The anticipation is killing me!!!

Pin It This coming Sunday is the Canadian launch of the new PointsPlus system at Weight Watchers.  The UK has had their version (ProPoints) for a while now and it launched in the US this week.  As most of you know, my regular weigh in day is Saturday (the day before the launch!), so rather than mess with my mojo and change my weigh in day (not going to happen...I love my Sat morning leader!), I will weigh in on Saturday as usual and then Sunday morning I will attend the launch meeting and pick up a points calculator - sadly I will not get my books on the new program until NEXT Saturday when I weigh in....BUT I am an e-tools user, and I understand that it will launch on e-tools on Sunday night...thus giving me the info I will need!

I am excited and nervous all at the same time.  I've followed the WW Points systems (yes, plural) over the years - probably since the program came out in the 90s, so even times when I'm not on WW, I can look at a food item and with a fair degree of accuracy either KNOW the point value OR by looking at the NI, can quickly guess at the point value...not so much with this new program...back to square one!  BUT I think this will be good for me.  After having lost over 90lbs in the past 14 months, I think my body is ready for a change and this could be what I need to kick my butt to the finish line!  Hmmm....maybe it'll be enough to hit 100lbs by the end of December!! lol That's being REALLY optimistic :-)

For now I am living vicariously through my US blogging buddies (thanks TJ and Danica for the quick and detailed reviews!)  I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEW BOOKS!!!!  I love new WW books, gadgets and cookbooks...I might have to buy a new cookbook too :-)

The ultimate snack...(a review on Vitatops)

Pin It My new favorite snack:
One deep chocolate VitaTop (currently 1 point...we'll see what it'll be under the new PointsPlus program!!)
1/2 cup Scotsburn Hoofprints low fat frozen yogurt (currently 3 points)

Heat the VitaTop for 20 seconds in the microwave on high and top with frozen yogurt.  Oh my!

These VitaTops are amazing!  100 calories and 8 grams of fibre and chocolate all the way through.  I've tried the VitaMuffins (same flavour) and the Vitatops and they taste the same - the VitaTop are cheaper at Costco - 12 for 9.99 I think is what I paid.  I'd love it if we had some of the other Vitalicious items here...Vitalicious, where are you??  They appear to have muffin mixes, but I have been unable to locate them.  The only things I can find locally are the muffins (rarely) at Sobeys and Superstore (4 muffins for $4.99) and they only have blueberry bran or cranberry something - sometimes you can get the double chocolate.  I'm not fussy on bran muffins, so have not tried the fruity ones yet...I don't know if I'm prepared to spend $4.99 to try 4 muffins that I might hate...the chocolate ones, I give a 6 out of 5 (yes, they are THAT good!!)  I really wish we could get the Apple Crumbe VitaTops here...

I'll do a quick mini review (I believe I've spoken about this before) on the Scotburn low fat Hoofprints frozen yogurt...YUMMY!!  5/5 - better than the ice cream in fact!

Ok, this must be my week of reviews - I think talking about food is keeping me from thinking about the issues of the day/week :-)

Recipe review: Weight Watchers Magazine Winter Squash Soup

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Had this at Mom's place yesterday.  One cup is only one Point.  My first thought was "only one cup?!"  BUT I forgot...squash is very dense and filling.  This soup was GREAT!  Mom left out the celery, used dried rosemary and did not add the cheese or pumpkin seeds (simply didn't have these items in the house).  I don't think they were missed at all.  At the table we added a touch of Tabasco sauce, but I think when I make it I will add some red pepper flakes (I like it spicy whereas my family..not so much!).  I may also add a dollop of light sour cream.  I give this recipe a 4/5 (would have given it a 5, but I'm still learning to like pureed soups...I'm fishing around for chunks of chicken or something!)  This would be a nice soup to cook on a cold winter's night to warm you up from the inside out.

Strange things are happening

Pin It So yesterday when I lost my 1.8lbs it put me down another Point on the daily point scale.  I've often wondered how people could possibly live on such low point values (I mean some people have like 18 points per day!!!)  I am thinking that your body eventually adjusts to less food...well, I think (hope!) that's finally starting to happen.  Last week I was allowed 27 points per day, this week 26...and tonight I really struggled to get the minimum!!  Very strange indeed.  I wonder...is this a new thing or just a freak occurrence - seems to me I struggled yesterday to get my points in.  Now I always eat my daily points and often eat 2/3 or more of my weekly 35 points...yes, my friends, this is odd...two days in a row at 26 points and I am absolutely stuffed.

Oh well, just thought I'd share.  Anyone else experience this?

Do you ever...

Pin It feel like some people in your life are NOT happy for your weightloss?  They either make snide comments about it, or dismiss it altogether...  I'm very blessed in that I only have a couple people in my life who appear to feel this way...I just wish I could understand why.  Do they prefer the "fat" Tanya?  Have I changed?  I think I'm still the same person as I always was.  Perhaps it is their own insecurities.  Maybe my weight helped them to take focus off a flaw they have in their own life?  I dunno....I just got to thinking about this today.  Not sure why, but I feel like I have to figure it out.  If you are reading this blog, then please know I am not referring to you!!  I just have a couple people in my life that I thought I was fairly close with who never even ACKNOWLEDGE that I've changed.  I know life is not all about me, but come on!  I've lost a person the size of my Dad's sister!!!

OK, pity party over - I do have an amazing support system and wonderfully amazing friends and family, so I'll focus on this now.  I just wondered if anyone else experienced this?

Another crazy week comes to an end

Pin It I totally forgot to share what I did last Saturday afternoon!!  My friend Jewell kindly asked me to take their family photos for their Christmas cards!  I was soooo honoured :-)  So, I borrowed my friend Bianca's nice Canon digital SLR (nearly impossible to take a bad photo with this baby!) and out I went.  When I got out there, the snow had started (first of the year) to fly!  We had planned to do some outdoor and some indoor photos, so the snow was a nice touch.  I had a ball!  I was pleased with the pictures and I think Jewell and her hubby were too.  Sent them for printing tonight to Wal-Mart, so hopefully the printed versions will be OK!  I would love to do this more...but I think I'd have to get myself something better than my point and shoot Canon. 

So that was Saturday, then Sunday I had lunch with my friend Tina (it had been forever since we'd gotten together for a chat...it's a shame we live so far away from each other...teeheee - she lives next door!) and then headed to Mom and Dad's for the afternoon.  Met my brother and his girls there and had a nice afternoon.  My oldest niece, Kayleigh, bless her little heart, chopped her hair off to her shoulders and is going to donate her ponytail (to Locks of Love or something similar)...what a kid!  Poor Kam wants to do the same I think, but her hair is only just past her shoulders...her time will come though!  Both girls have such amazing hearts.

Monday was somewhat normal (still dealing with illness in the office, which is tough) and then Tuesday I did CPR/First Aid and AED (defibrillator) training all day...and then watched some lady fall backwards down the escalator on my way home from work!!!  Thankfully a co-worker of mine was in front of me and he caught her before she seriously hurt herself.

Yesterday I headed to our Moncton/Dieppe office to assist them with their first ever client reception since they joined our company.  The event was a huge success I'm please to say...the only bad part...all my fault...I gave into the appetizers at the reception...I was 3 coconut shrimp into things before I discovered that 4 of them were SIXTEEN MISERABLE POINTS!!!  That's more than half my total for the day!  Oh my....today I stuck to my target points, but unfortunately did not get to the gym because the power in my area was out until just about an hour ago :-(  BUT I did go to the gym at the hotel last night!! Yay me!

Sorry for the ramble - meant to post mid-week, but the week kinda got away from me and, well, here we are...Friday again! yay :-)

Off to see Mama Mia the musical tomorrow afternoon - looking forward to seeing it live!  I love Abba...grew up listening to Abba and Air Supply....such a child of the 70s I am.

An ode to my support system

Pin It I started this day, as I do most days, thankful for the support system that I have in my life.  This is only solidified by the response each week to my postings on Facebook about my losses (and gains!). 

I guess I know other people don't have great support systems, but until I watched this week's episode of The Biggest Loser, I never realized just how bad it is for some people.  This week the contestants received videos from home to keep them motivated...all but one girl.  The producers had reached out to her family to send in a video, but never received a response.  I felt devastated for Ada.  I just could not imagine having my family shun me like that!  Being on The Biggest Loser must be so difficult and then to know that you have nobody at home rooting for you...so sad.  I cried my heart out for her.  In the end, the other 7 contestants created a video for her telling her how much they loved, supported and admired her.  She has done a truly amazing job and is a big inspiration. 

I guess all this to say that I realized today even MORE how much I value my support system.  My family (even my 7 and 10 year old nieces!), friends (long-term and new ones), people at my church, my co-workers, my neighbours, people at Weight Watchers, my blog readers (I know there's SOMEONE out there!!) - you all mean so much to me and your support matters more to me than you will ever know.  I am so blessed to have such an amazing support system and I never take it for granted.  There is no way I could do this alone - you know what they say, "it takes a village"!  It's not just one avenue of support that keeps me going, it's all of them together - the friends and family combined with the WW system (healthy eating, NOT a diet!).  I've also made new friends on this journey - online and in person and I even have a follower on my blog now!  I've even had people tell me that I am an inspiration to THEM!  I don't think I've ever been an inspiration to others...how amazing is that?! 

I'm feeling very pumped up today.  I lost 2.2lbs this week and am 1.2lbs away from 90lbs gone and I am hoping and praying that I will reach it next Saturday.  Last night my oldest niece gave me a bedtime hug and whispered in my ear "my arms go all the way around you" and I teased her and told her that her arms must have grown longer and she looks at me and says "ORRRR you got skinnier!"  I love my girls!

This week will be a struggle as I have two planned meals out, plus I am out of town for work Thurs and part of Fri and I find eating away from the comfort of home very difficult...where I used to LOVE to eat out, now I dread it (unless it's Swiss Chalet or McDonald's [salads, not Big Macs!]) as there is always that lack of control...oh well, at least the hotel has a nice gym and a pool that I can use - no excuses!!!

Some photos from my meals this week

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cheddar cauliflower

see, orange on the inside too!

roasted veggies (cheddar cauliflower) and chicken

club house quesadilla (10pts including the sour cream!)

bird's eye view of my quesadilla

Comparisons

Pin It I'll start today with acknowledging my third gain of my journey.  I gained 0.2lbs this week.  I was pleased that my leader wanted to help me figure out WHY I gained - it's not a sodium-retaining T.O.M., I journalled and I stuck to program...so next week I am bringing her my tracking journal to review and we'll see what she says.

This morning I was reading Skinny Emmie's blog this morning and I found it hit close to home.  One of Emmie's readers wrote in and asked her:

"I was wondering if you struggle with comparisons. I catch myself trying to figure out if I am bigger or the woman who sits down across from me is. I tell myself it’s because I don’t have a sense of what size I really am and a comparison would help me figure it out, but I think it’s really because if I can find someone I am a little smaller than, then I will feel better about myself, and recognizing this makes me feel horrible. I also find myself tracking other people’s progress with weight loss and I get depressed when someone ‘beats’ me or passes me. I am wondering if this is just me or if these are common things… and if so how you deal with them?"

I realize that part of this question hit very close to home for me.  The part about looking at other people (in the malls, on the bus, driving down the road) and trying to figure out if I'm bigger than they are.  I don't necessarily feel better about myself if they are bigger than me - quite honestly I struggle to even recognize if they ARE.  This relates to my body image issue that we've chatted about before.  I am thankful that I don't get depressed when someone else on this journey 'beats' me - so far I've found this very encouraging to see other people succeed - as long as they are doing things right and not starving themselves or on some ridiculous diet (grapefruit?!!), then I figure GOOD FOR YOU! 

Emmie posted a MUST list on today's blog post and I would like to borrow it (all credit goes to her!):

I must:

• Be appreciative of where I am in my journey.
• Be aware of the negative effect that comparisons are having on my self-esteem.
• Not be afraid to congratulate myself on a job well done.
• Acknowledge that what I’m doing is hard, and others might do it faster, but this is MY journey and I have to own it.

Review: Shaklee Natural Cleaning Products & GIVEAWAY!!

Pin It Review: Shaklee Natural Cleaning Products & GIVEAWAY!!

Turkey meatloaf that doesn't TASTE like turkey!

Pin It Oh my, this meatloaf as SOOO good!  I found it online here: http://20pointsaday.blogspot.com/2008/01/what-in-world-do-you-eat.html  I made a few modifications:  I only had 0.89lbs of turkey, I had no eggs, so I used 3 Tbsp of egg whites (egg beater type), I added a bit of orange pepper, added garlic, added some chipotle chili powder and some Epicure meatloaf seasoning and I added 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce (chipotle maple stuff that I bought while in the US last month) over the top before I put it in the oven.  Next time I will make it in muffin tins to make portioning easier.  It was SO amazing that I ate TWO servings (shame on me, I know, but I had the points available to cover it).  I am happy to say I will be having leftovers tomorrow night for supper.  Sorry I did not take any photos, but while it tasted amazing, it doesn't look so pretty :-)

Oh, forgot to mention - if you make 5 servings out of this, it works out to 4 pts each if you make it with my modifications.

Lest we forget...

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Apple craving...strange

Pin It So this week, today in particular, I have been craving gala apples BIG TIME.  Sobeys has them on sale this week and they are the best apples I have ever eaten.  I picked up a few on my way to visit Mom in the hospital last Friday...went and got more on Sunday...and picked up another half-dozen tonight on my way home.  I had one in my purse and I just HAD to eat it.  Strange...usually that happens with a chocolate bar, not an apple :-)

Left work a scootch early tonight and headed for the gym hoping to avoid the supper hour crowds.  Turns out 4:15 is a great time to arrive at the gym!  Hardly a soul around and I even got to use the cardio equipment upstairs (away from all the people) which I never get to use!  I did 10 minutes (record!) on the stair master/stair climber and 21 minutes on the treadmill plus 5 minutes on a new (to me) machine.  It's kinda like the elliptical, but the handles don't move and it's more like the pedals are climbing a wall than going in walking motion (clear as mud, I know).  It's odd - there is no name on the machine...but let me tell you, it was HARD!  I'm going to see if I can find a picture of it...hang on.  Ok, it's something like this: 

I was dying after 5 mins!  I will have to see if I can do 7 mins tomorrow...stay tuned.

Well, tomorrow is Remembrance Day, so if you enjoy your freedom, thank a Vet or one of our currently serving heroes .  We are so blessed to live in a free country like Canada.  Thank you to those who fought and continue to fight in order to keep our country free.

Weight Watchers DVD Review

Pin It At WW on Saturday they had their exercise DVDs on sale 50% off, so I bought this one:



As a beginner, I'd rate this a 4/5. 
Certainly worth the $5.50 I paid for it!

 Tonight I tried the Yoga/Pilate's workout.  I've never really tried Yoga before and only tried Pilate's once...let's just say the "twins" got in the way when I tried Pilates - laying on the floor, I had major trouble seeing the TV.  This workout did not involve any floor movements, so I was OK in that respect.  I thought it was easy, but in the end I was sweating (takes a lot to make me sweat!), so I guess it was a good workout.  I liked that it was only 20 minutes long too.  There are (as you can see) 5 different workouts.  I find doing workout DVDs in my apartment difficult - I live on the 2nd floor of my building and I have laminate flooring, which carries sound BIG TIME, so I'm very limited on what I can do without angering the neighbours...the yoga workout is one I can do!  Tomorrow I'm scheduled to hit the gym and maybe Wed night I'll try the dance workout on here...stay tuned! 

Ooh, I almost forgot!

Pin It A friend of mine suggested to me that she thought I should write an article for the WW magazine for their "success story" section once I have reached my goal...hmmm, something to think about for sure!  I've never written an article before (never really written anything besides this blog!).  I feel honoured that she thinks my story is worthy of sending in :-)

Thoughts??

Whew, what a week!

Pin It Well this week started out normal enough until Mom called me on Wednesday to let me know she had gone to the doctor's because she woke up with numbness in the left side of her face and her left arm.  The duty doctor told her that she had a pinched nerve and sent her home with an increase in her blood pressure meds and a baby aspirin per day.  Thursday morning it was no better so Dad took her to the ER where they admitted her and determined she had had mini strokes in the past (not sure when) and they were trying to determine what was going on with her face and arm.  She finally saw the neurologist today after two nights and three days in the hospital and it has been determined that she had a stroke.  She is unable to drive for at least a month and will be off work for a while.  She has to have some physio on her hand/arm to regain full use.  The doctor seemed optimistic that she would fully recover, but she will have to have her BP strictly monitored for the rest of her life and she is now on cholesterol meds as well.  She was glad to be "let out of the closet" this afternoon (they had no room for her, so they had her in what seemed to be a little tiny lounge aka a closet) and was heading home.  She seems to be in good spirits, but I think she will get bored quite fast being at home all day and not able to be on the go like she's used to!!  Poor Mom...

Now normally when life throws me lemons, I make lemon meringue pie and eat it all (not literally!), but this time I took those lemons and turned them into a life lesson and made sugar-free lemonade!  Again, not literally :-)  I took this life lesson to inspire me to continue my journey to lose weight and eat healthy and to ensure that I never develop high BP (which runs in our family).  It's scary when it hits SO close to home (I am being literal this time).  I was down 0.8lbs at WW today and was pleased with this.  Our lesson this week was on fitness and metabolism - deep down I know that lean muscle burns more calories than fat and to gain lean muscle, I must exercise, but admittedly I have been rather slack.  The gym is calling my name...I've just chosen to ignore it quite well so far!  I did buy a new fitness DVD at WW today (they're on half price) and I will give it a try...tomorrow maybe.

Sooooo, I hear WW is changing their program again.  I'm not sure how I feel about this, but I am more than willing to give it a try.  I am hoping that trying something new will boost my weight loss a little and motivate me more.  Sometimes I think I've gotten complacent with the current program, so perhaps I need something new.  I found an article online that gave a brief description -sounds like the UK has been a trial area for it.

Happy Weekend everyone!