Wednesday, July 30, 2008

a great breakfast is a great way to start...

I had a bit of weakness yesterday. Had 2 mini burgers for lunch and then had some onion rings with my dinner. Ugh! I'm going to hate myself if I go back up 2 pounds this week. Why do I do that to myself. It's like I just can't stop myself sometimes. This is so hard.

Why does it have to be so hard?

Why can't it be just as easy and fun losing it as it was putting it on?? I ask you, WHY?

I was just reading Escape From Obesity's blog, which is like my new favorite blog, and she was talking about what we all eat for breakfast (got some great ideas from some commenters, too). Anyway, she was talking about what she used to eat for breakfast and it made me think about what I used to eat. Which was barely anything at all for breakfast. I remember skipping breakfast because I thought it would help me at least maintain my weight. I would ramble into work without eating a darn thing and then fill up on cup after cup of coffee to tie me over until lunch where I would gorge on whatever was the fattiest thing I could find to eat.

What was I thinking? I had always heard that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, but I thought I was doing good by skipping it. What sabotage???

In high school, I would have a can of coke for breakfast. Sure, my mom always kept yummy cereal and other great breakfast treats in the house. But I've never been a morning person so I'd skip it and just buy a can of coke out of the vending machines at school. What a horrible breakfast! Made me hungry about an hour later, too.

After I graduated from high school, I'd have a diet coke for breakfast. After all I needed to watch my figure, right?

Now, breakfast is so important to me. I try to have the absolute most protein and fiber that I can possibly find in food. What a better way to start the day than with tons of protein to give me energy through the rough morning and fiber to make me fuller through to lunch? Then at lunch time I'm not ravenous and I can eat a sensible meal.

So I guess I know some of the reasons why I made it to my all time high of 275 pounds last May. Unhealthy, unhealthy, unhealthy eating. Over and over again.

I'm glad that's behind me, now. I like eating healthy for breakfast, now. I really do.

Hey, am I the only one who's totally getting psyched about the Olympics???


WWTGs Workout Stats (updated):
Total Calories Burned: 279
Minimum HR: 86
Maximum HR: 132
Average HR: 114
Total Time Walking: 55 min
Total Distance: 2.8 miles


*************************************************
Challenge Update! - Week Three
(update)
"
18 Pounds in 18 Weeks"

Bento Box Diet -
Uh, oh, haven't had a post from Bento since last Tuesday. :(
Katschi - Lost another pound this week. Yeah!!!!!

MaryFran - No report, yet, for week 3.

Karyn
-
She's back!!! I finaly got her blog address, now all I need is her WI progress. Woo hoo!!
Donna - Lost 1.9 pounds this week. Way to go Donna!!

Spunkysuzi -
No report, yet, for week 3.
Cathy
- (just started las week)
Koala -
No report, yet, for week 3.
*************************************************

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

overcoming the old me...

You know, I was thinking yesterday about something I used to do when I was embarrassed of my size. I remember thinking that I wasn't fat, but I sure felt fat when I was in public. My biggest embarrassment was standing in line at the grocery store or in line at a fast food place.

People have a natural tendency to look behind them when someone comes up to stand in line behind them. I think it's a safety precaution. I used to absolutely hate that intruding glance. I felt violated by their glances. I could feel them look at me but I wouldn't look back at them. Especially if I had something like ice cream or chips of cookies in my hands. I just knew they were thinking 'man, look at that lazy, fat lady buying that junk food, disgusting!'. So I'd hide my face by looking behind me or pretending to be interested in one of the magazines on the rack.

Another thing I would do is to hide my face whenever I drove in front of a row of stopped cars. Say I was in the turn lane and my lane went first so the people across the street sitting there at the red light were just sitting there starring forward waiting for their light to turn green. I would always lift my hand up to my face and pretend like I was scratching my forehead or face so that my fat face would be obstructed. I just knew they were thinking 'man, look at that lazy, fat lady driving that car, grose!'. And I absolutely HATED eating in a car while I was driving. That was just disgusting to think about what everyone else was thinking about me.

And what I realized just the other day is that I don't do that any more. I now feel confident when I pass in front of a line of stopped cars. My face isn't fat any more! I haven't fake-scratched my face in quite a while.

And in the grocery store, I now smile at the person in front of me. It doesn't embarrass me at all!

I feel like I've made a small triumph in feeling better about myself. It's a shame I put those thoughts into my head in the first place. But I'm past them now. I just hope I never get back to those awful feelings again!

Somehow, I'm back up 2 pounds since the weekend. I'm hoping its just because I've biked 3 times since then and it's added muscle. I've been eating what I should and drinking lost of water. No splurging (well, except for Saturday).

We'll see how it goes.

Monday's Workout Stats:
Total Calories Burned: 640
Minimum HR: 97
Maximum HR: 176
Average HR: 152
Total Time Biking: 61 min
Total Distance: 10.75 miles

Tuesday's Workout Stats:
Total Calories Burned: 477
Minimum HR: 76
Maximum HR: 160
Average HR: 125
Total Time Biking: 65 min
Total Distance: 9.33 miles

Saturday, July 26, 2008

weigh ins sometimes just suck!

Well, Saturday was a crappy WI.

I weighed myself every day last week and by Wednesday I was down 2 pounds from last Saturday's WI. I gained a half a pound back before WI on Sat morning. My home scales are usually about a pound lighter than WW's scales. So I take that into consideration when I weigh myself at home.

Well, for some unknown reason, WW put me as gaining 4/10ths of a pound!

I thought maybe I'd gained some weight between the time I weight myself at home and the time I got to the meeting (which is only a half hour), so after I got home from the meeting, I weighed myself again on my home scales and I was only up 2/10ths of a pound from when I had weighed myself before the meeting. So I don't know how I could have been almost 2 pounds heavier at WW.

I have no idea, but my official WI for this week is + .4 lbs. Like it or lump it, that's what it'll have to be.

This morning, I was still down 2 pounds so I guess that'll just have to reflect on next week's WI.

On a brighter note, my workout Friday morning was phenomenal! I went TEN MILES!!!! (on my bike of course). Up and down the hilly paths and up and down the two foot bridges (one over a busy 6-lane road and the other over a major interstate). And then back again. Took me a total of an hour and 20 minutes, although I stopped twice on the way back for about 3-4 minutes each time to rest at the bottom of both of the foot bridges. I stopped to wait for my HR to get below 150 before I went up. I knew if I didn't get my HR down, I'd have to get of my bike and walk up and I didn't want to do that. Here are my stats:

Total Calories Burned: 883
Minimum HR: 106
Maximum HR: 182
Average HR: 158
Total Time Biking: 83 min
Total Distance: 10 miles

I think I'm really getting into this biking thing. It's such fun. I want to go for a ride right now but it's just too darn hot out there. It' 93 degrees right now. Though the humidity is only up to about 35% that's still too hot.

So this week was pretty cool because 2 of my friends from work signed up for WW, Cathy and Wendy. I showed Cathy how to comment on my blog on Friday, and then Wendy commented on my post from Monday. And then of course, there's Jen, who is my WW buddy since we first started going. I got the job I have now because she left and I took her place. So we have a little community now of people I work with and WW. It's kinda cool.

UPDATE: I just got back from biking. Woo Hoo!! Yea boy it was hot out there. But it was worth it. Here are my stats:

Total Calories Burned: 734
Minimum HR: 86
Maximum HR: 180
Average HR: 147
Total Time Biking: 71 min
Total Distance: 8 miles

*************************************************
Challenge Update! - Week Three

"
18 Pounds in 18 Weeks"

Bento Box Diet -
(Lost 2.5 pounds, last week)
Katschi - (
Lost 1.6 pounds, last week)
MaryFran - (Lost 0 last week)

Karyn
-
(no report last week, please send your blog address to carashow at gmail dot com or leave it in your comment. Not sure when her WI day is or how she's doing.)
Donna - (
Lost 3.6, last week)
Spunkysuzi - (
Lost .6 of a pound last week)
Cathy
- (just started las week)
Koala - (Send me an update and I'll post it here for you.)
*************************************************

Thursday, July 24, 2008

setting goals and sticking to them...

Well, I didn't go WWTGs this morning. I went to bed around 11 last night and when 5:30 came around this morning, I was dog tired. I tried to get some energy going, but nothing was doing. I've done pretty good the rest of the week, though, and tomorrow I'm so looking forward to my bike ride. I've already got the protein/power bar ready to go. Daughter is going to go with me tomorrow. She has no idea what she's in for. I got her a bar, too, so she can keep up. I'm still trying to make it to 10 miles. Tuesday was 9.25. If I left maybe 15 minutes earlier, I'm sure I'd have time to do the full 10 miles.

Wouldn't that be awesome???!!!

I can't wait. I want to go to bed early so I can get up early and try it.

I've been weighing myself every morning and I'm going down. I think I might be down a pound. Hope it'll stay off. I really think it's this extra exercise that's making the difference. And I've been going over my original goals for this Challenge and making sure I'm sticking to them.

Have you guys written out any goals? If you have, I'd love to see them.

I remember one of our WW classes, the leader passed out a "Story Boarding" flier to each of us and told us to pick a goal that we wanted to reach and it didn't have to be weight related and then figure out the steps it would take us to get there and to write each step in a different box on the flier until the boxes pointed to the final goal. Kind of like a cartoon where you have the different cells or frames of the story that all leads to the punch line or the last box in the story. And I remember thinking how lame it all was. I thought, I know what my goal is and I know what I have to do to get there—quit stuffing my face! But you know, what I did with stating my goals in my original post about the Challenge is essentially doing the same thing. But it was more than that for me. It was actually being able to visualize what I would actually do to accomplish such a rigorous goal. And it really help me take ahold of this challenge and take it seriously.

I just took a break to read over everyone's blogs and we have quite a menagerie of Challenge participants. Let's keep each other motivated! We're gonna do this together!


*************************************************
Challenge Update! - Week Two (update)

"
18 Pounds in 18 Weeks"

Bento Box Diet - Week 2 loss:
Lost 2.5 pounds. Way to go!!
Katschi - Week 2 loss:
Lost 1.6 pounds. Woo Hoo!!
MaryFran - Week 2 loss:
zero She's holding the scale at bay for now but big losses are on the way.
Karyn
- Week 2 loss:
no report. (please send your blog address to carashow at gmail dot com or leave it in your comment. Not sure when her WI day is or how she's doing.)
Donna - Week 2 loss:
Lost 3.6 - Way to go, Donna!!!
Spunkysuzi - Week 2 loss:
Lost .6 of a pound. (sorry suzi)
Cathy
- Week 2 loss: zero, she's just starting
Koala - I somehow missed adding Koala to my list of challengers. I apologize, Koala. Let me know how you're doing and I'll update you on the list here tomorrow.
*************************************************

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

walking, biking, WW and the challenge...

So I went WWTGs this morning. Went 3.25 miles in about an hour. It started raining when we were maybe 5 minutes from the finish line. It lightened twice. Aaaahhhh! Here are my stats for this morning's walk:

Total Calories Burned: 450
Minimum HR: 73
Maximum HR: 140
Average HR: 121
Total Time Biking: 62 min
Total Distance: 3.25 miles

And I told you yesterday that I'd post pictures of my bike route. So here they are:

This is the bottom of the walking bridge that goes over the interstate. Not a very good angle because I was completely out of breath trying to take a picture on my cell phone while holding my bike. (whew)


















This one is a full picture of the bridge:

















Then this picture is one of the wide paths:

















Another lady at work told me she wanted to join WW. I'm so excited that I've contributed in any way to them wanting to lose weight and get back into shape. It's so cool. Cathy also wants to join the 18 Pounds in 18 Weeks challenge. She knows she's coming into it a week late, but being as she's just starting the plan, she'll probably have a big loss the first week to get caught up with the rest of us.

*************************************************
Challenge Update! - Week Two (update)
"18 Pounds in 18 Weeks"

Bento Box Diet - Week 2 loss: Lost 2.5 pounds. Way to go!!
Katschi - Week 2 loss: Lost 1.6 pounds. Woo Hoo!!
MaryFran - Week 2 loss: zero She's holding the scale at bay for now but big losses are on the way.
Karyn - Week 2 loss: no report. (please send your blog address to carashow at gmail dot com or leave it in your comment. Not sure when her WI day is or how she's doing.)
Donna - Week 2 loss: Lost 3.6 - Way to go, Donna!!!
Spunkysuzi - Week 2 loss: Lost .6 of a pound. (sorry suzi)
Cathy - Week 2 loss: zero, she's just starting

*************************************************

.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

tuesday, here I come!!!

It's shaping up to be a great Tuesday!

Bike 9.25 miles this morning!!!

Woo hoo!!

I found a new secret to biking. You wanna know what it is?

Protein bar a half hour before you start. That did the trick! I had a Kashi Go Lean Chewy peanut butter and chocolate bar. It had 13 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. Though it was 6 points, I figured it was okay because I get 9 or 10 points for an hour of vigorous bicycling. This morning I got 10. It was totally worth it.

Now, it was a little on the expensive side and I don't think I'm gonna want to continue paying that much for protein before each morning, but I think I can try the Go Lean cereal I bought last week. It has the same amount of protein, plus the Soy Milk that goes with it has another 6 grams of protein. I'm not sure how the milk will do on my stomach, but I'm willing to try it. It is soy, not cow's milk. We'll see on Friday morning.

When I finished biking, I was ready to go for another few miles. I wish I'd had more time this morning. I'm already going to be late for work as it is. So I really gotta make this post short. But before I go, I wanted to journal some things I've learned about biking:

  1. Eat lots of protein a half hour before starting
  2. Be awake for at least a half hour before started ;>
  3. Take at least 2 bottles of water with you. One bottle is probably plenty, but you don't want to be in the middle of a great trek and get thirsty.
  4. Don't lock your knees when you're coasting
  5. Better yet, don't coast, pump those legs constantly
  6. Don't lock your elbows, always keep them bent, it'll help strengthen the muscles in your arms
  7. Keep constant watch on your heart rate. Don't let it stay in the danger zone for more than a few minutes at a time.
  8. Keep a log of how far you've gone each time, you'll love looking back on it
  9. Invite a friend, it's so much more fun with two
Well, I'm sure I could come up with more, but that's a good start. I took pictures of the trail with my cell phone along the way this morning. I'll post them tomorrow.

Gotta go for now.

Don't forget to leave me your 2nd week updates for the Challenge (for those of you who haven't updated me yet). I'm anxious to see how everyone has done so far.

I am so full of energy right now!!!

.

Monday, July 21, 2008

monday's over, hold on to your butts, here comes tuesday...

Well, I was hoping for 8 miles this morning, but I only went 5 1/2. But at least I went, right? We got almost halfway and I completely ran out of energy.

Tomorrow morning, I'm eating something ridiculously high in fiber and protein about a half hour before I leave to go biking. I think that was my problem. I think my body was still half asleep and depleted of energy. I had a big scoop of peanut butter and half a bottle of water before I left. But maybe 2 minutes before I left. I don't think it had time to kick in before I started feeling exhausted.

Another thing was my HR strap wasn't on right and after 7 or 8 minutes it said my HR was 65. I think that's close to death for me. My HR never goes below 85 when I'm completely resting. So I stopped and adjusted it and I had it lipping over top of my bra strap a bit. Ugh! So part of my workout didn't count on the HR watch. So I know these stats aren't correct:

Total Calories Burned: 402
Minimum HR: 40
Maximum HR: 179
Average HR: 139
Total Time Biking: 45 min
Total Distance: 5.6 miles

So, you Challengers are going to have to give me an update on how you're doing.

*************************************************
Challenge Update! - Week Two
"18 Pounds in 18 Weeks"

Bento Box Diet - Lost 2.5 pounds this week. Way to go!!
*
Katschi - Weighs in tomorrow.
*
MaryFran - I've misplaced your blog address again. Sorry I don't know how you're doing.
*
Karyn - please send your blog address to carashow at gmail dot com or leave it in your comment. Not sure when her WI day is or how she's doing.
*
Donna - Weighed in Yesterday. Lost 3.6 - Way to go, Donna!!!
*
Spunkysuzi - not sure how she's doing right now.

*************************************************

A good friend from work joined WW today. We drove together to WW during lunch and she signed up as a friend of mine. Because she signed up, we both get this cool "healthy living cooler bag". It'll come in the mail. Can't wait to get it. I can really use it on my bike rides in the mornings. I don't have a place to put a water bottle on my bike and I get thirsty half way through and have to stop at the water fountains on the trail. Quite a pain! Besides the cool bag, it's much cooler that my friend joined. Now I'll have 2 friends from work (and my loving hubby) who go to WW meetings with me on Sat mornings. We'll be havin' a WW party come this Sat morning! :D

Had two dizzy spells today. I haven't had one in maybe 6 months or more. Now two in one day. Not sure what happened. They're usually just quick little 5 second spinny things. Kinda like when you spin around real fast and when you get done how everything spins and spins and spins. Well, it'll get like that for just 2-5 seconds at a time. Doesn't really have to do anything with my eating or my exertion habits. Just happens. But twice in one day is unusual. I think I'm going to go to bed early tonight. Get some good rest. I feel fine right now, just tired.

.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

pancakes and biking...

I found a great recipe for pancakes that are REAL pancakes but they're only 1 point each. Home made, from scratch and taste spectacular. I saw it on the America's Test Kitchen. I love this website and their companion "Cooks Illustrated" magazine. They really go into the science of cooking and baking. So if you like pancakes, check out this recipe:

One Point Pancakes

Mix and let sit to thicken:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cups vanilla soy milk

Mix together in separate bowl:
2 cups bleached all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons sugar (this much sugar makes the pancakes sweet enough to where you don't have to use syrup if you don't want to)

Add 1/4 cup egg beaters to milk mixture then add 3 tablespoons melted light butter which has cooled slightly.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into it. Leave lumps and strings.

Heat griddle to 350 degrees. Test heated griddle/pan with a tablespoon of batter to make sure it's hot enough. Once the test pancake is brown, spray griddle with butter flavored Pam and then ladle heaping 1/4 cup of batter onto griddle/pan. Cook until light brown underneath then flip until other side is light brown.

You can add blueberries to this recipe once you've poured the batter onto the griddle, just push several fresh blueberries into the batter.

Enjoy.

--

Speaking of breakfasts, I found a healthy breakfast at Cracker Barrel that's only 6 or 7 points. It's called "Eggs 'n' Meat". It 3 eggs, 2 sausages, tomato slices and bread. But I get it with 3 egg beaters, 2 turkey sausages, tomato slices (which they ALWAYS forget to bring out, I have to ask for them every time) and a bran muffin. If you want cheese in your scrambled eggs, you'll have to add 3 points for the colby. It's plenty to eat, too.

Enough about food, right?!

Tomorrow morning is bike morning. I'm aiming to go a little further than I did last week. I went 7.6 miles (round trip) last week, twice. I'm hoping to get in 8 to 8.5 miles in tomorrow morning. I have a route already planned out. It includes two foot bridges which means steep uphill climbs, 4 times! I'm up for the challenge, though. I might need to add 10-15 minutes to my overall biking time. I'll let you know how it goes.

Here's a pic of the biggest foot bridge I'll have to cross. You can see the path leading up to the bridge.

Man has it been hot lately. Ugh! I hate the heat! I hope it's not so hot in the morning.

.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

WI today, was a great one, finally...

What a great start to my 18 Pounds in 18 Weeks challenge!

Today was WI and I lost 3.4 lbs.

WOO HOO!!!!

That's a total of 86.6 pounds I've lost so far. And I got another 5-pound gold start at WW this morning. Haven't gotten one of those in months.

I worked hard for it too! I earned 26 activity points (biked for a total of 15 miles (outside) and walked for a total of 6 miles—again, outside). I didn't exercise the 5 days that I wanted to. Only did 4 days. But Friday was a tough one because I only had 4 hours of sleep and, though I felt fine when I woke up, I didn't want to push it and stress my body out too much. Next week I'm sure I won't have a problem doing the 5 days.

I have to say this challenge is going great. Of course I would say that because I had a great loss. But by me blogging about it and writing my goals down so I can refer to them on a regular basis, it really is helping. It was a little shaky half way through the week. I was up 2 lbs since last Sat's WI, but it came off on Thurs and Fri and then a little more this morning. That just goes to prove that persistence pays off, right?

I found a wonderful cereal that I started eating yesterday. It's made by Kashi, called Go Lean. It has 12 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber in just one cup, which is 40% of your daily fiber allowance and 20% of your daily protein allowance. I put a half cup of soy milk in it so that added another 3.5 grams of protein and a half a gram of fiber. The whole thing was only 3 points. What a great filling breakfast.

I have to keep this one short. We're getting ready to go out and fly planes and I still have to get ready. I'll update my stats later today.

.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

friday's starting out great...


I'll keep this one brief...

I didn't bike this morning, but it was because we went to go see The Dark Knight last night (or rather this morning) at the 12:30 am pre-screening. Didn't get home until 3:30am. I feel surprisingly well for only 4 hours of sleep. I took a 3 hour nap before the movie so I think I'm doing okay.

The movie was SPECTACULAR!!! If you like batman or love batman or just like adventure, drama movies, I highly recommend this movie!!! This movie is bound for Oscar greatness on many levels. One of which is Heath Ledger. His performance was stellar. The audience kept clapping throughout whenever Heath/The Joker, would do something amazing on screen. Definite must see!!!

I Weighed myself this morning and am down to 180.0. Hope I stay there until tomorrow morning. Thursday morning, I was still up to 182.8. Yesterday I had a great food day. Had a bran muffin and banana for breakfast. Had a big bowl of watermelon, cantaloupe and blueberries with cubes of cheese for lunch and for dinner had boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce and a mixed fruit medley of papayas, honeydews and watermelons with a couple of cheese cubes. The key, I think, was water. I drank so much water yesterday.

I found this on mousearoo and thought it was so profound. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

"...though your arms may get sore

and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike

and I know you'll hike far

and face up to your problems

whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know.

You'll get mixed up

with many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step.

Step with care and great tact

and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.

And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)

So...be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Brayor Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,

you're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!"


---Dr. Seuss

Wish me luck for tomorrow!

.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

hump day is happenin'...

I didn't go WWTGs this morning. Two girls couldn't make it because of commitments they had early in the morning and the other wasn't feeling well. I went ahead and exercised anyway. Just did it in doors. Aerobics.

Still was able to burn 400 calories.

I had a great day today. Me and three others from the office went to a convention this morning. I drove down with one girl who I've been wanting to get to know better. I don't know if that happened, though, because I kept blabbering on about stuff the whole drive. I hate when I do that. It's like I have no control over my mouth. I just keeps going and going until I've said way too much. But I enjoyed the drive, anyway. Then we met the other two down there and walked around for a few hours chit-chatting and oohing and awing over the displays. There were some really cool displays and booth arrangements. Great product displays, too. I had a blast.

Then we got back and our boss (one of the 4 of us) had to get back to work to do something for the big boss, so we dropped her off and the three of us went to lunch. I'd never been to lunch just the three of us before and it was so nice. I've got to do that more often.

I got to know the two of them a little better and I really enjoyed it.

I shot hubby a love-text-note on the way back to the office and he shot one back to me saying he wanted to take me out to a romantic dinner. So we did. I had a WONDERFUL night with him.

Alas, here I sit blogging and he's at the computer next to me working, but we had a great time and great conversation anyway.

I did go over my points today, but not by much. And they're flex points anyway.

I will WWTGs tomorrow morning. We've all 4 said we're walking. Then on Friday, I'm biking again. I was thinking about going over the Interstate again. Was a beautiful ride last time we did it. I'm thoroughly enjoying biking. I hope my enthusiasm lasts.

Oh, I gotta tell you the coolest thing. I got to meet one of my favorite singing artists in person day before yesterday. I was walking down to the break room at work and I passed by this guy in the hallway and said hi. As soon as I did, I turned around and said (to myself) HEY, I KNOW THAT GUY. It was Brandon Heath. He's fairly new to the music buz and I had downloaded two of his songs from iTunes this past year. Anyway, I followed behind him to the front desk ready to pounce on him for an autograph but he got caught up in a conversation and I didn't want to interrupt. So I go to hubby (who also works where I do) and asked him if he knew what Brandon was doing in the building and it turns out that hubby was getting ready to video tape an interview with Brandon and one of the editors. I said NO WAY!!! YOU GOTTA GET ME IN THERE!!! So he did. (my hero) I got to sit in on the interview, as a fan, not an employee. And after it was done, he asked me if I would like a copy of his newest CD (which hasn't even released yet) and then, get this, he asked me if he could sing me a song. OMG!!! He actually sang a song JUST FOR ME!!! Can you believe it??? I was such a goober fan! I loved every second of it. I got his autograph and was on cloud nine for the rest of the day.

And to think, he was just walking down the hall like any other person in the world and he passed right by me at that exact moment.

Was so awesome!!!

*************************************************
Challenge Update! - Still Going Strong in Week One
"18 Pounds in 18 Weeks"

Bento Box Diet joined the 18 pounds in 18 weeks today. Way to go!!
*
Katschi is already a member. She left a post about the challenge in her blog yesterday.
*
MaryFran is already a member.
*
Karyn (don't have her blog address either) is already a member.
*
Donna is already a member.
*
Spunkysuzi just joined yesterday, too! Double Way to go!!

If there's anyone I missed, please let me know so I can add you to my updates. I'll update whenever someone new joins or on WI days (Saturdays).

.

Monday, July 14, 2008

i'm going to do this...

Okay, let me start that off by saying that I'm at the exact same weight as I was on May 31st.

Is that not depressing or WHAT???!!!

That's 7 1/2 weeks!

52 days!!

A MONTH AN A HALF!!

I'm so disgusted with myself. I can't believe I allowed myself to do that. Now, granted the scales have been going up and down, up and down. I've had some really great losses during those 7 1/2 weeks. But I'm right back where I was.

Alas, I am not getting depressed or discouraged at all. Oh contraire mon ami. I'm in the first week of my 18 week challenge and I'm going strong.

I went biking again this morning. Same route as yesterday. Same grueling exhausting route!

My Stats:
Total Calories Burned: 690
Minimum HR: 107
Maximum HR: 190
Average HR: 162
Total Time Biking: 1:02

Daughter went with me this morning. Was so cool to have someone to talk to (inbetween gasps for air!) :)

On a slightly different subject, I found the coolest thing in a magazine the other day. Nintendo makes a weight loss game for their DS handheld game. It just came out last month. It's really cool. It comes with a pedometer and the whole thing keeps track of your weight loss progress. It's called My Weight Loss Coach. Here are some screen shots. I don't own a DS but I think it's just such a cool thing. Here are some screen shots.


Oh, and I found this yummy recipe that I really want to try. Found it on my favorite recipe blog (and the best recipe blog on the planet as far as I'm concerned). It's Chopped Vegetable, Watermelon Feta Salad. Here's the recipe and tell me what you think:

Chopped Vegetable Salad with Watermelon and Feta

1 pound Campari or plum tomatoes, diced, drained
1 1/2 cups diced seeded watermelon
1 large green bell pepper, seeded, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
1/2 large English hothouse cucumber, seeded, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
1/2 cup very thinly sliced radishes
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
10 ounces feta cheese, broken into small cubes (about 2 1/2 cups), divided
2 green onions, chopped, divided
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh mint leaves, divided
1/2 cup plain Greek-style yogurt
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Toss first 5 ingredients and 2 tablespoons oil in large bowl. Add half each of cheese, green onions, and mint. Mix remaining cheese, green onions, mint, and oil in processor; add yogurt and oregano. Process just to blend (do not over-mix or dressing will get thin). Season dressing with salt and pepper; mix into salad. Makes 4 servings

Doesn't it look and sound yummy??


the challenge is going great so far...

Well, after my depressing 1.6 lb. gain this past week, I've found plenty of motivation to kick this weight loss in gear. I've come too far to start sabotaging myself. And it makes me oh so fearful of what'll happen when I eventually reach goal. Will I become complacent and start gaining it back. I so hope not!

A weird one happened... I lost 2 pounds on Saturday, AFTER my WI, thank you very much! I was back up a pound this morning but that was because I had to eat out yesterday and couldn't find anything healthy. I tried the grilled chicken, but I'm sure it was loaded with marinade and calories galore! I did splurge a little last night and got potato skins before my lean steak and steamed broccoli. But that was my indulgence for this week. I'm going to lose a whole pound this week if it kills me.

I went biking again this morning. This time was 7.5 miles and I did it in just over an hour:

Total Calories Burned: 691
Minimum HR: 96
Maximum HR: 186
Average HR: 164
Total Time Biking: 1:02

I love my new HR monitor!

I'm glad to hear that some of you are joining me on my "18 Pounds in 18 Weeks" challenge. I'll link to your blogs if you can leave me your blog address in the comments. So far, here is who is joining me:

Katschi (check our her blog here)
Maryfran
Karyn

What helped me to get my challenge started was stating specific ways that I'm going to achieve this goal. Like what my regular exercise routine will be, how will I change my eating habits, etc. So maybe that will help you guys as well. Feel free to leave your plan in my comments section or if you leave it on your blog, I'll link to it from my next post.

We can do this together. I'm rooting for you!!

.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

18 pounds in 18 weeks...

This is my new challenge/goal.

I want to make it to 100 pounds loss by Thanksgiving.

I figure what better thing int he world to be thankful for that for losing 100 pounds, right?!

So I figured out today that there are 18 Saturdays (WI days) until Thanksgiving and I have 17 pounds to go to get to a total of 100 pounds lost. So I figured this might be a great way to get me motivated again into losing on a consistent basis.

That's only 1 pound a week. Which is healthy weight loss. And totally reasonable.

So I'm going to start a chart over to the right on my blog showing my progress and I'll log into it each Saturday showing my progress. This way I can keep it in front of me and in the front of my mind and know exactly how I'm doing at any given point.

Here's how I'm going to do it.
  1. Well balanced diet (protein, fiber, dairy, oils, fruits, veggies).
  2. Smaller portions (carefully watch and measure everything).
  3. Indulgences are okay, but over-indulgences are NOT!
  4. Exercise 5 days a week (biking, walking and maybe running if I can find the motivation again).
  5. Accountability (tell everyone I know I'm on this challenge so I'm accountable to EVERYONE!!!).
So, I'm starting today, July 12th — 7-12-08.

Oh, by the way, I gained 1.8 pounds today at WI. :(

I know what happened. I didn't exercise. I only exercised one day this past week. I'm at the point in my weight loss journey that diet alone will not cut it any more. I only have 40 more pounds to go. The first 85 pounds were easy. Well, in perspective, I've had to do very little exercise to get this far. It's mostly been dieting. And I've had plenty of indulgences and over indulgences over the past 14 months. But I know if I don't start taking my weight loss more seriously, I won't lose the rest of it.

So this is what I'm dong right now to make a difference. Change course. And get me half of the way closer to my ultimate goal weight.

Hey, would anyone out there like to join me on my 18 Pounds in 18 Weeks Challenge??

I could post your progress on here or link to your blog with your progress updates each week. Leave me a note if you want to do it with me.

We can do it together. The more accountability we have, the more likely the goal will be achieved. I know it.

.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

from walking to running to biking...

Well, I'll start this post off by saying... I did no exercise at all today.

:((

I couldn't WWTGs this morning but I could have gotten up and at least ran for 20 minutes. I had an extra 20 minutes in my morning that I could have at least done some sort of exercise! But nooooo, I stayed in bed and became a lazy butt!

Well, at least I'm walking tomorrow morning. I have no excuses!

I've been doing good on my food intake. Today I had sweet potato pancakes for breakfast and had a half a chicken sandwich with a bowl of minestrone soup for lunch and for dinner was a couple a cups of watermelon, several cheese cubes and sweet corn. I know, not the most well balanced, but at least I got in my fiber and protein for each meal. Had lots of water, too. No coffee today either.

I think I've decided to change my running to cycling. I watched a special yesterday on this 85-year-old woman who bicycles 16 miles every day. It showed her slowly biking around the neighborhood having a blast.

Well, I LOVE bicycling! We used to bike every Sunday afternoon until it got too hot. Now, it's just torture bicycling in the afternoons. But in the mornings it shouldn't be too bad, right?

And it's safer than walking or running by myself, too, right?

They say it's better for you to bike than run anyways.

I'll bet I could bike 10 miles every morning. You think? Or at least 5 miles. I don't know. I'll have to time myself. I remember going 10 miles one time several months ago and it took us an hour of leisurely biking. I'm sure I could do more than that exercising. I know just the route I'd take, too. I'd only have to cross the street twice.

Okay, now I can't wait until Friday morning to try it. I sounds like a blast!!

I'm still up a pound since Saturday, but it's only Wednesday. I'm hoping I'll be down before Saturday. I don't know what I'm doing different this week, other than no exercise. I think that's probably doing it. So hopefully between WWTGs tomorrow and biking on Friday, it'll be enough to show a loss on Saturday.

.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Everything's under control, now...

Well, we had a wonderful holiday weekend. We didn't do a whole lot but it sure was fun.

On Friday night, the people at the end of the cul de sac (a few doors down) set of one heck of a fireworks show. It was awesome. I'll bet they shot off 2 or 3 hundred fireworks that night.

Saturday morning, WI was a success. I lost 1.6 lbs! Woo hoo!!!

I worked hard for it too. I was tired of having pittley little losses. I kept sabotaging myself, too. So last week, I exercised alot and dieted alot and it paid off.

I've now lost 85 pounds!!!

In 14 1/2 months!!!

I have to say I can't believe I've come this far. If you would have asked me last year if I could lose 85 pounds in a year, I would have laughed you silly. But here I am. I did it.

I've got about 40 more to go. And I'm going all the way!!

This morning we had a going away breakfast for a lady at the office. We all brought in our yummy breakfast goodies. I baked Breakfast Pizza but made it the healthy way. Line the bottom of a 13" x 9" baking pan with reduced fat Pilsbury Crescent Rolls then sprinkle cooked, crumbled turkey sausage on top of that. Then put a couple of cups of Orida O'Brien frozen potatoes then top that with 2 cups of low fat shredded cheddar cheese (WW) and then 5 servings of egg beaters (1 1/4 cup). Bake it in the oven at 375 for about 30 minutes (my oven usually takes 45 minutes to get done) until the top is bubbly and brown. I think it was 4 or 5 points for a 3" square serving. Not bad. It was so yummy too.

I did indulge in a few other things at the breakfast, but not much. I had a light lunch and only had fruit and cheese for dinner. I still stayed under my 23 points for today.

Tonight I finished making the Snickers Bar Cupcakes. They turned out perfect. I haven't eaten one. But I will have one with everyone else tomorrow morning.

Here's a picture of how they turned out.

(Sorry, I know this is probably cruel on a diet blog, but I can't help but brag.)

Friday, July 4, 2008

4th of july...

I've finally broken the 180s at home!!!

Yesterday, I was down to 179.8 and today was 179.4. I hope I can hold onto it until tomorrow morning.

I didn't go running this morning. Today was our only day to sleep in. Went to bed about 10:30 last night. Boy that was weird. I did that one other day this past week but before that, I can't remember the last time I went to bed so early. Usually, I'm not in bed until 11 or 11:30 or midnight.

Got up at 8 this morning. Man I felt rested!

Way too rested to get up and go running.

Didn't have a whole lot planned today. We're both not feeling the greatest so we just went to go see a movie and came home and ate lunch. I'm about ready for a nap right now.

We went to go see Hancock. If you get the chance to go see it, DO. It was great! I loved it!

I had egg beaters with WW cheese and turkey sausage for breakfast. Then big bowl of fruit with some cheese cubes for lunch. For dinner I'm planning either a bowl of chicken noodle soup or maybe a frozen WW dinner. For snacks, we bought some of those yummy veggie chips, the cheddar-jalapeno ones. Very yummy!

I'm just trying to focus mostly on my dairy, protein, fiber and veggies/fruits as much as possible. Trying to keep it all well balanced. Seems to be working. I haven't gone over my daily 23 points this week. Mainly because I used up all 35 (and then some) of my flex points last weekend. So I didn't have any to spare this week.

Will let you know how tomorrow goes.

Happy 4th!!!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

getting caught up for the last 2 days...

So to get caught up, I'll briefly summarize my last two days.

Tuesday I went running. Woo Hoo!!

I ran until my HR was up to 180 and then walked until it got down to 140. That's not saying much, though, because here's how it went:

Warm up walk 5 minutes
Run 2 1/2 minutes
Walk 1 1/2 minutes
Run 2 minutes
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 1/2 minutes
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 minute
Cool Down Walk 3 minutes

Total of 7 minutes combined running. Not bad. I'll take it. I just don't want to push it. I'll just keep doing this—run until HR is 180 and walk til it's 140 until I can get my HR to be around 145ish while running.

I did good on my food intake. I had a scrumptious lunch, though. I still can't believe I did it, but I am happy I did. Went to Fridays for lunch and got a cheeseburger slider with mashed potatoes. Their sliders are actually mini burgers. I'm not sure how much meat is there, but mine was topped with caramelized onions and lots of cheese and a pickle and lettuce I think. Then my mashed potatoes were loaded with cheese. It was the best lunch I've had in such a long time. Everything tasted so perfect.

But then I had a big bowl of fruit for dinner to compensate. I didn't gain a pound that day. I actually broke even from the previous day.

Wednesday, I WWTGs for an hour. Great start to the day. I had actually fallen asleep on the couch Tuesday night at 8pm and then got up and went to bed at 10:30. So by 5am Wed I had slept for 9 hours. So it was a great walk!

I tried something different yesterday. I ate my dinner for lunch and my lunch for dinner. I actually lost a pound doing that. Wow! I think I'll try that again today and see if it was a fluke. I suspect it was just what I ate yesterday, now how I ate it. I had a HUGE bowl of watermelon last night for dinner. Also some 2% sharp cheddar cheese cubes and lots of water. I think it was the water that made me lose the pound.

I haven't been drinking enough water lately, I know. I used to drink 5-6 bottles of water a day. Now I'm lucky if I drink 2 or 3. I should make that my next goal is to start drinking more water.

I'm trying to balance all of this out. I have to make sure I get the proper amounts of protein, fiber, dairy, oil, veggies, fruit, and milk while staying under 23 points a day. Its doable, but is quite a challenge. Then on top of that, I can't eat the same things over and over because I've learned that will put me on a plateau.

So this week is looking good so far. I think I'm down a little over a pound from Saturday's WI. If I can just keep it off. I'll have to eat VERY sensible on the 4th.

We don't have much planned so far. I'm hoping we can go visit hubby's parents. I love hanging out with them.

.