The Incredible Sort-Of-Shrinking Woman!

Update And A Recipe!

2012-01-25T21:03:00.000-08:00

Been a long time since I've been around here. I've still been reading everyone else's blogs! But apparently I've forgotten about my own. Oops!

Things are going not too bad around these parts! I started the 30 Day Shred with full intentions of going the distance.....but one day off led to 3 days off and then I had to give back the DVD I had borrowed and yeah, that was the end of that.

So instead I decided to go back the the Lean Cuisine website and get myself a 4 week meal plan. I've been on it for a week now and I feel pretty good! I've snuck a few peeks at the scale and it's been on it's way down. But I'm trying not to jinx anything and get discouraged. I'm giving this an honest try. Also, my office has got us a corporate deal at the local gym so I plan to sign up for a year soon.

One of the great things about the pre-made meal plan is some new recipes! I've tried 4 so far, all of which have been delicious! So here is the first one:

Vegetable Grain Salad

540 Calories

Ingredients:
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1/3 cup quinoa, uncooked (makes about 1 cup cooked)
1/3 cup edamame
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
2 tbsp. cranberries

Vinaigrette Dressing:

1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. olive oil

How to Prepare:
Line a baking tray with parchment paper (I used tin foil) and roast sweet potato at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes or until soft. Meanwhile, simmer quinoa with 2/3 cup water in a covered saucepan for 15 minutes. Combine cooked quinoa, sweet potato, edamame, green onion, cranberries, vinegar and oil in mixing bowl.

*I added about an ounce of crumbled feta cheese
*Photo taken by me!

Open Letter

2012-01-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Smelly Bellybutton....

It's time for you and I to part ways. This is the year you will be gone from my body. No longer will you poke your smelly little head up at me after a long day. No longer will there be a place for you to hide between the rolls of my chub. Oh and rubbing thighs? You'll be going away along with the smelly bellybutton. You are no longer welcome on this body of mine.

That is all.

Resentfully yours,

Kara

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T11:19:00.000-08:00

Love Christmas crackers!

Mmmmm! Lots of veggies and turkey!

Dad carving the old bird.

The table was very nicely set.

Look at all the freaking presents! Can you spot the little visitor?

A perfectly built potato pool for gravy.

Christmas was busy as it has been the last couple of years but it was very good! We ate lots of amazing food, visited with family, relaxed (a bit!) and played games. And I was ridiculously spoiled with presents. It was kind of overwhelming actually. The boyfriend got me a Keurig Mini and he instructed his family to buy me K cups for it. So I'm set for a while there! He also bought me a personal K cup so that when they run out if I want to I can just buy my own coffee. Although I know what flavours I like from work and I already checked out the Keurig website and saw which flavours I want to the get next!

My dad and stepmom got me a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. FINALLY! I've only been lusting after one for years and years. Only they really spoiled me in that they bought me a red one but offered to switch it for their tangerine orange one! The one they got me is a more powerful one but I'd rather have the gorgeous orange one so I kept the bowl and accessories from the new one and brought home the orange one instead. It looks so awesome on my counter!

I also got a set of Pyrex bowls with lids, the meatloaf pan you see on TV, Eggies as seen on TV (which the first one I tried didn't work as the lid didn't seal properly but the second one did! Good thing it comes with 6!), a 3 cup food processor, a nice air bake cookie sheet, a couple of expansions of stuff for The Sims 3 and more stuff that I can't think of right now! Like I said, I was spoiled!

I weighed myself this morning and I was up just about 3 pounds since the last time I weighed myself just before Christmas. Which is not at all surprising considering the shear amount of food around this time of year. I made an effort to keep myself in check as much as I could. As the bowl of homemade caramel corn sits next to my computer right this moment....

I joined a group on MyFitnessPal to do Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred for the month of January. So it's back on the wagon and see how it goes!

Let's See Where I Got To In A Year....

2011-12-09T20:47:00.001-08:00

And here it is: 10 pounds and 28.5 inches gone from my body. Wow. I'm impressed with myself for the inches for sure! The pounds, not so much. I don't understand how the human body works that way. How can I possibly have lost that many inches but have only lost that much weight? I know, muscle weighs more than fat. I get that. I guess that's what it is? Oh well! I'll take it and I plan for next year to show some very different numbers.

On a different note, I read to awesomely funny posts today. So I must share them! The first is from Charlie at Operation: Shrink Charlie's Big Butt. Here's the link to her post. Her post links to another blogger's post which she references in her post. So you must read the other blogger's post too! Here's that link. Hilarious stuff!

Also, I was cruising around on the MyFitnessPal website on the forums and found a group of ladies who are going to try and do the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred in January. I figure I should join in! I need to make a commitment to my health and stick to it. No excuses. It's ON!

New Month Check In

2011-12-04T10:27:00.001-08:00

It's December now and it's almost a year since I started "seriously" trying to lose weight. I've weighed myself every week (almost) in 2011. Right now, I'm still at around 15 pounds lost. I'm fluctuating between 15 and 13 pounds lost actually. I'm proud that I've lost as much as I have and have been maintaining that loss. I'm proud that I've lost a lot more inches than pounds. The last time I did the math it was close to 30 inches total. I'm going to do the math on the 7th as that was when I started keeping track.

Here's the thing: I could have done so much better this year. I could have tried so much harder. Yes, I tried and had some success. But I should be able to do better. I can do better. I still have far too many moments where I'm disappointed in my choices. I'm not perfect which is a fact that I know but can't seem to accept. That sounds really contradictory but it's true.

I still want it to just happen. I still want the weight to just fall off of me with minimal effort. I know I'm not the only one who wants it to be that easy. I need to come to grips with the fact that that is NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. I have to put in the effort. And it's a big effort. It can't just be a once in a while effort. I need to buck up and JUST DO IT.

Body Love

2011-11-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

.........

2011-11-21T10:51:00.000-08:00

Um, yeah, so it's yet another blogging fail on my part this month. I don't even know what happened! I honestly had full intentions of posting every day this month and yet some how it's the 21st and I've posted once. My only excuse is that this has been another month that has just flown by and I haven't been able to make blogging every day a habit.

I also had plans to be turning over a new leaf and that has sort of happened. I haven't got on exercising yet....it's my biggest hurdle. Again I have a hard time making it a habit. It's sometimes not even in my realm of thinking during the day. Meaning the thought of exercise doesn't even cross my mind. I don't know how to get my brain to think of it.

This month has had a few things happen. I had my 31st birthday on the 18th. I talked a lot about being a little freaked out at officially being IN my 30s but really I feel exactly the same. It was a good day though. I had a ton of Facebook birthday wishes which was nice. A lady at work bought some yummy treats from a local bakery and everyone in the office sung to me. The boyfriend got me a computer game that I wanted and my dad and stepmom helped me buy the rims for the winter tires on my car that I needed. All in all it was a good birthday.

This past Saturday was our office's Christmas party. It was fun! I found a fun dress that I felt incredibly comfortable in and some funky shoes to go with it on the Friday before. The boyfriend got a new shirt and tie to wear too! Dinner was great and the drinks were good! Unfortunately he had to work at 11:00 so he left at 10:00 but I stayed and danced with the girls I work with then we headed to the local country bar. That was fun for a bit too but then I got lonely being the only one without my other half so I called it a night at 1:30 AM. Yesterday was a tad rough on me since I don't drink often but lots of water and a good afternoon nap was the cure. :)

My newest weight loss attempt is to follow the rules in the Belly Fat Cure by Jorge Cruise. It's low carb, low sugar. That's going to be tricky leading up to Christmas as I do a lot of baking as gifts and tend to treat myself as I go. But maybe by the time I start doing that stuff I'll have seen some success on this plan and not be tempted!

New Month, New Leaf!

2011-11-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

As in turning over a new leaf. The last two weeks (at least) have been iffy for me. I haven't exercised and I've pretty much been eating whatever I want. The scale this morning showed me a three pound gain. I'm not the least bit surprised. I haven't been drinking water like I was either.

So it's a new month and it's back to basics. I bought the book: "The Eat-Clean Diet Presents: Just the Rules!" by Tosca Reno. I've already read through it and the rules are quite simple, really. There are 51 of them but most of them aren't hard to remember. Basically avoid the white stuff (sugar, salt, white flour), anything processed (things with more than 5 ingredients and/or with ingredients I can't pronounce or look like they are from a laboratory), drink water, eat frequently (every 3 hours), portion control (duh), drink water and when I eat have a protein and a complex carb. All of this stuff is what I had started to do about a month back (I know I blogged about it but I can't be bothered to check the date).

I went to the doctor today about the results of the blood work I had done 2 weeks ago. I had been hoping for a medical reason for my weight loss woes, but alas everything is normal. She said my cholesterol was very good, my iron, blood sugars, and thyroid were all normal. My female hormones were normal but my male hormones were slightly elevated. That is a side effect of poly-cystic ovarian syndrome that I already knew I had and that was under control when I was on birth control. But I've been off of it since April. She said it's not of any concern except for the acne and excess facial hair it can cause. I'm fortunate to have really great skin so the acne isn't a problem. But I am lucky enough to have the excess facial hair. It's not a lot, most people don't ever notice it. I do though (I usually just shave it) so she offered to prescribe me a cream called Vaniqa that's supposed to help. I have stupidly sensitive skin though so she told me to do a patch test first.

She said that my metabolism is a bit slow but that's not caused by anything, that's just the way my body is. Yay, I'm so lucky! It means that losing weight will be harder for me but not impossible.

I saw the P90X guy on Dr. Oz yesterday so I'm thinking about maybe looking into buying that program but I haven't decided yet. There's another program that a guy I know from elementary school developed called The Natural Plastic Surgery that I might try first. But I haven't decided yet.

Also, I'm attempting NaBloPoMo in November so wish me luck!

Oops.

2011-10-20T19:47:00.000-07:00

I totally had a whole post all typed out last night and hit publish and Blogger gave me an error. :(

So here I go again! I've been a bad blogger and I didn't even realize it had been over a month since I had posted.

New things around these parts:

- I started playing hockey on Monday nights. I've had 3 games so far and while it's hard work and I get nervous before each game, I'm having fun so far! It's an awesome workout for sure. And I did have a spectacular crash at the end of my first game that equaled a bruised tailbone that still hurts. But I'm still going back! I've got this Monday night off because of how the schedule works.

- On the weight loss side of things I haven't been having huge success on the scale. As in that damn number keeps going up and down again. But I know I've lost inches because clothes that haven't fit are now fitting and people had commented on how my shape is changing. I'm okay with that so I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing.

- I've got an appointment with my doctor in November to review some blood work I had done. I had my blood sugar tested, my thyroid levels, certain hormones to check from PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome), iron and cholesterol. My period has been incredibly wonky the last two months so I figured I should look into that.

That's about all that's new around here! Hopefully I have something to report from the doctor.

Missed Another One!

2011-09-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

This blogging every day thing is hard! LOL

Okay so it's not hard but it's easy to forget. I forgot yesterday. Well that's not entirely true. I forgot until right before I went to bed and didn't feel like writing something short. Although that's what this one might end up to be.

Nothing too exciting has gone on the last couple of days. The boyfriend got up early-ish today so we headed out to visit my dad and his wife. After I braved the mass amounts of bees at the recycling depot! Got $9.75 out of it and came away sting free though! And more importantly, my counter is CLEAN. Yay!

But yes, we had a short but nice visit. Although it did seem to consist of most of us playing on our respective hand held devices. My dad on his iPad (SO jealous!), the boyfriend and I on our phones and his wife on her iPod Touch. There was puppy lovin' in there too though! He made sure of that. I can't believe how big he is getting!

We finished the day at Wal-Mart where I got some new crackle colours! I got silver and red courtesy of the boyfriend. He spoils me. :)

Back to the old work grind tomorrow morning!

Fall Fair Time

2011-09-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

Today was a day of wandering around in the ridiculous heat at our local fall fair. I've never been so I thought I'd give it a try. I met a few cousins and their kids to watch the parade. It had the usual bagpipes at the beginning, local dignitaries, horses, sports club floats, and tractors. And of course, candy! It was fun to watch the kids dive and scramble and proudly proclaim they "got it!"

Next up we headed over to the fairgrounds for the kids to go on rides. We stopped by to visit my cousin's soon-to-be in-laws for a bit as they have a farm and were judging 4H cows. The watching of the kids on the rides didn't last long for me. It was WAY too hot to just stand in the sun. Luckily though my aunt randomly showed up with a couple of friends of hers so I ditched the ride crowd and wandered around with them. We checked out pretty much everything. There were barns with goats, sheep, and cows. There were crafts and photographs.

Then of course there was the food. They had the usual fair food like hamburgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, cobs of corn, deep fried pickles. But there was also a Greek food booth, a Mexican one and one that had barbecued ribs. I went with the pulled pork burrito and it was so good! It was huge! It had a ton of shredded pork in a barbecue sauce that was tasty, then a bean mixture that was pretty much just kidney beans and then coleslaw. My only complaint was that it wasn't fully wrapped. I mean the bottom was completely wrapped but the top was still open. I understand that's more for looks but it made it tricky to start eating. All in all, it was a definitely thumbs up!

I did have to rush home because I suddenly had to go to the bathroom but I don't think it was the burrito that did it. I'm pretty sure it was the 4 mini doughnuts I had. They were super greasy and my body is not used to a lot of grease anymore.

I don't know if the fair is something I would need to go to every year. Maybe when we have kids though. :)

Five Friday

2011-09-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

1. I missed water while we were away. There was only one day where I got more than a couple bottles of water in. To go from just about 4 L of water a day to that little sucked.

2. Since dating the boyfriend all of the animated shows that used to annoy me, I quite like now. Sometimes (okay a lot of the times) I still groan or roll my eyes at a joke. But for the most part I enjoy Futurama, American Dad, Family Guy and Robot Chicken.

3. I wish we could have a pet. I love our fish and all but it's just not that same. After spending a few days on a farm with dogs and kittens it makes me really miss having a companion like that.

4. I also wish we lived somewhere that we could have a full garden and not just 2 pots with tomato plants. But I am proud of how well our tomatoes have done! They are super flavourful and way better than store bought ones.

5. I really don't want to go back to work. Work sucks.

Seasons

2011-09-04T12:00:00.000-07:00

The seasons are a-changing around these parts and I love it. We have had a not typical summer here. Well, not typical for the last 5+ years. Typically summer hits fast and HOT in about the end of June/beginning of July. Like almost 40 degrees out (that's 104 degrees for any Americans who might stumble upon this blog) and instant. No time to adjust to gradually increasing temperatures, anything green turns brown right away, forests dry out and forest fires ensue.

This year though, June and July were cooler and rainy. We didn't get any real heat until well into August and even then it only got up to 34 or 35 degrees. And that only lasted a couple of weeks. It was just like the summers I remember growing up. It was wonderful. I absolutely loved it. Everything stayed nice and green all summer. The flowers stayed beautiful colours because they didn't get dried out. There were little to no forest fires to speak of which meant we weren't blanketed with smelly smoke.

Of course though, people complained. People bitched and whined about how crappy it was and how they didn't enjoy it. It was throughly annoying to listen to. The weather can never win. There's always somebody who isn't happy!

And now it's 3 days into September and the mornings are decidedly cooler and there has been talk of frost in some places already. Fall isn't waiting around, it's pretty much already here. And I'm totally okay with that. And not just because that means Pumpkin Spice Lattes are at Starbucks soon. :)

Quick!

2011-09-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

Before I head to bed before our big road trip tomorrow, I wanted to get a quick post in! Work was supposed to boring and slow so I could get posts ready for while I was away but alas it was steady so I could only manage one. So! One for tomorrow and then none for 3 days (which I will make up for!)

Hope everyone has a great long weekend! I know I will! Ciao!

Five Friday

2011-09-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

I've seen several other bloggers who participate in the Five Fridays where you post random facts about yourself so I thought I'd join in! And maybe I'll even do Wordless Wednesdays too!

1. I have a hard time watching Heath Ledger movies now that he has passed away. It's weird because it's not like I knew him personally but I actually cried a little when I heard he had died. He is one of my absolute favourite actors and I had a huge crush on him.

2. I'm so proud of our tomato plants that we planted. It's the first time I've ever had plants that yielded anything and the cherry tomatoes we've harvested so far are so flavourful!

3. The boyfriend and I have adopted a mascot. His name is Edmond and expect him to appear in pictures in the future.

4. I wish I could be cool and stomach wine but I just can't do it unless it's sweet. Like cooler-sweet. I can't stand anything even remotely dry. It's just gross.

5. The TV is always on at our house, even if no one is watching it. Silence makes me uncomfortable.

There! My first Five Friday is done!

Here Goes Nothin'!

2011-09-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

I have decided that this month I will try to do a post a day. And I just realized that may not work unless I can figure out how to write posts and have them be posted on certain days as on Sunday we're off on a road trip and won't be back until Wednesday. Dang! I was so pumped to do this! I will figure it out. :)

As for new things with me, I'm almost done my first week at Curves. I got a free week and have been every day. Tomorrow will be 5 in a row. So far, I quite like it! I can definitely feel my muscles the next day and when I workout the next day I can also feel a difference in my endurance. The ladies there have all been super friendly and nice. The one lady working tonight was a tad annoying. She was kind of bossy and since I was the only one there she followed me around and gave me "pointers". Although she did seem rather impressed at how good my form was on some of the machines. Now I just have to figure out if I'll have enough money after our trip to pay for it.

As for eats today, I had an apple and that new whipped peanut butter for breakfast. I'm in love with that peanut butter! It's like a little cloud of light peanut butter. Very good. Lunch was carrots, red peppers and cherry tomatoes dipped in edamame hummus and a blueberry Liberte Greek yogurt. Afternoon snack was a lemon Larabar. I got in my full 4 litres of water today too!

Dinner was epic. I made lasagna cupcakes. And they turned out perfectly. Seriously. SO GOOD. The recipe I used as a guideline can be found here. The only things I changed were I added frozen spinach that had been squished of all excess water and I mixed the hamburger and marinara sauce together. The boyfriend is currently having a second helping. :) I'd say this recipe is definitely a keeper! It does take a bit to assemble everything but it's totally worth it.

Tomorrow is the start of another weight loss competition. We took just a week off from the last one. This one had grown quite a bit though. I think the last I heard it was up to 20 participants. At $10 a person that's a good chunk of change and some major incentive! The top 3 prizes are biggest percentage of weight loss, most exercise points (You get 1 point for every 30 consecutive minutes of exercise) vs. no-no points (no-nos are made up of a very long and detailed list of foods or drinks that if we consume take away our exercise points) and I think third prize is for whoever is second in percentage of weight loss.

I'm pumped for this one for sure!

Long Weekend For Me!

2011-08-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

That's right, I've got a long weekend before the long weekend! I've had the past 2 days off with today and tomorrow off too! And it's been surprisingly busy for me. Friday was lunch with a friend (fish tacos for the first time, yummy!), Saturday was to a friend's for the UFC fight (which to be honest for me is more about the food! She makes amazing yeast-free pizza crust and I take my famous spinach and artichoke dip), today we're off to my dad's for haircuts and homemade hamburgers aaaaaaaand tomorrow is booked up too! In the morning I'm going for a free workout at Curves and in the evening I'm going with the boyfriend's mom and sister to a Creative Memories party. Whew!!

So yes, I'm contemplating joining Curves. I've got a free week starting tomorrow. It's a tad pricey although it could be more expensive. They are having a half off of the sign up fee right now so it would be $104 to sign up and for the first month then it's like $49 and change a month. I've been reading up on the website about it and it seems like the exercise is easy enough. It's just a half hour a day and it's right beside where I park my car every day for work. That's what I need. Something quick and conveniently located and where I'll feel comfortable. I do like the gym I tried for a week but it's not in the best location for me. As in, it's easy to not go because it's up the hill. Lame excuse, I know but it is what it is. At least I know me well enough to know I would let it slide. Curves it just might be. I'll decide after the week.

The weight loss competition I was in ended on Friday and while I was no where near winning any of the prizes and compared to almost everyone else in the group, I sucked, I still feel accomplished. I lost 7 pounds during the competition and I managed to not eat things on the no-no list for the last 3 weeks. Of course if I hadn't slipped up and gained for 2 weeks in a row I could have been at a 10 pound loss. But a new one starts on Friday and this time I want to rock it.

I was down 1.2 on Friday so that was good. Except since then I've been stupidly bingeing on stupid stuff. On Friday, I had a Slurpee, a bag of chips, a chocolate bar, Wendy's fries and an asiago bacon spicy chicken sandwich for dinner. And I felt disgusting. I was too full and just felt sick. I actually said to myself (out loud) as I ate the chocolate bar, "You are going to eat this and remember this feeling. And NEVER DO IT AGAIN."

The scale has not been kind to me in the last two days either. I know that I ate more than I should have at UFC last night. But I didn't feel too horrible about it as everything was homemade and delicious. I just ate one too many pieces of pizza. I did manage to only have a smallish scoop of my spinach dip. But I drank all of my water yesterday so I'm not sure I believe my stupid scale this morning that said I gained 5 pounds. How is that even possible?? I must stop having off days where I have one slip up and let the entire day turn into a binge day instead of just one meal or moment. I know that on Friday I ate because I could, not because I was hungry.

I feel like I'm getting closer to having more control but it's not quite there yet. I have faith I will though. And now, I'm off to find a good diabetic-friendly dessert to take to my dad's today!

This Week's Resuts.....

2011-08-21T10:17:00.001-07:00

Down 2.2 on weigh in on Friday! It felt so gooooooood. There was also another inch gone from my hips too. That makes total inches lost since last December 28.

So I'm sticking to the plan of obscene amounts of water and clean eating. I may even start adding in walking too. Can't argue with results! Not much else to say today.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! 14 sleeps until our road trip!!!

Progress Picture!

2011-08-16T22:41:00.000-07:00

Feelin' Good!

2011-08-16T18:27:00.000-07:00

I know it's only Tuesday but it feels like Thursday or Friday. Which sucks because I work a 6 day work week this particular week.

But water is still being consumed in mass amounts and I've only been eating fresh, clean food. I resisted McDonald's last night. Although truth be told it wasn't that hard to do. Yes, the fries smelled amazing as everyone knows. But it actually didn't bother me. Yes, my mouth instantly watered but I didn't feel deprived or sad that I wasn't eating them.

Instead, when we got home I made myself a hobo pack (I'm a tad obsessed with them right now), steamed up a big pot of Swiss chard, and just pan fried a couple of chicken breasts. I ate almost all of the chard and I didn't feel the least bit guilty about melting some margarine on it. Better than McDick's! I sprinkled garlic powder on the chicken breasts then sprinkled a bit of shredded cheese on top. In the hobo pack was potatoes, carrots and onion again. This time though I had a pat of garlic butter. So tasty! Dessert was fresh raspberries from a good friend's garden and whipping cream (not whipped, just poured on).

Tonight was steak, which I refrained from eating the whole thing even though it was cooked perfectly and a hobo pack again but this time I put in some frozen broccoli and I forgot the onions.

Oh! And for lunch today I tried an Amy's Organic frozen meal. I had the broccoli pot pie. Very tasty! Apparently the microwave at work was a bit too powerful and some of the cheese sauce cooked too much and left the crust crispy but I love crispy cheese so it was all good. I will definitely give another Amy's meal a try. I'm curious to try the veggie burgers. But I'll have to go to the health food stores in town to see if they have more of a variety then our usual big box grocery store. They didn't have too many options.

A NSV today was one of the ladies I work with came over to me and asked if I had lost more weight because she had noticed when I was at the photocopier how much looser my work shorts are on me. I told her thank you and that I was still working on it. :)

Water Is My New Best Friend

2011-08-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I am in love with water. The past 4 days I've consumed a ridiculous amount of water each day. I've been averaging 116 oz. a day (that's just over 3 liters for my Canadian friends) although a couple of days I've made it to 136 oz. (4 L!). I've been peeing like a pregnant woman but it's all good! On Friday's weigh in I was down almost 2 lbs.

I've also started eating a bit more intuitively, I guess is the word for it. What that means for me is that I'm eating in a much more conscious way. I'm eating smaller meals, but only when I'm actually hungry. I've found that with the ridiculous amounts of water I've been consuming I'm less hungry.

I've also decided to try to eat as much whole, real food as I can. That means nothing that's prepackaged or from a drive-thru. Even the "healthy" options. I'm not going organic or anything but I want to stick to foods that have few ingredients and/or ingredients I can pronounce/know what it is. And I'll try to eat as much as I can that I've made myself so that I know exactly what is in it.

Right now, that's what I'm focusing on. I'm not going to worry too much about exercise for now but that will be added eventually. One thing at a time. :)

Letter To Myself

2011-07-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Future Kara,

You did it. You are living in the body you always wanted and always saw yourself as having. It’s probably kind of weird to actually to see the reflection in the mirror that you tricked yourself into thinking you already had but it is so worth it. No more will you see your reflection or a picture taken and think, “Am I really that fat?” or “Why didn’t anyone tell me I was that big?”

But.

You must never EVER forget the horrible feelings you felt when you were THAT big. You know, that feeling of the rubbing together of your thighs when wearing a skirt or dress that left big red marks and raw spots. Or the rubbing together of your pants until the material wore completely through. Remember all of the pairs of pants that had to be thrown out way too early and money wasted on the new pairs that needed to be bought that were usually a size bigger? But the money you had to spend to buy new, smaller sizes was totally worth it. And it will keep being worth it.

Don’t ever forget the feeling of being the D.U.F.F. (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) that you felt anytime you went out with your friends. They didn’t care but it didn’t matter what they said.

I bet you’re quite the athlete now. The athlete you always wanted to be. I bet you play hockey and baseball now. Just like you always thought you could but actually couldn’t.

I know that you have worked amazingly hard and long to get to where you are now. I know that you wanted it to be instant but it just didn’t work out that way. But you were determined and knew it would work if you worked hard.

I know you went through times when it was hard and you didn’t want to keep trying. And there were times when you lost motivation and willpower. And there were also times when you didn’t stop yourself from making poor food choices, even though you felt incredible guilt after indulging. And you didn’t listen to your body when it said, “Enough! I’m full!”

But I know that you made it to a place where you were able to control and listen. You are in a place where you are able to have treats but not overdo it until you feel stuffed.

I know that all of the blood, sweat and tears you have put in have finally paid off.

Love,

Kara, circa 2011

Weekend Recap

2011-07-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

The title of this post is kinda misleading since I didn't really do too much this weekend but I cannot think of another title so that's it.

I suppose we did do something. On Saturday the boyfriend was nice enough to get up earlier than he should have to go with me to drop my prescription off at the vision centre at Wal-Mart so I can buy my contacts again. And then we headed out to my hometown to see my cousin's baby girl. FINALLY. They've been home since June and I hadn't yet had the chance to hold her and play with her. I've been watching her grow up on the blog her mom keeps updated (a picture or more every day since she was born!) but this was my first chance to spend time with her. And it was totally worth it. She is absolutely adorable. She's 11 months old now so she's at a super fun age. She's very expressive and starting to make lots of new noises. She also loves to point at things and have them explained to her. Seriously, this kid is amazing.

After a brief visit, we went to my dad's house for dinner. It was very yummy. Roast beef, cooked perfectly, new potatoes and swiss chard from their garden. And apple pie for dessert! I may have also indulged in a mini triple chocoholic Blizzard from Dairy Queen on the drive home.

I don't think I ever posted about my dad's wedding. It was on July 1st at their house. It was a small ceremony with around 20 people there. And then dinner afterwards. We had to head home early though as the boyfriend had to work that night and I worked the next day. But we were there for the ceremony and that's what was important to my dad. My dad is so funny because he keeps asking me if I'm okay with the fact that he got married. Honestly, he's found someone who puts up with him and all his quirks (there are many) so good on him! It's a bonus that I get along amazingly with her. Don't get me wrong, I love my dad but he is a different guy. I have no idea what she sees in him but she does so it is what it is. I knew that he would not be able to be alone forever (nor did I want him to be) so it's all good.

The only thing I like to tease him about is that they got married before the boyfriend and I. LOL

In regards to weight loss, I've had some more success but not a huge amount. I'm just about at 15 pounds lost. And actually at dinner last night, my new step-grandma mentioned to me that she had noticed that I had lost weight. Yay! That's always a nice thing to hear especially after the efforts I've been putting in. I'm up to working out at least 2, trying to be 3 days a week. My new goal is to definitely work out 3 days a week and add another day in so I'm at 4 days.

I'm contemplating joining the gym again. There is a special on right now $99 for 99 days. That works out to a pretty good deal as 3 months is usually $160! Sooooooo, I'll have to see how finances as this next paycheque.

So looks like I did have some updating to do! I'm going to make an effort to blog at least twice a week (if not more). :)

Titles Are Hard To Think Of....

2011-07-04T16:40:00.000-07:00

I have this urge to update even though I don't have a lot to update about. But I did notice I lost a follower and I assume that's due in part to non-updates so in an effort to keep the ones I have I will try to update every couple of days.

The contest is going well so far. I'm by no means at the top of the leaderboard but it's only been a week. I did lose almost 2 lbs. the first week and I'm happy with that. I was last for exercise days but 3 is a record for me so I'm also happy with that. Some of the combatants exercised 6-7 days a week but I'm fairly positive that would in fact be the end of me so I will work my way up the exercise latter until I'm at 5 days a week. In my opinion, the body needs to have time to repair.

I was cruising around Pinterest the other day on my phone (which is my new addiction, there is some super cool stuff on there! I joined so if you go check it out and like it you can follow my pins!) and there was a girl who posted a before and after picture of herself (I assume it was her but I'm not sure actually) of when she did the 30 day Shred. Wow. The transformation was incredible. I'll try to find it and put a link to it. It was definitely inspirational and great to see it had worked! I don't know that I'll be able to ever do 30 days straight but I will do it for 30 days total. That's the idea anyway.

I've also found a meal plan that looks interesting and promises big results so I hope to start that this week. It's fairly uncomplicated but pretty strict. It's for 11 days. I'm hesitant to say too much about it until I give it a try. I will update though as things go!

Poof!

2011-06-24T23:12:00.000-07:00

Okay so I may have disappeared for a while. Not intentionally though! I've still be reading blogs (when I remember) but have some how forgot that I also write on a blog too. Oops!

I continue to be frustrated with my ridiculous body. I had a great couple weeks with losses (even 2 lbs!) but the very next Sunday I was up 7 lbs. That's right SEVEN POUNDS. How that is even possible I have no clue, but it happened. I only wish I had an excuse like I was completely off the old wagon and went on a fast food bender. But nope. The only thing I had differently that week was Pizza Hut. And I only had 1 piece of pizza and 2 chicken wings. That was it. Now, my body typically reacts stupidly to sodium. As in it makes me retain water like a mofo. I know this. I didn't think that little would do it so severely though! At least that's what I'm attributing the weight gain to.

I've joined a Biggest Loser-type competition again that includes prizes for the most exercise so I'm hoping this gets my butt in gear. I'm really hoping exercise will be the key to this weight loss. Because I'm getting tired of the yo-yo-ing. Up then down, down quite a bit, up quite a bit. It's quite exhausting and defeating. If after putting in a solid effort of exercise and good for me food nothing happens, I will be making a doctor's appointment to see if it's something medical. Because my nerves can't take much more. Here's to hoping!

ABC's of Food!

2011-06-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

I've seen this on a few different blogs lately so thought I'd join in!

A: is for Apple, what’s your favorite variety?

Granny Smith (dipped in peanut butter!)

B: is for Bread, regardless of nutrition, calories, or whole grains what is your favorite type to have a nice big piece of?

Sourdough

C: is for Cereal what is your favorite kind currently (just one!)

Fiber One Honey Clusters

D: is for Doughnuts, you might not currently be eating them but what kind do you fancy?

Canadian Maple from Tim Horton's.

E: is for Eggs, how would you like yours prepared?

Basted with toast to dip in the yolk.

F: is for Fat Free, what is your favorite fat free product?

I actually tend to avoid fat free stuff because I find it tastes funny so I go for low fat stuff or small amounts of full fat stuff.

G: is for Groceries, where do you purchase yours at?

Save-On, usually. Wal-Mart and Superstore sometimes. But I'd like to go to our local farmer's market more and DeMille's, which is like a farmer's market but a store.

H: is for Hot Beverages, what is your favorite hot drink?

Orange Peako tea with milk and sugar. Or Ribena and hot water. Mmmmmm!

I: is for Ice Cream, pick a favorite flavor and add a fun topping.

Birthday cake from Marble Slab Creamery with sprinkles!

J: is for Jams or Jellies, do you eat them, and if so what kind and flavor?

Not picky here, pretty much any kind but love blueberry and currant!

K: is for Kashi, name your favorite Kashi product?

Pumpkin pie granola bars.

L: is for Lunch, what was yours today?

Egg salad sammich on whole wheat with some leftover asparagus from the other night.

M: is for microwave, what is your favorite microwave meal/snack?

Green Giant steamed veggie packs like broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce.

N: is for nutrients, do you like carbs, fats, or proteins best?

Probably carbs.

O: is for oil, what kind do you like to use?

Extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil.

P: is for protein, how do you get yours?

Chicken, beef, pork , cheese.

Q: is for Quaker, how do you like your oats?

Cooked with a mashed banana and a tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter.

R: is for roasting, what is your favorite thing to roast?

Chicken.

S: is for sandwich, what’s your favorite kind?

Lately it's been deli turkey with tomato and mozzarella cheese. But I'm also a big fan of paninis!

T: is for travel, how do you handle eating while traveling?

Oh not well, usually. Far too many indulgences typically.

U: is for unique, what is one of your weirdest food combos?

Peanut butter and Cheez Whiz sandwiches and tomatoes on French toast instead of syrup!

V: is for vitamins, what kind do you take?

I just ran out of my One-A-Day Women's Formula but when I buy more I'm going to get the prenatal ones so I'm good to go when the time comes. :)

W: is for wasabi, yay or nay?

Nay. Very strongly, nay!

X: is for XRAY. if we xrayed your belly right now, what food would we see?

The aforementioned lunch.

Y: is for youth, what food reminds you of your childhood?

Hot chocolate made with milk on the stove and Nestle Quik powder then brown toast dipped in it. My grandma used to make that for us.

Z: is for zucchini, how do you prepare it?

Coated in eggs, Italian bread crumbs and parmesan cheese then baked. Yummy!

Eat More To Weigh Less?

2011-06-05T08:43:00.001-07:00

Apparently that was what works for me! This morning I woke up and instead of going back to sleep to sleep in on my day off, I was excited to get on the scale so couldn't. I got up, went piddle, then hopped on the scale. Down. 0.4. WTF. Seriously, body?! SERIOUSLY! So I crawled back into bed and waited for the boyfriend to join me in a cuddle before he went to sleep for the day and I headed out to my hometown for a funeral. (It's for a neighbour who was 101!)

So I decided that I'd give the old scale another try. It had been at least a half an hour things could have changed, right? Only this time, I had a movement first. If you know what I mean.....well! The scale was MUCH nicer to me now! Down 2.2. I finally made it out of the 50's and into the 40's!!! HOLY CRAP! (Heh, heh, literally apparently!) It feels SO GOOD!

Oh! And the new jeans the boyfriend bought for me less than a month ago? The ones that when I tried them on they were kind of tight but I got them anyway? Yeah, I can take them off without having to undo the button. Thank goodness they were cheap Wal-Mart ones and easily replaced!

What a freakin' great start to my week off of work! And it's absolutely gorgeous out today. :)

Have an amazing Sunday!

Frustrated.

2011-05-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

I AM SO FRUSTRATED AND ANNOYED WITH MY BODY!!!!!

All it's done over the past couple of months is lose a couple pounds then gain them back. I cannot get past 251.8. That has been my lowest weight since the beginning of April. And it's driving me MAD!!!

I just don't understand what's going on with my body. Does it hate me? I'm trying so hard to be good to it and feed it healthy food and get it moving and all it does is give me the finger and say: "Nope, not budging!"

So I'm open to suggestions. What can I (or what should I) change and do differently? Anything ideas will do because I'm starting to get very desperate!!

Work NSV!

2011-05-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

Yay, it's the long weekend!!! And I actually have the whole thing off! AND we have plans! That doesn't happen too often these days. Life is usually so busy come weekends we just want to veg out. :)

Anyhoo! Today at work our manager calls (when she could finally get through as our phones were down all yesterday afternoon and this morning) to say that on long weekends she usually buys the office a treat. Like ice cream sandwiches or Wendy's Frosties. There were some leftover ice cream sandwiches in the freezer in the lunchroom but only 6 of them and there were more than that in today. She also told me that one of the girls she had spoken to earlier had said she didn't want any ice cream as she is "dieting". (I really hate that word). So I went to chat with the girl and she suggested why didn't we get a fruit platter or something. Except that meant someone would have to go get it from the grocery store. It just so happened that I had to go pick up the boyfriend's computer from the doctor so I offered to go. I grabbed some money from the office petty cash and off I went!

I came back with a pre-made tray that had fresh pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, grapes and apples. I also got a container of strawberries and vanilla yogurt fruit dip. It was such a huge it with everyone! There was barely anything left by the end of the day! I felt so good about making that decision for everyone. And everyone just kept saying how it was such a good idea. It was a very nice NSV and a good way to end the week. :)

In other news, this week I've done the Jillian Michaels DVD 3 times this week (soon to be 4 when I'm done writing this) and was quite sore after the first 2 days. But yesterday, after taking Wednesday off, I found that I could do more pushups (girly ones but whatever) and could do the jumping jacks for longer. Huh! Who knew? :D

New Incentives!

2011-05-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

The other night the boyfriend says to me that he's been thinking (on his night shifts, he's got a lot of time to think!) about what he could offer me as rewards and incentives to help motivate me to lose weight. He came up with a great one! He offered that when I get to my goal weight, we will get married. I got all excited/nervous when he said that! I'm thinking that we might need to set a date though to give me a goal date. We need to discuss the details for sure but I'm so happy he suggested this. I'm not sure if it was a proposal per say but I'll take it!

*There, I blogged about it, honey!* ;-)

PS Anyone know what the Blogger app's issue is? I cannot post from my phone anymore and it makes me sad!

Almost 11 Years

2011-05-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

It has been almost 11 years since I have seen this beautiful, smiling face.

It still seems like she's only been gone a month, maybe 2. But it's been 11 YEARS. It's very hard to wrap my mind around that. But if I think about all the things that have happened in my life since then, it puts it in a little more perspective.

- I've been through moving to a few different cities and every time ended up moving back home

- I've had a first boyfriend followed closely by my first truly broken heart

- I've struggled to live on my own and survived it

- I've been to school, twice, to earn certificates that I'm not even using now

- I've broken someone else's heart (and haven't regretted it)

- I've met a man I love and am starting to make a wonderful life with

- I've lost a bunch of weight then put it back on and then some

- I've seen friends succeed and friends have babies

- I've bought my first car

Sitting here, thinking of this list makes me sad on one hand but feel so darn grown up on another. I'm sad to think that my mom has missed all of these things in my life. Some of them were small but some were very significant. But on the other hand it's amazing to realize that all of these things have happened in my life in what seems like such a short amount of time.

It still scares me and saddens me that I can't say I think of my mom every day. In the first at least 5 years I did but as I get farther away from it, the less she pops into my mind. I can still remember the sound of her voice and her laugh. I can still think of the things she might say to me when I need advice. But there are several days that go by when I won't have something remind me of her or even think of her at all. I don't like that.

I do see a lot of her in me though. Sometimes the way I laugh or when the boyfriend and I get into a "discussion" (code: argument) I can hear my mom's voice in my own. I'm very thankful for that. I'm very glad that she is living on through me. I wonder if my sister has the same experiences as I do.

The boyfriend asked me last night if a day like today bothers me at all. I told him no because it was never a big huge celebration in our family. Yes, we would get her a card and maybe have a dinner together but the only difference between that and any other Sunday was the card. I will say that the first couple of years of Mother's Days were hard. Maybe it was because I was a bit older and wiser that I would have liked the chance to spoil her and appreciate her like she deserved to be. At this point though, I'm okay with today. I miss her and love her but I will be okay.

Update!

2011-05-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

So, after my somewhat depressing-ish last post things are feeling better. I got up the gumption to talk to the boyfriend about things and he knows where I'm at. He understands and like most men, wants to feel more financially stable before we have a baby. I totally get that and want that too so I went out and bought the book "Debt Free Forever" by Gail Vaz-Oxlade, aka the lady who hosts the show, "Til Debt Due Us Part". She's a smart lady and lays things out in a way that's easy to understand and are really just common sense.

My mission this weekend is to follow the instructions in the book to figure out where all my money is going every month. And then it will be to create a budget. If you've seen the show, you know she uses Magic Jars. You go on a strict cash only budget and you only get to use the money you have alloted each week for things like groceries and personal care, entertainment, etc. As soon as the money runs out, that's all you get and you have to make due until the next week when you put more money in. Sounds simple enough. I'm hoping it helps. Trial and error, right?

As far as weight loss goes, I've been relatively off track the past couple of weeks. That resulted in a 2 lb. gain then a 1 lb. loss this past Sunday. So this week I've walked to work every day this week so far and have avoided sugar as much as possible and have been trying to get in more fruit and vegetables. Those have been missing the past couple of weeks. And sugar was back with a vengeance. Stupid half priced Easter chocolate! But no more! Nothing tastes as good as becoming thin feels. :)

Lost?

2011-04-22T17:57:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt like you don't know how you got to a certain point in your life? Or felt like what you were doing in your life didn't mean anything? That you were just living from one small, insignificant moment to the next, never feeling like your life had any purpose? You live paycheque to paycheque and never get ahead. There's always just enough money to pay for all your bills and food and never enough for there to ever be any extra. You know, to do those things you always think about doing like taking a weekend to go somewhere and relax and have fun.

You realize that the job you're working is just a job. It's nothing exciting or remotely fulfilling. It's just there to pay what you owe. But there's no challenge in it, there's just the monotony of the same thing every day. It's the kind of job you had hoped for after working hard at other jobs that were maybe more fun but had no "future" in them. So you switch. You make the move to something different, something seemingly more stable. After a while though you notice that stable = boring. And there are certain elements at that job that drive you crazy. Yes, I know that there really aren't that many people in this work that are fortunate enough (or smart enough, I guess) to be working at their perfectly ideal job.

And I thought that I had reached a point in my life where I had worked enough other jobs that I was ready to settle into one of those it's-just-a-job-not-my-life kind of jobs. Because I am ready to move on to a different stage in my life. I am ready to be married and be a mother. I've always seen becoming a mother as what I want to be in this world. And that's why whatever job I had didn't matter because it was only a means to an end. It was only going to be the thing I needed to have to be able to help support my family. I didn't have to love what I was doing at work because it wasn't my passion. My children and having a family will be.

Except for a few small glitches in the system. I am not physically ready for motherhood. I know that at the weight I am currently at, I will either have a hard time conceiving and/or not have the healthiest pregnancy.

The other glitch? I don't know nor have I had a conversation with the boyfriend to know where he stands in all this. We have definitely had a few passing conversations about getting married and potential baby names but no real discussions about it. We are coming up on 2 years together in May. I can hardly believe we've been together this long on one hand but on the other it feels like we've been together for 10 years or more. I don't want to push him yet I don't want to hold off on talking about our future because time goes by much too quickly for that.

All of this leaves me feeling like I'm a bit lost right now. Every day is a struggle with losing weight. I fight each and every day against a part of my brain that just wants to say: "Eff this! Just eat whatever you want!" or "It's just one, if you track it everything will be fine." and then there's the other part that tells me that I can do this, that I'm worth the effort. I fight against a body that would rather just sit on the couch instead of exercise. And when I finally decide to get moving, I procrastinate until "suddenly" it's time for bed.

And I've began to question and wonder if I made the right decision in leaving the childcare world for my current career path. When I started this job I was so excited about having a quiet desk job that was salaried. Until I found out that I was making more money at my hourly job. And while it's not supposed to be about the money, it is. It's what makes the world work. Besides I think only people who have a lot of it say that. And I'm not asking to make millions of dollars, I'm not a greedy or status-seeking kind of person. I don't need a lot of money to buy things. I just want to make enough to not be stressed every month, to not have to live in my overdraft.

I'm feeling a lot like I'm a some sort of crossroads in my life. And it's weird. I'm not really sure what to make of things. I don't know where to go from here. I really, REALLY miss my mom. She would know the exact right thing to say to me right now. And even if she didn't, I would feel so much better just telling her.

Day Late Update

2011-04-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

Weigh-in results: Stayed the same. No inches lost. So nothing to report really hence the no update yesterday. I'm strangely okay with it at this moment in time.

I spent all of yesterday laying on the couch with a very random and painful stomachache. It woke me on Sunday morning. My first instinct was to sit on the toilet and work it out (so to speak) that way but that didn't help at all. I didn't want to disturb the boyfriend by tossing and turning in bed all day (he works night shifts) so I made my way downstairs to the couch. And there I laid all day, drinking ginger ale, not eating, watching movies and crappy weekend television. I finally was able to eat the chicken noodle soup I asked the boyfriend to make me once he got up. My stomach tolerated it but then it got to a point where it I couldn't be sure if my stomach hurt from being hungry or from whatever it was bothering it. It was pretty frustrating.

Today it feels better but not 100%. I managed to eat more than yesterday but still not what I usually eat in a day. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. Typically if I don't get enough calories in my body goes right into starvation mode and holds on for dear life. Hopefully this stomach thing leaves as quickly as it came.

I think I need to start posting more times during the week. And I want to find more interesting topics to talk about. I'm open to suggestions!

Weekly Results!

2011-04-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

Down again this week, yay!!! Down 0.6 but I'm quite happy with that. :) Considering this past week we didn't really have many "healthy" groceries in the house. And on Thursday I had a KFC chicken bowl for dinner. And a few random pieces of KFC chicken the next couple of days. The good thing though? I'm definitely done with KFC for a very, very long time. Most likely forever!

As for the difference in measurements from December, I'm down 16 inches since December 7th. That amazes me! It's exciting! I didn't lose any inches this week but that's okay.

We go grocery shopping this afternoon and I plan to buy A LOT of vegetables and fruit and some lean protein. And healthy snacks. I really must snack throughout the day otherwise by the time I get home at night I am absolutely starving.

Exercise still alludes me. I really can't wrap my brain around why it's such a hard habit for me to develop. I did enjoy the free week at the gym. I went 3 times that week and I felt good about it. But then reality set in and I'm not still not sure I can afford it. The boyfriend and I got new phones (which I'm totally in love with my iPhone 4!) and that comes with really big first bills and putting a lot of money up front. I'll have to check my budget again next month to see what I can afford. They do often have monthly specials. Right now it's buy 3 months get 1 month free.

I'm hoping to go for a walk sometime today but the weather is pretty crappy out. Hopefully the fog burns off and the sun comes out! Here's to another good week! :)

Day Late Weigh-In!

2011-03-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday was official weigh-in day and I did weigh-in at my dad's house as I had stayed over there on Saturday night. According to his scale, I gained back the 0.4 I lost the week before. But I decided to keep things consistent that I should weigh myself this morning on my own scale. And lo and behold, I had lost! I am officially at 8 lbs. lost. Yay! I did do measurements too and I am down a half an inch on my boobs and my waist. I've been steadily losing inches/half inches on my waist. I should go back to the when I first started tracking measurements back in December and see how much I've lost since then.

Anyway, that's about all that's new around here! Another week starting! :)

Weekly Weigh In!

2011-03-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

Okay so it's not too terribly exciting but I'm happy with my results this week. I'm down 0.4. It's not huge but it's still a loss so I will gladly take it. I hit the gym 3 times this week so I'm proud of that and with the exception of yesterday I stuck to the new meal plan. Yesterday was tricky for me. When I'm at home it's harder to stick to. I didn't do terribly bad but we did have friends over for the UFC fight and there were lots of goodies. I tried to stick to mostly vegetables but it's hard to count points when it's stuff that other people bring so you never know exactly what's in them. I drank lots of water through the day to hopefully counteract things but I'm not sure how much good it did.

Anyway! Today we're going bowling with the boyfriend's family and then for a barbeque at his sister's house. But she's doing WW too so I'm not too worried!

Oh and I totally didn't do a half a 5 K like I said in my last post. Turns out, 2.5 laps isn't even one kilometer. Oops! So on Friday I did 5 laps and that was just over 1 K. I've got a ways to go until I make the 5 but I'm willing to work my way up to it!

I Did Half A 5K!

2011-03-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

That's right, ladies and (perhaps) gentlemen!! This week I signed up for a free week at the gym I've been talking about. I went Monday and did 25 minutes on the eliptical, yesterday I didn't go as it was payday and we were badly needing groceries so today I went right after work. I did 20 minutes on the eliptical then decided to try out the treadmill.

Well! They have very fancy treadmills with personal fans on them that blow right in your face and are heavenly! At first I didn't want to look like a dumbass, staring at the display trying to figure it out so I just put it on manual. I cranked up the incline to 7.5 and got to it. As I was walking I decided to read the display. As it turns out these treadmills have a bunch of different programs. Including........a 5K loop option! Woo hoo!

So I stopped it and started over! I managed to make it 2.5 laps which is a half a 5K or I guess 2.5K! I am so stoked about the gym now! I was pretty much decided I would join but this has definitely sealed the deal.

Today I also started a meal plan that was formulated for me on the Lean Cuisine website. It's free and it gives you a 4 week plan. It has breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner. It's based on 1500 calories a day. The only thing is the WW Smart Ones were cheaper so I bought one Lean Cuisine and the rest Smart Ones. I figure they are pretty much the same thing. I'm not sure I've ever eaten that low but I'm willing to give it a try! I didn't feel hungry at all today so that's good. I'm still tracking on WW and right now I've got 7 points left in the day. I really wanted to stick within the calories for the day on the plan but I don't want to short myself on WW points. It's a bit of a dilemma!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

2011-03-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

And that means weigh-in day!!!

The verdict? Down 1 lb.! That's according to the scale I've been using since being on Weight Watchers. I did buy a new scale that said I was exactly the same as last week. So, guess which one I'm going to go with?

I'm also down 2 inches overall!

I'm totally distracted by the movie on right now so I will post again later!

Day Late Weigh-In Report!

2011-03-07T10:40:00.001-08:00

Totally forgot to post for my weekly weigh-in yesterday! Oops! Oh well, luckily I have today off too. :D

And the results are I was down 1.4 lbs. and lost an inch on my waist and a half an inch on my hips! Yay! I'm officially past 5 lbs. lost on to 6.4 GONE! I'm now starting week 8 of being on Weight Watchers. I'm really enjoying the program and just like the advertisements say, it is easy to live with.

I've been finding that with the absence of greasy food, if I do have a little, my body seems to completely reject it. As in when grocery shopping last week, we picked up these McCains Potato Patties (essentially your typical deep fried McDonalds or A&W hashbrown). When I say "we" I mean the boyfriend threw them in. LOL Anyway, last week I had a few. Two for breakfast for dinner one night and I think one another night. I was a good girl and calculated the points. 4 points each. Well on Saturday at work? My stomach (or gallbladder, the jury is still out on that one) decided that it was done with the grease and I ended up on the toilet with the trots like 3 times. Yeah, it sucked. But! Lesson learned: Avoid greasy food.

Yesterday I went skating for the first time in about 3 years. It was fun! But wholly man, am I sore today! I went with a friend of mine who used to play hockey and hadn't skated in around a year. The surprising thing about it was my lower back got quite sore while skating. My feet of course were killing me as well. But the back thing surprised me. It does make sense though because your core is keeping you balanced. The skates a good friend of mine lent me were a bit too big for me though. As hockey season is coming to an end right now, I should be able to find a pair for a decent price. I also found a women's skills and conditioning hockey camp happening not far away in July. I've asked my sister if she would like to go with me and she sounded interested so now I just have to gather up the rest of the equipment I need!

I can't remember if I mentioned my new breakfast find but I'm in love with pumpkin pie oatmeal! So tasty! Oh and I got my nails done last week as a prize from work and I LOVE them! I feel so pretty and feminine! Hope everyone has a great week!

Sunday Morning Weigh-In

2011-02-27T10:31:00.000-08:00

Whew! That's me letting out a big old sigh of relief. This morning's weigh-in was very good. I am down 2.8 lbs. from last weeks weigh-in. I'm officially at 255 lbs. I haven't been here in I have no idea how long. I'm still not convinced that I actually weighed in at 2 lbs. heavier last week. Something was going one, whether it was retaining water (TOM came this week) or too much salt on Saturday night. Regardless, it's gone now and I'm very happy with that.

With this weigh-in though I'm now undecided on if I need a new scale or not. Funny how when I see a number I like, I change my mind on keeping it! The boyfriend has had some pretty big differences when he hops on too though. Like differences of 5 lbs. within 2 days! So when we head to Wal-Mart tomorrow I will check out prices. I really don't want to spend more than $30 or $40 on one. But then again, I don't want a cheap one with a name I don't know.

I plan this week to plan out at least 3 meals and buy the groceries for them tomorrow. I'm also going to try and get more activity this week. I'd like to do the 30 Day Shred at least 3 times in the week and do either yoga or go for a walk on the other days. I want to see the difference it makes doing no exercise one week and exercise the next. I've gotten the eating and points down pat by this point, 6 weeks in so now it's time to officially add in exercise.

ABC's Of Me!

2011-02-26T09:56:00.000-08:00

A. Age: 30

B. Bed size: Queen

C. Chore you hate: Cleaning the bathroom. But that's mostly because we usually wait too long in between and it gets pretty gross.

D. Dogs: None right now but I really want a mini dachshund! Or a chocolate lab. Our place right now is much more suited for the dachshund though.

E. Essential start to your day: Breakfast. Must have!

F. Favorite color: Orange! Any shade, I love it!

G. Gold or silver: White gold, which I know essentially just looks like silver so really I like either.

H. Height: 5’8" and a half.

I. Instruments you play: Piano and alto saxophone. I really want to learn drums though. Oh and I can strum a few note on the guitar.

J. Job title: Insurance broker.

K. Kids: Someday hopefully not too far into the future.

L. Live: Salmon Arm, BC, Canada

M. Mom’s name: Christina.

N. Nicknames: Bedara which I used to absolutely HATE. I don't mind it so much now. Also went as Kola and Cupcake in elementary school.

O. Overnight hospital stays: 1 when I was 9 and I had my adenoids and tonsils taken out. It was in Kelowna and I made my mom stay overnight with me. Oh and on the way home we were listening to the radio from Vernon and they totally called our house for a contest but my dad was home sleeping after a nightshift. It was funny!

P. Pet peeve: People who don't take personal responsibility for important things in their lives, like their car insurance. It's really not a hard concept to understand but most people no clue about it and make no effort to learn. I also can't stand bad drivers, which is most people out there so it makes going anywhere very tricky!

Q. Quote from a movie: "You're everything I never knew I always wanted." - Matthew Perry from Fools Rush In

R. Righty or Lefty: Righty for writing and most sports except hockey.

S. Siblings: 1 sister, 2 years older.

T. Time you wake up: Usually just before 7:30 AM on the weekdays, 9:00 on my days off.

U. Underwear: Jockey.

V. Vegetables you dislike: Brussel sprouts, green peppers, fennel and that's about it. I pretty much like any vegetable.

W. What makes you run late: I try really hard not to be but sometimes I just misjudge how long getting ready will take me and I'm slightly late.

X. X-rays you’ve had: Chest x-ray and I think wrist.

Y. Yummy food you make: I'd like to think everything I make is yummy, but my specialties are cookies and pretty much any baking. :)

Z. Zoo animal favorite: Tigers because they look like big cuddly kitties! That could rip your head off, but whatever. :)

I borrowed this from Laura at Never Not Beautiful. :)

Letting It All Hang Out

2011-02-24T22:11:00.001-08:00

This morning at our work weigh in I was down 3 lbs. from last week! Shocking but felt awesome! It also solidified my want decision to buy a new scale. So off to Wal-Mart on Monday I go!

Anyway the point of this post was to post a couple of pictures I took of me in jeans that don't fit but I am trying to fit again. I was inspired by JewliaGoulia's brave posting and linking to her own self-portraits of her body after losing a significant amount of weight. If she can be brave enough, so can I.

*Edit* Apologies for the filthy mirror! Yikes! Anyway I wanted to mention that those jeans are a size 34 from Ricki's. :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Week 5: Annoyed But Hopeful!

2011-02-20T10:53:00.001-08:00

At weigh-in this morning, I was up exactly 2 lbs. I am down another inch around my waist. That was nice to see. I've been thinking back to this week to try and figure out what was different. Here's what I came up with:

- I didn't get in as much water as the week before.
- I didn't get my healthy oils in like the week before.
- I don't feel like I ate very many vegetables all week.
- I had too many coffees with sugar and cream through the week.
- I did the 30 Day Shred once. I'm not blaming exercise but typically in the past on weeks I exercised, I gained a bit.

So those are the things I need to change for this week. And I need to consistently do them from now on. I've seen changes when I make sure to include them all so I need to be more diligent.

Now for some pictures! For breakfast this morning I made a green monster smoothie that looked like this:

It had a cup of spinach, half a frozen banana, half a fresh banana, unsweetened chocolate almond milk, olive oil and a squirt of less-sugar Nestle Quik chocolate syrup. Yummy!

Then I had cut up a pile of veggies (red pepper, green onion and mushrooms) so into the frying pan they went!

The plan was to have an egg white omlette with cheese and a whole egg. It started out right:

But ended up like this when I tried to flip it:

Oh well! It was still very tasty! And now I'm quite full. :)

Plans for today include lounging around for a while then either go for a brisk walk in the sunshine and cold or stay where it's warm and get my ass kicked by a DVD again.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Mid-Week Update

2011-02-16T22:09:00.001-08:00

I learned a good lesson yesterday. I invited the boyfriend to meet me for lunch as we live close to downtown/my office and I wanted to take him out for lunch for Valentine's Day. We met at our usual Chinese food restaurant. There are only 2 options around here and he's been going to this one for as long as he remembers so it works for me. The waitress brought only one menu as she knew he would be having "the usual". Which is chicken chow mein, almond chicken and chicken balls substituted for sweet and sour pork. I looked over the menu and did consider the beef and broccoli.

Oh how I wish I had gone with that....

I ended up going with the same as the boyfriend but keeping the sweet and sour pork. Now to be fair my stomach was already slightly grumbly when we started eating. I ate most of the almond chicken, around 3/4 of the chicken chow mein and all of the sweet and sour pork. We sat there for a few minutes and just as we are getting up to go pay, I suddenly have to go to the bathroom. Like NOW. I hand off the bank card to the boyfriend and rush off to the bathroom. There was horrible cramps, I just about thought I was going to throw up and then of course there was the (dun, dun, duuuuuun!) diarrhea.

And the best part? The walk of shame after as it's a small town, small restaurant and only about 6 people in the whole place at lunch and I had to walk by every single one of them. Yay.

Anyway, the point of this tale is that I will not be eating anything that greasy, deep fried and unhealthy like that hopefully ever. Lesson learned.

Tonight I tried the Jillian Michaels' 30 Day shred for the first time. Pretty sure tomorrow is going to be fairly painful and that that bitch is trying to kill me. But! I actually feel pretty good right now so I will not give up. I will be doing it every second day though. I think I'll add in yoga on the day in between.

I earned 7 activity points! I switched using weekly points for activity points first. Although today I'm finishing with 3 points to left in my day. And that's including the half a brownie I stole from the boyfriend. :)

Happy Sunday and Week 4 Results!

2011-02-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

Last night things were interesting around here! Around 8:00, the boyfriend noticed that he could hear the wind blowing. We muted the hockey game and sure enough, it was absolutely HOWLING outside. We looked out the windows and could see the trees getting whipped around furiously. The townhouse groaned and creaked and made all kinds of weird noises. I was on my laptop, the boyfriend on his computer and we were looking up camping ideas for the summer when he says, "I'm surprised the power hasn't gone out yet." Sure enough, at just after 8:30 the power goes out, comes back on briefly then goes out and stays out. Awesome.

Well, we don't own any flashlights but the boyfriend happens to own a few (okay, 4) replica lightsabers. Turns out, those bad boys make excellent flashlights! It was very eerie to look outside and the whole downtown area where we live was completely dark. And then the wind was still going like crazy. Luckily the wind was blowing warm so it wasn't too cold in here with no furnace. So we sat around in the dark and chatted until the boyfriend had to leave for work at 10:45. He made sure to unplug power bars, etc. so that when the power did come back on the TV would come back on blaring and give me a heart attack. The power did come back on at around 11:30. It actually woke me up so I set my alarm clock and went back to sleep.

Getting to the weigh in, I'm down 0.4 lbs. this week which isn't the best but isn't a gain or a maintain so YAY! And I'm down 1 whole inch on my hips so that's a big plus too! The plan for this week is to eat more vegetables since I don't feel like I ate very many this week and to keep on drinking lots of water. Oh and I saw on the gym's website that they offer a free week trial so I'm going to head up there today and get signed up for that. I've been really craving exercise lately but don't want to do my Biggest Loser Wii game. I want to get on a treadmill or stair climber and really get a good sweat going!

I'm also going to try to do a bit more meal planning this week when we go grocery shopping. I want to go armed with recipes for the week so that I can come home from work and know what's for dinner instead of us deciding after I've been home for an hour and then not eating until after 7:00. I'd like to try to eat by 6:00 this week.

I'm also going to try to post more than once a week too. :)

Week 3: A Loss!

2011-02-06T09:25:00.000-08:00

After having a small gain last week of 0.8 lbs. (which I didn't post about because, well, I just didn't want to), this week gave me a wonderful loss of 2.2 lbs and 3.5 inches! Whew! That felt amazing to see a new number on the old scale.

Now, what did I do differently this week? Well, first of all I added in a mulitvitamin and tried to get in my healthy oils every day. I also increased my water intake. So that's the plan for this week too!

I'm also going to pop into one of the gyms here and have a look around, etc. I really want to join and they have a good deal right now. No initiation fee, $33.00 a month on a 1 year contract. This gym is up the hill from where we live so it's a tad "out of the way". I put it in quotes because this town isn't THAT big so it's really not that far away. It's just in the opposite direction from where I live. But the website looks awesome! They've got lots of classes and a sauna. I'm trying to figure out things financially. I'm paying off my one student loan this month (it was the smaller of the 2, but woo hoo!) and my dad managed to re-negotiate our cell phone bills and I'll be paying $20 less a month on that. So $25 from the loan payment (yes, that was my stupid payment on my little loan) and apparently $23 from the cell phone means an extra $48 a month I get to keep. I say that equals just the right amount for the gym pass!

Except for one thing. Our roommate is moving out at the end of this month so that means I need to pay more rent and more on utilities because it will now just be split between the boyfriend and I.

Oh but then there's the bonus I'll be getting from my work soon. I have no idea what to expect, as in how much I will get. It's based on how long you've been with the company. When we got the teaser bonus in October I only got $200 while everyone else got $500 because at that point I had only been there for 5 months. Now though I've been there for 9 months so I should get a bigger percentage. Last year they got $1800 in February! Even if I get $300 less than everyone else at that amount I'm still getting $1500! To me that is a lot of money! Of course most of it will be going to my car. It desperately needs a tune-up and new tires in the spring. But I was thinking if I had enough left over after that I could just go buy a year pass instead of monthly payments. We shall see what happens. :)

My goals for this week are just to keep doing what I did this last week. Keep tracking, get in all of my daily health checks, and try some new recipes. I also want to add in more fiber. I'm also going to try to post more often.

Also, thanks for the comments lately! Makes me feel all special and warm and fuzzy that people care. :)

21 Continuous Times

2011-01-26T22:36:00.000-08:00

That's the magic number it takes to make something a habit according the some Harvard business magazine. I learned this at a sales seminar at work yesterday. The catch is it has to 21 consecutive times. If you miss even just one, you have to start all over again. I've decided to implement this with exercise. The plan is to exercise every day for 21 days. Whether it's going for a walk in the evening or doing the Biggest Loser game on the Wii. (It was to do the 30 Day Shred, but stupid DVD player I borrowed doesn't work). As long as I get some kind of activity in, I will consider it exercise for the day.

In other news, I officially still have Bell's palsy. It is improving every day but it is still here. But the good news is that it is slowly getting better. In fact this evening, I went to drink out of a bottle of ginger ale and forgot I had to use the straw. It almost worked too! But not quite. I gotta say though, I really like drinking things with a straw. I drink so much more water so much faster when I use a straw. I think I will keep doing that even when things are back to normal.

Week 1 on WW: Done!

2011-01-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

I had my first weigh-in this morning since being on Weight Watchers. Down 2.4, baby! I felt really good all week. I did make a few bad choices the last 2 days but I had plenty of weekly points left and accounted for them. I didn't feel hungry at all this week. It really is an easily live-able plan. On the other hand, sometimes it's surprising how quickly things can add up. And it's ridiculous how NOT worth it somethings are. Like the mini Blizzard I had yesterday. 11 points!! There are many other things I could have enjoyed for that many points.

This week my plan is to FINALLY start using the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD. I borrowed a DVD player from my dad. I'm going to hook it up shortly and dive right in to that DVD. I know that this body needs to get moving if I expect to see that number on the scale keep moving down. Yes, I lost 2 lbs. this week but it's the same 2 lbs. I always lose in a week. And then it's usually back the next week. It's a bit ridiculous. I need to bust through it and I hope exercise is the key to that.

I also plan to do grocery shopping differently. I've saved some money to be able to now go grab more fresh veggies and fruit for this week. Usually I'm broke until next paycheque (which is next Monday) and have to make do with what's in the freezer/cupboard. Not this time! I'm going to plan a few meals this week too and pre-make them and freeze some for for lunches at work.

Happy 200th!

2011-01-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

Wow, hard to believe I've posted 200 times. It's very strange to think about and realize I've been doing this for so long now. Not so sure how it's helped or not but it's all good! I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. :)

I signed up for Weight Watchers online today. Love, love, LOVE the app for my iPhone. Since I'm already such an iCrack addict, it works perfectly with that addiction! Today I stayed on points but did dip into one of my Weekly Points. I get 42 a day. I was reading today on the message boards on the website about how some people have been freaking out about how much higher their points are now that it has switched to PointsPlus. Thankfully, I haven't been on WW for quite a few years so I don't really notice the difference. I do think that I have a lot of points but I'm going to go with it and see how things go.

As for the Bell's palsy, it's still here in full force. The right side of my mouth is now pretty much completely frozen all the time. My eye still closes though which is good. It's usually really dry by the end of the day so that sucks. Work was weird today. Since I speak funny now (if you're a Canadian I look a lot like a former prime minister of ours!), I notice people giving me odd looks when I ask them the usual insurance questions, etc. But no one has pointed it out yet. It still makes me uncomfortable. I have tomorrow off and I believe Monday. I did see the doctor again yesterday and he said it's just a waiting game at this point. It could last a month or 10 days or 2 more days. There's no way of telling. I just keep on the meds and go back in a few weeks to check up on it again.

Eating has been an adventure with this though. Well first of all I can't drink anything properly. I had to buy a bunch of bendy straws (which are fun!) so I can drink anything. I drank my coffee from a straw out of my mug today. That probably looked a bit odd. :) I have to take really small bites of all my meals though. Which now that I say that is probably a good thing. Slows me down so I can enjoy stuff, right?

PS Check out Ms. Jewlia Goulia's recent post. It's a gooder. :)

Something Unexpected

2011-01-12T08:22:00.000-08:00

Something unexpected and random happened to me yesterday. On Monday night I began to have an earache that radiated down my neck a bit. I sort of brushed it off as a possible ear infection starting but decided if it was still there or worse in the morning I would head to the walk-in clinic. Thank heavens I did! Yesterday morning it was fine first thing but as I was at work it started to hurt again. But now it had moved into my jaw and cheek. I didn't have any sore teeth so I knew it wasn't a toothache. Although I was experiencing some weird numbness in my lips and tongue. I noticed it when I took the first sip of my morning coffee. It felt like the right side of my lips were just coming out of the freezing you get at the dentist. Except I haven't been to the dentist in a couple of years! I have a good friend who had something called Bell's palsy quite a few years ago. Basically (if you don't click on the link) one side of your face spontaneously paralyzes. They think it's something to do with the inflammation of the facial nerve, possibly brought on by a dormant virus. But there's not a lot of information on it.

So I go to the walk-in clinic at 11:30. Luckily I don't have to wait too long and went right in. I described my symptoms and he checks both my ears first. He sits down, looking perplexed and says, "Well I think it's something called Bell's palsy but I'm not sure because I've never heard of the ear pain first." He did a few tests with me, like getting me to smile at him, scrunch up my eyes, wrinkle my forehead. He tells me there is a subtle weakness on my right side for sure. So he goes to chat with another doctor and comes back to say that this other doctor has heard of the ear pain. So Bell's palsy it is. He prescribes me some heavy duty steroids and an anti-viral drug.

I went back to work after but ended up going home since I've never taken any of these drugs before and don't know how I'll feel. This morning it's not better but it's not worse. All in all it's a very weird experience. If it were to get worse, I would have to tape my eye shut at night (since I wouldn't be able to close it, right now I can still close it but very slowly and blinking is like in slow motion. My left eye looks like a fluttering butterfly in comparison!) and possibly wear an eye patch during the day. The boyfriend says I need to practice my pirate phrases! Hopefully it won't come to that though.

Weigh In Sunday

2011-01-10T10:52:00.001-08:00

I've been doing weekly weigh-ins and measurements on Sundays but haven't yet posted them on here. I've had a meeting every week with Christine where we compare numbers and chat about goals and life in general. The meetings have been great! And not just because I get to visit with her little monster either but that is definitely a highlight! It's just great to have someone who knows the feelings I have and the struggles I have and to celebrate the little victories. We also get to email each other all day as we work for the same company. So there's lots of comparing food and water through the day. It's a great accountability tool. She has signed up for Weight Watchers Online and shared the new app on her iPhone with me yesterday. I will be signing up soon after this next paycheque and I'm so excited! I love when things are made convenient like having it on my phone.

To get to my weigh in yesterday I was down 2.4 lbs. from last week but back at my starting weight from just before Christmas. So I'm happy to be down but I know that I need to keep working. Adding in exercise will make a difference for sure. That's the goal for today, to use my Wii Biggest Loser game today. When I can get into our bedroom as the boyfriend is still contentedly snoozing right now! The sun is also shining brightly outside and even though I know it's cold out perhaps a walk is in order as well.

Big Ass Salad!

2011-01-07T20:40:00.001-08:00

Okay so it's not as big as some that I've seen in blogland, but it was big enough for me! I got the idea at work today to stop on my way home for the ingredients to make my own Wendy's Apple Pecan Chicken salad. I first Googled a recipe for a pomegranate vinigarette. Everything else was easy to remember and find. I even bought bleu cheese! I decided to poach the chicken rather than fire up the oven to bake it. It was my first time poaching chicken and it turned out great and was super easy! I've also mastered poaching eggs in just a pot of water. Go me! Anyway, I also needed candied pecans. Man, are pecans expensive! I Googled that too. :) But I think I went a bit overboard with the margarine and sugar so they turned out too sweet and a bit overpowering. Oh well, lesson learned. It turned out quite well and very much like the Wendys version.

Here's what it looked like:

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Love Thursday Nights!

2011-01-06T21:26:00.001-08:00

I love when tv shows are new. And I love when I come home from work and dinner is ready to eat. Tonight is Grey's Anatomy night (and Private Practice if I'm lucky!). When I opened the door I was warmly greeted with the smell of dinner. The boyfriend had porkchops in cream of mushroom soup and rice ready to eat. It was so yummy!

So my DVD player is officially lost. Or has been eaten by the house. I found the remote but that's not much help. My dad has said I can borrow the spare one he has which is great. Except it's an hour away from here and with all the freaking snow we've had the past two days, there's no way I'll be getting it for a while. Soooooo I'll have to fire up the old Wii and use the Biggest Loser game. I'm sad to not be able to try the 30 Day Shred yet. I really, really want to try it! Oh well, soon enough.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Mmmm, Electric Blanket....

2011-01-04T21:19:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm cozied up in the electric blanket the boyfriend got me for Christmas, having an Indiana Jones marathon with him. It's pretty much bliss right now. :)

Had a great day with food today. Yes, I indulged in some chocolate orange. And I probably will every night this week until it's gone. And that's okay. At least I'm okay with it.

Still no sign of the DVD player that has been swallowed by the crawl space. I really want to find it so I can try the 30 Day Shred. I've read on several blogs that it's killer but I actually want to exercise. Weird for me, but good!

Day 2 Of 2011 And...

2011-01-02T23:01:00.000-08:00

....I'm already feeling crappy about myself. I can't seem to stop eating the damn chocolate in our house. And unfortunately, it's mostly dark chocolate so the boyfriend won't eat it for me. But I guess on the plus side dark chocolate is technically "better" for me right? Right??

I've found a friend though who wants to play hockey with me next year so that's good! Now to start the quest of gathering up all the needed equipment. Alyssa suggested hitting up a swap for some used stuff. And my other friend Brandy has a few things for me too. I'll still buy some new stuff though but it will be much nicer for me if I don't have to buy ALL new stuff. That could easily run $1000!

Tomorrow is a new day and I WILL make better choices. I WILL drink more water. I WILL find the DVD player I need to start exercising. (I borrowed Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred from a friend. Yikes!) It will be a much better day.

What I Want to Accomplish in 2011 (In Pictures!)

2011-01-01T16:16:00.000-08:00

Make this my mantra.

Learn to play hockey like her. Maybe not just like her because she is AMAZING! But get my butt out there and try!

Start a collection of these.

Gain enough confidence to rock a pair of boots like these!

And a dress like this.....

And this....

And this!

Explore Tofino.

Stay at this hotel in Tofino. Doesn't it look relaxing?

Visit Radium Hot Springs and then go see one of my best friends in Creston.

Buy a nice set of these and use them.

Do this twice this year. Or even once would be nice.

Not feel like this when it comes to money and learn to budget.

Invest in a good pair of these and use them often.

Get into an exercise routine even if it means one like this!

Enjoy more of these every day.

2010 Is Almost Over!

2010-12-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

I feel as though I should do some kind of year in review-type post so here goes!

Well this year there were a lot of changes for me in general. I had a horrible experience just after Easter with the people I worked for at the time that resulted in me losing my job. That was the first time in my life I've ever been fired. And it was ridiculous. I still get riled up when I think back on it. But it opened up my life to different opportunities and for where I am now so I can't complain too much.

That leads to my new job and career in insurance. So far, so good! Don't get me wrong, it can be pretty boring. But a quiet office job was what I was looking for after years of working in childcare and boy, did I get it! There are lots of different opportunities and chances for me to move around to different areas of our office so that's good. I am enjoying finally having a salaried job and not having to worry about getting enough hours in a week. I pretty much always know what my paycheque will be each payday. That's pretty damn sweet.

Next big thing was moving in with the boyfriend. 5 months of living together and we're still together and haven't killed each other yet! That's a bonus! Of course there have been growing pains and getting used to different things but I am very glad we both took the plunge. Speaking for myself (and I hope him!) we're very happy.

The last big milestone was turning 30 this year. And it sort of came and went without much fanfare. I'm not really sure how I feel about that either. I had sort of hoped to celebrate it with a big bash but learned my lesson a couple of years ago with planning my own birthday. So I had lots of birthday wishes and some very nice presents. I was happy enough with that. :)

As this year ends and 2011 begins, for once I'm positively looking forward to making a go of losing weight. It will probably forever be my New Year's resolution but this year I feel confident that I'm heading down the right path and that I can actually succeed this time. I have the support of a wonderful friend and that makes all the difference in the world to me.

Merry Christmas to all!! May everyone have a safe, happy and healthy holidays! :)

Christmas Baking, Oh My!

2010-12-20T17:16:00.000-08:00

Today starts my Christmas vacation. Actually technically is started on Saturday when I didn't work but it feels more official today. That's because I got my baking supplies and started Christmas baking today!

So far I've made Almond Roca (and I really shouldn't be left alone with it's sugary, buttery and chocolatey goodness!) and dough for Gingersnaps and Snickerdoodles. Both of which I will be baking tonight/tomorrow. There will also be sugar cookies and shortbread!

Things have been going well lately in regards to food, etc. Christine and I have been doing well at keep each other on track during the week days. Luckily her and I work for the same company so we can email each other ALL DAY. It's perfect because we keep each other accountable. Our plan is attend a Weight Watchers meeting first Tuesday of the New Year. That way we can get all the literature and start doing that together too! We're going to go to a meeting a month as that's the most affordable for both of us.

The one thing I can't seem to get on track is any kind of exercise. I would really like to add that into my daily routine. I just have to suck it up and DO IT!

I can't believe Christmas is coming up so fast! Yay!

Hi! I'm Alive!

2010-12-04T15:53:00.000-08:00

Been absent from the old blog lately but it's been busy! We finally have moved into our new place and are LOVING IT!! It's much more like our own house (albeit still really unorganzied) and it's literally a 3 minute drive to work for me and a 5 minute walk to work for the boyfriend. SO much easier on both of us. And my gas tank! I do have plans to walk to work eventually. I need better winter boots though as it's officially winter around here. The boots I wanted so badly and got for Christmas last year give me killer blisters. I'm so sad about that and really hope I can find a solution. They are really nice, stylish Sorel boots that I want to wear!

I discovered something interesting about my body though over the 2 days we moved. Turns out, only eating one meal a day makes me gain weight. I didn't do it on purpose, of course but just the way it worked out with packing and moving the only time of day I really had to eat was at the end of each day. So I jumped on scale on Tuesday, thinking "Oh I should see a bit of a loss because of the not eating and the going up and down the stupid stairs a million times." Uh, yeah, no. I gained 3 pounds. I was shocked. I got on and off that scale 3 or 4 times but everytime it showed me a fun little gain. So! Apparently my body immediately goes into starvation mode the second it's the least bit deprived. Awesome.

But at least this discovery lets me know that to lose weight I need to eat. Which is not such a bad thing! Of course I do have to be eating the right things. A while back I saw quite a bit of a loss in a week (5 lbs!) when I was making sure I ate at regular intervals. And I was also trying to eat a vegetable with every single meal. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. It's tricky to get that veggie in with breakfast, I think. I don't mind the V8 Vegetable Shots though so that could work. I tried adding veggies to scrambled eggs or omlettes and that was okay for a few times a week but not every day.

In other news, I was emailing back and forth with my friend Christine today all day at work and we chatted about maybe joining Weight Watchers together. But both of us are cheap and would rather spend that money on buying yummy, healthy food at the grocery store. So she suggested that we started having weekly meetings just the two of us. We can do a weigh-in and take our measurements. And then have discussions about problems and solutions. I'm quite looking forward to it!

Today Is The Day!

2010-11-28T08:32:00.001-08:00

We're moving into our new home today!! That is all for now. Pictures to follow! :)

Cookie Dough Balls!

2010-11-23T20:10:00.001-08:00

After reading about these little gems on several different blogs, I printed off a recipe (which I'll link to another time!) and discovered I had all the ingredients on hand. So after our dinner of chicken Caesar salad I got to work! And they turned out quite well! And they are boyfriend approved. ;) Here are a few pictures:

Tasty little treats for sure!

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Something New Today

2010-11-22T21:32:00.000-08:00

Okay so it isn't something brand new, but it's something I haven't done for months. I tracked all my food today. I used the app on my phone to record everything that I ate today. And just how did I do? Well, it's 9:30 and I'm at 1318 calories on the day. I have it set to a goal of 1800 calories a day. I even drank a litre of water today too. I also set my alarm on my phone to remind myself to eat. Sounds weird, but I did better at losing weight when I ate smaller meals more often. So today I had a late breakfast, then a snack 2 hours later, then dinner 2 hours later, and now I'm enjoying a cup of tea with sugar and milk for a late snack.

The tricky part for me is when I'm at work. I do get a couple of short breaks and an hour long lunch break during the day. I just don't always take those short breaks when I should be. For me I need to keep my metabolism working. And yes, as always, the exercise desperately needs to be put into play. That will.

Okay, I've got a bit of a random rant. Why are all the good things to eat so damn expensive? I was at the health food store the other night and just wandering around and seeing all the things that I hear so much about on all the blogs I read and I don't know if it's just because I'm in Canada or maybe even because I'm in BC but frickin' hell! The almond butter I so badly want to try is $8.99 or more for a small jar! The Greens+ smoothie powder is $29.99! WTF?! I know they are technically specialty items but it's seriously ridiculous. I thought maybe it was because I live in a smallish city but I've checked at stores in bigger cities and it's still just as expensive if not more. It drives me BANANAS!!

Okay, rant over. :)

258.6

2010-11-18T10:59:00.000-08:00

That's the weight I'm starting at at age 30. (Technically I won't be 30 until 9:14 PM but whatever!) This morning I went to renew my drivers license and guess what? I totally lied about my weight. So what, right? Everyone does. But for me it felt weird. I was yet again, lying to myself. I am not 200 lbs. I want to be 200 lbs. That is my goal. I want to be there by the time I turn 31.

I have had many birthday wishes on Facebook so far today which are greatly appreciated! The boyfriend drew me a few wonderful pictures of the two of us and are very sentimental and I love them. And I love him. :)

My dad got me a new power cord for my laptop which was desperately needed and the Oprah magazine cookbook. Oh and a magnet that says: "Sarcasm is just another free service we offer." It's perfect for the boyfriend and I.

So far, my birthday has been good!

Why Can't People Be Normal?

2010-11-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

First of all, I have to say a BIG thank you to my friend Christine for making me a new banner for my blog! I LOVE IT!! She's such a sweetheart and I can't say thank you enough! Check out her mommy blog here!

On the other hand, we are beginning to have issues with our current landlord. We gave him our notice that we will be moving out at the end of this month. He said it was bad news and then asked if he could show the place while we were still here. We said of course he could. But we assumed he would give us proper notice which is 24 hours. Well, yesterday while the boyfriend and I were both at work the landlord's wife began ringing the doorbell incessantly waking up our roommate. To be fair, the kid would sleep until 3:00 PM on a normal day but not the point. He got up and all she said to him was, "People coming, half hour." and left. So he and his friend who had stayed over, quickly took the garbage out and cleaned up some cans to make it look a little more presentable. Fast forward to a little bit later and they were leaving to go into town, the landlord is outside and tells him, "There will be a few viewings today. Since you paid the rent late and didn't give written notice you were leaving, I'm not going to play by the rules either."

The roommate called the boyfriend, who texted me. I was in shock and so angry! I paid the rent on the first of the month, like I always have. I did pay it in the evening rather in the morning but he had it before midnight. As for the written notice part, I had no idea I had to do that. Granted, I should have looked it up. But we have no contract between us. We never signed any kind of lease agreement or tenant's contract to live here. Also, he has never installed smoke detectors in our suite. I'm fairly sure that's illegal. So technically nothing has been done "by the rules" thus far.

According to the roommate, only one couple came to look yesterday. No one else. And so far today, there hasn't been anyone. I'm not sure what I'll do if some just show up. I'm kind of a wimp but I thought about acting very surprised and saying to them, "Oh you never gave us notice you were coming in." just so that the potential tenants know he does that. I know, kind of mean but if he's going to be a jerk about us leaving we can be jerks too.

The plan is for us to be moved out before the end of the month. We're just waiting to get a definite move in date for the new place. One thing is for sure, we won't be giving back out keys until he gives us back our damage deposit!

Absent!

2010-11-10T18:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, I've been absent from posting lately. I signed up for NaBloPoMo last month and didn't complete the post a month and had big plans to succeed this month but here we are, almost half way through November and I've posted twice. Oops. Dropped the ball on that one!

I don't have an excuse either. I've been reading blogs (I always read blogs) but haven't felt inspired to write my own. It again goes back to not making any efforts so feeling like a bit of a sham posting anything here. The weird thing is though I'm a writer. I love to write. And, I dare say, am pretty good at it.

I'm thinking it might just be stress that is causing me to avoid things lately. Money stress, life stress, the usual. Our moving day is coming up fast and all I've been thinking about is all the packing and the actual act of moving. Or I should say all I've been dreading is that. I hate moving. But on the other hand, I'm super excited because the new place is going to be so much better. SO much better! I just want to be there. I want to blink, nod my head and BOOM! We're moved in.

So Tired

2010-11-02T20:58:00.001-07:00

Yep, that's it. I'm exhausted tonight and don't know why. To bed early for sure!

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New Month, New Plan

2010-11-01T11:03:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it's November today. Christmas is less than 2 months away! Yikes! I'm a little nervous about how Christmas will work this year. We've decided that instead of hitting up 4 different houses on Christmas Day, we'll visit my family on Christmas Eve then just spend Christmas Day in town and hang out with his family. Then next year we'll switch it up. I've been coming to a point in my life that I'm realizing that at some point, I have to stop trying to make everyone else happy. And to worry about what I can control. I can't control how other people are going to feel.

Which brings me to some news. By the end of today, we will know if we are moving. The boyfriend's dad owns a townhouse here and just found out that his current tenant is moving out as of November 22nd. It's a 2 bedroom place with air conditioning, dishwasher, brand new stove, new carpeting, new paint, 2 bathrooms. And the best part? It's literally across the road from the boyfriend's new job. That means no more getting up early on my days off to drive him to work or staying up late to go get him when he's done. Don't get me wrong, it's not the end of the world for me to do this for him but winter will be here soon and I am a very scared winter driver. I can do it because I have to but it causes me great amounts of stress and anxiety. But now, he can easily walk to work (and even come home for lunch!) and I would be able to walk to work too! It's farther for me but that's a good thing.

As for the not controlling how other people feel thing? When this offer came up two days ago, the boyfriend was quite hesitant about it. He said he felt bad about leaving our current landlord when he had already expressed to us how much he liked us as tenants and hoped we stayed for a long time. I feel bad too, I do. But I said to him that we have to do what is good for us. And this move would be incredibly good for us. (Did I mention it's cheaper too?). He still has guilt about it but knows that that statement is true. Besides he's making me tell our current landlord so he doesn't have to worry about the reaction!

My birthday is this month. I have 17 more days in 20's. I don't want to spend a new decade in my life being uncomfortable in my skin and hating things about myself. I want to come into my 30's with a full head of steam and be on my way to changing me. It's going to be a challenge and something I will most likely have to force myself to do. But every day lately I find something else about my body that annoys me and that I know is changeable. After hearing the results from my blood test that everything is "normal", it makes me realize that while that's good there is nothing physical holding me back from losing weight. Just my brain. And that is totally changeable.

Since I've had this blog I've had many a post that sound something like this. That I've had enough, that I'm really doing it this time, blah, blah, blah. I'm done with that. I don't want to look back at this post in a month and think, "You liar. You didn't do anything to change." I want to look back and think, "Hells yeah! You're doing it!"

Effortless

2010-10-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

That's been me for a while now. I've been putting in no effort whatsoever into losing weight. I seem to hit these lulls every once in a while. I'll do great for a week, then okay for the next week, then barely making an effort the next, then just giving up. It's a ridiculous cycle that I desperately need and want to break. And I don't know what else to say about it.

On a happier note, I did have a fun day today. It was my last day off this week and I got to hang out with my cousin's kids. They are so cute! The oldest is 4, the youngest is 3. She's a very girly girl and he's a total boy. Just like destruction/a disaster waiting to happen. It's pretty funny. Makes me miss hanging with kids like I used to. I had to bust out my "daycare voice" a few times with him though. He's at the age where he just takes and doesn't ask. So a few times I told him it wasn't okay to just take something from me, that he had to ask and say please. It only took once then he remembered the next time.

It was funny but scary though at one moment. I'm not sure what he's done to their cat but the cat absolutely hates him. He was sitting behind the cat on a chair and all of a sudden the cat whipped around and launched herself onto his head. If I hadn't smacked her away from him, she would have chewed his face or ear off! Scary for sure, he was beside himself and came away with a scratch on his cheek. But kind of funny how she just goes after him. She dive bombed him one time out in the yard. It was a run-by-cat-attack! That one was funnier than this one since this attack really scared him. For the rest of the time there anytime he went near the cat, I would say to him "Remember earlier when she scratched you? Be gentle with her." He would stop, point at the cat and say, "Bad kitty!". I'm sure the cat was just thinking, "Whatever, dude, you pull my tail all the time."

NaBloPoMo Fail!

2010-10-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

Okay so I've missed quite a few days this month. I tried! And then I forgot. So I will try again next month.

Today is my second day off this week and I've still got 2 more. I plan to do some cleaning and organizing around the house. And then maybe do some yoga! My plan this week was to do some kind of physical activity each day. Yesterday we went for an hour long walk with the boyfriend's sister and niece. In the rain. It wasn't raining very much when we left but by the time we got home were both wet and cold! But it was a nice walk and got the old heart rate up.

We had French toast for dinner last night and it was yummy! We like it with fresh tomatoes on it. People usually pull a face at us when we say that but it's quite delicious. It's not like it's maple syrup and tomatoes, it's just margarine, tomatoes and salt and pepper. Then after I had sugar and cinnamon on some since we don't have any syrup right now. That was so good! Haven't done that since I was a kid. :)

Movie Night!

2010-10-21T21:40:00.001-07:00

Tonight was a good night. Had Wendy's salad for dinner (apple pecan with bleu cheese, my favourite!), enjoyed a couple of scoops of Chapman's Maple Walnut frozen yogurt, the snacked on some French onion Sunchips. And I don't feel stuffed. Yay!

The boyfriend and I are now watching the second movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Yes, we are geeks. :)

I've got most of next week off of work (using up banked and vacation days) so I plan to try and get into an exercise routine and continue to be mindful oft eating. And drink plenty of water.

Oh and I finally called my doctor to find out about the ultrasound and bloodwork results. Everything is a-okay and normal! Blood sugar, iron, thyroid and liver are all at normal. And there was nothing to see in the ultrasound. So that scratches gallbladder and/or gallstones off the list for now. But there is still some kind of bowel/stomach issue going on. I want to do the Ultra Simple diet soon to try to eliminate whatever food or foods it is that bothers my digestive system. Hopefully soon!

Weigh in Friday tomorrow!

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Bloggin' In Bed!

2010-10-20T22:49:00.001-07:00

I ate too much again tonight and feel disgusting. Something MUST change and soon. That is all.

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A Proud Day!

2010-10-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today I'm happy to report that the boyfriend did something really brave and I'm very proud of him. He left his crappy, crappy job and started a new one. All in one day! It was great! I'm glad he stood up to his now former employer and gave them the same crappy courtesy they gave him after almost 2 years.

Not too much else to say! I'm taking a break from exercise today but eating went fairly well. Not a good lunch but it was tough to avoid. I had a yummy dinner though of Caesar salad and some foccacia bread with oil and vinegar. The only good thing about the crappy lunch was I have a fully prepared lunch in the fridge at work for tomorrow so I gets to sleep in a bit tomorrow. It's the little things, right? :)

New Week

2010-10-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's a new week and it's another day and it's another chance to start over again. As much as I wanted yesterday to be better than Saturday, it wasn't. I again ate too much and too much of the wrong stuff. I did try at the beginning of the day and started with a green smoothie. But then it was A&W for lunch and leftover KFC for dinner.

I'm done with that overstuffed feeling. I cannot keep doing that to myself. My eyes are always WAY bigger than my stomach. I don't know why I insist on eating more than I need. It might be time for me to start soul searching as to why I do that. What am I missing emotionally that I do that?

I did have NSV yesterday in that we did end up going for a walk in the evening. Even though when we got outside we realized how cold it had gotten! And tonight we need to leave much earlier as it was almost completely dark when we left the boyfriend's sister and kids. They had on reflective vests but no flashlight and that makes me nervous. They live just up the road so it wasn't too far to walk.

Later today we'll be going grocery shopping. My plan is to plan a couple of dinners a week. And I need to make sure I have enough for lunches during the week. Although I work Tuesday to Saturday this week then have most of next off. That will be a challenge for me because I eat out of boredom a lot. I need to make sure to have healthy snacks in the house.

OD!

2010-10-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, that stands for: OVER DOSE! And just what did I od on today? Food. I ate way too much today. And it was all crap. Tim Horton's for breakfast, Triple O's for lunch and KFC for dinner. With some M&Ms thrown in for a snack. And I feel so disgustingly gross right now. My stomach feels stretched and full. I don't like this feeling! My body doesn't like it either.

Tomorrow is a new day and it will be filled with lots of water, exercise and whatever healthy food I can find around here. We need to do some grocery shopping so that will help.

I must stop doing this to myself.

Aww, I Missed 1!

2010-10-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

I'm so sad that I didn't post yesterday! I was doing so well! To make up for it though, I will post twice today. Once from work (this one) and one later tonight. Oh I can hardly contain my excitement. :P

Yesterday I had some blood taken for some tests. I'm having my blood sugar, thyroid, iron and liver checked. The liver checking is going with the ultrasound I had on my gall bladder. I haven't heard from the doctor but you know doctors. They are always busy. I plan to call on Monday morning though.

On Weigh-In Friday yesterday, I was up 1.4 lbs. and that's okay. Last week was kind of a crap shoot. Last weekend was Thanksgiving and even though I tried very hard to keep it simple and small, it didn't exactly happen. I didn't over do it though. And I hardly exercised last week. So it could be a lot worse so I will take it.

The plan this week is get this butt in gear again and exercise at least 3 times in the week. I know it works!

Some Days I Love My Curls!

2010-10-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

I don't mean arm curls or leg curls either! I mean my curly, drives-me-crazy hair! I've been wearing it straight for the last little bit. Mostly because I usually have to put quite a bit of product in it to get the nice curls and I just felt like having touchable, product-free hair for a bit. But this morning, I didn't want to get up that little bit earlier to straighten it after the shower. So I let it curl. And it curled so nicely today! Seriously, I can't keep my hands out of it! I feel like two different people with each type of hair. I feel more like me with the curls and I feel a bit more sophisticated with the straight hair.

I joined NaBloPoMo this past month and have been doing well posting every day this month. The site said that the theme for this month is play. I plan on cooking up a few posts about that soon so stay tuned!

Hockey Night In Canada!

2010-10-13T21:43:00.001-07:00

Ahhh yes, the best time of the year. It's not blistering hot out, the leaves on the trees are changing, fall clothes (of which I have hardly any but that just means going shopping!), pumpkin flavoured treats and hockey season!

Tonight we watched the Leafs play to their first 3-0 start in 10 years. It's early but exciting! The Canucks of course blew their lead and lost to a team crappier than them.

As for me playing hockey this year, it's not going to happen. I'm not physically ready and I think it would just be stupid to push myself into it. And it's expensive to buy all the equipment. So I will get a pair of skates and skate this year to get back into that part and collect all the equpiment over this season so I'm ready for next year!

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Too Much "Tissue"!

2010-10-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up early on my last day off (I know, not that big a deal but I'm a whiner!) and drove 45 minutes to have my ultrasound appointment for my gallbladder. While it was quick, I'm not going to lie, it hurt. Disclaimer: I am a self-professed wimp, who bruises like a peach. The ultrasound technician I had was a little rough on me. Apparently she had to press hard to get through all the "tissue". In other words, she had to press hard to see my organs through the fat on my belly. At least she was nice enough to say tissue. LOL

Anyway, she said that my doctor would have the results by Thursday so I'm guessing there's something there? She didn't say. But I apparently had my gallbladder looked at in 2007 when I had an ultrasound for something else. I remember asking about my kidneys at the time. I guess they check all your organs.

I had promised a more interesting post today but my mind is a complete blank right now. Maybe I'll be inspired later and post again. We'll see! Going to enjoy some sunshine!

Weekends Are Too Short

2010-10-11T21:06:00.001-07:00

Well except when I have one more day off. Except when I have to be up early tomorrow for an appointment. Oh well. I can come home and nap.

I'm kind of boring lately. This weekend was good but not very relaxing. I've been super tired all day today and could easily go to bed now and sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

This post is rapidly not making much sense so I'll just sign off. Hopefully I'll be more coherent and interesting tomorrow!

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Loving Long Weekends!

2010-10-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

Turkey dinner last night was so good! And there's plenty of leftovers in our fridge and we didn't have to cook a thing. Now that takes skill! Today has been a lazy day of sleeping in, lounging around, napping and movie watching. And tomorrow will be close to the same thing!

Well tomorrow we will be doing something outside the house. I'll insist on going for a walk. Because on our way home today we stopped at Dairy Queen for pumpkin pie Blizzards and found a pumpkin pie Blizzard cake. So the boyfriend bought it to take over to his mom's tomorrow night. We're just going for dessert though. I'm pretty sure after this week, I'll be happy not to see turkey again until Christmas. That's why I like having Thanksgiving a bit earlier. Gives you a break between big turkey meals!

Go Away, People!

2010-10-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

I'm at work today and it's been kind of stupidly busy. Not like crazy busy, but busy enough that we haven't been able to just chill. Usually a Saturday is really slack. I usually sit on the computer and Google random things. Today though? There's been a steadiness to the day. Which on one hand has made today fly by. Like right now there's only 2 hours left in the day. But on the other hand it feels like, "Eff off!" Especially because I actually have on online course I'm supposed to be doing right now that I just want done. But I can't because I can't be signed on to actually do transactions because I have to be in the training mode. As soon as I sign into the training one, someone comes in. Grrr, people! Thankfully, there hasn't been anything too complicated.

Next week is Customer Appreciation Week around here and I'm not looking forward to it. Well, that's not fair to say. I don't really care. Sounds harsh, I know but customers just complicate things. LOL

Anyway, today has been okay but I'm super excited for the end of it because we're heading to my dad's for turkey dinner and visiting! Yay!

Happy Friday!

2010-10-08T08:10:00.001-07:00

It was indeed a very happy wake up for me this morning! I finally saw a loss 2 weeks in a row!! Down 1.2 lbs. this morning! That feels so amazing! Seriously, I know it's a silly number but when that number has been stuck on the same 3 numbers for the last month or so, to see it hit a new number is really a relief. It shows me that if I just stick with this and stay on track, it will work. And if I put in a little more effort (I exercised last week but not to much this week), I will see more results.

I read the Marie Claire article on another blog the other day and just wanted to throw my opinion out there. I'm the first person to say that celebrities should shut up when they whine about not wanting to be a role model or that wasn't why they got into it. That's ridiculous. You have to know that's what you're getting into when you get into acting or being a public figure. If you don't, then you're an idiot or you aren't surrounding yourself with smart enough people. But, having said that, I think it's much different with blogs. Blogs are personal. Yes, they are being published on the worldwide web but blogs tend to begin as an anonymous thing. They grow and gain an audience and fan base (and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to loving knowing people are reading what I say). I know it would be awfully naive of me to think that most women (and men) in this blogging community are smart enough to know that what works for someone else may not work for them personally. But I do think there is a large portion of people in this community that can think for themselves. They might get ideas and try them from other blogs but I think for the most part they are able to know themselves best.

There. I've had my say. Tomorrow's blog will probably be from work as right after work tomorrow we are heading out to my dad's for Thanksgiving dinner. Happy Thanksgiving/long weekend to my Canadian counterparts! And to any Americans, ours is earlier because our harvest season is earlier. I think. Sounds good though, right? :)

Grey's Love!

2010-10-07T21:58:00.001-07:00

I love Grey's Anatomy. Even when some of the characters drive me crazy. I love the drama. That is all for tonight.

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Defensive Much?

2010-10-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

I have a problem. I thought I was over it and had “grown” away from it. But I am clearly wrong. I am not over this problem. This stupid thing rears its ugly head far too much lately. And it’s effecting my life in a bad way.

What’s my problem? I am entirely too defensive with the people I love. I always seem to think that when someone makes a statement or comment to me it is a negative comment. I take everything, EVERYTHING, to heart. I don’t know why I do it. Well, that’s not true. I’m a sensitive person. I wear my heart on my sleeve. You can always tell how I feel about something because it’s usually written all over my face. I cannot hide it. In fact most times, I don't even realize I'm making a face. It's something I really have to think about to not do it. And even then I'm sure I'm not very good at it. Therefore when someone makes a sarcastic comment to me, even though I know it's a joke, I immediately jump back at that person.

It's such a reflex at this point that it is nearly impossible to shut off. I want to, oh how I want to, not be like this. I do work at it. I really do. I try to take things with a grain of salt and let things roll off my back. Because I know that it isn't coming from a mean place or from somewhere meant to hurt me. I don't want to chase people away or have them shut down around me and block me out.

It's like the old saying, "Teaching an old dog new tricks." I believe it can happen but it takes time. It takes a conscious effort from me. I just hope for a little room to be able to change. You don't erase 29 years of defensiveness in a moment or a day. Old habits die hard.

Owwwww!

2010-10-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

I promised a more interesting post tonight and I sadly cannot deliver that. I have a horrible stomachache and can hardly sit here at the computer. I'm only logging in because I made a promise.

We watched the new Nightmare on Elm Street tonight with some friends. It was not too bad. Lots of blood. And Jackie Earle Haley does a great job as the new Freddy. I'm sure there will be sequels.

Unfortunately, since we had people over I won't be doing my exercise tonight. That and the horrible pain in my gut. I'm going for an ultrasound next week to find out if it's my gallbladder. I hope it gets solved soon.

Phoned In Blog

2010-10-04T22:22:00.001-07:00

Yep, posting from my phone again tonight. It's getting late and we've been watching tv shows together and I don't feel like getting up to go to the computer. But! I did hop on the old Wii Biggest Loser game and even after eating dinner (and frozen yogurt!) I was down 3 lbs! This isn't down another 3 from the 2 from last week. It's the same 2 plus 1! Yay!

Anyhoo, I promise there will be a deeper, more interesting post tomorrow!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Salmon Run Day!

2010-10-03T21:59:00.001-07:00

Well I have to say I was kind of disappointed with it today. It was cool to see the fish but there weren't nearly as many as advertised. Not yet anyway. Apparently today was the start but it's going to peak later in the week. We did get a few pictures that I will add to this post tomorrow.

What there was a lot of was people. Holy crap, there were a lot of people. The traffic was insane. Thankfully though, the government was smart enough (for once) to have all kinds of conservation officers there to help direct traffic and hire flag people. It was still a bit gong-showy though. Oh and we had no idea it would cost $3.00 to park somewhere that is normally free. And of course we had no cash on us. Luckily the boyfriend likes to chuck all his nickels and dimes in the cupholder in my car. So that's what we scrounged together.

The best part was getting to spend time with some friends and their 6 month old baby. He's super cute and at a fun age! And of course the A&W Rootbeer float I had was good too. :D

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Almost Forgot!

2010-10-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot I had to post today! So it'll be a short and quick update for today. Tomorrow's will be longer and much more interesting!

Today I resisted the temptation of Wendy's for lunch and had vegetable soup instead. Yay me! I did go out for dinner and had pachos and a burger then a mini Blizzard but it was totally worth it. Since I know we'll be doing lots of walking tomorrow as we are going to check out the biggest salmon river run in a century. Should be cool! I'm going to take pictures that I may even post...

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

The Wagon

2010-10-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

Everybody knows about the proverbial wagon. You’re either on it or off it, whether it’s the bandwagon for a certain team or a diet wagon or an exercise wagon. Everyone has their own wagon that means something to them. And it’s a moody bitch. It can make you feel horribly guilty or amazingly accomplished and proud.

No matter what though, no one wants to be the wagon. As in, be the size of a wagon. At least that’s what I interpreted the boyfriend’s comment as the other night. Now I’m not meaning to say he told me I was the size of a wagon. We were discussing (yet again) my lack of motivation and what he can do to help me. He does try to help and it’s something that I truly do appreciate. But it hasn’t helped. I finally told him that it didn’t matter what he said or did, it was ultimately up to me. I need to get myself in the proper mindset and do what I need to do. I told him the best motivation he can give me is encouragement. Meaning, when I do workout, tell me he’s proud of me or good job. That’s it.

And the wagon thing? Well he said to me one night, “Don’t you want to be on the wagon? Not be the wagon?”

PS Weigh in Friday today and I'm down 2 pounds! I decided not to do measurements this morning since I kind of slept in and want more than a week of doing well under my belt so I'm NOT disappointed when there aren't much results.

I'm Here!

2010-09-25T21:31:00.001-07:00

I'm still alive and kicking! Okay maybe just alive. But anyhoo, I'm planning on blogging every day in October so I'm saving up posts for then! Stay tuned!

Late Weigh In Post....Again

2010-09-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here's the update:

Weight: 258.6 (+2).

Measurements:
Bust: 41 (sts)
Ribs: 38.5 (sts)
Waist: 39 (-0.5)
Hips: 51 (-1)
Thighs: R: 24.5 (sts) L: 24.5 (-1.5)
Calves: R: 17 (sts) L: 17 (sts)
Arms:
Upper: R: 15.5 (-0.5) L: 15 (+0.5)
Forearm: R: 11.5 (-0.5) L: 11.5 (-0.5)
Neck: 15.5 (+0.5)

Total: 3.5 inches lost.

So there it is. Weight is up, but inches are back down. After having a couple of weeks at everything staying the same it's nice to see some inches going down again. I'm going to continue to try to get exercise every day. Whether it's the game or going for a walk.

My dad recently was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It's strange because the man is perfectly fit and healthy. He has been dedicated to walking on his treadmill almost every day for the last 4 years. He eats quite healthily (besides being able to consume 2 whole steaks in one evening!). He doesn't eat a lot of sugar. To me it's a very strange diagnosis for him. But for me? I fear getting tested because I have a feeling I'm either borderline or already over that line. I do not want to have that label. And yes, I know that putting my head in the sand about it is very unsafe in case I do need treatment. I will bite the bullet and be tested.

My last post was a bit of a slap in the old face. I asked a question and while I got one answer, I had hoped for more. Yes, yes, poor little me. No one reads my blog. I know, it's silly. I have chosen to keep this blog private from my family and most of my friends. There are a few who know about it. I just thought I had more readers is all. No worries! I'm doing this for me anyway.

Speaking of doing things for me, one of my goals is to play hockey. I was hoping that this was the year but I don't think I can financially do it this year. I'm super bummed about that. Every year I have this goal and I never seem to be financially or physically ready for it. This year though I vow to at least buy a pair of skates so that I can start skating again and be ready!

Today the weather is crappy so I imagine it'll be a gamer day for us. I enjoy these days. :)

I Want To Run A 5K

2010-09-07T08:51:00.001-07:00

Any suggestions on how to start preparing for one?

I Forgot!

2010-09-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

I added my blog to this list and if you read my blog and would like to too here is the info!

Healthy Living Blogs is a new resource for the health blogging community. Created by Lindsey of Sound Eats, HLB is a site designed to enhance the positive community of the healthy living blog world. Bloggers and readers can explore the site and find more blogs to love, bloggers in their area, and forums to deepen healthy discussion and support. If you're interested in having your site listed on HLB, simply send the following information to healthylivingblogs@gmail.com and check the site out for yourself!

Email subject line: MEMBERS
Your name (please share if you prefer to go by first name, first and last, or however you prefer to be known on the Internet)
Blog Name
Blog URL (please start with http://, not www.)
Your twitter handle, if applicable
Your location (if you prefer not to disclose this information for privacy's sake, that is completely understandable. We'll simply include your blog listing in the A-Z listing, not by location, too)
Any specific labels (i.e. vegan, gluten-free, weight loss, running, etc.)

Late Weigh In

2010-09-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

Not so much late as I just didn't post it on Friday.

Weight: 256.6 (-0.2)

Measurements:
Bust: 41 (sts)
Ribs: 38.5 (+0.5)
Waist: 39.5 (+0.5)
Hips: 52 (+1.5)
Thighs: R: 24.5 (+0.5) L: 26 (+1.5)
Calves: R: 17 (sts) L: 17 (+0.5)
Arms:
Upper: R: 16 (+0.5) L:14.5 (-.05)
Forearms: R: 12 (+0.5) L: 12 (+0.5)
Neck: 15 (-0.5)

There are WAY too many plus signs on that list. But to be fair, I haven't been making too huge an effort lately. The workouts with the Biggest Loser game have been hit and miss. The past two weeks I've only managed to workout with it once a week. My goal this week is to get on that game every day this week. Even if I alternate between full on workouts and yoga.

I'm hoping to try the Ultra Simple Diet after this next paycheque. If there weren't things like brown rice protein powder and flax oil to buy, I would be starting it sooner. But that stuff is pricey here. And I would like to do it as much to the letter as I can. Well except for all the supplements you're supposed to take because I don't even know where to get them and I'm sure they aren't cheap either.

So, onward and upward. Each time I eat, is another chance to make a choice. I need to remember that.

This Is A Test.....

2010-09-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

....for someone. He knows who he is. I said I wouldn't blog about our conversation last night but surprise! I won't go into detail but let's just say the boyfriend should now understand how important his support is to me in this journey and how to properly motivate me. And the test part? Well that's to see if he reads this. ;)

Onward and upward though! The past few days I've been doing well eating wise. I did The Biggest Loser Wii last night. And damn, Ethel! My legs and butt are sore today! At first when I got to work this morning and started walking up the same little hill I walk up everyday, I was confused as to why I suddenly felt all my bum muscles screaming at me. Then, when I got to work and switched into my fancy heels I remembered!

That's my other new thing. Wearing heels at work. I've now mastered walking in them normally and NOT looking like I'm on stilts. And it's actually not as hard as I would have thought! And I like to think of it as a workout for my core and calf muscles. It takes a lot of work to keep all of me upright and mobile in those things! And yes, these are the very same heels that I experienced swollen ankles with the first time I wore them back in June. No more swollen ankles. That's got to be a good sign. :)

Ooh! I just discovered on Tuesday that the Canadian Old Navy website now ships in Canada. SO excited about that! We've been waiting for ages! I'm still not sure what took so long as there are Old Navy stores all over in the bigger cities here. Just not any near me, of course. And yes, I know my last post was all about how broke I am. But at least it's there for when I do have money again because I will in a few months!

We're going grocery shopping tomorrow night, which is exciting around here. We haven't been for a while. Our landlord's wife keeps dropping off fresh veggies from her garden and we got another batch last night. There are carrots, zucchini, green peppers, green beans, celery, some type of small, skinny eggplant that I have no clue what to do with, and snow peas. If anyone out there has ideas for eggplant, sent it on over!

Nothing Witty To Say Today

2010-08-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

Not much news to report, I've been sort of off the plan this past weekend. Well, not really. I haven't been going wild with eating horribly. In fact I haven't been eating much at all. I think yesterday was the first day I ate 3 meals. Today is my last day off then it's back to work tomorrow. I haven't exercised since last week.

I'm highly stressed out about money right now. I feel like I am barely treading water to stay above all the debt I have. I started this new job 4 months ago under the impression I would be making much more money. I'm not. I'm making less and I have more payments. I really didn't think this through, I guess. Or I guess it would have been smart of me to get the numbers first.

What is not helping is my father. I was forced to borrow money from him for the first month's rent here. Also my cell phone bill is tied to him. The contract is under his name so he gets the bill, I pay him. The problem is if I pay him right away I will not be able to afford food and gas for my car. Yes, I know the phone is my responsibility. But we're locked into a contract that I can't afford to get out of since cell companies here are Nazis. So it leaves me with a dilemma. I pay him and I can't afford to eat fresh food. I will have to live out of the freezer and cupboard. Which is not the end of the world but it kind of is when you're trying to live healthily and eat well. But if I don't pay him, I hear about. Oh do I hear about it.

I assume other parents would probably say, "You know what? While you're struggling financially and since I have the means to do it, don't worry about your bill for a couple months until it's more affordable for you because I know you're not wasting money on drugs or booze or something else wasteful." But no, my dad doesn't work that way. So I did something stupid today and applied for a new credit card. I know that if I do get it, I don't HAVE to use it. But at this point I don't see that I really have a choice. I need to eat and to be able to get to work to make money to live.

In other less depressing news, I'm planning on giving the Ultra Simple Diet a try as soon as I can. There are a few stomach/bowel issues I occasionally have that I would like to try and pinpoint. I'm hoping doing this for a week will help. I know "diet" is a dreaded word but your diet is what you eat right? Anyhoo, have a good rest of the week everyone!

Weigh In Friday

2010-08-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

Weight: 256.8 (-1.4)

Measurements:
Bust: 41
Ribs: 38
Waist: 39
Hips: 50.5
Thighs: R: 24 L:24.5
Calves: R: 17 L:16.5
Arms:
Upper: R: 15.5 L: 15
Forearms: R: 11.5 L: 11.5
Neck: 15.5

This is a quick post! Off to work I go! I'll write an actual post tonight!

Babies and Bad Food

2010-08-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

Let me start with the bad food. For 3 nights in a row we have eaten out. And I did not make any good choices. In fact I've been embarrassed to post because of it.

Sunday, we had Mcdonalds. I had the cheddar bacon angus burger with fries and a rootbeer.

Last night was Wendy's. I had a grilled chicken sandwich, not horrible, and thought I ordered a baked potato but was given fries and didn't send them back. Later in the evening, we hit up Eastside Mario's with a friend and I had this deepfried pizza dough things. Very tasty but very greasy. And I had a chocolate lava cake dessert.

Tonight, we had Pizza Hut. I had these new wrap/roll thingy with chicken, pesto, mushrooms and deepfried. And one piece of chicken Caesar stuffed crust pizza.

My goodness that is a lot of horrible food in a row. Oh and I haven't done one bit of exercise either. And I feel like CRAP. And I don't like this weighed down, sluggish feeling. Lesson very thoroughly learned.

As for the babies part, my cousin's wife had their amazing baby girl today. She is so tiny and perfect. I am in awe of her and so happy for them. I cannot wait to hold her and snuggle her!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Weigh In Friday

2010-08-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

Okay so this week is not nearly as exciting as last, unfortunately. Even though I definitely put more exercise effort in this week. I worked out 4 days this past week, 3 of which were in a row! I'm pretty stoked on that alone. Food has been good too. I'm so not letting it discourage me though because I know that if I keep at it I will get results.

Here are the numbers!

Weight: 258.2 (+2.6)

Measurements:
Bust: 41.5 (sts)
Ribs: 38.5 (sts)
Waist: 39 (-0.5)
Hips: 50.5 (sts)
Thighs: R: 24.5 (sts) L: 25 (-0.5)
Calves: R: 16.5 (sts) L: 16 (+1)
Arms:
Upper: R: 15.5 (-0.5) L: 15 (sts)
Forearms: R: 12 (+1) L: 12 (+2.5)
Neck: 15.5 (-0.5)

Total: +1

Soooooo, that sucks. But there were some losses in different areas which is good. Not sure I measured the old arms correctly but those are the numbers I'm going with.

Swimming was great this week! We only went Thursday. But there was a lot more swimming, less chatting. We hadn't seen each other in a while though so we had to get caught up! Anyway, we had fun because there weren't very many other people there so we got to play on the diving board and the giant rope they have coming down from the ceiling for swinging on. Christine was much braver than I and did a big cannonball jump off the diving board. Then we took turns seeing how far we could pull ourselves up on the rope. It because quite the challenge and I suggested we use it as a goal/measuring stick. Right now, we can both get our hands above the second knot but neither of us can get our legs up to the rope. I'm determined to be able to do that one day soon.

Another goal of mine is to play women's hockey. There are a couple of teams here. I'm not so sure if this will be the year I'd do it but I really, really want to play! I miss sports. Baseball is another goal of mine to play again.

Right now though, it's one step at a time, one bite at a time. :)

The Incredible Sort-Of-Shrinking Woman!

Update And A Recipe!

Open Letter

Dear Smelly Bellybutton....

Christmas 2011

Let's See Where I Got To In A Year....

New Month Check In

Body Love

.........

New Month, New Leaf!

Oops.

Missed Another One!

Fall Fair Time

Five Friday

Seasons

Quick!

Five Friday

Here Goes Nothin'!

Long Weekend For Me!

This Week's Resuts.....

Progress Picture!

Feelin' Good!

Water Is My New Best Friend

Letter To Myself

Weekend Recap

Titles Are Hard To Think Of....

*Poof!*

ABC's of Food!

Eat More To Weigh Less?

Frustrated.

Work NSV!

New Incentives!

Almost 11 Years

Update!

Lost?

Day Late Update

Weekly Results!

Day Late Weigh-In!

Weekly Weigh In!

I Did Half A 5K!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Day Late Weigh-In Report!

Sunday Morning Weigh-In

ABC's Of Me!

Letting It All Hang Out

Week 5: Annoyed But Hopeful!

Mid-Week Update

Happy Sunday and Week 4 Results!

Week 3: A Loss!

21 Continuous Times

Week 1 on WW: Done!

Happy 200th!

Something Unexpected

Weigh In Sunday

Big Ass Salad!

Love Thursday Nights!

Mmmm, Electric Blanket....

Day 2 Of 2011 And...

What I Want to Accomplish in 2011 (In Pictures!)

2010 Is Almost Over!

Christmas Baking, Oh My!

Hi! I'm Alive!

Today Is The Day!

Cookie Dough Balls!

Something New Today

258.6

Why Can't People Be Normal?

Absent!

So Tired

New Month, New Plan

Effortless

NaBloPoMo Fail!

Movie Night!

Bloggin' In Bed!

A Proud Day!

New Week

OD!

Aww, I Missed 1!

Some Days I Love My Curls!

Hockey Night In Canada!

Poof!