5ive Things

5 things found in my purse:
1. My louis vuitton wallet that I adore
2. Blackberry
3. Work ID badge
4. Chanel sunglasses
5. Angel coin from my nana

5 things found in my bedroom:
1. My laptop
2. Black and white Audrey Hepburn print
3. Big silver bead bracelet that D bought me for my birthday from Tiffany & Co.
4. Tivo
5. Too many pairs of shoes

5 things I've always wanted to do:
1. Go to greece
2. Get a tattoo...of what? I don't know
3. Get married
4. Have children
5. Buy an english bulldog

5 things I'm obsessed with:
1. Steps I can log in my pedometer
2. My boyfriend
3. Counting points
4. Grocery shopping
5. Cheese

I tag everyone!!

obsessed

my new obsession. :)

i'm a geek.

mobile blogging

Hey all! So I gave in and bought a blackberry. And I'm prettý obsessed. Just thought I'd try to post a blog from my phone. I'm a nerd, I know.

Today was great. Down 2 more lbs, hit the gym everyday this week and going tommorow too.

Tommorow I am getting drinks with my college girlfriends. Saturday is pool day...gotta work on this tan. Hopefully I will get to see Dark Knight. Looks awesome.

Oh! I'm still reading Jen Lancaster's books. I'm on "Such a Pretty Fat"...so funny and all about dieting and trying to lose weight. I recommend ALL her.books.

Okay I'm out. Toodles!

on the right track

my friend at work and i have been hitting the gym together, everyday! i'm 3 for 3 so far and plan on going thursday and friday. i'm gonna try to do more abs too.

feeling good....the LBs are falling off...not too fast but at the right pace. trying to not focus on the scale but happy with what i'm seeing.

hope you are all doing well! :D

mission: somewhat accomplished

hi everyone!

i'm back after a long holiday weekend in chicago. we went to a family reunion and the taste of chicago, so needless to say there was plenty of food to grub on. i think i did okay. i'd give myself a C+. i ate some things i shouldnt have but i kept my pedometer on and walked between 7,000-15,000 steps per day.

i had a great time and the best part is i'm only up 2 lbs. and its quickly dropping off. so thats good. usually on vacation i gain 4-5 lbs. so ill take the 2. my planning ahead was a good idea and even though i splurged, i tried to make healthy choices. i even ate a "tofu salad sandwich" on wheat bread at the airport. it was spicy and surprisingly delicious. i'd like to try to find a recipe for a similar version.

got to the gym today and back on the points system. this weekend i am going home to see a friend and then saturday night D, my sister, her bf and i are going to a friend's joint birthday party. ill try to save up all the flex for that.

feels good to be back in my routine :)

off to the windy city

just a quick post before i go....i meant to do this earlier and lay out my plan of attack for the holiday but work was super busy.

i've already figured out my cheats: 2-3 tastes at the taste of chicago, 1 chicago style hotdog and my grandma's famous potato pancakes (3 max). i'm excited and i've gotten to the gym 4x this week and done yoga 2x to get ready for it!

so i have my planned cheats and i'm sure they may be a few that aren't planned. saved my flex up for going out one or two nights so thats 35 pts for drinks right there. should be okay there. i will be wearing my pedometer the whole time and i want to try to get in a long walk or two as well.

alright time to finish up packing but wish me luck :)

and did i mention i'm on my period! let the challenge begin!

accountability

so i've decided to be more accountable for what i'm eating/drinking. mainly bc i'm maintaining and not losing any weight and also because it's about damn time. lately i'll guestimate points, count 3 huge spoonfuls of ice cream as 1 point, when it's probably 2+, count a *full* glass of wine as 2 pts...knowing that its probably more. whats the point of it? why do i think lying to myself is going to produce any kind of change. there is no point. i've watched laura lose weight every week, and it's motivated me to get my act together! i need to drop 1-2 lbs a week too! she uses sparkpeople. i have an account so i signed back in today and i'm already at 17 out of 20 total points (i convert to WW points myself). and its 6:30 at night. puts things into perspective.

but i'm on track, every point is accounted for an i even measured out what 4oz (2pts worth) of wine looks like and its not as much. not nearly as much as im used to having. gonna limit myself to one regular size, unlike the 2 super size i'll indulge in. got to the gym today and did 35 mins on the elliptical and 30 mins of weights. finished "bitter is the new black" and i think i might read jen lancaster's next book "bright lights, big ass" - i like her style of writing. any other good books you all recommend.

oh! and to challenge myself even more, i'm going to try to stay on WW even throughout my out of town trip to chicago. normally i have the "eat what i want" on vacation mentality. but i just don't want to. i'm coming up with a plan of attack, scheduled cheats, exercise to do, etc. i'll let you know what i decide. any vacation tips?

alright, off to watch some tivo-ed bridezillas. love that show! :)

same old, same old

hi everyone! haven't been posting much lately, just living life. trying not to concentrate too hard on the dieting, cause i'm going to get frustrated if i do. i've been getting to the gym and eating well during the week. the weekends have been my downfall but overally i've been maintaining the same weight for a few months now. my clothes look fine and im toning up so i try to just focus on the positive and not the number on the scale!!

hope everyone is having a great week. getting down to the gym today during work to get my cardio/weights in!

happy hump day!

feelin strong

this morning, around 4am, i got up to use the bathroom and i swung my legs over the bed and put my hands on my thighs to lazily drag myself to the bathroom and i felt it...firm thighs. nice, strong, firm legs. and i at 4am, a smile crossed my face as i made my way to the bathroom.

my the scale isn't budging but my clothes feel better and i notice definition in not only my legs but my arms. i am really loving this weight lifting thing. i love how strong it makes me feel. that is a good feeling.

got to the gym today and did 25 mins of weights & 25 mins on the treadmill. today was a good day!

quick post

got to the gym today and did 50 mins on the elliptical. really didn't want to but i forced myself and i'm happy i did!

just wanted to give a quick update. i'm heading home tmw for a father's day BBQ. grilled chicken and veggies for me! then im going out with my friends from home so that should be fun.

have a nice weekend everyone! :)

"weight ain't nothin but a number"

doing well this week - had some wine with gf's on tuesday but the scale actually went down the next day. my super busy weekend of the 5k, baseball game, extreme sweating from the heat and the concert left me with a 4lb gain! WHAT! thankfully all 4 of those pesky pounds are gone but i do need to tighten up on the eating and eat more fruits/veggies and less carbs.

i can definitely tell that my stomach is getting flatter and my clothing fits better. i was complaining to D the other day that i'm frustrated bc i feel like i'm doing a really good job on the diet & exercise front (for the most part) and the scale is hardly budging. he said "well you just said all your clothes fit better and you've been getting in really good workouts. if other people can't tell the number on the scale by looking at you, why do you let it get to you so much"....so i thought about it for a while. he's right, only i know what the number says and if my pants are clearly looser than they were a month ago, why do i care so much? i guess it would just be nice to see some movement on the scale every once in a while. im holding steady at the same number for the past 2 weeks. my crazy weekends aren't helping, i guess that may be where the weak link is.

got to the gym yesterday and today and i'll go again tmw and i want to do yoga on saturday. that will make 4 workouts for the week :)

alright almost time to go, its gonna be a hot one outside....keep cool!

5k: complete!

i had my first 5k this weekend and i loved it! it was great to be out there with all those people and i ran with a girl from work. we took a break to walk, she wanted to stop, but other than that we ran for a majority of it! next one i want to run the whole thing. i'm already looking into signing up for my next one!

went to a baseball game last night, the weather was horrible yesterday, extremely hot and uncomfortable. today we're going to a concert (outdoors, yet again) so im sure that will be a sweat-fest as well! oh well, maybe ill sweat away some LBS. jk.

have a great sunday! :)

habitat for humanity

quick update: we did habitat for humanity today at work. while it was VERY rewarding...it was the most i've ever sweat in my entire life. it was about 90 degrees all day, the hot sun was blasting on us from 10-3 when we left....lots of heavy lifting and hammering and carrying...i am exhausted!

that is my activity for the day....no gym but i'll get there tmw. one more workout before the 5k on saturday! :D

have a great night!

i ran 3.6 miles: outside!

hi everyone! well i really surprised myself today. i attempted my 1st outdoor trial run of the old 5k....in my neighborhood. i was weary of it because it has a few hills, one big one, and i didnt want it to discourage me. D said that going around my circle once was a little over a mile so that if i could make it around 3x, it would be a 5k.

so i put on my pedometer and the ipod shuffle and hit the pavement. the first 1/2 mile was fine, it felt good to be running outside. i wasnt going very fast (catching my reflection in a few cars, i really didnt look like i was going fast) but i kept a good pace and my breathing was up. the hills are what got me but in the end, it wasnt bad and i felt amazing afterwards. i probably walked for 2 mins total, after the hills, which isnt bad at all for my first go round. AND i lifted weights afterwards!!

when i got in my car to clock the mileage, it came out to be 3.6 miles! so i ran an extra half mile. that felt REALLY good :)

ok off to hit the showers....have a great night!

fabulous monday

hi everyone!

today has been a good day so far. i had tons of work to do which kept me busy and i even managed to get in 50 mins on the elliptical.


i started reading "bitter is the new black" - such a funny book. this lady is a straight up bitch but its funny to hear some of the outrageous things she says. so far i'm enjoying it.

i'm going to try to get to the gym 5x this week! i want to run 3 of those days: tues, thurs and friday. then i have the 5k on saturday so i guess that will be 6 days straight of working out. is that a good idea or should i give myself a free day before the race? it's my first one, tips are welcome!!

alright, time to watch some tivo and catch up on magazines. have a great night!

gym: 4 days complete

i got to the gym today and did 70 mins on the stationary bike. finished baby proof, very good! :)

thats it for now, just wanted to update! :)

productivity!

productivity at it's finest yesterday! got to the gym, did my 5k on the treadmill, ate a light snack, went on a walk with my sister to old navy & then we stopped for a salad/glass of wine at macaroni grill (the salad was 14 pts total, i ate half and it was delicious and filling), walked back towards our house, stopped at the grocery store and carried the groceries home. needless to say i am SORE today. probably from the running, i checked my exercise log and i have not ran since september and even then i was running for 20-25 mins. i cant remember the last time i actually ran that far and for that long. i'm hurting today though! i probably pushed myself too hard but i wanted to see if i could do it. and i did.


almost forgot! after our hike around town we went to the midnight showing of sex & the city! i loved it. i dont care what the reviews say, if you loved the show, you'll love the movie. simple as that!!

im very tired today. have a lowkey evening/weekend planned. probably takeout from outback tonight (chicken/veggie griller most likely), some wine & some tv or a movie. the scale said 139 today....and i just got a visit from aunt flo so im hoping to be down 2 lbs by next week! :) ive been really good the past 2 weeks and my jeans are looser today. trying not to focus on the scale but its tough!

hope everyone has a great weekend. heading down to the gym. i met the challenge goal of 3x a week in the gym, but i pushed it to 4x a week for the last leg of the challenge! ran that

3.32 miles ran!

hi everyone!

so i got on the treadmill and gave it my best shot at running a 5k and i did it, and a little more: 3.32 miles! and i never stopped running. granted it wasn't the best time ever but i did it and i wasnt sure if i could. i got a cramp mid way through - i need to do research on how to get rid of them/proper way to breathe when running.

but besides that i feel great! got in my cardio and weights and now i'm off for a walk with my sister. might see sex and the city at midnight if i'm not too tired, can't wait to see it!!

5k anyone?

did i mention that i'm running/walking a 5k on june 7th? my coworker asked me to sign up and said we can walk or run/walk, whatever we want. so i signed up and i havent trained or anything. needless to say i will be attempting a 5k run before next week. probably friday....wish me luck. i've never run a race before but i got my shirt and my number in the mail and i got really excited and i want more shirts and more numbers :)

got in 65 mins on the elliptical today. my 2 days of weights each week has been going well and i feel great! the scale is working with me, i know i should ignore it, but we all know i cant.

doing weights/cardio tmw...cardio will probably be a run. still doing low carb/weight watchers so thats good. today at subway i got a 3' mini sub, took off half the bread and got a salad. it was super filling and delicious.

reading "baby proof" by my new fav author: emily giffin. its getting really good. can't wait to read "love the one you're with"

and yay to shannon for her boy coming back tmw! i love her blog and i know she's beyond excited!! :) and a skinny bitch if i may say so myself. hehe

ok, toodles, i'm out!

new week!

hi everyone!

back on track after a 3 day weekend, well kind of a 4 day weekend for me, i had the stomach flu and called in sick on friday. it sucked.

stayed low carb all weekend except sunday, drank beers and had some ice cream. but not so bad! i feel good today and the pants i wore 2 weeks ago to D's graduation are loose and feeling good. when i wore them to the graduation they were tight...and i definitely had a muffin top hiding under my blousy shirt. today they were nice and loose and no muffin top! maybe they stretched out but whatever, it was a nice feeling!

i got to the gym today and did weights and 25 mins on the elliptical. i may be just imagining it but i moved my arm back when i was looking in the mirror and i saw a little muscle growing! how awesome is that?

going to try to do no/low carb this week again. it wasnt hard and really worked.

have a wonderful night!

back in the swing of things

day 4 of no carbing and i'm down 4 lbs. but please note that these are all 4 lbs i gained over the 3 day weekend so i guess i'm back to square one. which is fine. it's nice to see that my efforts are working and i feel pumped to keep it up! i may drink red wine (trying to stay away from beer) on sunday - which i want to be a cheat day. i dont want to cheat as far as eating cupcakes and cookies, but the red wine will be the cheat. then back to basics on monday.

did you watch idol last night? i dont want to spoil it but i'm so happy about the outcome :)

i've been to the gym every day this week. going back today to do weights/25-30 mins of cardio.

tonight we're going out for japanese for a coworkers bday. i am planning on doing the seaweed salad, ahi tuna & maybe miso soup. as far as i can tell there are no carbs in that mix, there might be oil/dressing on the seaweed but that's not so bad. normally i'd order 2 sushi rolls, wine, seaweed salad & probably snack on someone elses sushi or my leftover sushi when i got home.

so that's the plan....not gonna beat myself up if i dont stick to it but i'm going to try my best to stay focused!

tuesday: quick update

-got to the gym! 40 mins elliptical, 25 mins weights
-no carbs! (AHH! give me bread!!)
-lots of veggies & protein. i'm stuffed and still have to eat dinner.

can't wait for idol tonight!

that is all :)

carbs are the devil

hi everyone!! back after a long girls weekend....and i feel so bloated/fat/gross. yesterday i decided to try to the south beach diet plan for just this week - to kick start some action. basically its lean proteins/low fat cheese and lots of veggies with nuts, SF jello & SF fudgesicles as snack options (well the ones i chose anyway). so far so good. i got to the gym yesterday so i made my goal of 3x a week (my week starts on tuesday)....so far so good. i do feel bloated but i know its from the crap we ate this weekend so i'm not going to focus on it. i'm going to keep eating SBD this week and try to up the workouts to 5x this week. so thats the plan.

not much else is new, i saw an ad for 100 calorie pack chocolate covered pretzels (mmm....carbs!)...can't wait to try them. next week i'll be back on the carbs but i want to try to cut out more sugar & unnecessary carbs. i noticed that most of my snacks/meals contain some carb/pasta/bread/sugar in them. i need to eat cleaner.

off topic - i hope david cook wins idol, i love him!! download his covers of billie jean & always be my baby on itunes - so great!

alright...back to work! have a great week!!

off to the beach i go...

hi everyone :) hope you're having a happy hump day!!

got in exercise yesterday (1 of 3): 35 min on the elliptical. today i had to run errands so i didnt get to go during work and tonight i have to work late (until 5:30ish) so i'm trying to find the willpower to get to the gym. i dont know if i'll be going tmw, i have a half day and then i'm going to D's graduation (he's on the 7 year plan...lol - kidding, he's been working full time for 2 years now & only takes 2 classes a semester) so i dont know if i'm going to be able to fit it in? we'll see. i will figure out a way to get that last work out in - it might just be on monday (i've been starting my weeks on tuesdays).

i went out last night for a going away party for D's sister. she's moving to the west coast. his sister and ex-gf (before me) are BFFs so she was there. and she has put on a LOT of weight....not that that made me feel good about myself (okay it did)...but it made me realize i'm not fat, i'm not a big girl. i'm a girl who struggles with 5-10 lbs to lose. and that upped my self esteem. is that bad? it sounds bad when i type it. oh well.

anypoo.....still reading "something blue". pretty good, not as good as something borrowed but it definitely holds my interest! i bought another emily giffin book: baby proof. anyone read that?

oh yea! i'm going to florida for the weekend for a girls trip. i'll try to be good but honestly, i'm probably going to splurge and there will drinking...but only wine or light beer for me. i dont drink liquor.

alright....time to find something to occupy my time for the next hour. SO bored!!

private blog

oh yea! forgot something...

i've been thinking that i want to make this a private blog, like shannons. if you want to be added give me your email address and i'll add it to the list. i'm going to do it in a week or two so i dont miss anyone on here.

let me know! just leave it in a comment, i turned on the comment approval so only i will see it and i'll delete it after that.

exercise goal for the week met

i did it! i got to the gym 5x this week

5.5 - 66 min elliptical
5.6 - 30 min elliptical, 25 min weights
5.7 - 70 min elliptical
5.8 - 35 min elliptical, 25 min weights/abs
5.9 - 50 min elliptical

it felt great and i saw 138 on the scale today, which i haven't seen in a while. i've been hovering around 139/140 for about 3 weeks. so it was nice to see it budge but i'm not gonna let it get me down. i just need to focus on the progress and not the number. and i need to keep it up with the weight machines, i feel a good burn lately in all my muscles, its nice!

have a great weekend!!

day 4 of the gym: complete!

workout accomplished: 35 min cardio, 25 min strength training & abs

note to self: keep this up, it feels good

note to scale: come on buddy, move! ~ trying not to focus on the number but it hasn't budged lately, it's frustrating. oh well.

tgit!

hi everyone! :)

so i've made it to the gym 3 days straight this week. i'm going again today to do weights & then i'm gonna switch it up from the elliptical and walk on an incline for 25-30 mins. thats the plan for the day! i'm obsessed with this book "something borrowed" - i'm almost finished with it! i can't put it down. i'm excited to read the next one. i broughtt hem both today, hopefully i can finish it up.

after today i'll have met my summer challenge commitment of 3x a week. my week started on tuesday since i started the challenge last tuesday...anypoo! last night after work i went to the gym and got on the elliptical - i set it for 60 mins and covered up the time, i dont like to look at it until i feel like i'm almost done. well i hopped off really fast to get water - i had probably been on for 35 mins and when i got back on, i kept going but the incline didnt change after a while, so i looked at the time and the machine had shut off. so annoying. so i did another 35 minutes and i'm guessing i hit 70 mins on the elliptical yesterday? which is great....but i think i need to switch it up and get on the treadmill or the bike or something, just for a change.

alright....back to work. tgit! (ti-jit as my sister pronounces it!)

quick update

just a quick update - i did 25 minutes of weights/strength training and 30 mins of the elliptical yesterday! going to hit the gym today and do cardio. i cannot put down "something borrowed" - such a good book and very scandalous! it's about this girl drunkenly hooking up with her best friend's fiance and the repurcussions of that. apparently the next book in the series, "something blue", is from the other girl's point of view, how cool is that?

i'm a nerd.

seis de mayo!

happy seis de mayo! (i'm a nerd) - hope everyone is doing well. i got my 3 days of exercise in last week and i'm going again today. yesterday i did 66 minutes of the elliptical ~ 600 calories. woohoo! this reading and working out thing makes the time fly by. and its still a tough workout since i set it on random inclines. i finished eat, pray, love - great book! i'm starting "something borrowed" today....anyone read that one? my coworker lent it to me and said it's good.

had a few cervezas last night for cinco de mayo - which was probably not the best idea but oh well, i had a good time.

alright, back to work!!

summer challenge: on target

hi everyone!

i'm on point this week for carolyn's summer challenge. i challenged myself to get to the gym 3x a week, although i'm secretly trying to get there 4x. last week was a success and so far i've gotten in two LONG elliptical sessions this week:

tuesday: 60 min elliptical
wednesday: 65 min elliptical

i've been keeping an exercise log since 2005 and i looked back on it and this time last year and the year before i definitely spiked up my exercise. i'm sure it had something to do with summer but i think the nice weather motivates me to be more active. i love it. and i'm really impressed by the long elliptical sessions. i used to do about 30-45 minutes but since i've been incorporating reading my book into it, the time flies by. and its definitely not a slacker workout, im panting and sweating and maintaining my pace. and im almost done with my book! i'm reading eat, pray, love and i definitely recommend it.

going to sister dinner tonight (with my sister of course) hopefully either crapplebees (haha - i do like the WW menu) or maybe bonefish grill or possibly sushi. there are healthy items at all places, i just need to make sure not to over indulge. the 550 calories i burned give me a little leeway but i'm not going to eat like it does.

alright....have a great day everyone!!

happily motivated

good morning, it's such a beautiful day! :D its already 60 degrees. i really love this weather and it motivates me to keep on exercising and eating right. the good news is i'm in a dress that i wore when i was 5 lbs thinner at this time last year and to me it looks the same. so i dont know, maybe i've gained muscle?? haha...yea....i'll keep telling myself that!

yesterday was a good day and hopefully today is too! i'm planning to get to the gym and do the elliptical 30-45 mins.....or longer. i was in the zone yesterday and definitely could have kept going. next week i'm gonna switch it up and do the treadmill but i'm really into this book and i want to finish it. eat, pray, love - yes, it's good. i like the way she writes. i'm on the part where she's in india (this lady travels to italy, india & indonesia to find herself. well in india she's trying to learn that pain is just a physical feeling and you can recognize it as a sensation but then disregard it and move on. i tried that when i was on the elliptical on the tough hill parts. i just tried to focus on the sensation but know that it would eventually go away or i would get used to it. does that make any sense? it was an interesting concept though.

she also talks about how you can do anything, you just have to visualize yourself doing it and if you want it badly enough it will happen. so i am going to visualize myself 10 lbs lighter by this summer. hehe. ;)

have you all ever tried "lean gourmet by michelina" frozen dinners? they are so cheap here - probably $1.25 each. and they are so yummy. they even have WW points on them. how great is that. click to see their website - i had the bbq chicken and mashed potatoes in the fridge here at work and someone ate it! WTF! at least i have another but come on people, thats ridiculous.

okay...back to work! :) have a fabulous day!

65 minutes

i did 65 minutes on the elliptical today ~ 550 calories :D

yay!! back in the groove!

weight-less

today's plan: going to the gym for 30-45 mins of cardio after work.

and oh yea, i took my weight off this page. for the record i'm 139 but i'm not going to let the numbers bother me bc i'm feeling really motivated lately. and that number up there is just annoying!!

have a great hump day :)

smiling!

i did 50 mins on the elliptical today, it was great!! woohoo! i was sweating up a storm. i totally lost track of time bc i was reading "eat, pray, love" - 50 mins flew by before i knew it. it's a great book by the way.

hope everyone is having a great day!! :) getting back in the swing of things at the gym and it feels good.

wedding weekend!

hi everyone!

still here, still alive. unfortunately i've gained about 2 lbs but that's okay. i got back to the gym this past 3 weeks and i went 3x this week which is the most i've gone since february. baby steps!

going to a wedding this weekend and wearing the dress (see below). so excited. i got some super cute carlos santana shoes to go with!



hope you're doing well, have a good one!

gym girl

hello everyone! somehow motivation has creeped back into my life. i'm going to enjoy it while it lasts bc i know it comes and goes. the other day my coworker said "hey, how come you never go to the gym anymore? you used to always be down there"....and i think that's when i really felt guilty for getting out of my habit. i want to be gym girl again.

but the good news is i'm back in the zone! i got down to the gym yesterday and it felt great. i was walking down and started smelling that "gym smell" and instantly perked up. i liked that routine, going 3-4 times a week during work. since work has settled down a bit its definitely going to be a mandatory part of my routine now.

well that's pretty much it. i have one month until a friend's wedding and i'm wearing this:


it's nanette lepore and super cute. it is a little snug (only in the chest, i may need a minimizing bra). but i'm excited to wear it. i'd like to drop 2-3 lbs by that point. then in may i'm going to florida to visit a friend for the weekend. i'd like to lose 2-3 more lbs by then.

small goals & baby steps people!
happy hump day!

ipod anyone?

check this out: http://www.cookingbytheseatofmypants.com/

chance to win a free ipod & a great website.

it's been a while

and i know, i dropped off the face of the blog earth. but i'm still here just very busy busy busy at work. which is when i used to blog and read blogs. i cant remember the last time i've ever opened google reader. has to have been 3 weeks ago?

well just to let you know, things are going good. i'm counting points and not going to the gym which has helped me maintain for the past 3 months but i'm getting sad that i haven't been back to the gym. i'm going to try to and make it my goal and if i don't make it, i'm not beating myself up over it. i'm just livin life.

i hope you are all doing well and i will try to post on monday.
have a good weekend :D

zumba!

my sister and i went to a 60 min zumba dance class last night at her gym. it was so much fun. i loved it. my sister never works out and was going on and on about how hard it was and how sweaty she got. well, it was definitely not easy but looking around the room, i definitely kept up and even went harder than some of the other people in there. it felt kind of good to be able to show her that i really am pretty "fit" - i don't know that she's ever seen that side of me. i'm so happy bc i wanted her to go to the gym with me, she may think bc she's relatively thin that it doesn't matter but as we all know, it really does.

it felt good and made me realize these classes are a new spin on working out. i usually just run or do the elliptical but this has really shown me that something different and fun is out there too.

it was mostly a booty shaking class but it was great! i will definitely do it again.

out for a friend's birthday tonight, a friend's going away get together tmw and this weekend going home to shop for a new car, golf and relax with D. can't wait :)

still here....still a gym slacker

hi everyone!! still here...not to worry. i've been SO busy at work & finally finished up harry potter 7....very good! sad to see it end. haven't been keeping up with any blogs unfortunately. we're being audited at work so any free time i have, i'm either doing my normal work or trying to catch up with deadlines. i'm out of town visiting my parents with D this weekend and next weekend is a bachelorette party. busy busy bee. i'd like to drop an lb or two before next week when i see all my girlfriends from high school. i feel like i look good though so i'm not too concerned about it.

food has been really good. still maintaining at 136 which i'm happy with. the gym, that's another story. i've been slackin!! but tonight i'm going to zumba dance class with my sister. she went last night and said it kicked her butt! so i'm excited to see how it is.

alright...hope you're all doing well! i'm going to try to catch up on blogs tommorow night :D

gym slacker

i've been a gym slacker. with my birthday week (ha!) and just pure laziness, i did not get to the gym. i've been holding steady on the scale but i feel the need to get back in there.

i work from home tmw but i'm going to try to do a workout dvd i think.

gym: i miss you!!

okay off to read - i'm on page 400something in harry potter 7 - obsessed! i'm going to be sad when these books are done.

ta ta :)

happy valetine's day everyone!

i hope you have a wonderful day! :)

mine started out with flowers & a beautiful card. and now we're going to dinner. so blessed. hope you are too.

the 20 worst foods in america

outback steakhouse cheese fries appetizer
2,900 calories
182 g fat 240 g carbs ~ basically a million points

we all know we've scarfed these down at one time or another. i never knew they were THAT bad.

click for the other 19

still craving those cheese fries? gross!

i had a delicious dinner of leftover trader joe's chicken gorgonzola (1/2 of one breast = 4 points), green beans and a little bit of couscous. yummy.

and i've recently developed a deep love for angel food cake. so yummy with fruit and fat free cool whip. my new fav!!

birthday gift!

D got me this necklace from tiffany & co for my birthday :) it sits right on my collarbone and is very delicate & classy. i love it! he also bought me a gift card so i can buy my new louis wallet. yay. he's too good to me.



pretty :)

back in the swing of things

hi everyone! back in the ww swing of things once again. my birthday celebration, which lasted like 4 days...haha...is now over. i'm back on track and don't see another event coming until march. we're going to a nice restaurant for valentine's day on thursday but i'm getting the salmon and asparagus so i should be back on track.

i decided that i want to start running again. i was really into it last year but then stopped. i was to start it back up so i'm going to see how long i can run today at the gym and walk for the rest of the time on an incline. i need a break from the elliptical, it's getting boring.

not much else to say, had a great weekend but ready to get back on track! :)

tonight i'm making trader joe's chicken gorgonzola. it's 8pts a serving but i may just have half and pile up on the veggies.

have a great day! :)

go shorty! it's your birthday

today i am 25! :O

and today i am not counting points. AND i am eating cupcakes. take that diet! haha

be back monday.

still here

i'm just having a blah week. trying to stay focused but i've gained a pound. i did something every day last week and didn't go over my points. and i GAINED a pound. wtf! so frustrating. trying to convince myself that even though i've gained a pound that i need to stick with the program. i'm getting there...

tomorrow is D's birthday and saturday is mine! woohoo :)

hope you have a lovely hump day :o)

exercise tv: online version!

hi everyone!

so i've been going on and on about how much i love this on-demand exercise channel. well guess what, it's online too! exercise tv - try it out! my favorite is the yoga instructor meaghan, she has a really good sense of humor, sometimes she will lose her balance or fumble her words and its just really funny to see her be normal and not perfect.

meaghan's a.m. yoga

try one out! what i like is there is a countdown to let you know how much time you have left.

this entire week i've done SOMETHING every single day. today i did half of one of the firm dvds (it was the advanced one and about half way through i realized i'm not ready for it and i could barely keep up). even if it's just getting a walk in one day. i've really been doing a lot of exercise tv and it wears me out, it really pushes me harder than normal. i'm loving it. last night i did an hour of yogilates (yoga/pilates). i really liked it. my muscles have been so sore all week. scale is staying steady so i'm going to keep telling myself i'm gaining muscle. right?

what are everyones plans for the super bowl? im not doing anything too crazy. i want to pick up an amy's pizza....and maybe some fat free dip of some sort.

my birthday is a week from today! i'm almost 25! :O

have a great weekend :)

a.m. yoga

that's right...i got up early to do a 15 min a.m. yoga session (from my on demand channel on tv). it felt great and definitely gave me energy for the day. i am loving this exercise tv on demand, it's the best.

i hit the gym after work and kicked my butt - i did hills on the elliptical and at one point was on the highest elevation - it was so hard, i was panting. i've been thinking about my average workouts and im usually breathing hard but not like killing it. after i killed it on the elliptical i got on the satan machine (stair climber) and climbed 65 flights of stairs! 15 mins of it, it was HARD! i tried to focus on other things, like the tv or the instructors setting up the spin bikes. but wow...i really pushed myself and i need to do it more often. i'm getting too comfortable with my workouts and i am enjoying switching it up lately with exercise dvds/shows and different machines.

tonight we're going to see atonement! i'll let you know how it goes.

have a good one! :)

yoga on demand

i don't know if you guys have on-demand stations through your cable company but we do. i recently found the health and fitness on demand station. apparently there is a channel called exercise tv that i had no idea existed. wow. anyway! the on demand is FULL of workouts: yoga, cardio, strength training...even the carmen electra strip tease workout is on there! probably 50+ different workouts that change monthly.

well tonight i did two 20 minute yoga sessions and one "run 1 mile" sessions. the yoga was great, i loved it. i want to keep doing it. the run in place thing was kind of weird but it wasn't just running in place, it was kicking, jumping, moving side to side and doing a modified new kids on the block hanging-tough move....it was not easy and i was panting at the end! i felt kind of silly bopping around in my room but who cares! it was a nice workout and i was sweating at the end!

it's nice to get in these workouts outside of the gym...keeps things fresh and interesting and my legs dont hurt as bad since i've stretched them out. success :)

owwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

that dvd from monday: kicked. my. butt! ouch. i feel like someone cut up my leg muscles. i guess that means the muscles are growing but DAMN. OWWW!! anyone read harry potter? when the kids get injured, they can magically regrow bones. i'm thinking it feels something like this. haha.

anyways....happy hump day! enough with my debbie downer attitude. this morning has flown by. scale is sticking at 136.2 which is fine. i was 137 this time last week so i'll take it! and my google tracker is of course keeping me focused!

BL was great last night! i loved seeing bob & jillian compete and brittany kicked butt on the escalator!! i felt bad for her when she cried about bob not picking her & then only losing 2 lbs. that's gotta hurt. esp since last week she lost like 1 pound since they tried to throw the weigh-in. i really could watch that show every night if it were on, its so motivating! i did arm weights for about 10 mins during the show and i feel the burn today. it feels good. not like my legs burn, like a good burn.

alright...back to work! trying to get to the gym today if my bum legs can handle it. i may just walk on the treadmill or try the elliptical. have a great day!

jiggly legs

i did it! i actually did a workout dvd at home. it's been a while and i definitely will be feeling this tmw. my legs were all jiggly when i was finished. i took a 20 min walk to pick up my prescription so that was good too. something i read on sister skinny today was that katie's friend jeanne said to try to be active every single day. that really hit home for me. just moving around, getting up at the office and going for a walk. i need to start more of that. it's either the gym or nothing sometimes and i need to get out of that habit!

tonight i will doing a little spring cleaning...well winter cleaning...on my closet and donating things i haven't worn in the past year to salvation army. there is just too much stuff in there and i need to make room for all the clothes i do wear. i'm officially out of hangers. so that will be good.

have a great night everyone :) stay active!!

i hate math but i love these graphs

it's monday!! and i am feeling great. the scale said 135.6 this morning. i will take it! even if it disappears for a little while...it will come back. that's what i've noticed this month with water weight and fluctuations. if i see the number at one point in the week, i have ended up seeing it stick around by the end of the week or the following week.

i plugged that into my google 15 tracker this morning (get yours here) and look at the graph!



pretty nifty, huh? the numbers at the bottom are the moving average weight changing~ not the actual weight plus/minuses. it took me a while to figure that out. the moving average is a different number. as long as the blue dot stays below the yellow line you're on your way to your goal weight. i love it. it lets me know what i weigh at this time last week which is a great way to keep the whole weight fluctuation thing in perspective.

onward and upward!! i mean...downward. :)

have a great day! going to try to get to the gym later despite having on a really cute outfit & hair do. like i said, not an excuse!

great weekend

hi everyone :)

so, got my shopping cardio in this weekend. you ladies thought i was kidding. i wish i was. my mom is a power shopper. we shopped for 5 hours on saturday and 6 hours today. we grabbed snacks on the way but were definitely moving. did anyone go to old navy this weekend? they had a RIDICULOUS and i mean RIDICULOUS sale. i got 2 dresses, a jacket, pair of work pants, pashmina scarf, 2 sweaters, jewelry, shirts and so much other stuff and probably spent around $150 - it was a steal. i guess the sale was just this weekend and we definitely took advantage of it. it was great! we had a lot of fun.

we stopped at 7-11 to get sodas and i saw that they had individually wrapped weight watchers muffins & chocolate & lemon cakes. i got the ww blueberry muffin which i've never tried before (3 points) and it was so yummy. big, moist and didn't taste diet-muffiny at all. soo good. it's nice to see that places like 7-11 have jumped on the diet/ww bandwagon. finally.



D knows how much i love my 100 calorie cupcakes and when i told him about the 100 calorie streussel muffins he was on the hunt. he found them for me today!! he is so sweet. he said he could only find the banana (1.5 points) & the blueberry (1.5 points) so i will continue my search for the cinnamon. i tried the banana - pretty damn good! nice and sweet with a crumbly top. i'm a fan. i bet the blueberry will be yummy.

the scale said 136.4 this morning. i saw 136 last week but then stayed in the 137s so we'll see what it says tmw. so far i'm averaging about a pound a week. which i know is normal and i'm happy it's moving downward!

alright...off to enjoy the rest of my sunday night!
ta ta!

fabulous friday

yay it's friday! and i had a half day. doesn't get much better than that. i left work around 11 and made it to the gym. i did 50 mins of cardio and then strength training. my legs are HURTING! but it hurts so good. lol. i did make my goal of getting to the gym 4x this week. woohoo!

my mom is coming up this weekend so that should be nice. lots of shopping cardio is expected.

oh hey - i got the senseo: share senseo. i paid the $15 shipping and handling and it arrived about a week later! i haven't tried it yet but its black, sleek and very cool. i'll let you know how it goes.

and p.s. i'm still loving the muffins (see below)....they are definitely a new favorite.

have a nice weekend everyone!

zeistay-tangay-aucy!

you know when you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and you're NOT sucking in and you think....wow....look at me! that's how i felt this morning as i did my shimy dance to put on my tights. i have a really cute little jumper dress on, hair loosely curled, feeling pretty sexay. haha :) the title of today's blog, let me explain: i love that commercial where the guy is going to mcdonalds and is buying his coworkers snack wrapp. i hear it on the radio all the time. he says he's going to get someone a bbq snack wrap because they're zeist-ay. and he's going to get someone a honey mustard snack wrap because they're a-tang-ay and he's getting someone another because they are sauc-ay. he then says he's getting someone al three because they're zeistay-a-tangy-aucy! hahaha...i know, i'm a nerd but that makes me laugh each time he says it. anyone seen it? anyone? no? the cheese stands alone.

ANYWAY! going to go against the voice in my head that doesn't want to mess up my hair and get to the gym today. i have no excuse besides the cute hair do and as i've said in the past, if that's the only thing i can come up with, it's not good enough.

i had banana/bran muffin today for breakfast with some oatmeal (around 8am) and i am still full (it's 11am)....i love those muffins!! thanks again carolyn for passing that on to me :)



does anyone watch project runway? of course, me, the queen of all that is reality television does. it was good last night - kind of glad to see victorya go. she just wasn't a fav of mine. i think my favorites are christian, sweet pea & jillian. anyone else watch?? if you don't - you should. re-runs are on bravo constantly.

alright...back to work....

i <3 muffins

hi everyone!!
today has gone by fast - didn't get to the gym, took the day off but i'll back in there tmw and friday hopefully. i have a half day on friday so i want to go straight from work.

i just made the muffin recipe that carolyn gave me for anne's bran banana muffins. 1pt a piece! so yummy! and the chocolate chips really make them taste sinful.

anne's 1 point bran/banana muffin

ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups All Bran
1/2 C Skim Milk
1/2 C Water
1 C Flour
1/4 C Splenda
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 ripe banana
3 egg whites
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Combine All Bran, water and milk and let sit for 20 mins.
In another bowl combine flour, Splenda, soda, powder and cinnamon.
Add egg whites and applesauce to All bran mixture. Add banana. Mix well. Add dry ingredients and All Bran mix. Fold in chocolate chips.
Bake at 375 for about 18-20 mins.

YUMMY and very filling. i had two and i'm stuffed. i want to bring some to work tomorrow too. anyone else have yummy muffin/cookie recipes that are low point? i have all this leftover flour & baking stuff now and i want to use it up.


what did you guys think of BL? i was confused by how the whole night went and mad that the pink team was voted off. not fair at all. i really liked bette sue, she was funny.

alright - off to watch project runway! good night!

google 15

do you ladies (& gents) use the google 15 toolbar?

google 15

i do - i love it. i weigh in daily (butt naked every morning on an empty stomach). know, i probably shouldn't but i think its helpful to me to stay focused. i track what my weigh is in there and it actually helps me to stay motivated - scale wise. i like to look at what i weighed this time last week...which i find is always more. so it helps me to see the big picture! even if the scale isn't necessarily budging.

p.s. i'm in the most boring meeting right now. trying to act like i'm doing something important. lol ;)

i'll check in later!

tuesday check-in

hi all!

not much to report. had a great 50 min elliptical session at the gym tonight. i'm trying to step up my game and i've been to the gym twice already this week. i want to go two more times this week i think.

had leftover breadless chicken parm for dinner. YUMMY! for lunch i had a new smart ones frozen meal: fruit inspirations: honey barbeque chicken with mango and orzo rice. it was pretty good. 5 points. i loved the orzo but could take or leave the mango/sauce combo.

the flatbread melt was yummy - kind of like the panini but definitely good.

scale holding steady at 136 :) i'm happy with that.

BL is on....i'm tivo-ing idol, i'll catch up on that tmw. have a great night!!

another OP weekend

hi everyone!

today is MLK day so i'm off. slept in, D cooked some delicious egg beater/reduced fat feta cheese scrambled eggs for me and light wheat toast. it was very yummy :) i'm loving that we're both on this diet together. he's down 9, i'm down 6. back to my comfort zone of 136. the highest i saw on the scale january 1 was 142.6 - and it definitely scared me. it feels good to be back down.

stayed OP this weekend, only dipped into about 12-15 flex points over the 3 days so that's good. i made some delicious chicken yesterday - breadless chicken parm as i was calling it. i put some chicken tenderloins (99% fat free) in the oven at about 375 with some EVOO & salt & pepper. once those cooked i topped them with store bought spaghetti sauce, little bit of fat free ricotta (which i would cut out next time, since you could barely taste it) and some skim mozzarella cheese and cooked until it melted. it was SO yummy, i surprised myself. and the chicken was so juicy.


at the store i picked up the new lean cuisine flat bread melts: chicken philly & chicken pesto so those will be nice additions to my lunch rotation, i will let you know how they taste :)

i also snagged some new cherry chocolate diet dr. pepper. GROSS. it tasted like tootsie rolls. i'm not a fan.

light dinner tonight with D & his mom. i'm just going to get some soup i think, nothing fancy, i think we're going to panera. and then i might eat some leftover chicken parm from last night. yum!

have a great day!!

sunday workout

got to the gym!! :) 40 mins of cardio

have a great sunday!

Check out Roni’s new contest! I can win a Nutritional Smart Scale from Eat Smart and so can you! Click here for details!

productive sunday

hi everyone!

down a half a pound and feeling good. the scale has either been holding steady or dropping. it feels great. especially during TOTM! my commitment these past 3 weeks has really been paying off.

today i'm going to D's gym, he got me a day pass to see if i like it. it's near my house and only $28 a month so i may join. i go to the two gyms at work for free but on the weekends i can't go because they're closed and sometimes i need to get home from work to beat the traffic and use that as an excuse. also it would be something for us to do together - he's been going a lot lately. if i like it, i think i might join.

so aside from that we're watching football today. no work tmw!! :)

have a great 3 day weekend if you have one!

free senseo coffee pod!

go to sharesenseo.com to fill out a survey to be eligible for a free seseo coffee pod - single serving coffee maker. i received my tracking info from DHL tonight and it should be here by next week. i will let you know how it turns out but so far so good :) it's worth the $15 shipping if you ask me!

take that TOTM!

just got in 60 mins on the elliptical. good way to start off the weekend :)

it's the weekend baby!

cramps & bloating are not good for dieting but thankfully i've fended off cravings. i just had some chocolate quaker mini delights 90 calorie pack, yum. i love those things. and i have a fat free pudding for this afternoon in case my chocolate cravings :)

getting to the gym today - so i will make my goal of 3x this week! next week it will be 4x - so that should be good. scale is holding steady - even during TOTM. i really think giving up wine/drinking has been such a help (obviously).

we saw juno last night - so cute & funny! go see it now!

don't have big plans for the weekend. i want to do some clothes/shoe shopping. and hit up tarjay (target).

have a wonderful weekend!

snowy day!

it's snowing! we got off work around noon and i have to work from home the rest of the day. the plan is to get a workout dvd in and some arm weights so i will do that after i finish up my work.

not sure if anyone is interested in this but there is a site that offers you a free senseo coffee machine (click) - its the single serving coffee makers. you get the machine, coffee and other stuff, the catch is you have to pay the $15 S&H. i paid mine and i'll let you know if it actually comes. i read on fatwallet.com that it's not a scam, several people received theirs. so i'm looking forward to it! :) and if it IS a scam, oh well i'm out $15 i guess!

scale is going down down down...even if it's almost TOTM. nice. my pants feel a lot looser too. love this feeling!

alright...back to work!

we need a change. YEA. do it today. YEA

haha - sorry - i have the biggest loser theme song stuck in my head.

got to the gym tonight: 50 mins on the elliptical! ohhhh yea :)

off to watch BL! night ladies!

back to the gym...finally

good morning! :)

diet is going really well, exercising is picking back up, feeling good! i went to the gym yesterday and rocked out on the elliptical. it felt good! i'm going back today. i feel motivated now that i feel like i have the food part under control again. the scale is being nice to me, the pants are fitting looser than they have in a LONG time. so i'm motivated, and it feels great!

can't wait for BL tonight, i seriously love that show. it motivates me to get buff. my sister and i are suppossed to sign up for a boot camp as soon as she gets home from her business trip, so hopefully she won't back out on me. TOTM is around the corner, i'm going to try to not give in to any crazy cravings i may have.

alright, i'm boring today. just wanted to check in. ta-ta!!

fighting temptations

we had a working-lunch meeting today for a client who wants to do work for us. they provided pizza and when i saw the bag that accompanied the pizza i ASSumed there would be salad in there. but no. my "lunch" was a diet pepsi. i ate when i got back to my desk around 1 but i sure was hungry and the more hungry i felt, the more i wanted that delicious pizza. but i said no, and i'm so happy i did.

plans for this weekend: NONE! going to visit my mom, which means we will do some shopping/errands but nothing too crazy. we might get mexican food but since i have about 27 flex points left for the weekend, i might indulge in some chips. but not too many. going to try to get a run or two in this weekend too. we'll see....

i hope you all have a fabulous weekend! and remember: just say no....to pizza you didn't order

toodles poodles

to do: go to the gym: DONE

i got to the gym today and did 30 mins on the elliptical. it flew by.

note to self: get back in the gym you lazy ass!

just keep swimming....just keep swimming

remember when dory says that line in the movie finding nemo? just keep swimming...just keep swimming. i feel like that sometimes with this whole diet/exercise thing. that little voice that just tells me to just keep eating right, getting to the gym and avoiding temptations. it's hard but it's nice to be back in the zone. i'm down a lb today....so that's always a good feeling to step on the scale and see a lower number than you expected :)

biggest loser couples was great! no one lost hardly any weight though which makes it more real to me for some reason. you don't always get on the scale and see 5-10 lb losses, it's not realistic. maybe if you're severly overweight but you know what i mean. i can't believe bette-sue fell off the treadmill, ouch! i can't lie, i did laugh, it reminded me of the video on anne's page. haha

i bought some rice quakes, apple slices, a fiber one bar and 100 calorie pack of cupcakes for snacks. i doubt i'll eat it all. lunch is at subway and tonight i might do a chicken breast/veggies/one serving of risotto. we have a delicious organic risotto at my grocery store that is 3pts a serving, so creamy and delish.

have a great hump day!!

motivation comes in all forms

hi everyone! :) happy tuesday (this lady at work adds happy-whatever to every day of the week...unfortunately it's rubbing off on me!)

first off: you have to read katie's post, it made me giggle. second off, this being OP thing is great, i'm lovin it. i'm going to try to get back to my flex points though. i didn't do any last week, needed a jump start, but now im back to normal i think. i packed some yummy goodies for snacks/lunch today: almonds, sliced apple, chunky natural peanut butter and my favorite 100 calorie cupcakes. they are my afternoon treat and i will never give them up.

weight is heading downward, slowly but surely. those holiday pounds sure were fun to gain but now i'm ready to get back to normal. the clothes are feeling A LOT better, i just need to see that # drop sometime soon.

i have a friend's bachelorette party in march. all my high school girlfriends will be there. i see them a few times a year at events such as this and holidays. i am using the party weekend as my motivation to drop these LBS. because you know every event you go to is an unspoken competition. am i right ladies? who has lost/gained weight, who has the best jeans, cutest shoes, new haircut, etc. i'm fine in the clothes & shoes department but i definitely want people to ask my FAVORITE question of all time "have you lost weight?" or my second favorite "have you lost MORE weight?" muahah (evil laugh necessary) - maybe that is the wrong reason to want to lose weight. and actually it's not my reason, it's motivation.

alright...back to work. the heels i'm wearing are killing me. the fact that i've guzzling water from my nalgene isn't helping the situation. luckily none of you are here to see me walking -5 mph and wobbling down the hall in these ridiculous things! :)

1 or 2 point tortilla soup

i tried it this weekend, so good. take the progresson light southwestern style vegetable soup, take 2 tortilla chips (or more if you want, just make sure you count the points) and smash them into tiny bits and add to soup. tasted like delicious tortilla soup to me! add chicken if you want too.

i'm hooked!!

100 calorie pack muffins

YUM!!!



hostess 100 calorie pack muffins
according to hungry-girl.com these are 1 point. banana, blueberry & cinnamon. i will be trying ALL of these when i get my greedy little hands on them.

i love the 100 calorie cupcakes, i have 1 every afternoon at work to feed my sweet tooth. yum, can't wait!

OP weekend!

wow....i am surprised at myself this weekend. i've never NOT used flex points. usually my weekends are FULL of flex points. but i have to say this weekend, i've been right on point. i like this feeling.

did you all see the biggest loser couples first episode? all the contestants use nalgenes - which are plastic re-usable water bottles. well this season they are getting rid of water bottles and using nalgenes. i was telling D about it and he bought me one!


it's a pretty blue with a narrow top to drink out of. i've already drank 2 today! i love it and it was so cute how D listens to the little things i say :)

ready for an OP week and ready to get my gym time in. i'm aiming for 3x this week. start off slow and then do 4x next week maybe. the scale has dropped off 3lbs of water weight, thankfully...i was starting to worry for a while there.

hope you all had a nice weekend, later taters :)

on point!

hi everyone! work has been so busy! my boss is out so he put me in charge and needless to say the workload has doubled. but i like it, i enjoy staying busy at work. this also means i haven't been to the gym this week but i'm not worried about it. i'm trying to focus on getting my food under control this week (been OP completely since wednesday) and so far so good. i cut out the alcohol and cheat foods that i was treating myself to before and i think that will definitely make a difference.

i'm going to work on getting to the gym next week. i don't want to start it all up at once, one day at a time seems to be working for me. the scale, screw the scale. that's all i have to say about that. my pants are still tight, as was expected. it didn't take me 3 days to gain weight and it's not going to be 3, 5 or 10 days for me to lose it. it's going to take time and i'm trying to accept that. i'm just so impatient! i'm hopeful though that i will be OP this weekend and will try not to dip into ANY flex points. i can't remember the last time i didn't use ANY flex points. i don't think that's ever happened..

i'm totally loving biggest loser couples. i like bette sue. i can see how she would be annoying but i thought she was so funny when she called bob a booger. haha! im not sure how i feel about everyone else but i do love me some jillian & bob. i'm kind of glad kim's not on this season. she annoys me.

tonight we're going out for seafood, shouldn't be too bad right? steamed shrimp and mussels maybe? no butter! i'll have to check out the menu. then we're going bowling. usually i spend friday nights out at the bars with friends, so this will be a nice and welcome change of pace for me i think.

have a wonderful weekend :)

happy 2008!!

new year and definitely new resolutions. i'm starting tommorow and i can't wait. i'm going to weigh in and then stay away from the scale until next wednesday.

my resolutions:
- run a 5k (and maybe 10k after that)
- lose 10 lbs
- get to the gym at least 3x a week
- lift weights
- read more
- finish a bootcamp
- post more blog entries
- be accountable for what i eat and drink (including wine that seems to always get the "2 point" label in my head even though it's probably more than that

so happy and excited for another new year! :) what are your resolutions?

so excited for biggest loser couples tonight, definitely will help with my motivation. i've been enjoying the biggest loser 2 marathon on today, i love that show!!

alright....that's it for now. see you tmw on day 1 of getting back into my routine. FOR GOOD this time.

happy blog-o-versary to me!

well i've had this blog for a year now, yipee :)

moment of truth: i've been a bad blogger, commenter & dieter lately. but you know what: i don't care. january 1st i am making some changes but i'm gonna ride out this lazy streak until then. suprisingly i haven't gained, i'm still trying to make better choices and needed a break from those damn points! haha

i think i may sign up for a bootcamp that starts january 4th....still contemplating that one. it would be a good way to start the year!

i hope everyone has a lovely holiday!!! :)

smells like christmas!

hi ladies! i've had a busy (and pizza filled weekend) gross! i need to accept that this time of the year is hard and i'm allowed to eat a little bit of crap. well at least i'm allowing myself that.

i've gotten about half of my christmas shopping done! taking wednesday off to work on it. i bought a nintendo wii today at target (couldnt believe they had them) and can't decide if i want to keep it or not? maybe give it to D?

alright...time to relax, hope you all have a great week!

back in the groove

i'm totally in the groove this week and loving it. nothing like a bad week to totally make you focused!! got to the gym today and did my cardio. it felt really good. i need to get my strength training in before the week is over. i'm going to try to get that in tommorow.

yummy product find from trader joe's!



110 calories for 18 white cheddar soy crisps...kind of hard to stop munching but perfect to bring in plastic bags for a work snack.

BL is on tonight, can't wait :)

ta ta!

i need my routine back!!

i have been going going going since last tuesday night. it's been non-stop events. (and non-stop eating...yuck. i'm not even going to go over it, moving forward....) i shouldn't complain, i had a lot of fun. but i need my routine back! i only got in 3 of my 4 cardio days and 1 of 2 strength training does. so i didn't complete the challenge. but its a new week and i'm going for the same thing again. 4 days of cardio (with 2 days of strength in there)

work has been busy and i'm about to start the christmas shopping. i want to try to knock it out this week and be done with it. have you ladies finished yours yet?

got to the gym today and did my 30 mins of cardio. they moved a new elliptical into the gym in my building...the kind i like. so that should be a nice addition to my workouts, wont have to go to the other building to do my elliptical workouts!

happy monday :)

busy bee

busy busy week here! it snowed yesterday which threw a wrench in my gym plans....we were dismissed early so that meant the gym here at work closed down...i went and worked from home for the remainder of the day and went straight to my alma mater's basketball game. we had courtside seats, it was a lot of fun! i'm getting out of work early today to go to the redskins game! go skins!! too bad it's going to be freeeeezing cold. oh well...all for the love of the game!

i have completed 2 out of the 4 days for the challenge. i'm going to do some cardio friday and hopefully sunday to close out the week. :)

not much else to say....trying to get all the work in before my two meetings and then i'm out at 1! ay yi yi!
have a great night everyone!!

challenge day one: complete

woohoo! day 1 finished! 30 mins of cardio and strength training. my legs were shaking but it feels good! feel the burn baby :)

and i want to thank katie-o & this post for being inspirational (as she always is!). it was so cold when i left work and i just felt like packing in and snuggling up under the covers at home. but i went to the gym and thought of all the snow katie drove through yesterday to get to the gym. thank you katie!! :)

let the challenge begin!

today's plan: get to the gym during work and do my cardio & strength training! i love this challenge stuff, it really motivates me!

kind of busy here at work but i wanted to let all of you biggest loser fans know that i heard on the radio starting january 1 or 2nd there is a new season of BL coming on! this time with couples trying to loose weight. it's so much easier when your significant other is in on it with you.....helps you to resist temptations and feed off of each others strengths.

back to work....
happy monday!

low point weekend

hi ladies! so i actually did it, i've had a relatively low point weekend. i've probably used 10 flex points but i usually use 35, so thats a victory. sundays are slow days usually but today i'm going shopping with my sister and we're putting up some christmas decoration so that will be good.

sarah and i are doing another exercise challenge if anyone wants to join. you can set your own objectives but mine is to do at least 4 days of cardio (30-60 mins) and 2 days of strength training, which will be new for me. i hardly ever do strength training and i know how important it is so i'm going to start incorporating it in! be sure to check out sarah's page...she has a great entry about safe amounts of weight to lose & the biggest loser!

after watching biggest loser this week and hearing a lot of talk about sodium, i've started paying more attention. i keep thinking of what kim said, to have around 300 mg of sodium in each meal. well last night we went for sushi and when i looked at the "lite soy sauce" bottle i was shocked to see that 1tbsp of LITE soy sauce had 1500+ mg of sodium! wow. i usually fill up a little dish with it and dunk away. needless to say i didn't use any. i need to do some more research on it.

another NSV: i went out to breakfast with my friends yesterday. why do i always feel like when i do this i need to get an eggbeater omelet, toast, strawberries and usually a bite of my BFs food too! so yesterday i ordered raisin bran w/ skim milk & wheat toast. "thats all your having?" my sister asked and yes, it was. and guess what, i was full all day. i need to eat out less and make smarter choices. that's what i'm working on this week.

happy december :) it's the most wonderful time of the year!!

one of my lamest excuses yet

okay you guys....i was having a GREAT hair day today. i'm talking like the long flowy loose curls like the girls have on tv. it was beautiful. not to brag but my hair has gotten really long and i've finally figured out how to curl it just right to get that "i didn't try that hard" look.



sort of like this

well i have plans tonight to meet up with some girlfriends. i was supposed to go to the gym before i left work. so here is my lame excuse: i told myself i wouldn't go to the gym, i didn't want to mess up my hair and i didn't want to have to redo it.

how conceited! i was actually buying into this excuse for about 2 hours. as i turned out of the parking lot, i felt myself gravitating towards the gym. where i spent 33 good sweaty minutes on the elliptical. the hair is up off my face, but you know what...who cares. i'm not that vain. i just wanted an excuse i could find.

so i did it!! my trip to the gym is done and now i can relax and hang out with my friends.

have a good night!!

blog motivation

i just want to thank all of you who comment and read my blog! it really means a lot to me to have you all as friends and i realized that today. as i was turning out of work, i had the little devil on my shoulder saying "just go home, you can go to the gym tmw"...but what did i do? turned towards the gym...because the angel on my shoulder was reminding me "didn't you promise you would go to the gym to everyone who reads your blog? AND you haven't been in two weeks"....so 30 mins of cardio later, i feel great. and this blog really is to thank for that. it keeps me completely accountable. when i wasn't posting last week, i totally felt a little bit of guilt for not fessing up to my holiday eating flubs! so thank you :)

not much else to say...gotta shower off the sweat & we're going out to dinner for something healthy. last night i made whole wheat pasta with spaghetti sauce (60 cal a serving) filled with boca meat. it was good. i had the leftovers today for lunch.

note to self: cook a big pot of whole wheat pasta and make mini meals to take for lunch and eat for dinner. i need to cut back on the lean cuisines.

alright...have a good night everyone!! :)

turkey day recap

hi all!! i'm back. thanks to my dear friend katie-o for telling me to get my butt back here. now here come the excuses. some more valid than others. i just got back last night from spending tues-sunday at my mom's house. lots of fun up until the point where i caught the worst. cold. ever.

that's right, i went from sore throat to sniffles to coughing to uncontrollable sneezing fits and now i'm back in the coughing/sore chest phase. YUCK! so needless to say, not much going on with diet/exercise. oh well. tis the season i guess.

i ate alright on thanksgiving, took smaller portions and didn't really go for the appetizers. i had this thought in the back of my head from a statistic i heard on tv. the average american eats 2300+ calories at their thanksgiving meal. GROSSSSSS. so i tried to go easy on the mashed potatoes and deliciousness and heavy on the veggies. all in moderation, right?

i did play football with my family at our annual turkey bowl. haha. it was fun and my team won. i also caught a winning pass and ran around like a crazy person. it was a lot of fun but it definitely reminded me that i need to get back in shape. i will weigh myself tmw but i don't think i've gained more than a pound. thats good right?

done well today on the points front. sorry for the lack of posting...i'm so busy at work. i know that sounds like a BS excuse but its not. i'm so busy and i love it. a lot to do and the days go by so fast!

funny story: last night i told D that i hadn't been to the gym in almost 2 weeks. the first and only thing he said about that was "well, what are your blog friends going to think about that? i'm telling them!" haha....he doesn't know the web URL but i already know what you probably think about it and i am making a promise to you, my blog friends, that i will be in the gym tmw. no excuses. there, happy now D? haha

making some healthy spaghetti tonight with D! :) onwards and upwards (well downwards for the scale)....bye ladies!

it's the most delicious time of the yearrrrrr

shame on me...what a bad blogger i've been lately. i haven't even opened my google reader in days to read anyone's blogs. i have been SOO SOO busy at work. it's nice bc the week has gone by fast but at the same time, i haven't had any downtime and when i get home from work i don't always want to go near the computer.

anyway...doing okay on the weight front. haven't been to the gym in a week though :( boo!! i didn't weigh-in for the christmas challenge. unfortunately i'm up 1 lb. but thats nothing compared to what it probably should be. i'm in holiday mode and have been since last friday. oops!! this time of year is a diet killer but i'm going to be working from home wednesday & friday so i'm going to try to hit up my parent's treadmills and get a run or two in.

i hope all of my american friends have wonderful holiday weekends! and i hope my canadian friends have great weekends :)
and i will try to catch up on the blogs over the next few days & maybe even post again before or after turkey day!!
take care ladies!! :)

blahhh

hi everyone!! not much to say, having a blah week :\ i think it's PMS. oh well, hoping for a maintain on friday's weigh-in!! :)

alright...back to work. just wanted to check in so you ladies didn't think i feel off the wagon. i did have a run-in with some peanut m&m's last night but i was able to put them away after a handful. so thats good :)

happy hump day!!

last chance workout

i am such a dork! but i embrace it :) i totally pushed myself in the gym today bc i know weigh-in is tmw. i don't know what the scale will say in the morning but i feel great right now, that's all i know. did you guys see biggest loser on tuesday when they were doing last chance workouts and the lady was moaning and groaning and jillian was like

"SHUT UP. SHUT UP." haha....i love her.

exercise log:
65 mins elliptical = 600 calories burned
woohoo!!

this is going to sound cheesy but you all really do motivate me to get to the gym. the christmas challenge & the accountability have played a big role in me getting back in there and staying OP. so thank you ladies!! i told my boyfriend that i pushed it extra hard tonight bc weigh-in is tmw. he kind of laughed and told me how cute it was that i had blog friends :) haha. he's the best.

the girl next to me asked one of the trainers to tell her how to use the elliptical and i was FLYING away next to her. i saw her glance down at my minutes/calories burned/etc. and i totally remember being that girl. thinking...i can barely do this for 15 mins, how on earth has the person next to me been on this thing for an hour. so that felt good.

another incentive was i'm going for sushi tonight with my sister & her boyfriend and i needed to burn some APs. so done and done. off to dinner. see you ladies tmw and good luck to everyone who is weighing in for the christmas challenge.

lunchin & munchin

it's almost friday!! this week has flown by. i've already gotten in 2 good workouts this week and i'm planning on another one after or during work. haven't decided. i need to do something though! maybe a workout DVD? it sure is cold outside but maybe an outdoor jog is in my future?

i have the munchies today. i'm already up to 9.5 points and its only 12:45. Well thankfully I'm full now and i have grapes in the fridge if i need something sweet later. scale said 137 this morning. i went over my points last night by 4 or 5. i've been playing with eating more points than usual this week which was working. so i will cut back today and only eat 20. see if that works. hopefully i can get back to 136 by tmw. i'll take a half a pound loss, i dont care.

alright...not much to say. i have the after lunch sleepyness going on! ta ta!

new purchase

i just bought this: pink under armour zip up

what do you guys think? it's super cute and pink and it's very warm for running outside. i loveeee under armour. plus, it supports breast cancer awareness!

i think it will be really warm & cute for the winter months.

okay, enough online shopping. goodnight!

happy hump day!

scale: 136.6

yesss :) back down to the comfortable range. hopefully i can stay around 136 by friday, that would be great. plan today is to hit the gym sometime during work...eat my lean cuisine and try to stay low cal. i may go to happy hour tmw, which i might cancel on bc i forgot about weigh-in. i don't want to mess with weigh-in!!

biggest loser was great last night. i'm glad that girl won the car (i forget her name)...how great. i'm glad isabeau got to stay, i like her. is anyone suprised how they all lost more weight than usual (with the exception of one or two people) working out without electric treadmills/ellipticals/etc....thought that was interesting.

alright, may post later. have a great day and here is a good link for you: grab & go: healthy fast food choices

entertainment needed?

well i made it to the gym again this morning. 50 minutes on the elliptical doing hills. about 500 calories. i have to admit, i get bored very easily and to curb my boredom, i always bring magazines to the gym. they help a lot but i definitely go through them fast and magazines are kind of a waste of money, ya know? i have a subscription (that i've bought through coworkers/boyfriend's little sisters school sales) to self, fitness, glamour, lucky & shape. wow, i know. but they go for about $10 on amazon.com (or though the sales for the schools) so i don't think that's ALL that bad. considering i would spend $3 for one copy if it caught my eye at the grocery store.



so my question is, what do you do to stay entertained at the gym? i know, it's bad that i need to be constantly entertained but....i guess it's a generation X thing. i listen to my ipod and sometimes there is something good on tv but i think i need to start reading a soft-cover book on the elliptical. i'm reading harry potter 6 right now but that thing weighs like 6 lbs, i know that won't be making it to the gym with me, and i doubt i could keep it stable while elliptical-ing. :) my dad's gym has individual tvs on all the ellipticals/treadmills....and you can watch 50 channels! i'm jealous!

going shopping later with my boyfriend....i need to find a cocktail dress for this black tie dinner his work is putting on at the ritz carlton. yay baby!!! :)

scale crept down to 137.2 - lets get to 136 by friday! woo!!

and can't wait for biggest loser tonight! i can't get enough of that show

day 1 of 4 complete!

update:

did 32 minutes of cardio: 12 minute run, 20 min uphill walk at moderate pace = about 200 calories :)

kind of off topic but: has anyone seen this picture of katie holmes running the NYC marathon?? she trained for 3 months. isn't that too short of a period of time? i have no clue but i know my friends are training for a marathon now and have for a while now....

and no sports bra!...um hello....that is just really strange to me.

good weekend, cheese fries & the challenge

monday came too fast! i definitely had a great weekend, tried to stay low on the points side....but defintely dipped into some flex points. i did manage to stay at 136.4 on the scale both saturday & sunday, so that's good! hopefully i can be an even 136 by friday's weigh-in!

i'm not sure that the outback steakhouse i ate for dinner last night helped. i had about 10 cheese fries....which isn't too good but at least i tried the whole "everything in moderation thing". my sister has gained a few lbs and wanted one last supper before she starts her diet today. even though i've been dieting, i helped her out with those 10 cheese fries. but i stopped myself and didn't go back for more. it was nice to have that control. by the time my chicken sandwich came out (without the bun), i was full, so i didnt eat it. couldn't have been that bad. the scale was up a little this morning but i'm confident it will be back to 136/137 tmw :)

not much else to say. just a warning though for people who use dottie's weight loss zone restaurant guide for points: i found 2 restaurants where her points listing was off. corner bakery & subway. i ordered the chicken & dumpling soup from subway. on her site she says its 2 points. well after one bite i knew that was too good to be true and it came out to be 3.5 points when i checked subway's website. i know that's not a huge difference but to me it's significant. however, at corner bakery she said something was 15 points and 480 calories when really it was way less and probably 9-10 points so i guess it goes both ways. just be sure to double check the nutritionals on the restaurant website before you eat it!!

i must confess, i didn't succeed at my own challenge! i only worked out 4 of 5 days last week. but hey, i'm happy i tried. i like the challenge. this week i'm going to aim for 4 workouts, i think i can manage that!! :)

hope you all have a wonderful start to your week. i'm definitely getting to the gym today!!

133.8?

you guys, the scale said 133.8 this morning. i'm not even kidding. normally this would excite me but i know its impossible that i went from 137 yesterday to 133.8 this morning. it's just not possible. it's probably from the 3 glasses of wine i had last night :O - i'm definitely paying for it right now at work. needless to say, i was probably dehydrated so i'm not counting it. it was nice to see 133 again though! for my christmas weigh-in i'm going to say i'm down 1 lb. only bc i don't know how much i really weigh and don't want to jinx it by saying 2 lbs. i'm weird, i know.

so....not feeling that great but at work. i'm going to attempt to get to the gym tonight. i definitely feel like crap though :( it's my own doing, i am totally accountable for it but it still sucks.

hope your weighins went well! have a great weekend!

how is it already november?

challenge: day 3 of 5 complete!
25 minutes elliptical
7 minutes treadmill

it's almost friiiiiday! :) which means it's almost the weekend but it ALSO means that it's almost christmas weigh-in #4. i weighed this morning. down 1 lb, so that's good. let's hope it stays that way for tmw. i've been bouncing between 136-139 these 2 months and i'm pretty sick of it! i've gotten my gym time in lately, which feels amazing and i can definitely see the flab melting away. it's so weird how 5-6 lbs will totally change the way i feel, the way i look, and how my clothes fit. i think it has to do with being short (5'2)....5 lbs for me is like 10 lbs for the tall girls out there.

i had a good workout today. i went on my lunch break to the "nice gym" on our work campus. those elliptical machines are great, it doesn't hurt my knees like other ellipticals. and it adjusts with steeper intervals, which i like. i realized once i was all changed that i forgot my towel. um...yuck. lately i've been pouring sweat on the elliptical....so i didn't go for as long as usual and didn't do any inclines. then i walked on the treadmill. i didn't sweat that bad. i took a quick rinse and used an extra (clean) t-shirt that i had in my gym bag to dry off. why does that make me feel like such a hobo? it was clean!! but i'm glad no one saw me wiping my bod with my boyfriend's tshirt. lol ;P

halloween went by smooth & easy. i did have 2 "fun-sized" snickers. fun-sized....lol. for some reason, i think those aren't "as bad for you" as some of the other candy. my exbf (who was training to be a personal trainer....back when we were in high school....lol) once told me that if you couldn't eat a regular meal, you should eat a snickers bc it was high in protein and low on the glycemic index. i don't know why that's stuck with me but for some reason i feel like baby snickers aren't that bad.



wow, look what i found: "1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.)...that comes to 80 calories. You will need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps."

how far to walk off the trick or treat candies

interesting. well i had 2 mini snickers yesterday at a work party. and now i'm over it. luckily i'm not big on candy so i don't feel the need to splurge on the leftover candy at our house. a few bites definitely satisfied my "candy sweet tooth". now ice cream/froyo...that's another story.

this week has been good points/exercise wise. i plan on going to the gym again tmw during work & then doing a long walk or some sort of activity over the weekend! i'm loving these exercise challenges, they really do motivate me!