Snow day for WI

My meeting was cancelled today because of the crazy snow we have had. Unfortunately this means no meeting for three weeks because of Christmas and New Years. Plus DH and I have planned a last minute trip to Arizona leaving Jan 4th so I will miss another WI... Good thing I am armed with 10 months worth of WW knowledge to see me through the holidays and a vacation.

I weighed in at home this morning and was 208.6 - which means I have reached 60 pounds lost!
I did not make my Onederland by Christmas goal... I missed it by 8 pounds. With all that the next month has in store - my new goal is to be at 199 by my 1 year WW anniversary (Feb 10) I am hoping this goal will help keep me on track through Christmas dinner, New Years eve champagne, a 10 day road trip and all the other things life is constantly throwing at me.

I have been doing a lot of reflecting on how far I have come this year. What losing 60 pounds had meant for my life. These are at the top of my list:

Physical Changes:
- I can wear clothes from regular stores - no more plus size for me!
- I can run 10 minutes straight and can run intervals for 45 minutes
- I can swim 2km without stopping
- I can see my collarbones again!!!!
- I can see my bellybutton again!!!!
- I am not concerned about fitting in restaurant booths, airplane seats, or amusement park rides

Emotional Changes:
- I am proud of myself
- I am a much happier person
- I feel like I deserve this happiness
- My marriage is stronger
- I am a better wife, aunt, sister and daughter because I love myself more
- I know I can do anything I set my mind to

Things I can do now that I could not/would not do last Christmas:
- Cross my legs at the knee
- Happily pose for family photos
- Go sledding with my nieces
- Shovel my driveway and sidewalk
- Say no thank you to chocolates, egg nog, apple pie and other goodies
- Eat slowly and enjoy my food until I am full - and then stop eating!!!

These are just a few of the wonderful things I have been thinking about. I am also formulating a "Life To Do List" for the next year and will post it at New Years.

If I don't get back here before Christmas Day I hope that all of my new Blog Friends have happy holidays filled with family and fun (that is what it is about - not the food!!!)

WI#37 +1.6 (boooooo)

I deserved every ounce of that 1.6lb gain. I am just glad that I managed to shed 5.4 of the pounds I gained during the birthday celebration (thank you water retention!) They introduced the new WW momentum program at my meeting tonight and although there are not many changes I am using this as motivation to step back and start from scratch again - using the new tracker, weighing all my food etc.... the one change i am excited about is the ability to save up your AP and use them any time during the week.

Speaking of exercise, I went to a Bikram Yoga class last night. It was the hardest 90 minutes of my entire life!! If you have never heard of it I will give you a quick rundown (or click on the link for more details) The class is held in a room heated to 40 degrees. I went early so that I could get used to the heat before we got started. Just laying on my mat for 10 minutes made me start sweating. The movements in the class were very slow and controlled and within 15 minutes the sweat started pouring down my face, arms, and legs. About 30 minutes into the class we did a pose that required us to bend down and touch our toes - as we slowly came back up I thought I was going to faint - I laid on my mat for about 2 minutes (as many others did at various times during the class) and tried to compose myself.

My heart rate has never been so high for so long before! The heat really loosens your muscles and I was amazed at how far I could stretch my body (should have heard warning bells here - but the heat made me delirious). I finished the class and was very proud of myself as I left - legs shaky and head pounding. I got home and crawled into the shower, then crawled into bed and promptly fell asleep... and stayed asleep until this morning (an amazing feat for an insomniac like me). This morning I felt great.. as the day went on I began to stiffen up. By 5pm I felt like I was wearing a full body corset. Now (8pm) I am so sore!!! I need to go to the bathroom but the idea of bending to sit on the toilet makes me want to cry... the crazy stretching my body seemed to do easily in the class has definitely caught up with me!

In summary, I think I will go to another yoga class soon.. but I think Bikram (hot sweaty torture) Yoga will not be in my near future!

Thanks for reading!

Confession (and how to gain 7 pounds in 2 days)

Saturday was my birthday... and I celebrated!

I started the week doing so well. I ate on plan, got in some exercise and by Saturday morning my scale kindly told me I was 208.0lbs - Happy Birthday to Me! Some girlfriends came to see me for the weekend. We spent the day at the spa, had lunch at the spa, went shopping, had appetizers and wine at my house, and then went to my favourite restaurant for dinner, finally we finished off the night with Karaoke and wine into the wee hours of the morning.

It is a tradition that my husband makes me an elaborate birthday cake every year (he is a great baker) and this year he did this while the girls and I were at the spa. He left this 3 layer from scratch, covered in chocolate ganache, filled with white chocolate blackberry mousse and topped with chocolate covered strawberries) chocolate cake for us to find upon returning from the restaurant. He took off to his moms to avoid the night for karaoke madness. This cake was unbelievably good - but I'm guessing about 1000 calories a slice!!!



In no particular order my birthday weekend also included - movie popcorn, a hot dog, baked Camembert covered in walnuts, a martini and chocolate covered raisins. SIGH...

I really did try to eat everything in moderation (except the evil delicious cake) but getting in my water was a big problem. I stepped on the scale last night and it screamed at me 215!!!!!!!!! Seven pounds in three days.... yikes! Today was better - so far I have eaten 19 points and have drunk 2 litres of water. I just weighed myself at 212 so three of those birthday pounds are gone already.

I am so tempted to avoid WI tomorrow night but they are launching the new WW program at the meeting so I can't miss - I guess I need to face the consequences anyway! After WI I am trying a Bikrham Yoga class. If you have never heard of this you are doing yoga positions in a room heated to 40 degrees. Of course you sweat like mad, I am trying this as people tell me that the heat allows for a really deep stretch and I am looking to relieve some of the tension in my chronically sore lower back. I will post tomorrow about how it goes.

Thanks for hearing my confession.. hope it is the last one for awhile!

As promised..

Good OP day today:

Flax plus cereal and yogurt (3)
Edemame beans (3)
Cheese strings (3)
Yogurt (1)
Baked cheezies (2)
Baked ritz (2)
Chicken quesidilla (8)
Yogurt (1)
Baked ritz (1)
Apple (1)
Hot chocolate (3)

29 points for the day
4 Litres of water
No real exercise but 9 hours run off my feet at work!

Feeling optimistic about my WI tomorrow night.

A 24 day plan...

The holidays are fast approaching and I need to kick things into high gear. I have been eating OP all week but too many 100cal snack packs and processed foods are making me feel blah.. It is time to recommit to the things that I know will bring me success.

#1 I need to blog more often.. boring all of you with my daily menus and exercise

#2 I need to exercise!!!!!!!!!!!!

#3 Pack my lunch everyday - no eating out (even the healthier choices)

#4 Drink 3 litres of water everyday (I have struggled this week)

I have no out of town trips planned for December so no more excuses.

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Ok now that I have a plan, let me tell you about the dinner DH and I had on Friday night. We went to a Seafood Buffet at a local resort (you need to click on the link to fully appreciate the menu!!) I had saved 23 points for this dinner and was excited for all the fresh seafood. It was AMAZING. I started with a big plate of salad and veggies and then I avoided all starches and stuck to salmon, crab legs, mussels, oysters, clams, and other fabulous ocean delicacies.

I was feeling very proud and a bit smug as I realized I was full and stopped eating (yay me!) I watched DH go back for another big plate full - and just sipped my water while he ate. I planned to have the sugar free blackberry mousse for dessert (because ugly planned ahead) So we headed to the dessert buffet....... and then I fell apart. Lets just say I had a chocolate truffle, Bavarian cream cake, chocolate mocha cake, blood orange mousse, deep dish apple pie and half of a sugar free black berry mousse. Now, I only had a sliver of all of these but they did fill an entire dessert plate. These were the most delicious desserts I have ever had. When I was done I was STUFFED - to the point of being in pain as we drove home.

This is the actual picture we took in the parking lot of the restaurant after the massive dinner. The expression on my face perfectly relays the feeling in my tummy!

Could have been a lot worse, but could have been a lot better. The next day it was so hard to get back on track. Some baked chips, diet coke, baked cheezies and other 'healthy crap' kept finding its way into my mouth.. I am still craving it today. I can feel myself on the edge of giving into a complete binge.. I keep telling myself that this is how people who have lost a lot of weight can gain it back quickly. I WILL BE STRONG!! I WILL BE STRONG!! I have worked too hard to let this sugar coma take over.....

My one shining OP meal of the weekend was when DH made ESBM Feast From the East again. This is so delicious, definitely a new favourite in our house.

So that is my confession, plan and pledge for the next month. I will be back tomorrow with a recap of my OP day and exercise!

WI#36 STS

I stayed the same this week. I know I am still retaining water from my week of eating out, one more dinner out tonight and then back OP for the week. DH and I are going to an annual seafood buffet at a local resort tonight. Buffet could mean trouble but I am eating mostly fruits and veggies all day so that I can save my points for this evening. Good thin shellfish is so low in calories - I just need to stay away from the melted butter.

I need a new exercise plan. My gym membership is finished and I think I will take a break from the gym until the new year. My new pan is to use my home exercise equipment 3-4 times a week for the next month. My Wii Fit, Dance Dance revolution, WATP video, pilates ball video, and in the short moments where it is not pouring rain I will strap on my runners and head into the neighbourhood to keep up my jogging.

I have a little recipe to share. I have been hearing for months about people who combine various things with cake mixes to make a lighter dessert. I decided it was time to give it a try - this is the recipe I used:

1 box angel food cake mix

15 ounces pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

3/4 cup cold water

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 tablespoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Combine all ingredients in large bowl, mix on low for 30 seconds then medium for one minute. 3. Pour into ungreased 13x9 pan. 4. Bake 35-40 minutes, remove from oven. 5. Cool upside down for best results.

Per serving: 107 calories, 0 Fat, 1g. Fibre

Only 2 points for the piece of delicious cake - I added 1/2 cup of ice milk and some sugar free butterscotch for another 2 points. This will definitely be making an appearance at Christmas dinner!

Tired of eating out..

I have been on the road since Friday. i just go home this evening and am exhausted! I spent the weekend in Vancouver with my Sister and nieces to do some shopping and see Hairspray. I made great food choices on Friday and Saturday - chicken, salads, subway etc.. but on the ferry home on Saturday night I was so hungry and tired that I caved an had a White Spot burger (my favourite!!) and yam fries.

I went straight to Victoria and have been working there for the past three days and staying in a hotel. This meant lunch at the food court each day - I was pretty good, salad and subway again. I bought some groceries for the hotel room - grapes, cottage cheese cups, veggie tray, and some baked chips. Last night I was too tired to go back to a grocery store or go to a restaurant so I ordered a small pizza from room service - spinach, olives, mushroom and feta. I ate the whole thing :(

Today I had a yogurt parfait and plain coffee from Starbucks (6 points) Two chicken tacos from Taco Time (8 points) and then on the 3 hour drive home I had a chocolate bar (5 points) and some crispy minis (4 points). I went to pick up my dog at my brothers and they were having Turkey lasagna for dinner - I had a small piece, a tiny piece of garlic toast and about 1/2 cup of Cesar salad. I don't think I went too far over my point allowance but definitely did not meet my nutritional requirements for the day.

I just stepped on the scale and it said 212 - but my fancy scale told me that my water % is very high (hmmmm could be the pizza, baked chips, lasagna, garlic bread, and crispy minis floating in my system!!) I am going to drink a litre of water tonight and try for another 3 tomorrow before my WI tomorrow night.

My week of the Wendi plan ended on Saturday and I lost about 4lbs in that week - hopefully i have not gained any of it back. I will be trying Wendi again starting this tomorrow! I will post my WI results tomorrow night - good or bad.

WI#35 -2.6 and breaking up with Ronald!

Yay!! I'm halfway through my Wendie week so that is not the entire reason behind my good WI but it has definitely kept me on track for the past few days. This morning the scale actually read 209.8 but I decided this was the week to change my WI outfit to something more weather appropriate (and the dress I usually wear is far too big now). Seeing 209 renewed my hope that I can reach onederland by Christmas.

Today is my super high Wendie day - I'm allowed 39 points! I was thinking about what I wanted to splurge on and decided that I would hit up good old McDonald's. I ordered a McChicken meal with a diet coke. I resisted the urge to eat the fries in the car like I used to and brought the meal home. The fries smelled delicious and I was excited to taste that old familiar salty grease. The first one tasted great.. the second one was good.. the third was ok.. the fourth tasted like salt and grease. Halfway through I thought "why am I eating these, I'm not even enjoying them" I gave the rest to my dog (she deserved a treat too). The McChicken was better but I would have enjoyed a fully loaded turkey sandwich more (for half the points). So now I am enjoying a cup of dark chocolate frozen yogurt for the same points I threw away in french fries.

I'm really glad I did this. My DH really likes his McDonalds and will have it as a treat on occasion - and I am a bit bitter when I order a side salad. Now I know I can just sneak a fry or two from him and be done with it. So, Ronald McDonald all I can say is, "don't feel bad, it's not you it's me!!"

Wendie Day3

I went to bed last night with a scratchy throat.. and woke up with a full blown head cold. I dragged my butt into work but soon my employees gently prodded me to go home (so this sneezy coughy disgustingness would not pass to them). I spent the next 11 hours watching TV and napping. I just wanted ice cream and jello! Here is how my day played out:



Flax plus cereal with yogurt (3)

WW bagel with ham cheese and lettuce (5)

Apple (1)

Jello (2)

Raw veggies with ff lemon poppy seed dressing (1)



and then it went downhill as the cold medication clouded my judgement...



Individual kraft dinner bowl (normally I would never eat this) (5)

2 cups Chocolate frozen yogurt (8)



This was my 25 point allotment for the day.. and then my Sister in law showed up with a piece of chocolate cake from the family dinner I missed.. I cut it in half and then ate one half... I don't know how many points but I am guessing at least 4. So 29 points for today throws off my Wendie plan a bit - I'm going to take 2 points off tomorrow and two points off Thursday and that should even things up. My WI is tomorrow morning and I still have high hopes for a decent loss.

Wendie Day2

I saw my lowest number yet on the scale this morning!! Day 2 of Wendie Plan and I am allowed 30 points, here is the breakdown:

3/4 cup flax plus cereal (2)
source yogurt (1)
apple (1)
Florets Nightingale (4)
Chicken Pandimoniyum (4)
Chocolate Pudding (4)
Ham (3)
Roasted brussel sprouts (1)
pita chips (2)
salsa and sour cream (3)
toast and jam (2)
hot chocolate (3)

25 point day tomorrow (still planning for my 39 point day on Wednesday!!)

Wendie Day1

Today I started the Wendie Plan. For the past 8 months I have faithfully eaten my points every day (rarely going over or under) so It felt a little strange to have so few points. I planned out my day carefully so I would not be left hungry in the evening. This is how I used my 24 points for today:

1 cup of flax plus cereal (2)
1 ff source yogurt (1)
small apple (1)
cucumber and cauliflower (1)
ww bagel (2)
ham, cheese slice, lettuce (2)
Florets Nightingale (5)
1oz chicken (1)
ff chocolate pudding (3)
cool whip (2)
Weight watchers bread (1)
sugar free jam (1)

Now it is 8pm and I have 2 points left for the night. I am going to drink another litre of water and then either have some popcorn or hot chocolate before bed. I am already planning for my 39 point day on Wednesday..... soooo many options!

Trying some new things...

I'm back from our trip Vancouver. We had a lot of fun shopping and reminiscing (we lived in various areas of the lower mainland from 1994-2001) with old friends. Being able to try on clothes in most regular stores is still a lot of fun for me. I limited my self to a few pieces as I hope they will not fit for long (and I work in a clothing store that tempts me every day!) I did quite well with my eating - our one splurge dinner out was at this fantastic Jamaican restaurant, my chicken entree was healthy(ish) but I did indulge in some delicious fried plantain chips (mm mm mm!!) I weighed my self this morning and I was the same as Wednesday so I am happy with that.

Today I made DH's lunches and dinners for the week as he was heading back up north this afternoon. I tried some new dishes from the Eat Shrink and be Merry Cookbook. First was Florets Nightingale. Cauliflower and Broccoli with a yummy creamy cheesy sauce and then topped with a Parmesan bread crumb topping. Next time I will spice up the cheese sauce a little and then this would perfect!

The next dish was Chicken Pandemoniyum. It was OK- nothing spectacular. It is a chicken and rice one pot meal. I am not a big fan of casseroles but DH loves his food all mushed up together and he really like this one.

This third was Fake 'n Bake Chicken. This was so simple and really delicious. One of the main ingredients is hoisin sauce, which is my favourite condiments, so this will definitely be a repeat recipe.

I think I need to shake up my weight loss routine again, so I am going to try the Wendi plan. I have read a few blogs from people who have had success with this so I am going to give it a try. Normally I get 29 points per day - so with the Wendi plan my week will play out like this:

Day 1 - 24 points
Day 2 - 30 points
Day 3 - 25 points
Day 4 - 39 points
Day 5 - 24 points
Day 6 - 30 points
Day 7 - 28 points

Should be interesting!

WI#34 +.8

I went to my WW meeting this morning and was greeted with a gain of .8 booo!! I'm not too upset as I was seeing a smaller number all week and this afternoon TOM arrived. Plus I had my spa indulgence day and only made it to the gym twice. This week is going to be another tough one as I am in a hotel in Vancouver until Saturday. DH is passed out under the big fluffy white duvet on the king size bed as I write this right now. I bought some grapes and a smoothie for breakfast tomorrow and will find a healthy lunch in the food court (I am running a workshop at a mall tomorrow). DH and I are going out for a nice dinner tomorrow night and I already know dessert will be a challenge. I usually have no trouble saying no to sweets but I am craving chocolate like crazy today!

We are spending the day Christmas shopping on Friday so at least I will get lots of walking in. Speaking of Christmas, I usually make homemade candy to give all my employees for Christmas. The new healthy me would like lighten up the gifts this year - any ideas for something I could make that would be ok to package up a week or so before it is given??

Finally I have one more picture to post. I get so happy when someone takes a good picture of me because for years i have been cropping my photos or deleting them completely. This is my favourite one in a long time - I felt fabulous that day and I think it shows!

NSV... a goal achieved!

Tonight I tried on my 'Inspiration Hoodie' and IT FIT!!!! It is a little snug but definitely wearable. The weight has not been coming off as fast lately but all my clothes are fitting looser and I am starting to see some muscle definition from my hours doing weights at the gym. I am so excited - it is so true that the number on the scale is only one reflection of my success.

So while I was in the closet with my hoodie I decided to pull out the one pair of size 22 pants that I kept (for comparison sake). I put them on and of course they fell right off. Sometimes I forget that I was ever that size - the changes are so gradual that I often don't register a difference when I look in the mirror. So I decided to lay my new size 15 (regular not plus!!) jeans on top of my old pants - this is a visual that really showed me just how far I have come.

I know I have a long way to go still - but tonight I am going to celebrate what I have accomplished and then write out a menu for the next few days so I can have a great WI on Wednesday. As soon as I WI my DH and I are headed to Vancouver for 4 days. I have a work meeting one day and then we are going to spend the rest of the time doing some Christmas shopping and hanging out together.

Thanks for sharing my NSVs - hope you had a fantastic weekend!

A day for me..

I missed my WW meeting this week. There are three meetings where I live and this is the first time (except for when I am out of town) that I was not able to make any of them. I did a WI at home on Wednesday and recorded a loss of 1.2 lbs.

My blue mood has been slow to lift so I planned a day of pampering for myself today. My DH my best friend and I went to a spa this morning and I had a lovely day of pampering. This is the website for the fantastic Kingfisher Spa. We started the morning with the Hydropath which is a series of different water features that you move through - some massaging, some mineral imparting, some rejuvenating. It was fantastic! This took about an hour and then we lounged in a beautiful solarium overlooking the ocean and mountains of the Georgia Strait. We then had lunch at the gourmet restaurant on site. I had 'Wild Salmon Firecracker' - it was grilled local salmon with Asian slaw wrapped in phyllo dough. Plus a salad with raspberry vinaigrette.

After lunch my DH left and my friend and I went back to the spa. We had some time in the hot tub, steam room and mineral pool and then were taken to our appointments for Thellassotherapy body wraps. I was very nervous about this.. I have had massages and facials before but a full body scrub and wrap is something I never would have considered 55 pounds ago. For anyone who has never had a treatment like this I will give you the basics. You lay naked on a bed in a dimly lit room with a sheet over you. The esthetician then rubbed my entire body with a sea salt scrub - she very carefully manipulated sheets and towels so that my entire body was eventually worked on without feeling exposed or uncomfortable. She then repeated the process with a cooling gel. I was then wrapped in cellophane and then in blankets. the gel began to heat up and become tingly. She then gave me a mini facial and head massage. I laid there for about 20 minutes and then was unwrapped and showered off. Then lotion was applied to my entire body and the treatment was over.

All of my fears of claustrophobia, and self consciousness about my far from perfect body were completely unnecessary. It was an absolutely pleasant and relaxing experience. We left the spa around 3pm feeling calm and sleepy. My friend (who was visiting from Calgary) and I decided we would go out for a nice dinner to extend our day of spoiling ourselves. We went to my favourite bistro. I had a curry coconut chicken pasta and a Wedding Day Martini (champagne and cherry brandy). Finally we went to a coffee shop and had skinny vanilla lattes and shared a piece of cheesecake.

Today was the first day in months that I did not calculate the points for what I ate. I definitely did not overeat and I enjoyed every mouthful! I am going to count today as using all my weekly flex points and not give it another thought. I am feeling relaxed and content this evening, ready to put a smile on my face tomorrow morning and say goodbye to this blue mood for good!!!

Blue..

I have been feeling a bit blue this week. I think it has to do with all the rain. I knew when I relocated from the prairies to the rainforest that this would be an issue but 7 days without seeing the sun and I began to feel like the grey clouds had taken up permanent residence in my mood. I have been ok with my points - staying within my allowed but maybe not making the best choices (frozen yogurt and a bag of grapes for dinner last night!!??!!) I am struggling with my water though. That is a problem I have not really had before. So to pull myself out of my funk I decided that my cuter new body needed a cuter new haircut (sorry for the bad photo but my camera is still MIA so I used my webcam). It is blonder that usual and I hope that will help brighten up my mood.

Tonight I made a real dinner (grilled chicken, roasted cauliflower and roasted potatoes) and am going to force myself to drink another litre of water before bed. The scale is hovering around the same place as my last WI so I think I will show a loss if I can rehydrate myself over the next few days. My temperamental back is acting up again so I have not been to the gym since Thursday.. I think I will either go and ride the bike tomorrow or maybe hit the pool for a nice low impact workout and a hot tub!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

WI#32 -2.6lbs

I weighed in at my WW meeting this morning and was happy to see a 2.6 pound loss. There is still hope that I will reach my Onederland by Christmas goal. I need to lose 2lbs a week for the next 8 weeks.

In food news (sorry no pictures as I left my Camera at my mom's the other day) my husband had the day off yesterday, when I got home from work he had prepared a recipe from my new Eat Shrink and Be Merry Cookbook. He prepared Feast From the East and it was delicious! We have now made 6 recipes from this book and they have all been excellent. The salad he prepared used cold whole wheat spaghetti, grilled steak, tons of veggies and a wonderful Asian sauce. The next time we have it I will definitely take a picture, it was as good to look at as it was to eat.

The three month gym pass that I purchased in August only has a couple of weeks left. I have really been enjoying the gym and the strength training that I was not really getting in the pool. But, I am missing my swim workouts. I can't afford passes to both so I am a bit torn about where to focus my exercise for the next few months. Hmmmm...

I hope all the other Wed WIs went great. I am off to check on blogland now.

HYC - check in

This week has continued on plan. It seems so easy when I am on a roll, 10 days of journalling, eating within my points, exercising every second day and I feel the best I have ever felt! The scale has been dropping every morning this week and I think my Wed WI will be a really good one.

The new winter clothes arrived at work today so we had our usual 'try everything on session' I am please to report that I am officially out of the plus sizes on top. The XL regulars are fitting my great and the 1x that I wore all fall are now baggy. I am also a 14 plus on the bottom now and can squeeze myself into the largest regular size (but not breathe comfortably). All the ladies who work with me were full of compliments and it was a great day.

My DH came home from his latest stint away and I made him step on the scale right away. He is doing fantastic! I am really proud of him.. he is six foot four so he is quickly getting towards a healthy weight for his height. He is starting to look like the guy I starting dating 14 years ago.

So all is good here.. I will report back after my WI on Wednesday.

WI#31 -1.0 lb

I went to WI this morning and was pleased to see a one pound loss. I still think I deserved better after my great OP week but I will be satisfied with any loss at this point. I had to work the evening shift tonight so no great food pictures to post as my lunch was some leftover meatloaf, snap peas, a curves bar (the strawberry one is only 1point!!!), grapes and a 100cal package of craisins.

I just got home and had a quick bowl of cereal to finish off my points for the day and am off to bed! Hope my other Wed WI friends were all losers today.

Weigh-in Eve check-in

I have completed my week OP. I earned 24 activity points this week and ate about half of them. I did not dip into my weekly flex at all. I will be weighing in tomorrow morning and don't think the loss will be significant. However I took my measurements today and have lost another inch off my hips and waist even though I have not lost any pounds in the past month. I would love to see the scale start going down again but the fact that my clothes are looser and I can run farther and faster will have to be enough to keep me motivated for now!

Today was leftover day. I turned last nights Sticky Chicky into delicious pita pizzas for lunch. I used BBQ sauce for the base. Added the chopped up chicken, some fresh pineapple, low fat mozzarella and some creamy goat cheese. Felt sinfully good for only 7 points.

Dinner was the leftover meatloaf from the other night, but I did make one of our favourite fall side dishes. Pan fried parsnips (add a bit of butter, orange juice concentrate, splenda brown sugar and salt and pepper.)

I will post tomorrow after the WI!

HYC - check in

Another day OP - feels good! DH and I went shopping to a town 90 min from here so we could hit up a bookstore and then Costco to stock up on meat. We had a Booster Juice for breakfast and Subway for lunch so I had 15 points left for dinner and evening snacking.

I picked up the Eat Shrink and be Merry book I am always reading about on every ones blogs and tonight I made Sticky Chicky (as I had all the ingredients already). It was delicious!! I also made red cabbage and apples (just saute with salt and pepper until tender and then add a splash of red wine vinegar) Threw a side salad together and this entire plate is 8 points!

Today was an planned off day from the gym but I did get in a 30 min walk with DH and the pup as well as lots of mall walking. A little shy on water so far today so I will fill up on another litre before bed while I peruse my new ESBM cookbook.

Sunday Check-in

Tonight I tried a couple of new recipes, one was a huge success and one was a major flop. The first was a Turkey Sweet Potato Meatloaf that I found on http://www.allrecipes.com/ Mashed sweet potato is mixed in with the raw turkey mixture before baking. The result is a moist and flavourful meat loaf. DH really does not like ground meat but he absolutely raved about this loaf and wants me to make it again soon. I made a few adjustments to the recipe on the website. I used some fresh sage and thyme. I only used half the salt and pepper called for and I put in 1/2 cup mixed BBQ sauce and ketchup. The other half cup (plus a tbsp Splenda brown sugar blend) was spread on top halfway through cooking. I like my meatloaf free form on a cookie sheet (more yummy outer crust). This is a must try if you are looking for a way to make this comfort food healthier. Loaf made four very generous servings at 6 points each.

The flop of the evening was a pumpkin custard recipe from the WW.ca website. The custard was band (tasted a bit of dirt) and the yogurt topping was inedible. I think the recipe is good in premise so I will play around with the sweetness and spiciness and give it another try at a future date. Here is a snap of what one looked like (minus the horrible sauce).

I managed to snap a quick picture before the last portion of Friday's chicken stew was consumed. A pretty basic stew but the addition of creamed corn and evaporated milk made it deliciously creamy.

So, to recap: points we on track today. Water - 2L consumed and working on #3. Exercise - 35 minutes jog/walk intervals and 20 min weights. Breakfast and dinner planned for tomorrow (lunch will be at mall food court as we are going on a shopping trip out of town - probably Subway or Opa!)

Saturday Check-in

As promised to myself here is my check-in for today. I went to the gym last night as planned and had a great workout. For the first time I did Week5 Day1 of the C25K. The intervals were 5min run/ 3min walk/ 5min run/ 3min walk/ 5min run. I felt good through the whole thing and followed it up with 30min of weigh training. I will repeat these running intervals tomorrow and again on Tuesday.

I made a delicious chicken stew last night (sorry, forgot to snap a picture) Did not really follow a recipe but was able to make it thick and creamy in a WW friendly way. Here is what I did

Sauteed shallots, mushrooms, garlic and leeks in 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1/2 tbsp of butter until tender. Sprinkled 2 tbsp of flour over the mixture and cooked for another minute. Whisked in 4 cups of chicken broth.

Added 1 cup of of cubed potato, 1 cup carrots and 1 cup broccoli. Cooked covered for about 5 minutes.

Added 3/4 cup of non-fat evaporated milk and 1 can creamed corn, salt, pepper, fresh thyme and sage.

Added frozen peas and corn and 2 cooked and cubed chicken breasts.

This recipe made 5 generous portions of thick, creamy stew - for only 6 points each serving!

I packed a healthy lunch for work sticking to my previous plan. I did have an encounter with a cookie from Subway (bought by a co-worker) and worked those 5 points into my daily points. I had more chicken stew for dinner and indulged in some Old Dutch baked dill chips to finish of my points for the day. I tracked everything on the WW website and only have 3 cups of water left to tick all my boxes for today.

I think the scale was scared by all my planning yesterday and this morning showed me a number I have not seen yet. If it shows its face again I will take a picture!

Enough is Enough

I am slipping back into old habits of doing for everyone before I do for myself. For the last few weeks I have been sporadic with tracking, planning, exercising, blogging and staying for my WW meeting. So I am re-committing right this moment to put myself first again and get back to doing the things that have brought me success so far in my quest to lose this weight. Here is my plan to tackle each of these elements.

Tracking - I will use the WW online tracker everyday this week to track my food, veggies, water and activity points.

Planning - I have written out breakfast, lunch and dinner menus for th entire week and have just returned from the grocery store with everything I need to make these healthy meals,

Exercising - I will go to the gym Friday (today), Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Blogging - I will blog everyday with the delicious meals I have made and to vent any negative feelings I have

WW Meeting - I will attend my regular Wed night meeting and will stay and listen!!!!!

This is going to be a great week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm back... for a moment

I finally have a few minutes to sit down and pour out all of the stress and frustration I am feeling onto my blog buddies. Last week my brother and his fiance came to stay with me for 5 days as she recovered from day surgery. She had a tummy tuck and breast augmentation at a clinic near where I live and needed to stay close by for the fist days of her recovery. I definitely don't judge her decision to have these surgeries but she is a tiny tiny girl who, after having 2 babies in 2 years, wanted her old body back. It caused some interesting emotions within me as I have always envied has body (both in size and fertility!) It is hard for me to relate to how she can be so unhappy with her body, I guess we all have body image issues no matter what shape or size!

The hardest part of having them here was the junk food that my brother brought into my house. My brother is 2 years older than me and my parents adopted him when he was an infant. He is tall, dark and skinny - the complete opposite of me - and has never had to watch what he eats. I did not succumb to the junk food but it was strange to have that food back in my house again. I had not seen them in quite awhile and the first thing they both mentioned was that they were amazed at the pictures I had posted on facebook of our bike trip, and how much weight I had lost. My brother and I have a complicated relationship, it meant a lot that he noticed and was clearly proud of me.

On Sunday I drove the 4 hours to visit DH as he had to work for the long weekend. It was a relaxing visit - we went to the Golf Club for Thanksgiving dinner last night. I ate the whole deal - turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes and a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream. It was good - I have no idea of the points so I will call it my Flex for the week and move on.

I have to go to Victoria for work for a few days tomorrow morning. I am dropping the pup off at my parents tonight and since I will not be around for my WW meeting this week I am going to go with my Mom to the one in her town tonight. That means this WI will only be 5 days... I hope to see a 217 ish number again.

Exercise was good this week. 3 days at the gym and one aqua fit class. I am still plugging away slowly at the C25K - I have done the week 4 intervals 6 times now and just do not feel ready to move on yet. I complete it every time but my heart rate is up higher than I would like at the end of the last 5 min run. I think I will do one more week and then move on to the 8 min runs of week 5.

Sorry my posting has been so sporadic... I guess learning to mold this new healthy lifestyle around an irregular routine is just another challenge for me!

Hope you are all doing well - I'm off to check on your blogs now and catch up.

life....sigh

Life is busy these days.. out of town a lot and swamped with work. I lost only .2 this week but I think next week will be much better! I will give a better update soon. Hope you are all doing well!

Fudgicles and Mandarin Oranges

That is what I had for dinner last night... and tonight. My motivation for getting in the kitchen seems to have disappeared this week. I ate out for lunch every day (Subway Turkey or Tim Horton's Chili) and just snacked my way through my points in the evenings never really managing a full meal. I did track and have not gone over my points at all but I need to get back to putting in the effort of making a real meal for myself.

Part of the problem is that my DH is gone for 4 weeks away at work, I am driving the three hours north to visit him tomorrow and will be there until Tuesday. The tiny village he in working in has no Internet access and pretty limited cable so while he is at work I will be pouring over all the healthy cookbooks/magazines I own (I have a cookbook fetish!!!) and am going to make meal plans/ grocery lists for the rest of October. My running shoes and Ipod will also be coming with me and I will attempt to finish week 4 of the C25K over the next three days.

Onederland seems so close when I look at the numbers... deep breath... I can do this!!!!!!

WI#30 +1 lb

I put off WI until today hoping my super water guzzling abilities would put me back to where I was before vacation but I came up a pound short. I am fine with that - I had a great time on my trip - ate ate some great restaurants with some great friends and did not feel deprived - that was worth a pound to me.

I have kept my promises to myself this week. I have kept to my 29 points each day, drank at least 2 litres of water each day and have gone to the gym 4 days in a row. I just returned from my workout tonight and I think I will take a day off tomorrow. I completed day 2 of week 4 in my C25K program but it was a tough one tonight.

The intervals are 3min run, 90sec walk, 5 min run, 2.5min walk, 3min run, 90sec walk, 5 min run. Yesterday I did it for the first time and it went pretty well. I should have taken a day in between because I really struggled tonight even with the 3 min runs. I am proud that I completed it but I literally doubted myself every second of the way and the constant battle in my head made me just as tired as the physical exertion. I think I was just in a bad mental place. Tomorrow I am abstaining from the gym but I will take my dog for a long walk and do 30min on my DDR - that always makes me happy.

My silliest but best NSV so far

Last December my sister and her family went to Disneyland. Before they left my 8 year old niece asked me who my favourite Disney character was. I jokingly told her it was Grumpy (a la the Seven Dwarfs). When they got back from their vacation she was so excited to give me a gift she bought with her own money. It was the flannel PJ's that I am wearing in the picture below with Grumpy all over them. They were an XL and they did not even come close to fitting. Of course I told her that I loved them and would wear them every night. I found them in my closet last night and they not only fit but are almost too big! I can't wait for the next time she sleeps over and I put them on - she will be so excited! I just had to share this NSV and the PJ picture (even though pink flannel would not be flattering no matter what size I am).

This next picture is a motivational one. I have never been the type to buy clothes too small in hopes I would fit into them some day, but I broke my own rule when I was in Calgary last week. I have coveted this LouLou Lemon Hoodie for a long time, the largest size they make is a 12... It has always been my onederland reward. I went to the store 3 times while I was on vacation so finally I bought it. It is now hanging front and center on my closet door where I will see it everyday and I will try it on every Wednesday after my WI. I feel good at the size I am now - I know I will feel GREAT when that hoodie fits comfortably.

While I was out of town my mom and dad came to house sit/ dog sit for us (they are retired). My mom saw my WW cookbooks and probably my point tracker etc. I have never told her that I am going to WW meetings, of course she has noticed the weight loss and complimented me but at the beginning I just wanted this to be my choice, for me with no pressure or expectations from anyone else so I never mentioned it. My mom has been overweight since she had my sister 42 years ago and I can remember her doing WW at various points of my childhood. I know I got some bad eating habits from my parents but I was brought up with loads of self-confidence and self esteem no matter how much I weighed. I don't blame either of my parents for my weight issues but it is not something generally spoken about at family get-togethers. My sister lost a lot of weight about 3 years ago (size 18 to a size 8) and we were all thrilled for her but it didn't go to far in motivating the rest of us.

Ok, now I'm rambling.. back to the point of the story. When I returned home my mom told me she had borrowed my recipe books because she was starting WW again after a health scare and some tough words from her doctor. I am excited that she will be jumping on the healthy living bandwagon and it will be good to have someone else to share recipes and great finds with. My parents are the least judgemental people I know, so I am glad that we will be able to share with out feeling pressure.

I invited her over for lunch tomorrow and am planning a great healthy delicious meal for us. Turkey meatballs, homemade tomato sauce, whole wheat pasta and a spinach salad. Mmmm. Hopefully I will be in a great mood after my WI tomorrow morning (as of this morning I am still showing up 2 lbs after vacation).

So, onto my recap of this weeks plan.. eating within points (YES) 1 hour each day at the gym (YES) 2 Litres of water each day (YES)

I had a mini victory on the treadmill today. I decided to (once again!!) do a day of week 3 of the C25K. As I was completing my final 3min run I decided that I was feeling pretty good and kept going for another 2 minutes. I know running for 5 minutes does not sound like much of a victory but for me it is a big deal. I have been putting off moving onto week 4 because 5 minutes seemed like attempting to climb a mountain. I didn't fall, I didn't have a heart attack, me runners did not spontaneously combust... woo hoo maybe I will become a runner yet! Onto week four day one tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still getting back on track..

I really wish it was easier to get motivated again after vacation. I fought with myself for a couple of hours about going to the gym tonight.. I finally went and am glad I did but it was a tough workout. I went back to week 3 of the C25K - I completed it but am exhausted now! If anyone reading this has done the C25k, did you ever hit a point that you felt you could not move on? Moving onto week 4 scares the crap out of me - the 3min runs are difficult, I can't imagine attempting the 5 min... sigh..

Food today has been so so.. here is the menu

1 cup flax plus cereal (2)
1/2 cup skim (1)
curves bar (2)
pepperoni cheese stick (!!!!!! how did that happen??) (8)
turkey burger (4)
ww bun (3)
ff cheese slice (1)
condiments (1)
sunrype fruit bars (2)

I have 5 points left - I think some hot chocolate and fruit to end the day on a positive note.

I accomplished my goals for the day, I just wish it didn't feel like such a fight!

Getting back on track...

I am back from vacation and just stepped on the scale for the first time in 10 days. It is showing me a 4lb gain... yuck!! I am hoping I can do my usual flush out the water trick and get back to 217 for my WI on Wednesday. I was not physically counting points during my vacation but I tried to make good decisions as we ate out almost every meal. I had an encounter with apple pie and ice cream and one night we went out for an Indian feast (SOOooooo Goood!) On the drive back from Calgary yesterday I had some creamy dill baked lays, some diet coke and a veggie burger and fries. So much salty foods = massive water retention for me.

I always find it difficult to get back on track after vacation so I am writing down my plan for the week and will update my food and exercise each day to help keep me accountable.

I will go to the gym for an hour for the next 5 days.
I will eat only my 29 daily points each day
I will drink at least 2L of water each day
I will eat at least 5 fruit and veggies each day

Myra Trestles - Kettle Valley Railroad

The bike trip went great today. It was a little drizzly and overcast when we started but cleared up after a short time. The scenery was unbelievable! In 15km we went over 17 trestles and through 2 tunnels. When we reached the next station we turned around and headed back. For those of you familiar with the Kelowna area we started at Myra Station and then cycled to Ruth Station and back. It was so much fun and we are already planning our next bike adventure.

Tonight we went for dinner to a friends house who we have not seen in a few years, they served grilled salmon, beet roots and yam fries. I had a bagel for breakfast, a couple of fibre one bars during the biking and Tim Horton's chili for lunch so today was good food-wise as well as exercise wise.

Now we are off to Calgary for the rest of the week. The friend we are staying with does not have Internet access at home so I'm not sure if I will be able to update.

Here are a few more pictures from the stunning Myra Valley in Kelowna BC.

On Vacation... kind of on program???

DH and I have finally started the 10 day vacation we have been looking forward to for so long. We went to Vancouver on Friday and stayed the night at his sisters. Can't find NI for almost everything I have been eating so I will list it here and hope seeing itin wrinting will keep me motivated.

Friday

- 6inch turkey sub from Subway
- chicken fingers and caeser salad (on the ferry)
- penne bombay (with prawns and curry sauce) from my favourite Vancouver restaurant
- one large fluffy fresh white bun
-1/3 piece of Strawberry Cheesecake

Saturday

- leftover penne bombay
- McDonalds fruit and yogurt parfait
- one sour cream glazed Timbit (note not an actual donut!!)
- Chicken pita wrap and greek salad (from Opa!)
- Chicken Oscar (from Moxies so it was probably a ridiculous amount of points!!!)
- Some grapes and snap peas in the hotel room

We are in Kelowna now and tomorrow is the 30km trail ride that we have been looking forward to for so long. The most we have done so far is some 10km rides but we have heard this is an easy ride with few hills. We are going to take our time and enjoy the scenery so I hope I do ok! I will update tomorrow evening when we return.

WI#29 -3.4

That's more like it! I will take this as the scales way of apologizing for last week! A few milestones reached with this 3.4 pounds gone forever; 50lbs lost, my weight is in the 'teens' and another point gone from my daily WW allowance.

I feel so in control of my body right now. It is amazing how much your body will tell you if you are willing to listen. Now that 50lbs of fat are gone I can feel water retention, real hunger pains, lack of sleep, lack of protein and low blood sugar. All of these things were just blended together before and I was not listening to the signs my body was giving me. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone else but I think this is a major key to making this a permanent change in my life.

Today at my WW meeting we talked about the power that absolute thinking can have over our weight loss efforts. Thinking 'I can never have that again' or 'I always overeat in a certain situation' will only sabotage my efforts. I have lost the first 50 pounds by being very strict with myself - I have only occasionally dipped into my weekly flex points and have avoided my trigger foods almost completely (mostly potato chips, pizza, white pasta to name a few). I have begun to indulge a little in these items, making them fit within my points and learning to listen to my body and resist the urge to binge. This is how I will success long term. I need to think like a thin person - enjoy a reasonable amount of the foods I love and stay in control - not let them control me. I am hoping at the end of the next 50 pounds the transformation will not only be physical but mental as well.

Thanks for being here for my rant!

Weight Watchers Karma?

Last week I had a completely undeserved lousy .2 loss after working my butt off at the gym and eating on plan all week. I was called out of town last minute for work and have been living at a hotel for the past few days. No gym time and random, sporadic eating has been my life. I just got home and jumped on the scale and this is what I was greeted with:

2 pounds... and it is evening.. and I just ate dinner. It is the first time I have seen a number below 220 - WOO HOO! So now it is confession time.. I did not eat very often while I was gone because I was working most of the time.

Yesterday I had coffee with milk and splenda, a non-fat chai latte, a Starbucks breakfast sandwich, green curry prawn rice bowl, and a GIANT PIECE OF CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE. There was some bok choy in the rice bowl but other than that not another veggie nor fruit passed by my lips all day and I only drank about 1 litre of water all day.

Today was a bit better. I had a fruit smoothie, a pizza bun (!!), a non-fat chai latte, a fruit and yogurt parfait, diet coke, grilled salmon, rice and salad.

I know that this is not a healthy way to lose weight but I think the drastic change in my eating and exercise pattern shook up my metabolism a bit.. unfortunately I feel tired and sluggish because of too much work, not enough sleep, not enough water and not enough nutrients! I have to go back out of town Wed-Thursday this week and then DH and I are leaving for vacation (and our much anticipated bike trip). I will make it to WI on Wednesday and have my fingers crossed that I might hit the 50lb lost mark.

WI#28 -0.2 lbs

ARGG! This weeks WI was very frustrating! I have had small losses, gains and stay the sames a few times over the past months, but I always knew why. Either I ate too much or move too little. This week though I did not cheat a single time, I ate all my points plus half of my activity points. I earned 28 AP this week at the gym an bike riding... I deserve better! My leader told me to try eating more this week - to eat my flex points as well as my AP and see what happens. If I don't see results from that I will try the Wendi Plan that I have heard so much about next week.

So, yesterday I decided that I would use some flex and have a hamburger I have been craving from White Spot (for the non-Canadian readers out there I am so sorry that you may never have the pleasure of trying a delicious, gooey White Spot burger). I had the cheddar bacon burger (no fries though) an I must admit that it was absolutely divine! Last night when I tallied up my points for the day I went to the web to calculate the NI and that lovely burger was 22 points!!!!! That's right I said 22 points!!!!!!!!! Apparently 200 of the 867 calories come from the 'special sauce'. So yesterday I used the 4 AP that I earned as well as 10 of my weekly flex points - I'm pretty sure a 22 pt burger is not what my WW leader had in mind when she told me to eat more :-)

In keeping with the burger theme, for dinner last night I made Slow Cooker Cheeseburger Soup from the WW.ca website. I made homemade pita chips and served it with raw veggies and dip. We eat very little red meat (aside from 22 points burgers!!!!) so this was a nice change to the constant chicken and turkey. The entire meal was only 9 points and really tasty.

I also ate my Dragon fruit yesterday. DH was not really a fan but I quite liked it. RO me it tasted like a cross between a kiwi and a honeydew melon. I will definitely put it out on the fruit platter the next time I have people over for brunch. I had it for breakfast with one of the new Bagelful cinnamon breakfast thingies. The Bagelful was good but for 4 points I could have had 1.5 cups of Flax Plus Cereal and milk!


To finish off yesterdays crazy eating we had some frozen yogurt while watching a movie. If you haven't tried the new Chapman's Yogurt Plus you must. They are pricey but for only 2pts for 1/2 a cup they are worth the $$ in my opinion. Last night we had Dark Chocolate Rapture but the usual favourite is the Poached Pear an Caramel.

The plan for today is to stain our new fence and prepare DH food for the next week. Hope you are all doing well!

HYC - check in

It was a good OP week. I am having a little scale trouble though. After my WI last Wednesday my home scale was showing me up about 4lbs. This has been going on since Thursday morning. I used the scale at the gym and it was showing 4lbs lower. I am not really upset by the number but this is a relatively cheap scale and I have never really trusted it. So I invested in a new scale that also measures body fat % as well as body water %. It is really cool! I like being able to see how hydrated my body is and am looking forward to watching my fat % drop as my weight does.

I am curious to see if the number on the new scale is in line with the WW scales at my meeting.

My DH bought me a little (almost) 50lbs lost gift. This pretty pink stainless water bottle and a holder for my bike. I love pink! His is the manly green one :)

Finally a couple of food pictures. Tonight I was craving pizza so I created my own with what I had on hand and used a pita for the crust. The pizza had sauce, shrimp, pineapple, asparagus and 4% Allegro Cheese (this is sooo good and sooo low points). Delicious! Next picture is of the Dragon Fruit I picked up at the store last night. It was calling my name, my problem is that I have no idea how to eat it.. any suggestions?

Looking forward to reading all the other HYC check-ins... off to Google Dragon Fruit now.

Festival Food....

I used to really like food that comes on a stick. Ice cream, candy apples, skewered meat, cotton candy, corn dogs... I think you get the picture. My DH and I recently when to the annual festival in our home town. This year I was not really tempted by the 'food on a stick booths', but the salmon bbq is a tradition that I could not pass up. They catch salmon in the morning and then grill it over a wood fired with the most delicious herb marinade. It has been the same since I was a little girl and it is the best meal I have all year. A few small changes to the meal and I enjoyed it as much as ever. I had the whole wheat roll (no butter), the baked potato with a tsp of butter (no sour cream) and I skipped the salad (very creamy mystery dressing all over it). The salmon was the highlight and although high in points it is one of the healthiest foods you can eat - and I enjoyed every bite (as you can see by the picture).

On to other news. I completed Week3 Day1 of the C25K on Friday with flying colours. I actually found it quite easy. The format is

5 min warmup

90 sec run

90sec walk

3 min run

3min walk

(repeat )

5 min cool down

I will do week3 day2 tomorrow after work.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

I had forgotten that when I first joined ww in february someone on the ww.ca messgage boards told me I should take my measurements. It was a painful thing to do but I did and tucked them away in a safe place... until today. I came across them while going through some papers and decided after 27 weeks it was time to do a little comparison. Here are my results:

Waist -7inches

Hips -5inches

Bust -6inches

Upper Arm -2inches

Thigh -3inches

Calves -1inch

WOO HOO!! I am excited about those numbers. I know I am getting smaller because I had to buy all new clothes, but when the changes happen so gradually sometimes I feel like I look exactly the same. The biggest changes have been in my bust and upper arms. Today I bought an XL top in a regular ladies wear store.. great NSV for me!

I am about to head to the gym to try day 1 of week3 C25K. I am nervous about the three minute runs but I am going to give it my best. Will update tomorrow.

WI#27 -1.2lbs

I went to WI this morning and the scale read 221.2. A pretty good loss but I was hoping for more after working my butt off at the gym for the past two weeks. I have been sticking faithfully to the plan so I think it is time to try something to shake things up a bit. This week I am going to eat all of the activity points I earn. I rarely eat my flex points and find that I don't really lose if I eat them, I also never touch my activity points. But, I think with my increase in activity my body is freaking out a bit and holding on to the fat for dear life. I will use my 4 AP everyday with a glass of milk and/or and extra serving of lean protein to try and boost my metabolism a bit.

There are 16 weigh-ins before Christmas so I have to lose at least 1.4lbs each week to make my Onederland goal. Each time I step on the scale I imagine what it will be like the day my weight starts with a 1! Right now it is all the motivation I need to stay OP and keep moving at the gym.

Today my DH and I did the same 5km trail ride that we did a few weeks ago. I can tell my time at the gym is making a difference because I had a good rush of adrenalin after the ride today but was not winded at all. It was actually a really pleasant afternoon.

The scale also moved a bit for DH this week. He has been stalled in his weight loss and finally admitted that he needs to cut out some of the little 'treats' he has during the week. As I have said before he works out of town for four days each week in a little town that has nothing but a convenience store that sells a little of everything, and a Chinese restaurant. So, I prepare all his meals and snacks ahead of time, all portioned out so he doesn't really have to think about it. His shifts are 12-16 hours long so I think sending him with healthy convenient food is the least I can do for how hard he works.

This is a picture of the cooler ready to go for this week. The menu is:

Breakfast:

oatmeal with applesauce

Snack:

fibre one bar and fresh pineapple

Lunch:

turkey chili (with lentils, black beans, kidney beans, chick peas, and tons of veggies)

Snack:

broccoli, carrots, and snap peas

Dinner:

Indian Butter Chicken, peas, rice

Snack:

Sun Rype fruit source bar

My DH has a really big sweet tooth and has been adding some cookies, donuts etc.. from the little store to his healthy menu a few times a week. He also has McDonalds on his way back up to work each week (Big Xtra, fries and root beer). Tonight before he left we had dinner here and he said he is going to forgo the McD's and the extra snacks this week to see what kind of loss he can post! I am so glad that he is on board with this and struggling through right along with me. We have been together for 13 years and until 7 months ago he had no idea how much I weighed (oh, I'm sure he had a guess but I would never tell him.) Since I have started this program, and have told him where I am and where I want to be, he has been so supportive.

A quick update.

Things are rolling along smoothly here. My nephew was born on Thursday so the last few days have been filled with family and excitement.

My eating has been on plan. Used a few flex points yesterday after and encounter with a piece of Pineapple upside down cake at a family dinner but the piece was small and accompanied by 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream. It was really good but I was able to stop at the one piece.

I have gone to the gym Wed, Friday and Sunday (just got back from a morning workout and now heading off to work). I have done the first two days of week2 of the C25K and feel pretty good about it. I will probably do a second week of week 2 - after the runs my heart rate is a little above the rec commended zone for cardio - I would like to run for 3 minutes and stay in that zone.

That's all the news from here. Hope you are all having a great long weekend. I am excited for fall - I think it will be much easier to stay in a routine when all the summer parties guests etc.. slow down.