I’m Ready!

Oh the pizza!  It was so good - we ordered a small garden vegetable pizza with canadian bacon, an order of chicken strips, and a 2 liter of coke.  Heaven!  I really did kind of relax last night - I had 2 pieces of pizza (remember a small sized pie), 3 chicken strips (they weren’t huge), and a couple of small glasses of coke.  I don’t know how many points and honestly don’t want to know - I will just need to stay on plan the rest of the week.  But it was good and I feel no guilt.

I am up early this morning - all five of the babes (3 cats, 2 dogs) wanted to be fed at their normal times and that can be unavoidable as they will not relax until full.  Now everyone is fed and the boys are back in the bedroom with my husband so they will go back to sleep - it is too cold to put them outside for long this morning - and the kitties are all finding a spot to curl up in for another nap.  

I need to go to the gym this morning, but it is Saturday and I begin moving much more slowly than usual.  I plan on maybe heading over there around 10 and then to the grocery store for some milk, more light ice cream, and some vegetables.  I would like to make some whole wheat pizza dough so that next time I want pizza I can make my own!, some whole wheat bread for toast, and my butternut squash rolls that I have been talking about for weeks.  I also have a soup that I would like to make for dinner tonight.  Whoa!  I didn’t realize there was so much.  I also have to log some time at the office - although I am wondering if some of this can be done at home????  And need to continue on with my studying.   

I also found a recipe for a warm pear cobbler that I want to make - I have some pears that need to be used up and that would be wonderful dessert (points value 2 per serving!!)

I do think that the secret of WW for me is the willingness to cook - otherwise I fall back into bad habits.  

Well - I wold like to laze on the couch under a blanket and watch some television and just enjoy the morning.  I need to make some coffee and start laundry and dishes - but the day is young!

I am sorry I have been absent.  This week has been busy, and I have been tired, and sometimes reading is just easier than writing.

I am now on my 2nd (yes NUMBER TWO!!) week of Weight Watchers and so far so good.  I am happy to be doing it again - it is very slow but it is a program that I understand and can follow.  I have honestly begun to feel better about myself just following this program.  

I still have not been great about exercise.  Bleh!

But tomorrow is the day.  Tomorrow I am back at the gym in the morning for some quality time with the track.  And my ipod.  

Tonight I believe that we are having pizza.  I ate mexican for lunch so I know that I probably should not have pizza - but we are early in the 2nd week and I have 6 points left and 35 points to use as I see fit so we are having pizza - it will have as many vegetables as I can get on it and no meat other than canadian bacon - and it will be great.

Tonight the mister and I are working on financial statements - personal and otherwise so that we can hopefully finalize the business plan - and take it to the bank!  Woo-hoo.

But for now I am surfing the web in my sweats with the two boys asleep on the floor, a fire going, and the television on.  Thank goodness it is Friday (although I am back in the office tomorrow - but I will be playing L&O - SUV on my 2nd screen in my office - who says it has to feel like work!).  

Hope everyone is well!

Happy Saturday, Everyone!

I have baked a cake, made a pot of coffee and started reading through several of the catalogs and magazines that we receive each week.  I have been looking at recipes and plugging them into the Weight Watchers site to see if the points can be adjusted or are reasonable enough to make.  

I am also watching Law and Order SVU in an endless stream on Netflix - via this computer - and it is glorious.  I love that show! (And I really like Mariska Hargitay - she is beautiful, and strong, and inspiring - at least on the show).

I still need to get cleaned up and make a quick trip to the office, but that can wait until the afternoon.  I am not expecting to be there for very long.  Just long enough to finish up a couple of loose ends on a client.  I also need to put some laundry in….I can do that after I get done posting.  I am also going to roast some butternut squash and make Butternut Squash Rolls - which sound strange but got fabulous reviews on allrecipes.com.  

My husband informed me that he wants a new suit and that we would be going shopping for one this evening.  That should be interesting.  I haven’t mentioned it here, but he and I are currently in the process of trying to start our own business - which he will manage and run.  It has been a bit stressful but very exciting.

As far as eating goes today - so far so good.  I want to make some soup for lunch - so will need start that sometime soon.  Oh all of the cooking today.  :)

Breakfast: 1/2 cup grape nuts (3), 1/2 cup fat free milk (1), 1/3 cup blackberries (0), whole wheat english muffin (2)  Total points: 6

Lunch: we shall see….

Dinner: I believe this will be homemade pizza - if I can pick up some whole wheat flour on my way home from the office.

Hope everyone else is having a good Saturday!

Okay - wanted to make a quick post tonight as I want a record of this journey.  As it begins for the final time - that is right - the final time!

Today was a pretty good day overall.  I am still getting incredibly hungry before each meal.  I woke up this morning at 3:25 with a stomachache I was so hungry.  I was able to go back to sleep without eating anything, but I was amazed at how hungry I was.  I was hungry again like that by 5:00 this evening.  I am not going without or not eating - I am satisfied after each meal - I really don’t even feel like I am eating that much less.  So strange.  

Anyhow - 2nd day down.  I would have liked to see all of the weight gone when I got up this morning - but alas! no.  

So here is a rundown of what I had to eat today:

Breakfast: Banana Bread Weight Control Quaker Oatmeal (3), 1/4 cup milk (1), whole wheat english muffin (2)  Total points: 6

Mid-morning snack: Grapefruit Fizz (100% grapefruit juice - 1 cup, with chipped ice, and selzer water) (3)

Lunch: Homemade black bean burger patty (3), homemade salsa (0), 1 tbsp shredded cheese (1), 1 6″ tortilla (2) Total points: 6

Snack before dinner: Went shopping at Sam’s for food for the babes (3 cats and 2 dogs!), and they had free samples of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake - I greatly enjoyed my sample! (2), 100 calorie Peanut butter and chocolate chip granola bar (2)  Total points: 4

Dinner: 1/2 cup grape nuts cereal (3), 1/2 cup fat free milk (1)

Dessert: 1/2 cup Edy’s light cookies and cream ice cream (3)

Total points: 26 

Now - I need to do some dishes and get a cake made (with applesauce).  My husband is out with friends so it is me and the animals this evening.  All I need to do is get the dishes done and then I really am free to relax completely.  Am planning to get up tomorrow and take the boys for a walk tomorrow morning and then perhaps go for a run (Couch to 5K) later in the day.  I am studying right now for my next exam and will need to go up to the office to do a little bit of work tomorrow. But Sunday is all mine!

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying your Friday!

Well, last night I went back to Weight Watchers.  

I got a new week 1 booklet, an official weight, and a weekly tracker.  It was a tough thing to do…but overall probably the best thing could be done.  

I am failing this weight loss battle currently and I needed to call in some troops.  

The last time that I consistently and effectively lost weight was with Weight Watchers.  I am not saying that it was easy or fun - is weight loss ever fun?  But I can still remember how I felt as the weight lost added up.  I remember beginning each day with my points and deciding how to spend them and being accountable to that - knowing that I would have to get back on the scale.  I remember the pride I felt when I begin to lose weight and I could see it in the mirror, in my face, on my arms, my stomach, my clothes.  I remember sharing my victories with my mother (who reads this blog and who I love dearly) and I remember feeling powerful and in control.

And I wonder how I got back here.  Heavier than I have ever been.

So here we go again.  

And I am ready and hopeful and for the first time in a long time - I look forward to eating - in a good way. I have rediscovered the joy of trying to figure out again how to get the most vegetables I can stuffed into the day without feeling like all I am eating is vegetables or that food has to be boring and tasteless. 

I have determined that I am not going to give up sweets entirely - I will not go to extremes.  Not this time!  I have decided that a dessert (a light one - currently I am leaning toward brownies or chocolate cake made with applesauce instead of oil and served with fat free whipped topping) at the end of the evening meal is the most effective thing to end any further snacking at night.  The sweet ending is enough to satisfy.

I have to get back to the gym and get back on my Couch to 5K program.  I also need to be walking on any days I don’t run (although I would like 2 rest days a week).  I can bundle up and take the boys with me again like I did over my Christmas vacation.  But this will come happen.

It all will come together.  I have no doubt.  

So here we go again.  I was on plan today - I tracked all my points - and so today was a good day.

Daily Menu:

Breakfast: 1 cup raisin bran (3), 1 whole wheat english muffin (2), 1 cup fat free milk (2), oleo and honey (1) Total points: 8

Lunch: Smart ones Fajita quesadilla (4), leftover portabellos mushrooms, zucchini, and homemade salsa from last nights veggie tacos (0), 1 medium low-cal diet cherry limeade (18 calories = 0 points)             Total poins: 4

Snack: 3 bites of brownie = 3 points

Dinner: Black Bean Veggie Burgers (Allrecipes.com recipe) (3), salsa (0), 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese (1), light sour cream (0), homemade potato fries (one baker potato cut into fries and tossed with salt, pepper and 2 tsps of olive oil - then baked until golden) (2), red pepper sticks (0)  Total points: 6

Dessert: Brownie (light) with 2 tbsp of ff cool whip (3)

Total points: 24 (I am over by 1)

Not a bad day after all. 

….and I am having a couple of twizzlers.  And I am okay with that.  They are a low fat food. ha!

Hello Everyone!

I am so glad that it is Friday.  Overall it wasn’t a bad week - eating wise or work wise.  I was able to stay on top of both pretty well and feel relaxed right now.  I worked with a client that I really enjoyed this week, and I met a girl who I really liked at the client’s office.  She and I clicked easily and I was reminded how friends can be around every corner.  Her honesty and sincerity were refreshing and I feel better having met her.  Does that sound strange? 

That being said - I don’t know that I am much thinner this week.  Eating was so much better this week - being back at work really reminds how much more I snack I at home.  At work I may have a diet soda or coffee in the morning, but generally don’t eat anything until lunch.  And if I pack a lunch (which I did all week) it is very easy to choose sensible things (Lean Cuisine, fruit, or leftovers) and be satisfied. We did end up ordering pizza on Thursday (it just seems wrong not to - it is such a treat to have dinner delivered) but even then it could be worse - we always order a small canadian bacon, tomato, and mushroom pizza from Papa Johns.  We also always get an order of chicken tenders and a 2 liter bottle of coke to go with the pizza - but I have learned what my limits are and can usually eat within those (1-1 and 1/2 pieces of pizza (it is a small!), 2 chicken tenders, and a small glass of coke).  And it was delicious!!

Working out this week was non-existent.  Really.  That was disappointing, but somewhat expected.  Getting back into working has been an adjustment after being off for 17 wonderful days and I could only handle so much.  Maybe that is an excuse…but…such is life.  Tomorrow I plan on finishing Week 2, Day 3 of the Couch to 5K, doing a little bit of shopping, some work, and then studying.  I would also like to plan our meals for the next week and see if I can put together some meals on Sunday to cook during the week.  I have been going through my Cooking Light cookbooks and picking out recipes that don’t sound too gourmet - or require too many exotic ingredients.  :)

I have to remember to be patient with the process I can not lose all the weight that I want to lose in 2 days, overnight, or in 3 hours.  One day at a time, one meal at a time, one bite at a time.

I hope everyone else had a good week and is looking forward to a great weekend!

Goodnight! 

Well, it was back to work for me today - and I must say I am exhausted.  How did I do this before?  I had five hundred emails to read this morning, several fires to put out, and of course new deadlines to worry about it.  Ah…work.

And then I got home and I resisted the urge to just order a pizza since we had no food in the house and lugged myself back to the grocery store.  I did well - no chocolate! no chips! no soda!  I purchased a rotisserie chicken, a multigrain baguette, peppers, onions, fat free milk, cereal, whole wheat english muffins,…etc.  Good stuff.  

I wanted to go to the gym tonight and do Day 2 of Week 3 - I am little bit off of my initial schedule - but I don’t think that I can.  I have some work I need to do and then I need to help my husband on some financial information that he needs to get done.  I feel like writing in this blog tonight about is all the extra I can do. 

I guess it is just going to take a little while to get back into the swing of things.  My hope is to perhaps get up tomorrow and go run at the Y early in the morning.  If I can get into to bed by 10 this may be doable.

I hope everyone else is a bit more successful than I am getting back into their normal routines.  I am always glad to read about your lives - it keeps me going! 

Oh! - one good thing about being back at work is the snacking during the day has gone away and all my lunches are simply a piece of fruit and a lean cuisine.  It is definitely easier to be back on track when one is so busy.  :)

Goodnight everyone!

Okay - this morning at 7:00 a.m. I left the house and went to a testing center to take the 3rd (out of four) part of the CPA exam.  A three and a half hour test that I just failed.  Yes - failed.  I didn’t even complete the last part, because I ran out of time!

Needless to say this was not how I wanted to start my weekend.  But really it is my fault. I didn’t study enough or long enough - I tried to cram and took for granted that I knew the material.  Did I give 100% - no?  I probably gave 50 - 55% at the most.  

So here is what I have to do - re-commit - work harder - and come out swinging next time.  I have another exam on the 24th of Jan. and I am going to ace that one.  And then I will retake this one at the beginning of April.  AND I will pass it this time.  

Funny how this test is kind of like the weight loss.  I have been frustrated because it seems like it is one step forward two steps back.  But part of the problem is that I am committing only 50 - 55% rather than giving my all.  So I resolve to improve that as well.  I have made a great start with the Couch to 5K - although I haven’t done anything for the last two days (studying!) I am going out for Week 2, Day 2 in about an hour and will do Week 2, Day 3 tomorrow.  And then Monday - well on to Week 3!

I can do it and I am ready!  I have been tracking my calories on an excel worksheet as it allows me to add all my calories automatically.  I will try to be better about adding that detail here. 

All for now - I need to get ready for my walk/run - and see if my ipod is recharged and ready to go!

Happy New Year Everyone!!  I can’t believe that we are finally in 2009 - and that it is time to start all over again.  A great time for new beginnings and reflections - which I will be working on today as I am also studying for my exam.  I have no plans for today other than going for Couch to 5K run and studying so that should give me enough time for some good thought!

This blog would be a great place to write my resolutions down so that I can review them continuously and keep them a the forefront of my mind.  I would like to begin/continue working toward each of my resolutions today and so it is important that they be in black and white.  So here goes…

1. Pass the CPA exam.  I have two parts down and two to go.  I have one exam on Saturday (1/3) and the final (hopefully!!!) on 1/24.  Yeah to have that yoke off of my back!

2. Finish the Couch to 5K program - all of the 9 weeks or 27 running workouts.  

3. Once finished with the Couch to 5K program - sign up, run in, and complete a 5K.  Then determine if I want to do a 10K and begin training for that.

4. Lose the weight.  I have about 40 pounds that I would like to lose, which I think is doable if I am diligent in my exercise and disciplined in my eating.

5. I want to post what I eat every day and the calories and stay within my range of calories (1275 - 1525). I think that I am going to shoot for 1400 calories a day before exercise.

6. I want to buy a scale and weigh myself every morning.

I think that those are the main ones.  So here we go - let’s begin keeping a food journal again!

Breakfast: 1 cup Lucky Charms (147), 1/2 cup of FF milk (40),  whole wheat english muffin with oleo and honey (140)

Total: 327/1400

Snack: 3 Hershey Kisses with Almonds (75 calories)

402/1400

Lunch: To be announced.

Dinner: To be announced.

Will check back in for later for lunch and dinner - but now off to fold clothes and begin studying some more!