Spent the evening in the kitchen again, finishing off my baking. Not entirely impressed with how things turned out. The cupcakes and the mice are done, and they are okay....Just not fantastic, and if I'm going to make something I want it to be fantastic. So I sorta feel like I wasted a lot of time, energy and ingredients that could have been better used on other things. And now I'm really tired.

Guess that'll teach me to be trying out new things when I don't have a lot of time for experimenting (you'd think I'd know that by now).

And now I'm going to bed even though I probably won't sleep because I'll be obsessing and thinking about everything I should have done instead. Doesn't that sound like fun?

From the Environment Canada weather forecast for Saint John today: Wind southwest 40 km/h gusting to 70. It was a blustery day.

Just finished baking a batch of chocolate cupcakes (which will get filled & frosted with vanilla cream tomorrow night) and mixing together the ingredients for Chocolate Mice (now in the fridge to chill, will be formed into little mice - hopefully - tomorrow). If everything turns out well, I'll be taking it to the Halloween party on Friday (I have this vision of platter of cupcakes with mice peeking out from between them - but we shall see). If it doesn't turn out well...I guess Husband and I will have a surplus of baked goods around the house.

Let's hope it all turns out well.

For the curious, I present my new head:



It was 3-4 inches off the length, and the layers were shortened. The goal being that I can actually wear my hair as it is in the photo, rather than having the front of it pulled back with barrettes all the time because otherwise it just falls in my face.

So far so good, but it's only been a few days. My hair grows really fast. The good news - I discovered I can still pull it all up in a ponytail on top of my head. Makes life easier.

Time to call it a night.

Bracing myself

Busy week ahead...

Dinner out tomorrow night (2nd wedding anniversary dinner for friends) and a Halloween party on Friday. Need to finish sorting out costumes, find out if I need to bring anything to the party on Friday night, and figure out what to do with my hair.

When I got my hair cut on Saturday, I decided to go shorter, and have the layers cut shorter which may not have been a good idea. Not that the cut was bad - I'm happy with it - just not great timing. I am next to useless when it comes to styling my hair or putting hair up or anything like that. I was used to my longer hair and would have been able to deal with it. This is all new so I have no clue.

Planned ahead last night and made a meal that would give us leftovers for tonight. Wednesday & Thursday will likely be from the freezer. I am hoping to get 3 workouts in (tonight, Wednesday, Thursday).

Yep, gonna be an interesting week. Wish me luck.

Pretty Shoes

Saturday morning I got my hair cut and then did a little shopping. For my fellow shoe fanatics enthusiasts, I present my purchases:



I am so in love with those red shoes and could not wait to wear them; I wore them out Saturday night, even though we were just going to a friends house and I'd have to take them off as soon as I walked in the door.

What can I say? Shoes make me happy.

Now I am wiped out. Weekend was busy again and I feel like I barely stopped. Hopefully a good sleep tonight will fix me up.

Let's talk about food....

It's weigh in day for me, and for the second week in a row I am up. I don't really have an explanation. I won't say it was a perfect week, but I thought I was doing fairly well. Yes, I know. These fluctuations can happen for many reasons. But seriously. A year. No progress. I don't want to talk about it any more.

Today...Well...Had an itchy, scratchy throat this morning so I gargled with Listerine; think I may have swallowed a bit by mistake and my tummy has been feeling funny ever since. Could be my imagination.

Have been virtuously eating my toast with almond butter for breakfast, ignoring coffee shop muffins for the past 3 weeks. This morning, I decided to heck with it. I'm having a muffin. I was hoping for chocolate chip, but they didn't have any. Had a carrot muffin instead, which has grated carrots and raisins...Almost good for me!

Yes, that's me being delusional. Blame it on the Listerine ingestion.

Then, at our morning meeting there were the usual chocolate chip cookies. Normally I have no trouble ignoring them because they aren't that good. But today they did look good so I ate one. It was ok, but not as good as the chocolate chip cookies I make. Just sayin'.

Decided to buy my lunch today, for a change. I had a falafel wrap and fatoush salad. It was yummy.

Then around 4:30 I had a beer. At work, sitting at my desk. But I did say no to the potato chips that were also offered.

Then we stopped for takeout on the way home and I had Green Thai Curry with rice.

Friday = Fun Food day!!!

Ok, so not a typical day.

I keep saying that food is my problem. It must be right? Because I do exercise. I'm not just making it up when I post about my workouts. So it has to be the food. During the week, my breakfast, lunch, snacks are pretty consistent. Evening meals and weekends tend to be where it all breaks down. Even then, I've always thought I wasn't doing too badly.

And yes, I have considered that perhaps this weight is just where my body wants to be. Problem is, this is not where my ego (vanity?) wants to be. Some days I can deal. Other days I look in the mirror and want to cry. I remember being slim. I'm having a hard time accepting the chubby.

Plus, technically speaking, I have that "overweight" label hanging over my head. I don't like it.

Coming back to the food again (I'm just a boomerang today aren't I?)...Every so often I will pull out a stack of cookbooks, look through them for healthy, [hopefully]tasty, low-cal meal ideas. I make lists. Meal plans. It lasts about a week and I get frustrated and lazy. Husband will have been less than excited about my efforts. I will be tired of cooking and washing dishes, coming up with new ideas. We go back to the tried and true. The easy meals. Which aren't necessarily unhealthy meals. Just not the optimum for weight loss.

But perhaps I need to make more of a commitment to it. Perhaps if I focus my blogging on healthy eating adventures, it will help me make that commitment. I did say that I need something new to occupy me now that gardening season is over.

I haven't come to any firm decision on this yet. Still mulling things over. I may still wimp out because I am at heart a lazy a busy person, with only so much energy to go around. But, I'm considering it.

And a non-food related P.S...

Some photos from today; can you spot the deer? There are two of them in there.







Here is Fred, eating some tasty grass.



And George peeking around the corner (sorry, this one is really blurry).



Suddenly Fred bolted across the lawn.



Looks like one of the deer startled him.



These were taken when we got home from work. I could see the deer when we pulled into the garage, so after I fed the cats I took my camera and went outside. I went to the corner of the fence and was able to take the photos, even though the nearest deer was not all that far away from me.

This was my second deer encounter of the day. The cats wake me up around quarter to five in the morning, wanting to be let out into their enclosure. So I stumble down, let them out, and then go back to sleep. On a good day, but the time we're up and ready for work, they are both back inside. Today was not a good day. I had to go out and get Fred, and let me tell you, he was not wanting to come out from under his bush. But the highlight - there was a deer standing right up against the opposite side of the fence (right behind my urns - all summer the bits of the plants that poked through the holes in the fence got chewed off, guess I caught one of the culprits in the act). I couldn't help but stand there and watch him for a few minutes before I dragged Fred out from under his bush. The deer stayed there the whole time. Guess he wasnt' finished with his snack.

Status Quo...

Just popping by to say that I'm still truckin' along. This week is going pretty well with workouts & eating. Not much else to say at the moment.

If you haven't already, check this out...

I entered the Gracie Gear Giveaway!

Check out Roni’s Weight Loss Blog for more information.

My beautiful summer, how I miss you!

It's definitely turning colder. We're finding it chilly in the house now when we have the window open for the cats, I need a warmer jacket on the way to work in the morning, and it was freezing in our office today - time to start piling on the layers.

It was a busy weekend, but I made a conscious effort to not overdo it. It was nice not to be completely exhausted last night.

Other than that, don't feel like I have much to say. Feeling better, but taking it easy getting back into the workouts - don't want to overdo it. Trying to watch the calories - though I did have a beer and some pistachios tonight that weren't exactly in the plan. But Husband handed me an open can of Smithwick's - what's a girl to do?

I've been enjoying Fabulous Feline snuggles this evening; one pleasant side-effect of the cooler weather.





And this just seemed photo-worthy for some reason...



That's all.

Let playful cats lie...

Today, after admonishing Husband to be careful because Fred was in a mood, I foolishly poked at the playful feline with my foot. My carelessness resulted in a scratched foot. I bent down to examine my foot; no serious damage, just a couple of minor scratches - my own fault because I know better. Then I noticed something...

"Wait! Where's my toe ring?"

It did not take long to discover the toe ring on the floor, all but broken in two. It made me sad.



Eight years ago, I traveled across the country to visit one of my sisters who had moved to Vancouver. During that visit, in a touristy little shop in White Rock, we both bought toe rings; I bought a third to bring home to our youngest sister.

I've never grown tired of the moon and stars pattern on that ring, and for eight years, the little ring has reminded me of that trip.



I know I can buy a new one if I really want to. But it won't be the same; it won't have those memories attached to it.

Then again, perhaps the sight of a new and different ring on my toe would serve as a reminder not to go poking my feet at my 17 lb cat when he's in a wild & playful mood.

Who knew?

It's not that I dislike exercise. A lot of the time I'd actually say I enjoy it. What I don't enjoy is trying to fit it into my day. I work 9-5, so that means exercise needs to happen early in the morning or after work. I tried early morning, that didn't work for me. So it has to happen after work. I do it, but sometimes it feels like too much after working all day. Sometimes I think I just want to be able to go home and relax. Watch some TV. Read a book.

Since I was not feeling well on Tuesday, I took the evening off. Yesterday, still not feeling great, I took the evening off. And I was sitting there on the couch last night, watching TV, and I thought: I'm bored with this. I need a walk on the treadmill.

It was getting late by the time that occurred to me last night, and I thought I probably should take another day off anyway. But tonight I did walk on the treadmill. I did 45 minutes, though walking slower than usual. It felt like hard work, guess that means I'm not completely back to normal yet, but I think the walking made me feel a little better.

I think the trick is to give myself an evening off now and then, but overall the evening exercise thing is not so bad.

How It's Going...

The ever-inspiring MizFit inquired as to how the week is starting off...I think I'd have to say: Kind of blah.

I think maybe I am coming down with/fighting off a flu of some sort. Either that or I'm dying.

I've been sniffle-y for a while, but that's not all that unusual for me-of-the-chronic-allergies...I've been taking my allergy pills, but autumn is a bad time of year for me allergy-wise, so I thought maybe the pills just aren't keeping up.

Last week my knees were bothering me a bit...I thought maybe I need to ease up a bit on the workouts for a few days. There were also some head-achey days.

Friday I went for a walk. Saturday I did my Crunch Cardio Sculpt DVD which is similar to the whole boot camp idea - alternating cardio with weights - but it is a 30 minute workout and I was crunched for time, so it seemed like the perfect option.

Sunday and yesterday, no formal workouts, though I have been busy around the house/yard. Yesterday I actually woke up with a weird abdominal issue - I seem to have sore spots. Hard to explain. Trying to remember if I walked into anything on Sunday, or anything like that, but nothing comes to mind. Plus last night there was some coughing.

And this morning, still the coughing, and the sore abdominal area, and the sore knees and other joints, and I feel like there is a headache waiting to happen...So perhaps I am flu-ish?

So that's how things are at the moment. Flu-ish. Or I'm dying of some weird disease. It was nice knowing y'all. Really. I mean that.

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Daily Record
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BF: Multigrain toast with almond butter, coffee with 10% cream
Snack: 1/2 Lara Bar
Lunch: Quinoa Chili
Snack: 1 Apple, 12 almonds
Supper: Leftover turkey, etc

BLBE Weigh-in #3

This morning: 144.5 lb

That's down 1.7 lbs from last week, but still up 0.5 from my BLBE starting weight. Still, moving in the right direction again - that makes me happy.

Would love love love to see 143 next week...getting so tired of these 144+ numbers. It is a long weekend though, and somehow those always turn into Lots-O-Food weekends...We shall see how it goes.

We left work early today, which was a nice change. The weather was beautiful and all I could think about once I got home was getting out for a walk. I took my camera with me and snapped a few shots.







Finally, in the spirit of full disclosure, I am here to tell you that I ate chocolate tonight. After supper I felt like I wanted something dessert-like, so I went ahead and ate chocolate. And I don't feel bad about it.

Yes, I am the one who said I was going to cut down on sugar. But I never intended to eliminate all sugar forever. I think I did pretty good this week. I wanted a treat tonight and I had it. And that's all I have to say about that.

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Daily Record
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Breakfast: 1 slice multi grain toast with almond butter, coffee with cream
Snack: 6 almonds
Lunch: Chicken Schawarma Wrap
Supper: Spaghetti Bolognese
Dessert: 4 Russell Stover Chocolates

Looking forward to sleep...

Did not want to exercise tonight. Had a headache at work all afternoon, by the time I got home I didn't want to do anything. But since I took yesterday off I felt like I should. So, did a half hour - just a combination of things: jumping jacks, skipping, jump squats, push ups, some weights/kettlebells, and a few ab moves. Basically just kept moving for a half hour.

Food today - basically the same as yesterday except no potato chips, did have a small handful of peanuts before my workout, and had 1/2 cup of President's Choice Bombay Rice Pilaf instead of wild rice.

Now I'm off to get some sleep.

Day 3

Day 3 sugar free. So far so good.

Really liking this Olivieri Ravioli that I've been having for lunch.



I am not normally a fan of whole wheat pasta, but I liked the sound of Broccoli & Cheese ravioli, so I gave it a try and I'm very happy I did; it's quite tasty.

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Daily Record
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BF: 1 slice multi-grain toast with Almond Butter, Coffee w/10% cream
Snack: Baby carrots
Lunch: Olivieri NutriWise Broccoli & Cheese Ravioli with homemade tomato sauce, and two handfuls of potato chips (because they were in the kitchen at work within reach of the microwave, darnit)
Snack: Apple
Supper: Kickin' Chicken, 1/2 cup wild rice, salad (cucumber, red bell pepper, grape & cupid tomatoes - from my garden, red onion with Renee's Cucumber & Dill Dressing

Day off from working out.

Hanging in

Day 2 of the sugar-free campaign. So far, all is good.

Found at Canadian Tire on Sunday:



After I spent the month of September adapting Kettlebell exercises to use dumbbells.

They had two 5 lb kettlebells and 2 10 lb kettlebells on the shelf. I decided I could give the 10 pounders a good home. Tried them out with my Boot Camp routine tonight. Always fun to add something new into the exercise routine. It's like getting new toys.


Edit: For all the non-Canadian folk confused about why I was buying exercise equipment at a Tire store: The Canadian Tire Story. Actually, it was interesting for me too - I am just so used to the fact that Canadian Tire sells a variety of products, was interesting to read the history.


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Daily Record
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BF: 1 slice multi-grain toast with Almond Butter, Coffee w/10% cream
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Olivieri NutriWise Broccoli & Cheese Ravioli with homemade tomato sauce, baby carrots
Snack: 12 almonds
Supper: Chili Con Carne, 1 slice multi-grain toast with butter

Workout: Bootcamp - 60 mins

Goals for the week

Last week's workouts: 2 x Cardio with Intervals (Monday & Wedensday), 3 x Boot Camp (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday). Saturday I actually tacked on some extra cardio at the end - 30 minutes of walking, going as hard as I could go, so that ended up being a 90 minute workout. I also changed the strength portion of my Boot Camp on Saturday to incorporate a couple of the Kettlebell moves from last month. I'm still a little sore. Actually more than a little. But I will survive.

I happened to catch an episode of Eat, Shrink & Be Merry on The Food Network a few weeks ago (I think it was the banana bread one), and one of the sisters mentioned on the show that cutting out sugar for two weeks can make a difference. So, I've had it in my head to give it a try. I'm going to aim for 1 week to start off with. I'm not going to get all crazy about eliminating every trace of sugar - just going for the obvious offenders:

1. The Vanilla Chai Soy Milk I've been adding to my oatmeal (tasty though it may be).
2. My beloved Vanilla yogurt (can't stand aspartame/splenda, and those calories from sugar do add up).
3. No more being lazy about breakfast and grabbing a muffin at the coffee shop.
4. I've also been having 1 square of dark chocolate after supper most evenings...I will say goodbye to that for the week as well.

After this week, we'll see where things stand.

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Daily Record
-----------------------
BF: 1 slice multi-grain toast with almond butter, coffee
Snack: 1 apple
Lunch: Leftover Mac & Cheese (made w/whole wheat pasta)
Supper: Chicken & Rice Soup, grilled cheese & tomato on multi-grain

Workout: 45 minutes cardio
Plan was to do my running intervals, but discovered I was still too sore from Saturday, so it ended up being moderate walking with intervals of faster walking.

Weigh In: +1.3

Weigh in day - 146.2 which is up 1.3 lbs.

I knew it wasn't a great week though. As usual: Exercise=Good, Eating=Bad.

Due to having company last weekend, I didn't do my usual grocery shopping and meal planning. Not that I'm making excuses.

Back on plan this week.

October plan

First of October already - how the time flies!

I have settled on a new fitness plan for the month of October:

Cardio - intervals on the treadmill. No kind of official interval workout or anything, just doing my own thing. Making another attempt to get back to running. I tried Couch 2 5K last winter, and it just wasn't working for me. I managed to go from walking to running on the treadmill once before, just doing my own thing, so I'm going to go with that again.

Strength - I got my October Fitness magazine in the mail on Monday. It has an article about creating your own Boot Camp routine. The basics are 3 minutes of cardio + 1 upper body exercise + 1 lower body exercise + 1 ab exercise...Repeat.

I actually started this plan on Monday, which technically wasn't October...We'll call Monday & Tuesday trial runs. So far this week I'm 3 for 3 as far as coming home and doing my workout right away. Hopefully I can keep doing this if Husband doesn't get too cranky about having to wait for dinner (or maybe he could actually cook dinner...how crazy would that be?).

So Monday & today were cardio. Yesterday I tried out my Boot Camp workout. I am using the treadmill for my cardio portion; I thought it might be irritating jumping off and on the treadmill every 3 minutes, but I was willing to give it a go. I definitely worked up a sweat, and did not have a chance to get bored. What I do like about this idea is that it is fairly flexible. I can change things up as far as what exercises I'm doing, or how long the workout is. Hopefully it will work out.

I do reserve the right to swap out workouts now and then though. I am of the opinion that if I really can't face the scheduled workout-of-the-day (whichever it may be), I'm better of doing something different than doing nothing at all.

Things have been really busy at work this week. I'm finding that I get home, do my workout, get supper, and I'm not feeling much like being on the computer. So I'm not sure whether I will be posting every day - it may be less often from now on. Or maybe this will pass and things will get back to normal soon.