time to track

hey guys - been slacking a little lately but i'm back on track. i'm picking up a small notebook today and i'm going to start tracking everything i eat for the month of november and see if that works. esp with the holidays.

not much else....work is SO busy, it's insane but i guess it's good. i was asked to be a bridesmaid in my best friends wedding in may so i will definitely have an incentive to drop some LBs and get in shape. :)

apple pie ice cream is back in stores! my favorite! only 140 calories a serving and soooo yummy!!

iLove my new iTouch

D got this for me for our anniversary...and i'm OBSESSED. it is so f-ing cool.



if you need a new iPod - i definitely recommend these, internet, email, IM, games galore and oh yea it organizes music in a really cool way...so much fun!

i suck at blogging

i am not a good blogger lately. i attribute this mostly to work being SUPER busy and secondly to not wanting to go near my computer when i get off work.

but i've been doing well. last weekend was D & i's 3 year anniversary :) we went out to a really nice (and fattening) dinner downtown. it was wonderful and i dont care how many calories it was. sunday i ate some bar food while watching football and drank some beers. but the scale isn't up too far....so i'm not worried.

got to the gym 4x last week! my goal this week is 5x and i've gotten there twice already :) yipeee!

my best friend from high school just got engaged so i will be a bridesmaid in her wedding in may! its definitely motivation to drop these LBs and tone up my arms.

alright...off to get the food ready. i'm making lean turkey meatloaf that i found on the food network site. if it's good i'll let you know!!

recipe: buffalo chicken wraps

this is what i made for dinner last night...so yummy!! spicy & delicious.

2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce, such as Frank's RedHot
3 tablespoons white vinegar, divided
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound chicken tenders
2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
4 8-inch whole-wheat tortillas
1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
1 cup sliced celery
1 large tomato, diced

1. Whisk hot pepper sauce, 2 tablespoons vinegar and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken tenders; cook until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add to the bowl with the hot sauce; toss to coat well.
3. Whisk mayonnaise, yogurt, pepper and the remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar in a small bowl. Stir in blue cheese.
4. To assemble wraps: Lay a tortilla on a work surface or plate. Spread with 1 tablespoon blue cheese sauce and top with one-fourth of the chicken, lettuce, celery and tomato. Drizzle with some of the hot sauce remaining in the bowl and roll into a wrap sandwich. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 275 calories; 8 g fat (2 g sat, 2 g mono); 55 mg cholesterol; 29 g carbohydrate; 24 g protein; 4 g fiber; 756 mg sodium.
Nutrition bonus: Vitamin A (35% daily value), Selenium (28% dv), Vitamin C (20% dv).
2 Carbohydrate Servings

quick monday post

hi everyone! did you have a nice weekend? mine was very relaxing...it was great.

got to the gym today and did 35 min on the elliptical and 15 min treadmill hills. not bad for a monday! off to read "eclipse" - i am loving this twilight series! can't wait for the movie to come out.

have a great night :)

gym day!

quick post - down -1LB from yesterday, so lower than my weighin last week... :) got to the gym today and did 35 mins on the elliptical and 40 min incline fast walk on the treadmill. feels good to be in the zone! :)

i'm baaaackkkk

i'm baaack! i haven't fallen off the diet wagon so thats good, i was on vacation from thurs-mon. we went to arizona! it was nice, very hot though. i don't think i could ever live there...i'd melt. ha! but surprisingly i'm only up 0.6+ lbs from thursday. not too bad but not entirely due to willpower. i came down with a nasty cold on the way there (like mid-airplane ride, gross!) and just didnt have much of an appetite. when i did eat, i would not finish my entire meal. you know how those colds are, when you have a lot of drainage from your nose/throat to your stomach. its gross, but you know what i mean. i felt icky and full for most of the trip. but it did kind of go along with what i've been doing lately. i am trying to eat just enough to be full, not stuffed. so far so good.

i was bad at exercising last week but we did a LOT of walking and we hiked a bit so i'll take it. i got to the gym today for 40 mins on the treadmill and i plan to go at least 2 more times this week. i have a show to go to after work thursday so i dont know if i will be hitting the gym during the day. even if i shower and fix my hair, its still kind of flat and i feel sweaty still. i dont want to feel that way since i'll be downtown all night, ya know? excuses excuses...but this one is a good excuse at least!!

alright...hope everyone is doing well. my goal for this week: exercise at least 3 times. what is your goal?

gym mojo

helloooo. i have been a bad blogger lately. everyday i think about blogging but it just doesn't happen. i've also been a bad gymgirl this week too but i made up for that today! here is what i did so far:
25 min elliptical
45 min treadmill (fast walk)
5 min bike
15 min walk outside

PHEW! 90 minutes of cardio so far. and i'm running errands after work too. i already feel my gym mojo coming back. it was gone last week but now i'm back on track. clothes fitting good, scale is decent, i'll take it.

alright back to work. just wanted to check in. going to get to the gym for 45 mins of cardio thursday & friday. i blew the challenge already but next week i am starting a new challenge - getting to the gym 4x. thursday night i leave for a mini vacation out to arizona so i just want to be prepared. alright...toodles :)

a quickie

hi everyone...lots to do but just wanted to give you some quickies

- going to a wedding this weekend
- found a REALLY cute dress for the wedding...a cheaper version of an herve leger dress




looks more like the one on the right. it's by a designer named adrianna papell - it's black, slinky, hugs the right places and very flattering. i've been searching for it in my size all week and i FINALLY found it at nordstrom
- still staying steady at 137...i'll take it
- haven't been to the gym all week, i'm dying to get down there but work was too busy and i had afterwork plans each day
- excuses, excuses, i know. getting to the gym next week
- going into hardcore diet mode starting monday...i'm trying to lose 3 or 4 lbs in 2 weeks.
- i will get to the gym 5x next week, lets do a challenge...anyone? carolyn?

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND! :) i'll try to take some pics of the dress, it's so pretty i'm so excited to wear it :)

i'm still here

hi all! i am still here...had some PMS last week and only made it to the gym once. but i did do 60 mins of cardio that day. either way, i've been back on track since yesterday and the scale is being kind to me. only up 2 lbs which will hopefully be gone by friday.

i've been reading those new vampire books. i'm on the first one, called "twilight" - it sounds weird but its actually REALLY good. i recommend it.

watching all the premieres this week...one tree hill was extra cheesy. i loved it. 90210: not sure how i feel about it. one of the girls is playing a teenager and looks to be in her 30s. lol. i guess its just hard comparing it to the original 90210 which i LOVEDDD. what else...the hills...it gets more fake each episode i think but i still like it.

went for a 30 min walk today so at least i did that. back to the gym tmw. work has just been REALLY crazy. but i need to get back in there.

alright....off to relax! :)

checking in

doing good - didnt get to the gym today but about to go for a 30 min walk with my sister. food is good and exercise is good. just another week :)

toodles!

exercise

did a 30 min run & 30 min walk today on the treadmill. alternated every 10 mins and it felt great. very sweaty but great. i did this at 10am and had to go back to work so my hairline was a little sweaty even though i showered. but well worth it i think because i felt great the rest of the day! :) just thought i'd share...

monday...already?

well my weekend was fun. traveling down 95 though, no so much fun. all the beach traffic, it's ridiculous. it turns a 1.5 hour trip into a 3 hour trip. BLAH! but i did pretty good with eating. i splurged a little on my mom's stromboli (like a pizza rolled up) and guacamole (lots of cheese & sour cream in it). but compared to what the scale said last monday, it's down 2 lbs. so i think thats good. only up 2 lbs from friday! i'll take it.

nothing big planned for this week. i have a "stock the bar" party on saturday for one of my engaged friends. basically you buy them a bottle of liquor or wine to stock the bar in their new house. they are always fun parties. gotta try to be REALLY good this week and the goal is to get to the gym every day this week to stock up some extra points for the weekend. i'm not really counting points like i said but i still think in terms of "points" for some reason.

i'm surprisingly energized right now....so off to get a head start on work while it's quiet and no one is here yet!
have a great day!

fabulous friday

oh friday friday, i'm so glad it's friday!! :) my sister and i went downtown yesterday to have drinks and see american idols live. it was a blast but i definitely had too much fun and one too many drinks. i'm a little hungover. blah. hate that feeling. but the scale said 135.0! woohoo. i dont know if that's real weight or not (i tend to weigh less after drinking since i'm kind of dehydrated) but i will take it! :)

this weekend: not much planned. heading home for my brothers 4th birthday! i have 3 siblings that came from my mom and dad. my parents divorced when i was a senior in high school, remarried and each had one more child. a boy for my mom (4 years old) and a girl for my dad (3 years old). they are sweet little kids and sometimes i will bring them to each others house to play....it's really cute. my little sister has blonde hair and pretty wavy curls. not tight curls, like sausage curls. so cute. i definitely have black hair though and tan skin - its funny to think we have the same father. anyway, so we're going to the birthday saturday and then sunday probably hit the pool! so it should be a fun/relaxing weekend.

hope your weekend is fabulous! is it 5pm yet? haha i'm so ready for the weekend to begin already.

fabulous friday

oh friday friday, i'm so glad it's friday!! :) my sister and i went downtown yesterday to have drinks and see american idols live. it was a blast but i definitely had too much fun and one too many drinks. i'm a little hungover. blah. hate that feeling. but the scale said 135.0! woohoo. i dont know if that's real weight or not (i tend to weigh less after drinking since i'm kind of dehydrated) but i will take it! :)

this weekend: not much planned. heading home for my brothers 4th birthday! i have 3 siblings that came from my mom and dad. my parents divorced when i was a senior in high school, remarried and each had one more child. a boy for my mom (4 years old) and a girl for my dad (3 years old). they are sweet little kids and sometimes i will bring them to each others house to play....it's really cute. my little sister has blonde hair and pretty wavy curls. not tight curls, like sausage curls. so cute. i definitely have black hair though and tan skin - its funny to think we have the same father. anyway, so we're going to the birthday saturday and then sunday probably hit the pool! so it should be a fun/relaxing weekend.

hope your weekend is fabulous! is it 5pm yet? haha i'm so ready for the weekend to begin already.

weekend here we come!

hi everyone! just got back from the gym. i thought of carolyn as i blowdried my slightly sweaty hairline (haha). i showered but my hair still gets a little weird after the gym. maybe its the humidity or the headband i wear. i just can't get it back to normal though and usually throw it in a ponytail.

gym was good, going to dinner tonight with my sister and to a show. going to try to not have any carbs and stick to seafood i think. my weight is hovering around 136. which is fine. i saw 135 last friday but i think that was a fluke. it went back to 137 a day or two later. so if i can maintain 136 tmw i will be happy :) if not, no big deal. i feel great and i my stomach is looking so flat lately. i think it's from running but i'm very happy with it. i also saw definition in my legs when i looked in the mirror this morning. i think that is more important than that # on the scale....but it would be nice to see. i am down 8 lbs though since july 6th or so, gonna focus on that. :) if i can lose 5 more lbs before september that would be great but i'm prepared to wait it out.

going to grab lunch with D at corner bakery. i usually get a half sandwich (whole grain bread, turkey, avocado slice, dijon mustard) and a cup of fruit salad. its so yummy. plus they have coke zero on tap. which is my favorite soda. i'm not longer a diet coke girl. coke zero all the way.

have a nice day! it's almost friday!! :D

same old same old

hi everyone!

not much to write, wanted to check in. i did 50 mins on the treadmill today (hills) and yesterday i ran 25 minutes and walked 15. so far the exercise has been good and the eating has been even better.

scale is down this morning, let's see what happens friday.

off to have a drink with my coworker and watch project runway. have a good night!! :)

my quesadilla review on "heat, eat, and review"

love this site and they used one of my reviews! click here

yipeeee :)

just another manic monday

hi all!

hope your monday went better than me. it wasn't bad, just SUPER busy. lots of meetings and i didnt get a chance to make it to the gym. but mondays i usually give myself a free pass. i really wanted to go though. i want to take a walk later tonight and i'll definitely be in there the rest of the week.

scale was up 2 lbs from the weekend water weight and bloat. which i'm okay with. my work capri pants were SO loose today. i think i need to retire them soon. i got them at new york & company, along with an another pair (different color) - i'll be happy to pass them along to my sister and buy a smaller size.

anyway, not much else. went to the pool this weekend. we grilled out saturday night and i probably ate too much of my mom's homemade guacamole but i only have it once every other month or so, not worried about it.

off to relax and be lazy :P

finally....

hi all! :)

so i was very pleasantly surprised when i stepped on the scale this morning. i saw a number i have not seen since probably june of last year. 135.6!!! yay :) i couldnt believe it. i was just hoping for 137 or 136 maybe (i saw 136.4 yesterday). and then i saw a 5 and i had to jump off the scale and hop back on just to be sure. i dont know if that will stick but hopefully it will. and if not i'll take 136 next week when i weigh-in. but that was certainly a good feeling.

i haven't been doing ww or counting calories. i'm doing something that i've learned is called "intuitive eating" - basically you eat when you're hungry, you stop when you're full and you listen to your body and question halfway through the meal "am i still hungry?" and if not i stop eating. granted i'm doing this with diet foods so i'm sure that helps but according to wikipedia this type of "non-diet" is good for people who want to eat whatever they want, in moderation.

wikipedia says...
"Intuitive eating is the opposite of dieting, the latter of which is externally driven. It is a key component of the Health at Every Size movement. Supporters argue that eating in response to internal cues of hunger and fullness, while allowing all foods to be part of the diet, weight will be maintained to one's "natural" weight. Natural weight is the weight range predetermined by genetics.

When someone is disconnected to his or her internal cues of satiety, it is easier to be trigged by external triggers to eat, (which can be emotions, "because it's time", opportunity, and/or perceived rules of eating.)

If someone has rigid rules for so-called healthy eating, he or she is more likely to succumb to overeating, as a consequence of breaking their well-meaning rules. Scientifically, this all-or-none type of eating, built around eating rules rather than internal hunger/satiety cues, is referred to as restraint eating or Restraint Theory."

so i dont know if i'm doing it completely like that but pretty much. don't get me wrong, i think my stomach has shrunk a little from eating smaller portions and i definitely get full faster. but its working for me and i guess thats what matters. with weight watchers i would eat my points during the day and when i'd get home at 6pm and still have 10 points left over, i would eat them, just because i could and not necessarily because i was hungry. that doesn't make much sense to me. i've also started running again which i'm sure is playing a big part in it.

whatever it is, it was nice to finally see the scale move in the right direction over the past 5 weeks.

i hope everyone has a nice weekend! i will be relaxing poolside and running errands. TGIF!