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!

Another star!

Pin It I got another star at WW yesterday!  This makes 17 5 lb stars in total :-)  I'm another pound into my next five pound star and I just realized how CLOSE I am to earning TWENTY five pound stars!!  For those of you who are not into multiplication, that would mean 100 pounds!! haha  Had another great meeting yesterday.  I can't believe that after more than a year on program and having lost my beloved leader, I am STILL loving this meeting!  The people are so amazing and our new leader, Fiona, is great too!  For the second week in a row she gave me the flashing green rubber ring to wear ;-)  I'm such a kid at heart - my book is covered in stickers and I get excited about wearing a green, flashing rubber ring for 30 minutes!  So silly, I know :-)

After WW yesterday I had an appointment at Goodlife Fitness to do the Visual Fitness Planner with one of their trainers.  I know deep down that this is a sales pitch for personal training sessions - of course her "prescription" for me was going to cost me over $3,000!!  I really think if I've lost 86 pounds on my own (pretty much) over this past year, I don't need to spend $3,000 to lose these last 25-35lbs!!  I have a weight workout from my last trainer (who does not put pressure on to buy thousands of dollars worth of sessions!) and I plan to work that plan for 4-6 weeks and then perhaps purchase another couple of sessions from her (she's non-Goodlife!).  Check out my VFP printout:

After my session, I picked up a few groceries - I've recently learned that I LOVE sushi!  I picked up some sushi for lunch as a special treat for my new 5 pound sticker (I still sometimes reward myself with food, but I use new healthier foods that I like rather than chocolate, chips or Chinese food).  Here is a pic of my yummy lunch:

Tonight I made a stir-fry salad.  I got the idea from Kokomos Restaurant in Bayers Lake.  They do stir fried veggies over a Caesar salad.  I used my 2 tsp of olive oil, mushrooms, peppers, broccoli and shrimp sauteed with spices.  Towards the end I added some Sweet Thai Chili sauce.  Over my plate of lettuce (aka my salad) I added 2 Tbsp of Renee's Japanese Ginger vinaigrette dressing and then topped the whole thing with the sauteed veggies/shrimp.

Back to work tomorrow...I still wish someone would come up with a 5 day weekend and a 2 day work week :-)

Operation Shrink Charlie's Big Butt: McMuscles and Me

Pin It OK, this blog post by Charlie has me in tears (that and Ellen giving away stuff to military families!) Check it out - it's a long post but by the end I'm in stitches!

Operation Shrink Charlie's Big Butt: McMuscles and Me

My visit to the gym

Pin It For the second time in as many weeks I have taken advantage of my gym membership (my charitable gym donations is another post for another day). Today I went to the one in the grocery store - how convenient since I needed to replenish veggies!  Thirty minutes on the treadmill, PLUS...






8 minutes on the bike




5 minutes on elliptical - another record

 

FIVE whole minutes on the stair master!  I've never even been able to make this WORK before!!



 
 



Wholly Guacamole

Pin It For any of you bloggers out there who are interested in give aways, visit Danica's blog:

@danicasdaily is giving away a WHOLE LOTTA GUACAMOLE~ click here for your chance to get some guacaliciousness http://bit.ly/9zDmcB or http://danicasdaily.com/wholly-guacamole-a-giveaway/comment-page-1/#comment-17281