DAY 3...and the verdict is IN!!

...and the verdict is: 184.5

Technically up one lb from last week but down one lb since Day 1 so yay! 

Day 3 results: still on track. Had to fight temptations at every turn today but overall good eating.

Haven't had dinner yet though. Was supposed to meet up with some friends to watch the Canada v. Slovakia game but the only place they were able to get into was a Fry house. Literally, only fries and burgers and deep fried fish on the menu with a side of fries and battered and deep fried chocolate bars for dessert.

No thanks.

I don't even WANT it. Which is not new. I live near a fry house and have only been in there 3 times in 2.5 years. Pretty good odds. 

ROLL CALL:

Brekky:

Lunch:

Minestrone soup and a jumbo hot dog @ the work cafeteria today. yum!

Dinner (830pm): Pizza!

But homemade pizza so it was alright.  I ate most of it before realizing I forgot to take a pic of it, lol!

Recipe:
Whole wheat pita as crust
1/4 cup pizza sauce
chopped green peppers, mushrooms and onions, quickly sauteed in oil spray then tossed on top
1oz garlic sausage, fried up quickly (dry pan) to remove some of the grease
1oz mozzarella cheese
1oz goat cheese old cheddar

Popped it into the oven for 15 minutes and then inhaled it in 2 minutes. hot cheese burns so good!

Happy Eating!

Happy Eating

Day 2 in the bag....the potato chip bag

Okay, so with day 2 officially over, I give myself official grades of A for effort and a B+ for actual results.

Today's temptations

Potato chips - Denied!

Ferrero rocher- Denied!

Indian food - sigh. accepted

EXERCISE:
45 minute walk home

DRINKS:
Lots of water (the washroom was my second office)
½ cup of tea


ROLL CALL:

Breakfast (930am):
Whole-wheat pita stuffed with veggies, 1 oz of ham and 2 oz of mozzarella cheese

Lunch(1230pm): 

Chef’s salad (tossed off half the cheese)
1-cup fish chowder (non cream based)
1 whole wheat bun

Afternoon snack (230pm): 1 red delicious apple
2 wasa crackers
2 tbs peanut butter
1 tbs strawberry jam

Afternoon snack 2 (430PM): 15 pistachios

I have friends staying with me for the Olympics and they wanted Indian....and so did I, kinda.

Dinner (730PM):

Started off well: 1 large green salad with 1 tbs dressing

Then I dove into the Indian food and had a bit of everything:

Butter chicken, channa masala, chicken korma, lamb vindaloo
½ a large naan
½ papadom
¾ cup of white rice

DAY 3 is tomorrow. Weigh in day too. I have the gym planned for the morning (extra 30 minutes planned due to the Indian food), salads planned for lunch or dinner and Olympic parties at night (ie drinks). 

Yay weekend!

In the beginning…

That's it. I’m starting over. I’m bored with the ‘trying to lose weight’ thingy and the ‘trying to slim down’ mantra.  I wanna take the ‘try ’out of it and lose weight and slim down already, dammit. I’ve been trying for over 14 years now! 

Enough is enough.

I’m ready to MAINTAIN.  What a beautiful word. Maintenance. I proudly maintain my car (maximize its return); I happily maintain my apartment (cleaner than a chef’s kitchen I would dare say); I enthusiastically maintain my hair too (bi weekly trips to the ‘dressers); so this word is well known to me.

To be at a healthy weight and to just have to MAINTAIN that weight within a few lbs would be WONDERFUL.

Sigh.

That’s the dream.

The reality is this: Last 30lbs to go (till re-evaluation). The same dang 30 I’ve been trying to drop since I won the weight loss contest on December 13th, 2009. I don’t count the rest of December though since it was the holiday season and resistance to all the delicious fare available during that season is futile! However, January and now February have come and almost gone so the holiday season excuse is gone. excuses

Negative thought: I should have lost a lot more since December 13th. Boo me and my lack of willpower.

Positive thought: I’ve at least maintained that weight (career low of 180.5) within 4 lbs since then – yay me!

The plan is foolproof and simple: No more excuses

1. I can get to the gym/exercise 5+ days a week
2. I can plan healthy meals that I WANT to eat and do so without counting calories or points 
3. I can drink plenty of water (10+ glasses a day) + have a cup of water before EVERY meal 
4. I can get to bed early (7.5 hours of sleep minimum per night cuz as you know…) 
5. I can go out for dinner and order something healthy on the menu 
6. I can encourage my friends to do more active activities with me 
7. I can avoid the late-eats-after-a-night-of-drinking urge 
8. I can find other outlets for release over poutine, cheesecake (mmmmm), chocolate, & fatty cuts of meat 
9. I can seek assistance, inspiration and advice from my fellow bloggers (thanks guys!)

Anytime I think or I that I can’t do one of the above, its an excuse. There are emergency situations or situations out of my control but 80%+ of the time, I should and WILL achieve the above…..starting tomorrow night on #4 though cuz tonight I’m going out with friends to celebrate the Olympics, woo! I think the Olympics would be considered


Olympic Aside: Honestly, its like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Everywhere is busy, every venue is packed and it is literally like the whole world is here in Vancouver. Pretty cool, pretty sweet and pretty exciting.


ROLL CALL:

FYI - Woke up @ the crack of 11am, lol! (Went out to celebrate the Olympics last night too)

Breakfast (1:45pm): egg white omelet (1 egg yolk + 4 egg whites) with goat cheese, tons of veggies and a pita
¼ cantaloupe, sliced

Afternoon Snack 1 (3:30pm): ½ apple and ½ an orange, sliced

Afternoon Snack 2 (planned for 5:45pm):  

1 oz goat cheese
1 tbs peanut butter                           
2 wasa crackers

Dinner (planned for 7:45/8pm) 7:30PM:


Soup and bread and side salad
Or large dinner salad
If I feel like having any alcohol then low cal stuff only (gin/tonic!)

Seafood pho with broccoli and zuchinni

EXERCISE:
10 minutes on stepper (level 12/20)
30 minutes on elliptical (level 16/20)
10-minute stretch/cool down

DRINKS:

Lots of water so far
Morning Starbucks bevy: double tall (that kind of morning) caramel macchiato made with soy milk (I’m avoiding dairy again these days. Just because)

I’ll update this when I get back from the celebrations. In the meantime… (FYI, updated!)

Happy Eating!

My job is making me fat

When I'm bored - I eat. If there's no food to eat, then I go and get food to eat.

I'm working on the Olympic team as a girl Friday (ie everything that needs to get done, they can ask me to help get it done) but as the Olympics are currently running smoothly (yay!), there's not much to do right now. Leading up to the Olympics there was actually so much to do that I was too busy to eat. Now though, while the Olympics are taking place around us and everyone is at their posts, doing what they're supposed to do, we can now sit back and watch the magic happen.

Now there's always something to do and a task to be completed and some administrative work to do, but once you switch from 14 hour days (with 20 hours of work to do) to 7.5 hour days (with 7.5 hours of work to do) you don't get that constant rush of adrenaline.Sigh. Who would ever think I'd miss 10+ hour work days and my lack of a social life.

Sigh. Good times

Current Office Treats:

• Cookies (oatmeal raisin, white chocolate chip and dark chocolate chip
• High calorie/high fat processed granola bars
• Snickers bars
• Mars bars
• Rum balls (I don't know why the cafeteria brought these in for February???)
• Xmas cookies (see comment above)
• Ferrero Rocher  (mmmmm this is good anytime of year!)
• Cadbury 100 calorie chocolate bars
• Rice Krispie squares

Current Waist Size : Size 10 but still pending.... As of today I've said no to all of the above but the Cadbury chocolate and the Ferrero Rocher.  C'mon, its Ferrero Rocher! You don't say no to that. You simply accept your fate and add 30 minutes to your cardio session. Deal!

ROLL CALL:

I've been slacking on writing down what I eat. But no longer! I promise to blog it out at least 3 to 4 times a week, including one weekend day (because weekends are when I'm usually naughty- food wise AND otherwise, hee hee).

Breakfast:

1/2 cup all bran cereal

1/2 cup almond crunch cereal

1 banana, sliced

3/4 cup 2% milk

Lunch:

Ham and cheese sandwich on rye

1.5 cups lentil soup

Afternoon Snack (yah, I was a little hungry today):

2 cups pasta 

1/2 cup pasta sauce

2 oz in meatballs

Snacks:

Ferrero Rochers! 4....@ last count, hee hee hee

Cadbury 100 calorie chocolate bars (1 QTY, woo!)

How can something so delicious be so wrong!?

Dinner:

1/2 cup brown rice

1 cup sweet and sour pork

2 cups mixed vegetables

Drinks:

Coffee! Soooo much coffee!

Water: ummmm  not so much. Only 6 glasses. Must drink more tomorrow. And hopefully, less coffee.

Exercise: Forced myself to go (haven't been since last Thursday)

30 minutes elliptical (level 16/20)

6 minutes stepper (level 12/20)

Tomorrow is a new, better, healthier, more active day!!!

Happy Eating

Olympic Events and an Olympic appetite

Friday weigh in: 183.5

I'm working out everyday for 30 to 45 minutes and am just able to maintain my weight. 

Ah well, at least I'm not gaining weight. Working on the Olympic team is keeping me busy and is thankfully no longer adding to the waist line. 

Pinnacle moment: Went shopping the other day and can easily fit into a size 10, waist size 30 and the medium/large clothing @ the Guess store! 

If you don't get what this means, let me explain it to you quickly.If you've ever been a plus sized girl (14+), you know that those little boutiques like Club Monaco, Jacob, Bebe and the Guess store are pretty much out of your reach. You can wear the accessories and maybe the baggy sweatshirts or what have you, but thats about it. to be able to fit into the regular stuff is pretty dang sweet. :)

The Olympics are here! Who has time to think about slimming down when the city is getting fatter and fuller (with spectators and athletes and thousands of fans). People are always taking beauty shots of themselves in front of touristy stuff (yawn, boring). To me though, the most interesting stuff is the other people around me. Namely how many of them are out there.

My type of Olympic Pics:

This same area BEFORE the 2010 Olympics

Last Sunday on popular Granville street

Happy people roaming the streets

My train ride home. Hint: not usually this busy. Smile!

Robson St.  @ night

I love this one. Go Canada!

Yay to free stuff!

As and added bonus (bonus to my thighs at least). To celebrate all the Quebec men competing in the Snowboard Cross event (congrats to Canadian silver medalist Mike Robertson!), my office had free poutine (fries, cheese curds and gravy) for us to eat while we watched our guys compete. The best and worst idea ever. Best idea because the free poutine was sooo good. Worst idea because free poutine always tastes soooo good.

Damn you free poutine!

Ok so this week I MUST do better and I will do better starting with a trip back to the gym. I haven't seen it since last Thursday and I have a feeling it misses me something fierce.

Happy eating!

Source: Empty Granville street shot

Apparently candies and chocolates don't help you slim down...hmmm

Same old, same old....and then add a few lbs too. Whoops. 

183.5, up 2lbs

Well I shouldn't be surprised, after all, I did stuff my face with chocolates and chips and other random goodies this week.

mmmmmmm to m&m's.

My task this week was to take a tacky, bare room and turn it into a lounge that screams, belts out and yells our company name. When you walk into this room, there was to be no mistaking who it belongs to and where you were.  Insert posters, banners, helium filled balloons and tons of company swag here. 

In the end, it looked like the room practically threw up our comp's name. In a good way of course. Or at least in the best way that one can throw up.

Opening ceremonies were today (in case you're crazy enough to have missed them!!?) and we wanted to make sure the wireless and telephony technicians working 'round the clock  to bring you uninterrupted internet and satellite service had snacks, drinks and a place to watch the games (during their well deserved breaks) for the next month or so. My second task was to fill this lounge with snacks, foodies and goodies and by golly I had to test out  the merchandise, right?? tee hee

Well I'm happy to report that the chips, chocolates, candies and snacks are all 100% okay! 

And as the scale can attest to - yes you CAN gain 2lbs in 2 days. All the fun stuff was purchased on the 9th, opened on the 10th and stuck to my thighs and belly on the 11th. 

Tomorrow's a rest day but I'll be back at it on Sunday. Love day you say?? No problem. I'll spend the first 2 hours of the day making sweet, sweet love to the elliptical and weight machines. I start isolation exercises that day beginning with the inner and outer thigh areas. Some people say it can't be done, but I say it can!! 

Wish me luck!

ROLL CALL

Breakfast:  Yogurt, all bran cereal and strawberries

Boxed Lunch: 1/2 egg salad wrap & 1/2 turkey wrap, 1 cup salmon chowder, 1 red delicious apple, granola bar (put aside), oatmeal raisin cookie (ate it right away). OJ to drink (had 1/2 the bottle)

Group Dinner: Swiss Chalet chicken dinner with a fries and a garden salad

Happy Eating!

The Olympics are coming!

And working at Olympic headquarters should make it even MORE exciting but I find myself reminiscing about my old role in the other building. With its strict start/end hours, OT not required and mind numbing daily tasks, it gave me the freedom to hit the gym whenever I wanted and spend more time writing. Now I'm working 6 days a week, @ 10 hours minimum/day and there is no set routine. I miss my spin classes!

Also, the daily lunch menu is set (and included which definitely is a perk) and everyday looks like this:

Menu - Sandwich, soup, granola bar, packaged cookie and fruit. It was fun at first (no cooking, yay!) However, less than a week later I've resorted to eating only the sandwich (except when its soggy) and the soup (unless it tastes like crap) and then stockpiling the rest into my drawers.  As its typically the same meal for lunch and dinner (replace sandwich with overcooked goulash) 

but, But, BUT!!! As I am barely eating anything throughout the day, hitting the gym every morning and have little time in the evening to go out to drink/eat/etc ...... I'm dropping weight! Yes!

So in conclusion, yay to horrible cafeteria style caterers (I think back to high school cafs and realize they had and probably have it better) and to runny, !!!

Weigh in tomorrow (or Saturday morning if I don't like what I see and decide I need one more day, tee hee!)

Happy Eating!

Friday weigh in...better late than never

Actually weighed myself Saturday morning and wrote the update on Sunday. Thank goodness the weight is acurate.....I hope!

Friday weigh in: 181

Really?
That's a 3lb drop from last week. (last week was 184 for those of you who can't do math, tee hee)
As my weight drops, my mouth drops too.
Sure I've been to the gym everyday this week (except for once) but now that we're on a meal plan at work, I never thought this possible! The meal plan consists of soggy mayonnaise and butter laden sandwiches (yuck), cream based soups (eww) and white rice or white rolls to go with everything (OMG). Perhaps I've slimmed down some because I can't stand the food so I try not to eat too much of it. Plus, I've been living off coffee and adrenaline for the past week so it could be stress related. In any case: I'll take it!

I'm also glad that in dropping this weight, I didn't feel the need to have a cheat day. I wanna keep it up and I especially wanna see 179 next week. in the 170's for the first time in YEARS. Wow. That will be a crazy moment on the scale.

Stay tuned...