, coffee w/cream
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Mexican Crockpot Soup
Snack: Yogurt, strawberries, raspberries
Supper: Mahi-Mahi, stir-fried cauliflower, bell pepper & bean sprouts
Snack: Weight Watchers Smart Ones Double Fudge Cake

PM Workout: Crunch Pilates-Yoga Blend

Wait! What am I eating?

Sleeping without ear plugs - what a novel concept! Much as I do love my husband, I have to say that I very much enjoy sleep with the absence of snoring...So much so that I decided to sleep in and skip workout out this morning. Oops! But there is only me again tonight, so I will get in a workout before supper.

Speaking of supper...I stopped at the grocery store on the way home last night and bought a package of frozen Mahi-Mahi. The package contains two portions, so hopefully I will like it enough to eat it again tomorrow. Actually, I hope I like it enough to think that Moon might like it too and maybe we can work some fish into our diet on a regular basis.

This morning when I entered my breakfast and lunch into the points tracker, I also looked up "mahi mahi". The search found it, and the results came up as "mahi mahi (dolphinfish)...Wait! What? Dolphinfish? That can't be dolphin can it?

Had a momentary panic attack there. But then I looked it up and dolphinfish and dolphin are indeed different things. Phew. So now I am kinda looking forward to it again. I am going to try baking it with a black bean & garlic sauce (PC Memories of someplace-or-other), and stir fry some veggies in the same (or a similar) sauce to go with it. Maybe even some brown rice, depending on how ambitious I am feeling by then.

Despite the extra sleep I feel really tired for some reason. Maybe it's the grey, dreary weather.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 137 lbs

BF: Multigrain Cheerios w/milk, cofee w/cream
Lunch: Pizza on WW Pita
Snack: Yogurt w/cranberry granola
Supper: Mahi-Mahi, stir-fried veggies.

Ready to have a good week.

Weekend was not bad. A few relapses, particularly last night. Let's just say my evening did not go as planned and leave it at that. But I should still be able to have a good week. I still have lots of Flex Points left.

I am on my own for the next few nights, Moon had to go to Toronto on business...Wah! But at least I have the cats to keep me company. Also, when I'm on my own it gives me a chance to have meals that Moon doesn't like. I'm thinking I might try some fish. We shall see. I still have some food in the fridge that needs to be used up.

4 pm.
Moon just messaged me to say he's heading for the airport. I'm all bummed out for some reason. He used to travel all the time for longer periods than this and I was fine. When he told me he had to go I felt bad for him because I knew he wasn't happy about it, but I wasn't worried about me. But I've been feeling all sad since last night for some reason and I felt like I was ready to tear up when he said good-bye. Sheesh. What's wrong with me?


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Daily Record
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Weight: 140 lb

BF: Multigrain Cheerios w/ milk, coffee w/cream
Lunch: Mexican Crockpot Soup, apple
Snack: yogurt, strawberries, raspberries.

A.M. Workout: Hi-Def Sculpt (incudes push-ups & crunches)

Weekend winding down...

Don't usually weigh myself on weekend mornings (mostly because I forget) but I did this morning and was happily surprised to see 137 again. Weighed myself twice, just to be sure.

Wish weekends didn't disappear so fast. Never seems like enough time to get everything done. I am not ready for it to be Monday again!

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Daily Record
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Weight: 137 lbs

BF: Coffee Crisp (not good, I know), Red River Cereal, Coffee
Lunch: WW Pita bread w/leftover spaghetti sauce & part-skim mozzarella
Snack: raw cauliflower, diet coke, Quaker Crispy Tortillaz
Supper: Mexican Crockpot Soup, apple pie

Workout: Fat Burning Pilates + 20 Min Yoga Flat Abs

Ah, Saturday!

I do so love a weekend morning when I can sleep in...Or any morning that I can sleep in for that matter. I usually wake up with one cat sleeping by my head and the other one sleeping on me lower stomach/hip area. Granted, this is a 15 lb cat we are talking about, so having that weight sleeping on my does tend to make my back feel a bit strained, but somehow I still like it and I love being able to lay there and enjoy the snuggles rather than having to drag myself out of bed too early in the morning.

I think it is a chilly day out, but the sun is shining so it doesn't seem so bad. I will light a fire in the woodstove later, so the house will be cosy. I had a nice hot breakfast - red river cereal and 2 cups of coffee, and soon I will go out and get the grocery shopping done so I can have the rest of the day to do as I please.

I will confess here that I did eat 1 mini snickers bar while I was waiting for cereal to cook and coffee to brew (Moon has a bag of mini chocolate bars in his computer room - saw them last night and the snickers have been calling to me) but I counted the points and I will not eat any more of them today.

I'm thinking maybe pizza on whole wheat pita bread for supper tonight, with a side of raw veggies to munch on...It's been a while since I've had pizza.

Did my push-ups/sit-ups last night. That was it for exercise yesterday.

And I believe I was going to share an anecdote:

~ The Moment I Realized I Am An Exercise Junkie ~
I won't claim to be any kind of athlete. I'm not. I remember being quite stunned when an acquaintance referred to me as being athletic. I was the kid who hated phys-ed in school. It was always my worst subject. I did not like/was no good at any of the team sports - I think they require a certain amount of confidence and agressiveness that I just do not have. And running laps - how is that fun?

To be quite honest, I was not good at any of it. We used to do those Canada Fitness Tests every year in gym class and I dreaded it. I just was not good at any of it. A couple of times I did manage to scrape a bronze patch, not even sure how I did that now.

Which is not to say I never did any kind of physical activity. When I was a kid, I loved swimming at the lake. We went camping and I enjoyed hikes and bike rides. In the winter I liked to cross country ski. But I never thought of any of that as "exercise".

I did gradually discover some activities that could be classed as "exercise" that I enjoyed. To this day I still have no interest in any kind of team sports, but I have discovered that I like challenging myself at certain things. I enjoy walking, and I try a bit of jogging/running now and then. I like aerobics, pilates, yoga and weight training. I enjoy the feeling that comes from knowing that I am getting stronger, building more stamina. It's weird because when I was younger I never would have expected that.

Anyway....I should finally come to the point of this story...A few years back I developed some serious problems with my "mouse arm". That's what you get for working with computers day in and day out I guess. I was experiencing a lot of pain, it even affected my sleep.

I was discussing this with a friend, listing off my complaints about the situation and I mentioned that I couldn't do push-ups anymore. My friend responded with: "Oh I can't do push-ups, I have weak wrists."

I was speechless. I couldn't comprehend that she would just accept the fact that her wrists are weak, therefore she can't do push-ups. How could she not try to build up her strength? How could she be complacent about having weak wrists? Sure, I understand it would be hard, and she wouldn't be able to just get down and start doing full push-ups....But she could start with wall push-ups. Surely she could do that much? Then eventually she would be strong enough...

Well, you get the point. I knew that I would not be able to just accept that "I can't do push-ups". Thing is, there was certainly a period in my life where I might have made that statement. I certainly remember saying more than once "I can't run". But now I do. Not for major distances or anything, but I work away at it.

That day it hit me just how far I have come. I am one of those crazy exercise nuts. One of those people I used to think I would never become.

My recent change in jobs really cemented that. With my previous job, there was a gym in the same building and my time was pretty flexible so I was able to take an hour out of my day and hit the gym. This made sticking to an exercise routine so much easier.

But, all good things must come to an end...That job disappeared and I had to move on. Now I find myself getting up an hour earlier in the morning to get in my work out. Anyone who knows me well knows that mornings are not my friend. It is the worst time of day for me. Waking up is a painful process. But I couldn't see how else I was going to maintain my exercise routine, so I started to do the unthinkable, that which I always said I would never do...And I have been doing it for about 8 months now. When I mentioned this to my Mom, she said "Wow. You really must be addicted to exercise." I had never thought of it that way, but I guess I am.

Believe me, no one is more surprised than I am. But now that I'm here, I kind of like this whole Exercise Junkie thing.

Don't get me wrong. I still like to spend plenty of time sitting on my couch reading a novel or watching TV. But I feel so much better knowing that I got my workout in too!


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Daily Record
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BF: 1 mini snickers, Red River Cereal w/ 1/4 cup 2% milk, coffee w/cream.
Lunch: 1 egg roll, 3 chicken strips (DH made lunch)
Supper: Pizza on WW Pita bread, raw veggies
Snacks: Mini Snickers & coffee crisp

Workout: The FIRM Hard Core Fusion, 30 crunches on stablity ball + 15 oblique crunches each side. 5 Sun Salutes, 2 X boat & reverse plank, stretching.

Friday - Reset Day

Weigh In: 139 lbs (+3)

So it's weigh-in day, and I am up 3 lbs. And I know why. I know I have not been following the plan for the past few weeks. I have been sporadic about tracking. I have been cheating on the weekends. This leads to the feeling that I've already blown it, I'm not going to lose this week, so why bother? This leads to the "tomorrow I diet" mindset where I figure I might as well go ahead and eat that fudge or those peanut butter cups now, because come Friday I'll have to be good. Which all just snowballs.

However, it is Friday again. My points reset today. As far as I know, we have no plans for the weekend that would make it difficult to stay within my points. I am ready to do it right this week. That means tracking points on the weekend, even if I feel too lazy to go down to the computer. This means making smart food choice. I know I have done it before, no reason I can't do it again.

I've joined the Christmas Countdown Challenge on the WW online Less to Lose message board and set my goal as 4 lbs in 4 weeks. That's agressive as I normally don't lose that fast, but I feel like I need to make up for lost time, so to speak.

I also think I need a new scale. I don't trust mine. I've been getting on all week and seeing 140, then 139...then got on this morning and saw 137. That can't be right, I thought, so weighed myself again...139. Tried a couple more times....139. But it's frustrating, I'm never really sure I'm getting the right reading. Plus, it only does whole numbers, it might be nice to see the decimals.

I'm a little afraid to replace it now because what if it's completely off and I've been weighing more than I thought all along? So I will replace it, but not sure if I'll do it right away or not. We'll see.

Push-ups and sit-ups were harder last night. Was feeling it from the day before. But I did them anyway. I'm thinking I may have to give myself at least one day, possibly 2 days a week off from doing them to give my muscles a chance to recover. We'll see.

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Daily Report
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BF: 6 almonds, yogurt w/strawberries & raspberries, coffee w/cream
Lunch: Greek Fest Wrap (WW tortilla, 1 cup greek salad, 1 chicken breast)
Snack: apple
Supper: PC Combo meals: Pad Thai, Red Curry Chicken, Sweet & Sour Pork
Snack: Multigrain Cheerios w/2% Milk

PM Workout: Push-ups & Sit-ups

Day Four of Get Back On Track

Three things today:

1. Food was not good yesterday. It's very hard to confess, but I will...Most of the day was good. I stuck with my meal plan. I did cave and buy a package of peanut butter cups (I have a serious addiction to these things), but then I decided I didn't need them so I put them away in a desk drawer to save for another time. Felt good about that. After supper is when it all went bad...Let me just say that if you like fudge, that new PC Butter Fudge is just too good. Sadly, I ate 20 points worth of the stuff last night. So I will not be buying any more of that, because I don't seem to be able to exercise any portion control whatsoever.

2. Have been reading on a few blogs of ladies who attended a fitness bootcamp, and after bootcamp was over decided to keep up with doing 50 push-ups and 50 sit-ups every day. So, I decided to create a little mini-bootcamp challenge for myself: push-ups & sit-ups every day. I haven't come up with any exact parameters - how long I'll keep this up or anything like that. I just thought I'd start and see what I could do. So last night I did 15 full push-ups, 15 sit-ups, 20 (I think) modified push-ups (from the knees) and 15 more sit-ups. I actually am not sure now if it was 20 modified push-ups or 25, I didn't write it down right away because I thought I'd remember...Silly me. But for now I'll say 20 and see how it goes tonight. I actually am pretty proud of the 15 full push-ups, that was more than I expected. Sit-ups are hard and I have to confess that I did them with my toes against a wall...Still really hard, I'd almost say harder than the push-ups.

** The push-up thing also reminds me of The Moment I Realized I Am A Fitness Nut. I'll have to post about that later - maybe tomorrow. Today's post will is long enough! **

3. Tried a new Yoga DVD last night. I used to go to a yoga class at my gym. It was a great class and I felt like I sort of progressed along with the instructor we had. I think he was fairly new as a yoga instructor and at first the class was fairly easy, but it still felt good, and I was having serious problems with "mouse-arm" at the time, so I kept going. Then the class gradually started to get more and mnore challenging. Sometimes I would find myself in class thinking "Oh God! I'm going to die!" But after the class was over I always felt great and as I continued I really noticed an increase in my strength and stamina. Unfortunately, things change, I no longer go to that gym and I miss the yoga class. Even more unfortunately I am too lazy to seek out an evening or weekend class. I do have a couple of yoga DVDs at home that I like, but I don't get to do them often enough. I find when I am focussed on weight-loss I want to use my time on cardio and weights.

That was very long-winded...Anyway, I was browsing around on amazon.com a couple of weeks ago and I came across this Yoga Makeover set by Sara Ivanhoe. I have a couple of her Crunch DVDs and I like her a lot. The DVDs in the Yoga Makeover set are each 20 minutes long, so I thought maybe that would be a way to start getting in more yoga on a regular basis.

I ordered the DVDs and they came last week, but I hadn't got to them yet. Last night I was feeling neck & shoulder tension from my day hunched over the laptop reviewing log files, so I thought it seemed like a good time to try one out. I decided on the Weight Loss one. I found it challenging but not impossibly so, it moves fairly quickly and I think previous experience with yoga is a must here. Because it is only 20 minutes, there is very little time spent on explaining poses - you just get right to it. 20 minutes is short for a yoga workout, but I felt like I was working and when I finished I had that refreshed feeling that I get from doing yoga. So I am very happy with this purchase so far, looking forward to trying the other DVDs in the series.


Sadly, gave in and ate the peanut butter cups this afternoon. Was not even really hungry. I could hear those little voices arguing in my head: "You're not hungry, you don't need them"..."But my points reset tomorrow and then I'll have to be on a diet"..."You should be following your plan now"..."But I already know I've gained, might as well go ahead and eat them"...And the little red devil won that round. But at least they are gone.


--------------------------
Daily Record
--------------------------
Weight: 139 lb

BF: PC Crunch & Creamy Vanilla Yogurt with Cranberry Granola
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Black Bean & Corn Soup
Snack: Yogurt, strawberries, raspberries; Peanut Butter Cups
Supper: PC Indian Rogan Josh Cooking Sauce w/chicken, cauliflower, bell pepper & PC Garlic Naan

AM Workout: Crunch Fat Burning Blast
PM Workout: Push-ups & sit-ups

Day Three of Get Back On Track

Happy to see the number on the scale drop down a bit today. Sadly, I don't think I'll be back down to 136 by Friday. That's what I get for my weeks of goofing off I guess...Feeling better though. Next week should be better since I will be able to plan meals and do grocery shopping on the weekend.

Workouts still on track as well. Actually got up this morning and was able to really throw myself into a higher intensity workout - normally don't seem to be able to do that first thing in the A.M. Maybe because I had three days in a row of no exercise (being away for the weekend), I don't know.


---------------------
Daily Record
---------------------
Weight: 139 lb

BF: 1 slice WW toast w/PB, coffee w/ cream
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Totally Tubular Pasta
Snack: Yogurt, strawberries, raspberries
Supper: Spaghetti w/meat sauce.
Snack: fudge

AM Workout: The FIRM Cardio Overdrive
PM Workout: Push-ups & Sit-Ups, 20 Min Yoga Makeover - Weight loss

Day Two of Get Back On Track

So, yesterday did not go quite as planned, but ok for the first day...I'll count it as easing into things. It's funny, when I started this in September the first few weeks seemed so easy and now I'm struggling. That seems to be the way it goes - cycles of easy-to-hard-to-easy-to-impossible-to-hard....I need to get back to the "easy".

What went right yesterday:
- lots of water
- 2 workouts (morning & evening)
- good fruit & veggie intake

What went wrong:
- didn't have a real supper plan, it ended up being more than it should have
- gave in to temptation in the grocery store (after work, hungry) and bought a package of the new PC Butter Fudge bcs I wanted to try it (had one serving, wrapped up the rest & put it away).
- too much sodium

I do have all my meals/snacks planned out for today, coming in at a grand total of 25 points for the day which is ok. I have 20 pts/day, I've got 2 activity points already, which leaves 3 to come from Flex (unless I get in an evening workout).

--------------------------
Daily Record
--------------------------
Weight: 140 lbs

BF: WW toast w/PB, coffee w/10% cream
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Black Bean & Corn Soup
Snack: Yogurt w/strawberries & raspberries
Supper: PC Indian Biryani Cooking Sauce w/chicken, cauliflower, red bell pepper, PC Garlic Naan.

AM workout: Walk & Jog DVD
PM Workout: WATP 1 Mile Walk

Monday Again...

So, I feel like I'm starting all over again. I have not been sticking to the program for the past few weeks, I've been very sporadic about tracking points. I think I did not too bad over the weekend - for the most part I was enjoying everything in moderation and not stuffing myself silly...Unfortunately yesterday on the trip home I was not making good choices at all. My tummy was not happy, and when I stepped on the scale this morning I was not happy either - 140 lbs! that puts me back up to where I started! Official weigh-in is not until Friday, so I'm hoping some of that will disappear by then if I can get back on track this week.

So...Back to working hard! Back to tracking points! Exercise...I kept up with that, I seem to be addicted now, but if I can get in some extra activity this week, that'll be even better.

----------------------------
Daily Record:
----------------------------
Weight: 140 lbs

BF: coffee w/10% cream 6 almonds, 1/2 cup raspberries, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup yogurt.

Lunch: Totally Tubular Pasta (From Looney Spoons/Crazy Plates - can't remember which)

Snack: 1 apple

Supper: 4 PC Spring rolls w/orange & ginger sauce, 1 M&M Chicken Breast Grill, Stir-fried veggies, 1 serving Uncle Ben's Chicken & Herb Rice, 1 serving PC Butter Fudge.

A.M. Workout: Self Bikini Ready w/Ellen Barret (1st time for this DVD)
PM Workout: WATP 2 mile walk.

There's no place like home...

We had a great weekend, but I am glad to be home and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.

Also, I worry about the cats whenever we go away and leave them. I was happy to come home and find them safe and sound. They did manage to get the cat treats from the cupboard above the stove - not sure how they managed that one, but it was our last resort as a location because in the past they've managed to retrieve them from every other spot we've tried. And, it looks as though they decided to attack a roll of paper towel in the bathroom, but they just unravelled it a bit; nothing serious. I'm just happy to find that neither of them got sick or anything while we were gone.

Food-wise, I think I did ok this weekend, up until this afternoon. Hoping that tomorrow I can go back to clean eating and get back on track. There were some family pictures taken this weekend, and I was not happy with how I looked, so that gives me an extra bit of motivation.

Now I'm tired and ready to head off to my comfy bed. I can't believe tomorrow is Monday already!

Busy like a bee...

It has been a busy, busy week and I have to confess that I have not been a good little Weight Watcher. I expect this trend to continue until Sunday, at least. I'm hoping things will get back to normal on Monday.

Moon & I will be leaving the house before 8 am tomorrow to go line up for the ferry. I expect all meals will be eaten out tomorrow - technically, we could have breakfast at home, but Moon really needs activities to occupy him when he is cooped up for 3 hours, so we usually eat breakfast in the cafeteria on the boat.

The ferry will doc around lunch time, and technically we could wait to eat once we arrive at a parental home (not sure which we'll be stopping at first at this point), but it's an hour drive and Moon will be hungry and cranky from having been cooped up on the ferry for 3 hours, so we will probably stop to eat again.

Then the plan is to go out for supper. We are having a weekend celebration of my parents 40th wedding anniversary (which technically was last weekend, but they had other things going on, so we're doing the party thing this weekend) which will kick off with us (Baby Sis & I, with our respective husbands and Baby Bro) taking our parents out to dinner.

Then Saturday morning, Baby Sis has planned a family breakfast. Then in the afternoon we are having a lunch, to which all the aunts, uncles and cousins are invited (because the parents did not want a big party, but we thought something should happen to mark the occaision, so lunch was our compromise). It will be a buffet style thing, sort of an open-house type idea where people can come and go as their schedules permit.

Baby Sis is also hoping to set up a video chat with our West Coast Sis and her family after supper on Saturday night...which leads me to believe that there will be a supper on Saturday night, although I'm sure we won't really need it.

Sunday we are hoping to visit with Moon's family before we head back to the ferry for the return trip. I feel bad that we won't have much time with them this trip, but Baby Sis had the whole weekend all planned out for us and the reason for this trip is my parents anniversary celebration. We thought about staying an extra day, but we have no one to babysit our kitties so we didn't want to leave them alone for any longer than 2 nights. Hopefully we will be able to make the trip home again for Christmas and stay with Moon's family then.

Of course, Moon hasn't even called his parents yet to let them know we will be around this weekend, so who knows...Maybe they already have other plans or something.

Anywho - it'll be a busy couple of days with lots of food.

Tomorrow is weigh-in day. Not sure what to expect - I've been avoiding the scale and eating has not been goood. But I will brave the scale anyway. Not sure whether I'll have time to post, mornings not being my best time of day, but we shall see.

Friday Weigh-in and Owie!

Weigh In: 136 lbs (no change)

So official weigh in day, and I am still at 136 lbs. I can live with that. I did step on the scale yesterday and see 135 which made me happy. It has given me a little extra motivation - I feel like it's within my grasp...Maybe next week!

And the Owie...We have a portable dishwasher which Moon hooked up before he came to bed last night. Which is good. When we bought it he promised me he would help out with it (dishes are a major issue since he refuses to wash them and I resent having to do all of it myself) but most of the time I seem to end up doing it. Anyway, there is a mat on the floor in front of the kitchen sink area which he did not move out of the way when he hooked up the dishwasher. So this morning when I tried to move the dishwasher out of the way, it didn't move easily like it normally would (if the mat had been moved) and my foot slipped and I slammed my ankle into the bottom edge of the cupboard. Hit it right on that knobby ankle bone. Yeah. Owie. It's sore. I'm going to have a beautiful, colourful bruise.

Lunch out today, and no plan for supper which is not good. Oh well, one day at a time, right?

Overweight But Fit

I have seen articles debating this idea from time to time...That you can be overweight, but still be fit and healthy if you are doing the right things to take care of yourself. But up to now, the prevailing attitude that I have seen is that living a healthy lifestyle is not enough; if you are overweight, you need to lose it.

I have wondered about this. Ok, so technically I am overweight. But I do try to be healthy. I exercise. I eat my fruits and veggies. I do my best to limit unhealthy foods (hey! we all deserve a treat now and then, right?). I get 7 - 8 hours of sleep every night. I drink lots of water. I feel pretty good. Doesn't all of that count for anything? Sure, I'd like to be thin, but if it doesn't happen, does that mean I'm not healthy?

I had even asked my doctor about it at one point. I eat healthy, I exercise regularly, I told him. Consulting his BMI chart, he told me You should weigh between 120 - 123 lbs. You need to lose weight. (I found it interesting though that he never mentioned it until I specifically asked. Does this mean I'm overweight but don't look it?)

Yesterday on the way home from work, Moon was telling me about this article he read. A study has been done to show that being a little bit overweight can sometimes be good, says Moon. So of course I had to go find the article and see for myself:

A Little Extra Weight Not Deadly

On the one hand, this article makes sense to me. It even feels a little bit like vindication. All my efforts count for something after all.

On the other hand...This should not serve as an excuse to be complacent about one's weight. I could just see the wheels turning in Moon's head...Yeah! It's ok to be overweight! I knew I was healthy!

Problem is, there is a difference between being moderately overweight (the article specifically states up to 25 lbs) and being obese. I may not know exactly how many pounds Moon is overweight by, but I know it's more than 25. I know he's in denial because he doesn't want to do anything about it. So he just keeps telling me that he's healthy. And I keep worrying about Something Bad happening to him.

Ok, I know there are no guarantees. You can be healthy and still have Something Bad happen to you. But I figure it's gotta be worth it to take care of yourself; can't hurt to improve your odds, right? So I wish that Moon would make an effort. I mean, it's really kind of nice to have a husband around the house; he can reach the top shelf in the kitchen cupboards and change lightbulbs (did I mention I'm 5 feet tall and he is 6' 2"?), and he's always warm which comes in handy for a person like me who is always cold...But I digress.

Boiling it down - I do think it makes sense. The important thing is to live healthy. That doesn't mean you can ignore your weight - as it points out at the end of the article, extra pounds can creep up and push you out of that safe "moderately overweight" zone. But if you don't manage to get the number on the scale down to the magic number, it does not automatically mean your days are numbered.

So I'll keep on truckin', trying to get down to the target weight range for my height. What I will take away from this is that if I don't manage to get there, it's not the end of the world. The important thing is that I keep doing the right things to keep myself healthy.

Challenges...

I have been doing my best this week to recover from the weekend binge. I check in on a daily thread on the Weight Watchers Less to Lose board, and this Monday it seemed that many of us had a similar story - too much candy/chocolate over the last little while. Many of us set a goal for the week to not eat any candy. So far so good.

So, I've been concentrating on Staying Away From The Chocolate Stash and haven't really been thinking about other goals or things to work on. However, this morning Jasmine at ourwickedweighs threw a challenge out there to make a change for the better and try to stick to it for at least a week.

This got me to thinking (again) of the changes I have made, what has worked/not worked, what changes I (think) I can't make, and why am still stuck here, trying to lose these pounds. Periodically I do wonder: What change can I make? what can I give up? What can I do what will translate into results? So far I haven't figured it out. But I'm willing to try again, so here goes...

First off - to get it out of the way - exercise. I've noticed this seems to be a big complaint for a lot of people, but for me it is the easy part of the equation. It wasn't always that way mind you. For a long time I was an on-again/off-again exerciser, struggling to get in 3 workouts a week. But for the past 5 years I have been working out 5-6 days a week. So: Yay Me! It's a healthy habit and I know I am doing something good for myself. Unfortunately, this has not translated into weight loss (pounds or inches). I am more fit - I have definitely seen changes in what I am capable of doing, but it did not make me skinny.

So, next issue - and this is the biggie...Food! Glorious food!

I am a pretty fussy eater, long list of dislikes, particularly when it comes to veggies (unfortunately), and it is very important to me that I enjoy my meals. I have learned that if I don't enjoy my meals, I don't feel satisfied and I end up looking for something else to eat. So I do try very hard to eat healthy foods that I enjoy, but there are definitely challenges.

The easiest way to do this is probably to describe a typical day:

BF: could be cereal, could be whole wheat toast. Coffee with 10% cream.
I grew up with whole wheat bread and non-sugary cereals, so this is not a problem for me. I honestly have tried to switch to 5% cream or 2% milk in my coffee. I gave it a good 3 weeks, maybe a month. Didn't find it was making any difference as far as weight loss goes, all it did was detract from the enjoyment of my morning coffee, so I went back to 10% cream.

Snack during the day: Usually low-fat yogurt with berries (frozen berries, thawed). Lately since it's apple season have also been having a Honey Crisp Apple (love them!). If I'm really hungry will have a few (6 - 12) raw almonds.
Again, I tried fat-free, sugar free yogurt. Again, gave it 3-4 weeks, just couldn't hack it. Compromised - would rather have full fat, but went for low-fat.

Lunch: Usually bring lunch from home. Have been doing this for years now. It's usually a meatless vegetable soup with some type of bean/legume.

Supper: Varies. I try to make sure it include more veggies, and to watch portions/servings.
My darling husband will not eat brown rice or whole wheat pasta. He also thinks that an evening meal without meat is a crime.

Other than my morning coffee, I usually drink water. There may be the occaisional glass of wine or can of pop (soda, whatever), but this is a treat and does not happen often. When I do treat myself, I account for it (whether it be counting points or calories).

So that's a typical weekday. I try not to have snacks after supper if I can help it. And this is my normal way of eating whether I am "dieting" or not. Well, except if I am not in "weight loss mode" at a given time, I tend to relax the no eating after supper thing.

I think where I mostly go wrong is weekends. Weekends tend to be unstructured. Often meals are not planned. I get busy with other things and don't think about what my meals should be if I want to reach my goals. Binges happen most often on the weekends.

When I joined Weight Watchers in Sept, I deliberately made my start day Friday. And at first I was very careful about planning my weekends. And at first I was losing weight. But I've gotten a bit sloppy with the weekend planning thing.

So, I guess the first thing is to take control of my weekends again.

After that, I'm not sure. I'm not interested in giving up coffee or completely cutting out sugar - I think these things are ok in moderation and I cannot stand artificial sweeteners. I would be willing to give up meat, except that my husband has a fit every time he hears the word "vegetarian". And I don't see any good reason to give up dairy either.

It's basically all the extra treats that do me in. I'll be honest. I like junk food. Prefer junk food. Crunchy-salty things. Chocolate things. Things smothered in cheese. I do try to limit these things, and sometimes it works. But sometimes it doesn't.

So, I don't know. Maybe I'm just coming back to good old-fashioned discipline, and want it bad enough to Commit To Avoiding the Bad Stuff.

Bad, bad weekend

It was a really bad weekend food-wise. For some reason I just seemed to want to eat constantly - stuff that was bad for me of course. I feel like I need a serious detox now. Flex Points are pretty much gone - 5 left for the week.

I did get in 2 good workouts, but I am very disappointed with myself.

I'm also tired and cranky because, yet again, I feel like I'm the only one trying to do anything around the house. Moon has sat behind the computer all weekend. I don't mind him playing games, we all have our preferred ways of relaxing, but ya can't spend all your time playing.

I'm so tired of the house being a disaster, but I feel like I can't - and shouldn't have to - do it all myself.

Okay, that was my whine for the evening. Tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully a good nights sleep will make me feel better.

It's Friday!

Weigh In: 136 (-1 lb)

Walking to the Market to get lunch, saw a pigeon on the sidewalk pecking away at a piece of KitKat. Made me smile.

Mars Bars! And Smarties! And Twix! Oh My!

So, I've been hoarding chocolate.

Ok, it's normal for me to keep a few bars of dark chocolate around. I eat a few squares after supper most nights. It's enough to keep me happy, but not enough to do any serious damage. But lately I've been picking up extra little things and hiding them away. Like the little Halloween themed box of Russel Stover chocolates - it's wrapped in orange paper with a black cat on it. Only 5 chocolates in the box, so it's not like I can go too crazy. But I didn't eat it, I just brought it home and put it away in a cupboards.

But I kept doing it. I buy little bits of chocolate and put them away. As long as the packages don't get opened, I can leave them alone. And in a way I feel good that I have it there, it's like knowing that I can have a treat if I want it. But there is also this little voice in my head wondering if this is just a binge waiting to happen.

Up until now it was just me. But we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some veggies on the way home from work today, and being the day after Halloween, what should be sitting right inside the entrance but a huge pile of chocolate.

Now normally I would count on Moon in this situation. He will usually just walk right on by, and after a longing glance at the chocolate, I follow. Not today. Today he stopped to look. And we walked all around the pile of chocolate. And as we walked, packages of chocolate found their way into our basket. Too many packages. Most of them will be hidden away to join the stash.

So, I know this is probably not good, but there it is.

Big old stash of chocolate sitting there waiting to be eaten.

I think I need chocaholics anonymous.

Boo!

Going out for supper tonight with friends, not sure what I'll be eating.

Did the Cardio Party DVD this morning. Such a huge difference doing that DVD first thing in the morning vs. on the weekends when I usually do it later in the day - I just don't have as much bounce in me at 6:00 in the morning, and I have a hard time following all of the choreography. On weekends I usually leave the workouts for a little later in the day, and then I can really throw myself into it, follow all the steps and work up a good sweat. I am just not a morning person.

Last night after supper tried out the Leslie Sansone Walk & Jog workout. In all honesty, I picked that one because I was cold and I figured it would warm me up. It was pretty good - definitely a bit more of a workout than the walking ones, but one I can still handle in the evening after supper.

-----------------------------
Daily Record

Weight: 137 lbs

BF: Multigrain toast w/PB & J, coffee
Snack: apple
Lunch: Mexican Crockpot Soup (Vegetarian version - extra black beans, no chicken)
Snack: yogurt, raspberries, strawberries
Supper: ??

A.M. Workout: Cardio Party (The FIRM)

Getting Back On Track...Again

Sorta lost it for a few days there. Partially due to Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cravings that just would not go away, but also I think from not finding/making the time to sit down and track my points, check in with the WW message boards, etc. I kept meaning to, then I would put it off, and then it got easier to keep putting it off and then I would think: why bother? And of course, when I know I'm not tracking, it's too easy to have extra treats...As if they don't count when you are not tracking! Silly. I know.

Anyway, was back On Plan yesterday, points were tracked and well within range. Today, so far so good on the points and I got in my morning workout. Now I'm back in Blog Land as well. Two weeks left on the No Name Challenge on the Less To Lose board - two weeks to get down to 135.

Other stuff....

First snow this morning...Not a lot, just a dusting of that really wet snow, I'm sure it's gone by now.

Had to do some repairs to our cat fence yesterday after work. Moon found one of the cats sitting on the front step at 4 a.m. on Monday. So the window with the pet door was closed at that point, and the cats were in until we could check out the fence. Found the problem easily, and was not hard to fix. If it was going to happen, would have been nice if it had happened a week ago when the weather was still warm...Nearly froze my fingers and toes out there last night. And we decided it's time to start keeping the cats in at night anyway; too cold to have the window open now.

--------------------------
Daily Record

Weight: 137 lbs

BF: 1 tsp Peanut Butter, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 apple
Lunch: Morroccan Chickpea Soup
Snack: Yogurt, strawberries, raspberries
Supper: PC Naan & Korma Sauce w/chicken, cauliflower, red bell peppers

A.M. Workout: Hi-Def Sculpt (The FIRM)
P.M. Workout: Walk & Jog DVD (30 mins)

Thursday

Can't claim to be surprised at the number on the scale this morning. There was an unfortunate encounter with a jar of honey roasted peanuts last night, and the peanuts won. Bye-bye Flex Points.

Ordered more workout DVDs last night. I've already got quite a collection going, but now that I work out at home rather than the gym, I do use them a lot. So I discovered that Ellen Barrett is the instructor on two of the Self workout DVDs and I just love my other Ellen Barret DVDs (I have 5 of them) so I thought I'd give those a try. Then I finally got around to going to Ellen Barrett's website [http://www.ellenbarrett.com/home_v01.html] and discovered that she does have a new DVD....Hmm...Tempting...But I should hold off on that.

Freezing, freezing cold in the office again today. Fortunately I dressed warm, but my hands are like ice.

----------------------------
Daily Record

Weight: 137

BF: Multigrain Cheerios w/2% Milk, coffee
Lunch: Morroccan Chickpea Soup, Apple
Snack: yogurt, strawberries, raspberries
Supper: ??

A.M. Workout: Fat Burning Pilates

Wednesday

8:30 a.m.

I had planned on today being a weigh training day, but just didn't feel like I had it in me. Did convince myself to get out of bed for an easier workout, so did the Walk Away The Pounds 2 Mile walk. Gentle, uncomplicated, but movement that I could handle.

Not feeling any worse today, maybe a bit better, so hopefully that was it. Happy to see 135 on the scale this morning though. I know it probably won't last, but makes me feel better after two days of being back up to 137.

Another grey, damp day. Hope the sun comes back soon.

---

-------------------------------
Daily Record

Weight: 135

BF: Multigrain Cheerios
Snack: yogurt, strawberries, raspberries
Lunch: Morroccan Chickpea Soup
Snack: Apple

AM Workout: WATP 2 Mile Walk (with 2 lb weights)

Tuesday sniffles...

Went to bed with a headache last night, and I have sniffles this morning (well, more sniffles than I usually have). I can feel the headache and scratchy throat sort of waiting...don't know where this is coming from, hope it doesn't amount to anything. However, it means I skipped my morning workout in hopes that the extra hour of sleep would make me feel better. Hopefully I can get in some activity this evening. Or maybe I should just take a cue from my body and rest?

On the up side, the office seems to have evened out at a comfortable temperature this week. Of course, it's been warmer outside for the past several days and we've been getting lots of sun until today. But I'll take it for as long as it lasts.

Chocolate is still calling to me....

---------------------
Daily Record

Weight: 137 lbs
BF: Multigrain Cheerios w/2% Milk, coffee
Snack: yogurt, strawberries, raspberries
Lunch: Moroccan Chickpea Soup
Snack: Apple, 6 almonds
Supper: PC Naan & Indian Madras curry (w/chicken, red bell pepper, cauliflower)

Beautiful, sunny Monday

Forecast for the day is a high of 18 degrees, most likely it will be warmer than that at our house - not that I will be at our house, I will be uptown in the office all day. But the sun is still shining through the window, and I did get out and enjoy the sunny weather yesterday. I really enjoy this warm weather so late in the year - makes it hard to be upset about global warming.

Yesterday was busy, busy. Tried to get some cleaning done inside, plus some cooking, but I just couldn't stand to waste the beautiful day by staying inside. Went out for a walk, then did some work in the yard - pulling weeds, planted 4 different kinds of bulbs that I picked up at the Superstore on Saturday, dug up a plant that I am hoping I can over-winter in the house.

It felt like I didn't stop yesterday. Good for the Activity Points I guess, but I could have done with a bit more relaxing. Oh well, guess there is plenty of time for that once the weather turns cold.

My one complaint - as usual I am running around trying to get stuff done while Moon sits behind the computer and plays games. I'm always hoping he'll notice that I'm working my butt off so he'll get up and help....Hasn't happened yet, so I don't know why I keep thinking it will.

Have discussed this with my sister. Our Mom is a neat freak, and when she wants something done, she wants it done now. The result is that her house is always neat and tidy. I so wish my house could be that way, but I just did not inherit the gene...I always have lots of clutter around. Add to that a husband who is just as bad, and two cats that like to track in all the mulch from the flower beds, and you end up with a perpetually messy house. I do try, but I can't keep up. And (finally coming to the part my sister and I have discussed) I think I try so hard not to be a nag, that I go too far in the opposite direction. I will gently and politely ask for help (after I have already spent an hour running around the house doing things), at which point Moon may get up and do the few things he considers to be his part, then he'll go back to the computer.

I like it when my house is clean. It's just so hard to get there and it doesn't seem to last. Wish we could afford a maid.

Afternoon thoughts:

The chocolate is calling to me! Went for my daily stroll to buy a bottle of Evian and the Peanut Butter Cups were calling out to me...I resisted. Came back to the office, where a coworker across the hall is selling Cadbury chocolate bars for his kids fundraiser. Fortunately he is across the hall and I can ignore it....But wait, a friendly co-worker bought a bar and offered me a piece...Silly me I accepted and it tasted so good and now I want to buy one for myself and eat the whole thing!

I do allow myself small chocolate treats, but a family size bar of chocolate is not a small chocolate treat. I could eat the whole thing quite easily though.

But no. I will just sit here and drink my water. Maybe chew on a few almonds and see if that does the trick.


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Daily Record

Weight: 137 lbs

BF: 1 slice WW toast w/Olivina, 1/2 c. cottage cheese, coffee
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Moroccan Chickpea Soup
Snack: yogurt, raspberries, strawberries
Supper: Mexican Crockpot Soup

Lazy Saturday....

Well, sort of lazy Saturday. Was lazy for a while in the morning, eating my cereal, drinking my coffee, watching some TV. Then I did my workout, had lunch, made grocery list, went out shopping. Came home, put groceries away, fed cats, cleaned up kitchen, threw some laundry in the washer, made supper. After supper, cleaned up kitchen again, folded some laundry, and now here I am doing the blog thing.

Need to get the house cleaned tomorrow, and I bought some bulbs at the SuperStore, would like a chance to plant those tomorrow but who knows...I tend to operate in slow motion on the weekends, which is nice, but not so great for getting lots done. I need to cook up a batch of soup to freeze for lunches tomorrow too, finished off what I had in the freezer this week.

Sounds like an exciting life, doesn't it?

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Daily Record

BF: Fruity Cheerios w/2% Milk, coffee
Lunch: 1 WW tortilla with 2 oz grated cheddar, sliced green olives and salsa. 1 apple.
Supper: Shrimp Scampi
Snack: 70% cocoa dark chocolate, Multigrain Tostitos w/salsa

Workout: The FIRM Hard Core Fusion

Yay for Friday!

Weigh-In: 136 lbs (-2)

So it's official - I seem to have finally broken out of my rut. I had a good solid week of Weight-Watchering and I am down two lbs to 136. Woo hoo! Now I just have to lose 16 more. I'm not even sure I can do that and I'm already questioning whether I will be happy with that weight...One step at a time Miss Java...Get to the first goal, and then you can worry about the next step.

I know I had things on my mind earlier today, but it seems that by the time I get home from work and get supper out of the way, I'm too tired to think...at least for the past couple of days. But tomorrow is the weekend and I can sleep in and relax and maybe then my brain will start working again.

Oh, there we go - just went down to finish filling in my meals for the day and thought of something. Our cupboards were pretty bare tonight, and we were lazy, so we had some leftover chicken from last night, and a package of Lipton Sidekicks Noodles or whatever they are called. They were sitting in the cupboard for just such an occaision - sort of an emergency food if you will.

I remember years ago my roomates and I used to have them quite often (they may have been called something different then, but it was the same thing). They were a cheap and easy filler for 3 young girls on a budget (still can't believe that the three of us survived quite happily on $60 a week for groceries for the three of us - now it's more like $200 a week for two of us...but I digress), I think we had them fairly regularly. Anyway, I was surprised tonight at how salty they were - and I like salt.

Oh well, groceries tomorrow. Now my eyes are getting blurry - time to take out my contacts and settle down with a book for an hour or so, then sleep.

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Daily Record

Weight: 136 lbs

BF: WW toast w/Nutella, coffee
Snack: yogurt & raspberries
Lunch: Greek Fest Wrap (greek salad, chicken breast on WW wrap)
Snack: apple
Supper: Chicken, Lipton Side-kick noodles

Thursday Night - almost the weekend!

So it's been a good week, and I'm hoping tomorrow morning's weigh in will reflect that.

Tired tonight though - been a bit of a stressful/frustrating week at work. So, I think this is it for tonight.

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Daily Record

Weight: 136 lbs

BF: Toast w/PB & J, coffee
Snack: apple
Lunch: Lima Bean Tomato Soup
Snack: yogurt, strawberries, raspberries
Supper: Chicken, rice, raw veggies, PC Splendido Sparkling Grapefruit Juice
Dessert: 70% cocoa dark chocolate

A.M. Workout: Burn & Firm Pilates

Mid-Week Reflections

I was thinking about something last night, I posted about it briefly on the weightwatchers.ca forum this morning, but I'm going to repeat it here...If I repeat it enough times, hopefully it will stick in my brain!

This week has been going really well, following the program is easy. Finally. For a few while there it seemed like I'd never get back here. That seems to be the way it goes though - Sometimes it's so easy, other times it seems impossible. The problem is that during the easy times, I start to get confident. I start thinking: I can do more! I set higher goals for myself; I'm feeling great! I can work out twice a day! I have time! I have energy! So I will pencil out a plan for myself...Then something goes wrong and it all comes crashing down.

Like the week that Moon got sick. Meal plans went out the window. Who has time for extra workouts when there are pots of chicken soup to be made? All the chores to be done by one person? Then I got sick. Then work was crazy, we had a deadline, there was overtime...And once it went off the rails, it seemed impossible to get back on and do the bare minimum, forget about all the extras I thought I should be able to fit in.

Then discouragement sets in. Who am I kidding? I have tried this so many times before and it never works. Why should this time be any different?

Fortunately, the down-swing was halted and I eventually climbed my way back onto the wagon. This week has been easy again.

I just need to remember to take advantage of the good weeks when everything is going right. Then when the bad weeks come along, to just hang in, do the best I can, and not get discouraged. I'll find the rhythm again.

That being said, I do have a few things to work on:
1. I've been drinking too much coffee, not enough water. Mainly because I've been finding it so chilly in the office I think. But it must stop. I just don't feel as good if I'm not drinking enough water.

2. I've earned extra AP's this week, I've done well with points, as a result I had quite a few Flex Points left this morning, and things reset on Friday. When I went out for my coffee this afternoon, I also came back with a little packet of shortbread cookies. I wasn't hungry. I didn't need them. But I wanted them and I ate them. I will say that I enjoyed them, and I felt satisfied when I finished. So I'm not going to beat myself up about it. However, when I thought about it, I realized that I ate them because I knew I had points left. While it is a good thing that I had points left, it was not a good reason to eat cookies. This is something that I want to stay conscious of. I don't want to (don't think I ever will, really) turn into one of those people who can never have a treat...But I want to have a better reason than "I had points left".

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Daily Record

Weight: 137 lb

BF: 1 slice WW toast w/Nutella, coffee

Snack: Apple

Lunch: Lima Bean Tomato Soup, 1 Mini Babybel cheese

Snack: yogurt, strawberries, raspberries

Snack: Coffee, shortbread cookies

Supper: Spaghetti with homemade meat sauce, raw veggies on the side

A.M. Workout: Cardio Overdrive
P.M. Workout: WATP 1 Mile Walk

So far so good...

I seem to be having a good week - sticking to my meal plans, I am well within my points. I feel energetic (well, as energetic as I ever am). I think you just have to take advantage of the good weeks, where things seem easy and you feel like you can do more.

Today's outfit: wearing denim trousers, t-shirt, long sleeve button-down shirt, long sleeve sweater, knee-socks, and my brown Kenneth Cole Reaction boots that I got for half price at the end of last winter - first time wearing and I love them. I was still cold though - it seems to be my feet/legs that get cold. Must be the ceramic tile floor? I'm already dressing for winter, what am I going to do when the weather actually turns cold? It's still above 10 degrees every day.

Went for my afternoon walk to buy a bottle of water and the weather was beautiful. A slight breeze, the sun was shining, I could feel the warmth...I didn't want to go back in the office. Was still beautiful when we got home from work. The sky was that shade of blue that you only see this time of year. Summer is my favourite season, but there is lots to love about autumn as well!

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Daily Record

Weight: 137 lbs

BF: 1 slice WW toast w/PB & jam, coffee

Snack: apple

Lunch: Lima Bean Tomato Soup, 1/4 c. cottage cheese

Snack: yogurt, raspberries, strawberries

Supper: Western Omelette on WW toast with raw veggies on the side.

A.M. Workout: The Firm Hi-Def Sculpt
P.M. Workout: WATP Get Up and Get Started (1 mile)

Monday Again....

Meant to do the blogging thing on the weekend, but didn't get to it. Was a good weekend on the WW front though - lots of exercise (Two FIRM workouts - Hard Core Fusion and Cardio Party plus Pilates) and cleaning around the house. Was very happy when I got on the scale this morning - not only did that extra pesky pound that showed up for Friday's weigh-in go away, but I was down another pound. Now if it will just stay gone!

Still trying to figure out how to dress warm enough not to be cold at work. I'm being stubborn about not wearing tights under my pants - seems to early, but I may have to give it. In any case, I'm thinking it will be sweaters for the rest of the week.

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Daily Record

Weight: 136 lbs

BF: cottage cheese, apple, coffee
Lunch: Lima Bean Tomato Soup
Snack: yogurt, strawberries, raspberries
coffee (trying to warm up)
Supper: leftovers (turkey, potato dressing, veggies, gravy)

A.M. Workout: Pilates Yoga Blend

It's raining, it's pouring...

Weigh in: 138 lb (+1)

And despite being all dressed for fall, I'm downright chilly. Brr.

So yesterday was good, meals went according to plan. Weigh in this morning was not good - up 1 lb. Guess that's what I get for not behaving myself over the past couple of weeks.

But, I'm still feeling the optimism and "I think I can, I think I can" spirit that somehow manifested itself again over the past couple of days. So I am ready to head into the weekend and give it my best effort to stay On Plan.

And I'm thinking I may go back to what I have done in the past with weigh-ins; weigh myself every (or most) mornings and take the average weight. I feel like that may be more accurate.

3:15 - Wild weather. The rain is coming down so hard it looks like someone is on the roof dumping buckets of water over the edge. Meal plans went a little off track. I planned to buy my lunch today, for a change of pace, but was really busy with work over the lunch hour. By the time I was ready to go for lunch it was raining so hard I didn't want to go outside. In addition, I'm freezing, so I'm drinking a cup of coffee, hoping to warm up a bit.

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Daily Record
BF: Cottage cheese, apple, coffee
Lunch: yogurt, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup raspberries
Snack: 6 almonds, 1 Werther's candy, coffee
Supper: Thai takeout - chicken pad thai, red curry with chicken
Dessert: Black thai rice with coconut milk

I Feel Good...

Cue the James Brown music. :-)

So, when I posted yesterday it was at the end of the work day while waiting for darling hubby to let me know he was on the way to pick me up. When I recorded my meals for the day, I knew supper would include some sort of veggie side, but wasn't sure what so I didn't include anything in the record.

When I got home, I decided I was too lazy to make salad and raw veggies would do the trick. So I quickly chopped some veggies and arranged a dish each for Moon and I (his with Renee's dip, mine with Spicy Hummus). Now, normally I would sit down and munch my way through the veggies, finishing them all by the time the main course was ready. But since the weather has started cooling off, I've started in on some knitting projects again. I decided to try making a baby blanket for a freind and fearing that it is going to take me forever to finish, I've been spending as much time on it as I could. So, while waiting for the sauce to defrost, the water to boil, the pasta to cooked, I turned on the tv and sat down with my knitting and veggies.

Knitting keeps your hands pretty busy. I have often found it helps with evening munchies, because when my hands are busy I seem less likely to decide that they need to be putting food in my mouth. Last night, it meant that by the time supper was ready, I had barely put a dent in my veggies. So I worked away at them for the rest of the evening, finishing the last few just before I went off to get ready for bed. I did not have a chance to get hungry all evening. I'm feeling like I ate really well yesterday - aside from the peanut butter cup incident - and yes, I feel good!

OT - I have been forgetting to wear my bite plate at night (I grind my teeth in my sleep) and I have been feeling it. Must remember to wear it tonight.

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Daily Record

BF: Multigrain toast with PB & a smidgeon of jam, coffee

Snack: apple, cottage cheese

Lunch: Lima Bean Tomato Soup

Snack: yogurt with 1/2 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup raspberries

Supper: Chicken & veg stirfry

A.M. Exercise: Burn & Firm Pilates

Where oh where...

has my motivation gone? I just can't seem to get back into the Weight Watchers mind set. Have not felt like sitting down at the computer to log points on the WW site, or to blog about it. There has just been too much on the go. And I don't know if I have the energy right now to go back over everything I've done wrong for the past little while. Suffice it to say, when weigh-in day rolls around I'll be lucky not to see the number on the scale go up...Sigh.

So, it's time to get back to it.

Also, there is new hand soap in the washroom at work and I think I'm allergic to it. My throat has been itchy, I have been sneezing and blowing my nose all day and I just clued in to the scent coming off my hands. I'm guessing that must be what it is. Off topic, I know, but it contributes to my mood.

What I did right today:
- Exercised this morning
- Mostly ate very well.

What I did wrong today:
- caved into a craving for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Until then, I had a good chance of not going over my Flex Points for the week, but that did it. And I still have one day left.

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Daily record:
BF: cottage cheese, an apple, coffee
Lunch: Lima Bean Tomato Soup
Snack: Activia FF Vanilla Yogurt, 1/2 cup raspberries, 1/2 cup strawberries
2nd Snack: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Supper: Spaghetti with homemade sauce (made w/extra lean ground beef, lots of tomatoes, diced celery & bell peppers).

A.M. Workout: Burn & Firm Pilates

And We're Back...

So, things have been a bit crazy.

Last week Moon was sick. Then of course I caught his cold/flu, whatever it was. So I was not feeling well, but dragging myself to work anyway because we had a serious deadline. So I just kept popping Advil Cold & Sinus pills and drinking orange juice, promising myself I just had to make it to the weekend and then I could rest.

On Friday the realization hit me that I was going to have to work the weekend. For a few minutes there I could have cried. But I was starting to feel a bit better, and you do what you have to do, right?

So I was at the office all day Saturday. Worked from home on Sunday. Nothing got done around the house, except for a bit of cleaning that Moon did on Saturday while I was at work. But he still was not feeling well, so he didn't exactly have a whole lot of energy for cleaning....not like it's his favourite thing to do at the best of times. No laundry done. No grocery shopping. No cooking ahead for the week.

I just felt exhausted and defeated.

I did get back to my workouts on Sunday. Did Hi-Def Sculpt on Sunday, this time with 5 lbs...Still want to take it easy until I'm familiar with all the moves. Cardio Party yesterday. Today nothing because Moon had to be at the office early, so I didn't have time. According to The Firm's Workout plan, this was supposed to be a rest day anyway.

Eating is tough this week, no grocery shopping means no meal plans and I am still coming home and working in the evenings. I'll be glad when this project is done.

Tonight Moon wanted Wendy's. So, I looked up their nutrition info and decided to have the Ultimate Chicken Grill and a side salad. Sadly, it was disappointing. Definitely will not order that again. The chicken had a weird texture and there was not a lot of flavour.

I don't eat much fast food. Never eat McDonald's or Burger King, but I do usually like Wendy's. Did not like this though. And when I have a disappointing meal, I don't feel satisfied and I end up looking for something else to eat.

I will be glad when Friday rolls around and my points reset and the weekend will be here so I can do some grocery shopping and planning and hopefully next week will be better.

Now, tired, off to bed.

Please let me not get sick...

Very tired tonight. Stealing my post from the WW board today because I'm too tired to type much...

...................................My day got off to a so-so start. Measured out my morning cereal, poured in the milk, then as I was turning to put the milk back in the fridge I somehow managed to hook my cereal bowl with my elbow. I realized what was happening and turned back before the whole bowl crashed to the floor, but I did tip it enough to pour cereal and milk all over the floor, my pant let, sock and shoe. That's me, ever the graceful one. The silver lining - ran to change my clothes and grabbed the first pair of jeans I saw. I remember the last time I wore these I thought they were a little on the snug side, but today they feel quite comfy and I actually cinched the belt one more notch than usual. So I'm feeling ok, spilled milk and all.........................

I think I'm coming down with Moon's cold though. Feeling tired, achy, sore throad. Going to take some advil and head off to bed early.

Monday, Monday...

So not so good today.

Moon did do as he was told and take the bag of party mix away, out of my sight, he polished it off over the weekend. He also did quite a good job on the donuts...but not quite good enough.

It was a busy Monday at work. Moon is sick with some sort of flu or nasty cold. He's not feeling good at all. So we came home and Moon says he's going to lie down, call him when supper is ready.

So off I go to make supper and what do I see but the bag of donuts...there were four left...I ate two...that's 7 points...7 points! 7 points could be a whole meal!

But they were tasty donuts.

Made hot & sour chicken soup for supper. Lots of ginger, garlic, chilies...Hopefully the soup will burn the virus right out of Moon's system and keep me from catching it!

And then, unfortunately, after supper I ate the other two donuts.

So, I've put quite a hole in my Flex Points. I'll have to be careful for the rest of the week.

On the bright side, all of that stuff is out of the house now. That should help me stick to my points for the rest of the week.

Welcome to The Firm

Is it crazy that I am looking forward to these new workout DVDs? Do I sound obsessed? Maybe I won't be quite so thrilled about it at 6:00 tomorrow morning, but at the moment I'm quite happy about the whole thing.

First time ever, I ordered something from an infomercial. About a month ago now I guess. I happened to catch part of this informercial for The Firm. I've never done any of their workouts, but it's a series that I've heard of. I know, I know, it's all marketing, there is no miracle workout just like there is not miracle pill or miracle food. But, this did look like the type of workout that I had been on the lookout for.

I have a couple of DVDs already that combine cardio and weights. I really enjoy the two DVDs that I have alreay, and I feel like they are efficient; I can get it some cardio and some strengh building at the same time. It just makes it easier to fit it all in. I had been looking for some new DVDs to add into the rotation - it's good to shake things up once in a while, add some new moves, keep the body challenged. But how do you know which DVD is going to be the right one?

So I see this infomercial, and I can actually see exerpts from the videos, and get an idea of what it's all about. Plus, it comes with weights. I already do have some weights of course, but this is a set that allows you to add plates to create different weights. Also very handy.

I did think it over for a week or two, and then I ordered it. Just picked it up at the post office on Saturday. It comes with a workout schedule as well, and supposedly I will see results in 10 workouts. Of course, I'm not coming to this as someone who had never exercised, so I'm sure that has some bearing on the results.

I also signed up to the the Little Black Dress Workout Challenge on the Weight Watchers forum. I liked the idea of doing a challenge, having a goal in mind. So I plan to try and sort of combine the workouts. The important thing is the results right?

Today I tried the first of The Firm DVDs. The schedule says to do it for the first time with no weights, but of course that's no fun. I did my Iron Yoga workout with 2 lb weights yesterday, and technically I know I should have not done anything with weights today...But it was only 2 lbs, so I tried The Firm workout with 3 lbs today. Normally I would use at least 5 lbs.

We'll see tomorrow whether that was a bad idea. I'm already sort of feeling it. I may end up being sorry.

But I really did enjoy the workout. I felt like I was working, yes. But I enjoyed it. So maybe I am crazy.

Today went well. Hot dogs for breakfast and lunch again, but accompanied by veggies. 23.5 points for the day, which I feel pretty good about. And my weight has been back down to 137 lbs for the past two days, which gives me a good feeling.

Can't believe the weekend is over already. Weekends just go too fast. But it was a good one.

Adventures In Dieting, Episode 1

Time to introduce my darling husband; let's call him Moon, as in: he is my sun and moon and stars. It also happens to be a variation of the name he uses online, so it works.

Moon is a confirmed computer geek. Every so often he likes to get together with his computer geek friends for an evening to play computer games. Last nights was one of those nights and he packed up his computer and took himself off to play with the guys after work. On these occaisions he often stops to buy himself some snacks, and if he doesn't eat the snacks that night, they end up coming home with him.

So, this morning I get up and head to the kitchen for breakfast. I was thinking of cereal, but it turns out we were low on milk, so I decide waffles. We have some Eggo waffles in the freezer, and I don't eat them every day, but sometimes on the weekends it's nice to have a treat. I usually defrost some frozen berries to go on top - get in a fruit serving and it makes it more filling.

As I am doing things in the kitchen to get breakfast ready, Moon comes out and starts talking about his evening with the guys and pulling treats out of his duffle bag. An unopened bag of party mix. An almost empty bag of Pringles Select Szechuan Barbecue chips. And to top it off, one of my favourite things, a bag of Mrs. Dunster's donuts. The sugared crescents, the ones I really like. I usually will buy them if we are having company for the weekend, because left on my own I can eat a whole bag in a couple of days.

I can only surmise that it was all this distraction, because I have defrosted berries many times in the microwave without mishap. Today I was obviously not paying attention to what I was doing, because the next thing I know there are berries all over the inside of the microwave.

This day was not getting off to a good start.

To top it off, the guys had planned to BBQ and my darling hubby had decided he was in the mood for hotdogs. But unfortunately, the host had not realized he was out of propane, so they ended up eating out, and Moon came home with a package of Top Dogs All Beef hotdogs and a bag of buns. Since they can't be wasted, we had hotdogs for lunch. And then hot dogs for supper.

I finished off the bag of Pringles (there was only about one serving left) and I had one donut. I have told Moon that he must take the party mix into his computer room and make sure that I don't see it. I'm ok as long as this stuff is not around, but if it's in the house it seems to be impossible to stay away from it. I'm amazed that I've made it through the day and only had one donut.

All in all, I've made it through the day without doing too badly points-wise. I had a nice big salad with my one hot dog for supper. I've had all my water. I did my Iron Yoga workout. So it has been an ok day. Just not quite how I had planned to start off my week. And we'll probably be eating hot dogs again tomorrow, to finish them off. Will have to make sure I plan lots of healthy, veggie-heavy meals for the rest of the week.

Where to start...

So I've been reading blogs created by other ladies who are following weight watchers, or on a weight loss journey and I've been finding it very...encouraging. Good to know I am not alone I guess.

Of course then I started wondering if I should create my own. Generally I'm pretty introverted, often I don't feel like sharing...but maybe it would be good to have some place to rant or complain or whine when I'm feeling sorry for myself. And honestly, sometimes it feels like all I think about is food and exercise and the next weigh-in and will I ever actually make any progress?

So, what the hey...Why not give it a go?

Of course, as usual, the evening got away from me and now I'm wanting to crawl into bed and go to sleep...So this will be a pretty sad first post. Basically I'm just saying that I'm here and eventually I'm going to say something.

Oh. Guess I should say - today marks the start of my 4th week on weight watchers. That's why I wanted to start tonight even if I didn't really feel ready or know what I want to say...Somehow it just seems like I should be starting off the blog as I start off the week. So far 2 lbs down (that was 1 lb lost, 2 lb lost, 1 lb gained....sigh).

I don't have a lot to lose, I'm aiming for 20 lbs total at the moment. Makes me feel like I shouldn't complain in a way, as I know there are many others who have a much longer way to go. But you know what? It's still hard! And I've tried and I've tried and it seems I never get anywhere. So here I am trying again and maybe this blog thing will help, so I'm gonna try!

That's it for now. I'll try to have something of more substance to say next time.

Good night!