The Crafty Losers

Things I've Learned...(Part II)

2009-06-15T21:36:00.003-04:00

LIIIIIIES!!!
Look how freakin' skinny they are to START WITH!!! The stupid add guarantees that it won't roll down like those "other" undergarments...but what they forgot to tell you is that they won't roll down if you have 2% body fat on your ENTIRE body!!! I can NOT even get over how irritated I am about this product! Ugh. Just goes to show. No quick fixes...but I thought it would just smooth everything out underneath my bridesmaid dress, instead I got new lumpies and bumpies to add to the lumps and bumps I already HAVE! Seriously, note to self: NO MORE INFOMERCIALS!
Dieting is like being in the middle of the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step program. You go in one day at a time with all the best intentions. You're going to get better, you're going to do this and that...but then you hit a little snag and an evil little voice in your head whispers to you, "You've been doing good these past few days. It's been so EASY. There's nothing wrong with you. You can always go right back on. You've already done it. You can totally have that piece of pizza. It's okay if you have that plate of fries. It's only just this one time anyway. You'll do better tomorrow. You can stop whenever you want. You already know you can do it."

TELL THAT VOICE TO SHUT UP! No, seriously. SHUT UP!

If you haven't reached your goal weight, then having just one turns into just two, and then two is just three and then three is just one day, and then the next thing you know you ate spaghetti, Pizza Hut (twice), french fries, chicken wings, a Sprite and a mango daquiri all in ONE WEEKEND.
The weekend is EVIL. Conquer it early. Defeat it before it claims you! It's a long road ahead.
Do NOT think that you're Super Man just because you've been hitting it at the gym a couple times a week. Do not think that just because you're "working out" you can sign up for a two-day volleyball/basketball tournament and jump, dive, squat, run and pivot like you're a pro-athlete and wake up the next day ready to do MORE. Over-doing things sets you BACK because first of all you're too stiff the next day to even move and second of all because you're so stiff and sore, you feel like you're justified when you take three days off from working out. NO!!!
It'll probably kill the romance if you keep trying to check your BPM on your HRM during sex. I haven't learned that one first-hand...but just imagining it doesn't seem all that sexy...

"Hang on...I have to check my BPM! ..Hang on...it hasn't calculated it yet....okay...it says I'm at 123 which is only 64% max...okay, let's go. ...okay...hang on, I have to check my BPM again..."

Despite that....I'm still kind of curious... *LOL*

Day 39: Motivated Slacker...

2009-06-11T11:33:00.003-04:00

The not so crafty loser checking in today! What I mean is that I'm still losing (albeit sloooooowly), but I'm definitely not crafting (well, not as much as I should be, anyway) but the biggest thing I'm not doing is BLOGGING! Ugh...

A little background...my department at work was without a manager for about two and a half years which is almost pretty much the same amount of time that I've been working here. So when we got a new manager last week, well...adjustments are needing to be made on my part!!! *LOL* Unfortunately, I can't just get on and blog whenever I feel like it anymore because his office (and the WINDOW to his office) happens to be right BEHIND me. *wrinkle face* Ew. So Catherine is on her best behaviour health-wise and work-wise! Although if you ask me, I ALWAYS have all my work done no matter what else I'm doing! Hahahaha...anywho, ENOUGH OF THAT! Let's get to the healthy weight part!

So due to my slackerly ways, I haven't posted in a while, but it doesn't mean that I've fallen off the wagon completely. Weekends are still my utter nemesis. Bart and I went away last weekend and OMG, let me just say...*making huge bloated face* 'Nuff said...I walked in to the eating area telling Bart that I would just give him my rice if there was rice or carbs with my food and I turn around and come face to face with a bowl - a FREAKIN' BOWL for crying out loud - of dinner rolls. It was like...a MOUND of dinner rolls...all different colours...white, whole wheat, pumpernickel...just STARING at me. I could hear their little carby voices calling out to me, "Catherine! Catherine!" And I gravitated towards them thinking, "Yes my little darlings, I hear you!" Bart tried to be the buffer between the situation and he offered to half one with me. So a little compromise there...a little give and take action. Kind of like, okay, don't deprive yourself and be MISERABLE the whole weekend...but here, have a little. So I gratefully took him up on his offer and had my little half of the dinner roll with my dinner (which I haven't EVEN gotten started on!) So there I am with my little eeeeensy weeeeensy teeny tiny half of dinner roll, taking little teeeeeny tiny little bites to make it last longer and Bart pushes his chair back to excuse himself to the bathroom. I nod all politely and smile at him adoringly with my little piece of bread in my dainty little fingers. As soon as buddy rounded out the door, that insignificant piece of bread was shoved in my mouth and I swear I was outta my chair and over to that bread bowl in two seconds flat. Donovan Bailey has NOTHIN' on ME! He would have been a speck of DUST in my rearview mirror, that's how fast I was. From there, it was all just pretty much downhill my friends. I should have known it was coming too...

I should have KNOWN when I was sitting at work feeling all smug and proud of myself when my friend Tammy was complaining about how HUNGRY she was. I should have SEEN it coming when on the Friday before we left for the weekend, Tammy and I spent the WHOLE afternoon talking about different kinds of breads. Ugh. I didn't see it...not even when I was describing to her the bread from Del Dente's....the one's that come freshly baked into these cute little flower pots and the dough had risen over top of the pot so it looked like a delicious muffin with a soft, hot, fluffy centre. And I even described how they give you three different kinds of butter to put on the bread and that if you finish your little flower pot of bread, they'll only just bring you another one, ALSO fresh out of the oven. *sighs* I didn't see it coming...smug little me thought I had it aaall under control. You know, if it had been one measly dinner roll sitting there, I could have ignored it. It's carby voice wouldn't have called out so loudly, it's call wouldn't even have reached my ears. Damn that mound of delicious dinner rolls. Since I had already fallen off the wagon - I guess you could say I ran to the edge of the wagon and dove off head-first to more accurately describe it - I figured that the weekend was already done for and it was a free for all. Chocolate cake? Oh yeah, I ate it! Mashed potatoes, I poured gravy on it! I remember them having a salad bar....I wonder how that was......................

Oh....maybe I shouldn't exercise my skill at detail so much either....I'm having a moment.

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Okay, moment has passed. I've got control of myself again.

So needless to say, Sunday weigh-in was NOT good. Monday weigh-in was WORSE! I had gone into the weekend at a wonderful 166.8 pounds (okay, so it's really 167) and when I stood on that scale Monday morning, it was telling me such profane, disgusting numbers. Even stepping on and off the scale didn't help. Leaning sideways didn't help. Dropping the kids off didn't help. Pressing my palm down on the counter a little bit did, but who was I fooling? Not the FAT CELLS hanging out and throwing a weekend after party in my ass! It said *deep breath* 169.4. That's like, two pounds. Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Curse you wheat fairies! And you stupid cows too....for making milk than can turn into delicious butter.

*swallows*

Okay. So the weekend is over. What's done is done. What's eaten is eaten and what kids have been dropped off at the pool have been dropped off. Stressing about it, being mean to myself and doing balancing acts on the scale doesn't help. So as soon as the weekend was over (we left the evil place of delicious food at 3 pm) it was back.to.BUSINESS. Dinner that night was so unsatisfying.

Monday was HARD. My body felt heavy and I was dragging. I got up and dragged myself around, collecting all my work-out stuff and prepared to hate Shaun T. Once I started getting going it got a little bit easier, but jumping around still made me feel heavy. I did my regular walks during break time and went back to my usual breakfast, snack, lunch foods. Went online and double-checked my local gym schedule and found out there was a cardio kickboxing class that night and I forced myself to go.

Anywho, on Tuesday I finally figured out what the problem was with all the pain in my legs. I was doing some resistance training and my feet were killing me! I mean, resistance training? All I was doing was standing on a rubber band and pulling, my feet shouldn't be hurting! I took off my running shoes and finished the rest of the exercise and it was SO much better! So after work, off to SportChek for shoes! I think I irritated the living daylights out of the guy working because I was trying almost every single pair of shoes on except for the ones he was suggesting. If he was smart, he would have picked up on the fact that I was getting the pretty, pink coloured shoes instead of suggesting ugly black and gray ones! *LOL* All kidding aside, pretty shoes have now moved down my list of shoe priorities! I ended up getting a nice white and purple (still pretty though!) pair of Asics and hallelujah what. a. difference! As soon as I put them on, I knew they were already so much better than my cheap $30.00 Nike's from the kid's section! I guess my foot is a little bit flatter than the shoes that I was wearing were made, so I was getting a lot of tension in my arches and all along the bottoms of my feet and in turn, my legs were trying to compensate for that and in the end, my calves and my shins would be ACHING after a simple walk, let alone a workout! When I first started, I was just writing the pain off because I was just starting out, but the more that it lasted, the worse it was getting! So *thumbs up* for Asics, or whatever brand shoe that your feet feel good in, not just LOOK good in!

Oh! Speaking of things I've bought...*LOL* I got the Turbo Jam series the other day! I am *LOVING* workout DVDs! Who woulda thunk it, huh? After Hip Hop Abs have been sitting on my shelf gathering dust since my last "get fit" stage. But WOW! I've practically burned a hole in Hip Hop Abs and I've also acquired a belly dancing DVD (which is flippin' HARD! and I am SO not sexy looking in it at all) and for fun, Carmen Electra's aerobic striptease. I've upped my exercises to mornings AND afternoons. So in the morning, I'll do either the Wii Active or a cardio DVD and in the evenings I'll take a cardio class at the gym. I'm telling you, if I don't get into that dress next week, I have no idea what I'm going to do!

Okay, where was I? Oh right, Turbo Jam! I only did the introductory workout this morning and I was SWEATING! Plus I was a little uncoordinated so hopefully when I get the hang of the moves, I'll be able to burn more off...I ended up going out at lunch today to buy some weighted gloves to give my punches and jabs a little extra oomph! I think I should just call myself the Shopping Loser because all I seem to be doing is buying stuff! *LOL* But so far, everything I've gotten for the weight-loss movement I'm on has been AWESOME (okay, with the exception of the trampoline because I haven't been on it in a while!) but if you HAAAAVE to get something, my number one suggestion would DEFINITELY be a heart monitor! I have no idea how well I'd be doing on my diet without this, but WITH it, I feel like it really keeps me on track! I use it mainly for the calorie counter and I use it when I'm exercising. I don't like going on treadmills or ellipticals so I never get an exercise where a machine tells me how much I'm burning, so I use my Mio heart rate monitor instead. The big bonus of it is that it seems pretty accurate which is a good thing because I was overestimating the calories I was burning in Zumba and Kickboxing classes BIG TIME!

Alright, so I think I've crammed about two weeks worth of missed entries into this post. Besides that minor setback that weekend, I'm still pushing forward. I'm seeing the scale move up and then down and I think I'm seeing results with the tape measure (I say I think because I seem to never measure the same part of my waist twice because I have no idea exactly where it is!). As of today, I am ONE pound away from my FIRST TEN POUNDS lost and I am PUMPED!

I've got more to say and talk about with thoughts all over the place, but I think I'll probably stop right here. I need to save some of this energy for Zuuuuumbaaaa!!! I'll be there with my new shoes on ready to go!

Thanks for checking in with me!

Day eleventy billion and I'm still here!

2009-06-02T20:14:00.000-04:00

Hello, hello! I know it's been a couple days since I've updated, but rest assured that I have not completely fallen off the wagon. I haven't even fallen off at all really...the weekend, I was sort of hanging off the side of the wagon, but I haven't fallen off! Because...

CONFESSION: I've been having a love affair...*gasp* Yes! I am!

*deep breath* I've been having a not-so-secret-from-my-husband love affair with my scale.

It's been AWESOME! The less it gives me, the more I love it and I must be addicted or something because I keep coming back for more. In the mornings, before I do the morning biz-nas and even after! I go back for more after a workout and even before bed. I can't stop...

You know another thing that I can't curb? My whole needing more weight-loss tools/equipment addiction. I really can't...

YES, I totally caved and got a heart rate monitor even though I had previously told myself that I wasn't going to get one or even that I needed one. Of course I need it! How am I ever going to lose weight without it? Which is funny because I already was before I got it, but the good news is, it's actually REALLY helpful! Of course I had to get this one because it was PINK! It's so CUTE! Plus it tells me the time, the date, it records my weight (through manual input of course, I don't stand on my watch to get weighed), it records my calories in and also has a chronometer to time my workouts and to track the amount of calories burned. Of course it also has a heart rate monitor with an ECG something or other. All I know is that it keeps track of calories burned and that it's pink. 'Nuff said. Bonus, it was also featured on Dr. Phil, according to the box! I've been using it for over a week now and I was able to keep track of the calories I was burning during Zumba class, which is an AWESOME thing because I was totally over-estimating the amount of calories I was burning in that class, thereby throwing off my daily caloric intake blah blah blah. But anywho...

...the diet is still going as well. I'm trying to tell myself that I'm NOT getting tired of salad and balsamic vinaigrette, but I think the rest of me (especially my taste buds) knows I'm LYING! Every time I think of salad with balsamic, I just about gag. But mmmm...it's delicious, I love it. I'm trying different things to eat with it and so far I've been loving High Liner's Lemon and Herb Crusted Tilapia! Here's some eye candy!

Tilapi with garden salad and balsamic vinaigrette

Shrimp sauteed in pineapple juice and surprise, garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette

Chicken souvlaki with a garden salad and greek vinaigrette

The greek vinaigrette won't happen too often because I'm pretty sure it was baaaad for me!

Still going with Wii Active too! That was probably the best money I've spent throughout this whole month so far. I have been having an awesome time with it and it really gets me sweating - even though I look like a fool trying to jog on the spot and the stupid screen keeps telling me I'm going to slow even though I'm going as fast as I can! I hate to sound like an infomercial, but if you've been thinking about getting this, what're you waiting for?

Alright, gonna go see if the hubster wants to take the pooch out for a walk! And by pooch I mean the dog...not the stuff hanging over my pants...*LOL*

Things I've Learned...(Part I)

2009-06-02T13:22:00.005-04:00

Some random facts and thoughts that I've learned on my journey to a healthier (and hopefully SKINNIER) me.

You feel hungry the SECOND your mind thinks the word "diet"
Using a tape measure and "creatively" measuring yourself doesn't make me any skinnier, so I shouldn't be surprised that my pants are STILL tight even though the tape "says" that my waist is 30

Wearing a skirt is easier than having to unbutton and/or unbuckle a bajillion times a day because I'm trying to drink more water
You can fool the scale by standing in different ways or putting more weight on certain parts of your feet. Doesn't stop my stomach from pushing my underwear down or folding it over.
There is a difference in figures when weighing yourself before and after dropping the kids off at the school (yes, this is a personally tested fact). This fact leads to a conclusion that is yucky and interesting all at the same time...
If you just DO it instead of jconstantly thinking that you can't, you'll find that you can.
Confidence can come just from the mere knowledge that I'm taking better care of myself
Women don't just glow, they can sweat. A lot. And it can feel good, except for when it gets in your eyes.
Posting pictures of skinny girls in bikini's in bathing suits should not be your motivational tool. You should be working towards getting healthy for yourself - for your overall well-being and health and how being more energized and feeling better about yourself by doing good things for yourself can bring about some pretty good changes in your life. Being able to wear skimpier outfits and feel good in them should be a perk to the new you, not the only reason for doing it.
I will bow down and kiss the feet of whoever it was that invented peanut butter.
Peanut butter....mmmmmmm.....

it's the missing half of the team!!!

2009-06-02T11:05:00.002-04:00

the whiny half of the team too! GRRRR!!!! how many times do i start over before i give up??????? *sigh*

i am happy to report i have done some exercise today and i also think i am going to friggin DIE! the honeysuckle is in full bloom so i convinced pezzy to get in the stroller and let me push her super fast on the path around the back of our neighborhood to go see it. the additional advantage of doing heavy walking (yea folks i didn't even RUN) in 200% humidity is that i am now so thirsty i will have no problem drinking a bunch of water! i actually exercised 2 days in a row if i can count pushing two children trhough the zoo up hill in a double stroller combined with carrying/dragging a screaching 2 year old part of the time.........

i AM doing better with drinking water and eating less but not eating as well as i should be. however i just finished several weeks of WAY too much work for one person so maybe i can pull myself together a bit now............i am proud to report i BROUGHT our lunches to the zoo so i had a DEElish chicken salad wrap and fiber one yogurt as my lunch.........then caved later and ate part of pezzy's cup of ice cream.

hubby had a novel idea for me now that work has slowed down a bit and suggested i try getting a decent amount of sleep every night since i HAVE seen studies say that lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain. i get about 5 hours at best each night right now......i may have permanently lost some brain cells at this point since i have been doing that since the website opened 1 1/2 years ago! so last night i got EIGHT hours of sleep - EIGHT HOURS. i DO feel good today!

of course this doesn't mean i don't have ANYthing going on in the store - 11 new stamps will release in a couple weeks along with tripling the line of glittered skittles BUT all pre-orders are shipped from winter CHA and studio Gs will have a break until the holidays hit.

i can't find my scale so i don't know what i have lost or not lost so far but up until now i have pretty much stayed the same - nothing lost but i still have not re-gained what i lost just after christmas.

and now i am off to contemplate making the muffin recipe i found on weight watchers.com

hugs!!!

Day 21: 5...

2009-05-28T09:31:00.001-04:00

...is my NEW FAVOURITE NUMBER!!!

I know I'm probably jumping the gun a little since I promised I would do my weigh-in on Sundays, but I got on the scale today and did a complete double-take! It said 269 *happy dance* (BWAHAHAHAHA, someone just told me that I had made a typo...omg, with that typo it would look like I was doing a happy dance because I GAINED over 100 pounds! So what I meant was ONE sixty-nine *whew* THANK YOU for pointing that out! *grins*) 21 days ago, my scale reading was 174! I even got on and off four times just to make sure, but each time I was getting the same reading - showing me I'm 5 lbs down from when I first started! I'm doing it, I'm REALLY doing it!!! *screech*

*breathes* Alright...I know I shouldn't get so excited as weight can fluctuate every day multiple times a day, but for the longest time, this has been the lowest weigh-in I've had, plus it's really showing a difference! I'm working hard at something I normally quit at before I barely even start and it actually looks like it's paying off! I'm eating right, working out and losing weight! Who woulda thunk it?! No crazy fad diets, diet pills, blah blah blah!

As the day isn't even halfway over yet, I know I'm a little bit early with this post, but I'll be back with the rest of Day 21 later! Today marks three weeks! It took me three weeks to lose 5 pounds - to me, that ain't bad! I have another three weeks to go until the upcoming wedding, so by that day, I could possibly be down a total of 10 pounds if I stay on track (not counting the 15 $0.40 chicken wings that I ate yesterday *winces*).

More updates later! Choir practice was cancelled for this evening so I'm hoping that I can get in another Zumba class later! Look at me being all excited for exercising!!!

Day 20: Confession...

2009-05-27T22:19:00.001-04:00

...went to cardio kickboxing...

...then I went and ate 15 chicken wings and had a strawberry dacquiri right after class.

I'm trying to feel sorry that I buckled, but they were so good, it was so worth it.

Plus they were only $0.40 per wing. I think it's common knowledge that when a delicious chicken wing is LESS than fifty cents, they're OBVIOUSLY diet chicken wings, therefore, they don't necessary count.

Hello, and welcome to my own little world right here by the river called De Nile. It's a nice little place, so happy and full of delicious food. Come on in and make yourself comfortable!

Day 19: 10 freakin' inches!!!!

2009-05-26T14:50:00.001-04:00

...okay, so I was having a good day until I got off the phone with my mother. Ugh.

I'm not sure if I've already mentioned it - I'm pretty sure that I have already - but I'm going to be a bridesmaid (or matron of honour) on June 20th for my best friend. To try to cut down on some costs, she decided that she'd ask my mom to sew the bridesmaids' dresses out of a dress pattern that she found. Now my mom is an awesome sewer..seamstress...or whatever you're supposed to call one that sews. But she can only sew from the pattern. No pattern means no sewing. But it was a-okay, Melissa's got the pattern for the dress and the material was bought blah blah blah.

She's just finishing up sewing the other girls' dresses and I told her to do mine last since I was still working on losing some weight. She calls me up yesterday and she is freaking out...well, as much as my mom can freak out...she's surprisingly calm through crisis situations...

Mom: Hey remember when we were talking last week...what did you say your waist measurement was?

Me: 44 down to 42, I think.

Mom: Okay, so the dress pattern that Melissa picked. Size 18 is the biggest and it's calling for a 32 waist.

Me: What?!?!

Mom: You can do it!

*LOL* So awesome that my mom believes in me...but 10 inches!?!?! OMG, there is no control underwear or Spanx that could POSSIBLY even help me get close to that...even if I wore, like...FOUR of them!

Luckily, my best friend is not your typical bridezilla waiting to happen. She's so relaxed and laid-back about everything. I messaged her soooo scared when I had to tell her what was going on and I TOLD her she could be mad at me and I would TOTALLY understand because brides with 24 days to their wedding do NOT need to be dealing with stuff like this! But I underestimated her - which I shouldn't have - and she just wondered what we could do to fix and and I said that there were two other dress patterns that I found that have bigger sizes to fit me and she had a look at the pictures and she was totally fine with them. She said she would never get mad at me for something like that and I was so relieved I almost started crying! *LOL*

Anywho, today was even easier than yesterday in terms of eating. For some reason, I'm REALLY under on my calorie budget! AWESOME! I think it's because today was Zumba day so I factored a 500 calorie burn from going to the one-hour class. I'm pretty sure the calories burned in that class is MORE than 500, but without an HRM (heart rate monitor) I can't be sure, so I'm underestimating, so I don't eat over my calorie budget. But my calorie counter shows a leftover amount of 911 calories that I could still eat and I'm not even hungry! I am *SO* pumped (even with that whole bridesmaid dress debacle, now that we've found a solution if I absolutely cannot fit into the original dress!) And I even ate something sort of baaad by eating that pizza at lunch! Ah well...

I finally got a chance to pick up the South Beach Diet book and I've just been reading and not necessarily going to follow the diet exactly. I'm just trying to get more ideas of meals and food and snack suggestions. The SBD is suggesting that for the first TWO weeks, you give up carbs (bread, some fruits, etc.) and it would target your mid-section. Once the first two weeks are done, you are free to re-introduce carbs back into your diet. I had heard that the SBD has been getting some bad publicity about it cutting out the carbs, but I think it kind of sounds like it makes sense. To give your body a jump start in losing weight and showing some progress...and then you build from there after the first two weeks. Meh...I think a lot of different plans could work for a lot of different people. Like I said, it's all in the magic of actually doing them.

I keep talking about my calorie counter, so I thought I'd show what it looks like:

You can click on the image to see the full view

So anywho...it's actually proven to be REALLY helpful. I know that the numbers may not be exact, but it gives you a pretty good idea of what range you should be staying in! I've definitely become more conscious of what I'm eating and reading food labels and ingredients and blah blah blah!

If you're interested in having a look at this and maybe even trying it out, check out: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Day 18: I Heart Leftovers...

2009-05-25T22:15:00.000-04:00

...I wasn't really talking about food leftovers, but now that I think about it, for some foods, I really like leftovers. Sometimes, the leftovers taste BETTER than when it was first cooked!

But anywho, I was thinking leftovers as in CALORIE leftovers! After the disastrous weekend of pure and absolute weakness (but oh, so delicious food *giggles*) I decided to buckle up and make up for it!

According to my calorie counter, I still have 369 calories that I'm allowed to eat! YAY! And you know what's even better? I haven't eaten it! I know!!! It's a miracle!

I was actually considering eating a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich as a treat to myself, but then I decided against it because first of all, it's already after 9 pm and too close to bedtime and second, after that weekend, me eating a little better doesn't really justify a "treat" to myself. So ice cream is a no-go tonight, my friends!

I'm finding that if I wake up earlier, I'm not running around the house like a mad-woman at 8:25 am trying to get all my stuff and snacks together - which would be good since I'm supposed to BE at work by 8:30 am. *LOL* But it's just SO easy to turn the alarm off and go back to sleep! I've taken to actually leaving my phone (which functions as my alarm clock) across the room so that when it goes off, I actually have to get out of bed to turn it off. The sucky part is that sometimes, I'll get back into bed and go back to sleep anyway.

Anywho, nothing much from me today so I'll just check in with my food!

Breakfast
1 poached egg
Fibre 1 cereal with So Good soy milk

I realized today that soy milk is made out of soy (okay, that's not the realization part because I knew that obviously...but it was one of the parts that led UP to me realization) here's the next part...soy is like...a bean. Beans....want to guess what happened that brought that realization on? *LOL* Think like a 12-year old boy, it might help...if not, I might just lay it out for you...hahahaha...

Snack
Kashi Chewy Granola Bar in Peanut, Peanut Butter

Lunch
Lean Cuisine Tuscan Chicken Panini

Snack
Del Monte Peach and Mango fruit cup

Dinner
6' Subway Ham sub on 9 grain honey oat, no mayo, no cheese
2 Vlasic dill pickles

Total calorie consumption was 1,325 and I was allowed to have 1,694! Yay me! I don't even feel that hungry either! Didn't do too much exercise except for my Wii Active. Today was upper body and it required the use of the resistance band a lot, of which I didn't even feel. I think I'll have to get the other resistance band that is sold separately to try and challenge myself. I'm already standing really close to both ends by the strap and it's not giving that much resistance and that's pretty bad since I have absolutely NO upper body strength at ALL! I did a spectacular face-plant the last time I tried to do a situp - and it was an easy situp too, the kind where you're on your knees. Ah well, tomorrow is Zumba class so at least I'll have an hour of cardio under my belt tomorrow!

Day 17: Diet, thy enemy is the WEEKEND!

2009-05-24T09:59:00.001-04:00

...going to a restaurant when you're on a diet is like taking a test you didn't really study for. During a test, you kind of think you know the answers and feel as if they are right there on the edge of your memory, but you can't quite grasp it and get it out there on paper. At a restaurant, the server waits while you try to get the healthy option off the tip of your tongue, but you just can't get it out because the garlic shrimp pasta just sounds so much better!

~~The weekend was bad.~~ Correction: I was bad! I shouldn't blame it on the weekend, the weekend didn't do anything it doesn't normally always do. Should lay the blame where it belongs and that's all with me! I'm so weak for noodles...and popcorn...and M&M's. CONFESSION: I accidentally on purpose forgot to list the M&M's I ate at the movies on my calorie counter. No need to kick a girl when she's already down now, is there?

So thank goodness I got Saturday's Active workout in there or else I wouldn't have gotten an increase in calorie allowance. I think that's the only thing I didn't go over in (even with the M&M's that I conveniently left off). Everything else was pretty up there...and if my counter was recording SODIUM...holy crap, it would be off the chart!

So Bart and I went out to Boston Pizza for dinner (no stove, oven, sink still, there was really no other options...we'd already had lunch with family at the anniversary party!) I thought I would be a good girl and order off of their "healthy" section menu and it wasn't so bad until I saw the sodium part. 1100 g of sodium! For shrimp skewers and a salad! HOLY CRAP! It pretty much makes all the water that I forced myself to drink irrelevant! *sighs* I have no idea why I do such things to myself. Work hard at one part, only to do something else that completely obliterates even the hard part! Ay-yay-yay...

Again, I'm not going to be too hard on myself. I recognize and acknowledge that I could have done way better, but I'm also recognizing and acknowledging that I used to eat much worse. But like I said, eating the same way I used to eat will get me nowhere and lying to my calorie counter and blog is essentially like lying to myself and won't help me to get any skinnier, so YES, I ate those M&M's dammit!

So that was Saturday and I don't know if today was better or worse. Ate a poached egg and Fibre 1 cereal with soy milk for breakfast and had Grill 'Ems (with cheddar *whimpers*) and a tossed salad for lunch. Dinner I ate another one of those Lean Cuisine paninis and I.was.still.HUNGRY. Hungry like I could NOT get it off my mind. I tried to watch a movie, I tried to go on the message boards, I tried to go in my scraproom, but all I could think of was FOOD. I went back to the couch to snuggle with the husband to try to get my mind off FOOD and I turned to him and was like, "WHY DO YOU SMELL LIKE A HAMBURGER?" Turns out he was sneaking off into the kitchen to have bites of a hamurger so I wouldn't have to see him eating in front of me. I managed to last about another hour before I got up all determined like to look for my car keys. I was going to Sobey's to hunt down a Skinny Cow!

TIP: Everyone probably already knows this, but it totally bears repeating: Do NOT go into a grocery store when you're hungry. Under NO circumstances. You just have no common sense when you're hungry, you end up thinking with your stomach and not your brain and $30 later, you walk out with more than a Skinny Cow. I tried to be good and bought healthier snack foods that I could keep with me at the office, unfortunately, I wasn't thinking and pretty much bought all "healthy" junk food. It was only when I was leaving the store that it occured to me that I should have bought some fresh fruit and vegetables that I could prepare - even a freakin' BANANA would have been good to grab and eat for snacks and some fat-free yogurt since we were out at home. Instead, I have two boxes of Skinny Cow goodies (they could also change her name to Expensive B*tch...I should write that in their suggestion section on their website, it seems like a more accurate description) and a package of Cadbury Moments in Dark Chocolate. I don't even like dark chocolate, but my one health book said that if I absolutely have to have chocolate, try going dark as it's full of antioxidants, blah blah blah. Let me just say that there are only a few times that I asbolutely need chocolate, and I can guarantee you that it's not antioxidants that I'll be thinking about when I need to inhale those babies. But I'm hoping that having them around will help. *shrugs* Also came out with a box of Kashi granola bars. I'll have to write that guy in the commercial because he promised to eat the box if I didn't like it and I most certainly do NOT like it. If you want to know what it tastes like...imagine an open-faced peanut butter sandwich falling face-down on the ground. Imagine picking it up and eating the DIRT on which the sandwich fell on. That comes pretty close...lemme think, what else did I get? Oh right, they were having a 3 for $4 on Quaker Crispy Minis chips - which are delicious and chances are I could eat a whole bag before my body even recognizes it's inhaled calories. I should try to count out how many are the actual serving size that the calories are counted for, put those in a ziplock baggie and take only those. Should have thought of that this morning so I wouldn't have a whole bag sitting behind me right now...

Ah well...done is done and at least they're still healthier snacks than I normally would have chosen for myself.

So, all-in-all, bad dieter but a better week is coming. Tomorrow is Day Four of my Wii Active 30 Day Challenge and Tuesday and Wednesday are gym daaaays! It'll be a better week. Scout's honour!

WORKING OUT TO:

jump up lets (get krazy) pitbull and lil john (lyrics).mp3 - pitbul

Day 16: If I knew then, what I know now...

2009-05-23T09:07:00.006-04:00

...I wouldn't have been complaining about my weight.

As I type this, I'm looking at my brother's wedding pictures on Facebook that he just uploaded. His wedding was in May of 2006, so we're looking at about three years ago - wait. Wow, has it really been three years ago already? - anywho, as I was saying; I was looking at the pictures and if I look in the pictures where I am in them, you can see a slight discomfort hiding behind my smile. You can also see a slight awkwardness to the way that I'm standing - in which I'm trying to stand exactly so that my arms and hands are positioning my too small bouquet to try and cover my too large tummy. Well, "too large" is what I thought of at the time. If I had known then how much larger my tummy could get (and how it can wondrously push down my under garments all by itself without the aid of my hands!) I would have flaunted my figure then instead of trying to hide it and instead, started taking better care of myself so I wouldn't be where I am now.

May 2006: There's me down front (left side of monitor)

Ah, the clarity of hindsight!

As if that bridesmaid experience wasn't bad enough, skip two years later (I got married in between being bridesmaids) but this one doesn't count only because...

Corsets and photographers are nice to brides, they squeeze and tuck here and there and airbrush the rest that's left over. We had to loosen that baby about three times after dinner...*LOL* and when I was finally able to shed the second skin, there were corset track lines all over my torso and bruises on my hip bones from it having been so tight. Sexy...

...okay, so like I was saying, two years later (July 2008) to another nightmarish bridesmaid experience (nightmarish only for the fact that I felt fat and awkward the WHOLE day):

*shudders*

Good grief. This was tagged on Facebook and I un-tagged it so fast the person who added it was probably wondering if she even tagged it at all. Hahaha...I'm telling you, bridesmaids' bouquets are a gift to the bridesmaid from the florist. If they like you enough, they'll make yours slightly bigger than the rest of the skinny bridesmaids to cover more - the florist in both the photos was definitely helpful...as it was my mother, so my bouquets got to be slightly larger to help out. *LOL*

Please tell me I'm not the only one who's ever done the opposite and graphically displayed their journey to weight-gain.

I seriously used to be scared to look at these pictures - especially the ones from last year. I feel bad that I'm not in more pictures with my closest cousin because I didn't want to be anywhere near the camera (or her skinny bride self) but I'm chalking it up now to, who cares! The past is in the past and I have to see everything for what it really is for me to be able to fix it. I can be sad about the weight and what I missed out because of it, or I can vow to work hard and fix it and never miss any other precious moments because of it.

With that said, we're movin' on like Mya!

I finally got my Wii Active to work and it is.Flippin'.AWESOME! wow, Wow, WOW! As usual, I jumped in headfirst and started out right away with the 30 Day Challenge and it was definitely a work out. THOUGHT: why is it that under normal circumstances, sweating is SO gross, but then while you're working out, the MORE beads of sweat I can feel actually trickling DOWN my neck and my face, the happier and more productive I feel? It's weird, it's not like sweat really shows anything, I mean...the air conditioner could be broken or something. *LOL* After getting over how much of an idiot I feel while jogging and doing back kicks on the spot (this coming from the fool who jumps around on a mini trampoline *LOL*) you can really get into it. Like I had come to the realization before, when it comes to almost ALL weight-loss stuff (diet pills not counting because they don't count - I'll have WAY more to say about that later) where was I? Oh right, when it comes to almost all weight-loss stuff, you get out of it what you put into it. You can't buy a workout DVD and say it didn't work if you kind of did it half-assed (sadly, doing it half-assed doesn't equal half an ass as a result, my friends). You can't start a new diet and really tell people that it didn't work if you didn't follow through.

I just finished this Day 2 this morning and my legs are REALLY feeling it. Like the burning, aching feeling - but I am feeling AWESOME. I can see now how some people can really get into this fitness mode...how can you not like the feeling of accomplishment and self-worth after? It's addicting!

Just finishing up my breakfast of a poached egg, Zero yogurt and Fiber 1 cereal to mix with the yogurt and I'll be ready to get on with the rest of my day. My grandparents are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary today, so the entire family is convening for the special event! My grandparents have 11 children and 10 of them are here in Canada, so we actually had to rent out an entire hall to fit everyone comfortably (we also have to do this for Christmas and other family events - my dad's side of the family can no longer convene in houses without it getting destroyed). It's going to be a potluck so we'll see how my choices and decisions affect Day 16! Check back with ya later!

P.S. This Fibre 1 Raisin Cluster cereal is AWESOME in my yogurt. Since when did I start liking raisins?!

WORKING OUT TO:

Check On It-Beyonce Feat.Slim - Mp.3

Day 15: Wanting is needing...

2009-05-22T14:02:00.005-04:00

...even though I got a Wii Fit the LAST time I went on a "I need to lose weight" splurge; even though I got a gym membership and promised my husband that this time around, I was going to go EVERY DAY I mean, how couldn't I when the gym was just right around the corner from our place (didn't even see the inside of that gym after I signed up for at least four months); and even though I just bought a trampoline and weights because I was totally convinced that this fun little jumpy thing would TOTALLY keep me coming back for more; and even though I JUST bought the new EA Active for the Wii which I still haven't even had a chance to try out (oh, more on THAT later!) I'm convinced that I need an iPod to be able to work out effectively.

I must have the most EXTREME-EST form of procrastination. Don't blame me, I think it's a disease. Instead of just GETTING DOWN to business already, I keep thinking I need all of these things BEFORE I can really start working out and losing weight. UGH! I was like that when I started my crafting ~~addiction~~ hobby. I would be crafting along just fine and then hear about another tool or embellishment or whatever must-have and all of a sudden become CONVINCED that I wouldn't be at the full height of my crafting potential without that certain object. It's a sickness, I'm telling you.

Honestly, I have three MP3 players, two of which are iPod knock-offs. I can easily just use any one of them. Load 'em with songs and go, right!? What's wrong with me then? Why do I think that an iPod is all of a sudden going to make me into the Lance freakin' Armstrong of the marathon world? Like I'll be able to go 5k without breaking a sweat, if and only if I have an iPod. Apple must have some crazy kind of subliminal message going in the background of their commercials. I'm also convinced I need an iPhone, although I can't really tell you why.

The thing with me is that once some idea is stuck in my head, it doesn't normally go away until I HAVE what I've been obsessing over. It's a very expensive sickness, I'm telling you.

Anywho, here's something that'll take my mind off of this iPod insanity (I'm typing this as a person walks by me playing with their hot pink iPod Nano *whimpers*) the EA Active for the Wii! I have no idea how it is because I couldn't play mine! I woke up extra early this morning (that is a miracle upong itself, I tell you!) and got all dressed up to get sweaty and slid the game into the Wii and...NOTHING. Stupid thing wouldn't even LOAD! I tried loading other games I had and they were working fine, but stick in the Active game and nada!

So after much troubles returning the thing for an exchange, I finally have a new copy and hopefully this one will work out much better.

I've finished logging my meals for today and according to my caloric consumption, I'm not eating enough calories. It's so weird, and I thought burning more calories than you eat was the way to lose weight! According to My Fitness Pal, it's a no, no, here's why:

Based on your total calories consumed for today, you are eating too few calories. Not only is it difficult to receive adequate nutrition at these calorie levels, but you could also be putting your body into starvation mode. Starvation mode lowers your metabolism and makes weight loss more difficult. We suggest increasing your calorie consumption to 1,200 calories per day minimum.

How awesome is that? Maybe going to the extreme the other way isn't good for the body either...it kind of makes sense, though, right? The whole starvation thing? Huh...who woulda thunk it.

The breakdown for today's meal goes like this:

Breakfast
5 pieces each of diced honeydew and canteloupe
Astro Zero Yogurt
1/4 cup of Post Honey Bunches of Oats cereal to mix with the yogurt

Snack
I forgot! Oops...

Lunch
6" ham sandwich on 9 grain honey oat bread from Subway (no cheese! couldn't even tell it wasn't there!)
2 tbsp light mayonnaise
2 tbsp sub sauce

Snack
1 cup of baby carrots
2 tbsp Bolthouse creamy yogurt ranch dressing for dip

Dinner
Stouffer's Lean Cuisine Steak & Mushroom Panini

Water
Boo, only 3 glasses as opposed to yesterday's 6. Just wasn't feeling it today with the water...*sighs* It didn't stop me from having to go every 15 minutes, it felt like. I thought my co-workers were going to just lock me in the bathroom after the last time I went!

With calories to spare, at least this way, if I get hungry later on, I won't feel too guilty grabbing a snack! Although I was hoping to not be eating or snacking after 8 pm, we'll wait and see how it goes! The bonus so far, no confessions to make!

WORKING OUT TO:

1, 2 Step (Feat. Missy Elliott) - Ciara

Day 14: Two weeks ago today...

2009-05-21T20:34:00.001-04:00

...I was pushed to my limit. I couldn't take anymore...couldn't go one more day being the same weight, eating the same crappy food and getting sick every other week or so. So I decided that it was time to not only try to lose weight, but to get HEALTHY - plus my pants kept falling down.

I can see how you'd be thinking, "Why would you be trying to lose weight if your pants keep falling down?" and it's because my stomach kept pushing it down! *LOL* I kid you not, my pants...my underwear...anything I wear around that area kept getting pushed right down, or rolling down because of my stomach. UGH! I was getting tired of pulling up my pants, sitting down and having my stomach flop the pants right on over and I'd have to get up again and pull my pants back up. So no more!

So apparently, I can't stifle the need to keep buying fitness-y things. As if this stuff that I'm buying would actually make me lose weight (it would - if I used it!) I can really see Bart trying to bite his tongue when I came in with yet another bag...whatever, he's the one who suggested separate bank accounts! *LOL*

I have been hearing nothing but good reviews about this, so I'm very excited to try it out. Maybe it'll be the one in a million fitness-y things that I buy that will really get me this commitmentphobe to really settle down with a fitness solution. I highly doubt it because that's what I said about the Wii Fit and the Wii Dance Dance Revolution and the trampoline and the weights and the books...*LOL* To be fair, I still hop on the trampoline every time I walk by it so it still gets my heart rate up. So I'll give that a try tomorrow morning and I'll definitely let you know what's what!

I'd like to introduce you to my breakfast.

If I had to give a review, I'll have you know that I'll be a raving lunatic about this microwave egg cooker. It's So.Freakin'.AWESOME! I don't know how I lived this long without one. My coworker gave it to me so I have no idea who it's made by or where you could get them. Google it, maybe? Awesome, awesome! So that's my delicious poached egg in there, with a little bit of salt and pepper! Mmmm!

..and this is snack time! Stopped off at the grocery store before work to pick up these packages. I passed on the regular veggie dip and picked up this creamy yogurt dip in ranch. It's not too bad...gets the veggies down the trap, I guess. And behind the snacks is the piles of paperwork waiting to be worked on...*LOL* I mean...*coughs* Paperwork that I am DILIGENTLY working on!

I stayed pretty good during dinner as well, went over to subway and had a 6" sub (instead of my usual footlong) with light mayo. I did get cheese on it though...which I didn't really taste, so next go around, I think I'll try to see if I can tell the difference if there's no cheese at all. For lunch, my mom and I just drove back to her place and ate porkchops in soy sauce and rice (which was SO good_ but I tried to be better and drastically limited my portions based on how much I usually would have had, so I left there feeling pretty good about it.

Exercise was a bit harder for me to come by today. It not being a gym day, I really had to push myself to get some activity. My coworker was going to a coffee shop around the block and I offered to walk with her on my break, so I was able to walk for fifteen minutes this morning and I got to go on the trampline for a few minutes on my afternoon break. Took my puppy Chewy out for a walk when I got home (I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't be able to eat my sandwhich until all of Chewy's needs were taken care of first) so this way, I didn't sit down to eat and then not walk Chewy because I didn't feel like going out again after I ate.

For someone who's supposedly going to run a 5k marathon in October...Chewy and I didn't even make it halfway around the block running, and I wish I could blame it on the pooch. Ugh. Ah well, gotta start somewhere right?

WORKING OUT TO:

So What - Pink

coming up for air

2009-05-21T06:11:00.002-04:00

*waving* it's the missing half of the diet blog here!

i have been frantically busy and not had much time to update...it is also too depressing to update as my update does NOT include a weight loss *BLAH*

according to Cat we are nearing week 2 end i think.......well i AM drinking water. not the recommended daily amount but ANY water is more than normal. the drawback is that now when i DON'T drink water i FEEL thirsty, like really thirsty - what a pain HAHHAHAH!

unlike Cat i am doing weight watchers, which is really easy IF you actually enter your food and track your points, which is where i struggle because i don't take time to enter the food. the bags of mini chocolates sitting on the counter from one of my magazine projects is not helping either.....can't SOMEONE in this house eat those besides me???????

pezzy has been on an instant oatmeal kick lately so i got some for both of us - low sugar for her and weight control for me. thats right they make weight control oatmeal. it tastes.....really really bad. OMGOSH really bad. the worst part - pezzy's oatmeal is actually a better deal AND tastes like normal friggin oatmeal. weird right?

so i do enjoy weight watchers when i am doing it all the way because it's like a challenge. everything is based on points so the daily challenge is to eat foods that fill you up using the least amount of points possible. so it is almost like a game and a treasure hunt. so i eat a 3 point breakfast and a 4 point lunch.......and then blow it with two *chocolate mountains* (hershey's kisses) which probably use up the rest of my points for the day. *sigh*

i have yet to order anything *skinny* at starbucks....luckily i am rarely near a starbucks these days....

exercise
huh? i was gonna exercise? i always forget about that....does planting a vegetable garden in 120% humidity count for anything? i felt like i was gonna friggin die both days when i finally came back inside so that makes it count right? exercise = i think i am gonna friggin die.........ok so maybe not. walking with pezzy is not working because the child refuses to ride in anything so the walk is painfully slow and i am pretty sure it is not burning much! we have a home gym downstairs but not the free daycare to go with it :P what would really help me is a schedule!

so i start the day again today planning on sticking with it and entering all my food on my tracker.

and now i am off to work on my stamps!

cheers!
M

Day 13: Note to self...

2009-05-20T21:25:00.003-04:00

Buying books to read about getting healthy and losing weight doesn't actually make you get healthy and lose weight. Especially if you're not doing anything else...UGH!

It's only Day 13 and I'm feeling the quittin' vibes, I tell you. I am so impatient! I'm displaying signs of insanity again, people! Slap some fat, dirty common sense into me. If you're doing nothing (or pretty close to nothing) you can NOT expect fantastic results.

Okay, let's put a positive spin on this. Let's find the frickin' silver lining to this craptastic "diet" of mine. So I haven't lost weight. I can't tell you for sure because my fear of the scale actually prevented me from getting on the scale before I started. But let's say that I did and didn't lose any weight. Still choosing healthier options and getting 1 SOLID hour of cardio two times a week and doing 15 minutes of cardio twice a day for 13 days would still mean that logically, I probably haven't GAINED any weight. So maybe I'm not losing, but at least I'm not gaining is what I'm trying to say. It's not the brightest silver lining, but it's something and let's go with that. My visitor is here with her monthly gift and I'm not the most...pleasant person in normal circumstances, so imagine me now...but BONUS, I did notice that I am less of a bitch this time around than I normally am. You may not care, but my husband sure is thankful.

Anyway, considering that I feel like I'm putting some work into this, I've decided on a few things. First is this:

*wince* That was taken this morning. I had a picture of me actually standing on a scale, but that number AND the state of my feet would be a double shame. So stickin' to one shameful admission today, there is my OFFICIAL weigh-in...weigh in...weigh-in? Is that hyphenated or not?! And yes, it's a Weight Watcher's scale...I have no idea why I got it instead of the other ones...I must be a sucker for "brand" names. But this one tells me that I'm fat in MULTIPLE ways. Weight, body mass index, body fat and hydration, both in pounds and in percentage based on my height, age and gender. It scrolls through each of the readings one by one after you step on the scale...so that by the last number, you're already searching for a chocolate bar to cure the sudden onset of depression. Beside those numbers should be a little red button that says "SELF DESTRUCT" on it.

So that was decision one. I'm puttin' it out there. This is not an imaginary weight loss...weight-loss....weigh loss...wtf, why can't I tell if these are supposed to be hyphenated. Maybe I lose hyphenation knowledge with each calorie I burn...because I can't tell ya. Let's refer to it as WL. This is not imaginary WL, or a blog to poke fun at it. I'm serious and I want to be serious about this (in a still light and humorous kind of way because I'm boring when I take myself seriously). I'm putting some effort into this and I don't want it to be wasted because I'm still half-assing everything else. Sweating and gasping for air in front of other skinnier people lunging and shimmying better than me is NOT my idea of fun. I want it to mean something and I think that I undermine that with my pretty lax goals. So now that I've been into this for about two weeks and have got the hang of my original goals, I'd like to step it up a notch. Just a little bit...the commitment-phobe in me is already reeling and back-pedaling (holy hyphenated words in this entry!) So here we go, tiny goals to add to my existing goals:

No more alcohol. I'm no fun drunk anyways, so let's nix it. That means no more dacquiris! I wonder if that means I can have non-alcoholic ones...let's nix that too, if I'm trying to cut out juice, I doubt a dacquiri albeit non-alcohol is any better.
Less burgers and red meat, less deep fried garbage - just because the old goals still allowed for fast food, it doesn't mean I should still be having it so often!
Eat more fruits and vegetables - I feel like my food options are so few on diets and it's because I still don't eat fruits and vegetables.
Get some fiber. This girl REALLY needs it and apparently it's supposed to do wonders for other movements as well...let's get on that.
Step up my cardio. It doesn't have to be by too much right away, but I want to be doing at LEAST half an hour of cardio EVERY DAY. Start thinking about muscle toning exercise...who wants to lose weight if the extra flab is just going to end up flapping against other body parts?

So it's out there. I'm accountable. I'm doing it. I'm doing it already. I'm going to do it better. I'm going to keep at it. Get back, Day 13 laziness, I'm going to keep going!

P.S. For breakfast I had one egg cooked in my microwave egg cooker (I LOVE that thing!), forgot to eat my morning snack, hence hunger pangs close to lunch-hour. For lunch I went out with a co-worker and ordered a California salad (didn't eat the California part about the salad - artichokes and hearts of palm should just NOT be in a salad), my server gave me ranch instead of the balsamic that I asked for and by time I realized the mistake I already had ranch taste in my mouth and it was too late to stop because it was DELICIOUS! Ate only HALF the salad (to be fair, the portions were HUGE though) and for afternoon snack I had non-fat yogurt and cereal. Dinner after kickboxing consisted of CONFESSION: two Grill 'Ems (cheese-filled sausage...bad, but it was SO GOOD, argh! and a garden salad, this time with balsamic dressing).

WORKING OUT TO:

Temperature - Sean Paul

Day 12: Exceptions to the rules...

2009-05-19T22:59:00.001-04:00

CONFESSION: I went into this evening fully intending to laugh in the face of the "diet."

There are certain things, I believe, that must relax the embarrassingly lax rules of this three-step diet...and chicken wings is one of them. Ah-ah-ah, hungry ones...not just ANY chicken wings, because that would be too easy! $0.49 chicken wings! I mean, when a big ol' chicken wing is half a dollar, you can't go wrong and therefore should not count at such a time as ridiculous as dieting.

Anywho, that's what I was telling myself the WHOLE day and all throughout Zumba class. I was shimmyin' and shakin' and thinkin' about wings! You know what? It's an awesome focus during an exercise! Because I was planning on eating wings, I was really pumping myself up! When I started feeling tired, my stomach said, "Oh no you don't...you have to give 'er even MORE because we're eating wings tonight, baby!" So push a little harder I did! I worked out MORE in anticipation of the delicious sin I was about to commit right after.

But alas, it was not meant to be. We get to the restaurant, my face all flushed with excitement (or sweat) and my breath coming in quick bursts of anxiety (or probably my lungs struggling and gasping for more air) only to be told that the server made a mistake. When she told us last week that THIS week would be the last week of wings, she was WRONG! *gasp* No wings?! I shimmied and shook every fat cell in my body just to be able to have wings and now you're telling me I CAN'T? UGH!

Everyone kind of stared at me while I had a little breakdown/temper trantrum...I think a foot was even stomped at one point. Everyone was like...why don't you just get the wings anyway, and I turned bugged out eyes at them and was like...when a chicken wing is MORE than a dollar each, OBVIOUSLY it has TONS of fat and calories in it! *mutters* morons... So obviously I couldn't have regular priced wings and instead ended up with this:

Cajun crusted salmon on a bed of rice. So even though I set out to be a very bad girl tonight, I guess I should feel kind of proud...the side choice originally offered with this dish was fries, mashed potatoes or rice and I chose rice. If you don't know how big a deal that is, consider that everyone who is close to me or knows me even a little knows that I would sell my first-born for mashed potatoes. If you don't think that's comparative since I don't have a first-born...I'd probably sell Bart to get a bowl of mashed potatoes. *LOL* Even Bart's dad knows that...during our wedding speech, he started off with how much he knows I love Bart, but he's not sure if I love mashed potatoes more...

Besides that nonexistent indiscretion, today went pretty well. I had two poached eggs on toast for breakfast, a yogurt with fresh raspberries and cereal for lunch and a 100 calorie snack bag of popcorn. Right before my break, I wrote an angry letter to our union president which in turn helped me to go a full seven minutes on the trampoline on my break. Rage is such an AWESOME motivator I tell you. I can run on rage for a long time...I remember one time, I got in a HUGE fight with my mom before going to the gym and I ran on the treadmill for like, almost an hour. I was so busy going over different scenarios in my head of what I should have said and laughing at the cool, witty comments I thought of AFTER the fact that I didn't even realize how long I was running for. I wonder who I could try to get to piss me off every single time I need to do some cardio...anywho, was a little lax on the water department and started kind of late and only ended up with three tall glasses of water at work and half of the water in my bottle at the gym. Oh one other little baddy...also had a strawberry mango dacquiri with dinner. CONFESSION: I don't even feel guilty about that. I'm such a light-weight that a sip of this and that could make me feel weak in the knees and woozy. I downed the glass I had so fast and felt NOTHING which leads me to believe their rum bottles are full of WATER. Therefore if there was no alcohol in my drink, it doesn't really count as a confessionable sin. UGH, CONFESSION: I ate a Cadbury Moments chocolate bar before I went to Zumba class...would you believe me if I said it was for energy?

Bah! I'll try to up it up tomorrow...I think I've got a visitor on the way which is probably why I've been feeling yuckier than normal...excuses, excuses...

WORKING OUT TO:

Thats What You Get - Paramore

Letters I'll Never Send: Part I

2009-05-19T06:47:00.007-04:00

Dear Bladder,
Control yourself, for crying out loud! You do NOT need to make yourself known every five minutes. Attention hog...there are disorders for your type of attitude.

Sincerely,
The toilet ring mark on the back of my thighs

Dear Infomercial Control Underwear,
You are totally NOT what you were advertised to be. I should have known...when an infomercial advertises that you hide bulges and bumps and the models are SKINNY people to begin with...what should I have expected? Although I do have to say that you weren't all lies...you did flatten out my belly somewhat...but you pushed everything all upwards so it looks like I've got four boobs. Your informercial didn't advertise that!

Sincerely,
The quadruple boobs

Dear Chin,
Why are there two of you everytime I look at myself in the mirror or see pictures of myself? It's like when I've had too much to drink and end up with double vision...

Sincerely,
Unfortunately Sober

Dear Mirror Manufacturers,
You've seriously got to do something about your craftsmanship. It seems like all the mirrors you've been making are such poor quality that the images in them are being distorted. What's even weirder is that it only happens sometimes...you should look into that. You're giving people a false sense of self-image and are contributing to poor self-esteem.

Sincerely,
Distored Reflection

Dear Belly,
No you are not pregnant! Stop looking like you are so people will stop asking me if I am! Don't you growl at me...

Sincerely,
Not-with-Child

Dear Peanut Butter Cups,
Are you SURE the package is right when it says you have THAT many grams of FAT?!

Sincerely,
Skeptical One

Dear Thighs,
I would really appreciate it if you could fight off the chocolate, chicken, juice, butter and heavily dressed salad that I ate last night. I'm got a bridesmaid's dress to fit into in a couple of weeks and I would appreciate it if you didn't look more prominent than my four boobs (thanks to the aforementioned useless control underwear). I'd also appreciate it if you could possibly send out a message to my metabolism and tell them to hurry their freakin' selves up and burn off all the fat that I consumed yesterday (and quite possibly will today). Thank you. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,
Expectant Weight Loser

WORKING OUT TO:

When I Grow Up - Pussycat Dolls

Day 11: Reality bites...

2009-05-18T22:27:00.004-04:00

...and when it does, I usually bite back. Unfortunately, it's on a boston cream donut *groans* This week marks the upcoming visit of an unwanted visitor...

I wouldn't say that I was off the wagon again today, moreso than I...disregarded the wagon. I saw it driving on by and waved as I chomped on a drumstick.

Long weekends are hard. They're more fun than being at work and thinking that dieting is more fun. One less day in the office means that it's harder to force myself to drink water when I'm out and about doing things than when I'm sitting at my desk feeling my rear end spreading itself out in it's own little butt-groove in my office chair. It's even harder when your husband has decided to renovate the ENTIRE kitchen and rips out not only the hardwood floor (to tile), the counters (to tile and to make room for my brand spankin' new dishwasher - he got tired of me not doing the dishes! *LOL*) and the stove/oven (we got a countertop stovetop instead and will eventually get a built-in oven one of these days, it's not rush because I've lived here for almost two years and have probably used the oven once...to make interestingly shaped cupcakes for a bachelorette party...guess what the interesting shapes were...). We've had no way to cook any meals (besides our microwave plugged into the bathroom outlet...mmm..multitasking? *barf*) so we've been going out or inviting ourselves over to our families places. Besides that little french fry debacle yesterday, I've been keeping up with everything else.

Today, Bart and I had two poached eggs each. I used my new microwave egg cookers and they are AWESOME! Totally loving on those...for now I'll pretend that zapping my eggs using micro waves in thirty seconds is not at all disturbing. Had two pieces of toast and spread my poached eggs on them, sea salt and pepper and they were gone! Those will be breakfast tomorrow! After that we got busy with the kitchen (I am an EXCELLENT supervisor, lemme tell you. I supervised the renos AND got a book read and reviewed in that time as well!) and later on we went over to my aunt and uncle's place for a BBQ and fireworks (for those not pledging allegiance to a red maple leaf on your flag, today is Victoria Day = no work on a Monday! Good ol' Victoria...I raise a chicken drumstick to you as well!) The evening meal wasn't actually all that bad though...the chicken was done up on a rotisserie on my uncle's BBQ and it was DELICIOUS and I had a whole lot of SALAD and asparagus. CONFESSION: the salad was dressed with Rene's caesar dressing...and it wasn't the light kind *winces*. Which was probably why I was able to eat so much salad in the first place.

But whatevs! First long weekend with the new "diet" or goal to a better, healthier me and it's over and done with. Choices were made and the food consumed. I will not feel bad, but I will acknowledge that it wasn't the BEST of weekends and will hold myself accountable. I will make new goals for this week and will work to do better.

Tomorrow is back to work which means that I will be better able to control my consumption and water intake. Tomorrow's goal is to eat all three meals - especially breakfast and will have two healthy snacks in the morning and the afternoon. My goal is to return to my 'as much water as I can drink' goal which is roughly around 4 tall glasses of water from 8:30 am - 4:30 pm and I will get two 15-minute activities in (my trampoline-ing on morning and afternoon breaks). Tomorrow is also Tuesday which means Zumba class so there is an hour's worth of cardio. I will TRY very hard not to succumb to too many unnecessary water breaks and will vow to shake it like a polaroid picture.

Amen!

WORKING OUT TO:

Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters

Book Review: Skinny Bitch

2009-05-18T14:23:00.004-04:00

...ugh, Ugh, UGH! I want my money back.

Or I should just blame myself for buying a book because it was being talked about, but not actually bothering to find out what it was actually about or read any reviews about it. Which is weird for me because I am a review-a-holic. Mine and Bart's first vacation together took forever because I kept searching for reviews on each of the places we were considering on going (I heart TripAdvisor!)

Now keep in mind that this is all my own personal opinion and it is not uncommon that peoples' opinions can differ. But this book...*one highly raised skeptical eyebrow* I have half a mind to take it's picture off the blog for fear of advertising for it...

Anywho, it's cover describes the book as a no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous. I don't even know where to start...I guess 'no-nonsense' would be a good place...since I found this book full of nonsense! Granted there were definitely some good basic points in the book that cannot be refuted or denied. But regardless of who holds a whatever kind of degree in anything, trying to write an intelligent book that you want people to take seriously cannot have a sentence like, "...before you say, 'I could never give up meat,' realize that nearly every single vegetarian on the planet said those same words, then shut the fuck up, look at an inspirational picture of a skinny bitch and clean out your freezer." (pg. 53) *wrinkles nose* To me it just seems so...tacky.

When I was younger I read an interview with Will Smith and he was talking about how his grandmother saw some of his earlier lyrics and told him off for having expletives in it. She said that "intelligent people do not use these words to express themselves," and I have kept that with me ever since. If it is not acceptable to write profanity in a scientific peer-reviewed journal, then you don't write a 'self-help' book that you want other people to take seriously. Not ONLY does it have profanity in the way I just illustrated, it goes on to swear and mock the reader, ie. "Coffee is for pussies," (pg. 15) and the ever amusing, "Get your head out of your ass. Milk = fat. Butter = fat. Cheese = fat. People who think these products can be low fat or fat free = fucking morons." (pg. 63) and "Don't be a cheap asshole." (pg. 179). Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Inspired to feel good about yourself? I know I certainly do! *feel the sarcasm here, please*

If those lovely tid-bits of inspirational goodies didn't convince you of these ladies' credibility and didn't get you rarin' to take their 'intelligent' advice, let's look at some of their actual recommendations. Hmmm...lemme see...oh, here's one: "Health is Wealth makes fake buffalo wings that taste so good, your pubes will fall out." (pg. 54). WOW!

Now don't get me wrong here. I am not being a prude or uptight. I can cuss it up with the best of the trucker's at any truckstop and can even string a few along to make one messed up sentence even an athlete will have to pause in their tobacco chewin' to make sense of what I just said - but that's not the point. I will not write it in a novel I'd like to have published and then expect to be taken seriously. I would not hand it into my former University professors and expect an A+ and a glowing recommendation. Having those little gems in there is not no-nonsense and it is not tough-love and it does not imply savviness. It's trash masking scientific half-truths and misleading, misrepresented data.

Getting into the nitty gritty of the book as a whole. What the authors are saying is that to be a Skinny Bitch you must do this: Give up dairy. Give up meat. That's it. No two ways about it. It doesn't offer any helpful tips on how to improve your diet, it pretty much ~~suggests~~ tells you to radically change your diet and then goes on to give 'scientific fact' on why veganism is the way to go. I'm not saying it isn't and I happen to know a vegan who looks pretty freakin' fantastic, but is it the ONLY way to go, as the book suggests? I highly doubt it. Is it safe to suggest to the readers out there to cut out ALL forms of meat, dairy, poultry and seafood in order to get skinny? I highly doubt it.

All in all...like I said before, the book has some very good points (if you can read in between the lines that are so desperately shouting 'trying too hard to be "cool" and "modern") there are some facts there that even the newbie dieter should have already picked up. Nothing new there. But that's pretty much it. Besides spouting the nothing new factoids, the rest of the book pretty much goes on to paint a completely negative picture of the farming industry, the FDA and the cruelty to animals. I get it girls, you are not big fans of meat or the government. In fact, this theme is so apparent in the book that it should have actually been titled "Skinny Bitches Bitch about Government Agencies." They have a WHOLE 23-page chapter entitled: "Have No Faith: Government Agencies Don't Give a Shit About Your Health. To have the gall to create a chapter titled that way, you'd better give me more than 23 pages of facts, data and proof to support your thesis. Which is entirely what it is. A theory. The funny thing is, when I said that 23 pages was too short to form a solid foundation to uphold such a theory, this chapter is probably the longest of all the other chapters in the 191-page book. Besides talking about what healthy foods to eat, besides talking about the benefits of exercise and the truths about carbs, the authors spent a better part of their book on their negative views of government agencies. Interesting...

In closing (I know this is getting pretty long) I am so downright irritated by this book I can't even keep my jaw from dropping every time I remember certain "features" it. The short version of the review is this: if you are not planning on giving up meat, dairy or poultry you are a "fucking fat pig moron" (all quoted words are taken directly in-context from the book. If you are looking for a way to better improve your diet, if you are looking for tips and suggestions on what you could add to supplement your diet, this is NOT the book for you. Save yourself $16 (which is what I paid for this ridiculous "book" - thank GOODNESS I didn't get the gift set) and research other books with better reviews or with sound/scientific/proven data that attempts to make the you who are you BETTER and not radically change you from the person you are into a bitch...albeit skinny.

Disclaimer: I am in no means putting down veganism or vegans' all around the world's choices in becoming a vegan. I think it's awesome for those out there are have chosen to become one and are enjoying that chosen lifestyle. I am in no means implying or indicating that the cruelty to animals that were outlined in the book "Skinny Bitch" do not exist or do not happen (chances are, in some cases they do because there are just stupid people out there who think that their having a certain power over another helpless creature gives them the right to behave in those ways). The opinions of this review are solely mine and I am not expecting you to take it at face-value. If you are thinking the book would be helpful to you, by all means please go out and get it. In fact, E-Mail me, you can have my copy, just pay shipping and handling and it's all yours.

WORKING OUT TO:

Pitbull - Ay Chico - Pitbull - Ay Chico

Day 9 & 10: It all works...

2009-05-17T21:08:00.006-04:00

Now, I can see that this looks a bit contradictory. The cashier especially thought so when I plunked it down on the counter. *LOL* It also got me thinking about some things...

First of all, lemme just say that the chocolate isn't really technically for me. CONFESSION: My craft room has about 8 bars of chocolate right now. But the thing is, most of those chocolate bars have been in there for over a week now - and I haven't touched them! Well, I've touched them..but not to eat! This Crafty Loser likes to re-wrap chocolate bars with paper and make it look all cute more than she likes to EAT them! So when I was at Chapters for the purpose of picking up this book and saw the Moments chocolates (little individually wrapped confections are my crafty weakness) I thought they'd make a good thing to try and re-package all crafty-like.

Anywho...CONFESSION: I have been very, very bad this weekend! *deep breath* I fell off the wagon. *winces* I had french fries today with my breakfast! In my defence though...we usually always go out for breakfast after church on Sundays! And I always substitute french fries for my homefries because I'm not a big fan of homefries (except for calling people homefry) and I automatically ordered the substitution when the server came around. *cringe* But I ate them too since they were already ordered and right in front of me. But to help a little, I did invite Bart to partake in the eating of the fries which almost makes it not a bad thing because I probably had about three fries before I looked down at my plate and saw that the rest of them were already devoured. Besides being a popcorn hog, my husband is also a french fry monger - and today, a very useful diet aide! Anywho, not making excuses for myself...I was baaaad!

My mom and I did flowers for a wedding this weekend and we were so behind that we were still working at 4 am Saturday morning. For me, when I get really busy or focused on something, that means everything else goes right out the window. I took a half day on Friday and as soon as I left work, there was no drinking of the water. For dinner on that night we went to McDonald's for something quick and I got water but was so intent on the bouquet-making that I didn't even touch it. Saturday morning I made the delivery an hour out of town and came back home and slept. Until about 9 pm! Hence STILL no water drinking and no eating either! Bart came home from work with a pizza and we ate in bed and I promptly fell asleep after that! I've already confessed my Sunday transgression, so all in all..not a very good weekend - especially as lax as the diet already is! And exercise? Nada! Not even a little hippity-hop on the trampoline to make up for any of bad things I ate!

I was thinking this as I was wandering down the Health & Well-Being aisle at Chapters. There are a TON of diet books and there are a TON of exercise books. They even had exercise DVD's as well and from just standing there, who the heck would be able to choose just one? And I'm thinking to myself...ALL of these probably work. I reached for the Skinny Bitch Booty Bouncin' DVD and then put it back before I remembered I already have the whole series of Hip Hop Abs DVDs at home (I am SUCH a sucker for infomercials I tell you!) I also have Core Rhythms exercise DVDs, I also have the trampoline and the weights and a membership at the gym. I'm sure they ALL work at weight loss. The only problem is I'm not DOING them.

I'm thinking that's probably the problem with a lot of people trying to lose weight and it's just easier to blame it on the method we chose to lose weight. I got Hip Hop Abs and considered it money wasted because it didn't work and told everyone that it didn't work...conveniently leaving out the part that I only did it for like, a week before quitting (okay, seriously, the guy on it IRRITATED the living daylights out of me!) So even though I kind of fell off the wagon, I'm not going to quit. I'm going to get back up and try to do better this week instead of dwelling on the stuff I (didn't) do this week - starting with my book!

Here's what this crafty loser did when she got into her craft room with one of the packages of chocolates:

You know...for emergencies...*grins*

That's it for me, off to read about how to be a skinny bitch! Will let you know how it is!

WORKING OUT TO:

Dirty Little Secret - The All-American Rejects

Day 8: Punch, Drink, Kick, Drink, Jab, Drink...

2009-05-14T06:58:00.001-04:00

...are you seeing some sort of pattern forming? Let me tell you, that pattern right there is the only reason why I'm still ALIVE, I tell ya! I can't even believe a week went by that fast. Wasn't it only yesterday that I was punch, kick, jabbing? And all of a sudden I'm doing it again?!

Even though my burning calf muscles, thighs, abs, back, shoulders, arms, wrists, toes, nailbeds and hair follicles are telling me different, I did actually do much better this time around than last week. I think I was able to last a bit longer throughout the different combos and take less pretend water breaks (plus I think the instructor was beginning to catch on since I did it so many times last week...*LOL*) She's a tough one, she actually yelled out "COME ON! This is what you came here FOOOOR! Why did you come if you're not going to GIIIIIVE IT?! Don't you dare stop unless you actually really NEED TO!" I was too busy gasping for breath and trying to see around the black spots dancing around my field of vision to yell at her that I DID NEED TO! I'm going to keep going and not complain too much about it...but I'm just saying...if I get attacked in an alley or something, I better be able to throw down punch, hook, jab and drop kick the living daylights out of that moron without breaking a sweat. If that karate kid was able to learn how to beat people up after waxing on and waxing off, then I should be able to do it no problem...I'm just saying...

ANYWHO! That's that with the exercise part. From absolutely ZERO activity (unless you count my arm movement when I bring the food to mouth) to cardio twice in one week, I'd say I'm giving myself two thumbs up!

That towel right there has SWEAT on it. LOTS! And that water bottle is EMPTY! (2 parts pretending to need a water break and drinking the water and 1 part actually just needing to drink the water - but whatevs, the same goal is accomplished anyway! I will be very proud of the day when I'll get through class without having to feign a water break, though...)

The diet portion is going pretty well too! After that not-so-great start on Monday, yesterday went awesome! I ate my breakfast, had to force myself to eat my snack (sometimes I actually do enough work that I'll forget my break - CONFESSION: we were stuffing bills today so I was actually reading the Breaking Dawn eBook while stuffing which is the actual reason why I almost forgot to eat my snack - and I feel okay with announcing on my blog that I was reading because I was SIMULTANEOUSLY doing ACTUAL work at the same time. MULTITASKERS are AWESOME!) I totally got sidetracked, where was I? Oh right, so for lunch I wasn't so good (but didn't cheat) and ended up having a burger from Harvey's (I've been eating too many burgers lately, methinks...) but just the burger. No fries, no pop. I took the burger back to the office and ate that with my tall glass of water and my delicious salad. Ate my afternoon snack of non-fat yogurt and cereal for crunch and went to the cardio kickboxing class! Came home and ate pork souvlaki and mashed potatoes. All of these are STILL ten times better than how I used to eat before, so I'm feeling good about everything! I did go a bit lax on the water drinking today. I was only able to get in two glasses at work (even though I've already read it, Breaking Dawn is STILL such a good entertaining read!) but I made up for it at the gym during my water "breaks" and after!

So that's Day 8 and I'm feelin' GREAT! I haven't really been weighing myself (can't seem to find a scale I actually trust) so I'm going to use a different method for now. Yesterday, Bart and I were cleaning out our closets and I found a pair of jeans. These are THE TEST PAIR of jeans that I will be using. I tried to put them on last night and it fit pretty good everywhere else except for the fact that I couldn't get them done up. So every few weeks or so, I'll put on the TEST JEANS and see what's what...after I'm able to get them done up, I'll know that I'm on the right track!

I think this may be the longest I've ever stayed on any kind of diet plan...so I'm definitely going to stick with it! How're you doing?

WORKING OUT TO:

Just Like A Pill - Pink

Deskercise

2009-05-13T22:29:00.004-04:00

Like a majority of the population, your bum probably spends a majority of the day creating it's own little butt-groove in an office chair. There is no easier way to get NO exercise than working in an office (except if you work at mine and your printer dies and nobody knows how to fix it so you have to spend every five minutes getting up and walking to the other side of the office to get your receipt print-out and then walk back to your desk to give it to the person at your window...but I digress...)

There are actually a LOT of 'exercise-at-your-desk' instructions and videos out there on the great WWW, but I found this one to be pretty all-around.

Fit Exercise Into A Busy Schedule: How To Do Basic Deskercise

Some of the things I wouldn't actually do at my desk and to be honest, if I walked by and saw you doing it at yours, I'd probably secretly laugh at you. I'm not the politest person, so I probably wouldn't even do it secretly...but you get the gist of it. If you're sitting down more than you're up and around throughout the day, you should be making a conscious effort to get up from your desk and get a little movin' and a shakin' going on. It'll also help around the 3 PM mark...you know, the time when your lunch finally settles and your eyelids get all drooooopy...if you're able to get outside, especially now that the days are looking mighty fine, make sure to take advantage of that!

P.S. If you're going to be doing some of the suggestions on the video (ie. rubbing your eyes, your face, etc.) make sure to wash your hands or disinfect! Fact is that the dirtiest thing in the office is NOT the toilet, it's your KEYBOARD! Especially in busy places or where desktops or workspaces can be shared, you have NO idea what other peoples' fingers have touched before they've tinkered around on your keyboard! *wrinkles nose*

So if you're reading this from your office chair...isn't it about time you got up and stretched or had a little walk? (Just not down to the vending machines!)

Leeeeeet's go!

WORKING OUT TO:

My humps - Black Eyed Peas

Day 6 & 7: Where did my hip go?

2009-05-13T07:53:00.008-04:00

...I can't find it. I think I must have dislocated it sometime yesterday while I was shakin' what my mama gave me.

Who knew that intentionally acting all loose and hippy could be so freakin' painful! *LOL* I got nothin' on Shakira, lemme tell ya, the woman must not have any bones or vertebrae or something! My hips can't possibly lie, they're dislocated.

Okay, so whining aside, the class was actually pretty AWESOME! I think I got more cardio in than I did with the kickboxing/martial arts class - or it could have been that I had a tiny bit more energy/stamina to give 'er a little more. Whatever the case, I was movin' and a-shakin' and a-shimmyin' like nobody's business! I think I must have shook too hard though because things were starting to hurt halfway through class! It's weird too...there were some moves that the instructor was wanting us to do that I found a lot harder in a class...although much easier to do in a dance club...with alcohol. Maybe next week, we can get slightly smashed first and then go to the class. I'll out-shake that instructor then! *LOL*

Anywho, Day 6 of the three-step diet was actually pretty hard for me. I think after the weekend of being slightly naughty, I was having a hard time. I ate breakfast and sensible snacks throughout the day, but I wanted MORE!

Confession: I ended up eating POTATO CHIPS! *gasp* I know...and worse than that, I ate more than what the package said to eat for 140 calories. *winces* Ah well, the extra salt helped me down more water, but of course, more salt helps my body RETAIN more water, so it pretty much cancels each other out.

I did find that I did much better yesterday (Day 7) and didn't need to snack extra. I did my breakfast (sausage breakfast sandwich), snack (one snack slice of cheese) and for lunch I had two pieces of chicken from Mary Browns and with that I ate a salad that I brought from home which was DELICIOUS! Normally when I eat Mary Browns I go for the whole shebang of chicken, TATERS and GRAVY (oh my gosh...) and a pop, but eating JUST the chicken left me feeling pretty good. So all in moderation to help me build up to being even better at choosing the right foods! Trust me, for the crap that I USED to eat, just those two pieces of chicken is already like, a breakthrough for me. *LOL* Anywho, had four glasses of water throughout the day and another bottle at the gym (again, I had to resort to my trusty "go-for-water-breaks-to-stop-the-BURNING-PAIN-in-my-muscles" technique. For those who are new to exercising, I highly recommend this method...) and of course on my breaks at work I was able to jog around on the trampoline in my co-worker's office. So all in all, I'm feeling pretty good about Day 7! I know if I can keep this up, little by little, I can get better and better!

Anywho, here's an idea of the "recipe" for the salad I had at lunch today:

Catherine's Sweet Cranberry Salad
(by sweet I mean sweet-tasting, not just me loving all over myself and naming my recipes with ego-boosting names...)

Lettuce blend with julienne carrots (this was already pre-packaged, I got it from Costco, I think)
Dried cranberries
Chopped walnuts
Light raspberry vinaigrette dressing made from extra virgin olive oil - or EVOO as Rachel Ray likes to say (Kraft)

That's it! Nothing else needed and it is soooo YUMMY! I didn't mix the salad and the dressing together. I had the dressing in a separate container and kind of just dipped my fork into the dressing before grabbing up a bunch of the salad. The dressing is flavorful enough that a little really does go a long way - and that's ALSO saying something because remember, this girl is a more is MORE kind of girl. I like EXTRA sauce on everything!

And here's another recipe that came to mind when Marti busted out with her awesome salsa! I'm not a big fan of salsa the regular ol' way (like the Old el Paso stuff in the jars *wrinkle face*) but I do like this version:

Catherine's Strawberry-Mango Salsa
I don't know why I'm calling all the recipes "Catherine's" I didn't invent them...but I figure it's half my blog, I can name them mine if I feel like it - plus these recipes do come with my form of variation...

1 yellow mango (the sweeter the better, I usually use the small yellow ones and not the larger red/green mangos for this recipe) diced
Strawberries - quartered
Scallions - chopped pretty fine, it doesn't really matter, you can chop them however you like
Finely chopped jalapenos (I get mine in the Old el Paso jars that are already pre-sliced. I usually use about 3 - 4 of those, but you can use it to your taste...the slightly spicy with all the sweet is SO GOOD!)
Squirt of lemon juice (don't you love how precise my recipes are?)
Salt and pepper to taste

Just like Marti's salsa, these are awesome with pita chips or tortilla chips or with fish (I love this with tilapia).

Confession: None of those pictures are actually mine, so that's not EXACTLY what my food looks like after I've done ~~butchering~~ chopping them. Photos courtesy of Google Images.

Anywho, that's it for me today, it looks like I've been going on for quite a while now with this post. It must be all the extra energy that I've got now that I'm on my way to living a healthier more active life! *LOL* If you've decided to try out this three-step diet business with Marti and I, I hope things are going just as swimmingly for you! Please definitely let us know how it's going! Marti and I looooove comments. Okay fine, I guess it's not really fair for me to speak for Marti (or hide behind her) so I'll go ahead and just say it: I LOOOOOOVE COMMENTS!

WORKING OUT TO:

Hips Dont Lie - Shakira

exercise sigh

2009-05-12T21:39:00.002-04:00

SOOOOOOOOOOO

at my last post we were NOT going to discuss exercise.....mostly because i hadn't done any. me and exercise should not be in the same sentence.....i am not so much lazy as just busy i find very few forms of exercise appealing. i USED to do a TON of hiking back in MO but not so much here.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
this morning i got an email from my SU rep - my goodies from tech club AND scrapbook club were in. she lives around the block so i thought hey perfect - i can do my first walking session just me n pez. now pez has not sat in a stroller for a walk - or anything else - for a year. so we set off around the block......very...VERRRY slowly.....first time EVER that she WALKED and didn't RUN.....so i am thinking wow i walk faster than this inside the house. so i tried to encourage her to get moving a little. finally she gets back to normal and starts running....trips...rolls down the sidewalk ending with her forehead. YEP.....so i scoop her up and she cries a bit and then she says she wants to walk so we walk SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWLY to Stacey's and then on home and she says she wants in her stroller and wants to go around the block again. about 6 houses down she wantsa to come back home...very strange. we come home and she sits on my lap and starts nodding off at 10AM. so now i am thinking concussion??? so i start asking her how many fingers and she thinks thats funny.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO
as i am contemplating concussions hubby calls and tells me that the new job he started may 1st did not turn our insurance paperwork in right so we have no insurance......

and so at the end of the day everything turned out ok - pezzy is fine, insurance is being fixed and i still got no exercise. BUT i did eat well and i drank FOUR glasses of water - FOUR!!!!

and now i need to wrap things up - my show (mentalist) is over and i am ready for bed!!!
hugs
M

Running for a Cause...

2009-05-12T19:16:00.002-04:00

...I DID IT!

Well, I haven't actually done anything yet, but I started the first part! I signed up for the CIBC Run for the Cure event! It's basically a fundraising program to raise funding and awareness for breast cancer. It's a 5 k distance and you can choose to run it or walk it...and guess what this crafty loser is going to do? I'm RUNNIN' IT, BABY!

I figure that having three little goals every month is fine and dandywith the long-term goal of losing weight being the object being awesome, but I thought that I needed to have an ACTUAL goal to really work towards. I mean, losing weight is always an on-going thing so there is never anything to work towards, or build up to. So I saw a Run for the Cure commercial and I was IN!

I signed up this morning and I've already got donations from people who would like to support me on my run and would like to support the cause that I'm running for! You can't beat that in inspiration! Plus, if people have already donated money, I'm definitely accountable to them to actually complete it, right?

The run isn't until October 4, so I think I signed up at a perfect time. It gives me a lot of time to train and to fail (undoubtedly, I'll quit a bunch of times and wonder what the whole point is) and get up and get going again! I think this will really help because even when I do start to wonder what the whole point is of even trying and blah blah blah and I get all Debbie Downer on myself, I can always remind myself that there is ALWAYS a point to fundraising for a cause - especially this cause. Nowadays, who doesn't know anyone who is suffering from cancer or know someone who isn't affected by cancer? If my doing this helps more people than just me out and along the way I happen to lose weight, then I'm thinking it's a win-win situation! *fist pump* Yes, I did the fist pump!

So if you've got a CIBC Run for the Cure around your area, consider registering as a participant or even as a volunteer! This even is 100% volunteer driven, so I know that they'll always find a place for a helping hand. If it isn't around your area, maybe look for something similar around you or if it's just not your 'thang' just yet, maybe you'd like to sponsor me on my run and in turn support those that I'm running for!

Here's my Run for the Cure Donation Page: https://www.cibcrunforthecure.com/html/p.asp?t=3317742&l=1

I am now off to my Zumba class! I'll leave you with a quick peek at a video I found when I first wanted to know what this Zumba business was all about!

WORKING OUT TO:

Dont Cha - Pussycat Dolls

Day 4-5: Oh the weekend...

2009-05-11T15:39:00.005-04:00

...was HARD! Good thing that I wasn't being super strict on myself to begin with or I would have fallen off the wagon already. I would have been RUN OVER by the wagon more like it!

CONFESSION: I ate one of those small double cheeseburgers from McDonald's. Which I know according to my goals is OKAY and I shouldn't feel bad since I didn't have any fries or pop...but I ate two of them. *LOL* I don't even feel bad...they were SO GOOD!

Anywho! Besides that little bit of greasy goodness, the weekend wasn't really that bad. I might have been a little bit naughty, but it's hard when there's events! I went to my friend's bridal shower and munched on the finger foods (vegetables, dip, etc.) and was reaching for the pop bottle when I remembered that I wasn't allowed to have pop, so I finished two bottles of water while I was there. Bart dragged me off to see Star Trek (which I'll have to admit now was VERY good considering I have never seen one full Star Trek episode at ALL!) and we shared our usual bag of popcorn and instead of pop, I had a bottle of Dasani water - which should already totally show my dedication since I think Dasani is DISGUSTING! That double osmosis thing is crap, the water tastes YUCKY! I don't feel that bad about the popcorn either, because sharing popcorn with Bart is like...survival of the fittest. If you dont' eat fast enough, it'll be gone by the second time you reach for another handful! *LOL*

Sunday was a bit hard, but I think I drank enough water and managed to get full before I went crazy. Celebrating Mother's Day with two mom's at two different houses where BOTH have food is HARD! Still no pop and no french fries either so everything else was fair game! BWAHAHAHAA....but I was trying to be good and I only had dessert at one house - and even then, I shared it with Bart and I've already explained to you what that was like!

Both Saturday and Sunday I was able to get in a little bit of exercise time in intermittently. These are now my new exercise buddies:

These things are AWESOME! I am having a freaking blast with the trampoline! It's fun and easy enough that I'm starting to wonder if I'm actually getting actual exercise! *LOL* But I really am, my accelerated heart rate and tons of sweat pouring down my face tell me so, so there! *sticks tongue out* I think I was a little over-zealous the first time I hopped on the trampoline with my new weights. I got all into the jogging with the arm movements that I accidentally smacked myself in the face with one of the weights...

So that was my first weekend right there, hopefully it will keep progressing better and better. I've sat with three people who ate french fries RIGHT IN FRONT of me and I didn't buckle once! The way that fast food and greasy fries had been making me feel before I started my diet has me feeling like I'm missing NOTHING by cutting them out of my diet. So already I really am noticing a difference after the first week! Bart and I eat out so many times that it had gotten to the point where RIGHT after we would finish eating - or sometimes even during - I'd start feeling REALLY bad and my stomach would be all rebelling and having a temper tantrum and the whole nine yards. I'll just leave it at that it wasn't a very pretty picture and I won't go into it more than that...but ever since I've cut out the grease and Bart and I have been trying to eat more home-cooked meals, I've been feeling pretty fantastic and not so tired! Am I sounding a little like an infomercial?

It's snack time for me, so I'm gonna skidaddle! Quaker Oatmeal to Go has got me ALL over it!

Have an awesome day, everyone!

P.S. So whatcha think about the new background?! *LOL* It's a little ironic, no? We LOVE IT!

WORKING OUT TO:

Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani

catchin up!

2009-05-11T12:18:00.007-04:00

SO i have been neglecting BOTH my blogs! just not enough hours...

how's the diet going? well i think my first week gets a C...minus :)

i HAVE been drinking water and i HAVE been cutting back but not cutting back ENOUGH. HOWEVER exercise is a big fat ZERO! *sigh*

i got those crystal light powders to make the water taste better. i was not too into it until i noticed i managed to pick one with caffeine ROTLMAO!!

so we will NOT be discussing exercise today.....(or my mother's day Thai food dinner last night from my fave restaurant).

so a yummy lunch i have discovered:
little mini super tortilla

2 slices of deli meat (be sure and get the *healthier* variety - just ask) and HALF a slice of low fat cheese. now microwave it just a bit to get the cheese slightly gooey.

NOW top it all off with loads of homemade salsa and lettuce, wrap it up and eat!
now here's to a better week!!

hugs

Day 3: Getting a jump start...

2009-05-08T10:00:00.003-04:00

...I am doing a pretty good job on this baby step diet, if I do say so myself! Because there aren't SO many outstanding demands, me being able to complete the three goals all day everyday has left me feeling pretty good and motivated! Normally at this time with a cold turkey diet of cutting everything bad out, I would have already cheated multiple times and felt bad enough about it that I just scrap the diet altogether! So pat on the back for me and for Marti and for any of you who are trying out the three-goal-a-month diet.

Here are some of the things that I brought in to work yesterday morning for my third day:

Don't mind all the other stuff...this is the back room in our office. Let's see, what oh what do we have here...there's two boxes of delicious Crystal Light powder...I don't really know if it's delicious because I haven't tried it out yet, but it BETTER be delicious. There's a packet of two hard boiled eggs (I know, I bought hard-boiled eggs...I didn't have any eggs in the house to MAKE hard boiled eggs so I spent $2 on these two *wrinkles nose*, there's some weight friendly tapioca pudding, which kind of sucks because I thought I had grabbed rice pudding - ah well! There's snack packs of light, probiotice cheese and a fruit bowl! Oh there's also a snack pack of hummus and pretzel in there somewhere too!

So I'll have to say that yesterday was pretty good - CONFESSION: it was choir practice last night and we always have a little fellowship after we practice and it's kind of rude NOT to eat when the people who host practice have prepared stuff, so I had a TEENY miniscule amount of the pasta that they had made and *gasp* two pieces of garlic bread. YIKES! I knew I shouldn't have - especially at the late hour (I think it was around 9 pm that we started eating) but I didn't really feel all that bad. It wasn't in my three goals and I DID drastically reduce the amount of pasta that I ate, which would have been a LOT more had I not been conscious about the food that I'm eating. Plus, I made a note to probably put bread or pasta or something in my next month's goal. For lunch I went to Harvey's and had an original burger and a side salad and a bottle of water!

I also didn't feel too badly because even after my crazy kickboxing session yesterday and how my body was almost seized up on itself, I found another way to exercise throughout the day and get my butt off of this office chair!

This thing is AWESOME! Can you believe that my co-worker had this in her office for more than TWO MONTHS without me even knowing?! So I have secured a membership to her office so that I can use this throughout the day. Well, I don't really have a membership, more like I walk in there and use it!

It is HARD, I tell ya! I actually needed a little demonstration on how to use it because I couldn't see how jumping around on it would help you lose weight. But basically you get on it and you jog. Knees up high, jog, jog, jog and it's so cool! I wasn't even on it for a minute and I was already sweating! My co-worker can only do 3 - 5 minutes on it consecutively and she's been doing it for a while! So guess what Catherine did on her lunch hour?

BWAHAHAHAHA, I went ahead and bought one! I was on it last night for probably about 10 minutes altogether. I set it up and went about my house-ly duties (which is nothing like cleaning, or cooking or laundry, just to get it straight) and every time I walked by it, I just hopped on and did as much jogging as I could until I got winded and just hopped off.

So I definitely plan to implement that bad boy into my daily routine and my three goals a month! Hopefully it'll help move things along nicely! It'll be my break time in about half an hour so I'll be jumpin' around in my co-worker's office behind closed doors!

WORKING OUT TO:

Time after time - Distant soundz

foodie

2009-05-07T23:05:00.008-04:00

so i think today was day 3.....

i thought i would talk a bit about some food today - my first observsation on dieting - eating healthy is alot more expensive and ALOT more work. BUT i loaded up on fresh fruits and vegies and then today i did some prep work so i would have some low point snack options. i made a big fruit salad and huge tub o' salsa.

now when i read Cat's posts and typed out my post it occurred to me that after having done a crafty blog for so long which is so photo intensive this blog was kind of BLAH! SO i took pics to go with my quick recipes!!

so fruit salad:

1 apple, 1 orange, 1 banana, 1 cup strawberries, 1 cup blueberries (and any other fruits you love.

Pour in 1 container of Key Lime Fiber One Yogurt (fiber one yogurt is THE BOMB!!!)
Weight Watchers = 1 point

And Salsa:

4-5 medium tomatoes, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 rib celery, 4-5 green onions, 1/4 large purple onion, 1/2 bunch cilantro, 1/2 orange or yellow bell pepper, 1 jalapeno, 1 cubanelle pepper, 1/2 lime, salt.

Chop it all up tiny - i do the tomatoes first and then judge the rest from there.

This stuff is SO good - and perfect not just with chips but with chicken, fish, on a sandwhich wrap...

Weight Watchers=0 points!!

So there's my diet blog/foodie pics for you!!

and now i am off to bed!

Day 2: Of This I am Certain...

2009-05-07T09:36:00.008-04:00

...BodyCombat was invented by the devil.

I can barely type this and to reach for things, I have to actually turn my WHOLE body around and reach slowly. *LOL* O.M.G.

So last night was my once at the gym for a week day and I had decided that to make the most out of it and get the most impact, I would go to BodyCombat. It's a one hour cardio class that mixes kickboxing and martial arts (ie. tae bo and karate). After the first ten minutes, I couldn't tell what was running down my face anymore, sweat or tears...probably a combination of both! My friend Tammy had come along with me to make sure that I went and finished the whole class and even she was all splotchy and sweaty after the first ten. It would have been an awesome workout if I hadn't pretty much run out of energy after the half-hour mark. But I'm not getting discouraged or quitting! It was only my first time and I'm hoping that next week will be better!

This is what I mean what I say "a glass" of water

In terms of the diet portion, I'm still sticking to the baby step goals. I had three tall glasses of water at work and then a LOT of water at the gym - CONFESSION - I was actually resorting to taking water breaks just so I wouldn't have to keep kick-punch-jabbing anymore...*LOL* and a few more glasses when I got home from the gym. I had water with ALL my meals and yay for me, I was even able to have breakfast yesterday! Here's the low-down:

Breakfast
Two waffles
Small amount of margarine (definitely a lot less than what I would normally put on it)
Table spoon of maple syrup for each waffle

Snack
Non-fat vanilla yogurt with a little bit of frosted flakes sprinkled on top for some crunch
6 Ritz Crackers (I know, not really the best, but they're SOOOO GOOD!)

Lunch
Small personal pizza from Pizza Hut

Snack
The rest of my non-fat vanilla yogurt with the rest of the frosted flakes sprinkled on top
A microwaved poached egg before the gym

Dinner
Home cooked pork souvlaki with tzatziki sauce
Greek salad with light Greek dressing

Confession: Had another snack a couple hours after dinner as I was still feeling a bit hungry...I had a light tapioca pudding cup. For some reason, I was craving something SWEET!

Ta-daaaa, so that was Day 2 for me! I have no idea why, whenever I'm NOT on a diet, I can go through the day without snacks or feeling so hungry, but all of a sudden, as soon as I tell myself I'm going to portion control and eat more sensibly, I feel hungry the WHOLE day! AAARGH!

Ah well! I'm sure it's because that whole reverse psychology/opposite thoughts thing is happening...because I'm telling myself NOT to eat as much, my brain is only hearing EAT!

I took some pictures last night, but silly me passed out before I could upload them so I'll have to get them uploaded and posted later on today or this evening. I think to REALLY get the full benefit of doing this publicly and being accountable to the blog and to myself, I've gotta do the whole nine yards which means a before picture (which will hopefully look WAY different from the after picture! *cross fingers*) and an official weigh-in *makes wrinkle-face*...

Let's DO THIS!!!

WORKING OUT TO:

Smack That - Akon Feat Eminem

sigh

2009-05-06T20:29:00.009-04:00

Catherine is obviously more committed than me - at least to the blog part HAHAHHA!! but i am here and posting!

once upon a time i was the girl everyone hated - stick thin, no exercise, ate like crap, ate anything i wanted NEVER gained an ounce. i weighed LESS after having my first 2 kids than i weighed before. i used to joke about how i would hit 40 and my metabolism would come to a screeching halt and i wouldn't know what to do - welllllllllll here i am - 40 looming and 25+ pounds more than i want to be and gaining steadily.

we aren't doing exactly the same thing but we ARE going to support each other and MAYBE be held accountable with this blog. so cat said baby steps - THREE things each month - she didn't say three dietary changes AND three exercise changes ROTFLMAO!!!

but here is mine laid out

i am so on board with the water thing too - not because i like it - i can go WEEKS on coffee only. i don't drink soda, i don't drink juice, i don't drink alcohol i just don't drink....except for coffee - which my hubby insists is anti-drinking. So more water - i swear i have to pee like all the friggin time - ridiculous. even bought those crystal light things to put some flavor in it - like that helps - not like i drank anything flavored before - i am aiming for 4-6 which for me would be a drastic improvement!!
Exercise - i have two options here - get out of the house and take pez for a walk - except i feel like it may never stop raining here. and a DVD called rockin body that kev bought me when i saw it on the website he got p90x from. rockin body is basically dancing or line dancing. now back when i was the girl who never gained i did QUITE my share of clubbing and could stay on the dance floor longer than anyone (those latin genes for ya). yea well apparently that part of the younger me left too cuz WOW can i NOT dance anymore! so my goal is 30 minutes of exercise 3-4 times a week.
Finally - weight watchers. i joined back at xmas when i saw how well my dad and step mom had done with it - they looked GREAT! so hubby and i decided to join. i get 18 points a day......do you know how LITTLE food it takes to get to 18 points??? i was STARVING!! but i was doing it - after about a month hubby lost so much weight he had to stop and i had lost 4 pounds - alllll that suffering.......so CHA happened and that was all she wrote. however i know many people have been very successful and it really is just a handy way to keep an eye on what and how much i am eating. so day 1 when i was not even trying - 32 points AH HAHAHHAHHAHHAHA!!!! NO WONDER right? day 2 22.5 points (plus cake but i am pretty sure that when it is your OWN bday cake it doesn't really have points right???) it was the last piece so temptation gone.

i went to the grocery store like Cat and stocked up on some better food choice options - LOADS of fruit for a fruit salad, all the fixins for fresh salsa - heavenly with chicken and fish, lots of fiber one foods - cereal, snacks, their yummy yogurt....so here we go......the only part i am excited about is that i get to make a banner HAHAHHHA i LOVE to play in photoshop and just got a bunch of new goodies on sale this weekend!

we'd sure love any encouraging words, thoughts, advice or hey EVEN JOIN IN!!!!

hugs

Burn to the Beat

2009-05-06T11:21:00.003-04:00

I'm not the BIGGEST fan of exercise (no big surprise there, I guess, coming from the laziest crafter I know...HAHAHA) so I have to succumb to a lot of things to motivate me. The number one thing that really gets me moving (especially during a boring lone workout routine on the treadmill/elliptical/jogging, etc.) is really good MUSIC.

I've got a compilation list here of what I've got in my MP3 player right now and what other people have suggested, hope these will help with your workout!

Dirty Little Secret - All-American Rejects
Crazy in Love - Beyoncé
Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
Jumpin' Jumpin' - Destiny's Child
Get Your Freak On - Missy Elliott
Lose Yourself - Eminem
London Bridge - Fergie
My Humps - Black Eyed Peas
Let's Get it Started - Black Eyed Peas
Fergalicious - Fergie
This is How We Do It - Montell Jordan
Just Like a Pill - Pink
Country Grammer - Nelly
Temperature - Sean Paul
Don't Cha - Pussycat Dolls
Pon de Replay - Rihanna
1, 2, Step - Ciara
Eye of the Tiger - Rocky Soundtrack (you've GOT to have THAT! *LOL)
Hips Don't Lie - Shakira
Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani
SexyBack - Justin Timberlake
Gasolina - Daddy Yankee
Sk8er Boy - Avril Lavigne
Time After Time - Distant Soundz
Maneater - Nelly Furtado
Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado
If - Janet Jackson
Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne
Smack That - Akon
Buttons - Pussycat Dolls
Ay Chico - Pitbull
Check On It - Beyoncé ft. Slim Thug
Damaged - Danity Kane
Toxic - Britney Spears
Milkshake - Kelis
Lose My Breath - Destiny's Child
Dirty - Christina Aguilera
Yeah - Usher ft. Li'l Jon
We Like to Party - Venga Boys
Boom, Boom, Boom - Venga Boys

Lemme know your favourite calorie burning songs are so I can add them to my playlist!

Day 1: It seems like every five minutes...

2009-05-06T10:16:00.006-04:00

...I have to go to the bathroom! This whole 'drink as much water as I can' is getting ridiculous! *LOL* I've taken to just holding it because I'm in the middle of doing something and just don't have time to go!

Anywho, besides that, the first day came and went without too much trouble. Of course, the second you acknowledge that you're going to be eating healthier and have portion control etc., is the second that you start to feel HUNGRY!

I ended having four very tall glasses of water throughout the day and for lunch I ate the lunch that my mom brought me from home (one small piece of fried chicken, a small container of rice and bok choy). After work, I was bad and stopped off at McDonald's and got myself a grilled chicken snack wrap (because I wasn't really prepared, I didn't have snacks or anything throughout the day) and that held me over until it was dinner time. Bart and I went to this $0.49 chicken wing event at a nearby restaurant and I had 10 chicken wings (with Jamaican Jerk dry rub) and since I wasn't allowed to have pop, I got another glass of water. Unfortunately, the deal with the wings is that it's $0.49 with the purchase of a drink, so I got a strawberry daicquiri instead! BWAHAHAAHA...

Confession: I also ate 12 Ritz crackers last night after we stopped at the grocery store to buy me more healthy snack options for the rest of the week and to plan our dinners...eek! 6 Ritz crackers have 100 calories and with my 12, I ended up with a 200 calorie snack....on top of the grilled chicken snack wrap I had to consume an hour before that...and before the 10 chicken wings I ate after that....

For exercise, Bart and I took Chewy for a nice long walk (it was about a half hour walk alternating between brisk walking and strolling).

And THAT was DAY ONE!

- Catherine

WORKING OUT TO:

Gasolina - Daddy Yankee

Month 1, Day 1: Here We Go...

2009-05-05T12:04:00.002-04:00

...alright folks! Today is the first day of the rest of my journey towards a skinnier self! I am PUMPED! (*fingers crossed* Hope it stays that way!)

I'm so happy that Marti jumped on board with this! The idea of doing it by myself isn't all that empowering since I know myself pretty well and I was already pretty much ready to quit before I'd even started! I read my blog post last night with all my epiphanies and promises and I was like..."WHO THE HELL WROTE THAT?! That does NOT sound like something I would say!" *LOL*

So in going with the wee baby steps plan, here are my three goals for diet for the month of MAY:

Drink AS MUCH water as I possibly can throughout the day. I didn't want to cage myself in by saying 6 - 8 glasses a day because I'm not sure how I'll be able to do that right off the bat and who knows what I'll be like at the end of the month, maybe I'll be drinking more (ha, ha, not bloody likely, but who knows?!). So seeing as how I can go DAYS without drinking plain ol' water AT ALL, I'm going to say AS MUCH as I can with the minimum being at LEAST one glass of water three times a day with my meals.
NO more soda. Coca-Cola, Root Beer, Dr. Pepper and ALL the likes of those...no MORE! I will make the exception and say DIET will be fine, but I hate anything Diet so I doubt that'll be helpful to me at all.
No more french fries. I was going to say no more fast food, but with the way that Bart and I are operating these days and how we're always GO GO GO, I don't think I could really live up to that just yet and since we're trying to set ourselves up to SUCCEED instead of fail, I'm not going to cut it out. But with this goal, even if we do go to a fast food joint I won't feel like I'm cheating or failing but I will be reining myself in by not getting french fries and that ought to help even a little bit, right? Baby steps, baby steps...

My three goals for exercise are:

Take Chewy for a walk every day - for a minimum of at LEAST 15 minutes (I'm saying 15 instead of 30 because like I said before...we're a GO GO GO kinda couple...sometimes it really won't be possible to do the half hour out!)
Make it to the gym (to do a class or a cardio session or whatever) at least ONCE a week.
Take the stairs at ALL the times possible within reason (meaning I will not climb a freakin' sky-high apartment that's over 10 floors up...HAHAHA)

Okay! So those are my goals for the month of MAY!!! I've heard that it takes about two weeks to turn things into a habit so I'm hoping that by going a WHOLE month of doing these things will become ingrained in me and will feel more natural than work and I'll be able to keep it up once I add next months wee little goals.

So with that said, I'm off for lunch!

- Catherine

WORKING OUT TO:

Thats What You Get - Paramore

May 4: Here we go...

2009-05-04T16:20:00.001-04:00

…I woke up this morning and read my blog and I was like….”WHO WROTE THAT!? That doesn’t sound like something I would say!” HAHAHAHA! Already, I’m trying to find a way out of what I said I would do…

But before I succumb to the evil-ness of giving up, I went ahead and did two things. First I made the weight-loss blog so that I can be accountable to everyone who chooses to read it as well as myself and the second (which is actually the most awesome-est) is that Marti came on board with me!!! YAY, so the blog will be updated by both of us!

I’m wanting the blog to be just a little haven for things to write about…daily accountability about meals…confessions…encouragement and forgiveness for when we DO fall off the wagon (as I KNOW I will) and just a place to share tips, recipes, exercise suggestions, etc.

May 3: The weight on my shoulders...

2009-05-03T16:21:00.000-04:00

…but if I’m honest, the weight is actually EVERYWHERE ELSE except my shoulders, but those weren’t neglected either.

Okay folks, I’m gonna get a little serious (well, it’s not serious in the way that it’s emotionally heavy (though, heavy may be the operative word…) and then I’m going to move it to a different blog because I don’t want to mix things up too much! I’ve been thinking about this for a while…and I’ve come to a certain ABSOLUTE conclusion, via a QUOTE:

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”

- Albert Einstein

In my case, it’s more like, doing NOTHING over and over again and expecting spectacular results.

I’m one of those people who pretty much had a lot of things come pretty easily. I’m not embarrassed and I’m not downplaying anything, but then again, I don’t want to overdramatize it, either. I’ve been very lucky with the way my life has gone. My parents worked hard so my brothers and I wouldn’t have to experience the things they had to go through. Anywho, going on with it…in school, things just came easily. I saw letters and I understood the words they formed, I read the words and I understood their meaning (okay, to be honest though, I saw numbers and it definitely took me a LONG time how 8 x 8 was…..64? *LOL* HAHAHAHA…so, not EVERYTHING came easily to me!) and as I grew, things were always just like that. So as I grew, I have to confess I kind of pretty much expected that to continue for everything. So, I’ll have to say that it didn’t actually continue that way in more ways than one…but overall I’m still blessed. The thing that I kind of expected to stay the same was the whole younger person = faster metabolism thing…

I was one of those peeps who were able to eat whatever they wanted without doing much else to maintain the weight. In hindsight, I probably grossed some people out, the way that I ate, but ate I did. Eat first, wipe off all the sauce later, was my lovely motto. So imagine my surprise that the older I got, the more weight I began to put on. Until I have to stop when I walk by a mirror. In absolute SURPRISE. I’m telling you, sometimes the person who stops in the mirror at the same time that I stop in the mirror takes me COMPLTELY off guard. I have to do a complicated little shake-shake or a wiggle-wiggle to make sure that the person in the mirror can copy my EXACT movement for me to admit that the person in looking back in the mirror is ME.

When I first noticed, I didn’t think much of it due to that whole weirdo mindset that if I wanted to lose weight, it would just come off just like that. Hardy-har-har. So I’d wave to the girl in the mirror and feel sorry for whoever made the mirror because it was obviously poorly constructed and contorted and off I'd go with my merry self…(I can’t guarantee it was every single time, but it was probably off to McDonald’s or something – not even trying to be funny, it’s probably 100% true).

My mom and dad actually sat me aside (now, don’t go getting to flustered about this, they did it in a really loving and honest and straight-forward way) and expressed their concerns. Of COURSE I didn’t take it as loving or honest or straightfoward at the time and I cried (and probably went to McDonald’s after both in sadness and probably more in defiance) and then blew it off. But I guess when if you’re my parents and you’re used to your daughter being 100 – 110 pounds for most of her teenage life, seeing her come to visit and be 160….164…168…without a brand new grand baby inside that belly is something to express concern about.

Anywho, I kind of lost track about where I was going with this or what I was trying to say, but cutting to the chase and not mincing words. I don’t like where I am right now – weight-wise. I have absolutely NO excuse, drawback or obstacle. I don’t have the difficulties other people may face when trying to lose weight, I’m not diabetic, I’m not anything that can actually hinder me from losing weight and looking like the person that I used it. The bottom line is I’m LAZY. Lazy in a way that is not at all funny. Lazy in the way that is appalling and if I’m honest with myself, I should be and actually am ashamed of myself. I got SO caught up with that mindset that everything that I want comes so easily to me that I don’t really have to work for anything that I want, that I got complacent and lazy. Being overweight is not a bad thing, I know that I could learn to love the way that I am and still be freakin’ FABULOUS and CUTE…but it’s the LAZINESS that’s not attractive. I now see the meaning behind the words when my friends used to tell me that so-and-so has let herself go (I wonder if those “friends” of mine are saying it to other “friends” that I’ve let myself go…) Blah, blah, blah…the WHOLE point to this post is that enough is ENOUGH for me.

Ever since I moved out and have had to take care of myself, I have been doing a piss-poor job. Not even piss-poor (I don’t know where that word comes from…does it have something to do with guys and their inability to aim properly...hey! I clean the bathroom at my house, I can say it!) I haven’t been doing any kind of job at all and it’s definitely affecting a lot of things. I’m always tired, I’ve noticed I never want to do ANYTHING and it’s probably taking a toll on mine and Bart’s “fun” relationship. When we were first together, I was always up for activities. He’d say, ‘Hey, let’s go for a hike,’ and I’d say ‘Sure thing, I’m already up the mountain!’ He’d suggest that we join an Extreme Frisbie team and I’d tell him I already had my outfit…now he’d be like…let’s take Chewy for a walk and I’d so, go ahead, I’ll see you back here, and then recline back on the LazyBoy. UGH!

Today I was cruising around Facebook and by cruising I mean obsessively stalking in a non-scary kind of way…and I ran across the page of a person I used to go to high school with and my jaw completely dropped. I had to go back and forth between two pictures to make absolutely sure I was actually looking at the right person. I then remembered a fellow craft/Cricut board member starting her own weight loss blog so I toddled over there to see what was going on with her and my jaw dropped. Robyn aka Pink Stamper aka The Pink Loser looks freaking FANTASTIC! She’s GLOWING for crying out loud and she ran a MARATHON! I am in complete AWE, I’m telling you! I pretty much read through her entire blog and she didn’t do anything dramatic like take super, duper weight loss pills. She didn’t hire a high profile personal trainer…she didn’t go through any surgeries…she worked out, worked hard and ate RIGHT.
…and now I’m thinking I WANT TO DO THAT!!! *SCREECH*

I do NOT have to have every single piece of clothing in my closet be black and more resembling a mumu rather than a shirt. I do NOT have to turn my head the other way when I pass anything REFLECTIVE. I do NOT have to cry in the dressing room when I grab a shirt that I my mind THINKS would look good on me (actually, on my old body that my mind will NOT let go of) and then face the reality in the mirror and see what it ACTUALLY looks like on me…if it even gets on me AT ALL.) I do NOT have to pick clothes four sizes larger than what I would actually fit into so that I would feel a bit better that the four-sizes-too-big clothes are too big (I would refer to this as dressing room reverse psychology). I do NOT have to be sick all the time because my body doesn’t get ANY kind of nutrients at all because it doesn’t get any vitamins, proper diet or exercise. I do NOT have to avoid shopping sprees or be jealous of girls who can actually fit into clothes that actually fit their body and I do not have to be envious of girls who have lost weight because if I actually did SOMETHING about it, I might be able to, too.

Okay. So that’s what was on my mind tonight and I think I’d like to try Robyn’s way of starting her own weight-loss blog and being absolutely 100% truthful about it. Lying on blogs is like lying to myself and it seriously won’t help either, so I’m going to try REALLY hard and I’m going to STICK to it. So I will get that started soon and I will keep most of that content on that blog and keep this one was my crafty area. I know there are a lot of crafters out there who are tryin the same thing and any and ALL tips and suggestions would be TOTALLY welcome!!!

Going to end this now…on a really funny, ironic kind of note….Bart just came home from class…and brought me an Oreo McFlurry.

The Crafty Losers

Things I've Learned...(Part II)

Day 39: Motivated Slacker...

Day eleventy billion and I'm still here!

Things I've Learned...(Part I)

it's the missing half of the team!!!

Day 21: 5...

Day 20: Confession...

Day 19: 10 freakin' inches!!!!

Day 18: I Heart Leftovers...

Day 17: Diet, thy enemy is the WEEKEND!

Day 16: If I knew then, what I know now...

Day 15: Wanting is needing...

Day 14: Two weeks ago today...

coming up for air

Day 13: Note to self...

Day 12: Exceptions to the rules...

Letters I'll Never Send: Part I

Day 11: Reality bites...

Book Review: Skinny Bitch

Day 9 & 10: It all works...

Day 8: Punch, Drink, Kick, Drink, Jab, Drink...

Deskercise

Day 6 & 7: Where did my hip go?

exercise *sigh*

Running for a Cause...

Day 4-5: Oh the weekend...

catchin up!

Day 3: Getting a jump start...

foodie

Day 2: Of This I am Certain...

*sigh*

Burn to the Beat

Day 1: It seems like every five minutes...

Month 1, Day 1: Here We Go...

May 4: Here we go...

May 3: The weight on my shoulders...

exercise sigh

sigh