Blue Menu Sweet Chili Lemon Grass Chicken

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Package photo vs actual contents...not bad

Tried this for the first time yesterday for lunch.  It was nice and sweet with just the right amount of lemon grass flavour.  The Jasmine rice was nice (my fav!), but frankly there was too much of it.  The point value for this frozen dinner was 7pts, at least half of that would have been for the rice.  I would say that the rice could have been cut by at least 25%.  I would give this a 4.5/5.  Price, taste, texture, quality were all excellent, as was the serving size.  I would buy this again, but maybe would add some more veggies to "healthy" it up a bit.

Close up of actual food

Close up of package

PS

Pin It Lost 2 more pounds this week!  It's been a long time since I've had 2 pound losses two weeks in a row!  Only .4lbs away from 80 pounds gone.  Next weekend is my one  year WW anniversary, so hopefully I'll celebrate it with another 5 lb star and an 80 lb loss (or more)!

Jell-O Pudding Snacks, Reduced Calorie, Dulce de Leche

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I give this product 4.5 out of 5 stars.  It's a great one point snack that feels sinful.  The only reason I did not give it a 5/5 rating is the price - $3.69 for 6 tiny pudding cups is a bit high in my mind...if these are included when the 6 pack goes on sale for $1.99, then they will warrant a 5-star rating.  When you peal back the top you are greeted with an ewy gooey caramel topping over a nice light vanilla pudding...just what I needed to top off my breakfast! (I don't normally have pudding for breakfast, but I ate late today...around 11:30, so it's kinda like lunch for me!)

Is September Over Yet?

Pin It I always find the month of September extremely busy and this year has been no different.  All I can say, is I will be so happy to see October roll around next week. 

One week from Sunday is the Run for the Cure - I'm confident that I will make good time on the walk, but don't think this year will bring any running.  Maybe next year.  I'm actually considering the Bluenose Marathon (not the entire marathon!) in May with a friend of mine.  We are thinking about maybe doing the 10k - half running, half walking - lofty goal, but we have 8 months to get ready :-)

Two weeks from today I will be heading to Ottawa to visit Shondi - I can hardly wait!  The day after I arrive we are heading to New York state to do some shopping...oh my, I love shopping in the US!  Target, WalMart Supercenters, Kohls, JC Penney!!  I'll also get to see my old childhood friend, Linda, and my friend Carlie.  I might also get to see my friend Julie from Barrie if she manages to swing a road trip to Ottawa.  Should be a great week!

Food has been much easier this week - not so many outings that involved delicious, tempting food!  Exercise has been a bit lacking - only walked twice this week, but it's better than not at all.  Next week I hope to improve that by at least one, maybe two walks.  I'm out of town Thurs/Fri, but am staying at a Delta hotel, so hope to take advantage of the pool and gym while I'm there - might as well make the most of the nice facility!

Tomorrow is weigh in day, so stay tuned!

Tanya

Golf Day

Pin It So today was our firm's annual golf day.  I always hesitate to commit to this event as the fun depends on so many factors...I hate when I get teamed up with people who take golfing too seriously and forget to have fun!  I had an awesome team this year and we golfed a 72 (which apparently is Par at this course)...not good enough to win, but good enough for us!  Food is another issue at golf day - burgers or sausages for lunch...figured the burger was the lesser of two evils; roast beef dinner with cheesecake for supper.  The dinner was amazing...kinda hard to count the points, but I figured with all of my non-water beverages, the burger and the supper/dessert tonight, I was only over my daily points today by 12 points, leaving me plenty of my weekly 35 remaining!  No grand plans for mega food this week, so the rest of the week should be a 100% on program week...No special events, no meetings, no outings with friends for dinner - I guess I should go get some groceries since it looks like I'll be home for meals lots this week!

Bloomers in my mailbox

Pin It Was awoken at 5:45 this morning by my neighbour's booming music, Saturday morning...as you can imagine, this did not make me happy.  On a brighter side, I was in my sneakers/gym clothes and out the door by 7:25 and had a fantastic walk.  It was an AMAZING day today.  I walked 5.56 kms at 11 minutes per kilometer while listening to a 2 Fit Chicks and a Microphone podcast.  Shauna (one of the podcasters) wrote the book The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl, which I loved (wrote about this in a previous post).  They brought up the subject of almond butter...hmm, I think I'd like to try it.  It costs about $8-$9 per jar in my grocery store, but it seems fairly easy to make if you have a food processor - maybe something to try this fall

So I had another "athletic injury" - not as dramatic as falling off the bike, but by the end of my, my left knee was killing me and has continued to bother me all day.  Funny enough, it feels better when standing/walking as opposed to sitting/laying down...hope it will be OK for my walk tomorrow night.

I got home from my walk and decided to check my mail and, low and behold, I had a package in my mailbox!!  One of my dearest friends who lives in the UK sent me some Marks & Spencer panties that I love!!!  And they fit me beautifully!  I have to say, the M&S panties are the most comfy I've ever worn :-)

Soooo, food-a-palooza wasn't enough to keep me down today... I lost a WHOLE POUND!!  I was so excited/happy!  I would have been doing the dance of joy if I'd maintained this week, so to lose a whole POUND, made me ecstatic!!!

Spent the afternoon/evening in Seabright with my friend Renee.  I love spending time out there...it's so peaceful and beautiful!

Food-a-palooza...oh, and new job (sort of)

Pin It This week has been a real food-a-palooza.  Lunch meetings, partner-cooked breakfasts at work, retirement parties, friends in from out of town, another lunch event...oh my!  Tuesday the partners and executive directors of our office cooked breakfast for us (Run for the Cure fundraiser) - sausages, bacon, eggs, bagels...and fruit, but the fruit was all cut up together with strawberries, so sadly, I could not eat the only healthy item on the menu due to my strawberry allergy...On Wednesday we had stuffed bread sandwiches and spinach salad...and then one of the partners in our firm came in and the next thing you know we're having this scrumptious dessert called cadix from one of our local restaurants (Salty's)...OH MY!  By about 2pm I had a pounding headache - from all the sugar I think...Wednesday night was a retirement party for one of the partners, Thursday at lunch, our group at work was taken out to Salty's for lunch and while I did well with the meal, when everyone at the table ordered dessert...I simply could not resist (note this is major dessert #2 this week!), so I ordered apple crisp thinking it would be not too bad...it was huge!  Thursday night I went out for supper with a friend of mine visiting from St. John's - thankfully we went to Swiss Chalet where I had control of what I was eating and was quite familiar with the menu and it's nutritional info (SC is my "safe" place!).  Friday, finally, was a "normal" day.  I think the main problem with the week was all of the unknown variables with respect to the food I was eating - 90% of it did not come from a chain restaurant that provided nutritional info.  I had to guess on both the cadix and the apple crisp and I hope I guessed on the high end. 

It is Saturday morning now and I finished my week with 3 weekly points remaining and 22 activity points in the bank...NEVER have I eaten this many of my weekly points and I am terrified!  My scales are not looking good at the moment... I know I shouldn't get on my scales at all, but I never like to be surprised when I get to WW (unless it's a good surprise), so I usually spot check a couple of times during the week and I just got on them this morning (6am) and I'm up about 2lbs according to the scales this morning...I don't weigh in for another few hours, but I have my doubts I'll drop 2lbs in 3 hours!!  I hate the thoughts of a gain - especially one that will take me below my 75lb loss :-(  I think I'd be OK with maintaining this week...if I lose, I'll die of shock!  I hate playing these games with myself - it's times like these in the past that I've fallen off the wagon and given up going to WW meetings - now, while I did not "cheat" or "fall off the wagon" per se this week, I do not feel good about my food choices.  I counted and wrote down every little thing I ate...I just don't know...I will have to force myself to go to the meeting this morning and face the music.

On a more positive note, it was announced this week that I am now the Team Leader for our local admin group in the office.  Should be an interesting road ahead.  Not sure if everyone is happy about the change, but I am looking forward to hopefully making a difference in my little piece of the firm. 

The weekend and to Zumba or Not to Zumba

Pin It The weekend has been great.  Worked from home on Friday and got out for a walk over my lunch hour, which was nice.  Spent yesterday doing my usual Saturday morning routine (WW, breakfast, talking to Mom on the phone) and spent some quiet time at the library reading magazines - did you know that the library carries CURRENT (and past) issues of any magazine you can think of??  You have to read the current issues there, but they let you take home any that are not current!  It's great - I've taken out a bunch of Cooking Light magazines, which I love; Prevention; Oxygen; Shape, etc.  Last night Cheryl and I walked about 5k and today after church I went to Mom and Dad's  and Mom and I walked about 3.5k, then had supper with the family.  I am now making a big batch of hamburger/vegetable soup (my pot is SO full that I'm afraid it might overflow if it boils to high!!) and then I'm heading out for walk #2 with Cheryl around 8:15 or so.  Hard to believe the weekend is over...

Yesterday at WW I got my 75 pound medal for my key chain!  I'm down 76.6 lbs now :-)  So excited!  I'll post pictures of my medals to date soon.

So I've been wanting to try Zumba.  I would really like to SEE Zumba in person before I try it, but I think the gyms frown on people Zumba-stalking...so I might just have to bite the bullet and give it a try.  Cheryl goes to a class on Friday nights that is VERY small...I may ask her tonight if they allow drop ins...this may be the week!  I'm a bit scared - I have the rhythm/coordination of a turtle...should be funny...hope there are no video cameras!!

Product reviews

Pin It I have tried a few new (to me) products lately that I thought I would share with you.

M&M Meat Shop sells frozen marinated chicken breasts in a variety of flavours and I recently decided (since chicken at the supermarket was so flippin' expensive) to give it a try.  I think I am in love!  I tried the honey garlic and it is AMAZING.  Now I don't usually buy the frozen chicken breasts like these as I usually find them watery and gross...not to mention the fact that they shrink up to nothing!  These ones didn't shrink, had a lovely flavour and, best of all, were low in POINTS!  They give nutritional info on the box, but not all chicken breasts (as we all know) are created equal, so I weigh them as I cook them and they average 2-2.5 points per breast...amazing.

My second favorite new find are the Thinsation Fudge Dipped bars...OH MY!  If that bar were a man, I'd marry it on the spot!!  As good as a regular chocolate bar, albeit not as large, and high in fibre, so only ONE point per bar!  Careful if you eat more than one though - two bars become 3.5 points very quickly! They also have Nutter Butter dipped bars, which are very good, but not nearly as good as the Fudge ones :-)  For anyone in Nova Scotia, I have found these at Sobeys and they have had them on sale for 2 boxes for $5 for the past couple of weeks...well worth it!

A few other worthwhile finds (food-wise) are LaTortilla Factory tortillas (some of the large ones are one point) - found so far only at Pete's Frootique; PC Proadvantage yogurt (raspberry or vanilla) - simply the BEST yogurt I've ever had (1/2 cup = 2pts); and of course, VitaMuffins!!  These are hard to find around here, but I understand Costco carries them at a very reasonable price.  I love the double chocolate ones heated with a bit of ultra low fat cool whip on top...yummy!  A nice one point snack.  I'm hoping to find the VitaMuffin mixes when I go shopping in NY next month.

Two more full days before my next weigh in.  I am desperately hoping and praying for at least a 0.4lb loss so that I can get my 75lb medal for my key chain...woohoo!!  I was so close last weekend.  I didn't really mind though - It's kinda fun to be able to celebrate with friends and I've made a ton of good friends at WW.  Last week was our visit from Hurricane Earl, so our meeting got cancelled...I guess I'm just saving my milestone loss for this week when I can celebrate with all my WW friends  :-)

Where do I fit in??

Pin It Do you ever get the feeling that you don't fit in?  Like someone is going to come up and tap you on the shoulder "um, excuse me Miss, we have nothing here for you..."  I'm feeling that way when I go shopping now.  It seems that most of the time I can fit into a size 14/15 (depending on the store), but when I go into a store that only carries "regular" (I hate that term) sizes, I keep expecting someone to come up to me and tell me they don't make my size.  When I go into Reitmans, I now technically wear the "regular" sizes, but I find myself feeling like I don't belong there, but when I go over to the plus size side, again, I feel like I don't fit in.  I had a bit of a NSV (non-scale victory) tonight when I went to Penningtons, I found out that I am now into their smallest size.  The lady actually told me "if these pants don't fit you, you'll have to go to Reitmans"!  I still don't see myself as being non-Penningtons shopper!  Anyways, all that to say, once I'm done with Penningtons and Addition-Elle, I'm not sure where I'll go!  I don't know HOW to shop anywhere else :-)

Some of my purchases (great deals!!) tonight (yes, I know I am going away next month to the US and should save myself for that trip, but I am desperate for work clothes!)...sorry for the pics - I was using my self timer AND I hate pics of myself...

The longest journey begins with a single step

Pin It I have recently begun walking again.  I used to walk (off and on) many years ago, but unfortunately my walking partner and I were not well matched (she was significantly faster and in much better shape than I).  I have begun walking with another friend of mine lately an we have discovered we are very walking-compatible!  Sometimes our walks are short (5km-ish) and sometimes long (8km-ish), but we always seem to be on the same wavelength and we walk at the same pace.  I set a goal for myself a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to have walked 100 kilometers before I do the 5K CIBC Run for the Cure.  Since around the middle of August I have walked 65.33 kms and I still have almost a month to go before the 5K!  I'm having a bit of fun charting different walks in our neighbourhood - rarely do we take the same walk twice and I don't think we've ever done the same route twice in a row.  I have been using www.mapmywalks.com which is great!  I also log my mileage on Sparkpeople.com, which will, based on my current weight, calculate calories burned.  I guess I'm a bit of a facts and figures girl - I love seeing the numbers!  Hoping the nice weather continues long into the Fall so that we can continue walking - we do have water aerobics to fall back on, but I think we both prefer the walking.

Well, I'm off to begin a busy week!

Welcome world

Pin It Well, I have been blogging for over a year now - about this and that, but mainly about my weightloss journey over the past 11 months.  I have been debating going public for a few months now and have finally made the leap!  It's a bit nerve-wracking not knowing who is reading (nor NOT reading) your blog.  My old blog was read by a few select very close friends...be gently with me please!

Please browse my archived posts and feel free to leave comments (please keep it clean and respectful!).  I am very excited to be part of the public blogging world!

A "final" goal and going public...

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So, I started my weight watchers journey 11 months and one day ago (October 3, 2009) today.  I think in the past the biggest thing holding me back from starting this journey was looking at the total amount that I had to lose and thinking...gee, how long will THAT take me??  I'd average it out at 2lbs per week and think "I can't face that right now".  The difference this time is that I have not been thinking much about the end - in terms of when I want to get there, that is.  I have been taking it small goal by small goal - one small goal at a time.  I am now close (well, relatively) to a goal.  Not the official WW goal, but to the goal that the trainer at the gym said is realistic for my body type.  To reach this "gym goal" I need to lose an additional 35 pounds.  In the past 11 months, I have averaged about 1.5/lbs per week, so I feel somewhat safe in placing a date on when I want to reach my gym goal.  That date is February 5, 2011.  One month, minus a day after my 36th birthday.  In order to do this, I will need to continue averaging 1.5lbs/week or 7lbs/month for the next 5 months.  I have no idea if I will be happy with my gym goal once I get there, but I find it easier to focus on than focusing on the "world's" standard for my height.  If I'm not happy when I get there, I will continue on my journey.  One thing I need to work on is seeing myself differently.  People make comments about how different I look, but when I look in the mirror, I really don't see any difference.  Logically I know that I look different, I just can't see it and I'm not sure why.  I really need to get this figured out in my brain or I'll never be happy with how I look...thoughts? suggestions? referrals to a shrink?? lol

There, I've put the date out there for all the world (well, both of my blog followers) to see.

I am also debating making my blog public (*GASP*).  I know there are a lot of people who struggle with the same issues I do and if I can help even one other person with my journey, it will be worth it.  I enjoy writing my blog, although I have not been very regular at it!  I'm working on that, I promise :-)  I am looking for suggestions on what to call my blog once I go public...Tanya's Life is not very catchy....suggestions???

Well, I think I better go to bed before I eat any more food today!

My shower with Earl

Pin It So this is supposed to be our big bad hurricane.  So far Earl seems quite angry.  I went out to WW this morning just as the rain was starting - I was only out for about half an hour and it went from mild rain to torrential downpour very quickly.  Mom and Dad are without power in Cole Harbour and they said the radio is reporting that we have no power here in Clayton Park...hmmm...I like this version of no power! ;-)  So far, we've been fortunate not to have lost power.  My AC is still blasting and my computer/TV are both still on.  I am truly blessed...lol it's the little things that truly make me happy!  It is looking quite blustery out there as Whinny the Pooh would say, and the rain is coming in under my AC, but all is good - I have towels!

Well, I'm off to watch some DVRd shows before I lose power and have to resort to reading :-)

Stay dry (and grounded!) everyone!

PS - I booked my flight to Ottawa this week!!  Yay!  Can't wait to go visit Shondi :-)