Last weigh in if 2010

I'm up 1.4 for a total loss of 21.4 lbs for 2010. I'm posting from the meeting as I'm waiting for it to start. The topic is goals - of course.

The weigh in this week is not exactly bad as when I weighed myself when I got back from Dad's it was closer to a 4lb gain.

I'll admit I'm a wee disappointed with myself with the grand total but on the other hand realizing I some weight-loss mojo around august and it took a long time to get it back.

After posting this morning I went back and read my blogs from last year at this time the one posted on NYE and New Year's day. Of course then was the build up to rejoining WW. I had lofty goals last year like cardio 3 days a week and strength 2 days a week and so on. The goals will be framed a little differently this year.

This morning I got the new Yoga Journal and there is a very interesting article about goals and how to approach them. So I'll post goals tomorrow as this has caused a few aha moments for me.

I'll be making dinner with my fabulous friend K tonight. No matter where you are this evening I hope you have fun and stay safe.

Hugs!!!!!

What a great night

So I got my wires crossed and we went somewhere completely different for dinner last night. However first the plan was to meet at The Ship and Anchor for a cocktail. At first I was just going to take the bus to K's house and we'd go over together. The bus I tried to catch was going out of service so plan B, I took a cab and picked up K. It was cold last night.

It turned out being just her and me but it was nice to just chill for a minute. I had a pint of guiness as I find beer makes me feel fuller.

We then headed to dinner at Brava Bistro, which just happens to be next to my old high school. The food was fabulous. We started with a cheese plate that four of us shared. I then had their Lebanese Chopped Salad that was absolutely amazing. What I enjoyed about this restaurant is the servings weren't huge it was just the right size.

I'm definitely the biggest girl out of the four of us and I noticed that I alone grabbed a piece (well two pieces) of the dark rye bread at the table that was a bit of a note to self. My plan of eating lower throughout the day may not have been the best plan as I was pretty darn hungry by the time I headed out.

We were missing our 5th member and quite frankly getting a bit worried but alas he arrived after accidentally having a super long nap. Which immediately made me think why didn't I have a nap.

We did have dessert and I had the creme brulee it was also delicious and very shallow so not super overwhelming. I had their Hard Lemonade but then stuck to just water. 

This morning my home scale showed the exact same weight it did yesterday morning so now we'll see what the WW scales have to say at 11:45 today.

I can say I'm rather happy I don't have a morning weigh in today as the radio said it's -30 with windchill out there and should be getting warmer throughout the day so by the time the New Year's party people head out it might be -13. 

I will be back with the results of today's weigh in and my reflections on my 2010 and plans for 2011.

In the meantime, stay warm and hugs!

One day until weigh in - post Christmas Foodapalooza

I've made a concentrated effort on getting my head back in the game this week. I'd say I had a rough start to the week with Christmas leftovers (egg nog, chocolate, cookies) but as the week progressed it got better. I'm not expecting a loss tomorrow and that's o.k. This week was about stopping the holiday food train and activity wise I've been awesome.

The scale hadn't budged much until this morning which is good I'm headed in the right direction again.

Today it was 25 minutes on the stair climbler and 45min on the treadmill. I walked to and from the gym again in fresh snow for 40min in total and then I hit the mat for 57min of yoga. I do the Namaste TV dvds created by Kate Potter. Back in the day I'd catch snippits of the tv show and then got the dvds. As it's been awhile since I had a consistent yoga practice I'm starting with the season one dvds. Normally I do the warm up and main body of two episdodes and the savasana of the 2nd episode. Today I did 3 episodes back to back. She did a retreat in Calgary a few months back but my schedule conflicted. I might make one of 2011 goals to go to one of her retreats again. I've been once before and it was great I was a total yoga newbie and didn't feel out of place at all.

Tonight there's a friend's birthday dinner at first I was really iffy on it as I weigh in tomorrow. I then remembered I weigh in a noon tomorrow so my plan is to make wise choices and drink a lot of water. I'm focusing on a lower point day to give me some wiggle room. We're going here for dinner.
It looks like New Year's plans are back on but still being determined.

Breakfast this morning was toast with Wild Blueberry and Raspberry with champagne jam from the Prince Edward Island Preserves Company. I got a box of 3 different types as my secret santa present this year. It works out to 1pt per teaspoon and it's fabulous. It felt a little decadent to have champagne for breakfast. I had a glass of skim milk with that.

My post workout snack was skim milk with one tablespoon of Nesquick (1/3 reduced sugar) chocolate syrup.

Lunch was a smoothie this time with spinach, almond milk, banana and some of Europe's Best Anti-oxidant berry mix that I picked up today. It's got strawberries, blackberries, cherries and blueberries. Now if I get peckish before dinner it will be a tomato salad.

Alright my friends hope you had a great New Year's Eve Eve.

Hugs!!

Trying something new at the gym

First of all, huge thanks to Eve for letting me know where I read that time capsule idea. It was Lyn who posted it so please check it out if you haven't already.

This morning I made myself my smoothie (spinach, banana, frozen blueberries and one tablespoon of PB), lately it's been my after gym drink but today I had it for breakfast.

I then headed out into the -20 snowy day and walked to the gym. When I got to the sidewalk I realized I forgot my bus tickets as I thought I might take the bus home. I headed out again and realized I forgot my watch and then I finally got on my way.

I decided last night to not do my traditional treadmill. Today I did 20min on the rower, 20 min on the bike and 20min on the elliptical (which is huge for me as I despise the elliptical) and then walked home for a total of 40min of walking. It went really well. The 20min was perfect as it kept me interested. I did 40min of yoga last night and I'll do that again today.

I do love walking but if I rely only on the treadmill for winter I'll get bored out of my skull as sometimes it feels like a hamster wheel.

Later on I met my fabulous friend C for coffee. I adore her and I'm so ridiculously proud of her. I met her when she just started University and was working for me at The Body Shop. Now she's pursuing her PhD and I'm so pleased she likes to stay in touch with me (as I could easily be ancient history in her world) as I always enjoy our visits.

Food wise was pretty good yesterday day until I got the munchies in the evening. My weakness as these Tamarind Almonds I bought at Costco. This morning I tossed them.

At the beginning of the week I updated all the food I added to e-tools so they had all the nutritional info to be translated into pointsplus.

All week I've been tracking on e-tools as I'm finding it easier as I'm having to look everything up as I get used to the new point system and this way I'm saving it in to my favourites at the same time. I'm using the activity tracker as well. I'll post my week in review and fess up to the battle I've had this week in getting on plan. I have been getting a lot of activity though.

A bit of a challenge for tomorrow as my friend's birthday is taking place at 8pm at a wine bistro. I have weigh in the next day so I might just stick to water/ soda water and focus on enjoying the company as opposed to jeopardizing weigh in with any munchies or alcohol. We're all messaging back and forth and I told them my focus is on getting to goal this year so that means changing my habits not there's.

It's looking like I'll be on my own this New Year's Eve which is completely o.k with me. I've lost the interest in going out and dealing with drunk people and no cabs. I far prefer just hanging with friends at home sort of thing. I think it might be a good night to write my time capsule post for my thoughts on the past and coming year.

I hope you enjoyed your Wednesday!

Hugs!!

Shaking off Christmas

Yesterday's food was better than the day before but hardly on plan - damn you chocolate. I did get in an hour walk though.

This morning my friend K messaged me that she was on her way to the gym and should she pick me up. I was already planning on going but at that exact moment I was still in my pajamas. I got dressed in record time and grabbed stuff. Earlier I had checked the gym's website and saw there was a yoga class at 10:45 so I took my mat with me. We get there and there's a sign at the desk saying no classes from Dec 27 -31. Funny the website didn't say that. Bah!

I walked on the treadmill varying my incline for 60min and then I walked home (17min) as K left to meet her friend for shopping. Yoga will happen at home then later this afternoon.

It's been a bit like trying to stop a runaway train with getting the eating on track. I've blown through all my weekly points and I'm in the hole but activity gets me out of the hole. By weigh in on Friday I will be sorted. The good thing is I've tracked everything so that's a bit of a victory. I'm kind of looking forward to Friday's meeting as it's not my normal leader but she's subbed before and she's funny.

Yesterday while reading my blog reader someone posted a great idea on their blog of writing a time capsule. She posted hers which was a letter to herself for a year from now. I forgot where I found it so if you read this blog or know which blog I'm talking about please post a comment and so I can give credit for the idea and can post a link to the person. I love this idea and I will do this too plus post it.

I might leave that for another day this week.

I hope you're having a great Tuesday.

Hugs!!

Enough - Time to get focused

I had a lot of fun yesterday as my friend K and I braved the malls. The only things either of us bought were not on sale. I had to go to the Apple store to pick up a new pair of headphones and a protective film for my phone. I also picked up an adorable purple plaid case. The good part was paid for with a gift card I got.

Then K and I headed down to Costco, where there are no sales. She picked up a super nice new tv that was cheaper there then all the sales at electronic stores. Shows it just works to shop around a bit.

OMG eating was totally not on the plan (lunch at Joey's and pizza for dinner) and in a way was a good bye to the holidays. I tracked it all though as there's no point in acting like it never happened. For the rest of the week till weigh in on Friday the focus is on activity (cardio focuses) and staying on track.

The 31st will pretty much be a year since I rejoined WW on Jan 2,2010. Right this minute I'd finish the year with a minimum of 20lbs lost for the year. I can't help but feel a little disappointed with myself. This past year when I was on - I was on and when I was off - I was in a different time zone. I should be proud that I had progress this year, maybe not goal but it's still progress.

While at Dad's I read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - my workplace offers courses in it but I can't coordinate myself to go to a 3 day workshop so I bought the book. I did find it interesting and one thing that particular struck me was Circle of Influence vs Circle of Concern. In other words focus on the things I can control as opposed to getting stressed about the things I can't control. I need to focus on taking a proactive mindset as opposed to self defeat.

I realize to make goal I need to reshift my thinking a bit and I need to focus more on me. Now this will seem a bit odd as I'm an only child, single with no kids. You'd think there'd be a whole lot of focus on me anyway. What I'm referring to is focus on healthy me. Make getting healthy a priority. I'm really good at making work a priority so now I need manage my time a bit better so I get the workouts in and I focus on eating well. I know it's easy to say but I had a few aha moments when I thought about what took my focus away. The focusing on healthy also means including my brain. I didn't really challenge myself last year and I want to expand my learning. I don't mean formal classes as that would propably be a bit difficult being at site 4 days a week but that doesn't mean I can't pick up a book. There's loads of time to read while waiting for planes.

This has nothing to do with New Year's Resolutions but more my anniversary on WW. I do think a new year is a kind of restart in a sense.

Any day now the onslaught of weight loss commercials will begin. Heck the new season of Biggest Loser starts on Jan 4. I'm intrigued about the addition of two trainers. Village on a Diet starts on Jan 3 about the town of Taylor BC and there goal to lose weight as a collective. A&E will have a show called Heavy starting mid Jan and even MTV has joined the ranks with I Used To Be Fat starting Dec 30. It's sad but true - weight loss is a multi billion dollar industry.

After my walk the other day I also hit the yoga mat for 44min. No workouts yesterday but I do consider walking around the mall and avoiding the throngs of people a wee workout. Today the weather is again nice so I think I'll go for a walk outside.

I hope you enjoyed your Boxing Day yesterday and have a great Monday. I might be back later to report back on the workout details.

Christmas in my neighbourhood

I always find Christmas rather anti-climatic. Mine is pretty much over at this point and now it's on to regular life. I did have the option of going to a friend's sister house later on but I've decided to just be a home body today.

Dad went home this morning with 4 bags of cat food that I got the cats (the wild cats that live on Dad's property who are now effectively our cats) or who I now collectively call "my babies".

The two kittens who I met in the summer are now full grown. Spook and Fred might be bigger but their personalities are pretty much intact. Fred was friendly as ever and purring away. He's the only one that will let you pet him. Spook was his distant self as per usual. Mama Meow (the mom) was her dignified self. The two new kittens are pretty funny. There's Dusty and Max. My Dad took pitty on Dusty as I guess he was on the scrawny side so he's allowed to eat inside the house (just inside the door) on occasion after all he's competing against 4 adult cats and one kitten for food. One day I thought he was going to make a run for the living room so I picked him up. There was a pathetic meow and the four sets of mini claws were imbedded in my hand. Not as friendly as the other two. Papa Meow is still around and takes off the moment he sees you. I quite often saw him eating with the family.

My Dad feeds this menagerie and will complain they're eating him out of house and home, hence the four large bags of cat food that I sent him home with. It was pretty funny on the day we left as we set some food out and covered it with the "cat house" (an upside down orange box with a hole cut as a door). At first we just had the box on the porch with no food under it. OMG endless entertainment for the cats. They were in it, on top of it and even playing a version of hide and go seek. One kitten was inside and the other one was on top of the box poking his paw in the holes as the one inside poked him back.

I'd had to share the cat tale but on my week at my Dad's I did do a lot of thinking which will turn into mulitple blog posts I'm sure but I want to collect my thoughts before I start typing.

After Dad left I was feeling a little blah and getting a little too comfortable with a box of Ferrero Rocher so I decided to take myself for a walk as the weather was nice (0 degrees). It wasn't a speedy walk as I had to look at where I was going for hidden ice but I did have my iphone with me so I took some pictures of things that got my attention.

I thought this was kind of cool, made out of pine cones and branches on the foot of the lawn.



These neighbours go all out. Their whole lawn is covered in decorations but I particulary liked the polar bears and igloo on the right. They also do amazing halloween decorations.

I love it when people decorate their outside trees, it's so pretty and a hint of surprise.

These blow up decorations are all over my neighbourhood but normally it's Santa and dancing penguins sort of thing. I don't think I've ever seen one of the nativity before.

Now I leave you for today with the wreath I have on my door. Until tomorrow...Hugs!!!! Oh yeah, the walk was 1:09/ 7.63km/ 384 calories burned.

 



Merry Christmas and a wee bored

I love my Dad, but I miss the comforts of my house. Mostly my DVDs, books, pvr and video on demand.

For a week I've slept, ate, read and watched the cats. Oh and watched a lot of local tv. We're not a chatty family.

Heading home tomorrow and wondering what my cell bill will be like as I've played with my iPhone a lot. Like downloading an app to help me blog.

WW Canada launched an app for pointsplus, it's free on iTunes but you need to have etools or be online member to make use of it. It talks directly to my etools. It's kind of cool and has some neat features. I'll write more when I have my laptop and an Internet connection.

I also wanted to wish all of you a wonderful, safe and healthy Christmas.

Hugs!!!!

Down 2.4

Not too bad after my first week on PointsPlus and that was 99% food as workouts were difficult.

Alright I'm heading out and I'll be back in a week. Kind of happy next weigh in isn't until Dec. 31 as it will give me a week after Dad's to really really focus and see what I can end 2010 with.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Christmas.

Hugs!!

Crazy week and my version of the amazing race

Today is pretty much a pit stop for me. Yesterday my flight which was supposed to leave at 5pm left at 6:30pm thanks to flow control in Calgary. Did I mention we were waiting since 4:30pm? We got there and people waiting for the Edmonton flight told us our flight was delayed till 7pm. Kind of lucky we could take of half an hour early. My got to cab guy wasn't there even thougth I texted beforehand and he texted back "ok". I can't blame him really flight delays are complicated and when we landed he wasn't available but luckily there was an abundance of cabs last night. Quite a few people had there own amazing race experience as they had connecting flights at the International Airport and had to boot it.

Got home at 8:15pm ish ran next door to pick up my mail and pet the dog. Today, well this afternoon I'll be on a greyhound bus to my Dad's house. It's about 6:45am right now and I've done a load of laundry, baked the whipped shortbread cookies and set aside what I need to pack for Dad's.

I need a nap.

Weigh in today is at 11:45am which sort of throws off my routine but I don't want to miss this week.

Workout was pilates on Monday and then I had stupid long days on Tuesday and Wednesday (meeting that went till 8pm) and then head home on Thursday. I did track diligently and the scale I have in the camp room said I was down about 3lbs. I weighed myself when I got home yesterday but thus far today I have not stepped on the scale.

I need to stop off at Walmart before I head out of town and I'm going to do that before weigh in as I pretty much need to weigh and run and then head to the bus station.

Speaking of Amazing Race I (and 2 others) won the bettting pool at work. The three of us picked Nat and Kat. I won $65 well really $45 as the entry was $20.

It's been a crazy week trying to wrap everything up as I'm off for the two weeks and it was down to the wire yesterday but I got what I wanted done. Now it's out of my hands.

No blogging for the next week as I'll have no internet access but I'll be back in the big city for a week before I need to fly out again.

I will stop by again before I head out to update my weight tracker and report on what happened this week.

Hugs!!!

Being prepared

I made sure to bring my 3 month tracker and my pointsplus calculator to camp with me this week and it's been handy so far.

I can preplan my food based on pointsplus but when you actually look at it later in the day you might not want it. For example today there was soft chicken tacos for 6 ppt, yet when I got it it was not so appealing to me. I wound up with a may lower lunch than originally planned.

After work it was 50min of pilates. Oh boy do I need to work on my flexibility. I got a foot cramp and my IT band was not happy. This was never an issue when I did yoga regularly. I need to get my practice going again.

Dinner was pretty low pps too so I compensated by having pudding and jello at dinner. I had to hit the minimum points for the day afterall.

Stepped on the scale this morning and it was lower than yesterday so I'm heading in the right direction.

Tomorrow is a total gong show as I have a bizillion meetings and some former co-workers are coming for a visit. It will a really late day tomorrow so food must be completely on point. K and I are planning to workout tomorrow but it probably won't be until 8:30pm by the time we get to the gym.

I'm getting the feeling I have too much to do with 3 days left in my week before I'm off for two weeks.

Hope you all had a super fabulous Monday.

Hugs!!!

Trying to be little miss organized

I'm rushed for time and it just sort of hit me today. I head to work tomorrow will be back home on Thursday and then on Friday I'm on the bus to my dad's for a week.

I'm taking care of all the household chores today plus a whack of laundry as Dad will be coming back with me so I'm washing bed sheets.

Yesterday I took care of the Christmas shopping. I do online or gift cards. It's easy and everyone gets something they like.

I'm trying to sort out my weigh ins as the holidays aren't helping. I'll weigh in on Friday at 11:30am as I don't need to be at the bus station till 1pm. It will be a weigh in and run. The following Saturday is Christmas Day so no weigh in. I'll have to miss that week as there are no weigh in options at Dad's. Having a week off between the weigh ins might not be so bad as I'll be at home so I can hit the gym do mitigate any damage done at Dad's. Then I'll have to weigh at 11:30am on New Year's eve as my normal meeting falls on New Year's day. Then finally it will return to the regular Saturday. The thing that bugs me is the next few meetings will talk more about PointsPlus. I'll have to rely on you bloggers with recaps of your meetings to stay on top of things.

Diligently tracking today and boy is this bringing back memories of first joining WW. I have to look everything up before I eat it. It's a little time consuming but in the end hopefully worth it.

Stepped on the scale this morning and it was lower than yesterday so now I just keep that going. I'm so happy I have a scale in my camp room so I can stay consistent.

Hope your Sunday was great.

Hugs!!

Day one on PointsPlus

I took Carol's advice and arrived at my meeting early. I'm usually early but paid extra attention today.  I paid the registration fee as opposed to surrendering 3 coupons after first making sure the coupons didn't expire. I immediatley got the calculator, dining out companion, complete food companion and 3 month tracker as well. WW made some money off of me today. I figured it would be busy so why wait.

Oh boy was it busy. There were more people there than usual and the lining up to get the new book and then lining up to weigh in did take a bit longer. I was up as expected by 6.6lbs. So that's just over 2lbs per week, too bad it didn't go in the other direction. I don't feel bad as I explained yesterday I was expecting this.

I got the weigh in person I like the least. Today she was super frazzled and immediately appeared stressed. What drives me a little nuts about her is that she sucks at math and always makes a mistake yet right next to her is a calculator. I also don't like how she judges. She is always condenscending when you have a gain. I could be .2 or my 6.6 makes no difference and that drives me bananas. The whole point of WW is to find support and encouragement.

I sat down and the woman across from me was frazzled. She explained she doesn't like change. The woman behind her was excited about now getting 29 pts as opposed to 18pts. Many didn't quite understand that you get more points because point values have changed. When our leader said fruit counted as zero the woman next to me said "that's trouble". My immediate thought was "Really? Did you gain your weight on fruit? Have you binged on fruit?" My guess would be no. Of course everyone deals with change differently. I've already told you all that I'm excited.

I enjoy the new 3 month tracker as it as a bit more room to write. Apparently there will be an Iphone App but not until January or February. I did find a new app today from Calgary Transit that allows you to look up your stop number and find out when the next bus is coming. Yeah CT - you've entered the current century.

I'm game on now as I embrace this new program and I've tracked my whole day. I walked loads today and earned 6AP. I guess the 100 calories burned doesn't equal 1AP anymore so I'll be using the E-Tool tracker to tabulate that for now.

Saw Burlesque tonight with my friend K. I loved it and already downloaded the soundtrack off of Itunes. Good workout music me thinks. She and I might hit the gym tomorrow. I noticed I didn't cough or sneeze while walking today so that's a good sign.

Alright my friends I hope you all had a fabulous Saturday.

Hugs!!!

A Restart - again

I strongly believe in restarts where you stop looking at the past or thinking of the would of, could of and should of. A restart to me is a chance to start fresh, start the count at the beginning and shake the cobwebs out of my brain.

I updated my weigh ins to start tomorrow (plus that list was getting awfully long). I've missed two weigh ins and probably gained 7lbs. I'm not kidding. It was a combination of stress, emotional eating and throwing caution to the wind that put me here. My change in schedule and the change in jobs had a lot to do with it. It's nothing like the schedule I had before where the challenge really is squeeking in workouts. Add in the cookies and chocolate of the season and it's a recipe for disaster. Which means I need to really really focus on the food and water. I talked a bit about that yesterday.

Not feeling well for the past week didn't help either. Today I decided to really take the day off. It's the first Friday on my 4 day on/ 3 day off schedule that I've had acually off. I focused on rest and shaking off this cold. I've stayed in pajamas all day.

I hear you get a new weigh in book with the new PointsPlus program so that's adding to the restart. This new progam could not come at a better time. I needed something fresh and love WW.

I'm really really looking forward to tomorrow's meeting.

I hope all of you aren't fighting a cold and had a fabulous Friday.

Hugs!!!

Moving on

I got up this morning and made two batches of my famous whipped shortbread cookies and then packed them up in cookie tins to take to work.

One tin went to my new group and one went to my old group. I was meeting up with the old group to go to a casual Christmas get together and secret santa exchange. I got to see their new floor. I'm kind of happy I never had to move to my spot as it kind of sucks. I'll take my office with no windows at site over that.

It was super fabulous to see them all. They're a big group of fantastic people. I do miss them. Where I am now is way more quiet and I miss the craziness. It sort of hit me today that we're all moving on. They will go on without me and I will go on without them. It felt strange.

I scored a set of 3 jars of jam from PEI (Prince Edward Island) at the secret santa. Can't wait to try those.

I've lost my ability to talk, well I can talk but sound awful. I feel fine but obviously I need to take it easy. I think the cold fx I was taking stopped the worst of it but it's not completely done. Tomorrow I'll head over to Walmart in search of something to addres this cold to kill it for good.

I'm sort of dreading weighing in on Saturday but I'm ready to face the music.

I read a good quote in Elle Canada today from Sherri Ziffer Lester - Hollywood life coach:

"Transform New Year's resolutions in to New Year's reflections. Find a quiet space and ask: what do I want for my life".

A part of me is disappointed that I didn't hit goal this year but I need to realize this is not a race or a competition it's my life.

Hope you had a great Thursday.

Hugs!!

"

Steep learning curve

Sorry for the silence. I've been working serious long days averaging around 13 hours and by the time I get back to my camp room I'm zonked and my only focus is bed.

Add in feeling under the weather since Monday and it's a recipe for just being tired. I didn't feel right on Monday and then the sore throat started yesterday. So far just minor other symptoms so I'm hoping to nip it in the bud.

Of course the one thing I didn't bring with me was cold meds. I'll bring those next week and have them on hand just in case.

So thanks to feeling icky workouts were non existent. Eating has been o.k. You eat some interesting combination of food at site. Yesterday's dinner was a chicken quesadilla (skinny) with cabbage/ carrot veggie side. I've never combined cabbage with mexican before.

I definitley haven't undone the damage I did over the past few weeks but I'm facing the scale on Saturday as I'm excited about the new plan.

I did attempt it on E-Tools but when Oatmeal came in as 4pts I took a bit of a step back. I need to go to the meeting as opposed to guessing my way into this plan. I'm happy that skim milk finally counts lower than the other milks.

For the past two days I've made a bit of a chef salad for lunch by grabbing lettuce or spinach, tomato, cucumber, egg and a bit of cheese and then chopping it all up.

I'm realizing I need to follow the plate rule at site. Half veggies, 1/4 protein, 1/4 grain/starch. Even when you ask for a little bit you tend to get a big spoonful. I need to learn that leaving food on the plate is not a bad thing and I don't need to treat myself as a garbage disposal. That completely goes against how I was raised. However in this situation I am not the person putting the food on the plate it's the person dishing it out.

Now the next few weeks get a little goofy with one more week at work and then two weeks off. I can't remember the last time I took two weeks in a row off - how sad is that. One week at Dad's and the one week home. I'll obviously be making weigh loss a New Year's goal once again but that's o.k. The week off at home will help me get really really organized.

Tomorrow is my old group's Christmas get together and I'm looking forward to that.

Till tomorrow...

Hugs!!!

Now that's better

I spent the majority of the day yesterday cleaning my house and then I prepped for the Christmas Party.

I got loads of compliments at the party and a lot of people didn't recognize me at first glance. That did fantastic things for my self esteem I tell ya. I didn't take any pictures but others did so if I come across one I'll definitely post. Got home just after midnight and slept till 8am today.

Today I once again walked to the mall and back as I needed milk and I wanted to buy a scale to take to site. The scale fits into my computer bag where the lap top would normally go which is awesome because I like to keep it carry on only so I can zip off the plane into the warm bus and not have to wait outside for the luggage.

Had oatmeal with walnuts and brown sugar for breakfast. Lunch was two poached eggs and plain toast.

Not sure what to do for supper.

I'm curious how the new WW plan impacts the pre-packaged WW food as it has the old points on the pack. I really do hope Canadian e-tools is updated tomorrow so I can see if the frozen WW lasagna is still 6pts or if it's jumped up.

After I got home from the mall I dug out a path from my back door to my back gate as the snow was pretty deep. I took out all my recycling which was collecing and that took 4 trips back and forth. I then vaccumed and put up all my Christmas decorations including the tree. The decorating process involved multiple trips up and down stairs with boxes.

I know I spend 40% of week somewhere else but I will be home for a week between Christmas and New Years so I can still enjoy it.

Still yet to do is pack up my computer bag with some more odds and ends for my camp office/room.

At site I've been doing the same program as my friend K which is crossfit workouts combined with Mari Windor pilates. I've done crossfit before when I trained with trainer. I didn't find it did a lot for me all by itself as I definitely to add in Cardio as well. I've had really good success for the past few months just with walking.

I'm thrilled to find out that fruit is now 0pts as I'll make a conscious effort to make that my snack and not the cookies and pastries in the camp kitchen.

A wee random today but that's all I got. I hope you all had a fabulous weekend.

Hugs!!!

Eeyore has left the building

I've been doing a lot of self reflection since I posted yesterday. I had a few light bulbs.

• I've been on vacation (from the plan that is) for the past two weeks not just last week. Obviously the lesson has not completely gelled and I can easily slip into bad behaviours if I'm not careful. So the blessing part is realizing that now and not a few weeks or months from now.
• The damage can be undone. I didn't become overweight overnight and I'm not going to hit goal overnight. I need to learn the lessons at my speed. I've proven to myself that I can be successful so there's no reason why I can't continue to be as long as I believe in myself.
• The PointsPlus plan launches in Canada on Monday. Now I won't be weighing in till Saturday (or thinking about Friday as I'm now off that day). However I realized it should launch on e-tools so I could start following the new plan on Monday for a fresh start.
• There are other indications when I'm feeling off. I look around my house and it's a mess. This is reflective of my lazy behaviour with the plan as well. So when I finish this post I'm going to clean and then prep for tonight's Christmas party.

It doesn't help me if I'm not honest with myself and own up to my behaviour.

So for today and tomorrow I will follow the old WW plan and just focus on meal by meal and workout by workout. I got some stickers to take to site to put on my calendar there to track activity. I'm bringing up the rest of my desk stuff this week which included my chain of coloured paperclips that represent one pound lost per paperclip. Positive reinforcement sort of thing.

I can do this and I will do this.

Hugs!!!

Bit of a back slide

Yesterday I stepped on the scale after not stepping on it since I left for site and the number that looked back at me shocked me and not in a good way.

I then thought back to my week plan wise and realized I totally sabotaged myself. Mind you I was adapting to a completely foreign environment.

My water intake was crap, the food was irratic like eating a healthy breakfast but then being so busy that when I had the opportunity to eat again my diligence wasn't exactly there.

I did do a few killer workouts but not enough to mitigate the damage.

I now don't want to go to weigh in tomorrow. I don't want to register this week's behaviour. I'd rather refocus myself and weigh in with the launch of the new program. I'm disappointed with myself.

Yes I know going to weigh in would still be fine and yada yada yada. I'm had the angle/ devil talk with myself over and over.

This weight loss thing is a personal battle that you can share with others. I'm sharing that I'm embarrased to weigh in tomorrow. I don't want the number I saw to be written in my weigh in book. I am not giving up and I'm not walking away I just want a hall pass. I said I'd share the good, the bad and the ugly of my journey. Today I'm looking at the ugly but that's o.k. Sometime you have to face down the ugly.

On the good new front I found a dress for the Christmas party today and it's fabulous to the extent that 4 sales people ran over to tell me how fabulous I looked. One woman told me I had quite the hour glass figure. That was a major boost to the ego that's for sure.

Bare with me guys, this funk will pass and I'll be back to my "I can do anything I put my mind on" philosophy.

Hugs!!!

What day is it?

Hello my friends,
I have been swamped the last 3 days and had a hard time remembering what day it was today. This week has been nothing but meetings.

My two days at site have flown by and I realize now how much I need to learn for my new job and how I must really pass the old one on to someone else.

Today was a day full of meetings. I never had a lunch hour it was more scavenge for leftovers from the catering provided at each meeting as due to the crazy schedule I was practically late for all of them.

I'm adjusting to sharing a bathroom with another person. Last night they went to the bathroom at 3:30am and the bathroom is about 4.5 feet from my bed. I was dog tired as my friend K and I did a serious workout.

I was 20min of Crossfit and then 20 min of pilates. I was sore today. Tonight due to not eating dinner till 8pm we just did pilates. K will be a good influence on me as she's pretty focused.

Tomorrow I head home but do need to work for most of the morning on Friday so I won't get to experience 3 days off this week.

I look forward to catching up on your blogs when I get home.

Hugs!!!!

Sometimes you need to shop in your own closet

So my two workmates and I headed to Cross Iron Mills, this mega mall just outside of Calgary. I've never been before and I've heard mixed reviews. Some people like it and some people don't.

I'm not impressed. Yes it has stores that other malls don't have but all in all it was a giant oulet mall to me. Great if you are not really looking for something specific but useless when you're on a mission.

I tried on dresses and came away with nothing. I just wasn't feeling it and just saw flaws with every dress I tried on. I then thought ,maybe I'm better off with seperates and then I thought of the black lace skirt and scoop neck velvet top I have in my closet now and thought good enough for a "cocktail" party. Now I just acessorize and we're good to go. Technically I have shoes and earrings I already own that could work but I'm not 100% sure if that's the direction I want to go. The plan is to hit a normal mall on Friday for any last minute needs.

Giant malls exhaust me so after work tomorrow I'm going to head over to the downtown mall which I'm very familiar with and grab a few more pairs of jeans for site and worry about the Christmas party when I'm back on Thursday.

We left a 11 and I got home at about 5:45pm. I'm zonked now and just going to chill for the rest of the night.

Tomorrow I must also finish packing the rest of my site stuff. The runners and workout tops are coming this week so I'll be able to establish a workout routine there going forward.

Hope your Sunday was super.

Hugs!!!

Sleep is good

I did sleep through my WW meeting today but I'm totally fine with that as I needed it. I'll definitely go next week.

Got word that dress shopping has been delayed till tomorrow so I had more time on my hands than I had originally planned.

Many bloggers talking about the new WW plan that's launching in the US on Monday, not sure if it is Canada as well or if we're delayed another week. I could have sworn my leader said around the first week in December. So far I think it's just American bloggers talking about it.

I was planning to head to Walmart today to get my christmas cookie supplies and check out their jeans. Last time I was there they had a huge selection at $18 a pair. I need more jeans for site and I need to get that sorted by Tuesday.

My first mission of the day was to got get cell phones on another network that will actually work while I'm in Northern Alberta. Got that done about 3 blocks from my house and noticed the sidwalks were a bit treacherous with ice starting to form where the evil neighbours did not shovel their walks.

I decided to not go to Walmart today and just stay home and relax. I thought about putting up my tree but didn't. Then I got bored with what was on tv and turned to netflix.ca. I signed up for the 30 day free trial as I thought this might be good not just for home but also good a site.

While today was a rest day, tomorrow can't be and I'll need to think of some sort of workout to do. I was hoping to go outside for a walk but I'm not crazy about icy sidewalks. I saw a few people running today and thought they are far more dedicated than I am.

Hope your Saturday was spectacular. I will tell you tales of dress shopping tomorrow.

Hugs!!!

The end of an era

Today was my last day in my current job and I start the new opportunity on Monday.

I'm going to miss my old group. Last night we had my good-bye at Aussie Rules with the dueling pianos. OMG everyone had so much fun. We were all singing and clapping and just generally having a fantastic time. There was 20 of us and I was quite honored that they all came out to see me off. Food was all bad as it was nachos and cheese sticks sort of thing.

Our Director was sitting next to me at the table and she said some really nice things to me including she think she'll one day report to me...I'm sure she was just being nice but that made go "Whoa" for a minute.

Today I packed up the rest of my office  and put a message on the phone of where I can now be reached and it felt kind of sad.

I'm totally excited about the new job but I've been through a lot with the old group and they always make me laugh. It's not like I'll never see them again but they won't be part of my day and I'll miss that.

Tomorrow is Christmas Party Dress shopping with two of my new workmates who have become my friends. One of which will be my site buddy and I'm so happy we get along so well.  I've looking forward to this as I really enjoy spending time with these girls and need help when it comes to picking out dresses. Next weekend is the party so the pressure is on.

I'm so tired I just might play russian roulette with weigh in tomorrow and see if I wake up in time. I've had a tough time sleeping this week with plenty of waking up at 1am, 2am and 3am. I think it was partially due to the stress of what was happening with my current role with my last day looming. I'm still not 100% sure on what's going on with that but the train has left the station and now I just roll with it. I need energy for tomorrow as the plan is to hit two malls.

I hope all my American friends had a great Thanksgiving and I hope everyone had a great Friday!

Hugs!!!

They lied

That whole 2nd coldest place on earth thing from yesterday was fiction, I learned this when I got to work this morning and thanks to Carol for commenting on the same.

Happily it did warm up a bit today but by the time I left work my nose still got cold. I hit the mall as I needed a few things to replace what I took to site or things I realized I need at site. This weekend I sort out the clothes.

I have two days left in my current job and I'm looking forward to my good bye get together tomorrow. It will be bittersweet as I'm looking forward to the new job but I'll miss my current group. They're amazing people.

It's looking more and more like I'll be doing both jobs for awhile and I'm really not sure how I'm going to swing that.

Got a huge surprise today when I opened my inter-office mail. I got a thank  you card with a $100 visa gift card from one of the groups I support. They thanked me for my hard work and said that whoever takes over for me will have big shoes to fill. Later on in the day when I was telling this story I got told I had clown feet in terms of shoes to fill. Aww shucks is all I can say.

On the workout front it's been really lax as in zip, I'm not very organized this week at all. I think the cold weather and trying to organize my current work is the cause. Tomorrow is a right off as well. Oh well life happens sometimes and you just have to roll with it.

Hope your Wednesday was wonderful.

Hugs!!!

The 2nd coldest place on earth

Apparently Calgary held that record today with -33C, the coldest was the South Pole with -38C, now that's base temperature add the wind to that and at one point Calgary was -41C.

It was about -28C with wind and -21C without at site today so way warmer than yesterday. If you were out of the wind and in the sun it felt quite nice actually.

I used my street savvy skills to text my go to cab driver to pick me from the plane so I didn't have to fight everyone else for a cab. My plan to leave stuff at site also allowed me to get off the plane with just a computer bag so it was a speedy exit.

My day was stupid busy today as I what I thought was a one hour meeting turned into 3 hours. Which meant I got nothing done that I wanted to. I got a bit more info on my new job starting Monday and it sounds absolutely exciting and a wee overwhelming all at the same time.

I had a healthy breakfast and could only eat half my lunch before I had to pack up and get to the plane. I had no snacks on the plane at all so I was starving when I got home.I treated myself to spaghetti for dinner with some precooked bacon added to my organic pasta sauce. It was quick and filling plus absolutely yummy.

The trip home from the plane was crazy as it was bumper to bumper traffic the whole way. Next week when I start my shift schedule I'll be landing later on Thursdays which might be better traffic wise.

Tomorrow after work I'll do a little more shopping to get sorted for site as Thursday I'll be out after work and I'd like to start decorating my house for Christmas on Friday.

In case you didn't know Biggest Loser is having a "Where are they now" special tomorrow so I'm looking forward to that.

Hope you all had a fantastic Tuesday.

Hugs!!

Now that is cold

Arrived safe and sound this morning and wowsers it is cold up here. The jacket, boots and layers held up well. Where I really felt it was on any bare skin for example my cheeks. I felt like little needles were poking me. Super happy I wore long johns but part way through the day I had to take them  off as it felt like I was wearing snow pants.

On the way back to camp it definitely dipped into the -40C with windchill, boy am I happy that I had my master plan of how to handle carting my bags around.

Now my office is more or less set up and the potato head got lot of attention today. They are totally an ice breaker. Apparently what I shipped form Calgary arrived. The question is arrived where as they haven't turned up just yet. My first schlepped load of stuff is now unpacked in my permanent much smaller camp room. It's not so bad actually and quite cozy. I think I'll be totally set with one more load of clothes. Tomorrow I will just be going home with a computer bag so that will be a very quick run into a cab.

Food wise was a little meh today as I leaned more towards comfort than healthy. Damn the cold. Well my breakfast and lunch were good, and for my dinner I opted for a hot dog and fries. I don't remember the last time I ate a hot dog.

Tomorrow will be different as I already know what I'm having for breakfast (cream of wheat) and lunch will be a healthy sandwich and then at home dinner will be a healthy omelet.

I'm already looking forward to next week as I have a pilates buddy.

Alright my friends time to wind down for me.

Hope you had a fantastic Monday!!!

It's all about layers

I turned my Saturday into a treat day but I did track it all. Now the focus for the rest of the week will be to stay on track and so far so good today.

I've been taking it easy this weekend as I'm trying to sort myself out for working from site in a week. I'm hauling two duffle bags with me this trip. One has office stuff (my potato head collection, coffee mug and etc) and the second some clothes that will stay there plus the majority of the toilettries I use. My outward appearance doesn't scream girly girl until you see the products and I use.

It's going to feel like -32 to -38C with the wind, that's pretty darn cold so long johns will be on that's for sure. My routine will be slightly interrupted as I have a co-worker coming with me and I have been nominated his "buddy". Right this minute I wish someone else was his buddy. Normally I get off the bus on the first stop and nip straight into the building. Tomorrow I need to take him to get his site i.d which is two stops later, wait for him to watch the security video and then go back to where I normally sit on the site shuttle. This will be while hauling my two dufflebags and computer bag in the freezing weather. These people owe me big as I don't even work directly with this guy.

Sure I could wait to bring stuff up when it's a bit warmer but December is just the start of winter, I'd like to get to the point where all I'm carrying is a computer bag on and off the plane so I can just jump into a cab or the bus therefore completely eliminating waiting outside for luggage. There is method in my madness.

I'll double check the agenda with him tomorrow at the airport. The cab is booked and soon I'll have dinner so I can have an early night as it's back to being up fairly early to get the show on the road.

My netbook is packed so I can blog without having to haul my work computer at the end of the day. I will be back tomorrow.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Hugs!!!

Down 4.2!!!!!!!

Shazaam, I'm back into the 160s by one solid pound weighing in at 169 today. I was kind of hoping to smoke past 168 which seems to be the threshold I have a difficult time breaking but 4.2 in one week is fine.

I wanted to walk to weigh in today which is my normal routine and it's about 8 blocks or so. It was -24C this morning and thankfully no wind. My normal weigh in uniform is a t-shirt and yoga pants. I put my MEC thermal long johns on under my yoga pants and a fleece hoody from Roots on top of my t-shirt and then added the usual winter wear. When I got to WW I removed layers to get to my normal weigh in outfit and then bundled back up again afterwards. Complicated but I was warm the whole way.

So what did I do this week? I focused on protein in each meal.

Total points eaten: 200 (+11 over my daily point allowance plus flexpoints)
Activity Earned: 15

Now I'm 27.2 down from when I rejoined WW in January and down 29 from when I first joined back in the day. There are 7 weigh ins to my one year anniversary of the day I rejoined on Januray 2, 2010. I'll have 6 as one lands while I'm away visiting my Dad.

My goal for next week is 2.8 lbs, I'd really like to hit 30lbs down. I think this is doable if I stay focused on tracking, water and activity. My activity tapered off towards the end of this past week.

After WW I headed to Walmart to start collecting what I'll need for camp. Oy vey it's not cheap setting up a second life. I just sort of went aisle to aisle plus picked up stuff I need for home. It will be totally worth it since I won't have to cart stuff back and forth. I had thought I'd take a cab home and then realized cold weather = long waits so instead I opted for the bus. I hauled my mega shopping bags to the bus stop and waited for the one that brings me closer to home. It felt like weight training.

I still have a few things to pick up that I can't get at Walmart that I'll collect over the next week and then I should be good to go.

Workout wise today I think I'll finally unwrap the new Mari Windsor pilates. K has been doing it at camp and tells me she really enjoys it. I'll give a recap tomorrow.

Have a super Saturday.

Hugs!!

TGIF

I'm so happy it's Friday this week felt really long, probably due to the mega cold and the extra effort it takes to go anywhere. Toque- check, mitts- check, serious winter jacket-check, winter boots-check and take a deep breath and go outside.

I'm also getting closer and closer to my new job and I'm so excited. Tonight I got invited to a drink after work with my new group. I love these people in all seriousness. I'm totally excited about working with my friend K. We are going to do great things.

I had my year end performance review this week and my boss had a giggle over some of my responses to the pre performance questionnaire. I used "I believe I do this to the best of my ability" which in my head means "If you haven't noticed how well I do this already there's no point in my saying anything".

My boxes of office stuff got picked up today so we'll how long it takes to get to site. This weekend I'm starting the site shopping, more or less creating duplicates of all the toilettries I use at home plus stuff like advil, alka setzer.

Then I need to sort out clothes. I want to keep a wardrobe there so I don't need lug a lot of stuff back and forth.

On the weight loss front I'm now in food/beverage cut off for weigh in tomorrow. Tonight I'm super proud of myself. I had my one planned drink (vodka and soda) then I switched to water. Two platters of deep fried goodness landed on our table which included potato skins, dumplings, deep fried zucchini and other things.

I resisted completely, not even a nibble. That is huge for me as I love potato skins.

However tomorrow I will treat myself a little as I want an Egg Nog Latte from Starbucks, I understand there is a reduced fat version as well which is fabulous. The thing about egg nog is even the reduced fat or light is still decadent.

Then it's back to focus as it's two weeks to the Christmas Party.

Hope your friday was super fabulous.

Hugs!!!

Being all techno savvy

For the past few weeks I've been trying to remember the password to my wireless router. I wanted to add my iphone to my at home network. I've tried every variation of my go to passwords and nada. Obviously I've thought of something brilliantly secure that I can't remember it.

Yesterday I bit the bullet and reset the router, which was fine until I tried to get a wee complicated and then I undid my complications and now I'm sorted. I was so tired of the whole deal I couldn't blog.

The week continues to be decent plan wise. The scales is getting lower and lower with one day left till weigh in I'm committed. I've tracked every day. Activity took a little vacation for the past few days as snow shovelling and bundling up seem to activity. My focus has been on food.

I've been really focusing on protein and making sure to have it in every meal. I'm kind of trying to follow the new WW plan without really nowing anything about the new WW plan as I'm counting based on my current plan.

In other news it's been fully socked in winter the past few days. It's snowed daily and a been a wee bit chilly. Today on the way home it was -27 with windchill. On the bright side I got confirmation from the snow removal people that I've hired them and they technically started yesterday. So I quit shovelling now and see what happens.

I have a plan with my friend C to go Christmas Party Dress shopping next Saturday so that's motivation to keep focused for another week. Thus far the plan for New Year's is more of a pajama party then a get all dressed up so the focus after that will just be to get to goal. I still want to be at my lowest weight to date by New Year's and then use Vegas as the motivation to take it to the end.



On Thurday it's my good bye from my current work mates and I think of that with mixed emotion. I'm excited to start the new opportunity but I'll miss these guys.

But boy the shopping list for camp keeps growing, it's completely like setting up for a second life.

Alright that's all I got.

I hope you all had a great past few days.

Hugs!!

Wet Snow = Strength Training

I, being a good samaritan, shovelled my sidewalk before I left for work this morning and it was a bit of a workout as this was very wet snow which means heavy.

Thanks to the wind one side of my sidewalk had a half a foot or more and the other side had about an inch.

I then decided to walk the 5 blocks to the other bus that runs down the main road. Again a wee bit of a workout trudging through all the unshovelled sidewalks where you couldn't tell where the sidewalk ended and the road began.

Stuck to my plan today even though the call of the snack was strong around 1:30pm. I resisted. I chewed gum which wasn't exactly satisfying but it kept me distracted.

I've been slowly packing up my office for my move to site. We've been in temporary office space for a year as we were waiting to move into the new building. Now I won't be moving to the new building but everyone has kept the majority of their stuff in boxes for the last year. I've been culling, today I found a pack of gum (not the one I had) that was rock hard. As my stuff needs to be shipped a fair distance I'm really trying to reduce the number of boxes. So far I'm down to 4 from 6 not so bad. I really want to ship this stuff early next week so it might have a chance of getting to site before I do.

I so thought I'd have to shovel again when I got home but I was pleasantly surprised that there was just a dusting of new snow. My Sorel funky boots got their debut today and did very well plus got a few compliments on them to. When I got home the Sorel Caribous were here. They look more serious. Good for even colder weather and deeper snow. My new Lands End parka got it's debut today too and did extremely well.

I don't know what it is but if I'm all bundled up and toasty warm all I want to do is nap. I have a long Lands End down coat that I've named my sleeping bag coat. It does kind of look like a sleeping bag and when I wear it I could nap instantly anywhere.

I came home and attempted Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred. I lasted 10min, it's intense. It's definitly something I want to work on but I think between the shovelling, trudging and the 10min I'm pooped. I'm still counting all that as a workout as combined it was at least 30min.

Tracked for the 3rd day in the road. This morning the scale said I squeeked back into the 169s. The mission to squeek a litte further in that direction by Saturday.

Hope your Tuesday was terrific!

Hugs!!!

Finding the mojo

Everyone was talking about the weather today or the weather that's coming. Apparently we are to be slammed with winter including a drop in temperature and 5-10cm of snow....fun.

As of yet not a snowflake, however if it does come that means roughly 300 accidents tomorrow as it's the first serious snow and everyone forgets how to drive in winter. It will also most likely mean my bus that goes through every neighbourhood between my house and downtown will not arrive as the side streets will be messy.

The good news I found my snow shovel and my new winter boots might see some action.

When I got home I took out the garbage a day early so I don't have to jump through snow tomorrow or dig out my back gate. Then I had a lovely turkey bacon/ tomato sandwich for supper and then I contemplated a workout. I didn't want to but I did.

While I sifted through my dvds in search of the step aerobics I found 30 day Shred. I had completely forgotton I picked it up in Walmart for a really good price. I own a lot of workout dvds that intrigue me at the time and then get put on a shelf. Good reminder as winter sets in and travel might be difficult.

I momentarily debated on doing the shred but then thought I'd stick to the plan and do step aerobics.

So tonight's workout was:

34:03min/ 305 calories burned/ 155-182 heart rate

That's now 3 stickers on my calendar and 3 days tracked.

It's paying off, I saw a good number on the scale this morning.

Hope your Monday went well and if you're in Calgary - find your winter boots.

Hugs!!!

I got the magic in me

I love this song by B.0.B and Rivers Cuomo and I do have the magic in me. By saying that I mean I am in control of my actions, my effort and my dedication towards anything I put my mind to. It's funny I put loads of effort and work into work but I always sacrifice the effort to get to goal first. My goal to get to goal deserves just as much effort.

I have tracked every bite, lick and taste for two days now. I've got my butt off the coach and gone for a mega walk yesterday and today. Tomorrow I'll do step aerobics to add some variety.

I broke out the stickers and put them on my calendar to mark activity for the past few days. My goal a sticker each day this week.

Here is the tale of my two mega walks.

Saturday:
1:10:48/ 8.23km/ 419 calories burned/ Pace 8:37-7:56/ HR 161-142

Sunday:
1:12:05/8.17km/409 calories burned/ Pace 8:50-8:14/ HR 153-140

I did the exact same route each day but note the little differences. That comes down the moment I turned the garmin on or off and it felt a little harder today. It was completely overcast and kind of blechy looking when I went out today not sure if that effected it.

I'm working on bringing the weight loss mojo back. I'm also weighing myself every morning again to keep me going. It's all about baby steps as even last night about 2hrs after dinner my instinct was to go in search of a snack and then consciously thought I'm not hungry so I settled for water.

I'm also keeping a close eye on protein. I've noticed a big difference since adding walnuts to my morning hot cereal (oatmeal or oatbran) as it keeps me full way longer and therefore not so tempted to go buy a muffin.

On my walk I noticed today that one of neighbours has covered their lawn in inflatable Christmas decorations since yesterday. It's crazy they have like 6 or 7 giant blow up decorations on their lawn. I overheard this girl on the bus who already had her tree up. Wowsers. My tradition is to put the tree up the 4th advent/ Sunday before Christmas. So with Christmas day landing on a Saturday the decorations will go up Nov 27-28ish.

I hope you guys had a nice weekend, I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Hugs!!!

Russian Roulette

My celebration mind set of my new job has given me license to play fast and loose with the plan. Well more like not following the plan...at all.

Yesterday I went out to eat twice. First lunch with my friend C and then dinner and a movie with the girls. I knew this would not result in a good weigh in today and this morning I seriously debated on going.

Ultimately I decided to go. After all I put the words "the good, the bad and the ugly on the way to goal". I was up exactly 2lbs. I know it's the result of the night before and I didn't really appreciate the weigh in chick telling me to follow the plan next week.

I weighed in at the second meeting today as opposed to the one I usually go to because I opted to sleep in a little. I had no intention of staying for the meeting today. I walked in a saw a sub leader. I remember her as she used to go to my usual Saturday meeting. There were a few people from my normal meeting having a chat with her and she was advising them. One of the women was saying how she's not tracking and the leader simply said you decide how much effort you're going to put in. That hit a chord with me. I also heard that the new plan will start in Canada on Dec.4th.

Now while I am looking forward to a new plan that doesn't mean I can throw the next 3 weigh ins out the window. I've challenged myself to be back at 168 or a wee lower before the new plan starts.

In other news I decided to buy a netbook to take site with me so I don't need to lug my work computer back and forth and my lovely purple 17in Dell can stay home. It would be pretty heavy to haul around with the work computer anyway. All I want is to be able to access the internet, check my email not put together mega documents in my camp room.

I was checking out an HP one on best buy for $288, then I noticed Walmart had one as well for the same price. The best buy one sold out so I went in to Walmart today. At first I didn't see it and it turns out they only had one left. The totally awesome part was it was roll backed to $198, totally meant to be.

So I walked to and from weigh in today and in half an hour I'm heading out for a mega walk. I missed that this past week.

It's a new week and a new attitude.

Hugs!!!

My little hot water bottle

That's the dog, she never left my side the entire time she was with me and last night she slept with at least one body part i.e paw, head, entire body touching me. It's so funny to watch dogs dream and one point I'm sure she was as the little sounds and twitching paw seemed like she might have been dreaming of chasing a squirrel.

I'm still excited about the new job and the mind is racing.

The dog and I went for a walk this morning and it was chilly, there was frost on all the vehicles, the grass and the lamp post so it was fairly quick. Later closer to noon we went for another one and this time longer. I dropped her off at her house at 1pm and then I came home took some advil and had a nap. I had a monster headache.

Now the headache is gone and I feel refreshed and thinking what I should have for dinner. I have go to to work tomorrow for a few hours to do some catch up. Yes it's a day off but I figure it will also be pretty quiet with little interruption and I can get a lot done in a minimum amount of time. I'm just there to get a few things off my plate to set up next week for success.

I was reading Sarahlou's blog (glad to see you back by the way) and as she's recenlty moved back to the UK she's following the ProPoint plan now. Yesterday she mentioned how the leader determined her daily points and it wasn't a questionnaire like usual. That made me think back to the day we were filling out the cards in my meeting, when I left that meeting I saw them filing the cards to match the record files of us. I had wondered why they wanted our membership number and registration number. Hmm..I'm guessing the same thing will happen here. I wonder if the plans will be a bit different or just have different names. Still very much looking forward to this.

Alright that's all I got for today.

Hope you took a moment today to think of all those service men and women who have fought/ fight to protect us.

Hugs!!

Excited and a bit scared

So my major life changing event is I got a promotion at work to do a job I've spent the last 4 years preparing for and now it's all up to me.

When I joined my company I was beyond excited as I despised my previous job and I can't believe a mere two years later I'm off to use all the education and designations I've been collecting.

This also means I'll be at site for 4 days on and 3 days off. A few people have asked me do I really want to be away for 4 days in a row.

Let's see..I only need to buy groceries for 3 days a week, I don't need to cook for 4 days, my gym and room will be in the same building, I don't need to buy a bus pass, no traffic..not to mention it's a promotion and I get every single Friday off!!! In a nutshell I save a load of money plus make more.

They made the announcement at work today that I was moving on and it was a happy sad moment. I'm looking forward to the new opportunity but I'll miss the people I work with now. I made a lot of friends and it's not like I'm moving to a different company but I'll miss their personalities on a frequent basis.

This won't effect the blogging as I can do that from anywhere. A few of them read this so at least they'll always know what I'm up to.

I'm a gemini so half of me is excited and chomping at the bit, the other half is a bit scared and OMG I want to do a good job.

The next little while will be hellish as though I start my new job in two weeks I'll be doing my old job until a replacement is put in place. The good thing is I've been working with my new group for the last two years as well so I've got support.

In the meantime I must stay focused on the weight loss. I gain a workout buddy at site which will be great.

The neighbour's dog is now napping beside me and I'm so looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

Hope you had a great Wednesday.

Hugs!!!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I got news today that will change my life fairly dramatically in a majorly awesome way...that's all I'm saying right now. Will reveal more later.

On to other changes I can't wait for this new WW plan. I need a change on the weight loss front, I need a charge and I need something new.

I was so happy today I celebrated with Oreos - not smart.

I also dropped the course I've been avoiding for months. I do not have the time nor energy to put into this and would rather not do a half ass job.

I'm totally excited that tomorrow is my Friday and I've excited about having Sally (the dog) as company.

That's all I got.

Hope your Tuesday was freaking fantastic.

Hugs!!!

A day behind

It was a bit strange not to have to get on a plane today. I arrived at work and 4 people asked me why I was there. Nice to know they notice.

What I didn't factor into this week was my two days of solid meetings, which means lunch with a group and today it was chinese. Plus being out of the office for the entire day means a longer day due to things that need to be done before leaving for the day.

I get to repeat the whole thing tomorrow but I'm going to encourage the group to go to Subway. My neighbour's dog better be ready for some serious walking as I'll need to make up workouts.

I got home late and thought Biggest Loser was on and then realized I'm a day ahead as normally I'd be chilling in my camp room and not standing in my living room.

While I love daylight savings time for the extra hour of sleep I forgot how it also means coming home in the dark. I like winter, I like the crispness in the air, I like how everything is so clean when it snows and I really love when the snowflakes look like mini diamonds. What I'm not crazy about it is the going to and from work in the dark. Magically on Dec. 15th it get a minute lighter every day.

Hope you all had a marvellous Monday!

Hugs!!!

Back up plans are key

I am completely committed to tracking this week as I strongly believe that's the key to my successful weeks. Yesterday I had thought I left my 3 month tracker at work so I logged into e-tools and tracked there. Today I found the tracker under a magazine so I filled out what was missing.

I like the tracking on paper. I hadn't filled out the dates to the end so I did that today and it takes me straight to the end of the year. I then realized that this new WW plan will be launching in December so I'm not sure if my current tracker will still work.

I tried researching the new plan again and found more info on the plan just launched in the UK called Pro Points. It looks like the points are determined by calories, fat, fibre and protein which is interesting . This one UK article compared breakfasts of the same point value using the current plan but redid the calculation with the new plan and the meal with more protein counted lower. The articles also mentioned that the North American plan will not be called Pro Points. I'm very interested in this as I know from history that if I make sure to have enough protein I tend to have better losses. I hope it launches at the beginning of December as I'm really looking forward to this.

Yesterday I headed out for a walk and ran into my neighbour and the dog about half way through. I then walked with them as the dog and I are best friends. I didn't go for a long as I wanted but it was a good pace. All in all 4 AP earned.

I then hit the mall with my friend K and we went for dinner at Moxie's. I used a whole whack of flexpoints and it irritates me that they don't post NI info on their website. I guessed high to compensate.

Today I did housework and worked from home on stuff to get more up to speed. I spent a good amount of hours on that while watching the Mad Men episodes I have on the pvr. Tomorrow is my 2nd anniversay in this job. I love the company I work for and I'm so happy that everything turned out the way it did.

It's a 3 day week for me next week and I get to have a sleepover with the dog from Wednesday to Thursday. My plan is to start the Christmas baking as I left it all to the last minute last year. Of course these cookies are intended for others.

It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow so I think I'll do a workout dvd when I get home from work. I'm leaning towards step aerobics. I get to sleep in a little as I'm not getting on a plane as well.

Hope you all are having a fabulous Sunday!

Hugs!!

The effort you put in is the result you will receive

My week in review:
Exercise = iffy
Tracking = iffy
Water = iffy

The result: up .6, the thing is I'm cool with that. I wasn't expecting some awesome weigh in because I didn't put in the work. I don't feel bad about that because I said yesterday there's nothing I can do about the past.

I am pretty excited about the week ahead. I updated my trackers at the top because I needed a change. I changed Operation Little Black Dress to the end of the year. I didn't factor in New Year's Eve on the first tracker and that is yet another opportunity for a LBD. 

As of Jan 1 Operation Hottie - Part Deux begins the countdown to Vegas in March.

There are 8 weigh ins left till the end of the year. It's not unrealistic to aim for another 10lbs down by then. There are 10 weigh ins between Jan 1 and Mar 16th. If I could pull off 2lbs a week that would put me at goal but I'm not going there in my head yet as I just want to focus on now to the end of the year right now and take it week by week.

At WW they had us fill out these pieces of paper to fill out your height, weight, membership info and it has something to do with the new plan that's coming in December. I'm intrigued.

I also picked up a pair of cross trainers today for indoor workouts like zumba or a workout dvd. I got a pair of Nike Air Exceed and they're not the newest version so they were on sale plus feel comfortable. I need to be prepared for winter coming and my runners are designed for motion control so not so good for non walking/running activities.

I also picked up "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" up from the library. When I first requested the hold I was number 364 on the list. It's been a long wait. My nose will be buried in that for awhile.

Hope you all have a fabulous Saturday.

Hugs!!

Inspiration in the strangest places

After yesterday's post and me feeling a little diappointed in myself and my difficulty of getting back on track I turned on the radio and heard:

I love myself today

Not like yesterday
I'm cool, I'm calm
I'm gonna be okay! Uh huh

While Biff Naked is really singing about a loser significant other, I took this a slightly different way.

I can't do anything about yesterday, last week or any time in past. I'm in control of the now. Today my mantra was the lines above. Today was not perfect but it wasn't a disaster either..baby steps. Today is the end of my week and a new one starts tomorrow with weigh in.

I had the thought of trying the Jillian Michael's 30 day shred that I read so much about on the blogs but it kind of scares me. Yes, going out of your comfort zone can be good or a disaster.

I might head downtown tomorrow for a little retail therapy so we'll see if I come home with that.

I tell ya one thing, the mantra is kind of fun.

Hope your Friday was fantastic.

Hugs!!!

Running on fumes

Oy vey I'm tired.

Yesterday getting home from work was a long laborious process due to mega traffic. I got home and was exhausted.

Today was super productive work wise but really long with the added complication of not working in my normal location.

I'm so looking forward to the weekend and the long weekend I have planned for next weekend.

Tired does not help me plan wise as I tend to snack and not track. Yesterday in my paper journal I wrote "my do I sabotage myself". I've started each day this week with super good intentions but tend to shoot myself in the foot later in the day.

What I don't get is how we can be super motivated and totally in the zone then a total flip into making this whole process a battle.

Last night I cracked open "The End to Overeating" once again. I kind of raced through it the first time I read it so I want to really absorb it this time.

On a happier note I'm heading back to Vegas in March for my friend T's birthday. The theme is very much starting to look like Sex in the City. The part I'm really enjoying is I have to plan nothing. I do enjoy hearing about the plans as it builds the excitement.

It's now no longer about goal for the rest of the year as it's unrealistic to lose 30lbs in two months. It's not about throwing the plan out the window either. Then I think of March, I could so be at goal by March bring on Operation Hottie part deux.

Never give up!

Hugs!

People are funny

I'm on the plane home tonight, we've landed and the flight attendant is reminding everyone to keep their seatbelts fastened until we come to a complete stop. Some idiot reaches up and opens one of the overhead bins which then prompts her to say "that included the overhead bins".

Site was good this week, the weather would have been beautiful if there wasn't the crazy arctic type wind. I was wearing my company winter jacket which was good due to the weather but it's a bit too roomy which is kind of awesome because when I first got it - it just fit. It's kind of awkward big now and not great for colder weather as air can get in.

While I'm on this flight schedule Monday workouts are hard. I'm up at 3:30am and I'm on the 6pm bus back to camp later on. By the time you eat dinner (you're pretty darn hungry by 6pm) it's now 7pm and all I want to do is take a shower and go to bed. In theory I could get up early the next day and do it before I go into work but I take the 6am bus and then I have to leave for the plane by 2pm. If I was staying later I could take a slightly later bus in so I had time to shower.

I tried to get my ahead around what it would be like to be at site for a few more days in row and I think it would make planning way easier as it would involve more consistent hours to develop a pattern. Plus I have friends there who work out together.

Food went really well and water was better than usual, could be better. Tomorrow when I get home I'm going for a mega walk outside as the weather is supposed to be nice.

Today I heard the first Christmas tune in a commercial (Thanks President's Choice). It's bizarre that it's November already.

Hope your last few days went super well.

Hugs!!!

Happy belated Halloween

I was all over the place yesterday trying to get my weekly chores done and be sorted and at the door in time for the kids searching for their treats. Activity was racing to the library and back as I needed to pick up a hold and my only option was yesterday. I was walking fast.

Now I'm waiting for the cab to get to the plane so time for a quick post.

I'm still in love with my new washer and dryer as I tried the steam feature on my down comforter and pillows for the first time. It was so nice and toasty warm when it came out of the dryer I could have had a nap right there.

I've tracked everything this weekend but used flexpoints on both days, need to get that in check today.

Workout gear is packed as well as breakfast and lunch. This week it's a Healthy Steamer - Beef Merlot. I realized by the time I add all my fixings to me oatmeal it's the exact same points as the Starbucks version. Except mine has a tablespoon of coconut - kicks it up a notch.

Cutest kid of the night was a 4 year old (guessing on the age) dressed as a puppy. This kid practically stumbled to the door and I asked the mom if he/she was tired. It was kind of funny as the kid almost looked drunk and I stayed at the door till he/she got back to his/her mom in case he/she needed to be carried. Good thing mom had one of those wagons.

Not too many kids last night as I'm thinking due to being a school night. I got 23 in total which is down from last year. The first one came at 6:40pm and last one came at 8:20pm. That worked for me as I needed to head to bed due to my early wake up time today.  I do have leftover candy. Which I'll take to work later in the week. I'm thinking a few people will bring it in today.

I noticed on the calender this is foodapalooza week for me. I'm glad I noticed in advance as opposed to realizing after I ate something. I can keep it in focus this week which is good.

That's all I got for this morning so I'll talk to you all on Tuesday.

Hugs!!!

Changes in the air

On my normal Saturday weigh ins I have a routine. I get up a few hours before I have to leave. I go to Starbucks first and get a latte plus some sort of breakfast. Today I did not get the usual muffin that I eat half of. Instead I got the oatmeal.

I was being helped by a new employee who first couldn't find the oatmeal and then was about to hand it to me unmade as in the pouch of oatmeal. She then added water and wasn't sure if it was enough, another employee showed her the fill line. That oatmeal took a lot of work this morning. I got the brown sugar and nuts to add to it. Bringing the whole oatmeal to 6pts. The nuts counted for 3pts, and that pack was far more than I put in my oatmeal I make at home. It did keep me full for a long time as I was meeting friends for lunch at 2pm.

With oatmeal and latte in hand I headed to my WW meeting and when I walked in the door it looked like they were going out of business. The shelves were bare.

I immediatley thought new plan is coming. I know they're updating the 3 month journals and every few years they re-jig the plan. So we'll see what the next few weeks bring. I did a little online research and found the notes from a WW investor call saying something will be soft launched in Q4 of this year (which means soon) with a bigger launch in Jan 2011. I like the rejigs as it creates a bit of excitement and fresh start.

The scale said down .6, which is alright. I was bored to death in the meeting today as all we talked about was halloween candy and we started almost 10min late. I like my leader but he has no time management skills. There were 3 people who got to goal today which was fabulous. All joined this summer which kind of sucked. Now they needed to lose between 18 and 25lbs to reach their goals. I kept thinking I joined again in January and I'm 25.6 down. It should be more. I put that out of my head as there is no point going into woulda, coulda, shoulda head space. The important thing is to focus on the week ahead.

After the meeting I went to MEC in search of mitts and boots. I found both.

These are the boots - functional, fun, comfortable and good to -32C.

These will be the city boots. The middle of nowhere boots need to be ordered online but at least I now know I'm a size 7 in Sorels.

Met up with the girls at American Apparel were everyone was putting last minute adjustments to their halloween costumes for tonight. I am happy to stay home on my own tonight as tomorrow my mission is to clean my house from top to bottom and then hand out treats to the kids. We had a late lunch so no need for dinner tonight. In fact I'm heading out for a mega walk in about half an hour.

I did a whack of walking today -8th ave and 10th st to 4th ave and 4th street to 17th ave and 14th st. It didn't feel like enough of a workout today.

I hope your Saturday was super fabulous.

Hugs!!!

Little Miss Organized

Got to work today and saw big treat bags hanging on people's office doors. I didn't have one on my door which at first I thought a blessing and then thought I was snubbed. Turns out someone stole the bag off my door, who does that? The Halloween fairy responsible for the bags found me a replacement which I thought was super nice.

The work Halloween pot luck lunch was a massive success and there were some very creative dishes i.e. peanut butter balls that looked like eyeballs. I didn't eat that as it freaked me out. Two -bite brownies are evil.

It was good that I had to run off to meetings on the other side of town as there were many not so point friendly options that looked awfully delicious. I wasn't 100% pleased with my cheesecake so I don't know if it was a popular option. I tried a smidgen and it tasted fine but it didn't meet my expectations. I turn into a bit of a Martha when I bake.

I went grocery shopping right after work as there's a new Co-op right across from our other office. I managed to stick to healthy options with the exception of one treat - Liberte Medittarean Coconut yogurt. I also tossed a container of 0% greek yogurt in my cart, I've never tried this.

Now I'm in the no food zone as weigh in looms tomorrow. Zip idea as to what the scale will say but I accept whatever the result is and I need to set me some goals for next week to get this train going in the right directions. If you follow the plan it works, if you don't follow the plan...well you know how it goes.

1. Track everything
2. Water, water, water
3. Scheduled activity

I also need to remember why getting to goal is important to me.

1. Health - my dad has had colon cancer and my mom died of alzeihmer related  something
Both can be fought with living a health lifestyle
2. Self esteem - I know this is not related to weight loss alone but it's more the mental part and believing I deserve to succeed.
3. Vanity - Oh yes I'll admit that's in there. I want to dress to show off as opposed to hide. I'm not talking hoochy mama but stuff like tuck my shirt into my waist band or wear leggings.

I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween Friday...mwhahahahahaha!

I love halloween but I can't wait for it be over

Mainly it's about the halloween candy, those mini bars are evil. The don't look like much but it's hard to stop at one. The good thing is I've lost my interest in chocolate thanks to that.

The cheesecake is now completed and getting that chocolate spider web on was not easy. The chocolate was wicked runny and I made a bit of a mess of it and of course it started to solidfy the moment it hit the cake but heck some strategically placed Wilton pumkin decorations and shazaam it doesn't looks so bad.

I'm knackered though. Worked late today and tomorrow isn't looking so great either.

I'm very much looking forward to the weekend. This weekend I need to get some new winter boots as last years need to be retired. I'm thinking Sorel. I kind of want two pairs sort of a city version and a middle of nowhere version but I need to price it out.

I need mitts as I've been running around with the mini ones - not quite good enough and highly irritating when using an Iphone as you have to take them off to do anything.

I might need a new winter coat after all so I might check out the new Columbia Omni Heat. I realize it's not quite winter but I like to be prepared. Now is the time when the weather is totally unpredictable.

Today as I was walking to the food court I passed a Hallmark that was putting out the Christmas cards.

It just seems like time is flying lately and I can't believe 2011 is looming. A part of me is dreading that as I might once again have a new year's resolution of getting to goal. I'm in a holding pattern right now and it's been like being stuck in mud. It's all me that I know but I haven't quite unlocked what the heck is stopping me. I need to make that a priority because the only thing stopping me from being succesful is me.

It could be worse, right now I'm maintaining at least it's not gaining but I'm not happy standing still.  Operation LBD is still happening with 5 weeks to the Christmas Party and 13 weeks till the end of the year (based on weigh ins).

I'm going to focus on positivity and banish the dark clouds following me around. I can do this, I will do this and absolutely nothing is going to stop me.

Hugs!!