Eeyore has left the building

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

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

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

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

I can do this and I will do this.

Hugs!!!

Bit of a back slide

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hugs!!!

What day is it?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hugs!!!!

Sometimes you need to shop in your own closet

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope your Sunday was super.

Hugs!!!

Sleep is good

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hugs!!!

The end of an era

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hugs!!!

They lied

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope your Wednesday was wonderful.

Hugs!!!

The 2nd coldest place on earth

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope you all had a fantastic Tuesday.

Hugs!!

Now that is cold

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alright my friends time to wind down for me.

Hope you had a fantastic Monday!!!

It's all about layers

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope you had a great weekend.

Hugs!!!

Down 4.2!!!!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a super Saturday.

Hugs!!

TGIF

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope your friday was super fabulous.

Hugs!!!

Being all techno savvy

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

Alright that's all I got.

I hope you all had a great past few days.

Hugs!!

Wet Snow = Strength Training

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope your Tuesday was terrific!

Hugs!!!

Finding the mojo

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

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

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

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

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

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

So tonight's workout was:

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

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

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

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

Hugs!!!

I got the magic in me

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

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

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

Here is the tale of my two mega walks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hugs!!!

Russian Roulette

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's a new week and a new attitude.

Hugs!!!

My little hot water bottle

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

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

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

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

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

Alright that's all I got for today.

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

Hugs!!

Excited and a bit scared

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope you had a great Wednesday.

Hugs!!!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

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

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

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

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

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

That's all I got.

Hope your Tuesday was freaking fantastic.

Hugs!!!

A day behind

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

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

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

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

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

Hope you all had a marvellous Monday!

Hugs!!!

Back up plans are key

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope you all are having a fabulous Sunday!

Hugs!!

The effort you put in is the result you will receive

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope you all have a fabulous Saturday.

Hugs!!

Inspiration in the strangest places

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

I love myself today

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope your Friday was fantastic.

Hugs!!!

Running on fumes

Oy vey I'm tired.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Never give up!

Hugs!

People are funny

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope your last few days went super well.

Hugs!!!

Happy belated Halloween

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hugs!!!

Changes in the air

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hope your Saturday was super fabulous.

Hugs!!!

Little Miss Organized

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hugs!!

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!!!