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Saturday, May 31, 2008

Busy busy...

I know, I didn't check yesterday. Things have been busy! Today was busy! But I did get in my Weight workout this morning (1 hour) and I just finished playing with the Wii Fit. I am so bad at the Balance Games it isn't funny. Now I am pretty much ready to crawl in bed with my book and read for a while.

I know. This was not an exciting post at all. I will try to do better this week, I promise.

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Daily Record
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BF: 2 slices multigrain toast w/Olivina margarine & honey, coffee w/cream
Lunch: Red curry chicken & rice (leftover from my supper last night)
Supper: Taco Salad

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Tagged

I was tagged by Crystal to list 5 facts about myself...I already did one of these with 7 facts a while back...Not sure I can come up with 5 more, but here goes...thinking...thinking...this is hard....thinking some more...Argh!

1. I am a pack rat. I wish I wasn't, but I am.
2. I have never dyed my hair. I like my natural colour.
3. I don't like making phone calls and will go to great lengths to avoid doing so.
4. I don't like kiwi. I think they have a metallic taste.
5. I have a lemon tree and a key lime tree, each growing in pots in my kitchen. I started them from seeds and I was quite impressed that they grew.

We got home from work yesterday to find that our lawn care people had been by and treated our lawn for weeds. This means that the cats can't go out and play in the yard for 24 hours. There were some unhappy kitties in the JavaChick home last night. They would sit there and look at me and I could just see them thinking What is wrong with you? Open the window so we can go out already!

So, I decided to get my cardio by going outside for a walk. Because if I was down on the treadmill, they'd be down there pawing at the window and giving me sad looks. Just can't handle the sad looks.

It was a beautiful evening, sunny with a light breeze. Perfect for a walk. I love seeing what other people have growing in their gardens. I passed one house with a lawn just covered in violets. So pretty.

Then I had not such a great sleep because I had cats poking at me all night. Now? Can we go out now? Are you going to get up and open the window now?

Looking forward to sleep tonight, that's for sure.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Still here...

Hello Blogland! I am still around. I've just been tired out/not feeling so great for the past couple of days. Baby Sis left yesterday, but we had a great weekend.

I think the not feeling so great could be due, in part, to an excess of margaritas on Sunday night...Also, I ran out of allergy pills again and I am stubbornly trying to stay off them for a while. I think it's been almost a week? And I know last time I did this I felt crappy and didn't last very long...Ah well, if I don't feel better by the weekend I suppose I'll have to get some more pills.

Eating...well...I was having a fun weekend.

Exercise...well....I was having a fun weekend.

We did get for one walk. Last night I got in a weight training session, and spent a bit of time playing with the Wii Fit. Aiming for cardio tonight and weights tomorrow to finish off my week.

I have no idea what the scale is saying at the moment (though last night the Wii told me I had lost 1.5 lbs...seems rather unlikely).

In any case, I should be back to the normal routine next week. Right now, just trying to make it to the weekend.

Friday, May 23, 2008

This and that...

Weigh In: 143 lb Same as last week

Weekly Recap:
I did my 3 cardio sessions and 3 weight training sessions. No extras this week, other than a 15 minute yoga session. Total of 330 minutes of exercise over 5 days (averages 66 minutes per day).

Not sure whether I'll get in any workouts over the weekend with my sister here. Though we do often go for walks, so if we could do one walk and I could sneak in one weight training session, I might still be on track for next week. We'll see.

No change on the scale, but my eating has been kinda crappy. I've been tired and headache-y this week and I find when I'm tired I'm more likely to eat. Not good. The tiredness may be due to the fact that I have been sleeping without my bite plate. I grind my teeth in my sleep, so I have a bit plate, but lately it's been rubbing a spot on the inside of one cheek and making it sore, so I haven't been wearing it. I have a dentist appointment next week, so maybe I should take it with me and see if there is anything they can do.

My Day...
Husband's first day at his new job. He's thinking it may take him a little longer to get to his new office after he drops me off, so we should try to leave a little earlier in the morning. So what do we do? We both sleep through the alarm clock. He actually accused me of turning if off, but if I did, I have no memory of it. So I was just getting in the shower around the time I would normally be all dressed and drinking my coffee. Needless to say, I am sporting my I-don't-have-time-to-wash-my-hair ponytail. Which oddly enough, gets compliments. Benefit of curly hair. Put said curly hair in high ponytail, and it looks like a fancy pile of curls on top of your head. That's what a girl I used to work with said - I looked all fancy with my hair up that way. Who knew.

We were out the door by 8:30. When Husband dropped me off, it was around 8:40 so he should have made it to his new job by 9 am with no problem.

Despite the extra sleep (actually - it's not really much extra since I was a good 20 minutes late getting to bed last night) I felt all groggy and head-achey and, yes, ache-y jaw (get a clue JavaChick, wear the darn bite plate). Finally gave in and took Advil around noon.

Anyway, made it through the day and Sister has arrived. We're both pretty tired at the moment, so I think we'll be turning in for a good night's sleep and tomorrow the fun will begin!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Weights done and Wii Fit!!!

You know, during an average week, we go to work, and then come straight home every day. How does it happen that the week you want to get home and get things done, you end up either making stops on the way home or else going out again on3 out of 4 nights?

Anyway, weights are done. Housecleaning will have to be finished tomorrow.

But we got a Wii Fit!!!

A while back I had asked Husband: did we want to pre-order one? At the time he was undecided. Then a week or so ago he said we should, but when he went to the store they told him they already knew they wouldn't be getting enough packages in to fill the pre-orders they already had. So much for that, we would just have to wait.

Then tonight, we happened to be in the SuperStore electronics department, and what do we see on the shelf? Three Wii Fit boxes. So we got one after all.

Got it all set up. Husband says he is going to do a session with it as soon as we get home from work tomorrow. I would love to see that happen. I am all for anything that will get him up out of his computer chair more often.

I tried out the yoga series. There are four poses that you can do right away, the rest have to be unlocked as you earn points. Only thing I will say, I didn't see them offer any beginner modifications for the Tree Pose - they just go right to foot against thigh, hands together above head which is not exactly beginner friendly. Wondering if I should give Husband a little beginner tutorial before he tries that out.

Also, I was owning the Warrior Pose (did ya see me sneak that sorta computer gaming type lingo in there? Owning!!!), but as I was doing the pose on the left side my 17 pound cat, Fred, decided to walk across the balance board twice, so I ended up with a couple of spikes in my results for the left side. Oh well. I love my kitty.

Anyway, must run and get a few more things done before bed. Ciao!

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Daily Record
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Weight: 142.5 lb

BF: Fibre1 Bar, coffee w/cream
Lunch: Rockin' Moroccan Stew (Crazy Plates)
Snack: Yogurt, coconut, raspberries
Supper: Swiss Chalet (as we were out and about)

Workout: Weights

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The redheads are coming!

Ok, only one redhead. But one redhead + me [also redhead] = redheads!

My baby sister [who is 27 years old but she will always be baby sister to me] is coming to visit for the weekend. Happy! She was planning on coming. Then yesterday I got a message that she thought she couldn't come. Then this morning got another message saying she would be here. So it was more like Happy!....Disappointed...Happy again!

Of course, the house is somewhat of a disaster. As usual. Spare room has recently become dumping ground for clothes that I am either packing away until next winter or getting rid of. Have not completed analysis. This in addition to the laundry racks of line dry clothing items that are pretty much permanent fixtures in the spare room. And, you know, the usual. Vacuum, clean bathroom, etc. You'd think I'd have done all this on the weekend. Planned too. And believe it or not I did not sit around on my butt. I was productive. But my To Do list was longer than the long weekend. Funny how that always happens.

Anyway, I'm happy she is coming, but that means that I have to get in my final workout for the week, plus do all the house stuff and truth be told, I'm tired already.

Intermission...

Ok, I had planned to do my last weight workout tonight, but then Husband went into town and he wanted me to come along. By the time we got back it was after nine, and I was just too tire. It's 10:00 now, and I'm ready to head off to bed. So, final workout will have to be tomorrow night. And finish cleaning house, etc. Hope I get a good night's sleep and wake up feeling better tomorrow.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 143 lb

BF: Fibre 1 Bar, coffee w/cream
Snack: Quaker crispy delights [did not need these]
Lunch: Minestrone Soup & Kashi Bar
Snack: Yogurt, coconut, raspberries
Supper: Chicken Curry & Rice

Workout: None

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Tuesday already...

Quick recap for those of you who are keeping tabs on me and my exercise goals...

Saturday: Weights & Cardio
Sunday: Cardio
Monday: Weights

I just finished my cardio session for today. Didn't really want to do it, I have to admit. Had a headache when I went to bed last night, and still had it this morning. By this evening I was feeling all worn out. Almost talked myself out of exercise. In the end, decided that I didn't feel up to doing my running intervals, but I could manage walking on the treadmill. So I did.

That us 5/6 for my week so far. One strength training session left to complete. Looking good.

Eating = not so great.

Basically, I just wasn't keeping track or even paying much attention all weekend. Which was a long weekend. So that's an extra day of slacking off. Bad JavaChick.

Back on track today and hoping I didn't do too much damage.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 143.6

BF: 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt, 1/4 cup coconut, 1/2 cup raspberries; coffee w/cream
Lunch: Minestrone Soup, Kashi Granola Bar
Snack: PC Yogurt w/cranberry granola
Supper: Sandwich & Salad

Workout: Cardio (60 minutes, 3.2 miles)

Monday, May 19, 2008

Happy Victoria Day!

Belated [because the day is almost over].

It was a weekend of busyness. An enjoyable weekend. The weather was capricious - would go from sun to rain to sun again. But hey. What do you want? It's spring in the Maritimes.

What I really wanted to do this weekend was get out and buy some plants so I could get to work beautifying my flower beds. I didn't get to do quite as much as I wanted. Saturday was taken up by the BBQ, and it was rainy most of the day anyway.

Yesterday (Sunday), I had in mind that when I went out to do the grocery shopping, I would fill my little VW Rabbit with as many plants as I could cram in around the groceries...That was assuming I did the shopping by myself which is most often the case. But yesterday, Husband wanted to come along. He doesn't have much patience for garden center browsing, and though he is aware of my obsession, he doesn't really get it.

He is somewhat more interested in hanging baskets - there is a hook there on the front step after all. Can't have a hook with nothing hanging from it, now can we? So, I told him to pick out a basket while I picked out some plants. He picked out:

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We also had some fun looking at the garden statues. We ended up bringing home a dragon:

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This is as many plants as I managed to pick out before Moon said "Let's go."

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Which is nowhere near enough.

Though it had been rainy late morning to midday, by late afternoon it was sunny. After supper it was still beautiful out. The sky was so blue, I couldn't resist this shot:

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And then I went out to play in the dirt. I took a before shot of the flower bed I was working on:

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I hesitate to call this after, as I am nowhere near finished here, but I cleaned it up and put in the first batch of new flowers for the season. It was getting late when I took this, so the light wasn't great:

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I took another one this evening, while the sun was still shining on the front of the house:

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Kind of hard to see much of a difference in the before & after at this point, but I will get some more plants to put in and once things have a chance to grow and fill out a bit, it will look nice.

I did take some close up shots of some of the plants, but this is probably enough photos for one day. I may post them in future posts this week. We shall see.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Party Animal

So far, this is not turning out to be a stellar weekend in the annals of JavaChick's Weight Loss Odyssey. I should probably back up...

Despite my ebullient post of yesterday, I did not spring out of bed on that morning, good cheer fully formed. Thursday night, after my weight workout, I had jumped on the treadmill to get in some extra cardio, feeling full of energy. About 20 minutes in, I got a phone call from work. Work kept me up until midnight, which is an hour past my bedtime. So Friday morning when I woke up, one of my first thoughts was: I'm supposed to do a cardio workout tonight. I don't want to get on the treadmill, I just want to go to sleep. This is within moments of me opening my eyes. See how obsessed focused I am?

Once I got up and around, had some coffee, took in the sunny day, my mood turned around and I felt I would be ready to take on my workout that evening.

However.

Moon has been having quite the couple of weeks. He was offered a new job at a much better salary than what's he is earning now. He'd been thinking for awhile that it was time to move on from his current job, but when faced with it, it's a big decision to make. Change is always a little scary. After weighing the options, he decided that he should take the new job. But, when he tendered his resignation at his current job, they did their best to convince him to stay. By the end of work yesterday he was feeling quite stressed out, and so we ended up meeting up with friends to go out to dinner. I think that was a good plan, it seemed to help him get some perspective, calm down and he was able to make a decision. So that's all good.

We went to Montana's, which is a fairly new addition to the eating establishments in our little burg, and it seems that everyone else can't get enough. Personally, I don't find there's much on the menu that excites me. Don't get me wrong, we've been there twice now and the food has been good both times, but I don't really get the obsession everyone seems to have with the place. It's good, but it's not that good. But I digress.

The portions are huge. HUGE. I only ate half of mine, and Husband and I did split dessert. Also I had two of their Grizzly Bear Punch drinks cause they were darn tasty. If I am remembering right, it's pineapple & cranberry juices, 7-up, and Parrot Bay Rum. Yeah, it was tasty.

So, I didn't get my cardio workout last night and I had what was likely a very high-calorie dinner.

Strike 1.

Today started off well. Had a bit of a sleep in. Got up and had breakfast & coffee, puttered around getting some house stuff done. Then did my workout.

Since I missed my cardio last night, I decided to double up today. I would still like to get in 6 days of workouts for the week, but I figured if I doubled up today, it would be a bit of an insurance policy, just in case something comes up during the week. So, I did a 45 minute weight workout and 45 minutes on the treadmill. So that was good.

Tonight we went out to a rainy BBQ. It was fun, even with the rain. Our friends just moved their BBQ close to their patio door so no one had to get to wet doing the cooking, and we all hung out in the kitchen. It was a fun crowd and, as usual, there was plenty of food and drink to be had. I actually didn't eat a huge amount of supper, but I did have 2 pina coladas, 1 rum & coke, and tried 2 out of the 4 desserts on offer.

Strike 2.

Now I am all sleepy, sitting in bed with my laptop as a matter of fact. It's 11:30 PM on a Saturday and I am pretty much ready to call it a night - are we party animals or what?

I think that is the end of the partying for the weekend though, which is good. Food should be more sensible and there won't be any more fancy drinks...Yep. That's my plan.

Now, to sleep. G'night!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Weirdness

 
Weigh in: 143.0 (+0.7 lb)

It's weigh in day, and as you can see I am up 0.7 lb from last week. Normally this would signal cranky-ness, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Today, oddly, I'm not that upset about it. Kinda, sorta in a good mood, in actual fact. Yep. Weirdness.

It's been sunny all week. It stays light much later in the evening, what with it being spring!!! Yes, I love this time of year. I'm not freezing all the time. I can open windows and let in fresh air. I have more energy. This has been making the evening workout thing easier, because cold & dark generally leads to me wanting to sleep. Warm and light makes it much easier to throw on the workout clothes in the evening, and head down to my basement workout area.

I set a goal at the beginning of the week to follow a more structured workout schedule, rather than just doing whatever I happen to feel like doing. Not only did I lay out a plan, I followed through on my plan. I did 3 strength training sessions and 3 cardio sessions. In addition, I got in a pilates-yoga workout and I did an extra 20 minutes on the treadmill last night after doing my weights because I was still feeling energetic. Go me! While my mileage on the treadmill is lower than I have been trying to aim for, I did spend 390 minutes exercising this week (averages to 65 minutes a day over 6 days). Go me! Did I already say that? That's okay, I think I deserve more than one "Go me!" this week.

All of this leads to my feeling strangely optimistic, despite the gain on the scale this week. I'm feeling good, and that should be what it's all about.

I fully expect that this optimistic mood won't last, mind you. Inevitably, I will come crashing down at some point. But for now, I'll take it, and I'll enjoy every minute.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Breakfast of champions

I don't often buy cookies, or any dessert type baked goods, because if they are in the house, I will eat them. I rarely bake, much as I enjoy it, for the same reason.

But last week, in a moment of weakness while picking up some groceries at the Superstore, I picked up a box of these:



It's 150 calories for 5 biscotti, which is actually a good size serving; it feels like you are getting a lot. Not a bad treat for 150 calories.

But...for some reason this morning, they seemed like a good idea for breakfast. Not the healthiest way to start the day. They were very good with my coffee though.

Continuing in the "True Confessions" vein...

Tuesday night on the way home, Husband said he wanted Wendy's. Can't remember the last time we actually hit the drive thru, it's definitely been a while. I wavered for a few minutes - I do love that spicy chicken sandwich - but then I decided to get a salad, so at least I would be eating some veggies. Then we did end up going to the movies for the 9:35 show, and I ended up having popcorn. Love popcorn. Husband had popcorn and Reese Peanut Butter Cups, but I just stuck to the popcorn which makes me feel at least a little bit virtuous.

We saw Iron Man which was very good. Really enjoyed Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role, and the music and visuals were great. Fun movie.

Last night on the way home we ended up getting takeout again, this time from Thai Hut. Husband said he didn't feel like having to do any cooking (which, honestly, most nights he doesn't anyway, but I guess that was his way of saying he didn't want us to have anything that would require him helping out at all), and I did make some suggestions but he didn't go for any of them, and well, I get tired of making suggestions and having them shot down, so off to Thai Hut we went.

This is what I get for not planning out meals for the week. Usually I do, but last weekend I just couldn't be bothered, couldn't think of anything I felt like making. The forecast was for nice weather, so I was hoping we'd just end up BBQ-ing, but Husband not wanting to do anything kinda scrapped that idea (BBQ is usually his job - at least once everything is ready to go on the grill, plus he says he needs to clean it and season the grill, etc, which again does not work with his not wanting to do anything). Lesson learned - next week, there will be a plan.

I did get in my workout last night though - 45 min on the treadmill, with running intervals. So now I am 5/6 for the week. Just have to get in my 3rd strength training workout tonight.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 144 lb (eek!)

BF: Cantuccini & coffee
Lunch: Lentil soup, Kashi granola bar
Snack: Vanilla yogurt, coconut, raspberries
Supper: salad, spaghetti

Workout: weights (60 min), 1.2 miles on treadmill (20 min)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Tuesday

Our movie night got postponed which is probably a good thing. I got some sad news yesterday afternoon. It's not my life, not my problem, so I don't feel I can blog about it, but suffice it to say, someone close to me is going through a rough time and I feel bad for them. There's not much I can do, other than be there to listen, which I will do, but I got home feeling very sad. I really didn't feel like rushing around to do a workout, eat supper and then go to a movie.

So, instead, we had supper (because husband was starved), and I did my weight routine later on in the evening. That puts me at 4/6 workouts for the week. One more cardio workout and one more strength workoout is the plan.

Other than that, and the minor snafu of me forgetting part of my lunch, yesterday went pretty well.

There was one very minor incident, but I think I handled it ok.

The little takeout that we get our Thai food from from every Friday night is now making their own ice cream. When we stopped last Friday, they gave us a sample to taste and it's quite good. They make the ice cream into ice cream sandwiches, so Moon and I each picked one out to try. Moon's is of course long gone, but mine was still in the freezer.

They are quite big:
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So I cut mine in quarters:
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It was frozen rock hard, so it took me a long time to eat my little piece:
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The plan now is to hit the movies tonight - unless it ends up getting postponed again. I'm a little tired actually, didn't sleep great last night. Plus, I have nothing planned for supper tonight - I had planned leftovers last night because we were supposed to be going out, and then I thought maybe we'd BBQ for the next couple of nights since the weather forecast is good. But, we'll have to see.

Just for fun, here are a couple of pictures that I took over the weekend.

Cat in a bag:
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Phlox is starting to bloom:
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Daily Record
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BF: Vanilla yogurt, coconut, strawberries, coffee w/cream
Lunch: Minestrone Soup, Kashi Granola Bar
Snack: Vanilla yogurt & strawberries
Supper: ???

Workout: May take the night off, if we go out.

Monday, May 12, 2008

A whole new me...

Ok, not really. I'm still me. But, I have been getting very frustrated because I am not making much progress. I was not feeling like a happy JavaChick. So, a JavaChick overhaul was required.

1. On Thursday, got my nails done on my lunch hour. I got what they call a gel overlay. For those who might not know (since I just discovered this recently), they use the gel product that would be used to give a person gel tips (I think that is what they are called) but just put the gel on your natural nails. It doesn't chip off like nail polish, so it's like having a manicure that lasts for weeks instead of just a few days (which is how long they usually last for me). A bit more expensive, and if you want to keep it you have to go back for regular maintenance, but I like how it looks. It makes me feel more polished when my nails are done, but I usually can't be bothered because it doesn't seem worth it to put on nail polish and then have to take it off a few days later. So, that was treat #1 for myself.

2. I said a while back that I was going to avoid buying any new clothes until I lost weight and needed smaller sizes. But. I cheated. Unfortunately, I've been finding a lot of the stuff I have now doesn't seem to fit right, and it's frustrating to have this closet full of clothes and feel like I have nothing to wear because it all makes me feel fat. So, on my Friday lunch hour, I bought a few things - 2 cardigans, 3 t-shirts in bright, spring/summer colours, and 1 sleeveless light knit sweater. I'm going to try and hold off on pants, I think I should be able to make do with what I have (the pairs that currently fit me) for now. That would be treat #2 and I am feeling better for it.

3. On Friday, I found myself asking a question that I have asked many times before. What am I doing wrong? Because I must be doing something wrong. That's why I decided to try Weight Watchers last fall. I was hoping it would help me find the missing puzzle piece. But alas, here I still am. Puzzling.

So, then I asked myself: Have I really changed my habits?

I think the answer to that is yes, to a certain extent. I think I have been making changes, evolving my habits over the years. As I learn new things about how to be healthy, I try to incorporate them into my life. However, I think that the biggest changes (food-wise) have been to my breakfasts, lunches, and snacks during the work week because those are the meals where I have only to please myself. Supper time is a bit harder because I am trying to please Husband as well. We are both picky eaters in our own ways, and it is a challenge to plan meals that are quick & easy for after work and that please both of us. I get really tired of trying to do it, to be honest. But, I think I am going to have to put more effort in there. And I'm going to have to figure out how to get Husband on board. When it comes right down to it, he needs to lose some pounds just as much as I do. Maybe more so, since at least I exercise regularly and make an effort to feed myself healthy foods.

There is challenge #1 - figure out how to make over those evening meals.

Challenge #2 - I am going to try to become more structured with my workouts. While I know that it's important to get in strength training and cardio, I often find it hard to stick to a schedule. So, I tend to be haphazard about it and tell myself that the important thing is to get in the regular activity. So if I switch out a planned workout for yoga or pilates because I don't feel up to whatever was on the schedule for the day...well, at least I did something, right? And maybe as far as fitness goes, that is ok. But I am also trying to shed some pounds so I guess I just have to suck it up and do the work.

Sigh.

So, I've come up with this plan and, of course, it immediately starts to go wrong...

Friday night - Did 1 hour weight training workout.
Saturday - 45 mins on the treadmill (with running intervals) + 40 minute pilates/yoga blend workout
Sunday - was planning on weights again but...shoulders were actually feeling strained, I think the weights followed by the pilates workout the next day may have been a bit much (the pilates did involve some planks, tricep push ups and a couple of other things that worked the shoulders). Also, my day got a bit hectic so I didn't get the workout done in the afternoon as planned. So I ended up doing 1 hour on the treadmill instead.
Tonight - hoping weights, but we have plans to meet friends for a movie, so it depends on whether we get home in time for me to exercise, shower, eat, and be ready to meet up for the late show at the theatre. Husband has a bit of a Big Day at work today, so I'm not sure how things will go.

So, that is slip #1 (potentially - I guess as long as I get in the workout tonight, I can still be on track for the week).

Slip #2 - I was finding last week that my Minestrone Soup for lunch was not cutting it. Even with my afternoon snack, I would arrive home at the end of the day starving which is a Bad Thing because then I eat wrong things/more than I should. So, my brilliant plan - reorganized my meals to include yogurt for breakfast as well as my afternoon snack, and add a Kashi Granola Bar at lunch time (130 cals, 4g Fibre, 5g Protein). So it was all sitting there, on the counter this morning, ready to be packed...and somehow when I threw it into my bag, I managed to forget the granola bar. Grr. I have a box of those Quaker Crispy Delights in my desk drawer for emergencies, so that will have to do for today.

This was a long post - if you've stuck with me this far, thanks! I appreciate your fortitude. I am open to suggestions if anyone has any to offer.

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Daily Record
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BF: Vanilla yogurt, coconut, raspberries (see post from Saturday), coffee w/cream
Lunch: Minestrone Soup, Quaker Crispy Delights Cinnamon Streusel
Snack: Vanilla yogurt & strawberries
Supper: salad, Chicken Fajita Wraps (leftover from last night)

Workout: TBD

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Turn that craving upside-down

Earlier in the week I had a craving for coconut cream pie. Some cravings come and go, but this one stuck. Then I had an idea. Last night I combined 1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt with 1/4 cup of shredded coconut. Once that was all stirred together, I topped it with 1/2 cup of frozen raspberries. I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.

This morning, the berries were nicely defrosted. I stirred it all together, and Voila! Coconut Cream Yogurt with Raspberries. It was very tasty and it hit the spot.

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Friday, May 9, 2008

TGIF

Weigh In: 142.3 (-0.4 lb)

I don't really want to talk about weigh in today. So I'm not gonna.

It was a beautiful day, unfortunately the weather forecast for the weekend is not so nice. Guess I will just have to make do with looking at more of my photos from last weekend, which was nice and sunny.

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Today, food-wise, was not good. I had good intentions, but it was one of those days when things just didn't go according to plan. I did get in an hour long strength training workout tonight though, so I'm feeling like I got a bit of a head start on the week in that department.

Now it's getting to be that time - off to bed with me!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Good for what ails you

 
Hot & Sour Chicken Soup

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Love how you can see the steam coming off that soup. Husband will be right as rain in no time.

For my fellow shoe enthusiasts, today's shoes:

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And finally, it was a rainy, miserable day so I am here to brighten things up with this shot that was taken last weekend:

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Aren't those colours beautiful?

Today, instead of being a diet blog, we are a food-shoes-flowers blog. Much more fun.

Now I am off, because it is past my bedtime.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 142.7

BF: steel cut oats, coffee w/cream
Lunch: spaghetti (leftover), apple slices & grapes
Snack: PC Vanilla Yogurt with cranberry granola
Supper: Hot & Sour Chicken Soup

Workout: nada...grocery shopping, making soup, cleaning up occupied my evening. Also a little couch time with the cats.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

The important thing is...

I can still smile, and it doesn't really take much to bring on that smile.

I still mean the rant. I'm still feeling the frustration. But I don't want to let it consume my mind.

So, here are a couple of things that made my day smile-worthy.

These are the shoes I wore today. A pair of brown flats that I bought at Winners a couple of years ago...

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Every so often during the day, if my foot was positioned correctly, I could look down and see this:

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I know, doesn't take much to get a smile out of me. Normally, I wear basic solid colour socks to work, but for some reason this morning, these appealed to me.


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It also was a beautiful, sunny evening. We left work a little early, due to Husband still feeling under the weather. That meant I had a bit more evening to enjoy, which was nice. And, of course, I had my Fabulous Felines to enjoy the beautiful evening with!

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So really, things aren't all that bad. Right?

...And a rant.

Last night got home from work and was starving, so I ended up eating most of a bag of Quaker Crispy Minis while getting supper ready. I did try not to go overboard - I ate some, then thought I should stop...so I left them alone for a bit, but then I still felt really hungry so I ate more. Could have been worse I guess - they are relatively low in calories, but it would have been better if I could have waited for supper. I think the soup at lunch is just not cutting it and I need to add something more to help keep me full. Today I have leftover noodles for lunch, so we'll see how that goes.

I have to confess that I am feeling very frustrated with this whole weight loss thing. I am trying so hard to make healthy food choices, to watch portions, to get regular exercise. I won't claim that I have done it all perfectly, but I think I've been putting in a good effort. And what do I get for all my hard work? The scale goes up.

The other day, out of curiosity, I averaged my weekly weigh-ins for Jan, Feb, Mar & April. Know what the averages say? That in 4 months I have lost about a pound. One whole pound.

I can deal with sticking to a diet, cutting out certain foods, restricting calories and all of that if I am seeing results. I could even deal with feeling hungry sometimes (though not starving, as I don't deal well with that - clearly demonstrated by last night's inhalation of Crispy Minis), as long as I am seeing results. But it seems like I'm not getting anywhere which makes it all feel pretty pointless.

I'm not giving up. I haven't quite reached the breaking point yet. But I am frustrated.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 143.8

BF: Steel cut oats, coffee w/cream
Lunch: Garlicky Peanut Noodles (leftover), grapes & apple slices
Snack: PC Vanilla Yogurt w/cranberry granola
Supper: salad, spaghetti

Workout: 35 mins treadmill with jogging intervals.
Upper Body Strength:
- 8 full push ups + 8 modified push ups X 2
- 12 single arm rows (14 lb) X 2
- 12 tricep kickbacks (7 lb) X 2
- 6 bicep curls (14 lb) + 6 bicep curls (10 lb) X 2
- 12 Military press (10 lb) X 2
- 12 side laterals (5 lb) X 2

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

More whining...

Honestly, not sure what's wrong with me these days. Last week I just felt "off" somehow. Not sick exactly, but not my usual self. Kinda tired, muscle & joint aches, weird tummy...but all mild. Nothing really serious.

So, that's why I took the weekend off and didn't do much. I figured I just needed to rest up.

But I am still feeling just wiped out and I don't know why. I really had to force myself to walk on the treadmill last night. I kept it to a slow pace and it was still exhausting. Yesterday, I thought it was the dreary weather. Today is sunny, but I still feel blah.

Husband has managed to come down with some sort of flu or something. Maybe I am fighting that off. It's hard to know what to do - push through, do some light exercise anyway? Or just take it easy for a few days?

And the scale is way up this morning which is hugely frustrating. May be water retention from too much sodium though. We have made recipes from the Martin Yan cookbook the past two nights. I really like the cookbook - the recipes are quick to prepare and the results are tasty - but I do find them quite salty. I always notice that I'm really thirsty later in the evening.

Edit - 2:15 PM
Weird craving of the day: coconut cream pie. Specifically my homemade coconut cream pie - I'm very fussy about this. Sadly, I never make it because Husband is not a fan and I would have to eat the whole pie myself...Mmmm...Pie...


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Daily Record
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Weight: 144.2

BF: Steel cut oats, coffee w/cream
Snack: Quaker Crispy Delights Cinnamon Streusel (90 cals)
Lunch: Minestrone Soup
Snack: Vanilla yogurt & raspberries
Pre-Dinner snack: Quaker Crispy Minis (was starving when I got home)
Supper: Cantonese Shrimp Scramble & Garlicky Peanut Noodles

Workout: Yoga
Also, drove myself to work today as Husband was home sick,
so in addition to my usual afternoon walk, I walked to &
from the parking garage.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Monday Blues...

It's a grey, rainy day. It's cold in the office. It's Monday. Wah!

Thinking longingly of the hour or so that I spent reading on the couch yesterday, cuddled up with both cats. Just try being cold when you have two cats sitting on you. So glad I brought soup for lunch today - I think it is helping to warm me up.

Weekend was relaxing. I really didn't do much. I was feeling like I needed a break. So, no exercise other than doing some weeding yesterday in the afternoon. Food-wise, well, I enjoyed quite a few of those chocolates that I received as a birthday gift last week. Also, Husband brought a bag of potato chips home. I have zero will power when it comes to potato chips. But, I had him put some in a bowl for me and he took the rest of the bag into his computer room. I ate my bowl full, and that was it.

I did make a pot of soup to freeze for lunches on Saturday. Yesterday I made up a batch of steel cut oats for breakfasts. So I am more or less armed for the week. Hopefully I will also get back into exercise mode.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 143.6

BF: Steel cut oats, coffee w/cream
Lunch: Minestrone Soup
Snack: Yogurt & raspberries, Oreo 100 Calorie Pack
Supper: Great Wall Hoisin Pizza (Martin Yan cookbook)

Workout: 60 min slow walk on treadmill

Friday, May 2, 2008

And back up we go...

Weigh In: 142.7 (+0.9 lb)

These ups and downs can really get to a person. Still, I know I didn't have the best week and I am determined to do better.

I only got in 4 workouts this week (usually I do 5, often 6). 265 minutes spent exercising, 8.80 miles walked. So I ate more and exercised less over this past week. Guess I can't complain about a bit of a gain.

I had good intentions to start off my week. I usually buy lunch on Friday's, as a change of pace, but I still had hummus, pita bread and cut-up cauliflower left in the fridge. After the Tostitos Monday night, and eating out on Tuesday night, I figured I would brown bag it again today. That was the intention.

Good news - our company won a local award for "Most Promising Start Up Company" last night. Bad news - to celebrate, we had pizza for lunch.

I did munch on my raw cauliflower this morning. But then I had 4 garlic fingers, 1 slice of pizza (Hawaiian), and 1 can of Coke for lunch. It was good, but I felt very full after. Also sleepy. Loooonnnngggg afternoon.

I did get in a walk on the treadmill tonight after work - Friday is usually a day off from exercise, but I figured I'd get a head start on the week. I'm feeling it a bit though, so I'm not sure it was a good idea.

Now I'm ready to crawl in bed a read for a while. Seems like a good way to start the weekend.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Personal diet rules

On Fridays, our Project Manager will usually bring in Timbits (for anyone unfamiliar with Tim Horton's, timbit=donut hole) and muffins. I rarely go to Tim Horton's, and to be honest I don't much care for their baked goods. Except for the chocolate chip muffins (hello! chocolate chips) and the jelly filled timbits. Mostly, I manage to avoid the muffins because I know that I've eaten breakfast and I don't need it. But those timbits look so small and innocent.

Usually the boxes of goodies start out in the meeting room (for our Friday morning meeting), then end up in the kitchen. Last week for some reason, they were sitting on the desk right beside mine. All day. One of my co-workers who works in a different room had been in and out a few times, and finally remarked that she didn't know how I could sit here next to the box and not be eating them all day (or at least until they are gone). I replied that I will only eat the ones that are my favourite, after that I leave the box alone. That is sort of a self-imposed rule. Because otherwise I could quite easily find myself munching on them all day long. And, for the most part, not really enjoying them that much. So how is that worth it?

I have a few of these "Personal Diet Rules", such as:
1. Only eat the jelly filled donut holes
2. When work provides pizza lunches with cans of pop as beverages, I will only drink pop if there is Coke. Coca-Cola is my favourite soft drink, and if I'm going to have a soft drink, it will be the one I really like. If there is no Coke, I stick to water.
3. My two flavours of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I'm actually not a big ice cream person, but I do love Ben & Jerry's. They have two coffee-with-chocolate flavoured ones that I really love (cause, really, the only thing better than chocolate or coffee is chocolate and coffee). So when I'm walking by the ice cream case, and I find myself looking, I keep right on going unless I see one of my two faves (which hardly ever happens).

What about you? Do you have any personal rules around what treats are worth splurging on and what treats are not?

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Daily Record
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Weight: 143.2

BF: Fibre 1 granola bar, coffee w/cream
Lunch: raw cauliflower, ww pita, hummus
Snack: vanilla yogurt w/raspberries
Supper: salad, spanish rice

Workout: Stability Ball DVD (30 mins), 40 minutes Treadmill

Wednesday

Ok, I had good intentions for writing an interesting post today, but it's late, I'm tired, and I have to get up earlier than usual tomorrow because Husband is dropping the car off at the dealer at 8:00 AM, which means he will be dropping me off at work earlier than that.

At the moment, I just can think coherently. So that's two short, pointless posts in a row. I'll try to do better tomorrow, I promise.

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Daily Record
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Weight: 142.7 lb

BF: Kashi Granola Bar, coffee w/cream
Lunch: Yellow Curry & Rice (leftovers from last night)
Snack: PC Yogurt & granola
Supper: salad, spaghetti

Workout: 60 minutes on the treadmill