no running... diet's suck!

Well, I didn't go walking or running this morning.

I'm a bum!!

I set the alarm for 6am and I had gone to bed around 10:30 last night, so I had gotten plenty of sleep. But alas, I couldn't get my lazy butt out of bed.

I hate this!

I WILL get up tomorrow morning, though. I PROMISE MYSELF AND YOU I WILL!!!

(If I don't, please feel free to thoroughly let me have it!)

I made a Tiramisu cake last night to take in for magazine proofs today. It was the most heavenly cake ever and it turned out perfect. Everyone at worked LOVED it. Some even had two pieces.

And the question you're asking yourself right now is how many pieces did I have, right?

Well, I had one. But it was only about a half inch piece. After all Tiramisu is my favorite dessert in the whole wide world and I just had to try it. I'm glad I did. It was wonderful. But it was not very much sugar at all. The frosting had no sugar. The filling had no sugar. And the cake only had one cup of sugar for the whole recipe. So I think that was why I could resist the rest of it so well. Once I start eating sugar, I can't stop. And we all know why, right?

I was reading my mom's blog today, getting caught up on the last couple of days, and she's been contemplating taking a vacation from her diet for a while. She's been having a hard time losing over the past couple of months. And she was talking about how all she thinks about from sun up to sun down (and then some) is what she's going to eat next.

It got me to thinking. I'm like that too. Some people say that "food addictions" are "all in your head". And some say they're a legitimate addiction. My verdict is still out (though I used to be convinced that I am an addict). But I do know this... I think about and talk about food constantly.

My husband says sometimes "that's all you talk about". He's right. When I'm not talking about it, I'm thinking about it. And I'm CONSTANTLY thinking about what I'm going to eat next. Even before I started WW.

I crave things all the time, too. I'll be sitting there at work, minding my own business, and out of no where I'll get a craving for this burger I used to get up in Alaska at this one particular burger joint. I get very specific cravings most of the time. It's rare that I'll say "I'm craving pizza". Most times, it's "I'm craving a slice of 88th Street Pizza", etc.

I wonder if all people who struggle with their weight are like this? I wonder if others, who don't have weight problems ever sit around thinking about food?

I don't know if it's an addiction or not, but I do know it's all I think about.

If it is an addiction, I don't think I'll ever break myself of it. I mean, most addicts never fully recover, you know. They may get a handle on it, but it'll always be there calling to them. So I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. I think that's why I'm so afraid that I'll gain it all back once I get to my goal. I know I'll be craving things then and I'll be more likely to give in because I won't have to sacrifice as much as I am now. Something tells me I'll never be off of this diet for the rest of my life.

Am I ready for that???


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another week has come and gone and I'm a little thinner for the wear...

Well, I'm finally back to LOSING weight again. What a switch, huh?

At WI this morning, I lost 3.4 lbs.

After my 3.0 lbs gain last week, I've lost a total of 4/10ths of a lb over the past 2 weeks. woo hoo (she says without an ounce of excitement in her voice).

But at least my weight chart line will be heading down, again.

Let me start with yesterday, first, though.

I ran yesterday morning. I tried doing the 5 minutes walking 5 minutes running for 25 minutes, but it really ended up being 5 minutes warm up walk then 2 minutes run, 1 minute walk, 2 minutes run, 2 minutes walk, etc. for 20 minutes. 2 minutes of running at a time was all I could take. I got real tired after 2 minutes. So I didn't push it.

My HR did fine. Started out around 110 walking then when I was running it went up to around 125-135 at the most and when I walked it would go up to about 150, mainly because I think I was breathing so much harder when I walked than when I ran. But all in all, I'm happy with my HR. Will keep monitoring it, though.

Now my calves and thighs are a bit sore. Yea!! I'm so glad to have that feeling again. Haven't had it in quite a while. I noticed it today when I was walking from Bed Bath and Beyond to Michael's (where I signed up for a cupcake decorating class which I'm sure will be a bust—why do I torture myself—but that's an entirely different story). I smiled when I noticed the tightness in my legs. Like an old friend said hi to me on the street.

So I'm going to try to stick to this routine from now on: run on Mon, Tues & Fri and then WWTGs on Wed and Thurs. I'll report every day to let you know if I'm sticking to it.

Okay, back to the WI and my week of loss. I mentioned before how I lost 6.2 lbs in one day, but because of the huge amount that I'd gained the week before, it didn't help me much. But I'm still glad it happened. I really had a hard time losing this week (well, uh hem, after the big loss last Sunday). I was down to 180.2 by Monday, but then on Tuesday was up to 181.6 and stayed there until this morning when I went back down to 181.0.

I was extremely strict this past week with my points and exercise and absolutely NO cheating. I never used my flex points at all. I ran on Mon, Wed and Friday and walked on Thurs. No exercise on Tuesday.

I did over indulge a bit today. I'm sure I used up my 23 points for today and my 35 flex points for the week but that's okay. I'm okay. I just wanted one day of indulgence after a week of being really good. Tomorrow starts back on the strict diet.

Was funny, in WW meeting this morning I talked to the class about how I resisted all of those treats this week and the leader asked me how I did it and I really had no positive advice to offer except "I kept my eye on the prize". I just denied myself and kept thinking how I will look once I get these last 45 pounds off of me. If I don't keep my eye and mind set on the end, then this all gets muddled in my head and I lose my inspiration and my will to deny myself time and time again. All of this sacrifice is very cruel sometimes and most times its just plain no fun at all whatsoever. But I have to keep my mind looking towards the future at when I'll meet my goal weight someday. It might not be for another year or maybe even more (gulp). But I have to keep pushing on. I will prevail!

Oh, and as for updated pix. I'm working on getting some new ones. I'm trying to talk hubby into doing a practice photo shoot in a local park and to practice on me (he wants to start building his portfolio up again). I'd like to get some really good ones, not just me posing in the living room for a quick snap shot. We'll see how it goes.

Jen, I forgot to mention today that I have some ideas for the cake/cupcakes for the baby shower/tea you're putting on. I emailed you some pix last week but I don't think I sent them to the right place. I'll try it again. I found some really cool ideas.

My mind is always on cupcakes... what can I say. :)

P.S. if you see Jennifer posting a comment, she's my WW partner (well, besides my #1 WW partner, hubby). She's the one who left work to have a baby and become a stay-at-home mom which left a vacancy in the department that I work in now. In other words, I have her old job. That's how we met. She trained me how to replace her at work. She's almost at her goal weight now. Woo Hoo!! I'm trying to talk her into starting her own blog. I LOVE mine. How about this, Jen... "Life According to Jen".

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WWTG

Just thought I'd explain my new acronym for all of those who are confused by it. (sorry)

WWTG = walk with the girls

I walk Wed and Thurs morning with three other ladies from my office and I often refer to walking with them as "tomorrow I will walk with the girls for sure" or "I forgot to walk with the girls this morning", etc. So rather than typing it out over and over, I created my own blog acronym. With so many out there, I thought it wouldn't hurt for me to invent one more, right?

another day in the life...

I remembered to WWTGs this morning. :0)

Had a real busy day today. Lots of projects going on. And on top of that Proof day (when the whole magazine gets proofed and reproofed and approved) is Monday. So needless to say there was a lot of work going on today.

I had fun, though. Everyone was in a good mood and joking. But boy was it a long day.

There's this box of chocolates that's been in the office since Monday that's been haunting me and Sarah. Both of us want to dive into it and leave not a crumb. She can't have any because she's 8 months pregnant and doesn't need to gain any more weight. But that box of chocolate keeps calling out to us. I tried putting it behind the accordion door, but I can still hear it calling.

I tell you, if I can make it through tomorrow without cheating, it will truly be a miracle.

So far, I haven't dipped into my flex points at all and I've stuck to my daily points every day.

I'm actually up 1.4 lbs since my miraculous 6.2 pound loss in one day. I'm just hoping I can hold it where it is now. I think it would still be a loss if I can keep it where it is now.

Well, not much else going on...

I'm going to get up tomorrow morning and go running using the 5-5-5-5-5 system. Will let you know how the HR goes.

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i'm having so much fun running...

Okay, so today started out great, except for one thing... I forgot the girls.

I can't believe I did that. That's the first time I've ever done that. I've been so excited about running lately, that I had planned on running on Monday and Tuesday then walking with the girls (I think I should call that WWTG from now on, I'm getting tired of typing that over and over) on Wed and Thurs and then running on Friday.

One problem... I thought today was Tuesday.

I'm not sure what happened but I went to bed last night thinking it was Monday night and set the alarm for 6:15 so I'd be up by 6:30 and could go running/walking for a half hour. I usually need to be done walking and running by 7am to give myself time to cool down and then get ready for work.

So I climbed out of bed at 6:30 and hubby says "aren't you supposed to go WWTGs?" I said, "no, I'm going running this morning". He says, "I thought you went WWTGs on Wed's". I said, "I do, but I'm going running today." This went on for a few minutes when we finally caught up with each other and I realized today was Wed and I totally blew off the girls.

I ran to my phone only to see a text from one of the girls at 6:05 asking where I was.

Ugh!

I felt so bad!

But I went running anyways.

As a matter of fact, I had a great run... well until the end.

I walked for 6 minutes then started running. I had put my HR monitor on so I had planned on running as far as I felt comfortable running. I didn't look at the timer, I just ran. I did an entire lap around our neighborhood which is a half mile. Woo Hoo!!! I felt fine. I was focusing on my posture, my footing, my path, my HR, and my breathing. So I made it all the way around and was starting to go around again when I looked up from my path and everything shifted a bit. I'm not sure what happened, but I remembered Sarah saying that one sign of over doing it was seeing spots or getting dizzy. I guess I over did it. But I truly felt fine. My breathing was great. I wasn't aching in my chest or lungs or legs. I felt fabulous. So I stopped running and started walking. And as soon as I started walking, I started getting nauseous. Then it felt like I had a thick rubber band around my chest. Oh, wait, I did... the HR monitor. I kept it on, though, because I wanted to see how my HR was doing while I cooled down. I walked it out for about 5 more minutes then went in.

I really think I just overdid it. Even though I felt fine, my body obviously isn't ready for it yet. So I'll stick to running in 5 minute increments until I know my body can take it. Next time, I'll walk for 5, run for 5, walk for 5, run for 5 and then finish walking for 5. Keep it an even five 5's.

But that'll be Friday because tomorrow morning is WWTGs.

Oh, I forgot to mention my HR while I was running. It was weird. Before I started running, my walking HR was around 115, which is normal for me. Then as I started running, it went down to 100 then 90 and ended up at 81 just before I stopped running. That was really weird. Then about 20 steps after I stopped running, my HR shot up to 176. After 5 minutes of cool-down walking, I was down to about 135 and finally got back down to 115 about a half hour later.

I don't know if it was the HR monitor malfunctioning or my heart.

Will be interesting to see what happens on Friday.

As for the food temptations, I totally resisted the mini bunt banana bread muffins that someone brought into our office today. Oh, wait, that was me who brought those luscious things in. Shame on me! I couldn't resist (baking them, that is). A guy in our department had asked me to make banana bread about a month ago and I had gotten my great grandmother's recipe (Granny Gracie) and I got some brown bananas from my mother in law so I just had to make the banana bread, you know. All the stars aligned and the time was perfect.

But I didn't eat any.

I stuck to my points, even though I'm totally screaming for bad-for-me snacks again (every night this week, so far).

I'm crocheting a new project that is keeping my hands busy at night. That's helping me stay out of the snacks a tiny bit.

I will make it this week without cheating! I will!!

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resistance is not futile...

I'm having a hard time resisting the treats this week. I think it was because I went so hog-wild crazy last week eating everything in sight.

Today was especially hard for several reasons.

One is because hubby made a cake last night for a lady we work with and when he gave it to her, of course we had to have a piece of it. I TOTALLY did not want to have a piece of cake (seriously!). But I could not say no. Hubby baked it. It was really the only thing to do. So I shaved a slice of about a quarter inch thick off of this little 6" round and 4" tall, 4 layer cake. Man was it way too sweet. Uck!

Then after lunch, another lady I work with, brought 2 large bags of white cheddar popcorn. Don't know if you've ever tried it, but man is it the best popcorn on this planet.

I resisted, though. I only had maybe 10 kernels all afternoon, 2 or 3 at a time.

Then another lady I work with gave our department a box of luscious Whitman Sampler chocolates saying thank you for something we'd done for her. Normally, I'm not a big fan of Whitman's but today I wanted to dive right in.

But I didn't.

Then, someone said there were bagels and cream cheese in the break room left over from a morning meeting. I was totally not in the mood for beagles, but man I wanted one with lots of cream cheese real bad!

But I didn't get one.

Then, (yes this is the last "then" for today) another lady I work with brought in Munchkins (Dunkin Donut holes) and came right to my desk and asked me if I wanted one. Of course I said no. And she says, aw, come on! So I think, of all the times I've baked sweets and asked her to have some I was due a turnabout, right. So I took one and laid it on my desk. My first thought was to bring it home and let daughter have it.

But I ate it.

But it was only one. And it didn't have any frosting or icing and it was very tiny and only about an inch in diameter. And I so did not enjoy it. It was dry and tasteless. It couldn't have been more than a point. Was probably more like a half a point. But I logged it as a full point in my food journal.

It was a rough day. And here I sit tonight wanting to go to the store and buy chips and cream cheese and donuts and popcorn and pie and cake and, and, and...

But I will resist. Thank goodness it's almost 10pm. If it were earlier in the evening, I think I'd have a problem on my hands. I can make it another hour, though.

I'm strong.

When I weighed myself on my home scales this morning, I was up about 6/10ths from yesterday. Not sure why. I stayed within my points and exercised yesterday morning. Oh, well. I'm not worried. I'm eating healthy and exercising. That's what counts, right?

I will get up in the morning and strap on my heart monitor and go running. I'm totally motivated again. I was talking with a friend at work who's 8 months pregnant and we were talking about how she's going to get back in shape after the baby. She can't wait to get back in shape. She's stopped running so as not to cause any possible complications with breast feeding. But she's been walking continually. She has already signed up for and paid to be in a full marathon next January. So after she has the baby she'll have 4 months to get back in shape and be ready for the race. Whew!

But hearing her talk about how excited she was to get back into shape energized me a bit. I would love to run a marathon one day. Heck, I'd settle for a 5k right now. But the shape I'm in right now, I'd be lucky to run a 3k without dieing. :0)

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weird or not, the pounds stayed off...

I guess it wasn't a fluke. The 6 pounds stayed off yesterday. Who knows.

I was actually up 2/10ths of a pound from yesterday, but who's complaining, right???

Now I just have to maintain this gigantic loss through the week so it shows at WI next Sat morning.

I went to the grocery store last night and bought some more of those yummy frozen pancakes. They had blueberry (in addition to the berry flax one's I've already tried) and a new one—sweet potato flavored. I can't wait to try that one. I think I'll have them this morning. It says they're "spelt" pancakes. Wikipedia says it has: 57.9% carbohydrates (excluding 9.2% fiber), 17.0% protein and 3.0% fat, as well as dietary minerals and vitamins. Sounds good to me. I love learning about new kinds of foods. When I had that bake sale last year, one guy from work made cookies using spelt flour. I had no idea what it was except that it was supposed to be healthy for you.

Anyway, the pancakes definitely sound interesting.

I didn't go walking or running yesterday morning, like I had wanted to, but I did go walking this morning. Boy did I NOT want to go! I put it off as long as I possibly could. My intentions were to just walk for 20 minutes then back home. I ended up running for 4 whole minutes straight—without a break!!! At first, I walked for about 7 minutes and then just decided to run for as long as my feet would take me and it ended up being a non-stop 4-minute run. I couldn't believe it. I probably could have gone further, I felt winded but fine, but I was afraid of my heart rate. I didn't strap on the heart monitor this morning and I was afraid my heart was upwards of 180 bpm, which isn't good for me just jogging. I still need to work on getting my heart rate under control.

Anyway, it's started off being a great day.

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okay, this one was weird...

I woke up this morning and did the same thing I always do... pull my tired self out of bed, crawl to the bathroom, empty my full (... well, you know), then weigh myself. It's the same thing I do EVERY morning, without fail.

This morning, I was down 6.2 pounds from yesterday morning.

HUH???!!!

How on earth could that possibly be... possible???!!!

I've heard that if you spike up real fast in pounds that it should be easy to take them off. But in ONE DAY???

I ate normal yesterday, too. Nothing more than what I had eaten in the past 5 or 6 days.

On Saturday mornings, I'll make egg beater scrambled eggs with diced onions, green peppers, tomatoes with 2% shredded sharp cheddar cheese and then I'll usually have turkey sausage patty(ies) or buckwheat pancakes or flax whole grain waffles. I had two turkey sausage patties yesterday with my eggs (6.5 pts total). Then for lunch, we went to Logan's and I had a half of an 8 oz sirloin (always split it with my lovely daughter who eats like a mouse), with steamed broccoli and a side salad without the bacon and with oil and vinegar dressing (13 pts total). Then for dinner I had a big bowl of watermelon/honey dew/cantaloupe with two 1" cubes of 2% sharp cheddar cheese (4 pts total).

So I stuck to my points, like I always do. I ate well rounded meals. Protein, dairy, fiber, etc. and BAM, lost 6.2 pounds.

Who knows. I guess I should just count my blessings, huh?

The real trick will be seeing if it stays off tomorrow morning. Maybe this morning was just a fluke?! Wouldn't that be a cruel joke? Wouldn't be the first time that's ever happened.

So I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow morning.

Oh, I wanted to tell you about these wonderful frozen waffles I found. First, I know what you're going to say, the words "frozen" and "waffles" just shouldn't be used in conjunction with each other. But before you judge, you should try these. They're made by a company called "De Wafelbakkers". They're Buckwheat Berry Flaxseed Pancakes. I got them at Walmart for $1.48 for 6 pancakes. They're individually wrapped inside into 2 servings of 3 pancakes each. They're made with buckwheat flour, "which contains magnesium which relaxes blood vessels, improving blood flow and nutrient delivery while lowering blood pressure" (from the back of the box), and whole grain flour, and flaxseed which "contains lignans, a type of fiber, which may have antioxidant actions and may help protect against certain cancers and Omega 3 fatty acids, which benefits the heart in healthy people and those at risk of cardiovascular disease." and Fructan which "is derived from cane and beet sugar, a natural dietary fiber, which enhances calcium absorption and promotes digestive health. It has no cholesterol, no trans fats and no artificial anything.

And most importantly, they're delicious. I was totally blown away by these things. I miss pancakes. And I've tried frozen pancakes before and they've always been dry and tasteless and I end up pouring gobs of syrup on them to try and get some flavor. But these guys don't even need syrup. The berry flavor is sweet enough without the syrup. I just put a little bit of butter on them and that was perfect.

They're my new favorite breakfast. Have you ever heard of them or tried them?

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my worst week ever...

Okay, so this is the worst week I've had in my last 13 months of WW.

I gained 3 pounds!

Ugh!!!

I've never done that before!

I know exactly what happened, though, I ate everything I possibly could that was bad for me. Cheeseburger, onion rings, chocolate cake, ice cream, pizza, garlic bread with cheese, sour cream blueberry pound cake, coconut cream pie and a half of a chocolate cupcake.

Funny how I felt compelled to mention the half a cupcake, huh? It all counts, you know. Every last bite. And I've totally confessed to everything I ate. Nothing else.

I actually gained over 5 pounds, but I managed somehow to lose 2 pounds before WI this morning.

I ate all that bad stuff last Saturday through Tuesday. Monday night I went to the store and bought all healthy foods and didn't eat out the rest of the week. So that was my saving grace on the 2 pounds. Though no small accomplishment!

I put on a baby shower for a friend at work yesterday (with the help of several gracious helpers—thank you!). And we had a potluck. Mostly casseroles were brought. There was one veggie tray and one plate of roasted chicken. I have to admit, I did taste like one teaspoon each of some of the casseroles, but I had a huge piece of chicken and veggies. AND I DID NOT EAT ONE OF THE CUPCAKES I MADE. (the half a cupcake was from the night before just to test the taste to make sure it was good—seriously!)

The cupcakes turned out wonderful, by the way. Here's a picture.

Oh, by the way, (as if it's an afterthought), hubby is doing better. He's still sore in his chest and I made him take yesterday off. He had dr appts and was going to come to work in between. I told him he better take the day, if not for him, for me. I worry so much about him.

He's doing the same thing Monday (appts and rest). We're still in negotiations about Tuesday. He doesn't have any appts lined up (yet) but we'll see how he's doing Monday. He'll have to get a note from his wife before he can go back to work, you know. :) He's still real tired. But he's taking it slow. Hopefully when we get the results back from these tests and the ones on Monday we'll have something conclusive and know how to proceed.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers!

Now, back to me :) Today starts all over again. I'm going to be good. I'm not going to indulge at all this weekend (like I usually do). I'm going to eat sensible and stick to my points and get back at it. I'm going walking Monday morning. I might run, but for now, I'm planning on walking just so that I have a plan and it's not unrealistic. I'd like to run tomorrow morning before church. That would be awesome. We'll see how it goes. One step at a time. One meal at a time, right?

I still can't believe... 3 pounds!!!???

:(

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she's out of control...

Sorry it's been a while since I posted last. Hubby went into the hospital (unexpectedly) because of chest pains. He's out, now, and feeling much better. He's doing follow-up testing with his cardiologist and another specialist to get to the root of the problem.

So things have been a little hectic lately.

I was supposed to go walking with the girls this morning, but I pooped out. I was just too darn tired. I will go tomorrow morning. And I'm suggesting that we walk on Thurs and Fri of this week because we missed our Wed walk. Either way, I'm walking Friday morning. If they can't walk, that'll give me another change to run.

I have been doing absolutely horrible on my diet lately. On Saturday, I had a 1/2 pound cheese burger with the works and onion rings and macaroni salad. Sunday, I had a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut with 2 big ole slices of garlic bread with mozzarella cheese melted on top. Then Sunday night, we took hubby out for a father's day dinner and I ended up eating chili cheese fries with ranch dressing, firecracker egg rolls with avocado lime dressing and a Chocolate Stampede (here's a visual reference for those who don't know what it is). And then Monday I had a slice of sour cream blueberry pound cake and Tuesday I had about 5 glazed donut holes and then today I had a piece of coconut cream pie (oh, and one more donut hole).

I think I'm out of control.

I'm up 3 1/2 pounds since Saturday's weigh in.

I've got to stop indulging. I know it's healthy every once in a while, but I think I've crossed that "once in a while" line.

Oh, on top of all that, it's Sarah's baby shower this Friday and I've got a ton of things to take care of. I've delegated some details to a friend at work today, which will be a huge help. But I've still got the cupcakes to do. Those will take me all of tonight and all of tomorrow night to finish. They're going to be chocolate-coffee flavored cupcakes with probably a chocolate butter cream icing but then topped off with little babies with baby blankets made out of fondant.

Yes I'm a baker.

Hopelessly addicted.

Though I rarely indulge in any of my creations. Only on the extra special or unique ones. They'll end up looking something like this although these are someone else's creations and mine will be a little different.

Anyway, so much to do and so little time.

An in between I'm sabotaging my diet.

Help!!!

today was the day...

I DID IT!

I woke up this morning and went running!!!

I can't believe it.

Boy am I tired. I should be energized. But I think it's just because I feel like I'm back at week one with the running thing and I think I'm going to have to take it slow again.

I ran for a minute and a half and then walked for a minute. Did that for 20 minutes. Was very tough! But I did it. I did it!

I woke up on time. Only hit the snooze twice. Rolled out of bed tired. Maybe that's why I'm still tired. I went to bed at 11 and got up at 6:30 so 7 1/2 hours is plenty of good rest. Oh, well.

The important thing is that I did it. (I keep saying that.)

I haven't been doing that great on my diet this week. Tomorrow is WI and I think I'm going to break even again. I just haven't been motivated this week. I haven't eaten anything that I'm not supposed to. But my portions are a little larger than they should be. That makes a huge difference. I could eat the healthiest food in the world for months on end but if I eat twice a much of it as I'm supposed to, it doesn't do me any good. Sure, I'll be healthy, but healthy with extra pounds adding on each week. That just seems so weird.

I did eat those french fries earlier this week. That was certainly not healthy. But since then I've done good. I've just added one more week to the great span of time that it'll take me to reach goal. So when I get down close to goal and I start complaining about how long it's taken me to lose those last few pounds, just remember these weeks of breaking even and remind myself what those extra few weeks are for and how I could have been done 2 weeks earlier if I'd have kicked my self in gear and eaten what (and the amount of what) I'm supposed to be eating.

So there. I said it. Get your butt back in gear and eat the right portions.

Funny, didn't I just post guidelines about portion control.

I should read my own blogs.

:0)

one more day to go...

I actually did it this morning. I ran.

Can you believe it???

Truth be told, it was only for a minute or two, but it was running none-the-less.

I started out a few minutes early this morning to go join the girls to walk. But being as we were meeting at this one lady's house who lives only about a mile and a half from my home, I decided to walk to her house. I figured it would take me a half hour to walk there, but if I walk/ran I could make it in 15 or 20 minutes. So that's what I did. I actually only ran for just a minute or two and walked the rest of the way, but hey. Then when I got there, we walked for the regular hour and I asked one of the girls to give me a ride home because if I would have walked back, I would have never had time to get ready for work in time. Not to mention, I was pooped!

So I think I'm going to do the same thing tomorrow and then by Friday, I'll be able to pick it back up and do more running and less walking.

So the day started off great!

I skipped breakfast, though. Ugh! That's the most horrible thing I could have possibly done. I'm sure to gain at least a pound today because of it. I had some cubed cheese half way through the morning just to satisfy the hunger pangs but I'm sure that was worse then just going hungry.

But for lunch, I was good. Soup and salad only.

Now for dinner, I'm going to make chicken strips, grilled with scallions and diced tomatoes and have a baked potato with it.

Well, I better get cooking.

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2 days and counting...

Okay, I'm starting this blog with an excuse. My excuse... I had horrible cramps this morning and that's why I didn't go running.

It's the truth. I'm not "making" an excuse.

Tomorrow is walking with the girls and as a punishment for not running this morning, I'm going to walk to the house that we're all meeting at rather than drive. It's only about a mile away. So it'll be an extra 15 minute walk for me. If it works out okay, I can do this on a regular basis. Put in an extra 20 minutes of walking on top of the hour that I walk with the girls. Not bad.

Now Friday is my next true test to see if I get up and run. Count down commencing, engines on... Friday is the day I'm starting my runs again.

2 days and counting...

I subscribe to an e-newsletter from iVillage called "Conquer Your Cravings". It's a daily dose of helpful hints to help with the diet. Today's was pretty cool. I thought I'd copy you guys on it. It was talking about portion control and ways to easily figure out if your portions are too big:

• A woman's fist or a baseball = one cup serving of vegetables or fruit

• A rounded handful = about one-half cup cooked or raw veggies or cut fruit, a piece of fruit, or one-half cup of cooked rice or pasta; also a good measure for a snack serving, such as chips or pretzels

• A deck of cards or the palm of your hand (don't count your fingers!) =a three-ounce serving of meat, fish or poultry

• A thumb tip = about one teaspoon of peanut butter or margarine

I love iVillage. Have you guys checked it out? I've been a member since 1998. It has so many cool things for women. Here's what they say about themselves: "iVillage.com is the first and largest media company dedicated exclusively to connecting women at every stage of their lives." If you haven't checked them out lately, you should. I found so many things on their website over the years that has helped me with my career, my family, my home and alot more. They even have online classes you can take about different things.

Well, that's my shameless plug for the day.

Do you guys have any favorite "women's" websites?

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today i was bad...

Well, I was very bad today.

First, I didn't run like I said I was going to do this morning. My alarm went off and I couldn't get my lazy butt out of bed. I was even 15 minutes late to work.

Then for lunch, I had a Reuben sandwich (corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese and thousand island dressing on a grilled rye bread, mmmmmmmm) with french fries! I actually only ate half of the sandwich, but I don't consider that a victory because I had sour cream with my french fries (I'm so bad).

For dinner, I was good, I had a Lean Cuisine lasagna with steamed sweet corn. But for dessert, I had a half a block of reduced fat cream cheese with a bunch of low fat Ruffles chips (my favorite dessert in the whole world—chips and cream cheese). But I ate entirely too many of them. Probably 15 points worth. ohhhhh.

I got it out of my system, though. All I'm craving right now is a huge bowl of fresh fruit.

I will try one more time to get up in the morning, tomorrow morning, and go running again. I'm going to do it one of these days. I am!

On completely different subject, I saw a movie this past weekend (on HBO) that I thoroughly enjoyed called "Georgia Rule". It wasn't that great of a hit at the box office. No doubt. It starred Lyndsay Lohan (who I can't stand). But she was surprisingly great in the movie. But there were so many great characters in the movie, it wasn't just about her. The actress who played her mother in the movie, I can't remember the actress's name, was amazing. She showed such depth of character. But the thing that far shadowed all of the acting was the story line. It blew me away. The basic premise of the movie was about a girl who was so rebellious her parents couldn't control her so they sent her to her grandmother's house for the summer. Typical story line so far. I can't go into alot of the details, but I HIGHLY recommend the movie. It really blew me away. Just get past that it's a Lyndsay Lohan movie and just concentrate on the story. You won't regret it.

We went to go see Indiana Jones at the theater, too. I'm not a huge Indiana fan but it was pretty good. I think the main reason I used to like Indiana was for Sean Connery. Now that he's written out of the story line, I don't really see the point. But Shaia LeBouf did a great job. Harrison was in great shape for a man his age. But then again I guess he has to be to keep up with his young Calista Flockhart darling. ugh!

Well, wish me luck again. I'm off to bed tonight to get a good night's sleep and awaken refreshed and ready to go running!

(right?)

being satisfied with breaking even...

At Saturday morning's WI, I broke even from last week's WI. I'm actually quite satisfied with that. Sure, it would have been nice to lose some. But I lost a whopping 2 POUNDS last week.

By Friday morning, I had lost a pound. I ate completely sensible all day Friday. Well, balanced. Absolutely NO cheating whatsoever. And when I woke up Saturday morning, I'd gained the pound back. It might be water retention, like my mom mentioned. That's entirely possible but I think I'm going to chalk it up to fluctuation.

I know our bodies will fluctuate from time to time without any rhyme or reason—at least that we can tell. I hate it. But it's true. Our bodies are smarter than we are, you know? They know when there's a chemical imbalance or a metabolic imperfection occurring that we would never be aware of. Then our bodies will compensate for it by producing more of this or that chemical or whatever. So I can't complain. It keeps me healthy. I'm happy with that. No, better, I'm satisfied with that.

As long as my long term weight keeps averaging lower and not straight across or even up, I'm totally fine with it holding it's own or gaining occasionally.

I'm planning on getting up Monday morning and trying jogging again. Though the way my tummy feels right now, I will probably just walk. I won't push it. But I will get up and do SOMETHING. I have to. I've got to get back on the horse. I only jogged once last week, which was no small feat, let me tell you. And I did walk those two days with the girls, which was great. But I've got to get back to my "me" exercises. I need to step it up — consistently.

So, I'll report back in tomorrow and let you know how I did.

Have you guys been doing anything different in your exercise routines lately? I wonder what everyone else is doing to "keep it going".

.

Mr. Squarpants like me again...

I had a great walk this morning! Was just the three of us. One wasn't feeling well. :(

But about halfway through, one girl took the lead. She's never led before and I tell you what, I want her to lead from now on! She has great stride. We walked at a much faster pace than we usually do.

About half way into the walk, I was afraid that we wouldn't make it back in time. Last time, we were 10 minutes late getting back. 10 minutes doesn't sound like a lot of time, but it's 10 minutes that eats into the morning routine of getting ready. 10 minutes was a lot. So this morning I was panicking that we'd be late again. But then when she took the lead, we kicked it in gear and made it back actually 5 minutes early! Woo hoo!

Now if I can just take some of that excitement and get back on my c25k challenge. I quit after the third week. That's so typical, you know? I was very surprised that I stayed on the WW 8-Week Walking Challenge for 9 weeks. And I'm so glad I did. It got me kick started into walking which has lead me to where I am a year later being able to actually run now. But I just can't get my lazy butt out of bed on the days that I'm not walking with the girls.

The batteries in my scale went dead the end of last week. Do you know how depressing that was?! I had no idea how much I depended on that thing until it was gone. I couldn't weigh myself before I went to WI last Sat morning. I was absolutely SHOCKED that I'd lost 2 pounds because the last time I'd weighed myself was Thurs morning and I was still at the same weight as I was on the previous Saturday's WI. So I've been in the dark since then as to how much I weigh. Until last night. I finally had time to go get some batteries! So I plopped the new batteries in last night and stepped up on the scale. Now, first, I have to say that I absolutely refuse to weigh myself at night--ever! Who needs that kind of stress, right? I'll inevitably weight 2-3 pounds more (or even more) at night that I do in the mornings. But alas I still stepped on the scale. It was like I was having scale withdrawals or something. I just couldn't wait to get on top of that darn scale!

So I did.

And I was 185!

I totally panicked!

That's up 3 pounds!

What had I done??!!!

But I was relieved to find that Mr. Squarepants (that's what my WW leader calls the scale) likes me again because this morning I stepped on it and it gave me the 182 that I was hoping for. WOO HOO!

Now I'm back where I was last Saturday. Which is a good thing. I usually weigh the same on Wednesday's. It's usually between Wed and Sat that I lose the weight that gets logged on my WW WI.

So all is well in the land of Cara again.

:)

baked goodies hold no power over me...

Today was a busy day. Was proof day, which is usually very stressful. The one day a month when the magazine gets proofed, reproofed and approved to send to the printer. Wasn't that stressful today because sadly the magazine was the smallest it's been in over 18 years. Ugh!

But, all that aside, I had three triumphs today...

#1, There was a birthday in our department and we all went to Olive Garden for lunch. To me, Olive Garden means lots and lots of cheese and pasta. I actually hate going there now because there's absolutely nothing on their menu I can eat... except soup and salad. woo hoo. But that's what I did. I had soup and salad and NO bread sticks. Well, okay, I had a half of a bread stick but it was from the basket of bread that had no butter or garlic on it so it was just plain bread. I didn't even know you could order their bread sticks that way. The bread was actually delicious without the butter and garlic. Who knew.

#2, I resisted birthday cake. The birthday boy got a cake from Olive Garden and brought it back to the office to share with everyone. It was chocolate and looked so fabulous! I didn't have one piece.

#3, Being as today is proof day, I always bake some sort of goody from scratch for the editors to say thank you for another successful magazine. I made carrot cake cupcakes from my mom's special recipe. She said it was the best carrot cake I'd ever had and she was right. I baked them last night and decorated them with little butter cream carrots on top of the cream cheese icing. I had one cupcake last night and carried 3 dozen cupcakes with me to work this morning. The triumph is that I did not eat one today. I told myself a while ago that if I'm baking something that's supposed to be particularly spectacular, I will allow myself to indulge in one piece of it and that's it. And that's what I did. But those cupcakes sat on my desk all day calling out to me. I ended up putting them behind a partition on my desk so they didn't haunt me any more. By the end of the day, there were two cupcakes left. I still didn't indulge. I took them home and gave them to my daughter (who is skinny as a rail and can afford to indulge).

So today was a triumph in restraint.

One day at a time. One baked goody at a time.

Some would say, don't bake stuff like that and you won't be tempted.

I say, I want to bake. I just have to resist it. I can do this. I can co-exist with yummy baked things. I will triumph each time.