A good start to the day

Pin It So today I get into work (after a dreadful walk to the busstop and a somewhat less dreadful busride in) and I open my email and low and behold, I've won a Colombia Jacket!  No, it's not one of those "give me your credit card info and I'll send you a jacket" deals, it's really true!  Our firm is apparently doing random draws throughout the Olympics and today my name was drawn!  Here's a photo of what it will look like (minus the people IN the jackets - they're extra ;-)

Tortilla Pizza

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I've been craving pizza for a while (ever since the Alexandra's Pizza flyer came in the mail last week...my fav!)  I just haven't been interested in spending my points on a measly piece of pizza!  Don't recall offhand what pizza is, points-wise, but I think it's something like 8 pts for one itty bitty piece of veggie...so NOT worth it.  In the lunchroom the other day someone was talking about making pizza on a tortilla...what a great idea!  One medium whole wheat tortilla is one point!  I added bulls eye BBQ sauce, mushrooms, peppers, some spices and some chicken, topped it all with mozza cheese (skim milk kind) and voila!  TWO personal size pizzas for a total of 10.5 points for BOTH...and yes, I ate both!

More blogging later folks, gotta get to work now!

Before and after (well, current...)

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Before

 

29 lbs gone...

So many things to share...

Pin It Beware, this could be a long post!

A lot has happened this week:

1) Monday, I rejoined Nubodys and worked out on the treadmill
2) Tuesday, taught a course to my superiors at work on MS Office 2007, LotusNotes 8 and Internet Explorer 7
3) Tuesday...decided  and somewhat firmed up plans to go to Indonesia (among other places nearby) with Demon and Bianca!! YAY!!  Please note adjusted travel and weightloss tickers above...I have postponed my UK trip for this once in a lifetime trip to South East Asia...I have also stepped up my goal for weight loss!
4) Friday, 1.04 miles on the treadmill (20 mins) and 5.4 miles on the bike (15 mins)
5) Saturday...LOST ANOTHER POUND!  Got my 10% keychain...also spoke with my leader about what would happen to my WW membership when I go away this summer (4 weeks!)...good news is, they just put my membership on hold, so I don't have to pay for the weeks I miss...bad news is...trying to figure out how to eat healthy and on program while I'm gone!  I refuse to undo all of the hard work I've put into this by just abandoning my healthy eating plan...food trends in Indonesia tend to include eating rice (*gasp*) at EVERY meal!  Stay tuned...I'm going to place a call into WW international this week to see if there are any meetings around :-)

6) Went to my very first (ever, ever, ever) aerobics class!!!  I've never even done an aerobics video at home!  I thought the class was 45 mins long, turned out to be an hour long (shocking!)...before the class I also did 10 mins on the treadmill...

Whew, I'm exhausted...just got out of a nice hot bath and am going to beautify myself for tonight.  Bob and Gisele are in town from NB and are staying at the Nelson's so I'm heading out there to see them tonight - so excited!  Haven't seen them since they moved away!

She speaks!

Pin It Yes, I spoke in public...might as well get used to it since I'm teaching a course at work on Tuesday (more on that in my next post).  Just a quick note, before I head out the door again, to say that I lost FIVE pounds this week!!  My total lost since before Christmas is 7.4lbs!  My TOTAL total now is -28lbs!!!  Today at WW, I got another 5 lb star (my 5th one, thank you very much!) as well as a 25lb anchor (it will go on my 10% keychain when I get it).  Our leader had all but lost her voice this morning, so she asked us to do more sharing than usual...I felt the urge to share (which, in a group where I do not know anyone, is rare for me!)...

Every time that I've done WW in the past (yes, I think I mentioned before that I'm a repeat offender), I have allowed myself "cheat" days.  In the past those have been days where I consciously decided to NOT count my points for the day and to start fresh the next day...the problem with this theory is, in the back of my mind, I was always thinking "well, ya blew it yesterday, so why bother being 100% today?".  This time, I think some of the catholic guilt from my Dad's side of the family is sneaking in....  In the past two weeks I have had (like all of you) Christmas (parties, dinners, etc.), New Years Eve, then I had Christmas 2.0 AND this week I turned 35.  PREVIOUSLY I would have used those major occasions to "cheat".  This time - even when I decided to "cheat" and not count points, I would get home...feel guilty...plug in what I ate...and voila!  I NEVER went over my weekly flex points once!  Also, know that I had counted/tracked my points on those days (and had not, in fact, blown it), I tended to be more on the ball.  I have to say that the "if you bite it, write it" philosophy really does work...so does attending the meetings (the key is to find a great leader...which I have!)

Off to see a movie with my fav. sister in law!  More on the teaching I'll be doing this week in my next post (maybe this afternoon).

Too good to be true

Pin It Well folks, I knew the Wii weight last Saturday was too good to be true! haha, I was really just fooling myself I think. I'm going to pretend that I stayed the same last week and then go by today's weigh in to keep things all official :-) Good news is, I am DOWN 2.4lbs from my last official WW weigh in! The official count for total pounds lost is 23.0!!

Off to prepare for Christmas 2.0!

False number perhaps...

Pin It So as I mentioned in my last post, there is no WW this week because the centre is closed.  Today I decided that I would weigh in on the Wii instead of skipping WI altogether.  According to the Wii, I am down 5.8lbs!  Now, I know the Wii tends to be pretty consistent, but I have to remember that I am comparing it to my Weight Watchers weigh in - I have no idea how it runs in relation to WW (hopefully it's bang on!)  Sooo, all that being said, next week may show a gain, mainly due to the difference in WI scales...next week I will post my true loss compared to last week's official WW weight.

I was so surpised yesterday morning when I opened (eventually!) a new GARMIN NUVI GPS!!  Yay!  I am so excited!  It was one of the few things I had on my "list" this year and my wonderful family went in on it and gave it to me!  I never really thought I would get one since they are NOT cheap :-)  So, SM - maybe a road trip to YOW is in order next summer?!  I also treated myself with extra vacation time this year.  Last year our firm, in an efford to save $, offered employees the option to purchase additional vacation time.  The great thing about it is that they allow you to "pay" for them over a series of pay cheques.  Last year it was 11 pays and I bought 5 days - this year, they are offering it over 17 pays!  I decided that since I was planning my trip to the UK in September (where I plan to use all of my 3 weeks), that I would treat myself to TWO weeks!  Realistically, it makes very little difference on my pay after the difference in taxes...so now I won't have to wait almost a whole year for vacation!  Last summer I took a road trip to NY (via Mass. to visit my cousins) and got to spend my vacation enjoying the company of the Brown family - this year, especially with my Garmin Nuvi, I may try for Ottawa :-)

Well, I'm off to make my lists - hoping to have people over for NY Eve and am having the whole family over to my apartment on Jan 2 for Christmas "take 2" when D&B and the girls return from Ontario.

Sorry for rambling on today!

Happy Boxing Day!

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Pin It I started using Dean and Bren's Wii Fit (house-sitting for them) on Monday night and again last night.  So far I like it.  I did so well in the Hula Hoop game that I unlocked the advanced Hula game (will try maybe tonight).  My plan is to do at least 10 mins on the Wii Fit each night/day that I'm there (til Jan 1) and see how much of a difference the exercise really does make in my W.I. numbers - there is no W.I. this week as the WW locations are closed Friday and Saturday - I would have gone tomorrow, but they are only open until 11 and I am technically scheduled to work til 5 (although I think we're closing at noon!).  To weigh in today (Wednesday) is just too early since I just did so on Saturday.  The good thing is, WW does not charge you for a missed meeting this week as they were closed :-)  So my next W.I. will be Jan 2nd...stay tuned!

Tomorrow night I am heading to Cole Harbour to visit with Mom and Dad and spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with them.  Mom's sister (Paula) may come for lunch if she doesn't get called into work (she works at the hospital).  Christmas night I'm back to D&B's place where I will vacation until they return on Jan 1 - I don't go back to work until Jan 4.  It's nice to have all those days off and only have to take TWO vacation days!  Our office is only open Dec 29/30 :-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Woohoo!

Pin It Finally did it!  20.6lbs gone for good - I've worked hard to lose them and hope never to find them again!  This message will be short - I am typing with freshly manicured nails (fingers and toes...well, typing with my fingers, not toes!) and am waiting for them to be dry enough to get dressed for my work Christmas party...On my way in the door from my grooming appt, I was walking so carefully and I turned the wrong way and have wrenched my left shoulder/upper back...should be interesting trying to climb into my Spanx with wet nails and a should/back injury!! 

The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl

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I have just finished reading The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl by Shauna Reid (aka Dietgirl) - a girl who decided at 351lbs it was time to make a change and, slowly but surely, she did. 

Never in my life have I read anything that better described how I feel.  I won't bore you with details, but lets just say I highly recommend this book for anyone with any kind of body image issues and/or issues with losing weight/getting healthy/exercising, etc.  WARNING - this book contains some language that is a tad colourful, but quite honestly, nothing any worse than what you might hear on the bus or at work. If you can get past the occasional swear word and find the real feelings in this book, it is well worth the read. 

I give it a 10/10 rating and for a non-fiction book (at least for me), that's fantastic.  This book reads like a typical fiction novel, but is entirely true!  I am now off to explore Shauna's website and see what other treasures I can find.

Product Review - Blue Menu chicken strips

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The reviews are in and these are a 9 out of 10 in my books!  Nice crunchy coating over white meat chicken...definitely worth a trip to the Superstore for these.  Next time will try them with the PC Thai Chili dipping sauce (used honey mustard today since that's all I had).  Side dishes with these tonight were curry roasted potatoes (I put WAY too much curry on them...oops!) and green beans...yummy!

You wouldn't worry so much about what other people thought if you realised how seldom they do.

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