Time to update the ticker!

My official WI day is Friday, and that's when I update my ticker. :)

Ah okay! hehe

177!!! :cheer2: :cheer3: Great job Emme!! Only 3 to go to reach that 100 pound mark!! :carrot:

You're right!! I'm so focused on my goal of 165 that I'm not even paying attention to my 100 mark -- LOL!! Thanks :)

Day 8
 

WI: 177.0

Breakfast: 1/2 c cinnamon cheerios plus 1/2 c kashi go lean (fiber twig) cereal, skim milk, whole grain english muffin, all-natural pb, all-natural fruit spread (361)
Snack: Yogurt & Kashi cereal (97), Gum (5)
Lunch: Healthy Choice roasted chicken & baked cheetos (360)
Snacks: FiberOne bar (140), Cheese stick (60), Skinny cow ice cream cup (150)
Dinner: Chicken stuffed with laughing cow cheese and spinach, mashed potatoes, broccoli (454)

Hoping to bust out the rollerblades tonight and/or this weekend...it's finally starting to get nicer outside!

Exercise: No cardio, but I picked weeds for almost an hour, so I guess that is better than sitting!
Calories: 1627

Day 9
 

WI: 176.6

Breakfast: 1/2 c cinnamon cheerios plus 1/2 c kashi go lean (fiber twig) cereal, skim milk, whole grain english muffin, all-natural pb, all-natural fruit spread (361)
Snack: FiberOne bar (140), Coffee w/skim milk (15), Ghiardelli chocolate piece (53)
Lunch: Lean Pockets whole-grain meatball and mozzarella (480)
Snacks: Yogurt (80), Skinnycow (100), air-popped popcorn (173)
Dinner: Salsa chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli (372)

Exercise:No cardio, but I have been helping my husband in the basement for 6 hours (with more to go), so I think that is a good enough workout in itself!
Calories: 1774 ~ A bit of a higher day for me, but I really wanted some air-popped popcorn! My range is 1600-1750 (although I try to stay closer to 1600), but I don't think these few extra calories are going to throw my weight loss out of whack. :)

Day 10
 

WI: 176.8

Breakfast: 1/2 c cinnamon cheerios plus 1/2 c kashi go lean (fiber twig) cereal, skim milk, whole grain english muffin, all-natural pb, all-natural fruit spread (361)
Snack: FiberOne snack bar (140), gum (5), 1 piece Ghiardelli dark chocolate (53)
Lunch: Lean pockets meatball & mozzarella (480)
Snack: Skinny cow ice cream cup (150), Jello sugar free pudding (60), 1 tsp peanut butter (30)
Dinner: Turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli (390)

Exercise: Mowed the front yard, cleaned the whole house (2 hours!!), walked 2 miles.
Calories: 1669

Day 11
 

WI: 177.0

Breakfast: 1/2 c cinnamon cheerios plus 1/2 c kashi go lean (fiber twig) cereal, skim milk, whole grain english muffin, all-natural pb, all-natural fruit spread (361)
Snack: Yogurt w/kashi cereal (97), Gum (5)
Lunch: Lean Cuisine glazed chicken and baked cheetos (340)
Snacks: FiberOne bar (140), Cheese stick (60)
Dinner: Lean pockets (whole-grain) meatball and mozzarella (480), broccoli (60), Jello sugar free pudding (60)

Ah, Monday. The start of a new week. I was able to stay on plan this weekend which was nice...weekends are usually very, very difficult for me because I think it's time to party down with my food. I wanted to stay on plan last weekend and this past weekend because my birthday is this Sunday and I am not going to be able to stay 100% OP. I am aiming to stay OP as much as I can, but I am going to have a small sliver of cake at my parents' house, and my husband is taking me out for dinner Saturday night (a surprise location, so I can't look up the menu online...arrgh!!:)), so I will be deviating a little, but I'll just work extra hard Monday-Friday.

These meatball and mozzarella whole-grain lean pockets have me addicted! I'm usually hungry in the afternoons before dinner, and once I eat dinner then I am fine for the rest of the night, so these Lean Pockets tie me over. They are so delicious and I love that they are whole-grain. Hubby is in night classes Mondays and Wednesdays, so these are easy fixes for me. I went through a spell of making chicken just for myself, but that gets expensive and boring since we eat chicken every other night. I'm going to eat these until I'm sick of 'em!

Exercise: 30 minutes on the treadmill watching Extreme Couponing...yowsa...another addicting show ;)
Calories: 1603

Day 12
 

WI: 176.4

Breakfast: 1/2 c cinnamon cheerios plus 1/2 c kashi go lean (fiber twig) cereal, skim milk, whole grain english muffin, all-natural pb, all-natural fruit spread (361)
Snack: Yogurt w/kashi cereal (97), Gum (10)
Lunch: Lean Cuisine Three-Cheese Stuffed Rigatoni and baked cheetos (360)
Snacks: FiberOne bar (140), Green beans w/almonds (120), Cheese stick (60)
Dinner: Salsa chicken (271),broccoli (60), 1 piece Ghiardelli chocolate (53), Skinny cow truffle bar (100)

Exercise: On The Ball toning class for 45 minutes
Calories: 1632

Holy crap, the On The Ball toning class was a lot harder than I expected!! I work for a university and they offer classes over the lunch hour at the rec center, so I went to see what it was like...buh...15 minutes of pushups, 15 minutes of standing/squats against the wall, and 15 minutes of leg work. There's nothing like going back to work with swamp @$$ because you sweat so much in class and had an 85 degree weather walk back to the office.

Your "lean pockets" sound like my "pumpkin muffins"!:lol: WOWZA...congrats on your loss...176...your cookin with gas now!:D

OMG, I love them. I used to eat the regular non-whole-grain ones, but they were 300 calories a piece (600 total, I eat both), so I begrudgingly quit eating them. When I saw the whole-grain ones in the store the other week I freaked out (in a good way :)) and started throwing them into my cart like someone was fighting me for them and they were going out of stock. Yes, they are very much like your pumpkin muffins for you! But, they fill me up, and they are easy to make...I just love 'em. :)

Day 13
 

WI: 176.2

We have another 85-90 degree humid day today...I will probably be walking on the treadmill tonight. I work for a university and we are doing our annual walk around campus with the president since all the students are gone for the semester, and I do it every year, but this year is going to be messy because it's so nasty outside. The heat just wipes me out. But, I do enjoy being outdoors, so I can't complain too much. And it is supposed to be back in the 60s at the end of the week, so I'll take the sunshine and warmth while I can get it! :)

And, of course, there are some good looking pastries in the office kitchen, and we have a staff meeting later and there will be carrot cake there...I am ready to go in, eat some fruit, and leave...cake is my weakness. I don't care what kind of cake it is. It could be a week old with frosting melting off the top and I would still devour it.

Update: just got out of the staff meeting and I'm actually tearing up a little (like a child that didn't get her favorite toy for Christmas). It makes me sad that I can't eat that carrot cake, but more than that, it makes me sad that I let myself go to the point that I have to do something about it. I know I've come a long way, but I look at people and think "wow, look at them eating that piece of cake because they are not calorie counting" and then I start to feel bad for myself and have a pity party. But, I'm the one that put me in this position to begin with, and hopefully it's only another 10-11 weeks of pretty strict calorie counting to get down to my goal. I will probably always monitor/count calories because I am not going to let myself go again, but it would be nice to eat that piece of carrot cake today. But, I am eating cake this weekend for my birthday, so that's why I'm trying really hard to be good this week...blah...ramble.

Breakfast: 1/2 c cinnamon cheerios plus 1/2 c kashi go lean (fiber twig) cereal, skim milk, whole grain english muffin, all-natural pb, all-natural fruit spread (361)
Snack: Yogurt w/kashi cereal (97), Gum (10)
Lunch: Lean Cuisine meatloaf and mashed potatoes (250), baked cheetos (130)
Snacks: FiberOne snack bar (140), Fruit (50), Banana (105)
Dinner: Lean pockets meatball and mozzarella (480), Skinny cow truffle bar (100)

Exercise: 35 minute walk around campus (fun, now that the students are all gone!)
Calories: 1723

Day 14
 

WI: 177.2

^^^^^^This is why I weigh-in daily. I like to see what is going on with my body. I've dropped a little each day this week and this morning's weigh in was up a pound from yesterday. If today would have been my official weigh-in day, I wouldn't have known that I had actually dropped weight over during the week and I probably would have freaked out.

I tend to gain weight when I ovulate (which is right about now), but it could also be water retention from muscles repairing themselves because I am severely sore still (two days after the On The Ball toning class) ~ I know I didn't gain fat, so it helps to see how my body fluctuates. My official WI today is tomorrow, so anything goes as of right now! LOL!

Breakfast: 1/2 c cinnamon cheerios plus 1/2 c kashi go lean (fiber twig) cereal, skim milk, whole grain english muffin, all-natural pb, all-natural fruit spread (361)
Snack: Yogurt w/kashi cereal (97), Gum (10)
Lunch: Lean Cuisine Butternut Squash Ravioli & baked cheetos (400)
Snacks: Skinny cow truffle bar (100), tuna fish snack pack (100), Cheese stick (80)
Dinner: 3 ground turkey hard-shell tacos with guac, salsa, and cheese & broccoli on the side (558)

Exercise: Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. It's 95 degrees out today and I feel like being lazy. :)
Calories: 1706

Day 15
 

WI: 177.2

Oh, ovulation and water weight...why must you come around during my WI time? :) Oh well. I lost over 2 pounds last week which I usually don't do, so I'm not disappointed.

I stopped by a little bakery this morning to get donuts to bring into work today (Sunday is my birthday, so we bring in treats for others if we want...and other people usually end up bringing stuff in, too!). I have never been to this bakery, but we pass it all the time while driving, so I was very excited. All I could think about all week (literally, my husband thought I was crazy b/c I kept talking about it) was going to the bakery, loading up on donuts for everyone, and treating myself to a nice, tasty, delicious donut. I can't remember the last time I had one, and these are coming from an old-school bakery, not a chain bakery, so I knew it would just be delightful. Pastries and cakes are my absolute weaknesses, and I couldn't wait to treat myself to one of these.

Odd thing is, I went in there this morning and I expected there to be shimmers coming off of the glass, shining lights around the donuts, and angels singing in the background, but when I walked in...it was just a bakery...with donuts...it was awesome to be surrounded by donuts, don't get me wrong, but when I walked in I wasn't hit with "oh my gosh, these look amazing!!!"...they were just donuts to me. And they didn't interest me at all. So, I grabbed a dozen for my coworkers and brought them in. I guess I built it up so much that when I finally got there, it wasn't a big deal and I wasn't interested in eating one. No clue why, but it works for me.

This weekend I am going to count calories as much as I can, but I'm going out to lunch with friends this afternoon, dinner with the hubby tomorrow night (at an undisclosed location so I can't look up nutrition info), and having cake at my parents' house on Sunday...and yes, I am going to have a piece! :)

Breakfast: 1/2 c cinnamon cheerios plus 1/2 c kashi go lean (fiber twig) cereal, skim milk, whole grain english muffin, all-natural pb, all-natural fruit spread (361)
Snack: Yogurt w/kashi (97), FiberOne snack bar (140)
Lunch: 3/4 of turkey wrap, 1/2 amount of fries
Snacks: Shortbread cookie, milk chocolate bar, glass of moscati d'asti...yum :)
Dinner: Grilled chicken sandwich, small cheese fries, rice pudding

No ideas how many calories this jaunt of a day was, but that's ok. It was fun and I don't do it often. :) My stomach is killing me, though, and I have the chills, so it's either a touch of a flu-bug, or my insides are kicking my butt for eating so much that I'm not used to eating (and drinking...haven't had a glass of wine in months).