I have a good feeling....

Oy vey I haven't posted since Tuesday.

Not a lot has happened. I got the rough copy of my group project paper in. I've been diligently tracking. Stepped on the scale and I was 182.5 this morning...whoo. That compared to 186 on Saturday morning. This has a lot to do with water loss probably, as I pretty much went to week one so it feels like the very first week of weight watchers.

I'm committed to adding workouts consistently this weekend. Now that I've successfully tracked for a week and am confident I can do that, I need to move my booty.

I'm having a knee issue, hurts when I go up stairs. It doesn't feel wrong when running or walking, just at a certain angle. It's not crazy pain, just a jolt. I really want to get into strength training to keep all these muscles in check.

Sleep has been funky this week. Tuesday night woke up at 2am and laid there what felt like forever. You can't get up, I just willed myself to sleep. Wednesday no issues, slept like baby. Yesterday went to bed at 9pm, and woke up at 11:45pm. Was awake until 2am, then finally fell asleep. Alarm went off at 5:30am. I'm a bit tired today.

Have avoided two temptations today. I did factor in a latte this morning but I didn't fall for a muffin - they looked really good. A coworker just asked if I wanted to buy lunch with them and I declined and am sticking with my salad. I really want to keep it together, maybe I can squeak out a 182 tomorrow morning at home, which could result in a maybe 180 at WI.

Alright that's all for now.
Have a fantastic weekend!

Challenge, challenge everywhere

I am not only taking part in my meeting's Spring Challenge but also a work Fitness Challenge. It had started a few weeks ago with the focus being on healthy behaviours ie. water, exercise etc.

Everyone was to record their progress on a sheet on the wall and we'd do prizes as we went along. Well it wasn't working, people were dropping off. Someone requested we do it for the whole week as opposed to M-F. I realized we needed a competition.

Well I changed it up. I broke us up into two groups, made everyone weigh in this morning. Created a very simple tracking sheet and declared game on. We will compete against each other. The team with the highest percentage of weight loss (ala Biggest Loser) combined with total points earned for getting in goals (water, exercise & fruits and veggies this week) will win. The team that loses will take the winning team out for something yet to be decided.

We drew names for teams and it wound up being upstairs vs. downstairs (2 floor office). The upstair girls have named themselves Phat Girls Slim. The downstairs crew (my team) have no imagination. We will consult the 15 year old daughter of one team mate for a team name.

On my personal tracking front I have now tracked for 4 days straight. I was uninspired by the food in my house and needing 3 veggies servings so I stopped off at Safeway and got salad ingredients plus some sundried tomatoe turkey. As I was walking to the cash, what appears in the corner of my eye but new ice cream flavours from Beyer. Sara Lee Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream made it's way into my basket. I went home had a salad and grabbed the smallest bowl I own and had some ice cream. Later on I had a bit more and then I checked the NI. 4pt per half cup. So I think I had 10pts of ice cream and I had the flexpoints for it and still have 24 of them to last me until Friday.

I'm not upset about the ice cream, I see the value of not using all those flexpoints on the weekend.

Today I brought a yummy salad for lunch and am planning spaghetti for dinner with a sugar free rice pudding cup for dessert. All within my 24pts.

Tonight I need to put something together for my group project, a rough copy. I want to start cleaning my house before my Dad arrives this weekend. I'm debating on weighing in Thursday evening instead of Saturday morning as when Dad is in town it's off to Superstore first thing in the morning.

I really, really want to watch the Biggest Loser at 6pm mst, so I've printed off all my research for the paper and will write by hand and type tomorrow. Sad I know but I find this show motivates me to focus.

I think that's all for today...

Later

Always have a back-up plan

For the first time in a long time I didn't treat Saturday like my free for all day. I'm a big supporter of having a treat day as I think it helps you stay sane when evil treats are everywhere. My problem is that I typically track after the free for all and can be quite surprised how many points I used up. Typically anhillating the 35 flex points.

Yesterday I made a conscious decision to stick to points and use a couple of flex points. They wouldn't give them to us if we weren't supposed to use them. Due to my free for all week and my tendency of gaining small amounts I wanted to reel it in. Next Saturday I'll have a treat meal but not a treat day. This week I wanted to re-introduce my body to appropriate calories. I had great food yesterday, all within my points plus 2 flex points. I have 33 flex points left, I'm trying to remember when that last happened.

I also updated my tracker, I debated on that but you know what it's better to throw it all out there.

I've already seen the effect of my efforts on the scale. Yesterday before I went to weigh in I was 186 on my home scale, which but me at 184.8 at weigh in. This morning I was 184 on my home scale. The 186 had a lot to do with eating out twice in one day on Friday. I'm working towards a good solid loss on Saturday. I want to make my spring challenge goal of 8lbs in 10 weeks.

Water is on track for the weekend, which is usually not the case. I have no issues drinking water at work but at home it's always a challenge. I drank 2L yesterday, and I have first litre done so far today and 1L sitting beside me right now.

I have a killer tension like headache today that doesn't seem to want to go away, I might not do the running thing today and do yoga instead. I'll see how it goes but there will still be activity no matter what.

I have my food for today completely planned out and now I need to do the second half of my paper due tomorrow.

Have a wonderful Easter Sunday everyone!

Coincidence?

Week 1 - Day 1

So you know how I was saying I was going back to week 1 well I'm going in head first.

Yesterday I had a lovely day being the official make-up artist of my friend H and her mom. Those bazillion years spent doing make-overs at The Body Shop are still in my head as I tell H "No purple for you". I still love seeing the expression of someone when you revamp their look and highlight the beauty they didn't know they had. This day also resulted in eating out for lunch and for supper. H and Mom treated me to supper which I thought was super awesome of them. I had the most amazing dessert at Earl's called Coconut Cream Pie. The Earl's Tin Palace is a test restaurant but we greatly encouraged them to launch it all Earl's as it is worth every darn point.

Alas at weigh in I knew those two meals would result in a gain, oh well it's my easter dinner so I'll suck it up. As I sat waiting for the meeting to start I overheard the left group (a group of highly entertaining friends that sit together on the left side of the room who I unabashedly eavesdrop on) discussing a new Spring Challenge. The creator has made a form to filled out weekly and you check off things like the 8 healthy guidelines, activity, water, tracking, a weekly group challenge (5 push ups a day for this week) and a personal challenge. It's a point based system and everyone picks a weight goal to be attained in the next 10 weeks. Each person puts $10 in the pot and there will be 3 prizes at the end. There are 24 people taking part all who are in my meeting. It was meant to be my friends, I jumped and joined. Now I don't have a printer so I'll fill out my stuff from the weekend when I get to work on Monday. I'll post more details on the challenge when I have form in front of me. Apparently the creator got the inspiration from the ww.ca boards.

Today I wrote a rough copy of part one of the assignment due on Monday. This was the hardest part so I'm comfortable with attacking part two tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will head out for my first run/walk in ages. Thanks to Fatimah for the running partner offer, unfortunately I don't live anywhere near you however your support means a lot.

I'm doing yoga before I go to bed tonight. I purchased lovely colours of dry erase markers to put the 4 month calender I once used for school to now see my activity at a glance.

My personal goal for this week is to have some sort of activity every day so that's either a pre-planned workout or getting off the bus a few stops early.

I will beat last year's time at the HSBC half marathon in July.

A very Happy Easter to everyone!

Hugs

What the heck?

This week has been a disaster food wise, despite my original best intentions of tracking, I've fallen off the wagon. I know this is not a disaster and all it needs is my getting off my patootie and focussing.

I'm feeling unsure about this pending half marathon. You see the past races I've taken part in have been walking. I usually trained with others. This time I'm on my own. My previous training partners are all runners now. I'm not 100% sure I'm designed to be a runner. I haven't given it enough of a go to totally decide that yet but I'm starting to think that a half marathon might be a bit ambitious. You see, I hated this race last year. I felt slow and useless - mind you I didn't prepare as I should have either.

As I waited for my dentist appointment this morning I noticed a run training program in the paper. They are recommending a goal of 5K in 8 weeks for people who are venturing off the couch. This is definitely the area I am coming from after not resuming any workouts since my 6 weeks flu, so that's about 2 months and a bit of doing nothing outside of my normal walking about for necessity.

Enough is enough, I've said this so many times on this blog and now is the time to walk the talk. If I seriously want to attain my goals I need to focus. I have a 3 day weekend ahead of me to get my patootie in gear.

The half marathon is still 3 months and change away. A lot can happen in 3 months.

What I need to do is go back to basics so once again I am returning to week 1.

I have excuses, this part of the country has been lucky weather wise with +9 forecasted for the weekend. My gym membership is good until September. I'm about to buy new coupons for WW, so no more charity I'm going to make this moolah work for me.

Week 1 officially begins this Saturday, however pre-season begins now.

Here I go.....

The beat goes on to an Irish tune

Up 0.6 on Saturday, not too bad as that was water retention week. My jaw has fully recovered from the temp crown procedure. I don't feel it at all. I'm just happy the soreness is away so I can once again use those muscles on Thursday.

I had the root canal on that tooth quites some time ago and remember almost falling asleep during the procedure. So far so good with dental procedures in general.

On Saturday I got my hair cut and it's way different. Way way way shorter than previously and when I left the salon the stylist had put two handfuls of mousse in. I hated it. I hate q-tip hair, so I promptly put my toque on and headed home. After rinsing out all the goup I liked it. It's very sassy. I'll try to post a before and after pic.

It was Shamrock shake day in the office in honour of ST. Patrick's day. I haven't had one of these in ages. It was good. I will probably have tomatoes for supper.

Week 2 of office challenge begins today. The goal to get 15min of exercise everyday. Why 15min? To make it a habit. Fitting in 15min per day doesn't seem quite as daunting as 60min to people who have never really had a workout schedule before.

Watched a new show on the weekend. Meet the Newlyweds - it's cute and there wasn't anything else on. I pvr'd "I can make you thin", I watched the last 10min. The host doesn't seem all that engaging and the audience looked bored. I'll wait until I watch the whole thing.

That's all I have for today.

Happy St.Patrick's Day!

My kingdom for a crown

The long dreaded crown dentist appointment happened yesterday. I had happily put it out of my mind until it arrived. My biggest beef is the cost of course, my insurance will cover half, and I'm always a bit nervose about a procedue I've never experienced before.

Today my jaw feels like it's gone a few rounds with a prize fighter and I've been advised to chew on the non-temp crown side. I now have to get a little creative with food. Biting into stuff doesn't appeal to me due to sore jaw. I had Carnation instant breakfast this morning. I'm attempting a not horrendously chunky chili for lunch and itty bitty bites. Thankfully my dentist has put a rush on the permanent crown. My original appointment was the 27th for that but she's moved it up to the 20th.

I don't think I've ever eaten this slow before. On the way home from the dentist I swung by DG for a milkshake as I was still frozen and had pre-planned that. I walk in and all I can smell is hamburgers....cruel how that happens. Next Saturday after the permanent crown I am so getting a burger.

It will be interesting to see how my quasy liquid diet will be effect weigh in on Saturday.

I've read more in the 4 Day Win book by Martha Beck, I really like this book. There are parts that make you laugh out loud. It's really interesting to learn more about the thought patterns behind dealing with weight loss as opposed to just the eat this and do that advice you typically see.

Watched Survivor last night and thought for a heartbeat that Ozzie might be kicked off. Now there's been two injuries. I did find it interesting in the closing credits that the other votes were for Eric..what does that mean?

I have a school focused and food planning weekend ahead and a hair appointment on Saturday.

Hoping for a loss on Saturay.

Happy Friday everybody!

To be continued?

I can't believe Biggest Loser gave us a "to be continued" to find out who gets knocked off. That's so Australian Biggest Loser with their whacky editing. I'm torn as to who I want gone. I really wanted Ali knocked off. I've never really liked her and I'm not sure why. I've always liked Brittany but find her a bit tiresome lately.

After BL I caught Big Brother and thought it was a brilliant move of Ryan to nominate James. I lke James but I didn't like how Josh thought he was running the house.

On the way home yesterday I picked up some frozen entrees for work lunch to see if I can get out of my lunch rut. Normally on Sunday I'll make some sort of meal and divide it into 4 containers for Mon, Tue, Thurs and Fri. I always buy lunch on Wed. The problem with that is I get bored after Tuesday. I tried sandwiches but after taking a sandwich every day of my elementary, junior and high school career I have an issue with packed sandwiches. I love them freshly made but not carted around. So to get out of my rut I'll do the frozen entree for lunch and keep sandwiches as an option for dinner.

The work fitness challenge of 2l of water everyday is going well. I'm quite proud of everyone for being so gung ho. I got 2l on Mon and 3l yesterday. Next week we'll continue with water and add 30min of exercise. The plan is to keep adding healthy behaviours.

I've been reading a really interesting book by Martha Beck called the 4 Day Win. She has suggested that if you can do something for 4 days it can become consistent. I really like her writing style is funny/witty not cartoony. The focus of the book is weightloss but looks at modifiying behaviours as opposed to all will power. I'm only a few chapters in but I'll keep you posted.

Later!

The Recap

It's been awhile and time has flown. I really have no idea where it went. So allow me to recap from Friday.

Friday was the last day in our office for one of my co-workers who is transferring to another office. So I made the strawberry white chocolate cheesecake - it looks pretty good doesn't it? The entire thing was eaten. On top of that her lunch of choice was McDonalds. I got a kid's meal with apple slices. My colleagues had Big Macs and large fries......and cheesecake.

Saturday - I went on a quest for clothes. Started at one mall and found nothing, then went downtown and found a few tops. All my dress pants still fit fine and soon skirts can be added so I didn't look for bottoms.

Sunday - Did laundry, hemmed pants, grocery shopped and read my textbook - I felt uber productive.

Monday - Fitness challenge started at work. The challenge this week is 2L of water every day. I met my friend after work and we went for dinner to celebrate her belated birthday. We went to Thompsons at the Hyatt. They have the best nachos I've seen in a long time.

Today - Everyone is telling me how much they had to pee due to the first day of the challenge. I have a low point day plus lots of water planned for today thanks to the nachos and lemon sorbet parfait dessert. Oh yeah there's a birthday in the office and I made the birthday girl a strawberry flan cake with a shortbread crust. Thankfully the next birthday is in April.

Have a great day!

Cereal for supper - 3 days in a row

What can I say? I like Shreddies and have had zero interest in cooking when I get home from work. I am in a food funk. I have half heartedly tried to menu plan in the past and I realize now it's a priority.

So far this week I've tracked everything, it all hasn't been pretty but it's written down. Exercise has been no existent...again I need to plan it.

I'm in a clothes rut so a shopping expendition must happen and soon.

I've been avoiding any mention of Project Runway as Canada is a few weeks behind. Of course the avoidance could only work for so long.

I was sad to see Bernie sent home on Biggest Loser. I liked him. I want Kelly bumped next, get a back bone woman.

I wound up watching Big Brother last night and why I've not liked this season at all, I love the twist of them playing individually.

I am once again behind in chapters for my course.

So this weekend is all about planning. Planning food, exercise and homework. I need to get it together and get a rhythm going..ya know?

Wheels are starting to turn in my head...victory is near.

Later!

Anti climatic

Right after work yesterday I headed down to the polls to vote, then had cereal for supper (didn't feel like cooking) and zipped over to my computer to log in for Oprah's webcast. It started well and it was interesting but then it froze. I have to admit I wasn't suprised. When you have over half a million people logging into the same website at the same time there's bound to be problems. So what was supposed to be 90min wound up being 30min for me. I might download the podcast and just listen to it. My only issue with the first 30min is that it seemed Oprah did most of the talking and I would have preferred the author do more talking.

The 10 pound challenge is getting interesting at work. We have two cheesecakes this week. One for a birthday and one for a last day before transferrring to another division. One of the participants is completely against having any because we're on a diet and telling everyone that they shouldn't have any. I really don't like the diet word. I will have a piece of cheesecake, not a big piece, not a restaurant sized piece because I believe in everything in moderation. I will also plan my day accordingly. It's up to the the individual to decide what they can and can't have.

I'm making a white chocolate strawberrry cheesecake out of Bon Appetit magazine. Which I have to start tonight.

There's no point going through life misreable by denying yourself things, think it through, track it and account for it.

Have a great day!

Monday monday

Oy vey it was hard to roll out of bed this morning. I slept like a log and was very content to stay where I was. Alas a paycheque had to be earned.

When I got to work I knew immediately it was going to be one of those days. Not one person had a smile on their face when I walked in the door. So far I've had two people complain to me about their everyday frustrations. I let them vent and then go do my thing.

Yesterday I signed up for the Oprah webinar on Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth. I've been reading it and find it really interesting. It's not a breezy read that's for sure, it's pretty profound. So this webinar is for 10 weeks, I'll report in on what I think. It starts tonight and I have to admit I'm looking forward to it.

It's also voting day in Alberta as we go to the polls to elect a new Premier. I have to admit I'm not overly fond of anyone and quite miffed that many didn't seem to campaign at all. I recognized that it's important to vote so I've made my decision to the best of my ability and will vote on the way home.

Food wise yesterday was good until 8pm and then I got hit by the snack monster. I'm not a big evening snacker usually and I think this was triggered by my lack luster supper. I was missing something and went after it. Today is tracked to the letter and I have some textbook reading to do so that will keep me busy.

Workouts will start tomorrow and I think I'll ease into it with some hip hop ala Shaun T and yoga.

If you're in Alberta, don't forget to vote. It's a priviledge not a right.

Russian Roulette with the scale

Alright, I admit it. I've been playing fast and loose with the scale. Two weeks of wee gains and failing to but on the breaks results in a 1.2 lb gain. Oh yeah, I knew eating lunch out every day was not a good idea. I knew I should drink more water, go for walks and heck even track in my journal.

The silly thing is I was waiting for a fresh start. I know, I know...a fresh start can start anytime - in the next minute, hour, day, week or month. Being knocked over by the super flu that kept me feeling not so great for 3 weeks didn't help. I never quite got back on the wagon, last week I was feeling better the coughing was far far less but I still didn't re-focus. I was actually dreading going to weigh in this morning and contemplated not going at all. Then I thought well that's just stupid. Go face your demons and get your butt back on the wagon. As my leader said in today's meeting - you don't want to make Weight Watchers your favourite charity.

I have 9 weeks left in my current weigh in book and I'm going to make these 9 weeks count.

So today I started the wendi plan and focusing on the basics. Now I'm ready. I want those 5lb stickers and the key for my keychain. I want goal.

I'm focusing on the positive here. No bashing, feeling bad or even for a moment doubting that this can be done.

Thank you so much for your comments about my cake, it is suprisingly easy not to be distracted by the cake or the icing. I never had a single slice of any of the cakes that I made for that class. They were projects to me and after assembling all that needed to be assembled I didn't want to touch it.

To the week ahead, celebrating the moments that make up the journey to a healthier me.

Later!

I graduated from cake decorating!

So this what all the complaining has been about. I think it turned out alright. I got my final Wilton certificate last night. There are plans for one more course in May - Gum paste and fondant. I think I'm going to miss all the hulabaloo about Thursdays. I do get to make a Canadian Flag cake for Wednesday so cake will still be part of my week. I suggested that the 5 people of the class get together for dinner.

I'm quite happy that a new month is on the horizon. I want a clear page of a calendar.

This weekend I plan to create a menu plan and ensure I bring lunch every single day next week.
I'm going to figure out to hook up that dvd player to the tv downstairs via a vcr.
I'm going to plan workouts for the week.

Enough with the winging it, it is time to put the plan back in action.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Oy vey, is it only Wednesday?

I feel wiped, exhausted and checked out. Yesterday I was in a course all day and it's been a long time since I had to sit in a lecture style environment. It was interesting but felt long. Got home and made 38 calyx green things for the bottom of all those fondant roses. Finished the 10 roses I still needed. Made 30 leaves and baked the two cakes I need.

Tonight is pack up all those roses and leaves. Fill and frost the cakes, cover with fondant and then make 40 tiny flower cut outs. I'm seriously tired of this cake. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow I tell you.

Two of my colleagues are getting their Canadian citizenship so I'm going to make a Canadian Flag cake for the staff meeting on Wednesday.

The 10lb challenge has resurfaced at work. I offered a few suggestions. We don't do it for money and (when we know who all is participating) I'll get stickers to represent each of us. We'll have weekly goals ie. water, fruits and veg, no chocolate, activity. Then at the end of the month the person with the most stickers wins a non food related little prize. I want us to focus on healthy behaviours not just pounds.

It's been a crazy week food wise. Between the paper due on Monday and this cake for class I haven't had a whole lot of time to plan my menu. I haven't stepped on a scale since Saturday.

Alas I'm looking forward to finishing this cake and having a bit more time to focus on school and me.

Whew!

This morning I dropped by the bank and asked them to check my debit card, and told them about my experience at Safeway. There was nothing wrong, no messages and no flag on the account. The lovely teller suggested replacing the card which I did as a precaution. I think I'll also change my pin monthly. I wasn't super worried as I kept checking my account online for any mistakes and never found any. Plus the bank never phoned or sent a message via online banking so I think the whole thing was Safeway's issue.

On Sunday I continued with my paper and finished it and then emailed it to work so I could look it over with a fresh pair of eyes before submitting.

I also made 28 fondant roses, I just sat and half listened to the oscars as I did this. I still have 10 to do but I'll do those tomorrow night. I'll bake the cakes tomorrow as well. Then Wednesday will just be assembly. I'm out all day Tuesday for a course. Out to dinner tonight. I'm seriously looking forward to not having to make icing for awhile.

Have a groovy day

The haze is lifting

At today's meeting Sheila got to goal. She's lost 114 pounds in 2 years and 3 months. Now I mention the length of time because of course someone in the meeting asked that and it immediatley irritated me. I strongly believe that it doesn't matter how long it takes and you shouldn't compare yourself to someone else. Of course I remember the day she started Weight Watchers and I don't like to think about how many years I've been going and I'm still 40lbs from goal. I don't feel badly or think I'm a failure in any way. It's more the cost of all those meetings. I wouldn't miss them for the world. Losing weight is as much an emotional battle as a pound battle. We all just take it a day at time.

I was up 0.2 and once again I'm okay with that. I tracked one day last week, went out to dinner the night before weigh in. I went to winefest but didn't last long as I couldn't stop coughing. I'm thinking the ice cream at dessert and the wine tasting didn't go so well. I cut out early, waited forever for a bus but was in bed at a decent hour. Never coughed when I got home and slept through the night.

I did purchase a new 3 month tracker as I'm serious about a fresh start. Picked up healthy groceries today. Had a bit of heart palpatations at Safeway. I used my debit card and the girl told me it says refer to Branch. My first thought oh f#@$ not again! I immediately though my card had been skimmed again. I was mad on the way home thinking I've been so careful. Well I got home and no call from the bank and I can access my online banking and there's nothing suspect. Now I'm wondering if it was an issue with the bank. On Monday I'll go to my bank and try it a bank machine so if there's an issue I can just pop in and take care of it. If there is an issue I'm going cash only from now on. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the online banking until then.

So today I'm trying to write a rough copy of my paper and I'm half done and now on here. I'll try to finish it but if insipiration leaves me I'll be back at tomorrow morning.

Alas, I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The picture of organization

Wowsers was Rocky Mtn Soap packed last night. I picked up the skin care line for 50% off and a couple of other things for 20% off and got a free hand cream. Zipped home, wiped down all the icing making essentials with vinegar as royal icing completely discombobulates when even the tiniest amount of grease touches it. While icing was mixing, I wrote a post it note for all 8 types I needed (varying consistencies and colours). Portioned out the quantities and then mixed colours and changed consistencies (with a wee bit of water) and boom done in 45 minutes.



Then I had to write my job analysis questionnaire. I had done speedy google research earlier and then remembered the textbook from the last class had an example. Now I just need to hunt down people to interview. Got everything done and didn't have to stay up all hours to do it.



Well Saturday will mark the completion of week 6 of my previously discussed 26 week Metamorphosis and things aren't going quite as I planned. I've done a heck of a job of maintaining. So maybe this will be the 32 week metamorphosis, mind you 20 weeks is a long time. I finally feel like I'm coughing less so I think workouts can resume starting with walking and yoga. No running just yet.



Tracking wise has sucked completely and with winefest on Friday this week is going a wee downhill. I'm totally prepared for a fresh start on Saturday for the new and improved 20 week metamorphosis.

Hugs!

Catching up

My apologies about not being on here for awhile. Life just happened.
Saturday-My Dad came in for a visit, fixed the leak in my basement that plumber dude said would take about $300 and I would have to get my water turned off by the city. Well it took one wrench and 4 minutes to fix. Yeah Dad!!!!!
I went to weigh in for the first time in two weeks. So I had one week off sick, didn't track a thing. The following week I ate out for lunch practically everyday and also tracked nothing. Add in the week before TOM and I wouldn't be surprised to see again. Well I stepped on the scale and it danced between .0, .2, .4 and .6 finally landing on a number to give me a loss of .2. Heck I'll take it.

Sunday - Ran around with a friend and saw 27 Dresses (so cute) and watched Knight Rider when I got home. I like it.

Monday-Read 4 chapters in my textbook as I was seriously behind. I have a paper due this coming Monday.

My week is shaping up to be busy. Tonight I'm meeting another friend at Rocky Mtn Soap Company for their skin care launch, then I go home and make icing.
Tomorrow it's cake decorating again but just flowers no cake and I need to have part of the paper ready because I need to interview my co-workers.
Friday is official audit day at work so I get to accompany the auditor. Friday night is dinner with friend and then winefest.
Sat - Sun - Finish paper and make 38 fondant roses.
Egad I'm looking forward to a relatively uneventful last week of February.

Still coughing so finding workouts a challenge with that and time wise.

Oh well, it will all come together.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Playing with Fondant

So my first foray into working with fondant went well. The class was super fast paced as there is a lot of ground to cover. Putting fondant on a square cake is a bit complicated dealing with corners.

I was inspired by Valentine's day. The bow got squished by my cake carrier but you can still get the jest of it. The cake underneath is chocolate with marshmellow filling. The pre bought fondant tastes awful. Our instructor made a marshmellow fondant that she flavoured with chocolate and rum extract. We each got to try a little and that was good. I'll look into that for the final cake.

In other news not much going on, weighing in for the first time in two weeks tomorrow so we'll see how that goes.

Half way through cake decorating class I got a mega coughing fit which lasted until I got home. Had super uneven sleep and was wide awake at 3:30am. Of course about 15min before the alarm went off I was falling asleep again. Though this morning I find I'm coughing less and with not so much umpff.

Only watched half of Survivor last night.

I'm totally pumped to clean my house tonight, the chaos is getting to me.

So I hope everyone has a great long weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day

If you're wondering what this picture is about, get yourself over to Snackie's site and discover Snackie's Self Love Day. I have never had a boyfriend on Valentine's day, well I lie once but he wasn't a Valentine's day kind of guy. This also tells you that my dating time frame caps out a year. I have no ill feelings about this day. I think it's nice that people get flowers and tokens of affections. When I used to work for The Body Shop this was killer day in sales but also made you a little jaded about some men's attitude towards Valentine's day.

I have always been an independant person, it helps being an only child. I'm totally cool with being single as I like to say I'd rather be alone then be lonely in a relationship. I have a hopeful attitude towards love and I'm a hopeless romantic combined with being a realist. If I find the man of my dreams that's great but I'm o.k if that doesn't happen. Let's just say I'm a roll with it type of person, make the best of the circumstances your in. I have no issues with buying myself flowers, but I do that when I want flowers not necessarily to mark a date.

The rules of this day is to post what you love about yourself and to encourage others to post what they love about you. I love that I'm independant and that I'm pretty damn funny. I love that I can turn someone's day around and have them smiling.

On to other news, the coughing seems to be getting less. I wandered over to Rocky Mountain Soap Factory and picked up their cold/flu body butter and bed/room spray. The body butter acts like a Vick's vapo rub sort of thing but is essential oils. Well I sprayed my bed and room with the spray, put the body butter on and coughed more last night than the day before. I did notice the coughing was less intense so I don't know what's going on.

I had to prepare 3 cakes last night. Two for a birthday on Friday and finish off the cake for my class tonight. Well I kind of messed up on the first cake as I didn't really wait for the chocolate to get to room temperature before I folded in the whip cream so it's not so perfect. The 2nd one I was more patient. I was making two because we have about 17 staff and one cake feeds 10, but then I realized that the two cakes from class will probably come to work. I think that's enough cake, I'm enforcing calorie control on people.

My pvr is recording like crazy as I've been either busy or exhausted. I haven't watched Biggest Loser all the way through. I was watching the 6pm version when at 7 my pvr started to record two other shows. Well there's only so much one can do when that happens. I was taping the 9pm version. I did watch the 2nd episode of big brother last night but taped the first. The thing that's a bit irritating about later seasons of these type of shows is that everyone sort of copies previous people's game plans. The couple thing is an interesting twist but we shall see.

I'm beyond excited about Knight Rider and proudly declaring my geek status.

I had totally forgotton that Family Day is on Monday, normally this was an Alberta only holiday but I think other provinces are adopting it. I so need to catch up on some textbook reading as I'm falling behind. Some of the people in my class are driving me a wee bananas. You see I'm a recruiter and have been for 5 years. I'm taking Recruitmen and Selection, so there's a lot of people in this class that seem to have a very in the perfect world attitude towards this subject or are totally oblivious to labour regulations. It shall be interesting.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day everbody and be sure to treat yourself.

And the coughing continues

I hate all cough medicine, cough tablets, anything that tastes yucky. So I've been going the natural root i.e. Honey.

I'm just irritated now as I conducted my first interview since being away and had to excuse myself for a moment as I coughed in a frenzy. I know it will go away and I cough less each day but I'm ready for it to be over damn it.

Interesting tv night my friends. The beginning of big brother and Bob appears to walk out of the weigh in on Biggest Loser. I'm intrigued I tell you.

My delightful cake decorating buddy loaned me a pack of fondant so I can colour it for Thursday and I'll just replace the pack. That's so awesome so I can get a bit of head start.

Apart from that I just keep thinking of all I must do between now and the end of the week.

Have a great day everybody!

Back among the living

Back at work today after a week of feeling totally blah. This must be some sort of super flu as still today I'm coughing and sniffling. At least today I have consistent energy and feel like an engaged member of society.

My 3.5 days at home last week had a repitive patter of wake up, eat something, nap and repeat. When up I would turn on daytime tv and get pretty bored by it's offering. On the View they yell at each other. Regis irritates me. Rachel Ray I can take in doses. I don't even bother with Maury or the others. Oprah gets pvr'd everyday anyway. Dr Phil is no fun anymore.

My favourite soap - Days of Our Lives is painful to watch two days running, - nothing happens.

I couldn't read as every time I coughed (which was a lot) I'd lose my place.

This is not a whoa is me post, we need better daytime tv.

Didn't got to weigh in this week because I felt off and the coughing was still crazy. I didn't actually feel more better than worse until Sunday. It sorta sucks about the weigh in as I knew I'd be down. I didn't track a thing while sick, I just ate when I was hungry. Novel idea really, I was eating normally by Thursday and the loss stayed but now I'm back in the office so we'll see what this Saturday brings.

Of course I didn't go to cake decorating on Thurdsay but thankfully my decorating buddy picked up the lesson book and this week I get to make a cake with fondant. Golly! I feel like I went from kindergarten to High School. I'm a bit nervous as I don't have any fondant to play with and won't until I walk into Michael's cake in tow on Thurdsay.

So Friday will be cake a palooza at work. The class cakes will be here and it's my decorating buddies birthday. I'm making her a frozen mousse cake so that will come to work on Wednesday and live in the freezer until Friday. For a minute I thought I had a paper due this weekend too, but thankfully that's the week after. Plus my Dad's dropping in on Saturday so I've got a lot to do between now and Friday. No rest for the wicked they say.

Tonight I want to practise some of the decorating techniques they covered last Thursday. Tomorrow I need to frost the cake decorating cake (which I baked yesterday) and make the birthday cake. Wednesday haul the birthday cake to work and put together everything I need for Thursday, Thursday cake decorating and Friday clean house.

Oy vey, I think it will be early to bed tonight.

Not Dead

Just knocked sideways by the flu, felt kind of off on the weekend, it went downhill on Monday, home sick on Tuesday, went to work on Wednesday and they sent me home, home today to get to just rest and hydrate.

Flu med thoughts today.
I pvr'd Biggest Loser and watched it yesterday. Wow I can't believe that Kelly and Brittany were eating so low calories. That just goes to show you need to eat to fuel your metabolism.

I stepped on the scale this morning and of course it's showing a loss but that's flu related and not real.

Feeling more human today, hope everyone is doing well.

Week 4 begins and a battle of will this morning

Day 1 Week 4

When I went to bed on Friday I was truly dreading weigh in. I wasn't in control this week, I let my environment dictate my food intake and exercise was the lowest thing on the priority list for me. There were many factors the major one being I was just plain tired. It started with the -50 windchill and steam rolled from there. I know I can't use weather as an excuse but there are some interesting thoughts on how winter can effect us. I was watching the weather network and they had this guy (can't remember his exact title) who has some sort of physical/psychological background and he said that cold temperatures can shut down our bodies. We sort of go into hibernation mode. I don't know what he was basing his stats on but he said most people have a difficult time losing weight over winter.

Now I know that's not necessarily true, plenty of people lose weight over winter. I do think it takes a bit of added mental toughness to drag yourself out into the cold.

This morning I had a mega battle of the mind in terms of do I go to weigh in or not. I was so happy with my loss last week that it was breaking my heart to see a gain. I made a deal with myself that if my home scale said 182 then I'd go. Well when I woke up I was 183. So I waited about half an hour and weighed myself again I was 182.5. So I went and I'm glad I did.
Now once again the differance between my scale and WW scale totally confuses me. Last week there was virtually no differance between them. This week as I said mine said 182.5 and WW said 181.8. So that's a gain of 0.2. Whew! I'm o.k with that. Completely self inflicted and a price I'm willing to pay.

This of course means that this week there will be no excuses. I'm still going forward with the wendi plan and have written all the point targets in my tracker. Here are the goals for this week.
5 days of exercise
Solid water intake (2-3L per day)
Tracking every bite, lick and taste and staying to my points.

I'm feeling positive about the week ahead. I realize my first month of metamorphosis won't result in amazing results number wise but as we all know weight loss is more than the numbers it's the thought pattern behind behaviours.

I know with my whole heart that I want to succeed at this and that is what I have to remember. There's nothing wrong with taking a step backwards, it's about remembering to take a step forward.

Hugs to all and to all a fantastic week ahead.

A metamorphosis does have difficult moments

Day 7 Week 3

Thank you for the comments on my cake. Despite the trials and tribulations of putting it together I'm kind of proud of it.

Well I'm happy to see a new month and heading into week 4 of my metamorphosis. This last week has been rough between the crazy winter storm and a complete disaster at managing my time it's been a right off.

Food wise has been awful over the last few days. I'm not so sure how weigh in will go tomorrow. As I said I'm looking forward to new week and a fresh start. Sometimes it's so hard to keep in mind this is personal journey and that comparing yourself to others is not wise. I'm always happy to celebrate other people's accomplishments and at the same time don't want to know as it makes me question myself. A friend of mine told me the other day that she's so happy to be in the 170s again and while being overjoyed for her it made me feel a little blah. I realize that is totally stupid and that I will get to my goal. Sometimes it's just hard to think of how far you still have to go.

I noticed that a lot of people are using stickers on their calendars for goals. January didn't see a whole lot of stickers for me so I'm happy to be starting a new month.

My goal for February is to get 20 activity stickers on my calendar and to get a better time management system in place.

I had an interesting discussion with a co-worker about finding time to exercise. It really has to be a priority and I've never quite made it that step. So that's my goal to make exercise a priority this month. They say it takes 4 weeks to make or break a habit.

Bring it on!

Here it is....the cake

So now you all know what I've been going on about. The picture on the left is the cake from last night.
Fondant starts next week.

I'll post a normal post a bit later.

Enjoy this for now.

What's your happy weight?

Day 6 Week 3

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

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

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

Until tomorrow,
Sylvia

I'm officially over flowers.

Day 5 Week 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

On t0 other stuff:

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

Have a groovy day everybody!

And the cold front continues

Day 4 Week 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-48 Brrrrr, that's -54 fahrenheit

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I have an idea...

Day 1 Week 3

Down 2.6lbs.....whew!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great weekend everybody!

Maybe Not....

Day 7 Week 2

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

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

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

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

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

Rollercoaster day

Day 6 Week 2

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

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

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

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

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

Totally random today, there's hope for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

A myriad of thoughts

Day 5 Week 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great day everybody!

OMG it's plus temperatures today

Day 4 Week 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go Blue!

A balmy -30

Day 3 Week 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Snowglobe kind of day

WEEK 2 DAY 1

This is the view from my front window this afternoon. It hasn't stopped snowing all day. On the way to my meeting it was like walking in a snowglobe. It was swirling around me all light and fluffy landing on my face. It's the kind of snow that's kind of sparkly. While pretty, I'm sure it's causing a mess on the roads. I had a snow angel today, one of neighbours shovelled my sidewalk. Of course I'll have to go do it again as more snow has fallen but I definitely appreciate it.

So weigh in didn't exaclty go as I was hoping. I was up 2lbs. That's typically what I gain the week before TOM if I don't plan right mainly making sure I drink enough water. I realized I didn't drink enough water at all and certainly not enough for my increased activity. Let me go into my week in review.

Week 1 - Started off well then hit a road block in the middle of the week. I was totally bored with what I was bringing for lunch and while I do plan to buy lunch on Wednesday I didn't go with what I planned and got beef stroganoff instead. Friday a few collegues were going to McD to get lunch and asked me if I wanted anything. I had the same boring lunch with me and I chose a cheesburger meal. Later on in the day I got a wicked headache that starts in the shoulder and moves up which killed my plans for the gym.

The good point of week 1 is that's it's week 1. There are 25 weeks ahead of me. The other positive I have worked out that much in a long time, so I got 4 stickers on my calendar, that's a whole lot better than nada.

While waiting for the meeting to start I did some meal planning. I came up with 4 options for breakfast, 2 option to alternate for work lunches and 5 options for dinner. My focus this week is getting 6 stickers on the calendar and pay very close attention to my water.

The gain of today would be gone by next week anyway but I'm shooting for a further loss.

So the starting stats are posted and I'll update those monthly. I chose to measure abs (at the belly button because I wanted a spot that easily identified to keep the measurements consistent).

I switched up my workout schedule a little to make Friday my day off and do yoga on Thursday. So the new schedule is:

Sat - cardio/weights

Sun - cardio/yoga

Mon - cardio weights

Tue- cardio/yoga

Wed - cardio/weights

Thu- yoga

Fri - off

Bring on Week 2 - I've got my game face on :)

Last Chance Workout

WEEK 1 DAY 7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Off to guzzle H2O, have a groovy day!

Does this count?

Week 1 Day 6

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

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

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

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

Alright must get me day started.

Later

Gym culture

Week 1 Day 5

What a day yesterday, winds going up to 90km/hr resulted in restless sleep and a stronger desire to snack due and wicked cold. I did contain myself snack wise and went to the gym after work, managed to get a treadmill and completed running day deux of 36min of run/walk and 24min of fast walk =60min. I find people watching in the gym fascinating. I got to a Spa Lady so it's all women but the choice of gym clothes intrigue me. The skinnier people are the less they wear is my conclusion. Of course I desperately want to be one of them. I wear all technical fabric thanks to my 2 half marathons and one marathon as I find it way more comfortable than cotton.

The tech fabric wicks away moisture doesn't make you feel likes clothes are klingy.

Upon leaving the gym the bus that stops 4 doors down from house came so my plan to buy milk was dashed. So I'll pop by Walmart and grab milk and a couple of other things. I really need black socks and new slippers. I was looking at my slippers this morning and they're looking grungy. When I get home I need to make the icing for cake decorating tomorrow. I will squeeze in a workout. I've set all my favourite series to automatically save on the PVR so I can make workouts a priority. Maybe kickboxing tonight with Jillian Micheals.

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

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

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

Have a groovy day everyone!

Was that a Weight Watchers diss?

Week 1 Day 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a good day!

I heart Alka Seltzer

Week 1 Day 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Later!

How do they do it?

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

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

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

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

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

2 days down...keep on truckin'

The 26 week metamorphosis begins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let the ride begin!

Hatching a plan..whahahhahah

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On to July 6th!

Have a great day everybody!

Can I say I was momentarily possessed?

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

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

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

A.M snack:
Coffee - 3
Yogurt - 1

Lunch:
Turkey/Ham Subway Sub - 5

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

Tomorrow will be better.

Have a groovy day!

Biggest Loser needed a hanky

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

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

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

Have a groovy day everybody!

This blog has been read 10000 times

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

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

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

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

Until tomorrow!

Totally Random

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a good night my friends!

Oy vey, what am I doing?

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

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

I must must must workout tonight.

It's just a blip not a downfall.