Friday, friday, friday

I have continued with the yoga, attempting the "dancing moon" yesterday. It's weird how you notice that you're getting better at some poses while still completely useless in other poses. I realize I need to work up to it so I'm embracing the challenge. I found awesome workout clothes at Walmart. For just under $11 I got super comfy capri workout pants. They're really light/moisture wicking fabric and stay put during downward dog. I need to get more as they'll be great for summer walks too.

Since I started this yoga stuff I have noticed that I sleep better.

Went for a 5k walk last night and did a very relaxed version of fartleks (quick burst of speed in small intervals). I didn't speed up my walk instead I did little jaunts of running from light post to light post sort of thing. I did it 4 times in the course of the walk. I find it easier to run than to super speed walk, something to do with the hips. I don't think I'll ever nor want to be a full scale runner but I might get into the walk/run thing.

I was up on the scale this morning which means water rentention is in full gear so today I will be attached to a water bottle all day.

The major road near my house is being torn up for some reason so buses and traffic in general are being re-routed for the next few days. This complicates getting around a bit for the next few days. Transit is supposed to decide today on the latest agreement. They were in negotiations with a mediator for a really long time yesterday. I'm really really hoping a strike can be avoided.

I'm totally addicted to my nintendo ds lite, I got a new game yesterday that involves running a bakery and baking cakes for people. How perfect I get to create great cakes and not be tempted to eat them :) . It's hysterical. I got younger on the Brain Age game, it's really neat how it actually does improve your brain power. It goes for muscles and the brain - if you don't use it - you lose it.

I hope everyone has a super fabulous weekend!

Yoga obsessed

Last night I did Sun/Moon and Firebird episodes. Firebird moved a whole lot faster than the previous episodes but I actually got the Hero-Cat-Upward Facing Dog - Downward Facing Dog - Swan - Firebird down. I'm starting to learn the poses so I just have to listen as opposed to staring at the tv in a contorted position. I'm actually looking forward to doing Firebird tonight and the first episode on the 2nd DVD. I ordered two books on Hatha yoga to get more information. I could feel all my muscles this morning, I wasn't super sore just aware of them. One of the books explains how each pose effects the muscles and what it's working. I'm really looking forward to improving my flexibility and core strength.

I also did a speedy 6K walk last night, but it's not walking sore I feel today. Tonight will just be yoga and then walking/yoga tomorrow. I seriously need to wash dishes plus hem a pair of pants and I might pop into Walmart on the way home to pick up some self tan. I'm feeling a little ghostly pale at the moment. Which means a bit of walk as I'll walk home from there.

Food did go a bit overboard yesterday but the activity sure helped as I stayed the same weight wise this morning.

Looking forward to ANTM tonight, it looks like Renee is ganging up on Natasha. I want Renee to get the boot so bad.

Wayne won?

I had a futile search of Sears on my quest to find trim paint. I need an oil based paint and Walmart just had latex which apparently wears off in a few years. Alas no luck, I'll have to foray elsewhere or just use exterior latex.

Did two episodes of Namaste yoga (I have the DVD). I did Ep.1 Exalted Warrior and Ep. 2 Sun Moon. My plan is to do two episodes a night, works out to be about 50min. I'm going to the instructor's (Kate Potter) seminar in Edmonton at the end of the month. It will be 3 days of yoga so I'm sort of trying to study. My two episode plan will go like this Mon: Ep 1 and 2, Tue: Ep 2 and 3, Wed: Ep 3 and 4....This way I repeat each workout so I get more familiar with it. I really enjoy this program and I find Kate's directions easy to follow and very soothing at the same time. According to my calculations I can complete all 3 dvds in two weeks. Of course the further you go along the more difficult it gets so I won't necessarily make it through all the dvds but I won't skip a workout I'll just backtrack until I get comfortable to move on.

Project Catwalk finale yesterday. I can't believe Wayne won. I thought Monica would win it, even though the blouses were hideous. I might google him later to see what happened after the show as we're a few months behind I think.

Purl Princess- I tried to comment on your site but I think I'm doing something wrong.

Today is a known in advance bad food day at work and I've planned accordingly. I have 16pts left for the day and a stand by of 2pt soup for supper. I'm also planning a good walk tonight and 50min of yoga. Gilmour Girls is on tonight but I think I'll tape and therefore get my workout in.

I did have a yummy flat out pizza last night for supper. I put the flat out in the oven for 5 min and then took it out and put a bit of ragu, tandoori chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, green onions and a bit of part skim mozzarella. It was fantastic, almost like a cracker crust.

Have a groovy day everybody!

The sun is shining!

The recap:

Friday- Saw Spiderman 3, didn't wind up having supper until 10pm so it was a bowl of Shreddies. The movie was not so good and I was disappointed, way too long and since when is Spiderman a musical..I won't go into more detail as not to spoil it for those who want to see it. I did love the black suit.

Saturday-My papa came in for a quick visit. I was up a pound at WI, not surprised since I did go out for dinner 3 times last week which also impacted workout time.

Sunday-Mowed the jungle lawn and it only took 3 tries to wake up the lawnmower. In the end I I did about 1.5 hrs of yard work. Took the bike for a brief spin around the backyard to see if I remembered how to ride. I've never had a mountain bike before and your body position is totally different from the ancient 10 speed. At first I thought my knees were coming too high after observing others I realize that's no the case. Then I hung out with my friend A and toured her new neighbourhood.

Used all of my flexpoints on the weekend which is fine. I have a good day planned and the activity tonight will be yoga. I need to hit Sears tonight to see if they have trim paint. I couldn't find suitable paint at Walmart, I did pick up two games for my nintendo (Tetris and Cooking Mama) and I got the Spiderman mr. potato head (Spuderman). He has now joined Darth Tater on top of my desk hutch along with the Sesame Street characters. Everyone's reaction thus far has been to smile so I think my mission is a success.

I want to see a two pound loss at the end of this week and this also the week of snack a palooza. What this means for me is get activity in everyday and make it fun so I'll actually do it. I must also surround myself with healthy snacks and plan my meals. The other very important factor will be water, since this is the week of water retention, I must be diligent. To keep me on track I'm going to post my menus.

The Menu for Monday:

Oatbran - 1

1tbsp Brown Sugar - 1

Milk - 2

A few strawberries - 0

Spaghetti Squash with Ragu and a bit of light cream cheese - 4

Yogurt - 1

FF and Sugar Free Vanilla Latte - 3

13/23 so 10pts left for supper

For supper I'm thinking about a flat out pizza with some sundried tomatoe chicken that I picked up at superstore. I also bought the tandoori one.

Season Finale of Project Catwalk is on Life channel tonight...looking forward to it.

Have a super Monday everybody!

May the 4th be with you

Saw that line on a post this morning and it made me laugh, also this morning my colleague informed me there were new star wars magnets on the Lego site. The force is with me.

Last night went for dinner with H, wound up buying small stuffed Sesame Street characters (Ernie, Bert, Oscar, Cookie Monster and Grover - old school) that were on sale at a card store, they'll be coming to work and sit on my desk. I'm turning my office into a playschool, far side calendar pages on the wall, Darth Tater, Magic 8 ball and then the Sesame Street Gang. Really I'm creating a happy place.

Also went to the Body Shop and stocked up on a few things.

Today at lunch we have team building...sigh...I'm not fond of most forms of team building. I think the best thing to do is get together and do something non competitive outside of the office. They're feeding us and I think it's sandwiches. I brought an apple and yogurt with me so I'll only have a sandwich (I'll pick the healthiest option).

Transit has voted to strike, so I need to plan a trip to MEC to get prepared to commute by bike. Who knows, maybe I'll like it. Plus transit may strike a deal with the city and there might not be a strike. We must wait and see.

Not sure how WI will go, with my crazy schedule this week. I was up a bit this morning but that was to be expected with dinner out yesterday. I'll definitely be focusing on water today. Tonight's activity will be cleaning my house for Dad's visit tomorrow.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Totally Random Musings

On the bus today a girl sat beside me who had her ipod so loud that I could hear her music and not mine. So I took mine off and listened to hers, it was loud from where I was sitting. She was probably in her mid twenties, and will be deaf by thirty. I'm always super conscious of how loud my mp3 is, I choose to listen to it not the people around me. I did enjoy her playlist though, it was a bit of Pussycat Dolls and Ozzy.

It's been a crazy week food wise, as I went out to dinner 3 times. Two times were at Boston Pizza (I rarely go there). Wednesday night I ordered some sort of Smokey mtn pasta. It was huge! Ate a little less than 1/2 of it, this was dinner at 9:30pm so 9hrs between meals. I brought the leftovers, divided in two for lunch today and tomorrow. Tonight it's probably Milestone's but I love the Vegetarian Thai Noodle Salad so the damage isn't too bad. Activity was good at the start of the week. Wednesday got derailed because I was out looking at condos with my friend until 9:30pm, it was fun and I think my friend has fallen in love with a place. This condo looks like your walking up to the Banff Springs Hotel, it's surrounded by trees and like a 10min drive from the core.

It's majorly raining right now and the sky is darkish which makes me want to nap...or snack. Instead I'll drink water.

My toaster oven (above) arrived from Air Miles and it's pretty. Far more complicated than any other toaster oven I've ever dealt with. I'll love this especially in summer when you don't want to fire up the big oven.

Bought a nintendo ds lite because I wanted the Brain Age game. I scored an age 47 for my brain so 12 years older than my current age. I think it's getting complacent. Even during my course I felt renewed mental energy of doing something different than just the day in and day out of my job. I used to read a lot but sort of fell out of that pattern with what seems like not enough time. Well with the new Harry Potter coming out soon I'll soon be back in the habit :) This brain age thing is quite fun too, it actually keeps a graph of your progress. My mission to have a brain age of 20.

20% off of everything today at The Body Shop if you have a club card.

H is off to Vancouver for the half marathon - You Go Girl! I'll miss ya while your gone.

Yard work season begins

I did clean out my flower beds yesterday and it looks way better than the sad carnage of dead plants that was there before. The perennials are showing green and the peonies are starting to sprout out of the ground. Even the rhubarb in my backyard which I tend to ignore is coming up (this year I'll definitely have to use the rhubarb). Isn't spring grand?

As I was putting gardening stuff away in the shed I started to put together a mental list of all that should be done. I definitely need to rake, I'm pretty good about the front lawn but this spring/summer I need to give some love to my back lawn. I need to paint the inside of the fence as outside was painted last summer. I think I'll do that on the weekend of the 11/12th. I need to trim the rebellious raspberry bushes and trees. I've always sort of avoided the back lawn and now realize I need to approach it in sections as not to overwhealm myself. Gee, sounds similar to my weightloss plan.

I dropped in at Walmart yesterday to pick up lawnmower oil and guess at a new filter and I noticed all the neat garden stuff. I don't mean plants I mean decorations. I would like to create a bit of a backyard oasis. It's been pretty neglected with the exception of mowing so it will take some hard work on my part (it's a big backyard) but there will be a sense of accomplishment and probably some muscle work as well.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to change the filter on the lawnmower. I really need to mow the front lawn tonight as rain is forecasted for the next few days and over the weekend, and I don't want to deal with jungle lawn by the end of next week. Filter will have to wait for all knowledgeable Dad, who is coming in town this weekend. This way if he breaks it then he can buy me a new lawnmower...I have a plan. However, neighbours will be treated to the puff of whatever stuff comes out of the lawnmower when you fire it up.

Those darn Diamond Shreddies commercials have got me. I haven't actually seen any of the commercials in their entirety but I've seen bill boards and that got me thinking of Shreddies. So I also picked up a box of those last night. Really those ads are ingenious.

Have a great day everybody!

A new week begins

A new week and renewed focus that was very temporarily swayed by starburst at main reception. I quickly asked myself "Why am I eating this?", had no good answer so I filled my water bottle instead.

I wasn't kidding when I said take it minute by minute and I'll need that this week as I pretty much blew all my flex pts on the weekend. More inspiration to get activity in. Did 8km with H yesterday, on Saturday did 3Km plus 30min of yoga. Tonight I hope to clean out my flower beds (1-1.5hrs of work) and 30min of yoga. Of course I avoided all yard work on the weekend. Planning to do it this weekend but now my Dad is coming in to town so I figured I could get some of it done before the expected downfall of rain.

I also need to walk to the mall and back at lunch so that's about a 30min walk.

Yesterday wasn't too bad food wise until I went out to dinner with my friend A and we went to Boston Pizza. She just moved back into town, she also follows WW so I'm hoping we can keep each other accountable. Add one more friend into the fold of weight loss support. After finally seeing a loss on Thursday, I really really want to see another one on Saturday. Boston Pizza wasn't too bad until it came to dessert. I love their maple blondie and rarely have it.

So the focus this week is minute by minute.

Have a great week everybody!

TGIF

As I walked out the door this morning I was greeted by my neighbour's two West Highland Terriers, they took one look at me and tails started to wag and they were straining on their leash to say hi. They're so cute! I normally don't care for small dogs, I love all dogs but I don't see myself in the possession of a small dog. The thing I like about Westies is that they might be small but they think they're big. What a great way to approach life.

When you're feeling small and inconsiquential always remember that you can play with the big dogs.

Great quote I passed on the way in, "According to my calculations - escalators+slinky= everlasting fun".

After work yesterday I headed over to Roots with H because their yoga stuff was 25% off. Nothing fit right, I felt like a sausage in all the pants. I didn't let it get to me, their stuff is just not designed for short waisted people. Plus there are plenty of companies that make yoga stuff. I also came to the realization that a lot can happen in a month. I have 1 month until the yoga seminar I'm going to.

No more goofying around for me, I'm going to set some fitness goals for the next month breaking it down by week and by day (I think I need to make shorter time frame goals to actually keep at it.) This will include the training for the half marathon, yoga and strength. I've pretty much been maintaining for the awhile and I need to shake things up. Tonight when I get home I'm going to plunk the calendar off the mall and write these goals down. I have two months until my yearly physical and I would like to get a kudos from my doctor too.

I know that to be successful I need to take it minute by minute. Even this morning, I debated over making lunch and thought about buying instead. Then I gave myself a talking to, I had already written my from home lunch in my tracker, so I made my salad. I'm also going to put off buying any new yoga gear until right before I leave for the seminar. The stuff I have now should not be seen in public :)

So on that note, don't beat yourselves up, don't feel like you've failed, don't give up. You can do anything you set your mind to. This weekend find time to celebrate yourself, there's no one out there like you :)

Down 0.8

I'll take it, it's my first loss in a few weeks of staying the same. Now I have 9 days until next WI to keep it going. Of course today has been goofy food wise but that's o.k. That just means no dilly dallying this weekend. It will be OP. With a dentist appointment on Saturday and training with H on Sunday that won't be difficult.

Literally ran in and out of WI but I think I saw Shirls sitting in the front row. The weigh in lady congratulated me on my total of 20lbs lost, I was like huh?. Then I realized she did the math wrong, that would be 30lbs. I had to fix my book when I got back to the office. Since I was not feeling so well last week I thought I'd have to give up two coupons but today was registration for the price of one weigh in so I just "re-registered". Technically saving myself $15.

It looks like our transit is getting closer and closer to a strike so I need to unearth the bike from the shed this weekend and I think I'll set up my patio set as well which means raking the patio area. There that will earn a few extra APs. I haven't been on a bike in a long time but I think it comes back. I hope it comes back.

I was wicked tired when I got home and landed on the couch, started watching Keanu Reeves and Denzil Washington in a Shakespeare movie, of course the title escapes me now but it was entertaining.

Alas not too much going on today, doing some retail therapy with H after work today so that will be nice.

Have a great day everybody!

Little surprises

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard of facebook. I stumbled on there due to an invite from a friend and really didn't think that much about it. I'm not the type of person to have a large social circle. I have a group of best friends, a few friends I see every so often.

I was super suprised to see some names from the past pop up on facebook. With each new name brought delight and of course nostalgia. I'm really honoured that they remember me or recognized my name that brought them back into my realm.

I always thought of friendships in spheres. You have your work, school, lifestyle friends. Typically when the environment of that friendship changes ie. change jobs, those friendships change as well. I think that people come into your life for a reason, you may not know the reason while they're there but I think you figure it out eventually.

Well went out for Indian last night and it was awesome. I didn't even use all my flex pts. Today I must be good because WI is tomorrow morning. I think my aps will be cleaning my house.

Have a great day everybody!

Tuesday musings

Whoo what a day already. Had a traumatizing trip on the bus, praying no one would bump into the birthday cake which was in a duffel bag padded with grocery bags. It got dicey as the bus was wicked packed. Cake got here with no problems and is now resting in the boardroom as I suspect it was super cold.

Then I got to work and got to deal with an irrational high maintenance individual. Got that taken care of. I'm so looking forward to dinner tonight. I'm going to walk to the restaurant after work (roughly 15 blocks) so that will earn me a bit of AP before hand. I have 10pts and 29 flex left so I think I'm good to go. My intention is to shoot for healthy choices. We're going to an Indian restaurant called Moti Mahal. It's been around for a very long time and always comes highly recommended. I had turkey/ham sub from Subway for lunch and now it's water, water, water. I will have a wee bitty piece of birthday cake as I'm curious to how it turned out.

Workout wise was treking home from Walmart last night, I found fruit gummy slices to put on top of the cake around the border and then made two gummy flowers on top of the cake (so everyone gets a piece of gummy candy - the grief I would get if they didn't).

My dining room table and kitchen are a disaster from the cake festivities. I typically curse a lot when frosting cakes - it brings out the worst in me. This time wasn't so bad, so perhaps there's hope. I didn't even want to deal with it once I was done.

I have to keep reminding myself that I'm weighing in on Thursday. I should seriously put my WI book on top of the t.v.

Have groovy day everybody!

Updates and musings

I haven't posted since Friday so this might be long...
Let's start with Saturday:
Woke up with a splitting headache, the kind of headache that any noise whatsoever drives you bananas. I decided to take some advil and skip the meeting (my meeting is loud), thinking I'll just go to the second one. Well I woke up at 10:30am so I missed both meetings. I weighed myself at home and was exactly the same as last Saturday so I'm pretty positive it would be a stay the same. Apparently I have this maintaining thing down. I took that as inpiration to behave on Saturday and I did use 5 flex points. I went a wee over because I spent 2.5 hours finishing my last and final paper for Human Organization Behaviours course and I needed sustenance. Zipped that paper over to H for a final look through.

Sunday:
Met H at the pathway for 12km walk, me beat our time from last time by 15min. Not too shabby. Got home and changed and then headed out with A to look at Condos. Everytime I walk into these places it makes me think how old my house is (1950) but I don't care I like it. It could use a reno but I need to win the lottery for that :) Got home and then super woman kicked in. Made final modifications on paper and submitted it, baked a cake that the stupid dark pans once again burnt, zipped to Walmart and bought new pans and new cake mix. Tried again and this time perfecto. Made fruit salad, did laundry and actually put laundry away. Wound up earning 11APs.

Weighed myself this morning and I was down a pound...whoo hoo. I need to WI this Thursday at 7am because on Saturday I have a conflicting dentist appointment. I'm saving the rest of my flex for dinner on Tuesday (East Indian) and then it will be water, water, water on Wednesday.

Oy vey! I need new clothes and this causes a love/hate thing. I'm not where I want to be and there will a few more sizes in between. I don't want to go crazy but sort of buy transitional pieces or cheap. Luckily it's spring so I can update some things. I seriously need to go to payless...maybe tonight.

The cake I baked is for my boss's birthday it's vanilla cake with a layer of lemon curd in between and then frosted with vanilla frosting - I didn't want to over do the lemon. I'm going to try to find some jelly fruit to but around the border. It's her 50th birthday so I think fun and frivolous would be appropriate.

I'm going to a yoga retreat at the end of May, wowsers do I need to get into geat so I'm not completely useless.

Hope everyone has a super fabulous week!

Slurpee on the ground

Bit of workout this morning shovelling my sidewalk, that stuff is heavy! It's like shovelling slurpee and then you have this slippery film left on the sidewalk. I'm so Canadian, that I went out there after shovelling and put salt/gravel down in fear that someone might slip.

Whoo Hoo to the Flames making this a series. I ♥ Kipper! By far one the best goalies in the game. I wonder if he does yoga. I was falling asleep on the couch by 8:30pm, didn't even watch Ugly Betty but I think I had the vcr programmed to tape it..I hope so.

Dreading WI which is no different than last week, I've yet another goofy week due to poor time management. I'm getting better but want to be a pro. I'm thinking of buying a slow cooker this weekend to facilitate the dinner dilemmas. Plus I had events this week that don't normally happen so that tossed a bit of wrench in. I'm not giving up, my training for the half marathon will be ramping up as soon as it's not totally dangerous to hit the pavement. My course is finished this week and I'm on waiting lists for two other classes that don't start until May 15, so if I can't get in I'll have few months off to really focus.

I have a great day planned today and a new week starts tomorrow.

Have a super great Friday everybody!

Super Hero/ Rock Star Hair

Early Start

I was on a bus at just after 6am this morning to attend a software information seminar in which the projections screen didn't work. So I sat for an hour and listened to someone read the hand out. There were muffins and donuts...I was bored = pastry sabotage. Alas the day is not over and quite frankly I'm craving veggies so I'm not too worried about today. Maybe it's a good thing to get bad behaviour out of the way early.

Last night I went to the salon and got my hair cut and coloured. I call it rockstar hair and I will post a pic when I get home (Dark dark brown with a few vibrant red highlights). I was too tired last night. I walked home from the mall in the snow/rain and it coated my glasses and then when I wiped them off made them foggy. I could probably walk that route blindfolded but I did pause at intersections peered over my glasses to see if I could see headlights.

Had time to kill before my appointment got sukiyaki beef, at about a 1/3rd of it and focused on the veggies, went to Walmart to see if I could find a cute cardigan that I had seen a few days before (no cardigan), got more Nestea (to take to work this time) and the new Oreo wafer thins. There 3pts for a pack. Not tremendously oreo in flavour but a nice light cookie, there are two wafers in each pack. I like that fact that it's divided in serving sizes.

I really want to find the Hostess 100cal packs but I have yet to see them in my fair city, I don't even know if they're available in Canada.

Drank loads of water yesterday that resulted in me seeing most of the people I work with as I trucked too and from the washrooms.

For those who were wondering: EVOO is extra virgin olive oil. Rachel Ray uses the term EVOO a lot.

Flames fever is abundant in my city, I didn't see too many jerseys this morning but mind you I was out fairly early. I did see city buses flashing the "Go Flames Go". I watched the game on tv on Tuesday and I was so proud of my city and the sea of red. We get 100% behind our hockey team, there are car flags and jerseys all over this city. For all the ex-pats out there, the red mile is being watched carefully by our boys in blue. They handed out over a hundred fines for things like honking and running around with your beer bottle. All in all we're pretty well behaved fans. No store fronts have been broken or fire hydrants ripped out and no piliging has occured when we've won or lost. That spirit is renewed every year time after time.

I hope Kipper is well rested. That man is one hell of a goaltender.

Go Flames Go!!!!!!

Heavy Snowfall Warning

It's spring in Cowtown, which means stupid weather patterns. Chance of 35cm of snow by tomorrow. Yay...ah no. I'm hoping it doesn't snow gobs tonight as I will be hanging out at my local mall until my hair appointment at 6:15pm and then it's a cut and highlights so goodness knows when I'll be done. I'm hoping not to be slugging through mega snow on my way home. I did bring a toque and umbrella just in case. However if it does snow my neighbours will have a show of me frantically tossing fertilizer on my lawn. Then I suspect they will all be out doing the same thing.

Went out to dinner last night splurged on dessert and then it was so so. How incredibly disappointing, but I paid for it with an upset stomach later. I have been one mega rebel lately in kinda sorta following the plan, I don't know what's wrong with me. I did have a good think about it this morning and felt it down in my soul that if I don't start getting my act together all the hard work thus far will be lost. So tracker is with me, almost 1l down before 10am and I brought my lunch. Tonight will dinner at Subway so I don't get home starving and eat anything. I have 3 days before WI I can turn myself around. I'm going to go back to writing in my tracker my I'm eating what I'm eating ie. breakfast, lunch, snack, bored, have no idea. I think then I'll think twice before going snack crazy.

Caught the last half of Gilmour Girls and I thought it was blah. It seems like everything is just wrapping up. However was super happy with the results of the Flames game, though I was dosing off in the 2nd period and then went to bed.

Have to be at work uber early tomorrow for a computer training/ info session. My workplace is so ridiculous right now, infused with drama. Put a tv crew in here and we would be the next soap. At a meeting there was a vote as to when to have this training session. Majority voted for the morning it was decided. Now people are saying "I didn't vote for that", oh please. These people are acting like their in kindergarten. I don't get it, I'm trying to be a duck and just let it all roll off. Life is too short to get caught up in stupidity.

I should so watch the Secret again, everytime I watch that I have a more positive energy. I haven't written in my gratitude book for weeks and I've got a plain white poster board on my wall that is to be my vision board, but I haven't put anything on it yet. I think it's time to take care of that and make a conscious effort to think positively.

On that note: Count your blessing today, you'll be amazed at how many you have.

Peace out!

Found it!

My tracking book (the newer version than the pic) was on the coffee table under the tv listings, how I missed it - I have no clue but I'm happy now. Those paper trackers drive me crazy just in how quickly I can destroy them. So I transferred the last three days into the book and discovered that on Sunday I had written a couple of things down twice (once in planning and then again after consumed), so yay me it wasn't quite the food a palooza I had thought.

Yesterday I swung by my second home (Walmart) and picked up a few of those Nestea singles (on sale), these are the saviours to my water drinking, I put one in a litre of water and it just makes it more interesting. I do aim for one litre of clear water a day in addition. I also picked up a candy thermometer for under $5, take that Micheal's and your $37 version. For $37 dollars it better do something else...like laundry.

I also went to Safeway to get a loaf of Como bread, it's 1pt for a slice. Has a sourdoughy taste. I think it's low in points because it has a lot of bubbles, it's not a dense bread. I made spaghetti squash for supper, I love spaghetti squash and had a piece of that on the side.

I'm trying to get creative food wise, I always find (especially following flex plan) that I get into a routine with food. The same thing for most of the day, everyday just because I know the points. I also find I have an aversion to recipes with long ingredient lists. I like to make stuff up or follow a recipe of less than 6 ingredients. I'm totally into the food network just to get ideas but I do find most of the shows are not so concerned with nutritional info (i.e Paula Dean - butter in everything). I enjoy Dave Lieberman, just because he's a cutie patootie but also because he typically uses a budget. Rachel Ray's figure friendly recipes always seem to have an awful lot of EVOO.

Fairly Random today...on that note...Have a Groovy Day!

And the beat goes on

Alas time has flown once again.

Friday ran away with me. On Saturday my papa came into to town so errands were done and two hockey games were watched. On Sunday after loading the truck at 7am with scaffolding, ladders and old paint cans, Dad went home and I headed off to meet H for a 16k walk.

It was gorgeous out and thanks to our creative planning we avoided the Chinook Half Marathon people. Of coure neither of us realized there was a race on until I got to Eau Claire and saw all the race numbers. I had a fuel gel for the first time in 4 months. I definitely like the GU brand better, I'll need to stock up on those again. The lemon is quite good and the chocolate tastes like chocolate pudding.

After the walk went home and proceeded to snack like crazy, I always find long distance days throw me off food wise. Did get completely caught up with my class discussion board postings, now there's one last chapter and one last paper.

Still need to sign up for the next one and do my taxes.

WI this week showed a stayed the same, which I'm really grateful for as this is the weigh in that's usually effected by the evil TOM.

Have misplaced my tracking book so I'm using the old fashioned paper ones and they irritate me. More inspiration to see what happened to my book

I must carefully plan tomorrow as I'm going out for lunch and for dinner. However I love the Thai salad at Milestone's.

Workout tonight will be walking home from the mall and yoga.

May everyone find their inspiration, never lose faith in themselves and celebrate themselves daily.

Peace Out!

Doosie of a Day

Glutton behaviours have reared their ugly head my friends. Yesterday was not perfect but alright with the potluck and the chocolate peanut butter pie. Today has been down right stupid.

Two baked goods after I already had breakfast. A hodge podge of lunch made up of left overs from the pot luck (WW bun with a bit of spinach dip as a sandwich, a bit of potatoe salad and a wee slice of blueberry pie) aaannnnddd I'm going out for supper tonight. Why do I do this, I know it has a lot to do with PMS but really you think I'd learn my lesson by now.

I'm not beating myself up, it's one half of a day of silly decisions fueled by hormones.

I did do some dancing at the bus stop to "Busta Move" at least I think that's what the song was called. I just sort of nonchalantly bounced when I realized that people might see me.

Alas the day is not done, I'm drinking water like it's going out of style, already checked the menu online for healthy options. Providing I don't get home too late there will be a workout squeezed in. No alcohol or dessert or appetizer at the restaurant.

Yesterday I had a little spa day, pulled out my Origins face scrub and warming mask in the attempt to treat why poor shell shocked skin (winter, spring, winter, spring). A few moons ago I used to work for The Body Shop and I was a product goddess. I faithfully did my multiple steps of face care. Now I do the basics but I don't do the scrubs and masks as I used to. I think a lot of it has to do with how skin care is marketed now. There are far more multi-purpose face cloths out than ever before. What's so bad about every once in awhile slowing down the process and sit still for 15min with a face mask.

Take a few minutes to be at peace with yourselves today.

Later

Dance like no one is watching

Oy vey time flies when you're not paying attention.

Yesterday went by in a flash, went home and made guacamole in the magic bullet to be part of a Mexican layer dip for today's potluck.

The potluck that was rescheduled from last week, the potluck that I sent 3 reminders about and the potluck that 1/3 of the staff forgot about. I'm officially retiring from planning things because it drives me bonkers.

They want a pot luck because they enjoy the food, yet they don't want to contribute. I fear I work in an "it's all about me" environment at the moment. The victim of rapid growth.

I left a lot of points for this potluck which is good as I had to order pizza because the people who did bring stuff consisted of appetizers and desserts. We'll have leftovers for the rest of the week which should please the masses.

I've been doing well this week and have seen some losses on the scale, I'm taking it day by day and drinking loads of water. There's been a lot of dancing around with the mp3. I love the new Hillary Duff song "With Love" (never thought I'd say those words) and Beyonce and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar"

Not to much to say really, just going through the paces.

Quiet Monday

Today will be interesting, there was far less people on my bus then usual and not so many people zipping around. My phone has not rung once. In other words today is a catch up day.

Yesterday was a bit of disaster food wise, I also spent the bulk of my day condo shopping with my friend. She's moving back to Calgary so the search for housing is on. We saw 4 and the first one we saw remains the favourite. It's actually a hop, skip and a jump from my house, her sister's house and her parent's house. I don't think I've had a friend live near me since Elementary school. The running around turned into snackapalooza, alas I'm o.k with it since I think it was hard food weekend for pretty much everyone.

I'm focused this week as this is typically a difficult week out of the month. The menus are planned and my focus is on exercise. I'm going to workout the minute I walk in the door, then school work, then whatever else strikes my attention. Zippo for school work was done this weekend due to the running around and general slacking off on Friday, so I need to be diligent. I just have 2 weeks left in this class so time is ticking.

I have two weeks left in WW book and I want them to be losses damn it! Plus I must put the training schedule into full effect now that I'm actually training for something. Did I mention I'm going to do the Half Marathon during the much loved Stampede...July 8th to be exact, time for an additional tracker up above.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

But the brakes on

Up a pound this morning, can't say I was surprised and I definitely think the 10km power walk on Friday had an impact. I'm not beating myself up, I'm just going to start back at week 1 and make sure my portions haven't gone out of whack. None of my clothes feel tight so I think it maybe also due to muscles.

My friend was in town today so we went to see Blades of Glory. This is definitely a funny and silly movie. She actually went to to the WW directly after my regular meeting so I stayed for the second meeting. The first meeting was packed with regulars and there was a lively discussion about Easter treats. The second meeting was pretty empty and I found myself contributing more to fill in the silence. I definitely prefer the first meeting. We went grocery shopping and I picked up the ingredients to make a ground pork whole wheat lasagna. I'm just going to wing it and add zucchini and mushrooms to the traditional tomatoe and onion. I also picked up what I need for the potluck on Wednesday...hopefully...I always forget something.

Tomorrrow is a weird day for me, while everyone celebrates Easter it's also the 5th anniversary of the day my mother passed away. She was very ill at the time and I know she's at peace and happy now. I think I'll spend some time going through the photo albums and reflecting on happier times.

I do hope everyone has a safe and happy Easter holiday.

The place is a buzz

This evening my office is hosting one of two events a year we do for our clients and craziness has struck.
The organizer has a habit of driving people crazy, politeness goes out the window and every request becomes a demand.

It will all be over by tonight but right now people are skulking around the office trying to avoid the gaze of the organizer. I have volunteered to man the name card table as I hate to schmooze and this way I get to say hi to everyone. I also had a chance to give input on the menu so there's healthy fair and not just trouble. Last year there was barely any vegetables or fruit so this year there's some choice. I shall be careful with my choices and drink copious amounts of water.

Last night I went to Walmart and found the Nutrigrain Sweet and Salty bars (finally) and new flavour of Nestea individual flavour packs for water bottles (Green Tea), also picked up Liptons version of lemon ice tea and another one that now escapes me. Went to Safeway and picked up a new thing by Dole, it's mango peach sorbet mixed with pineapple frozen yogurt. It works out to 2pts per half cup and it's lovely. Tart enough that you wouldn't want a huge bowl of it, but very refreshing and so makes me think of Hawaii. There's a raspberry/pomegranate version as well.

I swear the people of Walmart think I'm schizophrenic. I was cruising the aisles and found these half size bars from Haagen Daz, at first I thought neato and then I checked the NI. 5pts each... I'm fairly positive I said "I don't think so" out loud. I'm fairly certain I said "Cool" out loud upon finding the Nestea. Ah well at least I'm entertaining :)

Oy vey can't think of what else to say. Stayed OP yesterday, walked home from the mall even though it was snowing. The rest of my workout effort was dancing around the living room. It's going to be a late night tonight so no work out but there's a good walk with H planned for tomorrow.

Have a great Thursday!

Shake your booty

After a whirlwind shopping expedition with H, I headed home yesterday and felt tired on the bus. I didn't want to work out, I just wanted to go home and chill. Well when I got home I immediately changed into workout clothes and popped in Hip Hop Abs. It's 30min of boppin around, not convinced it will result in killer abs but it did work up a sweat and I had fun.

I now realize I must keep my WW journal in sight at all times. At work it's tucked in my bag and that's when I'm most likely to deviate off program. At home it sits on my coffee table and when I feel a snack urge I just look at the tracker and I know it can't happen or I know what I can have to fit into the day. So on my desk it is, now I just have to remember to take it home.

Watched Search for the next PCD last night and I'm so happy Chelsea made the cut. I hope she works on the dancing because she is by far my favourite.

ANTW on tonight and rumour has it 50 Cent tosses one of the girls in the pool...

Happy Wednesday!

Cotton Candy Snow

I woke up this morning to a sea of white and it looked like a lot had fallen. I went out to shovel it and it was like shoveling fluff. It was so pretty, also annoying but pretty. I'm ready to wear flip flops not snow boots. Oh well it's Winter's last "take that" hopefully.

Chose to treat yesterday as a rest day as I just didn't feel quite right soreness wise. I'll do cardio for the remainder of the week. Thursday night I have to go to a work event at a swanky hotel that won't end until 9pm probably. I have today mapped out point wise and will do the same for the rest of week...with no deviations. I was bang on with water yesterday and did show a loss this a.m so I want to continue that trend.

Watched the Bachelor last night because I couldn't resist. I have to admit they picked a good one this time but I know it will be a train wreck from here on in. Some of those girls are certifiable for sure.

Alas, not much else to report today. Have a great Tuesday!

0 to 13km

Woke up to windchill of -17 this morning...whoo hoo! That is so Calgary.
Yesterday H and I were on the pathway and at about the 5km mark the snow started. Wispy at the beginning but by the time we finished our just under 13km it was blowing hard and straight at us. Note to self: pack layers in this crazy weather. I was definitely unprepared for the turn in weather.

We both bought fleece jackets (on sale) for the trip home because we were chilled to the bone. Of course we had a scrumptious brunch first.

I'm a wee bit sore today from that 13km, it's not that I haven't been walking but I walk as a part of my life. If I can walk somewhere I'll do that over any other transport. That isn't exactly the same walking I do with H. The training walking is proper form and fast. As I hobbled to the fridge this morning at the office my colleague asked me what I did this weekend. So I told her about the walk and she said "Wow you must be so toned". I had to laugh - "Yeah under all the fat".

Tonight will be strength training and I will be toned eventually.

Have a great day everybody!

Wrong directions can lead to nice surprises

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Later!

Friday musings and other tales

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great Friday everybody!

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

Coffee:2

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

Almond Sweet and Salty Bar:3

14/22

Under Control

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great day everybody!

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

Starbucks Cafe Mocha- 4pts

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

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

Dinner:
Half Potato Nachos: 8
Steak Salad: 8

32/22

Italian Craziness

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

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

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

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

Ice Cream Monster

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great Tuesday everybody!

Monday Monday

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

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

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

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

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

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

Statement of Intent

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

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



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



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

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



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



Until tomorrow!

Have tomorrow off

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

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

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

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

Hugs to all and have a great day!

It's snowing...again

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a super day everybody!

Tuesday Musings

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Tuesday!

Down .2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have super fabulous Monday Everybody!

Old Favourite

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

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

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

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

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

Yee Haw!

APA style = hell

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

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

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

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

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

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

Later!

The Boards and Inspiration

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

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

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

Whew!

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

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

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

See ya tomorrow!

Attack of the baking

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

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

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

Perhaps I should go back to Wendi Plan

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

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

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

Have a super day everybody!

Different Approach

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

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

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

Have a great day everybody and stay positive!

I like a strength workout!

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

Mary Pickford1893-1979, Actress and Producer


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

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

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

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

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

Have a super day everybody!

No surprises and surprises

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Later

Getting it together

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great weekend everybody!