Wrong directions can lead to nice surprises

Alas I was up a pound today, not what I wanted but I accept full responsibility. I actually had a debate with myself as I stood on my bathroom scale this morning.
"Ack up a pound"
"I'm not going to go to ww"
"Don't be stupid, go to ww, learn your lesson and move on"

So I went, I'm quite happy I did. The topic was role models and I have to tell you there's a woman in my meeting that has lost 94lbs. I remember her from the first day she walked in and the transformation is amazing. Of course I've lost about 10 in that time so it did make me think.

I sat there and thought of all the reasons why I wanted to succeed at this and more importantly that I could succeed at this. I think I get bogged down by self doubt a lot, I thought about my statement of intent and remembered that if I think I'm going to fail then I will. If I think I'm going to succeed then I will.

I had to skip out early to go to the dentist and my dentist said I looked good and that I always looked thinner everytime she sees me. I almost got out of the chair and hugged her. She remembered that the last time I saw her was about a month before the marathon so she asked me all about that. Both the dentist and hygenist were pleased with me. When I first started seeing this dentist it had been a loonnnggg time since I'd been to one. I got my lecture of flossing and all that jazz and I've taken it to heart. I told her I just wanted her to be proud of me, I think I made her day.

After that hit the mall for groceries and the salon for hairpspray. The girl at the counter asked me if I was going somewhere for spring break. It took me a minute and then I realized she thinks I'm her age (she looked about 23). I could of hugged her, this was me sans makeup. When I hesistated she said no time hey, me neither. I didn't correct her, I just beamed on my way to the grocery store.

H has talked me into meeting her for a walk tomorrow, 12.8K. I told her that I was rusty and she's cool with that. I think the most I've walked is 5k since Hawaii so it will be nice to dust off the gear and fire up the garmin. She suggested we go to 1812 for brunch afterwards (it's healthy and super good). She is totally my role model.

So everybody a new week begins and I'm going to make the most of it.

Later!

Friday musings and other tales

So I'm trying something different. It's called see saw points - one high day, one low day, one high day, one low day. Well last night went out for unplanned dinner with H and I talked her into potato nachos at the pub. Well it wasn't so bad, we split a small order and then had salads with dressing on the side for supper. It put me over by 10 points by my calculations. Whatever, that was yesterday. Today is today and I have a beautiful 22pt day planned. I did have an NSV yesterday, I was super duper stressed at work and I didn't turn to food...tada! That's super hard for me as I'm definitely a comfort eater.

My Mp3 player came yesterday and I love it. Have a huge amount of songs on there and have a huge amount of memory left. I tried to download the podcase of C25K, but my computer doesn't recognize it. Oh well, weightwatchers.ca had a learn to run program as well.

This weekend with no looming paper due and no Dad visiting I'm going to get myself sorted. 1. meal plan, 2. exercise plan, 3. organize basement so I can exercise down there. I think the basement project will so help the exercising as the step of dragging everything out and putting it back will be avoided.

My other NSV is I haven't turned to food dealing with wishy washy boy. Yes, I know I said I was done, finished and all that. Those who read this blog know that I make statements that don't necessarily happen. He continued to text so I wrote him an email with a bit of an ultimatum. If he doesn't pick up a phone to talk to me by April 9th, I will never speak to him again. That may sound drastic but my email was fabulous - putting all my cards on the table including how I refuse to have any type of relationship with someone (including friendship) based on text messages. Even H liked it and she's been my tough love - what the hell are you thinking voice in my head.

So here I thought I've flung it out into the universe and I win either way. He calls= he's serious, he doesn't call= I have closure. Yesterday I get a text message "Hey what's happenin'? Got your email, sounds like a plan". I just stood there thinking WHAT!. I quickly texted back "I gave you options, which plan?". Then I called H, she had asked me to call her before I text but I'm stubborn :) At any rate no response after that. I'll keep you posted on any updates. I have no intentions of texting him back from this point on. If he's indeed read the email he knows what to do.

Based on my behaviours this week I will be happy with a stay the same on Saturday. I highly recommend that everyone reads Sonya's blog today. Good questions to ask yourself for those moments when we doubt our ability to do this.

Have a great Friday everybody!

The Menu:
Breakfast
Oatbran: 1
Brown Sugar: 1
Milk: 2

Coffee:2

Lunch
Chunky Soup with added veg:4
Source yogurt:1

Almond Sweet and Salty Bar:3

14/22

Under Control

I was very proud of myself, last night I managed to stay OP. I tried the Breyer's 100 cal Ice cream sandwhich (2pts) and it was scrumptious. Nothing like staying OP and having ice cream.

I do find my go to low pt dinner is the Gardennay or Knorr Soups (the ones that are 80 cal per serving), some of them are 2pt for the whole box.

Watched ANTM on mute as I was talking to a friend on the phone, I'll catch the repeat on another channel. I also tamed my kitchen which as restored order in my house.

I sneaked a peak at the scale today and I'm the same weight as the day before the italian restaurant incident so that made me happy.

Today I'm aiming for another low point day (I look at my points in terms of by week).
The Goal today is 22pts.

Have a great day everybody!

THE MENU
Breakfast:
Oatbran - 1pt
Brown Sugar - 1pt
Milk - 2pt

Starbucks Cafe Mocha- 4pts

Lunch:
1/2 can Chunky Soup Sirloin Burger with added peas - 4
Source Yogurt - 1pt.

P.M snack:
Nutrigrain Almond sweet and salty bar - 3pts

Dinner:
Half Potato Nachos: 8
Steak Salad: 8

32/22

Italian Craziness

More Italian restaurant craziness, I thoroughly enjoyed myself yesterday. Ate way over points and yet woke up this morning hungry...that's so weird. I had a low pt day before and I'm having a low pt day today plus drinking loads of water so hopefully I'll just shock my metabolism.

Tonight I absolutely have to wash dishes and gain control of kitchen. It's a bit of a disaster.

Got an email today saying my new MP3 player as been shipped, now I feel like I'm waiting for Christmas. The first thing I'll do is see if I can download Couch to 5K podcast. It seem like everyone who's trying it likes it so I'm joining the band wagon.

Not too much to talk about today other than I hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

Ice Cream Monster

I was reading all my favourite blogs yesterday and I stopped by Shirl's Spot and what do I see but Breyer's ice cream in 100 calorie packs. Egads! I was beside myself. I was thrilled to know they might be available here. Anyway, right after work I headed to the mall and picked up the fudge something sundae cups (100 cal), the ice cream sandwiches (100 cal) and the caramel bars (70 cal). I spent $22 on ice cream - yes that is pathetic but it brought me joy - so there :)
I tried the fudge sundae cup last night and it was good. I did walk home with all these purchases so it wasn't frozen frozen. The flavour was good which impressed me because fudge/chocolate can go horribly wrong when it's tampered with to be healthier. I stayed OP and had ice cream, I'm delighted.

I have to admit that I've been underwhelmed with many of the 100 cal offerings. I've heard good things about the hostess cupcake ones but I have yet to find them.

I also picked up the Knorr Broccoli and Boursin soup, because I love Boursin (garlicy cream cheese). It's 6pts for the box which makes it a bit higher than the others but I know I'll savour it.

So it's an all about food post today I guess.

Going out to dinner tonight with two great friends and it's an italian place that's been in business forever. They have deals on Tuesdays and I'm already counting down. I haven't been to an italian restaurant in awhile. I'll really try to be good, but I was indulge a little.

Have a great Tuesday everybody!

Monday Monday

I find myself to be a walking radio station today, every 10min I have a new song in my head...bizarre I tell you.

On the food front my weekend wasn't too bad, I'm following wendi plan so Saturday was my super high day and I did go over a wee bit, mostly due to wine. Sunday I was very good stayed OP and worked out. I didn't want to work out but then I looked at myself in the mirror and said "Do you want to get to goal?" I avoided going outside because I knew I'd go to DQ and get a blizzard. I was planning to have one on Saturday but chose wine instead so no blizzards for me until this Saturday if I really want one. Had a great visit with Dad and a pretty low key weekend. Even my water was better thanks to those Nestea things.

Today I have 26pts to play with but I'm planning on knocking a few off due to the overage of Saturday. We're supposed to have a winter storm watch this afternoon, might be 15cm of snow by tomorrow. Add to that a work to rule by the transit workers and it makes for one interesting commute I tell you. Tonight I was planning to swing by the mall to pick up batteries but that will depend on the weather.

If the buses do strike I was considering walking to work that would be about 16km (90min) there and another 16km back in a day, the good thing is that's not scary for me. I do have a bike but I'm not an avid rider so I'd like to get some practice in before I'd consider taking that on the pathways. I've also talked to a colleague about perhaps car pooling. I'm really really hoping it doesn't come to that. The last strike lasted 52 days. However if I did walk, I'd be totally toned in no time :)

Got my bonus check today, whoo hoo it's going straight to the bank. However I did have to get a new MP3 player today see picture. As I thought I had fixed the old one by restoring system settings. That worked for a day and we're back to it turning off and freezing. New one should be here by the 29th. I did give myself a bit of an upgrade :) I chose a samsung again because I like them. I refuse to buy an ipod until they include a FM transmitter and don't make you buy an additional product to get that.

Enough rambling for today..have a fabulous Monday everybody!

Statement of Intent

This picture is of me during the Honolulu Marathon. At this moment I was bound and determined to finish. I was dead tired and achy, but I knew nothing on this earth was going to stop me. I also knew that I could do absolutely anything I set my mind on. This was in December.

The present: My world has been in a state of wishy washiness. I've been wishy washy towards weightloss, my textbook, stupid boy and pretty much everything else. Half hearted efforts, it's like I had given up on succeeding and ready to just settle. I let a sundae get the best of me...hello! This is on not me. I'm funny, smart and darn cute. I don't settle. Honolulu me is back!



Which is what brings me to the title "Statement of Intent".



I, Cowgirl Warrior, declare now that my actions will be intended, no wishy washy nonsense anymore. I will workout a minimun of 5 times per week. I will drink a minimum of 2L of water a day. I will make healthy and nutritious decision in regards to food. When I want a sundae, I will have a sundae and know that I can work that into the plan but it must be intended. I will look for insipiration when I feel weak. One of my closest friends is a major inspiriation so it's not like that's hard (shout out to H :)). I will be encouraging to all my friends out there who are also on this journey of becoming healthier. I will catch myself doing things right and focus on those moments.

I'm going to start posting my food again, nothing like an added layer of accountability.



I challenge everyone who reads this over the weekend to think and say out loud 3 great things about yourself and celebrate how fabulous you are.



Until tomorrow!

Have tomorrow off

First can I say, I never really thought that many people looked at this blog. My guess maybe 5 or 6 people. Well I added a site counter and wowsers...may I just say hi to y'all!

The bulk of my day was spent at a job fair today, it was a stupid job fair (no people) but there were timbits (evil!). However my day still wound up productive which is a wee miracle.

I'm totally dreading Saturday WI as I suspect the news will be bad. It's my own fault and I know it. My head has not been in the game, but trust me when I say that all will change. Heck I probably heading to Toronto in the summer to meet a couple of my favourite bloggers and do some shopping. If that's not incentive, I don't know what is.

Tomorrow I'm off to go with Dad to his eye exam and do some general running around. I finished that reference list for my group project so all I need to do now is wait for another team member to compile it all and then submit on Sunday. Whew!

Hugs to all and have a great day!

It's snowing...again

It's snowing again, which means I'm going to ramble...

At least this time there was a heads up and our high of the day is still 7. I love Spring, really I do. I shovelled my sidewalk at 7am and when I left at 7:20 you couldn't tell. Well in comparison to my neighbours you could tell, but there was a completely new fresh coat.

I have further proof tha cuffed pants are a bad idea, every woman wearing them on the bus this morning had little pockets of snow.

I was planning to go to Walmart after work today...again. I need garbage bags and j-cloths plus the elusive search for those granola bars but that involves getting off a bus and either walking home or getting back on the bus. If the sidewalks are treacherous then I'll see what I can get downtown before getting on any bus.

Quiet night last night of dusting and dishes. Watched the search for the next pussycat doll and I'm so cheering for Chelsea. The girl lost 96lbs, not a dancer but trying her hardest. I so respect that.

I did toss the ice cream yesterday...HA!

My Samsung MP3 player is doing very odd things. Shuts off all of a sudden and then restarts but always returns to the song it played the first time you turned it on. At one point it froze, so I just took out the batteries and put them back in. I've tried new batteries too. Hmm, might need to look into a replacement. I was thinking of an ipod but it irritates me that you have to buy an extra doo-hickey to get FM reception.

Yes, did have yet another text msg conversation with the boy. However this time I did take the opportunity to ask him why he contacted me. His answer: Is it wrong to just stop in and say hi. My thoughts on this: He's an idiot, and that so explains why he's been texting for a few weeks now. I've given this moron enough time...moving on.

Read a few more chapters of Why Mr. Right Can't Find You. It's interesting and funny. Questions the whole concept and typically over romanticized idea of Mr. Right and says a lot of how men and women share a lot of the same insecurities when trying to meet someone. I'm enjoying it. It's neat to read these things when written by a guy as well.

Heard the new Harry Potter weighs in at 700 pages, and I will lug it around when it comes out.

Huge shout out to Glitterati, who's helping with the wild and whacky world of bibliographies. She's so brilliant, check out the examples she gave. Pay close attention to the authors and titles. I was laughing out loud, to the extent that co-workers were asking me what's up.

Smith, J. E. & Jones, E. F. (2000). Journal articles are really cool. Journal of Inane Ramblings, 65(2), 120-124.

Swiss E. A., & Havarti, A. M. (1998). Article for authors whose names are reallytypes of cheese. Journal of Preposterous Things, 7(7), 5-34.

Hitler, A., & Mussolini, F. (1956). We're not bad guys: Lonely men in power. Paris, France: Some Publishing House.

Hilton, P. (2007). People under.-whatever... um, underestimate me. In N. Ritchie., L. Lohan., P. Hilton, & B. Spears (Eds.), Struggles of American Princesses (pp. 65-94). Los Angeles, CA: Penguin Books.

Have a super day everybody!

Tuesday Musings

It's snowing, this wasn't forecasted and it's the first day of spring (well at 5pmish here). That's just weird, we're supposed to have plus 10 today.

Yesterday was iffy food wise, I was doing really well all day. Discovered that if I add a Nestea single flavour pack thing to my second litre of water I'll actually drink it. I've tried the Citrus and the Tangerine one and I like both. I use one packet for 1 litre of water. I find it perfect that way not to sweet and it's only 5cal a pack so 0pts as well.

Met with H after work and we went to this place called Chachi's for a sandwich. It was called "The Veg" and it was scrumptious. We each had a side of their mac n' cheese which was also really really good.

Then I headed over to Walmart in search of the Nutrigrain Peanut Sweet and Salty bars, over the week simply the sign with the price has been there no bars. I found the Almond ones and there really good (3pts a bar). However, the peanut ones taste like an Oh Henry bar and H is quite fond of them. I live closer to Walmart than she does so I said I'd pop in. I also wanted to pick up "Why Mr Right can't find you". It intrigued me. Alas no peanut bars, got the book and and a fitness RX magazine. Then I got some hershey's light syrop and then....emotional demon took over andI bought hershey's microwaveable fudge sundae topping and caramel pecan ice cream. Went home and made myself a sundae...stupid, stupid, stupid.

Ah yes, got a text msg from the boy at 10:58pm saying "What's happenin 2night?". I didn't respond as I went to bed at 9 to avoid snacking. We'll see if he texts again and then I can be very direct as to what the heck is going on.

Happy Tuesday!

Down .2

I'll take it. That was a WI that would typically show an up to 2 pound gain so any negative number is great.

Had a great St. Patrick's day with H. We didn't drink excessively-2 drinks over 8 hours, however food was in great abundance. We went to 3 different pubs in 8 hours. Started at 11am home by 8pm. We had fun and it was neat to compare the different vibes of the pubs. The eating was not so great with an exception of a veggie platter because we were craving vegetables. That has to be a NSV, we were craving vegetables. They cut the mushrooms in quarters, I was stangely intrigued by that. Food a palooza ended on Sunday with very good behaviours, I even drank water - which never happens on the weekends. I did the Ripped - Slim and Lean workout again and got through the lunge section with no problem (Yeah Me!). The push ups were better but definitely my weakness so I'll have to work on that. It amazed me how much stronger my lower body was (Hello! I did do a marathon so not sure why I'm surprised).

H and I talked a bit about relationships, we're both single and have thus far been disillusioned with relationships. I asked H if she had ever really thought of what she wanted in a guy, I actually wrote it all down some years ago just to see where my head was at. I think I should do that again.

Moronic ex-boyfriend continues to text me. After that first text, I didn't hear anything for a week and a half (I wasn't planning on initiating anything). Then I got a text message every day for the past 7 days. The difficulty with text messaging is just like email, everything is open to perception but it seemed to me he was back to old habits of adding flirty bits to the txts. The thing is when we dated, I pretty much dated his cell phone. Towards the end all communication was in text. If I called and left a message, the response was text. So this is why I'm not so keen on initiating a phone call to find out why the heck he's re-established contact. After that first round I realized that he wasn't all that in to me and I think he wanted more of a girl who was available when he wanted and not into being in a committed relationship.

At any rate the beginning of this series of texts started when he was out of town on business, I can understand text when your out of town. This weekend he was home and still texted. I asked him if he wanted a pen pall. His response: Huh? Conversation after that was a lot of "what are you doing today". To make a long story short, after a series of "eyeroll :P" responses , I sent him a text that said "Hence why we didn't work as a couple - communication issues". Haven't received a response to that as of yet and I seriously wonder if I will. There was a time where I seriously thought we had something, now a year later I realize that I wanted that more than he did and I'm not falling for that again and I'm not interested in establishing any kind of relationship with his cell phone. If he's serious about being friends or anything else, he'll have to pick up the phone or arrange for a face to face meeting.

I deserve someone who wants to spend time with me, who wants to share thoughts/their day with me etc.

Alright, my rambling about this is done. Only time will tell and in the meantime I'm not pining.

I was thinking of trying online dating again in the summer. H and I discussed trying speed dating again. Plans are a foot :)

Have super fabulous Monday Everybody!

Old Favourite

I rediscoverd an old favourite recently more specifically Gardenburgers. I first discovered these at Earl's actually, long time back. I loved their veggie burger and then found out these were the patties they used. I would buy them all the time and then sort of fell out of the habit. Well it was more packing my freezer so full of stuff that I wouldn't know it was in there and by the time I found it freezer burn had set in. I always do that with frozen stuff, which is really stupid. You can get some great WW friendly stuff like Gardenburgers and Healthy Baked Fish and I buy this stuff (it's typically pricey) then ignore it until too much time has past and I have to toss it.

Hopefully the tide will turn on this bad behaviour. I had to clean out my freezers (yes there's two- one on top of the fridge and a bar fridge size one in the basement - both contained long forgotton items) when I went to make or take meals. I love the meal stuff but alot of it takes a while to cook (ie must be defrosted) so I find it's good for weekend projects. The Gardenburger is fabulous for quick weeknight dinners. It's takes not time at all to cook in a frying pan, spritzed with a wee bit of olive oil. Then I had it on a whole wheat kaiser bun with some red onions, a bit of low fat miracle whip and dijon mustard. It was awesome! I might have it again tonight. I had some steamed green beans on the side spritzed with becel spray. I was in heaven.

My new plan is to keep my freezer organized so I know what's in there beyond the frozen veggies and McCain's fries. I might pick up a box of Heatlhy Bake this weekend.

My major plan for this weekend is to meal plan. I've had yet another rollercoaster week OP wise because I didn't have a plan, part of the reason was the week before TOM and the snack attacks. It's not like this will stop happening so I best get in the habit of preparing for it.

I need to get on the wagon and strap myself in. I am the only person who can make this WW thing work for me and it's time I accept the responsibility.

Yee Haw!

APA style = hell

I immersed myself in my horrible paper for my group project last night, even taped ANTM so I could focus. H reviewed it for me on Tuesday and boy does your head clear up when you hear what a fresh pair of eyes has to say. I also did my bibliography, I hate bibliographies and especially this APA style they make you use. When I went to university I took languages, there were no research papers. It was all about write a 15 page paper on this 8 line poem. However, I think I did alright with the references. I carefully followed the guidelines.

Work has a been a bit crazy with the personal contribution plan season. It pretty much goes like this - they tell you your goals for the year, if you object they say "Oh let's just wait and see". So it's more like you have no say. I'm o.k with mine and think a couple of the new initatives are a bit funny. Funny as in...good luck getting that implemented. Don't let the previous negativity fool you, I'm a pretty happy go lucky person at work and I try to find the positivity in a situation. It's just sometimes I think logic is dead.

Food wise has been wild and wacky. H made a chart to track her WW history and emailed it me. I plunked in my data and it sort of looks like a scraggly line heading a bit downwards. I might post it on here tonight. I think it's good fuel to keep my butt in gear on the way to goal. The wishy washy food has been more due to stress over paper and time management issues. I stepped on the scale this morning and was actually surprised. I was expecting higher.

Stupid boy text messaged me last night, let's see that's a week and a half from the last one but who's counting. I swear this boy is flirting with me via text, what he didn't learn from the first go round is that I'm not looking for a pen pal. I do think he misses me though and I really can't blame him :)

I'm so looking forward to Saturday, H and I are heading out for St. Patty's day and we picked up a very cute outfit for her yesterday. Tonight I'm going to Walmart (I swear I should just move in) and I'll take a boo to see if they have something interesting. Every once in awhile I see something cute there. The upside of going to the mall is that I walk home (12 blocks) so it's a bit of exercise. Tonight I really should do a workout but dishes are a bit of a priority and I'm hoping to catch PCD search and there is finally a new Ugly Betty. I know, I know exercise should take the priority but tonight I want fluff t.v. I will just be inspired to do everything quickly and I could always do the Gunnar Petersen weight exercises while I watch the shows.

Two day until weigh in, all I need to do is be good for the next two days and I may even see a loss on Saturday. This Sunday will definitely be dedicated to meal planning and just getting a plan together in general.

Later!

The Boards and Inspiration

Some time ago I was frequent poster on the boards of weightwatchers.ca, I stopped after awhile because I didn't find it too inspiring anymore and kind of bogged down with drama and then I found blogs, well H told me that someone hit goal and holy moly is this girl inspiring. Check out it out look for anything that mentions Shrunk or check out her blog. H has also mentioned some neat new info on food products that she noticed on the boards so perhaps I should drop by a bit more often.

Speaking of blogs, I also found Sonya's to be especially inspiring today, she's inspiring everyday but I love the plan and roadmap she talks about today. I know I need to plan out my protein. I think that helps me out with the afternoon munchies.

Upon researching a bit more about Wendi plan I realized that I'm in the process of following my old one, I'm now in a lower weight category...whoo hoo to me. I'll have to make a few adjustments for the rest of the week.

Whew!

After two days of torturing myself writing the first draft of my portion of the group project it is now posted for my group to see. I personally hate it but it doesn't have to be perfect until the 25th. Now at least I have something on paper which is the hardest step and can tweak it from here.

On Saturday I made myself a deal, if my scale said anything less than 174 I would go to the meeting, if it was above I was skipping this week. Of course it was 174 on the nose so I went and discovered I was up 1lb and 173.2 on their scale. This could be due to the strength workouts and my body wondering what the heck I'm doing to do it. I did discover at this meeting that I am dedicated to succeeding and I decided to go back to Wendi plan which is where I've seen good success. I'm also measuring everything and going back to basics. I'm actually looking forward to next Saturday to see what happens. I'm also looking forward to Saturday because it's St. Patrick's day. At least on Wendi Plan Saturday is my highest point day :)

I'm now heading out for a walk...+16 out there.

See ya tomorrow!

Attack of the baking

OMG yesterday I was besieged with baked goods. Had two little triple chocolate brownies waiting for me on my desk, someone brought in cookies and then we got the left over muffins from a training that's going on. So I had the little brownies, then I had a few cookies and then I had half a poppy seed muffin. Not all at once, I sort of grazed through the day and of course that day had some drama going on which probably led to the grazing. Egads, total and complete self sabotage. Stood on the scale this morning just shaking my head at myself. That day is officially behind me and I'm not going to let it bug me. Today has been very well planned and I made sure to have healthy snacks so I was never craving anything. I started to do some Tae Bo yesterday but only got about 10min into it and I just didn't want to continue. I was tired and went and had 2pt soup for supper.

Tonight I'm not sure what to do for workout, it might wind up being walking around a mall because I told a colleague that I'd help her find some new skin care stuff. I'm going to try to squeeze in some yoga, I need to get centered and focused. Thank goodness it's a new week tomorrow and a new 3mth tracker. New start across the board. On the great news side I did workout on 4 days last week which is an accomplishment I haven't seen since training for the marathon.

I can't say I'm looking forward to WI tomorrow and have entertained ideas of not going so I can focus on my portion of the paper that I need to submit this weekend. I think I'll wait to see what happens tomorrow morning. It's all about the new start.

Perhaps I should go back to Wendi Plan

I was down a 1lb this morning, there might be something to going back to Wendi plan. Of course the truth will be on Saturday at my meeting.
Today will be OP as I've brought all my food for the day and I've got an idea for dinner. Last night I did 50 out of the 60min of the Ripped DVD and I'm happy with that. My lower half isn't quite as sore as the first day but I do feel upper body a bit more as upped my weights to 5lbs. Once I finish my part of the group project this weekend I might get started on this casual gym conversion of my basement. It's a bit of a pain hauling out the step and the yoga mat and the weights to do this workout.

I charged my Garmin Forerunner last night as the sidewalks in my hood are looking less treacherous and the ice is melting. I can't believe the last time I turned it on was the day of the marathon.

I'm kind of liking Jael on ANTM, she's a bit all over the place but so far not so back stabbing as some of the other girls (Renee).

Have a super day everybody!

Different Approach

Yesterday I went home and did the step aerobics workout then had a lovely low point dinner. This morning I stepped on the scale and there's been no change for 3 days. Now I've worked out on all 3 days, eaten well and still no change. I'm not worried I just think it's weird.

It might be a bit of a modified wendi plan week as today was not so point friendly, two back to back meetings with snacks. However I will be doing that awesome strength workout tonight that's does get you sweatin'. I plan to take measurements Saturday morning so I can pick a consistent date and time of day. I watched the show on slice tv (formerly Life tv) called the last 10lbs and they put this girl through some rigourous workouts and a nutritionist put together her food for the week and divided it into days. After 4 weeks she did lose 10lbs and about 7 inches. I'm not sure how long or how often the workouts were but I'm sure it helped to have a dedicated personal trainer and nutritionist.

Watched the search for the new doll last night. I enjoy the PCD and have their CD but I don't know about these girls. We'll just have to wait and see. Looking forward to ANTM tonight, not sure yet who I think might win and not even who I want to win. I did find the new season of Project Catwalk (the UK version of Project Runway) it's hosted by Kelly Osborne and I think it will be my Monday ritual. I love these goofy shows especially when the other favourites are in constant repeats because sweeps is over.

Have a great day everybody and stay positive!

I like a strength workout!

"You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down."

Mary Pickford1893-1979, Actress and Producer


I think I've found a strength workout I like, this has never happened to me before. I typically think of strength workouts as a necessary evil. I don't enjoy them, I do it a few times and then stop. I'm much better with cardio workouts but am conscious that muscles are equally important.

I had heard about this DVD called Ripped: Slim and Lean by Jari Love. I believe she's Calgarian but the dvd is available all over the place and has had some good write ups. It works your whole body. At the start of each section or track (as they call it). There's a demonstration of the correct way to do it and then it's high number of reps for whatever muscle group but it's not boring she switches slow with faster and mini reps that you're constantly engaged in what you're doing. Then you do little stretch for that muscle and on to the next track. Jari is very motivational without being irritating. The music helps with the counts and I think I love this workout. I'm actually looking forward to doing it again on Wednesday. Egads what a breakthrough! I did this workout with 3lb weights because I haven't done a weight workout for a long time. I skipped a few tracks because I didn't have my step out or yoga mat and I wanted to keep up the momentum. So I did about 45min out of 60min. For Wednesday I'll be better prepared and upgrade to 5lbs. I never watch exercise dvds before I do them I just jump in. Today I can feel the effects of the lunges and squats but I know I need to challeng upper body a bit more.

Another idea came to me to make a room in my basement sort of my workout room so I don't have to drag things out and but them away everytime I want to work out. I'll need to pick up a cheapy dvd player and I'd like to put up some sort of mirror especially for the weight workouts. This room is technically a bar (My Dad actually built a bar down there so I'll need to give this a bit of thought. For now the living room will be my "gym".

I also came to the conclusion I need a toaster oven and a slow cooker (technically I have a slow cooker but my last memories of it being used was when I was 7 so time for an upgrade). I think I'll use my airmiles on them since I rarely fly and when I do I get seat sales. I made the Chili pork burgers last night and you were to broil them or bbq them. I didn't want to fire up the oven for two burgers and I don't have a bbq so I used a grill pan on the stove. I had one minus the bun with asperagus and cherry tomatoes. It was yummy. There are still two in the freezer and I'd like to broil them so perhaps I'll be ordering these kitchen appliance today. I stayed on points yesterday the only thing lacking was not enough water.

On the txt boy front (the ex I talked about yesterday) I threw out that we could go to dinner some time as friends (I get a little frustrated with the txt msg conversations and it would be nice to see some expression) and there was a time I enjoyed talking to him. He said that sounded good so then I said O.k you pick when (he travels a lot apparently for his work) and I'll pick where. He responded with sounds good. I'm not going to hold my breath that he actually comes up with a date, he was never good at that. Ball is now in his court and I will continue to be my fabulous self and go on with my pursuits.

Have a super day everybody!

No surprises and surprises

Being up a pound wasn't a surprise. My tracking has been pathetic for sure. That's over with on to focusing on what I can do.
Had a great time on Saturday assembling meals and then out to dinner for H's birthday. We assembled sweet and sour meatballs, pork burgers with cheese in the middle, veggie patties, fruity asian chicken, chicken sate, salmon with yogurt marinade, pork tenderloin with apricot glace, some sort of walnut/gruyere pasta sauce (probably the highest in pts so for a weekend), mini turkey meat loaves . You got the rice/pasta with each meal. They had options for rice as well so I chose brown. I now have meals for a while.

H picked a fabulous little restaurant here in Calgary called Piq Niq, it's often over looked as it is small. They have a jazz club downstairs and serious sound proofing as you can't hear it at all upstairs. I'm not such a big fan of crazy all over the place jazz but the food and service was incredible.

Next day it was off to hang out with another friend. Went to a mall that was hosting some sort of Family Channel event. 1000 kids to see Derek and Cassie from Life with Derek. I was more impressed with good haul at The Body Shop. Got my skin cream for buy 2 get 1 free, also got my $25 free gift and a nice new e.d.t called Neroli Jasmin. Then it was off to Costco and Tim Horton's. Food wasn't fabulous on the weekend but I did do the hip hop abs and seemed to be more co-ordinated this time.

Another surprise was getting a text msg from an ex-boyfriend who I hadn't heard from in quite some time. Weird and out of the blue. We'll see what that's all about.

I made the sweet and sour meatball meal for lunch this week. But took the 2 serving package and made it in to 4 servings. A lot of those meals are huge so can definitely be paired down even more. I have the meat balls, brown rice and a bit of corn together. I might have the Chili Pork Burger tonight just because it looked so good making it.

Also coordinated with my group members to see if everyone was cool with getting our first drafts in over the weekend as opposed to on Friday. Two immediately emailed me back with great idea. I have a feeling we all have been feeling a little pressed for time.

Tonight is strength work out so I'm going to try Ripped: Slim and Lean, they do mention the words beginner on the back so I'm hoping it's do-able.

Later

Getting it together

Oy vey it's been a weird week, weather wise, food wise, time management wise. I sort of feel like I'm falling behind. I've got stuff to do on both Saturday and Sunday so I need to come up with a plan today so I can start next week ahead. This includes planning some workouts. H sent me her training plan for Vancouver so I'll follow along with that and be her buddy. I did get the Shape:Bikini Body all year round from zip.ca. Haven't tried it yet but if I like it I might add it to my collection.

Doing the make or take meals tomorrow so my grocery list must only be fresh food essentials. Have to clean the freezer tonight, plus clean my house. Plus start researching my portion of the group project which is due on Friday. My turn to host a discussion got moved up to Mar. 12th so I want to come up with a few questions for that as well so I don't feel like I'm trying to catch up.

I've been trying to visualize ala Secret but I'm not focusing enough. I'd like to get started on that vision board this weekend as well. I know that will be a work in progress but just started would be good. I'm heading to costco this weekend too, in hopes of getting the rest of the basic I need for this scrapbooking thing. What I really need is become the queen of lists and checking things off as they're completed.

On the WI front hard to tell, haven't been eating too bad but tracking has been iffy and exercise just trekking around on foot not necessarily intentionally.

I just have to get through today and tomorrow starts a new week.

Have a great weekend everybody!