Changes in the air

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hope your Saturday was super fabulous.

Hugs!!!

Little Miss Organized

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hugs!!

Pack mule or it felt like it

This morning I headed into work with my computer bag (lululemon backpack) and my gym bag also lulu

Which looks like this except mine is grey with a bit of a print on it. I was lugging some stuff I tell you. This bag isn't exactly small.

I hit the gym after work and did 45min on the treadmill at a good clip. I brought my heart rate monitor but forgot the foot pod so I went without. Then I swung by the grocery store to the get the ingredients for the cheesecake. I walked home with the workout bag and the groceries. Computer bag stayed at work. I was a pack mule pretty much all day.

I made the cake while watching ANTM and it's now in the oven. I had intended to make a Bailey's cheesecake but I didn't have enough so it's a Bailey's/Starbucks coffee liquor cheesecake. I think it will work.

Tomorrow I add the spiderweb. I'll come straight home tomorrow to finish that off and then hit the yoga mat as we need to reconnect.

That's all I got for today.

Hope your Wednesday was rather spectacular.

Hugs!!!

Winter is here...

In Northern Alberta anyway, got off the plane yesterday and it was -6 not including the wind and oh there was wind.

This morning there was frozen snow on the ground, which means it's winter boots from now on when I head up. It was a wee slippery today.

I didn't pack any workout gear this trip. I ran out of room with my lunch and some office supplies so I paid close attention to food. It's time I start thinking about a slightly bigger bag to accomodate more of  a winter wardrobe plus workout gear plus flannel pjs.

I brought the instand oatmeal on Monday for breakfast and I brought a tablespoon of brown sugar, 3 walnut halves crushed and a pinch of coconut. OMG my oatmeal was fantastic, it kicked it to a whole new level. I felt full for a long time as well. This is thanks to all you bloggers especially Jamie.  Lunch was a Lean Cuisine lasagna.

Today for lunch I grabbed a salami sandwich as it was the only thing that appealed to me. I took it apart, took off the cheese and half the salami. There was 8 slices on the sandwich. I put a wee bit of miracle whip on one side of the bread and then mustard. The bread was whole wheat. Slashed the calories on that baby and it was still good. Breakfast was my Tuesday usual which is cream of wheat.

I was super hungry when I got home so I ordered pizza from Panago as I had no desire to cook. I got a small ultimate pepperoni (maybe not the wisest choice but there were loads of mushrooms and not as much pepperoni) on multigrain thin crust. I also got a garden side salad.

The leftover pizza will be dinner tomorrow. The gym bag will come to work tomorrow as I need to get my workout mojo on. I must try to embrace the treadmill. Well maybe tomorrow I'll try 20min on the bike, 20min on the elliptical and 20min on the treadmill. My problem is I hate the ellipitical more than the treadmill. Well hate is strong it's more I feel awkward on the elliptical. We'll see but a workout of some sort will happen.

My size 12 jeans feel a little loose which is kind of exciting.

There will be no going out this week so I might weigh in on Saturday so I can go to the meeting. 

We're having a Halloween pot luck on Friday but I can't stay long because I have to be across town for meetings half an hour after it starts. That might not be a bad thing as I won't be tempted for 90min.

I hope you guys had a super fabulous last few days.

Hugs!!!

Winter is coming.....

I say this because I just checked the weather forecast for Northern Alberta so I'm prepared for my trip tomorrow. I saw the word snow and minus temperatures. It's only saying -1 but that means mitts and toque are coming fron now on. Minus one with wind can feel pretty cold.

Today I zipped to the library and to the grocery store and I walked there and back. Then I finally hauled the patio set into the shed. This always signifies the start of winter for me.

I'm intigued by the commercials for Columbia's new Omni Heat jackets. My winter gear is still good for one more winter so no excuse to buy a new jacket. Well we'll see how the weight loss goes as the cold weather will just keep coming and not really be over until March-ish. So maybe a new jacket will be needed further on. All of it is looser just not loose enough to go down a size when layering is important.

I'm also planning my food for tomorrow as I need to pack breakfast and lunch. I'll bring oatmeal as usual but this time I'll bring a few walnuts to add as well as the brown sugar. My morning snack will be strawberries and if needed afternoon snack a granola bar. Lunch will be a Lean Cuisine lasagna and applesauce.

I plan to weigh in on Thurday this week.

When I get back I need to make a cheesecake for a Halloween pot luck at work. I'm going to make a Bailey's cheescake with a spider web on top made of chocolate ganache. I'm pretty positive I have meetings on the other end of town during the pot luck but I'm hoping to get to enjoy a part of it.

Now I have tea steeping and matching my saved episodes of Rubicon on the pvr.

Hope everyone enjoys there next few days.

Hugs!!!

Good plan...gone a wee awry

Yesterday I noticed I was walking more normally and didn't feel all that sore, which was awesome. Now I need to get my butt back in the gym.

Had a pretty busy day at work and then it was off to chill with the girls. We finally did our "girls night". The plan was an early night just a little social time with two drinks max (already planned points wise). Then that went out the window.

One of our friends couldn't meet up till a bit later so the two of us who were planning on going then stayed and then the wine happened. I'm cool with a glass of wine but not loads of it and I wouldn't say it's my drink of choice but before we knew it the 4 of us got through a few bottles. I was definitely feeling the effects and not feeling all that great so I got myself in a cab and crashed on the couch. I think I walked in the door close to 2am.

I did move myself to my bed at some point, woke up at 7 and thought about weigh in. Got up weighed myself saw a wicked good number that's thanks to being massively dehydrated. I realized I was in no condition to go to weigh in so I went back to bed and thought I'll go the later meeting. Well I slept through that. For the rest of the day I've pretty much focused on rehydrating myself and shaking off a monster headache.

This is starting to be a regular Friday thing which is both bad and good. The good part is these people started out as co-workers and are now really good friends. I enjoy spending time with them and loads of laughs happen. The bad is uber late night, the alcohol and then the recovery day. I don't think I've gone out this much since university. I need to set some ground rules for myself like stick to the two drinks and then drink water.

There's nothing wrong with a drink after work on a Friday  but I need to keep weight loss a major focus for me. I did not put all the hard work in to just negate it. You can have fun but stay on plan as well.

The other day I was downloading some new songs off of itunes and I saw a Tarot application. I take everything with a grain of salt but I've always enjoyed Tarot. I  did  a few different readings with the app and I keep getting the same results which are hard work will pay off. For me that means career and goal weight.

If the comsos is sending me message then my lesson is the hard work must not stop.

Hope you had a great Friday and Saturday,

Hugs!!!

Stairs and I are still not BFFs

Oy vey,

I'm still sore in the quads from Sunday, how is that possible? Yesterday I stopped off at Walmart on the way home and got some epsom salts, eucalyptus bubble bath and the tylenol for muscle aches. I felt a wee difference today. Once I start moving it's all good. I walked home from the mall and then went for an hour walk yesterday before the soak. What's driving me bonkers is when I sit for half an hour and then get up it's "OMG I'm 201" all over again.

Yes, I know it will get better and the important thing is to keep at it. Tonight I worked late so no workout.

I decided to weigh in on Saturday this week as I miss the meeting. I miss having my regular weigh in uniform and all my weigh in day rituals. Thursdays will be for when I can't make Saturday.

Had an interesting conversation with a higher up the food chain person today that once again floated a new position in front of me that would have me at site for 4 days and then off for 3 days. While that does totally appeal to me my brain starts to plan i.e. arrange snow removal, should I get a security system, should I get a post office box, I need a notebook to blog. I'm all about logistics. Now this has been promised in the past so I won't believe it till I see it.  A part of it scares the bejeezus out of me as I think I'd be brilliant at this job but it's all about proving it. My dad seems to getting more serious about selling the property and moving in with me. Which is great but he and I together 24/7 not such a good thing as we're both really similar and stupid stubborn so only being home for 3 days could work really well. There's a whack of work that needs to be done on his house before we got to that point.

On the weight loss front it would mean super diligence as you have access to healthy food but also very tempting treats i.e. pie every day. There is a pretty darn nice gym though. The other bonus totally saving on groceries.

It's just a "what if" now so I'm not getting my hopes up. I will focus on the task at hand. Though it's funny that the head honch said "Believe, conceive, achieve" to me today as that's a mantra of mine. What I really need to do is apply that mantra to getting to goal.

I hope you all had a super fabulous few days.

Hugs!!1

Stairs are my mortal enemy

Remember how I said I did two sets of the lower body workout because I didn't want to cause myself mega soreness.

I have mega soreness in my quads especially and everywhere I went over the past two days involved stairs or getting up from a chair. Today everytime I had to get up from my desk it took mental preparation for the screaming muscles. I tried to go downstairs with no witnesses so they didn't see how awkward the whole process was.

One of my work friends told me I was walking like a penguin..a pregnant penguin. I turned to her and said "Did you really need to add the pregnant could you not have stopped at penguin".

What I do remember from working out with trainer is that the soreness will go away.

The talent show at site was awesome but resulted in a pretty late night so no workouts yesterday and today it took over an hour to get home in the cab thanks to crazy traffic and I'm zonked. Frequent stopping and starting in a vehicle always makes me feel icky.  So Day 3 of weight training will happen tomorrow. Plus there will be a chunk of time dedicated to walking the treadmill to ease out the quads.

Apart from that not much to report.

Hope your last few days were awesome.

Hugs!!!

Jello knees

Just had to stop by to comment on day two workout. It was entirely lower body with the exception of an ab exercise. The book said two sets so I followed that. I skipped cardio at the gym as I had a lot of running around to do all involving walking.

I'm glad I did as when I left the gym my knees felt like jello. Even now going down stairs I can still feel it.

The weights and all the walking turned into 550 calories burned.

I'm so curious what the results will be by the time I get to day 30.

Alright I'm out, talk to you on Tuesday.

Hugs!!!

Feeling some muscles

I haven't really done weight training consistantly until I got a trainer for a few months. I never really knew what to do and always felt a little intimidated by that part of the gym.

When I first joined Spa Lady they created a plan using the machines and I did that for awhile but I found it kind of boring. I remember seeing an episode of X-Weighted where Paul (the trainer) said free weights are more effective because you're using more muscles and conditioning more of your body. I looked into that a bit more and there was a lot of evidence that was true. I considered the use of the machines sort of my introduction to weights.

A little while ago I decided to try weights again and I looked up a workout I had from the trainer I worked with. I couldn't move for 3 days after doing that. It felt like going from 0 to 60.  The sad thing about strength is you lose it if you don't use it.

So as I told you the other day I'm doing the "Smart Girls Do Dumbbells" 30 day plan. I didn't want to make the mistake of going all out but to rebuild the strength. I did day one using two 5lb weights.

I opted to do the intermediate level by doing 3 sets and 12 reps of each exercise as I was using lighter weights and I'd see how it goes. For some exercises like side raises the two 5lbs was plenty. For classic forward curls I could have gone heavier. The other exercises of day one were v-backs. bench presses, kneeling one arm rows and traditional crunches.

I then hit the treadmill for 30min of fast paced walking and I also walked to and from the gym (18min each way) so I got  a good workout in yesterday

I can feel it today but I can move without looking like I'm injured in some way.

Today when I head over to the gym for Day 2 I think I'll use heavier weights as the exercises today are lunges, deadlifts, squats and heel raises. The ab exercise of the day is reverse leg lifts (I'm pretty bad at these but can only get better right?)

I also pick up a few things at the grocery store and pick up a book from the library which are both near the gym so now I just need to decide the sequence of events.

Hope you enjoy your Sunday.

Hugs!!!

Amazing race kind of day

Hello my friends,

I can't believe I haven't posted since Wednesday.

I weighed in Thursday morning and was down 1.2, which brought me back to being down 25lbs since January. Now the mission is to keep going lower.

Thursday after work I had dinner with a co-worker I haven't seen in ages and that was great. I got home and I was bagged so no blogging.

Last night went to the Rockymountain Food and Wine fest and there were some cool findings and some disappointments.

A slow braised pork sample that turned out to be all fat - tossed it
A chai cupcake with maple icing - the icing was definitely made with shortening - blechy

The cool things were port and champagne together - delighful
A sparkling wine with fruit - I tried the passion fruit and it was fabulous - not super sweet at all and refreshing.

The thing we all kept going back for was the "Moscow Mule" at the Russian Standard vodka booth. This was vodka, ginger beer with a touch of lime. Kind of mojito like but a whole different spin. I need to find ginger beer.

I didn't have any true aha food finds. Except maple syrup on bacon is really good.  We all then went next door to the casino where we all lost money (not a lot)  and I decided I'm far luckier in Las Vegas. We then went to a fun hole in the wall bar to listen to a band from New Brunswick. One of my friends is from there and it was like going to a family reunion as eveyone there seemed to also be from NB. I got hugged by some strange old man and that was my cue to go home.

Today of course it's totally on plan after the "day off" of plan at the fest.

I had a bowl of Special K Vanilla Almond cereal and then I was out the door and headed downtown to my office to pick up my computer so I can take it to site on Monday.

Then I plotted my way from downtown to the trophy place. I took a bus I've never taken before that winds it's way through Mount Royal (Calgary's oldest fancy neighbourhood). The houses are beautiful.

I got the trophy store and it was busy in the there, they sell all sorts of special event stuff and halloween was in full swing. The trophy for the talent show on Monday looks awesome.

I had a few minutes to kill till the bus that would take me back closer to home so I popped into the Glamorgan Safeway and found my absolute favourite tortilla chips El Molino Fibre Select that my local Safeway hasn't had in months. These have 10g of fibre per serving and flax seeds in the chips.

Walked home from the bus stop which is next to the gym I'll be going to in about an hour to complete day one of "Smart Girls Do Dumbbells"

Lunch was some quick nachos made with the Fibre Select chips, 2% Tex Mex cheese and salsa.

Now I need a wee rest and then change and head to the gym. I might be back later and give you all the rundown about that, if not it will be tomorrow.

It's 7 weeks to the Christmas party - game on.

Hope your enjoying your Saturday!

Hugs!!!

The tale of the shoes

The tale of the shoes. On the left my torched outdoor pair, in the middle my indoor now outdoor pair and on the right the brand new indoor pair.

In other words Mizuno Wave Alchemy 9, 8 and 10 from left to right. Not a whack of difference between 9 and 10 but the 10 version does feel lighter.

Here's a close up of the torched pair, you can really see it when you compare it to the new pair.

Alas I didn't get a chance to try out the new pair as my gym bag just came home with me due to putting in an extra 1.5 hours at work. I had so much to do and being away from my desk for 4 hours didn't help. The training session did go extremely well and everyone enjoyed the cookies.

Came home had a salad for dinner and now it's total food cut off until after weigh in tomorrow. When I went to pick up my shoes at Running Room I walked past a very yummy smelling food court and had to chant my way out "weigh in tomorrow" sort of thing.  It's definitely a bit of an adjustment to weighing in on Thursdays. I've been weighing in on Saturdays since day one of WW.

My 30 day dumbbell challenge will start on Saturday as I have commitments after work tomorrow and Friday. I'm interested to see if that some how super charges the fitness/ weight loss. I'll of course talk about on here.

I hope you guys had a fabulous Wednesday.

Hugs!!

Logic is dead or maybe just having a sick day

At least it seemed that way today. Today I had about 4 interactions with different groups that had me thinking logical people had been kidnapped by aliens and replaced by ridiculous people.  I really started thinking perhaps there was a full moon today. Then I realized it's Tuesday pretending to be Monday. Everyone now has the same amount of things to accomplish in 4 days where they would normally have 5.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Tonight I baked 3 packs of the Pillsbury pumpkin cookies for the two training sessions I get to help facilitate tomorrow and Thursday. I figure a halloween themed thing would be good and cookies will make them happy to sit there for 4 hours listening to me. I had debated halloween candy but I think that's more dangerous.

I have tracked everything so far this week and keeping my eyes on Thursday morning weigh in.

I got an out of the blue dinner invite from a co-worker who I used to share an office with and now we work in two different cities. I'm looking forward to that. At first I got worried about dinner out Thursday and food & wine fest on Friday, then I realized I'm weighing in first thing on Thursday not Saturday morning. I'm not tossing those two days out the window, it just means to plan the day out .

I own this book "Smart Girls Do Dumbbells" (available at Amazon where I got the picture). It's a really good resource for free weight exercises. It's been awhile since I flipped through it. I've really been thinking that I need to be more focused on weight training. I'm pretty good at encorporating cardio but not so good with the weights.

The thing I've never done is follow there 30 day plan. With a little less than 2 months left in Operation Little Black Dress I want to give it a go.

I'm going to start it on Saturday. I don't want to start tomorrow and then have two days interrupted. or maybe I will start tomorrow as each day varies the exercises so you're not working the same muscles back to back.

I got a call from Running Room that my new runners are ready for pick up so I'll grab those at lunch tomorrow and I think I'll bring the workout bag and hit the company gym.

I started watching BL tonight and then got a phone call lucky I was recording it on the dvr so I'll catch up on that later.

Hope you all had a great Tuesday pretending to be Monday.

Hugs!!!

Whoa

The other day when I was preparing to head out for a walk I felt something odd on the bottom of my runner. I flipped it over and looked at the sole and literally said "whoa". The sole was completely worn down on one side and then I checked the other shoe and it was the same thing. It was time for those runners to be retired.

So my indoor pair is now my outdoor pair and I ordered a new indoor pair from Running Room for instore pick up. I like to keep two seperate pairs so I don't need to pick out the rocks when taking the outdoor indoor.

Stepped on the scale this morning and it's showing 2lbs down from Thursday. Now the mission is not to mess it up.

I had my traditional Oatbran for breakfast then checked my email. I had an email from Women's Health about speeding up your metabolism. The article I read was all about protein.

I know protein is important and it's always been a challenge for me. For lunch I decided to make a home made egg mcmuffin and then thought I should try this for breakfast tomorrow. So I'm going to and see how long it keeps me full. For dinner I wanted spaghetti so I had one cup with 1/2 cup organic tomato sauce. I added about 1/3C of my left over turkey taco meat to add some protein.

This afternoon I headed for another mega walk and this time my pace was faster. I did 8.2km in 1hr 12min. It was cooler today at about 10C but quite comfortable for a walk.

I hope you guys had a fantastic Monday.

Hugs!!

Turkey Dinner - Deconstructed

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians.

The traditional Thanksgiving dinner has never been the norm in my house. In fact we really didn't celebrate Thanksgiving as the traditions celebrated were usual German not North American with the exception of Halloween (well that was big for me not so much my parents).  In my house Christmas is the mega holiday.

As I had made turkey/ stuffing mini meatloafs last week I decided to go a different path to a turkey dinner.

I made ground turkey tacos. I used the new Old El Paso Smart Fiesta pack. The taco shells have 5g of fibre each. I topped them with the salsa in the box, a little light sour cream, chopped tomatos and some 2% Tex Mex cheese. I'm not a bit fan of lettuce on my tacos.

In the glass in 1/2 cranberry juice and 1/2 diet ginger ale.
The tacos are about 3 points each.

I've never been a pumpkin fan and the only pumpkin pie I remember liking was a whipped pumpkin pie. I'm thinking I liked it because of the whip cream not so much the pumpkin. My Thanksgiving dessert is more my angle.

I found the Jello Mousse Temptations in the grocery store today. I think they're recently available in Canada. They have no added sugar (no fake sugar either) and they're 1pt each. Here I inverted one on to the plate, added some fresh rasperries and light aerosol whipped cream. It's not quite half a cup of raspberries so if I count those as zero it's a 2pt dessert.


Tomorrow I might have another version of Thanksgiving meal with a couple of the mini meatloafs (that are now in the freezer), some roasted brussel sprouts (roasted is the only way I like them) and I picked up some cranberry sauce today.

Yesterday I went for a 1hr mega walk and clocked in a little over 6km - burned 338 calories. Today I walked to the grocery store and back which is 2 activity points. Tomorrow will be another mega walk.

I just chilled the rest of the day and caught up on some stuff on my PVR like Rubicon and Mad Men.

Right now I'm waiting for the Amazing Race as I've got money on the two doctors. I put off all chores today so that will be tomorrow.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Hugs!!!

That was fun but I'm not 20 anymore

I really enjoyed my night out last night and I managed to last until the wee hours, but I have a feeling the group kept going after I left which is great. I don't have that kind of energy anymore :) It was a great group and there was lots of laughs and even a wee bit of dancing. We even got a bit of walking in when we left one place on to another.

I woke up on my own at 8am and so was so happy with my decision to weigh in on Thursday as I had breakfast stayed up for a bit then had a nap. Weighed myself on my home scale this morning and strangely I was lower than yesterday. Which is o.k with me of course but it's game on starting today.

I updated my trackers to reflect current weight and the actual date of the Christimas party. It's one month, three weeks and 4 days away. A lot can be done in the space of time and I plan to make use of it. Since the party lands on a Saturday I'll probably weigh in on that day to reflect the progress of Operation LBD.

Had multigrain Cheerios for breakfast with a glass of milk (3), a grilled cheese sandwich (6) and tomato soup (1) for lunch. I have 8pts left for the day. I'm aiming for a wee lower point day today.

When I finish typing here I'm changing into work out clothes and heading out for a mega walk. Activity is a big focus for the next 3 days as I'm home alone with the fridge.

I'm putting off grocery shopping until tomorrow so I can make a plan for the rest of the week. I won't be going to site this week so I need to fend for myself on the food front.

I hope everyone enjoys their Saturday. Might be back later to post workout details.

Hugs!!!

Something has to change

I'm having a case of deja view on the weight loss front.

Getting to 168 and then creeping back up into the 170s. Last time this happened I stayed in the 170s for quite some time and then creeped up to within 8lbs of my original start weight of 204lbs.

Something has got to change. Today I decided to change my weigh in day to Thursday mornings as opposed to Saturday mornings.

The dowtown location has a 7am weigh in time on Thursdays which works for me as I only work a few blocks away and I can keep the first thing in the morning weigh in. This will make me pay close attention to weekends and the days I'm at site.

I'm not making this a forever change just yet. I'm going to test it for the next 4 weeks to see if it shakes me up a little. By going on Thursdays I can't stay for the meeting so I'll look to the blogs for updates on that. I do want to celebrate successes at my old meeting.

The other thing is I need to make tracking a priority. I started off well this week and then abandoned it by Wednesday. It was risky to weigh in today as I knew I'd be up a bit (.6 to be exact). For one thing it was two days sooner than regular weigh in and my normal weigh in uniform of yoga pants and a t-shirt was replaced by dress pants and a short sleeved blouse.  I kind of had halloween candy for supper last night and I can tell TOM is coming. The candy caused the "I need a shake up in routine" idea. I'm heading into bad patterns and old behaviours. I'm getting complacent which is not good.

The Christmas Party date was announced today and it's Dec 4th. That's 8 weigh ins from now. I can achieve some pretty good results in 8 weeks but it's all about being focused and believing I can do it. The little black dress (or maybe a different colour) will happen.

Tomorrow and next Friday will higher point days but then I remembered the Wendie Plan. Shaking up the points per day isn't a disaster. It's all about planning the day but factoring in the week.

I can do this, I will succeed and resistance is futile.

Hugs!!

Yo

Didn't post last night because I got sucked into Biggest Loser and was then knackered.

Not terribly suprised Tina got the boot after her "I want to stay", "I want to go home", "I want to stay".

Is it just me or does this cast lack some get up and go?

I'm still trying to shake some of this cold off. Right now I have the cough that won't die. Highly irritating and aggravated by activity- also irritating.

It seemed like a really long day today and I'm zonked. I tried a new Smart One's frozen meal for dinner. Well new to me anyway it was the Sante Fe Rice and Beans. I really liked it. My other fave is the broccoli fettucini one.

I'm heading out Friday night for a girls night which I'm very much looking forward to but now I'm trying to figure out weigh in. Do I weigh in early or face the consequences on Saturday morning....decisions, decisions.

Next Friday I'm going to the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Fest so again will run into an issue with weigh in on Saturday morning.

I'm starting to think I might just need to switch to a different weigh in day. I wouldn't mind having the ability to sleep in on Saturday mornings. I'll have to look into that.

I'm hoping by the weekend I can resume activity. I do miss workouts which I'd never thought I'd hear myself say.

I hope you all had a fabulous couple of days.

Hugs!!!

It all turned out

I have been a laundry fiend for most of the weekend. I do notice a difference in the clothes with the new washer. For one thing it spins them more dry than before so even if I do need to hang dry it it dries pretty darn fast. I'm now finding excuses to do laundry, how weird is that? I threw a load of blankets/ bed sheets into the dryer and forgot to put the static stuff in. They came out fine that surprised me.

Kudos to all who ran the CIBC Run for the Cure. Awesome cause and all your efforts will be appreciated.

I've had a rather productive day including one load of laundry, but I also made the Turkey Meatloaf Muffins and deviated from the recipe a bit by adding some red onion and southwestern chipotle chili seasoning.

I also made a chickpea and black pea salad with celery, corn, red onion and red pepper.

Then I walked to the library stopped in at Walmart for a few things I forgot yesterday and then home again. All in all it was 4.72K round trip.

I got home and the coughing fits started. It feels like out of nowhere but I'm still a wee stuffed up. I had some chamomile tea with honey and a hot bath to see if that calms it.

Yesterday food wise wasn't easy and I did wind up using about half my flex points. My mistake was getting a piece of the lemon poppy seed loaf with my latte. I got home and looked up the NI...10pts...what!!! I was surprised by that. My runaway train of the past week was difficult to stop but thankfully there's flex points. The one good thing is I tracked everything.

Today is way better as I planned it much better (no surprise 14pt breakfast). Which again points me to the lesson that I must plan.

I  watched Robin Hood with Russell Crowe today and thought it was pretty good. Right now counting down to the Amazing Race. At site we're having a little contest to pick the winner. I put my money on the doctors. I love time shifting on the digital cable as I can watch it at 6pm as opposed to 9pm local time.

Then I must pack for site which includes assembling my breakfast and lunch.

I hope you all had a great weekend, I'll be back on Tuesday.

Hugs!!!!

Not as bad as I thought

Up 1.8 at weigh in and I'm good with that. To be honest I was expecting a higher gain.
For the past week I really haven't had any water going more for OJ as I tried to boost my cold fighting powers. I picked up my tracker this morning and see that I haven't tracked for 12 days. 1.8lbs is perfectly o.k. Of course the mission now is to irridicate those 1.8lbs plus a bit more.I'm tracking today that's for sure. I earned 4 activity points so far today by walking.

It was good to be back at a meeting but my leader has one major flaw. He has zero time management. The topic of the week always gets the last 5 minutes and he always goes over the 30min. Today there was a long discussion of the differance between a sweet potato and a yam. I didn't exactly find that fascinating.

Next week they're talking about Thanksgiving. I was brought up with German traditions and Thanksgiving isn't one of them so it's never been a major deal to me. I've always enjoyed being invited to turkey dinners as I would never put that together for myself. I had a bit of light bulb moment when they brought up Thanksgiving as it made me think of a WW turkey muffin recipe that's super simple and good low point protein option. It's more like a meatloaf but it's pretty much 1lb ground turkey, a box of stuffing and one cup water put in muffin pan and there about 2pts each.

I went grocery shopping right after WW and picked up the ingredients for that plus the new Old El Paso Smart Fiesta taco kit. It's says for 1/5 of the box is 2pts. So two taco shells (empty) are two points and it's got 5g of fibre.

I'm trying out the new washer and dryer today too. I just put my very first load into the washer and I was riveted. I've never had a front loading washine before. What I find interesting is the load I have in now is my work clothes so it's more half a load and the machine tells me it will be done in 1hr. My old washine would wash in closer to 40min but of course all it did was spin. This new one spins slow, spins fast, stops for a second then spins again. I'm intrigued to see if I'll notice a difference in the cleanliness of the clothes.

Tomorrow I need to go to the library. I've never tracked the distance to the library before so I think I'll put on the garmin and use it as a workout walking there and back.

Alright hope your Saturday was wonderful.

Hugs!!

Can a dryer drive you to drink?

It was a rather strange day today.

Late last night I got an email asking if I'd give up my morning flight to site for a higher up and I responded today saying sure I'll go on a later flight. I got my flight confirmation and a thanks and thought I don't need to lug my computer home tonight. Then about 2 hours later I got another flight confirmation for my normal morning flight. Apparently another spot for me was found. So computer and I went home on the bus just in time for all the high school kids to get on the bus as well...fun.

I zipped out of work to make it home in time for the LG guy. I was responding to emails and saving things to my memory stick while trying to put my converse runners on.

Dryer guy showed up with a new panel in it's box. We take it out of the box and it's the wrong panel. It was the right colour and looked like it belonged to my machine but the display was smaller and the buttons were a different size. I remained positive but a part of me wanted to knock my head in to a wall.

However we wound up using the part from the new panel to fix the old panel and some fancy epoxy fixed the two plastic doohickeys that came off. Those plastic doohickeys are now on that thing way better than they were originally.

Turned the dryer on and tada it works. Service guy left, I went downstairs to position the dryer a bit better as it wasn't quite sitting right when I see that the metal guard that covers the cables on the back is not on. It needs to be screwed on under the top part of the dryer and service guy missed it. I ran upstairs in hope the van was still outside but of course not. I phoned the service number in hopes they could catch him but no.

I now have another service appointment for this Wednesday. When the service guy phone I'm just going to double check if that back part is an absolute necessity. I just want to be done.

There is no reason why I can't use the dryer so I'm getting my laundry on. I thought about starting it tonight but with all the added drama I just don't want to go there.

I started a grocery list for tomorrow and I'm mentally preparing myself for weigh in tomorrow. As of that weigh in it's game on until goal. These last two weeks have shown me how easy it is to fall into old patterns when not being focused. That ends now.

Unlikely I'll hit goal by my original date of Dec. 11 but I can get as close as I can by then that's for sure.

This means planning and I've been hit and miss about that. My biggest weakness is losing interest in the plan by mid week.

When I was in Europe we didn't plan our meals for the week as it was done a few days at a time. Stopping of at the market a few times a week to pick up a few things was common. I'm adopting that approach this week. I can plan a few days ahead and not go off plan. Maybe I need to break my week into smaller chunks so I can keep food on plan but also interesting.

I need to remind myself of why I want this. I want goal bad.

Hope you had a drama free Friday.

Hugs!!!

Not as bad as I thought

The rest of yesterday went well cold wise and I felt pretty good today. The coughing started to surface towards the end of the day mostly when I was on the phone...of course.

I stepped on the scale yesterday before bed and the number wasn't bad at all. This surprised me as I've tracked nothing over the past few weeks especially not when I was feeling yucky.

Workouts will resume when my breathing is better. I did stop off at the grocery store to pick up a bottle of distilled water for the steam function of my soon to be functioning dryer. I walked home carrying a 4L jug. That felt o.k. I can definitely add in more walking over the next few days.

I will weigh in this Saturday to get back into the WW pattern and get my weight loss mojo on. Operation LBD has had a far too long hiatus.

Haven't heard from the LG guy yet so I'm very much hoping to do proper laundry this weekend.

The other day I discovered that Bloglines was coming to an end. I was not prepared for that. I have used that rss aggregate to keep track of all my blogs. Now I had to find another.

I uploaded all my links into Google Reader. It's alright. I find it very busy but I'm starting to figure out how to make it work for me. First I had to clear out 500 posts from the people I follow on blogspot that I also followed on bloglines.

Alright now you're up to speed on me.

Hope you all had an amazing Thursday.

Hugs!!!

Are you kidding me?

13 hours of sleep is the best medicine. I feel more human today, still stuffed up but far less nose blowing. I'm thinking I'll be back to normal tomorrow.

My LG service guy came and it turns out at some point between this dryer being built and delivered to my house two tiny pieces of plastic (about the size of a cap of a sharpie pen not the marker) broke off. These tiny pieces are part of the front panel and hold the butttons in place.

The service guy needs to order a new front panel to fix the issue. He feels sorry for me and says he can get it by end of day Thursday and will install it Friday afternoon so I don't need to take a whole day off to facilitate this.

I think my dryer drama could be turned into a soap opera.

I have not stepped on a scale in a week. I'll do that tomorrow.

Today I was craving spicy. When all my other senses are muted I tend to lean toward the spicy. I had ground turkey in the fridge so I whipped up quick turkey burgers for lunch.

I think one more nap is in order. I can't wait to get back into weight loss mode.

Hope your Wednesday is fabulous.

Hugs!!!

Being sick sucks

Before I left for site I was telling you how I was trying to beat a cold and truly felt I was on the mend. I was wrong.

I had a rough Sunday night but thought I'm o.k I can go to work. So I got on the plane on Monday and I forgot how fun it is to fly with a head cold as my ears popped on the flight. At one point I was thinking wow this flight is quiet then my ears unpopped.

I just felt progressively worse over Monday into today. Of course I didn't pack enough kleenex and ran out fast. I had to result to grabbing a roll of toilet paper from my camp room. The toilet paper at camp isn't exactly Charmin soft.

I hate being sick away from home. You miss all your creature comforts like soft kleenex and the ability to go home and to bed. I was counting down the hours to the plane home from the moment I got to my desk this morning. I was trying to act like all was good and the minute I was alone in my office my head would be resting on the desk. I was sort of trapped until I could get home so I was trying to put on a brave face.

I got home around 5pm and went straight to bed which is why I'm up now and typing. I'm heading back to bed shortly. My food choices are exactly stellar when I'm not feeling well.

It's a bit of blessing that I had to take tomorrow today off for the LG service people as it gives me the opportunity to rest as well so I'm more myself by Thursday.

They opened a new part of the camp while I was away and I saw the new kitchen. It's really nice. The new gym isn't open yet but people who have seen it tell me it's pretty awesome. I'm hoping it's open next week and that I can breathe through my nose by then. I did pack workout gear this time but that just wasn't an option when feeling like crap.

I hope you are all healthy and had a great past few days.

Hugs!!

Murphy's Law

I went out with some of co-workers Friday night and I honestly can't remember the last time I went out as in not after work but after you got home.

I did have to speed clean my house before we were supposed to meet up at 8:30. I vacuumed, steamed floors, dusted and did dishes in record time.

At the bar we were asked to show I.D. It's a long time since I've been carded as well. The bouncer guy looks at my birthdate on my driver's license and says "You're holding up well". I looked at him and said "Am I old enough to be your mother?". He says he was born in 1977, I was born in 1972. I'm a whopping 5 years older than he is and I'm holding up well. I'll take that as a good thing.

Then at the table some of the coworkers brought a couple of friends. At one point one of the friends (a woman) was bemoaning that she was the oldest person there. I asked her how old she was and she says 34. So I tell her that I'm older than her at 38. She then tells me she thought I was 26. My renewed efforts at skin care must be working.

I lasted till about midnight and had to go home. I can't stay up like I did when I was 26 that's for sure.

Yesterday was all about the arrvial of the new washer and dryer.

I got a call at 10am telling me my washer was coming but not the dryer. What!!!!!!. I asked what happened to the dryer. The sales guy (not my regular sales guy as he was apparently home sick) tells me it's not in stock. How is that possible I ask when you called me last Saturday to tell me it was here. At which point I turned into super bitch vowing to tell everyone I know to never shop there. He then tells me it's LG's fault. I point out again that his store called me last Saturday to say the washer and dryer were here.  He'll look into it and he'll call me back.

I got another call about 10min later from the delivery dept telling me that my delivery will arrive between 11-3. I asked them what was in the truck. I then tell them about my previous conversation with sales dude and they do confirm the only thing on the truck is the washer. She felt sorry for me and my 10 weeks without the ability to do proper laundry and said she'll track it down.

I then get a call about 10min after from sales dude telling me we I will receive a dryer that day. The washer and dryer will be coming in two different trucks. At this point I don't care I just want these things. I apologized for being super bitch.

Then about 10min after that delivery dept phones and says they'll be there in 45min.

The funny part is the dryer arrived first and just as they were loading the old one into their truck the second truck arrived with the washer. I didn't realize these two boys strap themselves to the applicance and carry it there was no use of any type of dolly. I tell the one boy (the all looked under 18) it's best to take it in via the back door. He then asks me which way is shorter. I looked at him and said my way would mean one set of stairs.

The second crew arrives with 3 boys  and there was some negotation about who was taking what old appliance and deals were hatched between the two crews.

There was one worrysome moment when the gas pipe on the back of the old dryer looked like it might not want to exit the house but all was well.

After they were done my Dad and I positioned the washer where it's supposed to be and had to do a little confirguration as the discharge hose on the new washer is a wee shorter than the old one.

Dad then had a nap and I called the gasfitter. He was there within 30min and hooked up the dryer with no issues at all. He then turned the dryer on and the on button got stuck. We both looked at it for about 10min plus compared it to the washer on button and both went Huh? You'll have to call for service he tells me.

Here I was thinking the dryer drama was over. So I call the store's service dept and was on hold for 8min then they hung up on me. So I called back and get a person, I am then told I need to call LG as they like to handle all services for the first year.

So I call LG and have to go through the whole story of buying it in July and it was delivered today. They tell me they can send someone out on Tuesday. I ask what time on Tuesday. Oh it's anywere between 8-5. Well Tuesday I'll be in Northern Alberta can we make it Wednesday. I then ask if it could maybe be Friday. If it's Friday I'd have to call back on Wednesday to book the appointment. Screw it lets go with Wednesday.

So now I have to take Wednesday off to wait for the LG service guy.

I'm now focusing all my positive thoughts on having a working dryer on Wednesday.

Surprisingly I have not drowned my frustration in a pint of haagen daz.

Add to this I had a sore throat on Friday (I tried dousing it in multiple vodka/sodas Friday night) but immediately started a regime of anything immune strengthening i.e. Vit C. The sneezing and coughing started on Saturday so I went straight to the Buckley's. All in all symptoms are mini and I feel off but not horrible. I want to beat it today as I go back to site on Monday and don't want to give it to anyone else.

Today will be taking it easy.

I hope you guys had a drama free Saturday.

Hugs!!!

Where does the time go

I can't believe I haven't posted since Tuesday.

I've just been busy. I continuously have loads of work to do. Yesterday one of the groups I support invited me to their team building which involved food and drinks.

Tonight another group has invited me along for a well earned end of the week drink.

Not exactly getting the scale to move in the right direction.

I have to hang out at home tomorrow and wait for Trail Appliances to phone and tell me when my new washer and dryer are coming. I have two gasfitters on stand by. One who might be able to come on Saturday but doesn't work Sundays and one willing to come on Sunday if need be.

Of course this pretty much means I can't go to weigh in unless they call before I have to leave which is unlikely. That will mean next Saturday I either give them 3 coupons or pay the sign up fee we'll see what's cheaper.

I ran into a co-worker on my way out of work who has WW coupons to give me. She's pregnant so obviously not going to use them so she's just going to give them to me. How awesome is that.

I return to site on Monday so I'll have to get back into the routine of early Monday flights. I've missed it, well I've missed the people. I love the group I support.

Alright my friends I hope you had a fabulous last few days. Operation Little Black Dress is not abandoned, after tonight it's game on as I've got to get this show on the road.

Hugs!!!

Inspiration in the strangest places and my 1000th post

Number 1000, how crazy is that. I started this blog back in the day as I discovered I like typing my weight loss diary and general thoughts on average things. Who knew 1000 posts later I would have so many sources of inspiration from fellow bloggers and so many virtual friends. One of these days I need to get myself to a blogger conference of some type to meet some of you face to face.

Day 2 of the conference went quickly. I will admit my food behaviour has not been fabulous at this thing. That all ends tomorrow or rather tonight.

We had a guest speaker today and while I found it a bit like a rehashed positive thinking spin. There were two spots where I had a bit of an aha moment and it was in regards to weight loss.

The first thing: Whatever you focus on you'll get more of
The second thing: We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence, therefore is not an act it's a habit - Goethe

Now I've heard these things before but in my head I replaced Excellence with Focus. Behaviour is a habit.

I think to times where I was 100% on board with the WW plan and positivity bred positivity. When I lost focus and started to go into a bit of a negative frame of mind i.e. "I'm useless at this", guess what the results went in the not successful direction as well.

You get what you put in. If I don't put the effort and energy in I won't see results. So what's stopping me, well it's me. I am my own worst enemy and that's just silly.

So my weight loss attitude is focused on the positive and that focus is on creating behaviours and habits. I will address the negativity that creeps up and squash it.

How handy this all lines up with the season premiere of Biggest Loser. Why I do find the whole product placement aspect of this show highly irritating, I do find it inspirational. I guess this season has a lot of people with emotional/ mental blocks when it comes to weight loss. I remember watching Ally (the woman who lost her entire family including new baby in a car accident) and thinking my goodness if she can find the strength to deal with that and focus on changing her behaviours what the heck is stopping me.

Hopefully this season is inspirational.

So don't give up my friends we are strong!

Hugs!!!

Things I learned at day one of the conference

A clip from "The Office" is the best safety moment ever

Green Tea Panacotta has an odd colour and serving it with pears and pomegranet coulis don't make it look any better.

Whole wheat pasta mixed with sauce left out on a buffet turns into a solid mass.

When a conference has 95% women make sure the toilet paper is well stocked.

I'm semi decent at video game driving games

I'm pretty good at mini golf

I'm not so good at vitual golf

I suck at pool

On to day two.....

Hugs!

Are you serious?

I did sleep through weigh in today but I'm completely good with that as I needed it. I woke up feeling myself  and no signs of under the weatherness.

I walked to the library to exchange books and popped into Walmart for some necessities. I didn't really go grocery shopping as I'll be in a conference for two days next week and have a full pantry.

I got a call that my washer and dryer have arrived. I'm sure you've read about the saga of my new washer and dryer that I've been waiting 10 weeks for. So my reaction on the phone was "Are you serious?". I don't think I've waited this long for a purchased good ever. Of course they offer to deliver today but that didn't work as I needed to be downtown for hair appointment. So it's now scheduled for next Saturday.

The minute that thing is installed and working I'm going to be crazy laundry woman.

Just because I didn't weigh in today does not mean an excuse to be off plan. I'm being super focused this weekend partly because of the conference as well. I'm dealing with all unknowns as the conference so any flexpoints will be saved for then in case needed. I earned 2AP with my walk to and from the library today.

I went down early for my hair appointment so I could check out Winner's and road the mall. In 2hrs I bought nothing. Absolutely nothing appealed to me. I find the some of the current trends like long sweaters difficult to pull off being short and short waisted.

Not sure what I'll do for activity tomorrow but I have a few things in mind.

Hope you all had a fabulous Saturday.

Hugs!!!

15 hour day

Oy vey, so we did our 3 hour dry run of training and it was a bit of a gong show and then I made the decision to finish my to do list no matter how long it took. Well it was about 4pm before I had the chance to actual sit at my desk and fire off projects that have been waiting.

Well it took a 15 hour day and there's one thing left that can wait till Monday.

Woke up this morning feeling a little off, I wouldn't call it under the weather but more pre-under the weather. I'm making an executive decision to sleep in tomorrow. I'm playing russian roulette with weigh in, if I miss it I'm declaring a mental/physical health day.

This week has been crazy and a wee disorganized with plans thrown out the window thank goodness it's over. My only workout of the week was on Monday, food has been out of necessity and I just need to chill for a minute.

Getting my haircut tomorrow, yeah as I feel a bit like a shaggy dog - well not that I know how a shaggy dog feels like. I'm going to head down a little early to check out Winner's. My co-workers keep showing up with cute things from there.



Hope your Friday was great.

Hugs!!

Whirlwind

My mind is racing a mile a minute with all the work I have to do. I'm super busy as work is bordering on a little crazy. Just when I think I have it following a plan a wrench gets tossed in. Not unmangeable just makes me have to re-jig the processes I have in place.

Add to that feeling tired and it's results in counting down the hours to the weekend. I'm trying to focus on getting a decent amount of sleep to avoid my body making me rest which usually happens by being sick.

Last night I woke up at 1am thinking about a work issue and then realized there was nothing I could do about then so just go back to sleep.

Tomorrow I get to particpate in a dry run 3 hour training course where I was asked to be a trainer. I'm flattered they think I'm some sort of expert but I've learned everything pretty much on my own. I just went throught the final slide presentation that was emailed at just before 5pm and see mistakes and inaccuracies. Fantastic as I get to present that part.

Blogging might suffer a wee bit as I now have to read a 113pg training manual that just got finished today.

I'm keeping up on reading what you guys are up to and regulary scheduled blogging will be back once I get over this little hurdle of crazy busy.

Hugs!!!!

Face mist weather

This morning when I left for work it wasn't quite raining but it was misting. An umbrella was useless as it was drifting sideways but it was kind of pleasant.

The weather is definitely shifting as I can feel my skin starting to get a bit dryer and on the way out of work going to the bus I wished I had mittens with me.

Many years ago I worked for The Body Shop and I probably had the best skin care habits while I worked there. I took great care of my face, body, hands and elbows. After I left there those habits slid a bit and it became more about convenience. Face care was no longer 3 steps but more of a face wipe and moisturizer. Hand cream became less frequent as my hands would slide on the keyboard. Today I was putting hand cream on my elbows as they were definitely dry.

Over the past month or so I've gone back to my fabulous take a few extra minutes skin care habits, like cleanse (with a proper cleanser that removes make-up), tone (with an alcohol free toner to ensure all dirt/cleanser is off and to prep skin for moisturizer) and moisturize (with an SPF moisturizer during the day and a night moisturizer before bed) and it's amazing how a little extra care can have an impact. I have no dry spots, hardly any breakouts and my skin feels like butter. I'm not spending a load of money either. I do love Clinique's Repair Ware Laser Focus, that's probably the most expensive thing I use. Since I've been using it I do see a difference in my skin. My cleanser is Kiehl's it's over $20 but you need a drop literally and it lasts forever plus takes off make up. My moisturizers are Aveeno from Walmart. I was using a Nivea toner but ran out and Walmart didn't have it so I picked up an Aveeno as well.

I'm going to fight ageing every step of the way and I think that early stint at The Body Shop helped as I'm pushing 40 and most people guess that I'm in late 20s.

It's also pretty handy to pay attention to skin care in a dry climate like Calgary as you definitely need to shift your routine as it gets drier in Winter.

On the weight loss front it was tough today as cramps tend to make me snack and curse being female. Workout plans went out the window. My major activity was taking out the garbage today and I had an altercation with some cookies from Ikea. My own fault, I shouldn't have bought the cookies. I worked later today and was fairly tired when I got home.

I did write my altercation down in my tracker and the mission is to track where it went wrong, learn from it and move on.

Tomorrow I'm fairly busy which is good because I won't have time to snack.

With 3 days till weigh in I need to reign in the focus and I can do that.

Hope you had a super groovy Tuesday.

Hugs!!!

This takes work

I have now tracked for 3 days in a row which is fabulous as it's been a few weeks since I've done that. I stuck to my eating plan for most of the day until I hit dinner.

I knew what I was having for breakfast, snacks and lunch but when I got home from the gym I drew a blank. I didn't plan dinner. That wasn't smart as I was fairly hungry when I got home and it turned into a buffet - one turkey bite, a small bowl of cereal, fruit to go fun bites etc. All in all not horrible on the points but dang it I thought I'd really have it together today.

I did hit the gym after work for 60min on the treadmill burning 338 calories in total.

So to avoid my lack of dinner inspiration I just made a pot of quinoa. I figure I can grab some of that and add a little something and ta da dinner. I didn't know that quinoa is a complete protein, I learned that at WW the other day. I can combine with some veggies and have a fairly complete meal.

I think I'll come home for tomorrow's workout and do a step dvd. I can't do the treadmill to many days in a row or I bore myself to tears.

Hope you had an amazing Monday.

Hugs!!!

It's Alive...mwhahaha

I made bread today. Well the bread machine made bread and I assembled the ingredients. I do love to bake but I generally avoid bread as it's a long process by hand. It's not exaclty fast in the machine but I didn't have to remember to knead or let it rest it did that. I made a walnut raisin bread and it was the first time I have ever used whole wheat flour. This recipe also included rye flour. It's a very hearty bread that's for sure and I think it will help me solve my morning snack issues.

I eat breakfast fairly early on a weekday and by 8:30am my stomach is grumbling which quite often leads to eating something stupid like a muffin otherwise known as cake. Tomorrow one piece of this is coming to work as my morning snack it works out to 2pts per slice when I ran it through recipe builder.

I then got caught up on all the reading to complete my first written assignment for the course I've been avoiding. I need to really get my act together in this area I have until Nov 30th to complete the course and I can ask for a 2 month extension but I don't want to. I'm going to get'er done.

Of course now I have no desire to make veggie lasagna for tomorrow but I will.

On the exercise front today it will be yoga. The gym bag will go to the work gym tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be rather irratic this week so I'm planning an indoor workout tomorrow and Tuesday. It's not supposed to rain on Wednesday but we'll see.

I did some clothes purging and have a good pile to donate on Tuesday. I also re-discovered some clothes in my closet that used to be either too small or a wee bit too tight. This means I don't really need to go shopping right now which is great as it gives me more time to plan. With 30lbs to go till goal there will a few sizes in between.

I hope you all had a fantastic Sunday.

Hugs!!

Swedish for common sense

Up 1.2 today, I'm o.k with that. Last week I never tracked and while behaviour wasn't horrible it could of been more in line plus good old water retention played a part - I can feel it.

Now the hard work starts so I'm committed to tracking, exercise and following the healthy guidelines - including positive self talk so the gain today is done and I'm on to a new week.

Went grocery shopping today and picked up an aray of veggies and fruit plus lean protein. I'm going to make a vegetable turkey lasagna for work lunch.  My noodles will be sliced eggplant and zucchini.

Later in the afternoon I met up with my friend P and we went to Ikea. I needed new cutting boards and some of the frozen potato pancakes. I also left with napkins and mortar and pestle (always wanted one of these) and I love their coffee.

At one point I was thinking of an old campaign for Ikea where they used the tag line for "Ikea - Swedish for common sense" and then I started thinking about all this weight loss stuff. I realized I just need to keep it simple. Follow the plan, track and exercise. It's not rocket science I just need to take it one day at a time.

After Ikea we stopped in Michael's were I picked up some cake stuff so I'm ready for Christmas. Yes, my mind is already drifting to Christmas. I was not on the ball with my Christmas baking last year and I like to do that for my work mates. When I was in Walmart this morning the seasonal section is now wall to wall halloween candy. Of course after that's done the Christmas stuff will come out.

Crazy torrential rain pushed back the agenda today so I'm trying to get some stuff crossed off my list tonight so tomorrow isn't crazy. I will create a workout plan for the week tomorrow.

Hope your Saturday was fun.

Hugs,

Fresh Start

I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow's weigh in, not because I expect a good result. In fact I'm not sure what I'll see as the dreaded TOM is exerting it's influence. It doesn't matter, I accept whatever number shows up. What I'm really looking forward to is a fresh start and getting back into a routine.

The focus is now on my friends. Tonight I make my shopping list for tomorrow and when I get home from weigh in I start the clothing purge. I have a fair amount to accomplish this weekend including clothing purge, meal prep for next week, laundry, clean the house and homework. The good thing is that all adds to my fresh start as well.

Now the focus is goal and absolutely nothing is going to stop me.

Hugs!!!

Happy Accidents

Yesterday I told you about the new scent I bought...well thought I bought. I unwrapped it last night from the white tissue, opened the box and realized I had "Stella" in my hands. I like Stella but my intent was to buy "Stella Nude". So I took it with me to work intending to exchange it. This morning I put on the sample Stella Nude eau de toilette.

It didn't last long at all and it wasn't like the one I tried in Vegas. I went to the Bay after work with the intent to exchange the Stella for the Stella Nude eau de parfum only to discover it doesn't come in an eau de parfum...well not in Canada anyway. The American Sephora's have it and Sephora has it online but won't ship it to Canada so my guess is isn't released here yet. I decided to keep Stella as the bottle I have is pretty much empty and I like it as well.

I also swung by Cleo's after work to find new jeans as all my current pairs are too big. Sizing is whacked in the head. I tried on 3 pairs of jeans all the same size. I couldn't get the first pair past my thighs, yet the other two pairs were no issue. I bought one pair.  I also tried on this argyle cardigan I've had my eye on but it's a little too long for my body type. Something hit me in that dressing room though, I'm looking at my reflection in the dressing room mirror and I noticed my waist is smaller. I've been getting a lot compliments lately and while flattered I didn't get it. Today I got it.

As I was reading my bloglines today I notice a lot of people talking about regaining focus and determination. Do you ever notice a trend that a good chunk of us seem to following a similar wave of focused vs. unfocused? I was thinking about my difficulty to get focused and I realized I need to make a 100% commitment and believe I can succeed. Oh sure I can talk a good talk but it's the walking the talk that takes a little work.

The other day I got a call from a community clothing donation drive and it couldn't come at a better time. This weekend I'm going to try on all my clothes and donate what doesn't fit that's still in good shape and toss the past it's day and not at it's best. I would say at least 60% of my closet is too big and I am going to commit to going forward not going back. I need to cull before I can start adding new clothes. Going forward I'm not going to buy clothes I'm going to build a wardrobe.

This Saturday is also exactly 3 months to my operation little black dress goal. Goofing around is finished.

Workout wise I took today easy. My workout class experiment is being deferred to next week. I'm keeping the focus on food and I want to focus the rest of this week shaking out the excuses and finding my mojo. I'm going to start with re-reading "The End to Overeating". The first time I read it was more to blitz through it. This time it's to truly absorb it.

Hope you had a fabulous Thurday.

Hugs!!!

Too much fun

Today when I got home from work I found the new bread maker on my steps. I'm sort of excited to try this out. I'm super happy I didn't need to pick it up from the post office as the box is huge.

On the way home I stopped by the book store and got a book on juicing and a bread maker recipe book.

I got "The Juicing Bible" by Pat Crocker. It got good reviews and I like how she addresses different health issues (fatigue, Alzheimer's and impotence just to name a few) and what fruits and veggies would be beneficial. I thought I'd make a beet/ carrot/ apple juice tonight but I had to swing by the grocery store first. The beets were not looking good at all so instead it turned out into a apple/ carrot/ orange juice. I did brave the self checkout with non scannable items as the store was busy and it wasn't so bad.

This is what the end result looked like.
The juicer is super easy to clean which is totally awesome.

I got a Sunbeam bread maker with my airmiles.  I got the "300 Best Canadian Bread Machine recipes" book for this. My one disappointment no NI info but the pickings were slim. It's got a variety of recipes so that's neat but I do want to focus on healthier bread so I'll keep my out for an additional recipe book. I think I'll try this out this weekend as the weather is supposed to still be blechy. It rained all day today.

A basket of Purdy's chocolate arrived on our floor from one of our suppliers and that combined with blechy weather...well let's just say I didn't say no.

I did walk home from the grocery store with my books, fruit/veg and a bottle of "Stella Nude" eau de parfum.  

I fell in love with this in Vegas but didn't buy it there. I had spritzed some on my wrist and a woman came up to me to tell me I smelled fabulous. The notes in this are moroccan rose, grapefruit, peony, pink pepper, vanilla and amber. I think this will be my fall/ winter fragrance. In the summer I like things a little more on the citrus side.

I was walking through the Bay and they had it. The sales lady gave me a free gift and mini samples as well. I was hauling a lot of stuff on that walk home.

Thanks to mega errands after work I decided to not go to Zumba. I need to rethink the 6:30pm workout classes that might be a wee late for my schedule. I get up fairly early for work and like to try to be in bed by 9pm to get a decent number of hours of sleep. I get home just before 8pm when I do classes at this time and that didn't work so well for me yesterday and I was super zonked today. I'll need to try the 5:15pm classes instead.

Alright so stay tuned for adventures in bread making towards the weekend.

Hope your Wednesday was super fly.

Hugs!!!

What a day

Today was my super crazy ridiculous day. I had back to back meetings from 9am to 4pm but it was a good day as well.

I tracked today - it's been two weeks since I've done that.
I went to Step and Pump today - even though the forecast of rain almost held me back.

I'm iffy on the Step and Pump class. It was the beginner - intermediate class and I found the step choreography sketchy (spinning on top of the step in a beginner class?). The pump part was very short but I know I'll feel it tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'll go to this one again as I like my Kathy Smith Step dvd much better.

I walked to the gym and back netting me 819 calories burned today which is also kind of awesome. I was prepared to take the bus if it was raining but it wasn't so I walked.

The best part of my day is I got home from work and the Breville Juicer was on my doorstep. Of course my first instinct was juice whatever I could get my hands on but I was committed to the gym. Tomorrow on the way home from work I'll pick up a juicing recipe book so I don't make horrible combination.

Tomorrow's workout will be brought to you by Zumba...

Hugs!!!

Now this is good

I think this is the best turkey meatloaf I have ever made. In it went extra lean ground turkey, 3/4 cups finely diced onions, 3/4 cup finely diced orange pepper and 3 diced gloves of garlic. I sauteed the onion, pepper and garlic in a non stick frying pan first just to soften it up.

To the turkey I added one pack of onion soup mix, freshly ground pepper and a smidgen of chipotle chili power and about a 1/4 cup of egg white. I then added the cooked onion/pepper/ garlic. Mixed well and formed into a loaf and then wrapped it in 6 slices of prosciutto. Baked at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. I cut off a bit of the end to taste when it came out and it blew my socks off. The seasoning is perfect, the meatloaf is moist and the prosciutto is crispy. I ran it through WW recipe builder and for 8 slices it's 2pts each. I found the 8 slices a wee small so I packaged into 5ths so that takes the pts to about 3.  Plus I baked on a broiler pan so I squeezed a little bit of the remaining fat out of it.

The mega walk is completed:
1hr/ 6.84K/342 calories burned/ Pace 8:47-8:13/ HR 135-148

I had originally planned on going a little longer but decided against it. Today was about knocking the cobwebs off the muscles.

I wrote my workout schedule on the calendar but that might yet be tweaked. I picked a bunch of classes starting at 6:30pm then realized I could probably make the 5:15pm classes. Now I have the option of either time depending on my schedule.

The school work was sacrificed for work work as I got a huge dent into something that will clear up time for the week which is a good thing.

My work lunch is packed and I'm going to lay out my workout clothes so I have no excuses when I get home tomorrow.

Hope the remainder of your holiday Monday was fantastic.

Hugs!!!

I'm back, focused and meet my siblings

Hi All,

I managed to do a quick read of all the blogs on my bloglines and see a recurring them of re-dedication. I'm in that boat myself. I wonder if it has to do with a new season.


I wanted to first introduce you to the cats (aka my siblings) I talked about when I got home from Dad's in the summer. This is Fred. This picture is his personality. He's vocal and really outgoing. He is my little buddy, well not so little anymore as he and Spook definitely grew over the past few months. Fred comes to me immediately and purrs like crazy when I pet him.

This is Spook, he's a bit more reserved and not so into being petted. On Saturday he actually let me pet him and he purred as well. I was so honoured to have gained his trust for now anyway. He definitely takes after Papa Miao, who I think is totally a wild cat and avoids us.

This is Mamma Miao, she is always at a discreet distance keeping an eye on the kids but when she seees the food bowl come out she's the first one at the door. She and Fred are almost identical with the exception that Fred has a little brown patch on his nose and just white on his feet.

At one point I was washing the patio door windows and I thought for sure they'd clear off the deck while I did this. I was wrong. Mamma Miao was supervising from a distance. Spook was close but not too close. Fred was winding between my legs and chasing the paper towel.

I was so happy they remembered me, well maybe not that far. They remembered that I could access the food.

Food at Dad's was so-so. As I've explained before it's not like there's gobs of treats but it's often not what I usually eat. He tends to lean towards more protein and I lean to more vegetables. I enjoyed the visit especially because I won't be back until Christmas. I was in Walmart yesterday and Halloween stuff is out. Christmas will be here before we realize.

So now Operation Little Black Dress goes into full effect. Gym is closed today so I'll be heading outside for a mega walk and then I'm going to write the classes I want to try this week on my kitchen calendar. I'll give myself a star when completed. I'll post a photo of that later.

I'm taking a salad for lunch tomorrow. I realize I can't plan my work lunches too far in advance as by the third day I'm bored. Today I plan to make a turkey meatloaf wrapped in prosciutto. I have a pack of prosciutto that I planned to use for something else but that didn't happen so now I need to use it. We'll see how that turns out with photos to follow.

I also need to get cracking on this Labour Relations class I signed up for. I'm not a fan of open ended assignments as I like due dates. I want to get a rough copy down of the next assignment.

My plan to do some work while I was away was thwarted by my email being full so I couldn't send any messages. I'm going to try to fix that today so there's one less thing to do tomorrow.

I hope you are all enjoying the last day of the long weekend.

I'll most likely be back later.

Hugs!!

Burning the candle at both ends

I was in a wee panic today and the volume of stuff I had to do in order to leave tomorrow at 2pm with a good conscious. Amazingly enough it came together. I'll have to take work with me to Dad's but that's o.k. As it's a long weekend perhaps people will be too busy enjoying it to bother...one can always hope.

My group took part in the Big Bike today which benefits the Heart and Stroke Foundation, imagine about 20 people pedalling a giant bike. I could barely reach the pedals which made my butt incredibly uncomfortable for the 20min ride but hey it's for a good cause.

I've decided not to weigh in tomorrow as I'd prefer to keep with my Saturday routine. So I'll miss this week which is fine.

I can't believe I now have 80 followers, that's amazing. Hello to number 80!

The fact that people get something out of my mindless drivel amazes me. Trust me people I plan to inspire.
When I get back on Sunday Operation Little Black Dress is going into full gear. The last two weeks have been sketchy due to work but having the next 3 weeks at home can help me get back into an established routine.

Last night I bought a few things online, well I bought one thing - a juicer. I've been thinking about that for awhile and as I try to get my fruits and veggies in by eating I'm not getting anywhere close to what you're supposed to have. I want to juice. I got a Breville which has amazing reviews.

The other thing I got was a bread maker and for this I used my airmiles. I want to take more control of my food and that includes making my own bread and being able to add more benefitial things without paying $5 a loaf.

Coming soon adventures in juicing and bread making.

All right the house is straightened and the bag is mostly packed. I'm off to Dad's tomorrow and I'll be back on Sunday.

I hope you all have an amazing Labour/ Labor Day weekend and I look forward to reading what you've all been up to.

Hugs!!!!