I actually walked TO somewhere tonight

Pin It I know you're not surprised that I WALKED...but this is the first time probably since I was a kid that I used my feet as my mode of transportation as opposed to just going out for a walk.  I had a doctors appointment around suppertime and I took a couple hours off this afternoon to enjoy the beautiful day and decided I would walk to my doctors appointment.  Then I decided I would stop at the library to return/pick up some things.  All in total, I walked for about an hour AND did "errands" along the way :-)  I am always so quick to jump in the car to go to these places, but I just wanted to be outside today...and my doctor's office is only about 2 kms from my place...really no excuse (not to mention, it's almost right on one of my regular walking routes!) 

So, as my PT and I suspected, my issue is my rotator cuff.  Calling tomorrow to make my first physio appointment.  My doctor said these injuries are quick to happen, but unfortunately take a long time to heal :-(  Oh well, the weather is getting nice, so I'll concentrate on long walks for now and will get back to the weights when my physiotherapist says it's OK.

Tonight's breakfast for supper....

Spring has spurng, the grass has riz...

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almost...well, Spring HAS sprung.  I think it'll be a while yet before the grass grows though...soon my friends, soon.  My friend in the UK said that her husband mowed the lawn (garden in the UK) this week!  Tomorrow is Daffodil Day here in Nova Scotia (likely in other places as well).  Daffodils are sold in support of the Canadian Cancer Society - a sure sign of Spring!

Went for another walk tonight - 5.44 kms in an hour.  It was a great night for a walk.  Came home and made the world's biggest salad for supper.  Do any of you find that when you walk outside you're NOT hungry when you get home?  I find if I go before supper, when I come home I'm just not that anxious for supper.  Strange...this doesn't happen when I workout at the gym.  Must be something to do with the fresh air I guess :-)

I noticed tonight that WW is doing the Weight Watchers 5K walk again this year.  Last year I couldn't do it because it took place when I was in Indonesia (actually I think it was the day I left), but this year I think I'll probably do it.  Anyone else interested?  The event is sponsored by The Running Room.  Click here to find a Walk location near you (in Canada).

Not overweight yet

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So I had a disappointing, but not surprising result on the scale this week.  I was up 0.4 pounds when in a perfect world, I would have been down 0.4 pounds and into the overweight BMI category.  I am not making excuses - I felt yucky all week and only had about a workout and a half...my shoulder is killing me.  My appointment with my doctor is on Wednesday night and I will discuss with her which course of treatment I should follow - physio, massage, chiro, etc.  My PT tried to get me doing some shoulder exercises on Wed night, but the pain was so intense it made me sick to my stomach.  Sooooo, looking outside today at the blue skies and bright sun, I'm thinking I should get off my butt and go for a walk...doesn't take a good shoulder to put on sneakers and walk, right!?  Unless I decide to walk on my hands...boy the neighbours will talk...

I did come to a decision this week.  I've discovered I am an all or nothing kinda girl.  I put expectations on myself with respect to exercise - I think that I need to be working out 6 days per week and if I don't hit at least 5, I beat myself up over it.  I've decided that I am going to focus on getting 3 really GOOD workouts in each week for a while, plus maybe a day when I swim or something a bit more leisurely.  I think I need to take some of the pressure off of myself.  I can't relax my eating habits - I know myself too well - it's a very slippery slope if I relax back into my old habits.  And really there is no need to - with the WW program, I can eat the things I used to eat, just in smaller amounts or less frequently.  I've also learned to love new healthy foods (sushi, for one!) and use them to treat myself when I need a food treat.

Ok, onto the bananas from last weekend's post.  Here is the nutritional info on one medium banana:

105 calories
0 fat
27 carb
3 fibre
1 protein

So...I'll ask you - are bananas fattening???  Um, I think no since there are 0 grams of fat in a medium banana.  I think that bananas, like anything, could pile on weight if you stuff your face with them all day long, sure.  Same could be said for apples.  Berries.  Mangoes.  Fruits still has calories.  I think a banana each day is fine - 2-3 bananas might pose a problem for someone, but my final verdict is this - BANANAS DID NOT MAKE ME FAT!  ;-)

First REAL BBQ of the season and fattening bananas

Pin It No, not hot dogs.  A REAL BBQ!  We've had a lovely weekend, even if it's a tad chilly. 

Last night I BBQd chicken and a tinfoil packet of sliced sweet potatoes, onions, peppers and mushrooms with spices.

I had it in my mind today that I was going to try to find a recipe for oatmeal "burgers"...I'm not sure why I wanted to do this...  I couldn't find any recipe that struck my fancy, so I picked up some ground turkey that was on sale and decided to find a turkey/oatmeal burger recipe.  I finally just decided to wing it and make up my own recipe.  I call it my Turkey Oatmeal Salsa Burger.  Basically it was just a pound of lean ground turkey, 1/3 cup oatmeal (I popped it in the magic bullet til it looked like bread crumbs), some onion, peppers and mushrooms, 1 tablespoon of chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (also pureed in the Bullet), 4 tablespoons of PC chipotle salsa. Mix together, form into 4 burgers and chill for a while (apparently chilling them keeps them together better when you cook them).  I threw 'em on the BBQ for a bit and voila!  Unfortunately I didn't have any buns, so I decided to make a salad and toss the burger on top and topped it all with some more chipotle salsa.

I think sometime this week I am going to do a post on bananas.  Yes, bananas.  I heard someone tell me today that their doctor told them that bananas were FATTENING!  huh???  Let me do some research and get back to you on this one.  I know for me personally, I did NOT get fat eating bananas...unless they were dipped in chocolate and rolled in chopped peanuts maybe...nope, still can't see bananas making you fat.  Unless you're eating a bunch of them each day...Stay tuned folks.

For the first time in my adult life...

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...I am nearly overweight!  Yes, I am happy about this!  I am 0.4 pounds away from the "overweight" category on the BMI chart!  This makes me so happy.  I really don't recall when I was ever "just overweight"...I do remember when I went from morbidly obese to obese and that was a good feeling.  This is even better!  Then I'll have another 30-ish pounds to go before I'm NORMAL (well, according to the BMI charts...others may debate my normalcy)!  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not stuck on these numbers, I am just a "charts and graphs" kinda girl and I like to look at the stats.  I may never get to be NORMAL - I am totally prepared to find a comfortable weight (for me AND my doctor) that is higher than NORMAL. 

So all week long, once again, my scales were not my friend.  Yes, some of you are noticing that the scales have come out of the depths of my storage closet...shame on my, I know.  They are NOT located in the bathroom though, so this is still an improvement.  AND I only weigh myself once per day usually.  When I got up this morning, low and behold my scales were my friend again!  It's funny how from one day to the next I can lose like 3 pounds! lol  My loss on the WW scales was 1.8 pounds - a GREAT loss for me!  Especially given my 1.7 pounds last week!  Next week I am aiming for 0.4 pounds to get to the "overweight" BMI, but if I will take more if it comes!

Has anyone noticed that the weeks when they work out LESS they have a higher loss?  The weeks when I work out 6-7 days I tend to have smaller losses than the weeks I work out 4-5 days...I find this very odd.  No, I don't think it's due to muscle build up - I don't work out like that, believe me...especially with my recent shoulder issues...hmm, something to ponder.

Dare I eat, dare I breathe and heaven forbid should I have a grain of salt this week!

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I’m so paranoid that I am going to gain this week and lose my 100lb medallion from WW (not that they’ll really take it back, but you know...) We had a discussion a couple of weeks ago at WW about how some of us are on a rhythm with our weight losses. Week 1, lose decent amount; week 2 stay the same or small loss; week 3, small gain; week 4, lose again. I never really sat down and looked to see if I had a pattern like this, but if memory serves me correctly, I kinda do. I think for women this is probably truer than for men (sorry ladies, those female hormones suck...but keeps us from growing hair on our chests I guess!). Some of us are up around “that time” of the month; some of us are up when we ovulate...so 2 out of 4 weeks in the month we have strikes against us. But what really matters is what happens over time. If this happens to you, don’t get discouraged. If you are using the WW online tracker, go to the weigh chart and choose “all weeks” and it will give you an average weekly loss. Mine is 1.3 pounds per week over the past 17 ½ months. Not too shabby. I have a lot of weeks where my losses are .2, .4 or a gain of .2 or .4, but in the end, as you can see, it evens out to a healthy rate of loss (I believe 0.5-1.5 pounds per week is the optimal rate of loss). So while I am telling you all this, I am really telling this to myself. I am PMSing this week (sorry, TMI) and I know I am retaining water (my usually spinning ring is now firmly in place). I can accept a small gain this weekend if that’s what happens... I just pray it’s not more than 0.5!! That’ll keep me with my 100 pound loss.


Do you find you have a pattern to your weight loss over time? Do you try to do anything about it or do you just let nature take its course?

The personal trainer I met with at the new gym last night said he would smash through my plateaus...if I’d meet with him 3 times per week (as if I have the $ to do that!)... even though I did take away some tips from him, I likely won’t be using his PT services. As I mentioned in the past, I have a great PT that I have been working with for quite some time now and while the new gym’s rates are lower than the other gym in my area, they are not lower than my current PT’s rates :-) If it ain’t broke, don't fix it.... I do need to work on mixing things up fitness-wise. I know this. My PT has tried to get me to change things up.  My biggest problem is getting myself out of my comfort zone. Even after all this time, I feel like people are staring at me – when I run on the treadmill, do burpees at the gym, lift weights...not sure why I think this...

“If you knew how little others thought about you…you wouldn’t worry so much about what others think about you.”

Whaddya mean no salad dressing??!

Pin It So I realized earlier in the week that salsa makes a great salad dressing...and it's zero points!  Superstore makes one that's chipotle flavoured and very finely blended so it spreads nicely over the salad.  Here is tonight's supper - it reminded me of something you'd get at Boston Pizza or Jack Astors or something.  AMAZING!  But only 10 points!

Certificate of achievement

Pin It As promised, here is my Certificate of Achievement from my WW leader.  My friend Sunita took a pic of me in my crown at the meeting, but we couldn't figure out how to get it off her phone...stay tuned for that :-)

I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Woohoo!  All I have to say right now is that I did it!  I am now part of the "century" club of losers!  Today at WW I lost 1.7 pounds (new scales weigh in increments of .1 now not .2) for a total of 100.5!  I got to wear the crown, the ring with the bling, got a certificate (will post pic later) and my 100 pound WW washer for my key chain!  On cloud 9 right now...back in my proper state of mind later :-)

Big or small? You be the judge...or maybe I should be!

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So last week you may remember that I lost 0.2 pounds and remain 1.2 pounds away from 100 pounds lost.  I was amazed at the Facebook comments from people when I posted my new "total pounds lost" as -98.8 when the week before it was -98.6. To me that amount was hardly even noticeable.  Yet my friends wrote comments like "amazing", "Woohoo", "awesome", etc.  While I was sitting there feeling sorry for my piddly little loss, others were thinking it was remarkable.  I've realized that while I am focusing on my weekly losses and on what I DIDN'T lose, others are focusing on the big picture.  They are able to see how far I've come - why do I have such a hard time seeing that?  I know we tend to be our own worst enemies, but when I really stop to think about the fact that I have lost almost 100 pounds (as my WW leader might say, that's TWO super models!), I am amazed.  I am amazed that I have stuck with it this long.  I've taken up many new hobbies, habits, etc. in the past and never stuck to anything quite like this.  It was obviously the right time for me in my life. 

Soooo, tomorrow morning I weigh in - again hoping to reach the century mark.  I just hope that if I don't quite make it this week, that I will remember how far I've come and will see it as my friends do.  Thank you friends! xoxo

The negligent blogger

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I've been somewhat negligent recently in my blogging duties.  This was my first week at the new gym.  Monday night I did water aerobics and was delighted to see Teacher Tracey from my old pool (I think I mentioned this before).  I'm not sure if I mentioned my "athletic injury" that I incurred during water aerobics back in the Fall.  I did something to my shoulder - yeah, yeah, yeah, stop laughing that I hurt myself during water aerobics of all things!  Now you know why I don't do LAND based aerobics!!  I'm a walking disaster...well, actually, walking is something I have mastered...sort of.  More on that later.  So ever since my athletic injury (stop laughing, I'm going to continue to call it that), when I do certain exercises involving raising my right arm, it bothered me.  My trainer suspects it is my rotator cuff.  This week at my PT session it was REALLY bad - nearly had my in tears at one point (and I think I have a high tolerance for pain).  Kellie (thankfully) stopped what we were doing and moved me to the bike where we worked on a new plan that would give my shoulder a bit of a rest until it's all better.  Now about my "mastering the art of walking".  On Saturday when I was on the new treadmill doing my usual (15 incline/3.8 mph) my left knee started clicking - loudly and painfully!!  Sooo, now we have to work on a program to give my left knee and my right shoulder both a rest.  I've been told to do elliptical, bike and stair climber...only tonight I couldn't get a stair climber...would you believe that one of their two stair climbers is already out of order??  So I did 18 minutes on the treadmill at 15 incline and 3.4 mph...my knee felt fine.  I think I will lay off the running, but continue with the walking.  In the meantime, I have booked an appointment with my family doctor for the end of the month to see if I should go for physio or something along those lines.  Kellie suggested icing it...but I'm SO cold I can't bring myself to do it!!!  Brrrrrr.  Come on Spring!

Don't forget to change your clocks this weekend (I'll be back before Sat night to remind you again, but in case I forget ;-)

ABCs of me

Pin It This seems to be going around the blogosphere, so here you go...a little peak into my life:

ABC's of ME
Age: 30 (with 6 year's experience)
Bed size: Queen

Chore you hate: Cleaning the tub, oven or fridge

Dogs: like most dogs
Essential start of your day: breakfast

Fave color: Red

Gold or silver: Gold. But I'm cheap, so usually buy silver.
Height: 5'8''

Instruments I play: The only thing I play is the radio/CD player or iPod.  Don't think that counts as an instrument thought

Job title: Executive Coordinator/Team Leader

Live: Nova Scotia, Canada
Mom’s name: Pat (Patricia)

Nicknames: Tess (oldest niece called me that when she was little), Teetee (friend's 2 year old calls me that now), Flipper (long story), Tanny (only ONE friend of mine calls me that...anyone else tries it and I won't answer!!)
Overnight hospital stays: Only when I was born - back in the day when you remained in the hospital for a week!
Pet peeve: lateness, rude drivers
Quote from a movie: "in the morning, I'm makin' WAFFLES!!"
Right or left handed: Left.

Siblings: 1 brother
Time you wake up: 6:50am (unless the neigbhours decide otherwise)
Underwear: is in the laundry basket.

Veg you dislike: beets, asparagus, Brussels sprouts
What makes you run late: Other people
X-rays you have had done: hip, jaw
Yummy food you make: Tortilla pizza, hamburger soup, squash soup (pretty much any soup)
Zoo Animal, favorite: Giraffe

A drowned rat

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I went to the very first water aerobics class at the new facility today.  I was thrilled to see that the teacher was Tracey, one of my old (former I mean, not old) water aerobics instructors!  I loved her classes.

So I jump in the pool and I'm pleased to find that the floor of the pool has texture to it to keep you from slipping - yay!  The class was good, except for the two ladies beside me who decided it was social hour and chatted away the whole time.  Now the problem I have in water aerobics is I'm usually too tall to stand in the front of the class, so I go to the back...but I don't wear my glasses in the pool, so I really have to listen to the teacher to find out what she's doing...so the two chatty Kathy's beside me were ticking me off!  Oh well, coulda been worse I guess ;-)  I tried so hard not to get my whole head wet so that I wouldn't freeze waiting for the bus to get home.  I guess I shoulda just dunked all the way under...in my work clothes.  It was raining SO hard when I left that I think I got wetter waiting for the bus than I did in the pool!!  My pants are hanging on the clothing rack and are leaving puddles on my floor...must go wipe that up, laminate floors do NOT like water! 

Not sure if I will continue with these water aerobics classes...getting there for 6pm is a stretch for me - not enough time to go home and get the car, so have to take the bus there and then two more buses to get home.  Didn't get home until after 8pm tonight.  We'll see.

Pity, party of one

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So yesterday's results were a huge disappointment.  I feel like I had a bit of a pity party.  I've had these before after disappointing weigh ins, but usually they only last a few minutes and I move on.  Not so much yesterday.  I received some lovely encouraging words from my friends, which is great.  I do so love my support system.  One friend of mine mentioned to me that when she got "stuck" in her journey to lose weight, she visited a naturopathic (I think that's what she called it!) doctor.  She discovered she had some food intolerances that were holding her back.  Sugar being one of them (please God, no!!!).  I am thinking that I may look into this option myself. 

People have suggested that I write a food journal and exercise more or drink more water...The problem with that is that, as a general rule, I already 1) track EVERY day (all day), 2) I drink 10-12 cups of water (pure water, not counting coffee, juice, milk, etc. in this number), 3) Exercise 4-6 days per week (last week it was 6) and I don't ever, ever, ever, take a cheat day or a day off...

...until yesterday.  I am really disappointed in myself.  I went to a friend's place last night for a potluck and I did a whole lot of mindless eating.  I couldn't tell you how many points I ate.  The last time I did this was over a year ago.  I enjoyed myself, but as soon as I got home I was mad at myself.  Why do I always seem to sabotage myself when I get close to a goal?  That was my problem in the past.  I'd get close to a major milestone and then quit and walk away.  Not this time.  I went into my online WW tracker and allotted my 49 weekly points to "party at Deb's" and am walking away from the whole mess.  Today is a new day (without any extra points) and I have 6 days to do it right to make up for yesterday. 

I've had my pity party and a moving on to my week of determination.  Perhaps this could be another sugar free week.  When I did that a few weeks ago I dropped 1.4 pounds that week...I only need 1.2 to reach my milestone ;-)

Oh, I forgot to tell you!  Went to the new Canada Games Centre yesterday after WW!  It's soooo nice.  The treadmills have built in fans.  AND they have two stair climbers!  I missed my stair climbers :-(  The gym I've been attending doesn't have them.  The only issue I have with this new place is that they have no elliptical machines.  Their version of the elliptical is the ARC machine...which I am NOT a fan of.  I think I just need to learn to love the ARC like I did the stair climber.  We'll see.  Hoping to go back again this evening.  Their fitness schedule begins tomorrow.  I think this week I will do water aerobics on Monday and Friday, then I have a personal training session with Kellie on Wednesday, so Tues/Thurs will be just regular cardio workouts.  Maybe the re-introduction of water aerobics will help mix things up for me this week - maybe throw my body into confusion and force it to drop some weight ;-)

Happy Sunday everyone - it promises to be a nice warm day here in Halifax (+8 degrees Celsius I think!)

Another let down

Pin It Lost 0.2 pounds this week.  I am now 1.2 pounds away from the century mark. 

A healthy workplace

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I am SO excited!  I was speaking with a former classmate of mine (from many moons ago!) in the past week and she mentioned the healthy initiative that her office has taken.  It sounded great to me!  I've been thinking about it for the past few days and I mentioned the idea to a few co-workers today and they thought it was a great idea.  I emailed our managing partner to get his OK to run with the idea (and his OK to buy a couple healthy office lunches when we have guest speakers in) and he thinks it's a great idea too!  I have so many thoughts going through my mind that I don't quite no where to begin.  I have a message in to the dietitian at Sobeys to see if they will come in and give at least one lunch-hour talk to our office.  I also am fairly certain that the gym in our office complex would come in at some point and give a fitness talk.  I've downloaded a bunch of articles from various health resources.  I have games/contests in my mind (need to find some prizes!).

Has anyone else done this in their office?  Please leave me your suggestions here...I'm always open to idea!!

Sorry for the slow blog week.  Hopefully next week will be better.  I will keep you all posted on how our office does with this initiative.

'night all!