Thursday, January 31, 2008

What's your happy weight?

Day 6 Week 3

Hello fellow bloggers,
The other day one of my friends posted on the Canadian WW site that she had done the happy weight questionnaire in Self magazine and that the results from that were pretty different than her WW goal. Well last night I did the quiz. According to Self my happy weight is 137 pounds. Weight Watchers has a range depending on things like age. The self quiz based it on height. My WW goal is 140, that's so I can stop paying. I have no idea what a personal goal will be until I get there.

I have to remember to bring my camera to cake decorating class tonight so you can all see what I spend so much time talking about. I baked the cake last night and waited until it was cool enough to frost. I was tired and a wee cranky so can't say I was enjoying the process of icing. Then I remembered we're doing a basket weave on the side and covering the top so it didn't need to be perfect...whew! I am looking forward to putting the thing together tonight.

My to do list for the weekend keeps growing with mundane things. I can't wait to workout. I'm guzzling water like a fish. That is officially all the news I have today.

Until tomorrow,
Sylvia

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

I'm officially over flowers.

Day 5 Week 3

It's slightly warmer today with a minus 36 windchill, I swear you can feel the difference.

Last night I did go home and make royal icing flowers to the point where I didn't particularly cared how this cake turned out. I'm not making it for anybody and I'm so ready for all this flower business to be done. I'm looking forward to the next course when I get to play with fondant. The Wilton classes teach you some good fundamentals but their idea of decorating with the roses and all that jazz is super old fashioned. I don't picture ever making a cake for anyone with flowers on it. Of course never say never. I have more "ace of cake" aspirations.

I reminded myself of a valuable lesson yesterday. Check the points before you eat something. I got cinnamon crustos from Taco Time yesterday thinking they'd be around 5....they're 9pts. Crap!

I tried that Weight Control oatmeal (maple flavour) and I'm not crazy about it. I'll try it again but so far I prefer regular oatmeal. I was hungry at the same time I am when I eat regular oatmeal. I didn't find it kept me feeling any fuller. What do you all think about it?

I checked the scale this morning and I'm half a pound down from the day before with 3 days until weigh in. I just need to bring it home. I'm a little surprised about showing a loss with the Crusto incidend but I think it's true when they say you need to eat to lose. I have a lower day planned for today.

Biggest Loser alert - I'm talking about that next
I was making flowers as I was watching so I recorded it so I could catch parts I missed. I did feel bad for Jillian as Bob picked all the strong people. However I have faith in Jillian, she can bring out amazing results in people. Bob also picked all the people with strong personalities too, it will be interesting to see if they can work as a team.
I wasn't surprised that Jenn was voted out. I was really surprised by the former yellow teams results but mind you they had big losses last week. Next week Rocco diSpirito (?) the chef guy who used to have his own show and seems to be everywhere lately, is supposed to make meal for someone. It's funny he never cooked healthy on the show about his restaurant, maybe this is a new niche for him.

On t0 other stuff:

Tonight I must bake the cake and make the frosting for Thursday's class. I really hope we have a week before the third class starts. I need a break from piping bags and a desire to reclaim my dining room table from all the cake decorating paraphenalia. I'm so looking forward to having a clearer schedule so I can resume my workout schedule. According to a coworker, I may still be able to hook up the dvd player to the older tv if I hook it up via a vcr. I have a vague recollection of doing something like that before. I'll give it a go.

Have a groovy day everybody!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

And the cold front continues

Day 4 Week 3

Apparently yesterday's winchill was -50 celsius, today it's -40 to-45, well hey we're warming up. An expected -13 on Thursday, people will be in shorts - I'm not kidding it's amazing what you think its appropriate when it warms up by 30+ degrees. Today my fantastic winter ninja outfit (the layers described yesterday) was once again worn to work with work clothes in my backpack.

My Dad called me last night to make sure I wasn't frozen and when I told him what my layers were to survive the -50, he said you must have had a half ton of clothes on. I wouldn't say a half ton but when I got home last night and changed out of it I sure felt lighter.

Workout was non existent last night as my evening was dedicated to making a new batch of royal icing and colouring it to make all the flowers I need for Thursday. The stuff I had was weird consistency and I couldn't save it so I just turfed it and started over. (Can one buy stocks in icing sugar?) So tonight when I get home (after supper) I will make the 30 odd flowers I need for the finale cake and oh yeah I need to bake that cake too. I'll make buttercream and frost the damn thing on Wednesday.

My plan was to create while watching Biggest Loser, now Canadian tv says it's still on tonight, however NBC says it's on Thursday. Is there a primary bumping it perhaps?

I will undoubtedly feel compelled to post about it but I'll make sure to put a spoiler alert. That's of course if the guide on my pvr isn't lying to me.

Scale wise I did show a wee gain after my Super High Day but it's dropped today. I've got a 26pt day today. Right now it's planned up to lunch with 8pts for supper.

Have a groovy day and if you're in an area smacked by this freakish cold - Stay Warm :)

Monday, January 28, 2008

-48 Brrrrr, that's -54 fahrenheit

Those were the words I woke up to this morning "It's -48 winchill out there, make sure to bundle up". A freak winter storm hit my fair city this weekend. Saturday was plus temperatures, Sunday am was -10, by the afternoon it was -20. We had an overnight temp of -30 which resulted in the bitterly cold windchill this morning.

I wore two pairs of socks (one dress and one wool), my Columbia bugaboo boots (good for -35), my MEC thermal tights and MEC fleece zip pants over top, my long sleeved micro fleece shirt that covers my butt, my 3 in 1 Columbia windproof winter jacket, my neck gaitor up to my lower lashes, my toque pulled down to my upper eyelashes and my hood of my jacket over top. I could still feel a bit of a chill but other than that it wasn't so bad. Luckily our cold is a dry cold so you just have to bundle up, it's not a damp cold that seeps into your bones. Work clothes were packed into my backpack.

Now this is the funny part, it's supposed to be -3 on Thursday. Yes that's a 45 degree differance. We are a strong people :)

I tried to hook up the dvd player to my tv in the basement and it's not going so well. It appears that the tv is too old. My Dad has an extra newer one that he's offered me. In the meantime I might try rooting through the VCR.

Workout wise: since Saturday was so nice I went for a 5K walk outside. Sunday resulted in a lot of house cleaning. Tonight I need to make some flowers for my final cake so they can dry by Thursday and I think I'll try one of my new Yoga dvds. I got two by Rodney Yee, one is about flexibility and the other strength training.

So far Wendi plan is going well, of course the SHD (super high day) is too much fun and I did well on Sunday sticking to my 24pts, today is 28 and going well.

If it does warm up to the low minuses by Thursday, I'll head back to the gym on Thursday on Friday. No way am I going to the gym in this weather as skin can freeze in minutes. I'm not waiting for a bus that may or may not come. Getting home today from work shall be interesting enough.

Have a groovy day everybody and if you're in Alberta - Stay Warm!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

I have an idea...

Day 1 Week 3

Down 2.6lbs.....whew!

I weighed myself on my ww scale at home before going to weigh in and it said 181.5, so I for a moment thought I may hit 180 at weigh in as their scale and my scale are off. That was not to be as I weighed in at 181.6..a bit weird I thought ,but I'll take it.

Now the goal is to be down 1.8 next week so I can squeak my way back into the 170s. I think I'm going to do something different this week with the points too.

I'm going to give the Wendi plan a go again. I've found this has worked for me in the past. It's still the Weight Watchers points but the point is to keep your metabolism guessing. Just google Wendi plan and it will get you to all the details.

It's based on the old plan before flexpoints were you had a range of points each day. I looked up 24pts which is where I am within the system now. So this is what my week will look like point wise:

Sat - 39pts
Sun- 24pts
Mon- 28pts
Tue- 26pts
Wed-24pts
Thu- 29pts
Fri - 25pts

In terms of activity points the general rule within the wendi plan is if you've earned more than 4 to eat half of them on the lower point days and not unless your absolutely hungry on the higher point days. This gives me a total of 195pts for the week, according to the plan now assuming I use all of my flexpoints would be 203pts per week. That's a differance of 8pts or a wee more than 1pt per day. I'll play around with that and report back.

It's worked in the past lets see what happens this week.

I'm heading to the gym this afternoon and tomorrow and then we go to -25 on Mon, Tue and Wed. I think for those 3 days I'll work out at home. Water will also be a focus this week as it was last week.

Alright well week 2 was better than week 1 so on to week 3 of my 26 week metamorphosis.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Friday, January 25, 2008

Maybe Not....

Day 7 Week 2

So my plan of heading down to the Lululemon sale is being re-thought. I don't think I'm loyal enough to stand in line for a really long time (yesterday up to 5hrs) for what is apparently not that great of a sale and reported to only be worth it if you're a size 2, 4 or 6 (person who was there said on the radio this morning). This is all hearsay of course, based on sensationalized news reports of the first day of the sale but to be quite honest the only things I own from Lululemon are a bag and a thing that goes on your wrist that holds a house key. All my yoga stuff is from Walmart. While I'd much rather spend more moolah on things like Lululemon when I'm at a size I want to stay at. So why waste time and money.

If there are any Calgarians who went yesterday, I'd love to hear what you thought.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be quite decent so I'm planning to do anything that requires outstide to be done tomorrow. Sunday it gets cold again so all cleaning and non house leaving activities are scheduled for then. My big plan was to return to the gym next week. I'll definitely go on Saturday but there's word that temperatures will seriously dip next week. We're talking -20 to -30 base so that could be down to -40 with windchill. I am prepared to deal with that as luckily I own many cold weather geared clothes but that kind of weather (as I take the bus) requires an outfit for outside and an indoor outfit gets changed into at work. That being the case working out at the gym is not appealing as a 3rd outfit would be required. When I leave the gym, busses are no longer running on peak schedule so you can waiting for a long time. So the gest of all that is I must get that dvd player hooked up downstairs so that can be my sub-gym.

I'm ready to put my metamorphosis workout plan into action. This week hasn't been bad, I've been better water wise, I haven't been perfect food wise but not disasterous either. I'm quite happy with myself for bringing lunch to work for all 5 days. The key is definitely variety. I'm thinking about doing a mock shephard pie for next week using cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. I'm going to go throught that quick start guide from WW again, I've sort of leafed through it and it looks to have some good recipes.

Looking forward to weigh in tomorrow. Have a groovy Friday and I'll be back tomorrow.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Rollercoaster day

Day 6 Week 2

Well that was yesterday, there were cupcakes in the office...they were raising money for the social commitee...I partook.

Went to dinner after and ate half of my meal (Butternut Squash ravioli with vegetables in pesto - the vegetables were shiny), went home and snacked a bit more...oy vey.

Well due to all that I have a low point focus for today and tomorrow. My cake decorating stuff is prepped and right next to my front door. My clothes for tonight are laid out on my bed. I am sorted I tell you.

Rumours of the lululemon sale are floating around, saying there was a 3hr line up this morning. I find that funny. I hope there isn't only hideous things left on Saturday. It's not like I'm a huge Lulelemon, I find they favour skinny people anyway. I'll be one, one day so I'm intrigued.

So we Canadians are behind on Project Runway as it started later here than in the U.S, so I am completely avoiding any mention of future episodes to keep the surprise - do you know how hard that is? It's everywhere.

Totally random today, there's hope for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

A myriad of thoughts

Day 5 Week 2

The news of Heath Ledgers passing flew through the office yesterday and I'm pretty sure everyone was talking about it. It saddens me that he leaves a very young daughter behind. I'm not going to say anything more about it as it's just a bunch of hearsay now until all the details are clear. I think the important thing about news like this is to take a moment and appreciate what you have in life.

I was the picture of organization yesterday, the minute I got home I made the icing. Slapped a damp tea towel on top of the mixing bowl so it didn't dry out. Made my supper and mixed the icing colours as I watched Biggest Loser. If you haven't watched it yet, stop know skip over the stuff in brighter green and meet me back on the other end.

Wow, I didn't see the all against one thing coming at all. I so felt for the yellow team. Damn the immunity thing because it would have been nice to see the black team go. It's just Mark that drives me nuts on the black team. However the most irritating award goes to the Pink team and their melodramatic behaviour at the elimination. I'm sorry but when you signed up for this you knew it was a game, a competition wthe added bonus is access to kick ass trainers and a controlled environment. I don't for a moment doubt that the Pink team would have voted off the Yellow team if their positions were reversed. I think it was smart of the Yellow team to pick from teams that had voted for them as opposed to picking another team. Didn't the Pink time make friends with Grey and Black? I was impressed with how Ali looked at the end, that girl worked hard so kudos to her. What will be really interesting is to now see only one person getting kicked out at a time and what made Jillian cry.

I started reading Jillian Micheal's book Winning By Losing again last night. I've had for a this book for a while and have read some of it but more skipped to parts. This time I'm starting from the beginning. She does a good job of making you think about the whys behind your behaviours and creating manageable goals. She has another book out that outlines a 30 day plan, I usually avoid books like this but maybe I'll see if I can get it from the library and then decide if I want to own it.

I continued my living room dancing activity and included jumping jacks. I am itching to get back to the gym, I never thought I would say those words. I also drank 3L of water yesterday - go me!

Have you seen? The new Jenny Craig girl is Queen Latifah, I saw the commercial this morning. Totally different style of commercial than Kristie and Valerie. More toned down not so comedy. It will interesting to see how that progresses.

On Saturday I think I'll head down the Lululemon warehouse sale that's happening this weekend in Calgary. I saw it mentioned on the Canadian WW boards and there was mixed thoughts on if this was worth it but I thought what the heck I'll go. It starts on Thursday and runs till Sunday with new merchandise arriving daily. If you're in Calgary it's at the Big 4 building on Stampede Park.

Dinner tonight at Prairie Ink, no menu to be found anywhere on the net so I shall choose carefully from the menu.

Have a great day everybody!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

OMG it's plus temperatures today

Day 4 Week 2

Which means one thing - ice. Yes all that lovely snow will melt slightly and then refreeze. Which also means if you listen really closely you'll hear people go "Oommph" as they slip on the hidden ice patches. I do really like winter I do, I only curse people who don't shovel their sidewalks. :)

My activity plan is being seriously messed up this week. I was planning to do the gym tonight but I'm meeting a friend for dinner tomorrow and I have cake decorating on Thursday which means I need time to make 2 batches of royal icing and turn it into a variety of colours before Thursday. The icing itself doesn't take long, it's the colours that take a long time. So tonight is the night for frosting as I won't have time on Wednesday. Which means the only day I can go to the gym is Friday...bah! So what I'm doing instead is being very careful with food tracking and drinking lots of water. TOM isn't helping either as the desire to jump around is not strong. The only activity that's appealing to me is putting on the MP3 and dancing around my living room which isn't all that bad really.

This weeks challenges have been the weather, time contraints and feeling blechy.

That's just life so I'll deal with it and just focus on what's in my control.

I'm looking forward to week 3 as then I'll have a few solid weeks to get my routine really going.

I am looking forward to Biggest Loser tonight, especially with the cliff hangeresque ending of last week. How could the game be changed forever?

Go Blue!

Monday, January 21, 2008

A balmy -30

Day 3 Week 2

Well hello all, woke up to the radio saying it was -23 out there with a windchill of -30, yippee! The good news is it's supposed to warm up t0 -4, by the time I left the house it was -15 with a windchill of -22 so technically warming up.

My 2lb gain from Saturday is already gone so yay to that now the plan is to keep on going. I had planned to go to the gym on Sunday but it was -25 and I take the bus. So call me a wimp but I didn't even want to think about the windchill if the base temp was -25 and then to deal with Sunday bus schedules. I decided to stay home. My cardio was dancing around my living room. I did get a lot done. This week I made two recipes as lunch options so I can alternate. I made a recipe I found on the WW boards for Mexican Casserole (brown rice, refried beans, loads of veggies) and I made Mexican Potatoe Casserole out of the WW Simply the Best cook book. I used what remained from a pack of chili powder mix to season it as I find WW recipes can be kind of bland.

For the sweet tooth I made a pack of low fat banana muffins with a few chocolate chips added in. The pack makes 6 muffins at 3pts each, I made them as mini muffins and got 21 out of the pack for just under 1pt each. I'm counting it as 1pt each.

This weekend I got all my water in and that's my focus for this week as well. I already have dinner prepped for tonight (Money's Garden Burger). The only prep was to take the bun out of the freezer but hey that counts.

I need to swing by the library tonight and pick a few things I forgot on the weekend. This evenings workout will be at home and tomorrow I will head back to the gym.

I caught up on some shows on my dvr and finally watched the Biggest Loser. I didn't appreciate Neils comment that his wife could turn on the tears better than he could. Kind of glad to see him gone and thought Amanda looked amazing at the end. I'm rooting for the blue team I think, I've yet to hear them complain about anything.

Alas, let the work week begin....positive vibes to all of you this week.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Snowglobe kind of day


WEEK 2 DAY 1
This is the view from my front window this afternoon. It hasn't stopped snowing all day. On the way to my meeting it was like walking in a snowglobe. It was swirling around me all light and fluffy landing on my face. It's the kind of snow that's kind of sparkly. While pretty, I'm sure it's causing a mess on the roads. I had a snow angel today, one of neighbours shovelled my sidewalk. Of course I'll have to go do it again as more snow has fallen but I definitely appreciate it.
So weigh in didn't exaclty go as I was hoping. I was up 2lbs. That's typically what I gain the week before TOM if I don't plan right mainly making sure I drink enough water. I realized I didn't drink enough water at all and certainly not enough for my increased activity. Let me go into my week in review.
Week 1 - Started off well then hit a road block in the middle of the week. I was totally bored with what I was bringing for lunch and while I do plan to buy lunch on Wednesday I didn't go with what I planned and got beef stroganoff instead. Friday a few collegues were going to McD to get lunch and asked me if I wanted anything. I had the same boring lunch with me and I chose a cheesburger meal. Later on in the day I got a wicked headache that starts in the shoulder and moves up which killed my plans for the gym.
The good point of week 1 is that's it's week 1. There are 25 weeks ahead of me. The other positive I have worked out that much in a long time, so I got 4 stickers on my calendar, that's a whole lot better than nada.
While waiting for the meeting to start I did some meal planning. I came up with 4 options for breakfast, 2 option to alternate for work lunches and 5 options for dinner. My focus this week is getting 6 stickers on the calendar and pay very close attention to my water.
The gain of today would be gone by next week anyway but I'm shooting for a further loss.
So the starting stats are posted and I'll update those monthly. I chose to measure abs (at the belly button because I wanted a spot that easily identified to keep the measurements consistent).
I switched up my workout schedule a little to make Friday my day off and do yoga on Thursday. So the new schedule is:
Sat - cardio/weights
Sun - cardio/yoga
Mon - cardio weights
Tue- cardio/yoga
Wed - cardio/weights
Thu- yoga
Fri - off
Bring on Week 2 - I've got my game face on :)

Friday, January 18, 2008

Last Chance Workout


WEEK 1 DAY 7

Yesterday was not so good due to a coworker who I shall now consider evil as she brought in Tim Horton donuts at the point of the day where one is truly tempted. Yes, I could have said no, I could have walked away- but I didn't. I will not dwell on this any further. I did say I'd report the good, the bad and the ugly so now it's done.

I'm testing out gym bags and today I have my lululemon bag that I got for my birthday with me. I'm not so crazy about this option. For one thing I think it feels heavier than then the MEC backpack I used on Tuesday. The second thing is my runners, gym clothes, after workout clothes (sweatpants and yoga jacket) and water bottle pretty much leave no room for anything else. I think it may be a better summer option as one isn't carting as much stuff. The day isn't over, we'll see how it handles the locker. The mec backpack was also packed to the hilt with the same items but my lunch back fit into lululemon and had to be carried seperately with the MEC. The MEC has these chords on the front that like to hook onto the locker.

I do find I have a lot of bags and backpacks, so I have another backpack in mind to try next week.

As to weigh in tomorrow, I have no idea what will happen. Next week is TOM and that usually effects the weigh in before. I have no idea what 60min of cardio the day before will do either. I'm focusing on water today and staying on point.

Tomorrow I'll post the things I've learned about my first week of metamorphosis. It's only 7 days into what comes to 186 days so there will be lessons learned.

One I know right now is I need to truly plan my meals. Just making sure I have options is not good enough. I need to do pre prep of things like veggies and actually plan the menu for the week. I find by the time I get home from work or the gym the energy level is not there to make a meal and wind up going with really easy stuff that doesn't necessarily cover good nutrition.

I so need to practice flowers this weekend, last nights cake decorating was not so good. I was having trouble with some petals because my icing was too thin. Oh and by the way it's pretty easy not to be tempted by any of this stuff. Icing sugar and water are not that appealing and the buttercream we use is made with vegetable shortening so it doesn't melt and you can make roses that won't wilt.

Off to guzzle H2O, have a groovy day!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Does this count?

Week 1 Day 6

I did stop by Walmart on the way home and picked up milk, new slippers and few other things. I really like the Jello Sugar Free chocolate pudding that's in the fridge section. 1pt a pudding so it's a nice treat. Walmart definitely sells them cheaper than Safeway but for the last two weeks they've been out. Behold they were in yesterday so I grabbed a pack. Got home and didn't feel like cooking as I had icing to make so I settled on a whole wheat pita with hummous. The icing took way longer than I had anticipated. It wasn't making the icing it was all the colours I needed. I had to have 5 colours for the royal icing and one extra colour for the colour flow icing. First of all both of these icings are thicker than I expected so I popped a container of water into my bag for tonight. I needed to make purple for violets and I swear I was mixing my little heart out for every colour. It was seriously exhausting. Can I count zipping around Walmart and mixing what seemed like endless icing as activity?

Alas I did not give myself a sticker last night so my goal of 6 stickers is dashed unless I do yoga after cake decorating as I wasn't planning a workout for tonight because I won't get home until 9pm.

Gym is planned for Friday and I really hope the whirling snowglobe snow that's outside right now stops by then.

I was watching the breakfast television this morning and learned that a local gym is doing a 100 challenge online. It's free and you can track your progress have access to recipes. So I signed on this morning but they will email me the info. I'll report back on that. It ties in nicely with my 26 day metamorphosis.

Alright must get me day started.

Later

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Gym culture


Week 1 Day 5


What a day yesterday, winds going up to 90km/hr resulted in restless sleep and a stronger desire to snack due and wicked cold. I did contain myself snack wise and went to the gym after work, managed to get a treadmill and completed running day deux of 36min of run/walk and 24min of fast walk =60min. I find people watching in the gym fascinating. I got to a Spa Lady so it's all women but the choice of gym clothes intrigue me. The skinnier people are the less they wear is my conclusion. Of course I desperately want to be one of them. I wear all technical fabric thanks to my 2 half marathons and one marathon as I find it way more comfortable than cotton.
The tech fabric wicks away moisture doesn't make you feel likes clothes are klingy.
Upon leaving the gym the bus that stops 4 doors down from house came so my plan to buy milk was dashed. So I'll pop by Walmart and grab milk and a couple of other things. I really need black socks and new slippers. I was looking at my slippers this morning and they're looking grungy. When I get home I need to make the icing for cake decorating tomorrow. I will squeeze in a workout. I've set all my favourite series to automatically save on the PVR so I can make workouts a priority. Maybe kickboxing tonight with Jillian Micheals.

OMG this morning we had -24 with windchill and it's expected to be -2 by the time I leave today. I love Calgary and it's 22 degree temperature changes in one day.

BL is on the dvr though I did hear who got booted off. It will be interesting to see Neil in the finale as he seems to have zero work ethic. I hope he pulls up his socks because his wife is so committed.

For 4 days in a row I have done some sort of workout and will return to the gym on Friday for running day trois. I'm trying to focus on consistency.

Have a groovy day everyone!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Was that a Weight Watchers diss?

Week 1 Day 4

No exercise to report on just yet but my gym bag is packed and under my desk. I just zipped through my blog roll and felt a burning desire to post this morning.

First of all if Snackiepoo reads my blog, I read your blogs daily but I'm lazy and don't like entering my email address to leave comments...pitiful I know.

I caught the last half of Oprah yesterday and caught a woman who lost 140lbs over 2 years. First Oprah thought she did it in a year and then she asked her how she did it and she said weight watchers. Oprah said "Hmmm" and then she says "Weight Watchers is a good plan" in a laissez faire kind of way. I thought if you're there to promote Bob's plan then screen your guests better. Really shouldn't we all be congratulating these people for achieving amazing success and getting through this battle called weight loss?

As my bus rolled past my gym last night I could see that every treadmill was taken, I really hope that's not the case tonight. Plus I think more people go to the gym on Monday, to make up for their weekend...at least I hope.

When do all the resolution people drop off, I know my WW meeting was packed on Saturday and I seem to remember it starting to drop off in February.

Alas I will be back later to report on my gym workout today. Food is planned to the T including morning and afternoon snacks.

Have a good day!

Monday, January 14, 2008

I heart Alka Seltzer


Week 1 Day 3

Woke up even more sore this morning which started my Monday off to a rocky start. First of all forgot my wallet at home, then I had my first appointment of the day not show up and my second reschedule for tomorrow. I just felt a bit off all day, was in need of a morning snack which I didn't bring with me. Toward the end of the day I still felt off, it was more than sore. Almost like heart burn but it wasn't heart burn. I got home and laid on the floor for 15min and then got up put the laundry in and decided to take some Alka Seltzer. Tada! 15min later I felt better so I had some cream of wheat for supper (comfort food) and then pondered my workout. I still didn't feel up to jumping around so I decided to skip cardio for tonight and focus on yoga instead.

Note to self: Keep a little alka seltzer in my work bag.

I just finished 50min of yoga and I feel good.

I'm definitely hitting the gym tomorrow and didn't want anything to come in the way of that. Since I have cardio tomorrow I'm not so worried about missing it tonight.

Caught the Terminator tv series yesterday and decided to dvr the episode tonight (for yoga). I thought it was o.k, I did enjoy seeing something new on the tube. I'm not sure it's a keeper, only time will tell. I did enjoy the showing of the stats of Sarah Connor 5'5 and 110lbs, she looks awfully skinny to be taking on those machines.

I think I majorly over estimated my AP points yesterday, I must be careful with that. I suppose I should invest in a heart rate monitor as that's truly the best way to tell. I think I might a bit over in points yesterday but today I'm bang on.

Alright I shall post measurements tomorrow (took them the other day but keep coming on to the computer without them).

So far 3 stickers on my calendar - I'm aiming for 6 so half way there.


Later!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

How do they do it?

Week 1 Day 2
I rolled out of bed this morning a bit sore from my workout yesterday and I was bound and determined to make it to the gym. I call this gym "The gym I walk past" as I've had my membership since September and have gone a handful of times. It was a really good deal at $200 for the year. A treadmill will be a big factor with my run training as winter is an unknown factor. My city has been pretty lucky, we've had plus temperatures and very little snow but I'm not so crazy about heading out in the dark. Plus temperatures can drop and snow can fall with little warning.

I had blueberry pancakes for breakfast (with Coyote pancake mix works out to a 1pt per pancake), watched a bit of Coronation Street and then went to the gym. I was happy to see that my membership number still worked. I did 24min on the treamill (incline 1) alternating between walking for 3min and running for 1min. I stayed on the treadmill for another 36min doing a fast paced walk (4.0) at a 2 incline. Adding in the walk to the gym and back that's 80min of Cardio. I was tanked when I got home, I did my stretches and then didn't move for an hour. So my plan to do the Ripped DVD didn't quite workout so instead for the strength portion today I'm grabbing 5lb free weights and doing the weight routing in the Biggest Loser Workout book. I have to admit the machines at the gym scare me a little.

Right this minute I feel really sore so I must pick up some epsom salts on the way home tomorrow. I got me thinking about those Biggest Loser contestants. How do they get through those daily killer workouts. Most of these people aren't active at all and then go into 3hr workouts that repeat the next day...or so I think. It would be really nice to find out exactly what kind of workout schedule they follow on the ranch. Of course it would be totally ridiculous to do holding down a job.

Another insight into day 2 of my metamorphosis, this takes planning time wise. Laundry was sacrificed today as the thought of going up and down stairs was not appealing at all.

So tomorrow I'll try to make that happen, and right now I'm thinking tomorrow's cardio workout will either be some hip hop or some kickboxing and back to the gym on Tuesday for the 2nd run workout.

2 days down...keep on truckin'

Saturday, January 12, 2008

The 26 week metamorphosis begins


Week 1 Day 1:
Weigh in was a gain, which I was expecting but as I said to my leader - I'm moving on to a new week with positive energy.....so I'm not updating my tracker up above just yet to maintain my postivity. I will, just not today.

Holy crap am I out of shape! I just attempted the new Biggest Loser Cardio Max week 1 workout and I lasted 20min. I was wiped, it was lunges and up and down and jumping jacks and bizarre sit up moving around moves. I definitely think that baby needs to be worked up to as I was totally wiped. I'm definitely starting at 0 and building up from there. Another factor could be I attempted this on an empty stomach. I followed this up with 30min of yoga and I can feel how tight I am, especially my it bands and back. Saturdays are a weird food day for me due to my WW meeting being at 8:30am. I typically pick up a coffee on my way to weigh in, then eat when I get home after grocery shopping. So today I got home at 11:30 having not eaten anything yet. Well that needs to change, from now on some sort of breakfast is coming with me to weigh in.

While waiting for the meeting to start I came up with an ambitious workout plan. (Starting on a
Saturday to correspond with WW)

Saturday -Cardio/Strech
Sunday - Cardio/Weights
Monday - Cardio/ Stretch
Tuesday- Cardio/Weights
Wednesday - Cardio/Stretch
Thursday-Off
Friday - Cardio/Weights

Cardio can be any heart pumping activity like brisk walk, gym equipment or workout dvd
Weights will either at the gym or with the DVD Ripped:Slim and Lean
Stretch will be yoga
I'll track my progress on my kitchen calendar and reward myself with stickers, I'll also report that progress on here to keep me globally accountable. I'm thinking about posting measurements on here but I'll do that tomorrow. I'll take measurements once a month/every 4th week.

Food wise I'm sticking to WW and when I went grocery shopping today I made sure to come home with planned meals. Since today is a longer explanation post, I'll post food tomorrow.

I'm making the commitment to post the good, bad and ugly on here.

Let the ride begin!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Hatching a plan..whahahhahah


The first cake decorating class of 2008 went well and I still hate roses. I find them too complicated and they take too long. There's only 4 people in the class and we all took Lesson 1 together so it's nice to see familiar faces. I think it will be the same 4 in Lesson 3 and the Fondant course. Next week we get to work with royal icing and cover flow icing.


Foodwise went well yesterday, I talked to my co-cake decorater and we got the apple slices as opposed to fries to eliminate even thinking about it. The scale looked better this morning but I still must be diligent today. I'm taking a client to lunch and I've already decided what I'm having.


Right after work I'm getting my hair cute, thank goodness! It's been driving me bananas.


I'm definitly hitting the gym this weekend to create a workout plan. I'm suspecting it will be less busy than a weekday after work so I'll have some time to sort myself out and continue on through the week. I'm using the Biggest Loser Workout Plan book to get me started. My goal is gym 3-4 days a week and do home workouts in between with a rest day. My plan for the treadmill is c25K so I can take the next 26 weeks to build to half marathon. I'll be happy if I can run most of it and walk occasionally.


Tonight I'm sitting down and creating a food plan and grocery list. For the past few weeks I've been grocery shopping on the fly which doesn't help when I get home from work and don't know what to have for dinner.


I'm also going to be posting these meal plans and workout plans as my road to the Calgary Half-Marathon. I did some math over the past few days and it looks like my little blog gets read 50 times a day so hopefully I'll be able to share insight or inspiration with you all.


I'm also a horrible comment person, but I do read a whack of blogs every day that I track on bloglines and I'll endeavour to be a better blogger and comment/encourage whenever I can.
On to July 6th!
Have a great day everybody!


Thursday, January 10, 2008

Can I say I was momentarily possessed?

Unbelievably stupid food decisions yesterday, I'm embarrassed but I'll tell you anyway. Yesterday I consumed a Burnt Almond chocolate bar although a 2pt mini bar would have sufficed. I also had quiche for lunch when I could have gone to Subway. For dinner while on route with a friend we did A&W drive thru, I could have just waited to eat at home. There I have stated it and now moving on.

I'm aiming for a lower point day today to conteract the damage of yesterday in addition to copious amounts of water. Cake decorating starts this evening so supper is a bit complicated but I have a plan.

Breakfast was:
Oatbran - 1
1tbsp Brown Sugar - 1
1c Milk - 2

A.M snack:
Coffee - 3
Yogurt - 1

Lunch:
Turkey/Ham Subway Sub - 5

So that's 13pts, I'm aiming for 22pts today which leaves 9 for supper. Cake decorating nights typically mean happy meals for supper do to the limited time. Cake decorating buddy picks up food so I'll stick to the kid's mac (Cheeseburger with Mac sauce) which I figure to be 9pts. Not eat the fries and have some steamed veggies when I get home after cake decorating. The goal is 3L of water today. I realize the MacDonald's is not the best option but that's the only place she can swing by on the way to get me and I don't want to be a pain in the ass so I'll conform to her. Not exactly clean eating as Living to Feel Good was talking about today (I was planning to pick up that book though).

Tomorrow will be better.

Have a groovy day!

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Biggest Loser needed a hanky

I shed a few tears last night watching Biggest Loser, it was those calls home and the pep talk that Jillian gave Neil. I have to admit I wanted to smack Neil upside the head for his poor attitude and giving up, especially with his wife giving it her all. Wow did Jillian hit the mark with "What are you afraid of". Sometimes I wonder if that's my issue in staying consistent. I've never been skinny (o.k maybe when I was 5) so I'm dealing with the unknown in terms of where I should be size wise and weight wise. I do want goal more than anything but sometimes it's tough getting over the comfort of what you know now.

Kat on Biggest Loser Australia after weighing in for the first time said for a long time she didnt' realize she had a problem. It's funny how we have a different perception of ourselves when we look in the mirror. Of course a mirror doesn't show how you truly look, a picture is a better way. I know we all have seen pictures of ourselves that we can't stand. At the company Christmas party this year someone took a picture of my profile. Two people told me it was a great picture, all I could see was the chubby.

I came to realization yesterday that I really need a slow cooker so I may look into that this weekend.

Have a groovy day everybody!

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

This blog has been read 10000 times

That completely blows my mind, that you all drop by here and read my drivel. I thank you for all your support through this on going journey. I'm so happy to have found this blog land, you have all truly been an inspiration to me.

So my quest for the gym continues and the plan is to go to Michael's tomorrow to pay and pick up what is needed for lesson 2 on Thursday. Of course, I foolishly didn't bring gym bag today thinking Michael's would happen tonight. So now I'm running out of days. The only free gym day would be Friday and I'm not crazy about working out the day before weigh in, I find it messes me up somehow. My new plan is to make a determined effort to work out at home with my collection of workout dvds and hit the gym on Saturday to re-introduce myself to a treadmill.

I am finding dinner a challenge and need to come up with some easy prep and make meals. I like to workout right when I get home but by the time I'm done I want supper and I want it now. For gym nights I need an easy, portable, doesn't need refrigeration post gym snack. Any ideas?

Super excited about Biggest Loser tonight, this couples thing is interesting. Commercials show that Jillian and Bob will train the teams together. I would so love to be trained by Jillian and Bob. I think they both have great elements.

Until tomorrow!

Monday, January 07, 2008

Totally Random

Weigh in resulted in staying the same, which was cool with me as I so thought there would be a gain. I then shopped the perimeter of the grocery store and avoided anything remotely tempting.

Used my gift certificate at the Liberated Cook and now have 5 half meals in my freezer, but really that's 10 solo meals and some of them are kind of on the big side so I've split them even further. For three days this week I'll bring have a pulled pork enchilada with extra vegetables.

We have over 10 FM stations in my city and I like to wake up to the radio but it irritates me when I wake up to the inane banter of the djs so this morning it was the rock station that plays more music than chit chat and it was o.k.

The morning new anchor changed her hair colour from brown to a red auburn and now all her clothes clash with her hair.

I'm torn between morning shows, one is more news -ee and starts at 5:30am, the other is more fun but doesn't start until 6.

I actually liked Cashmere Mafia and I'm not sure if it's just because it's a new series.

I'm irritated with people who can't make a plan. My collegue and I are starting the next lesson of cake decorating on Thursday. We need to go pay and find out what we need for the first class. At first she said we'll go last week, then it became Monday or Tuesday. The thing is my evenings are kind of on hold until this is sorted. Today she's sick, so I'm assuming we're going tomorrow but I won't know until tomorrow. Drives me nuts. Oh and I need her as I this place is not transit friendly so I'm completely relying on her...also drives me nuts.

This is the first full 5 day work week and that's not a fun thought.

I really hope the gym remembers my member number....

Have a good night my friends!

Friday, January 04, 2008

Oy vey, what am I doing?

This is a rough week for some reason. After being home for the whole day and staying OP on the 1st, since I've been back at work it's been rough. I couldn't come up with a lunch plan so I've been buying lunch but I'm not making horrendously bad choices. By the time I get home the plan goes to pot. It just goes to show I need to plan ahead. I think this week's weigh in will be a bit wonky but I'm not letting it get me down. Lesson learned, now focus focus focus.

Going to the liberated cook on Saturday to assemble my 5 half meals (2 servings each). I got a gift certificate for Christmas. At least I'll be able to determine what's in it as I'm assembling it. Depending on the point value that's a viable option for suppers. I think next week for lunches I'll go with 1/2 a can of chunky soup with added veggies that usually comes in around 3 pts depending on the soup. I need to go back to basics. I did toss every Christmas chocolate and cookie that made it's way into my house the other day.

I must must must workout tonight.

It's just a blip not a downfall.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Officially into 2008

I say officially because I actually had to write it down today.
Due to a massive headache I wound up missing the resolution run, not quite how I had planned to ring in 2008. I lied down at 3pm woke up at 7:30pm, ate a bit of supper and was back in bed by 10pm (at least I celebrated New Year at New York time and watched the ball drop.

I had a perfectly OP day yesterday and did laundry practically all day so that was my activity for the day - going up and down stairs.

Tonight I have a dvd workout planned (Jillian Micheal's Kick boxing) as I have to bake a cake for the birthday in the office on Friday. Tomorrow I'll make the ganache and peanut butter mousse filling and put the whole thing together. The remainder of this week will be dedicated to keeping food in control and doing at home workouts.

Next week after the first influx of New Year resolution people I'll had back to the gym for some work on the treadmill. The weather is super nice today (+6) but there's a wicked chinook wind that literally stops you in your tracks, we're still blessed in comparison to the eastern side of the country.

Have a great day everybody!